Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

Assignment: Linux Basics Lab

​Section 1: Overview of Linux

​ typical Linux operating system is made up of three parts: the kernel, the shell and
A
the applications.
​ ernel: The kernel of Linux is the hub of the operating system: it allocates time and memory to
K
programs and handles the file storage as well as response to system calls.
​ hell: The shell acts as an interface between the user and the kernel. When a user logs in (into
S
command line only environment), the login program checks the username and password, and then starts
another program called the shell. The shell is a command line interpreter (CLI). It interprets the
commands, which are typed by the user, and it arranges for them to be carried out. The commands are
themselves programs: when they terminate, the shell gives the user another prompt. A graphical user
interface for the shell is called Terminal.
​ esktop Environment: Linux operating systems also have a graphical user interface (GUI) through
D
which users can access applications and system resources. Unlike other operating systems Linux OS
has many Desktop Environments available. Users are free to install the GUI of their choice. Some
popular ones are GNOME, KDE, XFCE, Ubuntu Unity, etc. When one installs a Linux system, it
comes with a default GUI. One can install other GUIs at any time, but only one GUI environment can
be used at a time. For example, Kali Linux comes with GNOME.
​Linux Directory Structure: In Linux, files and directories (folders) are laid out on disk in hierarchical
fashion in a tree structure. The top directory is called root folder, it is denoted by “/” (slash).
A collection of all files and directories in a Linux machine is referred to as a “filesystem”.
​A path (location) of a file or directory in the filesystem is written starting from the root directory (/)
followed by all intermediate directory names, which are separated by a slash with the actual file name
(or directory name) in the end of the path. Example: the file path of the file “report.doc” in the above
figure is written as “/home/its/ug1/ee51vn/report.doc”.
​
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

​
Notes:
1. In the path /home/its/ug1/ee51vn/report.doc, do not get confused between first slash / which
denotes the root directory and subsequent slashes, which are used to separate directories at each
level of the path.
2. There are no spaces in a file path. Example: The file path /home/its/ug1/ee51vn/report.doc is the
one single string with no spaces between slashes and subsequent folder names.

Q1: Write the path for directory staff in the above figure.

Different default directories under the / directory are used for some specific purposes.
/bin : All executable binary files (including commands) are present in this directory.
/dev : Contains device files for hardware devices (usb, cdrom etc.)
/etc : Contains application’s configuration files, startup, shutdown, start, stop script for every
individual program.
/home : Home directory of the users. Every time a new user is created, a directory with the
corresponding username is created within /home which contains other directories such as Desktop,
Downloads, Documents, etc.
/lib : Contains the kernel modules and shared library images required to boot the system and run
commands in the root file system.
/lost+found : This directory is created during installation of Linux, useful for recovering files which
may be broken due to unexpected shutdown.
/media : Temporary mount directory is created for removable devices viz., media/cdrom.
/mnt : Temporary mount directory for mounting file system.
/opt : Contains the third-party application software viz. Java, etc.
/proc : A virtual and pseudo filesystem which contains information about running processes with
a particular process id abbreviated as “pid”.
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

​Section 2: Introduction to Ubuntu Linux

There exist many Linux OS distributions (around 3500 are known), but most of them are created from
the same Linux kernel. We will use Ubuntu in this course. Other popular Linux variants are Redhat,
Debian, and CentOS.

Setup VirtualBox
If you already have setup virtualbox or any other linux environment , no need to follow this . But it
should be an Ubuntu/Debian Based environment.
An OVA file is an Open Virtualization Appliance that contains a compressed, “installable” version of a
virtual machine. When you open an OVA file, it extracts the VM and imports it into whatever
virtualization software you have installed on your computer. The instructions below explain how to
install an OVA file in Oracle VirtualBox. Briefly, these steps are:
1. If it is not already on your computer, download and install VirtualBox –
https:///www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads. You can find instructions on how to do this at the
Installing VirtualBox wiki page.
a. For Mac users, select “OS X hosts”. Run the file and follow the on-screen directions.
b. You can launch VirtualBox from the Applications and “Keep in dock” if desired.
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

IMPORTANT NOTE: In the rest of this lab,

you will replace “EUID” with below format
<eg><YOUR_REGISTRATION_NUMBER>.
Example: Let your registration number be “2894”;
when instructed to type a command “adduser EUID”,
you will type “adduser eg2894”, and when instructed
to type a command “adduser EUIDnew”,
you will type “adduser eg2894new”.

