Essential Linux Commands for File and Directory Management

# Common Linux Commands and Descriptions. # File and Directory Operations. # System Information. # Human-readable format for files and directories. # Interactive process viewer (requires installation of the bash shell) # Process Management. # System Resource Usage.


This content originally appeared on HackerNoon and was authored by Truong Phung

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File and Directory Operations

  • ls – Lists the contents of a directory.
  ls
  ls -l        # Long listing format
  ls -a        # List all files, including hidden ones

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  • cd – Changes the current directory.
  cd /path/to/directory
  cd ..        # Go up one directory
  cd ~         # Go to the home directory

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  • mkdir – Creates a new directory.
  mkdir new_directory

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  • rmdir – Removes an empty directory.
  rmdir directory_name

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  • cp – Copies files or directories.
  cp source_file destination
  cp -r source_directory destination_directory   # Copy directories recursively

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  • mv – Moves or renames files and directories.
  mv old_name new_name
  mv file_name /path/to/destination/

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  • rm – Removes files or directories.
  rm file_name
  rm -r directory_name   # Remove directories recursively

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  • touch – Creates an empty file or updates the timestamp of an existing file.
  touch file_name

File Viewing & Manipulation

  • cat – Displays the contents of a file.
  cat file_name

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  • less – Allows you to view file contents page by page.
  less file_name

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  • head – Shows the first 10 lines of a file (default).
  head file_name
  head -n 5 file_name    # Show the first 5 lines

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  • tail – Shows the last 10 lines of a file (default).
  tail file_name
  tail -n 5 file_name    # Show the last 5 lines

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  • grep – Searches for patterns within files.
  grep 'search_term' file_name
  grep -r 'search_term' /path/to/directory    # Search recursively in directories

Permissions & Ownership

  • chmod – Changes file permissions.
  chmod 755 file_name    # Gives read, write, execute permissions to the owner and read, execute to others
  chmod +x script.sh     # Make file executable

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  • chown – Changes the file owner and group.
  chown user:group file_name

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  • umask – Sets default file creation permissions.
  umask 022   # Sets default permissions to 755 for directories and 644 for files

Process Management

  • ps – Displays the currently running processes.
  ps
  ps aux      # Show all processes

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  • top – Displays real-time system processes and resource usage.
  top

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  • kill – Terminates a process by its PID.
  kill process_id
  kill -9 process_id    # Forcefully kill a process

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  • htop – Interactive process viewer (requires installation).
  htop

System Information

  • df – Shows disk space usage.
  df -h      # Human-readable format

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  • du – Shows disk usage for files and directories.
  du -h /path/to/directory

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  • free – Displays memory usage.
  free -h    # Human-readable format

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  • uname – Shows system information.
  uname -a   # Display all system info

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  • uptime – Shows how long the system has been running.
  uptime

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  • whoami – Displays the current logged-in user.
  whoami

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  • hostname – Displays or sets the system's hostname.
  hostname

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  • lscpu – Displays CPU architecture information.
  lscpu

Network Commands

  • ping – Tests connectivity to a host.
  ping google.com

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  • ifconfig – Displays network interface information (may require net-tools installation on some systems).
  ifconfig

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  • ip – Configures network interfaces and routing.
  ip addr show      # Show IP addresses of network interfaces
  ip route show     # Show routing table

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  • curl – Fetches data from a URL.
  curl https://example.com

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  • wget – Downloads files from the web.
  wget https://example.com/file.zip

Package Management

  • apt-get (for Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions) – Installs, updates, or removes software packages.
  sudo apt-get update           # Update package list
  sudo apt-get install package  # Install a package
  sudo apt-get remove package   # Remove a package

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  • yum (for RedHat/CentOS-based distributions) – Installs, updates, or removes software packages.
  sudo yum update               # Update package list
  sudo yum install package      # Install a package
  sudo yum remove package       # Remove a package

File Compression

  • tar – Archives or extracts files.
  tar -czvf archive_name.tar.gz /path/to/directory   # Create a compressed archive
  tar -xzvf archive_name.tar.gz                      # Extract a compressed archive

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  • zip – Compresses files into a zip archive.
  zip archive_name.zip file1 file2

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  • unzip – Extracts a zip archive.
  unzip archive_name.zip

Miscellaneous

  • echo – Prints a message or variables to the terminal.
  echo "Hello, World!"

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  • date – Displays or sets the system date and time.
  date

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  • alias – Creates an alias for a command.
  alias ll='ls -la'    # Create a shortcut for 'ls -la'

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  • history – Shows the command history.
  history

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  • clear – Clears the terminal screen.
  clear

These are just a few of the many powerful commands in Linux, but they cover most of the common operations you'll perform daily.


This content originally appeared on HackerNoon and was authored by Truong Phung


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