I've been using Ubuntu as my primary operating system for more than two years now. If you are comfortable with the command line, you can learn a lot of different skills very quickly and with minimal hassle. In this blog, I have shared the list of 20 basic Linux commands that are very helpful for Ubuntu beginners in daily life. I recommend you not just copy-paste these commands, type these commands by yourself so that you can remember them in future.

Before starting, here is a small tip for Linux lovers: You can check the Internet Speed via terminal just by running this command.

sudo apt install speedtest-cli

speedtest-cli

(The first command is just to install the package and doesn't need to be run again and again)

1-cd

The cd ('change directory') command is used to change the current directory in Linux

cd Desktop

2-ls

The ls ('list directory contents') command shows existing files and directories in the current directory

ls

3-pwd

The pwd ('print work directory') command shows the full path of the current working directory

pwd

4-clear

The clear command is used to clear the terminal screen.

clear

5-history

The history command is used to display all previous commands executed in the terminal.

history

6-whatis

whatis command is used to display the one-line description of any program

whatis nano

7-whereis

whereis command is used to find the path of some program or file.

whereis spotify

8-ping

ping command is used to check the internet connectivity status to a server.

ping google.com

9-help

help command is used to display brief information about any other command.

help cd

10-mkdir

mkdir ('make directory') is used to create a new directory in an existing directory.

mkdir helloforfun

11-rm -r

rm -r ('remove directory') is used to remove any directory in existing directory.

rm -r dir

12-cp

cp ('copy') is used to copy any single or multiple files from a source directory to a destination directory.

cp file1.txt drive1

13-mv

mv ('move') command is used to move single or multiple files from a source to the destination directory.

mv file1.txt file

14-rm

rm ('remove') command is used to remove a single or multiple file from a directory.

rm file1.txt

15-zip

zip command is used to compress and zip files or folders.

zip ZIP-Folder file2.txt

16-unzip

unzip command is used to unzip and extract any compressed folder.

unzip ZIP-Folder.zip

17-sudo

sudo ('super user do') command allows to run or execute anything with system administrator rights.

sudo -s

18-nano

nano command allows to read, write or edit any file in terminal

nano file2.txt

19-exit

exit command used to exit the terminal environment or used to terminate the superuser environment.

exit

20-shutdown

shutdown command allows to shut down the system through the terminal.

And that’s it. Thank you for sticking with me till the end of this tutorial. I hope this was helpful in some way to you.

Till next time :) Happy Learning.

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