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Top 100 Linux

Commands (You Need
To Know)
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December 18, 2023 by Matt Stamp

Linux is the backbone of the internet. It powers nearly 97% of the world’s top web
servers. And 55.9% of professional developers lean on Linux for their development
needs.

Yet, Linux has only a 2.68% desktop market share. Why this gap?

The core focus of Linux has never been its user interface. It was instead designed to
give you complete control over your operating system through the command line.

That can make Linux seem intimidating to beginners — And the thousands of
available commands only make this more difficult.

In this article, we cover the top 100 most useful Linux commands. Learning just a
handful of these commands can help you boost your productivity as a Linux user.
Let’s dive right in!

DreamHost Glossary

Linux
 Linux
Affiliates refers toBase
Knowledge a collection of open-source Operating Systems (OS). There’s
News Support

no single Linux OS. Instead, users can choose from a broad group of Linux
distros, all of which provide different experiences.

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Read More

What Are Linux Commands?

Linux commands allow you to control your system from the command line interface
(CLI) instead of using your mouse or trackpad. They are text instructions entered into
the terminal to tell your system exactly what to do.

Commands you enter on the Linux terminal are case-sensitive and follow a syntax
like “command -options arguments.” You can combine them for complex tasks
using pipelines and redirection.

Some key things to know about Linux commands:

They are case-sensitive; for example, “ls” and “LS” mean different things.
They follow a specific syntax like “command -options arguments.”
They can be combined for complex operations using pipelines and redirection.
They give you fine-grained control over your system, which is hard to achieve
with graphical interfaces.
They allow you to automate tasks through shell scripts and batch processing.
They can be used to access system resources like the file system, network,
memory, and CPU.
They form the basis of interaction with Linux servers and operating systems.
 If you’reKnowledge
Affiliates a programmer that’s just
Base News learning to code, you can start practicing your
Support

Linux commands without leaving Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
This lets you run Linux from within Windows without dual booting and get the best of
both operating
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Top 100 Most Useful Linux Commands

Now that you have a basic understanding of what Linux commands are, let’s dive
into the top 100 most commonly used Linux commands.

We’ve organized them by category to cover areas like file management, system
monitoring, network operations, user administration, and more.

File Management Commands In Linux

File management is a common task on the Linux command line. Here are essential
file commands:

1. ls – List Directory Contents

The ls command is one of the most frequently used Linux commands. It lists the
contents of a directory, showing all files and subdirectories contained inside.

Without any options or arguments, ls will display the contents of the current
working directory. You can pass a path name to list files and folders in that location
instead.

Syntax:

ls [options] [directory]

Some of the most useful ls options include:

 -l – Knowledge
Affiliates Display results
Base in longSupport
News format, showing extra details like permissions,
ownership, size, and modification date for each file and directory.
-a – Show hidden files and directories that start with . in addition to non-

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-R – Recursively list all subdirectory contents, descending into child folders
indefinitely.
-S – Sort results by file size, largest first.
-t – Sort by timestamp, newest first.

Example:

ls -l /home/user/documents

This would list the contents of the “documents” folder in long format.

Example output:

total 824
-rwxrwx--- 1 user user 8389 Jul 12 08:53 report.pdf
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 10231 Jun 30 16:32 presentation.pptx
drwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 May 11 09:21 images
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user user 453 Apr 18 13:32 todo.txt

This output shows a detailed list with permissions, size, owner, and timestamp for
each file and directory. The long listing format given by the -l option provides
helpful file information at a glance.

The ls command gives you flexible control over directory content listing. It’s one of
the commands you’ll find yourself using constantly when working on Linux.

2. cd – Change Directory
 The cd command
Affiliates is used
Knowledge Base to navigate
News Support between directories. It allows you to move the

current working directory to a new location in the filesystem.

When you run the cd command by itself, it will return you to the home directory. You
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can also pass a specific path to change into. For example:

cd /usr/local – Changes to the /usr/local directory.

cd .. – Moves up one level to the parent directory.
cd ~/pictures – Changes to the pictures folder in your home directory.

Syntax:

cd [directory]

Example:

cd /home/user/documents

This would change the working directory to the “documents” folder under
/home/user. Using cd is essential for being able to access and work with files in
different locations conveniently.

3. mkdir – Create A New Directory

The mkdir command allows you to create a new folder. You simply pass the name
of the directory to create.

Syntax:

mkdir [options] <directory>

This will create a directory called “newproject” in the current working directory.
 Some useful
Affiliates mkdir
Knowledge options:
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-p – Creates parent directories recursively as needed.

-v – Verbose output showing created directories.
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Example:

mkdir -v ~/project/code

This would create the “code” subdirectory under “project” in the user’s home folder,
with verbose output showing the directory being created.

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4. rmdir – Remove Directory

To delete an empty directory, use the rmdir command. Note that rmdir can only
remove empty directories – we’ll need the rm command to delete non-empty ones.

Syntax:
 rmdir Knowledge
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Base<directory>
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Some options for rmdir include:

Blog -v – Verbose
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-p – Remove parent directories recursively as needed.

Example:

rmdir -v ~/project/code

This would delete the “code” subdirectory under “project” while showing verbose
output.

5. touch – Create A New Empty File

The touch command is used to create a new empty file instantly. This is useful when
you need an empty file to populate with data later.

The basic syntax of touch is:

touch [options] filename

Some useful options for touch include:

-c – Do not create the file if it already exists. This avoids accidentally

overwriting existing files.
-m – Instead of creating a new file, update the timestamp on an existing file.
This can be used to change the modified time.

For example:

touch /home/user/newfile.txt
 The above
Affiliates command
Knowledge Base creates a new empty file called “newfile.txt” in the user’s
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/home/user directory. If newfile.txt already exists, it will update the access and
modification times on the file instead.

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6. cp – Copy Files And Directories
The cp command copies files or directories from one location to another. It requires
passing a source path and a destination.

