This document provides an introduction to using the command line interface for web development. It begins with basic commands and concepts like archiving files. It then covers more advanced topics such as connecting to servers via SSH, using version control with Git, and automating tasks with Grunt or Gulp. The document aims to bring beginners up to an intermediate level of command line proficiency and provide pointers to resources for continuing to an advanced level.

1. COMMAND LINE FOR
THE BEGINNER
USING THE COMMAND LINE IN DEVELOPING
FOR THE WEB
Created by Jim Birch
jimbir.ch/cmd
@thejimbirch
Xeno Media, Inc.

2. DEVELOPERS BE ALL LIKE...
Source

3. WHAT IS THE
COMMAND LINE?
A command-line interface ... is a
means of interacting with a
computer program where the user
(or client) issues commands to the
program in the form of successive
lines of text (command lines). -
Wikipedia

4. OFTEN REFERRED TO AS CLI
C - Command
L - Line
I - Interface

5. WHERE IS THIS COMMAND LINE?
Linux - Built in
Mac - Terminal built in or additional apps like
available.
Windows - , or the brand new
iTerm
Cygwin Bash on Ubuntu on
Windows
Chromebook - Apps that provide limited functionality

6. WHAT DOES THE TERMINAL LOOK LIKE?

7. CUSTOMIZE MOST TERMINAL APPS

8. THE COMMANDS

9. ANATOMY OF A COMMAND
$ command -flag argument/operand
command - The action we want to happen
flag (optional) - Options for the command
operand (optional) - What is acted upon
Most of the time you find commands written, they will be
prefaced with a $

10. COMMON COMMANDS
cd - Change Directory
$ cd /path/to/folder
$ cd ../../../to move up the tree.
cp - Copy
$ cp wp-config-sample.php wp-config.php
grep - globally search a regular expression and print
$ grep term filetosearchin.txt
ls - List
$ ls -la(l = long format, a = all files, even hidden)
mkdir - Make Directory
$ mkdir directoryname

11. COMMON COMMANDS
mv - Move
$ mv wp-config.php ../
pwd - Print Working Directory
$ pwd
rm - Remove
$ rm -rf whatyouwantremoved
(r = recursive, f = force)
sudo - Superuser Do
$ sudo anycommand
(Use sudo if you need administrative access to run the command.)
touch - Touch
$ touch newfilename.txt

12. COMMON COMMANDS
If you enter a screen that has a page of information, like a
help screen:
Use your arrow keys to navigate up and down.
Type qto exit.

13. FLAGS
For most cases I have found, flags that are full words use two
dashes, flags that are acronyms use one dash.
--all
-a

14. ESCAPING
If you ever need to cancel a command:
Hold the Control key and C

15. ARCHIVING AND UNARCHIVING
Archive and compress; extract files
and folders quickly and easily right
from the command line.

16. ZIP AND UNZIP
To compress a folder using zip:
zip -r zip-file-name.zip path/to/folder
zip -r zip-file-name.zip file1 file2
file3
To extract:
unzip zip-file-name.zip

17. TAR AND UNTAR
To compress a folder using tar:
tar -zcvf tar-file-name.tar.gz
path/to/folder
To extract:
tar -zxvf tar-file-name.tar.gz

18. NANO AND VI EDITORS
nano and vi are text editors
available in terminal so you can edit
files without needing any other
programs.

19. NANO
nano file.txt to open a file
Control + (letter) for commands
Control + G for help

20. VI (OR VIM - "VI IMPROVED")
vi file.txt to open a file
:help for commands
:i to insert
:w to save
:q to exit

22. YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE BEGINNER LEVEL!
Source
SKIP TO END

23. CONNECTING TO SERVERS BY SSH
Connect to other servers, like your
staging and production
environments and run commands
as you would on your local
command line.

24. CREATING SSH KEYS
Check for existing keys
$ ls -al ~/.ssh
Create a new key
ssh-keygen -t rsa -C
"yourname@domain.com"
-t = Key Type, -C = Comment
Enter file in which to save the key
(/Users/Jim/.ssh/id_rsa):
/Users/Jim/.ssh/clientname

25. PUTTING YOUR KEY ON THE SERVER
UI Interfaces like CPanel and Plesk
Apache - Add your key to /%USER%/.etc/authorized_keys
nginx - Install openssh and add your key to
/%USER%/.ssh/authorized_keys

26. CONNECTING TO SERVER
ssh username@domain.name
Enter your password
SET UP AN SSH ALIAS
nano ~/.ssh/config
Host hostname
User usernameatserver
HostName (IP Address or domain.name)
Port 22
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
Then, connect with
ssh hostname

