How to manage .pst files in Microsoft Outlook

 

How to make a backup copy of a .pst file

If you do not use Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Server, Outlook stores all its data in a .pst file. You can use the backup copy to restore your Outlook data if the original .pst file is damaged or lost. This section explains how to create a copy of your whole .pst file, with all the default items in the file.

Follow these steps to back up the whole .pst file:

1. Close any messaging programs such as Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, or Microsoft Windows Messaging.
2. Click Start, and then click Run. Copy and paste (or type) the following command in the Open box, and then press ENTER:
   control panel
   Control Panel opens.
   
   Note If you see the Pick a category screen, click User Accounts, and then go to step 3.
3. Double-click the Mail icon.
4. Click Show Profiles.
5. Click the appropriate profile, and then click Properties.
6. Click Data Files.
7. Under Name, click the Personal Folders Service that you want to back up. By default, this service is called Personal Folders. However, it may be named something else.
   
   Note If you have more than one Personal Folders Service in your profile, you must back up each set of .pst files separately.
   
   If there are no entries called Personal Folders and you have not yet stored any information such as messages, contacts, or appointments in Outlook, you probably have not yet enabled the Personal Folders Service. Go to the "References" section for information about how to create a .pst file.
   
   If you have no Personal Folders Services in your profile and you can store information such as messages, contacts, or appointments in Outlook, your information is probably being stored in a mailbox on an Exchange Server. Try using the instructions in the "How to back up .pst file data that is located on a Microsoft Exchange Server" section.
8. Click Settings, and then note the path and file name that appears.
   
   Note Because the .pst file contains all data that is stored in the MAPI folders that Outlook uses, the file can be very large. To reduce the size of the .pst file, click Compact Now in the Settings window.
9. Close all the Properties windows.
10. Use Windows Explorer or My Computer to copy the file that you noted in step 8. You can copy the file to another location on the hard disk drive or to any kind of removable storage media, such as a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a portable hard disk drive, a magnetic tape cassette, or any other storage device.

How to back up .pst file data that is located on a Microsoft Exchange Server

To know how to back up your data if you use Outlook with a Microsoft Exchange Server, you have to know where the data is stored. The default delivery and storage location for Outlook data is the Exchange Server mailbox. The Exchange Server administrator usually handles backups of the mailboxes on the server. However, some Exchange Server administrators store Outlook data in a .pst file on your hard disk drive.

Follow these steps to see where Outlook is currently storing your data:

In Outlook 2010:

1. Click the File tab on the Outlook ribbon.
2. In the Info category, click the Account Settings button, and then click Account Settings.
3. In the Account Settings window, click the Data Files tab.
   
   If the Location field contains the word "Online" or a path to a file that has the file name extension .ost, Outlook stores data in folders on the Exchange Server. Contact the Exchange Server administrator for more information about how backups are handled.
   
   If the Location field contains a path to a file that has the file name extension .pst, Outlook stores new messages, contacts, appointments, and other data in a .pst file on your hard disk. To back up the data, go to the "How to make a backup copy of a .pst file" section.

In Outlook 2007:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Mail Setup tab, and then click E-mail Accounts.
2. In the Account Settings window, click the Data Files tab.
   
   If the Name field contains the word "Mailbox" followed by an e-mail name, Outlook stores data in folders on the Exchange Server. Contact the Exchange Server administrator for more information about how backups are handled.
   
   If the field contains the words "Personal Folder" or the name of a set of personal folders or .pst files, Outlook stores new messages, contacts, appointments, and other data in a .pst file on your hard disk. To back up the data, go to the "How to make a backup copy of a .pst file" section.

In an earlier version of Outlook:

1. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
   
   Note This option might be unavailable on some networks. The network administrator might have removed this option to protect the account information. If you do not see the Email Accounts option, contact the network administrator for help.
2. Click View or Change Existing Email Accounts, and then click Next.
3. Look at the Deliver new e-mail to the following location option. If the option contains the word "Mailbox" followed by an e-mail name, Outlook stores data in folders on the Exchange Server. Contact the Exchange Server administrator for more information about how backups are handled.
   
   If the field contains the words "Personal Folder" or the name of a set of personal folders or .pst files, Outlook stores new messages, contacts, appointments, and other data in a .pst file on your hard disk. To back up the data, go to the "How to make a backup copy of a .pst file" section.

