70 Must-Know Linux Commands for Developers [2025 Guide]

Linux is the backbone of modern development environments, powering everything from local machines to cloud servers. Mastering the command line can significantly boost your productivity, whether you’re debugging code, managing servers, or automating workflows.

In this guide, we’ve curated 70 essential Linux commands for developers every software developer should know. These commands are categorized for easy reference and include practical examples to help you get started.

🐧 70 Must-Know Linux Commands Every Software Developer Should Learn

Here are the list of most used Linux Commands for Developers that every software developers and programmers should know.

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🛠️ Basic File Operations

• ls – List directory contents
  Example: ls -l
  
  
• cd – Change directory
  Example: cd /path/to/directory
  
  
• pwd – Print working directory
  Example: pwd
  
  
• mkdir – Create a new directory
  Example: mkdir new_folder
  
  
• rmdir – Remove an empty directory
  Example: rmdir old_folder
  
  
• touch – Create an empty file or update the timestamp
  Example: touch newfile.txt
  
  
• cp – Copy files or directories
  Example: cp source.txt destination.txt
  
  
• mv – Move or rename files
  Example: mv oldname.txt newname.txt
  
  
• rm – Remove files or directories
  Example: rm unwanted_file.txt
  
  
• ln – Create hard and symbolic links
  Example: ln -s /path/to/original /path/to/link
  

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📄 Viewing and Editing Files

• cat – Display file content
  Example: cat file.txt
  
  
• less – View file content interactively
  Example: less file.txt
  
  
• head – Show the beginning of a file
  Example: head -n 10 file.txt
  
  
• tail – Show the end of a file
  Example: tail -n 10 file.txt
  
  
• nano – Open a file in Nano editor
  Example: nano file.txt
  
  
• vim – Open a file in Vim editor
  Example: vim file.txt
  
  
• grep – Search for text in files
  Example: grep “hello” file.txt
  
  
• find – Search for files and directories
  Example: find /home/user -name “test.txt”
  
  
• wc – Count lines, words, characters
  Example: wc -l file.txt
  
  
• diff – Compare two files
  Example: diff file1.txt file2.txt
  

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🧰 File Permissions and Ownership

• chmod – Change file permissions
  Example: chmod 755 script.sh
  
  
• chown – Change file owner and group
  Example: chown user:group file.txt
  
  
• chgrp – Change group ownership
  Example: chgrp developers file.txt
  
  
• umask – Set default permissions
  Example: umask 022
  

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🧪 Process Management

• ps – Show running processes
  Example: ps aux
  
  
• top – Live view of running processes
  Example: top
  
  
• htop – Enhanced process viewer
  Example: htop
  
  
• kill – Terminate a process by PID
  Example: kill 1234
  
  
• pkill – Kill processes by name
  Example: pkill firefox
  
  
• bg – Resume a job in background
  Example: bg %1
  
  
• fg – Bring background job to foreground
  Example: fg %1
  
  
• jobs – List active jobs
  Example: jobs
  

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📦 Archiving and Compression

• tar – Archive a directory
  Example: tar -cvf archive.tar myfolder/
  
  
• gzip – Compress a file
  Example: gzip file.txt
  
  
• gunzip – Decompress a .gz file
  Example: gunzip file.txt.gz
  
  
• zip – Compress multiple files
  Example: zip archive.zip file1 file2
  
  
• unzip – Extract a .zip archive
  Example: unzip archive.zip
  

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🔍 System Monitoring and Information

• df – Show disk usage
  Example: df -h
  
  
• du – Show folder size
  Example: du -sh folder/
  
  
• free – Show memory usage
  Example: free -h
  
  
• uptime – Show system uptime
  Example: uptime
  
  
• top – View active processes
  Example: top
  
  
• htop – Enhanced process view
  Example: htop
  
  
• lscpu – Show CPU details
  Example: lscpu
  
  
• lsblk – Show block device info
  Example: lsblk
  
  
• ip – Show network interface info
  Example: ip a
  
  
• ifconfig – Deprecated network tool
  Example: ifconfig
  
  
• ping – Check host connectivity
  Example: ping google.com
  
  
• traceroute – Trace packet path
  Example: traceroute google.com
  
  
• nslookup – DNS lookup
  Example: nslookup openai.com
  

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🌐 Networking and Connectivity

• scp – Copy file to remote server
  Example: scp file.txt user@host:/path
  
  
• rsync – Sync files or folders
  Example: rsync -avh source/ backup/
  
  
• wget – Download from the web
  Example: wget https://example.com/file.zip
  
  
• curl – Fetch content or call APIs
  Example: curl https://api.example.com/data
  
  
• netstat – Show network connections
  Example: netstat -tuln
  
  
• ss – Show socket stats (modern alternative)
  Example: ss -tuln
  

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🧹 System Maintenance and Disk Utilities

• mount – Mount a filesystem
  Example: mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
  
  
• umount – Unmount a filesystem
  Example: umount /mnt
  
  
• fsck – Check disk for errors
  Example: fsck /dev/sda1
  
  
• sync – Flush data to disk
  Example: sync
  

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🧠 User and Group Management

• adduser / useradd – Add new user
  Example: sudo adduser newuser
  
  
• passwd – Change password
  Example: passwd newuser
  
  
• whoami – Show current user
  Example: whoami
  
  
• groups – Show user groups
  Example: groups username
  

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🔐 Permissions & Security

• sudo – Run command as root
  Example: sudo apt update
  
  
• ssh – Connect to remote machine
  Example: ssh user@hostname
  

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🧪 Development and Productivity Tools

• alias – Set a command shortcut
  Example: alias ll=’ls -la’
  
  
• env – Show environment variables
  Example: env
  
  
• export – Set an environment variable
  Example: export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bin
  
  
• time – Measure execution time
  Example: time ./myscript.sh
  

Conclusion

Mastering the Linux command line is more than just a technical skill – it is a powerful way to boost your productivity, troubleshoot efficiently, and take full control of your development environment. Whether you are building softwares, managing servers, or simply automating tasks, these 70 commands form the backbone of what every developer should know.

Start with the basics, get comfortable using them daily, and gradually explore more advanced tools to level up your workflow. Keep practicing, stay curious, and you’ll soon find the terminal to be one of your most valuable tools as a developer.

❓ FAQ – Linux Commands for Developers