It’s for transferring files…

When we use ssh to operate a server and need to transfer files to it, the scp command transfers files through the ssh port.

Usage

When we type scp in the terminal, we get this:

weepingdogel@WeepingDogel ~> scp
usage: scp [-346BCpqrTv] [-c cipher] [-F ssh_config] [-i identity_file]
            [-J destination] [-l limit] [-o ssh_option] [-P port]
            [-S program] source ... target

We quickly recognize some parameters…

Examples

Let me give some examples to demonstrate the specific usage…

First, let me describe my test environment:

Arch Linux

IP: 192.168.0.105

CentOS8 VM

IP: 192.168.0.108

Uploading a File

$ scp [local filename] username@address:[filename]

This is the general usage, but make sure the path is correct!

For example:

weepingdogel@WeepingDogel ~ [1]> scp ./compile/7.1.0.zip root@192.168.0.108:/root/
root@192.168.0.108's password: 
7.1.0.zip                                                    100%   95KB   5.2MB/s   00:00 

That’s simple — nothing more to say…

Downloading a File

What if we need to download a file from the server to modify it, and the server doesn’t have ftp?

We need to use SSH to find the file’s location, but I won’t go into detail about that — it’s off-topic. (Just know the file’s location.)

$ scp username@address:[filename] [local filename]

Reminder: this filename is a path!

It’s a relative path or absolute path! It depends on the situation, but it’s definitely a path!

For example:

weepingdogel@WeepingDogel ~> scp root@192.168.0.108:/root/index.html /tmp/index.html
root@192.168.0.108's password: 
index.html                                                   100%   46KB 728.6KB/s   00:00
weepingdogel@WeepingDogel ~> ls /tmp/*.html -lh
-rw-r--r-- 1 weepingdogel weepingdogel 47K  Sep  5 20:54 /tmp/index.html

You just need to know the exact location of the file on the server and decide where to save it locally.

Specifying a Port

Generally, SSH uses port 22, which is the case for cloud servers or servers with public IPs.

But the examples above are based on local network file transfers. We need NAT traversal for remote file transfers, which typically assigns a different port for SSH to establish a tunnel, so the port is no longer 22.

I use SakuraFRP — a very useful free NAT traversal service!

Upload:

scp -P [port] [local filename] username@address:[filename]

Download:

scp -P [port] username@address:[filename] [local filename]

I’ve already reminded you many times that this [filename] is a path. No more repetition here.

Well… here’s how it looks:

weepingdogel@WeepingDogel ~> scp -P 45820 root@cn-zj-dx-2.sakurafrp.com:/root/test.py /tmp/test.py

But let me do a combined command:

weepingdogel@WeepingDogel ~ [1]> scp -P 45820 root@cn-zj-dx-2.sakurafrp.com:/root/test.py /tmp/test.py && cd /tmp && python test.py
The authenticity of host '[cn-zj-dx-2.sakurafrp.com]:45820 ([222.186.174.33]:45820)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:8J1Z+I8NtPXAk7EFDwLiwu8pmwSoPLYeJM2iYnV7z5M.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Warning: Permanently added '[cn-zj-dx-2.sakurafrp.com]:45820,[222.186.174.33]:45820' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.
root@cn-zj-dx-2.sakurafrp.com's password: 
test.py                                                      100%   21     0.2KB/s   00:00    
Hello World

Uploading is pretty much the same — just reverse the order. I won’t demonstrate it here.

Done writing!

Reference Links

What? None this time. I figured it out myself…

Well, to be accurate, there is one — search engines~

Tip: For beginners, please don’t be harsh.

Getting started with Linux can be troublesome if you don’t know how to use commands. You won’t be able to navigate the system efficiently. But once you learn some basic commands, you’ll be able to operate without stress. Want to learn Linux? Let’s start with simple file operations.

How to Use the Command Line

If your distribution has a GUI, you can find a “Terminal” in the menu. Open it and start typing commands. If your distribution doesn’t have a GUI, you can directly use commands after logging in through tty.

