| Command | Purpose | |
| /bin/sh | change to the bourne shell | |
| /bin/csh | change to the C-shell | |
| /bin/bash | change to the bash shell (Ubuntu default) | |
| echo $SHELL | show which shell you are currently using | |
| pwd | print working directory, displays the directory that the terminal is pointing to | |
| echo $PATH | show your current path | |
| ls -d */ or ls -l | grep "^d" | list directories only | |
| ls -l | grep -v "^d" | list files only | |
| > <file_name> | redirect
output to a text file, ex: ls -l
> files.txt This will create a file called files.txt with the output of ls -l, warning if any files with name files.txt will be erased in favor of new file |
|
| >> <file_name> | similar to redirect except that an existing file will be appended to on the end of the file | |
| echo $USER or whoami | show which user is currently logged in | |
| cd ~ | change to the currently logged in user's home directory | |
| echo $HOME | displays the currently logged in users home directory | |
| ln -s <path> <location of link> | create a symbolic link to a file or folder, a shortcut by another name | |
| sudo fdisk -l | shows you all the partitions available mounted or unmounted | |
| sudo dpgk -i <.deb package> | install a debian package, *.deb will install a series of debian packages | |
| dpkg -l | list all packages installed on your PC, follow with | grep <string> to find a certain package | |
| sudo apt-get update | update the package manager | |
| sudo apt-get install <package(s)> | install packages, there can be multiple packages each separated by a space | |
| ps -ef | list all processes running, follow with | grep <string> to list a processes | |
| shred -fuz <filename> | completely remove file from media, shred overwrites files with zeroes | |
| rm -rf <folder> | wipe files AND folders recursively, VERY dangerous command | |
| wipe -rf <folder> | securely wipe files AND folders recursively, VERY dangerous command | |
| kill [-9] <process id> | terminalte a process, process number can be gotten from the ps -ef command, the -9 means to kill without anymore input | |
| df -k | list free disk space of all partitions in kilobytes | |
| wget <website> | retrieves a file from a website using http or ftp | |
| ifconfig -a | give information about all networking interfaces | |
| iwconfig | tests to see if network interfaces have wireless connectivity | |
| lspci | list of devices connected to the PC via PCI | |
| lsusb | list of devices connected to the PC via USB | |
| gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf | allows editing of the xorg.conf using gedit for X-Server | |
| gksudo gedit /etc/fstab | allows editing of the fstab using gedit for mounting drives | |
| sudo mount -a | mounts all mount points specified by your /etc/fstab file | |
| sudo umount -a | un-mounts all mount points specified by your /etc/fstab file | |
| sudo fc-cache -f -v | adds fonts for usage by applications | |
| sudo apt-get clean | remove cached .deb packages that apt-get uses during installation | |
| sudo apt-get autoremove <package> | removes package and the package dependencies | |
| sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart | restart network manager | |
| sudo /etc/init.d/cupsys restart | restart CUPS | |
| firefox localhost:631 | CUPS web based manager | |
| sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg | reconfigure your xorg.conf file | |
| <command> & | follow shell commands with the & character, example: gksudo gedit /etc/fstab & will free terminal up for other commands | |
| uname -r | information of what kernel you are using | |
| find <dir> -exec grep "<string>" '{}' \; -print | find all files recursively cantaining <string> in directory <dir>, wildcards allowed | |
| find -name <filename> | find files recursively cantaining <filename>, wildcards allowed | |
| gnome-terminal --geometry=WxH | sizes the gnome-terminal where W=width and H=height in colums | |
| cat /proc/cpuinfo | information on CPU | |
| cat /proc/meminfo | information on RAM | |
| sudo /etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server restart | restart NFS networking service, can use start and stop as well | |
| sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart | restart Samba service, can use start and stop as well | |
| sudo smbpasswd -L -a <username> | create Samba user and set user password for Samba <username> | |
| sudo passwd <username> | create new password for user <username> | |
| du -cb <folder> | show disc space used in bytes of <folder> | |
| find . -depth -print0 | cpio --null --sparse -pvd <dest> | create exact copy of current folder to <dest>, use sudo if needed | |
| k3b --nofork | allow k3b to run multiple instances | |
| cat /etc/issue | tell what version of Ubuntu you are running |