As a software developer, being efficient with the Linux command line is a must. Ubuntu, being one of the most popular Linux distributions, offers a robust set of built-in commands to help developers quickly navigate files and systems, install packages, monitor processes, and much more.
Here are 25 of the most useful Ubuntu commands for software developers:
1. pwd – Print working directory
The pwd command prints the current working directory you are in. This helps orient you when working across multiple directories:
user@ubuntu:~$ pwd
/home/user2. ls – List directory contents
To see the files and folders in your current directory, use ls. You can pass various flags to control the output:
user@ubuntu:~$ ls
Documents Downloads Music Pictures
user@ubuntu:~$ ls -l
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Feb 10 13:46 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 3 user user 4096 Feb 11 15:32 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Feb 9 11:58 Music
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Feb 9 11:58 Pictures3. cd – Change directory
To navigate between directories, use cd. For example:
user@ubuntu:~$ cd Documents/
user@ubuntu:~/Documents$Use cd .. to go up one directory.
4. mkdir – Make directory
To create a new directory, use mkdir:
user@ubuntu:~/Documents$ mkdir projects
user@ubuntu:~/Documents$ ls
projects5. touch – Create empty file
The touch command creates a new empty file. This is useful when you need an empty file to start writing code:
user@ubuntu:~$ touch app.py
user@ubuntu:~$ ls
app.py6. cat – View file contents
To quickly view a file‘s contents without opening it in an editor, use cat:
user@ubuntu:~$ cat app.py
print("Hello world!")7. cp – Copy files
To copy files or folders, use the cp command. Here we copy app.py to the Documents folder:
user@ubuntu:~$ cp app.py ~/DocumentsUse flags like -r for recursive copy.
8. mv – Move/rename files
The mv command lets you move or rename files. To rename app.py to main.py:
user@ubuntu:~$ mv app.py main.pyTo move it to Documents:
user@ubuntu:~$ mv main.py ~/Documents9. rm – Remove files
Deleting files is done with rm. Be very careful, as deleted files can‘t be recovered!
user@ubuntu:~$ rm main.pyUse flags like -r for recursive delete.
10. sudo – Run commands as superuser
Many commands like installing packages require admin access, done with sudo. It prompts for your user password:
user@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt update
[sudo] password for user: 11. apt – Install/remove packages
Ubuntu‘spackage manager apt lets you install new packages. Updating the index fetches the latest packages:
user@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt update
user@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt install gitUse remove instead to uninstall packages.
12. systemctl – Manage services
To check the status, start, restart services:
user@ubuntu:~$ sudo systemctl status apache2
user@ubuntu:~$ sudo systemctl start apache213. ps – View running processes
To see processes running in the background, use ps:
user@ubuntu:~$ ps
PID TTY TIME CMD
1 ? 00:00:02 systemd
2 ? 00:00:00 kthreadd
3 ? 00:00:00 rcu_gp
...14. kill – Terminate processes
To forcibly quit processes, get the PID (process ID) from ps and kill it:
user@ubuntu:~$ kill 123415. grep – Search files by keyword
You can search for files containing specific keywords using grep:
user@ubuntu:~$ grep "hello" ~/Documents/*This searches all files recursively in Documents containing "hello".
16. find – Find files by name
To find a file by name when you‘re not sure where it is, use find:
user@ubuntu:~$ find . -name "settings.py"
./Projects/myapp/settings.py17. tar – Archive files
To compress files into a tarball archive, use tar:
user@ubuntu:~$ tar -cvf myproject.tar ~/Projects/myprojectUse flags like z to also gzip compress the archive.
18. chmod – Change file permissions
To modify a file or folder‘s permissions, use chmod:
user@ubuntu:~$ chmod 600 secret.txt
user@ubuntu:~$ chmod -R 750 myfolder/19. ssh – Remote login
To connect to and manage remote servers, ssh is indispensable:
user@local:~$ ssh user@remote-server.comPublic key authentication helps secure remote access.
20. df – See disk space usage
Wondering why your disk is full? Use df to view disk space usage for mounted disks:
user@ubuntu:~$ df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
udev 249544 0 249544 0% /dev
tmpfs 51796 1744 50052 4% /run
/dev/sda1 15719556 14722164 0 100% /21. du – Disk usage by file
In addition to disk space usage by mount point, view usage by file and folder with du:
user@ubuntu:~$ du -sh *
4.0K Documents
8.5M Downloads
4.0K Music
16K Pictures22. top – Process activity monitor
Constantly monitor active processes ordered by resource usage using top:
user@ubuntu:~$ top
PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
4114 root 20 0 102296 6176 5016 S 5.6 0.1 0:06.77 Xorg
1 root 20 0 44312 3476 2976 S 0.0 0.1 0:03.47 systemd
13751 user 20 0 848932 142180 154764 S 0.0 4.3 0:07.02 Web ContentHit ctrl+C to exit out.
23. history – Command history
View your previously used commands with history:
user@ubuntu:~$ history
1 ls
2 cd Documents/
3 touch app.py
4 python3 app.py
5 sudo apt update
...Rerun previous commands by index with !n.
24. man – Help manual
When in doubt, refer command help manuals with man. Shows usage, flags, and examples:
user@ubuntu:~$ man ps25. uname – System info
See Linux host details like kernel version, hardware architecture, etc with uname:
er@ubuntu:~$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu 5.4.0-105-generic x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/LinuxSo those are 25 must-know Ubuntu commands for developers to help boost efficiency! The terminal may seem intimidating as a new Linux user, but mastering these basic commands will enhance your skills.