Basic Linux Commands

Linux commands are still and they will always be very useful in a Linux system. I will try to

list here, for linux beginners, some of the most important console commands:Starting &

Stopping shutdown -h now - Shutdown the system now and do not reboot.halt - Stop all

processes - same as above. shutdown -r 5 - Shutdown the system in 5 minutes and reboot.

shutdown -r now - Shutdown the system now and reboot.reboot - Stop all processes and

then reboot - as above.startx - Start the X system.Accessing & mounting file systems

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom - Mount the device cdrom and call it cdrom under

the /mnt directory.mount -t msdos /dev/hdd /mnt/ddrive - Mount hard disk "d" as a msdos

file system and call it ddrive under the /mnt directory.mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /mnt/cdrive -

Mount hard disk "a" as a VFAT file system and call it cdrive under the /mnt directory.umount

/mnt/cdrom - Unmount the cdromFinding files and text within filesfind /

-name fname - Starting with the root directory, look for the file called fname.find / -name

"*fname*" - Starting with the root directory, look for the file containing the string fnamelocate

missingfilename - Find a file called missingfilename using the locate command - this

assumes you have already used the command updatedb (see next).updatedb - Create or

update the database of files on all file systems attached to the linux root directory.which

missingfilename - Show the subdirectory containing the executable file called

missingfilename.grep textstringtofind - Starting with the directory called dir, /dir look for and

list all files containing textstringtofind.Moving, copying, deleting & viewing filesls -l - List

files in current directory using long format.ls -F - List files in current directory and indicate

the file type.ls -laC - List all files in current directory in long format and display in columns.

rm name - Remove a file or directory called name.rm -rf name - Kill off an entire directory

and all that includes files and subdirectories.cp filename /home/dirname - Copy the file

called filename to the /home/dirname directory.mv filename /home/dirname - Move the

file called filename to the /home/dirname directory.cat filetoview - Display the file called

filetoview.man -k keyword - Display man pages containing keyword.more filetoview -

Display the file called filetoview one page at a time, proceed to next page using the

spacebar.head filetoview - Display the first 10 lines of the file called filetoview.head -20

filetoview - Display the first 20 lines of the file called filetoview.tail filetoview - Display the

last 10 lines of the file called filetoview.tail -20 filetoview - Display the last 20 lines of the file

called filetoview.Installing software for Linuxrpm -ihv name.rpm - Install the rpm package

called name.rpm -Uhv name.rpm - Upgrade the rpm package called name.rpm -e package -

Delete the rpm package called package.rpm -l package - List the files in the package called

package.rpm -ql package - List the files and state the installed version of the package called

package.rpm -i --force package - Reinstall the rpm package called package having deleted

parts of it (not deleting using rpm -e).tar -zxvf archive.tar.gz or tar -zxvf archive.tgz -

Decompress the files contained in the zipped and tarred archive called archive./configure -

Execute the script preparing the installed files for compiling.User Administrationadduser

accountname - Create a new user call accountname.passwd accountname - Give

accountname a new password.su - Log in as superuser from current login.exit - Stop being

superuser and revert to normal user.