Frequently Used SSH Commands

Certainly! The command you’ve written attempts to move all files, including hidden ones (those starting with a dot), from a subfolder to another path. However, this command might not work as intended because the glob {.,}* could result in an error due to the inclusion of the parent directory ...

A safer and more common approach would be to use two separate commands: one for hidden files and another for the rest. Here’s an improved version:

# Move all hidden files
mv -f /path/subfolder/.* /path/

# Move all other files
mv -f /path/subfolder/* /path/

This ensures that only the hidden files (excluding . and ..) and the regular files are moved without errors. Remember to check the destination directory /path/ to ensure no files are overwritten unintentionally.

If you’re using a shell that supports it, you can also use the shopt command with dotglob to include hidden files in the * glob pattern:

# Enable dotglob to include hidden files
shopt -s dotglob

# Move all files including hidden ones
mv -f /path/subfolder/* /path/

# Disable dotglob to revert to default behavior
shopt -u dotglob

This way, all files including hidden ones are moved with a single command, and then the dotglob option is unset to revert to the default behavior. Always test such commands in a safe environment before running them on important data to avoid accidental data loss.

Certainly! To check the size of a directory and its contents in Linux, you have a few options. Let’s explore them:

1. Using the du Command:

• The du (disk usage) command estimates and displays the disk space usage of files and directories.
• Basic syntax: du [option] [directory-or-file]
• Some useful options:
  • -h, --human-readable: Shows sizes in a human-friendly format.
  • -s, --summarize: Displays only the total size of specified directories (without breaking down subdirectories and files).
  • -a, --all: Shows sizes for both files and directories.
  • -c, --total: Displays the total disk usage in the last line.
  • Example: To display the size of the current directory in a human-friendly format, run:
    du -h
• Note: The ls -l command shows file and directory information, including sizes, but the displayed size is consistently 4096 bytes for directories, regardless of their actual contents. Use du for accurate sizes¹.

1. Listing Sizes with ls and du:

• For files, use ls -l filename to display the size of a specific file.
• To see sizes of all files in the current directory, use ls -l *.
• To include hidden files, use ls -al *.
• For directories, use du -sh /dir to print the size in a human-readable format.
• The -s option shows only the total size, not individual file sizes⁴.

1. Sorting by Size:

• To list sizes of files and directories and sort them by descending size, use:
  du -a -h --max-depth=1 | sort -hr
  This will display the largest items first³.

Remember to adjust the commands based on your specific requirements. Happy exploring! 🐧📂

Source: Conversation with Bing, 2024-04-17
(1) How to Check the Size of a Directory in Linux – phoenixNAP. https://phoenixnap.com/kb/show-linux-directory-size.
(2) linux command to get size of files and directories present in a …. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11720079/linux-command-to-get-size-of-files-and-directories-present-in-a-particular-folde.
(3) linux – How to list the size of each file and directory and sort by …. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7463554/how-to-list-the-size-of-each-file-and-directory-and-sort-by-descending-size-in-b.
(4) 4 Ways to Check the size of a directory in Linux – howtouselinux. https://www.howtouselinux.com/post/check-directory-size-in-linux.
(5) How to Check Disk Space in Linux {df and du Commands} – phoenixNAP. https://phoenixnap.com/kb/linux-check-disk-space.