Essential Terminal Commands

The Terminal/CLI [Command-Line Interface] allows the user to have a finer degree of control over the computer. The aim of this post is to introduce the reader to the most bare-bones of the linux-commands that you might need to know IF YOU EVER decide to try out the terminal [AKA the CLI which stands for the "Command-Line-Interface"]

SHORTCUT = CTRL+ALT+t or ALT+CTRL+t is the most common

Here are some Basic Terminology to keep in mind:-

Binary = An Executable file/programme
Directory = AKA Folders
Root-Directory = Directory/Folders where the system files are located
Home-Directory = Directory/Folders where your personal files are located

BASIC COMMANDS

COMMANDS	DESCRIPTIONS
COMMAND --help	Displays some Quick-Help info about using that particlar COMMAND [Like "cd", "sudo" etc....]
man COMMAND man man	Displays a detailed manual about that specific COMMAND Displays a detailed manual about the man-COMMAND
cd DIRECTORY-NAME cd .. cd ~ cd /	Navigates to the Directory you specified Navigates to the previous Directory Switches to the HOME-Directory Switches to the ROOT-Directory
pwd	Displays your current Directory [Including the path to your current directory]
tree DIRECTORY-NAME	Display the contents of the specified directory in a "Tree-View" [You may need to install the "tree"-programme]
mkdir DIRECTORY-NAME	Creates a Directory with the specified NAME
rmdir DIRECTORY-NAME	Removes a Directory with the specified NAME [Provided it is empty]
ls ls -l ls -a ls -al	Lists out the files & directories in your current directory [You can also specify directory names to check for diectories with in them] Lists out the files & directories in your current directory with extra-info about it Lists out all the files & directories in your current directory, including the hidden files & directories Lists out all the files & directories in your current directory, including the hidden files & directories & with extra-info about it
touch FILE-NAME	Creates a file with the specified name
rm FILE-NAME rm -r DIRECTORY-NAME rm -rf FILE/DIRECTORY-NAME	Removes a File with the specified name Removes a Directory with the specified NAME along with the files within it ["r" = recursive] Removes a File/Directory with the specified NAME along with the files within it, no matter what [Reminder, "f" = force; So use it Wisely]
cp FILE-NAME LOCATION	Copies a file to a specified Location
mv FILE-NAME LOCATION	Moves a file to a specified Location/Rename the file [You can only rename if you move the file to the location with a different name]
cat	Displays the contents of the file
sudo sudo su sudo !!	Grants you "Elevated Priviledges" temporarily [AKA a "SuperUser" or "Administrator"] Switches to ROOT-USER/SUPERUSER-Mode Re-Runs the previous command with SUDO-PRIVILEDGES [SUDO means SuperUser DO]
clear	Clears the terminal window
exit	Closes the terminal

ADVANCED COMMANDS

Now these command are "Nice-To-Know" & will basically give you more power/convenience when using the terminal :-)

COMMANDS	DESCRIPTIONS
chmod +x FILE-NAME chmod -x FILE-NAME	Grants "Execute-Permission" to files [Especially; to Shell-Scripts] Removes "Execute-Permission" to files [Especially; to Shell-Scripts]
./SCRIPT-NAME	Executes Shell-Scripts [You can also simple input the SCRIPT-LOCATION as well]
chown OWNER:GROUP FILE/DIRECTORY	Changes Ownership of FILES/DIRECTORIES
history !HISTORY-LINE-NUMBER	Shows the history of all the commands that you have used during your Terminal-Session [Each command has a HISTORY-LINE-NUMBER attached to it] Re-Runs the command that belonged to/associated with that particular HISTORY-LINE-NUMBER [e.g: !47]
echo TEXT echo $VARIABLE	Displays/Calls the text specified [e.g: "echo hello"] Displays/Calls the values contained within that specified VARIABLE [e.g: "echo $SHELL"]
df -h	Displays the remaining space in your storage
lsblk	Lists out all the storage units & their partitions [The storage drives are denoted by LETTERS & partitions are denoted by NUMBERS]
htop kill PID	Display all the processes your system is running [The processes have "PROCESS-IDs" attached/associated to them] Kills/Stops the Process that are associated with that PID [PID means "Process-ID"]
whereis FILE-NAME which PROGRAMME-NAME whatis PROGRAMME-NAME	Shows the location of the specified FILE-NAME Shows the location of binary/executable of that specified PROGRAMME-NAME Shows the purpose of that specified PROGRAMME-NAME
sudo halt sudo reboot	Shuts down computer Reboots the computer
wget curl	Downloads stuff from a website Transfers data to & from a server [AKA Downloads & Uploads stuff]
tar -czvf FILE/FOLDER-NAME.tar.gz FILE/FOLDER-NAME tar -cjvf FILE/FOLDER-NAME.tar.bz2 FILE/FOLDER-NAME tar -cJvf FILE/FOLDER-NAME.tar.xz FILE/FOLDER-NAME	Compresses files & folders using the "GZip-Compression" algorithm Compresses files & folders using the "BZip2-Compression" algorithm Compresses files & folders using the "XZip-Compression" algorithm
tar -xzvf FILE/FOLDER-NAME.tar.gz tar -xjvf FILE/FOLDER-NAME.tar.gz tar -xJvf FILE/FOLDER-NAME.tar.gz	Extracts files & folders that were compressed by the "GZip-Compression" algorithm Extracts files & folders that were compressed by the "BZip2-Compression" algorithm Extracts files & folders that were compressed by the "XZip-Compression" algorithm
lsb_release -a cat */etc/-release**	Displays certain LSB [LSB = Linux Standard Base] & distribution-specific information Finds out what version of Linux-Distro you are running

These are the commands I personally ended up using a lot. But if you want to know more then there's always the documentation. You can visit "https://kernel.org.manpages" to view info about the CLI-Commands & their sections are:-

User-Commands
System-Calls
Library-Functions
Devices
Files
SuperUser & System-Administration Commands
Overview, Connections & Miscellaneous

OR You can visit "https://linux.die.net" to view info about the CLI-Commands as well.