Description

Windows has a shell OS which is CMD.EXE and Powershell. However, some linux command does not work on the windows command line. The windows powershell and CMD has different commands (and some of the same) with Bash, Zsh and other Unix-based shells. Thankfully, there are some Unix-based solution for windows, some of the most popular one’s are the Git-bash and WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). You can download and install any of them.

Why Should You Learn About The Command line

1. Speed
2. Easy to access remote servers
3. Command line tools
4. Great skill to have

basic-command-line

• Arrow Up and Arrow Down: This will show your previous and next commands
• Tab: This will auto-complete your
• Ctrl + C: This will exit the current command
• Ctrl + D: This will close the terminal. Note: this command does not work on Command line and Powershell
• exit: This will close the terminal on windows command line and powershell
• help: This will show you many more options

Basic Commands

Some of the commands here works well on Bash and ZSH but does not work on cmd and powershell. I will try to write out all the commands and show the difference

List Files in Folder

• On windows command line and powershell

dir

• On Bash and Zsh

ls

Create Folder and File

• Creating a folder is the same across all platform

mkdir [folderName]

• While, creating a file is different. On windows

type nul > [filename.extention]

• On Bash and Zsh

touch [filename.extention]

Navigating Through Folder

Navigating through folders is the same across all the platform

• To navigate into a folder

cd [foldername]

• To go back to the previous folder

cd ..

To Clear Screen

• This command works on windows

cls

• This command works on bash and zsh

clear

Renaming File and Folder

• On windows

rename [file] [newfilename] rename [folder] [newfoldername]

• On Bash and Zsh

mv [folder] [newfoldername] mv [file] [newfilename]

Copying Files

• On windows

xcopy [filetype] [folder]

• On Bash and Zsh

cp [filetype] [foldername]

Moving Files

• On windows

move [filetype] [folder]

• On Bash and Zsh

mv [filetype] [folder]

Deleting File and Folder

• On Bash and Zsh

rm [filename.extention] rm -r [folder]

• On windows

del [filename.extention] rmdir [folder]

Renaming File and Folder

• On windows

ren [oldfilename] [newfilename] ren [oldfoldername] [newfoldername]

• On Bash and Zsh

mv [oldfilename] [newfilename] mv [oldfoldername] [newfoldername]

What Next

1. Practice the commands here
2. Use google to discover new commands

Resources

1. Linux Command Handbook
2. The 50 Most Popular Linux & Terminal Commands