Linux Command Line Flashcards: Essential Commands, Flags & Workflows
Practice essential Linux terminal commands through 100 task-first cards on paths, files, search, pipes, permissions, processes, archives, and system checks.
O tem kompletu
Build reliable Linux command-line recall with 100 original, task-first flashcards. The sequence starts with help and navigation, then moves through files, text search, pipes and redirection, permissions, processes, archives, storage, remote access, and everyday Bash workflows.
The cards practice four useful mappings: a realistic task to a command shape; a command, flag, or shell operator to its effect; an output or exit-status cue to its meaning; and a close choice to the safer or more suitable tool. Related prompts are spaced apart so a nearby answer does not give away the next card.
This deck focuses on frequent Linux CLI decisions, not every option a command supports. It excludes Git, certification objectives, shell scripting as a subject, distro-specific package managers, destructive recursive examples, and advanced system administration.
The wording, examples, sequence, and cover are original. Facts were checked against POSIX, the GNU Coding Standards, GNU Coreutils, GNU Bash, GNU Grep, GNU Findutils, GNU tar, GNU gzip, GNU Diffutils, Linux manual pages, ncurses, OpenSSH, and curl documentation. Source links stay on the relevant cards. Third-party documentation, source titles, trademarks, and factual material remain subject to their own rights; the CC0 label applies only to the original deck material to the extent applicable rights exist.
Kartice v tem kompletu
Kartica 1
Vprašanje
Open the manual page for a command.
Odgovor
Use
man COMMAND, for exampleman ls. It opens the installed manual entry when one is available.Source: man-pages: man(1).
Kartica 2
Vprašanje
Print the current working directory.
Odgovor
Use
pwd. It prints the absolute path of the directory the shell is currently in.Source: GNU Coreutils:
pwd.Kartica 3
Vprašanje
Create an empty file or update a file's timestamps.
Odgovor
Use
touch FILE. It creates an empty file if the path does not exist; otherwise it updates the selected timestamps.Source: GNU Coreutils:
touch.Kartica 4
Vprašanje
Print a small text file to standard output.
Odgovor
Use
cat FILE. It copies the file's contents to standard output; use a pager such aslessfor long files.Source: GNU Coreutils:
cat.Kartica 5
Vprašanje
Send one command's standard output into another command.
Odgovor
Use a pipe:
COMMAND1 | COMMAND2. The shell connects the first command's standard output to the second command's standard input.Source: GNU Bash: pipelines.
Kartica 6
Vprašanje
Where do you see a file's permission bits in
ls -loutput?Odgovor
At the start of each entry, after the file-type character. A value such as
-rw-r--r--shows the type first, then user, group, and other permissions.Source: GNU Coreutils: long listing format.
Kartica 7
Vprašanje
Take a quick snapshot of processes associated with the current terminal.
Odgovor
Use
ps. With its default selection, it gives a one-time process listing rather than a live display.Source: procps-ng:
ps.Kartica 8
Vprašanje
Create an uncompressed tar archive from files or directories.
Odgovor
Use
tar -cf ARCHIVE.tar PATH....-ccreates an archive and-fnames the archive file.Source: GNU tar: create.
Kartica 9
Vprašanje
Open an interactive shell on a remote machine over SSH.
Odgovor
Use
ssh USER@HOST. SSH connects to the remote host and can start an authenticated login session.Source: OpenSSH:
ssh.Kartica 10
Vprašanje
Display the current environment variables.
Odgovor
Use
env. With no command or assignments, it prints the current environment.Source: GNU Coreutils:
env.Kartica 11
Vprašanje
Ask a GNU command for its short built-in usage help.
Odgovor
Try
COMMAND --help. GNU command-line programs conventionally use--helpfor a brief usage summary; not every non-GNU command follows this convention.Source: GNU coding standards:
--help.Kartica 12
Vprašanje
List the current directory's visible entries.
Odgovor
Use
ls. By default, names beginning with.are omitted.Source: GNU Coreutils:
ls.Kartica 13
Vprašanje
Create a new directory.
