Bash System Commands Cheat Sheet

1. Test Operators ([ ] and [[ ]])

File Tests

●​ -f file - True if file exists and is regular file

●​ -d file - True if file exists and is directory
●​ -e file - True if file exists (any type)
●​ -r file - True if file is readable
●​ -w file - True if file is writable
●​ -x file - True if file is executable
●​ -s file - True if file exists and has size > 0
●​ -L file - True if file is symbolic link
●​ -O file - True if file is owned by current user
●​ -G file - True if file is owned by current group
●​ -N file - True if file was modified since last read
●​ file1 -nt file2 - True if file1 newer than file2
●​ file1 -ot file2 - True if file1 older than file2

String Tests

●​ -z string - True if string length is zero

●​ -n string - True if string length is non-zero
●​ string1 = string2 - True if strings are equal
●​ string1 != string2 - True if strings are not equal
●​ string1 < string2 - True if string1 sorts before string2
●​ string1 > string2 - True if string1 sorts after string2

Numeric Tests

●​ num1 -eq num2 - Equal

●​ num1 -ne num2 - Not equal
●​ num1 -lt num2 - Less than
●​ num1 -le num2 - Less than or equal
●​ num1 -gt num2 - Greater than
●​ num1 -ge num2 - Greater than or equal

Examples:
[ -f "file.txt" ] && echo "File exists"
[ -d "/home" ] && echo "Directory exists"
[ $a -eq $b ] && echo "Numbers are equal"
[ -z "$var" ] && echo "Variable is empty"

2. Special Variables
Process Variables

●​ $$ - PID of current shell

●​ $! - PID of last background process
●​ $? - Exit status of last command (0 = success)
●​ $0 - Name of script/shell
●​ $1, $2, $3... - Command line arguments
●​ $# - Number of arguments
●​ $* - All arguments as single string
●​ $@ - All arguments as separate items

System Variables

●​ $HOME - Home directory

●​ $PATH - Command search path
●​ $PWD - Current working directory
●​ $USER - Current username
●​ $SHELL - Current shell
●​ $PS1 - Primary prompt
●​ $IFS - Internal Field Separator
●​ $RANDOM - Random number (0-32767)

3. Command Operators
Redirection

●​ > - Redirect stdout to file (overwrite)

●​ >> - Redirect stdout to file (append)
●​ < - Redirect stdin from file
●​ 2> - Redirect stderr to file
●​ 2>&1 - Redirect stderr to stdout
●​ &> - Redirect both stdout and stderr
●​ | - Pipe output to next command
●​ tee - Write to both file and stdout
Control Operators

●​ && - AND (run next command only if previous succeeds)

●​ || - OR (run next command only if previous fails)
●​ ; - Command separator (always run next)
●​ & - Run command in background
●​ ! - Logical NOT
●​ () - Run commands in subshell
●​ {} - Run commands in current shell

Examples:
command1 && command2 # Run command2 only if command1 succeeds
command1 || command2 # Run command2 only if command1 fails
command1 ; command2 # Run both commands regardless
command & # Run command in background

4. Arithmetic and Expansions

Arithmetic Expansion

●​ $(( expression )) - Arithmetic evaluation

●​ $[ expression ] - Older arithmetic syntax
●​ let "var = expression" - Arithmetic assignment

Parameter Expansion

●​ ${var} - Value of variable

●​ ${var:-default} - Use default if var is empty
●​ ${var:=default} - Assign default if var is empty
●​ ${var:+value} - Use value if var is set
●​ ${var:?message} - Error if var is empty
●​ ${#var} - Length of variable
●​ ${var#pattern} - Remove shortest match from beginning
●​ ${var##pattern} - Remove longest match from beginning
●​ ${var%pattern} - Remove shortest match from end
●​ ${var%%pattern} - Remove longest match from end
●​ ${var/pattern/replacement} - Replace first match
●​ ${var//pattern/replacement} - Replace all matches

Command Substitution

●​ $(command) - Run command and use output

 ●​ `command` - Older command substitution syntax

5. Wildcards and Patterns

Globbing

●​ * - Matches any string (including empty)

●​ ? - Matches any single character
●​ [abc] - Matches any character in brackets
●​ [a-z] - Matches any character in range
●​ [!abc] - Matches any character NOT in brackets
●​ {pattern1,pattern2} - Brace expansion

