Why focus on files and directories?

Almost everything in Unix-like systems is represented as a file or directory. If you can navigate the filesystem confidently, you can troubleshoot faster and understand how applications are laid out on a Solaris server.

In this lesson you will learn how to move around, create structure for projects, copy or move data and clean up safely using standard Solaris commands.

Core concepts for working with the filesystem

Paths

Absolute paths start from / (root of the filesystem). Relative paths start from your current directory and are shorter for day-to-day work.

Directories

Directories organise files. Commands like ls, cd and mkdir let you explore and build directory structures for your applications.

Files

Files may be configs, logs, binaries or scripts. cat, more, less and tail help you inspect them without editing.

Step-by-step command examples

The following command sequences show realistic mini-scenarios. Try them in your Solaris VM to build muscle memory.

1. Check your current location and list files

Use pwd to print the current directory and ls to see what files and folders exist there.

terminal — bash

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# pwd
/root
 
[root@solaris ~]# ls
Desktop  Documents  scripts  backup.sh
 
[root@solaris ~]# ls -l
total 12
drwxr-xr-x   2 root  root        3 Jan 10 09:10 Desktop
drwxr-xr-x   3 root  root        4 Jan 10 09:20 Documents
drwxr-xr-x   4 root  root        5 Jan 10 09:30 scripts
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root  root     2048 Jan 10 09:35 backup.sh

2. Change directory using absolute and relative paths

Absolute paths start from /, relative paths start from where you are right now.

terminal — bash

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# cd /var/log
[root@solaris /var/log]# pwd
/var/log
 
[root@solaris /var/log]# cd ..
[root@solaris /var]# pwd
/var
 
[root@solaris /var]# cd log
[root@solaris /var/log]# pwd
/var/log

3. Create directories and empty files

mkdir creates directories, the -p option creates parent directories as needed, and touch creates empty files or updates timestamps.

terminal — bash

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~]# mkdir lab
[root@solaris ~]# cd lab
[root@solaris ~/lab]# mkdir -p project/docs project/scripts
 
[root@solaris ~/lab]# cd project
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# touch README.txt notes.txt script.sh
 
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# ls -R
.:
docs  notes.txt  README.txt  script.sh  scripts
 
./docs:
 
./scripts:

4. Copy and move files and directories

cp copies files, cp -r copies directories; mv moves or renames files and folders.

terminal — bash

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# ls
docs  notes.txt  README.txt  script.sh  scripts
 
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# cp README.txt docs/
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# cp -r scripts docs/
 
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# mv notes.txt notes-old.txt
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# mv docs /tmp/project-docs
 
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# ls
README.txt  script.sh  scripts  notes-old.txt

5. Remove files and directories safely

Use rm for files, rmdir for empty directories and rm -r for directory trees. Be very careful with rm -r.

terminal — bash

solaris-lab

[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# ls
README.txt  script.sh  scripts  notes-old.txt
 
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# rm notes-old.txt
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# rmdir scripts
rmdir: scripts: Directory not empty
 
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# rm -r scripts
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# ls
README.txt  script.sh
 
# Example of a dangerous pattern – avoid:
[root@solaris ~/lab/project]# rm -rf /
rm: dangerous to operate recursively on '/'

Safety tips when removing files and directories

Be careful with rm -r

Always double-check the path before running rm -r.
Prefer rm -ri (interactive) when working in critical locations.
Avoid running rm -rf with wildcards in system directories.

Use safer alternatives first

Move data to a temporary directory before deleting permanently.
For logs, prefer log rotation rather than manual deletion.
When in doubt, take a quick backup using cp -r or tar before large cleanups.

Practice task – create a small project structure

Under your home directory, create a folder solaris-lab with subdirectories configs, logs and scripts.

Create some sample files using touch and list them with different ls options.

Practice copying and moving files between these directories until the commands feel natural.

Finally, clean up using rm, rm -r and rmdir, making sure you understand exactly what disappears at each step.

In upcoming lessons, this directory knowledge will be used when we work with configuration files, logs, user homes and ZFS datasets.