Odgovor
Use
mkdir DIRECTORY. It creates the named directory when its parent already exists.Source: GNU Coreutils:
mkdir.Kartica 14
Vprašanje
Read a long text file one screen at a time.
Odgovor
Use
less FILE. It is a pager: move through the file interactively and pressqto quit.Source: less: manual page.
Kartica 15
Vprašanje
Write standard output to a file, replacing its previous contents.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND > FILE. The shell opens the file for output and truncates an existing regular file before the command writes to it.Source: GNU Bash: redirecting output.
Kartica 16
Vprašanje
What do user, group, and other mean in a file mode?
Odgovor
They are three permission classes: the owning user, the owning group, and everyone else. Each class can have read, write, and execute bits.
Source: GNU Coreutils: mode structure.
Kartica 17
Vprašanje
Show a broad, user-oriented snapshot of processes on a Linux system.
Odgovor
Use
ps aux. The BSD-styleaandxoptions broaden the selection, whileuselects a user-oriented format.Source: procps-ng:
ps.Kartica 18
Vprašanje
Extract an uncompressed tar archive into the current directory.
Odgovor
Use
tar -xf ARCHIVE.tar.-xextracts and-fnames the archive file. Review unfamiliar archive contents before extracting them.Source: GNU tar: extract.
Kartica 19
Vprašanje
Copy a file to or from a remote machine over SSH.
Odgovor
Use
scp SOURCE USER@HOST:DESTINATIONfor an upload, or reverse the remote and local paths for a download.Source: OpenSSH:
scp.Kartica 20
Vprašanje
Print one environment variable by name.
Odgovor
Use
printenv NAME, for exampleprintenv PATH. It prints that variable's value and returns a nonzero status when the name is absent.Source: GNU Coreutils:
printenv.Kartica 21
Vprašanje
Check whether Bash will treat a name as an alias, function, builtin, or executable file.
Odgovor
Use
type NAME. Bash reports how it would interpret the name.Source: GNU Bash:
type.Kartica 22
Vprašanje
Include hidden entries in a directory listing.
Odgovor
Use
ls -a. It includes names beginning with., including.and...Kartica 23
Vprašanje
Copy a file to another path.
Odgovor
Use
cp SOURCE DESTINATION. If the destination names an existing file,cpcan replace it, so add an interactive check when overwrites are uncertain.Source: GNU Coreutils:
cp.Kartica 24
Vprašanje
Show the first 10 lines of a text file.
Odgovor
Use
head FILE. Its default output is the first 10 lines; use-n NUMBERto choose another count.Source: GNU Coreutils:
head.Kartica 25
Vprašanje
Append standard output to a file without replacing its existing contents.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND >> FILE. The shell opens the file in append mode, creating it if needed.Kartica 26
Vprašanje
What do read, write, and execute mean on a regular file?
Odgovor
Read allows reading the contents, write allows modifying the contents, and execute allows the file to be run as a program when its format is executable.
Source: GNU Coreutils: mode structure.
Kartica 27
Vprašanje
Find process IDs by process name.
Odgovor
Use
pgrep PATTERN. It searches currently running processes and prints matching process IDs.Source: procps-ng:
pgrep.Kartica 28
Vprašanje
Compress one file with gzip while keeping the original file.
Odgovor
Use
gzip -k FILE. GNU gzip writesFILE.gzand-kkeeps the input file.Source: GNU gzip manual.
Kartica 29
Vprašanje
Fetch only a URL's response headers with curl.
Odgovor
Use
curl -I URL. It requests headers only; the server may respond differently than it would to a normal download.Source: curl:
--head.Kartica 30
Vprašanje
Make a shell variable available to commands started from this Bash session.
Odgovor
Use
export NAME=value. Bash marks the name for inclusion in the environment of subsequently executed commands.Source: GNU Bash:
export.Kartica 31
Vprašanje
Ask Bash which command it would run for a name.
