Linux commands: The most essential to master in the year 2023

Jose Albert

7 minutes

Linux commands: The most essential to master in the year 2023

Linux commands: The most essential to master in the year 2023

En April 2018 we made a small compilation about some of the most essential "Linux Commands" at that time, and how it has happened to this day almost 5 years (February 2023), we have seen fit, update and improve said content.

So we have selected 60 commands of the hundreds that there are, to ensure that any novice and beginner user can have an idea of ​​which commands to learn with priority in order to gradually master the Linux terminal.

Basic commands

But, before starting this interesting post about the most essential "Linux Commands" to know, learn and master during the year 2023 , we recommend the previous publication, for later reading:

Basic commands
Related article:
Some Basic Commands Every Newbie Should Learn

Linux 2023 commands: List to master the Terminal

Linux 2023 commands: List to master the Terminal

List of 60 useful Linux commands for the year 2023

15 Commands to access files

  1. pwd: Show the location of the directory where we are currently located.
  2. ls: Display the list of files and directories contained within a specified directory.
  3. cd: Change from the current directory to another.
  4. mkdir: Create a new directory.
  5. touch: Generate a new file or change the access/modification date to another.
  6. cp: Copy files or directories.
  7. mv: Move files or directories. And even change the name if necessary.
  8. rm: Delete files or directories.
  9. rmdir: Delete a single directory, as long as it is empty.
  10. cat: Display the content of any type of file on the screen.
  11. head: Display the first few lines of a file, specifying the number of lines to display.
  12. tail: Show the last few lines of a file, specifying the number of lines to show.
  13. less: Search within the content of a file interactively.
  14. more: Search within the content of a file interactively.
  15. grep: Search and display character strings in files or in command output.

11 Commands to manage the Operating System

  1. uname: Display information about the OS, including the Kernel currently loaded.
  2. df: Show information about SA, Partitions and current disk Space usage.
  3. free: Display various information about the memory utilization of the managed OS.
  4. top: Show running processes, more information about CPU, RAM and more.
  5. htop: Similar to the top command, but with a revamped, improved, and interactive CLI visual interface.
  6. ps: Show running processes in the OS in a detailed and non-interactive way.
  7. kill: Ekill running processes, using the number of processes (PID) assigned.
  8. shutdown: Manage the OS to perform actions, such as: Shut it down, Restart it, and Stop it.
  9. reboot: A new and improved version ofthe shutdown command, with more options available.
  10. uptime: View how long the OS has been running since the last boot.
  11. last: Display a list of recent (user) logins to the operating system.

10 Commands to manage information of HW elements and devices

  1. lsblk: Show information about all available storage devices.
  2. fdisk: Manage (creates, deletes and modifies) partitions on the available devices.
  3. mount: mount (conecta) a file system on top of an existing device directory.
  4. umount: Dismount (disconnect) a file system managed with the umount command.
  5. hdparm: Manage the hardware parameters of the available disk devices.
  6. lshw: View OS HW information, including information about current devices.
  7. lsusb: View the specific information about the current USB devices in the OS.
  8. lspci: Show specific information about the current PCI devices in the OS.
  9. lscpu: Show specific information about the CPU used in the OS and its architecture.
  10. dmesg: Show internal information managed by the Kernel, including the one associated with the HW.

14 Commands for manage the information of elements and processes of the Network

  1. ip: Manage all information associated with network interfaces, in modern OS.
  2. ifconfig: Manage all information associated with network interfaces in old OS.
  3. iwconfig: Manage the information associated with the wireless interfaces of an OS.
  4. nmcli: Manage the information of network interfaces via Network Manager.
  5. wpa_cli: Manage the information of network interfaces wireless via WPASupplicant.
  6. ping: Verify the current connection to other hosts on the network using the ICMP protocol.
  7. route: Manage the IP routing table to establish static routes to hosts and networks.
  8. traceroute: Eroute data packets from one system to another host over a network.
  9. nslookup: CCheck DNS information about other hosts, interactively.
  10. dig: Consult DNS name servers for troubleshoot DNS.
  11. netstat: View information about currently active network connections on the system, and more.
  12. iptables: Manage the Linux kernel IPv4 and IPv6 packet filter rule tables.
  13. resolvctl: Manage domain names, IPv4 /IPv6 addresses, and DNS resource records.
  14. mii-tool: Manage the status of the media independent interface (MII) unit of a network interface to automatically negotiate the link speed and duplex settings.

10 Commands for manage running processes and their related information

  1. fg: Activate in a certain process its execution in the foreground (foreground).
  2. bg: Activate in a certain process its execution in the background (background).
  3. pstree: Show the list of processes in the form of a tree, showing the relationships between them.
  4. nice: Set the priority of running processes in an OS.
  5. renice: Change the priority of processes, set with the nice command.
  6. nohup: Run a process in the background (background) without being affected by the HUP signal.
  7. disown: DDisconnect processes running in the background and the terminal that runs them.
  8. fork: Crear processes (children) from the duplicating the call of another (parent) process.
  9. pidfd_open: Facilitate the getting a file descriptor that refers to a process.
  10. clone:Gspawn (child) processes in a similar way to that used with the "fork" command, but with the difference that, these system calls provide finer control over what is desired.

So far, our 60 Ideal Linux Commands to know, learn and use for this year 2023. However, if you want to know more about each of these, simply click on the name of each command. And failing that, for these and others, you can directly explore the official section in the Debian GNU/Linux Manpages, which has several documentations in different languages.

memory bank
Related article:
Commands to have your memory monitored in Linux

Roundup: Banner post 2021

Summary

In summary, we hope that this useful compilation on the most essential "Linux Commands" to know, learn and master during the year 2023 , will allow many to be able to start properly on the right path to handle the GNU/Linux Terminal (Console).

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