🐧 60 Essential Linux Commands: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners
Linux is a powerful operating system favored by developers, system administrators, and tech enthusiasts. Its command-line interface (CLI) offers unparalleled control and flexibility. For beginners, understanding essential Linux commands is crucial to navigate and manage the system effectively. This guide covers 60 fundamental commands that will enhance your Linux proficiency.
📁 File and Directory Management
- ls – List Directory Contents
ls - cd – Change Directory
cd /path/to/directory - pwd – Print Working Directory
pwd - mkdir – Make Directory
mkdir new_folder - rmdir – Remove Directory
rmdir folder_name - rm – Remove Files or Directories
rm file.txt rm -r folder_name - touch – Create Empty File
touch newfile.txt - cp – Copy Files and Directories
cp source.txt destination.txt cp -r source_folder/ destination_folder/ - mv – Move or Rename Files and Directories
mv oldname.txt newname.txt mv file.txt /new/location/ - find – Search for Files
find /path -name filename.txt
📝 File Viewing and Editing
- cat – Concatenate and Display Files
cat file.txt - less – View File Content Page by Page
less file.txt - head – View Beginning of File
head file.txt - tail – View End of File
tail file.txt - nano – Text Editor
nano file.txt - vim – Advanced Text Editor
vim file.txt - grep – Search Text Patterns
grep "search_term" file.txt - diff – Compare Files
diff file1.txt file2.txt - wc – Word Count
wc file.txt - sort – Sort File Content
sort file.txt
🔧 System Information and Management
- uname – System Information
uname -a - top – Real-Time Process Monitoring
top - htop – Interactive Process Viewer
htop - df – Disk Space Usage
df -h - du – Directory Space Usage
du -sh /path/to/directory - free – Memory Usage
free -h - uptime – System Uptime
uptime - whoami – Current User
whoami - id – User ID
id - hostname – System Hostname
hostname
🔐 User and Permission Management
- adduser – Add New User
sudo adduser username - passwd – Change Password
passwd - chmod – Change File Permissions
chmod 755 file.txt - chown – Change File Ownership
chown user:group file.txt - usermod – Modify User Account
usermod -aG groupname username - deluser – Delete User
sudo deluser username - groups – Display User Groups
groups username - su – Switch User
su - username - sudo – Execute as Superuser
sudo command - visudo – Edit sudoers File
sudo visudo
🌐 Networking Commands
- ping – Check Network Connectivity
ping example.com - ifconfig – Network Interface Configuration
ifconfig - ip – Show/Manipulate Routing
ip addr - netstat – Network Statistics
netstat -tuln - ss – Socket Statistics
ss -tuln - curl – Transfer Data
curl http://example.com - wget – Download Files
wget http://example.com/file.zip - scp – Secure Copy
scp file.txt user@remote:/path - rsync – Remote File Synchronization
rsync -avz source/ destination/ - traceroute – Trace Route
traceroute example.com
🛠️ Package Management
- apt-get – APT Package Handling
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install package_name - yum – Yellowdog Updater Modified
sudo yum install package_name - dnf – Dandified YUM
sudo dnf install package_name - pacman – Package Manager Utility (Arch Linux)
sudo pacman -S package_name - snap – Snap Package Manager
sudo snap install package_name - flatpak – Flatpak Package Manager
flatpak install flathub package_name - dpkg – Debian Package Manager
sudo dpkg -i package.deb - rpm – RPM Package Manager
sudo rpm -i package.rpm - apt-cache – Package Searching
apt-cache search keyword - aptitude – Interactive Package Manager
sudo aptitude
🚀 Getting Started with Linux Commands
If you’re just starting out, it’s a good idea to install a Linux distro in a safe environment. You can follow our detailed guide on how to install Kali Linux on a virtual machine to get hands-on with Linux.
For a trustworthy and easy-to-understand list of Linux commands, check out this guide from Hostinger, which breaks down 50+ essential commands for beginners and pros alike.
