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Command List

Here is a cheat sheet of important Linux commands.

Directories

Command Examples Description
cd cd
cd PATH		 Change the working directory
ls ls -l
ll -h		 List the contents of the working directory
mkdir mkdir DIRECTORY
mkdir -p DIRECTORY		 Create, i.e. make, a directory
pwd pwd Print the path to the current working directory

Files

Command Examples Description
mv mv SOURCE DESTINATION Move a file or directory
cp cp SOURCE DESTINATION Copy a file or directory
rm rm FILE
rm -r DIRECTORY		 Remove/delete a file or directory

Permissions

Command Examples Description
chmod chmod ugo+rwx FILE
chmod -R ugo+rwx DIRECTORY		 Change the permission on a file or directory
chown chown USER FILE
chown -R USER DIRECTORY		 Change the owner of a file or directory
chgrp chgrp GROUP FILE
chgrp -R GROUP DIRECTORY		 Change the group of a file or directory

Display Data

Command Examples Description
echo echo "text to print" Echo, i.e., print, the provided text
cat cat FILE Print the contents of a file or stream
head head -n 10 FILE Print the first lines of a file or stream
tail tail -n 10 FILE Print the last lines of a file or stream

Find and Filter

Command Examples Description
find find . -name *.txt Find files that match a pattern (and much more)
grep grep PATTERN FILE Filter for lines of a file that match a pattern

Disks

Command Examples Description
df df -h . Report the amount of free disk space on one or all drives
du du -h -max-depth 2 Report the amount of disk space used in a directory and its contents

System Processes

Command Examples Description
top top
top -u USER		 Report the memory and CPU usage of all, or some, system processes
htop htop
htop -u USER		 Like top, with a bit more information and formatting

File Compression

Command Examples Description
gzip gzip FILE
gzip -c > FILE
gunzip FILE
zcat FILE		 Compress a file, or reverse the process
tar tar -czf ARCHIVE_FILE
tar -xzf ARCHIVE_FILE		 Archive (and compress) one or more files, or reverse the process