Command Line
Bash Cheatsheet
Quick guide for general Bash / Shell commands and shortcuts.
File & Directory Navigation
5pwd Print working directory path.
ls -la List files including hidden files, with detailed properties.
cd /path/to/dir Change current working directory.
cd .. Move up one directory level.
cd ~ Move to user home directory.
File Operations
8touch file.txt Create a empty file.
mkdir new_folder Create a new directory.
mkdir -p parent/child Create nested directories.
cp src.txt dest.txt Copy file.
cp -r folder_src/ folder_dest/ Copy directory recursively.
mv src.txt dest.txt Move or rename file.
rm file.txt Delete file.
rm -rf folder/ Force-delete directory recursively (use with caution).
File Viewer & Grep
6cat file.txt Concatenate and display file content.
less file.txt Open file viewer supporting page-by-page scrolling.
head -n 10 file.txt Output first 10 lines of file.
tail -n 10 -f file.txt Output last 10 lines and follow additions in real-time.
grep "pattern" file.txt Search for string pattern in file.
grep -r "pattern" ./dir/ Search recursively in all files under directory.
System Info & Process
6df -h Display disk space usage in human-readable format.
du -sh ./folder/ Calculate size of directory.
free -h Display system RAM usage.
top Interactive real-time process monitor.
ps aux | grep node List active processes matching "node".
kill -9 <PID> Force kill process by Process ID.
Permissions & Ownership
4chmod +x script.sh Grant execution permissions to file.
chmod 755 file.txt Set read, write, execute permissions (User: RWX, Group/World: RX).
chown user:group file.txt Change file owner and group.
sudo <command> Execute command with superuser (root) privileges.
Network Utilities
4ping google.com Ping host to check connectivity.
curl -i https://api.github.com Send HTTP request and print headers.
wget https://example.com/file.zip Download file from web.
ssh user@host Connect to remote host via SSH.
Bash & Linux Commands Cheatsheet
Bash (Bourne Again SHell) is the default Unix/Linux shell environment. This searchable cheatsheet covers directory navigation, file modification, permissions, process monitoring, and networking utilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between relative and absolute paths?
An absolute path specifies the path starting from root directory (e.g. /usr/local/bin).
A relative path specifies a path relative to the current working directory (e.g. ./bin or ../styles).
How do I change file permissions?
Use the chmod cmdlet. For example, chmod +x script.sh makes the script file executable. You can also specify numerical octals, such as chmod 755 filename.