Linux Commands Cheat Sheet: Beginner to Advanced

Linux is a popular and powerful operating system that can be used for various tasks and applications. If you want to learn how to use Linux commands. It happens that some Linux terminal commands are hard to recall, and keeping them on your computer or paper as a cheat sheet is a good practice. This list is not exhaustive, but it includes the most commonly used commands. 

Certainly! Let’s dive into some essential Linux commands. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, mastering these commands will empower you in the Linux world. Here’s a concise details covering both basic and advanced commands:

1. File and Directory Operations Commands:

   • ls: List files and directories.
     • -l: Long format listing.
     • -a: Include hidden files.
     • -h: Human-readable file sizes.
     • Example: ls -l displays detailed information, while ls -a shows all files and directories, including hidden ones1.

2. File Permission Commands:

   • chmod: Change file permissions.
     • Example: chmod 755 filename grants read, write, and execute permissions to the owner, and read and execute permissions to others.

3. File Compression and Archiving Commands:

   • tar: Create and extract tar archives.
     • Example: tar -cvf archive.tar files creates an archive, and tar -xvf archive.tar extracts it.

4. Process Management Commands:

   • ps: Display running processes.
     • -aux: Show all processes.
     • Example: ps -aux lists all processes currently running.

5. System Information Commands:

   • df: Display disk space usage.
     • -h: Show human-readable sizes.
     • Example: df -h provides disk usage information.

6. Networking Commands:

   • ping: Check network connectivity.
     • Example: ping google.com tests connectivity to Google.

7. IO Redirection Commands:

   • >: Redirect output to a file.
     • Example: ls > file.txt saves the list of files to file.txt.

8. Environment Variable Commands:

   • export: Set environment variables.
     • Example: export PATH=$PATH:/new/directory adds a directory to the PATH.

9. User Management Commands:

   • useradd: Add a new user.
     • Example: useradd username creates a new user.

10. Shortcuts Commands:

    • Bash, Nano, VI, and Vim shortcuts make your work more efficient.

USERS

Id – Detailed information about a user (uid, gid, and group).

last – Lists information about recent logins, including time, username, IP address, and session duration.

who – Displays authorized users.

groupadd "testgroup" – Creates a group named "testgroup".

adduser NewUser – Adds a user with the name "NewUser".

userdel NewUser – Deletes the user with the name "NewUser".

usermod NewUser – Modifies information about the user "NewUser".

Directory Navigation

cd /- Navigate to the root directory.

cd - Navigate to the home directory (using the $HOME variable).

cd /root - Navigate to the /root directory.

cd .. - Move one level up.

cd /root/.ssh - Navigate to the hidden folder .ssh.

Working with Files

ls -al – Displays files and directories in the current folder.

pwd – Shows the current working directory.

mkdir NewFolder – Creates a new directory named 'NewFolder'.

rm NewFile – Deletes the file named 'NewFile'.

rm -f NewFile – Forcefully deletes the file named 'NewFile'.

rm -r NewFolder – Recursively deletes the directory named 'NewFolder'.

rm -rf NewFolder – Forcefully and recursively deletes the directory named 'NewFolder'.

cp oldfile1 newfile2 – Copies the content of 'oldfile1' to 'newfile2'.

cp -r olddir1 newdir2 – Recursively copies the directory 'olddir1' to 'newdir2'. Dir2 will be created if it doesn't exist.

mv oldfile1 newfile2 – Renames 'oldfile1' to 'newfile2'.

ln -s /etc/log/file logfile – Creates a symbolic link to the file.

touch newfile – Creates an empty file named 'newfile'.

cat > newfile – Takes STDIN and puts it into 'newfile'.

more newfile – Outputs the content of 'newfile' one screen at a time.

head newfile – Outputs the first 10 lines of the file 'newfile'.

tail newfile – Outputs the last 10 lines of 'newfile'.

gpg -c newfile – Encrypts 'newfile' in gpg format using a password and saves it in the same directory.

gpg newfile.gpg – Decrypts the gpg file.

wc newfile – Displays the count of bytes, words, and lines in the new file.

File/Directory Permissions

chmod 777 /root/ssh – Sets read, write, and execute permissions for everyone who has access to the server (owner, group, others).

chmod 755 /root/ssh – Configures permissions as rwx for the owner and r_x for the group and others.

chmod 766 /root/ssh – Sets rwx for the owner and rw for the group and others.

chown newuser newfile – Changes the owner of newfile to newuser.

chown newuser:newgroup newfile – Changes both the owner and group owner of newfile to newuser and newgroup.

chown newuser:newgroup newfolder – Changes both the owner and group owner of the directory newfolder to newuser and newgroup.

stat -c “%U %G” newfile – Displays the user and group owners of newfile.

