Install Bash

Bash is typically a native application on Linux/Unix based machines; however, if installation is necessary you can find links to downloads below.

Bash for Windows

Because bash isn’t native to Windows an application like Cygwin would be necessary to gain the same features readily available in linux/macOS.
https://www.cygwin.com

Bash for macOS and linux

Bash is natively installed on Linux/Unix based machines.

Configure shell

Configuring bash aliases

$ alias ls='ls -lGh'

Sets the ls command to list, colorize, and provide file size suffixes

Working with directories

Navigate, create, and delete directory folders and files

$ pwd

Display path of current working directory

$ cd [directory]

Change working directory to [directory]

$ cd ..

Navigate to the parent directory

$ ls

List directory contents

$ ls -la

List detailed directory contents, including hidden files

$ mkdir [directory]

Create a new directory named [directory]

Handling output

Control the flow of data from a file

$ cat [file]

Output the contents of [file]

$ less [file]

Output the contents of [file] which supports pagination

$ head [file]

Output the first 10 lines of [file]

$ [cmd] > [file]

Direct the output of [cmd] into [file]

$ [cmd] >> [file]

Append the output of [cmd] to [file]

$ [cmd1] | [cmd2]

Direct the output of [cmd1] to the input of [cmd2]

$ clear

Clear the bash window

Working with files

Moving, renaming, creating and deleting files

$ rm [file]

Delete [file]

$ rm -r [directory]

Delete [directory]

$ rm -f [file]

Force-delete [file] (add -r to force-delete a directory)

$ mv [file-old] [file-new]

Rename [file-old] to [file-new]

$ cp [file] [directory]

Copy [file] to [directory] (possibly overwriting an existing file)

$ cp -r [src-directory] [dest-directory]

Copy [src-directory] and it’s contents to [dest-directory] (possibly overwriting files in an existing directory)

$ touch [file]

Update file access and modification time (and create [file] if it does not exist)

File and folder permissions

Change read, write, and execute permissions on files and folders

$ chmod 755 [file]

Change permissions of [file] to 755

Octal representation of permissions are group of permissions for User (u), Group (g) and Others (o) with values that are sum of read (4), write (2) and execute (1) permissions. For example, 755 is:

• Owner = 7; read (4) + write (2) + execute (1)
• Group = 5; read (4) + execute (1)
• Others = 5; read (4) + execute (1)

$ chmod -R 600

Change permissions of [directory] (and its contents to 600)

$ chown [user]:[group] [file]

Change ownership of [tile] to [user] and [group] (add -R to include a directory’s contents)

Networking and Internet

$ ping [ip/host]

Ping the [ip/host] and displays time, among other things

$ curl -O [url]

Downloads [url] to current working directory

$ ssh [user]@[ip/host]

Starts an SSH connection to [host] using [user]

$ ssh-copy-id [user]@[host]

Adds your SSH key to the host file for [user] to enable a keyed or passwordless login

$ scp [file] [user]@[ip/host]:/path/to/file

Securely copies [file] to a remote [host]

$ wget [file]

Downloads [file] to your current working directory

System Tasks

Find important information related to your currently running system

$ ps ax

List currently running processes

$ top

Displays live information on your currently running processes

$ kill [pid]

Ends the process using the provided process ID [pid]

$ killall [processname]

Ends all processes with the given [processname]

$ df

Shows disk usage

$ du [filename]

Shows disk usage of all files and folders in [filename]