Here’s a comprehensive list of Linux commands with descriptions and examples. This list covers most commonly used commands for file management, system monitoring, networking, and more.
ls- List directory contents
- Example:
ls -l /home # List files in /home with details
cd- Change directory
- Example:
cd /var/log # Move to /var/log directory
pwd- Print working directory
- Example:
pwd # Show current directory path
mkdir- Create a directory
- Example:
mkdir new_folder # Create a directory named new_folder
rmdir- Remove an empty directory
- Example:
rmdir empty_folder # Remove empty_folder
rm- Remove files or directories
- Example:
rm file.txt # Delete file.txt
rm -r folder # Recursively delete folder and its contents
cp- Copy files or directories
- Example:
cp file.txt /backup # Copy file.txt to /backup
cp -r folder /backup # Copy folder recursively
mv- Move or rename files or directories
- Example:
mv file.txt /backup # Move file.txt to /backup
mv old_name.txt new_name.txt # Rename file
touch- Create an empty file or update file timestamp
- Example:
touch newfile.txt # Create newfile.txt
cat- Display file content
- Example:
cat file.txt # Show content of file.txt
more- View file content page by page
- Example:
more largefile.txt # View largefile.txt page by page
less- View file content with backward navigation
- Example:
less largefile.txt # View file with backward navigation
head- Display the first part of a file
- Example:
head -n 10 file.txt # Show first 10 lines of file.txt
tail- Display the last part of a file
- Example:
tail -n 10 file.txt # Show last 10 lines of file.txt
tail -f logfile.log # Follow logfile.log in real-time
find- Search for files or directories
- Example:
find /home -name "*.txt" # Find all .txt files in /home
grep- Search text using patterns
- Example:
grep "error" logfile.log # Search for "error" in logfile.log
tar- Archive files
- Example:
tar -cvf archive.tar folder # Create archive.tar from folder
tar -xvf archive.tar # Extract archive.tar
zip/unzip- Compress and extract files
- Example:
zip archive.zip file.txt # Compress file.txt into archive.zip
unzip archive.zip # Extract archive.zip
chmod- Change file permissions
- Example:
chmod 755 script.sh # Set permissions to rwxr-xr-x
chown- Change file ownership
- Example:
chown user:group file.txt # Change owner and group of file.txt
ps- Display running processes
- Example:
ps aux # Show all running processes
top- Display real-time system stats
- Example:
top # Show live system stats
htop- Interactive process viewer (requires installation)
- Example:
htop # Interactive system monitoring
kill- Terminate a process
- Example:
kill 1234 # Terminate process with PID 1234
kill -9 1234 # Forcefully terminate process
df- Display disk space usage
- Example:
df -h # Show disk usage in human-readable format
du- Display directory space usage
- Example:
du -sh /home # Show total size of /home
free- Display memory usage
- Example:
free -h # Show memory usage in human-readable format
uname- Display system information
- Example:
uname -a # Show all system information
uptime- Show system uptime
- Example:
uptime # Display how long the system has been running
shutdown- Shutdown or restart the system
- Example:
shutdown now # Shutdown immediately
shutdown -r now # Restart immediately
ping- Test network connectivity
- Example:
ping google.com # Ping Google
ifconfig- Configure or display network interfaces
- Example:
ifconfig # Show network interfaces
ip- Advanced network configuration
- Example:
ip addr show # Display IP addresses
netstat- Display network connections
- Example:
netstat -tuln # Show listening ports
ssh- Connect to a remote server
- Example:
ssh user@192.168.1.1 # SSH into a remote server
scp- Securely copy files between hosts
- Example:
scp file.txt user@192.168.1.1:/home # Copy file.txt to remote server
wget- Download files from the web
- Example:
wget https://example.com/file.zip # Download file.zip
curl- Transfer data from or to a server
- Example:
curl -O https://example.com/file.zip # Download file.zip
nslookup- Query DNS records
- Example:
nslookup google.com # Lookup DNS for google.com
dig- DNS lookup utility
- Example:
dig google.com # Query DNS information for google.com
useradd- Add a new user
- Example:
useradd john # Create a new user named john
passwd- Change user password
- Example:
passwd john # Set password for user john
usermod- Modify user account
- Example:
usermod -aG sudo john # Add john to sudo group
userdel- Delete a user
- Example:
userdel john # Delete user john
groupadd- Add a new group
- Example:
groupadd developers # Create a new group named developers
groupdel- Delete a group
- Example:
groupdel developers # Delete group developers
su- Switch user
- Example:
su john # Switch to user john
sudo- Execute commands as superuser
- Example:
sudo apt update # Run apt update as superuser
apt- Package manager for Debian-based systems
- Example:
sudo apt update # Update package list
sudo apt install nginx # Install nginx
yum- Package manager for RHEL-based systems
- Example:
sudo yum install httpd # Install Apache on RHEL
dnf- Modern package manager for Fedora
- Example:
sudo dnf install nginx # Install nginx on Fedora
pacman- Package manager for Arch Linux
- Example:
sudo pacman -S nginx # Install nginx on Arch
echo- Display a line of text
- Example:
echo "Hello, World!" # Print "Hello, World!"
date- Display or set the system date and time
- Example:
date # Show current date and time
history- Display command history
- Example:
history # Show command history
man- Display manual pages
- Example:
man ls # Show manual for ls command
alias- Create command shortcuts
- Example:
alias ll='ls -la' # Create alias for ls -la
cron- Schedule tasks
- Example:
crontab -e # Edit cron jobs
ln- Create links between files
- Example:
ln -s /path/to/file link_name # Create symbolic link
diff- Compare files line by line
- Example:
diff file1.txt file2.txt # Compare two files
This list covers most of the essential Linux commands.