Linux Command Line Exercises for Beginners

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11 steps · 2 quizzes · open any step, or read it here

1. 1
   Linux command line exercises: what you'll practiseStart hereIn this lesson you practise the Linux command line with exercises you do in a terminal that runs in your browser.InteractiveHands-on

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   In this lesson you practise the Linux command line with exercises you do in a terminal that runs in your browser. You move between folders, create, copy, move and delete files, read and search a log file, and join commands with pipes, and a file tree beside the terminal shows what every command changed.

   Watch five commands run, then type your own:

   Interactive · A practice terminal with a live file tree — try it in the lesson

   In this lesson you'll:

   • find out where you are and what is around you (pwd, ls, cd)
   • make, copy, move, rename and delete files and folders
   • read and search files (cat, head, tail, wc, grep)
   • join commands into one with |, and save the result with >

   It takes about an hour. Each step has a terminal with a short list of tasks; they tick themselves when the files look right. Nothing you type can harm a real computer: the files are pretend, and Start again puts them back.

   Takeaway: a command is a word, then options and names, then Enter.

2. 2
   pwd and ls: where you are and what is hereThe command line always works in one folder at a time, the working directory. Two commands tell you about it: pwd (print working directory) prints the full path of the folder you are in. ls (list) shows what is in it. Folders are shown in blue.InteractiveHands-on

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   The command line always works in one folder at a time, the working directory. Two commands tell you about it:

   • pwd (print working directory) prints the full path of the folder you are in.
   • ls (list) shows what is in it. Folders are shown in blue.

   ls takes options, letters after a dash that change what it does, and names:

   Command	What it shows
   ls	the names in this folder
   ls -a	also the hidden files, whose names start with a dot (.bashrc)
   ls -l	one line per item: type and permissions, owner, size in bytes, date, name
   ls reports	what is inside the folder reports, without going there

   Options can be joined: ls -la is ls -l -a.

   Try it: do the five tasks. The prompt dana@demo:~$ says who you are (dana), which computer (demo) and where you are: ~ is short for your home folder, /home/dana.

   Interactive · pwd and ls in a practice terminal — try it in the lesson

   In the ls -l lines, the first letter is d for a folder and - for a file. What is the size of notes.txt in bytes?

   Takeaway: pwd says where you are; ls says what is there.

3. 3
   Paths: absolute and relativeA path names a file or folder by the folders you pass on the way to it. There are two kinds: An absolute path starts at the root folder, /, at the top of everything: /home/dana/projects/website. It means the same thing wherever you are.InteractiveHands-on

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   A path names a file or folder by the folders you pass on the way to it. There are two kinds:

   • An absolute path starts at the root folder, /, at the top of everything: /home/dana/projects/website. It means the same thing wherever you are.
   • A relative path starts from where you are now: from /home/dana/reports, the website folder is ../projects/website.

   Two short names make relative paths work. . is the folder you are in, and .. is the folder above it. Each .. climbs one level; then you walk down by naming folders, joined by /. And ~ is your home folder, wherever you are.

   Try it: tap folders in the tree to see the route between where you are and where you want to go. Then switch to Tap sets: where you are and move yourself.

   Interactive · Absolute and relative paths, drawn as a route — try it in the lesson

   Pick /tmp as where you go. Why is the absolute path shorter than the relative one from reports?

   Takeaway: absolute paths start with /; relative paths start from where you are, and .. climbs one level.

4. 4
   cd: moving between folderscd (change directory) moves you to another folder. It prints nothing when it works; the prompt and pwd show where you landed.InteractiveHands-on

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   cd (change directory) moves you to another folder. It prints nothing when it works; the prompt and pwd show where you landed.

   Command	Where it takes you
   cd reports	into reports, inside the folder you are in
   cd ..	up one level
   cd ../..	up two levels
   cd /tmp	to /tmp, by its absolute path
   cd or cd ~	home, to /home/dana
   cd -	back to the folder you were in before

   Press Tab while typing a name and the terminal completes it, which saves typing and spelling mistakes. Press ↑ to bring back the last command.

   Try it: do the tasks, and watch the you are here mark move in the tree.

   Interactive · cd in a practice terminal — try it in the lesson

   Check your work · Go into `projects/website`. Then run `cd ../..` and `pwd`. Paste what `pwd` printed. — check it in the lesson

   Takeaway: cd moves you, cd .. climbs, cd alone goes home.

5. 5
   mkdir and touch: making folders and filesmkdir archive makes a folder named archive. mkdir archive/2026 makes 2026 inside archive, but only if archive already exists. If it doesn't, you get No such file or directory.InteractiveHands-on

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   • mkdir archive makes a folder named archive.
   • mkdir archive/2026 makes 2026 inside archive, but only if archive already exists. If it doesn't, you get No such file or directory.
   • mkdir -p archive/2025/q4 makes every missing folder on the way (the -p is for parents), and says nothing if they already exist.
   • mkdir jan feb mar makes three folders at once: most commands take several names.
   • touch readme.txt makes an empty file (if the file exists, it only updates its date).

   Names with spaces are trouble on the command line, because a space separates names: mkdir my files makes two folders, my and files. Use - or _ instead, or put the name in quotes: mkdir "my files".

   Try it: build the archive in the tasks. Each new folder lights up in the tree.

   Interactive · mkdir and touch in a practice terminal — try it in the lesson

   What happens if you run mkdir archive a second time?

   Takeaway: mkdir makes folders, -p makes the whole path, touch makes an empty file.

