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Updated: 8 June, 2023

by FreeFind

Almost any task can be performed graphically on a modern GNU/Linux distribution such as openSUSE, but to really become a self-reliant user and to truly take advantage of the power of your GNU/Linux operating system, you should at least know a few terminal basics - it's not difficult at all!

There are thousands of commands you can run, each with a number of different options. So this chapter is just a small teaser describing the most common commands.

You'll find Konsole under System in the launch menu.



Using the command line is quite easy. Simply enter a command and possibly one or more options and one or more arguments and then press Enter. Example:
The command ls displays a list of files, the option -l means that the list will be displayed in a long listing format, and the argument /home/[username]/ sets the directory of which the contents are listed.


The tab-key is increcibly useful, if possible it will auto-complete commands and arguments, which helps you work faster and avoid typos.

Paste from the clipboard.

This shortcut stops any operation you may have started.

This is just a very small selection of commands to give you an idea of how things work.


Changing directory

Listing files of a directory

Copying a file

Deleting a file

Deleting a directory including contents

Moving or renaming a file


Running processes and consumption of system resources. Press 'Q' to exit.

Disk space usage

Memory consumption


Find out your IP-address

Find out your gateway

Find out your DNS servers


Almost all commands have an accompanying manual page describing how to use the command and the available options. For example type:
To leave the man page again press 'Q'

If a command does not have a man page, try --help instead, example:

To switch to the root user to perform system administration tasks, type:
Then type your (root) password. Nothing will appear on screen as you type, this is intended.

To stop working as root and return to working as your normal user, run exit.
To run a single command as root use:

Shutting down.

Rebooting.

Start, stop, restart or get status of system services (start|stop|restart|status). Examples:

Enable or disable a service from starting at every boot. Examples:

Find out your kernel version and flavour.

Check kernel messages (useful for troubleshooting hardware issues).

Listing loaded kernel modules.

Loading a kernel module.

Unloading a kernel module.


The command hwinfo can provide you with information about almost any hardware, some examples:

List PCI devices:
List USB devices:

Editing configuration files or other text files can be done like this using the vim editor, which is installed by default.

Open a file with vim /path/to/file. Example:


Press i to enter insert mode (you will see "-- INSERT --" at the bottom). Now you can edit the text in the file. When you're done editing press Esc to leave insert mode and return to command mode. Now type :x which is the command for exit and save. To quit without saving any changes use :q!.

Vim is quite advanced, you might consider installing a simpler text based editor, e.g. try nano.

If you want to learn more about using the terminal there are many resources available on the internet, here are a couple of links.
https://www.guru99.com/unix-linux-tutorial.html
http://linuxcommand.org/
http://tldp.org/LDP/GNU-Linux-Tools-Summary/html/index.html