If you're just beginning to work on a Linux system, the abundance of commands might prove daunting. To help orient you, the following lists present a sampling of commands on various topics.
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ftp |
File Transfer Protocol. |
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login |
Sign on. |
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rlogin |
Sign on to remote system. |
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rsh |
Run shell or single command on remote system (not particularly secure). |
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ssh |
Run shell or single command on remote system (secure). |
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talk |
Exchange messages interactively with other terminals. |
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telnet |
Connect to another system. |
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tftp |
Trivial File Transfer Protocol. |
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uudecode |
Decode file prepared for mailing by uuencode. |
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uuencode |
Encode file containing binary characters for mailing. |
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vacation |
Respond to mail automatically. |
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cmp |
Compare two files, byte by byte. |
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comm |
Compare items in two sorted files. |
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diff |
Compare two files, line by line. |
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diff3 |
Compare three files. |
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Concatenate files or display them. |
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chfn |
Change user information for finger, email, etc. |
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cksum |
Compute checksum. |
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chmod |
Change access modes on files. |
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chsh |
Change login shell. |
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cp |
Copy files. |
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csplit |
Split a file into pieces with a specific size or at specific locations. |
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dd |
Copy files in raw disk form. |
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file |
Determine a file's type. |
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head |
Show the first few lines of a file. |
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less |
Display files by screenful. |
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ln |
Create filename aliases. |
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ls |
List files or directories. |
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merge |
Merge changes from different files. |
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mkdir |
Create a directory. |
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more |
Display files by screenful. |
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mv |
Move or rename files or directories. |
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newgrp |
Change current group. |
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pwd |
Print working directory. |
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rcp |
Copy files to remote system. |
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rm |
Remove files. |
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rmdir |
Remove directories. |
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split |
Split files evenly. |
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tail |
Show the last few lines of a file. |
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wc |
Count lines, words, and characters. |
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Rip a CD to create a computer-friendly WAV format. |
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cdparanoia |
Rip a CD while providing extra features. |
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cdrdao |
Copy a CD. |
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cdrecord |
Record to a CD. |
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eject |
Eject a removable disk or tape. |
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mpg321 |
Play an MP3 file. |
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volname |
Provide the volume name of a CD-ROM. |
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Show status of print jobs. |
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lpr |
Send to the printer. |
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lprm |
Remove print job. |
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lpstat |
Get printer status. |
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pr |
Format and paginate for printing. |
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ar |
Create and update library files. |
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as |
Generate object file. |
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bison |
Generate parsing tables. |
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cpp |
Preprocess C code. |
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flex |
Lexical analyzer. |
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g++ |
GNU C++ compiler. |
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gcc |
GNU C compiler. |
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ld |
Link editor. |
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m4 |
Macro processor. |
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make |
Create programs. |
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ranlib |
Regenerate archive symbol table. |
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rpcgen |
Translate RPC to C code. |
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yacc |
Generate parsing tables. |
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Manage different versions (revisions) of source files. |
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etags |
Generate symbol list for use with the Emacs editor. |
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gdb |
GNU debugger. |
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gprof |
Display object file's profile data. |
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imake |
Generate makefiles for use with make. |
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make |
Maintain, update, and regenerate related programs and files. |
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nm |
Display object file's symbol table. |
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patch |
Apply patches to source code. |
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rcs |
Manage different versions (revisions) of source files. |
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size |
Print the size of an object file in bytes. |
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strace |
Trace system calls and signals. |
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strip |
Strip symbols from an object file. |
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Search manpages for topic. |
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egrep |
Extended version of grep. |
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fgrep |
Search files for literal words. |
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find |
Search the system for files by name and take a range of possible actions. |
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grep |
Search files for text patterns. |
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locate |
Search a preexisting database to show where files are on the system. |
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strings |
Search binary files for text patterns. |
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whereis |
Find command. |
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echo |
Repeat command-line arguments on the output. |
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expr |
Perform arithmetic and comparisons. |
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printf |
Format and print command-line arguments. |
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sleep |
Pause during processing. |
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test |
Test a condition. |
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Compress files to free up space. |
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cpio |
Create and unpack file archives. |
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gunzip |
Expand compressed (.gz and .Z) files. |
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gzip |
Compress files to free up space. |
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shar |
Create shell archive. |
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tar |
Copy files to or restore files from an archive medium. |
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zcat |
Display contents of compressed files. |
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at |
Execute commands later. |
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atq |
Show jobs queued by at. |
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atrm |
Remove job queued by at. |
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chgrp |
Change file group. |
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chown |
Change file owner. |
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crontab |
Automate commands. |
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date |
Display or set date. |
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df |
Show free disk space. |
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du |
Show disk usage. |
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env |
Show environment variables. |
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finger |
Display information about users. |
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kill |
Terminate a running command. |
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printenv |
Show environment variables. |
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ps |
Show processes. |
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stty |
Set or display terminal settings. |
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who |
Show who is logged in. |
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col |
Process control characters. |
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cut |
Select columns for display. |
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emacs |
Work environment with powerful text editing capabilities. |
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ex |
Line editor underlying vi. |
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expand |
Convert tabs to spaces. |
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fmt |
Produce roughly uniform line lengths. |
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fold |
Break lines. |
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gawk |
Process lines or records one by one. |
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ghostscript |
Display PostScript or PDF file. |
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groff |
Format troff input. |
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ispell |
Interactively check spelling. |
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join |
Merge different columns into a database. |
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paste |
Merge columns or switch order. |
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rev |
Print lines in reverse. |
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sed |
Noninteractive text editor. |
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sort |
Sort or merge files. |
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tac |
Print lines in reverse. |
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tr |
Translate (redefine) characters. |
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uniq |
Find repeated or unique lines in a file. |
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vi |
Visual text editor. |
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xargs |
Process many arguments in manageable portions. |
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Make posters from words. |
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bc |
Arbitrary precision calculator. |
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cal |
Display calendar. |
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clear |
Clear the screen. |
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man |
Get information on a command. |
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nice |
Reduce a job's priority. |
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nohup |
Preserve a running job after logging out. |
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passwd |
Set your login password. |
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script |
Produce a transcript of your login session. |
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su |
Become a superuser. |
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tee |
Simultaneously store output in file and send to screen. |
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which |
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