The basic syntax of cp is:

cp [options] source destination

Some useful cp options:

-r – Copy directories recursively, descending into child directories to copy their

contents as well. Necessary when copying directories.
-i – Prompt before overwriting any existing files at the destination. It prevents
accidentally overwriting data.
-v – Display verbose output showing the details of each file as it is copied.
Helpful to confirm exactly what was copied.

For example:

cp -r /home/user/documents /backups/

This would recursively copy the /home/user/documents directory and all its
contents to the /backups/ directory. The -r option is needed to copy directories.

The cp command is one of the most frequently used file management utilities for
copying files and directories in Linux. You’ll find yourself using this command quite
often.
 7. mv – MoveBase
Affiliates
Knowledge Or Rename Files And Directories
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The mv command is used to move files or directories to a different location or

rename them. Unlike copy, the files from the source path are deleted after they’ve
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You can also use the mv command to rename files since you simply need to change
the source and destination paths to the old and new name.

The syntax of mv is:

mv [options] source destination

Useful mv options:

-i – Prompt before overwriting any existing files at the destination location.

This prevents accidentally overwriting data.
-v – Produce verbose output showing each file or directory as it is moved. This
is helpful for confirming exactly what was moved.

For example:

mv ~/folder1 /tmp/folder1

The above will move folder1 from the home (~) directory to the /tmp/ directory. Let’s
look at another example of using the mv command for renaming files.

mv folder1 folder2

Here, “folder1” is renamed to “folder2.”

8. rm – Remove Files And Directories

 The rm command
Affiliates deletes
Knowledge Base filesSupport
News and directories. Use caution because deleted files
and directories cannot be recovered.

The syntax is:

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rm [options] name

Useful rm options:

-r – Recursively delete directories, including all contents inside them. This is

necessary when deleting directories.
-f – Force deletion and suppress all confirmation prompts. This is a dangerous
command, as files cannot be recovered when they’re gone!
-i – Prompt for confirmation before deleting each file or directory, which
provides safety against accidental removal.

For example:

rm -rf temp

This recursively deletes the “temp” directory and all its contents without prompting
(-f overrides confirmations).

Note: The rm command permanently erases files and folders, so use it with extreme
care. If used with sudo privileges, you could also delete the root directory
completely, and Linux would no longer function after restarting your computer.

9. find – Search For Files In A Directory Hierarchy

The find command recursively searches directories for files matching given criteria.

The basic syntax of find is:

 find
Affiliates [path]
Knowledge[criteria]
Base News Support

Some useful criteria options for find include:

Blog -typeTutorials
f – Search WordPress
for only normalMarketing
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directories. Website Desig

-mtime +30 – Search for files modified over 30 days ago.

-user jane – Search for files belonging to user “jane.”

For example:

find . -type f -mtime +30

This will find all regular files over 30 days old under the current directory (denoted by
the dot).

The find command allows searching for files based on all kinds of advanced
conditions like name, size, permissions, timestamps, ownership, and more.

10. du – Estimate File Space Usage

The du command measures the file space usage for a given directory. When used
without options, it displays disk usage for the current working directory.

The syntax for du is:

du [options] [path]

Useful du options:

-h – Display file sizes in human-readable format like K for Kilobytes rather than
a byte count. Much easier to parse.
-s – Only show the total size for a directory, rather than listing each
subdirectory and file. Good for summary.
 -a – Knowledge
Affiliates Show individual file sizes
Base News in addition
Support to totals. Helps identify large files.

For example:

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du -sh pictures

This will print a human-readable size total for the “pictures” directory.

The du command is helpful for analyzing disk usage for a directory tree and
identifying files consuming excessive space.

Search And Filter Commands In Linux

Now, let’s explore commands that allow you to search, filter, and manipulate text
right from the Linux command line.

11. grep – Search Text Using Patterns

The grep command is used to search for text patterns within files or output. It prints
any lines that match the given regular expression. grep is extremely powerful for
searching, filtering, and pattern matching in Linux.

Here is the basic syntax:

grep [options] pattern [files]

For example:

grep -i "error" /var/log/syslog

This searches the syslog file for the word “error,” ignoring case sensitivity.

Some useful grep options:

 -i – Knowledge
Affiliates Ignore case
Basedistinctions in patterns
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-R – Recursively search subdirectories

-c – Print only a count of matching lines

Blog -v – Invert match, print

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grep allows you to search files and output for keywords or patterns quickly. It’s
invaluable for parsing logs, searching source code, matching regexes, and
extracting data.

12. awk – Pattern Scanning And Processing Language

The awk command allows more advanced text processing based on specified
patterns and actions. It operates on a line-by-line basis, splitting each line into
fields.

awk syntax is:

awk 'pattern { action }' input-file

For example:

awk '/error/ {print $1}' /var/log/syslog

This prints the first field of any line containing “error.” awk can also use built-in
variables like NR (number of records) and NF (number of fields).

Advanced awk capabilities include:

Mathematical computations on fields

Conditional statements
Built-in functions for manipulating strings, numbers, and dates
Output formatting control
 This makes
Affiliates awk suitable
Knowledge for data
Base News extraction, reporting, and transforming text
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output. awk is extremely powerful since it is an independent programming language

giving you a lot of control as a Linux command.

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13. sed – Stream Editor For Filtering And Transforming Text
The sed command allows filtering and transformation of text. It can perform
operations like search/replace, deletion, transposition, and more. However, unlike
awk, sed was designed for editing lines on a per-line basis as per the instructions.

Here’s the basic syntax is:

sed options 'commands' input-file

For example:

sed 's/foo/bar/' file.txt

This replaces “foo” with “bar” in file.txt.

Some useful sed commands:

s – Search and replace text

/pattern/d – Delete lines matching a pattern
10,20d – Delete lines 10-20
1,3!d – Delete all except lines 1-3

sed is ideal for tasks like bulk find/replace, selective line deletion, and other text
stream editing operations.

