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Essential Commands

We recommend that you memorize these commands. You’ll need them the most when operating Linux.

File Management

In the following commands: X may refer to a single file, a string containing a wildcard symbol referring to a set of multiple files, e.g., file*.txt, or the stream output of a piped command (in which case the syntax would be X | command instead of command X); Y is a single directory; A and B are path strings of files/directories.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
* Wildcard symbol for variable length, e.g., *.txt refers to all files with the TXT extension
? Wildcard symbol referring to a single character, e.g., Doc?.docx can refer to Doc1.docx, DocA.docx, etc.
ls List the names of files and subfolders in the current directory. Options include -l, -a, -t which you may combine, e.g., -alt.
ls -l Also show details of each item displayed, such as user permissions and the time/date when the item was last modified
ls -a Also display hidden files/folders. May be combined with ls -l to form ls -al.
ls -t Sort the files/folders according to the last modified time/date, starting with the most recently modified item
ls X  List the files 
cd Y Change directory to Y.

Special instances of Y:
.  — current directory
.. — parent directory
cd To the $HOME directory
cd .. Up one level to enclosing folder or parent directory
cd /etc To the /etc directory
cmp A B Compare two files A and B for sameness. No output if A and B are identical, outputs character and line number otherwise.
diff A B Compare two files A and B for differences. Outputs the difference.
pwd Display the path of the current working directory.
mkdir X Make a new directory named X inside the current directory.
mv A B Move a file from path A to path B. Also used for renaming files.
Examples:
– Moving between directories folder1 and folder2:
mv ./folder1/file.txt ./folder2
The file name will remain unchanged, and its new path will be ./folder2/file.txt.
– Renaming a file: mv new_doc.txt expenses.txt
The new file name is expenses.txt.
cp A B Copy a file from path A to path B. Usage similar to mv both in moving to a new directory and simultaneously renaming the file in its new location.
Example: cp ./f1/file.txt ./f2/expenses.txt simultaneously copies the file file.txt to the new location with a new name expenses.txt.
cp -r Y Z Recursively copy a directory Y and its contents to Z. If Z exists, copy source Y into it; otherwise, create Z and Y becomes its subdirectory with Y’s contents
rm X Remove (delete) X permanently.
rm -r Y Recursively delete a directory Y and its contents
rm -f X Forcibly remove file X without prompts or confirmation
rm -rf Y Forcibly remove directory Y and its contents recursively
rmdir Y Remove a directory Y permanently, provided Y is empty.
open X Open X in its default program.
open -e X Opens X in the default text editor (macOS: TextEdit)
touch X Create an empty file X or update the access and modification times of X.
cat X View contents of X.
cat -b X Also display line numbers as well.
wc X Display word count of X.
head X Display the first 10 lines of X. If more than a single file is specified, each file is preceded by a header consisting of the string “==> X <==” where “X” is the name of the file.
head -n 4 X Show the first 4 lines of X.
ls *.c | head -n 5 Display the first 5 items of a list of *.c files in the current directory.
tail X Display the last (10, by default) lines of X. If more than a single file is specified, each file is preceded by a header consisting of the string “==> X <==” where “X” is the name of the file.
tail -n +1 X Display entire contents of the file(s) X specified, with header of respective file names
tail -f X Display the last 10 lines of the file(s) X specified, and track changes appended to them at the end. Overwriting X or modifying X with a text editor such as vim would mess up this command’s output.
less Read a file with forward and backward navigation. Often used with pipe, e.g., cat file.txt | less
ln -s A S Create symbolic link of path A to link name S.

Input/Output Redirection

These are helpful for logging program output and error messages.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
echo TEXT Display a line of TEXT or the contents of a variable.
echo -e TEXT Also interprets escape characters in TEXT, e.g., \n → new line, \b → backslash, \t → tab.
echo -n TEXT Omits trailing newline of TEXT.
cmd1 | cmd2 | is the pipe character; feeds the output of the command cmd1 and sends it to the command cmd2, e.g., ps aux | grep python3.
cmd > file Redirect output of a command cmd to a file file. Overwrites pre-existing content of file.
cmd >& file Redirect output of cmd to file. Overwrites pre-existing content of file. Suppresses the output of cmd.
cmd > /dev/null Suppress the output of cmd.
cmd >> file Append output of cmd to file.
cmd < file Read input of cmd from file.
cmd << delim Read input of cmd from the standard input with the delimiter character delim to tell the system where to terminate the input. Example for counting the number of lines of ad-hoc input:
wc -l << EOF
> I like > apples > and > oranges. > EOF      
 4
Hence there are only 4 lines in the standard input delimited by EOF.
cmd <<< string Input a text string to cmd.
cmd 2> foo Redirect error messages of cmd to foo.
cmd 2>> foo Append error messages of cmd to foo.
cmd &> file Redirect output and error messages of cmd to file.

