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Basic Linux Commands

Linux common commands in: logical order / Alphabetical Order

ls
List files and directories

Usage:
ls -la	detailed list of all files and directories
ls -lah	add human readable file sizes
ls -lath	add sort by modification time

#Help from the shell
man ls
ls --help

cd
Change directory

Usage:
cd /home	change directory to /home
cd -P /dirname	change to /dirname (but if a symbolic link change to physical directory link points to)
cd /usr/local/bin	move 3 directories deep to /usr/local/bin

#Help from the shell (type these commands from the shell prompt)
man cd

clear
Clear the display

Usage:
clear	clear the display screen
Add link for 'cls'	ln -s `which clear` /usr/local/bin/cls

#Help from the shell
man clear

who
Show login information

Usage:
who	shows user, terminal, login date & time
who -d	shows dead processes
who -r	prints current run level
who -b	Display date of last system boot

#Help from the shell
man who
who --help

#Related Commands
w, finger

find
Find files recursively in a directory structure

Usage:
find .	list all files to display
find . > /tmp/filelist.txt	store same list in a file called filelist.txt
*find /tmp -name \.html**	list all html files in /tmp directory

#Help from the shell
man find
find --help

grep
Search file contents to match a pattern. Lines with matching patterns are output.

Usage:
grep dog file.txt	output every line containing dog in file.txt
grep -v dog file.txt	output every line not containing dog

#Help from the shell
man grep
grep --help

cat
Output and concatenate file contents.

Usage:
cat file.txt	output contents of file.txt to display
cat -n file.txt	prefix each line with a number
cat file1 file2 > file3	concatenate file1 and file2 into file3

#Help from the shell
man cat
cat --help

less
Display file contents one page at a time with backward and forward movement.

Usage:
less file.txt	display contents of file.txt one page at a time
less -P%B file.txt	display contents of file.txt with custom prompt

#Help from the shell
man less
less --help

echo
Output a line of text to display

#Help from the shell
man echo