A Linux cheat sheet for beginners (short, sweet, and to the point)

Linux (Useful Commands) Terminal Cheat Sheet

Navigation Commands:

• passwd - change password
• ls - list directory (Can point at any point on the machine)
  • -la a flag that lists all + permissions and hidden files
• pwd - print working directory - check where you're at
• cd - change directory (Can address at any point in the machine file system)
• mkdir - make directory
• rmdir - remove director
• rm - remove files
• echo - sends data (if no destination is given than data is sent as output to the terminal)
• cp copy a file (cp [source] [desintation])
• mv - mv a file (mv [source] [desintation])
• locate - locate a file on the machine (locate [filename])
• updatedb - updates the directory database (must run before running locate)
• man - manual page of any command
• grep - search for the following words (can be used to check if a file contains specific info)

Linux is case sensitive so be aware of your capital letters!

• ./ - your directory right now
• ../ - previous folder
• ~ - the users root folder
• | - pipe the output of one command into another
• > - use command on the following file (overwrite)
• >> - use command on following file (appends)

Privilege's and user commands:

• cat - reads a file to the terminal
• chmod - changes permissions for a file
• adduser - make a new user
• sudo - give root permissions for the following command being executed
• su - switch user

Network Commands:

• ifconfig - print network information
• iwconfig - wireless network information
• ping - ping an ip address (-c flag lets you define how many times you wish to ping the given ip address)
• arp -a - send out an arp request to check for machines on the network
• netstat -a - shows all open ports and what is connected to these ports
• route - shows a routing table

Viewing, creating, and editing commands:

• history - lists the 15 commands you entered (history | grep [command] shows all the times you run a command on the machine (including specific syntax))
• touch - create a file
• nano - use the nano text editor
• apt-get - install [program name] - install a program on the machine (can be run without the install)
• apt install - install a file from the system / kali - server
• apt purge - program name - (You have to use the * *)
• pip install - run an installer for local files
• git clone - clone a github repository (This is a plugin and does not come preinstalled on most linux distributions!)

Webserver Commands:

• service apache2 start - start a webserver
• service ssh start - start an ssh server
• service postgresql start - a service that starts with metasploit
• service apache2 stop - stops the webserver
• systemctl enable [program name] - start the service when the machine turns on

Important files/directories in Linux:

• /etc/passwd - a file that stores all of the users in the system
• /etc/shadow - stores all of the passwords in the system
• /var/log/auth.log - authentication reports

Thanks for reading and feel free to follow Clean Code Studio for more!

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