Basic Terminal Commands Every Ubuntu Newbie Should Know [Ubuntu Newbie Guide - Part 8]

We already explained how to install and remove applications using the terminal and some other basic terminal commands in some Ubuntu Newbie Guide posts, but let's have the most important ones in a single post, and also see some new ones.

Here are the most important terminal commands every Ubuntu Newbie should know:

sudo apt-get install APPLICATION

where APPLICATION is the name of an app; it installs APPLICATION (an application) ↥

sudo apt-get remove APPLICATION

it removes an application ↥

sudo apt-get update

it updates the repositories ↥

sudo apt-get upgrade

upgrades your installed application with their latest versions from Ubuntu repositories ↥

killall APPLICATION_NAME

kills (terminates an application) ↥

kill APPLICATION_PID

kills an application; where APPLICATION_PID can be found by typing the next command below ↥

ps -e

displays currently running processes ↥

wget http://path_to_file.com

downloads a file from the web to current directory ↥

cd /PATH/TO/DIR

changes current directory to DIR. Use cd to change the current directory into any dir ↥

cd ..

Like ms-dos, goes up one directory ↥

dir

or ls: lists directory content ↥

man COMMAND

displays the manual for a command ↥

cp ORIGINALFILE NEWFILE

Copy a file ↥

mv SOURCE DESTINATION

Move a file ↥

rm — FILENAME

Remove a file ↥

rm -r DIRNAME

Removes a directory and all it's contents ↥

mkdir FOLDERNAME

Make directory ↥


For a list of more advanced terminal commands, visit 20 Great Linux / Unix Terminal Commands (Command-line)

See the rest of the Ubuntu Newbie Guide.