Terminal Setup: Basics

I’ve noticed that many friends who are starting to use Linux (particularly Ubuntu) struggle with terminal usage. This guide covers the basics you can set up on day one, in about 10 minutes. Once you are comfortable, continue with Terminal Setup: Advanced.

This guide uses Bash, the default shell on Ubuntu. If you prefer Zsh, see ZSH Setup. You can also find this setup on my GitHub: Ubuntu Basic Setup

1. Essential Commands

Open a terminal with Ctrl + Alt + T. These are the commands you will use every day:

Command	What it does	Example
pwd	Show the current directory	pwd
ls	List files (-a hidden files, -l details)	ls -al
cd	Change directory (.. up, ~ home)	cd ~/Downloads
mkdir	Create a directory (-p for nested paths)	mkdir -p ros2_ws/src
cp	Copy files (-r for directories)	cp -r src backup
mv	Move or rename	mv old.txt new.txt
rm	Delete (-r for directories)	rm -r build
cat / less	Print a file / scroll through it	less log.txt
sudo	Run a command as administrator	sudo apt update
apt	Install and remove software	sudo apt install git
man / --help	Show the manual for a command	man ls

Warning

rm does not move files to the trash. Deleted files are gone, so double-check the path, especially with rm -r.

Want to understand how it all works?

Linux Terminal 101 walks through the shell, the file system, permissions, pipes, and APT step by step.

2. Terminator

Terminator lets you split one window into several terminals, which is handy when you run multiple ROS 2 nodes at once.

sudo apt install terminator

To open Terminator with Ctrl + Alt + T, make it the default terminal and select terminator from the list:

sudo update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator

Action	Shortcut
Split side by side	Ctrl + Shift + E
Split top and bottom	Ctrl + Shift + O
Move between splits	Alt + Arrow keys
Maximize / restore a split	Ctrl + Shift + X
New tab	Ctrl + Shift + T
Close the current split	Ctrl + Shift + W

3. Case-Insensitive Tab Completion

Configure ~/.inputrc to make tab completion case-insensitive.

Option 1: Edit directly

vim ~/.inputrc

Add the following:

set completion-ignore-case on
set show-all-if-ambiguous on
set colored-stats on

Option 2: Generate via commands

echo 'set completion-ignore-case on' > ~/.inputrc
echo 'set show-all-if-ambiguous on' >> ~/.inputrc
echo 'set colored-stats on' >> ~/.inputrc

Apply settings

bind -f ~/.inputrc

4. fzf (Fuzzy Finder)

A fuzzy finder for your command history, files, and directories.

Installation

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/junegunn/fzf.git ~/.fzf
~/.fzf/install

Usage

• Ctrl + R → Fuzzy search through command history
• Ctrl + T → Find a file and paste its path into the command line
• Alt + C → Find a directory and cd into it

5. Keyboard Shortcuts

These work in any Bash terminal without extra setup:

Shortcut	What it does
Tab / Tab Tab	Complete a command or path / show all options
↑ / ↓	Previous / next command in history
Ctrl + A / Ctrl + E	Jump to the start / end of the line
Ctrl + U / Ctrl + K	Delete to the start / end of the line
Ctrl + W	Delete the previous word
Ctrl + L	Clear the screen
Ctrl + C	Stop the running command
!!	Run the previous command again (e.g. sudo !!)

Apply the Settings

Reload your shell configuration, or simply open a new terminal:

source ~/.bashrc

See also

• Terminal Setup: Advanced — tmux, herdr, VS Code, Neovim, and Lazygit
• Linux Terminal 101 — How the terminal works, from the ground up
• ZSH Setup — Switch from Bash to Zsh