Top 50+ Linux Commands You MUST Know

As a Linux user, it’s essential to have a solid understanding of the various commands that can help you navigate and manage your system. In this tutorial, we’ll cover the top 50+ Linux commands that you must know to become proficient in using the operating system.

Introduction to Linux Commands

Linux commands are used to perform various tasks, such as file management, system administration, and troubleshooting. These commands can be executed in the terminal, which is the command-line interface of the Linux operating system.

Basic Linux Commands

Here are some basic Linux commands that you should know:

1. cd: Change directory. Used to navigate through the file system.
   • Example: cd Documents
2. ls: List files and directories. Used to display the contents of a directory.
   • Example: ls -l
3. mkdir: Make a directory. Used to create a new directory.
   • Example: mkdir MyDirectory
4. rm: Remove. Used to delete files and directories.
   • Example: rm myfile.txt
5. cp: Copy. Used to copy files and directories.
   • Example: cp myfile.txt MyDirectory
6. mv: Move. Used to move or rename files and directories.
   • Example: mv myfile.txt MyDirectory
7. touch: Create a new file. Used to create a new empty file.
   • Example: touch myfile.txt
8. cat: Display file contents. Used to display the contents of a file.
   • Example: cat myfile.txt
9. echo: Print text to the screen. Used to display text to the screen.
   • Example: echo "Hello World!"
10. man: Display manual pages. Used to display information about a command or function.
    • Example: man cd

File Management Commands

Here are some file management commands that you should know:

11. find: Search for files. Used to search for files based on various criteria.
    • Example: find . -name myfile.txt
12. grep: Search for text. Used to search for text within files.
    • Example: grep "hello" myfile.txt
13. chmod: Change file permissions. Used to change the permissions of a file or directory.
    • Example: chmod 755 myfile.txt
14. chown: Change file ownership. Used to change the ownership of a file or directory.
    • Example: chown user:group myfile.txt
15. tar: Create archives. Used to create and extract archives.
    • Example: tar -cvf archive.tar myfile.txt

System Administration Commands

Here are some system administration commands that you should know:

16. sudo: Superuser do. Used to execute commands with superuser privileges.
    • Example: sudo apt-get install firefox
17. apt-get: Package manager. Used to install, update, and remove packages.
    • Example: apt-get install firefox
18. yum: Package manager. Used to install, update, and remove packages.
    • Example: yum install firefox
19. systemctl: System control. Used to manage system services.
    • Example: systemctl start httpd
20. journalctl: Journal control. Used to manage system logs.
    • Example: journalctl -u httpd

Networking Commands

Here are some networking commands that you should know:

21. ping: Test network connectivity. Used to test whether a host is reachable.
    • Example: ping google.com
22. ssh: Secure shell. Used to connect to a remote server securely.
    • Example: ssh user@remote-server
23. scp: Secure copy. Used to copy files securely over a network.
    • Example: scp myfile.txt user@remote-server:~/
24. wget: Download files. Used to download files from the internet.
    • Example: wget http://example.com/file.txt
25. curl: Transfer data. Used to transfer data to and from a web server.
    • Example: curl http://example.com

Security Commands

Here are some security commands that you should know:

26. passwd: Change password. Used to change the password of a user.
    • Example: passwd user
27. ssh-keygen: Generate SSH keys. Used to generate SSH keys for secure authentication.
    • Example: ssh-keygen -t rsa
28. openssl: Encrypt and decrypt files. Used to encrypt and decrypt files using SSL/TLS.
    • Example: openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -in myfile.txt -out encrypted.txt
29. firewall-cmd: Manage firewall rules. Used to manage firewall rules.
    • Example: firewall-cmd --add-service=http
30. selinux: Manage SELinux policies. Used to manage SELinux policies.
    • Example: selinuxenabled

Troubleshooting Commands

Here are some troubleshooting commands that you should know:

31. top: Display system processes. Used to display system processes and resource usage.
    • Example: top
32. htop: Display system processes. Used to display system processes and resource usage.
    • Example: htop
33. df: Display disk usage. Used to display disk usage and available space.
    • Example: df -h
34. du: Display disk usage. Used to display disk usage and available space.
    • Example: du -sh /home/user
35. free: Display memory usage. Used to display memory usage and available space.
    • Example: free -m

Miscellaneous Commands

Here are some miscellaneous commands that you should know:

36. history: Display command history. Used to display a list of previously executed commands.
    • Example: history
37. alias: Create aliases. Used to create shortcuts for frequently used commands.
    • Example: alias ll='ls -l'
38. source: Execute a script. Used to execute a script or a file containing commands.
    • Example: source script.sh
39. export: Set environment variables. Used to set environment variables.
    • Example: export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin
40. unset: Unset environment variables. Used to unset environment variables.
    • Example: unset PATH

Advanced Linux Commands

Here are some advanced Linux commands that you should know:

41. awk: Pattern scanning and processing. Used to scan and process text files.
    • Example: awk '{print $1}' myfile.txt
42. sed: Stream editor. Used to edit text files.
    • Example: sed 's/old/new/g' myfile.txt
43. grep: Search for text. Used to search for text within files.
    • Example: grep "hello" myfile.txt
44. find: Search for files. Used to search for files based on various criteria.
    • Example: find . -name myfile.txt
45. xargs: Execute commands. Used to execute commands on a list of files.
    • Example: find . -name myfile.txt | xargs rm

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered the top 50+ Linux commands that you must know to become proficient in using the operating system. These commands can help you navigate and manage your system, perform file management tasks, administer system services, and troubleshoot issues. Remember to practice these commands regularly to become more comfortable and confident in using Linux.

Additional Resources

• Linux Documentation Project: https://www.tldp.org/
• Linux Commands: https://www.linuxcommands.org/
• Linux Tutorial: https://www.linuxtutorial.org/

I hope this tutorial has been helpful in introducing you to the world of Linux commands. Happy learning!