Top 300 shell commands
Introduction
Shell commands are a set of instructions that are used to communicate with the operating system. They are widely used in the Linux operating system to perform various tasks. In this blog post, we will discuss the top 300 shell commands that are commonly used by Linux users.
& - Start a new process in the background
alias - Create an alias •
apropos - Search Help manual pages (man -k)
apt-get - Search for and install software packages (Debian/Ubuntu)
aptitude - Search for and install software packages (Debian/Ubuntu)
aspell - Spell Checker
awk - Find and Replace text, database sort/validate/index
basename - Strip directory and suffix from filenames
base32 - Base32 encode/decode data and print to standard output
base64 - Base64 encode/decode data and print to standard output
bash - GNU Bourne-Again SHell
bc - Arbitrary precision calculator language
bg - Send to background
bind - Set or display readline key and function bindings •
break - Exit from a loop •
builtin - Run a shell builtin
bzip2 - Compress or decompress named file(s)
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
chattr - Change file attributes on a Linux file system
chgrp - Change group ownership
chmod - Change access permissions
chown - Change file owner and group
chpasswd - Update passwords in batch mode
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
cpio - Copy files to and from archives
cron - Daemon to execute scheduled commands
crontab - Schedule a command to run at a later time
csplit - Split a file into context-determined pieces
curl - Transfer data from or to a server
cut - Divide a file into several parts
date - Display or change the date & time
dc - Desk Calculator
dd - Data Duplicator - 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
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
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
function - Define Function Macros
fuser - Identify/kill the process that is accessing a file
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)
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
htop - Interactive process viewer
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
iostat - Report CPU and i/o statistics
ip - Routing, devices and tunnels
jobs - List active jobs •
join - Join lines on a common field
kill - Kill a process by specifying its PID
killall - Kill processes by name
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 a function variable •
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
lprint - Print a file
lprintd - Delete a print job
lprintq - List the print queue
lprm - Remove jobs from the print queue
lsattr - List file attributes on a Linux second extended file system
lsblk - List block devices
ls - List information about file(s)
lsof - List open files
lspci - List all PCI devices
make - Recompile a group of programs
man - Help manual
mapfile - Read lines from standard input into an indexed array variable
mkdir - Create new folder(s)
mkfifo - Make FIFOs (named pipes)
mkfile - Make a file
mkisofs - Create a hybrid ISO9660/JOLIET/HFS filesystem
mknod - Make block or character special files
mktemp - Make a temporary file
more - Display output one screen at a time
most - Browse or page through a text file
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)
nc - Netcat, read and write data across networks
netstat - Networking connections/stats
nft - nftables for packet filtering and classification
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
open - Open a file in its default application
op - Operator access
passwd - Modify a user password
paste - Merge lines of files
pathchk - Check file name portability
Perf - Performance analysis tools for Linux
ping - Test a network connection
pgrep - List processes by name
pkill - Kill processes by name
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
quota - Display disk usage and limits
quotacheck - Scan a file system for disk usage
ram - ram disk device
rar - Archive files with compression
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)
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
ss - Socket Statistics
ssh - Secure Shell client (remote login program)
stat - Display file or file system status
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
tail - Output the last part of a 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
tput - Set terminal-dependent capabilities, color, position
traceroute - Trace Route to Host
trap - Execute a command when the shell receives a signal •
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 •
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
unrar - Extract files from a rar archive
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 - Verbosely list directory contents ('ls -l -b')
vdir - Verbosely list directory contents ('ls -l -b')
vi - Text Editor
vmstat - Report virtual memory statistics
w - Show who is logged on and what they are doing
wait - Wait for a process to complete •
watch - Execute/display a program periodically
wc - Print byte, word, and line counts
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
xargs - Execute utility, passing constructed argument list(s)
xdg-open - Open a file or URL in the user's preferred application.
xz - Compress or decompress .xz and .lzma files
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
- Shell风格指南:
https://zh-google-styleguide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/google-shell-styleguide/contents - Debian System tips:
https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch09 - Shell Style Guide:
https://google.github.io/styleguide/shellguide.html https://effective-shell.com/