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Zeeshan
Zeeshan

Posted on • Updated on • Originally published at acidop.codes

The Ultimate Linux Cheat Code Handbook

You think you know Linux? Think again. With this cheat code handbook, you'll be hacking your way to total system domination in no time. No more asking for help on forums or struggling with confusing command lines. Get your copy now and start pwning the competition like the badass you are!

Basic System Commands

Command Description
cat displays the contents of a file
pwd displays the current working directory
cd changes the current directory
ls lists the contents of a directory
cp copies files and directories
mv moves or renames files and directories
rm removes files and directories
mkdir creates a new directory
rmdir removes an empty directory
chmod changes the permissions of a file or directory
ps displays information about running processes
top displays real-time information about system usage
kill terminates a process
shutdown shuts down the system

File Commands

Command Description
ls lists the files of a directory
ls -l lists the files of a directory in long format
ls -a lists all files of a directory, including hidden
pwd displays the current working directory
cd changes the current directory
cd ~ changes the current directory to the home directory
cd .. changes the current directory to the parent
cd - changes the current directory to the previous
cd / changes the current directory to the root
mkdir creates a new directory with the specified name
rmdir removes the directory with the specified name
touch creates a new file with the specified name
cp copies files and directories
mv moves or renames files and directories
rm removes files and directories
rm -r removes files and directories recursively
rm -f removes files and directories forcefully
rm -rf removes files and directories forcefully recursively

File Permissions

Command Description
chmod 777 file Gives Read, Write and Execute permissions to everyone
chmod 755 file Give read, write, and execute permission to owner, and read and execute permission to group and others
chmod 644 file Give read and write permission to owner, and read permission to group and others
chown user file changes the owner of a file
chown user:group file changes the owner and group of a file
chmod u+x file gives execute permission to the owner
chmod g+x file gives execute permission to the group

Users and Groups

Command Description
id displays the user and group IDs
id user displays the user and group IDs for a specific user
whoami displays the current user
who displays who is logged on
who -a displays who is logged on and what they are doing
last displays the last logged in users
adduser user adds a new user
usermod -aG group user adds a user to a group
groupadd group adds a new group
userdel user deletes a user
usermod modifies a user account
chgrp group file changes the group ownership of a file

Package Management (Needs sudo)

Command Description
apt update updates the package lists
apt upgrade upgrades the installed packages
apt install package installs a package
apt remove package removes a package
apt autoremove removes packages that are no longer needed
apt search package searches for a package
apt purge package removes a package and its configuration files
apt clean removes downloaded package files
apt autoclean removes old downloaded package files

SSH

Command Description
ssh user@host connects to a remote host using SSH
ssh -p port user@host connects to a remote host using SSH on a specific port
ssh-keygen generates a new SSH key pair
ssh-copy-id user@host copies the SSH key to the remote host
ssh -i key user@host connects to a remote host using a specific SSH key
scp file user@host: copies a file to a remote host

System Info

Command Description
uname print system information
uname -a displays all system information
uname -r displays the kernel release
uname -m displays the machine hardware name
uname -n displays the network node hostname
hostname displays the network node hostname
hostname -I displays All IP address
uptime displays how long the system has been running
whoami displays the current user
df displays the amount of disk space available
man displays manual page

Privilege Escalation

Command Description
sudo allows a user to execute a command as the superuser
su allows a user to execute a command as another user
sudo su allows a user to execute a command as the superuser
sudo -i allows a user to execute a command as the superuser
sudo -u allows a user to execute a command as another user
sudo -l allows a user to list the allowed commands

Archiving

Command Description
tar -cvf archive.tar creates a new archive
tar -xvf archive.tar extracts files from an archive
tar -tvf archive.tar lists the contents of an archive
tar -cvzf archive.tar.gz creates a new compressed archive
zip archive.zip file creates a new archive in ZIP format
unzip archive.zip extracts files from an archive in ZIP format

Searching

Command Description
grep pattern file searches for a pattern in a file
grep -r pattern dir searches for a pattern in a directory recursively
grep -v pattern file searches for all lines that do not contain a pattern
grep -i pattern file searches case-insensitively for a pattern in a file
grep -l pattern file displays the names of files that contain a pattern
locate file searches for a file in the database
find dir -name file searches for a file in a directory
find . searches for files in the current directory
find / -name file searches for a file in the entire system
find / -name file -type f searches for a file in the entire system for file types

Process Management

Command Description
ps displays your currently active processes
ps -ef displays all processes
top displays all processes
kill pid kills the process with the specified process ID
killall process kills all processes with the specified name
bg List and resume stopped jobs in the background
fg Bring the most recently suspended job to the foreground

Networking

Command Description
ifconfig displays the network interfaces
ifconfig -a displays all network interfaces
ifconfig eth0 displays the network interface eth0
iwconfig displays the wireless network interfaces
systemctl stop NetworkManager stops the NetworkManager service
systemctl start NetworkManager starts the NetworkManager service
systemctl restart NetworkManager restarts the NetworkManager service
whois domain displays whois information for a domain
dig domain performs DNS lookup for a domain
host domain performs DNS lookup for a domain
nslookup domain performs DNS lookup for a domain
ping domain pings a domain and displays the result

Keyboard Shortcuts

Command Description
Ctrl + C Stops the current command
Ctrl + Z Backgrounds the current command
Ctrl + D Logs out the current user
Ctrl + A Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line
Ctrl + E Moves the cursor to the end of the line
Ctrl + L Clears the terminal screen
Ctrl + Shift + C Copies the selected text
Ctrl + Shift + V Pastes the selected text
Ctrl + Shift + T Opens a new tab in the current window
Ctrl + Shift + N Opens a new window in the current session
Ctrl + Shift + Q Closes the current window
!! Repeats the previous command
exit Exits the current shell

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Top comments (2)

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oliviercreativ_74 profile image
Démontant

Thanks !!!!

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acidop profile image
Zeeshan

You're welcome!