27. TO DISCONNECT FROM A SERVER:
Type exit

28. MYSQL
Manage MySQL databases from the
command line, including importing
and exporting.

29. CONNECTING TO MYSQL
mysql -u username -p
You will be prompted for password.
* Note: You want to avoid using the password inline, as it
would be available in logs

30. IMPORTING A DATABASE
mysql -u username -p < database.sql

31. EXPORTING A DATABASE
mysqldump -u username -p > database.sql

32. ONCE YOU HAVE CONNECTED TO MYSQL, YOU
CAN RUN ANY SQL COMMAND
CREATE TABLE newtablename (id INT NOT NULL
PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
name_of_table VARCHAR(30),
sub_title VARCHAR(20),
yes_or_no CHAR(1),
date_of_thing DATE);

33. WP-CLI
WP-CLI is a set of command-line
tools for managing WordPress
installations. You can update
plugins, set up multisite installs and
much more, without using a web
browser. - wp-cli.org

34. COMMON WP-CLI COMMANDS
http://wp-cli.org/commands/
wp media regenerate
Regenerates all thumbnails
wp post list
List all the posts of a site
wp user delete 123 --reassign=567
Delete a user, and assign their posts to another.
wp plugin install hello-dolly
Installs Hello Dolly Plugin

35. COMMON WP-CLI COMMANDS
wp help
Lists all commands and help
wp core update
Updates Wordpress core
wp theme list
Lists all themes in the site
wp package
http://wp-cli.org/commands/package/

36. DRUSH
Drush is a command line shell and
Unix scripting interface for Drupal. -
drush.org

37. ALIASES
In computing, alias is a command in
various command line interpreters
(shells) ... which enables a
replacement of a word by another
string. - Wikipedia

38. ANATOMY OF AN ALIAS
name="command"
name - The name of the alias
command - The action we want to happen

39. WHERE TO PUT ALIASES
MAC OS
Temporary - alias name="command"
Permanent - nano ~/.bash_profile

40. WHERE TO PUT ALIASES
UBUNTU
Temporary - alias name="command"
Permanent - nano ~/.bash_aliases

41. WHERE TO PUT ALIASES
WINDOWS
Temporary - DOSKEY name="command"
Permanent - A lot more complicated!

42. COMMON USE CASES FOR ALIASES
Navigate to common folders
alias htdocs="cd /var/www/public_html"
alias backdropcms="cd
/Users/Jim/jim.local/backdropcms.org"
Run Common Tasks
alias restart='sudo apachectl restart'

43. COMMON USE CASES FOR ALIASES
Open Common Files
alias bashprofile='sudo nano
/Users/Jim/.bash_profile'
alias sshconfig='nano ~/.ssh/config'
Open Applications
alias github='open -a Firefox
https://github.com/thejimbirch?
tab=repositories'

44. COMMON USE CASES FOR ALIASES
Complex Example
Accepts a url, opens chrome in 5 different sized browsers
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hosted with ❤ by
# My Chrome developer profile is in the `Profile 1` directory, make sure to update with yours.
# Best on an ultra wide monitor.
function rwdurl() {
open -n -g -a "Google Chrome" --args --new-window --profile-directory=Profile 1 --app="data:text/html,<html><body><script>win
open -n -g -a "Google Chrome" --args --new-window --profile-directory=Profile 1 --app="data:text/html,<html><body><script>win
open -n -g -a "Google Chrome" --args --new-window --profile-directory=Profile 1 --app="data:text/html,<html><body><script>win
open -n -g -a "Google Chrome" --args --new-window --profile-directory=Profile 1 --app="data:text/html,<html><body><script>win
open -n -g -a "Google Chrome" --args --new-window --profile-directory=Profile 1 --app="data:text/html,<html><body><script>win
}
view rawrwdurl GitHub

45. SEE ALSO
ln -s /path/to/file /path/to/symlink
Example: htdocs > /var/www/public_html
Symbolic link (Symlinks)

46. SEE ALSO
Bash Scripts
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hosted with ❤ by
fullpath=`pwd`
if [[ $fullpath =~
/Users/Jim/Sites/.* ]]; then
IFS='/' array=($fullpath)
open "http://${array[4]}.xenostaging.com"
else
echo You are not in a webroot.
fi
view rawssite bash script GitHub

47. SEE ALSO
BASH-IT
Bash-it is a collection of community Bash commands and
scripts. (And a shameless ripoff of oh-my-zsh :smiley:)
Includes autocompletion, themes, aliases, custom functions,
a few stolen pieces from Steve Losh, and more.
https://github.com/Bash-it/bash-it

48. SECURE COPY PROTOCOL (SCP)
Secure copy or SCP is a means of
securely transferring computer files
between a local host and a remote
host or between two remote hosts.
It is based on the Secure Shell (SSH)
protocol. - Wikipedia

