Here's a Linux Command Cheat Sheet for quick reference! 🚀
🔹 File & Directory Management
| Command | Description |
ls | List files in a directory |
ls -l | List files in long format |
ls -a | Show hidden files |
pwd | Print current working directory |
cd <dir> | Change directory |
cd .. | Move up one directory |
mkdir <dir> | Create a new directory |
rmdir <dir> | Remove an empty directory |
rm <file> | Delete a file |
rm -r <dir> | Remove a directory and its contents |
cp <source> <dest> | Copy a file |
mv <source> <dest> | Move or rename a file |
touch <file> | Create a new empty file |
find <dir> -name <filename> | Search for a file |
tree | Display directory structure |
🔹 File Permissions
| Command | Description |
chmod 755 <file> | Change file permissions (owner: rwx, group: r-x, others: r-x) |
chown user:group <file> | Change file owner and group |
ls -l | View file permissions |
umask 022 | Default permissions for new files |
🔹 File Content & Editing
| Command | Description |
cat <file> | View file contents |
tac <file> | View file in reverse |
less <file> | View file one page at a time |
head -n <num> <file> | View first N lines of a file |
tail -n <num> <file> | View last N lines of a file |
nano <file> | Open file in Nano editor |
vim <file> | Open file in Vim editor |
echo "text" > <file> | Write text to a file (overwrite) |
echo "text" >> <file> | Append text to a file |
grep "text" <file> | Search for text in a file |
wc -l <file> | Count number of lines in a file |
diff <file1> <file2> | Compare two files |
sort <file> | Sort lines in a file |
🔹 User Management
| Command | Description |
whoami | Show current user |
who | Show logged-in users |
id | Show user ID and group ID |
adduser <user> | Add a new user |
passwd <user> | Change user password |
deluser <user> | Delete a user |
groupadd <group> | Create a new group |
usermod -aG <group> <user> | Add user to a group |
🔹 Process Management
| Command | Description |
ps aux | Show all running processes |
top | Display active processes in real-time |
htop | Interactive process viewer (if installed) |
kill <PID> | Kill a process by PID |
killall <process> | Kill all processes by name |
pkill <process> | Kill process by name |
nohup <command> & | Run command in background (ignore hangups) |
🔹 Networking
| Command | Description |
ping <host> | Check connectivity to a host |
curl <URL> | Fetch content from a URL |
wget <URL> | Download a file from a URL |
ifconfig | Show network interfaces (deprecated) |
ip addr show | Show network interfaces (modern alternative) |
netstat -tulnp | List open ports |
ss -tulnp | Alternative to netstat for open ports |
scp <file> user@host:/path | Copy files over SSH |
rsync -avz <source> <dest> | Sync files/directories |
hostname -I | Show local IP address |
🔹 Disk & Storage
| Command | Description |
df -h | Show disk space usage |
du -sh <dir> | Show size of a directory |
lsblk | Show block devices (partitions) |
mount /dev/sdX /mnt | Mount a disk partition |
umount /mnt | Unmount a partition |
fdisk -l | Show partition table |
🔹 System Monitoring
| Command | Description |
uptime | Show system uptime |
free -h | Show memory usage |
vmstat | Show system performance |
iostat | Show CPU & disk stats |
dmesg | Show boot log messages |
🔹 Package Management
🔹 Debian/Ubuntu (apt)
| Command | Description |
sudo apt update | Update package list |
sudo apt upgrade | Upgrade installed packages |
sudo apt install <package> | Install a package |
sudo apt remove <package> | Remove a package |
dpkg -l | List installed packages |
🔹 Red Hat/CentOS (yum or dnf)
| Command | Description |
sudo yum install <package> | Install a package |
sudo yum remove <package> | Remove a package |
sudo yum update | Update system |
🔹 Arch (pacman)
| Command | Description |
sudo pacman -S <package> | Install a package |
sudo pacman -R <package> | Remove a package |
🔹 Compression & Archiving
| Command | Description |
tar -cvf archive.tar <files> | Create a tar archive |
tar -xvf archive.tar | Extract a tar archive |
tar -czvf archive.tar.gz <files> | Create a gzip-compressed tar archive |
tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz | Extract a gzip-compressed tar archive |
zip archive.zip <files> | Create a zip archive |
unzip archive.zip | Extract a zip file |
🔹 Permissions & Ownership
| Command | Description |
chmod 755 <file> | Change file permissions (rwx for owner, rx for others) |
chmod +x <file> | Make file executable |
chown user:group <file> | Change file owner/group |
sudo | Execute command as root |
🔹 Shortcuts & Misc
| Command | Description |
clear | Clear terminal screen |
history | Show command history |
alias ll='ls -la' | Create a shortcut for a command |
unalias ll | Remove an alias |
!! | Repeat the last command |
CTRL + C | Stop a running process |
CTRL + Z | Suspend a process |
bg | Resume a suspended process in background |
fg | Resume a process in foreground |
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Rudraksh Laddha