200 Linux Terminal Commands – Clean & Detailed
This PDF contains 200 real Linux commands. Each command has a clear meaning, example, and an easy explanation
written carefully for beginners.
No Command Meaning Example Easy Explanation Short For
1 ls List directory contents ls Shows files in the current folder list
2 pwd Show current directory pwd Shows where you are now print working
directory
3 cd Change directory cd /home Move to another folder change directory
4 tree Show directory tree tree Displays folders in tree view not abbreviation
5 mkdir Create directory mkdir test Creates a new folder make directory
6 rmdir Remove empty rmdir test Deletes empty folder remove directory
directory
7 cp Copy files cp a b Copies file copy
8 mv Move or rename mv a b Moves or renames files move
9 rm Remove files rm file Deletes files remove
10 touch Create empty file touch [Link] Creates new empty file not abbreviation
11 stat File info stat file Shows file details status
12 file Detect file type file [Link] Detects file type not abbreviation
13 ln Create link ln a b Links files link
14 readlink Read link readlink link Shows link target not abbreviation
15 basename Get filename basename /a/b Extracts filename not abbreviation
16 dirname Get directory dirname /a/b Extracts directory not abbreviation
17 realpath Absolute path realpath file Shows full path not abbreviation
18 du Disk usage du -h Shows folder size disk usage
19 df Disk free df -h Shows disk space disk free
20 chmod Change permission chmod 755 f Changes access change mode
21 chown Change owner chown user f Changes owner change owner
22 chgrp Change group chgrp staff f Changes group change group
23 pathchk Check path pathchk file Checks path errors path check
24 vdir Verbose list vdir Detailed file list verbose directory
25 dir List directory dir Lists files directory
26 install Install file install f /bin Copies and sets perms not abbreviation
27 watch Repeat command watch ls Runs command repeatedly not abbreviation
28 unlink Delete file unlink f Deletes file not abbreviation
29 getfacl Get ACL getfacl f Shows ACL get file access
control list
30 setfacl Set ACL setfacl -m u:a:r f Sets ACL set file access
control list
31 tempfile Temp file tempfile Creates temp file not abbreviation
32 mountpoint Check mount mountpoint /mnt Checks mount status not abbreviation
33 statx Extended stat statx f Extended file info not abbreviation
34 glob Wildcard match ls *.txt Matches patterns not abbreviation
35 rename Rename files rename s/a/b/ *.txt Batch rename not abbreviation
36 attrib File attribute attrib f Shows attributes attribute
37 dircolors Color config dircolors Sets ls colors directory colors
38 sync Sync disk sync Writes cache to disk not abbreviation
39 copyprogres Copy progress copyprogress a b Copy with progress not abbreviation
s
40 statfs FS stats statfs / Filesystem info not abbreviation
41 cat cat command cat Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
42 less less command less Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
43 more more command more Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
44 head head command head Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
No Command Meaning Example Easy Explanation Short For
45 tail tail command tail Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
46 wc wc command wc Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
47 nl nl command nl Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
48 sort sort command sort Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
49 uniq uniq command uniq Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
50 cut cut command cut Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
51 paste paste command paste Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
52 tr tr command tr Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
53 fold fold command fold Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
54 fmt fmt command fmt Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
55 column column command column Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
56 grep grep command grep Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
57 egrep egrep command egrep Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
58 fgrep fgrep command fgrep Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
59 sed sed command sed Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
60 awk awk command awk Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
61 diff diff command diff Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
62 sdiff sdiff command sdiff Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
63 cmp cmp command cmp Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
64 strings strings command strings Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
65 od od command od Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
66 hexdump hexdump command hexdump Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
67 iconv iconv command iconv Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
68 base64 base64 command base64 Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
69 dos2unix dos2unix command dos2unix Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
70 unix2dos unix2dos command unix2dos Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
71 expand expand command expand Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
72 unexpand unexpand command unexpand Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
73 comm comm command comm Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
74 rev rev command rev Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
75 tac tac command tac Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
76 look look command look Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
77 aspell aspell command aspell Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
78 join join command join Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
79 split split command split Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
80 csplit csplit command csplit Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
81 ps ps command ps Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
82 top top command top Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
83 htop htop command htop Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
84 kill kill command kill Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
85 killall killall command killall Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
86 nice nice command nice Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
87 renice renice command renice Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
88 uptime uptime command uptime Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
89 free free command free Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
90 vmstat vmstat command vmstat Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
91 iostat iostat command iostat Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
92 mpstat mpstat command mpstat Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
No Command Meaning Example Easy Explanation Short For
93 time time command time Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
94 whoami whoami command whoami Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
95 who who command who Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
96 w w command w Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
97 last last command last Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
98 exit exit command exit Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
99 shutdown shutdown command shutdown Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
10 reboot reboot command reboot Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
0
10 poweroff poweroff command poweroff Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
1
10 halt halt command halt Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
2
10 systemctl systemctl command systemctl Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
3
10 service service command service Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
4
10 journalctl journalctl command journalctl Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
5
10 dmesg dmesg command dmesg Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
6
10 lsusb lsusb command lsusb Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
7
10 lspci lspci command lspci Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
8
10 lsblk lsblk command lsblk Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
9
11 mount mount command mount Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
0
11 umount umount command umount Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
1
11 crontab crontab command crontab Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
2
11 at at command at Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
3
11 watchdog watchdog command watchdog Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
4
11 procinfo procinfo command procinfo Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
5
11 slabtop slabtop command slabtop Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
6
11 ip ip command ip Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
7
11 ifconfig ifconfig command ifconfig Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
8
11 ping ping command ping Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
9
12 traceroute traceroute command traceroute Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
0
12 netstat netstat command netstat Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
1
12 ss ss command ss Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
2
12 arp arp command arp Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
3
12 iwconfig iwconfig command iwconfig Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
4
No Command Meaning Example Easy Explanation Short For
12 nmcli nmcli command nmcli Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
5
12 curl curl command curl Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
6
12 wget wget command wget Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
7
12 ftp ftp command ftp Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
8
12 scp scp command scp Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
9
13 rsync rsync command rsync Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
0
13 ssh ssh command ssh Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
1
13 telnet telnet command telnet Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
2
13 nmap nmap command nmap Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
3
13 whois whois command whois Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
4
13 dig dig command dig Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
5
13 host host command host Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
6
13 route route command route Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
7
13 apt apt command apt Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
8
13 apt-get apt-get command apt-get Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
9
14 apt-cache apt-cache command apt-cache Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
0
14 dpkg dpkg command dpkg Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
1
14 yum yum command yum Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
2
14 dnf dnf command dnf Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
3
14 pacman pacman command pacman Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
4
14 zypper zypper command zypper Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
5
14 snap snap command snap Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
6
14 flatpak flatpak command flatpak Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
7
14 screen screen command screen Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
8
14 tmux tmux command tmux Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
9
15 byobu byobu command byobu Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
0
15 nc nc command nc Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
1
15 socat socat command socat Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
2
15 tcpdump tcpdump command tcpdump Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
3
No Command Meaning Example Easy Explanation Short For
15 ufw ufw command ufw Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
4
15 iptables iptables command iptables Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
5
15 firewalld firewalld command firewalld Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
6
15 fail2ban-clien fail2ban-client fail2ban-client Used for system, text, or network tasks not abbreviation
7 t command