​User Account Management

1. Create a new user account (for yourself):
a. Type “sudo su”. The system will ask for the root password. Type “efacuor” as the password.
The shell prompt will change to # and you are working now as a user root.
b. Type “adduser euid”.
c. Enter a password for your account. You have to do it twice.
Note: Passwords are not shown in terminal as you type them. Usually while typing
password you’ll see *****(stars) or in ……… (dots). But here you don’t see anything on a
Linux Terminal.

d. Add further user details. These details are optional-you can just hit enter to skip for Full
Name, Number, Phone etc.) –See the below screenshot.
e. Type “y” at “Is this information correct?”
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

2. To change a user password, use passwd command.

Example: passwd euid

3. Add new user to sudoers file to give them superuser permissions.

a. Type “nano /etc/sudoers”. (Here, “nano” is a command-line text editor - details are
provided in the Text Editors section of this manual.)
b. In this file, add the following line:
Username ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL. Add this line next to the following one:
root ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
You have to provide your newly created username.
c. Press Control+O, Press Enter, when asked for confirmation, Press Control+X to exit

4. Close the terminal window.

5. Go to the upper menu and expand the dropdown, expand the Power Off/ Log Out menu and
then select Power Off…
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

Then, in the dialog box, select the Restart button to restart.

Now select the newly created account and login. You may Skip and click on Next until you’re able to
select Done to complete the setup of the new account.

Q2: Login to your new user account, open a terminal and type “sudo su”, enter sudo password
for your account, and submit a screenshot. The screenshot should clearly show the prompt. It will
look like “root@usudont-sec:/home/euid”.

6. Create another user from your account.

a. Open Terminal after logging into your account.
b. Type “sudo adduser euidnew”. Enter sudo password for your account.
Note: the user password is asked when you use the “sudo” command for first time in
a terminal. “sudo” is used to elevate a normal user to root user for execution certain high
privilege commands.
c. Add a (unix) password for new user euidnew twice and rest of the details as earlier.
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

7. To change to root user from normal user (type “exit” if currently in root mode for user):
a. Type “sudo su –”.
b. If prompted, type the root user password at the prompt. After successful login, you
should observe a change in shell prompt from your user to root user.
c. Type “exit” to exit from the root user. Now you should be back to you user prompt.

8. Type “tail /etc/passwd” (note that “/etc/passwd” is one string—no spaces in between).

Q3: Attach a screenshot of the result.

A root user (also referred to as a superuser) is an administrator of the system who has full privileges by
default, while normal users have limited privileges. Normal users need to use the “sudo” command in
order to temporarily gain certain high-privilege commands. Example of these commands are: software
installation, changing to the root user in a terminal, changing the system settings, and others.
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

Some Basic Commands

Files and Directories

9. pwd – present working directory

Type “pwd” at command prompt (without quotes). This command displays the directory in
which you are currently. When a user starts a shell the default directory is user’s home
directory: /home/euid.

10. cd – change directory

This command is used to change to a desired directory from current directory.
a. Type “cd /home” (without quotes). This will move the user to the /home directory.
b. Type “pwd”. What is it showing
c. Type “cd -”. This will take you back to previous directory, i.e., your home directory
d. You can use “cd ~” to go back to your home directory from. (~ Tilde symbol)
e. . (single dot) refers to current directory, ..(double dots) refer to parent directory.
“cd .” keeps you in same directory, while “cd ..” moves to parent directory, a level
above. “cd ../..” moves you two levels above the current directory.
11. ls – list
ls command simply lists file and directories in present directories. Option “–l” which gives
more details about files which include file size, time created, file permissions etc
a. Type “ls –l”
To display details of a directory or file: ls –l directory or file name. Ex: ls –l Desktop
b. Type “ls –la”

Q4: What output “ls –la” gives (take a screenshot)?

Q5: What difference did you observe between the results of “ls –l” and “ls –la”?
What does the option “-a” mean?
Hint: Refer to the man page: man ls. Also, see the section on man help below.