How to export .pst file data

If you want to back up only some of your Outlook data, you can create a new backup .pst file of only the data that you want to save. This is also known as exporting .pst file data. For example, you might want to use this section if you have important information in only some folders and you have other, less important items in much larger folders. You can export only the important folders or contacts and omit folders like Sent Mail.

In Outlook 2010:

Follow these steps to export a specific folder:

1. Click the File tab.
2. In the Outlook Options window, click Advanced.
3. Click Export.
4. In the Import and Export Wizard, click Export to a file, and then click Next.
5. Click Outlook Data File (.pst), and then click Next.
6. Select the folder to export, and then click Next.
7. Click Browse, and then select the location where you want the new .pst file to be saved.
8. In the File Name box, type the name that you want to use for the new .pst file, and then click OK.
9. Click Finish.

In an earlier version of Outlook:

1. Open Outlook.
2. On the File menu, click Import And Export. If the menu item is not available, move your pointer over the chevrons at the bottom of the menu, and then click Import and Export.
3. Click Export To File, and then click Next.
4. Click Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.
5. Click the folder to which you want to export the .pst file, and then click Next.
6. Click Browse, and then select the location where you want the new .pst file to be saved.
7. In the File Name box, type the name that you want to use for the new .pst file, and then click OK.
8. Click Finish.

Note Folder design properties include permissions, filters, description, forms, and views. If you export items from one .pst file to another, no folder design properties are maintained.

How to import .pst file data into Outlook

You can use the backup copy of your .pst file to restore your Outlook data if the original .pst file is damaged or lost. Everything that is saved in the .pst file is returned to Outlook.

In Outlook 2010:

Follow these steps to restore, or import, your data into Outlook:

1. Click the File tab.
2. In the Open category, click Import.
3. In the Import and Export Wizard, click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
4. Click Outlook Data File (.pst), and then click Next.
5. Type the path and the name of the .pst file that you want to import, or click Browse to choose the file to import.
   
   Note Under Options, it is recommended that you click Do not import duplicates, unless you want the imported information to replace or duplicate items that are already in Outlook.
6. Click Next.
7. Select the folder that you want to import. To import everything in the .pst file, select the top of the hierarchy.
   
   Note The top folder (usually Personal Folders, Outlook Data File or your email address) is selected automatically. Include subfolders is selected by default. All folders under the folder selected will be imported
8. Click Finish.

In earlier versions of Outlook:

Follow these steps to restore, or import, your data into Outlook:

1. If the .pst file that you want to import is stored on a removable device, such as a floppy disk, a portable hard disk drive, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape cassette, or any other storage medium, insert or connect the storage device, and then copy the .pst file to the hard disk drive of the computer.
   
   When you copy the .pst file, make sure that the Read-Only attribute is not selected. If this attribute is selected, you might receive the following error message:
   The specified device, file, or path could not be accessed. It may have been deleted, it may be in use, you may be experiencing network problems, or you may not have sufficient permission to access it. Close any application using this file and try again.
   If you receive this error message, clear the Read-Only attribute, and then copy the file again.
2. Open Outlook.
3. On the File menu, click Import And Export. If the command is not available, move the pointer over the chevrons at the bottom of the menu, and then click Import and Export.
4. Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
5. Click Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.
6. Type the path and the name of the .pst file that you want to import, and then click Next.
7. Select the folder that you want to import. To import everything in the .pst file, select the top of the hierarchy.
8. Click Finish.

How to transfer Outlook data from one computer to another computer

You cannot share or synchronize .pst files between one computer and another computer. However, you can still transfer Outlook data from one computer to another computer.

Use the instructions in the "How to make a backup copy of a .pst file" section to copy the .pst file to a CD or DVD-ROM or other portable media, or copy the file to another computer over a LAN/WAN link.

Note Connecting to .pst files over LAN/WAN links is not supported, and problems connecting to .pst files over such links can occur. See the following article for more information:

297019  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297019/EN-US/ ) Personal folder files are unsupported over a LAN or over a WAN link

You might also want to create a new, secondary .pst file that is intended for transferring data only. Save the data that you want to transfer in this new .pst file and omit any data that you do not want to transfer. If you need to make a secondary .pst file to store data for transfer between two different computers, or for backup purposes, use the following steps.

