This document provides a summary of basic Linux commands including ls, date, pwd, cd, touch, mkdir, cat, head, tail, cp, mv, man, rm, who, w, df, du, uptime, hostname, echo, history, clear, su, and exit. It explains what each command is used for and provides examples of basic syntax.

1. BASIC COMMANDS
By
Bhaskar N

2. Index
ls
date
pwd
cd
touch
mkdir
cat
head
tail
cp
mv
man
rm
who
w
df
du
uptime
hostname
echo
history
clear
su
exit

3. 1. Open the Terminal
2. Type below
command
$ man echo

4. $ Command –options Parameters
Command – cat, date, ls, etc..
Options - l (listing), a (all), h(Human readable), etc..
Parameters - like filename, directory name, script name, etc..

5. User : current logged in user name
Hostname : configured system or host name
$ or # : are the prompts for user and root

6.  List the contents of the directory which is mentioned
Syntax : ls
Example:
• ls –l /homes
• ls –a /new/dir
Command : ls

7.  Date is to print the current system date and time with standard output
Syntax : date
Example :
• date
• date + %Y-%m-%d
Command : date

8. Command : pwd
 It will print the current working directory with absolute(full) path
Syntax : pwd
Example:

9. Command : cd
 to change the working directory from current directory
Syntax : cd /someDirectory
Example:
• cd /var/log

10. Command : touch
 touch is used to create a file
Syntax : touch filename
Example:
• touch file.txt

11. Command : mkdir
 command is used to create a new directory
Syntax : mkdir directory_name
Example:
• mkdir new_dir
• mkdir –p dir/dir1 [creating along with parent directory]

12. Command : cat
 this is the command to view the file content or to read the file given
Syntax : cat filename
Example:
• cat file.txt

13. Command : grep
 grep is used to filter the text on given text pattern
Syntax : grep word filename
Example:
• grep content file.txt
• grep –i this file.txt

14. Command : head
 top print the top 10(default) line of the given file
Syntax : head filename
Example:
• head demo_text.txt
• head -5 demo_text.txt

15. Command : tail
 to print the last 10 (default) lines of the given files
Syntax : tail filename
Example:
• tail demo_text.txt
• tail -2 demo_text.txt

16. Command : cp
 This command is used to copy a file or directory from source to
destination
Syntax : cp source/path dest/path
Example:
• cp file1 new_dir/new_file

17. Command : mv
 This command is used to rename or move the file/dir from source to
destination
Syntax : mv source/path dest/path
Example:
• mv new_dir/new_file dir/test.txt

18. Command : man
 This is most useful command to know about any command in the
OS. This will give us the details of the given command and its usage
Syntax : man some_command
Example:
• man date

19. Command : rm
 this is used to remove or delete the given file or a directory
Syntax : rm filename
Example:
• rm file2
• rm –r dir

20. Command : who
 This command will give you list of users logged in currently on the
system
Syntax : who
Example:
• who

21. Command : w
 This will give us more details of currently logged in users
Syntax : w
Example:
• w

22. Command : df
 This command is used to check the disk usage of file systems
Syntax : df filesystemname
Example:
• df
• df –h /boot

23. Command : du
 This command is used to check the usage of the given directory
Syntax : du directory
Example:
• du /home/bneeluru
• du –sh new_dir

24. Command : uptime
 this command will print from how long the system is up
Syntax : uptime
Example:

25. Command : hostname
 this command prints the configured system name currently
Syntax : hostname
Example:
• hostname

26. Command : echo
 this Command is used to print the text in the standard format
Syntax : echo message
Example:
• echo “Linux”
• echo $SHELL

27. Command : history
 This is the command to print list of command we recently used in the
current log in
Syntax : history
Example:
• history
• history -5

28. Command : clear
 this command is used to clear the screen
Syntax : clear
Example:
• clear
• Crtl+L [Shortcut key]

29. Command : su
 this is the utility to switch the user with existing username and
password
Syntax : su username
Example:
• su user1

30. Command : exit
 this command is used to exit from the terminal and the exit as the current
user
Syntax : exit
Example:
• exit
• Ctrl+D [Shortcut key]