Intro to Basic Linux/Bash Commands

Welcome to the Intro to Linux/Bash Commands session! This repository contains the core commands covered in our session to help you get started with navigating, managing files, and using basic utilities in the Linux terminal.

Table of Contents

• Getting Started with the Terminal
• Basic Commands
• Basic Navigation Commands
• File and Directory Management
• Viewing and Manipulating Files
• System and User Information
• Networking Basics
• Additional Resources

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Getting Started with the Terminal

Whether you’re on Linux, macOS, or Windows (with WSL), open the terminal to start using these commands!

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Basic Commands

Command	Description	Example
date	Shows the current date and time	date
cal	Displays the calender for the current month	cal
groups	Lists the groups that the current user belongs	groups
file	Determines and shows the file	file myfile.txt
man	Opens the manual page for a specific command	man ls
which	Displays the full path of the command’s executable	which python
whatis	Provides a brief description of a command	whatis grep
apropos	Searches for commands related to a specific keyword	apropos network

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Basic Navigation Commands

Command	Description	Example
pwd	Print working directory (current location)	pwd
ls	List files and directories	ls -l
cd <directory>	Change directory	cd Documents

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File and Directory Management

Command	Description	Example
mkdir <directory_name>	Create a new directory	mkdir new_folder
touch <file_name>	Create a new, empty file	touch myfile.txt
rm <file_name>	Remove (delete) a file	rm oldfile.txt
rmdir <directory_name>	Remove an empty directory	rmdir empty_folder
cp <source> <destination>	Copies files or directories	cp myfile.txt backupfile.txt
mv <source> <destination>	Moves or renames files.	mv myfile.txt newfile.txt
rm <file_name>	Deletes a file	rm myfile.txt

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Viewing and Manipulating Files

Command	Description	Example
cat <file_name>	Display file contents	cat myfile.txt
head <file_name>	Show the first 10 lines of a file	head myfile.txt
tail <file_name>	Show the last 10 lines of a file	tail myfile.txt
wc <file_name>	Counts the number of lines, words and characters in a file	wc myfile.txt
less <file_name>	View file content with scrolling (press q to exit)	less myfile.txt
echo "<text>" > <file_name>	Write text to a file	echo "Hello" > hello.txt

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System and User Information

Command	Description	Example
df -h	Show disk space usage in a human-readable format	df -h
whoami	Shows the username of the current user	whoami
free -h	Display memory (RAM) usage	free -h
who	Lists all users currently logged in	who
uname -r	Shows the kernel version of the OS	uname -r
top	Displays running system processes in real-time	top

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Networking Basics

Command	Description	Example
ping <hostname>	Check network connectivity	ping google.com
ifconfig	Display network configuration (may require sudo)	ifconfig
netstat	Show network connections and listening ports	netstat
nslookup <domain>	Find the IP address of a domain	nslookup google.com
traceroute <hostname>	Track the route packets take to reach a host	traceroute google.com

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Additional Resources

For more in-depth learning:

• The Linux Command Line by William Shotts

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Feel free to explore and experiment with these commands to build your Linux confidence. Happy coding!