Introduction to Linux in HPC/Linux Directory Structure

This part of the tutorial introduces the directory structure on a Linux system and shows how to navigate in it. It explains how a path looks like in Linux, which standard directory structure is shared by most systems and how to navigate from one directory to another.

Video

(Slides as pdf)

Quiz

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1. Which one is the top directory in Linux?

	/
	/home
	C:\

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2. The command cd without arguments: if you start in /var/log/ and run cd with no arguments, what do you expect will happen?

	Nothing it stays in /var/log/
	It goes to your home directory
	It goes to the filesystem root
	The shell stops having a working directory
	It’s an error
	The shell prompt turns into a shark and eats you

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3. Which of these oversimplifications describes the directory structure in a Linux system best?

	Everything is a directory
	Everything is a file
	Directories are files and and files are directories

Warning:

no undo and make sure what you want to do (page 48)

Exercises in Terminal (slide 49)

1. Go to a specific subfolder of a folder (example: cd Documents/courses/) and get back to the home directory using cd command. List 3 different ways to do it using one command. Check after every action your path with pwd command.

ExpandAnswer:

      cd
      cd ~
      cd $HOME
       the last option $HOME is an environment variable. You will learn about environment variables later.

2. Go to the directory /tmp and jump between /tmp and your home directory back and forth. Check after every action your path with pwd command.

ExpandAnswer:

       cd /tmp
       cd -
       cd - with cd - you change back to the previous working directory, pass the dash - character as an argument to the cd command.

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