Commands List

File and Directory Operations:

ls (list): Lists directory contents.

Flags:

l (long): Detailed information (permissions, owner, size, date).

a (all): Show hidden files (starting with a dot).

h (human-readable): Show file sizes in KB, MB, GB.

Example: ls -l lists the current directory with detailed info.

cd (change directory): Changes the working directory.

Flags:

(previous directory): Go back to the previously visited directory.

Example: cd Desktop navigates to the "Desktop" directory.

pwd (print working directory): Prints the full path of the current directory.

Example: pwd shows the absolute path of your current location.

mkdir (make directory): Creates a new directory.

Flags:

p (parents): Creates non-existent parent directories required for the

specified directory.

Example: mkdir new_folder creates a new directory named "new_folder".

rm (remove): Removes files or directories.

Caution: Use with caution as deleted files are generally unrecoverable.

Flags:

r (recursive): Removes directories and all their contents.

f (force): Ignores errors like "file is open". Use with caution!

Example: rm file.txt removes the file "file.txt".

cp (copy): Copies files or directories.

Commands List 1
 Flags:

r (recursive): Copies directories and their contents.

Example: cp file.txt new_folder copies "file.txt" to the directory

"new_folder".

mv (move or rename): Moves or renames files or directories.

Example: mv file.txt renamed_file.txt renames "file.txt" to

"renamed_file.txt".

touch (create or update timestamp): Creates an empty file or updates the

modification time of an existing file.

Example: touch new_file.txt creates an empty file named "new_file.txt".

cat (concatenate): Concatenates and displays the content of files.

Flags:

n (number): Number all output lines.

Example: cat file.txt displays the contents of "file.txt".

Text Processing:

head (head of file): Outputs the first part of a file.

Flags:

n (number): Specifies the number of lines to display.

Example: head -5 file.txt shows the first 5 lines of "file.txt".

tail (tail of file): Outputs the last part of a file.

Flags:

n (number): Specifies the number of lines to display.

f (follow): Continuously outputs the end of the file as it grows.

Example: tail -2 file.txt displays the last 2 lines of "file.txt".

sort (sort): Sorts lines of text files in various orders.

Flags:

n (numeric): Sorts lines numerically.

r (reverse): Sorts in reverse order.

Commands List 2
 Example: sort file.txt sorts "file.txt" alphabetically.

uniq (unique): Reports or omits repeated lines in a file.

Flags:

c (count): Counts the occurrences of each line.

Example: uniq file.txt shows only unique lines in "file.txt".

wc (word count): Prints newline, word, and byte counts for files.

Example: wc file.txt displays the number of lines, words, and bytes in

"file.txt".

sed (stream editor): A stream editor for manipulating text files (filtering,
searching, replacing content). (Syntax is complex).

Example: sed 's/text1/text2/g' file.txt replaces all occurrences of "text1"

with "text2" in "file.txt".

*awk (pattern scanning and processing language

System Information:

uname (show system name): Prints system information like kernel version
and operating system name.

Flags:

a (all): Show all available information.

Example: uname -a displays details about the system.

hostname (print or set hostname): Prints or sets the hostname of the

system.

Flags:

s (set hostname): Set a new hostname.

Example: hostname shows the current hostname, hostname new_name sets

the hostname to "new_name".

df (disk free): Reports file system disk space usage.

Flags:

h (human-readable): Show sizes in human-readable format (KB,

MB, GB).

Commands List 3
 Example: df -h displays disk usage information for all mounted
filesystems.

du (disk usage): Estimates file space usage.

Flags:

h (human-readable): Show sizes in human-readable format (KB,

MB, GB).

s (summarize): Display total size only.

Example: du -sh file.txt shows the size of "file.txt" in a human-readable

format.

free (free memory): Displays the amount of free and used memory in the
system.

Example: free shows available, used, and total memory.

top (top processes): Provides a dynamic view of running processes,

sorting them by CPU or memory usage.

ps (process status): Reports a snapshot of currently running processes.

Flags:

e (all processes): Show information about all processes.

f (full format): Display detailed information about processes.

Example: ps -ef shows a full listing of all running processes.

uptime (system uptime): Shows how long the system has been running.

System Management:

sudo (superuser do): Executes a command as another user, typically the

root user with administrative privileges. Use with caution!

Example: sudo apt update updates the package list with root privileges
(assuming you use apt for package management).

shutdown or reboot: Shuts down or restarts the system.

Flags:

h now (halt): Halt the system immediately.

r now (reboot): Reboot the system immediately.

Commands List 4
 Example: sudo shutdown -h now halts the system immediately (requires root
privileges).

service or systemctl (control system services): Starts, stops, or restarts

system services.

Example: sudo systemctl start apache2 starts the Apache web server
(assuming it's called apache2 on your system).

journalctl (journal control): Queries and displays system logs.

Flags:

u (service unit): Show logs for a specific service.

f (follow): Continuously display new logs as they are written.

Example: journalctl -u apache2 -f follows logs for the Apache web server.

Network Operations:

ping (send echo request): Sends an ICMP ECHO_REQUEST to a network

host to test connectivity.

Flags:

c count (number of packets): Specify the number of ping packets to

send.

Example: ping -c 3 google.com pings google.com three times.

ifconfig or ip (interface configuration): Configures network interfaces (IP

addresses, subnet masks, etc.). (ifconfig may be deprecated on some
systems).

Example: ifconfig eth0 shows information about the network interface

eth0.

netstat (network statistics): Prints information about network connections,

routing tables, and network interfaces.

ssh (secure shell): Opens a secure shell connection to a remote server.

Example: ssh user@server_ip connects to the server with IP address

"server_ip" as user "user".

scp (secure copy): Securely copies files between local and remote
machines.

Commands List 5
 Example: scp file.txt user@server_ip:/destination/folder copies "file.txt" to
the remote server in the specified folder.

wget or curl (download files): Downloads files from the internet.

Example: wget https://example.com/file.txt downloads the file "file

Commands List 6