05/10/2019 All Linux Commands with Example

All Linux Commands with Example

Similar to the Command Prompt in Windows, Linux has the Terminal in order to help you
configure and interact with your system. For someone to work in the Terminal they need
to familiarize themselves with Linux commands. Once familiarized it is fairly easy to work
from the Terminal and that is why most of the Linux workers prefer the Linux terminal over
the GUI.

This article will help you to get familiarized with all the most common Linux commands
and their usages. These commands are divided into 15 sections based on their
functionalities.

Table of Contents

System Related Commands

These commands are used to view and manage Linux system-related information.

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1. uname (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/uname-command/)
: Displays linux system information. With -a switch you can view all the
information, with -r switch you can view kernel release information and w
ith -o you can view OS information
2. cat /etc/redhat_release : Shows which version of redhat installed
3. uptime (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-uptime-command/)
: Shows how long the system has been running
4. hostname (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/display-set-hostname-linu
x/) : Shows system host name. With -i switch you can view
the ip address of the machine and with -d you can view the domain name
5. last (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-last-command/) reboot
: Shows system reboot history
6. date (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/date-command-linux/)
: Shows the current date and time. You can specify the format you want to
view the date as well. As an example, by using 'date +%D' you can view the
date in 'MM/DD/YY' format
7. cal (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/cal-ncal-commands-display-calen
der-linux/) : Shows the calendar of the current mont
h. With -y switch you can view the calendar of the whole current year
8. w : Displays who is logged (https://linoxide.co
m/linux-command/linux-w-command/) on and what they are doing
9. whoami (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-whoami-command/)
: Shows current user id
10. finger (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/finger-command-user-detail
s/) user : Displays information about user
11. reboot : Reboots the system
12. shutdown (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/examples-linux-shutdown-c
ommands/) : Shuts down the system

Hardware Related Commands

These commands are used to view and manage hardware-related aspects of the Linux
machine.

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13. dmesg (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-dmesg-command/)

: Displays all the messages from Kernel ring buffer. With -k switch you ca
n view kernel messages and with -u you can view userspace messages
14. cat /proc/cpuinfo : Displays information about processes and CPUs
of the system
15. cat /proc/meminfo : Displays details on hardware memory
16. cat /proc/interrupts : Lists the number of interrupts per CPU per I/O
device
17. lshw : Displays information on hardware configuration
of the system. But this command must be run as super user or it will only
report partial information
18. lsblk : Displays block device related information of t
he machine. With -a you can view all block devices
19. free -m : Shows used and free memory (https://linoxide.c
om/linux-command/linux-free-command/) (-m for MB)
20. lspci -tv : Shows information on PCI (https://linoxide.co
m/linux-how-to/few-command-helps-to-get-linux-hardware-details/) buses dev
ices
21. lsusb -tv : Shows information on USB (https://linoxide.co
m/linux-command/linux-lsusb-command-print-usb/) devices
22. dmidecode (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/how-to-display-system-ha
rdware-information-in-bios/) : Shows hardware info from the BI
OS (vendor details)
23. hdparm -i /dev/sda : Shows info about disk sda
hdparm -tT /dev/sda : Performs a read speed test on disk sda
24. badblocks -s /dev/sda : Tests for unreadable blocks (https://linoxide.
com/linux-how-to/how-to-fix-repair-bad-blocks-in-linux/) on disk sda

Statistic Related Commands

These set of commands are used to view various kinds of stats of the Linux system

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25. mpstat 1 : Displays processors related statistics

(https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-mpstat-command/)
26. vmstat 2 : Displays virtual memory statistics (ht
tps://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-vmstat-command-tool-report-virtual-
memory-statistics/)
27. iostat 2 : Displays I/O statistics (https://linox
ide.com/linux-command/linux-iostat-command/)
28. tail -n 500 /var/log/messages : Displays the last (https://linoxide.co
m/linux-command/linux-tail-command/) 500 kernel/syslog messages
29. tcpdump -i eth1 : Captures all packets (https://linoxid
e.com/linux-how-to/14-tcpdump-commands-capture-network-traffic-linux/) flo
w on interface eth1. With -w switch you can specify a file where you can d
irect the output to
tcpdump -i eth0 'port 80' : Monitors all traffic on port 80 on int
erface eth0
30. lsof : Lists all open files (https://linoxid
e.com/how-tos/lsof-command-list-process-id-information/) belonging to all
active processes
lsof -u testuser : Lists files opened by a specific user
31. free -m : Shows RAM memory details
32. watch df -h : Watches changeable (https://linoxide.c
om/linux-command/linux-watch-command/) disk usage continuously