12. mkdir - create a directory

a. Type “mkdir firstdir”. It creates a new directory called firstdir. You can also create
multiple directories and also nested directories
b. Type “mkdir dir1 dir2 dir3.” It creates 3 directories in present directory.
c. Type “mkdir –p dir11/dir22/{dir33, dir44}”.
It creates 4 directories: dir11, dir22 inside dir11, dir33 and dir44 inside dir22.
d. Type “ ls”
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13. rm - delete a file or directory

● type “rm –r dir3”. You can also use “rmdir” but it only deletes empty directories

14. touch - create empty file(s)

● Type “touch file1 file2 file3”.
15. mv - move or rename files and directories
a. Type “mv file1 dir1” - this moves (cut and paste) the file file1 to the directory dir1.
b. Type “mv file2 file22”.
c. Type “ls”.
16. cp - copy files and directories
Type the following commands in the order shown below:
● “touch file4”. Creates a file with the name file4.
● “mkdir dir4” . Creates a directory dir4.
● “cp file4 dir4”. Copies file4 to dir4.
● “mkdir dir5”. Creates another directory dir5.
● “cp -r dir4 dir5”. Copies dir4 to dir5.

Q6: Why do we have to use “-r” option to copy directories? (Hint: Use man cp.)

17. find - to find files and directories.

● Type “find /root –name file1”.

Q7: What is the result? (Show the screenshot.)

You are searching for the file with name file1 in the directory /root. This command will search for the
file in /root and in all its subdirectories. You gave /root as search location as you think file1 must be
somewhere in it. If you have no information where the file might be in your system, you should start
searching for it from the most top directory in the filesystem, that is “/”. In this later case, the command
should be find / -name file1.

18. The absolute path of a file or directory is its path written from the root of the file system. For
example, consider the directory dir44 you created earlier in Step 5. Its absolute path is
/home/euid/dir11/dir22/dir44.

19. The relative path of a file or directory is its path from the current directory. Now, you are in
your home directory which is /home/euid. The relative path of dir44 from this directory is
dir11/dir22/dir44. One writes the relative path starting from a directory one level below, i.e.,
dir11 in our case.
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

20. One can refer to a file or directory either using relative or absolute path (both are possible).
● Type “touch /home/euid/dir11/dir22/dir44/file44”.
(Replace username you actual username).
● Type “dir11dir22/dir44/file55”
Either way you are able can access dir44

Note: When using the relative path, one should be aware of the current directory. In the above example,
when the current directory changes to home, then the relative path to dir44 changes to
euid/dir11/dir22/dir44.

File Compression and Archiving

21. To compress and archive files: In Linux file compression and archiving (grouping file together)
and compression are two different activities. First, we archive multiple files with “tar”
command. A file with “.tar” extension is created. Then we zip (compress the file) with gzip
command. (gzip-stands for gunzip is compression tool in linux. Bunzip (bzip2) and zip are other
commonly used compression tools)

a. Type “touch a b c d”. Creates 4 files a, b, c and d.

b. tar –cf compressed.tar a b c d. We are creating a tar file compressed.tar from the files a,
b, c and d.
c. gzip –vf compressed.tar. This should create a file compressed.tar.gz.
Note: For “tar” command, you should supply output filename along with .tar extension. For
gzip, it automatically creates a zipped file with .gz extension. You no longer have .tar file
after you compressed it with gzip.

d. You can also do it in single step which is usually the preferred way:
type “tar –zcvf compressed2.tar.gz a b c d”.

22. To extract and uncompress files:

a. Type “rm –rf a b c d”. Deleting the files.
b. Type “ls”.
c. Type “gzip –dvf compressed.tar.gz” – you will get the file compressed.tar.
d. Type “tar –xvf compessed.tar”. You will get the original files a, b, c and d.
e. Type “ls”.
f. As before, you can uncompress and extract the compressed2.tar.gz in a sigle step:
Type “tar –zxvf compressed2.tar.gz”
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

Getting help with the man command

The “man” command is used to get help for any command in Linux. man stands for manual. To pull
up a man page of a command, type man command. Ex: man ls. This command displays list of options
available with the command. Man pages explain different options and syntax of a command and are
usually difficult to understand for beginners. If you want to know usage and example for a command,
google is the best place to look.

Type “q” to quit from man page.