14. sort – Sort Lines Of Text Files

 When you’re
Affiliates working
Knowledge Base with
Newsa lotSupport
of text or data or even large outputs from other
commands, sorting it is a great way to make things manageable. The sort
command will sort the lines of a text file alphabetically or numerically.

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Basic sort syntax:

sort [options] [file]

Useful sort options:

-n – Sort numerically instead of alphabetically

-r – Reverse the sort order
-k – Sort based on a specific field or column

For example:

sort -n grades.txt

This numerically sorts the contents of grades.txt. sort is handy for ordering the
contents of files for more readable output or analysis.

15. uniq – Report Or Omit Repeated Lines

The uniq command filters duplicate adjacent lines from input. This is often used in
conjunction with sort.

Basic syntax:

uniq [options] [input]

Options:

-c – Prefix unique lines with count of occurrences.

 -d – Knowledge
Affiliates Only show duplicated
Base lines, not
News Support unique ones.

For example:

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sort data.txt | uniq

This will remove any duplicated lines in data.txt after sorting. uniq gives you control
over filtering repeated text.

16. diff – Compare Files Line By Line

The diff command compares two files line-by-line and prints the differences. It’s
commonly used to show changes between versions of files.

Syntax:

diff [options] file1 file2

Options:

-b – Ignore changes in whitespace.

-B – Show differences inline, highlighting changes.
-u – Output differences with three lines of context.

For example:

diff original.txt updated.txt

This will output the lines that differ between original.txt and updated.txt. diff is
invaluable for comparing revisions of text files and source code.

17. wc – Print Line, Word, And Byte Counts

The wc (word count) command prints counts of lines, words, and bytes in a file.
 Syntax: Knowledge Base
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wc [options] [file]

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Options:

-l – Print only the line count.

-w – Print only the word count.
-c – Print only the byte count.

For example:

wc report.txt

This command will print the number of lines, words, and bytes in report.txt.

Redirection Commands In Linux

Redirection commands are used to control input and output sources in Linux,
allowing you to send and append output streams to files, take input from files,
connect multiple commands, and split output to multiple destinations.

18. > – Redirect Standard Output

The > redirection operator redirects the standard output stream from the
command to a file instead of printing to the terminal. Any existing contents of the
file will be overwritten.

For example:

ls -l /home > homelist.txt

This will execute ls -l to list the contents of the /home directory.

 Then, instead
Affiliates of printing
Knowledge Base News Support to the terminal, the > symbol captures that
that output
standard output and writes it to homelist.txt, overwriting any existing file contents.

Redirecting standard output is helpful for saving command results to files for
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storage, debugging, or chaining commands together.

19. >> – Append Standard Output

The >> operator appends standard output from a command to a file without
overwriting existing contents.

For example:

tail /var/log/syslog >> logfile.txt

This will append the last 10 lines of the syslog log file onto the end of logfile.txt.
Unlike >, >> adds the output without erasing the current logfile.txt contents.

Appending is helpful in collecting command output in one place without losing

existing data.

20. < – Redirect Standard Input

The < redirection operator feeds a file’s contents as standard input to a command,
instead of taking input from the keyboard.

For example:

wc -l < myfile.txt

This sends the contents of myfile.txt as input to the wc command, which will count
lines in that file instead of waiting for keyboard input.
 Redirecting
Affiliates inputBase
Knowledge is useful
Newsfor batch-processing
Support files and automating workflows.

21. | – Pipe Output To Another Command

The pipe Tutorials
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command, chaining them together.

For example:

ls -l | less

This pipes the output of ls -l into the less command, which allows scrolling
through the file listing.

Piping is commonly used to chain together commands where the output of one
feeds the input of another. This allows building complex operations out of smaller
single-purpose programs.

22. tee – Read From Standard Input And Write To Standard

Output And Files
The tee command splits standard input into two streams.

It writes the input to standard output (shows the output of the main command)
while also saving a copy to a file.

For example:

cat file.txt | tee copy.txt

This displays file.txt contents to the terminal while simultaneously writing it to

copy.txt.
 tee is unlike
Affiliates redirecting,
Knowledge whereSupport
Base News you don’t see the output until you open the file
you’ve redirected the output to.

Archive
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Archiving commands allow you to bundle multiple files and directories into
compressed archive files for easier portability and storage. Common archive
formats in Linux include .tar, .gz, and .zip.

23. tar – Store And Extract Files From An Archive

The tar command helps you work with tape archive (.tar) files. It helps you bundle
multiple files and directories into a single compressed .tar file.

Syntax:

tar [options] filename

Useful tar options:

-c – Create a new .tar archive file.

-x – Extract files from a .tar archive.
-f – Specify archive filename rather than stdin/stdout.
-v – Verbose output showing archived files.
-z – Compress or uncompress archive with gzip.

For example:

tar -cvzf images.tar.gz /home/user/images

This creates a gzip-compressed tar archive called images.tar.gz containing the

/home/user/images folder.
 24. gzip
Affiliates – Compress
Knowledge Base News Or Expand Files
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The gzip command compresses files using LZ77 coding to reduce size for storage or
transmission. With gzip, you work with .gz files.
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Syntax:

gzip [options] filename

Useful gzip options:

-c – Write output to stdout instead of file.

-d – Decompress file instead of compressing.
-r – Recursively compress directories.

For example:

gzip -cr documents/

The above command recursively compresses the documents folder and outputs to
stdout.

25. gunzip – Decompress Files

The gunzip command is used for decompressing .gz files.

Syntax:

gunzip filename.gz

Example:

gunzip documents.tar.gz
 The above
Affiliates command
Knowledge Base will
Newsextract the original uncompressed contents of
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documents.tar.gz.

26. zip – Package And Compress Files

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The zip command creates .zip archived files containing compressed file contents.

