LINUX COMMAND CHEAT SHEET

MOST USED LINUX COMMANDS LINUX FILE COMMANDS

pwd Displays the current working directory rm -r [directory_name] Remove a directory and files
path, starting from the root (/) recursively
cp -r [directory_name1] Used to copy a directory including
rm [file_name] To remove files you no longer need [directory_name2] all its content from a source
directory to the destination
directory.
Shows a file's contents one screen
less [filename] at a time Move file_name1 to file_name2
mv [file_name1] [file_name2]
Is used to change the current working
cd [directory] directory in Linux tail [file_name] Prints the last 10 lines from the file

ls To list files or directories in Linux Used to enlist the current directory

ls -a
including the hidden files

grep [PATTERN] [FILE] Used to search for a string of

characters in a specified file
cp [file_name1] [file_name2] Used to copy files or group of files
Used to enlist the current directory or directory
ls-a
including the hidden files
rm [file_name] Deletes a file
cp [file] [destination] Copying files from one location to
another pwd Displays the current working
directory path, starting from the
mv [file] [destination] Used to move files and directories root (/)
from one location to another
rmdir It removes an empty directory on
various operating systems
mkdir [directory] Allows users to create or make new
directories
mkdir [directory] Allows users to create or make new
directories

curl [options] [URL] A tool that enables data transfer

over various network protocols.
LINUX DIRECTORY NAVIGATION Supported protocols (HTTP,
HTTPS, SCP, SFTP, FTP)
cd - Controls to the previous directory level
diff [file_name_1] Is used to display the differences in
[file_name_2] the files by comparing the files line
Used to change directory to the home by line
cd or cd ~
directory
tar Used to compress a group of files
cd / Used to change directory to the root into an archive
directory
locate [file_name] Finds files in Linux using the file
cd... Used to move to the parent directory name
of current directory
cat [file1] [file2] It reads data from the file and
gives their content as output
cd Go directly to directory
[/path/to/directory] tar -cf Creates or extracts archived files

wget [URL] Used to download files from

the internet.

echo [text]>>[file_name] Used to display line of text/string

that are passed as an argument

mv [file name Used to move files and directories

/path/to/new/location from one location to another

tar -xvf [file_name] Used to compress a group of files

into an archive
-x includes the eXtended attributes
of the files (metadata)
-v is verbose mode
-f tells tar what file/archive you are
unarchiving

gpg [file_name.gpg] Encrypts the files securely

LINUX COMMAND CHEAT SHEET

LINUX SSH (LOGIN) LINUX FILE COMMANDS

ssh -i ~/.ssh/specific_ssh_fkey Distinguished other ssh key for ln -s

Creates a symbolic link to a file
connection /path/to/[file_name] [link_name]

ssh user@server -p other_port Operate a specific port declared touch [file_name] Used to create, change and
in sshd_config modify timestamps of a file

ssh [IP address] Connect to a host wc Used to find out number of lines,
word count, byte and characters
count in the files
ssh-copy-id hostname_or_IP Copy a unique key pair to server
gpg -c [file_name] Decrypts the files securely
ssh user@server Connect to a server (default port)
head [file_name] Allows you to easily get the top
lines from the specified file or the
ssh user@server [command to run] Run a command on a remote server standard input

ls To list files or directories in Linux

LINUX NETWORK DIAGNOSTICS COMMANDS

ifup [options] -a [device] Used to activate the specified

network interface
LINUX PIPES/REDIRECTION
hostname Used to obtain the DNS name and set
the system's hostname or NIS domain << Launch a file and and captures
name user input until EOF

traceroute [host] Perform traceroute to [host] > Represents output redirection

and redirects output to a file and
overwriting the file
ifdown [options] -a|[device] Disables a network interface
ex. A Linux pipe is a form of
hostname -l (capital ‘i’) Shows all IP addresses of computer command_1 | command_2 redirection used to combine two
| command_3 or more commands where the
output of one command acts as
netstat Displays information about different the input of the next command in
interface statistics,including open the sequence.
sockets, routing tables, and
connection information
>> Redirects output to a file and
appends the redirected
ifconfig/ip Used to configure, control the output rather than overwrites
queries from CLI and to enable or
disable the IP address, view all
network interfaces. Also to set up < Represents input redirection and
any/all the network interfaces such as redirects the given input file
Ethernet, wireless, modem and so on
that are connected to your computer

dig [record type] [domain] Gather information about a particular

domain. Try “dig txt google.com”

nettop Monitor network activity, showing a

list of processes and corresponding
process IDs with network
connections

ping [address] Send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets

to network host at [address]

nslookup [address] Use the IP address to discover a

domain name, or vice versa.
LINUX COMMAND CHEAT SHEET

USER CONTROLS AND MANAGEMENT USER WARNING: SOME OF

SYSTEM INFORMATION
THESE COMMANDS CAN BE DANGEROUS. USE WITH CAUTION.

cat /proc/cpuinfo Display detailed information about (sudo) service ssh stop Stop ssh service
the CPU

(sudo) service ssh start Start ssh service

pstree Display a tree of running processes

(sudo) service ssh restart Restart ssh service

du Return disk usage

(sudo) service ssh status Check ssh service status

df –m Display free storage in megabytes

sudo passwd root Set a new password for the

du –h [directory Return disk usage in a readable file root user, can be used to
size format Eg. 1.1K or 15M 1.5G circumvent the sudo
(-m shows file in megabytes and command
-g shows a file in gigabytes)
passwd Change your password
lshw | less List all hardware and pipes to the
less command for easy reading and
pagination useradd [user_name] Create a new user

swapon -s Swap information useradd –r [user_name] Delete a user

lsusb (or -v for verbose) Show information about all usb finger [username] Display information about a
devices. user

pmap –x PID [pid] Display memory information about a

chmod [permission] [file_name] Change the permissions of
process
a file
Eg. chmod 777 /path/to/file
lspci (or -v for verbose) Show information about all PCI

Display sorted information about groups [username] Display the groups a user
top belongs to
processes

sudo systemctl restart Restart a service chown user:group /path/to/file Change ownership of a file
[service_name] Eg. sudo systemctl restart apache2

chown –R user:group /path/to Change the ownership of

dmidecode | less Summarize BIOS information /directory a directory and files

chroot [path] [command] Change the root directory

kill [pid] Terminate a process. Use the ‘top’ of a process
command to find the pid of a
process
quit Logout
cat /etc/issue The cat command shows
information about a given directory w Display currently logged
, in this cat /ect/issue. in users

free Free shows system information

such as free memory and swap in
kibibytes
LINUX COMMAND CHEAT SHEET

OTHER

alias [new command name] Create a temporary alias for

=[command] a command

date Display current system date and

time

env Display environment variables

[tab] Autocomplete command you are

typing, if autocomplete has been
configured for your shell session.

history Display prior used commands

shutdown Turns a computer off

shutdown –r Reboots a computer

at [-V] [-q queue] [-f file] Run a command at a specific time

[-mldbv] TIME

iostat List CPU and I/O statistics

clear Clear all information from the

terminal window. Not useful for
security.

crontab –e Create a new crontab or edit an

existing crontab

man [command name] Display the manual or help file for a

command

unset [variable_name] Remove environment variable

export [variable_name]
Create a new environment variable
=[variable_value]

100% Linux Hands-on Exercise on Linuxpath.org

These Linux exercises from Linuxpath.org will help you learn everything about Linux from the boot process to advanced networking