Top 30 Linux Commands You Must Know: A Guide for System Admins and DevOps

Aditya Upadhye
4 min readMar 31, 2024

Conquering the world of Linux begins with mastering the command line. Whether you want to become a system administrator, a DevOps professional, or a computer lab admin, navigating the terminal becomes is part of your daily workflow. This article equips you with the top 30 essential Linux commands to manage your system servers effectively.

Source: opensourceforyou.com

This is a beginner-friendly guide. So, open up your terminal and start typing! 🚀

1. pwd:

  • pwd - Shows the full path of your current working directory.

2. ls:

  • ls [options] - Lists files and directories in the current directory. Use ls -l for detailed information, -a to show hidden files, or -h for human-readable file sizes.

3. cd:

  • cd directory_name - Changes directory to the specified directory. Use cd ~ to go to your home directory and cd .. to move up one level.

4. mkdir:

  • mkdir directory_name - Creates a new directory with the specified name.

5. rmdir:

  • rmdir directory_name - Deletes an empty directory. Use with caution as deleted directories cannot be recovered easily.

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