Summary of common commands in Linux system

Date: Oct 25, 2022

Related Tags：1. Alibaba Cloud Linux 2
2. Exploring Aliyun Linux – A Linux Distro Made in the Cloud for the Cloud

Abstract: Alibaba Cloud Linux 2 is a free-to-use, native operating system that provides a stable, reliable, and high-performance environment for your applications.In this article, we'll take a closer look at Aliyun Linux and will discuss the advantages of using it over other Linux-based distribution.

system runlevel

0: shutdown

1: Single user mode (can retrieve lost password)

2: Multi-user state without network service

3: Multi-user state has network service

4: The system is not used and reserved for the user

5: Graphical interface

6: System reboot

Note: The default runlevel can be modified in the /etc/inittab file




Switch to the specified runlevel

default command

init runlevel


help command

1: Get help information

man command

2: help command

help command

file directory directives

1: pwd View the absolute path of the current working directory

2: ls command

3: cd command

4: mkdir directive (directive for creating directories)

5: rmdir command (delete empty directories)

6: touch command (create file command)

7: cp command (copy files to the specified directory)

8: rm command (delete file or directory)

9: mv command (moving files and directories or renaming)

10: cat command (view file content, open in read-only mode)

11: more command (page to view the file content)

12: less command (split screen to view file content)

13:>Instructions and >>Instructions

14: echo command (output to console)

15: head command (display the content at the beginning of the file, the first ten lines by default)

16: tail command (display the content at the end of the file, the last ten lines by default)

17: ln command (soft link, similar to the shortcut in Windows)

18: history command (view the history commands that have been executed)

time and date commands

1: date command (display the current date)


2: cal command (view calendar command)

search lookup class

1: find command (recursively traverse each subdirectory from the specified directory downward, and display the files and directories that meet the conditions on the terminal)

2: locate command (can quickly locate the file path)

3: grep instruction (filter search) pipe symbol | (the processing result of the previous command is passed to the subsequent command processing)

Compression and decompression class instructions

1: gzip/gunzip directives (gzip for compression, gunzip for decompression)

2: zip/unzip (zip compressed files, unzip decompression)

3: tar command (the most commonly used packaging command)