Top Ten commands

Fri, 09/14/2012 - 10:11 -- jamie

There are a huge variety of commands to run. linuxcommand.org provides an excellent tutorial, and David Child offers a handy and comprehensive cheat sheet.

Below I've printed a smaller set of must-know commands that we will be using regularly.

  • ls directory-path list the files in a directory. Also, ls -l provides a long listing of files so you can see the ownership and permissions.
  • cd direcoty-path change directories.
  • sudo command perform the command that comes after sudo as the root user
  • nano path-to-file edit a text file (sometimes sudo is needed)
  • apt-get update update the list of available programs that can be installed (sudo is needed)
  • apt-cache search search-string search for a package name (sudo is not needed)
  • apt-get install program-name install a package (sudo is needed)
  • service service-name start/stop/restart start, stop or restart a program (sudo is needed)
  • chmod permission path-to-file change the permissions of a file (e.g. chmod 755 vlaunch)
  • mv original-file destition move a file or directory from one location to another (aka rename)