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



cd – Changes the current directory.
cd /path/to/directory
cd ..        # Go up one directory
cd ~         # Go to the home directory mkdir – Creates a new directory.
mkdir new_directory



rmdir – Removes an empty directory.
rmdir directory_name



cp – Copies files or directories.
cp source_file destination
cp -r source_directory destination_directory   # Copy directories recursively mv – Moves or renames files and directories.
mv old_name new_name
mv file_name /path/to/destination/



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



htop – Interactive process viewer (requires installation).
htop System Information df – Shows disk space usage.
df -h      # Human-readable format



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



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



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



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



whoami – Displays the current logged-in user.
whoami



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



lscpu – Displays CPU architecture information.
lscpu Network Commands ping – Tests connectivity to a host.
ping google.com



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



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



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



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



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



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



unzip – Extracts a zip archive.
unzip archive_name.zip Miscellaneous echo – Prints a message or variables to the terminal.
echo "Hello, World!"



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



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



history – Shows the command history.
history



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. 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 cd – Changes the current directory.
cd /path/to/directory
cd ..        # Go up one directory
cd ~         # Go to the home directory ls – Lists the contents of a directory. ls
ls -l        # Long listing format
ls -a        # List all files, including hidden ones ls – Lists the contents of a directory. ls ls
ls -l        # Long listing format
ls -a        # List all files, including hidden ones ls
ls -l        # Long listing format
ls -a        # List all files, including hidden ones cd – Changes the current directory. cd /path/to/directory
cd ..        # Go up one directory
cd ~         # Go to the home directory cd – Changes the current directory. cd cd /path/to/directory
cd ..        # Go up one directory
cd ~         # Go to the home directory cd /path/to/directory
cd ..        # Go up one directory
cd ~         # Go to the home directory mkdir – Creates a new directory.
mkdir new_directory rmdir – Removes an empty directory.
rmdir directory_name cp – Copies files or directories.
cp source_file destination
cp -r source_directory destination_directory   # Copy directories recursively mkdir – Creates a new directory. mkdir new_directory mkdir – Creates a new directory. mkdir mkdir new_directory mkdir new_directory rmdir – Removes an empty directory. rmdir directory_name rmdir – Removes an empty directory. rmdir rmdir directory_name rmdir directory_name cp – Copies files or directories. cp source_file destination
cp -r source_directory destination_directory   # Copy directories recursively cp – Copies files or directories. cp cp source_file destination
cp -r source_directory destination_directory   # Copy directories recursively cp source_file destination
cp -r source_directory destination_directory   # Copy directories recursively mv – Moves or renames files and directories.
mv old_name new_name
mv file_name /path/to/destination/ rm – Removes files or directories.
rm file_name
rm -r directory_name   # Remove directories recursively touch – Creates an empty file or updates the timestamp of an existing file.
touch file_name mv – Moves or renames files and directories. mv old_name new_name
mv file_name /path/to/destination/ mv – Moves or renames files and directories. mv mv old_name new_name
mv file_name /path/to/destination/ mv old_name new_name
mv file_name /path/to/destination/ rm – Removes files or directories. rm file_name
rm -r directory_name   # Remove directories recursively rm – Removes files or directories. rm rm file_name
rm -r directory_name   # Remove directories recursively rm file_name
rm -r directory_name   # Remove directories recursively touch – Creates an empty file or updates the timestamp of an existing file. touch file_name touch – Creates an empty file or updates the timestamp of an existing file. touch touch file_name touch file_name File Viewing & Manipulation cat – Displays the contents of a file.
cat file_name cat – Displays the contents of a file. cat file_name cat – Displays the contents of a file. cat cat file_name cat file_name less – Allows you to view file contents page by page.
