Linux Commands You Should Master

Linux commands form the backbone of navigating and managing a Linux system efficiently through the terminal. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, mastering these commands will greatly enhance your productivity and control over your system….


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Rubin

Linux commands form the backbone of navigating and managing a Linux system efficiently through the terminal. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced user, mastering these commands will greatly enhance your productivity and control over your system. In this article, here are the top Linux commands that every user should master for effective terminal usage

Navigation and File Management

cd: Change directory 

  cd directory_name

ls: List directory contents 

ls options directory_path

pwd: Print working directory 

pwd

cp: Copy files and directories 

cp source_file destination_file

mv: Move (rename) files and directories 

mv source destination

rm: Remove files and directories 

rm file_name

mkdir: Make directories 

mkdir directory_name

rmdir: Remove empty directories 

rmdir directory_name

cat: Concatenate and display files 

cat file_name

less/more: View file contents interactively (one screen at a time) 

less file_name
more file_name

head/tail: View the beginning or end of a file 

head file_name
tail file_name

grep: Search for patterns in files 

grep pattern file_name

find: Search for files in a directory hierarchy 

find directory_path options

ln: Create links between files 

ln -s target_file link_name

chmod: Change file permissions 

chmod permissions file_name

chown: Change file owner and group 

chown owner:group file_name

Process Management

ps: Display information about active processes 

ps

kill: Terminate processes 

kill process_id

top/htop: Display system processes in real-time 

top
htop

System Information

df: Display disk space usage 

df options

du: Estimate file space usage 

du options file_name

free: Display amount of free and used memory in the system 

free

uname: Print system information 

uname -a

uptime: Show how long the system has been running 

uptime

Network Management

ping: Check the connectivity to a server or network device 

ping hostname_or_ip

ifconfig/ip: Display and configure network interfaces 

ip addr show

netstat: Print network connections, routing tables, interface statistics, etc. 

netstat options

wget/curl: Download files from the internet 

wget URL
curl -O URL

System Administration

sudo: Execute a command as the superuser (root) 

sudo command

shutdown/reboot: Shutdown or reboot the system 

shutdown options
reboot

service/systemctl: Control system services (systemd-based systems) 

systemctl start|stop|restart service_name

journalctl: Query and display system logs 

journalctl options

passwd: Change user password 

passwd

Text Processing

awk: A versatile programming language for pattern scanning and processing 

awk 'pattern { action }' file

sed: Stream editor for filtering and transforming text 

sed 's/search/replace/g' file

cut: Remove sections from each line of files 

cut options file

sort: Sort lines of text files 

sort options file

uniq: Report or omit repeated lines 

uniq options file

wc: Print newline, word, and byte counts for each file 

wc options file

Compression and Archiving

tar: Archive files and directories 

tar options archive_name files

gzip/gunzip: Compress or decompress files 

gzip file
gunzip file.gz

bzip2/bunzip2: Another compression utility 

bzip2 file
bunzip2 file.bz2

Miscellaneous

echo: Display a line of text or variables 

echo "Hello, world!"

date: Display or set the system date and time 

date

watch: Execute a program periodically, showing output fullscreen 

watch command

alias: Create an alias for a command 

alias short_name='command sequence'

history: Display command history 

history

whoami: Display the current username 

whoami

touch: Change file timestamps or create empty files 

touch file_name

scp/rsync: Securely copy files between hosts 

scp file user@host:destination
rsync options source destination

Mastering these Linux commands will empower you to efficiently manage files, processes, networks, and more directly from the terminal. Whether you're a system administrator, developer, or Linux enthusiast, these commands are indispensable tools for your daily workflow.

Happy Linux command-line hacking!


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Rubin


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