6. Check: moving around and making foldersFour questions on the first half.Quiz · 4 questions

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   Four questions on the first half.

   Question 1. You type pwd and see /home/dana/reports. Where are you after cd ..?

   • /home/dana
   • /home
   • /home/dana/reports/..
   • Nowhere: cd .. gives an error

   Question 2. Which of these is an absolute path?

   • /home/dana/logs
   • logs/app.log
   • ../reports
   • ./notes.txt

   Question 3. mkdir archive/2026 fails with "No such file or directory". Why?

   • The folder archive doesn't exist yet
   • Folder names can't be numbers
   • mkdir can't make a folder inside another folder
   • Only an administrator can make folders

   Question 4. Which command also lists hidden files such as .bashrc?

   • ls -a
   • ls -l
   • pwd
   • cd ~
7. 6
   cp and mv: copy, move and renamecp notes.txt reports/ copies notes.txt into reports. The original stays. cp notes.txt notes-copy.txt makes a copy with a new name. cp -r projects/website website-backup copies a folder and everything in it. Without -r (recursive), cp skips folders.InteractiveHands-on

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   • cp notes.txt reports/ copies notes.txt into reports. The original stays.
   • cp notes.txt notes-copy.txt makes a copy with a new name.
   • cp -r projects/website website-backup copies a folder and everything in it. Without -r (recursive), cp skips folders.
   • mv q1-sales.csv reports/old/ moves a file into another folder.
   • mv todo.txt tasks.txt renames: on the command line, renaming is moving to a new name in the same folder.

   The rule for both: the last name is the destination. If it is a folder that exists, the item goes inside it, keeping its name; otherwise the item takes the last name as its new name.

   Careful: if the destination is a file that already exists, cp and mv replace it without asking. Add -i in a real terminal and they ask first.

   Try it: do the tasks, and watch where each file appears in the tree.

   Interactive · cp and mv in a practice terminal — try it in the lesson

   After cp notes.txt reports/, change nothing and run cat reports/notes.txt. Is it the same text as notes.txt?

   Takeaway: cp copies (-r for folders), mv moves and renames, and the last name is the destination.

8. 7
   rm and rmdir: deleting for goodrm junk.txt deletes a file. rmdir empty-folder deletes a folder, but only an empty one. rm -r old deletes a folder and everything inside it. rm reports/.csv deletes every file in reports whose name ends in .csv.InteractiveHands-on

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   • rm junk.txt deletes a file.
   • rmdir empty-folder deletes a folder, but only an empty one.
   • rm -r old deletes a folder and everything inside it.
   • rm reports/*.csv deletes every file in reports whose name ends in .csv. The * matches any characters; the shell replaces reports/*.csv with the matching names before rm runs.

   There is no recycle bin on the command line. A file deleted with rm is gone; nothing asks you to confirm. Two habits keep you safe:

   1. Run ls with the same name first: ls reports/*.csv shows exactly what rm reports/*.csv would delete.
   2. Never type rm -rf with a name you haven't checked. -f (force) hides every warning.

   Try it: clean up the home folder.

   Interactive · rm and rmdir in a practice terminal — try it in the lesson

   Before the last task, run ls reports/*.csv. Which files does the * match?

   Takeaway: rm deletes for good; check the names with ls first.

9. 8
   cat, head, tail and wc: reading filescat notes.txt prints the whole file. head -n 3 reports/q1-sales.csv prints its first 3 lines; head alone prints 10. tail -n 2 logs/app.log prints the last 2 lines. Logs grow at the end, so tail shows what happened last.InteractiveHands-on

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   • cat notes.txt prints the whole file.
   • head -n 3 reports/q1-sales.csv prints its first 3 lines; head alone prints 10.
   • tail -n 2 logs/app.log prints the last 2 lines. Logs grow at the end, so tail shows what happened last.
   • wc -l logs/app.log counts its lines (wc is word count: alone it prints lines, words and bytes).

   For a long file in a real terminal, less app.log shows one screen at a time (Space for the next page, q to quit).

   Try it: read the files in the tasks. The log has one line per event, with its time and its level: INFO, WARN or ERROR.

   Interactive · cat, head, tail and wc in a practice terminal — try it in the lesson

   Check your work · How many sales rows are in `reports/q1-sales.csv`, not counting the header line (`region,rep,amount`)? Count the lines with `wc -l`, then paste your answer. — check it in the lesson

   Takeaway: cat shows all, head the start, tail the end, wc -l counts lines.

10. 9
    grep: finding lines that matchgrep prints the lines of a file that contain a pattern. It is how you find the five lines that matter in a log of five thousand.InteractiveHands-on

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    grep prints the lines of a file that contain a pattern. It is how you find the five lines that matter in a log of five thousand.

    Command	What it prints
    grep ERROR logs/app.log	every line that contains ERROR
    grep -c ERROR logs/app.log	how many lines contain it
    grep -v INFO logs/app.log	every line that does not contain INFO
    grep -i anna logs/app.log	matches whatever the capitals: anna, Anna, ANNA
    grep -n ERROR logs/app.log	the matching lines with their line numbers
    grep "payment failed" logs/app.log	lines with the two words together, in quotes because of the space

    grep is case-sensitive: without -i, grep error finds nothing in this log, where every level is in capitals.

    Try it: investigate the log.

    Interactive · grep in a practice terminal — try it in the lesson

    Check your work · Run `grep -c ERROR logs/app.log` and paste what it printed. — check it in the lesson

    Takeaway: grep finds lines; -c counts, -v inverts, -i ignores capitals.