Terminal basics · Lesson 2 of 34 · 7 minutes

Paths and shortcuts

Practice absolute paths, relative paths, dot, dot-dot, and home shortcuts.

Open the lab Course map

Mastery 0/3Run itExplain itApply it

learner@clairos:~ $

↑ history · Tab complete · Ctrl+C cancel · Esc, Tab to leaveExit 0

Your objectives

Hints are always available. Wrong turns never cost XP.

1
Enter projects
Run cd projects.
Hint & worked example
Change the shell working directory; .. selects the parent and ~ identifies your home.
The command outcome must match the task, including successful access or the explicitly requested failure.
```
cd projects
```
Remember: Changing directories changes how later relative paths resolve.
2
Print the project path
Run pwd.
Hint & worked example
Print the directory that relative paths currently resolve from.
The command outcome must match the task, including successful access or the explicitly requested failure.
```
pwd
```
Remember: A relative path is interpreted from the working directory, not necessarily the home folder.
3
Return home
Run cd ~.
Hint & worked example
Change the shell working directory; .. selects the parent and ~ identifies your home.
The command outcome must match the task, including successful access or the explicitly requested failure.
```
cd ~
```
Remember: Changing directories changes how later relative paths resolve.

Understand the pattern

Path mistakes are a common cause of editing or deleting the wrong file.

cd: Change the shell working directory; .. selects the parent and ~ identifies your home.
Changing directories changes how later relative paths resolve.
pwd: Print the directory that relative paths currently resolve from.
A relative path is interpreted from the working directory, not necessarily the home folder.

Worked example and expected result

$ cd projects

(no output; exit 0)

Exit status: 0. The command completed successfully in the training fixture.

$ pwd

/home/learner/projects

Exit status: 0. The command completed successfully in the training fixture.

$ cd ~

(no output; exit 0)

Exit status: 0. The command completed successfully in the training fixture.

Try a variation

Repeat this workflow in the sandbox with a different scratch filename. Keep the system fixtures unchanged and compare the observed output with your expectation before moving on.

Explain it

In “Paths and shortcuts”, which interpretation is safe?A successful first check guarantees that every dependent service is healthy.A relative path is interpreted from the working directory, not necessarily the home folder.A command appearing in history proves it completed successfully.

Apply it elsewhere

Before adapting the pwd workflow from “Paths and shortcuts” to another server, what should you do?Confirm the current directory, target identity, permissions, and the installed command behavior first.Paste the training paths unchanged into production.Skip output inspection whenever the command is familiar.

Keep the momentum.

Complete the lab, then explain and apply the pattern.

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