Quick Summary of Basic and Common Linux Commands

There are many commands that are used in linux on a daily basis, ones that everyone should know just to get by. Like back in the days of DOS, you had to know how to work with the command line and how to navigate around. Learning new commands is always hard, especially when there are so many new ones that don't always seem to make sense in their names.

cd

Change directory - this command is essential for traversing folders and moving about your linux computer. Its quite straight forward, cd /where/you/want/togo or cd .. to go up a level. It's pretty basic, but be aware of absolute and relative paths. If you are currently in the folder /home/puppy/pictures then you can type cd .. to move up to /home/puppy/ or you could type cd /home/puppy/ not to mention cd ~/puppy/. You must learn how to traverse folders effectively before you can use the operating system.

ls

The ls command gives you a directory listing. This command has many options, but basically provides you with the same information as the "dir" command in DOS. The most common use of ls is probably "ls -la" infact many people have an alias setup, so whenever they type "ls" it actually runs "ls -la".

du

The disk usage command gives you a summary of how much space a program or some piece of data is using. Normally this command uses the -h feature, which simply means it will tell you if the number it gives you is in bytes, kilobytes, etc. -h gives you the human readable output.

mv

Move! The mv command is the move command, but it is far more powerful than the old DOS commands. You must be very careful when using the mv command, if you tell it to move a program to a new location, it will overwrite the stuff that was there, if the same file name exists. In addition the mv command is also the rename command! If I type: mv file1 file2 I just moved or effectively renamed file1 to file2!

date

The date command displays the current date and time of your server to the screen, and can be formatted in many ways, but date by itself will display something similar to: Sat Apr 30 23:58:41 EDT 2005

cp

The copy command is a great program, and is very powerful. Often used with the -R (recursive) option, it can be used to copy single files, or entire paths around with ease.

rmdir

Remove directory is a command that I personally don't use very often. To remove a directory it must be empty, rarely do I take the time to empty a directory before I delete it. Instead I use a variation of the rm command.

rm

This is the mother of all linux commands. Remove. You must always be very careful when you use this program. There aren't too many options with this program, its quite straight forward, you use it to delete things. -R is recursive and -f is force. If you want to clear a big folder and you are 100% sure you want it gone in a hurry, type: rm -Rf /directoryname

chgrp

Change group - this command is used to change the group ownership on a file. For the most part this is more of an administrative thing, and end users don't typically have to worry too often about this. You must know about the design of the linux file system before you worry about the chgrp command.

chown

Change owner - this command very similar to the chgrp command, and changes the owner instead of the group. Again you must really understand the design of the linux file system before this becomes really important. File ownership is an important part of security and permissions in linux.

mkdir

Make directory - this is a very straight forward command in linux, easy to use, just mkdir newfoldername

vi

This is a text editor in linux, its extremely powerful, but not exactly user friendly. I highly suggest that you take the time to learn this program, or at least the most common features. If you want to play with this program, you might get stuck inside it, remember these words. Escape, Colon, q, ! ( escape key, :q! ) That gets you out of interactive or insert mode, then gets you to the menu, then quit without saving!

su

Switch user - the su command lets you login from your account to another account. If you are root, you can type su - username and jump to any account without a password. If you are a normal user account and want to go to root then type su - root. If you do not put the hyphen then you will not use that users environment. Generally if you are logging in as a user it's a good idea to be in their working environment!

pwd

Print working directory - this command gives you the current directory you are working in.

$ pwd - me running command

/home/username/my_pics - this is the output from that command

As I mentioned earlier, there are so many different commands to learn, it really just takes time and effort to play with them and learn their options. The manual (MAN) pages in linux are really great and full of information. Many of the most common commands are located in the /bin folder, check it out!

Ken Dennis http://KenDennis-RSS.homeip.net/

---

Microsoft Great Plains Beverage Production & Distribution ? Implementation & Customization Highlight

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has many years of successful... Read More

Understanding XML Server

XML Server can be a Web Server that stores the... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation for Large Corporation ? Overview for VP IT

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was historically designed to serve... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Customization and Development ? Overview for Programmer

When Great Plains Software was designing and developing Great Plains... Read More

Constructionalist Parsing - Deciphering Natural Language

The research in the field of Natural Language Processing usually... Read More

Linux Secrets

The first thing that you will notice about Linux Red... Read More

The Death of Windows

I have always regretted how Microsoft price gouges and rips... Read More

SQL: Querying Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Database Administrator/Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more... Read More

Simple Solution for Php Includes - IFrames

I have recently created my first Php program. I wanted... Read More

Device Driver Basics

Most people understand that the "hardware" part of their computer... Read More

Professional XP Style Icons in Software and Website Development

Using professional icons in your application or website can bring... Read More

Did You Ever Want to Completely Erase Everything on Your Computer?

Did you ever want to erase everything on your computer?... Read More

Who Is Minding Your Sensitive Data?

Stealing company information used to be the specialty of spies... Read More

Selecting Microsoft Great Plains Partner/VAR/Reseller: ERP Implementation & Customization ? Overview

In the case when you represent mid-size or mid-size-to-large business,... Read More

A Symons Mark II Function Point Counting Example

I provide, here clear explanations and a count of function... Read More

Software Engineering: An Introduction

Software Engineering is the Systematic Approach for analysis design implementation... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: exchange & brokerage ? implementation notes

If you company is small or mid-size special products or... Read More

Will Adobe Manage to Replace Industry Work Horse Quark Express by Giving Adobe InDesign for Free?

And kill the best layout software in the process of... Read More

Antivirus Software ? Get The Bugs Before They Get You!

You turn on your computer, and it doesn't look quite... Read More

Review of TikiWiki Content Management System

TikiWiki is open source software - it is written in... Read More

Make or Break Factors - When Considering Estimating Software

Make-or-Break Factors in Success and ProfitabilityFor quick printers, estimating can... Read More

Beware of Spyware

One day, you suddenly realize that your computer started to... Read More

Can You Calculate Complex Financial Calculations?

Are you a whiz at calculating financial information? Not the... Read More

C++ Tutorial 1, Introduction to C++

Introduction to C++Why Learn C++?C++ may at first seem like... Read More

10 Steps To Secure And Manage Your Passwords

Passwords protect your most sensitive personal, financial and business information.... Read More

Marketing Your WinRunner Team

It won't matter how effective your WinRunner Team is if... Read More

Hubris - Definition: Microsofts Passport

Before September of 1995, Microsoft ignored the Internet because their... Read More

How To Avoid Getting Hooked By Pfishing

"Pfishing", sometimes spelled "Phishing", is a word that's used to... Read More

The End of Spyware?

The US House of Representatives has recently passed the "Spy... Read More

Microsoft Business Solutions - Navision Customization: C/SIDE, C/ODBC, C/FRONT, XBRL

Microsoft bought Navision, Denmark based software development company, along with... Read More

Microsoft Navision Customization and Reporting ? Tips For Programmer/IT Specialist

C/SIDE (Client/Server Integrated Development Environment) - The core of... Read More

Linux for Home Users

Hey Guys! Don't raise your eyebrows or fear by hearing... Read More

Windows x: Basic Windows ?Security? Issues

Language development computer: Computer-based method for aiding language development seems... Read More