Linux Commands Cheat Sheet for Beginners

1. Basic Commands

• uname -a → Display system information
• hostname → Show or set the system hostname
• whoami → Display the current logged-in user
• pwd → Print the current working directory

2. Navigating the Filesystem

• ls → List files in a directory
• ls -l → Show detailed information about files
• ls -a → Show hidden files
• cd [directory] → Change directory
• cd .. → Move one level up
• cd ~ → Move to the home directory

3. File Management

• touch filename → Create a new empty file
• rm filename → Delete a file
• rm -r directory → Delete a directory and its contents
• cp source destination → Copy files
• mv oldname newname → Move or rename files
• cat filename → Display file contents
• less filename → View file contents page by page

4. File Permissions and Ownership

• ls -l → View file permissions
• chmod 755 filename → Change file permissions
• chown user:group filename → Change file owner and group

5. Searching and Finding Files

• find /path -name filename → Search for a file by name
• grep 'text' filename → Search for a keyword inside a file

6. Process Management

• ps aux → View running processes
• top → Show real-time system resource usage
• kill PID → Terminate a process
• pkill process_name → Kill a process by name

7. Networking Basics

• ifconfig → Show network configuration
• ping example.com → Test connectivity to a website
• wget URL → Download a file from the internet
• curl URL → Fetch content from a URL

8. Disk Management

• df -h → Show disk space usage
• du -sh folder → Show the size of a directory
• mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt → Mount a drive
• umount /mnt → Unmount a drive

9. User and Group Management

• who → List logged-in users
• adduser username → Create a new user
• passwd username → Change a user password
• deluser username → Delete a user

10. Package Management

Debian-based (Ubuntu, Debian, etc.)

• sudo apt update → Update package list
• sudo apt upgrade → Upgrade installed packages
• sudo apt install package-name → Install a package
• sudo apt remove package-name → Remove a package

RedHat-based (CentOS, Fedora, etc.)

• sudo yum update → Update all packages
• sudo yum install package-name → Install a package
• sudo yum remove package-name → Remove a package

11. System Monitoring and Logs

• free -h → Show memory usage
• vmstat → Display system performance stats
• iostat → Show CPU and I/O statistics
• dmesg | tail → View last kernel messages

12. Task Scheduling

• crontab -e → Edit cron jobs
• crontab -l → List scheduled cron jobs
• 0 5 * * * /path/to/script.sh → Run a script every day at 5 AM

13. Exiting and Shutting Down

• exit → Close the session
• shutdown -h now → Shutdown immediately
• reboot → Restart the system

Conclusion

Mastering these Linux commands will help you navigate and manage a Linux system efficiently. As you gain more experience, explore intermediate and advanced commands to enhance your productivity. If you’re interested in an Advanced Linux Commands Cheat Sheet, let us know!