Note: This terminal is NOT DOS or cmd. It has nothing to do with Windows — it’s a different thing.

cd Command

If you’ve used DOS or Windows cmd before, you’ll know this command — it’s available in most operating systems.

cd stands for “change directory”. You can add a relative path or an absolute path after it.

Simply put, it’s used to enter a folder.

Usage

Test directory: /a/b/c

Entering a Directory:

Absolute path: Specifies a complete path, independent of your current directory:

[weepingdogel@localhost ~]$ cd /a/b/c
[weepingdogel@localhost c]$

Relative path: Specifies a subdirectory or other directory relative to your current location:

[weepingdogel@localhost b]$ cd ./c
[weepingdogel@localhost c]$

Going up one level:

[weepingdogel@localhost b]$ cd ../xxx
[weepingdogel@localhost xxx]$

Exiting a Directory:

Go back one level:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ cd ..
[weepingdogel@localhost b]$

Go back two levels:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ cd ../..
[weepingdogel@localhost a]$

pwd Command

This command helps with cd. It shows your current absolute path.

Usage

[weepingdogel@localhost ~]$ pwd
/home/weepingdogel

ls Command

This is like Windows’ dir command. It lists all files and directories in the current directory.

Usage

Test directory /tmp/a/b/c

Basic listing:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ ls
223333  text.txt  test  wiaori

Detailed listing with -l:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ ls -l

Human-readable listing with -lh:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ ls -lh

File Copying and Moving

mv Command

mv stands for move. It moves files to a specified location.

Usage

Absolute path: Move text.txt from /tmp/a/b/c/ to /tmp/a/:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ mv /tmp/a/b/c/text.txt /tmp/a/

Relative path: Move it back:

[weepingdogel@localhost a]$ mv ./text.txt ./b/c/

cp Command

cp stands for copy. It copies files to another location.

Usage

Absolute path: Copy /tmp/a/b/c/text.txt to /tmp/a/:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ cp /tmp/a/b/c/text.txt /tmp/a/

Relative path: Copy to various directories:

[weepingdogel@localhost a]$ cp ./text.txt ./b/

Note: To copy directories, add the -r parameter.

mkdir Command

mkdir stands for make directory. It creates a new directory.

Usage

Create a single directory:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ mkdir ./d

Recursively create a chain of directories:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ mkdir -p ./go/for/it

rm Command

Warning: This command is very dangerous if misused.

rm stands for remove. It deletes files or directories.

Usage

Delete a file:

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ rm ./text.txt

Delete a directory (with -r):

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ rm -r ./go

Force delete (with -rf and sudo):

[weepingdogel@localhost c]$ sudo rm -rf ./223333

Never use rm -rf / — it will destroy your entire system!

Package Manager

Note: May vary between distributions.

For Debian-based distributions, the package manager is apt:

$ sudo apt update                     # Update package sources
$ sudo apt install <package>          # Install a package
$ sudo apt search <package>           # Search for a package
$ sudo apt upgrade                    # Upgrade installed packages
$ sudo apt remove <package>           # Uninstall a package
$ sudo apt autoremove                 # Auto-clean dependencies

To install a local package using dpkg:

$ sudo dpkg -i <package.deb>

Conclusion

This blog post isn’t very detailed. I’ve tried my best to make it understandable for most people. There might still be a few who don’t fully understand the content — that’s okay, you can ask questions in the comments below.

Feel free to leave comments!

Introduction

Linux Mint is a Linux distribution based on Debian and Ubuntu, first released by the Linux Mint Team in 2006.

Its purpose is to provide a more complete out-of-the-box experience, offering a free, easy-to-use, comfortable, and elegant desktop operating system for home users and businesses.

It includes a browser, multimedia player, DVD playback support, Java, and other components. It comes in three desktop environment versions: Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce.

Download

You can download Linux Mint from the official website. The official site offers two download methods: HTTP download via mirror sites in your country, or torrent download.

Linux Mint official website: https://www.linuxmint.com/

Users inside China can quickly download Linux Mint from these mirror sources:

• Tsinghua Open Source Mirror
• USTC Open Source Mirror

Installation

Xfce version requirements: at least 512MB or more RAM, 15GB or more disk space.

