Basic Linux Commands for beginners with example

Basic Linux Commands for beginners with example
1.Usage of Basic Linux Commands, File Utilities Commands.

CommandDescription
pwdPresent working directory
lsLists all files and directories in the present working directory
ls – RLists files in sub-directories
ls – aLists hidden files
ls – alLists files and directories with detailed information like permissions, size, owner, etc.
clearClears the terminal
whoamiDisplay User ID
unameDisplay Operation System
tail <file name>  The tail command is similar to the head command. The difference between both commands is that it displays the last ten lines of the file content
find . -name “*.pdf”The find command is used to find a particular file within a directory.
cat > filenameCreates a new file
cat filenameDisplays the file content
cat file1 file2 > file3Joins two files (file1, file2) and stores the output in a new file (file3)
tac <file name>  The tac command is the reverse of cat command, as its name specified. It displays the file content in reverse order (from the last line).
touch <file1>  <file2>Change the file access and modification time if file does not exist will create with default permission.
locate <file name> The locate command is used to search a file by file name.
sort <file name>The sort command is used to sort files in alphabetical order.
command | grep <searchWord>  cat marks.txt | grep 9The grep is the most powerful and used filter in a Linux system. The ‘grep’ stands for “global regular expression print.” It is useful for searching the content from a file. Generally, it is used with the pipe.
less <file name>  The less command is similar to the more command
mv <file name> <directory path>  Moves the files to the new location
mv filename new_file_nameRenames the file to a new filename
rm rfilenameDeletes a file
manGives help information on a command
historyGives a list of all past basic Linux commands list typed in the current terminal session
cp <existing file name> <new file name>Copy file
mkdir directorynameCreates a new directory in the present working directory or a at the specified path
cdChange directory
cd ..Back one step current directory
rmdirDeletes a directory
mvRename a directory
command | tr <‘old’> <‘new’> cat marks.txt | tr ‘prcu’ ‘PRCU’The tr command is used to translate the file content like from lower case to upper case.
dateThe date command is used to display date, time, time zone, and more.
timeThe time command is used to display the time to execute a command.
calThe cal command is used to display the current month’s calendar with the current date highlighted.
pr -xDivides the file into x columns
pr -hAssigns a header to the file
pr -nDenotes the file with Line Numbers
head <file name> head demo.txtThe head command is used to display the content of a file. It displays the first 10 lines of a file.
tail <file name> tail demo.txtThe tail command is similar to the head command. The difference between both commands is that it displays the last ten lines of the file content.
wc <file name>The wc command is used to count the lines, words, and characters in a file.
sudoAllows regular users to run programs with the security privileges of the super user or root
sudo useradd usernameCreate New User
sudo -sswitch root user
sudo passwd usernameChange user password
sudo apt-get updateCommand used to install and update packages

Listing files (ls)
Linux system, use the ‘ls ‘ command. It shows the files /directories in your current directory.

ls directory list

Note:
• Directories are show in blue color.
• Files are show in white.
• You will find similar color schemes in different flavors of Linux/Unix.
Your “Music” folder has following sub-directories and files.

'ls -R ' to shows all the files not only in directories but also subdirectories

‘ls -R ‘ to shows all the files not only in directories but also subdirectories

Note: These Linux basics commands are case-sensitive. If you enter, “ls – r ” you will get an error.
‘ls -al ‘ The command provides information in a columns format. The columns contain the following information:
Example –

Listing Hidden Files
ls -a

Creating & Viewing Files
The ‘cat’ command is used to display text files. It can also combining and creating new text files. Let’s see how it works.
To create a new file, use the command
1. cat > filename
2. Press ‘ctrl + d ‘ Save File.

To view a file, use the command –
cat filename
Let’s see the file we just created –

Let’s see another file sample2

The syntax to combine 2 files is –
cat file1 file2 > newfilename
Let’s combine sample 1 and sample 2.

To view the new combo file “sample ” use the command
cat sample

Deleting Files
rm filename

Moving and Re-naming files
To move a file, use the command.
mv filename new_file_location
Suppose we want to move the file “sample2” to location /home/cse/Documents. Executing the command
mv sample2 /home/cse/Documents
bz@pc:~$ sudo mv sample2 /home/cse/Documents
[sudo] password for bz: ****
bz@pc:~$
For renaming file:
mv filename newfilename

Directories can be created on a Linux operating system using the following command
mkdir directoryname
Example:-
mkdir mydirectory

Will create a directory ‘Music’ under ‘/tmp’ directory
mkdir /tmp/MUSIC

You can also create more than one directory at a time.

Removing Directories
rmdir mydirectory
will delete the directory mydirectory

Renaming Directory
mv directoryname newdirectoryname

The History Command

The clear command
This command clears all screen.

Assigning a header

pr -h “Header” Filename

The ‘-h’ options assigns “header” value as the report header.

As shown above, we have arranged the file in 3 columns and assigned a header
Display all lines with numbers
Example:
pr -n Filename
This command display all the lines in the file with numbers.

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