Command Line Cheat Sheet

Some commands will be listed as both a root and a non-root command because they can sometimes work differently, if only slightly.

One quick note: You will see the words directory and directories below. The Windows/Macintosh equivalent to a directory is a folder.

[edit] Non-Root Commands - Commands that can be run as both root and a normal user

Command	What it does
apt-cache	Searches apt-get for software you specify
apt-get - is a root command in other distros, but not Ark	Installs Software
cd	Changes to a different directory
chmod	Changes read/write/execute permissions on a file or directory
chown	Changes the owner for a file or directory
eject	Ejects any unmounted disk that can be ejected without a button (such as a CD-ROM)
glxinfo	Displays information on your graphics card
grep pattern	Searches a file or output from another command for pattern
ln	Creates a link to a file or directory
ls	lists the files and directories in a directory; if no directory is specified, it will assume to list for the current directory
passwd	Sets the current user's password
rm	Removes a file
rm -r	Removes a directory

Command	What it does
alsaconf	Resets your audio card
adduser username	Adds a user called username
chmod	Changes read/write/execute permissions on a file or directory
chown	Changes the owner for a file or directory
dhclient	Registers an IP address from a DHCP Host
fdisk	Command-line version of QtParted
fsck	Performs a file system check
ifconfig	Configures an Ethernet connection
ifdown	Turns off a network device
ifup	Turns on a network device
iwconfig	Configures a wireless network connection
mkswap	Makes a swap partition
mount	Mounts (loads) a disk so that it's files can be accessed, and (for writable disks such as a floppy or flash drive) makes it so that the disk can be written to
passwd username	Sets the password for the specified username
service	Turns a specified service on or off, or restarts a specified service
swapon	Turns on all swap partitions, unless a partition is specified
swapoff	turns off all swap partitions, uless a partition is specified
umount	Unmounts (unloads) a disks so it's files can no longer be accessed. For writable disks (such as a floppy or flash drive), finishes all processes that are currently writing to the disk and "flushes" (cleans) the disk cache
userdel username	Deletes the user called username