Basic Linux Commands

If you’ve ever opened a terminal and felt like you were staring into the Matrix then you’re not alone.

Learning Linux commands can seem overwhelming at first, especially when you're used to graphical interfaces. But trust me, once you get the hang of it, the terminal becomes one of the most powerful tools in your developer toolkit. Here's a list of basic Linux commands grouped by category.

File & Directory Management

Command	Description	Example
pwd	show current working directory path	pwd
ls	List files and directories	ls
cd	Change directory	cd Documents/ cd Downloads
mkdir	Create new directory	mkdir new_folder
rmdir	Remove Empty directory	rmdir old_folder
touch	Create new file	touch file.txt
rm	Remove file	rm file.txt
rm -r	Remove directory and contents	rm -r folder
mv	Move or Rename files	mv old.txt new.txt
cp	Copy files or folders	cp file.txt backup.txt or cp -r folder/ backup/

Viewing and Reading Files

Command	Description	Example
cat	View entire file contents	cat file.txt
head	View first few lines	head -n 5 file.txt
tail	View last few lines	tail -n 5 file.txt
less	View file with scroll support	less file.txt
more	similar to less, paginated view	more file.txt

Searching Files and Text

Command	Description	Example
grep	Search for text in files	grep “root“ file.txt or grep “root” /folder/file.txt
find	Find files in the directory	find . -name “*.txt“
find . -perm 777	Shows files with all permissions(read,write, execute)	find . -perm 777

Compressing and Archiving

Command	Description	Example
zip	Compress file or folder	zip -r archive.zip /folder
unzip	Extract zip file	unzip archive.zip
tar	Archive/Compress file	tar -czvf archive.tar.gz folder/
tar -x	Extract tar archive	tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz

Environment and System Info

Command	Description	Example
export	Set Environment Variable	export my_var=”Hello”
echo	Display message or Variable	echo "$my_var
env	List environment variables	env
whoami	Show current user	whoami
uname -a	Show system info	uname -a
ps aux	Process which are running	ps aux
sudo	Admin command	sudo
df	Check the capacity and storage details	df
du	Disk usage capacity	du
top	What processes are running	top

Conclusion

In this blog, we explored some of the most essential Linux commands, from creating files and directories to searching through files, compressing folders, changing permissions, and even downloading files directly from the terminal.

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Linux Commands Made Simple: Learn by Doing!

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