Handy Linux User Commands

../ represents one directory higher
cat filename display file contents
cat stuff1 stuff2 > allStuff combine files
cat someStuff >> allStuff append to a file
cd dirName go into the directory dirName
chmod [permission mode] file change the permission of a file (4=read, 2=write, 1=execute for user/group/all)
chown user file change the owner of a file
clear clear the terminal
cp file1 file2 copy file1 to file2
date print current date and time
find someStuff locate a file or directory
finger user get some info about a user
free display some stats about memory usage
ftp hostname connect to an ftp server
gunzip file.gz extract contents of gzipped compressed files
hostname display the hostname of the computer
kill [ID] terminate a process
less file view file in terminal with ability to scroll up and down
ln sourceName destDirectory create symbolic link to a file
locate file locate a file from a database maintained by the computer
login login to the computer
lpr file sends a file to the print spooler
ls list the contents of the current directory
ls directory list the contents of a given directory
man program display manual pages for a program
mkdir directory create a directory
more file view file in terminal with ability to scroll down
mv source target move a file
passwd user change a user's password
pico file open a file in the pico text editor
pwd print the full pathname of the current directory
quota user display the disk quota allocated to a user
rm file delete a file
rmdir directory delete a directory
rm -rf anything forcefully delete something (like a directory, recursively)
sh the standard Unix shell, bash
ssh hostname open an ssh session
su switch to the superuser's (root's) identity
su user switch to another user's identity
tail file print the last 10 lines of a file
telnet hostname open a telnet session
touch file update the access time and last modified time for a file to the current time and date
uname -a print system information
vi file open a file in the vi or vim text editor
who am i gives info about the current user
who -uH gives info and idle times for all users

Handy Linux Sys Admin Commands

halt shuts down the machine
mount /mnt/floppy mounts the floppy fs
mount /mnt/cdrom mounts the cd-rom fs
shutdown -r "now" restarts the machine
umount mountedLocation unmounts a filesystem
update db update file database used by locate command