Linux Commands Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet offers a set of commands that you can use for quick reference. I have
prepared this Linux Commands Cheat Sheet as quick reference for both experienced and
basic users.

Basic Linux Commands

In this section, we will show you some basic Linux commands with examples.

Command Description
hostnamectl Get system information including, operating system, kernel,
and release version
date Display the current system date and time
hostname Display the hostname of the system
ifconfig Display the IP and Mac Address of the system
w Display currently logged in users in the system
free -m Display free and used memory in the system
top Display all running processes
ls List all files and directories in the current working directory
ls -al List all files and directories including, hidden files and other
information like permissions, size, and owner
cd Change the directory to the home directory
cd .. Change the directory to one level up
cat filename Display the content of the file
cat file1 file2 > Combine two files named file1 and file2 and store the output
file3 in a new file file3
tail filename Display the last 10 lines of a file
head filename Display the first 10 lines of a file
mv oldfile
newfile Rename a file
rm filename Delete a file
mkdir dirname Create a directory
rm -rf dirname Remove a directory
history Print a history list of all commands
clear Clear the terminal
shutdown -h now Shut down the system
reboot Restart the system

Networking Commands
 Command Description
List all IP addresses and network
ip addr show Or ifconfig
interfaces
ip addr add IP-Address dev Add a temporary IP address to interface
eth1 eth1
netstat -pnltu Display all listening ports
whois domainname Display more information about any
domain
dig domainname Display DNS information of any domain
host domainname Perform an IP lookup for a domain
dig -x IP-Address Perform a reverse lookup of an IP address
dig -x domainame Perform a reverse lookup on domain
ping host-ip Check connectivity between two hosts

File Permission Commands

Command Description
ls -l filename Check the current permission of any file
chmod 777 filename Assign full(read, write, and execute) permission to
everyone
chmod -R 777 dirname Assign full permission to the directory and all sub-
directories
chmod 766 filename Assign full permission to the owner, and read and write
permission to group and others
chmod -x filename Remove the execution permission of any file
chown username
filename Change the ownership of a file
chown user:group
filename Change the owner and group ownership of a file
chown -R user:group Change the owner and group ownership of the directory
dirname and all sub-directories

User and Group Management Commands

Linux is a multi-user operating system. So multiple users can log in to the system and
work on the system at the same time. In some cases, two or more users may need to
share access to system resources like files and directories. In that case, user and group
management allows you to complete your objectives.

Command Description
w Display all login users
useradd username Add a new user account
userdel -r username Delete a user account
usermod [option] Change the user account information including, group,
username home directory, shell, expiration date
usermod -aG
groupname username Add a user to a specific group
groupadd groupname Create a new group
groupdel groupname Remove a group
last Display information of the last login user
id Display UID and GID of the current user

Process Management Commands

When you run any application in Linux. The application will get a process ID or PID.
Process Management helps you to monitor and manage your application.

Command Description
ps Display all active processes
ps -ef | grep processname Display information of specific process
top Manage and display all processes in realtime
pstree Display processes in the tree-like diagram
lsof List all files opened by running processes
kill pid Kill a specific process using process ID
killall processname Kill all processes by name
bg Display stopped or background jobs
pidof processname Get the PID of any process

Disk Management Commands

In this section, we will show you disk management commands including, add and
remove partitions, mount a partition, check disk space, format partition, etc.
 Command Description
fdisk -l List all disk partitions
fdisk /dev/sda Create a new partition on /dev/sda device
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1 Format the partition named /dev/sda1
fsck.ext4 /dev/sda1 Check and repair a filesystem for any error
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt Mount any partition to any directory
df -h Display free space of mounted file system
df -i Display free inodes on the filesystem
du -hs Display the size of your current directory
lsblk Display information about block devices
lsusb -tv Display all USB devices
hdparm -tT /dev/sda Perform a read speed test on disk /dev/sda
badblocks -s /dev/sda Test for unreadable blocks on disk /dev/sda

Package Management Command

In this section, we will show a list of all commands to install, remove and manage
packages in Linux.

Command Description
apt-get install
packagename Install the package on Debian based distributions
apt-get remove
packagename Remove a package on Debian based distributions
dpkg -l | grep -i Get a list of all packages on Debian based
installed distributions
dpkg -i
packagename.deb Install .deb package
apt-get update Update the repository on Debian based distributions
apt-get upgrade Upgrade a specific package on Debian based
packagename distributions
apt-get autoremove Remove all unwanted packages on Debian based
distributions
yum install
packagename Install the package on RPM-based distributions
yum remove packagename Remove a package on RPM-based distributions
yum update Update all system packages to the latest version on
RPM-based distributions
yum list --installed List all installed packages on RPM-based
distributions
yum list --available List all available packages on RPM-based
distributions

Compress and Uncompress Commands

Tar, Zip, and Unzip are the most popular command-line utility in Linux used to
compress and uncompress files and directories.
 Command Description
tar -cvf filename.tar filename Compress a file in the Tar
archive
tar -xvf filename.tar Uncompress a Tar file
tar -tvf filename.tar List the content of the Tar file
tar -xvf filename.tar file1.txt Untar a single file from Tar file
tar -rvf filename.tar file2.txt Add a file to the Tar file
zip filename.zip filename Compress a single file to a zip
zip filename.zip file1.txt file2.txt Compress multiple files to a
file3.txt zip
zip -u filename.zip file4.txt Add a file to a zip file
zip -d filename.zip file4.txt Delete a file from a zip file
unzip -l filename.zip Display the content of zip
archive file
unzip filename.zip Unzip a file
unzip filename.zip -d /dirname Unzip a file to a specific
directory

Conclusion

The above examples are the most commonly used Linux commands. I hope this will
help you to perform your day-to-day system administration task.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet FAQs

What are some basic Linux commands?

Some basic Linux commands include "ls" to list the files in a directory, "cd" to change
directories, "mkdir" to create a new directory, "touch" to create a new file, "rm" to
delete a file, "cp" to copy a file, "mv" to move a file, "pwd" to display the current
directory, "echo" to display text on the screen, and "man" to display the manual for a
command.

How do I navigate the file system in Linux?

To navigate the file system in Linux, use the "cd" command to change directories, "ls"
command to list the contents of a directory, and "pwd" command to display the current
directory. You can also use the ".." notation to move up one directory level and "~" to
move to the home directory.

How do I create and edit files in Linux?

To create a new file in Linux, use the "touch" command followed by the file name. To
edit a file, you can use a text editor such as "vi" or "nano". For example, "vi file.txt" or
"nano file.txt"

How do I manage permissions in Linux?

To manage permissions in Linux, use the "chmod" command to change the permissions
of a file or directory. Permissions can be represented by numbers or symbols such as
"rwx" for read, write, and execute. Additionally, you can use "chown" command to
change the owner and group of a file or directory.

How do I find and install software in Linux?

To find and install software in Linux, you can use package managers such as "apt" or
"yum" depending on the Linux distribution. For example, "apt-get install [package
name]" or "yum install [package name]". You can also use the "which" command to
find the location of a installed program.

How do I use wildcards in Linux commands?

Wildcards in Linux commands are represented by the "*" symbol. For example, "ls *"
will list all files in the current directory, "ls *.txt" will list all files with the ".txt"
extension, and "rm *" will delete all files in the current directory.

How can I get help with a Linux command?

To get help with a Linux command, you can use the "man" command followed by the
name of the command. For example, "man ls" will display the manual page for the "ls"
command. You can also use "--help" option after the command, for example "ls --help"
will show the options available with the command.