Linux is built around commands, and learning a few basic ones makes it much easier to work comfortably in the terminal. This page gives a simple introduction to useful Linux commands for beginners.
Basic Linux Commands
tty — Shows the current logged-in terminal
tty
whoami — Shows the currently logged-in user
whoami
which — Reveals where in the search path a program is located
which ls
echo — Prints text to the screen
echo "Hello Linux"
echo $PATH — Displays the current PATH variable
echo $PATH
echo $PWD — Displays the current working directory
echo $PWD
echo $OLDPWD — Displays the previously visited directory
echo $OLDPWD
clear — Clears the terminal screen
clear
reset — Resets the terminal screen buffer
reset
history — Shows previously executed commands
history
!110 — Executes command number 110 from history
!110
Files and Directories
ls — Lists files and directories
ls
ls -ltr — Lists files sorted by modification time
ls -ltr
ls -a — Lists all files including hidden files
ls -a
ls -l — Displays detailed file information
ls -l
mkdir — Creates a directory
mkdir mydir
mkdir -p — Creates nested directories
mkdir -p dir1/dir2/dir3
touch — Creates a new file
touch file.txt
cp — Copies files or directories
cp dir1 /root/
mv — Moves or renames files
mv dir1 /root/
rm — Removes a file or directory
rm file.txt
rm -rf — Removes directory recursively and forcefully
rm -rf dir1
Command Help
Use manual or help options to learn more about commands:
man <command>
<command> --help
Example:
rm --help
mkdir --help
ls --help
Directory Navigation
cd — Changes to home directory
cd
cd ~ — Changes to home directory
cd ~
cd / — Changes to root directory
cd /
cd Desktop/ — Changes to relative directory
cd Desktop/
cd .. — Moves one level up
cd ..
cd ../.. — Moves two levels up
cd ../..
User and Group Commands
useradd — Creates a user
useradd username
passwd — Assigns password to user
passwd username
groupadd — Creates a group
groupadd groupname
usermod -a -G — Adds user to group
usermod -a -G groupname username
groupmod -A — Adds user to group
groupmod -A username groupname
useradd (advanced) — Creates user with custom options
useradd -d /home/user -s /bin/bash -g groupname -u 1001 username
File Content Commands
head — Displays first lines of a file
head /var/log/messages
head -10 — Displays first 10 lines
head -10 /var/log/messages
tail — Displays last lines of a file
tail /var/log/messages
tail -10 — Displays last 10 lines
tail -10 /var/log/messages
wc -l — Counts number of lines in file
wc -l /var/log/messages