kali linux full basic commands

All commands (A-Z) for Kali Linux here:

a
apropos Search Help manual pages (man -k)
apt-get Search for and install software packages (Debian/Ubuntu)
aptitude Search for and install software packages (Debian/Ubuntu)
aspell Spell Checker
awk Find and Replace text, database sort/validate/index

b
basename Strip directory and suffix from filenames
bash GNU Bourne-Again SHell 
bc Arbitrary precision calculator language 
bg Send to background
break Exit from a loop •
builtin Run a shell builtin
bzip2 Compress or decompress named file(s)

c
cal Display a calendar
case Conditionally perform a command
cat Concatenate and print (display) the content of files
cd Change Directory
cfdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux
chgrp Change group ownership
chmod Change access permissions
chown Change file owner and group
chroot Run a command with a different root directory
chkconfig System services (runlevel)
cksum Print CRC checksum and byte counts
clear Clear terminal screen
cmp Compare two files
comm Compare two sorted files line by line
command Run a command - ignoring shell functions •
continue Resume the next iteration of a loop •
cp Copy one or more files to another location
cron Daemon to execute scheduled commands
crontab Schedule a command to run at a later time
csplit Split a file into context-determined pieces
cut Divide a file into several parts

d
date Display or change the date & time
dc Desk Calculator
dd Convert and copy a file, write disk headers, boot records
ddrescue Data recovery tool
declare Declare variables and give them attributes •
df Display free disk space
diff Display the differences between two files
diff3 Show differences among three files
dig DNS lookup
dir Briefly list directory contents
dircolors Colour setup for `ls'
dirname Convert a full pathname to just a path
dirs Display list of remembered directories
dmesg Print kernel & driver messages 
du Estimate file space usage

e
echo Display message on screen •
egrep Search file(s) for lines that match an extended expression
eject Eject removable media
enable Enable and disable builtin shell commands •
env Environment variables
ethtool Ethernet card settings
eval Evaluate several commands/arguments
exec Execute a command
exit Exit the shell
expect Automate arbitrary applications accessed over a terminal
expand Convert tabs to spaces
export Set an environment variable
expr Evaluate expressions
f
false Do nothing, unsuccessfully
fdformat Low-level format a floppy disk
fdisk Partition table manipulator for Linux
fg Send job to foreground 
fgrep Search file(s) for lines that match a fixed string
file Determine file type
find Search for files that meet a desired criteria
fmt Reformat paragraph text
fold Wrap text to fit a specified width.
for Expand words, and execute commands
format Format disks or tapes
free Display memory usage
fsck File system consistency check and repair
ftp File Transfer Protocol
function Define Function Macros
fuser Identify/kill the process that is accessing a file

g
gawk Find and Replace text within file(s)
getopts Parse positional parameters
grep Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern
groupadd Add a user security group
groupdel Delete a group
groupmod Modify a group
groups Print group names a user is in
gzip Compress or decompress named file(s)

h
hash Remember the full pathname of a name argument
head Output the first part of file(s)
help Display help for a built-in command •
history Command History
hostname Print or set system name

i
iconv Convert the character set of a file
id Print user and group id's
if Conditionally perform a command
ifconfig Configure a network interface
ifdown Stop a network interface 
ifup Start a network interface up
import Capture an X server screen and save the image to file
install Copy files and set attributes

j
jobs List active jobs •
join Join lines on a common field

k
kill Stop a process from running
killall Kill processes by name

l
less Display output one screen at a time
let Perform arithmetic on shell variables •
ln Create a symbolic link to a file
local Create variables •
locate Find files
logname Print current login name
logout Exit a login shell •
look Display lines beginning with a given string
lpc Line printer control program
lpr Off line print
lprint Print a file
lprintd Abort a print job
lprintq List the print queue
lprm Remove jobs from the print queue
ls List information about file(s)
lsof List open files