Syntax:

zip [options] archive.zip filenames

Useful zip options:

-r – Recursively zip a directory.

-e – Encrypt contents with a password.

Example:

zip -re images.zip pictures

This encrypts and compresses the pictures folder into images.zip.

27. unzip – Extract Files From ZIP Archives

Similar to gunzip, the unzip command extracts and uncompresses files from .zip
archives.

Syntax:

unzip archive.zip

Example:

unzip images.zip
 The above
Affiliates example
Knowledge Basecommand extracts all files from images.zip in the current
News Support

directory.

File Transfer
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Blog
File transfer commands allow you to move files between systems over a network.
This is useful for copying files to remote servers or downloading content from the
internet.

28. scp – Secure Copy Files Between Hosts

The scp (secure copy) command copies files between hosts over an SSH
connection. All data transfer is encrypted for security.

scp syntax copies files from a source path to a destination defined as user@host:

scp source user@host:destination

For example:

scp image.jpg user@server:/uploads/

This securely copies image.jpg to the /uploads folder on server as user.

scp works like the cp command but for remote file transfer. It leverages SSH (Secure
Shell) for data transfer, providing encryption to ensure that no sensitive data, such
as passwords, are exposed over the network. Authentication is typically handled
using SSH keys, though passwords can also be used. Files can be copied both to
and from remote hosts.

29. rsync – Synchronize Files Between Hosts

The rsync tool synchronizes files between two locations while minimizing data
transfer using delta encoding. This makes it faster to sync large directory trees.
 rsync syntax
Affiliates syncs
Knowledge source
Base to destination:
News Support

rsync [options] source destination

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For example:

rsync -ahv ~/documents user@server:/backups/

The above example command recursively syncs the documents folder to

server:/backups/, showing verbose, human-readable output.

Useful rsync options:

-a – Archive mode syncs recursively and preserves permissions, times, etc.

-h – Human-readable output.
-v – Verbose output.

rsync is ideal for syncing files and folders to remote systems and keeping things
decentrally backed up and secure.

30. sftp – Secure File Transfer Program

The sftp program provides interactive file transfers over SSH, similar to regular FTP
but encrypted. It can transfer files to/from remote systems.

sftp connects to a host then accepts commands like:

sftp user@host

get remotefile localfile

put localfile remotefile

 This retrieves
Affiliates Base Newsfrom
remotefile
Knowledge the server and copies localfile to the remote
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host.

sftp has an interactive shell for navigating remote file systems, transferring files
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and directories, and managing permissions and properties.

31. wget – Retrieve Files from the Web

The wget tool downloads files over HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP connections. It’s useful for
retrieving web resources directly from the terminal.

For example:

wget https://example.com/file.iso

This downloads the file.iso image from the remote server.

Useful wget options:

-c – Resume interrupted download.

-r – Download recursively.
-O – Save to specific filename.

wget is ideal for scripting automatic downloads and mirroring websites.

32. curl – Transfer Data From Or To A Server

The curl command transfers data to or from a network server using supported
protocols. This includes REST, HTTP, FTP, and more.

For example:

curl -L https://example.com
 The above
Affiliates command
Knowledge Base retrieves data from the HTTPS URL and outputs it.
News Support

Useful curl options:

Blog -o – Write output to

Tutorials file.
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-I – Show response headers only.

-L – Follow redirects.

curl is designed to transfer data across networks programmatically.

File Permissions Commands

File permissions commands allow you to modify access rights for users. This includes
setting read/write/execute permissions, changing ownership, and default file
modes.

33. chmod – Change File Modes Or Access Permissions

The chmod command is used to change the access permissions or modes of files
and directories. The permission modes represent who can read, write, or execute the
file.

For example:

chmod 755 file.txt

There are three sets of permissions—owner, group, and public. Permissions are set
using numeric modes from 0 to 7:

7 – read, write, and execute.

6 – read and write.
4 – read only.
0 – no permission.
 This setsKnowledge
Affiliates the owner permissions
Base to 7 (rwx), group to 5 (r-x), and public to 5 (r-x). You
News Support

can also reference users and groups symbolically:

chmod g+w file.txt

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The g+w syntax adds group write permission to the file.

Setting proper file and directory permissions is crucial for Linux security and
controlling access. chmod gives you flexible control to configure permissions
precisely as needed.

34. chown – Change File Owner And Group

The chown command changes ownership of a file or directory. Ownership has two
components—the user who is the owner, and the group it belongs to.

For example:

chown john:developers file.txt

The above example command will set the owner user to “john” and the owner group
to “developers.”

Only the root superuser account can use chown to change file owners. It’s used to
fix permission problems by modifying the owner and group as needed.

35. umask – Set Default File Permissions

The umask command controls the default permissions given to newly created files. It
takes an octal mask as input, which subtracts from 666 for files and 777 for
directories.

For example:
 umask Knowledge
Affiliates 007 Base News Support

New files will default to permissions 750 instead of 666, and new directories to 700
instead of 777.
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Setting a umask lets you configure default file permissions rather than relying on
system defaults. The umask command is useful for restricting permissions on new
files without relying on someone going in and manually adding restrictions.

Process Management Commands

These commands allow you to view, monitor, and control processes running on your
Linux system. This is useful for identifying resource usage and stopping misbehaving
programs.

36. ps – Report A Snapshot Of Current Processes

The ps command displays a snapshot of currently running processes, including their
PID, TTY, stat, start time, etc.

For example:

ps aux

This shows every process running as all users with additional details like CPU and
memory usage.

Some useful ps options:

aux – Show processes for all users

--forest – Display tree of parent/child processes

ps gives you visibility into what’s currently running on your system.

 37. topKnowledge
Affiliates– Display LinuxSupport
Base News Processes
The top command shows real-time Linux process information, including PID, user,
CPU %, memory usage, uptime, and more. Unlike ps, it updates the display
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For example:

top -u mysql

The above command monitors processes just for the “mysql” user. It becomes quite
helpful in identifying resource-intensive programs.

