File commands
Command | Description |
---|
cat > file | places standard input into file |
cd | change to the home directory |
cd directory | change directory to directory |
cp file1 file2 | copy file1 to file2 |
head file | output the first 10 lines of file |
ln -s file link | create symbolic link to file |
ls | directory listing |
ls -al | formatted directory listing of files (including hidden ones) |
mkdir dir | create a directory called dir |
more file | output the contents of file |
mv file1 file2 | rename or move file1 to file2. If file2 is an existing directory, moves file1 into directory file2 |
pwd | show current directory |
rm file | delete file |
rm -f file | force remove file |
rm -r dir | delete directory dir |
rm -rf dir | force remove directory dir — USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION |
scp -r user@server1:directory1 user@server2:directory2 | recursively copies files between servers |
tail file | output the last 10 lines of file |
tail -f file | output the last 10 lines of file as it grows, starting with the last 10 lines |
touch file | create or update file |
File Permissions
The owner, group and world permissions for files and directories can be changes using the chmod command
- 4 – read (r)
- 2 – write (w)
- 1 – execute (x)
Examples
Command | Description |
---|
chmod 777 file | change permissions of file to read, write and execute for all |
chmod 755 file | change permissions of file to rwx for owner, rx for group and world |
Searching
Command | Description |
---|
grep pattern files | search for pattern in files |
grep -r pattern dir | search recursively for pattern in dir |
locate file | find all instances of file |
Network
Command | Description |
---|
dig domain | get DNS information for domain |
dig any @nameserver domain | get DNS information for domain held by nameserver |
dig mx domain | get DNS mail information for domain |
ping host/domain | ping host or domain and output results |
whois domain | get whois information for a domain |
SSH
Command | Description |
---|
ssh user@host | connect to host as user |
ssh -p port user@host | connect to host on port port as user |
ssh -copy -d user@host | add your key to host for user to enable a keyed or passwordless login |
Compression
Command | Description |
---|
tar cf file.tar files | create a tar named file.tar containing files |
tar xf file.tar files | extract the files from file.tar |
tar czf file.tar.gz files | create a tar with Gzip compression |
tar xzf file.tar.gz files | extract a tar using Gzip |
tar cjf file.tar.bz2 files | create a tar with Bzip2 compression |
tar xjf file.tar.bz2 files | extract a tar using Bzip2 |
gzip file | compresses file and renames it file.gz |
gzip -d file.gz | decompresses file.gz back to file |
Shortcuts
Command | Description |
---|
Ctrl+C | halts the current command |
Ctrl+Z | stops the current command, resume with fg in the foreground or bg in the background |
Ctrl+D | log out of the current session, similar to exit |
Ctrl+W | erases one word in the current line |
Ctrl+U | erases the whole line |
R | type to bring up a recent command |
!! | repeats the last command |
exit | log out of the current session |
System Info
Command | Description |
---|
uptime | show current uptime |
w | show who is online |
whoami | show who you are logged in as |
finger user | display information about user |
uname -a | show kernel information |
cat /proc/cpuinfo | show CPU information |
cat /proc/meminfo | show memory information |
man command | show manual for command |
df | show disk usage |
du | show directory space usage |
free | show memory and swap usage |
whereis app | show possible locations of app |
which app | show which app will be run by default |
whois | shows the identity of a domain or IP address |
locate | find file or directory |
Hostway Linux commands
These commands only work for domains still on Begis
Command | Description |
---|
dom domain | display web and mail server information for domain |
dom domain -f | display hosting features for domain |
domm domain | display mailbox information for domain |
paccount domain | tools for managing quota/FrontPage/PHP/SSL/MySQL etc |
sysadd server masteraccount masteraccountpassword | adds domain to a server |
sysclone server domain masteraccount masteraccountpassword | copies a domain from one Debian server to another |
updateWhere domain newinternalservername | notifies all of Hostway’s systems where the customer is now located |