Examples:
ls *.txt # All .txt files
ls file?.txt # file1.txt, file2.txt, etc.
ls file[1-3].txt # file1.txt, file2.txt, file3.txt
ls file[!1].txt # All except file1.txt
echo {a,b,c}.txt # Expands to a.txt b.txt c.txt

6. Common System Commands

Process Management

●​ ps - Show processes
●​ ps aux - Show all processes
●​ ps -ef - Show all processes (different format)
●​ pgrep name - Find PID by process name
●​ pidof name - Get PID of process
●​ kill PID - Terminate process
●​ killall name - Kill all processes by name
●​ jobs - Show background jobs
●​ fg - Bring job to foreground
●​ bg - Send job to background
●​ nohup command & - Run command immune to hangups

File Operations

●​ find path -name "pattern" - Search for files

●​ grep pattern file - Search text in files
●​ sed 's/old/new/g' file - Stream editor
●​ awk '{print $1}' file - Pattern processing
 ●​ sort file - Sort lines
●​ uniq file - Remove duplicate lines
●​ wc -l file - Count lines
●​ head -n 10 file - First 10 lines
●​ tail -n 10 file - Last 10 lines
●​ tail -f file - Follow file changes

11. File and Text Commands with Options

grep - Search Text Patterns

Basic syntax: grep [options] pattern [files]

Common Options:

●​ -i - Case insensitive search

●​ -v - Invert match (show non-matching lines)
●​ -n - Show line numbers
●​ -c - Count matching lines
●​ -l - Show only filenames with matches
●​ -L - Show only filenames without matches
●​ -r or -R - Recursive search in directories
●​ -w - Match whole words only
●​ -x - Match whole lines only
●​ -o - Show only matching parts of lines
●​ -A n - Show n lines after match
●​ -B n - Show n lines before match
●​ -C n - Show n lines around match
●​ -e pattern - Use pattern (useful for multiple patterns)
●​ -f file - Read patterns from file
●​ -q - Quiet mode (no output, just exit status)
●​ -s - Suppress error messages
●​ -H - Always print filename
●​ -h - Never print filename
●​ --color - Colorize matches

Examples:
grep -i "error" logfile.txt # Case insensitive
grep -n "TODO" *.py # Show line numbers
grep -r "function" /path/to/code/ # Recursive search
grep -v "^#" config.txt # Exclude comments
grep -c "error" logfile.txt # Count matches
grep -l "main" *.c # Files containing "main"
grep -o "[0-9]\+" file.txt # Show only numbers
grep -A 3 -B 2 "error" log.txt # Context lines
grep -E "pattern1|pattern2" file.txt # Multiple patterns

cat - Display File Contents

Basic syntax: cat [options] [files]

Common Options:

●​ -n - Number all lines

●​ -b - Number non-blank lines only
●​ -s - Squeeze multiple blank lines into one
●​ -v - Show non-printing characters
●​ -A - Show all characters (equivalent to -vET)
●​ -e - Show end-of-line characters as $
●​ -t - Show tabs as ^I
●​ -E - Show line endings
●​ -T - Show tabs

Examples:
cat file.txt # Display file
cat -n file.txt # With line numbers
cat file1.txt file2.txt # Concatenate files
cat -s file.txt # Squeeze blank lines
cat > newfile.txt # Create new file (Ctrl+D to end)
cat >> existing.txt # Append to file

less/more - Page Through Files

Basic syntax: less [options] file or more [options] file

less Options:

●​ -N - Show line numbers

●​ -S - Don't wrap long lines
●​ -i - Case insensitive search
●​ -r - Display raw control characters
●​ -f - Force open even if not regular file
●​ -X - Don't clear screen on exit
●​ -F - Quit if entire file fits on screen

Navigation in less:
 ●​ Space or f - Forward one page
●​ b - Backward one page
●​ d - Forward half page
●​ u - Backward half page
●​ g - Go to beginning
●​ G - Go to end
●​ /pattern - Search forward
●​ ?pattern - Search backward
●​ n - Next search result
●​ N - Previous search result
●​ q - Quit

head - Show First Lines

Basic syntax: head [options] [files]

Common Options:

●​ -n num - Show first num lines (default 10)

●​ -c num - Show first num bytes
●​ -q - Quiet mode (no headers)
●​ -v - Verbose mode (always show headers)

