Bash Tutorial · Bash Basics · Lesson 5 of 30
Bash Files and Directories
Create, copy, move, rename and delete files and directories safely.
Creating
mkdir dircreates a directory;mkdir -p a/b/ccreates parents as needed.touch filecreates an empty file (or updates its timestamp).
Copying, moving and deleting
mkdir -p backup
echo "v1" > config.ini
cp config.ini backup/config.ini
mv config.ini settings.ini
ls
ls backup
rm -r backup
ls
Output
backup settings.ini config.ini settings.ini
Run this on your computer — see “Get Started” for setup.
cp src dstcopies;cp -rcopies directories.mv src dstmoves or renames.rm filedeletes;rm -r dirdeletes a directory tree. There is no recycle bin: deleted means gone.
Wildcards (globs)
The shell expands patterns before the command runs: * (anything), ? (one character), [abc] (one of).
touch report-jan.csv report-feb.csv report-mar.csv summary.txt
echo *.csv
echo report-???.csv
echo report-[fm]*.csv
Output
report-feb.csv report-jan.csv report-mar.csv report-feb.csv report-jan.csv report-mar.csv report-feb.csv report-mar.csv
Run this on your computer — see “Get Started” for setup.
Test yourself
How do you rename old.txt to new.txt?
rename old.txt new.txtcp old.txt new.txtmv old.txt new.txtrn old.txt new.txt
Show answer
Answer: mv old.txt new.txt