In Outlook 2010:

1. Click the File tab.
2. In the Info category, click the Account Settings button, and then click Account Settings.
3. In the Account Settings window, click the Data Files tab.
4. Click Add, click Outlook data file (.pst), and then click OK.
5. Type a unique name for the new pst. file. For example, type Transfer.pst, and then click OK.
6. Close Outlook.

In earlier versions of Outlook:

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Outlook Data File.
2. Type a unique name for the new .pst file. For example, type Transfer.pst, and then click OK.
3. Type a display name for the Personal Folders file, and then click OK.
4. Close Outlook.

Follow these steps to copy an existing .pst file:

1. Use the instructions in the "How to make a backup copy of a .pst file" section to make a backup copy of the .pst file that you want to transfer. Make sure that you copy the backup .pst file to a CD-ROM or to another kind of removable media.
2. Copy the backup .pst file from the removable media to the second computer.
3. Follow the steps in the "How to import .pst file data into Outlook" section to import the .pst file data into Outlook on the second computer.

How to back up Personal Address Books

Your Personal Address Book might contain e-mail addresses and contact information that is not included in an Outlook Address Book or contact list. The Outlook Address Book can be kept either in an Exchange Server mailbox or in a .pst file. However, the Personal Address Book creates a separate file that is stored on your hard disk drive. To make sure that this address book is backed up, you must include any files that have the .pab extension in your backup process.

Follow these steps to locate your Personal Address Book file:

1. If you are running Windows Vista: Click Start.
   
   If you are running Windows XP: Click Start, and then click Search.
   
   If you are running Windows 95 or Windows 98: Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
   
   If you are running Windows 2000 or Windows Millennium Edition (Me): Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. Type *.pab, and then press ENTER or click Find Now.
   
   Note the location of the .pab file. Use My Computer or Windows Explorer to copy the .pab file to the same folder or storage medium that contains the backup of the .pst file.

You can use this backup to restore your Personal Address Book to your computer or to transfer it to another computer. Follow these steps to restore the Personal Address Book:

1. Close any messaging programs, such as Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, or Windows Messaging.
2. Click Start, and then click Run. Copy and paste (or type) the following command in the Open box, and then press ENTER:
   control panel
   Control Panel opens.
   
   Note If you see the Pick a category screen, click User Accounts.
3. Double-click the Mail icon.
4. Click Show Profiles.
5. Click the appropriate profile, and then click Properties.
6. Click Email Accounts.
7. Click Add a New Directory or Address Book, and then click Next
8. Click Additional Address Books, and then click Next.
9. Click Personal Address Book, and then click Next.
10. Type the path and the name of the Personal Address Book file that you want to restore, click Apply, and then click OK.
11. Click Close, and click then OK.

Note The Outlook Address Book is a service that the profile uses to make it easier to use a Contacts folder in a Mailbox, Personal Folder File, or Public Folder as an e-mail address book. The Outlook Address Book itself contains no data that has to be saved.

How to use the Personal Folder Backup utility to automate the backup of .pst files

Microsoft has released a utility to automate the backup of your personal folders (.pst) file. To download the utility, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8B081F3A-B7D0-4B16-B8AF-5A6322F4FD01&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8B081F3A-B7D0-4B16-B8AF-5A6322F4FD01&displaylang=en)

For more information about the Personal Folder Backup utility, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

238782  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/238782/ ) How to automatically backup your personal folders file

Note In Microsoft Outlook 2010, the Personal Folders backup add-in is disabled by default. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

2030523  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2030523/ ) How to enable Personal Folders Backup add-in to work with Outlook 2010

How to back up Outlook settings files

If you have customized settings, such as toolbar settings and Favorites, that you want to replicate on another computer or restore to your computer, you might want to include the following files in your backup:

