Files and directories in Linux file systems all have read, write and execute permissions associated with user, group, and others. However, there are also other attributes that can be attached to files and directories that are specific to certain file system types.

A quick tutorial on managing directories, and files and subdirectories, on the fly, within those directories, using file access controls.

The rm command can be a powerful tool for deleting data -- until you delete the wrong files or directories. Thankfully, the ext3undel utility can recover accidently removed data on ext3 filesystems.

Certain situations require you to quickly confirm which files between two directories are different, and while your particular requirements may suggest writing a script for this task, I want to make sure you're familiar with the basics first - majority of directory comparisons can be done using diff command (yes, that's right - the same one used for comparing files).

This package provides a program that can be used to clean out temporary-file directories. It recursively searches the directory, refusing to chdir() across symlinks, and removes files that haven't been accessed in a user-specified amount of time. You can specify a set of files to protect from deletion with a shell pattern.

A file archiver is computer software which brings together a group of files into a single archive file. An archive file is therefore a collection of files and directories that are stored in one file. There are many advantages of storing multiple files this way. For example, an archive is a great way to store backup data, transfer files to another directory, or to a different computer.

With diff-ext, GNOME users can compare and merge files from within Nautilus. If, instead, you use KDE 3, try out kdiff-ext from the same site, which works with Konqueror. Each utility handles paths to files and directories and invokes an external diff tool to perform the grunt work.

This article grounds you in the basic Linux commands for manipulating files and directories. This article also helps you prepare for Objective 103.2 in Topic 103 of the Linux Professional Institute's Junior Level Administration (LPIC-1) exam 101.

Scalpel is a fast file carver that reads a database of header and footer definitions and extracts matching files from a set of image files or raw device files. Scalpel is filesystem-independent and will carve files from FATx, NTFS, ext2/3, or raw partitions. It is useful for both digital forensics investigation and file recovery.