User-Related Commands
These commands are used to manage Linux users

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33. id : Shows the active user and gr

oup information (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-id-command/). Wi
th -G switch you can view the IDs of groups
34. last : Shows a list of last logins
on the system. Using -a switch you can add the hostname to the last colum
n of the output
35. who : Shows who is logged (http
s://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-who-command/) on the system
36. groupadd admin : Adds the group (https://lino
xide.com/linux-command/groupadd-command/) "admin"
37. useradd -c "Sam Tomshi" -g admin -m sam : Creates user "sam" and adds
to group "admin"
38. userdel sam : Deletes user sam
39. adduser sam : Adds user (https://linoxide.
com/linux-command/linux-user-add-command/) "sam"
40. usermod : Modifies user information
41. passwd user1 : Changes the password of user
1

File Related Commands

These commands are used to handle files and directories

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42. ls -al : Displays all information abou

t files/directories (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/20-ls-command-linu
x/). This includes displaying all hidden files as well
43. pwd : Shows current directory path
(https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-pwd-command/)
44. mkdir directory-name : Creates a directory (https://
linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-mkdir-command/)
45. rm file-name : Deletes file (https://linoxid
e.com/linux-command/linux-rm-command/)
rm -r directory-name : Deletes directory recursively
rm -f file-name : Forcefully removes file
rm -rf directory-name : Forcefully removes directory
recursively
46. cp file1 file2 : Copies linux files (https://l
inoxide.com/linux-command/linux-cp-command/), here file1 to file2
cp -r dir1 dir2 : Copies dir1 to dir2, creates
dir2 if it doesn't exist
47. mv file1 file2 : Moves files (https://linoxid
e.com/linux-command/mv-command-linux/) from one place to another/renames f
ile1 to file2
48. ln -s /path/to/target-directory-name link-dir : Creates a symbolic
link (https://linoxide.com/linux-how-to/create-soft-link-linux/) to link-d
ir
49. touch file : Creates empty file (https://l
inoxide.com/linux-command/linux-touch-command/)
50. cat file : Prints the file content (http
s://linoxide.com/linux-command/13-cat-command-examples/) in terminal
51. more file : Display the contents of file
(https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-more-command/)
52. head file : Display the first (https://li
noxide.com/linux-command/linux-head-command/) 10 lines of file
53. tail file : Outputs the last 10 lines of
file
tail -f file : Outputs the contents of file
as it grows starting with the last 10 lines
54. gpg -c file : Encrypts file (https://linoxi
de.com/security/gpg-command-encrypt-decrypt-file/)
gpg file.gpg : Decrypts file 
55. cksum file : View the checksum of the file
56. diff file1 file2 : View the differences between
contents of file1 and file2
57. ln -s target-file link-file : Create a soft link named link

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-file to target-file
58. sort : Sorts files in alphabetical o
rder
59. uniq : Compares adjacent lines in a
file and removes/reports any duplicate lines
60. wc : Counts number of words/lines
61. dir : Lists the content of the dire
ctory
62. tee : Command for chaining and redi
rection (https://linoxide.com/linux-how-to/linux-tee-command-examples/)
63. tr : Command for translating chara
cters (https://linoxide.com/how-tos/linux-tr-command/)

Process Related Commands

These commands are used to handle Linux processes

64. ps : Displays your currently active processes

ps aux | grep 'telnet' : Displays all process ids related to telnet
process
65. pmap : Display Memory map (https://linoxide.com/li
nux-command/pmap-command/) of process
66. top : Display all running processes and cpu/memor
y usage (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-top-command-examples-scr
eenshots/)
67. kill pid : Kills process (https://linoxide.com/linux-h
ow-to/linux-kill-command-examples/) with mentioned pid
68. killall proc : Kills all processes (https://linoxide.com/l
inux-command/linux-killall-my-options/) named proc
69. pkill processname : Sends kill signal to a process with its nam
e
70. bg : Resumes suspended jobs without bringing the
m to foreground (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/fg-bg/)
71. fg : Brings the most recent job to foreground
fg n : Brings job n to the foreground


File Permission Related Commands

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These commands are used to change permissions of the files

72. chmod octal file-name : Changes the permissions (ht

tps://linoxide.com/linux-command/chmod-command/) of file to octal
chmod 777 /data/test.c : Sets rwx permission for own
er , group and others
chmod 755 /data/test.c : Sets rwx permission for own
er and rx for group and others
73. chown owner-user file : Changes owner (https://lino
xide.com/linux-command/how-change-file-ownership-with-linux-chown-comman
d/) of the file
chown owner-user:owner-group file-name : Changes owner and group own
er of the file
chown owner-user:owner-group directory : Changes owner and group own
er of the directory
74. chgrp group1 file : Changes the group ownership
of the file to group1

Network Related Commands

These commands are used to view and edit network configurations related aspects of the
system

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75. ifconfig -a : Displays all network interface (https://linoxide.

