Before starting to hack with Kali Linux and Metasploit the most important thing is to know the basic commands of Kali. This post Kali Linux Useful Commands provides useful commands for day-to-day. 

File & Directory Manipulation

pwd: Display path of the current directory you’re in
ls: List all files and folders in the current directory
ls -la: List a detailed list of files and folders, including hidden ones
Change to a specific directory
cd: Change to home directory
cd /user/Desktop: Change to a specific directory called Desktop
cd .. : Move back a directory
Create a directory/folder
mkdir <dir>: Create a new directory
mkdir /home/Desktop/dir: Create a directory in a specific location
Create and edit files
touch <file>: Create an empty file
nano <file>: Edit an existing file or create it if it doesn’t exist.
Alternatives to nano text editor: vim, emacs
Copy, move and rename files and directories
cp <file1> <file2>: Create a copy of a file
cp -r <dir1> <dir2>: Create a copy of a directory and everything in it
cp <file> /home/Desktop/file2: Create a copy of a file in a different directory and name it file2.
mv <file> /home/Desktop: Move a file to a specific directory (overwrites any existing file with the same name)
mv <dir> /home/Desktop: Move a directory to another location
mv <dir1> <dir2>: Rename a file OR directory (dir1 -> dir2)
Delete files
rm <file>: Delete a file
rm -f <file>: Force delete a file
Careful now..
rm -r <dir>: Delete a directory and its contents
rm -rf <dir>: Force delete a directory and its contents
Careful when using this command as it will delete everything inside the directory
Output and analyze files
cat <file>: Display/output the contents of a file
less <file>: Display the contents of a file with scroll (paginate) ability (press q to quit)
head <file>: Display the first ten lines in a file
head -20 <file>: Display the first 20 lines in a file
tail <file>: Display the last ten lines in a file
tail -20 <file>: Display the last 20 lines in a file
diff <file1> <file2>: Check the difference between two files (file1 and file2)

System & User Information

cal: Display monthly calendar
date: Check date and time
uptime: Check system uptime and currently logged in users
uname -a: Display system information.
dmesg: Display kernel ring buffer
poweroff: Shutdown system
reboot: Reboot system
View disk and memory usage
df -h: Display disk space usage
fdisk -l: List disk partition tables
free: Display memory usage
cat /proc/meminfo: Display memory information
cat /proc/cpuinfo: Display cpu information
View user information
whoami: Output your username
w: Check who’s online
history: View a list of your previously executed commands
View last logged in users and information
last: Display last login info of users
last <user>: Display last login info of a specific user
finger <user>: Display user information

Installing & Upgrading Packages

Search for packages
apt-cache pkgnames: List all available packages
apt search <name>: Search for a package and its description
apt show <name>: Check the detailed description of a package
Install packages
apt-get install <name>: Install a package
apt-get install <name1> <name2>: Install multiple packages
Update, upgrade & cleanup
apt-get update: Update list of available packages
apt-get upgrade: Install the newest version of available packages
apt-get dist-upgrade: Force upgrade packages.
apt-get autoremove: Remove installed packages that are no longer needed
apt-get clean: Free up disk space by removing archived packages
Delete packages
apt-get remove: Uninstall a package
apt-get remove –purge: Uninstall a package and remove its configuration files

Processes & Job Management

top: Display running processes & system usage in real-time.
ps: Display currently running processes
ps -u <user>: Display currently running processes of a user
kill <PID>: Kill a processes by PID #.
killall <processes>: Kill all processes with specified name.
Start, stop, resume jobs
jobs: Display the status of current jobs
jobs -l: Display detailed info about each job
jobs -r: Display only running jobs
bg: View stopped background jobs or resume job in the background
fg: Resume recent job in the foreground
fg <job>: Bring specific job to the foreground.

Networking Utilities

ping <host>: Ping a host
whois <domain/IP>: Get whois information about a domain or IP.
dig <domain/IP>: Get DNS information
nslookup: <NS>: Get nameserver information
ifconfig: Configure/display network interfaces
iwconfig: Configure/display wireless network interfaces
netstat -r: Display kernel IP routing tables
netstat –antp: Check for established and listening ports/connections
arp -a: Display ARP cache tables for all interfaces

Secure File Transfer (SCP)

Transfer files FROM the local system TO a remote host (Local > Remote)
scp /path/to/file user@host:/path/to/dest
Transfer files FROM a remote host TO the local system (Remote > Local)
scp user@host:/path/to/file /path/to/dest
Transfer directories and everything within it
scp -r /path/to/dir user@host:/path/to/dest
Transfer all files that match a specific filetype
scp /path/to/*.txt user@host:/path/to/dest
Transfer local public SSH public key to the remote host
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh user@host ‘cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys’

Keyboard Shortcuts

CTRL + L Clear terminal screen
CTRL + D Log out of the current session
CTRL + C Stop (halt) currently running command/processes
CTRL + Z Suspend (pause) currently running command/processes
CTRL + W Delete the last word/argument
CTRL + E Jump (skip) to the very LAST line
CTRL + A Jump (skip) to the very FIRST line
CTRL + F Move cursor one letter forward
CTRL + B Move cursor one letter backward
CTRL + U Cut (copy) everything BEFORE the cursor
CTRL + K Cut (copy) everything AFTER the cursor
CTRL + Y Paste previously copied text
Clear terminal screen
Reset Fix display errors
Exit (log out) current session
Tab Auto-complete
!! Repeat the last command
sudo !! Repeat the last command as sudo (admin/root) user
man <cmd> Read the manual page of a command
which <cmd> Locate the pathname of a command
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