Beginner-Exploring-Linux
Back
[](https://github.com/silentz) [](./LICENSE.md) 
Table of Contents
Expand Table Here
- [Useful Terminal Commands](#Useful-Terminal-Commands)
Useful Terminal Commands
Here I will list a bunch of useful commands to make a central place to search for them. They are mostly notes to help me remember them all in my Linux exploring journey.
📁 File & Directory Management
| Command | Description |
| ——- | ————————– |
| ls | List files and directories |
| cd | Change directory |
| pwd | Show current directory |
| tree | Show directory tree |
| cp | Copy files/directories |
| mv | Move or rename files |
📄 File Viewing & Editing
| Command | Description |
| ———— | ———————- |
| cat | View file contents |
| less | Paginated file viewer |
| more | Basic file viewer |
| head | Show first lines |
| tail | Show last lines |
| watch | Run command repeatedly |
| nano | Simple text editor |
| vim / vi | Advanced text editor |
🔍 Search & Text Processing
| Command | Description |
| ——– | —————– |
| find | Search files |
| locate | Fast file search |
| grep | Search text |
| awk | Pattern scanning |
| sed | Stream editor |
| cut | Extract columns |
| sort | Sort text |
| uniq | Remove duplicates |
| wc | Word/line count |
🧠 Process & System Monitoring
| Command | Description |
| —————– | ———————— |
| ps | Show processes |
| top | Live process list |
| htop | Enhanced process viewer |
| btop | Enhanced process viewer |
| uptime | System run time |
| free | Memory usage |
| df | Disk usage |
| du | Directory size |
| kill | Stop a process |
| killall | Kill by name |
| systemd-analyze | Analyze boot performance |
🌐 Networking
| Command | Description |
| ——- | —————— |
| ip a | Network interfaces |
| ip r | Routing table |
| ping | Test connectivity |
| ss | Socket statistics |
| curl | HTTP requests |
| wget | Download files |
| scp | Secure copy |
| ssh | Remote login |
| nc | Netcat |
📦 Package Management
Debian / Ubuntu (APT)
| Command | Description |
| ————- | ——————- |
| apt update | Update package list |
| apt upgrade | Upgrade packages |
| apt install | Install package |
| apt remove | Remove package |
Fedora / RHEL (DNF)
| Command | Description |
| ————- | ————— |
| dnf install | Install package |
| dnf update | Update packages |
| dnf remove | Remove package |
Arch Linux (Pacman & Yay)
| Command | Description |
| ————— | ——————————————————- |
| pacman -Syu | Update system |
| pacman -S | Install a package |
| pacman -R | Remove a package |
| pacman -Rs | Remove package and unneeded dependencies |
| pacman -Rns | Remove package, unneeded dependencies, and config files |
| pacman -Ss | Search packages |
| pacman -Qi | Package information |
| pacman -Qs | Search installed packages |
| pacman -Sc | Clean package cache |
| yay -Syu | Update system & AUR packages |
| yay -S <pkg> | Install a package from AUR |
| yay -R <pkg> | Remove a package |
| yay -Ss <pkg> | Search for a package |
| yay -Qi <pkg> | Show package info |
| yay -Qs <pkg> | Search installed packages |
| yay -Sc | Clean package cache |
openSUSE (Zypper)
| Command | Description |
| —————- | ——————– |
| zypper refresh | Refresh repositories |
| zypper update | Update packages |
| zypper install | Install a package |
| zypper remove | Remove a package |
| zypper remove --clean-deps | Remove package and unused dependencies |
| zypper search | Search for a package |
| zypper info | Package information |
| zypper repos | List repositories |
🔧 Disk & Hardware
| Command | Description |
| ——– | —————— |
| lsblk | List block devices |
| mount | Mount filesystem |
| umount | Unmount filesystem |
| blkid | Show UUIDs |
| dmesg | Kernel messages |
📜 Logs & System Info
| Command | Description |
| ————- | —————- |
| journalctl | View system logs |
| uname -a | Kernel info |
| hostnamectl | Hostname info |
| lsusb | USB devices |
| lspci | PCI devices |
🧰 Shell & Utilities
| Command | Description |
| ——— | —————————— |
| history | Command history |
| clear | Clear terminal |
| exit | Exit shell |
| stow | Manage dotfiles using GNU Stow |
💻 Version Control & Git
| Command | Description |
| —————— | ——————————— |
| git status | Show current repo status |
| git add --all | Stage all changes |
| git commit -m "" | Commit staged changes |
| git push | Push commits to remote repository |
Back to Top