com/how-tos/linux-ifconfig/) and set ip address
76. ifconfig eth0 : Displays eth0 ethernet port ip address and detail
s
77. ip addr show : Display all network interfaces (https://linoxide.
com/linux-command/use-ip-command-linux/) and ip addresses
78. ip address add 192.168.0.1 dev eth0 : Sets ip address of eth0 device
79. ethtool eth0 : Linux tool to show ethernet status
80. mii-tool eth0 : Linux tool to show eth0 status
81. ping host : Sends echo requests (https://linoxide.com/linux-h
ow-to/ping-ipv6-address-windows-linux-cli/) to the host to test ipv4 conne
ction
82. whois domain : Gets who is information for domain
83. dig domain : Gets DNS nameserver information (https://linoxid
e.com/how-tos/useful-options-dig/) for domain
dig -x host : Reverse lookup host
84. host google.com : Lookup DNS (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/le
arn-host-command/) ip address for the name
85. hostname -i : Lookup local ip address
86. wget file : Downloads file
87. netstat -tupl : Lists all active listening ports (https://linoxid
e.com/linux-how-to/linux-netstat-commands-basic-advanced-examples/)
88. nslookup : Resolves domain names to IP addresses

Compression / Archive Related Commands

These commands are used to compress and decompress files

89. tar cf home.tar home : Creates a tar (https://linoxide.com/li

nux-how-to/16-tar-commands-compress-extract-files-linux/) named home.tar c
ontaining home/
tar xf file.tar : Extracts the files from file.tar
tar czf file.tar.gz files : Creates a tar with gzip compression
90. gzip file : Compresses file and renames it to fil
e.gz
91. bzip2 -z file : Compresses file and renames it to fil

e.bz2
bzip2 -d file.bz2 : Decompress the file

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Package Installation Related Commands

These commands are used to manage Linux packages

92. rpm -i pkgname.rpm : Installs rpm based package

rpm -e pkgname : Removes package
93. make : Install from source (https://linoxide.com/how
-tos/linux-make-command-examples/) file

Search Related Commands

These commands are used to search for files and patterns

94. grep pattern files : Searches for pattern in files

grep -r pattern dir : Searches recursively for pattern in
dir
95. locate file : Finds all instances of file
96. find /home/tom -name 'index*' : Finds file names that start with "in
dex" inside /home/tom directory
find /home -size +10000k : Finds files larger than 10000k in /h
ome

Login Related Commands

These commands are used to log into another host

97. ssh user@host : Securely connect (https://linoxide.com/li

nux-command/learn-ssh-connection-options/) to a host as user
ssh -p port $ user@host : Connects to host using specific port
98. telnet host : Connects to the system using telnet port


File Transfer Related Commands
These commands are used to copy files from one system to another system

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99. scp file.txt server2:/tmp : Secure copy (https://li

noxide.com/how-tos/scp-command-file-directory-transfer-linux/) file.txt to
remote host /tmp folder
scp nixsavy@server2:/www/*.html /www/tmp : Copies *.html files fro
m remote host to current host /www/tmp folder
scp -r nixsavy@server2:/www /www/tmp : Copies all files and fo
lders recursively from remote server to the current system /www/tmp folder
100. rsync -a /home/apps /backup/ : Synchronizes source to
destination (https://linoxide.com/how-tos/rsync-copy/)
rsync -avz /home/apps $ [email protected]:/backup : Synchronize f
iles/directories between the local and remote system with compression enab
led

Disk Usage Related Commands

These commands are used to view disk statistics

101. df -h : Shows free space (https://linoxide.

com/linux-command/13-df-command-examples-check-disk-space-linux/) on mount
ed filesystems
df -i : Shows free inodes on mounted filesys
tems
102. fdisk -l : Shows disks partitions (https://lino
xide.com/linux-command/fdisk-commands-manage-partitions-in-linux/) sizes a
nd types
103. du -ah : Displays disk usage (https://linoxid
e.com/linux-command/linux-du-command/) in human readable form
du -sh : Displays total disk usage on the cur
rent directory
104. findmnt : Displays target mount point (http
s://linoxide.com/linux-command/powerful-findmnt-command/) for all filesyst
ems
105. mount device-path mount-point : Mounts a device to the device-path


Directory Traverse Related Commands
These commands are used to change the directory

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106. cd .. : Goes up one level of the directory tree

cd : Goes to $HOME directory
cd /test : Changes to /test directory

Conclusion
In this tutorail, we have learned almost all linux commands. Thanks for reading and
please put your suggestions on this. Apart from the commands mentioned in this guide,
there are various options/switches could be used along. But this article only focuses on
the most common commands that are useful for day-to-day activities and if you need
more information on them, you can always use the 'man' command on Linux.

Read Also :
Linux Commands Cheat Sheet in Black & White (https://linoxide.com/linux-command/linux-
commands-cheat-sheet/)
38 Basic Linux Commands to Learn with Examples (https://linoxide.com/linux-
command/essential-linux-basic-commands/)

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