Search and Filter

These commands help you find the files you want.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
grep patt /path/to/src Search for a text pattern patt in X. Commonly used with pipe e.g., ps aux | grep python3 filters out the processes containing python3 from all running processes of all users.
grep -r patt /path/to/src Search recursively (the target directory /path/to/src and its subdirectories) for a text pattern patt.
grep -v patt X Return lines in X not matching the specified patt.
grep -l patt X Write to standard output the names of files containing patt.
grep -i patt X Perform case-insensitive matching on X. Ignore the case of patt.
find Find files.
find /path/to/src -name "*.sh" Find all files in /path/to/src matching the pattern “*.sh” in the file name.
find /home -size +100M Find all files in the /home directory larger than 100MB.
locate name Find files and directories by name.
sort X Arrange lines of text in X alphabetically or numerically.

Archives

These commands are for unpacking compressed files (.zip, .gz, .bz2, .tar, etc.) with large or complex contents, such as programs.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
tar Manipulate archives with .tar extension.
tar -v Get verbose output while manipulating TAR archives. May combine this option with others, e.g., tar -tvf.
tar -cf archive.tar Y Create a TAR archive named archive.tar containing Y.
tar -xf archive.tar Extract the TAR archive named archive.tar.
tar -tf archive.tar List contents of the TAR archive named archive.tar.
tar -czf archive.tar.gz Y Create a gzip-compressed TAR archive named archive.tar.gz containing Y.
tar -xzf archive.tar.gz Extract the gzip-compressed TAR archive named archive.tar.gz.
tar -cjf archiave.tar.bz2 Y Create a bzip2-compressed TAR archive named archive.tar.bz2 containing Y.
tar -xjf archive.tar.bz2 Extract the bzip2-compressed TAR archive named archive.tar.bz2.
gzip Manipulate archives with .gz extension.
gzip Y Create a gzip archive named Y.gz containing Y.
gzip -l Y.gz List contents of gzip archive Y.gz.
gzip -d Y.gz
gunzip Y.gz
Extract Y.gz and recover the original file Y.
bzip2 Manipulate archives with .bz2 extension.
bzip2 Y Create a bzip2 archive named Y.bz2 containing Y.
bzip2 -d Y.gz
bunzip2 Y.gz
Extract Y.bz2 and recover the original file Y.
zip -r Z.zip Y Zip Y to the ZIP archive Z.zip.
unzip Z.zip Unzip Z.zip to the current directory.
unzip Z.zip List contents of Z.zip.

File Transfer

These commands are for logging in to local and remote hosts, and for uploading and downloading files, transferring them between devices. Remember to omit the square brackets “[” and “]” when you input the optional parameters they enclose.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
ssh user@access Connect to access as user.
ssh access Connect to access as your local username.
ssh -p port user@access Connect to access as user using port.
scp [user1@]host1:[path1] [user2@]host2:[path2] Login to hostN as userN via secure copy protocol for N=1,2.

Example usage:
scp alice@pi:/home/source bob@arduino:/destination

path1 and path2 may be local or remote, but ensure they’re absolute rather than relative paths, e.g., /var/www/*.html/usr/bin.

If user1 and user2 are not specified, scp will use your local username.
scp -P port [user1@]host1:[path1] [user2@]host2:[path2]  Connect to hostN as userN using port for N=1,2.
scp -r [user1@]host1:[path1] [user2@]host2:[path2] Recursively copy all files and directories from path1 to path2.
sftp [user@]access Login to access as user via secure file transfer protocol. If user is not specified, your local username will be used.
sftp access Connect to access as your local username.
sftp -P port user@access Connect to access as user using port.
rsync -a [path1] [path2] Synchronize [path1] to [path2], preserving symbolic links, attributes, permissions, ownerships, and other settings.
rsync -avz host1:[path1] [path2] Synchronize [path1] on the remote host host1 to the local path [path2], preserving symbolic links, attributes, permissions, ownerships, and other settings. It also compresses the data involved during the transfer.

File Permissions

Not all files are equally accessible. To prevent unwanted tampering, some files on your device may be read-only. For more information about file permissions on Linux, refer to our Linux File Permissions Cheat Sheet.