49. COPY FILE FROM LOCAL TO SERVER
scp example.txt username@server:myfile.txt
COPY ALL FILES IN REMOTE SITE TO LOCAL
(FOLDER YOU ARE IN)
scp serveralias:/var/www/public_html/wp-uploads/* .
COPY FILES FROM ONE SERVER TO ANOTHER
scp serveralias:/var/www/public_html/wp-
content/files/file1.zip
secondserveralias:/var/www/public_html/wp-
content/files/file1.zip

50. YOU HAVE SURPASSED THE INTERMEDIATE
LEVEL WITH EASE!
Source
SKIP TO END

51. GIT FOR VERSION CONTROL
Git is a widely used source code
management system for so ware
development. It is a distributed
revision control system with an
emphasis on speed, data integrity,
and support for distributed, non-
linear workflows. - Wikipedia

52. GIT IN PLAIN ENGLISH
Git gives us a canonical/main source of the code of the
project.
Multiple versions can be checked out, and merged back
in.
History of commits/different versions can be saved.
Easily sync multiple servers, Development, Staging,
Productions.

53. REALLY GREAT GIT TUTORIAL
https://git-scm.com/docs/gittutorial

54. COMMON GIT COMMANDS
git clone repo.url
Clones a repository to your computer
git fetch
Gets updated code from repository
git merge origin/master
Merges code from repository, master branch
git pull
Fetch and merge in one step!
git checkout -b branchname
Makes a new branch

55. COMMON GIT COMMANDS
git diff filename
Shows the changes you have made to the file
git add -A
Adds all files to "staging area"
git commit
Moves from "staging area" to a commit
git push origin master
Pushes local master branch to origin master
git log
Lists history of commits

56. AUTOMATION/TASK RUNNERS LIKE
GRUNT AND GULP

57. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT WILL BE POWERED
BY JAVASCRIPT
Node.js® is a JavaScript runtime built that runs
NPM (Node Package Manager), the largest ecosystem of
open source libraries in the world
I use Node.js® to install NPM to install Grunt which installs...

58. TOOLS FOR OUR JAVASCRIPT FILES:
jshint - Detect errors and potential problems in your
JavaScript code.
jscs - Linter/formatter for programmatically enforcing
your style guide.
uglify - Minify files with UglifyJS
concat - Concatenate (merge) files into one.

59. TOOLS FOR OUR CSS FILES:
grunt-contrib-less, grunt-sass - Compile LESS/SASS files to
CSS
csslint - Checks syntax checking and applys a set of rules
that look for problematic patterns or signs of inefficiency.
cssmin - Minimizes CSS files
csscomb - Formats and sorts style sheets to make them
organized and consistent.

60. SO MANY USES:
imagemin - Minify images seamlessly.
copy - automate the copying of files or directories.
Thousands more... [ ] [ ]Grunt Plugins Gulp Plugins

61. WATCH!
Once these tasks have been assembled in a Gruntfile.js file,
you can run the following command to implement these
tasks on any changes:
grunt watch
Any JS/CSS/LESS/SASS files changed will be checked and
organized!
Images put in the folder I am watching will be minified.
Any errors will be reported immediately!

62. DEPENDENCY/PACKAGE MANAGERS
LIKE COMPOSER
Composer helps you declare,
manage and install dependencies of
PHP projects, ensuring you have the
right stack everywhere.
- Composer on Github

63. AN OVERARCHING MAINTAINER OF YOUR
WEBSITE AND IT'S NEEDS
A composer.json file defines all of the things your website
needs. These are called dependencies.
This would include Wordpress itself, plugins, and themes. It
could also include outside libraries like jQuery, Bootstrap,
Foundation, and more.

64. AN OVERARCHING MAINTAINER OF YOUR
WEBSITE AND IT'S NEEDS
A composer.json file defines all of the things your website
needs. These are called dependencies.
This would include Wordpress/Drupal core,
plugins/modules, and themes. It could also include outside
libraries like jQuery, Bootstrap, Foundation, Masonry, and
more.

65. REBUILD THIS PROJECT IN A MOMENT'S
NOTICE
If all dependencies are defined in a composer.json file,
composer installcould be run to install the site
anywhere.
All you would need to do then is setup the database and
move the files.

66. SUMMARY
BEGINNER
Command Line Basics
Commands and Flags
Archiving and Unarchiving
Command Line Editors

67. SUMMARY
INTERMEDIATE
Connecting to Servers with SSH
MySQL
WP-CLI / Drush
Aliases
Secure Copy Protocol - SCP

68. SUMMARY
ADVANCED
Git for Version Control
Automation/task runners like Grunt and Gulp
Dependency/Package Managers like Composer

69. NOW YOU CAN BE ALL LIKE...
Source

70. THE END
CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION:
Created by Jim Birch
jimbir.ch/cmd
@thejimbirch
Xeno Media, Inc.