All the commands in this how-to will work on most Linux machines. We’ve used an Ubuntu LTS install but you could run this how-to on a Raspberry Pi. All of the how-to is performed via the Terminal.

Copying and renaming files on Linux is a task that can be done from within a GUI, but sometimes you just want the speed and simplicity of doing it from the terminal window. Here's how.

You might find yourself on a GUI-less Linux server and need to make a backup of a configuration file or copy a data directory. Trust me, at some point you’re going to need to be able to do this.

The Linux terminal window can actually be quite entertaining. Written by Jack Wallen, Contributing Writer March 31, 2025 at 1:43 p.m. PT Vicki Jauron, Babylon and Beyond Photography/Getty Images ...