The UNIX cd command - navigating directory structure Oracle Tips by Burleson Consulting

The UNIX cd command

The UNIX change directory (cd) command is very useful for navigating in your Oracle directory structure. The cd command without any arguments takes you to the location of your UNIX home directory. The UNIX home directory is specified in the /etc/passwd file and defines where you will be immediately after a UNIX logon.

sting*testc1-/u01/app/oracle/admin/testc1/pfile
>cd

sting*testc1-/export/home/oracle
>

When you give cd a directory location, you are transferred to that location. In this example, we transfer to the $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin directory:

sting*testc1-/export/home/oracle
>cd $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin

sting*testc1-/u01/app/oracle/product/8.1.7_64/rdbms/admin
>

UNIX also has a very handy cd argument for switching back-and-forth between two directories. In this example, we use the cd – command to bounce back-and-forth from the pfile directory and the /etc directory:

sting*testc1-/u01/app/oracle/admin/testc1/pfile
>cd /etc

sting*testc1-/etc
>cd -
/u01/app/oracle/admin/testc1/pfile

sting*testc1-/u01/app/oracle/admin/testc1/pfile
>cd -
/etc

sting*testc1-/etc
>

You can also use the cd .. command to go up one level in your directory tree. In this example, we navigate from the pfile directory where the init.ora file is located to the bdump directory where the Oracle alert log is located (Figure 1-4).

Figure 4: The OFA Tree and cd navigation

sting*testc1-/u01/app/oracle/admin/testc1/pfile
>cd ../bdump

sting*testc1-/u01/app/oracle/admin/testc1/bdump
>

The above is an excerpt from the "Oracle9i UNIX Administration Handbook" by Oracle press, authored by Donald K. Burleson.