A modern file manager for the command line

Command Line – ranger

© Photo by Brian Mann on Unsplash

© Photo by Brian Mann on Unsplash

Article from Issue 251/2021
Author(s):

Ranger offers a wealth of commands – many with alternatives – and less reliance on a mouse.

Linux has all the necessary commands for manipulating files, everything from ls and cp to rm and mv. However, file managers have the advantage of centralizing all the commands and requiring less knowledge in all except the most advanced circumstances. In fact, file managers remain so useful that Midnight Commander (mc) continues to be used at the command line 27 years after it was first released. A more recent command-line file manager is ranger [1], which uses many Vim keybindings and is written in Python, which allows for the easy creation of custom scripts.

Ranger is available in many distributions, and the latest version can be downloaded from GitHub [1]. It requires Python 3 and includes a long list of suggested packages for full functionality, such as w3m for graphics display, poppler-utils for PDF display, and python-pygments for code highlighting. It creates the directory ~/.config/ranger/rc.conf with the configuration files in Table 1 (shown in Figure 1).

The configuration files also function as documentation on how to customize; although, unless you have a knowledge of Python, these files may be of limited use. A few notes are given in the GitHub repository [2].

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
Print Issues
Digital Issues
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Print Subs
Digisubs
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Tutorials – Ranger

    Stop fiddling around with the mouse or trackpad – do your file management in the terminal, with vi-like key bindings.

    more »
  • Command Line: YankRing

    With the YankRing plugin, Vim's yank and pull features become even more powerful.

    more »
  • Fsniper

    Every day, computers are inundated with hundreds of files. Fsniper welcomes the new arrivals and processes them according to rules that you define.

    more »
  • broot

    The broot file manager guarantees clearer, quicker navigation of the directory tree at the command line.

    more »
  • Most Is More Than Less

    If you like to customize your command-line file pager, check out most.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Visit Our Shop

Trial Subscription

Digital Subscription

Subscribe

Direct Download

Read full article as PDF:

Price $2.95

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Desktop Events Hardware Linux Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source