• Outcmd.dat: This file stores toolbar and menu settings.
• ProfileName.fav: This is your Favorites file, which includes the settings for the Outlook bar (only applies to Outlook 2002 and older versions).
• ProfileName.xml: This file stores the Navigation Pane preferences (only applies to Outlook 2003 and newer versions).
• ProfileName.nk2: This file stores the Nicknames for AutoComplete.
• Signature files: Each signature has its own file and uses the same name as the signature that you used when you created it. For example, if you create a signature named MySig, the following files are created in the Signatures folder:
  • MySig.htm: This file stores the HTML Auto signature.
  • MySig.rtf: This file stores the Microsoft Outlook Rich Text Format (RTF) Auto signature.
  • MySig.txt: This file stores the plain text format Auto signature.
  The location of the signature files depends on the version of Windows that you are running. Use this list to find the appropriate location:
  • Windows Vista or Windows 7: Drive\users\Username\appdata, where Drive represents the drive that Outlook was installed to and Username represents the user name that Outlook was installed under.
  • Windows XP or Windows 2000: Drive\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook, where Drive represents the drive that Outlook was installed to and Username represents the user name that Outlook was installed under.
  • Windows 98 or Windows Me: Drive\Windows\Local Settings\Application Data, where Drive represents the drive that Outlook was installed to.

Note If you use Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor, signatures are stored in the Normal.dot file as AutoText entries. You should back up this file also.

How to find a .pst file

If you do not know where an old or existing .pst file resides on your computer and you want to add this .pst file to your Outlook profile, this section explains how to search for the .pst file and then add it to your Outlook profile.

To search for the .pst file, follow these steps:

1. To search for the .pst files:
   • If you are running Windows Vista: Click Start, and then click Computer. Locate the search window in the top-right corner.
   • If you are running Windows XP: Click Start, and then click Search.
   • If you are running Windows 95 or Windows 98: Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
   • If you are running Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition: Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. Type *.pst, and then press Enter or click Find Now. Locate the desired .pst file you want to add to Outlook. Record the location of the .pst file.
3. Close the search window and start Outlook.
   • If you are running Outlook 2010, click the File tab, and then click Account Settings in the Info category. Click Account Settings again, and then click the Data Files tab in the window that appears.
   • If you are running Outlook 2007 or earlier, click the File menu, and then select Data File Management.
4. Click the Add button, and then choose the correct type of .pst file to add. If your .pst file was created in Outlook 2007, choose Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst). If your .pst file was created in an older version of Outlook, such as Outlook 97, 2000, or XP, choose Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst).
5. Navigate to the location of the desired .pst file that you found during your search above. Select the .pst file, and then click OK.
6. Type a custom name for the .pst file or accept the default name. Click OK. Click Close to exit the current window.

Outlook now displays that .pst file in the Outlook folder list.

NEXT STEPS

If these methods did not help you, you might want to ask someone you know for he...

If these methods did not help you, you might want to ask someone you know for help. Or, if you use Outlook with Exchange Server, you might want to contact the Exchange Server administrator for help. You can also use the Microsoft Customer Support Services Web site to find other solutions. Some services that the Microsoft Customer Support Services Web site provides include the following:

• Searchable Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1) : Search technical support information and self-help tools for Microsoft products.
• Solution Centers (http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub) : View product-specific frequently asked questions and support highlights.
• Microsoft Customer Support Newsgroups (http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx) : Contact counterparts, peers, and Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs).
• Other Support Options (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=csshome) : Use the Web to ask a question, contact Microsoft Customer Support Services, or provide feedback.

If you continue to have questions after you use these Microsoft Web sites or if you cannot find a solution on the Microsoft Support Services Web site, click the following link to contact Support.

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus)

Basic Networking Command In Linux

IPconfing

Your connection to a network is made by your system through a particular hardware interface such as an Ethernet card of a modem. Data passing through this interface is then routed to your network. The ifconfig command configures your network interfaces and the route command sets up the network connections accordingly.

Ifconfig is used to configure the kernel-resident network interfaces.It is used at boot time to set up interfaces as necessary. If no arguments are given, ifconfig displays the status of the currently active interfaces. If a single interface argument is given, it displays the status of the given interface only.

Syntax : ifconfig < interface > < -host_net_flag > [address] [options]

where -host_net_flag can be either -host or -net to indicate a host or network IP address.

The -host flag is the default.

Usage Examples

#ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.1 => Configuring the Ethernet interface

#ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.1 broadcast 192.168.0.255 netmast 255.255.255.0  => Configuring eth0 including a broadcast address and the netmask

#ifconfig eth0 up  => To activate the interface eth0 after configuring it

#ifconfig -a  => If a single -a argument is given, it displays the status of all interfaces, even those that are down

---

Route

Determines where the process starts and to what computer your system needs to send the packet to reach the destination.

