Linux Command Line Cheat Sheet by DaveChild
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Bash Commands
uname -a
Show system and kernel
head -n1 /etc/issue
Show distribution
mount
Show mounted filesystems
date
Show system date
uptime
Show uptime
whoami
Show your username
man command
Show manual for command
Bash Shortcuts
CTRL-c
Stop current command
CTRL-z
Sleep program
CTRL-a
Go to start of line
CTRL-e
Go to end of line
CTRL-u
Cut from start of line
CTRL-k
Cut to end of line
CTRL-r
Search history
!!
Repeat last command
!abc
Run last command starting with abc
!abc :p
Print last command starting with abc
!$
Last argument of previous command
ALT-.
Last argument of previous command
!*
All arguments of previous command
^abc ^123
Run previous command, replacing abc with 123
Bash Variables
env
Show environment variables
echo $NAME
Output value of $NAME variable
export NAME =value
Set $NAME to value
$PATH
Executable search path
$HOME
Home directory
$SHELL
Current shell
IO Redirection
cmd < file Input of cmd from file
cmd1 <(cmd2 ) Output of cmd2 as file input to cmd1
cmd > file Standard output (stdout) of cmd to file
cmd > /dev/null Discard stdout of cmd
cmd >> file Append stdout to file
cmd 2> file Error output (stderr) of cmd to file
cmd 1>&2 stdout to same place as stderr
cmd 2>&1 stderr to same place as stdout
cmd &> file Every output of cmd to file
cmd refers to a command.
Pipes
cmd1 | cmd2 stdout of cmd1 to cmd2
cmd1 |& cmd2 stderr of cmd1 to cmd2
Command Lists
cmd1 ; cmd2 Run cmd1 then cmd2
cmd1 && cmd2 Run cmd2 if cmd1 is successful
cmd1 || cmd2 Run cmd2 if cmd1 is not successful
cmd & Run cmd in a subshell
Directory Operations
pwd
Show current directory
mkdir dir
Make directory dir
cd dir
Change directory to dir
cd ..
Go up a directory
ls
List files
ls Options
-a
Show all (including hidden)
-R
Recursive list
-r
Reverse order
-t
Sort by last modified
-S
Sort by file size
-l
Long listing format
-1
One file per line
-m
Comma-separated output
-Q
Quoted output
Search Files
grep pattern files
Search for pattern in files
grep -i
Case insensitive search
grep -r
Recursive search
grep -v
Inverted search
grep -o
Show matched part of file only
find /dir/ -name name *
Find files starting with name in dir
find /dir/ -user name
Find files owned by name in dir
find /dir/ -mmin num
Find files modifed less than num minutes ago in dir
whereis command
Find binary / source / manual for command
locate file
Find file (quick search of system index)
File Operations
touch file1 Create file1
cat file1 file2 Concatenate files and output
less file1 View and paginate file1
file file1 Get type of file1
cp file1 file2 Copy file1 to file2
mv file1 file2 Move file1 to file2
rm file1 Delete file1
head file1 Show first 10 lines of file1
tail file1 Show last 10 lines of file1
tail -f file1 Output last lines of file1 as it changes
Process Management
ps
Show snapshot of processes
top
Show real time processes
kill pid
Kill process with id pid
pkill name
Kill process with name name
killall name
Kill all processes with names beginning name
Nano Shortcuts
Files
Ctrl-R
Read file
Ctrl-O
Save file
Ctrl-X
Close file
Cut and Paste
ALT-A
Start marking text
CTRL-K
Cut marked text or line
CTRL-U
Paste text
Navigate File
ALT-/
End of file
CTRL-A
Beginning of line
CTRL-E
End of line
CTRL-C
Show line number
CTRL-_
Go to line number
Search File
CTRL-W
Find
ALT-W
Find next
CTRL-\
Search and replace
More nano info at:http://www.nano-editor.org/docs.php
Screen Shortcuts
screen Start a screen session.
screen -r Resume a screen session.
screen -list Show your current screen sessions.
CTRL-A Activate commands for screen.
CTRL-A c Create a new instance of terminal.
CTRL-A n Go to the next instance of terminal.
CTRL-A p Go to the previous instance of terminal.
CTRL-A " Show current instances of terminals.
CTRL-A A Rename the current instance.
More screen info at:http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/
File Permissions
chmod 775 file Change mode of file to 775
chmod -R 600 folder Recursively chmod folder to 600
chown user :group file Change file owner to user and group to group
File Permission Numbers
The first digit is the owner permission, the second the group and the third for everyone.
Calculate each of the three permission digits by adding the numeric values of the permissions below.
4
read (r)
2
write (w)
1
execute (x)
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Thanks for creating this cheat-sheet Dave. The one thing I missed was "grep -o"; Show only the part of a matching line that matches PATTERN
I've added "grep -o" to the cheat sheet :)
The I/O redirection section could use "2>" and "&>" examples, I always forget how to redirect stderr
Good idea - I'll add that (once I remember how they work myself ... :) )
I've updated that section to include stderr redirection. :)
How are the indented lines added several of the cells like Screen Shortcuts? RE: http://getsatisfaction.com/cheatography/topics/adding_a_two_line_entry_in_a_list
Those indented bits are a "question and answer" format box.
Ah, Q&A means I would be able to cheat with it and use it for two column with an extra line. Thanks for the info.
(Replying to my original post seems unintuitive for trying to reply under your post, but not to the overall thread... assuming this post as I'm thinking it might.)
On the redirects, the one I most commonly use is ignoring errors (2>/dev/null, or more succinctly 2>&- ).
For example, if I'm looking for files and I don't care that I haven't access to parts of the filesystem, we might do something like:
find / -name "*.html" 2>&-
ls -h is handy - changes sizes to human readable formats. Goes along good with -S. If I'm using it it is generally a ls -alhS
I think the "Bash Shortcuts" part is a little misleading. The "ctrl-a", "ctrl-e", "ctrl-k" is in emacs mode. But there should be many people preferring vim-mode or some thing like that.
Thanks a lot for your sheet, I just need such a linux command summary such as this sheet.
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Contents
A cheat sheet of the commands I use most for Linux.
Cheatographer
www.addedbytes.com
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