Linux Cheat Sheet

A curated list of essential Linux information and commands every user should know

Index

File Management 📁
 • Change Directories
 • List Files
 • Current Directory
 • File Contents
 • File Creation
 • File Deletion
 • Copy Files
 • Move Files
 • Compare Files
 • Symbolic Links
Permission Manipulation 💼
 • Accessors
 • Permissions
 • Symbolic vs Absolute
 • Change Ownership
 • Set Permissions
Packaging 📦
 • Sync Package List
 • Query Packages
 • Install Packages
 • Delete Packages
 • List Packages
 • Package Information
Source Control
 • Clone Repositories
 • Stage Files
 • Commit Files
 • Upload Files

Legend

 • angle brackets <required argument>
 • square brackets [optional option]
 • curly braces {default values}
 • parenthesis (miscellaneous info)
 • hastag # comment

📁 File Management

In Linux everything is a file. Directories are just a list of files and for that reason, many programs such as ls and mv don't disctriminate

Change Directories

change to a directory (home)

cd [dirPath]

List Files

list all files in a directory (current)

ls [dirPath]
# including hidden
ls -A [dirPath]

Current Directory

return path to working directory

pwd

File Contents

output file content to terminal

cat <filePath>
# first <N> lines
head <N> <filePath>
# last <N> lines
tail <N> <filePath>

File Creation

make file

cat [someText] > <filePath>
# join two files into a new file
cat <filePath> <filePath> > <filePath>
# make directory
mkdir <dirPath>

File Deletion

rm <filePath>
# and directories
rm -r <dirPath>
# recursive force (without confirmation)
rm -fr <dirPath>

Copy Files

copy files to a destination directory

cp <filePath> <dirPath>
# and directories
cp -r <dirPath> <dirPath>

Move Files

move files/directories to a destination

mv <filePath> <dirPath>
# rename a file
mv <fileName> <newFileName>

Compare Files

check the difference between two files

diff <filePath> <filePath>

Symbolic Links

create a link pointing to target file (shortcut)

ln -s <filePath> <linkName>

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💼 Permission Manipulation

Every file on a Linux system has read, write & execute permissions defined per user, group & other

Accessors

[u]ser — who created the file
[g]roup — set of users with common permissions
[o]ther — anyone who isn't user or in groups
[a]ll — all of the above (ugo)

Permissions

[r]ead — view file contents
[w]rite — edit/modify file
e[x]ecute — run executable or view directory
none - no rights (-)

Symbolic vs Absolute

symbolic ｜ absolute, read, write & execute per user, group & other command sequence table

•	u	g	o	ug	uo	go	a
r	u=r｜400	g=r｜040	o=r｜004	ug=r｜440	uo=r｜404	go=r｜044	a=r｜444
w	u=w｜200	g=w｜020	o=w｜002	ug=w｜220	uo=w｜202	go=w｜022	a=w｜222
x	u=x｜100	g=x｜010	o=x｜001	ug=x｜110	uo=x｜101	go=x｜011	a=x｜111
rw	u=rw｜600	g=rw｜060	o=rw｜006	ug=rw｜660	uo=rw｜606	go=rw｜066	a=rw｜666
rx	u=rx｜500	g=rx｜050	o=rx｜005	ug=rx｜550	uo=rx｜505	go=rx｜055	a=rx｜555
wx	u=wx｜300	g=wx｜030	o=wx｜003	ug=wx｜330	uo=wx｜303	go=wx｜033	a=wx｜333
rwx	u=rwx｜700	g=rwx｜070	o=rwx｜007	ug=rwx｜770	uo=rwx｜707	go=rwx｜007	a=rwx｜777

Change Ownership

set a user (and group) to a file

chown <user>[:group] <filePath>

Set Permissions

define permissions per user, group & other of file

chmod <permissions> <filePath>

📦 Packaging

Installing programs in Linux is a bit different than on Windows. When you need a specific program, it's best to use your system's package manager to install software. Package managers handle dependencies, upgrading, querying, installing, removing, listing packages and much more. They severly reduce the complexity of installing software for the end-user

Sync Package List

upgrade packages & sync repositories

# arch linux
pacman -Syu
# debian
apt update && apt upgrade

Query Packages

search for a package

# arch linux
pacman -Ss [package]
# debian
apt search [package]

Install Packages

install a package

# arch linux
pacman -S <package>
# debian
apt install <package>

Delete Packages

uninstall a package

# arch linux
pacman -Runss <package>
# debian
apt purge <package>

List Installed

list installed packages

# arch linux
pacman -Qe
# debian
apt list --installed

Package Information

# arch linux
pacman -Si <package>
# debian
apt info <package>

Source Control

Using below methods to clone an existing (empty) repository, means we can skip several unecessary, over-complicated commands

Clone Repositories

download a repositories contents (& .git)

git clone https://github.com/<user>/<repository>
# or a specific branch
git clone -b <branch> --single-branch https://github.com/<user>/<repository>

﹡ although this command uses github as a refrence, any suitable version control software should work as intended

Stage Files

add new or changed files to the staging area

git add .

Commit Files

snapshot staged files with a message

git commit -m 'initial commit'

Upload Files

upload staged files

git push