Ubuntu Linux Absolute Beginners Command Quick Reference

Getting Help

grep texttofind /dir

http://www.ubuntu.com/support
http://ubuntuforums.org/
http://ubuntuguide.org
http://linuxquestions.org/
Pressing F1 will open help for the current application
man any_command
Display the man page for the given
command, e.g. man cp press q to exit
info any_command

As man (may contain more information)

apropos subject
Display related man pages for the given
or man -k subject subject e.g. apropos copy file

V1.52
19/07/2008

Starting with the /dir directory

look for and list files containing the
string texttofind

grep -c findtext files Count how many times findtext

appears in files

Installing Software
Most software installation will require superuser (root) permissions,
precede the following coomands with sudo when required.

Using apt

User/group Admin
adduser name

Create a new user called name

passwd username

Give username a new password

apt-get update

Resynchronize the package index

files from their sources

apt-get install pkg

Install pkg Install multiple

packages by leaving a space
between the names e.g.
apt-get install pkg1 pkg2

usermod -a -G grp user Add user to group grp

groupadd grp

Create group grp

sudo command

Run command as superuser (root)

apt-get remove pkg

Remove pkg as above

sudo -s

Switch to the root (superuser) shell

apt-get upgrade

su username

Switch to username's shell

Upgrade all installed packages to

the latest available version

exit

Stop being the superuser

apt-cache search string Search all available package lists

for names & descriptions
matching string

File Handling
Using dpkg (Installing .deb files)

ls -l

List files in the current directory in long format

ls -F

list files in the current dir and show the file type

dpkg -i file.deb

Install file.deb

ls -a

list all (including hidden) files in the current dir

dpkg -r file.deb

Remove file.deb leaving the

configuration files

cd name

change directory /path/file indicates from

root, path/file indicates relative.

dpkg -P file.deb

Remove file.deb including the

configuration files

cd

change to the current users home directory,

use ~ elsewhere to reference users home dir

dpkg-reconfigure pkg

Reconfigure pkg

rm name

Remove file or directory called name

rm -rf name

Caution Dangerous Command.

Completely remove a directory, all contained
files and subdirectories
Extremely dangerous when used with sudo

Uncompressing files
tar -zxvf arch.tar.gz

Uncompress arch.tar.gz

tar -jxvf arch.tar.bz2

Uncompress arch.tar.bz2

System Information

cp file dest

copy file to dest

mv file dest

Move file to dest

lshw or lspci or
lsusb or report-hw

List Hardware, pci, usb devices add -v

for verbose output (best run as su)

cat file

Display the file

uname -r

Display the kernel version

more file

Display the file one line at a time

dmesg

less file

Display the file use to move & q to exit

Display system diagnostic messages

append >file to output to file

head file

Display the first 10 lines of file

blkid

Display Filesystem UUIDs

head -20 file

Display the first 20 lines of file

tail file

Display the last 10 lines of file

tail -20 file

Display the last 20 lines of file

touch file

Update the access and modification times of

file to the current time.

Finding Files / Text Within Files

find / -name fname

Starting in the root directory, look

for a file named fname

find / -name *fname* Starting in the root directory look

for a file name containing fname
locate fname

Find a file called fname using the

locate command updatedb (next)
should have already been done

updatedb

Create or update the files database

which exec

Display the directory containing the

executable exec e.g
which cp

Starting and Stopping

shutdown -h now

Shutdown now

halt

As above

shutdown -r now

Shutdown and reboot now

reboot

As above

shutdown -r 5

Shutdown and reboot in 5 minutes

startx

Start the X server

Ubuntu Linux Absolute Beginners Command Quick Reference

File Permissions
d

V1.52
19/07/2008

General

Owner

Group

Others

rwx

rwx

rwx

File Type
- = File
d = Directory
l = Link

Appending > filename to any_command will direct the output to

the given filename
Execute (1)
Write (2)
Read (4)

File Permissions are altered by issuing the chmod command

followed by a 3 digit number, the first digit relating to the owner, the
second the group and the third for others. this number is achieved
by adding the values together for the required permissions.
E.g. To add owner RWX, Group RW, Others Read:
chmod 764 filename
Owner = R(4) + W(2) + X(1)
=7
Group = R(4) + W(2)
=6
Others = R(4)
=4
chmod +x file
Make the file executable
chown user file

Change the owner of file to user

chgrp grp file

Change the group of file to grp

Config Files
Make a backup of any file before editing by issuing a
cp origfilename backupfilename command
/etc/profile
System wide environment
variables for all users
/etc/fstab

List of devices and their mount

points

/etc/cron.
hourly daily
weekly monthly

All scripts contained within these

sub directories are run at the set
intervals

crontab -e

Edit current users crontab file

/etc/hosts

A list of all known host names

and IP addresses on the
machine

/boot/grub/menu.lst

The configuration of the grub

boot loader including the items
listed at startup.

Pipes & Chains

cmd1 | cmd2 output of cmd1 is directed to cmd2 (Pipe)
cmd1 && cmd2 Execute cmd1 then cmd2 (Chain)
Operating as root (su)
You can do serious damage to your OS when operating as su. Take
care with what you are doing, ensure you fully understand what the
command you are about to issue will do before hitting the return key
If a permission denied or command not found message is
received after issuing a command then you may need su privileges
to perform the operation. Precede the command with sudo to
continue
Strings
strings containing spaces generally either need to be enclosed in
quotes e.g. text string or the spaces escaped with a \ e.g.
text\ string
Home Folder
Start any path with ~ to reference the current users home folder.
e.g cp /dir/dir/dir/file ~/file
Type cd on its own to return to your home dir.

X-Shortcuts (Desktop)
alt+F2

Display the run dialog

alt+F6

Switch between windows of the

same application

alt+F9

Minimize the current window

alt+F10

Maximize the current window

Ctrl+alt+F?

Switch to another session

Ctrl+alt+Backspace

Restart the X-Server

Ctrl+alt+Cursor

Switch workspace

Ctrl+alt+Tab

Switch between Windows

Compiz-Fusion
ctrl+alt+ or

Rotate cube

ctrl+alt+left click

Free rotate cube

ctrl+alt+

Unfold cube

/etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf Configuration information for the

DHCP client

shift+alt+

Window picker

alt+tab

Window switch

/etc/X11/xorg.conf

super+tab

Ring switcher

alt+F7

Move window
Slow animations

/etc/resolv.conf

Specifies IP addreses of DNS

servers

Configuration for the X-Server

Processes
ps -e

show all processes running on the system

shift+F10

ps -ef

Show all processes running on the system

with users who own the process

ctrl+alt+D

Show desktop

super+s

Select window

ps -elf

As above showing the 'nice' value

super+t

Tab group

pstree

Show all processes running on the system

in a tree format

super+ or

Change tab

pstree -pu

As above with process IDs (PIDs) and

usernames

super+g

Group windows

super+u

Ungroup windows

kill 12345

Kill the process with the PID of 12345

super+r

Remove group

renice +1 12345

renice the process with id 12345 to a

value of +1 over its current value. +20 =
lowest nice value (will only run when no
other process is active), -20 = highest nice
value. Must be su to reduce the nice value.

super+c

Close group

super+x

Ignore group