Linux Shell Basics - Commands, Paths, and Manual Pages

A Linux shell is a program that reads a command, finds the matching executable or builtin, and prints the result. Helpdesk and sysadmin work still starts here: over SSH there is no desktop, so the current directory, the user you are, and the files around you are the whole map. POSIX pwd writes an absolute pathname of the working directory. The PATH variable is the search list the shell uses before it can run a program by name. Manual pages are the on-box documentation for those programs.

In this lab, you will open a terminal-only workspace, record who you are and where you live, read the ls manual on this machine, classify builtins versus files, and build a small ticket tree with mkdir, touch, cp, mv, rm, rmdir, and ln -s.

Objectives

By completing this beginner lab, you will be able to:

• Print the working directory, your username, and your home directory, then name one hidden file that already exists
• Open the ls manual, leave the pager, and record the live path printed by man -w ls
• Classify cd and ls with type -t, record the path from command -v ls, and inspect PATH
• Create, copy, move, delete, and symlink files under paths-practice/ so the final tree matches the check

Who is this lab for?

This lab is designed for:

• IT Administrator Foundations learners who have never opened a Linux terminal
• Helpdesk and junior sysadmin students

No Azure account or cloud credentials are required.