Beginners Guide to Linux
One of the most powerful tools in linux is the terminal, this gives command line access to the computer but has a lot of power that you can access with only a little training.Â
 You can right click on a folder or the desktop and select ‘open in terminal’ and will get a new window:
[username@computername Desktop]$
In the terminal you can type commands and upon hitting enter, the commands are executed
Useful Beamline Linux commands
Command | Function |
---|---|
| Opens Olex2 |
| Opens Mercury |
| runs shelxt on your file (make sure you are in the same directory) |
| Runs xprep |
| Opens Shelxle |
Common Linux commands
Command | Function |
---|---|
| shows the directory path. eg /path/data/structure |
| lists the content of the directory, eg. all the files and folders. |
| lists contents with details, most recently changed/added items at the bottom |
| changes your directory to /directory/subdirectory. eg, /path/data/structure |
| moves back one directory. eg /path/data/structure will move to /path/data |
| moves back two directories. eg /path/data/structure will move to /path |
| changes directory to the user directory; /data/home/user3bm1 |
| changes directory to the highest level (root directory) |
| makes a new directory (within the directory you are already in), here called newdirectory |
| deletes the specified file. Be careful when using this, it won’t ask you for confirmation, it will just delete. |
| deletes the specified directory. Again, be careful. |
[Ctrl]-c | halts all active tasks within the terminal |