This Is Your Brain On Informatics: Linux

From Pathology Education Instructional Resource
Revision as of 18:28, 22 October 2013 by Tikenn (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

Command Description

  • cat [filename] Display file’s contents to the standard output device (usually your monitor).
  • cd /directorypath Change to directory.
  • chmod [options] mode filename Change a file’s permissions.
  • chown [options] filename Change who owns a file.
  • clear Clear a command line screen/window for a fresh start.
  • cp [options] source destination Copy files and directories.
  • date [options] Display or set the system date and time.
  • df [options] Display used and available disk space.
  • du [options] Show how much space each file takes up.
  • file [options] filename Determine what type of data is within a file.
  • find [pathname] [expression] Search for files matching a provided pattern.
  • grep [options] pattern [filesname] Search files or output for a particular pattern.
  • kill [options] pid Stop a process. If the process refuses to stop, use kill -9 pid.
  • less [options] [filename] View the contents of a file one page at a time.
  • ln [options] source [destination] Create a shortcut.
  • locate filename Search a copy of your filesystem for the specified filename.
  • lpr [options] Send a print job.
  • ls [options] List directory contents.
  • /man [command] Display the help information for the specified command.
  • mkdir [options] directory Create a new directory.
  • mv [options] source destination Rename or move file(s) or directories.
  • passwd [name [password]] Change the password or allow (for the system administrator) to

change any password.

  • ps [options] Display a snapshot of the currently running processes.
  • pwd Display the pathname for the current directory.
  • rm [options] directory Remove (delete) file(s) and/or directories.
  • rmdir [options] directory Delete empty directories.
  • ssh [options] user@machine Remotely log in to another Linux machine, over the network.
  • Leave an ssh session by typing exit
  • su [options] [user [arguments]] Switch to another user account.
  • tail [options] [filename] Display the last n lines of a file (the default is 10).
  • tar [options] filename Store and extract files from a tarfile (.tar) or tarball

(.tar.gz or .tgz).

  • top Displays the resources being used on your system. Press q to exit.
  • touch filename Create an empty file with the specified name.
  • who [options] Display who is logged on.