Kali Linux is one of the most widely used and well-known open-source operating systems for penetration testing and security assessment. As a popular choice for ethical hackers, security professionals, and cyber security enthusiasts, it is crucial to understand the basic commands that can be used in Kali Linux to navigate, manage files, and perform security assessments.
In this article, we’ll be diving into the most common and useful Kali Linux commands that every user should know.
Table of Contents
1. Navigation
One of the most important aspects of using any operating system is the ability to navigate and move around the file system. In Kali Linux, you can use the following commands to accomplish this:
1.1. cd
The cd command allows you to change your current directory. You can use it to move to any directory on your system by specifying the path to that directory. For example, to move to the root directory, you can use the following command:
cd /
1.2. ls
The ls command is used to list the contents of a directory. This is particularly useful when you want to see what files and subdirectories are in your current directory. You can use the following command to list the contents of the current directory:
ls
2. File Management
In Kali Linux, you can use various commands to manage your files and directories. The following are some of the most commonly used file management commands:
2.1. cp
The cp command is used to copy files and directories. For example, to copy a file named file.txt to a directory named new_directory, you can use the following command:
cp file.txt new_directory
2.2. mv
The mv command is used to move or rename files and directories. For example, to move a file named file.txt to a directory named new_directory, you can use the following command:
mv file.txt new_directory
2.3. rm
The rm command is used to delete files and directories. For example, to delete a file named file.txt, you can use the following command:
rm file.txt
3. Package Management
Kali Linux is based on the Debian operating system, which uses the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) for package management. The following commands are used to manage packages in Kali Linux:
3.1. apt-get update
The apt-get update command is used to update the package index. This is necessary to ensure that your system has the latest information about the available packages. You can use the following command to update the package index:
apt-get update
3.2. apt-get upgrade
The apt-get upgrade command is used to upgrade installed packages. This is necessary to ensure that you have the latest version of packages installed on your system. You can use the following command to upgrade all installed packages:
apt-get upgrade
3.3. apt-get install
The apt-get install command is used to install new packages. For example, to install a package named package_name, you can use the following command: