Basic Linux Command Cheat Sheet

Navigation

• cd [directory]: Change directory.
• pwd: Print the current working directory.
• ls [options] [directory]: List files and directories.
• mkdir [directory]: Create a new directory.
• rmdir [directory]: Remove an empty directory.
• cp [options] [source] [destination]: Copy files and directories.
• mv [options] [source] [destination]: Move or rename files and directories.

File Operations

• touch [file]: Create a new empty file or update the timestamp of an existing file.
• cat [file]: Concatenate and display the contents of a file.
• head [options] [file]: Output the first part of a file.
• tail [options] [file]: Output the last part of a file.
• less [file]: View file contents interactively.
• rm [options] [file]: Remove files and directories.
• chmod [options] [mode] [file]: Change file permissions.

File Searching

• find [path] [expression]: Search for files and directories.
• grep [options] [pattern] [file]: Search for text patterns in files.
• locate [file]: Find files by name.
• which [command]: Show the location of a command.

Process Management

• ps [options]: Display information about active processes.
• top: Monitor system processes in real-time.
• kill [options] [PID]: Terminate a process.
• killall [options] [process]: Terminate all processes by name.

System Information

• uname [options]: Print system information.
• whoami: Print the username of the current user.
• hostname: Print the name of the current host.
• df [options]: Display disk space usage.
• free [options]: Display memory usage.
• uptime: Show system uptime.

File Compression

• tar [options] [file]: Create or extract tar archives.
• gzip [options] [file]: Compress files using gzip compression.
• gunzip [options] [file]: Decompress files compressed with gzip.

Network

• ping [options] [host]: Send ICMP echo requests to a host.
• ifconfig: Display network interface information.
• ip [options]: Show or manipulate routing, devices, and policy routing.
• ssh [user@]host: Connect to a remote server using SSH.
• wget [options] [URL]: Download files from the web.

System Administration

• sudo [command]: Execute a command with superuser privileges.
• su [username]: Switch to another user account.
• passwd [username]: Change a user's password.
• apt [options] [command]: Package management command for APT.
• systemctl [options] [command]: Control the systemd system and service manager.

Conclusion

This cheat sheet covers some of the basic Linux commands for navigation, file operations, process management, system information, file searching, network-related tasks, file compression, and system administration. It serves as a handy reference for both beginners and experienced users.

Feel free to explore these commands further and refer to the command's manual page (man [command]) for more detailed information.

Happy Linux command line exploration!