RHCSA + Linux Basics Full Command Reference
1. Basic Linux Commands
Command Explanation Example
pwd Print current working directory. pwd
whoami Show current logged-in username. whoami
date Display or set system date/time. date "+%d-%m-%Y %H:%M:%S"
cal Show calendar. cal 2025
echo Print text to screen. echo "Hello World"
clear Clear terminal screen. clear
history Show command history. history | grep dnf
uptime Show system uptime/load. uptime
uname Show system/kernel info. uname -a
man Show manual page. man ls
whatis Short description of command. whatis grep
whereis Locate binary/config/docs. whereis bash
which Show path to executable. which python3
2. File & Directory Navigation
Command Explanation Example
ls List contents of directory. ls -lAh
cd Change directory. cd /etc
mkdir Make new directory. mkdir projects
rmdir Remove empty directory. rmdir olddir
tree Show directory tree structure. tree /etc
touch Create empty file/update timestamp. touch file.txt
cat Show file contents. cat /etc/hosts
less View file one page at a time. less /var/log/messages
head Show first 10 lines. head -n 20 file.log
tail Show last 10 lines. tail -f /var/log/secure
stat Show detailed file info. stat file.txt
3. File Operations & Permissions
Command Explanation Example
cp Copy files/directories. cp -rp source.txt /backup/
mv Move or rename. mv file1 newfile
rm Remove files/directories. rm -rf /tmp/test
find Search files. find / -type f -name "*.conf"
grep Search text patterns. grep "error" /var/log/messages
wc Count lines/words/chars. wc -l file.txt
diff Compare files. diff old.conf new.conf
chmod Change file permissions. chmod 755 script.sh
chown Change owner/group. chown user:group file
chgrp Change group only. chgrp wheel file.txt
4. Compression & Archiving
Command Explanation Example
tar -cvf Create tar archive. tar -cvf backup.tar /home/user
tar -xvf Extract tar archive. tar -xvf backup.tar
gzip Compress file. gzip file.log
gunzip Decompress file. gunzip file.log.gz
zip Create zip archive. zip myfiles.zip a.txt b.txt
unzip Extract zip archive. unzip myfiles.zip
5. Process Management
Command Explanation Example
ps aux Show processes. ps aux
top Interactive process viewer. top
kill PID Kill process by PID. kill -9 1234
jobs Show background jobs. jobs
bg Resume job in background. bg %1
fg Bring job to foreground. fg %1
nice Run with priority. nice -n 10 sleep 60
renice Change priority of PID. renice +5 2345
6. Networking Basics
Command Explanation Example
ip a Show network interfaces/IP. ip a
ping Test connectivity. ping google.com
curl Fetch URL contents. curl https://example.com
wget Download file. wget https://example.com/file.txt
ss -tulnp Show open ports/services. ss -tulnp
scp Secure copy between hosts. scp file.txt user@remote:/tmp/
7. User & Group Management
Command Explanation Example
useradd Create new user. useradd -m -s /bin/bash alice
passwd Set password. passwd alice
usermod Modify user. usermod -aG wheel alice
userdel Delete user. userdel -r alice
groupadd Create new group. groupadd developers
groupmod Modify group. groupmod -n devteam developers
groupdel Delete group. groupdel devteam
id Show UID/GID/groups. id alice
8. Package Management (DNF/YUM)
Command Explanation Example
dnf search Search package. dnf search nginx
dnf install Install package. dnf install -y httpd
dnf remove Remove package. dnf remove httpd
dnf update Update all packages. dnf update -y
dnf provides Find which pkg has file. dnf provides /usr/bin/ls
dnf groupinstall Install group of pkgs. dnf groupinstall "Server with GUI"
dnf repolist Show enabled repos. dnf repolist
9. Flatpak Management
Command Explanation Example
flatpak remotes Show remote repos. flatpak remotes
flatpak remote-add Add repo. flatpak remote-add flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatp
flatpak search Search apps. flatpak search firefox
flatpak install Install app. flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.firefox
flatpak list List installed apps. flatpak list
flatpak run Run app. flatpak run org.mozilla.firefox
10. SELinux Management
Command Explanation Example
getenforce Show SELinux mode. getenforce
setenforce 0/1 Change SELinux mode. setenforce 0
sestatus Detailed status. sestatus
ls -Z Show SELinux context. ls -Z /var/www/html
semanage fcontext Set file context. semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/web(/.*)?"
restorecon Apply default context. restorecon -Rv /web
11. Systemctl & Service Management
Command Explanation Example
systemctl start Start service. systemctl start httpd
systemctl stop Stop service. systemctl stop httpd
systemctl enable Enable service at boot. systemctl enable httpd
systemctl disable Disable service at boot. systemctl disable httpd
systemctl status Show service status. systemctl status sshd
systemctl list-unit-files List unit files. systemctl list-unit-files --type=service
12. Disk & Storage Management
Command Explanation Example
lsblk List block devices. lsblk
df -h Show disk usage. df -h
du -sh Show directory size. du -sh /var/log
mount Mount device. mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
umount Unmount device. umount /mnt
blkid Show UUID/filesystem. blkid /dev/sdb1
fdisk Partition disk. fdisk /dev/sdb
mkfs.xfs Format XFS filesystem. mkfs.xfs /dev/sdb1
