April 5, 2023

Linux Cheat Sheet Command: Your Magic Line for Ultimate Mastery

Johannes is an DevOps engineer with passion for solving problem and learning new technologies. Johannes has the skill and experience about improving performance and also reducing infrastructure cost to help you achieve your goals.

As a Linux user, you can tell that there are countless commands at your disposal – hundreds, if not thousands – which can seem overwhelming to novice users.

However, fear not! You don't need to memorize every single one of them. In fact, only a small subset of these commands are commonly used on a day-to-day basis.

To make things easier for both experienced and basic users here is a cheat sheet that you can use as a quick reference guide. This Linux cheat sheet command will provide you with a set of commands that you can easily access when needed.

The Most Frequent Used Command

Before we delve into the cheat sheet, let's take a look at the most frequently used commands.

Some common Linux commands include "ls" to list directory contents, "cd" to change directories, "mkdir" to create directories, "touch" to create files, "rm" to remove files, "cp" to copy files, "mv" to move files, "pwd" to display the current directory, "echo" to print text on the screen, and "man" to display the manual for a command.
To navigate the Linux file system, use "cd" to change directories, "ls" to list the directory contents, and "pwd" to display the current directory. The ".." notation can be used to move up one directory level and "~" to move to the home directory.
To create and edit files, use "touch" to create a new file and "vi" or "nano" to edit an existing file.
Permissions in Linux can be managed using the "chmod" command to change permissions and "chown" to change ownership and group.
To find and install the the software in Linux, use package managers such as "apt" or "yum", and to locate the installed programs use "which" command.
Wildcards in Linux commands are represented by the "*" symbol. For example, "ls *" will list all files in the current directory.
To get help with a Linux command, use "man" followed by the command name or "--help" option after the command.

Basic Linux Command

In the following section, we'll cover some basic Linux commands along with examples to help you get started. So, let's dive in!

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ls	Lists all files and directories in the present working directory
ls -R	Lists files in sub-directories as well
ls -a	Lists hidden files as well
ls -al	Lists files and directories with detailed information like permissions, size, owner, etc.
cd or cd ~	Navigate to the HOME directory
cd ..	Move one level up
cd	To change to a particular directory
cd /	Move to the root directory
cat > filename	Creates a new file
cat filename	Displays the file content
cat file1 file2 > file3	Joins two files (file1, file2) and stores the output in a new file (file3)
mv file "new file path"	Moves the files to the new location
mv filename new_file_name	Renames the file to a new filename
sudo	Allows regular users to run programs with the security privileges of the superuser or root
rm filename	Deletes a file
man	Gives help information on a command
history	Gives a list of all past commands typed in the current terminal session
clear	Clears the terminal
rmdir	Deletes a directory
mv	Renames a directory
pr -x	Divides the file into x columns
pr -h	Assigns a header to the file
pr -n	Denotes the file with Line Numbers
lp -nc , lpr c	Prints “c” copies of the File
lp-d lp-P	Specifies the name of the printer
apt-get	The command used to install and update packages
mail -s 'subject'-c 'cc-address'-b 'bcc-address''to-address'	Command to send email
mail -s "Subject"to-address Filename	Command to send an email with an attachment
date	Display the current system date and time
hostname	Display the hostname of the system
ifconfig	Display the IP and Mac Address of the system
w	Display currently logged-in users in the system
free -m	Display free and used memory in the system
top	Display all running processes
cat file1 file2 > file3	Combine two files named file1 and file2 and store the output in a new file file3
tail filename	Display the last 10 lines of a file
head filename	Display the first 10 lines of a file
mv oldfile newfile	Rename a file
mkdir dirname	Create a directory
rm -rf dirname	Remove a directory
history	Print a history list of all commands
clear	Clear the terminal
shutdown -h now	Shut down the system
reboot	Restart the system

File Permission Command

In Linux, file permissions are essential to protect system files and user data from unauthorized access. A permission command is a powerful tool that allows you to manage and modify the access rights of files and directories.

This command consists of three groups of permissions, namely owner, group, and other, each with three permission types - read, write, and execute. The permission command allows you to set permissions on a file or directory using either symbolic or octal notation.

With symbolic notation, you can use letters such as r, w, and x to represent read, write, and execute, while octal notation uses numbers to represent permission types. A permission command is a crucial tool for managing user access in Linux, ensuring that sensitive files and directories remain secure and protected.

