Linux Command Line Cheatsheet

Despite the beautiful interfaces found on most modern distros, knowledge of Linux command lines is a useful tool to have. Knowing these basic shortcuts can make you more efficient and supercharge your productivity, not to mention make coding at the terminal that much easier. Regardless of your current background knowledge of Linux, you can start using this list of useful Linux commands right away.

Command	Description
File Commands
ls	List the content of the current directory.
ls -R	List the subdirectories recursively.
ls -a	List all the content, including hidden files.
ls -l	List the content and its information.
ls -lh	List all the files and folders with file sizes in human-readable format.
pwd	Output the current directory that you are in.
cd folder1	Change the working directory to folder1.
cd	Return to the $HOME directory.
cd ..	Go up a directory.
cd –	Return to the previous directory.
cp source destination	Copy source to destination.
cp -r source destination	Copy a folder recursively from source to destination.
mv source destination	Move (or rename) a file from source to destination.
rm file1	Remove file1.
rm -f file1	Remove file1 without prompt.
rm -r folder	Remove a folder and its content recursively.
mkdir foldername	Create a new folder foldername.
rmdir foldername	Remove an empty folder.
touch file1	Create a file named “file1” in the current working directory.
file file1	Show the file type of file1.
cat file1 file2	Concatenate file1 to file 2.
cat > file1	Concatenate standard input to file1.
less file1	View and paginate file1.
head file1	Show first 10 lines of file1.
tail file1	Show last 10 lines of file1.
chmod 777 file	Change file permission of file to 777.
chown user:group file	Change ownership of file to user and group group.
chmod -R +rwx /path/to/file	Change the read, write and execute permission bits for all files and folders in the path directory.
ln -s source destination	Create a symbolic link from source to destination.
ln -f source destination	Create a hard link from source to destination and remove and existing links between the two files.
File Encryption and Compression
gpg2 -c file	Encrypt file.
gpg2 file.gpg	Decrypt file.gpg.
tar -cf archive.tar foo bar	Create archive.tar from files foo and bar.
tar -xf archive.tar	Extract all files from archive.tar.
gzip file1	Compress file1 and rename it to file1.gz.
gzip -d file1.gz	Decompress file1.gz.
tar cvzf archive.tar.gz foo bar	Create a gunzip archive named “archive.tar.gz” using the files’ foo and bar.
tar xvzf archive.tar.gz	Extract a gunzip archive named “archive.tar.gz” and place the contents in the current working directory.
GPG Key Management
gpg2 –full-gen-key	Create a new GPG keypair.
gpg2 –list-keys	List all the available GPG keys in the system.
gpg2 –edit-key [gpg email]	Modify the properties of a GPG key that you currently use.
gpg2 –export –armor –output filename.asc [gpg email]	Create an importable ASCII public key for a GPG key that you use.
gpg2 –export-secret-keys –armor –output filename.asc [gpg email]	Create an importable ASCII private key for a GPG key that you use.
gpg2 –import filename.asc	Import a keyfile to your machine’s keyring.
gpg2 –gen-revoke –armor –output filename.asc [gpg email]	Generate a revocation certificate for a GPG key that you currently use.
User and Group Management
useradd -G email -s /bin/bash linux	Create a new user named “linux”, include it to the group “email” and set its default shell to bash.
groupadd -g 2222 extra	Create a new system group named “extra” with a Group ID of 2222.
usermod -G extra linux	Add the existing “linux” user to the “extra” group.
groupmod -n super extra	Rename the group “extra” to “super”.
userdel linux	Delete the user “linux” in the system.
groupdel super	Delete the group “super” in the system.
Text Manipulation
sed 11q sample.txt	Print the first 11 lines of the file “sample.txt”.
sed -i s/string1/string2/g sample.txt	Replace every instance of the word “string1” with “string2” in the “sample.txt” file.
sed -i y/string1/strings2/g sample.txt	Transpose the word “strings2” to every instance of the word “string1” in the “sample.txt” file.
uniq input.txt	Print all the identical lines of text in the “input.txt” file.
sort -r sample.txt	Reverse the line order of the “sample.txt” file.
sort -R sample.txt	Randomize the line order of the “sample.txt” file.
sort -g sample.txt	Arrange the lines of the “sample.txt” file by absolute numerical order.
sort -d sample.txt	Arrange the lines of the “sample.txt” file by alphabetical order.
sort -M sample.txt	Arrange the lines of the “sample.txt” file by month order.
cut -c a,e,i,o,u sample.txt	Remove all the vowel characters in the “sample.txt” file and print the result to the terminal.
cut -f field1,field2 sample.txt	Remove the first two Tab-separated columns in the “sample.txt” file and print the result to the terminal.
tr “A-Za-z” “A-Z” < sample.txt	Translate all the letters in the “sample.txt” file to uppercase.
tr -cd “[:print:]” < sample.txt	Delete all the control characters in the “sample.txt” file.
System Commands
uname -a	Show system and kernel.
uname	Show distribution.
mount	Show mounted filesystems.
lsblk	List all currently attached block storage devices.
lsmod	List all currently installed kernel modules in the system.
lspci	List all currently attached PCI and PCI-E devices in the machine.
lsusb	List all currently attached USB-type devices in the system.
date	Show system date.
uptime	Show system uptime.
whoami	Show your username.
users	Display who is online.
groups	Print all the names of the groups that the current user is a part of.
apropos command	Print all the matching manpages for the string “command”.
man command	Show manual for command.
info command	Display the appropriate info page for that particular command.
!!	Repeat the last command.
exit	Log out of current session.
File Searching Commands
grep pattern files	Search for pattern in files.
grep -i	Case insensitive search.
grep -r	Recursive search.
grep -v	Inverted search.
grep -o	Show matched part of file only.
locate file1	Find file1.
whereis command	Find binary/source/manual for command.
which app	Locate a command for the app.
look string file1	Display any lines in file1 which contain string as a prefix.
Process Management
ps	Show snapshot of processes.
top	Show real time processes.
kill pid	Kill process with id pid.
pkill name	Kill process with name name.
killall name	Kill all processes with names beginning name.
time command	Run the “command” program and print the amount of time the program ran to standard output.
Disk Space
df -h	Show free space on mounted filesystems.
du -h folder	Show file usage of each folder in folder.
du -hc folder	Show the file usage for each folder in folder and print the total file size.
du -sh folder	Show the total file size of folder.
fdisk -l	Show disks partitions sizes and types (run as root).
free	Show memory and swap usage.

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