Examples:
head file.txt # First 10 lines
head -n 20 file.txt # First 20 lines
head -c 100 file.txt # First 100 bytes
head -n 5 *.txt # First 5 lines of each file

tail - Show Last Lines

Basic syntax: tail [options] [files]

Common Options:

●​ -n num - Show last num lines (default 10)

●​ -c num - Show last num bytes
●​ -f - Follow file (watch for new lines)
●​ -F - Follow file, retry if file doesn't exist
●​ -q - Quiet mode (no headers)
●​ -v - Verbose mode (always show headers)
●​ --pid=PID - Terminate after process PID dies

Examples:
tail file.txt # Last 10 lines
tail -n 50 file.txt # Last 50 lines
tail -f logfile.txt # Follow log file
tail -F /var/log/syslog # Follow system log
tail -n +10 file.txt # From line 10 to end

wc - Word, Line, Character Count

Basic syntax: wc [options] [files]

Common Options:

●​ -l - Count lines
●​ -w - Count words
●​ -c - Count bytes
●​ -m - Count characters
●​ -L - Length of longest line

Examples:
wc file.txt # Lines, words, characters
wc -l file.txt # Line count only
wc -w *.txt # Word count for all txt files
ls | wc -l # Count files in directory

sort - Sort Lines

Basic syntax: sort [options] [files]

Common Options:

●​ -n - Numeric sort
●​ -r - Reverse order
●​ -k field - Sort by field number
●​ -t char - Field separator
●​ -u - Remove duplicates
●​ -f - Case insensitive
●​ -M - Month sort (Jan, Feb, etc.)
●​ -h - Human numeric sort (1K, 2M, etc.)
●​ -R - Random sort
●​ -c - Check if sorted
●​ -o file - Output to file

Examples:
sort file.txt # Alphabetical sort
sort -n numbers.txt # Numeric sort
sort -r file.txt # Reverse sort
sort -k2 -t: /etc/passwd # Sort by 2nd field, : separator
sort -u file.txt # Remove duplicates
sort -nr file.txt # Numeric reverse

uniq - Remove Duplicate Lines

Basic syntax: uniq [options] [input] [output]

Common Options:

●​ -c - Count occurrences
●​ -d - Show only duplicate lines
●​ -u - Show only unique lines
●​ -i - Case insensitive
●​ -f n - Skip first n fields
●​ -s n - Skip first n characters
●​ -w n - Compare only first n characters

Examples:
uniq file.txt # Remove consecutive duplicates
sort file.txt | uniq # Remove all duplicates
uniq -c file.txt # Count occurrences
uniq -d file.txt # Show only duplicates

cut - Extract Columns

Basic syntax: cut [options] [files]

Common Options:

●​ -f fields - Select fields (columns)

●​ -d char - Field delimiter
●​ -c chars - Select characters
●​ -b bytes - Select bytes
●​ --complement - Invert selection

Examples:
cut -f1,3 -d: /etc/passwd # 1st and 3rd fields, : delimiter
cut -c1-10 file.txt # Characters 1-10
cut -d' ' -f2 file.txt # 2nd field, space delimiter
cut -f1 --complement file.txt # All except 1st field
tr - Translate Characters

Basic syntax: tr [options] set1 [set2]

Common Options:

●​ -d - Delete characters
●​ -s - Squeeze repeated characters
●​ -c - Complement set1
●​ -t - Truncate set1

Examples:
tr 'a-z' 'A-Z' < file.txt # Convert to uppercase
tr -d '0-9' < file.txt # Delete digits
tr -s ' ' < file.txt # Squeeze spaces
tr '\n' ' ' < file.txt # Replace newlines with spaces

sed - Stream Editor

Basic syntax: sed [options] 'command' [files]

Common Options:

●​ -i - Edit in place
●​ -n - Suppress default output
●​ -e - Multiple commands
●​ -f script - Read commands from file
●​ -r or -E - Extended regex

Common Commands:

●​ s/old/new/ - Substitute first occurrence

●​ s/old/new/g - Substitute all occurrences
●​ d - Delete line
●​ p - Print line
●​ q - Quit
●​ a\text - Append text
●​ i\text - Insert text

Examples:
sed 's/old/new/g' file.txt # Replace all occurrences
sed -i 's/old/new/g' file.txt # Replace in place
sed -n '1,5p' file.txt # Print lines 1-5
sed '/pattern/d' file.txt # Delete matching lines
sed '2d' file.txt # Delete line 2
awk - Pattern Processing

