Most Linux Commands

Explanation
EXAMPLE:

1. To create a shortcut temporarily:
alias lhost='cd /var/www/html'
This command will set lhost to cd /var/www/html/.

Now if you type lhost it will take you to the specified folder/directory.
2. To create a shortcut Permanently:

You can put your aliases into the /home/user/.bashrc file. It is good to add them at the
end of the file.
alias home='cd /var/www/html/hscripts/linux-commands'
Now if you type home it will take you to the specified folder/directory.
3. To create a shortcut for a command:
alias c='clear'
This command will set c to clear.

Now if you type c it will clear the screen.
Explanation
awk COMMAND:
awk command is used to manipulate the text.This command checks each line of a file, looking
for patterns that match those given on the command line.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
awk '{pattern + action}' {filenames}
OPTIONS:

-W version Display version information and exit.
-F Print help message and exit.
EXAMPLE:
Lets create a file file1.txt and let it have the following data:
Data in file1.txt
14 15 16
15 15 11
5 56 6
5 25 1
1. To print the second column data in file1.txt
awk '{print $2}' file1.txt

This command will manipulate and print second column of text file (file1.txt). The output will look
like
15
15
56
25
2. To multiply the column-1 and column-2 and redirect the output to file2.txt:
awk '{print $1,$2,$1*$2}' file1.txt > file2.txt

Command Explanation:
$1 : Prints 1st column
$2 : Prints 2ndcolumn
$1*$2 : Prints Result of $1 x $2
file1.txt : input file
> : redirection symbol
file2.txt : output file
The above command will redirect the output to file2.txt and it will look like,
14 15 210
15 15 225
5 56 280
5 25 125
Explanation
autoreconf COMMAND:
autoreconf - Update generated configuration files
Run 'autoreconf' repeatedly to remake the GNU Build System files in the DIRECTORIES or the
directory trees driven by CONFIG-URE-AC.
By default, it only remakes those files that are older than their predecessors. If you install
new versions of the GNU Build System, running 'autoreconf' remakes all of the files by giving it
the '--force' option.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
autoreconf [OPTION] ... [CONFIGURE-AC or DIRECTORY] ...
OPTIONS:

-i, --install copy missing auxiliary files.
-s,--symlink with -i, install symbolic links instead of copies
-m, --make when applicable, re-run ./configure && make
-W,--warnings=CATEGORY report the warnings falling in CATEGORY [syntax]
Warning categories include:

'cross' cross compilation issues
'gnu' GNU coding standards (default in gnu and gnits modes).
'obsolete' obsolete features or constructions
'override' user redefinitions of Automake rules or variables
'portability' portability issues
'syntax' dubious syntactic constructs (default).
EXAMPLE:

autoreconf --force --install -I config -I m4
Explanation
a2p COMMAND:
a2p - Awk to Perl translator
A2p takes an awk script specified on the command line (or from standard input) and produces a
comparable perl script on the standard output.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
a2p [options] [filename]
OPTIONS:

EXAMPLE:

a2p myfile - would convert the file myfile.
Awk to perl translator scripts are often embedded in a shell script that pipes stuff into and out of
awk. Often the shell script wrapper can be incorporated into the perl script, since perl can start
up pipes into and out of itself, and can do other things that awk can't do by itself.
Explanation
bc COMMAND:
bc command is used for command line calculator. It is similar to basic calculator. By using
which we can do basic mathematical calculations.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
bc [options]
OPTIONS:

-c Compile only. The output is dc commands that are sent to the standard output.
-l Define the math functions and initialize scale to 20, instead of the default zero.
Name of the file that contains the basic calculator commands to be calculated
filename
this is not a necessary command.
EXAMPLE:

1. bc
Output:
bc 1.06
Copyright 1991-1994,1997,1998,2000 Free Software Foundation,Inc.
This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
For details type `warranty'.
9*2
18
The above command used is for mathematical calculations.
2. bc -l
Output:
bc 1.06
1+2
3
The above command displays the sum of '1+2'.
3. bc calc.txt
Output:
bc 1.06
3
'calc.txt' file have the following code:1+2. Get the input from file and displays the output.
Explanation
bg COMMAND:
bg command is used to place a job in background. User can run a job in the background by
adding a "&" symbol at the end of the command.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
bg [options] [job]
OPTIONS:

-l Report the process group ID and working directory of the jobs.
-p Report only the process group ID of the jobs.
Replace any job_id found in command or arguments with the corresponding
-x
process group ID, then execute command passing it arguments.
job Specifies the job that want to run in the background.
EXAMPLE:

1. To Run a process in background

2. kmail- start the email client application.
Press ctrl+z to stop the current job.
Now just type bg to move last stopped job to background.
3. To move the specified job to back ground:
Lets start some three jobs and suspend those process in background.
kmail- start the email client application.
xmms- music player application.
sleep 120- a dummy job.
jobs
The above command will display the jobs in the shell.
[1] Stopped kmail
[2]- Stopped xmms
[3]+ Stopped sleep 120
bg 2
The above command will start running the xmms application. In such way you can start running
the specific background process.
jobs
[1]- Stopped kmail
[2] Running xmms &
Explanation
bzip2 COMMAND:
bzip2 linux command is used to compress the file. Each file is replaced by a compressed
version of itself with .bz2 extension.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
bzip2 [ options ] filenames
OPTIONS:

-c Compress or decompress to standard output.
-d Force decompression.
-z The complement to -d. Force compression.
Performs the integrity test. It performs a trial decompression test and prints the
-t
result.
-f Force overwrite of output file.
Keep the original file. dont delete the input file during compression or
-k
decompression.
-q Quiet, suppress non-essential warning messages.
-s Reduce memory usage, for compression,decompression and testing.
-v verbose mode shows the compression ratio for each file processed.
-V Displays the version of the software.
-L Displays the license terms and conditions.
-1 Performs fast compression,creating a relatively large files.
-9 Get the best possible compression.
EXAMPLE:

1. To Compress a file using bzip2:
Lets have a text file as an example.
$ ls -l
-rw-rw-r-- 1 hiox hiox 9150000 Sep 26 18:37 hiox.txt
$ bzip2 -c -1 hiox.txt > hiox.txt.bz2

$ ls -l
-rw-rw-r-- 1 hiox hiox 17706 Sep 27 12:38 hiox.txt.bz2
From the above example it is clear that the filesize is reduced from 9150000 bytes to 17706.
When the File is reduced with option -9 the filesize still gets reduced.
$ bzip2 -c -9 hiox.txt > hscripts.txt.bz2
$ ls -l
-rw-rw-r-- 1 hiox hiox 17706 Sep 27 12:38 hiox.txt.bz2
-rw-rw-r-- 1 hiox hiox 2394 Sep 27 13:01 hscripts.txt.bz2
When the file is compressed with -1 the size was 17706 bytes and now the filesize is 2394 bytes.
The 9 makes best compression but the default is 6.
Explanation
cal COMMAND:
cal command is used to display the calendar.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cal [options] [month] [year]
OPTIONS:

-1 Displays single month as output.
-3 Displays prev/current/next month output.
-s Displays sunday as the first day of the week.
-m Displays Monday as the first day of the week.
-j Displays Julian dates (days one-based, numbered from January 1).
-y Displays a calendar for the current year.
EXAMPLE:

1. cal
Output:
September 2008
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30
cal command displays the current month calendar.
2. cal -3 5 2008
Output:
April 2008 May 2008 June 2008
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
27 28 29 30 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30
Here the cal command displays the calendar of April, May and June month of year 2008.
Explanation
cat COMMAND:
cat linux command concatenates files and print it on the standard output.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cat [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
OPTIONS:

-A Show all.
-b Omits line numbers for blank space in the output.
-e A $ character will be printed at the end of each line prior to a new line.
-E Displays a $ (dollar sign) at the end of each line.
-n Line numbers for all the output lines.
-s If the output has multiple empty lines it replaces it with one empty line.
-T Displays the tab characters in the output.
Non-printing characters (with the exception of tabs, new-lines and form-feeds)
-v
are printed visibly.
EXAMPLE:

1. To Create a new file:
cat > file1.txt
This command creates a new file file1.txt. After typing into the file press control+d (^d)
simultaneously to end the file.
2. To Append data into the file:
cat >> file1.txt
To append data into the same file use append operator >> to write into the file, else the file will
be overwritten (i.e., all of its contents will be erased).
3. To display a file:
cat file1.txt
This command displays the data in the file.
4. To concatenate several files and display:
cat file1.txt file2.txt
The above cat command will concatenate the two files (file1.txt and file2.txt) and it will display
the output in the screen. Some times the output may not fit the monitor screen. In such situation
you can print those files in a new file or display the file using less command.
cat file1.txt file2.txt | less
5. To concatenate several files and to transfer the output to another file.
cat file1.txt file2.txt > file3.txt
In the above example the output is redirected to new file file3.txt. The cat command will create
new file file3.txt and store the concatenated output into file3.txt.
Explanation
cd COMMAND:
cd command is used to change the directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cd [directory | ~ | ./ | ../ | - ]
OPTIONS:

-L Use the physical directory structure.
-P Forces symbolic links.
EXAMPLE:

1. cd linux-command
This command will take you to the sub-directory(linux-command) from its parent directory.
2. cd ..
This will change to the parent-directory from the current working directory/sub-directory.
3. cd ~
This command will move to the user's home directory which is "/home/username".
chattr COMMAND:
chattr command is used to change the file attributes. This is an admin command. Root user only
can change the file attributes/Process.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
chattr [options] filename
OPTIONS:

+i Make the file as Read-Only.
-i Remove the Read-Only.
+a Can't open file for writing.
-a Open file for writing.
+S The changes in the file are written synchronously on the disk.
EXAMPLE:

1. chattr +i test.txt
Here the 'test.txt' file has the write permission, to make it as Read-Only file use +i option.
2. chattr -i test.txt
The above command process is used to remove the Read-Only mark.
Explanation
chgrp COMMAND:
chgrp command is used to change the group of the file or directory. This is an admin
command. Root user only can change the group of the file or directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
chgrp [options] newgroup filename/directoryname
OPTIONS:

Change the permission on files that are in the subdirectories of the directory that
-R
you are currently in.
-c Change the permission for each file.
-f Force. Do not report errors.
EXAMPLE:

1. chgrp hiox test.txt
The group of 'test.txt' file is root, Change to newgroup hiox.
2. chgrp -R hiox test
The group of 'test' directory is root. With -R, the files and its subdirectories also changes
to newgroup hiox.
3. chgrp -c hiox calc.txt
They above command is used to change the group for the specific file('calc.txt') only.
Explanation
chkconfig COMMAND:
chkconfig command is used to change, update and query runlevel information for system
services. chkconfig is an admin command.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
chkconfig [options]
OPTIONS:

Create a start or kill symbolic link in every runlevel for the specified
--add service service according to default behavior specified in the service's
initialization script.
Print whether the specified service is on or off in each level. If no
--list service is specified, print runlevel information for all services managed
by chkconfig.
Specify by number the runlevels to change. Provide numbers as a
--level numbers numeric string: e.g., 016 for levels 0, 1 and 6. Use this to override
specified defaults.
--del service Remove entries for specified service from all runlevels.
EXAMPLE:

1. chkconfig --list
The above configuration command list the runlevels and the service status(i.e, on or off).
2. chkconfig tomcat5 off
The above command is used to set the status for tomcat5 service. Now tomcat5 service status is
off.
3. chkconfig --list tomcat5
Output:
tomcat5 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off
The above command displays the status of tomcat5 service(i.e, on or off).
Explanation
chmod COMMAND:
chmod command allows you to alter / Change access rights to files and directories.
File Permission is given for users,group and others as,

Read Write Execute
User
Group
Others
Permission 000
Symbolic ___ ___ ___

Mode
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
chmod [options] [MODE] FileName
File Permission
# File Permission
0 none
1 execute only
2 write only
3 write and execute
4 read only
5 read and execute
6 read and write
7 set all permissions
OPTIONS:

-c Displays names of only those files whose permissions are being changed
-f Suppress most error messages
-R Change files and directories recursively
-v Output version information and exit.
EXAMPLE:

1. To view your files with what permission they are:
ls -alt
This command is used to view your files with what permission they are.
2. To make a file readable and writable by the group and others.
chmod 066 file1.txt
3. To allow everyone to read, write, and execute the file
chmod 777 file1.txt
Explanation
chown COMMAND:
chown command is used to change the owner / user of the file or directory. This is an
admin command, root user only can change the owner of a file or directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
chown [options] newowner filename/directoryname
OPTIONS:

Change the permission on files that are in the subdirectories of the directory
-R
that you are currently in.
-c Change the permission for each file.
Prevents chown from displaying error messages when it is unable to change
-f
the ownership of a file.
EXAMPLE:

1. chown hiox test.txt
The owner of the 'test.txt' file is root, Change to new user hiox.
2. chown -R hiox test
The owner of the 'test' directory is root, With -R option the files and subdirectories
user also gets changed.
3. chown -c hiox calc.txt
Here change the owner for the specific 'calc.txt' file only.
Explanation
chpasswd COMMAND:
chpasswd command is used to change password for users. This is an admin command,
Only root user can change the password for users.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
chpasswd [options]
OPTIONS:

-c Clears all password flags.
-e Specifies that the passwords are of encrypted format.
Specifies the comma separated list of password flags to set. Valid
-f flags flag values are: ADMIN, ADMCHG, and/or NOCHECK. Refer to the
pwdadm command documentation for details about these values.
Specifies the loadable I & A module used to change user's
-R load_module
password.
EXAMPLE:

1. To reset password for users from command line,type
chpasswd
Followed by entering username:password pairs, one pair per line. Enter ctrl+D when
finished.
user1:passwd1
user2:passwd2
....
Explanation
clear COMMAND:
This command clears the terminal screen.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
clear
OPTIONS:
There is no options for clearscreen command.
EXAMPLE:

1. clear
clear command clearscreen like cls command.
2. You can also have alias for this command.
alias c='clear'
c is the alias name for clear command.
Explanation
cmp COMMAND:
cmp linux command compares two files and tells you which line numbers are different.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cmp [options..] file1 file2
OPTIONS:

-c Output differing bytes as characters.
Print the byte number (decimal) and the differing byte values (octal) for each
-l
difference.
-s Prints nothing for differing files, return exit status only.
EXAMPLE:

1. Compare two files:
cmp file1 file2
The above cmp command compares file1.php with file2.php and results as follows.
file1.php file2.php differ: byte 35, line 3
2. Compare two files output differing bytes as characters:
cmp -c file1.php file2.php
The above cmp command compares file1.php with file2.php and results as follows.
file1.php file2.php differ: byte 35, line 3 is 151 i 15
Explanation
cp COMMAND:
cp command copy files from one location to another. If the destination is an existing file,
then the file is overwritten; if the destination is an existing directory, the file is copied into
the directory (the directory is not overwritten).
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cp [OPTIONS]... SOURCE DEST
cp [OPTIONS]... SOURCE... DIRECTORY
cp [OPTIONS]... --target-directory=DIRECTORY SOURCE...
OPTIONS:

-a same as -dpR.
--backup[=CONTROL] make a backup of each existing destination file
-b like --backup but does not accept an argument.
if an existing destination file cannot be opened, remove it and try
-f
again.
-p same as --preserve=mode,ownership,timestamps.
preserve the specified attributes (default:
--
mode,ownership,timestamps) and security contexts, if possible
preserve[=ATTR_LIST]
additional attributes: links, all.
--no-
don't preserve the specified attribute.
preserve=ATTR_LIST
--parents append source path to DIRECTORY.
EXAMPLE:

1. Copy two files:
cp file1 file2
The above cp command copies the content of file1.php to file2.php.
2. To backup the copied file:
cp -b file1.php file2.php
Backup of file1.php will be created with '~' symbol as file2.php~.
3. Copy folder and subfolders:
cp -R scripts scripts1
The above cp command copy the folder and subfolders from scripts to scripts1.
Explanation
cut COMMAND:
cut command is used to cut out selected fields of each line of a file. The cut command uses
delimiters to determine where to split fields.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cut [options]
OPTIONS:

-c Specifies character positions.
-b Specifies byte positions.
-d flags Specifies the delimiters and fields.
EXAMPLE:
Lets create a file file1.txt and let it have the following data:
Data in file1.txt
This is, an example program,for cut command.
1. cut -c1-3 text.txt
Output:
Thi
Cut the first three letters from the above line.
2. cut -d, -f1,2 text.txt
Output:
This is, an example program
The above command is used to split the fields using delimiter and cut the first two fields.
Explanation
date COMMAND:
date command prints the date and time.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
date [options] [+format] [date]
OPTIONS:

