New to Linux? Learn the basic Linux commands with this cheat sheet
Linux is the flavor for programmers and wannabe hackers today as it is slowly and steadily being adopted for standalone PCs in addition to networked PCs. One of the basic reasons it is so popular among coders and hackers is its rugged command line structure, unlike Windows and Mac based PCs.
Linux was designed around a strong and highly integrated command line interface. Windows and Mac don’t have that. This grants hackers and coder far greater access and control over their system and awesome customization. This is the reason that most hacking and pen testing tools are built into Linux have greater functionality above and beyond their windows counterparts. In contrast, Windows was built around the graphic user interface (GUI). This restrict user interaction to point-and-click navigation (slower) and application/system menu options for configuration.
One of the chief requirements to master Linux is to master its command line structure. Master the command line and you’ll be able to perform powerful tasks with just a few keystrokes.
The below cheat sheet will help you remember helpful Linux commands, whether you’re new to Linux or could just use a refresher.
Want To Learn Python? Click Here
For those who wish to copy the commands in the image directly, here goes
mkdir – make directories
Usage: mkdir [OPTION] DIRECTORY…
eg. mkdir lhn
ls – list directory contents
Usage: ls [OPTION]… [FILE]…
eg. ls, ls l, ls lhn
cd – changes directories
Usage: cd [DIRECTORY]
eg. cd lhn
pwd - print name of current working directory
Usage: pwd
vim – Vi Improved, a programmers text editor
Usage: vim [OPTION] [file]…
eg. vim lhn.txt
cp – copy files and directories
Usage: cp [OPTION]… SOURCE DEST
eg. cp sample.txt sample_copy.txt
cp sample_copy.txt target_dir
mv – move (rename) files
Usage: mv [OPTION]… SOURCE DEST
eg. mv source.txt target_dir
mv old.txt new.txt
rm remove files or directories
Usage: rm [OPTION]… FILE…
eg. rm file1.txt , rm rf some_dir
find – search for files in a directory hierarchy
Usage: find [OPTION] [path] [pattern]
eg. find file1.txt, find name file1.txt
history – prints recently used commands
Usage: history
cat – concatenate files and print on the standard output
Usage: cat [OPTION] [FILE]…
eg. cat file1.txt file2.txt
cat n file1.txt
echo – display a line of text
Usage: echo [OPTION] [string] …
eg. echo I love India
echo $HOME
grep - print lines matching a pattern
Usage: grep [OPTION] PATTERN [FILE]…
eg. grep i apple sample.txt
wc - print the number of newlines, words, and bytes in files
Usage: wc [OPTION]… [FILE]…
eg. wc file1.txt
wc L file1.txt
sort – sort lines of text files
Usage: sort [OPTION]… [FILE]…
eg. sort file1.txt
sort r file1.txt
tar – to archive a file
Usage: tar [OPTION] DEST SOURCE
eg. tar cvf /home/archive.tar /home/original
tar xvf /home/archive.tar
kill – to kill a process(using signal mechanism)
Usage: kill [OPTION] pid
eg. kill 9 2275
ps – report a snapshot of the current processes
Usage: ps [OPTION]
eg. ps, ps el
who – show who is logged on
Usage: who [OPTION]
eg. who , who b , who q
passwd – update a user’s authentication tokens(s)
Usage: passwd [OPTION]
eg. passwd
su – change user ID or become superuser
Usage: su [OPTION] [LOGIN]
eg. su remo, su
chown – change file owner and group
Usage: chown [OPTION]… OWNER[:[GROUP]] FILE…
eg. chown remo myfile.txt
chmod – change file access permissions
Usage: chmod [OPTION] [MODE] [FILE]
eg. chmod 744 calculate.sh
zip – package and compress (archive) files
Usage: zip [OPTION] DEST SOURSE
eg. zip original.zip original
unzip – list, test and extract compressed files in a ZIP archive
Usage: unzip filename
eg. unzip original.zi
ssh – SSH client (remote login program)
“ssh is a program for logging into a remote machine and for
executing commands on a remote machine”
Usage: ssh [options] [user]@hostname
eg. ssh X guest@10.105.11.20
scp – secure copy (remote file copy program)
“scp copies files between hosts on a network”
Usage: scp [options] [[user]@host1:file1] [[user]@host2:file2]
eg. scp file1.txt guest@10.105.11.20:~/Desktop/
fdisk – partition manipulator
eg. sudo fdisk l
mount – mount a file system
Usage: mount t type device dir
eg. mount /dev/sda5 /media/target
umount – unmount file systems
Usage: umount [OPTIONS] dir | device…
eg. umount /media/target
du – estimate file space usage
Usage: du [OPTION]… [FILE]…
eg. du
df – report filesystem disk space usage
Usage: df [OPTION]… [FILE]…
eg. df
quota – display disk usage and limits
Usage: quota [OPTION]
eg. quota v
reboot – reboot the system
Usage: reboot [OPTION]
eg. reboot
poweroff – power off the system
Usage: poweroff [OPTION]
eg. poweroff
kate – KDE Advanced Text Editor
Usage: kate [options][file(s)]
eg. kate file1.txt file2.txt
vim – Vi Improved, a programmers text editor
Usage: vim [OPTION] [file]…
eg. vi hello.c
gedit A text Editor. Used to create and edit files.
Usage: gedit [OPTION] [FILE]…
eg. gedit
bg – make a foreground process to run in background
Usage: type ‘ctrl+z’ and then ‘bg ‘
fg – to make background process as foreground process
Usage: fg [jobid]
jobs – displays the names and ids of background jobs
Usage: jobs
sed stream editor for filtering and transforming text
Usage: sed [OPTION] [inputfile]…
eg. sed ‘s/love/hate/g’ loveletter.txt
awk pattern scanning and processing language
eg. awk F: ‘{ print $1 }’ sample_awk.txt
find search for files in a directory hierarchy
Usage: find [OPTION] [path] [pattern]
eg. find name file1.txt
locate – find or locate a file
Usage: locate [OPTION]… FILE…
eg. locate file1.txt
The post Download This Cheat Sheet To Learn Basic Linux Commands appeared first on TechWorm.