Essential Daily Use Commands in Linux 2025

Today we will talk about daily use commands in Linux and we will surely try to cover all the commands that are used by daily users.

Some of the commands our users must have known already from “Basic commands for CentOS 9” post. Let’s start with our first Category in daily use commands.

1. File and Directory Management

• ls: The ls command stands for “List,” and it helps in listing the contents of a directory in Linux. It shows files and folders present in the current or specified directory, making navigation easier.
  
• It is one of the most commonly used daily use commands because you constantly need to check directory contents while working in the terminal. You can also use options like ls -l for detailed information or ls -a to view hidden files.

Format and Example: ls command works with ‘ls‘.

• cd: cd stands for “Change Directory” and it is used for changing the current directory.

Format: cd (path name)

Example: cd /var/www/html

• pwd: pwd stands for “Print Working Directory” and it is used for knowing/printing the working directory of the user.

Format and Example: pwd command works with ‘pwd‘.

• cp: cp stands for ‘Copy‘ and it is used for copying the files and folder.

Format: cp (source file) (destination file)

Example: cp my.txt mycopy.txt

• mv: mv stands for ‘move‘ and it is used for moving the files and folder. It can be also used to rename the file.

Format: mv (source file) (destination file)

Example: mv my.txt my1.txt

2. File Viewing and Editing

• cat: cat stands for ‘Concatenate‘ that helps in displaying the content of the file that so many people use to consider in daily use commands.

Format: cat (filename)

Example: cat my1.txt

• vim: vim stands for “Visual Interface Improved” and it is used for creating or editing the text file. In vim to write in the file we have to press ‘I’. After that we have to press ‘Esc’ key to come out of writing mode and type ‘:wq’ to save and quit vim editor.

Format: vim (file name)

Example: vim doc

3. Process Management

• top: The top command is one of the most commonly used commands in Linux under process management. It helps you monitor all the running processes in real time, along with their CPU and memory usage.
  
• By using top, you can quickly identify which process is consuming the most system resources and troubleshoot performance issues. It provides a live, continuously updating view of system activity, making it one of the essential daily use commands for system monitoring.
  
• Since checking running processes and resource usage is a routine task, top is considered one of the most important daily use commands for both beginners and system administrators.

Format and Example: top command works with ‘top‘.

• kill: kill command helps to terminate the process with the help of their PID (Process ID).

Format: kill (PID)

Example: kill 110954

4. Disk and Memory Management

• df: The df command stands for “Disk Free” and is used to check the disk space usage of a system. It shows how much storage is used and how much is still available on each mounted filesystem.
  
• This is one of the most important daily use commands for monitoring storage health. We usually run it with the -h option (df -h) so the output is displayed in a human-readable format like GB and MB instead of blocks.
  
• Since checking storage space is a routine task for troubleshooting and system maintenance, df -h becomes one of those essential daily use commands that every Linux user should know. Understanding such daily use commands helps you manage your system more efficiently and avoid storage-related issues.

Format: df -h

Example: df -h

• du: du stands for “Disk Usage” and it helps in know how much space is used by files and directories. We always use this command with ‘-sh‘ option to read it in human way.

Format: du -sh (path name)

Example: du -sh /var/log, du-sh

• free: free command helps in knowing the usage of our RAM. We generally use the free command with ‘-m‘ option.

Format and Example: It works with “free -m“.

5. Networking

• ifconfig: It helps us to know the network cards and IP address of our system.

Format and Example: It works with “ifconfig“.

• ping: ping command helps in knowing our network connectivity. We have to press ctrl+c to come out of the ping command. It is surely comes under daily use commands.

Format: ping (network address)

Example: ping 8.8.8.8

• ssh: ssh stands for “secure shell” and it is used to access the server remotely. We have to enter the password of the remote user when asked.

Format: ssh (username@ip address)

Example: ssh root@82.112.226.32

6. User and Group Management

• who: who command helps to know who all are logged in at the same time.

Format and Example: It works with “who“.

• w: w command helps to know who all are logged in and what they are doing at the same time.

Format and Example: It works with “w“.

7. Package Management

• dnf: The dnf command is used for package management in Fedora-based Linux distributions such as CentOS, Red Hat, and Fedora. It allows you to install, update, remove, and manage software packages easily from the terminal.
  
• With dnf, you can keep your system up to date, install new applications, or remove unnecessary packages. It is a powerful and commonly used command for maintaining software on RPM-based systems.

Format: dnf update

dnf install (package name)

dnf remove (package name)

Example: dnf install httpd, dnf remove php etc.

• apt-get: apt-get helps in package management in Debian based systems like Ubuntu. We can update, remove, install packages with apt-get command.

Format: apt-get update

apt-get install (package name)

apt-get remove (package name)

Example: apt-get install apache2, apt-get update etc.

8. System Services

• systemctl: The systemctl command is used to control and manage system services in Linux-based operating systems that use systemd. It is one of the most important daily use commands for administrators and regular Linux users because it allows you to manage how services run in your system.
  
• With systemctl, you can start, stop, restart, enable, disable, and check the status of any service installed on your machine. For example, if a web server or database service is not working properly, you can quickly restart it using this command. You can also enable a service so that it starts automatically during boot, or disable it if you don’t want it running in the background.
  
• Since managing services is a common task in Linux, systemctl becomes one of the essential daily use commands you’ll rely on while handling servers, applications, or even basic troubleshooting tasks. Understanding how to use it properly gives you better control over your system and improves your confidence in system administration.

Format: systemctl start (service name)

systemctl stop (service name)

systemctl restart (service name)

systemctl status (service name)

Example: systemctl start httpd, systemctl stop httpd etc.

That’s all for daily use commands in Linux. If you want to practice the commands then you can purchase the VPS in lowest price from here.

FAQ on Daily Use Commands in Linux