Basic Linux commands

Command Description
ls Lists all files and directories in the present working directory
ls-R Lists files in sub-directories as well
ls-a Lists hidden files as well
ls-al Lists files and directories with detailed information like permissions,size, owner, etc.
cd or cd ~ Navigate to HOME directory
cd .. Move one level up
cd To change to a particular directory
cd / Move to the root directory
cat > filename Creates a new file
cat filename Displays the file content
cat file1 file2 > file3 Joins two files (file1, file2) and stores the output in a new file (file3)
mv file "new file path" Moves the files to the new location
mv filename new_file_name Renames the file to a new filename
Allows regular users to run programs with the security privileges of the superuser or
sudo
root
rm filename Deletes a file
man Gives help information on a command
history Gives a list of all past commands typed in the current terminal session
clear Clears the terminal
mkdir directoryname Creates a new directory in the present working directory or a at the specified path
rmdir Deletes a directory
mv Renames a directory
pr -x Divides the file into x columns
pr -h Assigns a header to the file
pr -n Denotes the file with Line Numbers
lp -nc , lpr c Prints “c” copies of the File
 lp-d lp-P Specifies name of the printer
apt-get Command used to install and update packages
mail -s 'subject'
-c 'cc-address'
Command to send email
-b 'bcc-address'
'to-address'
mail -s "Subject"
Command to send email with attachment
to-address < Filename

File Permission commands

Command Description
ls-l to show file type and access permission
r read permission
w write permission
x execute permission
-= no permission
 Command Description
Chown user For changing the ownership of a file/directory
Chown user:group filename change the user as well as group for a file or directory

Environment Variables command

Command Description
echo $VARIABLE To display value of a variable
env Displays all environment variables
VARIABLE_NAME= variable_value Create a new variable
Unset Remove a variable
export Variable=value To set value of an environment variable

User management commands of linux

Command Description
sudo adduser username To add a new user
sudo passwd -l 'username' To change the password of a user
sudo userdel -r 'username' To remove a newly created user
sudo usermod -a -G GROUPNAME USERNAME To add a user to a group
sudo deluser USER GROUPNAME To remove a user from a group
finger Shows information of all the users logged in
finger username Gives information of a particular user

Networking command
Command Description
SSH username@ip-address or hostname login into a remote Linux machine using SSH
Ping hostname="" or ="" To ping and Analyzing network and host connections
dir Display files in the current directory of a remote computer
cd "dirname" change directory to “dirname” on a remote computer
put file upload ‘file’ from local to remote computer
get file Download ‘file’ from remote to local computer
quit Logout

Process command
Command Description
bg To send a process to the background
fg To run a stopped process in the foreground
top Details on all Active Processes
ps Give the status of processes running for a user
ps PID Gives the status of a particular process
pidof Gives the Process ID (PID) of a process
kill PID Kills a process
 Command Description
nice Starts a process with a given priority
renice Changes priority of an already running process
df Gives free hard disk space on your system
free Gives free RAM on your system

VI Editing Commands
Command Description
i Insert at cursor (goes into insert mode)
a Write after cursor (goes into insert mode)
A Write at the end of line (goes into insert mode)
ESC Terminate insert mode
u Undo last change
U Undo all changes to the entire line
o Open a new line (goes into insert mode)
dd Delete line
3dd Delete 3 lines
D Delete contents of line after the cursor
C Delete contents of a line after the cursor and insert new text. Press ESC key to end insertion.
dw Delete word
4dw Delete 4 words
cw Change word
x Delete character at the cursor
r Replace character
R Overwrite characters from cursor onward
s Substitute one character under cursor continue to insert
S Substitute entire line and begin to insert at the beginning of the line
~ Change case of individual character

Linux Crontab format

Crontab of Linux has six fields. The first five fields define the time and date of execution, and the 6’th field is used for
command execution.

Crontab syntax:

 Astrics (*): Use for matching

  Define range: Allows you to define a range with the help of hyphen like 1-10 or 30-40 or jan-mar, mon-wed.
 Define multiple ranges: Allows you to define various ranges with command separated like apr-jun,oct-dec.

How to Add/Modify Crontab

User can edit their crontab jobs with the help of following crontab command:

$ crontab -u -e
The above command will open the personal crontab configuration of your computer system, which can be edited by using
your default text editor.

There is no need to restart your crontab as it will pick up your changes automatically when you use following command.

$ crontab -l
To remove your crontab tasks, use the following command.

$ crontab -r
To add or update job in crontab, use below given command.

crontab -e
Command to edit other user’s crontab

crontab -u username -e
How to List Crontab
Command to view crontab entries of current user

crontab -l
Command to view crontab entries of a specific user:

crontab -u username -l

Important Crontab Examples

Here, are some important examples of Crontab

Description Command

Cron command to do the various scheduling jobs. 0 7,17 * * * /scripts/script.sh

Below given command execute at 7 AM and 5 PM daily.

*/5* * * * * /scripts/script.sh
Command to execute a cron after every 5 minutes.

Cron scheduler command helps you to execute the task on every

0 5 * * mon /scripts/script.sh
Monday at 5 AM. This command is helpful for doing weekly tasks
like system clean-up.

*/3 * * * * /scripts/monitor.sh
Command run your script on 3 minutes interval.

Command to schedule a cron to which executes for a specific month. * * * feb,jun,sep * /script/script.sh
This command to run tasks run in Feb, June and September months.
Sometimes we need to schedule a task to execute a select monthly
task.

Command to execute on selected days. This example will run each 0 17 * * mon,wed /script/script.sh
Monday and Wednesday at 5 PM.

This command allows cron to execute on first Saturday of every 0 2 * * sat [ $(date +%d) -le 06 ] && /script/script.sh
month.

Command to run a script for 6 hours interval so it can be configured 0 */6 * * * /scripts/script.sh
like below.

This command schedule a task to execute twice on Monday and 0 4,17 * * mon,tue /scripts/script.sh
Tuesday. Use the following settings to do it.

* * * * * /scripts/script.sh
Command schedule a cron to execute after every 15 Seconds. * * * * * sleep 15; /scripts/script.sh

Command to schedule tasks on a yearly basis.

@yearly timestamp is= to “0 0 5 1 *”. This executes the task in the @yearly /scripts/script.sh
fifth minute of every year. You can use it to send for new year
greetings.

Command tasks to execute on a monthly basis.

@monthly timestamp is similar to “0 0 1 * *”. This command @monthly /scripts/script.sh
expression allows the execution of a task in the first minute of the
month.

* * * * * /scripts/script.sh; /scripts/scrit2.sh
Command to execute multiple tasks using a single cron.

Command to schedule tasks to execute on a weekly basis.

@weekly /bin/script.sh
@weekly timestamp is similar to “0 0 4 * sun”. This is used to
perform the weekly tasks like the system cleanup etc.

Task will be scheduled to execute on a daily basis.

@daily /scripts/script.sh
@daily timestamp is similar to “0 2 * * *”. It executes the task in the
second minute of every day.

Allows tasks to execute on an hourly.

@hourly /scripts/script.sh
@hourly timestamp is similar to “0 * * * *”. This command executes
a task in the first minute of every hour.

Allows tasks to execute on system reboot.

@reboot expression is useful for those tasks that the system wants to @reboot /scripts/script.sh
run on your system startup. This is helpful to begin tasks background
automatically.