Slowly adjust the time by sss.fff seconds (fff represents fractions of a second).
-a This adjustment can be positive or negative.Only system admin/ super user can
adjust the time.
-s date Sets the time and date to the value specfied in the datestring. The datestr may
-string contain the month names, timezones, 'am', 'pm', etc.
-u Display (or set) the date in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-universal time).
Format:
%a Abbreviated weekday(Tue).
%A Full weekday(Tuesday).
%b Abbreviated month name(Jan).
%B Full month name(January).
%c Country-specific date and time format..
%D Date in the format %m/%d/%y.
%j Julian day of year (001-366).
%n Insert a new line.
%p String to indicate a.m. or p.m.
%T Time in the format %H:%M:%S.
%t Tab space.
%V Week number in year (01-52); start week on Monday.
EXAMPLE:

1. date command
date
The above command will print Wed Jul 23 10:52:34 IST 2008
2. To use tab space:
date +"Date is %D %t Time is %T"

The above command will remove space and print as
Date is 07/23/08 Time is 10:52:34
3. To know the week number of the year,
date -V
The above command will print 30
4. To set the date,
date -s "10/08/2008 11:37:23"

The above command will print Wed Oct 08 11:37:23 IST 2008
Explanation
dd COMMAND:
dd command is used to dump the data. The data in a file or device or partition can be
dumped to another file or device or partition. This command is also used for creating bootable
devices.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
dd [options]
OPTIONS:

Specifies the input device or partition (or) file from which data is to be
-if
dumped
Specifies the output device or partition (or) file to which data is to be
-of
dumped
Specifies how many bytes is to be readed from a input file at a time during
-ibs
the dumping process
Specifies how many bytes is to be written to the output file at a time during
-obs
the dumping process
Specifies how many bytes is to be readed and written at a time during the
-bs
dumping process
-
Specifies how many bytes is to be dumped from 'if' to 'of'
count=[bytes]
EXAMPLE:

1. To create bootable floppy :
dd if=diskboot.img of=/dev/fd0
This command creates the bootable floppy.
In above command:
diskboot.img -Is the bootable image
/dev/fd0 -Is a floppy disk
2. To import the data from one hard-disk to another hard-disk:
dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb
In above command:
/dev/sda -Is the hard-disk from which data is dumped
/dev/sdb -Is the hard-disk to which data is dumped
3. To import the data from one partition to another partition:
dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sda2
/dev/sda1 -Is the partition from which data is dumped
/dev/sda2 -Is the partition to which data in /dev/sda1 is dumped
4. To Specify number of bytes readed and written at a time during dumping:
dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sda2 bs=2100
The above command will dump data from /dev/sda1 to /dev/sda2 by reading and writing
2100 bytes at a time.
Explanation
df COMMAND:
df command is used to report how much free disk space is available for each mount you have.
The first column show the name of the disk partition as it appears in the /dev directory.
Subsequent columns show total space, blocks allocated and blocks available.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
df [options]
OPTIONS:

-a Include dummy file systems.
-h Print sizes in human readable format.(e.g., 1K 234M 2G)
-H Print sizes in human readable format but use powers of 1000 not 1024.
-i List inode information instead of block usage.
-l Limit listing to local file systems.
-P Use the POSIX output format.
-T Print file system type.
EXAMPLE:

1. df
Output:
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on

/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00
150263916 14440324 128067408 11% /
/dev/sda1 101086 10896 84971 12% /boot
tmpfs 253336 0 253336 0% /dev/shm
In the above output:

/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 -> Specifies FileSystem.
/dev/sda1 -> Specifies FileSystem.
tmpfs -> Specifies FileSystem.
Prints default format.
2. df -h
Output:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

144G 14G 123G 11% /
/dev/sda1 99M 11M 83M 12% /boot
tmpfs 248M 0 248M 0% /dev/shm
Print size in human readable format.
3. df -H
Output:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

154G 15G 132G 11% /
/dev/sda1 104M 12M 88M 12% /boot
tmpfs 260M 0 260M 0% /dev/shm
Print size in human readable format but use powers of 1000 not to 1024.
Explanation
diff COMMAND:
diff command is used to find differences between two files.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
diff [options..] from-file to-file
OPTIONS:

-a Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line.
-b Ignore changes in amount of white space.
-c Use the context output format.
-e Make output that is a valid ed script.
Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous scattered
-H
small changes.
-i Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case letters equivalent.
Prints in RCS-format, like -f except that each command specifies the number of
-n
lines affected.
Output RCS-format diffs; like -f except that each command specifies the number
-q
of lines affected.
-r When comparing directories, recursively compare any subdirectories found.
-s Report when two files are the same.
-w Ignore white space when comparing lines.
-y Use the side by side output format.
EXAMPLE:

Lets create two files file1.txt and file2.txt and let it have the following data.
Data in file1.txt Data in file2.txt
HIOX TEST
HIOX TEST
hscripts.com
HSCRIPTS.com
with friend ship
with friend ship
hiox india
1. Compare files ignoring white space:
diff -w file1.txt file2.txt
This command will compare the file file1.txt with file2.txt ignoring white/blank space and it will
produce the following output.
2c2
< hscripts.com
---
> HSCRIPTS.com
4d3
< Hioxindia.com
2. Compare the files side by side, ignoring white space:
diff -by file1.txt file2.txt
This command will compare the files ignoring white/blank space, It is easier to differentiate the
files.
HIOX TEST HIOX TEST

hscripts.com | HSCRIPTS.com
with friend ship with friend ship
Hioxindia.com <
The third line(with friend ship) in file2.txt has more blank spaces, but still the -b ignores the
blank space and does not show changes in the particular line, -y printout the result side by side.
3. Compare the files ignoring case.
diff -iy file1.txt file2.txt
This command will compare the files ignoring case(upper-case and lower-case) and displays the
following output.
HIOX TEST HIOX TEST

hscripts.com HSCRIPTS.com
with friend ship | with friend ship
Hioxindia.com <
Explanation
du COMMAND:
du command is used to report how much disk space a file or directory occupies.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
du [options] directories
OPTIONS:

-a Displays the usage of space that each file is taking up.
-k Write the files size in units of 1024 bytes, rather than the default 512-byte units.
Instead of the default output, report only the total sum for each of the specified
-s
files.
Process symbolic links by using the file or directory which the symbolic link
-L
references, rather than the link itself.
When evaluating file sizes, evaluate only those files that have the same device
-x
as the file specified by the file operand.
EXAMPLE:

1. du -a images
Output:
12 images/daisy.jpg
20 images/flo.gif
76 images/CHILD.gif
12 images/indigo.gif
152 images/flower.gif
12 images/sunflower.jpg
12 images/tulip-flower-clipart5.gif
12 images/flower.jpg
8 images/thumbnail.aspx
8 images/baby.jpg
12 images/woodpecker.gif
168 images/baby.gif
8 images/thumbnail.jpg
1012 images/house.bmp
12 images/peacock.gif
1544 images
Displays the size of each file in the specified directory.
2. du -s images
Output:
1544 images
Displays the total disk space used by the specified directory.
3. du -h
Output:
84K
Displays the current folder capacity.
4. du -h file1.php
Output:
8.0K file1.php
Displays the storage capacity of file1.php.
Explanation
dump COMMAND:
dump command makes backup of filesystem or file and directories.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
dump [options] [dump-file] [File-system or file or directories].
OPTIONS:

-[level] The dump level any integer
-f Make the backup in a specified file
-u Updates /etc/dumpdats file for the backup made
-v Displays Verbose Information
-e Exclude inode while making backup
EXAMPLE:

1. To make a backup for a directory or file :
dump -0uf databackup /home/user1/data

This command creates a dump-file called databackup which is the backup of /home/user1/data
directory.
In above command:
-0 -Is the dump-level [0 specifies full-backup]
databackup -Is a dump-file [or backup-file]
/home/user1/data -Is a directory for which a backup is created
2. To make a backup for a directory or file which is already backedup with dump level 0:
dump -1uf databackup /home/user1/data

This command backups all the new files added to /home/user1/data directory after level-0 dump
is made.
-1 -Is the dump-level [1 specifies incremental backup]
Explanation
echo COMMAND:
echo command prints the given input string to standard output.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
echo [options..] [string]
OPTIONS:

-n do not output the trailing newline
-e enable interpretation of the backslash-escaped characters listed below
-E disable interpretation of those sequences in STRINGs
Without -E, the following sequences are recognized and interpolated:

\NNN the character whose ASCII code is NNN (octal)
\a alert (BEL)
\\ backslash
\b backspace
\c suppress trailing newline
\f form feed
\n new line
\r carriage return
\t horizontal tab
\v vertical tab
EXAMPLE:

1. echo command
echo "hscripts Hiox India"

The above command will print as hscripts Hiox India
2. To use backspace:
echo -e "hscripts \bHiox \bIndia"

The above command will remove space and print as hscriptsHioxIndia
3. To use tab space in echo command
echo -e "hscripts\tHiox\tIndia"
The above command will print as hscripts Hiox India
Explanation
egrep COMMAND:
egrep command is used to search and find one or more files for lines that match the given
string or word.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
egrep [options] pattern [file]
OPTIONS:

-b Print the byte offset of input file before each line of output.
-c Print's the count of line matched.
-e pattern list Searches the pattern list.
-h Print matched lines but not filenames.
-n Print line and line number.
-q Prints in quite mode, prints nothing.
-r Recursively read all files in directories and in subdirectories found.
-v Prints all the lines that do not match.
-V Print Version.
-w Match on whole word only.
You can also use Patterns for search operation.
. Matches single character.
* Wild Character.
^ Starting with.
$ Ending with.
EXAMPLE:
Lets assume that we have a file file1.txt and it has the following data.
hscripts has many valuable free scripts
It is the parent site of www.forums.hscripts.com
hscripts include free tutorials and free gif images
free DNS lookup tool
Purchase scripts from us
A webmaster/web master resource website
1. To search more words from a file :
egrep 'hscripts|forums|free' file1.txt
The output will be.
2. To print the lines containing "free" followed by images:
egrep 'free.*images' file1.txt
The output will be.
Explanation
fdisk COMMAND:
fdisk command is used for partition table manipulator. Hard disks can be divided into one or
more logical disks called partitions.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
fdisk [options]
OPTIONS:

-l List the partition tables for the specified devies and then exit.
-u When listing partition tables, give sizes in sectors instead of cylinders.
-s The size of the partition is printed on the standard output.
-b Specify the sector size of the disk.
-C Specify the number of cylinders of the disk.
-H Specify the number of heads of the disk.
-S Specify the number of sectors per track of the disk.
EXAMPLE:

1. fdisk /dev/hdb
It prints the partition table and configuration information.
Explanation
fg COMMAND:
fg command is used to place a job in foreground.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
fg [specify job]
OPTIONS:
There is no options for fg command.
EXAMPLE:

1. To move a process in foreground:
Lets start some three jobs and suspend those running process in background.
kmail- start the email client application.
xmms- music player application.
sleep 120- a dummy job.
jobs
The above command will display the jobs in the shell.
[1] Stopped kmail
[2]- Stopped xmms
fg 1
The above command will run the kmail application process in foreground.
Explanation
fgrep COMMAND:
fgrep command is used to search one or more files for lines that match the given string or
word. fgrep is faster than grep search, but less flexible: it can only find fixed text, not regular
expressions.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
fgrep [options] pattern [file]
OPTIONS:

-a Don't suppress output lines with binary data, treat as text.
-V Print Version.
EXAMPLE:
hscripts is the parent site of www.forums.hscripts.com
ask your technical doubts in our forum
our forums is free
1. To search and print the lines containing forum :
fgrep 'forum' file1.txt
fgrep command prints the output as.
hscripts is the parent site of www.forums.hscripts.com
our forums is free
Explanation
file COMMAND:
file command tells you if the object you are looking at is a file or a directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
file [options] directoryname/filename
OPTIONS:

Check the magic file for format errors. For reasons of efficiency, this validation is
-c
normally not carried out.
-h Do not follow symbolic links.
-m Use mfile as an alternate magic file.
-f ffile contains a list of the files to be examined.
EXAMPLE:

1. file *.txt
Output:
aprlist.txt: ASCII English text
cal.txt: ASCII text
marchlist.txt: ASCII English text
text.txt: ASCII text
Prints the 'txt' files.
2. file nimi
Output:
nimi: directory
Print the given object nimi is an directory or file.
Explanation
find COMMAND:
find command finds one or more files assuming that you know their approximate filenames.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
find path [options]
OPTIONS:

It search for the given file, in the current directory or any other
-name
subdirectory.
True if the file was accessed n days ago. The access time of directories
-atime n
in path is changed by find itself.
-ctime n True if the file's status was changed n days ago.
True if the file belongs to the group gname. If gname is numeric and
-group gname
does not appear in the /etc/group file, it is taken as a group ID.
-mtime n True if the file's data was modified n days ago.
True if the file is n blocks long (512 bytes per block). If n is followed by a
-size n[c]
c, the size is in bytes.
EXAMPLE:

1. find -name 'cal.txt'
The system would search for any file named 'cal.txt' in the current directory and any
subdirectory.
2. find / -name 'cal.txt'
The system would search for any file named 'cal.txt' on the root and all subdirectories from the
root.
3. find -name '*' -size +1000k
The system would search for any file in the list that is larger than 1000k.
Explanation
finger COMMAND:
finger command displays the user's login name, real name, terminal name and write status
(as a ''*'' after the terminal name if write permission is denied), idle time, login time, office
location and office phone number..
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
finger [-lmsp] [user ...] [user@host ...]
OPTIONS:

Prints all the information described by -s option and also the user's home
-l directory, home phone number, login shell, mail status, and the contents of the
files ".plan",".project",".pgpkey", and ".forward" from the users home directory.
-m Match arguments only on user name (not first or last name).
Supress the prinitng format of -l, It will not display the contents of
-p
".plan",".project", and ".pgkey" files.
-s Prints the output in short format.
EXAMPLE:

1. To Print the user information in short format:

2. finger -s hiox
3. Login Name Tty Idle LoginTime Office OfficePhone

4. HIOX HIOX INDIA *:0 Sep 14 09:07
5. HIOX HIOX INDIA *pts/0 9 Sep 14 09:08
6. HIOX HIOX INDIA *pts/1 1:29 Sep 14 09:12
finger command prints the user information as user's login name, real name, terminal name and
write status, idle time, login time, office location and office phone number.
Explanation
free COMMAND:
free command displays information about free and used memory on the system.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
free [options] [-V]
OPTIONS:

-b Prints the memory information in bytes.
-k Prints the memory information in kilo-bytes.
-m Prints the memory information in mega-bytes.
-s
Prints the output continously. Type the delay time to print the output continously.
delay
-t prints a line containing totals.
EXAMPLE:

1. To Print the memory size information:

2. free
3. total used free shared buffers cached

4. Mem: 223740 219492 4248 0 3756 73212
5. -/+ buffers/cache: 142524 81216
6. Swap: 1052216 66732 985484
The free command displays all the memory information of the system like total memory used and
free memory.
7. To Print memory information from file:

8. cat /proc/meminfo
9. MemTotal: 223740 kB
10. MemFree: 8512 kB
11. Buffers: 4432 kB
12. Cached: 67860 kB
13. SwapCached: 15032 kB
14. Active: 172484 kB
15. Inactive: 20168 kB
16. HighTotal: 0 kB
17. HighFree: 0 kB
18. LowTotal: 223740 kB
19. LowFree: 8512 kB
20. SwapTotal: 1052216 kB
21. SwapFree: 985488 kB
22. Dirty: 52 kB
23. Writeback: 0 kB
24. Mapped: 166064 kB
25. Slab: 14860 kB
26. Committed_AS: 541000 kB
27. PageTables: 3260 kB
28. VmallocTotal: 794616 kB
29. VmallocUsed: 3056 kB
30. VmallocChunk: 791084 kB
31. HugePages_Total: 0
32. HugePages_Free: 0
33. Hugepagesize: 4096 kB
The above command prints the memory information of the system.
Explanation
grep COMMAND:
grep command selects and prints the lines from a file which matches a given string or
pattern.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
grep [options] pattern [file]
OPTIONS:

-A Print num lines of text that occur after the matching line.
-a Don't suppress output lines with binary data, treat as text.
Define action for accessing the directories
read read all files in the directories.
-d action
skip skip directories.
recurse recursively read all files and directories
-e pattern Search for pattern.
-V Print Version.
You can also use Patterns for search operation.
. Matches single character.
* Wild Character.
^ Starting with.
$ Ending with.
EXAMPLE:
1. To print all lines containing hscripts :
grep 'hscripts' file1.txt
The output will be.
2. To print the count of line that matches hscripts.
grep -c 'hscripts' file1.txt
The output will be.
3
3. To print the lines that starts as hscripts.
grep '^hscripts' file1.txt
The output will be.
4. To Search the files in HEC directory which has the string "include":
grep -c 'include' HEC/*
The above command will print the file name and count of line that matched the string "include"
Sample output:
HEC/admin.php:3
HEC/auth.php:1
HEC/calendar.php:3
HEC/checklogin.php:0
HEC/colors.php:0
HEC/msize.php:3
Explanation
groupadd COMMAND:
groupadd command is used to create a new group account.This is an admin command.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
groupadd [options] groupname
OPTIONS:

The numerical value of the group's ID. This value must be unique.Values
-g
between 0 and 99 are typically reserved for system accounts.
This flag instructs groupadd to add a system account.This option is suitable for
-r
Redhat linux only.
EXAMPLE:

1. groupadd hioxindia
Create a newgroup named as hioxindia.
Explanation
groupdel COMMAND:
groupdel command is used to delete(remove) a group. This is an admin command.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
groupdel groupname
OPTIONS:
There is no options for groupdel command. Directly give the groupname.
EXAMPLE:

1. groupdel hiox
Delete(Remove) the group hiox.
Explanation
groupmod COMMAND:
groupmod command is used to modify group. This is an admin command.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
groupmod [options] newname oldname
OPTIONS:

The numerical value of the group's ID. This value must be unique.Values
-g between 0 and 99 are typically reserved for system accounts.The value must be
non-negative.
-n The name of the group will be changed from group to group.
EXAMPLE:

1. groupmod -n vizhi vizhi1
In the above example the groupmod command would change the group 'vizhi' to 'vizhi1'.
Explanation
groups COMMAND:
groups command is used to print the groups a user is in.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
groups
OPTIONS:

--help Print help message and exit
--
Print version and exit
version
EXAMPLE:

1. Prints the groups of user.
$ groups
Output:
hiox apache
2. Prints the groups of super user.
# groups
Output:
root bin daemon sys adm disk wheel.
Explanation
halt COMMAND:
halt command is used to shutdown the computer.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
halt [-d | -f | -h | -n | -i | -p | -w]
reboot [-d | -f | -i | -n | -w]
poweroff [-d | -f | -h | -n | -i | -w]
OPTIONS:

-d Don't write wtmp record(into /var/log/wtmp file). The -n flag implies -d
put all harddrives in the system in standby mode before the system is halted or
-h
turnedoff
-n Don't sync before reboot or halt
-i shutdown all network interface.
While halting the system, also turnoff the system. This is default when halt is
-p
called as poweroff.
-w Don't actually reboot or halt but only write wtmp record (into /var/log/wtmp file)
EXAMPLE:

1. To halt the system:
halt
This command is similar to poweroff, which shutdown the system.
2. To Poweroff the system:
poweroff
Poweroff command used for turnoff the system.
3. To reboot the system:
reboot
Reboot command used for reboots/restarts the system.
Explanation
head COMMAND:
head command is used to display the first ten lines of a file, and also specifies how many lines
to display.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
head [options] filename
OPTIONS:

-n To specify how many lines you want to display.
The number option-argument must be a decimal integer whose sign affects
-n number
the location in the file, measured in lines.
The number option-argument must be a decimal integer whose sign affects
-c number
the location in the file, measured in bytes.
EXAMPLE:

1. head index.php
This command prints the first 10 lines of 'index.php'.
2. head -5 index.php
The head command displays the first 5 lines of 'index.php'.
3. head -c 5 index.php
The above command displays the first 5 characters of 'index.php'.
Explanation
host COMMAND:
host command is used to find the ip address of the given domain name and also prints the
domain name for the given ip.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
host [-aCdlnrTwv] domain-name/ipaddress
OPTIONS:

-a Prints all the DNS records for the given hostname.
-C Prints the SOA records and authorative name servers.
-d It is equivalent to -v.
-l Lists all hosts in a domain using AXFR.
used to select the query type.
-t
Query Type: CNAME,NS,SOA,KEY etc,.
-W Specifies how long to wait for a reply.
-v Verbose output is generated by host.
Use TCP instead of UDP to query nameserver. This is implied
-T
in queries that require TCP, such as AXFR requests.
EXAMPLE:

1. To find the ipaddress of a hostname

2. host 123456789.co.in
123456789.co.in has address 69.65.102.222

By typing the hostname along with the host command you can get its ipaddress. The ip address
of 123456789.co.in is 69.65.102.222
3. To Print SOA record information:

4. host -C 123456789.co.in
5. Nameserver ns1.dnshorizon.com:
6. 123456789.co.in SOA ns1.dnshorizon.com. saisan.gmail.com.
7. 2007062001 86400 7200 3600000 86400
8. Nameserver ns2.dnshorizon.com:
9. 123456789.co.in SOA ns1.dnshorizon.com. saisan.gmail.com.
10. 2007062001 86400 7200 3600000 86400
The above cmd prints the host's nameserver and its SOA record.
Explanation
hostid COMMAND:
hostid command prints the numeric identifier or id of the current host in hexadecimal.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
hostid
OPTIONS:

--
version
EXAMPLE:

1. To Print host id:

2. hostid
3. a3b50706
This command prints the hostid in hexadecimal.
Explanation
hostname COMMAND:
hostname specifies the name of the host.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
hostname [-a | -d | -f | -h | -i | -s]
OPTIONS:

-a Displays the alias name of the host, if used.
-d Displays DNS domain name
-f Displays fully qualified domain name.
-h Displays help message.
-i Displays IP address of the host.
-s Trim domain name from display.
EXAMPLE:

1. hostname command
hostname
The above command will print as username.com
2. hostname -a
The above command will remove space and print as username
3. To display DNS domain name

hostname -d
The above command will print as .com
Explanation
id COMMAND:
id command prints the effective(current) and real userid(UID)s and groupid(GID)s.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
id [options]
OPTIONS:

-a Reports user name, use ID and all the groups to which the user belongs.
-G Output all real and effective group IDs,using the format "%u\n".
-g Output only the effective group IDs,using the format "%u\n".
-u Output only the effective user Id,using the format "%u\n".
EXAMPLE:

1. id -a
Output:
uid=501(username) gid=501(username) groups=48(apache),
501(username)
Prints real and current group IDs.
2. id -G
Output:
501 48
Prints in the format of "%u\n"
3. # id
Output:
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root),1(bin),2(daemon),3(sys),
4(adm),6(disk),10(wheel) context=user_u:system_r:unconfined_t
The above example display the rootuser uid, gid, groups and context.
Explanation
info COMMAND:
info command is used to display the readable online documentation for the specified
command .
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
info commandname
OPTIONS:

-n Specify nodes in first visited info file.
-f Specify info file to visit.
EXAMPLE:

1. info man
Display the readable online documentation for the man command.
Explanation
ifconfig COMMAND:
ifconfig command displays information about the network interfaces attached to the system
and also used to configure the network interface.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
ifconfig [options]
OPTIONS:

dispalys information about both active and inactive
-a
Interface
[interface-name] dispalys information about interface
[interface-name] up Activates the interface
[interface-name] down Inactivates the interface
[interface-name] [IP Address] up Assigns IP address to the interface and activates it
EXAMPLE:

1. To get information of active network-interfaces:
ifconfig
The sample output of above command:
eth0
Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:14:85:9C:CC:55
inet addr:192.168.0.12 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::214:85ff:fe9c:cc55/64 Scope:Link
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:7856 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:7856 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
RX bytes:492016 (480.4 KiB) TX bytes:398 (398.0 b)
Interrupt:201 Memory:e1000000-0
lo
Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1455 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:5 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
RX bytes:1917382 (1.8 MiB) TX bytes:1917382 (1.8 MiB)
In above output:
Link encap:Ethernet -Specifies the type Interface
HWaddr 00:14:85:9C:CC:55 -Specifies the Hardware or MAC address
inet addr:192.168.0.12 -Specifies the IP address assigend to network-interface
2. To Assign IP address to Network Interface[Ethernet Card]:
ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.12 up