m
make Recompile a group of programs
man Help manual
mkdir Create new folder(s)
mkfifo Make FIFOs (named pipes)
mkisofs Create an hybrid ISO9660/JOLIET/HFS filesystem
mknod Make block or character special files
more Display output one screen at a time
mount Mount a file system
mtools Manipulate MS-DOS files
mtr Network diagnostics (traceroute/ping)
mv Move or rename files or directories
mmv Mass Move and rename (files)

n
netstat Networking information
nice Set the priority of a command or job
nl Number lines and write files
nohup Run a command immune to hangups
notify-send Send desktop notifications
nslookup Query Internet name servers interactively

o
open Open a file in its default application
op Operator access 

p
passwd Modify a user password
paste Merge lines of files
pathchk Check file name portability
ping Test a network connection
pkill Stop processes from running
popd Restore the previous value of the current directory
pr Prepare files for printing
printcap Printer capability database
printenv Print environment variables
printf Format and print data •
ps Process status
pushd Save and then change the current directory
pwd Print Working Directory

q
quota Display disk usage and limits
quotacheck Scan a file system for disk usage
quotactl Set disk quotas

r
ram ram disk device
rcp Copy files between two machines
read Read a line from standard input •
readarray Read from stdin into an array variable •
readonly Mark variables/functions as readonly
reboot Reboot the system
rename Rename files
renice Alter priority of running processes 
remsync Synchronize remote files via email
return Exit a shell function
rev Reverse lines of a file
rm Remove files
rmdir Remove folder(s)
rsync Remote file copy (Synchronize file trees)

s
screen Multiplex terminal, run remote shells via ssh
scp Secure copy (remote file copy)
sdiff Merge two files interactively
sed Stream Editor
select Accept keyboard input
seq Print numeric sequences
set Manipulate shell variables and functions
sftp Secure File Transfer Program
shift Shift positional parameters
shopt Shell Options
shutdown Shutdown or restart linux
sleep Delay for a specified time
slocate Find files
sort Sort text files
source Run commands from a file `.'
split Split a file into fixed-size pieces
ssh Secure Shell client (remote login program)
strace Trace system calls and signals
su Substitute user identity
sudo Execute a command as another user
sum Print a checksum for a file
suspend Suspend execution of this shell •
symlink Make a new name for a file
sync Synchronize data on disk with memory

t
tail Output the last part of file
tar Tape ARchiver
tee Redirect output to multiple files
test Evaluate a conditional expression
time Measure Program running time
times User and system times
touch Change file timestamps
top List processes running on the system
traceroute Trace Route to Host
trap Run a command when a signal is set(bourne)
tr Translate, squeeze, and/or delete characters
true Do nothing, successfully
tsort Topological sort
tty Print filename of terminal on stdin
type Describe a command •

u
ulimit Limit user resources •
umask Users file creation mask
umount Unmount a device
unalias Remove an alias •
uname Print system information
unexpand Convert spaces to tabs
uniq Uniquify files
units Convert units from one scale to another
unset Remove variable or function names
unshar Unpack shell archive scripts
until Execute commands (until error)
uptime Show uptime
useradd Create new user account
userdel Delete a user account
usermod Modify user account
users List users currently logged in
uuencode Encode a binary file 
uudecode Decode a file created by uuencode

v
v Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b')
vdir Verbosely list directory contents (`ls -l -b')
vi Text Editor
vmstat Report virtual memory statistics

w
wait Wait for a process to complete •
watch Execute/display a program periodically
wc Print byte, word, and line counts
whereis Search the user's $path, man pages and source files for a program
which Search the user's $path for a program file
while Execute commands
who Print all usernames currently logged in
whoami Print the current user id and name (`id -un')
wget Retrieve web pages or files via HTTP, HTTPS or FTP
write Send a message to another user 

x
xargs Execute utility, passing constructed argument list(s)
xdg-open Open a file or URL in the user's preferred application.

