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Unix and Linux directory management is handled by a set of shell commands: pwd and cd navigate, ls inspects, mkdir creates, cp copies, mv moves or renames, rmdir removes empty directories, rm -r removes directory trees, and find searches them. du measures directory usage, while df reports free space on the containing filesystem.
This guide focuses on safe, practical usage, including paths, permissions, symbolic links, unusual filenames, destructive operations, and the differences between portable Unix syntax and GNU/Linux extensions.
Quick reference
| Task | Command | Example | Portability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Show current directory | pwd |
pwd -P |
Portable; logical and physical modes can vary |
| Change directory | cd |
cd -- "$HOME/projects" |
Shell built-in |
| List contents | ls |
ls -la |
Portable basics; options vary |
| Create directories | mkdir |
mkdir -p project/src |
Widely portable |
| Remove an empty directory | rmdir |
rmdir empty |
Portable |
| Remove a directory tree | rm -r |
rm -ri -- old-tree |
Portable basics; dangerous |
| Copy a directory | cp |
cp -a source destination |
-a is common GNU/BSD syntax |
| Move or rename | mv |
mv -- old new |
Portable basics |
| Search a tree | find |
find . -type d -name 'cache' |
Predicates vary |
| Measure directory usage | du |
du -sh directory |
Options vary |
| Check filesystem space | df |
df -h /path |
Portable basics; formatting options vary |
Linux commonly supplies GNU Coreutils. Other Unix-like systems, including macOS and BSD systems, may use different implementations and option names. The GNU Coreutils documentation currently describes version 9.11; installed distributions may ship older or patched versions. See the GNU Coreutils manual and Linux command introduction.
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Understand paths before running commands
An absolute path starts at the root directory, such as /var/log. A relative path starts from the current working directory, such as logs or ../backup. The root directory is /; ~ normally means the current user’s home directory; . means the current directory; and .. means its parent.
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Names beginning with a dot are hidden by convention. They are still directory entries, so a directory containing only .config is not empty. A directory can also be a mount point for another filesystem or contain symbolic links to other locations.
The shell expands variables, quotes, and glob characters before most commands run. For example, * is expanded by the shell, while expressions such as -name '*.log' are interpreted by find. Quote paths and patterns:
mkdir -p -- "$HOME/projects/demo"
find . -type d -name '*.cache'Quoting protects spaces, tabs, wildcard characters, and many unusual names. The -- marker ends command options where supported, protecting a pathname that begins with -.
Navigate with pwd and cd
pwd
pwd -P
pwd -L
cd /var/log
cd ..
cd ~
cd -
cdpwd prints the current working directory. pwd -P requests a physical path with symbolic links resolved; pwd -L requests the logical path maintained by the shell. Use the option explicitly when symlink resolution matters.
cd with no argument normally changes to the home directory. cd - returns to the previous directory using $OLDPWD. Because cd changes the current shell’s working directory, it is normally a shell built-in: an external process cannot change its parent shell’s directory. A cd inside a separate script or pipeline therefore does not change the directory of the calling shell.
target="$HOME/projects/demo"
cd -- "$target" || exit 1
printf 'Now in: %sn' "$PWD"If cd fails, the working directory does not change. Check it with pwd or printf '%sn' "$PWD".
List and inspect directories with ls
ls
ls -l
ls -la
ls -A
ls -ld -- project
ls -lh
ls -ltrls project lists the contents of project. ls -d project lists the directory entry itself, and ls -ld project displays its metadata without listing inside it. The -a option includes . and ..; -A includes hidden entries except those two. Long format shows mode, link count, owner, group, size, timestamp, and name. A leading d indicates a directory and l a symbolic link.
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Create directory trees with mkdir
mkdir project
mkdir project/src project/tests
mkdir -p -- project/src/main
mkdir -m 750 -- privateWithout -p, parent directories must already exist. With -p, missing parents are created and existing parents are not treated as an error. The process umask affects initial permissions, so -m is a requested mode rather than a reason to assume every platform produces identical results. If exact final permissions matter, verify and use chmod afterward.
mkdir -p -- "$HOME/projects/demo/src"
chmod 750 -- "$HOME/projects/demo"Copy, move, and rename directories
cp: copy a directory
cp -r source-dir destination-dir
cp -a -- source-dir destination-dir
cp -a -- source-dir/. destination-dir/cp -r recursively copies a tree. cp -a, common on GNU and BSD systems, attempts to preserve a broad set of attributes and links. It does not guarantee preservation of every ACL, extended attribute, security label, sparse-file detail, hard-link relationship, ownership detail, or filesystem-specific feature.