Usage Examples

#route  => To display the routing table

#route add 192.168.1.2 dev eth0  =>  To route an Ethernet interface

#route del 192.168.1.2  =>  To delete the route with IP address 192.168.1.2

For a gateway we first need to add a route and then add a route specifying it is a gateway.

#route add 192.168.1.2

#route add default gw 192.168.1.2  =>  gw here stands for gateway

#route add -net 192.168.23.0 gw dev eth1 => For a gateway to access a subnet

To add an IP address to another network interface we use the ifcofig and route commands with the new IP address.

#ifcofig eth1 192.168.1.3

#route add 192.168.1.3 dev eth1

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arp

ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol, which is used to find the media access control address of a network neighbour for a given IPv4 Address.

Usage Examples

#arp -e  => Display all ARP table entries for all interfaces

#arp -i eth0 -s 192.168.1.1 00:23:5a:c1:50:99  => Create a static ARP table entry associating IP address 192.168.1.1 with MAC address 00:23:5a:c1:50:99 available through the eth0 interface ( ‘i’ option stands for interface and ‘s’ option is used for setting up new table entry )

#arp -d 192.168.1.1  => Delete the ARP table entry for 192.168.1.1

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traceroute

Traceroute is a utility that traces a packet from your computer to an Internet host showing how many hops the packet requires to reach the host and how long each hop takes.For a slow connection traceroute is used to check the route through which we are connected to a host , monitoring the speed and the number of intervening gateway connections a route takes.

Usage Example

#traceroute www.google.com

Sample Output for the above command:

traceroute to www.google.com (74.125.236.48), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets

1 172.19.16.1 (172.19.16.1) 1694.355 ms 1694.510 ms 1694.847 ms

2 iws1.iiita.ac.in (172.31.1.1) 0.869 ms 0.864 ms 0.902 ms

3 * * *

4 * * *

5 115.114.57.161.static-Mumbai.vsnl.net.in (115.114.57.161) 66.756 ms 66.750 ms 66.730 ms

6 115.113.163.70.static-pune.vsnl.net.in (115.113.163.70) 69.556 ms 69.287 ms 69.279 ms

7 209.85.241.52 (209.85.241.52) 62.766 ms 62.797 ms 64.210 ms

8 209.85.251.95 (209.85.251.95) 64.153 ms 64.162 ms 65.593 ms

9 209.85.241.33 (209.85.241.33) 65.855 ms 65.849 ms 64.820 ms

10 maa03s04-in-f16.1e100.net (74.125.236.48) 62.011 ms 62.001 ms 61.982 ms

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netstat

Provides real time information on the status of the network connections, as well as the network statistics and routing table.

Usage Examples

#netstat -r       =>  Displays the routing table

#netstat -i       =>   Displays the uses of the different network interfaces.

#netstat -s      =>   Displays protocol( TCP , UDP , IP etc ) counts and errors

---

telnet

To remotely log in to another system on your network. Telnet operates as if we were logging in to another system from a remote terminal and asks for the login name and password.

#telnet hostname < port >

or

#telnet

telnet > open hostname < port >

Here the hostname can be either the domain name or the IP address.

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nslookup

Nslookup is a command used to query the Internet domain name servers. Is useful in finding the domain name if the IP is known and vice-versa.

The host command can be used to carry out the same stuff too.

Usage Examples

#nslookup < domain name >        => To find the dotted decimal IP address of host name

#nslookup < IP address >            => To find the hostname of the dotted decimal IP address

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ping

Detects whether a system is up and running.

Syntax : ping hostname

where hostname can be either domain name or IP address.

Usage Examples

#ping 172.19.16.47

From 172.19.16.47 icmp_seq=1 Destination Host Unreachable

From 172.19.16.47 icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable

From 172.19.16.47 icmp_seq=3 Destination Host Unreachable

From 172.19.16.47 icmp_seq=4 Destination Host Unreachable

From 172.19.16.47 icmp_seq=5 Destination Host Unreachable

From 172.19.16.47 icmp_seq=6 Destination Host Unreachable

#ping 172.19.16.6

PING 172.19.16.6 (172.19.16.6) 56(84) bytes of data.