less file_name head – Shows the first 10 lines of a file (default).
head file_name
head -n 5 file_name    # Show the first 5 lines tail – Shows the last 10 lines of a file (default).
tail file_name
tail -n 5 file_name    # Show the last 5 lines grep – Searches for patterns within files.
grep 'search_term' file_name
grep -r 'search_term' /path/to/directory    # Search recursively in directories less – Allows you to view file contents page by page. less file_name less – Allows you to view file contents page by page. less less file_name less file_name head – Shows the first 10 lines of a file (default). head file_name
head -n 5 file_name    # Show the first 5 lines head – Shows the first 10 lines of a file (default). head head file_name
head -n 5 file_name    # Show the first 5 lines head file_name
head -n 5 file_name    # Show the first 5 lines tail – Shows the last 10 lines of a file (default). tail file_name
tail -n 5 file_name    # Show the last 5 lines tail – Shows the last 10 lines of a file (default). tail tail file_name
tail -n 5 file_name    # Show the last 5 lines tail file_name
tail -n 5 file_name    # Show the last 5 lines grep – Searches for patterns within files. grep 'search_term' file_name
grep -r 'search_term' /path/to/directory    # Search recursively in directories grep – Searches for patterns within files. grep grep 'search_term' file_name
grep -r 'search_term' /path/to/directory    # Search recursively in directories 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 chown – Changes the file owner and group.
chown user:group file_name umask – Sets default file creation permissions.
umask 022   # Sets default permissions to 755 for directories and 644 for files 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 chmod – Changes file permissions. chmod chmod 755 file_name    # Gives read, write, execute permissions to the owner and read, execute to others
chmod +x script.sh     # Make file executable chmod 755 file_name    # Gives read, write, execute permissions to the owner and read, execute to others
chmod +x script.sh     # Make file executable chown – Changes the file owner and group. chown user:group file_name chown – Changes the file owner and group. chown chown user:group file_name chown user:group file_name umask – Sets default file creation permissions. umask 022   # Sets default permissions to 755 for directories and 644 for files umask – Sets default file creation permissions. umask umask 022   # Sets default permissions to 755 for directories and 644 for files 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 top – Displays real-time system processes and resource usage.
top kill – Terminates a process by its PID.
kill process_id
kill -9 process_id    # Forcefully kill a process htop – Interactive process viewer (requires installation).
htop ps – Displays the currently running processes. ps
ps aux      # Show all processes ps – Displays the currently running processes. ps ps
ps aux      # Show all processes ps
ps aux      # Show all processes top – Displays real-time system processes and resource usage. top top – Displays real-time system processes and resource usage. top top top kill – Terminates a process by its PID. kill process_id
kill -9 process_id    # Forcefully kill a process kill – Terminates a process by its PID. kill kill process_id
kill -9 process_id    # Forcefully kill a process kill process_id
kill -9 process_id    # Forcefully kill a process htop – Interactive process viewer (requires installation). htop htop – Interactive process viewer (requires installation). htop htop htop System Information df – Shows disk space usage.
df -h      # Human-readable format du – Shows disk usage for files and directories.
du -h /path/to/directory free – Displays memory usage.
free -h    # Human-readable format uname – Shows system information.
uname -a   # Display all system info uptime – Shows how long the system has been running.
uptime whoami – Displays the current logged-in user.
whoami hostname – Displays or sets the system's hostname.
hostname lscpu – Displays CPU architecture information.
lscpu df – Shows disk space usage. df -h      # Human-readable format df – Shows disk space usage. df df -h      # Human-readable format df -h      # Human-readable format du – Shows disk usage for files and directories. du -h /path/to/directory du – Shows disk usage for files and directories. du du -h /path/to/directory du -h /path/to/directory free – Displays memory usage. free -h    # Human-readable format free – Displays memory usage. free free -h    # Human-readable format free -h    # Human-readable format uname – Shows system information. uname -a   # Display all system info uname – Shows system information. uname uname -a   # Display all system info uname -a   # Display all system info uptime – Shows how long the system has been running. uptime uptime – Shows how long the system has been running. uptime uptime uptime whoami – Displays the current logged-in user. whoami whoami – Displays the current logged-in user. whoami whoami whoami hostname – Displays or sets the system's hostname. hostname hostname – Displays or sets the system's hostname. hostname hostname hostname lscpu – Displays CPU architecture information. lscpu lscpu – Displays CPU architecture information. lscpu lscpu lscpu Network Commands ping – Tests connectivity to a host.
