Basic Linux Shortcuts and Commands

Use the following in a Linux Terminal

Example

root@linux1:~$ whoami

Connection

SSH

The syntax to use SSH is very simple. We only need to provide two things:

1. The IP address of the remote machine
2. Correct credentials to a valid account to login with on the remote machine

ssh username@MACHINE_IP

Users

Command	Description	Syntax
whoami	Confirm Current User	whoami
su	Switch Current User	su username

Directories

Directory Navigation

Command	Description	Syntax
cd	Change directory to named directory	cd /dir1/dir2
cd ..	Go up a directory	cd ..
cd /	Go to home directory	cd /
cd /var/log	Access system logs	cd /var/log
find	Search for files and directories in a specified location or directory hierarchy	Below

find - Search for files and directories in a specified location or directory hierarchy

find -name filename.txt

Directory Contents

Command	Description	Syntax
pwd	Print the current working directory	pwd
ls	List files and directories in the current directory	ls
ls –help	List the possible options that the command accepts	ls –help
man ls	Provide the manual for ls	man ls
ls -a	List all files and directories, including hidden ones	ls -a
ls -lh	List files and directories in long format with readable file sizes	ls -lh
clear	clear all terminal text	clear
cat	Display the contents of a file	cat filename
grep	Search for a pattern in a file	Below

grep - Search for a pattern in a file

grep "String to lookup" filename.extension

Directory Commands

Command	Description	Syntax
touch	Create file	touch filename
mkdir	Create a folder	mkdir directoryname
cp	Copy a file or folder	cp filename filename2
mv	Move a file or folder	mv filename2 filename3
rm	remove	rm filename
file	Determine the type of a file	file filename

Permissions

Command	Description	Syntax
ls -lh	List files with permissions	ls -lh

Learn more about Linux permissions.

Terminal Text Editors

Command	Description	Syntax
nano	create (new filename) or edit (filename) a file using nano	nano filename
VIM	create (new filename) or edit (filename) a file using VIM	VIM filename

Viewing Processes

Command	Description	Syntax
ps	Provide a list of the running processes as our user’s session	ps
ps aux	See system processes and other user tasks	ps aux
top	Real-time statistics system processes	ps aux
kill	Kill a command with associated PID	kill 0123