The above command will Assign IP address 192.168.0.12 to Ethernet card with name eth0.
3. To inactivate the Network Interface[Ethernet Card]:
ifconfig eth0 down

The above command inactivates the ethernet card.
Explanation
jobs COMMAND:
jobs command is used to list the jobs that you are running in the background and in the
foreground. If the prompt is returned with no information no jobs are present.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
jobs [options]
OPTIONS:

-l Report the process group ID and working directory of the jobs.
-n Display only jobs that have stopped or exited since last notified.
-p Displays only the process IDs for the process group leaders of the selected jobs.
EXAMPLE:

1. jobs -l
Lists the jobs that you are running in the foreground (or) background.
2. jobs -p
Display only the process Id for the listed jobs.
Explanation
kill COMMAND:
kill command is used to kill the background process.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
kill [-s] [-l] %pid
OPTIONS:

Specify the signal to send. The signal may be given as a signal name or
-s
number.
Write all values of signal supported by the implementation, if no operand is
-l
given.
-pid Process id or job id.
-9 Force to kill a process.
EXAMPLE:

Step by Step process:
 Open a process music player.

xmms
press ctrl+z to stop the process.
 To know group id or job id of the background task.

jobs -l
 It will list the background jobs with its job id as,
 xmms 3956
kmail 3467
 To kill a job or process.

kill 3956
kill command kills or terminates the background process xmms.

Explanation
last COMMAND:
last command is used to display the last logged in users list. Last logged in users informations
are read from the file /var/log/wtmp.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
last [options]
OPTIONS:

-n Specify how many lines to show.
-R Suppresses the display of the hostname field.
-x Display the system shutdown entries and run level changes.
-a Display the hostname in the last column. Useful in combination with the next flag.
EXAMPLE:

1. last
Displays the last logged in users list.
2. last -x
Displays the logged in users list with shutdown entries and run level changes.
Explanation
lastlog COMMAND:
lastlog command is used to print the last login times for system accounts. Login information is
read from the file /var/log/lastlog.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
lastlog [options]
OPTIONS:

-t n Print only logins more recent than 'n' days ago..
-u username Print only login information for username.
EXAMPLE:

1. lastlog -t 5
Displays the login information, 5 days ago.
2. last -u username
Displays the login information for the specified user.
Explanation
less COMMAND:
less command is used to display text in the terminal screen. It just prints the text in the given
file, you cannot edit or manipulate the text here. To display the file from the specified line, enter
the line number followed by colon(:). It allows Forward and backward movement in the file.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
less [options] filename
OPTIONS:

-c Clear screen before displaying.
+n Starts up the file from the given number.
:p Examine the pervious file in the command line list.
:d Remove the current file from the list of files.
EXAMPLE:

1. less +3 index.php
Start printing from 3rd line of the file.
Explanation
link COMMAND:
link command is used to create a link to a file. It is also called as hard link. Inode will be
same for source and destination.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
link existingfilename newfilename (or) link source destination
OPTIONS:

--
version
EXAMPLE:

1. link test.php test1.php
Create a link to 'test1.php' file. Here inode for 'test.php' and 'test1.php' will be same.
Explanation
ln COMMAND:
ln command is used to create link to a file (or) directory. It helps to provide soft link for
desired files. Inode will be different for source and destination.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
ln [options] existingfile(or directory)name newfile(or directory)name
OPTIONS:

Link files without questioning the user, even if the mode of target forbids writing.
-f
This is the default if the standard input is not a terminal.
-n Does not overwrite existing files.
-s Used to create soft links.
EXAMPLE:

1. ln -s file1.txt file2.txt
Creates a symbolic link to 'file1.txt' with the name of 'file2.txt'. Here inode for 'file1.txt' and
'file2.txt' will be different.
2. ln -s nimi nimi1
Creates a symbolic link to 'nimi' with the name of 'nimi1'.
Explanation
ls COMMAND:
ls command lists the files and directories under current working directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
ls [OPTIONS]... [FILE]
OPTIONS:

Lists all the files, directories and their mode, Number of links, owner of the file,
-l
file size, Modified date and time and filename.
-t Lists in order of last modification time.
-a Lists all entries including hidden files.
-d Lists directory files instead of contents.
-p Puts slash at the end of each directories.
-u List in order of last access time.
-i Display inode information.
-ltr List files order by date.
-lSr List files order by file size.
EXAMPLE:

1. Display root directory contents:

ls /
lists the contents of root directory.
2. Display hidden files and directories:
ls -a
lists all entries including hidden files and directories.
3. Display inode information:
ls -i
7373073 book.gif
7373074 clock.gif
7373082 globe.gif
7373078 pencil.gif
7373080 child.gif
7373081 email.gif
7373076 indigo.gif
The above command displays filename with inode value.
Explanation
lsattr COMMAND:
lsattr command is used to list the attributes of the specified file or directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
lsattr [options]
OPTIONS:

-R Recursively list attributes of directories and their contents.
-a List all files in directories, including files that start with `.'.
-d List directories like other files, rather than listing their contents.
EXAMPLE:

1. List attributes:
lsattr
Lists the attributes of the current directory.
2. Set the attribute:
chattr +i test.txt
Set the attribute for 'test.txt' file.
3. lsattr test.txt
Lists the attributes of the 'test.txt' file.
----i-------- ./test.txt
Explanation
mail COMMAND:
mail command is used to send and receive mails locally and globally.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
mail
OPTIONS:

-s Specify subject on command line.
-c Send carbon copies to list of users.
Send blind carbon copies to list. List should be a comma-separated list of
-b
names.
Read in the contents of your mbox for processing; when you quit, mail writes
-f
undeleted messages back to this file.
Ignore tty interrupt signals. This is particularly useful when using mail on noisy
-i
phone lines.
EXAMPLE:

1. Receive mails
mail
The above command display the messages. Press Enter to view the next message after '&'
symbol.
2. Sent mails
mail abc@localhost.com (or) mail abc@hiox.com

Starts a new mail and sent to abc@localhost.com.
To terminate the message, type a period(.) and press Enter (or)
press ctrl+d and press Enter.
Explanation
man COMMAND:
man command which is short for manual, provides in depth information about the requested
command (or) allows users to search for commands related to a particular keyword.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
man commandname [options]
OPTIONS:

-a Print a one-line help message and exit.
-k Searches for keywords in all of the manuals available..
EXAMPLE:

1. man mkdir
Display the information about mkdir command.
Explanation
more COMMAND:
more command is used to display text in the terminal screen. It allows only backward
movement.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
more [options] filename
OPTIONS:

-c Clear screen before displaying.
-e Exit immediately after writing the last line of the last file in the argument list.
-n Specify how many lines are printed in the screen for a given file.
+n Starts up the file from the given number.
EXAMPLE:

1. more -c index.php
Clears the screen before printing the file .
2. more -3 index.php
Prints first three lines of the given file. Press Enter to display the file line by line.
Explanation
mv COMMAND:
mv command which is short for move. It is used to move/rename file from one directory to
another. mv command is different from cp command as it completely removes the file from the
source and moves to the directory specified, where cp command just copies the content from one
file to another.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
mv [-f] [-i] oldname newname
OPTIONS:

This will not prompt before overwriting (equivalent to --reply=yes). mv -f will
-f
move the file(s) without prompting even if it is writing over an existing target.
-i Prompts before overwriting another file.
EXAMPLE:

1. To Rename / Move a file:
mv file1.txt file2.txt
This command renames file1.txt as file2.txt
2. To move a directory
mv hscripts tmp
In the above line mv command moves all the files, directories and sub-directories from hscripts
folder/directory to tmp directory if the tmp directory already exists. If there is no tmp directory it
rename's the hscripts directory as tmp directory.
3. To Move multiple files/More files into another directory
mv file1.txt tmp/file2.txt newdir
This command moves the files file1.txt from the current directory and file2.txt from the tmp
folder/directory to newdir.
Explanation
netstat COMMAND:
nestat command displays statistics information and current state of network connections,
protocol, ports/ sockets and devices.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
netstat [options]
OPTIONS:

-s dispalys statics information about protocols.
-i dispalys statistics information about the network interface.
-r diplays routing table.
-c displays statistics information and updates every second.
-l displays information about all sockets that are in listening state.
displays information about all sockets that are in listening and non-listening
-a
state.
-p displays information about sockets with ProcessName and PID.
EXAMPLE:

1. To get statistics of network connections:
netstat
Active Internet connections (w/o servers)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State
tcp 0 0 vhost:32803 LocalHost:smtp TIME_WAIT
tcp 0 0 vhost:32803 google.com:http ESTABLISHED
Where,
Proto -Specifies the Protocol used for connection.
Recv-Q -Specifies the Number of Bytes which are not recevied.
Send-Q -Specifies the Number of Bytes not send to destination.
Local Address -Specifies the local or source address and port.
Foreign Address -Specifies the destination address and port.
State -Specifies the current state of conection to the socket.
o ESTABLISHED - Connection is
Established.
o TIME_WAIT - Waiting to receive
packets.
o LISTEN - Listening to establish
connection.
2. To Get Statistics of Protocols:
netstat -s
The Sample output of above command:
IP:
5193 incoming packets delivered
4813 requests sent out
Tcp:
4033 segments received
4813 segments send out
Icmp:
41 ICMP messages received
178 ICMP messages sent
3. To Get statistics of Network Interface:
netstat -i
Kernel Interface table
Iface MTU Met RX-OK RX-ERR TX-OK TX-ERR Flg
eth0 1500 0 1308 0 1345 0 BMRU
This is the statistics information of Ethernet Card[eth0].
Explanation
passwd COMMAND:
passwd command is used to change your password.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
passwd [options]
OPTIONS:

-a Show password attributes for all entries.
-l Locks password entry for name.
-d Deletes password for name. The login name will not be prompted for password.
Force the user to change password at the next login by expiring the password
-f
for name.
EXAMPLE:

1. passwd
Entering just passwd would allow you to change the password. After entering passwd you will
receive the following three prompts:
Current Password:
New Password:
Confirm New Password:
Each of these prompts must be entered correctly for the password to be successfully changed.
Explanation
paste COMMAND:
paste command is used to paste the content from one file to another file. It is also used to set
column format for each line.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
paste [options]
OPTIONS:

-s Paste one file at a time instead of in parallel.
-d Reuse characters from LIST instead of TABs .
EXAMPLE:

1. paste test.txt>test1.txt
Paste the content from 'test.txt' file to 'test1.txt' file.
2. ls | paste - - - -
List all files and directories in four columns for each line.
Explanation
pidof COMMAND:
pidof linux command is used to find the process ID of a running program.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
pidof [options..] program
OPTIONS:

-s Single shot - this instructs the program to only return one pid.
Scripts too - this causes the program to also return process id's of shells running
-x
the named scripts.
Tells pidof to omit processes with that process id. The special pid %PPID can be
-o used to name the parent process of the pidof program, in other words the calling
shell or shell script.
EXAMPLE:

1. To find a process id of a particular console:
pidof -s console
This command prints the process id of the console.
3189
Explanation
ping COMMAND:
System administration command. Confirm that a remote host is online and responding. Ping
is used for verifying connectivity between two hosts on a network. It sends Internet Control
Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request packets to a remote IP address and watches for ICMP
responses.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
ping [options] host
OPTIONS:

-a Make ping audible. Beep each time response is received.
-b Ping a broadcast address.
Stop after sending count ECHO_REQUEST packets. With deadline option,
-c count
ping waits for count ECHO_REPLY packets, until the timeout expires.
Show network addresses as numbers. ping normally displays addresses as
-n
host names.
Quiet output—nothing is displayed except the summary lines at startup time
-q
and when finished.
Specify the interval between successive transmissions. The default is one
-i
second.
-t Set the IP Time to Live to n seconds.
-w Exit ping after n seconds.
EXAMPLE:

1. ping google.com -c 3
Display ECHO_REQUEST 3 times only because we set count for three.
2. ping -n google.com
Here the network addresses displays as numbers,normally it displays as hostnames.
Explanation
printf COMMAND:
printf command is used to write formatted output.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
printf format [argument]....
OPTIONS:
The format characters and their meanings are:
\b Backspace.
\n Newline.
\t Horizontal tab
\v Vertical tab.
EXAMPLE:

1. printf "hello\n"
Use '\n' returns 'hello' to the new line.
2. printf "hel\blo"
Output:
helo
Here '\b' is used for backspace.
Explanation
ps COMMAND:
ps command is used to report the process status. ps is the short name for Process Status.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
ps [options]
OPTIONS:

List information about all processes most frequently requested: all those except
-a
process group leaders and processes not associated with a terminal..
-A or e List information for all processes.
-d List information about all processes except session leaders.
-e List information about every process now running.
-f Generates a full listing.
-j Print session ID and process group ID.
-l Generate a long listing.
EXAMPLE:

1. ps
Output:
PID TTY TIME CMD
2540 pts/1 00:00:00 bash
2621 pts/1 00:00:00 ps
In the above example, typing ps alone would list the current running processes.
2. ps -f
Output:
UID PID PPID C STIME TTY TIME CMD
nirmala 2540 2536 0 15:31 pts/1 00:00:00 bash
nirmala 2639 2540 0 15:51 pts/1 00:00:00 ps -f
Displays full information about currently running processes.
Explanation
pwd COMMAND:
pwd - Print Working Directory. pwd command prints the full filename of the current working
directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
pwd [options]
OPTIONS:

-P The pathname printed will not contain symbolic links.
-L The pathname printed may contain symbolic links.
EXAMPLE:

1. Displays the current working directory.
pwd
If you are working in home directory then, pwd command displays the current working directory
as /home.
Explanation
restore COMMAND:
restore - command restores the data from the dump-file or backup-file created using dump
command.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
restore [options]
OPTIONS:

-f Used to specify the backup or dump file
-C Used to compare dump-file with original file
-i Restore in Interactive mode
-e Exclude inode while making backup
Commands used in interactive mode:

ls List the files and directories in backup file
add Add files in dump-file to current working directory
cd Changes the directory
pwd Displays the current working directory
extract Extract the files from the dump
quit Quit from the interactive mode
EXAMPLE:

1. To restore file and directories from backup-file :
restore -if databack

Where,
i -To make restore with interactive mode
f -To restore from the backup-file specifed
databack -Is a name of backup-file or dump-file
This command gets you to interactive mode as follows:
restore >
Now the following commands are entered to restore:
restore > ls -Lists files and directories in dump file
restore > add -add files to the current directory
restore > ls -Lists the file added from the backup file to current directory
restore > extract -Extracts the file from the backup file to current directory
restore > quit -Quits from the interactive mode
2. To compare and display any dump-file with the original file:
restore -Cf databack

This command will compare,
-1 -Is the dump-level [1 specifies incremental backup]
Explanation
rm COMMAND:
rm linux command is used to remove/delete the file from the directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
rm [options..] [file | directory]
OPTIONS:

-f Remove all files in a directory without prompting the user.
Interactive. With this option, rm prompts for confirmation before removing any
-i
files.
Recursively remove directories and subdirectories in the argument list. The
-r (or) -R directory will be emptied of files and removed. The user is normally prompted
for removal of any write-protected files which the directory contains.
EXAMPLE:

1. To Remove / Delete a file:
rm file1.txt
Here rm command will remove/delete the file file1.txt.
2. To delete a directory tree:
rm -ir tmp
This rm command recursively removes the contents of all subdirectories of the tmp directory,
prompting you regarding the removal of each file, and then removes the tmp directory itself.
3. To remove more files at once
rm file1.txt file2.txt
rm command removes file1.txt and file2.txt files at the same time.
Explanation
rmdir COMMAND:
rmdir command is used to delete/remove a directory and its subdirectories.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
rmdir [options..] Directory
OPTIONS:

Allow users to remove the directory dirname and its parent directories which
-p
become empty.
EXAMPLE:

1. To delete/remove a directory
rmdir tmp
rmdir command will remove/delete the directory tmp if the directory is empty.
2. To delete a directory tree:
rm -ir tmp
This command recursively removes the contents of all subdirectories of the tmp directory,
prompting you regarding the removal of each file, and then removes the tmp directory itself.
Explanation
route COMMAND:
route command displays routing table resides in kernel and also used to modify the routing
table.The tables which specifies how packets are routed to a host is called routing table.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
route [options]
OPTIONS:

-n dispalys routing table in numerical[IP Address] format
-e dispalys routing table in Hostname format
add Adds a new route to the routing table
del Deletes a route from the routing table
Options used with add and del :

-net Indicate the target is network
-host Indicate the target is host
gw Specifies the gateway of target host/network
Used to specifiy the subnet-mask of destination
netmask
network/host
Specify the device or interface where the packets will be
dev
sent
reject rejects the packets sent to particular route/host
EXAMPLE:

1. To dispaly the routing table:
route -n
The above command will print:
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
169.254.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
In above table:
Destination -Indicates the IP address of desination host/network
Gateway -Indicates gateway from which desination host/network could be reached
Genmask -Indicates the subnetmask destination
Flags -Indicates the current status of route
o U - Route is up
o H - Target is a host
o G - Use gateway
Iface -Indicates the interface

2. To add static route to a network in the routing table:
route add -net 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 gw 192.168.1.1 dev eth0

In above command:
add -Indicates that the route is added to routing table.
-net -Indicates that desination is a network.
192.168.0.1 -Indicates IP address of destination network.
netmask -Indicates the subnetmask of destination network.
gw 192.168.1.1 -Indicates the gateway of destination network.
dev eth0 -Indicates that the packets are routed via the interface eth0.
3. To delete a route from the routing table:
route del -net 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 gw 192.168.1.1 dev eth0

The above command will delete the route to 192.168.1.0 from the routing table.
Explanation
sort COMMAND:
sort command is used to sort the lines in a text file.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
sort [options] filename
OPTIONS:

-r Sorts in reverse order.
-u If line is duplicated display only once.
-o filename Sends sorted output to a file.
EXAMPLE:

1. sort test.txt
Sorts the 'test.txt'file and prints result in the screen.
2. sort -r test.txt
Sorts the 'test.txt' file in reverse order and prints result in the screen.
Explanation
sed COMMAND:
sed is a stream editor. sed command helps to edit or delete all occurrences of one string to
another within a file. It takes a file as input and prints the result on screen or redirects the output
to a specified file.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
sed [options] '{command}' [filename]
OPTIONS:
Command and its function
-n do not output the trailing newline
-e enable interpretation of the backslash-escaped characters listed below
-E disable interpretation of those sequences in STRINGs
Without -E, the following sequences are recognized and interpolated:

\NNN the character whose ASCII code is NNN (octal)
\a alert (BEL)
\b backspace
\c suppress trailing newline
\f form feed
\n new line
\r carriage return
\t horizontal tab
\v vertical tab
EXAMPLE:
1. sed G file1.txt>file2.txt
2. In the above example, using the sed command with G would double space the file
file1.txt and output the results to the file2.txt.
3. sed = file1.txt | sed 'N;s/\n/\. /'
In the above example, sed command is used to output each of the lines in file1.txt with the line
number followed by a period and a space before each line.
4. sed 's/scripts/javascript/g' file1.txt
Opens the file file1.txt and searches for the word 'scripts' and replaces every occurrence with the
word 'javascript'.
5. sed -n '$=' file1.txt
The above command count the number of lines in the file1.txt and output the results.
Explanation
Shutdown COMMAND:
Shutdown - Turn off the computer immediately or at a specified time.
Shutdown / Turn off brings the system down in a secure way. All logged-in users are notified that
the system is going down, and login(1) is blocked. It is possible to shut the system down
immediately or after a specified delay. All processes are first notified that the system is going
down by the signal SIGTERM.
This gives programs like vi(1) the time to save the file being edited, mail and news processing
programs a chance to exit cleanly, etc. Shutdown does its job by signalling the init process,
asking it to change the runlevel. Runlevel 0 is used to halt the system, runlevel 6 is used to
reboot the system, and runlevel 1 is used to put to system into a state where administrative
tasks can be performed; this is the default if neither the -h or -r flag is given to shutdown.
To see which actions are taken on halt or reboot see the appropriate entries for these runlevels in
the file /etc/inittab.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
/sbin/shutdown [-t sec] [-arkhncfFHP] time [warning-message]
OPTIONS:

-a Use /etc/shutdown.allow.
Tell init(8) to wait sec seconds between sending processes the warning and
-t sec
the kill signal, before changing to another runlevel.
-k Donâ€™t really shutdown; only send the warning messages to everybody.
-r Reboot after shutdown.
-h Halt or poweroff after shutdown.
-H Halt action is to halt or drop into boot monitor on systems that support it.
-P Halt action is to turn off the power.
-f Skip fsck on reboot.
-F Force fsck on reboot.
-c Cancel an already running shutdown.
EXAMPLE:

shutdown 10:00
Shutdown the computer at 10-oclock
Explanation
tail COMMAND:
tail command is used to display the last or bottom part of the file. By default it displays last
10 lines of a file.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
tail [options] filename
OPTIONS:

-l To specify the units of lines.
-b To specify the units of blocks.
-n To specify how many lines you want to display.
The number option-argument must be a decimal integer whose sign affects the
-c number
location in the file, measured in bytes.
The number option-argument must be a decimal integer whose sign affects the
-n number
location in the file, measured in lines.
EXAMPLE:

1. tail index.php
It displays the last 10 lines of 'index.php'.
2. tail -2 index.php
3. tail -n 5 index.php
4. tail -c 5 index.php
It displays the last 5 characters of 'index.php'.
Explanation
tar COMMAND:
tar command is used to create archive and extract the archive files.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
tar [options] [archive-file] [File or directory to be archived]
OPTIONS:

-c Creates Archive
-x Extract the archive
-f creates archive with give filename
-t displays or lists files in archived file
-u archives and adds to an existing archive file
-A Concatenates the archive files
EXAMPLE:

1. To archive a directory or file :
tar -cvf backup.tar /etc

This command creates a tarfile called backup.tar which is the archive of /etc directory.
Where,
backup.tar - Is a tar file created
/etc - Is a directory archived
2. To archive a directory or file and store it in a storage device:
tar -cvf /dev/fd0 /home/user1/HGB

This command will archive /etc directory and store it in floppy-disk.
Where,
/dev/fd0 - Is a floppy-disk name where the archive is stored
/home/user1/HGB - Is a directory archived
3. To Extract the archive:
tar -xvf backup.tar

This command will extract the backup.tar file
4. To List The File In An Archive:
tar -tvf backup.tar

The above command will display the files and directories that archived in backup.tar.
http://www.hscripts.com/tutorials/linux-commands/tar.html

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Explanation

1. To create a shortcut temporarily:

This command will set lhost to cd /var/www/html/.

2. To create a shortcut Permanently:

3. To create a shortcut for a command:

This command will set c to clear.

awk '{print $2}' file1.txt

awk '{print $1,$2,$1*$2}' file1.txt > file2.txt

Warning categories include:

1. To Run a process in background

3. To move the specified job to back ground:

1. To Compress a file using bzip2:

Lets have a text file as an example.

$ bzip2 -c -1 hiox.txt > hiox.txt.bz2

$ bzip2 -c -9 hiox.txt > hscripts.txt.bz2

1. To Create a new file:

2. To Append data into the file:

4. To concatenate several files and display:

5. To concatenate several files and to transfer the output to another file.

The above command process is used to remove the Read-Only mark.

The group of 'test.txt' file is root, Change to newgroup hiox.

2. chgrp -R hiox test

3. chgrp -c hiox calc.txt

File Permission is given for users,group and others as,

Symbolic ___ ___ ___

1. To view your files with what permission they are:

2. To make a file readable and writable by the group and others.

3. To allow everyone to read, write, and execute the file

2. chown -R hiox test

3. chown -c hiox calc.txt

1. To reset password for users from command line,type

clear command clearscreen like cls command.

2. You can also have alias for this command.

1. Compare two files:

file1.php file2.php differ: byte 35, line 3

2. Compare two files output differing bytes as characters:

file1.php file2.php differ: byte 35, line 3 is 151 i 15

1. Copy two files:

The above cp command copies the content of file1.php to file2.php.

2. To backup the copied file:

Backup of file1.php will be created with '~' symbol as file2.php~.

3. Copy folder and subfolders:

%b Abbreviated month name(Jan).

%B Full month name(January).

%c Country-specific date and time format..

%D Date in the format %m/%d/%y.

%j Julian day of year (001-366).

%n Insert a new line.

%p String to indicate a.m. or p.m.

%T Time in the format %H:%M:%S.

%V Week number in year (01-52); start week on Monday.

date +"Date is %D %t Time is %T"

3. To know the week number of the year,

4. To set the date,

date -s "10/08/2008 11:37:23"

1. To create bootable floppy :

dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sda2 bs=2100

Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on

In the above output:

Prints default format.

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

Print size in human readable format.

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

Symbolic _ _ ___