The Only 115 Linux Commands and Utilities You’ll Ever Need

While the GUI may have an appeal of its own, it simply doesn’t have the pace of a lightning fast command line on Linux. In the command line, you can rattle off several commands in a matter of seconds. Likewise, your capabilities are only limited by the number of linux commands you know rather than the display on your screen.

If you have a wide vocabulary then the sky’s the limit. If not, then you’re more restricted in what you can do. However, if you’re part of the latter group don’t fear, we’re here to assist you with the only Linux commands you’ll ever need. This guide has been designed specifically for network administrators to take you from passable command knowledge to outright fluency.

Overview from A-Z:

A: acpi,  alias, apropos, apt-get, arch, Aspell, autoupdate 8. AWK
B: bash, bg, bzip2
C: cat, cd, chmod, chown, cmp, comm, cp, cpio, CRON
D: date, declare, dirs, df
E: echo, enable, env, eval, exec, exit, expect, export
F: fc-list, find, for, free, fsck
G: grep, grpck, gunzip, gzip, groffer
H: hash, head, history, hostid, hwclock
I: ifconfig, ifup, ifdown
J: jobs, join
K: kbdrate, kill, killall
L: less, locate, lft, lftp, ln, Is
M: man, mc, mkdir, mmv, mtr
N: neat, netconfig/netcfg, netstat, notify-send, nslookup
O: objcopy, od, openvt
P: passwd, ping, poweroff, ps, pwd
Q: quota, quotacheck, quotactl
R: read, RPM, rsync
S: screen, sdiff, sed, shutdown, Snort, sort, sudo, SSH
T: tar, tcpdump, telnet, TOP, Tr, traceroute
U: uname, uniq
V: vi, vmstat
W: wc, Wget, whoami
X: xargs, xdg-open
Y: yppasswd, yppoll, yptest
Z: zcat, zcmp, zdiff, zip

A

No.	Command Name	Description
1	acpi	Shows information about the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface.
2	alias	Runs a command (or series of commands) with a shorter name than the full command name).
3	apropos	Displays a list of all topics from the man pages related to your query.
4	apt-get	Used to update a Debian machine automatically and install a package or program.
5	Arch	Displays print machine hardware name.
6	Aspell	GNU Aspell is an open source spell checker utility.
7	autoupdate	Updates a configure.in file to a new autoconf.
8	AWK	Find and replace text in a file.

B

No.	Command	Description
9	bash	GNU Bourne-Again Shell.
10	bg	Sends processes to the background.
11	bzip2	An open source program that is used to compress or decompress files rapidly.

C

No.	Command	Description
12	cat	Used to read, modify, or concentrate text files.
13	cd	Changes the current directory.
14	chmod	Changes the permissions or access mode of a file(s). Only a privileged user or file owner can change the access mode.
15	chown	Changes the ownership of a file or group of files. Can change ownership for objects within an entire directory tree.
16	cmp	Compares two files. If the files are the same nothing happens but if they’re different then cmp reports to byte and line number.
17	comm	Compares two files line by line.
18	cp	Copies files and directories.
19	cpio	Copies files in or out of a cpio or tar archive (a tar archive is a file with other files inside it). Tar archives also include information including; owner, file name, timestamps and access permissions.
20	CRON	Daemon used to execute programs at a specific time. You need to create a text file that dictates what file will be executed and the time to be executed. CRON then loads the text file.

D

No.	Command	Description
21	date	Used to set the date and time of a system.
22	declare	Used to declare variables and provide them with attributes.
23	dirs	Shows a list of remembered directories.
24	df	Shows how much disk usage there is on your system.

E

No.	Command	Description
25	echo	Used with shell scripts to enable a user to repeat a string variable to a standard output.
26	enable	Used to start or stop printers and classes.
27	env	Displays current environment variables.
28	eval	Used to evaluate several arguments at once and concatenates them into one command.
29	exec	Replaces parent process with the entered command.
30	exit	Exits the terminal/terminates a script.
31	expect	Talks to other programs and waits for a response.
32	export	Converts one file into a different format.

F

No.	Command	Description
33	fc-list	Shows a list of available fonts.
34	find	Searches the directory tree for groups that meet certain conditions. These conditions include, name, user, type, size, exec, and mtime.
35	for, while	Used to execute or loop items indefinitely (so long as certain criteria is met).
36	free	Shows you how much free space there is in your memory. You can also view used memory too.
37	fsck	Used to check and repair a file system.

G

No.	Command	Description
38	grep	Searches files for a specific pattern or character string to replace with another. This command is generally used for searching for files.
39	grpck	Used to verify the integrity of a group’s information.
40	gunzip	Opens a utility used to compress and expand files.
41	gzip	GNU open source program used for file compression.
42	groffer	Display groff files and man pages.

H

No.	Command	Description
43	hash	Shows the command path locations.
44	head	Shows first 10 lines of specified files.
45	history	Shows the systems command history.
46	hostid	Shows hosts ID in hexadecimal format.
47	hwclock	View/configure the hardware clock.

I

No.	Command	Description
48	ifconfig	This command is used to configure resident kernel network interfaces. Most of the time it is used when booting up but it can also be used for debugging as well.
49	ifup	Used to configure a network interface and enable a network connection.
50	ifdown	Used to shut down a network interface and disable a network connection.

J

No.	Command	Description
51	jobs	Shows a list of active jobs. Also shows job status.
52	join	Joins lines of two files on a common field.

