Best Linux Commands for Entry-Level Linux Users
I’m bringing you the crème de la crème, keep reading!
Here are the top 10 Linux commands for entry-level users, in my personal opinion, each one of us should know these commands and be comfortable with using them.
# cd
The “Change Directory” command enables you to navigate to another directory.
The cd command is THE most important command there is in Linux i think. As the command suggests, it enables the user to change/jump to a directory.
Example: `cd test`
note: After you have typed `cd` and entered the first or two letters of the directory you can press the TAB key to autocomplete the directory! so… cd Do (press tab key) will autocomplete it to test. I use this a lot ←
# man
The man command shows the users the “manual” of the command. In some situations, you might need to get more information about the command you are using. The man command shows you this information about the command.
Example: man cp
This will open up the “cp” manual document for us in the shell. The manual shows us the parameters available for the commands.
note: To close the manual simply press “Q”.
# ls
In the absolute top 15, there’s no way the ls command is missing. The ls command is used to list the files/directories within a directory.
Example: ls
It shows us the directories available.
# cp
The cp command is available for us to “Copy” things. This might be useful for duplicating files.
Example: cp file file2
note: file is in this case the file the user wants to be copied… file2 is the name of the copied file. It’s that simple.
# mv
The mv command is used for “Move” operations. The mv commands enable the users to move a file/directory to a specified location.
Example: mv file test/.
note: the first part of the command is the file that has to be moved (The source directory). The second part (after the whitespace) is the target directory.
# mkdir
This command is used to “make” directories, NOT Files.
Example: mkdir test2
note: The name of the directory is case sensitive which means that test2 is a completely different directory from Test2.
# rmdir
When you can make directories, you also want to know how to remove them. Removing directories is done by the rmdir command and belongs to the absolute basic commands in shell bashing.
Example: rmdir test2
note: When the directory is not empty the command will prompt an error message:
rmdir: failed to remove `test2’: Directory not empty
So make sure it’s empty before removing it.
# touch
Now we know how to make directories and deleting them, i now want to use the touch command. The touch command is used to make files.
Example: touch testfile
This will create the file testfile for us in the directory.
# rm
The rm command stands for remove. The rm command is used in order the delete files instead of directories.
Example: rm testfile
note: To remove files you must have the right permission bits set on the specific file.
# pwd
Sometimes you wonder where you are in the system. PWD is the solution to that problem.
PWD stands for Path Working Directory.
Example: pwd
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Rakan.