ping google.com ifconfig – Displays network interface information (may require net-tools installation on some systems).
ifconfig ip – Configures network interfaces and routing.
ip addr show      # Show IP addresses of network interfaces
ip route show     # Show routing table curl – Fetches data from a URL.
curl https://example.com wget – Downloads files from the web.
wget https://example.com/file.zip ping – Tests connectivity to a host. ping google.com ping – Tests connectivity to a host. ping ping google.com ping google.com ifconfig – Displays network interface information (may require net-tools installation on some systems). ifconfig ifconfig – Displays network interface information (may require net-tools installation on some systems). ifconfig ifconfig ifconfig ip – Configures network interfaces and routing. ip addr show      # Show IP addresses of network interfaces
ip route show     # Show routing table ip – Configures network interfaces and routing. ip ip addr show      # Show IP addresses of network interfaces
ip route show     # Show routing table ip addr show      # Show IP addresses of network interfaces
ip route show     # Show routing table curl – Fetches data from a URL. curl https://example.com curl – Fetches data from a URL. curl curl https://example.com curl https://example.com wget – Downloads files from the web. wget https://example.com/file.zip wget – Downloads files from the web. wget wget https://example.com/file.zip 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 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 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 apt-get (for Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions) – Installs, updates, or removes software packages. apt-get sudo apt-get update           # Update package list
sudo apt-get install package  # Install a package
sudo apt-get remove package   # Remove a package sudo apt-get update           # Update package list
sudo apt-get install package  # Install a package
sudo apt-get remove package   # Remove a package 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 yum (for RedHat/CentOS-based distributions) – Installs, updates, or removes software packages. yum sudo yum update               # Update package list
sudo yum install package      # Install a package
sudo yum remove package       # Remove a package 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 zip – Compresses files into a zip archive.
zip archive_name.zip file1 file2 unzip – Extracts a zip archive.
unzip archive_name.zip 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 tar – Archives or extracts files. tar tar -czvf archive_name.tar.gz /path/to/directory   # Create a compressed archive
tar -xzvf archive_name.tar.gz                      # Extract a compressed archive tar -czvf archive_name.tar.gz /path/to/directory   # Create a compressed archive
tar -xzvf archive_name.tar.gz                      # Extract a compressed archive zip – Compresses files into a zip archive. zip archive_name.zip file1 file2 zip – Compresses files into a zip archive. zip zip archive_name.zip file1 file2 zip archive_name.zip file1 file2 unzip – Extracts a zip archive. unzip archive_name.zip unzip – Extracts a zip archive. unzip unzip archive_name.zip unzip archive_name.zip Miscellaneous echo – Prints a message or variables to the terminal.
echo "Hello, World!" date – Displays or sets the system date and time.
date alias – Creates an alias for a command.
alias ll='ls -la'    # Create a shortcut for 'ls -la' history – Shows the command history.
history clear – Clears the terminal screen.
clear echo – Prints a message or variables to the terminal. echo "Hello, World!" echo – Prints a message or variables to the terminal. echo echo "Hello, World!" echo "Hello, World!" date – Displays or sets the system date and time. date date – Displays or sets the system date and time. date date date alias – Creates an alias for a command. alias ll='ls -la'    # Create a shortcut for 'ls -la' alias – Creates an alias for a command. alias alias ll='ls -la'    # Create a shortcut for 'ls -la' alias ll='ls -la'    # Create a shortcut for 'ls -la' history – Shows the command history. history history – Shows the command history. history history history clear – Clears the terminal screen. clear clear – Clears the terminal screen. clear clear 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.

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Essential Linux Commands for File and Directory Management

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