38. htop – Interactive Process Viewer

The htop command is an interactive process viewer replacing the top command. It
shows system processes along with CPU/memory/swap usage graphs, allows
sorting by columns, killing programs, and more.

Simply type in htop in the command line to view your processes.

htop has enhanced UI elements with colors, scrolling, and mouse support for easier
navigation compared to top. Excellent for investigating processes.
Affiliates Knowledge Base News Support

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39. kill – Send A Signal To A Process

The kill command sends a signal to a process to terminate or kill it. Signals allow
graceful shutdown if the process handles them.

For example:

kill -15 12345

The above command sends the SIGTERM (15) signal to stop the process with PID
12345 gracefully.

40. pkill – Send A Signal To A Process Based On Name

 The pkill
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News processes
Support by name instead of PID. It can make things

easier than finding the PID first.

For example:
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pkill -9 firefox

This forcibly stops all Firefox processes with SIGKILL (9). pkill targets processes by
matching name, user, and other criteria instead of the PID.

41. nohup – Run A Command Immune To Hangups

The nohup command runs processes immune to hangups, so they keep running if
you log out or get disconnected.

For example:

nohup python script.py &

The above example command will launch script.py detached in the background
and immune to hangups. nohup is generally used to start persistent background
daemons and services.

Performance Monitoring Commands

These commands provide valuable system performance statistics to help analyze
resource utilization, identify bottlenecks, and optimize efficiency.

42. vmstat – Report Virtual Memory Statistics

The vmstat command prints detailed reports on memory, swap, I/O, and CPU
activity. This includes metrics like memory used/free, swap in/out, disk blocks
read/written, and CPU time spent on processes/idle.
 For example:
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vmstat 5

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Other useful vmstat options:

-a – Show active and inactive memory

-s – Display event counters and memory stats
-S – Output in KB instead of blocks
5 – Output refreshed every 5 seconds.

The example above outputs memory and CPU data every 5 seconds until
interrupted, which is useful for monitoring live system performance.

43. iostat – Report CPU And I/O Statistics

The iostat command monitors and displays CPU utilization and disk I/O metrics.
This includes CPU load, IOPS, read/write throughput, and more.

For example:

iostat -d -p sda 5

Some iostat options:

-c – Display CPU utilization info

-t – Print timestamp for each report
-x – Show extended stats like service times and wait counts
-d – Show detailed stats per disk/partition instead of aggregate totals
-p – Display stats for specific disk devices

This shows detailed per-device I/O stats for sda every 5 seconds.
 helps analyze
iostatKnowledge
Affiliates Base disk
Newssubsystem
Support performance and identify hardware

bottlenecks.

44. free – Display

Tutorials
Amount Of
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The free command shows the total, used and free amounts of physical and swap
memory on the system. This gives an overview of available memory.

For example:

free -h

Some options for the free command:

-b – Display output in bytes

-k – Show output in KB instead of default bytes
-m – Show output in MB instead of bytes
-h – Print statistics in human-readable format like GB, MB instead of bytes.

This prints memory statistics in human-readable format (GB, MB, etc). It’s useful
when you want a quick overview of memory capacity.

45. df – Report File System Disk Space Usage

The df command displays disk space usage for file systems. It shows the filesystem
name, total/used/available space, and capacity.

For example:

df -h

The above command will print the disk utilization in a human-readable format. You
can also run it without arguments to get the same data in block sizes.
 46. sarKnowledge
Affiliates – Collect
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The sar tool collects and logs system activity information on CPU, memory, I/O,
network, and more over time. This data can be analyzed to identify performance
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For example:

sar -u 5 60

This samples CPU usage every 5 seconds for a duration of 60 samples.

sar provides detailed historical system performance data not available in real-time
tools.

User Management Commands

When using multi-user systems, you may need commands that help you manage
users and groups for access control and permissions. Let’s cover those commands
here.

47. useradd – Create A New User

The useradd command creates a new user account and home directory. It sets the
new user’s UID, group, shell, and other defaults.

For example:

useradd -m john

Useful useradd options:

-m – Create the user’s home directory.

-g – Specify the primary group instead of the default.
 -s – Knowledge
Affiliates Set the user’s
Base login
News shell.
Support

The above command will create a new user, “john,” with a generated UID and home
folder created at /home/john.
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48. usermod – Modify A User Account

The usermod command modifies the settings of an existing user account. This can
change the username, home dir, shell, group, expiry date, etc.

For example:

usermod -aG developers john

With this command, you add a user john to an additional group—“developers.” The
-a appends to the existing list of groups that the user is added to.

49. userdel – Delete A User Account

The userdel command deletes a user account, home directory, and mail spool.

For example:

userdel -rf john

Helpful userdel options:

-r – Remove the user’s home directory and mail spool.

-f – Force deletion even if the user is still logged in.

This forces the removal of user “john,” deleting associated files.

Specifying options like -r and -f with userdel ensures the user account is entirely
deleted even if the user is logged in or has active processes.
 50. groupadd
Affiliates – Add
Knowledge Base News ASupport
Group
The groupadd command creates a new user group. Groups represent teams or
roles for permissions purposes.
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For example:

groupadd -r sysadmin

Useful groupadd options:

-r – Create a system group used for core system functions.

-g – Specify the new group’s GID instead of using next available.

The above command creates a new “sysadmin” group with system privileges. When
creating new groups, the -r or -g help set them up correctly.

51. passwd – Update User’s Authentication Tokens

The passwd command sets or updates a user’s authentication password/tokens.
This allows changing your login password.

For example:

passwd john

This prompts user “john” to enter a new password interactively. If you’ve lost the
password for an account, you may want to login to Linux with sudo or su privileges
and change the password using the same method.

