Absolute vs relative paths in Linux CLI - Practice Questions

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of this command?

Assume you are currently in the directory /home/user/docs. What will be the output of pwd after running this command?

cd ../pictures
pwd

Linux CLI

cd ../pictures
pwd

A /home/user/pictures

B /home/user/docs/pictures

C /pictures

D /home/pictures

💡 Hint

Remember that .. means the parent directory.

The command cd ../pictures moves up one directory from /home/user/docs to /home/user, then into pictures. So the new path is /home/user/pictures.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What does this absolute path command do?

What directory will you be in after running this command?

cd /var/log
pwd

Linux CLI

cd /var/log
pwd

A /home/user/var/log

B /var/log

C /log

D /var

💡 Hint

Absolute paths start from the root directory /.

The command cd /var/log moves directly to the absolute path /var/log. So pwd outputs /var/log.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Which command correctly changes to the parent directory using a relative path?

You want to move to the parent directory of your current location. Which command is correct?

A cd .

B cd ../..

C cd ./..

D cd ..

💡 Hint

The parent directory is represented by ...

The command cd .. moves you up one directory level. cd ../.. moves up two levels, cd ./.. is valid but equivalent to cd .., and cd . stays in the current directory.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this relative path command fail?

You are in /home/user. You run:

cd documents/reports

But you get an error: bash: cd: documents/reports: No such file or directory.

What is the most likely reason?

Linux CLI

cd documents/reports

A You must use 'cd ./documents/reports' instead.

B You need to use an absolute path starting with '/'.

C The directory 'documents' does not exist in '/home/user'.

D The command should be 'cd ../documents/reports'.

💡 Hint

Check if the directory exists in your current location.

The error means the path 'documents/reports' does not exist relative to your current directory. The most common cause is that 'documents' folder is missing or misspelled.

🚀 Application

expert

How many directories are in the path after this sequence?

Starting in /home/user, you run these commands:

cd ../var
cd log
cd ../../etc

After these commands, how many directories deep is your current location from the root /?

Linux CLI

cd ../var
cd log
cd ../../etc

A 2

B 4

C 1

D 3

💡 Hint

Track each step carefully from the root directory.

Starting at '/home/user':
1) 'cd ../var' moves to '/home/var' (2 levels deep)
2) 'cd log' moves to '/home/var/log' (3 levels deep)
3) 'cd ../../etc' moves up two levels to '/home' then into 'etc' to '/home/etc' (2 levels deep)
So the final directory is '/home/etc' which is 2 levels deep from root.

Practice

1. Which of the following is an absolute path in Linux?

easy

A. documents/reports

B. /home/user/documents

C. ./downloads

D. ../pictures

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand absolute path definition

   An absolute path always starts from the root directory, which is represented by /.

2. Step 2: Identify the path starting with /

   Only /home/user/documents starts with /, making it an absolute path.

3. Final Answer:

   /home/user/documents -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Absolute path starts with / = A [OK]

Hint: Absolute paths always start with a slash / [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing relative paths with absolute paths
• Thinking ./ or ../ are absolute paths
• Ignoring the leading slash in paths

2. Which command correctly changes directory to a relative path named projects inside the current folder?

easy

A. cd projects

B. cd .projects

C. cd /projects

D. cd ../projects

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand relative path usage in cd

   To move into a folder inside the current directory, you can use the folder name directly or prefix it with ./.

2. Step 2: Identify the simplest correct syntax

   cd projects uses cd projects, which is correct and simplest for relative path inside current folder.

3. Final Answer:

   cd projects -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Relative path inside current folder = cd projects [OK]

Hint: Use folder name alone to cd into relative path [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using leading slash for relative paths
• Confusing ../ with current directory
• Adding unnecessary ./ prefix

3. If your current directory is /home/user, what is the full absolute path of ../documents/report.txt?

medium

A. /documents/report.txt

B. /home/user/documents/report.txt

C. /home/documents/report.txt

D. /home/user/../documents/report.txt

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand .. in relative paths

   .. means move one directory up from current directory. From /home/user, going up one level is /home.

2. Step 2: Append the rest of the path

   After moving up, append documents/report.txt to get /home/documents/report.txt.

3. Final Answer:

   /home/documents/report.txt -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   .. moves up one folder = /home/documents/report.txt [OK]

Hint: .. means go up one folder from current directory [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Not moving up directory with ..
• Confusing relative and absolute paths
• Leaving .. in the final path

4. You run cd ../folder but get an error: bash: cd: ../folder: No such file or directory. What is the likely cause?

medium

A. The folder folder does not exist inside the parent directory

B. You used an absolute path instead of relative

C. You need to use ./folder instead

D. You must use cd /folder to access it

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the error message

   The error says the directory ../folder does not exist, meaning the folder named folder is missing in the parent directory.

2. Step 2: Check the path usage

   The command uses relative path correctly. The problem is the folder is not found at that location.

3. Final Answer:

   The folder folder does not exist inside the parent directory -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   No such file means folder missing at relative path [OK]

Hint: Check if folder exists in parent directory when using ../folder [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming syntax error instead of missing folder
• Confusing relative and absolute paths
• Trying to use ./ instead of ../ incorrectly

5. You are in /var/www/html. You want to copy a file index.html from /home/user/website to your current directory using a relative path. Which command is correct?

hard

A. cp /home/user/website/index.html .

B. cp ../../home/user/website/index.html .

C. cp ../../../../home/user/website/index.html .

D. cp ../../../home/user/website/index.html .

Solution

1. Step 1: Calculate relative path from /var/www/html to /home/user/website

   From /var/www/html, going up three levels: html -> www -> var reaches /. Then go into home/user/website.

2. Step 2: Form the relative path

   The relative path is ../../../home/user/website/index.html. So the command is cp ../../../home/user/website/index.html ..

3. Final Answer:

   cp ../../../home/user/website/index.html . -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   3 ups to root, then home path = ../../../home/user/website [OK]

Hint: Count folders up to root, then add full path [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using too few ../ and missing root
• Using absolute path when asked for relative
• Confusing current directory (.) with parent (..)