Important Command For Linux

In the post you will find some of the basic but important command on Linux everyone should know. Knowing these will help users to navigate through the Linux terminal with ease.

List of Important commnad for linux

The list of commands have been separated into two sections must know and most important commands for beginners and additional commands that can help users master the Linux terminal an get their required task done.

Note:

To know more about any of the command and have a detailed explanation and examples on how to use the command, just click on the command name and have a look at the detailed article about the command for Linux terminal.

Most Basic and Important Linux Commands

• ls – The most frequently used command in Linux to list directories

• pwd – Print working directory command in Linux

• cd – Linux command to navigate through directories

• mkdir – Command used to create directories in Linux

• mv – Move or rename files in Linux

• cp – Similar usage as mv but for copying files in Linux

• touch – Create blank/empty files

• chmod – Command to change file permissions

• cat – Display file contents on the terminal

• rm – Delete files or directories

• clear – Clear the terminal display

• echo – Print any text that follows the command

• less – Linux command to display paged outputs in the terminal

• man – Access manual pages for all Linux commands

• uname – Linux command to get basic information about the OS

• whoami – Get the active username

• tar – Command to extract and compress files in Linux

• grep – Search for a string within an output

Other Important Commands in Linux Terminal

• head – Return the specified number of lines from the top

• tail – Return the specified number of lines from the bottom

• diff – Find the difference between two files

• cmp – Allows you to check if two files are identical

• comm – Combines the functionality of diff and cmp

• sort – Linux syntax to sort the content of a file while outputting

• export – Export environment variables in Linux

• zip – Zip files in Linux

• unzip – Unzip files in Linux

• ssh – Secure Shell command in Linux

• service – Linux syntax to start and stop services

• ps – Display active processes

• kill and killall – Kill active processes by process ID or name

• df – Display disk filesystem information

• mount – Mount file systems in Linux

• chown – Command for granting ownership of files or folders

• ifconfig – Display network interfaces and IP addresses

• traceroute – Trace all the network hops to reach the destination

• wget – Direct download files from the internet

• ufw – Firewall command

• iptables – Base firewall for all other firewall utilities to interface with

• apt, pacman, yum, rpm – Package managers depending on the distro

• sudo – Syntax to escalate privileges in Linux

• cal – View a command-line calendar

• alias – Create custom shortcuts for your regularly used commands

• dd – Majorly used for creating bootable USB sticks

• whereis – Locate the binary, source, and manual pages for a command

• whatis – Find what a command is used for

• top – View active processes live with their system usage

• useradd and usermod – Add new user or change existing users data

• passwd – Create or update passwords for existing users