Networking Commands
These commands are used for monitoring connections, troubleshooting network
issues, routing, DNS lookups, and interface configuration.
 52. ping
Affiliates – Send
Knowledge Base ICMP ECHO_REQUEST To Network Hosts
News Support

The ping command verifies connectivity to a remote host by sending ICMP echo
request packets and listening for echo responses.
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For example:

ping google.com
PING google.com (142.251.42.78): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 142.251.42.78: icmp_seq=0 ttl=112 time=8.590 ms
64 bytes from 142.251.42.78: icmp_seq=1 ttl=112 time=12.486 ms
64 bytes from 142.251.42.78: icmp_seq=2 ttl=112 time=12.085 ms
64 bytes from 142.251.42.78: icmp_seq=3 ttl=112 time=10.866 ms
--- google.com ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 8.590/11.007/12.486/1.518 ms

Useful ping options:

-c [count] – Limit packets sent.

-i [interval] – Wait interval seconds between pings.

With the above command, you ping google.com and outputs round-trip stats
indicating connectivity and latency. Generally, ping is used to check if a system
you’re trying to connect to is alive and connected to the network.

53. ifconfig – Configure Network Interfaces

The ifconfig command displays and configures network interface settings,
including IP address, netmask, broadcast, MTU, and hardware MAC address.

For example:
 ifconfig
Affiliates Knowledge Base News Support

eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

inet 10.0.2.15 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 10.0.2.255
inet6 fe80::a00:27ff:fe1e:ef1d
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ether 08:00:27:1e:ef:1d txqueuelen 1000 (Ethernet)
RX packets 23955654 bytes 16426961213 (15.3 GiB)
RX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 frame 0
TX packets 12432322 bytes 8710937057 (8.1 GiB)
TX errors 0 dropped 0 overruns 0 carrier 0 collisions 0

Running ifconfig with no other arguments will give you a list of all the network
interfaces available for use, along with IP and additional network information.
ifconfig can also be used to set addresses, enable/disable interfaces, and
change options.

54. netstat – Network Statistics

The netstat command shows you the network connections, routing tables,
interface stats, masquerade connections, and multicast memberships.

For example:

netstat -pt tcp

This command will output all the active TCP connections and the processes using
them.

55. ss – Socket Statistics

The ss command dumps socket statistical information similar to netstat. It can show
open TCP and UDP sockets, send/receive buffer sizes, and more.
 For example:
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ss -t -a

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This prints all open TCP sockets. More efficient than netstat.

56. traceroute – Trace Route To Host

The traceroute command prints the route packets take to a network host,
showing each hop along the way and transit times. Useful for network debugging.

For example:

traceroute google.com

This traces the path to reach google.com and outputs each network hop.

57. dig - DNS Lookup

The dig command performs DNS lookups and returns information about DNS
records for a domain.

For example:

dig google.com
; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> google.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 60290
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0,
ADDITIONAL: 1
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1280
 ;; QUESTION
Affiliates KnowledgeSECTION:
Base News Support

;google.com. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
google.com.
Blog Tutorials220 IN A 142.251.42.78
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;; Query time: 6 msec
;; SERVER:
2405:201:2:e17b::c0a8:1d01#53(2405:201:2:e17b::c0a8:1d01)
;; WHEN: Wed Nov 15 01:36:16 IST 2023
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 55

This queries DNS servers for records related to google.com and prints details.

58. nslookup – Query Internet Name Servers Interactively

The nslookup command queries DNS servers interactively to perform name
resolution lookups or display DNS records.

It enters an interactive shell, allowing you to manually lookup hostnames, reverse IP

addresses, find DNS record types, and more.

For example, some common nslookup usage. Type nslookup on your command line:

nslookup

Next, we’ll set Google’s 8.8.8.8 DNS server for lookups.

> server 8.8.8.8

Now, let’s query the A record of stackoverflow.com to find its IP address.

> set type=A

> stackoverflow.com
 Server:
Affiliates 8.8.8.8
Knowledge Base News Support

Address: 8.8.8.8#53
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: stackoverflow.com
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Address: 104.18.32.7
Name: stackoverflow.com
Address: 172.64.155.249

Now, let’s find the MX records for github.com to see its mail servers.

> set type=MX

> github.com
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
Non-authoritative answer:
github.com mail exchanger = 1 aspmx.l.google.com.
github.com mail exchanger = 5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.
github.com mail exchanger = 5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.
github.com mail exchanger = 10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com.
github.com mail exchanger = 10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com.

The interactive queries make nslookup very useful for exploring DNS and
troubleshooting name resolution issues.

59. iptables – IPv4 Packet Filtering And NAT

The iptables command allows configuring Linux netfilter firewall rules to filter and
process network packets. It sets up policies and rules for how the system will handle
different types of inbound and outbound connections and traffic.

For example:
 iptables
Affiliates -A INPUT
Knowledge -s 192.168.1.10
Base News Support -j DROP

The above command will block all input from IP 192.168.1.10.

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iptables provides powerful control over the Linux kernel firewall to handle routing,
NAT, packet filtering, and other traffic control. It is a critical tool for securing Linux
servers.

60. ip – Manage Network Devices And Routing

The ip command allows managing and monitoring various network device related
activities like assigning IP addresses, setting up subnets, displaying link details, and
configuring routing options.

For example:

ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state
UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc
fq_codel state UP mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
link/ether 08:00:27:8a:5c:04 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

The above command shows all the network interfaces, their status, and other
information.

This command aims to replace ifconfig with more modern Linux network
management. ip can control network devices, routing tables, and other network
stack settings.

Package Management Commands

 Package
Affiliates managers
Knowledge allow
Base easySupport
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Linux distributions. Popular package managers include APT, YUM, DNF, Pacman, and
Zypper.

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61. apt – Debian/Ubuntu Package Manager
The apt command manages packages on Debian/Ubuntu systems using the APT
repository. It allows installing, updating, and removing packages.