​Section 3: File Permissions and Access Control

In Linux a file has read, write and execute permissions. And permissions are assigned to users of three
categories: owner, group and others. The user who creates a file will be the owner, group is group of
users who has access. Others are all the users other than owner and users in the group.

1. Understanding file/directory permissions:

Type ls –l filename to list the file permissions.
The below figure explains the file details displayed.

Each file (and directory) has associated access rights, which may be found by typing ls -l. Also, ls
-lg gives additional information as to which group owns the file (beng95 in the following example):
-rwxrw-r-- 1 ee51ab beng95 2450 Sept29 11:52 file1
In the left-hand column is a 10 symbol string consisting of the symbols d, r, w, x, -, and,
occasionally, s or S. If d is present, it will be at the left hand end of the string, and indicates a
directory: otherwise - will be the starting symbol of the string.
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

The 9 remaining symbols indicate the permissions, or access rights, and are taken as 3 groups of 3.
● The left group of 3 gives the file permissions for the user that owns the file (or directory)
(ee51ab in the above example);
● the middle group gives the permissions for the group of people to whom the file (or
directory) belongs (eebeng95 in the above example); For every user in Linux, a group with
the same name is also created. This group will be default group on newly created files.
● the rightmost group gives the permissions for all others.
The symbols r, w, etc., have slightly different meanings depending on whether they refer to a simple
file or to a directory.

2. Access rights on files.

● r (or -), indicates read permission (or otherwise), that is, the presence or absence of
permission to read and copy the file
● w (or -), indicates write permission (or otherwise), that is, the permission (or otherwise) to
change a file
● x (or -), indicates execution permission (or otherwise), that is, the permission to execute a
file, where appropriate

3. Access rights on directories.

● r allows users to list files in the directory;
● w means that users may delete files from the directory or move files into it;
● x means the right to access files in the directory. This implies that you may read files in the
directory provided you have read permission on the individual files.
● So, in order to read a file, you must have executed permission on the directory containing
that file, and hence on any directory containing that directory as a subdirectory, and so on,
up the tree.

Some Examples:
-rwxrwxrwx a file that everyone can read, write and execute (and delete).
a file that only the owner can read and write - no-one else can read or write
-rw-------
and no-one has execution rights (e.g., your mailbox file).

4. Changing access rights (i.e., permissions) on a file

a. chmod (changing a file mode):
i. Only the owner of a file can use chmod to change the permissions of a file. The
options of chmod are as follows
Symbol Meaning
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

u user
g group
o other
a all
r read
w write (and delete)
x execute (and access directory)
+ add permission
- take away permission

ii. type “touch access” (to create a file called access).

iii. type “ls –l access”.
iv. To remove read write and execute permissions on the file access for the group and
others type “sudo chmod go-rwx access”. This will leave the other permissions
unaffected.
v. To give read and write permissions on the file access to all,
type “sudo chmod a+rw access”.
b. chgrp-this command is used to change the group of a file
i. Type “sudo chgrp euidnew access”. This will change the default group on file
“access” to euidnew from your current username.
ii. Type “ls –l access”.

c. chown- this command is used change ownership of a file or directory. This can also be used
to change the group like chgrp.
i. Type “touch own_file”.
ii. Type “ls –l own_file”.
iii. Type “sudo chown euidnew own_file”. This change owner of the file to euidnew
from you.
iv. Type “mkdir own_dir”.
v. Type “ls –ld own_dir”. The –ld option displays properties of directory. If you only
use –l it shows properties of contents of own_dir.
vi. Type “sudo chown euidnew:euidnew own_dir”. This changes both the owner and
the group to euidnew on folder own_dir.
vii. Type “ls –ld own_dir”.

Q8: Submit a screenshot of the terminal.

Note: The command chown only changes the owner of a directory but not its contents.
To change ownership of files and directories within a directory own_dir, along with is
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

permissions use chown with “–R” option.

Example: “sudo chown –R euidnew: euidnew own_dir”.

​Section 4: Installing Software

1. To install a software package apt-get command is used in Ubuntu Linux.
● Type “sudo apt-get update”
● Type “sudo apt-get install chromium”
(if this does not work, use “sudo apt-get install chromium-browser”.)
It checks for file size to be downloaded and ask for confirmation. Type “y” and hit enter.
This command installs Chromium web browser.