You can choose to install it on a physical machine or on a virtual machine.

If you need to install it on a physical machine, you need to use Rufus or similar USB boot creation tools to make a bootable USB drive.

This blog post will use a virtual machine as a demonstration.

Installation Process

Mount the Installation Media

First, add the downloaded ISO file to the virtual machine’s boot drive. If on a physical machine, insert your prepared bootable USB drive.

After selecting, click OK.

Then start the virtual machine. For a physical machine, you need to restart and press the corresponding key (ESC, F12, F11, etc.) — you can search for these online.

The virtual machine will automatically boot from the virtual CD. Just wait.

You’ll see this screen, and after 10 seconds, you’ll enter the CD Live environment.

After 10 seconds, you’ll see the boot animation — it’s actually quite nice to look at!

After a moment, you’ll enter this interface — this is the CD Live I mentioned.

(Just a side note: the time shown might be different because the CD Live’s default timezone might not be yours. Don’t worry about it.)

Select Language and Preferences

Click “Install Linux Mint” to start the installation wizard. The first page asks you to select a language. I’ll choose Simplified Chinese (choose whatever language you understand).

Then choose the keyboard layout — the default or US layout should be fine.

Partitioning

Now comes the main event. You must pay close attention! Pay close attention! Pay close attention!

(Said three times for emphasis)

You’ll be given two options for partitioning. The first radio button means formatting your entire hard drive and then installing Linux Mint. This is fine for a virtual machine, but if you’re on a physical machine, be very careful — whether the installation succeeds or fails, your original data will be lost.

The two checkboxes below don’t matter because most people won’t choose the first option anyway. This blog will choose “Something else”. So select the second option.

After selecting “Something else”, you’ll enter this page, where you can create a partition table.

Since this is a virtual machine demonstration, click “New Partition Table”. For a physical machine, this isn’t needed.

A prompt will appear — just click Continue.

An empty partition table will be created.

So, how do you partition?

Linux requires at least the / (root), /boot, and swap partitions. How much space should each get?

/boot: This partition stores system boot files. It only needs about 500MB. Don’t underestimate this small partition — without it, if the root partition fills up, the system won’t boot.

SWAP partition: Used for memory swap space. When memory is about to run out, the system moves some processes to SWAP. It can be half the size of your RAM, equal to it, or twice as much. But too large isn’t good — if you have enough RAM, allocating too much to swap wastes disk space.

Root partition: This is straightforward — it’s the system partition. Give it all the remaining space.

Here’s how to do it:

Click the + button to create a partition.

First, create a /boot partition: 500MB, EXT4 filesystem, mount point /boot.

Then create the SWAP partition: Primary partition, 1024MB, filesystem type “swap area”, no mount point needed.

Then create the root partition: Primary partition, EXT4 filesystem, mount point /, give it all the remaining space.

The partition setup is essentially complete.

Begin Automatic Installation

Now we can install. Click “Install Now”. A prompt will appear — click “Continue”.

Next, you’ll be asked to select your region. This determines the system’s timezone. Choose based on your actual location. For China, select Shanghai. Then click “Continue”.

Then set your name, computer name, username, and password. These can be anything, but make sure you remember your username and password.

There’s a “Encrypt Home Directory” option — optional. I won’t select it since it’s not necessary for me.

After filling everything in, click “Continue”.

The installation will start — fully automatic! Go grab a cup of milk tea and wait.

Just keep waiting.

Until this window appears:

Congratulations, you’ve successfully installed! Click “Restart Now”. If you’re using a VM, remove the virtual optical drive and press Enter. Physical machine users should remove the USB drive and press Enter.

(Physical machines usually won’t see this prompt.)

If everything went smoothly, you’ll boot into the system.

Log in with the username and password you set, and enjoy.

Summary

To summarize, Linux Mint is a very beginner-friendly Linux distribution. Its installation process is very simple — mostly just clicking through graphical operations. So I highly recommend it for beginners.

This blog is for reference and learning purposes only. If other issues arise, please search for solutions yourself.

If reprinting, please indicate the source.