Destination layout matters. If the destination already exists as a directory, the source may be placed inside it. The forms cp -a source destination and cp -a source/. destination/ can produce different nesting results. Verify the result:
find -- destination -maxdepth 2 -print
du -sh -- source-dir destination-i can ask before overwriting; -n is available on some implementations. For large transfers requiring restart or progress features, rsync may be more suitable where installed.
mv: move or rename
mv -- old-name new-name
mv -i -- project /srv/projects/Renaming within one directory is a move operation. On the same filesystem, a rename normally changes directory entries without copying the contents or changing their inode identities. Across filesystems, an implementation may need to copy and then remove the original.
Inspect both operands before moving. An existing destination can cause unexpected nesting or overwriting, depending on the implementation and options. GNU’s -T option can force a destination to be treated as a normal path rather than a directory, but it is not portable.
Remove directories safely
Use rmdir for empty directories
rmdir -- empty-dir
rmdir -p -- a/b/crmdir removes only empty directories. It fails when visible or hidden entries remain. The -p form, where supported, also attempts to remove empty parent directories.
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find -- old-tree -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -print
rm -ri -- old-treerm -r recursively attempts to remove a directory and its contents. rm -i requests confirmation in situations supported by the implementation. rm -f suppresses many prompts and nonexistent-file errors, and
aaarm -rf combines force and recursion. It is dangerously destructive and should not be the default beginner command.
A trailing slash does not make deletion safe. Never use unvalidated variables in recursive deletion. A safer script should reject empty or obviously dangerous targets:
target="/path/to/remove"
case $target in
""|/|"$HOME") printf '%sn' 'Refusing unsafe target' >& exit 1 ;;
esac
rm -ri -- "$target"Before removing a large tree, inspect symbolic links, mounts, and filesystem boundaries. On Linux, findmnt --target /path/to/tree can help identify the mounted filesystem. Recursive operations can still be affected by concurrent changes and permissions.
Search directory trees with find
find . -type d
find /var -type d -name 'cache'
find . -type d -empty
find . -type d -mtime +30
find . -type d -name 'build' -print-type d selects directories, -name matches a basename, and -path matches a path. Quote patterns so the shell does not expand them. -maxdepth, -mindepth, -prune, and -delete are common GNU/BSD extensions rather than universal POSIX predicates.
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find . -type d -name 'build' -print
find . -type d -name 'build' -exec rm -r -- {} +-exec ... {} + batches results; -exec ... {} ; runs once per result. Null-delimited output handles unusual names:
find . -type d -print0 |
while IFS= read -r -d '' dir; do
printf '%sn' "$dir"
doneThe read -d form is Bash-specific. Avoid for f in $(find ...); command substitution splits names on whitespace and cannot safely represent newlines.
Measure usage: du versus df
du -sh -- directory
du -h --max-depth=1 -- directory
df -h /path/to/directorydu estimates space used by a directory tree, usually in allocated filesystem blocks. du -s summarizes and -h uses human-readable units. df reports used and available capacity for the filesystem containing a path. A small du result does not prove that the filesystem has free space: other directories, reserved blocks, snapshots, metadata, or deleted-but-open files may account for the difference.
Use du -x, where supported, to stay on one filesystem. Avoid relying on directory/* when hidden entries matter; shell globbing does not normally include dotfiles.
Directory permissions and ownership
ls -ld -- directory
chmod 750 -- directory
chmod u+rwx,g+rx,o-rwx -- directory
chown user:group -- directory
chgrp developers -- directoryDirectory permission bits have special meanings:
- Read (
r) allows listing names. - Write (
w) allows creating, removing, or renaming entries, subject to other restrictions. - Execute (
x) allows searching or traversing the directory and accessing known names.
Write permission without execute permission is usually insufficient for useful entry manipulation. Removing a file generally depends on permissions on its containing directory, not only on the file. Access can also be affected by ACLs, capabilities, read-only mounts, SELinux, AppArmor, and network filesystem behavior.
The sticky bit is commonly used on shared writable directories:
chmod 1777 -- shared-directoryA setgid directory can cause newly created entries to inherit its group where supported:
chmod 2770 -- shared-directoryOwnership changes generally require elevated privileges. Avoid broad commands such as sudo chmod -R or sudo chown -R until the exact scope, desired modes, and consequences are understood. Recursive changes can break services, executable files, SSH access, ACLs, and security labels.
