Essential Linux + Git Cheat Sheet

File Management

Command Description Example Explanation

Creates a blank file or updates its

touch Create empty file touch file.txt
timestamp.

Creates a new directory with the

mkdir Create directory mkdir myfolder
specified name.

rm Delete file rm file.txt Deletes the specified file permanently.

rmdir Delete empty directory rmdir myfolder Removes a directory only if it's empty.

cp file1.txt Copies files or directories from source to

cp Copy file or directory
file2.txt destination.

mv Move or rename mv old.txt new.txt Moves or renames a file or directory.

Displays the content of a file in the

cat View file content cat file.txt
terminal.

stat File info stat file.txt Shows detailed file metadata.

Displays directory structure in a tree

tree Directory tree tree /home/user
format.

Search for files and find / -name Searches for files or folders matching
find
directories file.txt criteria.

System Information and Monitoring

Command Description Example Explanation

Shows disk space usage for disks and

df / du Disk usage df -h, du -sh *
directories.

Monitor
top / htop top Displays real-time system resource usage.
processes

Shows how long the system has been

uptime Show uptime uptime
running.

dmesg Kernel messages `dmesg Shows system boot and error messages.

lsof List open files lsof -i Lists open files and associated processes.

env / export
Env variables Displays or sets environment variables.
export PATH=$PATH:/newpath
Package Management

Command Description Example Explanation

apt Debian-based apt install nginx Installs packages on Debian systems.

yum / dnf RHEL-based yum update Installs or updates packages on Red Hat systems.

User and Permission Management

Command Description Example Explanation

Change file Modifies file permissions for user, group, and

chmod chmod 755 file.sh
permissions others.

Change file chown user:user

chown Changes the owner and group of a file.
ownership file.sh

Networking

Command Description Example Explanation

Displays all IP addresses assigned

ip addr Show IPs ip addr show
to interfaces.

Trace network Traces the path packets take to

traceroute traceroute google.com
path reach a host.

nslookup / Queries DNS for resolving domain

DNS lookup nslookup google.com
dig names.

ping Check network ping google.com Tests connectivity to a host.

Downloads files or data from a

wget / curl Download data wget URL
URL.

Logs into a remote machine

ssh Remote login ssh user@host
securely.

scp file.txt Copies files securely between

scp Secure copy
user@host:/path/ hosts.
Process Management

Command Description Example Explanation

ps Show processes ps aux Lists all running processes with details.

Terminate
kill kill -9 PID Sends a signal to stop a process.
process

systemctl restart Controls services on systems using

systemctl Manage services
nginx systemd.

Displays logs collected by the systemd

journalctl View system logs journalctl -u nginx
journal.

Disk Management

Command Description Example Explanation

Shows available disk space in human-

df Disk free df -h
readable format.

du Disk usage du -sh * Summarizes disk usage of each file/folder.

Archive tar -czvf archive.tar.gz

tar Compresses files into a tarball format.
files dir/

Text Processing

Command Description Example Explanation

awk '{print $1}' Extracts and processes data from text

awk Text processing
file.txt files.

sed 's/old/new/g' Edits text in a file using pattern

sed Stream editor
file.txt matching.

cut -d':' -f1

cut Remove sections Extracts fields or sections of each line.
/etc/passwd

Build command Converts input into arguments for a

xargs `cat files.txt
lines command.

grep 'root'
grep Search text Finds lines containing a specified string.
/etc/passwd
head / Views the beginning or end of a file's
File start/end tail -n 10 log.txt
tail contents.

Organizes lines of a file alphabetically

sort Sort file lines sort names.txt
or numerically.

Remove duplicate
uniq uniq list.txt Removes repeated lines in a sorted file.
lines

System Configuration and Management

Command Description Example Explanation

crontab Schedule jobs crontab -e Edits the cron table for task automation.

clear Clear terminal clear Clears all previous output from the terminal screen.
Git Version Control

Command Description Example Explanation

git init Start repo git init Initializes a new Git repository.

Downloads a project from a remote

git clone Copy repo git clone URL
repository.

Shows the status of files in the working

git status Check state git status
directory.

git add Stage changes git add . Adds changes to the staging area.

git commit -m
git commit Save changes Records staged changes to the repo.
"message"

git log History git log Displays a list of previous commits.

Shows the differences between commits or

git diff View changes git diff
working files.

git push / git push origin Pushes or pulls updates to/from remote
Sync repo
pull main repo.

git branch new-

git branch Manage branches Creates or lists branches.
feature

git git checkout

Switch branch Switches to a specified branch.
checkout main

git merge
git merge Merge branches Merges one branch into another.
feature

git reset HEAD

git reset Unstage changes Removes a file from staging area.
file.txt

Deletes a file from working directory and

git rm Remove files git rm file.txt
stages the removal.

Temporarily save
git stash git stash Stashes current changes to a stack.
changes

git stash Reapply stashed Applies the latest stashed changes and
git stash pop
pop changes removes them from the stack.

git tag Create tag git tag v1.0 Tags a specific commit with a label.

Show commit git show Displays details and diff of a specific

git show
details <commit> commit.

git reflog Show ref log git reflog Shows history of branch HEAD changes.