Basic Linux Commands

When working in Linux machines, there are a few important commands to know when making and editing directories/files from the terminal.

Directory Commands

Command	What it does	Example
mkdir	Creates a new directory. If path is not specified, new directory is created within working directory.	$ mkdir /path/to/Test # creates a directory named 'Test' along the specified path
rm -rf	Deletes the target directory, including all files/directories within the directory.	$ rm -rf /path/to/Test # deletes the 'Test' directory and its contents
cd	Changes the current working directory. By default, /home/username/ is the working directory when opening a terminal or using the cd command without a path.	$ cd /path/to/Test # changes the working directory to 'Test'
ls	Prints out the contents, including files and directories, within a parent directory. If no path is specified, ls prints the contents of the working directory.	$ ls /path/to/Test # prints the contents of 'Test'
cp -R	Copies the contents of a source directory to a target directory.	$ cp -R /path/to/Source /path/to/Destination # copies the contents of 'Source' to 'Destination'
mv	Renames an existing directory.	$ mv Source Target # renames a directory 'Source' to 'Target'
grep -ir	Recursively searches files in a directory for a pattern.	$ grep -ir "test" # displays all occurrences of the string "test" in the working directory

File Commands

Command	What it does	Example
touch	Creates a new file. Can be of any type. If path is not specified, new directory is created within working directory.	$ touch test.txt # creates a .txt file named 'test' in the working directory
vi	Opens a specified file in the default UNIX text editor. If the file name does not exist, creates a file and opens in text editor. Basic vi commands can be found at the bottom of the article.	$ vi test.txt # opens test.txt in a text editor
rm	Deletes the target file.	$ rm test.txt # deletes the 'test' file from the working directory
cp	Copies contents of a file to another file or directory.	$ cp test.txt /path/to/Destination # creates a copy of test.txt in the 'Destination' directory
mv	Renames a file. If a directory is the destination, moves file to the directory.	$ mv test.txt /path/to/Target # moves test.txt from current directory to 'Target'
cat	Reads data from a file and prints the content. Can be used on multiple files	$ cat test.txt # displays the contests of the 'test' file
grep	Searches the specified file for a specific pattern. Useful for finding specific occurrences in files.	$ grep "test" test.txt # displays all occurrences of the string "test" in test.txt
less	Displays a file from the bottom up. Can scroll up through file contents.	$ less test.txt # displays contents of test.txt, allows user to scroll up
more	Displays file from top down. Can scroll down through file contents.	$ more test.txt # displays contents of test.txt, allows user to scroll down

Other Useful Commands

Command	What it does	Example
clear	Clears the terminal.	$ clear
screen	Launches separate terminal windows within the same terminal manager. Useful for running processes that will take a large amount of time. Screen commands can be found at this: More Screen Commands	$ screen
history	Outputs a list of all past commands in the current terminal session	$ history

Vi Command Cheat Sheet