Quick reference: Linux commands

Following is a short listing of Linux commands, the Command column is what you type at the command line, the Name column is the full name of the command - it's just there to help you remember what the command does, and the Description column gives a brief description of what the command does.

Command		Name		Description
chmod		change mode		change the access mode of files or directories, this is for setting security rights on a file for read/write/execute access.
chown		change owner		change the owner of files or directories.
cp		copy		copy files or directories.
df		disk space free		displays free disk space.
find		find		find files or directories.
ls		list		display a directory listing.
man		manual		displays a manual page (detailed help page) for a given command.
mount		mount		mounts a disk on the file system.
mv		move		move or rename files or directories.
ping		ping		network tool - pings an IP address and displays response times.
ps		processes		display a list of current running processes.
rm		remove		delete (remove) files or directories.
traceroute		trace route		network tool - displays the network route used to reach an IP address.
who		who		display a list of who's online.

You can frequently follow a command with with the parameter --help to get a description of the parameters you can use for the command.