K

No.	Command	Description
53	kbdrate	Resets the keyboard repeat rate/delay time.
54	kill	Sends a kill signal to a one or more processes.
55	killall	Sends a kill signal to all processes running the specified command.

L

No.	Command	Description
56	less	Displays contents of a file one page at a time.
57	locate, slocate	Locate is used to read a database(s) and outputs files that match certain patterns. Similarly slocate (secure locate) is used to index files, search for files, and store file permissions securely.
58	lft	Identifies connection routes and provides additional information useful for debugging connections.
59	lftp	An FTP utility.
60	In	Creates a new name for a file via a hard link. In practice this allows multiple users to share a single file.
61	Is	Lists files and directories within the current working directory.

M

No.	Command	Description
62	man	Displays the user manual pages on Linux commands.
63	mc	A text-based file manager or visual shell for Unix systems.
64	mkdir	Creates directories.
65	mmv	Moves and renames files en masse.
66	mtr	Network diagnostic tool.

N

No.	Command	Description
67	neat	A GNOME GUI admin tool which allows users to dictate what information is needed to set up a network card.
68	netconfig/netcfg	Configures a network and enables network products.
69	netstat	Shows information about active protocols in TCP/IP network connections.
70	notify-send	A program used to send desktop notifications.
71	nslookup	Enter a host name and find the accompanying IP address. You can also reverse this.

O

No.	Command	Description
72	objcopy	Copies and translates object files.
73	od	Dumps binary files in octal, hex, or binary to standard output.
74	openvt	Starts a program through a virtual terminal.

P

No.	Command	Description
75	passwd	Updates the user’s current password.
76	ping	Enables the user to check that an IP address exists. Can also determine response times.
77	poweroff	Shuts the machine down.
78	ps	Reports status of all current processes within a system.
79	pwd	Shows the name of the current working directory.

Q

No.	Command	Description
80	quota	Shows disk usage for a user or group.
81	quotacheck	Scans a file system for disk usage.
82	quotactl	Change disk quotas.

R

No.	Command	Description
83	read	Takes lines of text from a standard input and assigns values to each file.
84	RPM	RPM or Red Hat Package Manager is a command line program that allows you to install, manage, or uninstall software packages with Linux.
85	rsync	Syncs data from one file (or disk) to another. Good choice for data backups.

S

No.	Command	Description
86	screen	A window manager which allows the user to run multiple terminal applications or windows through one terminal window.
87	sdiff	Looks for differences between two files. Shows you lines that are dissimilar before merging them.
88	sed	This is a stream editor that is used to filter text. Used to filter, extract and replace parts of files.
89	shutdown	Shuts down the computer. If you combine with -h it will stop after shutdown or you can use -r to reboot automatically after shutdown.
90	Snort	A network intrusion detection system and packet sniffer based in libpcap. Used to monitor network traffic.
91	sort	Sorts text alphabetically or numerically.
92	sudo	Gives the user permissions to run some or all commands.
93	SSH	Command interface used for gaining access to remote computer securely.

T

No.	Command	Description
94	tar	You can create archives from a number of specified files.
95	tcpdump	Network packet analysis tool.
96	telnet	User interface for the Telnet protocol.
97	TOP	Allows you to monitor system processes with distributed information processing. Sorts tasks by CPU usage, memory usage and runtime.
98	tr	Translates or deletes characters from a text stream. Only accepts standard input.
99	traceroute	Identifies and records a route over the internet between two computers. Good for troubleshooting and determining network issues.

U

No.	Command	Description
100	uname	Displays the name of the current operating information. Can also print information.
101	uniq	Compares lines adjacent lines within a file and removes duplicate lines.

V

No.	Command	Description
102	vi	Vi is a well known text editor that allows users to control their system via the keyboard.
103	vmstat	Gives the user a snapshot of everything with information on things like memory, processes, paging and CPU activity.

W

No.	Command	Description
104	wc	Counts the number of words, lines, and characters in text files.
105	Wget	Network utility used to pull files from the web with support for http, https, and ftp. Works in the background while a user is logged off.
106	whoami	Products the user/login name linked to the current user ID.

X

No.	Command	Description
107	xargs	Uses standard input to read, build, and execute arguments.
108	xdg-open	Opens a file or UTL in the user’s preferred application.

Y

No.	Command	Description
109	yppasswd	Changes NIS login password.
110	yppoll	Shows the ID number/version of NIS map on the NIS server.
111	yptest	Uses NIS functions to check if NIS configuration is correct.

Z

No.	Command	Description
112	zcat	Compresses/uncompress files (similar to gzip).
113	zcmp	Compares compressed files.
114	zdiff	Compares compressed files line by line.
115	zip	Compression and file packing utility.

Conclusion

When it comes to Linux commands, there is no telling how many commands there actually are. The commands available on a Linux system depend on the operating system you’re on. That being said the list is extensive and the commands we’ve covered in this article are just the tip of the iceberg. However few commands will be as integral to your day-to-day usage as the commands outlined above.

These commands will give you a lot of mileage so that you can supplement in niche commands as you learn them. Obviously, the catch is you’re going to need to learn them first! While much of this will rely on you simply using the commands over and over again you can also use this guide as a cheat-sheet. However, if you want to make things easier there is a command you can use to help you locate other commands. This is called the Apropos command. We’ve listed this above but we will repeat below for convenience:

apropos “list directory”

Depending on the command you searched for, this will bring up a list of relevant commands. The example above would display commands such as dir, ls, ntfsls, and vdir. Ultimately the more time you spend using these commands the better you’ll retain them and the more you’ll get out of your distribution.