25 Essential Linux Commands
Linux is a powerful operating system that is widely used in the world of computing. It is used in 83.6% of all technology (fake stat). It is known for its stability, security, and flexibility. In this article, we will discuss some of the essential Linux commands that every user should know.
Note: that these commands can also be more specified with the use of options. Just use "man" followed by any of the commands, this will send you to the manual page for that command with all the available options you can use.
1. whoami
The whoami command is used to display the username of the current user. This command is useful when you need to know which user you are logged in as.
Example:
whoami
Output:
user
2. pwd
The pwd command is used to "Print Working Directory", it will display the current working directory. This command is useful when you need to know which directory you are currently in.
Example:
pwd
Output:
/home/user
3. ls
The ls command is used to "list" the files and directories in the current working directory. This command is useful when you need to know what files and directories are in a directory.
Example:
ls
Output:
file1.txt file2.txt dir1 dir2
4. cd
The cd command is used to "change directory", will change the current directory. This command is useful when you need to navigate to a different directory.
Example:
cd /home/user/Documents
CHEAT CODE:
cd ..
will bring you back one directory, to the parent directory.
5. touch
The touch command is used to create an empty file. This command is useful when you need to create a new file.
Example:
touch file.txt
6. mkdir
The mkdir command is used to "make" a new directory. This command is useful when you need to create a new directory.
Example:
mkdir newdir
7. rm
The rm command is used to "remove" files and directories. This command is useful when you need to delete files or directories.
Example:
rm file.txt
rm -r dir1
8. cp
The cp command is used to "copy" files and directories. This command is useful when you need to make a copy of a file or directory.
Example:
cp file.txt newfile.txt
cp -r dir1 newdir1
9. mv
The mv command is used to "move" files and directories. This command is useful when you need to move a file or directory.
Example:
mv file.txt /home/user/Documents/
mv dir1 /home/user/Documents/
10. tar
The tar command is used to create and extract tar archives. This command is useful when you need to compress or decompress files.
Example:
tar -cvf archive.tar file1.txt file2.txt dir1 dir2
tar -xvf archive.tar
11. Gzip
The gzip command is used to compress files. This command is useful when you need to compress large files.
Example:
gzip file.txt
gunzip file.txt.gz
12. Zip
The zip command is used to create and extract zip archives. This command is useful when you need to compress or decompress files.
Example:
zip archive.zip file1.txt file2.txt dir1 dir2
unzip archive.zip
13. Cat
The cat command is used to display the contents(conCATenation) of a file. This command is useful when you need to view the contents of a file.
Example:
cat file.txt
14. tac
The tac command is used to display the contents of a file in reverse order, think of CAT but backwards. This command is useful when you need to view the contents of a file in reverse order.
Example:
cat file.txt
15. nano
The nano command is used as a text editor for creating and editing text files. This command is useful when you need to edit text files.
Example:
nano file.txt
16. vi
The vi command is also used as a text editor for creating and editing text files. This command is useful when you need more advanced editing capabilities than nano provides.
Example:
vi file.txt
17. vim
The vim command is an "improved" version of vi with more advanced features for creating and editing text files.
Example:
vim file.txt
18. sed
The sed command is used for Stream EDiting of text
files. This command can be used for search and replace operations on text files.
Example:
sed 's/old/new/g' file.txt
19. awk
The awk command is used for processing text files. It can be used for searching, filtering, and manipulating text data.
Example:
awk '/pattern/ { print $0 }' filename
20. grep
The grep command searches for lines that match a pattern in one or more files. Stands for Global search / Regular Expressions / Print.
Example:
grep 'pattern' file.txt
21. chmod
The chmod command is used to change the permissions of a file or directory("Change mode"). This command is useful when you need to change the permissions of a file or directory.
Example:
chmod 755 file.txt
22. chgrp
The chgrp command is used to change the group ownership of a file or directory. This command is useful when you need to change the group ownership of a file or directory.
Example:
chgrp users file.txt
23-25. Usermod, useradd, groupadd
The usermod, useradd, and groupadd commands are used for user and group management. These commands are useful when you need to add, modify, or delete users and groups.
Example:
useradd -m -s /bin/bash username
usermod -aG groupname username
groupadd groupname
As I work on learning linux and earn a certificate in Linux(LFCS) I have found these are the most recurring commands that I have used. I hope this article helps you get started with some of the essential Linux commands!
Top comments (2)
this will be useful i find myself needing it since I'm using git now. awesome and thankx
Thanks @overflow ! I appreciate you stopping by and checking it out! I am glad it could be helpful!