Linux Commands Guide
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moLinux Commands Guide
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moTop 50 Linux Commands with Common Options & Examples
1. ls – List directory contents
• -l : Long listing format
• -a : Show hidden files
• -h : Human-readable sizes
• -R : Recursive listing
ls -lah
2. pwd – Print working directory
pwd
3. cd – Change directory
cd /path/to/dir
cd .. # Go up one level
4. mkdir – Make directory
• -p : Create parent directories if needed
mkdir -p new/folder/path
5. mv – Move or rename files
• -i : Prompt before overwrite
• -v : Verbose
mv -iv file.txt /target/dir/
6. cp – Copy files and directories
• -r : Recursive
• -i : Prompt before overwrite
• -v : Verbose
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cp -riv folder/ /target/
7. rm – Remove files or directories
• -r : Recursive
• -f : Force
• -i : Interactive
rm -rf old_folder/
8. touch – Create empty file or update timestamp
touch newfile.txt
9. ln – Create links
• -s : Symbolic link
ln -s /path/to/original shortcut
10. clear – Clear terminal screen
clear
11. cat – Concatenate and display files
cat file.txt
12. echo – Print text to terminal
echo "Hello, Linux!"
13. less – View file content one screen at a time
less largefile.txt
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14. man – Show manual for command
man ls
15. uname – Show system information
• -a : All system info
uname -a
16. whoami – Show current username
whoami
17. tar – Archive files
• -c : Create
• -x : Extract
• -z : Compress with gzip
• -v : Verbose
tar -czvf archive.tar.gz folder/
18. grep – Search text
• -i : Ignore case
• -r : Recursive
grep -i "error" file.log
19. head – Show first lines of a file
head -n 10 file.txt
20. tail – Show last lines of a file
tail -n 10 file.txt
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21. diff – Compare files line by line
diff file1.txt file2.txt
22. cmp – Compare two files byte by byte
cmp file1.bin file2.bin
23. comm – Compare two sorted files
comm file1.txt file2.txt
24. sort – Sort lines in a file
sort names.txt
25. export – Set environment variables
export PATH=$PATH:/new/path
26. zip – Compress files
zip archive.zip file1 file2
27. unzip – Extract zip files
unzip archive.zip
28. ssh – Secure shell connection
ssh user@hostname
29. service – Control system services
service apache2 start
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30. ps – Show running processes
• aux : Show all processes
ps aux
31. kill and killall – Terminate processes
kill 1234
killall firefox
32. df – Show disk usage
• -h : Human-readable
df -h
33. mount – Mount storage devices
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
34. chmod – Change permissions
chmod 755 script.sh
35. chown – Change file owner
chown user:group file.txt
36. ifconfig – Show network interfaces (deprecated, use ip )
ifconfig
37. traceroute – Trace network path
traceroute google.com
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38. wget – Download files from the web
wget https://example.com/file.zip
39. ufw – Uncomplicated Firewall
ufw enable
ufw allow 22
40. iptables – Configure firewall rules
iptables -L
41. apt , yum , pacman , rpm – Package managers
apt install nginx
yum install httpd
42. sudo – Run command as superuser
sudo apt update
43. cal – Display calendar
cal
44. alias – Create shortcut commands
alias ll='ls -lah'
45. dd – Low-level copying and conversion
dd if=/dev/sda of=/backup.img
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46. whereis – Locate binary, source, and man pages
whereis python
47. whatis – Show short description of command
whatis tar
48. top – Show live system processes
top
49. useradd – Add new user
sudo useradd newuser
50. passwd – Change user password
passwd username