Linux file type - regular file, d directory, l symbolic link; scope u user, g group, o other, a all; permissions r read, w write, x execute
COMMAND DESCRIPTION
chmod permission file Change permissions of a file or directory. Permissions may be of the form [u/g/o/a][+/-/=][r/w/x] (see examples below) or a three-digit octal number.
chown user2 file Change the owner of a file to user2.
chgrp group2 file Change the group of a file to group2.

Usage examples:

  • chmod +x testfile → allow all users to execute the file
  • chmod u-w testfile → forbid the current user from writing or changing the file
  • chmod u+wx,g-x,o=rx testfile → simultaneously add write and execute permissions to user, remove execute permission from group, and set the permissions of other users to only read and write.

Numeric Representation

The table below compares Linux file permissions in octal form and in the format [u/g/o/a][+/-/=][r/w/x].

OCTAL PERMISSION(S) EQUIVALENT TO APPLICATION OF
0 No permissions -rwx
1 Execute permission only =x
2 Write permission only =w
3 Write and execute permissions only: 2 + 1 = 3 =wx
4 Read permission only =r
5 Read and execute permissions only: 4 + 1 = 5 =rx
6 Read and write permissions only: 4 + 2 = 6 =rw
7 All permissions: 4 + 2 + 1 = 7 =rwx

Examples

  • chmod 777 testfile → allow all users to execute the file
  • chmod 177 testfile → restrict current user (u) to execute-only, while the group (g) and other users (o) have read, write and execute permissions
  • chmod 365 testfile → user (u) gets to write and execute only; group (g), read and write only; others (o), read and execute only.

System Information

These commands come in handy when you’re developing new applications for Linux or troubleshooting your Linux machine.

General

These provide information about your Linux machine and perform administrative tasks.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
uname Show the Linux system information.
uname -a Detailed Linux system information
uname -r Kernel release information, such as kernel version
uptime Show how long the system is running and load information.
su
sudo
Superuser; use this before a command that requires root access e.g., su shutdown
cal Show calendar where the current date is highlighted.
date Show the current date and time of the machine.
halt Stop the system immediately.
shutdown Shut down the system.
reboot Restart the system.
last reboot Show reboot history.
man COMMAND Shows the manual for a given COMMAND. To exit the manual, press “q”.
hostname Show system host name
hostname -I Display IP address of host
cat /etc/*-release Show the version of the Linux distribution installed. For example, if you’re using Red Hat Linux, you may replace * with redhat.

Hardware

These commands provide details about the hardware supporting your Linux machine.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
dmesg Display messages in kernel ring buffer (data structure that records messages related to the operation of the program running the operating system)
cat /proc/cpuinfo  Display information about the central processing unit (CPU)
cat /proc/meminfo Display memory information
lspci -tv Displays information about each Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device on your system.
The option -t outputs the information as a tree diagram, and -v is for verbose output.
lsusb -tv Display information about Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices and the devices connected to them.
The option -t outputs the information as a tree diagram, and -v is for verbose output.
dmidecode Display system hardware components, serial numbers, and BIOS version
hdparm -i /dev/sda Display information about the disk sda
hdparm -tT /dev/sda Perform a read speed test on the disk sda 
badblocks -s /dev/sda Test for unreadable blocks on the disk sda

Disk Usage

These commands provide storage details regarding your Linux machine.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
df Display free disk space.
du Show file/folder sizes on disk.
du -ah Disk usage in human readable format (KB, MB etc.)
du -sh Total disk usage of the current directory
du -h Free and used space on mounted filesystems
du -i Free and used inodes on mounted filesystems
fdisk -l List disk partitions, sizes, and types
free -h Display free and used memory in human readable units.
free -m Display free and used memory in MB.
free -g Display free and used memory in GB.

Process Management and Performance Monitoring

The following is redolent of functions in Windows Task Manager, but on the command line.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
& Add this character to the end of a command/process to run it in the background
ps Show process status. Often used with grep e.g., ps aux | grep python3 displays information on processes involving python3.