For example:

apt update

This command fetches the latest package versions and metadata from the
repositories.

apt install nginx

You can install the nginx package from the configured APT repositories using the
above command.

apt upgrade

And this command upgrades packages and dependencies to newer versions.

APT makes installing software easy by fetching packages from repositories.

62. pacman – Arch Linux Package Manager

pacman manages packages on Arch Linux from the Arch User Repository. It can
install, upgrade, and remove packages.

For example:
 pacmanKnowledge
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This installs the nmap package from the configured repositories.

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pacman -Syu

This synchronizes with repositories and upgrades all packages.

pacman keeps Arch Linux up-to-date and allows easy management of packages.

63. dnf – Fedora Package Manager

dnf installs, updates, and removes packages on Fedora Linux distributions using
RPM packages. It replaces Yum as the next-gen package manager.

For example:

dnf install util-linux

This installs the util-linux package.

dnf upgrade

This upgrades all installed packages to the latest versions.

dnf makes Fedora package management fast and efficient.

64. yum – Red Hat Package Manager

yum manages packages on RHEL and CentOS Linux distributions using RPM
packages. It fetches from Yum repositories to install and update.

For example:
 yum update
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This updates all installed packages to the latest versions.

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yum install httpd

The above command installs the Apache httpd package. yum has been the major
package manager for keeping Red Hat distributions updated.

65. zypper – OpenSUSE Package Manager

zypper manages packages on SUSE/openSUSE Linux. It can add repositories,
search, install, and upgrade packages.

For example:

zypper refresh

The refresh command for zypper refreshes repository metadata from added
repositories.

zypper install python

This installs the Python package from configured repositories. zypper makes the
package management experience effortless on SUSE/openSUSE systems.

66. flatpak – Flatpak Application Package Manager

The flatpak command helps you manage Flatpak applications and runtimes.
flatpak allows sandboxed desktop application distribution across Linux.

For example:

flatpak install flathub org.libreoffice.LibreOffice

 For instance,
Affiliates the above
Knowledge command
Base News will install LibreOffice from the Flathub repository.
Support

flatpak run org.libreoffice.LibreOffice

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And this one launches the sandboxed LibreOffice Flatpak application. flatpak
provides a centralized cross-distro Linux application repository so you’re no longer
limited to packages available with a specific distro’s package library.

67. appimage – AppImage Application Package Manager

AppImage packages are self-contained applications that run on most Linux
distributions. The appimage command runs existing AppImages.

For example:

chmod +x myapp.AppImage
./myapp.AppImage

This allows running the AppImage binary file directly.

AppImages allow application deployment without system-wide installation. Think of

them like small containers that include all the files to enable the app to run without
too many external dependencies.

68. snap – Snappy Application Package Manager

The snap command manages snaps—containerized software packages. Snaps
auto-update and work across Linux distributions similar to Flatpak.

For example:

snap install vlc

 This simple
Affiliates command
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News the VLC media player snap.
Support

snap run vlc

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Once installed, you can use snap to run packages that are installed via snap by
using the above command. Snaps isolate apps from the base system for portability
and allow cleaner installs.

System Information Commands

These commands allow you to view details about your Linux system hardware,
kernel, distributions, hostname, uptime, and more.

69. uname – Print System Information

The uname command prints detailed information about the Linux system kernel,
hardware architecture, hostname, and operating system. This includes version
numbers and machine info.

For example:

uname -a
Linux hostname 5.4.0-48-generic x86_64 GNU/Linux

uname is useful for querying these core system details. Some options include:

-a – Print all available system info

-r – Print just the kernel release number

The above command printed extended system information, including kernel

name/version, hardware architecture, hostname, and OS.

uname -r
 This willKnowledge
Affiliates print onlyBase
the kernel
News release
Support number. The uname command shows details

about your Linux system’s core components.

70. hostname
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– Show Or Set
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The hostname command prints or sets the hostname identifier for your Linux system
on the network. With no arguments it displays the current hostname. Passing a
name will update the hostname.

For example:

hostname
linuxserver

This prints linuxserver — the configured system hostname.

hostname UbuntuServer

hostnames identify systems on a network. hostname gets or configures the

identifying name of your system on the network. The second command helps you
change the local hostname to UbuntuServer.

71. uptime – How Long The System Has Been Running

The uptime command shows how long the Linux system has been running since it
was last rebooted. It prints the uptime and current time.

Simply run the following command to get your system uptime data:

uptime
23:51:26 up 2 days, 4:12, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.01, 0.05
 This prints
Affiliates the system
Knowledge Base uptime
News showing
Support how long the system has been on since last

boot.

72. whoami – Print Active User ID

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The whoami command prints the effective username of the current user logged into
the system. It displays the privilege level you are operating at.

Type the command in your terminal to get the ID:

whoami
john

This prints the effective username that the current user is logged in and operating
as and is useful in scripts or diagnostics to identify what user account actions are
being performed as.

73. id – Print Real And Effective User And Group IDs

The id command prints detailed user and group information about the effective IDs
and names of the current user. This includes:

Real user ID and name.

Effective user ID and name.
Real group ID and name.
Effective group ID and name.

To use the id command, simply type:

id
uid=1000(john) gid=1000(john)
groups=1000(john),10(wheel),998(developers)
 The id command
Affiliates printsNews
Knowledge Base the current
Supportuser’s real and effective user and group IDs. id

displays user and group details useful for determining file access permissions.

74. lscpu – Display

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The lscpu command shows detailed CPU architecture information, including:

Number of CPU cores

Number of sockets
Model name
Cache sizes
CPU frequency
Address sizes

To use the lscpu command, simply type:

lscpu
Architecture: x86_64
CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order: Little Endian
CPU(s): 16
On-line CPU(s) list: 0-15

lscpu details the CPU architecture like the number of cores, sockets, model name,
caches, and more.