Search

grep searchargument newfile – Searches for the searchargument in newfile.

grep -r searchargument newfolder – Recursively searches for the searchargument in all files within the newfolder.

locate newfile – Shows all locations of the newfile.

find /etc/ -name "searchargument" – Finds files with names starting with searchargument in the /etc directory.

find /etc/ -size +50000k – Finds files larger than 50000k in size in the /etc directory.

Archive

tar -cf archive.tar newfile – Create an archive 'archive.tar' from the file 'newfile.'

tar -xf archive.tar – Extract the contents of the file 'archive.tar.'

tar -zcvf archive.tar.gz /var/log/ – Create an archive from the /var/log/ directory and compress it using gzip.

gzip newfile – Compress the new file (it will have the extension .gz).

Installing Programs from Packages

rpm -i pkg_program.rpm – Installs an RPM package on CentOS, RHEL, etc.

rpm -e pkg_name – Removes an RPM package on CentOS, RHEL, etc.

dnf install pkg_name – Installs a package using DNF from the repository on CentOS, RHEL, etc. YUM was previously used, but it has recently been replaced by DNF.

dpkg -i pkg_name – Installs from a DEB package on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.

dpkg -r pkg_name – Removes a DEB package on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.

apt install pkg_name – Installs a package from the repository on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.

apt remove pkg_name – Removes a package on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.

apt upgrade && apt update – Updates the packages in the system (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.) and updates the repositories.

Processes

ps – Displays currently running processes.

ps aux | grep 'bash' – Finds the process ID (PID) of 'bash'.

pmap -x 11 – Maps the process with PID 11 in process memory.

top – Shows all running processes.

kill pid – Terminates a process by PID.

killall process – Terminates all processes with the name "process".

pkill process-name – Sends a signal to a process by name.

bg – Sends a suspended process to the background.

fg – Brings a running process to the foreground.

fg process – Brings a process named "process" to the foreground.

lsof – Lists files opened by processes.

renice 19 PID – Sets the lowest priority for a process.

pgrep bash – Finds the process ID for 'bash'.

pstree – Shows a tree-like representation of processes.

System

uname – Displays system information.

uname -r – Shows information about the Linux kernel.

uptime – Shows system uptime and average load.

hostname – Displays the host name.

hostname -i – Displays the host's IP address.

last reboot – Shows the reboot history.

date – Displays date and time.

timedatectl – Outputs and modifies date and time settings.

cal – Displays the calendar.

w – Shows users currently logged in.

whoami – Displays your username.

finger root – Shows information about the root user (requires installation with "apt-get install finger").

Hardware Commands

dmesg – Displays system messages during boot.

cat /proc/cpuinfo – Shows information about the processor.

cat /proc/meminfo – Displays information about the memory.

lshw – Shows detailed information about devices.

lsblk – Displays information about block devices.

free -m – Frees up memory: RAM and swap (switch -m for MB).

lspci -tv – Shows PCI device information in a tree view.

lsusb -tv – Displays USB devices in a tree view.

dmidecode – Shows information about BIOS devices.

hdparm -i /dev/xda – Displays information about the disk.

hdparm -tT /dev/xda – Shows read and write speed of xda.

badblocks -s /dev/xda – Performs a test for bad sectors.

Disc Management Commands

df -h – Shows free space on mounted partitions (in bytes).

df -i – Displays free inodes in the file system.

fdisk -l – Provides information about the disk, partitions, and file system.

du -sh – Shows undistributed space on mounted partitions in MB, GB, TB.

findmnt – Displays all mount points.

mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt – Mounts partition 1 of sdb disk to the /mnt directory.

Network

ip addr show – Displays the IP addresses of all available network interfaces.

ip address add 192.168.0.1/24 dev eth0 – Assigns the address 192.168.0.1 to the eth0 interface.

ifconfig – Shows the IP addresses of all available network interfaces.

ping 192.168.0.1 – Sends an ICMP protocol request to connect to the node at 192.168.0.1.

whois domain – Displays information about the domain name.

*dig domain *– Retrieves DNS information about the domain.

*dig -x 192.168.0.1 *– Performs reverse DNS resolution.

host serverspace.us– Resolves the host address.

*hostname -I *– Shows local addresses.

wget file_name(link to file) – Downloads a file.

*netstat -pnltu *– Displays all ports being listened to on the host (requires "apt-get install net-tools").

Remote Connection

ssh root@host – Connects to a remote host via ssh as the root user.

ssh -p port_number user@host – Connects to a remote host using a non-default ssh port, specifying the user.

ssh host – Utilizes the default connection using the current user.

telnet host – Uses a telnet connection (port 23).