Basic Linux Commands

Basic Linux Commands
NOTE: the ":" colon is not part of the commands!
1.   ls : lists files in a directory
2.   ls -l : lists files in the long form, which includes size, date edited and permissions
3.  pwd : print working directory, or the directory you are currently in
4. cd : change directory
5.  cd .. : move up one directory in the tree
6.  rm : remove a filecp : copy a file
7.  mv : move a file or rename a file
8.  vi or vim : open the vi/vim editor, a simple text editor
9.  emacs : open the emacs editor, a powerful text editor
10.  pico : open the pico editor, a more user-friendly editor
11.   top : lists the running processes and RAM being used; can be used to kill processes
12.  | : a pipe; used to send output from a command (usually ls) into the more command (see below)
13.  more : usually used with 'ls' and '|'; stops the output at one page. The user then can hit the spacebar to move the output another page. Ex: ls | more
14.  ping : used to test network connections between computers
15.  tar -xvzf : used to unpack and decompress .tgz files; the options stand for the following: x: extract, v: verbose, z: unzip, and f: file
16.  uname: prints information about the computer and operating system
17.  uname -a : prints all information available
18.  man : the Linux manual pages or help pages. To use, type 'man ls' to get the manual page for the 'ls' command
19.  ssh : open a secure shell connection
20.  su : switch to superuser or root user
21.  chmod : change mode or change permissions for a file; Ex: chmod 755 test.html
22.  rmdir : remove a directory; directory must be empty
23.  passwd : change your password
24.  mkdir : make a directory
25.  ftp : use ftp protocol to login, upload and download files
26.  free: shows the amount of RAM being used
27.  df : disk free; shows the amount of hard drive space that is free28.  du : disk used; amount of hard drive space being used
28.  locate : helps user to find a file or program
29.  whereis : helps user to find a file or program
30.  date : prints current date and time
31.  clear : clears the terminal; helps when there is a lot of previous commands on it
32.  bash : the default shell in Linux; stands for Bourne Again Shell
33.  banner : prints characters as a poster
34.  apt-get : used on Debian-based systems, like Debain, Ubuntu and Mepis, to download, install and configure programs and security updates
35.  ifconfig : displays the configuration of the network interface
36.  tar -xvjf : uncompress a group of files that has been compressed with the bzip2 (bz2).  The options stand for: x: extract, v: verbose, j: filter through bzip2, and f: file