Linux Basic Commands Reference

This list covers common commands for navigating the filesystem, managing files and directories,
working with text, handling processes, and basic system information.

Filesystem Navigation & Information

1. pwd: Print working directory. Shows the current directory you are in.

2. ls: List directory contents. Displays files and subdirectories.

3. ls -l: Long listing format. Shows detailed information about files and directories (permissions,
owner, size, date).

4. ls -a: List all files, including hidden ones (starting with a dot).

5. ls -lh: Long listing with human-readable sizes (e.g., KB, MB).

6. cd <directory>: Change directory. Navigates to a specified directory.

7. cd ..: Go up one directory level.

8. cd ~: Go to your home directory.

9. cd -: Go to the previously visited directory.

10. tree: List contents of directories in a tree-like format (may need to be installed).

11. du: Disk usage. Shows disk space used by files and directories.

12. du -sh: Summarized, human-readable disk usage for a directory.

13. df: Disk free. Shows free and used disk space on mounted filesystems.

14. df -h: Human-readable disk free information.

File & Directory Management

15. mkdir <directory_name>: Make directory. Creates a new directory.

16. mkdir -p <path/to/new/directory>: Creates parent directories if they don't exist.

17. rmdir <directory_name>: Remove directory (only if empty).

18. touch <file_name>: Create an empty file or update its timestamp.

19. cp <source> <destination>: Copy files or directories.

20. cp -r <source_dir> <destination_dir>: Recursively copy directories and their contents.

21. mv <source> <destination>: Move or rename files/directories.

22. rm <file_name>: Remove (delete) files.

23. rm -r <directory_name>: Recursively remove directories and their contents.

24. rm -f <file_name>: Force remove, ignore non-existent files and never prompt.
 25. rm -rf <directory_name>: Forcefully and recursively remove directories (use with extreme
caution!).

26. ln <target> <link_name>: Create a hard link.

27. ln -s <target> <link_name>: Create a symbolic (soft) link.

Viewing & Editing File Content

28. cat <file_name>: Concatenate and display file content.

29. less <file_name>: View file content page by page (can scroll back).

30. more <file_name>: View file content page by page (cannot scroll back easily).

31. head <file_name>: Display the first 10 lines of a file.

32. head -n <number> <file_name>: Display the first 'number' lines of a file.

33. tail <file_name>: Display the last 10 lines of a file.

34. tail -n <number> <file_name>: Display the last 'number' lines of a file.

35. tail -f <file_name>: Follow (monitor) a file for new content (e.g., log files).

36. nano <file_name>: A simple, user-friendly text editor.

37. vi <file_name> / vim <file_name>: A powerful, command-line text editor (Vi Improved).

Searching & Finding

38. grep <pattern> <file_name>: Search for a pattern within files.

39. grep -i <pattern> <file_name>: Case-insensitive search.

40. grep -r <pattern> <directory>: Recursively search for a pattern in files within a directory.

41. find <path> -name <file_name>: Search for files and directories by name.

42. find <path> -type f -name <pattern>: Find files by pattern.

43. find <path> -type d -name <pattern>: Find directories by pattern.

44. which <command>: Shows the full path of a command.

45. whereis <command>: Locates the binary, source, and manual page files for a command.

Process Management

46. ps: Process status. Displays currently running processes.

47. ps aux: Display all running processes in a detailed format.

48. top: Display dynamic real-time view of running processes (like Task Manager).
 49. htop: An interactive process viewer (more user-friendly than top, may need installation).

50. kill <PID>: Terminate a process by its Process ID (PID).

51. killall <process_name>: Terminate processes by name.

52. bg: Send a suspended process to the background.

53. fg: Bring a background process to the foreground.

54. jobs: List processes running in the background/foreground.

55. &: Run a command in the background (append to a command).

56. Ctrl+C: Interrupt/terminate the current foreground process.

57. Ctrl+Z: Suspend the current foreground process.

User & Permissions Management

58. whoami: Display your current username.

59. id: Print user and group IDs.

60. passwd: Change your user password.

61. sudo <command>: Execute a command with superuser (root) privileges.

62. su -: Switch to the root user.

63. chmod <permissions> <file>: Change file permissions.

64. chmod +x <file>: Make a file executable.

65. chmod 755 <file>: Set rwx for owner, rx for group and others (common for scripts).

66. chown <user> <file>: Change file owner.

67. chgrp <group> <file>: Change file group.

68. adduser <username>: Add a new user (requires root/sudo).

69. deluser <username>: Delete a user (requires root/sudo).

70. usermod: Modify user account properties.

71. groups: Display the groups a user is a member of.

System Information & Utilities

72. uname -a: Print all system information (kernel name, hostname, version, etc.).

73. hostname: Print or set the system's hostname.

74. date: Display or set the system date and time.

75. cal: Display a calendar.

77. history: Display previously executed commands.

78. clear: Clear the terminal screen.

79. echo <text>: Display a line of text.

80. man <command>: Display the manual page for a command.

81. whatis <command>: Display a one-line manual page description.

82. alias <name>='<command>': Create a shortcut for a command.

83. unalias <name>: Remove an alias.

84. gzip <file>: Compress files.

85. gunzip <file.gz>: Decompress gzipped files.

86. tar -cvf <archive.tar> <files>: Create a tar archive.

87. tar -xvf <archive.tar>: Extract files from a tar archive.

88. tar -czvf <archive.tar.gz> <files>: Create a gzipped tar archive.

89. tar -xzvf <archive.tar.gz>: Extract files from a gzipped tar archive.

90. zip <archive.zip> <files>: Create a zip archive.

91. unzip <archive.zip>: Extract files from a zip archive.

92. wget <URL>: Download files from the web.

93. curl <URL>: Transfer data from or to a server.

94. ping <IP_address_or_hostname>: Check network connectivity to a host.

95. ip addr (or ifconfig on older systems): Display network interface information.

96. ssh <user>@<host>: Secure Shell; connect to a remote server.

97. scp <source> <destination>: Secure copy files between hosts.

98. netstat: Display network connections, routing tables, interface statistics.

99. reboot: Restart the system (requires root/sudo).

100. shutdown -h now: Shut down the system immediately (requires root/sudo).