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Story of Kali linux

Where did the idea for Kali come from? Were you trying to solve a problem you'd experienced, or did the inspiration come from somewhere else?

Mati Aharoni: The idea for a Live Linux distribution which contains a bunch of security tools was born out of necessity many years ago, when I faced a perplexing dilemma on a security engagement. I was not allowed to bring any hardware to the engagement—and what's more, I was only allowed to use onsite computers on the condition that I would not touch their hard disks or modify them in any way. (I actually was allowed to bring a laptop onsite, however it would be taken on exit).

After thinking long and hard, I figured that these seemingly impossible work conditions could be met by adding a few tools to an existing bootable Live Linux CD (Knoppix 2.0, to those familiar with ancient history). Once created, I would be able to bring in the CD to the engagement, boot an onsite computer with the CD, and work directly out of RAM. At the end of the engagement, I would be able to destroy the CD without too much heart-ache. And so I started a Linux Security based Distribution, ten years ago!

After you came up with the idea, what was the next step?

I will take the liberty to apply this question to our recently released Kali Linux distribution, the 3rd iteration of the Matrix.

Kali Linux was born out of our understanding that we need to take our eight years of experience in building Linux Security Distributions and apply them to a new, clean canvas. This meant tearing down everything we had done to that point, and starting afresh. This process was both terrifying and liberating—on one hand we had let go of our beloved BackTrack distribution, but on the other, we had the opportunity to rebuild and expand our current systems to create something better.

Once this hard decision was made, we figured that the next step should involve people who actually know what they are doing, and we brought in a Debian developer who helped us build our development infrastructure from the ground up. His assistance proved to be invaluable to our project and crucial to the success of the distribution.

How did you choose which platforms to target and which to ignore or wait on?

I'll answer this in regards to our Kali Linux ARM images.

One of our goals with Kali is to provide images of the operating system for all sorts of exotic hardware—mainly ARM based. This includes everything from Raspberry Pi's to tablets, to Android TV devices, with each piece of hardware having some unique property. For example, the MK808 has a dual-core CPU with a whopping 1GB of RAM, while having the form factor of a medium-sized USB dongle. Imagine that: a powerful hacking computer, battery-powered, in your pocket.

So how do we decide what type of ARM hardware to target ? That depends on several things—availability being the main obstacle. We try to identify interesting hardware that could be used in interesting ways for security assessments—and if such is found, we try to build Kali for it. By now, we have a wide array of hardware supported by Kali, and this list keeps on growing every month.

What was your biggest roadblock and how did you overcome it?

One of our biggest concerns with the move from BackTrack to Kali was the rebranding we had to do. After so many years of being a major force in the security community, "BackTrack" was known by all. To suddenly change this around would undoubtedly be hectic and confusing for our users. I thought long and hard at other major rebranding feats in the open source world, and thought to myself, "Didn't Wireshark rebrand a few years ago? What was their name beforehand?" After having to think for two long minutes before coming to the right answer, I figured that rebranding would be tough, but not impossible.

What was launch like for you?

The launch of Kali Linux went better than we could ever have hoped for. We had good friends to support the effort, and a proper infrastructure to support the mind-boggling amounts of traffic required to allow the gazillion downloads we experienced in the first few days.

We had the good sense to create a knowledge source before the release, as well as some community outlets like forums and a bug tracker.

How do you handle user requests and criticisms effectively?

Over the years we have become much more patient with opinionated users and criticism at large. I think we've learned that sometimes a seemingly silly bug report can actually be a symptom of a serious underlying problem. Treating all of these reports with the respect they deserve is something we are getting better and better at as time goes by.

Now, how do you split time between developing new features and managing existing ones?

In Kali, this question can be applied to the tools and features we provide in our distribution. We don't have a specific methodology for this. If we see a useful security tool, or a relevant security feature we think may be useful, we simply add it. A good example for this was the LUKS NUKEfeature in Kali, which allows the user to "self destruct" their hard drive.

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