/bin

/bin is the directory that holds essential system binaries. These can be used both by system administrators and regular users.

Required commands

Binary name	Description
[	Utility typically used within scripts to evaluate expressions (can also be in /usr/bin if test is too)
cat	Utility to concatenate files to standard output
chgrp	Utility to change file group ownership
chmod	Utility to change file access permissions
chown	Utility to change file owner and group
cp	Utility to copy files and directories
date	Utility to print or set the system date and time
dd	Utility to convert and copy a file
df	Utility to report filesystem disk space usage
dmesg	Utility to print or control the kernel message buffer
echo	Utility to display a line of text
false	Utility to do nothing, unsuccessfully
hostname	Utility to show or set the system's host name
kill	Utility to send signals to processes
ln	Utility to make links between files
login	Utility to begin a session on the system
ls	Utility to list directory contents
mkdir	Utility to make directories
mknod	Utility to make block or character special files
more	Utility to page through text
mount	Utility to mount a filesystem
mv	Utility to move/rename files
ps	Utility to report process status
pwd	Utility to print name of current working directory
rm	Utility to remove files or directories
rmdir	Utility to remove empty directories
sed	The `sed` stream editor
sh	POSIX compatible command shell
stty	Utility to change and print terminal line settings
su	Utility to change user ID
sync	Utility to flush filesystem buffers
test	Utility typically used within scripts to evaluate expressions, more refined than [ (can also be in /usr/bin if [ is too)
true	Utility to do nothing, successfully
umount	Utility to unmount file systems
uname	Utility to print system information

See also

/usr/bin — the directory that holds most user commands.

External resources

• FHS v3.0 — the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (ver. 3.0), which defines core Linux directories.