| Command | Use Case | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
ls | List directory contents | Displays files and directories in the current directory. Use ls -l for detailed info. |
cd | Change directory | Navigates between directories. Example: cd /home/user moves to /home/user. |
pwd | Print working directory | Shows the current directory path. Useful to confirm location. |
mkdir | Create a directory | Example: mkdir new_folder creates a new folder named new_folder. |
rmdir | Remove empty directory | Deletes an empty directory. Use rm -r for non-empty ones. |
rm | Remove files or directories | Deletes files (rm file.txt) or directories (rm -r folder). |
cp | Copy files and directories | Example: cp file.txt /backup/ copies file.txt to /backup/. |
mv | Move or rename files | Example: mv old.txt new.txt renames old.txt to new.txt. |
cat | View file contents | Displays file content. Example: cat file.txt. |
less | View large files | Scroll through large files page by page. Example: less log.txt. |
head | View first lines of a file | Example: head -n 10 file.txt shows the first 10 lines. |
tail | View last lines of a file | Example: tail -n 10 file.txt shows the last 10 lines. |
grep | Search in files | Example: grep 'error' log.txt searches for 'error' in log.txt. |
find | Search for files | Example: find /home -name '*.txt' finds all .txt files. |
locate | Find files quickly | Uses a prebuilt index. Example: locate file.txt. |
du | Disk usage | Example: du -sh folder/ shows folder size. |
df | Disk space usage | Example: df -h shows available disk space in human-readable format. |
chmod | Change file permissions | Example: chmod 755 script.sh sets executable permissions. |
chown | Change file owner | Example: chown user:group file.txt assigns a new owner. |
ps | List running processes | Example: ps aux shows all running processes. |
top | Display system usage | Shows CPU/memory usage and running processes. |
htop | Interactive process viewer | A better version of top (requires installation). |
kill | Terminate a process | Example: kill 1234 stops the process with PID 1234. |
pkill | Kill process by name | Example: pkill firefox terminates all firefox processes. |
tar | Archive files | Example: tar -czvf archive.tar.gz folder/ creates a compressed archive. |
unzip | Extract ZIP files | Example: unzip archive.zip. |
gzip | Compress files | Example: gzip file.txt compresses file.txt to file.txt.gz. |
gunzip | Decompress GZIP files | Example: gunzip file.txt.gz restores file.txt. |
ssh | Secure shell connection | Example: ssh user@server.com connects to a remote server. |
scp | Secure copy over SSH | Example: scp file.txt user@server:/backup/. |
rsync | Sync files and directories | Example: rsync -av source/ destination/. |
wget | Download files | Example: wget https://example.com/file.zip. |
curl | Transfer data from URLs | Example: curl -O https://example.com/file.zip. |
nano | Edit text files | Example: nano file.txt opens file.txt for editing. |
vim | Advanced text editor | Example: vim file.txt. Press i to edit, Esc to exit insert mode, :wq to save and quit. |
history | Show command history | Lists previously executed commands. |
clear | Clear terminal screen | Clears the command line screen. |
echo | Print text to terminal | Example: echo "Hello, World!". |
export | Set environment variables | Example: export PATH=$PATH:/new/path. |
alias | Create command shortcuts | Example: alias ll='ls -la' defines ll as ls -la. |
uptime | Show system uptime | Displays how long the system has been running. |
uname | Show system information | Example: uname -a displays kernel version and system details. |
whoami | Show current user | Displays the currently logged-in username. |
id | Show user ID and group | Example: id username. |
groups | Show group memberships | Lists the groups a user belongs to. |
passwd | Change user password | Example: passwd username. |
shutdown | Power off system | Example: shutdown -h now shuts down immediately. |
reboot | Restart system | Example: reboot. |
cron | Schedule tasks | Example: crontab -e opens the crontab file for scheduling tasks. |
systemctl | Manage services | Example: systemctl restart apache2 restarts Apache. |
journalctl | View logs | Example: journalctl -u apache2 shows logs for Apache. |
dmesg | View boot logs | Example: `dmesg |
{% raw %}ip | Show network details | Example: ip a displays network interfaces. |
ping | Test network connectivity | Example: ping google.com. |
traceroute | Trace network path | Example: traceroute google.com. |
netstat | Show network connections | Example: netstat -tulnp. |
ss | Display active connections | Example: ss -tulnp (alternative to netstat). |
nslookup | Query DNS records | Example: nslookup google.com. |
dig | Get DNS info | Example: dig google.com. |
iptables | Manage firewall rules | Example: iptables -L lists rules. |
ufw | Simplified firewall | Example: ufw allow 22/tcp allows SSH traffic. |
mount | Mount file systems | Example: mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb. |
umount | Unmount file systems | Example: umount /mnt/usb. |
df | Show disk usage | Example: df -h. |
fsck | Check and repair file system | Example: fsck /dev/sda1. |
mkfs | Format a filesystem | Example: mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1. |
tune2fs | Adjust ext4 filesystem settings | Example: tune2fs -c 30 /dev/sda1. |
iostat | Show CPU and disk I/O usage | Example: iostat. |
vmstat | Show system performance | Example: vmstat 5. |
mpstat | Show CPU usage | Example: mpstat -P ALL. |
sar | Monitor system performance | Example: sar -u 5 10. |
This list covers essential Linux commands for daily use.
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