Roundup – Top 50 UNIX Commands Every User Must Know

UNIX needs no introduction. We all use this operating system to work, learn and program with computers. There are literally thousands of UNIX commands that a user has at his disposal.

I have compiled a quick round-up of top general purpose 50 UNIX commands to make your life easier and faster while working with the much-loved OS.

Command	Function (How to do/display)
cal	Show calendar of month/year
cd dirname	Change current directory
cd or cd $HOME	Change current directory to home directory
chgrp	Change file's group ownership
chown	Change file's ownership
chmod	Change file's permissions
cc or gcc	To compile a C language program
cat	Concatenate files or file content
cp	Copy files
cat > filename	Create a file
cut	Cut fields or columns from file
cmp	Give differences between two files - character wise
diff	Give difference between two files
date	Set system date (For superuser only)
dos2unix	Convert files from DOS to UNIX
df	Gives free disk space
echo > filename	Create a file
echo	To display a message
expr	Give string length
groupadd	To add a user group (For superuser only)
history	Give command history
hostname	Give name of local host
kill	Terminate a process
logout	Terminate login session
lp or lpr	To print a file
ls	Gives file list
ls -l	Gives directory list or file attributes
man	Command documentation
mv	To rename a file or directory
mailx	To mail a message
passwd	Change your own password
passwd [username]	Change other user's password (For superuser only)
pwd	To check current directory
ping	Test connectivity of host
printf	To echo a message
rmdir	To remove or delete empty directory
shutdown	To shut down system (For superuser only)
tail	Gives end of file
tput clear	Clear screen
tr	Change case of text
useradd	Add a user account (For superuser only)
unzip	Uncompress a .zip file
unix2dos	Convert files from UNIX to DOS
vi	Edit file
who	To view users an their activities
wc	Count no of words, lines and characters
whatis	Gives command brief in one line
wall	Address all users (For superusers only)
usermod	Modify user account (For superuser only)
zip	Compress multiple files to a single .zip file

Have you any command to add to this list? Please share in comments.