Odgovor
Use
command -v NAME. It reports the command, builtin, function, alias, or executable Bash would use, and returns a nonzero status when none is found.Source: GNU Bash:
command.Kartica 32
Vprašanje
Show a long directory listing with modes, owners, sizes, and timestamps.
Odgovor
Use
ls -l. The long format adds file type and mode, link count, owner, group, size, timestamp, and name.Source: GNU Coreutils: long listing format.
Kartica 33
Vprašanje
Move or rename a file.
Odgovor
Use
mv SOURCE DESTINATION. Within one filesystem this commonly renames the path; it can also move it to another directory.Source: GNU Coreutils:
mv.Kartica 34
Vprašanje
Show the last 10 lines of a text file.
Odgovor
Use
tail FILE. Its default output is the last 10 lines; use-n NUMBERto choose another count.Source: GNU Coreutils:
tail.Kartica 35
Vprašanje
Give a command standard input from a file.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND < FILE. The shell opens the file for reading on the command's standard input.Source: GNU Bash: redirecting input.
Kartica 36
Vprašanje
What do read, write, and execute mean on a directory?
Odgovor
Read permits listing names, write permits changing directory entries, and execute permits traversal and access to entries by name. Creating or removing entries normally needs both write and execute permission.
Source: GNU Coreutils: mode structure.
Kartica 37
Vprašanje
Watch a live, updating view of processes and resource use.
Odgovor
Use
top. It refreshes a process and system summary interactively; pressqto quit.Source: procps-ng:
top.Kartica 38
Vprašanje
Show one path's total disk usage in a human-readable summary.
Odgovor
Use
du -sh PATH.-sreports one total and-hformats sizes for people.Source: GNU Coreutils:
du.Kartica 39
Vprašanje
Download a URL using its remote file name.
Odgovor
Use
curl -O URL. curl saves the response under the file-name part of the URL; check the target directory before downloading.Source: curl:
--remote-name.Kartica 40
Vprašanje
Search Bash command history interactively.
Odgovor
Press
Ctrl-Rand type part of the command. Bash Readline performs a reverse incremental search through history.Source: GNU Bash: reverse search.
Kartica 41
Vprašanje
Search manual-page names and summaries by keyword.
Odgovor
Use
man -k KEYWORD. It searches the manual-page database's short descriptions, likeapropos KEYWORD.Source: man-pages:
man.Kartica 42
Vprašanje
Show a long listing with human-readable file sizes.
Odgovor
Use
ls -lh.-lselects long format and-huses human-readable size units.Source: GNU Coreutils: block size.
Kartica 43
Vprašanje
Ask before
cpoverwrites an existing destination file.Odgovor
Use
cp -i SOURCE DESTINATION.-iprompts before replacing an existing destination.Source: GNU Coreutils:
cp.Kartica 44
Vprašanje
Keep watching new lines appended to a log file.
Odgovor
Use
tail -f FILE.-fkeeps the command running and prints data as the file grows; stop it withCtrl-C.Source: GNU Coreutils:
tail.Kartica 45
Vprašanje
Write only a command's error stream to a file.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND 2> ERRORS.log. File descriptor2is standard error, so standard output stays unchanged.Source: GNU Bash: redirections.
Kartica 46
Vprašanje
Give the file owner execute permission without changing the other mode bits.
Odgovor
Use
chmod u+x FILE. In symbolic mode,umeans owner,+adds a bit, andxmeans execute.Source: GNU Coreutils: symbolic modes.
Kartica 47
Vprašanje
Ask a process to terminate gracefully by PID.
Odgovor
Use
kill PID. By default,killsendsSIGTERM, which gives the process a chance to handle the signal and clean up.Source: Linux man-pages:
kill.Kartica 48
Vprašanje
Show free and used space for mounted filesystems in readable units.
Odgovor
Use
df -h. It reports filesystem space and formats sizes in powers of 1024 for easier reading.Source: GNU Coreutils:
df.Kartica 49
Vprašanje
Check whether a host responds to ICMP echo requests.
