Basic Linux Commands

Command

Action 

Example
pwd Print working directory (Show the directory which you reside in) NA
ls List the contents of a directory NA
ls -lh List the contents of a directory and show additional information about the files NA
ls -lah List all files including hidden files NA
ls -ltrh List all files in reverse date order NA
ls -lrh List all files in reverse order NA
cd  Change directory cd /Path/To/Directory
cd .. Go to parent directory  NA
file Determine the type of a file file filename
cat  Display text file on screen  cat filename
less View text file less filename
cp Copy a file cp file1 file2
mv Rename a file mv file1 newname
mv Move file from one location to another mv file /To/Location/
rm Remove/Delete a file rm file1
rm -r Remove/Delete a directory with it contents rm -r directory
rm -i Ask before deleting a file or directory (use with -r switch) rm -ir directory
rmdir Delete an empty directory  rmdir directory
mkdir Create a directory  mkdir new_directory
tail -f View output appended data as the file grows tail -f filename

 

Man Pages 

Man pages (short for manual pages) are a form of software documentation, which can be used either from the Linux terminal or on the web, by googling say for example man cp

Man Pages can be especially helpful in determining appropriate switches for commands. See below for examples of use

Example syntax to retrieve information about the cp "copy command"

man cp 

would produce a similar representation to the image below. It details all of the associated switches which are possible with the cp command. 

The man command can be used with nearly all commands to retrieve additional information about a command.

UEA information

 

General information