Basic syntax: awk [options] 'program' [files]

Common Options:

●​ -F fs - Field separator
●​ -v var=value - Set variable
●​ -f script - Read program from file

Built-in Variables:

●​ NR - Number of records (line number)

●​ NF - Number of fields
●​ $0 - Entire line
●​ $1, $2, ... - Field values
●​ FS - Field separator
●​ OFS - Output field separator
●​ RS - Record separator
●​ ORS - Output record separator

Examples:
awk '{print $1}' file.txt # Print first field
awk -F: '{print $1,$3}' /etc/passwd # Custom separator
awk 'NR==5' file.txt # Print line 5
awk 'length > 80' file.txt # Lines longer than 80 chars
awk '{sum+=$1} END {print sum}' # Sum first column

find - Search Files and Directories

Basic syntax: find [path] [options] [expression]

Test Options:

●​ -name pattern - File name matches pattern

●​ -iname pattern - Case insensitive name
●​ -path pattern - Path matches pattern
●​ -type f/d/l - File type (file/directory/link)
●​ -size +/-n - File size greater/less than n
●​ -mtime +/-n - Modified n days ago
●​ -user username - Owned by user
●​ -group groupname - Owned by group
●​ -perm mode - Permission matches mode
 ●​ -empty - Empty files/directories
●​ -executable - Executable files
●​ -readable - Readable files
●​ -writable - Writable files

Action Options:

●​ -print - Print matching files (default)

●​ -ls - List files in ls format
●​ -exec command {} \; - Execute command on each file
●​ -delete - Delete matching files
●​ -ok command {} \; - Ask before executing

Examples:
find /home -name "*.txt" # Find txt files
find . -type f -size +1M # Files larger than 1MB
find /tmp -mtime +7 -delete # Delete files older than 7 days
find . -name "*.log" -exec rm {} \; # Delete all log files
find . -type f -executable # Find executable files
find . -empty -type f # Find empty files

System Information

●​ uname -a - System information

●​ whoami - Current user
●​ who - Logged in users
●​ w - Who is doing what
●​ uptime - System uptime
●​ df -h - Disk usage
●​ du -h - Directory usage
●​ free -h - Memory usage
●​ top - Real-time processes
●​ htop - Better top (if installed)

7. Exit Codes
Standard Exit Codes

●​ 0 - Success
●​ 1 - General error
●​ 2 - Misuse of shell command
●​ 126 - Command cannot execute
●​ 127 - Command not found
 ●​ 128 - Invalid argument to exit
●​ 130 - Script terminated by Ctrl+C

Testing Exit Codes

command
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
echo "Success"
else
echo "Failed"
fi

8. Useful Command Combinations

System Monitoring
# Find processes using most CPU
ps aux | sort -nr -k 3 | head -10

# Find processes using most memory

ps aux | sort -nr -k 4 | head -10

# Monitor file changes

tail -f /var/log/syslog

# Find large files

find / -type f -size +100M 2>/dev/null

# Check disk usage by directory

du -sh /* | sort -hr

Text Processing
# Count unique lines
sort file | uniq -c

# Find and replace in multiple files

sed -i 's/old/new/g' *.txt

# Extract specific columns

awk '{print $1,$3}' file

# Search for pattern in files

grep -r "pattern" /path/to/search
Network Commands
# Check network connectivity
ping -c 4 google.com

# Show network interfaces

ifconfig -a

# Show listening ports

netstat -tuln

# Download file
wget URL
curl -O URL

9. Conditional Statements
If Statement
if [ condition ]; then
commands
elif [ condition ]; then
commands
else
commands
fi

Case Statement
case $variable in
pattern1)
commands
;;
pattern2)
commands
;;
*)
default commands
;;
esac

10. Loops
For Loop
for var in list; do
commands
done

for ((i=1; i<=10; i++)); do

echo $i
done

While Loop
while [ condition ]; do
commands
done

Until Loop
until [ condition ]; do
commands
done

Quick Reference Examples

# Check if file exists and is readable
[ -f "$file" ] && [ -r "$file" ] && echo "File OK"

# Run command only if previous succeeded

make && make install

# Get exit status

command
status=$?

# Background process with nohup

nohup long_running_command &

# Find and kill process

pid=$(pgrep process_name)
kill $pid

# Check if variable is set

[ -n "$VAR" ] && echo "Variable is set"

# Default value for variable

VAR=${VAR:-"default_value"}