Top 60 Linux Commands Cheat Sheet.
Essential commands for daily use.
A. File and Directory Management Commands
- ssh: Secure Shell, used for secure remote access to a system.
- ls: List directory contents.
- pwd: Print the current working directory.
- cd: Change directory to a different folder.
- touch: Create an empty file or update the modified timestamp of an existing file.
- echo: Print a message or the value of a variable.
- nano: A simple text editor.
- vim: A more advanced text editor with many features.
- cat: Print the contents of a file to the console.
- shred: Securely delete a file by overwriting its contents.
- mkdir: Create a new directory.
- cp: Copy a file from one location to another.
- mv: Move a file from one location to another, or rename a file.
- rm: Remove a file.
- rmdir: Remove a directory if it is empty.
- ln: Create a link to a file or directory.
- head: Display the first lines of a file.
- tail: Display the last lines of a file.
- cmp: Compare two files byte by byte.
- diff: Display the differences between two files.
- sort: Sort the lines of a file.
- find: Search for files in a directory hierarchy.
- chmod: Change the permissions of a file or directory.
- chown: Change the owner of a file or directory.
B. System Management Commands
- clear: Clear the console.
- useradd: Add a new user to the system.
- sudo: Run a command with administrative privileges.
- adduser: Add a new user to the system with more options than- useradd.
- su: Switch to another user account.
- exit: Close the current terminal or log out of the current user account.
- sudo passwd: Change the password for the current user.
- sudo passwd [username]: Change the password for another user.
- sudo apt: A package manager used to install, update, and remove software packages on Debian-based systems.
- sudo apt update & install: Update package lists and install packages.
- finger: Display information about a user.
- man: Display the manual page of a command.
- whatis: Display a brief description of a command.
- which: Locate a command and display its path.
- whereis: Locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command.
- wget: Download files from the web.
- curl: Transfer data to or from a server.
- zip: Compress files into a zip archive.
- unzip: Extract files from a zip archive.
- less: View a file one page at a time.
C. File Comparison & Manipulation Commands
- ifconfig: Configure network interfaces.
- ip address: Display IP address information.
- ping: Test network connectivity by sending packets to a host.
- resolvectl status: Display the current DNS resolver configuration.
- netstat: Display network connections, routing tables, and interface statistics.
- iptables: Configure and administer the netfilter firewall.
- ufw: A user-friendly interface to manage iptables firewall rules.
D. Networking Management & Monitoring Commands
- 
uname: Print system information, including kernel name, network node hostname, kernel release, and kernel version.
- 
neofetch: Display system information in a colorful and visually appealing way.
- 
cal: Display a calendar of the current month or year.
- 
free: Display the amount of free and used system memory.
- 
dfanddf -h: Display disk usage statistics for a file system.
- 
ps: Report a snapshot of current processes.
- 
top: Display dynamic real-time information about running processes.
- 
kill: Send a signal to terminate a process.
- 
pkill: Send a signal to terminate one or more processes based on their name.
- 
systemctl: Control the system and service manager.
- 
history: Display previously executed commands.
- 
sudo reboot: Reboot the system with administrative privileges.
- 
shutdown: Shutdown or reboot the system.credits: [NetworkChuck] 
Linux Commands Cheat Sheet with Examples :
1. File and Directory Management
- 
ls
 List files and directories.
 Example:ls
- 
ls -l
 List files with detailed information.
 Example:ls -l
- 
mkdir
 Create a new directory.
 Example:mkdir new_folder
- 
rmdir
 Remove an empty directory.
 Example:rmdir empty_folder
- 
rm
 Delete files or directories.
 Example:rm file.txt
- 
cp
 Copy files or directories.
 Example:cp source.txt destination.txt
- 
mv
 Move or rename files.
 Example:mv old_name.txt new_name.txt
- 
pwd
 Show the current directory.
 Example:pwd
2. File Viewing
- 
cat
 Display file contents.
 Example:cat file.txt
- 
less
 View file with pagination.
 Example:less file.txt
- 
head
 Display the first 10 lines of a file.
 Example:head file.txt
- 
tail
 Display the last 10 lines of a file.
 Example:tail file.txt
- 
tail -f
 Follow updates to a file (e.g., log file).
 Example:tail -f log.txt
3. File Permissions and Ownership
- 
chmod
 Change file permissions.
 Example:chmod 755 script.sh
- 
chown
 Change file ownership.
 Example:chown user:group file.txt
- 
ls -l
 View file permissions and ownership.
 Example:ls -l
4. Searching
- 
grep
 Search for a pattern in a file.
 Example:grep "search_term" file.txt
- 
grep -r
 Search recursively in directories.
 Example:grep -r "search_term" directory/
- 
find
 Locate files by name or criteria.
 Example:find /path -name "file.txt"
- 
locate
 Search files quickly using a pre-built database.
 Example:locate file.txt
- 
updatedb
 Update the database forlocate.
 Example:sudo updatedb
5. Disk Usage
- 
df -h
 Show free disk space in human-readable format.
 Example:df -h
- 
du -h
 Show disk usage of files/directories.
 Example:du -h directory/
6. Networking
- 
ip addr
 Display network interfaces and IP addresses.
 Example:ip addr
- 
ping
 Test connectivity to a host.
 Example:ping google.com
- 
netstat
 View network connections.
 Example:netstat -tuln
- 
nslookup
 Query DNS records for a domain.
 Example:nslookup example.com
- 
traceroute
 Trace the route to a host.
 Example:traceroute google.com
7. User Management
- 
adduser
 Add a new user.
 Example:sudo adduser username
- 
deluser
 Remove a user.
 Example:sudo deluser username
- 
whoami
 Show the current logged-in user.
 Example:whoami
- 
who
 Show logged-in users.
 Example:who
8. Process Management
- 
ps aux
 List all running processes.
 Example:ps aux
- 
top
 Display real-time process usage.
 Example:top
- 
kill
 Terminate a process by PID.
 Example:kill 1234
- 
killall
 Terminate processes by name.
 Example:killall firefox
9. Package Management (Debian-based Systems)
- 
apt update
 Update package lists.
 Example:sudo apt update
- 
apt upgrade
 Upgrade installed packages.
 Example:sudo apt upgrade
- 
apt install
 Install a package.
 Example:sudo apt install curl
- 
apt remove
 Remove a package.
 Example:sudo apt remove package_name
- 
apt search
 Search for a package.
 Example:apt search package_name
10. System Monitoring
- 
uname -a
 Display system information.
 Example:uname -a
- 
free -h
 Show memory usage in human-readable format.
 Example:free -h
- 
uptime
 Show system uptime.
 Example:uptime

