Unix and Linux Commands List

The following is a list of the most common commands found on most UNIX and Linux distributions. For more information on a particular command, see its manual page by typing man command or command --help.

alias	Set and view command aliases.
arch	Print machine architecture.
awk	Pattern scanning and processing language.
bash	Bourne again shell.
bg	Move process running in foreground to the background.
biff	Be notified when mail arrives.
cat	Concatenate and print files.
cd	Change directory.
chage	Change user password expiry information.
chgrp	Change group ownership.
chmod	change file permissions.
chown	Change file and group owner.
chroot	Run command with special root directory.
chsh	Change login shell.
clear	Clear the terminal screen.
cp	Copy files and directories.
crontab	Maintain crontab files.
csh	C shell.
cut	Remove sections from each line of files.
date	Print or set the system date and time.
dd	Convert and copy a file.
df	Print file-system disk space usage.
diff	Find differences between files.
dig	DNS (Domain Name System) lookup utility.
dmesg	Print diagnostic messages from system buffer.
dnsdomainname	Show system’s DNS (Domain Name System) domain name.
domainname	Show system’s NIS (Network Information System) or YP (Yellow Pages) name.
du	Estimate file space usage.
echo	Display a line of text.
env	Run a program in a modified environment.
false	Exit with a status code indicating failure.
fdisk	Disk partition table manipulator.
fg	Move process running in background to the foreground.
file	Determine file type.
find	Search for files in a directory hierarchy.
free	Display amount of free and used system memory.
ftp	FTP client.
fuser	Identify processes using files or sockets.
gcc	GNU C and C++ compiler.
grep	Print lines matching a given pattern.
groupadd	Create a new group.
groupdel	Delete a group.
groupmod	Modify a group.
groups	Print all the groups the user belongs to.
gunzip	Uncompress files compressed using Lempel Ziv encoding.
gzip	Compress files using Lempel Ziv encoding.
host	DNS (Domain Name System) lookup utility.
hostname	Show or set system hostname.
id	Print real and effective user ids and group ids.
ifconfig	Configure a network interface.
kill	Terminate a process.
ksh	Korn shell.
last	Show listing of last logged-in users.
lastlog	Show last login times of accounts.
ln	Make links between files.
ls	List directory contents.
lsof	List currently open files; also sockets and associated processes.
mail	Send and receive mail.
man	Format and display manual pages.
mesg	Control write access to a terminal.
mkdir	Make directories.
more	Display file contents, one screen-full at a time.
mount	Mount a file system.
mv	Move and rename files and directories.
netstat	Print network connections, routing tables, interface statistics.
masquerade	connections, and multicast memberships.
nice	Run a program with modified scheduling priority.
nslookup	Query internet name servers.
passwd	Change login and password attributes.
ping	Send icmp echo_request to network hosts.
ps	Report process status.
pwd	Print name of working directory.
quota	Display disk usage and limits.
quotaoff	Turn off file-system quotas.
quotaon	Turn on file-system quotas.
repquota	Summarize quotas for a file system.
rm	Remove files or directories.
rmdir	Remove empty directories.
route	Show or manipulate system routing table.
rpcinfo	Report rpc (remote procedure calls) information.
sed	Stream editor.
setquota	Set disk quotas.
showmount	Show “mount” information for an nfs (network file system) server.
shutdown	Bring the system down.
sleep	Delay for a specified amount of time.
sort	Sort lines of text files.
strace	Trace system calls and signals.
strings	Print printable characters in files.
su	Run a shell with substitute user and group ids
tail	Output the last part of files.
tar	Archiving utility.
tcsh	C shell with filename completion and command editing.
telnet	Telnet client.
tftp	TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) client.
traceroute	Print the route that packets take to a destination host.
true	Exit with a status code indicating success.
umount	Unmount a file system.
uname	Print system information.
useradd	Create a new user.
userdel	Delete user account.
uptime	Print how long the system has been running.
vi	Text editor.
w	Show users that are logged on and what they are doing.
wall	Send message to every user’s terminal.
wc	Print the number of bytes, words, and lines in files.
whereis	Locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command.
which	Show the full path of commands.
who	Show users that are logged on.
whoami	Print effective user ID.
write	Send a message to another user.
ypdomainname	Show or set system’s NIS (Network Information System) orYP (Yellow Pages) domain name.