Odgovor
Use
ping HOST. It sends ICMP echo requests and reports replies and packet statistics; a blocked reply does not prove the host is down.Source: iputils:
ping.Kartica 50
Vprašanje
Create a short Bash name for a longer command.
Odgovor
Use
alias NAME='COMMAND', for examplealias ll='ls -lah'. The alias lasts for the current shell unless you add it to shell startup configuration.Source: GNU Bash: aliases.
100 kartic
Linux Command Line Flashcards: Essential Commands, Flags & Workflows
Brezplačno se učite s tem kompletomNibomo se odpre, da lahko začnete z učenjem.
Kartica 51
Vprašanje
Interrupt the foreground command from the terminal.
Odgovor
Press
Ctrl-C. The terminal normally sendsSIGINTto the foreground process group.Source: GNU Bash: signals.
Kartica 52
Vprašanje
Change to another directory.
Odgovor
Use
cd PATH.cdis a shell builtin because it changes the shell's own working directory.Source: GNU Bash:
cd.Kartica 53
Vprašanje
Ask before
mvoverwrites an existing destination file.Odgovor
Use
mv -i SOURCE DESTINATION.-iprompts before replacing an existing destination.Source: GNU Coreutils:
mv.Kartica 54
Vprašanje
Count the lines in a text file.
Odgovor
Use
wc -l FILE.-lprints the newline count.Source: GNU Coreutils:
wc.Kartica 55
Vprašanje
Send standard output and standard error to the same file.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND > OUTPUT.log 2>&1. The order matters: standard error is redirected to the destination that standard output has at that point.Kartica 56
Vprašanje
How do octal digits encode read, write, and execute permissions?
Odgovor
Use
4for read,2for write, and1for execute, then add the values for each of user, group, and other. For example,6means read plus write.Source: GNU Coreutils: numeric modes.
Kartica 57
Vprašanje
Force a process to stop only after graceful termination has failed.
Odgovor
Use
kill -KILL PIDas a last resort.SIGKILLcannot be caught or ignored, so the process cannot run its normal cleanup.Source: Linux man-pages: signal.
Kartica 58
Vprašanje
List block devices in a tree without changing them.
Odgovor
Use
lsblk. It reads device and filesystem information and prints a tree by default.Source: util-linux:
lsblk.Kartica 59
Vprašanje
Clear the display, or recover a terminal whose state is corrupted.
Odgovor
Use
clearfor a normal screen clear. Useresetwhen the terminal's modes are garbled and need reinitialization.Source: ncurses:
clearandreset.Kartica 60
Vprašanje
Move to the parent directory.
Odgovor
Use
cd ... In a path,..names the parent directory.Source: POSIX: pathname resolution.
Kartica 61
Vprašanje
Remove one file without recursive deletion.
Odgovor
Use
rm FILE. It removes the named directory entry; this is not a trash operation, so verify the path first.Source: GNU Coreutils:
rm.Kartica 62
Vprašanje
Print lines in a file that contain a pattern.
Odgovor
Use
grep 'PATTERN' FILE. grep prints matching lines; quote the pattern so the shell does not reinterpret special characters.Source: GNU Grep manual.
Kartica 63
Vprašanje
Discard a command's standard output.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND > /dev/null./dev/nulldiscards bytes written to it; standard error is still visible unless redirected separately.Source: Linux man-pages:
null.Kartica 64
Vprašanje
Change a file's owning user.
Odgovor
Use
chown USER FILE. Changing ownership is permission-sensitive and commonly requires elevated privileges.Source: GNU Coreutils:
chown.Kartica 65
Vprašanje
List the jobs managed by the current Bash session.
Odgovor
Use
jobs. It lists the shell's active jobs and their states.Source: GNU Bash: job-control builtins.
Kartica 66
Vprašanje
Show kernel and system identity details in one line.
Odgovor
Use
uname -a. It prints all availableunamefields, including the kernel name and release, machine, and other supported details.Source: GNU Coreutils:
uname.Kartica 67
Vprašanje
Check the previous foreground pipeline's exit status in Bash.
Odgovor
Read
$?immediately after the command. Bash sets it to the most recently completed foreground pipeline's status;0conventionally means success.Sources: GNU Bash: special parameters; GNU Bash: exit status.
Kartica 68
Vprašanje
Return to the previous working directory.
Odgovor
Use
cd -. Bash changes to$OLDPWDand prints the resulting directory.Source: GNU Bash:
cd.Kartica 69
Vprašanje
Ask before removing a file.
Odgovor
Use
rm -i FILE.-iprompts before each removal.Source: GNU Coreutils:
rm.Kartica 70
Vprašanje
Search a file for a pattern without case distinctions.
Odgovor
Use
grep -i 'PATTERN' FILE.-iignores case distinctions while matching.Source: GNU Grep: matching control.
Kartica 71
Vprašanje
Show command output on screen and save a copy to a file.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND | tee FILE.teecopies standard input to standard output and to the named file.Source: GNU Coreutils:
tee.Kartica 72
Vprašanje
Change a file's owning group.
Odgovor
Use
chgrp GROUP FILE. The operation is limited by your ownership, group membership, and system privileges.Source: GNU Coreutils:
chgrp.Kartica 73
Vprašanje
Suspend the foreground job, then continue it in the background.
Odgovor
Press
Ctrl-Z, then runbg. The terminal normally stops the foreground job, and Bash resumes that job asynchronously.Source: GNU Bash: job control basics.
Kartica 74
Vprašanje
Show available and used memory in human-readable units.
Odgovor
Use
free -h. It reads memory counters exposed by the kernel and formats the values for people.Source: procps-ng:
free.Kartica 75
Vprašanje
Change to your home directory.
Odgovor
Use
cd ~or simplycdin Bash. Tilde expansion turns~into your home directory path, andcdwith no argument uses$HOME.Sources: GNU Bash: tilde expansion; GNU Bash:
cd.Kartica 76
Vprašanje
Sort text lines using the current locale's default ordering.
Odgovor
Use
sort FILE. It writes the sorted lines to standard output and does not change the input file unless you explicitly request an output file.Source: GNU Coreutils:
sort.Kartica 77
Vprašanje
Create a nested directory path whose parents may not exist.
Odgovor
Use
mkdir -p PARENT/CHILD.-pcreates missing parent directories and does not fail merely because a named directory already exists.Source: GNU Coreutils:
mkdir.Kartica 78
Vprašanje
Run a second command only if the first command succeeds.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND1 && COMMAND2. Bash runs the right-hand command only when the left-hand command returns status0.Source: GNU Bash: AND and OR lists.
Kartica 79
Vprašanje
Print matching lines with their line numbers.
Odgovor
Use
grep -n 'PATTERN' FILE.-nprefixes each matching line with its one-based line number.Source: GNU Grep: output line prefix control.
Kartica 80
Vprašanje
Set a regular file so the owner can read and write it while everyone else can only read it.
Odgovor
Use
chmod 644 FILE. The digits mean ownerrw-, groupr--, and otherr--.Source: GNU Coreutils: numeric modes.
Kartica 81
Vprašanje
Translate characters in a text stream.
Odgovor
Use
tr SET1 SET2, reading from standard input. For example,tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'maps lowercase characters to uppercase according to the locale.Source: GNU Coreutils:
tr.Kartica 82
Vprašanje
Bring a Bash job back to the foreground.
Odgovor
Use
fg %JOB, orfgfor the current job. Bash resumes the selected job in the foreground.Source: GNU Bash: job-control builtins.
Kartica 83
Vprašanje
How does an absolute path differ from a relative path?
Odgovor
An absolute path starts with
/and is resolved from the filesystem root. A relative path is resolved from the current working directory.Source: POSIX: pathname resolution.
Kartica 84
Vprašanje
Find paths below the current directory whose base name matches
*.log.Odgovor
Use
find . -name '*.log'. Quote the pattern sofind, not the shell, performs the name match.Source: GNU Findutils: name test.
Kartica 85
Vprašanje
Remove an empty directory.
