Linux Commands Cheatsheet

Essential Linux commands grouped by task: files, processes, network, permissions

The Linux commands cheatsheet covers essential terminal commands grouped by task: file system navigation, text processing, process management, networking, permissions, and compression. Search by command name or description, and copy any command with one click.

How to Use This Linux Commands Cheatsheet

Linux commands are the backbone of server administration, development workflows, and DevOps automation. This cheatsheet covers the most commonly used commands with real examples you can run immediately.

File Navigation

Use ls -la to list all files including hidden ones with details. cd - jumps back to previous directory. find . -name "*.log" -mtime +7 finds log files older than 7 days.

Text Processing

grep -r "error" /var/log/ searches all logs recursively. Combine with sort | uniq -c | sort -rn for frequency analysis. awk '{print $2}' extracts the second column from tabular output.

Process Management

ps aux | grep process finds running processes. kill -9 PID force-kills a process. nohup command & runs a command in the background that survives logout.

Copying Commands

Every command card has a Copy button. Click to copy the command to clipboard. Angle brackets like <file> are placeholders — replace with actual filenames or values.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this Linux commands cheatsheet free?

Yes, completely free with no signup. All content loads in your browser with search and copy functionality.

What Linux distributions does this cover?

Commands covered work on all major Linux distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Fedora, and Arch. A few commands may require package installation on minimal systems (like htop or nmap).

How do I find a file in Linux?

Use find: find /path -name 'filename' searches by name. find /path -type f -mtime -7 finds files modified in the last 7 days. For faster searching of indexed files, use locate filename (requires locate database). grep -r 'text' /path searches inside files.

How do I check disk usage in Linux?

Use df -h to see disk space per filesystem in human-readable format. Use du -sh /path to see the size of a specific directory. du -sh * sorts all items in the current directory. ncdu is an interactive disk usage viewer if installed.

How do I kill a process by name in Linux?

Use killall processname to kill all processes with that name. Use pkill -f 'pattern' to kill processes matching a pattern. First find the PID with pgrep processname or ps aux | grep processname, then kill PID.