UNIX / Linux: Absolute Pathnames

Q. Can you explain the term absolute pathname under UNIX or Linux oses?

A. An absolute pathname, is the location of a filesystem object relative to the root directory. All absolute pathnames always begin with a slash (/). With Absolute pathname you have access to complete file system objects such as directories and files.

Absolute Pathnames

You can use absolute pathnames to specify full file path such as /etc/passwd. It is believed that UNIX pathname looks and feels like Internet addresses, thus result into compatibility. The absolute pathname of the current directory can be found by using the pwd command:
pwd

Absolute Pathnames Examples

Try following commands:
pwd
ls /etc
ls /usr/share/games
cd /usr/share/games
pwd
cd ~
pwd
cat /etc/passwd
cp /etc/passwd /tmp
cd /tmp
pwd
cat passwd

• Tweet
• 
• 

You should follow me on twitter here or grab rss feed to keep track of new changes.

Featured Articles:

• 30 Handy Bash Shell Aliases For Linux / Unix / Mac OS X
• Top 30 Nmap Command Examples For Sys/Network Admins
• 25 PHP Security Best Practices For Sys Admins
• 20 Linux System Monitoring Tools Every SysAdmin Should Know
• 20 Linux Server Hardening Security Tips
• Linux: 20 Iptables Examples For New SysAdmins
• Top 20 OpenSSH Server Best Security Practices
• Top 20 Nginx WebServer Best Security Practices
• 20 Examples: Make Sure Unix / Linux Configuration Files Are Free From Syntax Errors
• 15 Greatest Open Source Terminal Applications Of 2012
• My 10 UNIX Command Line Mistakes
• Top 10 Open Source Web-Based Project Management Software
• Top 5 Email Client For Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows Users
• The Novice Guide To Buying A Linux Laptop