Unlock Powerful File Management: Essential Linux Commands Explained

cat

The cat command concatenates files and prints them to the standard output.

chattr

The chattr command changes file attributes.

chgrp

The chgrp command changes the group ownership of a file or directory.

In UNIX‑like systems, file and directory permissions are managed by owner and group; chgrp can set the group using either the group name or its numeric ID.

chmod

Linux/Unix file permissions are divided into three classes: owner, group, and others. chmod controls how a file may be accessed by others.

chown

Every file in Linux/Unix has an owner. chown changes the owner of a specified file to a given user or group (user name or UID; group name or GID). The command accepts a space‑separated list of files, supporting wildcards. Only the system administrator (root) can change file ownership.

cksum

The cksum command checks a file’s CRC to ensure it was not corrupted during transfer. It returns a checksum; if no file is specified or the name is "-", it reads from standard input.

cmp

The cmp command compares two files for differences. If the files are identical, no output is produced; otherwise it reports the first differing byte and line number. It can also read from standard input when a file name is "-".

diff

The diff command compares files line by line to show differences. When comparing directories, it compares files with the same name but does not descend into sub‑directories.

git

In text mode, git is a file manager similar to Norton Commander, providing an interactive interface for version control.

find

The find command searches for files under a specified directory. Without parameters, it lists all sub‑directories and files in the current directory.

file

The file command identifies the type of a file.

diffstat

The diffstat command reads the output of diff and displays statistics such as insertions, deletions, and modifications per file.

ln

The ln command creates a hard or symbolic link to a file, allowing the same file to appear in multiple locations without duplicating data.

cut

The cut command displays characters from position num1 to num2 of each line.

indent

The indent command formats C source files for easier reading.

gitview

The gitview command shows file contents in both hexadecimal and ASCII formats.

less

less

allows forward and backward navigation of a file, unlike more which only moves forward.

locate

The locate command searches for files or directories using a pre‑built database.

Typical usage: locate your_file_name.

lsattr

The lsattr command displays file attributes; combined with chattr you can modify them.

mattrib

The mattrib command changes or displays MS‑DOS file attributes, mimicking the DOS attrib command.

mc

The mc command provides a menu‑driven file manager with four panels.

mdel

The mdel command deletes MSDOS‑format files, prompting before removing read‑only files.

mdir

The mdir command lists directories in an MS‑DOS file system.

mktemp

The mktemp command creates a temporary file for use in shell scripts.

more

more

displays a file page by page; press space to advance, b to go back, and h for help.

mmove

The mmove command moves or renames files/directories in an MS‑DOS file system.

mread

The mread command copies MS‑DOS files into a Linux/Unix directory (now superseded by mcopy).

mren

The mren command renames or moves MS‑DOS files or directories.

mtools

The mtools suite displays the commands it supports for MS‑DOS file system manipulation.

mtoolstest

The mtoolstest command tests and shows the configuration of mtools.

mv

The mv command renames or moves files or directories.

od

The od command outputs file contents in octal format.

paste

The paste command merges columns from multiple files side by side.

patch

The patch command applies changes to files, allowing batch updates of many files.

rcp

The rcp command copies remote files or directories; multiple sources can be copied into an existing destination directory.

rm

The rm command removes files or directories.

slocate

The slocate command searches for files or directories using a database of system paths.

split

The split command divides a large file into smaller pieces, defaulting to 1000‑line chunks.

tee

The tee command reads from standard input, writes to standard output, and simultaneously saves the data to a file.

tmpwatch

The tmpwatch command deletes unnecessary temporary files based on an age threshold (hours).

touch

The touch command updates a file’s access and modification timestamps; if the file does not exist, it creates an empty file.

umask

The umask command sets the default permission mask applied when creating new files.

which

The which command locates an executable in the directories listed in the $PATH environment variable.

cp

The cp command copies files or directories.

whereis

The whereis command searches for binary, source, and manual files in predefined locations.

mcopy

The mcopy command copies files between MSDOS and Linux filesystems.

mshowfat

The mshowfat command displays the FAT record number of an MS‑DOS file.

rhmask

The rhmask command encrypts or decrypts files for secure transmission.

scp

The scp (secure copy) command transfers files between Linux hosts over SSH.

awk

awk

is a powerful text‑processing language named after its creators Aho, Weinberger, and Kernighan.