Linux Fundamentals

Linux Fundamentals

Linux Commands

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Linux Commands

Basic Linux Commands

Linux provides a CLI (Command Line Interface) to communicate with the OS. Here are the most
basic of the Linux Commands.

1. pwd

Displays the current working directory of the terminal.

syntax:

$ pwd

2. echo

Writes its arguments to standard output.

syntax:

$ echo "<text>"

3. clear

Clears the terminal screen. Contents will not actually be deleted in this case, only scrolled down.
You can also clear the screen by pressing Ctrl+L on the keyboard.

syntax:

$ clear

Working with Files

1. cp

Copies files and directories. A copy of the file/directory copied, still remains in the working
directory.

syntax:

$ cp <flag> {filename} /pathname/

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Command Explanation

cp -i Enters interactive mode; CLI asks before

overwriting files

cp -n Does not overwrite the file

cp -u Updates the destination file only when the source

file is different from the destination file

cp -R Recursive copy for copying directories; Copies even

hidden files

cp -v Verbose; Prints informative messages

2. mv

Moves files and directories from one directory to another. The file/directory once moved, is
deleted from the working directory.

syntax:

$ mv <flag> {filename} /pathname/

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Command Explanation
Enters interactive mode; CLI asks before
mv -i
overwriting files

Updates the destination file only when

mv -u the source file is different from the
destination file

Verbose; Prints source and destination

mv -v
files

3. rm

Removes files from a directory. By default, the rm command does not remove directories. Once
removed, the contents of a file cannot be recovered.

syntax:

$ rm <flag> {filename}

Command Explanation

rm –r Removes even non-empty directories.

Removes non-empty directories

rm –rp
including parent and subdirectories.

4. grep

Searches for a particular string/word in a text file. This is similar to “Ctrl+F” but, executed via a CLI.

syntax:

$ grep <flag or element_to_search> {filename}

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Command Explanation

Returns the results for case insensitive

grep -i
strings
Returns the matching strings along with
grep -n
their line number

Returns the result of lines not matching the

grep -v
search string

Returns the number of lines in which the

grep -c
results matched the search string

5. cat

Used to read, modify or concatenate text files. It also displays file contents.

syntax:

$ cat <flag> {filename}

Command Explanation
This is used to add line numbers to non-blank
cat -b
lines
cat -n This is used to add line numbers to all lines
This is used to squeeze blank lines into one
cat -s
line
cat –E Show $ at the end of line

Working with Directories

1. ls

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Lists all the contents in the current working directory.

syntax:

$ ls <flag>

Command Explanation

By specifying the path after ls, the

ls <path name>
content in that path will be displayed
Using ‘l’ flag, lists all the contents along
ls –l with its owner settings, permissions &
time stamp (long format)

Using ‘a’ flag, lists all the hidden

ls –a
contents in the specified directory

Using ‘–author’ flag, lists the contents

ls –author in the specified directory along with its
owner

Using ‘a’ flag, sorts and lists all the

ls –S contents in the specified directory by
size

Using ‘*’ flag, lists only the contents in

ls *.html
the directory of a particular format

Using ‘>’ flag, copies the result of ls

ls –lS > file.txt
command into a text file

2. cd

Used to change the current working directory of the user.

syntax:

$ cd /pathname/

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Command Explanation

This command also changes the

cd ~
directory to home directory

cd / Changes the directory to root directory

Changes the directory to its parent

cd ..
directory

We specify the folder name in inverted

cd ‘xx yy’ commas because there is a space in the
folder name

3. sort

Sorts the results of a search either alphabetically or numerically. Files, file contents and directories
can be sorted using this command.

syntax:

$ sort <flag> {filename}

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Command Explanation

sort -r the flag returns the results in reverse order;

sort -f the flag does case insensitive sorting

the flag returns the results as per numerical
sort -n
order

4. mkdir

Creates a new directory.

syntax:

$ mkdir <flag> {directoryname} /pathname/

Command Explanation

Creates both a new parent directory and a

mkdir -p
sub-directory

This is used to create multiple

mkdir –p <filename1>/{f1,f2,f3} subdirectories inside the new parent
directory

5. rmdir

Removes a specified directory. Although by default, it can only remove an empty directory, there
are flags which can be deployed to delete the non-empty directories as well.

syntax:

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$ rmdir <flag> {directoryname}

Command Explanation

rmdir –p Removes both the parent and child directory

rmdir –pv Removes all the parent and subdirectories

User Permissions

1. su

Switches to root-user so that superuser permissions can be used to execute commands.

syntax:

$ su

2. su <username>

Switches to a different user whose name is passed as the argument.

syntax:

$ su <username>

3. sudo

Executes only that command with root/ superuser privileges.

syntax:

$ sudo <command>

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Command Explanation

sudo useradd <username> Adding a new user

sudo passwd <username> Setting a password for the new user

sudo userdel <username> Deleting the user

sudo groupadd <groupname> Adding a new group

sudo groupdel <groupname> Deleting the group

sudo usermod -g <groupname>

Adding a user to a primary group
<username>

4. chmod

Used to change the access permissions of files and directories. Consider the example below.

On trying to run the newly created file named chmodtestfile.sh, an error is thrown. After
modifying the permissions of the file using the said Linux command, it turns executable.

syntax:

$ chmod <permissions of user,group,others> {filename}

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The permissions associated with each digit is as follows.

Number read write execute

0 – – –
1 – – yes
2 – yes –
3 – yes yes
4 yes – –
5 yes – yes
6 yes yes –
7 yes yes yes

Installing Packages
Stable versions of most software’s will already be available in Linux repositories. Here are the Linux
Commands to install them.

1. Install packages

For an RHEL based system;

syntax:

$ sudo yum install package-name

For a Debian based system;

syntax:

$ sudo apt-get install package-name

For a Fedora based system;

syntax:

$ sudo dnf install package-name

Zipped Files

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When you download a package from the internet, the downloaded file comes in compressed form.
Here are a few commands to decompress and compress files in Linux.

1. tar

Zips/Compresses files of .tar format.

syntax:

$ tar –cvf tar-filename source-folder-name

Unzips/Decompresses files of .tar format.

syntax:

$ tar –xvf tar-file-name

Secure Shell For Remote Access

1. ssh
The following command refers to a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services
securely over an unsecured network. Typical use-cases include remote command-line execution,
but any network service can be secured with SSH.

This command, on running at the slave node, will give remote access to the master.

syntax:

$ ssh <master's ip>

This command, on running at the master, will give remote access to the slave node.

syntax:

$ ssh <slave's ip>

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