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Symbolic and hard links
ln -s /opt/app/current app
ln existing-file hard-link
ls -l app
readlink app
readlink -f app
realpath appA symbolic link stores a path and may point to a file or directory. A hard link refers to the same inode; it normally cannot cross filesystems and ordinary users generally cannot create hard links to directories. Relative symbolic-link targets are interpreted relative to the directory containing the link, not necessarily the caller’s current directory.
cd follows directory symlinks, which is why logical and physical paths can differ. rm link-name removes the link, not its target. Broken links remain directory entries. Inspect links before copying or deleting trees, because link handling depends on the command, implementation, and operand position.
Archive directory trees with tar
tar -cf project.tar project/
tar -tf project.tar
tar -xf project.tar
tar -czf project.tar.gz project/
tar -xzf project.tar.gzAn archive packages a tree; it is not a live copy of the directory. List an archive before extracting it, and extract untrusted archives into a controlled destination. Path traversal, ownership restoration, permissions, and compression flags vary by implementation and privilege level; the examples reflect common GNU tar usage.
Portable Unix syntax versus GNU/Linux conveniences
| Feature | Qualification |
|---|---|
mkdir -p |
Widely available and standard in modern Unix environments. |
cp -a |
Common GNU/BSD extension; verify on strict POSIX systems. |
find -maxdepth and -delete |
Common but not universal. |
du --max-depth |
GNU-style option. |
Long options such as --help |
Not guaranteed by historical Unix utilities. |
findmnt |
Linux-specific. |
Bash pipefail and read -d |
Shell-specific, not POSIX sh syntax. |
For scripts intended to run across Unix-like systems, use conservative POSIX syntax and verify options against the target system’s manual pages. For GNU/Linux administration, GNU extensions can be practical, but label them clearly.
Practical workflows
Create and inspect a project tree
pwd
ls -la
mkdir -p -- "$HOME/projects/demo/src"
cd -- "$HOME/projects/demo/src" || exit 1
pwd
cd ../.. || exit 1
ls -ld -- "$HOME/projects/demo"Copy a directory as a backup
cp -a -- project project.backup
find -- project.backup -maxdepth 2 -print
du -sh -- project project.backupFind empty directories
find . -type d -empty -printReview the printed list before adding a deletion action. Empty directories can be intentional, including mount points or application placeholders.
Find large subdirectories
du -h --max-depth=1 -- "$HOME"--max-depth is GNU-specific; use the corresponding implementation’s manual page on other systems.
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Troubleshooting
“No such file or directory”
Check the current directory, spelling, quoting, parent existence, and broken links:
pwd
printf '<%s>n' "$path"
ls -ld -- "$path"“Permission denied”
Inspect every parent directory, not just the target:
ls -ld -- / /path /path/to /path/to/target
idOn Linux, namei -l /path/to/target can show permissions along the path. Do not immediately add sudo; determine whether the problem is traversal, write permission, ownership, a read-only mount, an ACL, or mandatory access control.
“Directory not empty”
ls -la -- directory
find -- directory -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -printHidden entries are a frequent cause. Decide whether each entry should be retained before using recursive removal.
Unexpected copy nesting
Inspect whether the destination already exists and verify the result with find -- destination -maxdepth 2 -print. The final operand’s type and the use of source versus source/. affect the layout.
Shell-script safety checklist
- Quote path variables:
"$target". - Use
--where supported. - Check the result of critical
cdoperations. - Preview recursive actions before applying them.
- Do not parse
lsoutput. - Handle unusual names with null-delimited processing.
- Check mount points and filesystem boundaries before large recursive operations.
- Validate deletion targets and refuse empty, root, or unexpectedly broad paths.
set -eu is a common baseline. Bash scripts often use set -euo pipefail, but pipefail is not POSIX syntax and shell error handling has exceptions, especially in conditionals, pipelines, and command substitutions.
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pwd # current directory
cd -- "$dir" # change directory
ls -la # include hidden entries
ls -ld -- "$dir" # inspect the directory entry
mkdir -p -- "$dir" # create parents as needed
cp -a -- src dest # copy with broad attribute preservation
mv -i -- old new # inspect before overwriting
rmdir -- empty # remove only an empty directory
find . -type d -print # find directories
du -sh -- "$dir" # tree usage estimate
df -h -- "$dir" # filesystem capacity
chmod 750 -- "$dir" # set directory permissions
chown user:group -- "$dir" # change ownershipWhen behavior matters, read the local documentation with man command, command --help where supported, or the relevant system manual. The safest directory command is the one whose target, scope, and effects you have verified first.
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