Q9: Take a screenshot of the notification that installation is complete.

Note: If you do not know the exact name of the package, you can search for it with “apt-cache”
command. Example: apt-cache search openoffice. Relevant packages will be shown.

2. Installing software from GUI: One can also install software using “Add or Remove” utility.
Click Applications → System Tools → Add or Remove Software.

3. To download a file from the Internet, use wget command.

Type
wget https://kekeseen.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/linux_commands_08.pdf

This will download the pdf file. Note that the wget utility works any file type.

​Section 5: Text Editors (Nano and Vim)

Nano:
a. To open a file in nano: Type “nano newfile”. This will open a blank file called newfile.
If there is already a file by name newfile nano will open that. Only if there exists no file by the
name supplied it opens a new blank file with the supplied name.
b. To edit and save: To write data to file, move cursor with arrow keys to location where you
want to add content and start writing. Delete content using backspace.
Press Ctrl+O, it ask for confirmation: File name to write: newfile. Hit Enter.
c. To exit nano: Press Ctrl+X.
d. To search for a string or keyword: Press Ctrl+W. A search: prompt appears at the bottom,
type keyword you want to search and press enter.
Note: You have all the above explained controls at the bottom of the nano editor with brief
description.
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

Vim:
VIM Editor has 2 different modes: Command Mode and Insert Mode.
a. Command mode: Type: “vim blankfile”. This opens a new file-blank file if a file doesn’t exist
by the name. A file is opened into command mode by default. In this mode you can issue
commands to edit text.

b. Insert mode:
Hit letter “i”, which moves to insert mode from command mode. You can edit, add content to
the file in this mode. Use arrow keys to navigate, backspace to delete.
To save changes to the file:
i. Press Escape key-it takes file back to command mode.
ii. Press "Shift + :” A : prompt is created at bottom of file.
iii. Type letter “w”-it saves your file
Note: If you don’t want save the file at this point but want to go back, hit escape-to go
to command mode and then “i” to go to insert mode. You always have to be in
command mode before you go to insert mode.
iv. Again Press "Shift + :”- and type “q” to exit vi editor. If file has unsaved modifications,
vim asks for confirmation. Typing q! Forcefully quits without saving.

c. More about command mode: This mode takes commands from key board, to do operation like
copy, paste, cut delete, etc. You can navigate using arrow keys.
i. dd - delete current line (in which cursor is present). ndd –deletes n number of lines.
Example: 5dd.
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

ii. yy - copy current line (in which cursor is present). nyy- copies n number of lines.
iii. p - paste copied line(s) below current line.

d. To print content of text file to terminal

i. Type “cat newfile”. It will dump all the content in newfile to terminal.
ii. Type “less newfile”. This will open newfile on terminal but only partially display its
content. Press enter to browse the file one line at a time. Press Q to exit less.

There exist many other text editors such as emacs, pico, and others, however we limit our
demonstration to nano and vim. The main reasons are that they are simple, and that they are likely to
be present (built-in) in various current and future Linux/Unix distributions. Typically, these operating
systems have GUI-based text editors available as well.

Your Final Task :

1. Install AWS CLI on your linux environment
2. Configure AWS Credentials in your linux environment
3. Write a python script using boto3 to list the EC2 instances ,
your script should print each instance with it’s status. If they
are running , your script should stop them.
4. Include relevant screenshots here with the descriptions
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

​Appendix: List of Useful Commands

​ ote: The below list is not exhaustive: it is composed to cover some of the commands, which will be
N
commonly used in our labs. The students are recommended to use the command “man” in order to see
a complete list of available options.
​
​a
​ alias Create an alias of a command
​ apropos Search Help manual pages (man -k)
​ apt-get Search for and install software packages (Debian/Ubuntu for Centos use yum)
​ aptitude Search for and install software packages (Debian/Ubuntu)
​ aspell Spell Checker
​ awk Find and Replace text, database sort/validate/index
​b
​ basename Strip directory and suffix from filenames
​ bash GNU Bourne-Again SHell
​ bc Arbitrary precision calculator language
​ bg Send to background
​ break Exit from a loop •
​ builtin Run a shell builtin
​ bzip2 Compress or decompress named file(s)
​c
​ cal Display a calendar
​ case Conditionally perform a command
​ cat Concatenate and print (display) the content of files
​ cd Change Directory
​ cfdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux
​ chgrp Change group ownership
​ chmod Change access permissions
​ chown Change file owner and group
​ chroot Run a command with a different root directory
​ chkconfig System services (runlevel)
​ cksum Print CRC checksum and byte counts
​ clear Clear terminal screen
​ cmp Compare two files
​ comm Compare two sorted files line by line
​ command Run a command - ignoring shell functions •
​ continue Resume the next iteration of a loop •
​ cp Copy one or more files to another location
​ cron Daemon to execute scheduled commands
​ crontab Schedule a command to run at a later time
​ csplit Split a file into context-determined pieces
​ cut Divide a file into several parts
​d
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

