As promised, I will teach babies* to manage unmanaged server from scratch. It means I’ll try to bring those babies from zero to hero being a Server Ninja. Hence, for my early posts I will firstly write all basic things for newbie server admins should know. In this page I list all necessary, most-used and common SSH commands useful to navigate through SSH client like Putty. I believe these commands are working on any Unix-based servers.
* babies = newbies with no knowledge about Linux and server at all
If you are really a newbie, then you should bookmark this page otherwise simply skip this post.
My next plan: I will post other articles of basic guides how to do things in your server via SSH. Browse it all here.
REQUIREMENTS TO SSH
- A working SSH client like Putty (Windows) or Terminal (Mac and Linux)
- A working Linux-based server with SSH enabled
- A cup of coffee if you wish
- A computer with stable Internet connection
SOME CONVENTIONS
- Hit Enter or Return key on your keyboard after every each command / line
- Each line is a single raw of command unless specified otherwise
- Replace domain.com with your own domain name and TLD
- Replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with IP address of your own server
- Replace example paths and file names according to your server information
- If a path ends with slash “/” then its a directory
- A directory: “/path/to/directory/” will always end with slash “/”
- A file: “/path/to/file” won’t have slash “/” in the end
- A file is not always having extension in the end of the file name
OK, so lets start with the most common commands to SSH you should know..
NAVIGATING
1. How to move into another directory
Use command below to change directory
1 | cd [another directory] |
example: move to directory “download”
1 | cd download |
2. How to go to home directory
1 | cd ~ |
3. How go to the last directory you were in
1 | cd - |
4. How to go up a directory level
1 | cd .. |
5. How to show the full path of the current directory
Use this command to find out where are you currently in.
1 | pwd |
6. How to list files and/or directories in a directory
1 | ls (just type ls and hit enter) |
7. How to list all files and information
1 | ls -al |
8. How to list all files ending with certain extension
1 | ls *.ext |
example:
1 | ls *.php |
9. How to list all files and folders with detailed information including file size
1 | ls -alh |
10. How to quit and exit SSH client
1 | exit |
FILE MANAGEMENT
11. How to copy and rename file
Use this command to copy and rename a file
1 | cp [filename] [new filename] |
example: we’ll rename banner.jpg to banner728px.jpg
1 | cp banner.jpg banner728px.jpg |
example: we’ll cope banner.jpg to a folder called “ads”
1 | cp banner.jpg ads/banner.jpg |
example: copying and renaming at once
1 | cp banner.jpg ads/banner728px.jpg |
ps: original file will remain, it is just copied.
12. How to move and rename file
Use this command to move and rename file
1 | mv [old filename] [new filename] |
example: moving a file to another directory
1 | mv banner.jpg ads/banner.jpg |
example: moving a file to another directory and renaming it at once
1 | mv banner.jpg ads/banner728px.jpg |
ps: original file will be deleted as it was moved to another location
pps: you can also move a folder
example: moving “image” folder to “media” folder
1 | mv image/ media |
example: moving “image” folder to upper directory
1 | mv image/ .. |
13. How to delete / remove a file
1 | rm [file name] |
example:
1 | rm banner.jpg |
14. How to delete / remove all files in current directory
1 | rm * |
15. How to delete files with certain extension
1 | rm *.extension |
example: remove all files with .jpg extension
1 | rm *.jpg |
16. How to copy a folder with all files and folders in it
1 | cp -r [directory] [new directory] |
17. How to create new folder
1 | mkdir [folder name] |
example:
1 | mkdir image |
18. How to search for a file starting within current directory
1 | find . -name [filename] -print |
example: find a file called “banner.jpg” in current folder
1 | find . -name banner.jpg -print |
19. How to search for text within a file
1 | grep [text] [filename] |
example: find the word “sidebar” in file index.php
1 | grep sidebar index.php |
20. CHMOD – how to change file permission
1 | chmod [permission type] [file/folder name] |
example:
1 | chmod 777 config.php |
Available permission type: (below is not command)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | First number is for the owner, second for the group, and third for everyone.7 = Read + Write + Execute6 = Read + Write5 = Read + Execute4 = Read3 = Write + Execute2 = Write1 = Execute0 = All access denied |
http://www.servermom.org/top-most-used-common-ssh-commands/56/