If dir2 does exist, copies dir1 inside dir2. Use with caution. Skip to main content. Create, Copy, Rename, and Remove Unix Files and Directories This document lists commands for creating, copying, renaming and removing Unix files and directories.
What Are Unix Files and Directories? Naming Unix Files and Directories Each file and directory has a name.
This is just a test. For example, to create an exact copy of the file called firstfile, you would type: cp firstfile secondfile This results in two files with different names, each containing the same information.
If you create a different file called thirdfile and then type the following command: cp thirdfile firstfile you will find that the original contents of firstfile are gone, replaced by the contents of thirdfile.
Renaming a File Unix does not have a command specifically for renaming files. To change the name of a file, use the following command format where thirdfile and file3 are sample file names : mv thirdfile file3 This command results in the complete removal of thirdfile , but a new file called file3 contains the previous contents of thirdfile. For example, if you have two files, fourthfile and secondfile, and you type the command mv fourthfile secondfile mv will remove the original contents of secondfile and replace them with the contents of fourthfile.
Removing a File Use the rm command to remove a file. For example, rm file3 deletes file3 and its contents. Creating a Directory Creating directories permits you to organize your files. The command mkdir project1 creates a directory called project1, where you can store files related to a particular project. Moving and Copying Files Into a Directory The mv and cp commands can be used to put files into a directory.
The command mv bibliography project1 will move the file bibliography into the directory project1. The command cp chapter1 project1 will place a copy of the file chapter1 in the directory project1 , but leave chapter1 intact in the current directory. Renaming a Directory You can also use the mv command to rename and move directories. When you type the command mv project1 project2 the directory called project1 will be given the new name project2 as long as a directory called project2 did not previously exist.
If directory project2 already existed before the mv command was issued, mv project1 project2 would move the directory project1 and its files into the directory project2. Copying a Directory You can use the cp command to create a duplicate copy of a directory and its contents. Removing a Directory Use the command rmdir to remove an empty directory. Multiple empty directories may be removed by listing them after the command: rmdir testdir1 testdir2 If you try to remove a directory that is not empty, you will see rmdir: testdir3: Directory not empty If you are sure that you want to remove the directory and all the files it contains, use the command rm -r testdir3 Summary of Commands Working With Files mv file1 file2 Renames file1 to file2 if file2 existed previously, overwrites original contents of file2.
User can create a file in unix using following ways:. Using shell prompt directly user can create a file. Use i command to insert the text in the file. After completing your text to leave from the Vi Editor using :. This may not seem very useful at first, but using. Means the parent of the current directory, so typing cd.. Will take you one directory up the hierarchy back to your home directory.
Note: Typing cd with no argument always returns you to your home directory. This is very useful if you are lost in the file system. Type some text optional. If you want to create a blank file you can just skip this step. Otherwise, type any text you wish to add now. You can't use your mouse or the arrow keys in Vi. If you make a mistake when typing, you'll need to run a command in command mode.
Press Esc to make the arrow keys available, use them to move the cursor to the location of the mistake, and then use any of these commands: x deletes the character under the cursor. This will automatically put you back into input mode after use.
See How to Learn Vi to learn about more Vi commands. Press Esc when you're ready to save the file. This places you into command mode. Replace newfilename with the name of the file. This saves the file to the current directory. If you want to keep editing the file, press i to go back into input mode.
The next time you want to save the file, you can just type :w in command mode no file name necessary. This returns you to the command line. Method 4. Use cd to change to the desired directory optional. You'll be using the cp copy command to copy an existing file to another new file.
You'll either need to move to the directory that contains the original file or know its full path. Replace originalfile with the name of the file you want to copy, and newfile with the name of the desired new file. This creates a new file that contains the contents of the old file. Use the full path to the file if you're working with files outside of the current working directory e. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
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