64 bytes from 172.19.16.6: icmp_req=1 ttl=128 time=4.00 ms

64 bytes from 172.19.16.6: icmp_req=2 ttl=128 time=4.56 ms

64 bytes from 172.19.16.6: icmp_req=3 ttl=128 time=0.931 ms

64 bytes from 172.19.16.6: icmp_req=4 ttl=128 time=4.10 ms

64 bytes from 172.19.16.6: icmp_req=5 ttl=128 time=1.08 ms

64 bytes from 172.19.16.6: icmp_req=6 ttl=128 time=6.78 ms

Here in the first case the destination host is unreachable whereas in the second case the destination 172.19.6.16 sends the packets back ensuring good connectivity.

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ssh

ssh (SSH client) is a program for logging into a remote machine and for executing commands on a remote machine. It is intended to replace rlogin and rsh, and provide secure encrypted communications between two untrusted hosts over an insecure network.

Syntax : ssh username@hostname [command]

where username is your SSH username, and hostname is the host name or IP address of your Web server.

If its the first time we are trying to connect to this host machine we will get a warning saying authentication failure. Typing yes would automatically solve the problem.

Usage Examples

#ssh raju@192.168.1.1 -p 1020  => ssh as user raju into 192.168.1.1 port 1020

#ssh raju@192.168.1.1 cd /home/etc  => change the directory to /home/etc in the remote server 192.168.1.1

Basic Linux Command-line Tips and Tricks

1.  Everything in Linux is a file including the hardware and even the directories.

2. # : Denotes the super(root) user

3.  $ : Denotes the normal user

4.  /root: Denotes the super user’s directory

/home: Denotes the normal user’s directory.

5.  Switching between Terminals

§  Ctrl + Alt + F1-F6: Console login

§  Ctrl + Alt + F7: GUI login

6.  The Magic Tab: Instead of typing the whole filename if the unique pattern for a particular file is given then the remaining characters need not be typed and can be obtained automatically using the Tab button.

7.   ~(Tilde): Denotes the current user’s home directory

8.   Ctrl + Z: To stop a command that is working interactively without terminating it.

9.  Ctrl + C: To stop a command that is not responding. (Cancellation).

10.  Ctrl + D: To send the EOF( End of File) signal to a command normally when you see ‘>’.

11.  Ctrl + W: To erase the text you have entered a word at a time.

12.  Up arrow key: To redisplay the last executed command. The Down arrow key can be used to print the next command used after using the Up arrow key previously.

13.  The history command can be cleared using a simple option –c (clear).

14.  cd :   The cd command can be used trickily in the following ways:

cd : To switch to the home user

cd * : To change directory to the first file in the directory (only if the first file is a directory)

cd .. : To move back a folder

cd - : To return to the last directory you were in

15.  Files starting with a dot (.) are a hidden file.

16.   To view hidden files: ls -a

17.   ls: The ls command can be use trickily in the following ways:

ls -lR : To view a long list of all the files (which includes directories) and their subdirectories recursively .

ls *.* : To view a list of all the files with extensions only.

18.   ls -ll: Gives a long list in the following format

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2010-04-29 05:17 bin where

drwxr-xr-x : permission where d stands for directory, rwx stands for owner privilege, r-x stands for the group privilege and r-x stands for others permission respectively.

Here r stands for read, w for write and x for executable.

2=> link count

root=>owner

root=>group

4096=> directory size

2010-04-29=>date of creation

05:17=> time of creation

bin=>directory file(in blue)

The color code of the files is as follows:

Blue: Directory file

White: Normal file

Green: Executable file

Yellow: Device file

Magenta: Picture file

Cyan: link file

Red: Compressed file

File Symbol

-(Hyphen) : Normal file

d=directory

l=link file

b=Block device file

c=character device file

19.  Using the rm command: When used without any option the rm command deletes the file or directory ( option -rf) without any warning. A simple mistake like rm / somedir instead of rm /somedir can cause major chaos and delete the entire content of the /(root) directory. Hence it is always advisable to use rm command with the -i(which prompts before removal) option. Also there is no undelete option in Linux.

20.  Copying hidden files: cp .* (copies hidden files only to a new destination)

21. dpkg -l : To get a list of all the installed packages.