​ date Display or change the date & time

​ dc Desk Calculator
​ dd Convert and copy a file, write disk headers, boot records
​ ddrescue Data recovery tool
​ declare Declare variables and give them attributes •
​ df Display free disk space
​ diff Display the differences between two files
​ diff3 Show differences among three files
​ dig DNS lookup
​ dir Briefly list directory contents
​ dircolors Colour setup for `ls'
​ dirname Convert a full pathname to just a path
​ dirs Display list of remembered directories
​ dmesg Print kernel & driver messages
​ du Estimate file space usage
​e
​ echo Display message on screen •
​ egrep Search file(s) for lines that match an extended expression
​ eject Eject removable media
​ enable Enable and disable builtin shell commands •
​ env Environment variables
​ ethtool Ethernet card settings
​ eval Evaluate several commands/arguments
​ exec Execute a command
​ exit Exit the shell
​ expect Automate arbitrary applications accessed over a terminal
​ expand Convert tabs to spaces
​ export Set an environment variable
​ expr Evaluate expressions
​f
​ false Do nothing, unsuccessfully
​ fdformat Low-level format a floppy disk
​ fdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux
​ fg Send job to foreground
​ fgrep Search file(s) for lines that match a fixed string
​ file Determine file type
​ find Search for files that meet a desired criteria
​ fmt Reformat paragraph text
​ fold Wrap text to fit a specified width.
​ for Expand words, and execute commands
​ format Format disks or tapes
​ free Display memory usage
​ fsck File system consistency check and repair
​ ftp File Transfer Protocol
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

​ function Define Function Macros

​ fuser Identify/kill the process that is accessing a file
​g
​ gawk Find and Replace text within file(s)
​ getopts Parse positional parameters
​ grep Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern
​ groupadd Add a user security group
​ groupdel Delete a group
​ groupmod Modify a group
​ groups Print group names a user is in
​ gzip Compress or decompress named file(s)
​h
​ hash Remember the full pathname of a name argument
​ head Output the first part of file(s)
​ help Display help for a built-in command •
​ history Command History
​ hostname Print or set system name
​i
​ iconv Convert the character set of a file
​ id Print user and group id's
​ if Conditionally perform a command
​ ifconfig Configure a network interface
​ ifdown Stop a network interface
​ ifup Start a network interface up
​ import Capture an X server screen and save the image to file
​ install Copy files and set attributes
​j
​ jobs List active jobs •
​ join Join lines on a common field
​k
​ kill Stop a process from running
​ killall Kill processes by name
​l
​ less Display output one screen at a time
​ let Perform arithmetic on shell variables •
​ link Create a link to a file
​ ln Create a symbolic link to a file
​ local Create variables •
​ locate Find files
​ logname Print current login name
​ logout Exit a login shell •
​ look Display lines beginning with a given string
​ lpc Line printer control program
​ lpr Off line print
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

​ lprint Print a file

​ lprintd Abort a print job
​ lprintq List the print queue
​ lprm Remove jobs from the print queue
​ ls List information about file(s)
​ lsof List open files
​m
​ make Recompile a group of programs
​ man Help manual
​ mkdir Create new folder(s)
​ mkfifo Make FIFOs (named pipes)
​ mkisofs Create an hybrid ISO9660/JOLIET/HFS filesystem
​ mknod Make block or character special files
​ more Display output one screen at a time
​ mount Mount a file system
​ mtools Manipulate MS-DOS files
​ mtr Network diagnostics (traceroute/ping)
​ mv Move or rename files or directories
​ mmv Mass Move and rename (files)
​n
​ netstat Networking information
​ nice Set the priority of a command or job
​ nl Number lines and write files
​ nohup Run a command immune to hangups
​ notify-send Send desktop notifications
​ nslookup Query Internet name servers interactively
​o
​ open Open a file in its default application
​ op Operator access
​p
​ passwd Modify a user password
​ paste Merge lines of files
​ pathchk Check file name portability
​ ping Test a network connection
​ pkill Stop processes from running
​ popd Restore the previous value of the current directory
​ pr Prepare files for printing
​ printcap Printer capability database
​ printenv Print environment variables
​ printf Format and print data •
​ ps Process status
​ pushd Save and then change the current directory
​ pv Monitor the progress of data through a pipe
​ pwd Print Working Directory
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

q​
​ quota Display disk usage and limits
​ quotacheck Scan a file system for disk usage
​ quotactl Set disk quotas
​r
​ ram ram disk device
​ rcp Copy files between two machines
​ read Read a line from standard input •
​ readarray Read from stdin into an array variable •
​ readonly Mark variables/functions as readonly
​ reboot Reboot the system
​ rename Rename files
​ renice Alter priority of running processes
​ remsync Synchronize remote files via email
​ return Exit a shell function
​ rev Reverse lines of a file
​ rm Remove files
​ rmdir Remove folder(s)
​ rsync Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)
​s
​ screen Multiplex terminal, run remote shells via ssh
​ scp Secure copy (remote file copy)
​ sdiff Merge two files interactively
​ sed Stream Editor
​ select Accept keyboard input
​ seq Print numeric sequences
​ set Manipulate shell variables and functions
​ sftp Secure File Transfer Program
​ shift Shift positional parameters
​ shopt Shell Options
​ shutdown Shutdown or restart linux
​ sleep Delay for a specified time
​ slocate Find files
​ sort Sort text files
​ source Run commands from a file '.'
​ split Split a file into fixed-size pieces
​ ssh Secure Shell client (remote login program)
​ strace Trace system calls and signals
​ su Substitute user identity
​ sudo Execute a command as another user
​ sum Print a checksum for a file
​ suspend Suspend execution of this shell •
​ sync Synchronize data on disk with memory
​t
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

​ tail Output the last part of file

​ tar Store, list or extract files in an archive
​ tee Redirect output to multiple files
​ test Evaluate a conditional expression
​ time Measure Program running time
​ timeout Run a command with a time limit
​ times User and system times
​ touch Change file timestamps
​ top List processes running on the system
​ traceroute Trace Route to Host
​ trap Run a command when a signal is set(bourne)
​ tr Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
​ true Do nothing, successfully
​ tsort Topological sort
​ tty Print filename of terminal on stdin
​ type Describe a command •
​u
​ ulimit Limit user resources •
​ umask Users file creation mask
​ umount Unmount a device
​ unalias Remove an alias •
​ uname Print system information
​ unexpand Convert spaces to tabs
​ uniq Uniquify files
​ units Convert units from one scale to another
​ unset Remove variable or function names
​ unshar Unpack shell archive scripts
​ until Execute commands (until error)
​ uptime Show uptime
​ useradd Create new user account
​ userdel Delete a user account
​ usermod Modify user account
​ users List users currently logged in
​ uuencode Encode a binary file
​ uudecode Decode a file created by uuencode
​v
​v Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b')
​ vdir Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b')
​ vi Text Editor
​ vmstat Report virtual memory statistics
​w
​ wait Wait for a process to complete •
​ watch Execute/display a program periodically
​ wc Print byte, word, and line counts
 Linux Basics and Capabilities Lab

​ whereis Search the user's $path, man pages and source files for a program
​ which Search the user's $path for a program file
​ while Execute commands
​ who Print all usernames currently logged in
​ whoami Print the current user id and name (`id -un')
​ wget Retrieve web pages or files via HTTP, HTTPS or FTP
​ write Send a message to another user
​x
​ xargs Execute utility, passing constructed argument list(s)
​ xdg-open Open a file or URL in the user's preferred application.
​ yes Print a string until interrupted
​ zip Package and compress (archive) files.
​. Run a command script in the current shell
​ !! Run the last command again
​# Comment / Remark
​ // Comment / Remark