Useful Commands for Virtual Server Administration System Commands

  • man:  Online help system in Linux man command gives a info on the command
  • pwd: Print working directory with all the branches between that directory and the root.
  • mkdir: Make directory command
  • cd: Change directory [cd directory] or return to the root [cd]. cd .. moves back one directory level towards root.
  • ls:  List files. -l a  gives complete list w/ dot files. ls -ogh list files with o=no group names, g=no owners, and h=readable file size.
  • touch: Create an empty file [touch filename]
  • more: View the contents of a file [more filename]. less is often better for this. 
  • cp: Copy files.  [cp file1 file2] copies a file named file1 to a file named file2
  • mv: Move and rename.  [mv this that} renames file this to have the name that.  If done w/ directory, it moves and renames the file.  [mv this /data/that] changes the name of this to that and moves it to the directory /data.  [mv this /data] moves the file this to the directory /data
  • rm: Removes files  [rm this] deletes the file this.  -r removes directories.  [rm -r /data] removes the directory /data.  rm -r is recursive and removes everything from the directory on down the file tree including all files in directories and subdirectories beneath the directory being removed.
  • nano: Starts the nano editor

FTP Commands from Terminal

  • FTP jvlone.com: this starts a telnet session with jvlone.com
    FTP will ask for a username and password. It will give the ftp> prompt.
  • ls: lists the files in the current directory of the remote system
  • pwd: displays the current directory on the remote system
  • cd: changes the current directory on the remote system
  • lcd: changes the current directory on the local machine that you are connecting from
  • get: initiates a download to retrieve a file from the current directory of the remote system, and places it in the current directory on the local machine that you are connecting from
  • prompt: toggles whether there's a prompt for each file transfer with an mget * or mput * command
  • put: puts or sends a file from the current directory of the machine that you are connecting from (the local machine) and places it in the current directory of the remote system
  • mget mput: This puts or gets multiple files to or from the local machine to the remote machine. mget * transfers all the files in the remote machine's current directory to the current directory of the local machine.
  • ascii: sets the FTP transfer mode to ASCII. This mode sends files as ASCII text (7-bit). Its primary use is to transfer text files from machines with different line endings and correct the line ending. A text file from DOS with CR-LF will have the CR stripped off in an ASCII transfer to a Linux/Unix machine. Most files of any type will usually transfer as Binary. ASCII transfers will corrupt any files that are not text (jpg, pdf, doc, bin).
  • binary or bi: sets the FTP transfer mode to binary. Most files will transfer fine in this mode, whether text or binary.
  • quit or bye: closes the connection with the remote system and exits the FTP program