Odgovor
Use
rmdir DIRECTORY. It removes directories only when they are empty, which makes it safer than a recursive removal for this task.Source: GNU Coreutils:
rmdir.Kartica 86
Vprašanje
Run a fallback command only if the first command fails.
Odgovor
Use
COMMAND1 || COMMAND2. Bash runs the right-hand command only when the left-hand command returns a nonzero status.Source: GNU Bash: AND and OR lists.
Kartica 87
Vprašanje
Sort lines by their leading numeric value rather than lexically.
Odgovor
Use
sort -n FILE. Numeric sort orders lines by numeric key value instead of lexicographic text order.Source: GNU Coreutils:
sort.Kartica 88
Vprašanje
Set a directory so the owner can modify it while everyone can list and traverse it.
Odgovor
Use
chmod 755 DIRECTORY. The digits mean ownerrwx, groupr-x, and otherr-x.Source: GNU Coreutils: numeric modes.
Kartica 89
Vprašanje
Print one delimited field from each input line.
Odgovor
Use
cut -d CHARACTER -f FIELD FILE. For example,cut -d: -f1 FILEprints the first colon-delimited field.Source: GNU Coreutils:
cut.Kartica 90
Vprašanje
Start a command as an asynchronous Bash job.
Odgovor
Add
&:COMMAND &. Bash starts the command in the background and returns to the prompt without waiting for it to finish.Source: GNU Bash: asynchronous lists.
Kartica 91
Vprašanje
What does
./toolsay about where Bash should findtool?Odgovor
It names
toolin the current directory. The./is an explicit relative path, so Bash does not need to search$PATH.Sources: POSIX: pathname resolution; GNU Bash: command search.
Kartica 92
Vprašanje
Search recursively through files under a directory for matching lines.
Odgovor
Use
grep -r 'PATTERN' DIRECTORY.-rreads files under each directory recursively and prints matching lines.Kartica 93
Vprašanje
Create a second hard-link name for an existing file.
Odgovor
Use
ln TARGET NEW_NAME. Both names refer to the same underlying file; hard links normally cannot cross filesystems or target directories.Source: GNU Coreutils: hard links.
Kartica 94
Vprašanje
Keep only one line from each adjacent run of duplicate lines.
Odgovor
Use
uniq. It compares adjacent lines, so sort the input first when equal lines may be separated.Source: GNU Coreutils:
uniq.Kartica 95
Vprašanje
Keep every character literal in a Bash argument, including
$and spaces.Odgovor
Wrap the text in single quotes:
'literal $HOME text'. Single quotes preserve each enclosed character literally; a single quote itself cannot appear directly inside that pair.Source: GNU Bash: single quotes.
Kartica 96
Vprašanje
What does a path beginning with
/mean?Odgovor
It is an absolute path resolved from the filesystem root directory, not from the current directory.
Source: POSIX: pathname resolution.
Kartica 97
Vprašanje
Find only regular files below the current directory.
Odgovor
Use
find . -type f. Theftype test matches regular files.Source: GNU Findutils: type test.
Kartica 98
Vprašanje
Create a symbolic link that points to another path.
Odgovor
Use
ln -s TARGET LINK_NAME. A symbolic link stores a pathname; it can cross filesystems and can become dangling if the target path disappears.Source: GNU Coreutils: symbolic links.
Kartica 99
Vprašanje
Allow variable expansion but keep spaces inside one Bash argument.
Odgovor
Use double quotes, for example
"$HOME/My Files". Double quotes preserve the argument while still allowing parameter expansion and command substitution.Source: GNU Bash: double quotes.
Kartica 100
Vprašanje
Show how two text files differ.
Odgovor
Use
diff FILE1 FILE2. It reports the changes needed to make the files match; a status of0means no differences,1means differences, and values above1mean trouble.Source: GNU Diffutils:
diff.
100 kartic
Linux Command Line Flashcards: Essential Commands, Flags & Workflows
Nibomo se odpre, da lahko začnete z učenjem.