23. Use of ‘ > ‘ and ‘ >> ‘ : The ‘ > ‘ symbol ( input redirector sign) can be used to add content to a file when used with the cat command. Whereas ‘ >> ‘ can be used to append to a file. If the ‘ >> ‘ symbol is not used and content is added to a file using only the ‘>’ symbol the previous content of the file is deleted and replaced with the new content.

e.g: $ touch text (creates an empty file)

$ cat >text

This is text’s text. ( Save the changes to the file using Ctrl +D)

$cat >> text

This is a new text. (Ctrl + D)

Output of the file:

This is text’s text.

This is a new text.

23.  To count the number of users logged in : who |wc –l

24.  cat:  The cat command can be used to trickly in the following way:

- To count no. of lines from a file : cat |wc -l

- To count no. of words from a file : cat |wc -w

- To count no. of characters from a file : cat |wc –c

25.  To search a term that returns a pattern: cat |grep [pattern]

26.  The ‘tr’ command: Used to translate the characters of a file.

tr ‘a-z’ ‘A-Z’ <text >text1 : The command for example is used to translate all the characters from lower case to upper case of the ‘text’ file and save the changes to a new file ‘text1′.

27.  File permission using chmod: ‘chmod’ can be used directly to change the file permission of files in a simple way by giving the permission for root, user and others in a numeric form where the numeric value are as follows:

r(read-only)=>4

w(write)=>2

x(executable)=>1

e.g. chmod 754 text will change the ownership of owner to read, write and executable, that of group to read and executable and that of others to read only of the text file.

28.  more: It is a filter for paging through text one screenful at a time.

Use it with any of the commands after the pipe symbol to increase readability.

e.g. ls -ll |more

29.  cron : Daemon to execute scheduled commands. Cron enables users to schedule jobs (commands or shell scripts) to run periodically at certain times or dates.

1 * * * * echo “hi” >/dev/tty1 displays the text “hi” after every 1 minute in tty1

.—————- minute (0 – 59)

| .————- hour (0 – 23)

| | .———- day of month (1 – 31)

| | | .——- month (1 – 12) OR jan,feb,mar,apr …

| | | | .—– day of week (0 – 7) (Sunday=0 or 7) OR sun,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat

* * * * * command to be executed

Source of example: Wikipedia

30.  fsck: Used for file system checking. On a non-journaling file system the fsck command can take a very long time to complete. Using it with the option -c displays a progress bar which doesn’t increase the speed but lets you know how long you still have to wait for the process to complete.

e.g. fsck -C

31.  To find the path of the command: which command

e.g. which clear

32. Setting up alias: Enables a replacement of a word with another string. It is mainly used for abbreviating a system command, or for adding default arguments to a regularly used command

e.g. alias cls=’clear’ => For buffer alias of clear

33.  The du (disk usage) command can be used with the option -h to print the space occupied in human readable form. More specifically it can be used with the summation option (-s).

e.g. du -sh /home summarizes the total disk usage by the home directory in human readable form.

34.  Two or more commands can be combined with the && operator. However the succeeding command is executed if and only if the previous one is true.

e.g. ls && date lists the contents of the directory first and then gives the system date.

35.  Surfing the net in text only mode from the terminal: elinks [URL]

e.g: elinks www.google.com

Note that the elinks package has to be installed in the system.

36.  The ps command displays a great more deal of information than the kill command does.

37.  To extract a no. of lines from a file:

e.g head -n 4 abc.c is used to extract the first 4 lines of the file abc.c

e.g tail -n 4 abc.c is used to extract the last 4 lines of the file abc.c

38.  Any changes to a file might cause loss of important data unknowingly. Hence    Linux creates a file with the same name followed by ~ (Tilde) sign without the recent changes. This comes in really handy when playing with the configuration files as some sort of a backup is created.

39.   A variable can be defined with an ‘=’ operator. Now a long block of text can be assigned to the variable and brought into use repeatedly by just typing the variable name preceded by a $ sign instead of writing the whole chunk of text again and again.

e.g ldir=/home/my/Desktop/abc

cp abcd $ldir copies the file abcd to /home/my/Desktop/abc.

40. To find all the files in your home directory modified or created today:

e.g. find ~ -type f -mtime 0