15.01.2024 Views

CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Mastering Fundamental Commands

It’s time to try using the command line, but before you begin, a note of

warning is in order: the command-line interface is picky and unforgiving. It

will do what you say, not what you mean, so it always pays to double-check

that those are one and the same before you press enter and commit the

command. One careless keystroke can result in the loss of crucial data, with

no warning and no going back. In this section, you’ll explore the structure of

commands and then play with basic commands to navigate and manipulate

your OS’s folder structure.

EXAM TIP The CompTIA A+ 1002 exam objectives question your

knowledge of when to use specific commands in Windows, macOS, and

Linux. The objectives start with “Given a scenario, use [specific OS tools.]”

That’s absolutely appropriate. Techs need to know when to use a specific

tool, especially when it comes to the command-line interface.

This chapter assumes that you recognize when to use commands in an

obvious scenario and doesn’t hammer you with the word “scenario.” When

would you use a command to delete a file? The obvious scenario is, “when

you want to delete a file.” When a tool requires a more elaborate explanation,

the chapter gives it.

Expect questions on the exam that couch command-line actions in

scenario language.

Structure: Syntax and Switches

All commands in every command-line interface use a similar structure and

execute in the same way. You type the name of the command, followed by

the target of that command and any modifications of that command that you

want to apply. You can call up a modification by using an extra letter or

number, called a switch or option, which may follow either the command or

the target, depending on the command. The proper way to write a command

is called its syntax. The key with commands is that you can’t spell anything

incorrectly or use a \ when the syntax calls for a /. The command line is

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!