Linux Basic Command

alias:        Allows you to set aliases and view the current aliases.

awk:          Search for a pattern within a file.

alien: Converts .tgz and rpm's to .deb format.

banner:  Prints characters as a poster.

badblocks:    Searches a device for bad blocks.

biff:         Turns mail notification on and off.

bg:           move a job running in the foreground to the background.

bzip2: Used to compress and decompress files. Similar to gzip.

cardctl: Used to control PCMCIA cards.

cfdisk: Used to partition a hard disk.

cp: Copy

chattr: Changes the attributes of a file or folder.

chroot: Change the root directory for a command.

chmod: Used to change permissions on a directory or file.

chown: Used to change the owner of a file or directory.

chgrp: Used to change the group a file belongs to.

clear:        Clears the screen

cpio:         Copies file.

cat:          Displays the content of a file

chpasswd:     Used to change a large number of passwords at once.

cd:           Changes directories.

chage:        Sets password aging parameters.

cal:          Displays a calendar.

cron:         Used to execute commands at a certain time.

crontab:   Allows you to view or edit the current cron jobs.

dselect: A graphical front end for dpkg.

dpkg:         Installs packages on debain distro's.

date:         Prints current date to the screen

du:           Lists disk usage in a directory.

df:           Reports disk usage information. df -h

dmesg:              Used to view the kernel boot file.

dump:   Used for backing up.

edquota:      Sets quotas for specific users.

env:          Lists current environment variables.

fdisk: Used to create/edit/delete partitions.

fsck:    Checks a file system for consistency.

fg: Used to send jobs to the background.

fuser:        Checks to see what processes and users have open files.

find:         Searches for a file.

free:         Will show total memory, used memory, and free memory.

gcc:   Used to compile C, Assembler, and Preprocessed C source.

gpasswd: Used to set a password for a group.

grep:         Used to search through a file for a specified pattern.

getty: Set terminal type, modes, speed, and line discipline

groupadd: Create new group account.

groupdel:     Deletes a group.

groupmod:     Used to modify a group.

groups:       Shows what groups a user is part of.

gunzip:       Uncompress files compressed by gzip.

head:         Displays the first 10 lines of a file to the screen.

hdparm:       Gets disk information.

history:      Lists recently executed commands.

host:         Used to get DNS info.

htpasswd:     Allows you to set usernames and passwords for your

websever.

id:           Display information about yourself or another user.

insmod:       Installs modules.

init:         Used to change run levels.

isapnp:       Sets up ISA cards.

icmpinfo:     Intercept and interpret ICMP packets

jobs:         Used to show jobs running in the background.

join:         Join lines of two sorted.

kill:         Used to kill a process.

killall:      Kill processes by command name.

kernelcfg: A graphical application configures Linux.

klogd:    Control which kernel messages.

linuxconf:    A command line GUI which lets you configure your linux

lpc:          Used to control a line printer.

lpq:          View the print spool queue.

lpr:          Send files to the printer spool queue.

ls:           Displays a directories contents.

ln:           Used to create hard and symbolic links.

less:         Display the contents of a file

locate:       Search for a file or directory.

ldd:          Shows what shared libraries a program is dependent on.

ldconfig:     Used to configure/view shared libraries.

last:         Lists logins and reboots.

lastlog:      Print the last login times for system accounts.

lsmod:        Lists loaded modules.

lsattr:       Lists the attributes for a file or folder.

logrotate:    Used to manipulate log files.

mount:        Used by itself, reports the currently mounted files.

modinfo:      Give info about the module.

modprobe:     Queries modules.

man:          Displays the Man page for a given command.

mesg:         Used to allow/not allow 'write'.

manpath:      Attempts to determine the path to a man page.

mail:         Used to send and receive mail.

mkdir:        Make directory

mke2fs:       Used to format a partition with the Ext2 file system.

mv:           Move/Rename

merge:        Merge multiple files together.

more:         Lets you page through text one screen full at a time.

minicom:      Great utility for troublshooting a modem.

mkbootdisk:   Used to make a boot disk.

ntsysv:       Used to select what services should automatically start.

nice:         Used to set process priorities.

nslookup:  Used to get DNS info from name servers.

netstat: Shows active sockets.

ps:           Displays current processes

ping:         Used to test connectivity between two hosts.

pwd:          Present Working Directory

pwconv:       Used to set up the /etc/shadow file.

pnpdump:              Determines settings for existing ISA cards.

quota:              Allows users to view their own disk quotas.

quotaon:              Turns on disk quotas for the system.

quotaoff:   Turns off disk quotas for the system.

repquota:     Provides reports of disk usage for various users.

rmmod:        Removes modules.

rm:           Remove

rmdir:        Remove directory

rpm:          (RedHat flavors only)Used to install RPM's

rpcinfo:      Used to see what rpc services are available.

route:        Used to view/change routes between you and other hosts.

smbclient:    Used to connect to Windows shares or Samba.

smbadduser: Maps linux user names to Windows NT user names.

smbpasswd:     Used to update the smbpasswd file with new accounts. \

set: Used to read and write variables.

setquota:     Used to set disk quotas.

sort:         Sorts lines in a file by alphabetical order.

sndconfig:              Used to probe and configure a sound card.

su:    Change to Super User (root).

spell:        Checks for spelling errors in a file.

startx:       Start the X Server (GUI)

shutdown:     Shutdown machine

suspend:      Places a shell in the background.

showmount:     Shows mount information for an NFS server.

swapon:  Turns on the swapfile.

swapoff:      Turns off the swapfile.

testparm:     Used to troubleshoot Samba.

tar:          Used to compress multiple files.

timeconfig:     Used to set the timezone on your machine.

tac: View a file from the last line up.

touch:        Creates an empty file.

tail:         Displays the last 10 lines of a file to the screen.

talk:    Used to chat with another user on the same machine.

tr:  Converts one set of characters to another.

traceroute: Used to track the path a packet takes to a host.

top:    Shows information about the most CPU-intensive Apps.

useradd: Add a user.

usermod:      Modify a user.

userdel:      Delete a user.

umount:       Removes a device from the filesystem.

updatedb:     Updates the locate database.

uname:        Determines OS name, version and machine name.

vmstat:       Lists information on memory usage.

vi:           A text editor

whereis:      Finds documentation files.

who:          Tells you who is logged into your server.

whoami:       Tells you your user information.

wc:           Print the number of bytes, words, and lines in files

which:        Finds the full path for a command.

write:  Used to send a message to another user.

whois:  Used to query servers for info on.

wall:         Writes a message to all logged in users.

xman:              Graphical interface for man pages.

xf86config:   Used to configure X.

zcat:         Read files that have been compressed with gzip.