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Most used Linux commands

No Command Syntax Uses
1 whoami $ whoami to print username currently logged into terminal session
2 man $ man <command name> to help understand how to use command (Manual)
3 clear $ clear to clear terminal screen
4 pwd $ pwd to print the current folder path
5 ls $ ls <folder name/ folder path> to see all the files and folder in current folder or path folder
6 cd $ cd <folder name/ folder path> to change folder or directory using folder name or folder path
7 mkdir $ mkdir <folder name/ path for create dir.> to create directory in current folder or in given path.
to create an empty file or open file in write mode if already
8 touch $ touch <file name/ file path>
exists and the timestamp of the file is updated.
9 rmdir $ rmdir <folders name/ folder path> to remove only empty directory or rm for remove file and folder
10 rm $ rm <files name/ file path> to remove file and folder from current folder or path folder
11 open $ xdg-open <file name/ folder name> to open particular file or folder (linux)
12 mv $ mv <files/folder name> <file name-2/ folder path> to move file or folder to given path Or rename of file or folder
to copy files and folder in given folder or folder path (use -r for
13 cp $ cp <files/folder name> <file name-2/ folder path>
copy folder)
14 head $ head <file name/ file path> to see the first part of files
15 tail $ tail <file name/ file path> to see the last part of files
16 date $ date to know date and time
to save the output of commands, it is always override of past
17 > $ command > <file name/ file path>
output
to save the output of commands, it is always append of past
18 >> $ command >> <file name/ file path>
output
19 cat $ cat <files name/ file path> to concatenate files and print on the standard output
20 less $ less <file name/ file path> to see the content stored inside a file
21 echo $ echo < ”message” > to print to the output the argument passed to it
22 wc $ wc <file name/ file path> to print newline, word, and byte counts for each file
23 sort $ sort <file name/ file path> to sorting data of file, it is only see not update in file
to useful to sort uniq lines of text. No include repeated lines.
24 uniq $ uniq <file name/ file path>
Use with sort using piped (“ | ”).
25 diff $ diff <file name/ file path> <file name/ file path> to see the difference between two files.
26 find $ find <location> <option> <condition/ filter> to search for files in a directory hierarchy
27 grep $ grep <option> <pattern> <file name/ file path> to print lines that match patterns (find inside of file)
28 du $ du <option> to calculate the size of a directory as a whole.
29 df $ df <option> to get disk usage information
30 history $ history to see history of previous run command
31 ps $ ps to inspect running all the different processes.
to display dynamic real time information about running
32 top $ top
processes in the system
33 kill $ kill <signal flag> <PID> to send a variety of signals to a program to terminate
to to sending signal to a specific process id will send the signal
34 killall $ killall <name>
to multiple processes at once
35 jobs $ jobs
you can resume the execution of the command in the
36 bg $ bg
background
37 fg $ fg to resume to the foreground the last jobs that was suspended
38 sleep $ sleep <time in sec> to delay for a specified amount of time
to compress the file and append a .gz extension to it. The
39 gzip $ gzip <files name/ files path>
origional file deleted.
40 tar $ tar -cf <achived name in (.tar)> <files name list> to create an achive, grouping multiple files in a single file
41 nano $ nano <file name> it is beginner friendly editor.
42 alias $ alias <alias name=’alias command’> to define own alias or custom command. It is temporary.
the output of a command is used as the input of another
43 xargs $ <command-1> | xargs <command-2>
command
44 ln $ ln <original> <link> to create a links (a file that points to another file)
45 who $ who to display the users logged in to the system
46 su $ su <username> to use for switch user
47 sudo $ sudo <command> commanly used to run a command as root
48 passwd $ passwd to change the password
49 chown $ chown <new owner name> <file name/ file path> the owner can change the owner to another user, too
50 chmod $ chmode <mode> <file name/ folder name> to change mode of files and folder like read, write, execute

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