Meaning of aux:
a = show processes for all users
u = show user or owner column in output
x = show processes not attached to a terminal
ps -e
ps -A
Either of these two commands prints all running processes in the system
ps -ef Print detailed overview
ps -U root -u root Display all processes running under the account root.
ps -eo pid,user,command Display only the columns piduser and command in ps output
top Display sorted information about processes
htop Display sorted information about processes with visual highlights. It allows you to scroll vertically and horizontally, so you can see every process running on your system and entire commands.
atop Display detailed information about processes and hardware
kill PID Kill a process specified by its process ID PID, which you obtain using the ps command
killall proc1 Kill all processes containing proc1 in their names
lsof List all open files on the system. (This command helps you pinpoint what files and processes are preventing you from successfully ejecting an external drive.)
lsof -u root List all files on the system opened by the root user. As the output can be long, you may use lsof -u root | less to keep this list from taking up space in the terminal output.
mpstat 1 Display processor-related statistics, updated every second (hence the 1, whereas mpstat 2 refreshes the output every 2 seconds)
vmstat 1 Display virtual memory statistics (information about memory, system processes, paging, interrupts, block I/O, disk, and CPU scheduling), updated every (1) second
iostat 1 Display system input/output statistics for devices and partitions. virtual memory statistics, updated every (1) second
tail -n 100 /var/log/messages Display the last 100 lines in the system logs.
Replace /var/log/messages with /var/log/syslog for Debian-based systems.
tcpdump -i eth0 Capture and display all packets on interface eth0
tcpdump -i eth0 port 80 Monitor all traffic on interface eth0 port 80 (HTTP)
watch df -h Execute df -h and show periodic updates.
To exit, press Ctrl+C.

User Management

These commands give information on the system’s users and allows superuser administrators to change user settings.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
who Display who is logged in
w Display what users are online and what they are doing
users List current users
whoami Display what user you are logged in as
id Display the user ID and group IDs of your current user
last Display the last users who have logged onto the system
groupadd gp1 Create a group named gp1
useradd -c "Alice Bob" -m ab1 Create an account named ab1, with a comment of “Alice Bob” and create the new user’s home directory
userdel ab1 Delete the account named ab1
usermod -aG gp1 ab1 Add the account ab1 to the group gp1

Networking

These commands regulate how your Linux machine communicates with other computers, such as the local area network (LAN) router or external websites.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION
ifconfig Display all network interfaces with IP addresses
ifconfig -a Display all network interfaces, even if any of them is down, with IP addresses
ifconfig eth0 Display IP addresses and details of the eth0 interface
ip a Another way to display all network interfaces with IP addresses
ethtool eth0 Query or control network driver and hardware settings of the interface eth0
netstat Print open sockets of network connections, routing tables, interface statistics, masquerade connections, and multicast memberships.
Pipe with the less command: e.g., netstat -a | less
netstat -a Show both listening and non-listening sockets
netstat -l Show only listening sockets
netstat -nutlp Show listening TCP and UDP ports and corresponding programs
ping host Send ICMP echo request to host, which may be a symbolic name, domain name or IP address
whois domain Display whois information for domain
dig domain Display DNS information for domain
dig -x addr Do a reverse lookup on an IPv4 or IPv6 address addr
host domain Display DNS IP address for domain
wget LINK Download from location LINK
curl LINK Display the HTML source of LINK. Check out our curl Cheat Sheet for details.

Installing New Programs

A package file is an archive containing compiled software and other resources it uses. The package file extension and the package installer (a utility for installing new programs) depend on the Linux distribution.

Know your system’s Linux distribution to understand the correct installation commands tailored to it. If the package comes with a README component, it should contain application-specific installation instructions such as extracting TAR files (refer to this article’s Archives section), ./setup.sh, and make install.

Package Management Overview

The following table is on package management in popular Linux distributions.

LINUX DISTRIBUTION PACKAGE FILE EXTENSION PACKAGE INSTALLER(S)
Debian / Ubuntu .deb apt, dpkg
Rocky / Fedora / Red Hat Enterprise Linux .rpm yum, dnf
Arch Linux / Manjaro / Garuda / Chakra .pkg, .pacman, .pkg.tar(.xz/.zst/.gz) pacman

Package Management Commands

Here are the commands for package management in popular Linux distributions.

LINUX DISTRIBUTION DEBIAN / UBUNTU ROCKY / FEDORA / RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX ARCH LINUX / MANJARO / GARUDA / CHAKRA
Update list of packages available from remote repositories sudo apt update dnf check-update The command pacman -Syy achieves this purpose but may damage your system.
Use pacman -Syu instead.
Upgrade installed packages sudo apt upgrade sudo dnf upgrade pacman -Syu
Find a package with keyword in the name apt search keyword dnf search keyword pacman -Ss keyword
View description and summary information about a package apt show package dnf info package pacman -Si package
Install a package (with appropriate file extension) on the local file system sudo dpkg -i package.deb sudo dnf install package.rpm pacman -S package
Remove / uninstall a package sudo apt remove package sudo dnf erase package pacman -R package

source: https://www.stationx.net/linux-command-line-cheat-sheet/