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ls -l filename	Check the current permission of any file
chmod 777 filename	Assign full(read, write, and execute) permission to everyone
chmod -R 777 dirname	Assign full permission to the directory and all sub-directories
chmod 766 filename	Assign full permission to the owner, and read and write permission to the group and others
chmod -x filename	Remove the execution permission of any file
chown username filename	Change the ownership of a file
chown user:group filename	Change the owner and group ownership of a file
chown -R user:group dirname	Change the owner and group ownership of the directory and all sub-directories
ls -l	to show file type and access permission
r	read permission
w	write permission
x	execute permission
-=	no permission
Chown user	For changing the ownership of a file/directory
Chown user:group filename	change the user as well as a group for a file or directory

Process Command

Commands related to processes enable you to perform various tasks, including observing active processes, initiating or terminating processes, and examining process efficiency.

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bg	To send a process to the background
fg	To run a stopped process in the foreground
top	Details on all Active Processes
ps	Give the status of processes running for a user
ps PID	Gives the status of a particular process
pidof	Gives the Process ID (PID) of a process
nice	Starts a process with a given priority
renice	Changes the priority of an already running process
df	Gives free hard disk space on your system
free	Gives free RAM on your system
ps -ef \| grep processname	Display information on the specific process
pstree	Display processes in the tree-like diagram
lsof	List all files opened by running processes
kill pid	Kill a specific process using a process ID
killall processname	Kill all processes by name
bg	Display stopped or background jobs
pidof processname	Get the PID of any process

Disk Management Commands

This section will demonstrate disk management commands that cover actions such as creating or deleting partitions, mounting partitions, verifying available disk space, formatting partitions, and more.

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fdisk -l	List all disk partitions
fdisk /dev/sda	Create a new partition on /dev/sda device
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1	Format the partition named /dev/sda1
fsck.ext4 /dev/sda1	Check and repair a filesystem for any error
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt	Mount any partition to any directory
df -h	Display free space of mounted file system
df -i	Display free inodes on the filesystem
du -hs	Display the size of your current directory
lsblk	Display information about block devices
lsusb -tv	Display all USB devices
hdparm -tT /dev/sda	Perform a read speed test on disk /dev/sda
badblocks -s /dev/sda	Test for unreadable blocks on disk /dev/sda

Compress and Uncompress Commands

The command-line utilities Tar, Zip, and Unzip are widely used in Linux to compress and decompress directories and files and are among the most commonly used tools for this purpose.

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tar -cvf filename.tar filename	Compress a file in the Tar archive
tar -xvf filename.tar	Uncompress a Tar file
tar -tvf filename.tar	List the content of the Tar file
tar -xvf filename.tar file1.txt	Untar a single file from the Tar file
tar -rvf filename.tar file2.txt	Add a file to the Tar file
zip filename.zip filename	Compress a single file to a zip
zip filename.zip file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt	Compress multiple files to a zip
zip -u filename.zip file4.txt	Add a file to a zip file
zip -d filename.zip file4.txt	Delete a file from a zip file
unzip -l filename.zip	Display the content of the zip archive file
unzip filename.zip	Unzip a file
unzip filename.zip -d /dirname	Unzip a file to specific directory

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Networking Commands

These commands enable you to manage network interfaces, troubleshoot network issues, and configure network settings. They also allow you to view network information, set IP addresses, configure routing tables, and establish network connections.

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SSH username@ip-address or hostname	login into a remote Linux machine using SSH
Ping hostname="" or =""	To ping and Analyze network and host connections
dir	Display files in the current directory of a remote computer
cd "dirname"	change the directory to “dirname” on a remote computer
put file	upload ‘file’ from a local to a remote computer
get file	Download the ‘file’ from the remote to the local computer
quit	Logout

VI Editing Commands

VI editing commands are a set of keyboard shortcuts used to navigate and edit the text within the VI editor in Linux. These commands are essential for users who frequently work with the VI editor, as they allow you to move the cursor, delete, copy, paste, and modify text within a file.

VI editing commands are powerful tools that allow for quick and efficient text editing within the VI editor.

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i	Insert at cursor (goes into insert mode)
a	Write after the cursor (goes into insert mode)
A	Write at the end of the line (goes into insert mode)
ESC	Terminate insert mode
u	Undo last change
U	Undo all changes to the entire line
o	Open a new line (goes into insert mode)
dd	Delete line
3dd	Delete 3 lines
D	Delete the contents of the line after the cursor
C	Delete the contents of a line after the cursor and insert new text. Press the ESC key to end insertion.
dw	Delete word
4dw	Delete 4 words
cw	Change word
x	Delete the character at the cursor
r	Replace character
R	Overwrite characters from cursor onward
s	Substitute one character under the cursor and continue to insert
S	Substitute the entire line and begin to insert at the beginning of the line
~	Change case of individual character

Conclusion

We hope these Linux cheat sheet commands provide a helpful resource for both beginners and experienced users to improve their productivity and efficiency when using the Linux operating system.

Whether you are looking to manage files and directories, install software packages, or navigate the file system, the cheat sheet commands have got you covered.

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