Keywords: Linux terminal commands, basic Linux commands
If you are a newbi, you’ll find following Linux commands useful. These commands will work with any Linux distro.
1. To list all files and directory -> Use ls
a.) current location : ls
b.) any other location: ls <location>
$ ls
$ ls /home/
2. To change a directory -> Use cd
Syntax: cd <location>
$ cd /home/sachin/movies
3. To exit from a directory -> Use cd .. or cd \
$ cd ..
$ cd \
4. To remove a directory including all files and sub-directories in it -> Use rm -r
Syntax: rm -r <dirctory>
$ rm -r /home/sachin/movies
5. To create a new directory -> Use mkdir
Syntax: mkdir <directory location>
$mkdir /home/sachin/movies
6. To change read/write permission -> Use chmod
Syntax: sudo chmod 777 <file name>
sudo chmod -R 777 <directory name>
$ sudo chmod 777 /home/sachin/passwor.conf
$ sudo chmod -R 777 /home/sachin/movies
7. To copy a file/directoty from one location to another -> Use cp
Syntax: cp <file name that u want to copy> <location/file name where you want to copy >
$ cp /home/password.conf /home/sachin/
$ cp /home/password.conf /home/password.conf.bak
Syntax: cp <directory that you want to copy> <location where you wnt to copy>
$ cp -r /home/sachin/movies/ home/sachin/old/movies/
8. To run any command as root/super user -> Use sudo
Syntax: sudo <command>
$ sudo ls
9. To open a shell as root -> Use sudo su
$ sudo su
10. To change your password -> Use passwd
$ passwd
11. To see current date and time-> Use date
$date
12. To sync. current time with ntp server -> Use ntpdate
Syntax: sudo ntpdate <ntp-server-address>
$ sudo ntpdate ntp.ubuntu.org
13. To see/configure your ip address -> Use ifconfig
$ ifconfig
14. To see/configure wireless network -> Use iwconfig
$ iwconfig
15. To scan wirelsss network -> Use iwlist scan
$ iwlist scan
16. To bring a network interface up -> Use ip or ifconfig
a.) Using ip
Syntex:ip link set dev <interface> up
$ sudo ip link set dev eth0 up
b.) Using ifconfig
Syntex:ifconfig <interface> up
$ sudo ifconfig eth0 up
17. To bring a network interface down -> Use ip or ifconfig
a.) Using ip
Syntex:ip link set dev <interface> down
$ sudo ip link set dev eth0 down
b.) Using ifconfig
Syntex:ifconfig <interface> down
$ sudo ifconfig eth0 down
18. To see the version of ubuntu -> use lsb_release -a
$ lsb_release -a
19. To get kernel version -> Use uname -r
$ uname -r
20. To get all information about the kernel -> Use uname -a
$ uname -a
21. To update the system -> Use apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get update
22. To upgrade the system -> Use apt-get upgrade
$ sudo apt-get upgrade
23. To install a package -> Use apt-get install
Syntax: sudo apt-get install <package name>
$ sudo apt-get install rar
24. To remove a package -> Use apt-get remove
Syntax: sudo apt-get remove <package name>
$ sudo apt-get remove rar
25. To remove obsotle package automatically -> Use apt-get autoremove
$ sudo apt-get autoremove
26. To fix a package -> Use apt-get -f install
Syntax: sudo apt-get -f install <package name>
$ sudo apt-get -f install rar
27. To fix a broken package -> Use dpkg –configure -a
Syntax: sudo dpkg –configure -a <package>
$ sudo dpkg –configure -a rar
28. To istall a .deb package -> Use dpkg -i
Syntax: sudo dpkg -i pkg.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i rar.deb
29. To search for a specific string in the specified file -> Use grep
a.)Search for the given string in a single file
Syntex: grep <string pattern> <file name>
$ grep “hello” /home/sachin/helloworld.txt
b.)Checking for the given string in multiple files
Syntex: grep <string pattern> <file pattern>
$ grep “hello” /home/*.txt
A full tutorial will be update soon for more uses of grep command.
30. To see the current working directory -> Use pwd (prints only the name of current working directory, to see file and sub directories use ls)
$ pwd
