Basic Linux Shell Commands
Linux is an operating system made for greater control of the computer. To accomplish this, lots of primary functionality requires usage of a shell or command line.
Commands from: Hostinger Linux Commands Tutorial
Table of Contents
Basic Commands
| Name | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| pwd | pwd |
Prints the current directory path |
| cd | cd [directory_name] |
Changes the directory you're currently in. |
| ls | ls |
Prints the contents of the directory to the console. |
| cat | cat [file_name] |
List the contents of a file |
| cp | cp [path/file_name] [directory_path] |
Copy files to location |
| mv | mv [path/file_name] [directory_path] |
Move files to location |
| mkdir | mkdir [directory_name] |
Creates a directory with the specified name |
| rmdir | rmdir [directory_name] |
Removes a directory |
| rm | rm [file_name] |
Deletes a file |
| touch | touch [file_name] |
Creates a new blank file |
| locate | locate [file_name] |
Searches ALL directories of the filesystem to find the specified item |
| find | find [file_name] |
Searches only the current directory of the filesystem to find the specified item |
| grep | grep [file_name] |
Searches all the text within a file and prints out a highlighted version to the console window |
| sudo | sudo apt install [package_name] |
Do something as an admin user. It's short for 'SuperUser do'. These tasks usually require admin or root permissions. Try not to use it too much, it can break things. |
| df | df -h |
Output how much disk space is currently being used in the current directory |
| du | du -h |
Output how much storage is taken up in the current directory |
| head | head [file_name] |
Output the first x number of lines of a text file |
| tail | tail [file_name] |
Output the last x number of lines of a text file. |
| diff | diff [file_1_name] [file_2_name] |
Compare the contents of a file line by line, and console output lines that do not match |
| tar | tar tvf [file_name].tar.gz |
Compress a set of files together (Usually used for archiving) |
| chmod | chmod r+w [file_name] |
(Change Mode): Change the read / write / execute permissions of files or directories |
| chown | chown [user_name] [file_name] |
(Change Ownership): Change the ownership of a file or directory to another user |
| jobs | jobs -l |
Lists out all currently executing system processes to the console |
| kill | kill [process_id] |
Stops a program's process given the ID of the program |
| ping | ping [host_address] |
Check your connectivity to network host address |
| wget | wget [host_address] |
Download files from the internet (if it's a download link) into the current directory |
| uname | uname -a |
Prints detailed information about your Linux system like machine name, operating system, kernel, etc. |
| top | top |
(Table of Processes): A console output of a Task Manager view. See utilized CPU, running processes, anything you can see in the System Monitor/Task Manager but inside the shell window |
| history | history |
View a list of all of the commands you've entered in the lifetime of the shell window |
| man | man [command_name] |
(Manual): View a description of any command and view a list of its arguments |
| echo | echo "Hello, World!" |
Print text for the given argument into the shell window |
| zip | zip [file_title].zip [file_name] |
Compress your files into a zipped archive |
| hostname | hostname |
View the name of the currently connected network |
| useradd | sudo useradd [user_name] |
Linux is a multi-user system, and these two commands add and remove users |
| passwd | passwd |
Adds or modifies a password for the current user |
| clear | clear |
Clears the console output window |
Advanced Commands
| Name | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| uptime | uptime |
Displays how long the system has been running. Outputs the number of users, and average computational load on the system |
| apt | apt install [package_name] |
Install, update, remove, or manage packages from the primary package manager for Linux (DPKG) |
| yum | yum install [package_name] |
Install, update, remove, or manage packages from a 3rd party package manager (RPM). Primarily used in a Red Hat based OS |
| lsof | lsof |
(List Open Files): Lists out all of the files that are currently being accessed by processes |
| ss | ss -t -a |
Fully-featured view of network connection information. This helps display information about open sockets and active connections |
| netstat | netstat |
Commonly considered a deprecated and less feature-ful network information tool. It is functionally similar to the ss command, and shares many common outputs |
| mount | sudo mount -l -t [directory_name] |
Used to attach a local or network drive to be accessed by the Unix-based filesystem |