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Here's A List Of 83 Linux Commands For Beginners!

Switching to Linux was a wonderful decision, now it's time to explore its power - the command line!

So you have just switched to Linux and trying to figure out what was the fuss about the command prompt as the most powerful tool. Well here's a list of Linux commands for a beginner to help you get a glimpse of what the command prompt can do for you.

Viewing, copying, moving and deleting files
ls Display the contents of the current directory
ls -a Display also hidden files and hidden directories

cp filename /path/dir_name Copy filename into directory /path/dir_name
cp -r dir_name /path/dir_name2 Copy the entire dir_name into /path/dir_name2
cp filename1 filename2 /path/dir_name Copy filename1 and filename2 into /path/dir_name

rm name Remove a file or directory called name
rm -r name Remove an entire directory as well as its included files and subdirectories

mv filename /path/dir_name Move filename into /path/dir_name
mv filename1 filename2 Rename filename1 to filename2

cat filename Display filenames contents

more filename Display filename in pages. Use spacebar to view next page

head filename Display filenames first 10 lines
head -15 filename Display filenames first 15 lines

tail filename Display filenames last 10 lines
tail -15 filename Display filenames last 15 lines

pwd Display current directory

cd /path/dir_name Change to directory /path/dir_name
cd .. Go 1 directory up

mkdir dir_name Create directory dir_name
rmdir dir_name Delete directory dir_name


Finding files and text within files
updatedb Update (create first time used) a database of all files under the root directory /
locate filename Find file filename searching in the database

find / -name filename Starting from the root directory search for the file called filename
find / -name *filename Same as above but search for file containing the string filename

grep string /path/dir_name Starting from /path/dir_name search for all files containing string

which application_name Search $path for application app_name
whereis application_name Search $path, man pages and source files for application_name


Archived files
Decompress

tar -xzf filename.tgz Decompress tzg file
tar -xzf filename.tar.gz Decompress tar.gz file
tar -xjf filename.tar.bz2 Decompress tar.bz2 file


Compress

tar -czf filename.tar /path/dir_name Compress directory /path/dir_name to filename.tar
gzip -c filename > filename.gz Compress /path/dir_name to filename.tar.gz
bzip2 -c filename > filename.bz2 Compress /path/dir_name to filename.tar.bz2


Using rpm files
rpm -hiv package.rpm Install rpm called package.rpm
rpm -hiv --force package.rpm Install rpm called package.rpm by force
rpm -hUv package.rpm Upgrade rpm called package.rpm
rpm -e package.rpm Delete rpm called package.rpm
rpm -qpil package.rpm List files in not-installed rpm called package.rpm
rpm -ql package.rpm List files in installed rpm called package.rpm
rpm -q str List installed rpms containing the string str
rpm -qf /path/application_name Display the rpm that contains application application_name


Starting and Stoping
startx Start the X system
shutdown -h now Shutdown the system now and do not reboot
halt Same as above
shutdown -r now Reboot
reboot Same as above
shutdown -r +10 Reboot in 10 minutes


Mounting filesystems
mount -t vfat /dev/sd(a)(1) /mnt/c_drive Mount the first partition 1 of the first hard disk drive a which is in fat32 vfat dormat under /mnt/c_drive directory
mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom Mount cdrom under /mnt/cdrom directory
umount /mnt/hda1 Unmout the above


User administration
users Display users currently logged in
adduser username Create a new user called username
passwd username Define password for user called username
who List logged-in users
whoami Display current user
finger username Displays info about user username
su Log in as root from current login
su - Log in as root from current login and take root's path
exit Exit from console login (ie, logout).


Processes
command Execute command in the foreground
command & Execute command in the background
ctrl+z Suspend a program
ctrl+c Interrupt a program
ps List all processes
kill -9 pid Kill process with id pid
top Monitor processes in real time


Networking
hostname List the system's hostname
ifconfig Set/Display network information
host ip Resolves ip's hostname
ping ip/hostname Check if ip/hostname is reachable
traceroute ip/hostname Find network path to ip/hostname


System Information
uname -a General system information
fdisk -l List partition tables
cp filename /path/dir_name Copy filename into directory /path/dir_name
df -T -h List filesystem disk space usage
lspci List PCI devices
lsusb List USB devices
free -m Display RAM+Swap usage


Program Compile
gcc -o output file.c Compile a C program
./output Run a C program you have compiled
g++ -o output file.cpp Compile a C++ program
./output Run a C++ program you have compiled
./configure && make && su -c 'make install' Configure, compile and install a program with Makefile