Nano is a simple terminal-based text editor. You can edit text files on a server via the command line when logged in using SSH.
it’s one of the most popular text editors for Unix systems and it’s included by default on all our VPS and dedicated hosting servers.
How to Install Nano Text Editor
The installation steps depend on the operating system installed on your server.
In particular, Nano text editor pre-installed on Ubuntu and many other Linux distros.
If nano is not installed on your server, please go ahead with following steps.
Installing Nano on CentOS/RHEL
To install the Nano text editor on CentOS or RHEL based platforms, execute this command:
yum install nano
Installing Nano on Debian/Ubuntu
To install the Nano text editor on Debian/Ubuntu servers, execute this command:
sudo apt-get install nano
How to Use Nano Text Editor
You can use the following command to open an existing file with nano editor.
nano filename or nano /path/to/directory/filename
Examples:
[root@eurovps ~]# nano sample.txt
[root@eurovps ~]
# nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
Press Ctrl + O to save the changes you have made. To exit nano, type Ctrl + X.
Nano Keyboard Commands
^G (F1) Display this help text
^X (F2) Close the current file buffer / Exit from nano
^O (F3) Write the current file to disk
^J (F4) Justify the current paragraph
^R (F5) Insert another file into the current one
^W (F6) Search for a string or a regular expression
^Y (F7) Go to previous screen
^V (F8) Go to next screen
^K (F9) Cut the current line and store it in the cutbuffer
^U (F10) Uncut from the cutbuffer into the current line
^C (F11) Display the position of the cursor
^T (F12) Invoke the spell checker, if available
^_ (F13) (M-G) Go to line and column number
M-^ (M-6) Copy the current line and store it in the cutbuffer
^Space Go forward one word
^N Go to next line
^A Go to beginning of current line
^E Go to end of current line
M-( (M-9) Go to beginning of paragraph; then of previous paragraph
M-) (M-0) Go just beyond end of paragraph; then of next paragraph
M-] Go to the matching bracket
M-- (M-_) Scroll up one line without scrolling the cursor
M-+ (M-=) Scroll down one line without scrolling the cursor
M-< (M-,) Switch to the previous file buffer
M-> (M-.) Switch to the next file buffer
M-V Insert the next keystroke verbatim
^I Insert a tab at the cursor position
^M Insert a newline at the cursor position
^D Delete the character under the cursor
^H Delete the character to the left of the cursor
M-T Cut from the cursor position to the end of the file
M-J Justify the entire file
M-D Count the number of words, lines, and characters
^L Refresh (redraw) the current screen
^Z Suspend the editor (if suspend is enabled)
(M-X) Help mode enable/disable
(M-C) Constant cursor position display enable/disable
(M-O) Use of one more line for editing enable/disable
(M-S) Smooth scrolling enable/disable
(M-P) Whitespace display enable/disable
(M-Y) Color syntax highlighting enable/disable
(M-H) Smart home key enable/disable
(M-I) Auto indent enable/disable
(M-K) Cut to end enable/disable
(M-L) Long line wrapping enable/disable
(M-Q) Conversion of typed tabs to spaces enable/disable
(M-B) Backup files enable/disable
(M-F) Multiple file buffers enable/disable
(M-M) Mouse support enable/disable
(M-N) No conversion from DOS/Mac format enable/disable
(M-Z) Suspension enable/disable
(M-$) Soft line wrapping enable/disable
Any command prefixed with a caret symbol (^) means to use the Ctrl key (e.g., ^K means to press the Ctrl+K keys at the same time).
Any command prefixed with the letter M means to press the Alt key (e.g., M-R means to press the Alt+R keys together).