Friday 25 October 2013

Linux Quick Reference

Linux Quick Reference
SOME USEFUL COMMANDS

File/Directory Basics
ls -------  List files
cp  ------- Copy files
mv  ------- Rename files
rm  ------- Delete files
ln  ------- Link files
cd -------  Change directory
pwd  ------- Print current directory name
mkdir  ------- Create directory
rmdir  ------- Delete directory

File Viewing
cat  ------- View files
less  ------- Page through files
head  ------- View file beginning
tail  ------- View file ending
nl  ------- Number lines
od  ------- View binary data
gv  ------- View Postscript/PDF files
xdvi  ------- View TeX DVI files

File Creation and Editing
emacs  ------- Text editor
vim  ------- Text editor
umask -------  Set default file protections
soffice  ------- Edit Word/Excel/PowerPoint docs
abiword -------  Edit Word documents
gnumeric  ------- Edit Excel documents

File Properties
stat  ------- Display file attributes
wc  ------- Count bytes/words/lines
du  ------- Measure disk usage
file  ------- Identify file types
touch  ------- Change file timestamps
chown  ------- Change file owner
chgrp  ------- Change file group
chmod  ------- Change file protections
chattr  ------- Change advanced file attributes
lsattr  ------- List advanced file attributes

File Location
find  ------- Locate files
slocate  ------- Locate files via index
which  ------- Locate commands
whereis  ------- Locate standard files

File Text Manipulation
grep  ------- Search text for matching lines
cut  ------- Extract columns
paste  ------- Append columns
tr  ------- Translate characters 
sort  ------- Sort lines
uniq  ------- Locate identical lines
tee  ------- Copy stdin to a file and to stdout simultaneously

File Compression
gzip  ------- Compress files (GNU Zip)
compress  ------- Compress files (Unix)
bzip2  ------- Compress files (BZip2)
zip  ------- Compress files (Windows Zip)
File  ------- Comparison
diff  ------- Compare files line by line
comm  ------- Compare sorted files
cmp -------  Compare files byte by byte
md5sum -------  Compute checksums

Disks and Filesystems
df  ------- Show free disk space
mount  ------- Make a disk accessible
fsck  ------- Check a disk for errors
sync  ------- Flush disk caches

Backups and Remote Storage
mt  ------- Control a tape drive
dump  ------- Back up a disk
restore  ------- Restore a dump
tar  ------- Read/write tape archives
cdrecord  ------- Burn a CD
rsync  ------- Mirror a set of files

Printing
lpr -------  Print files
lpq  ------- View print queue
lprm  ------- Remove print jobs

Spelling Operations
look -------  Look up spelling
aspell  ------- Check spelling interactively
spell  ------- Check spelling in batch

Processes
ps  ------- List all processes
 ------- List users’ processes
uptime  ------- View the system load
top  ------- Monitor processes
xload  ------- Monitor system load
free  ------- Display free memory
kill  ------- Terminate processes
nice  ------- Set process priorities
renice  ------- Change process priorities

Scheduling Jobs
sleep  ------- Wait for some time
watch  ------- Run programs at set intervals
at  ------- Schedule a job
crontab  ------- Schedule repeated jobs

Hosts
uname  ------- Print system information
hostname  ------- Print the system’s hostname
ifconfig  ------- Set/display network information
host -------  Look up DNS
whois  ------- Look up domain registrants
ping  ------- Check if host is reachable
traceroute  ------- View network path to a host

Networking
ssh  ------- Securely log into remote hosts
telnet -------  Log into remote hosts
scp  ------- Securely copy files between hosts
sftp -------  Securely copy files between hosts
ftp  ------- Copy files between hosts
evolution  ------- GUI email client
mutt  ------- Text-based email client
mail  ------- Minimal email client
mozilla  ------- Web browser
lynx  ------- Text-only web browser
wget  ------- Retrieve web pages to disk
slrn  ------- Read Usenet news
gaim ------- Instant messaging/IRC
talk  ------- Linux/Unix chat
write  ------- Send messages to a terminal
mesg  ------- Prohibit talk/write Audio and Video
grip  ------- Play CDs and rip MP3s
xmms  ------- Play audio files
cdparanoia  ------- Rip audio
audacity  ------- Edit audio
xcdroast  ------- Burn CDs