How to change the directory of Linux in python script?

Question

Currently, I am using a python script to run commands in Linux shell. When I change the directory it doesn't seem to work (when I ran the command ls it listed files of the initial directory). I want to change the directory to the desktop. My Code:

import os
os.popen("cd Desktop")
d = os.popen("ls")
x = d.read()
print (x)

Answer 1

It's much better to use the subprocess module. It has a nicer API and does accept a keyword for this:

>>> import subprocess as sp
>>> sp.call("ls -ll", cwd='/tmp', shell=True)

Answer 2

The easiest and probably the simplest solution is to do here is to use os.chdir . Below is an example

In[6]: os.listdir()
Out[6]: 
['.flask-env',
 'mydb_app',
'requirements.txt',
 '.idea',
 'sample_file_auth.py',
 'login_app']
In[7]: os.chdir('/home/rbhanot/tools')
In[8]: os.listdir()
Out[8]: ['miniconda3', 'nvim']