Linux Terminal — Essential Commands
Core Linux terminal commands for everyday use, plus basic networking and system administration.
Section Map
| File | Topics |
|---|---|
| 01 — Navigation, Files & Shell Basics | man, which, whatis, bash shortcuts, pwd, ls, cd, mkdir, cp, mv, rm, cat, less, nano, sudo, chmod, tar, env vars |
| 02 — Search, Pipes & Text Processing | find, locate, grep, rg, pipes, redirects, &&/||, sed, sort, uniq, wc |
| 03 — Processes & System Monitoring | ps, top, kill, pkill, watch, jobs, systemctl, journalctl, free, df, du |
| 04 — Network Basics | ip, ss, ping, curl, wget, ssh, scp, netstat/ifconfig (legacy) |
| 05 — Administration & Scripting | apt, user/group management, .bashrc, bash scripting basics, cal, date, echo |
Quick Start
man ls # get help
pwd # where am I?
ls -lah # list files (detailed)
cd /path/to/dir # change directory
mkdir -p docs/notes # create nested dirs
cp file.txt backup/ # copy file
mv old.txt new.txt # rename/move file
rm -i temp.txt # delete with confirmation
Safety Rules
- Start with read-only commands (
ls,cat,less,df). - Use interactive mode when unsure (
rm -i,cp -i,mv -i). - Verify paths before delete/move operations.
- Keep commands simple and test on one file first.