75. lsblk – List Block Devices

The lsblk command lists information about all available block devices, including
local disks, partitions, and logical volumes. The output includes device names,
labels, sizes, and mount points.
 lsblk Knowledge Base
Affiliates News Support

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT

sda 8:0 0 1.8T 0 disk
|-sda1 Tutorials
Blog 8:1 0 512M
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part /boot
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|-sda2 8:2 0 16M 0 part
`-sda5 8:5 0 1.8T 0 part
`-lvm1 254:0 0 1.8T 0 lvm /

lsblk lists all the block devices, including disks, partitions, and logical volumes.
Gives an overview of storage devices.

76. lsmod – Show The Status of Modules In The Linux Kernel

The lsmod command prints currently loaded kernel modules like device drivers. This
includes networking, storage, and other hardware-related modules being used by
the Linux kernel to interface with internal and external devices.

lsmod
Module Size Used by
ipv6 406206 27
evdev 17700 0
crct10dif_pclmul 16384 1
crc32_pclmul 16384 0
ghash_clmulni_intel 16384 0
aesni_intel 399871 0
aes_x86_64 20274 1 aesni_intel

As you can see, it lists the currently loaded kernel modules like device drivers. In this
case, it shows the use of networking, input, cryptographic and encryption modules.

77. dmesg – Print Or Control The Kernel Ring Buffer

 The dmesg
Affiliates command
Knowledge Base dumps
News messages
Support from the kernel ring buffer. This includes
essential system events recorded by the kernel during start-up and operation.

dmesg | grep -i error

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[ 12.345678] Error receiving batched read response: -110
[ 23.456789] tplink_mdio 0000:03:00.0: Direct firmware load
for tplink-mdio/leap_p8_v1_0.bin failed with error -2
[ 40.567890] iwlwifi 0000:09:00.0: Direct firmware load for
iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0-59.ucode failed with error -2

Grepping for “error” shows issues loading specific firmware. This prints buffered
kernel log messages, including system events like start-up, errors, warnings etc.

System Administration Commands

System admin commands help you run programs as other users, shut down or
reboot the system, and manage init systems and services.

78. sudo – Execute A Command As Another User

The sudo command allows you to run commands as another user, typically the
superuser. After entering the sudo order, it will prompt you for your password to
authenticate.

This provides elevated access for tasks like installing packages, editing system files,
administering services etc.

For example:

sudo adduser bob

[sudo] password for john:
 User ‘bob’
Affiliates has been
Knowledge Baseadded
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the system.

This uses sudo to create a new user, ‘bob’. Regular users typically cannot add users
without sudo.
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79. su – Change User ID Or Become Superuser

The su command allows you to switch to another user account including the
superuser. You must provide the target user’s password to authenticate. This gives
direct access to run commands in another user’s environment.

For example:

su bob
Password:
bob@linux:~$

After inputting bob’s password, this command switches the current user to the user
‘bob’. The shell prompt will reflect the new user.

80. shutdown – Shutdown Or Restart Linux

The shutdown command schedules a system power off, halt or reboot after a
specified timer or immediately. It’s required to reboot or shutdown multi-user Linux
systems safely.

For example:

shutdown -r now
Broadcast message from root@linux Fri 2023-01-20 18:12:37 CST:
The system is going down for reboot NOW!

This reboots the system instantly with a warning to users.

 81. reboot
Affiliates – Reboot
Knowledge Base News Or Restart System
Support

The reboot command restarts the Linux operating system, logging all users off and
safely rebooting the system. It synchronizes disks and brings the system down
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For example:

reboot
Restarting system.

This immediately reboots the OS. reboot is a simple alternative to shutdown -r.

82. systemctl – Control The systemd System And Service

Manager
The systemctl command allows you to manage systemd services like starting,
stopping, restarting, or reloading them. Systemd is the new init system used in most
modern Linux distros, replacing SysV init.

For example:

systemctl start apache2

==== AUTHENTICATING FOR org.freedesktop.systemd1.manage-units
===
Authentication is required to start 'apache2.service'.
Authenticating as: User Name
Password:
==== AUTHENTICATION COMPLETE ===

This starts the apache2 service after authenticating.

83. service – Run A System V Init Script

 The service
Affiliates command
Knowledge runs System
Base News Support V init scripts for controlling services. This allows

starting, stopping, restarting, and reloading services managed under traditional

SysV init.

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For example:

service iptables start

[ ok ] Starting iptables (via systemctl): iptables.service.

The above command starts the iptables firewall service using its SysV init script.

Other Linux Commands To Try

84. mount – Mount or “attach” drives to the system.
85. umount – Umount or “remove” drives from the system.
86. xargs – Builds and executes commands provided through standard input.
87. alias – Create shortcuts for long or complex commands.
88. jobs – List programs currently running jobs in the background.
89. bg – Resume a stopped or paused background process.
90. killall – Terminate processes by program name rather than PID.
91. history – Display previously used commands within the current terminal
session.
92. man – Access help manuals for commands right within the terminal.
93. screen – Manage multiple terminal sessions from a single window.
94. ssh – Establish secure encrypted connections to remote servers.
95. tcpdump – Capture network traffic based on specific criteria.
96. watch – Repeat a command at intervals and highlight output differences.
97. tmux – Terminal multiplexer for persistent sessions and splitting.
98. nc – Open TCP or UDP connections for testing and data transfer.
99. nmap – Host discovery, port scanning, and OS fingerprinting.
100. strace
Affiliates – Debug
Knowledge Baseprocesses by tracing operating system signals and calls.
News Support

7 Key Tips For Using Linux Commands

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1. Know your WordPress
shell: Bash, Marketing
zsh, fish? Different Web Hosting
shells have Website
unique features. PickDesig
the
one that suits your needs the best.
2. Master the core utils: ls, cat, grep, sed, awk, etc form the core of a Linux
toolkit.
3. Stick with pipelines: Avoid excessive uses of temporary files. Pipe programs
together cleverly.
4. Verify before overwriting: Always double check before overwriting files with >
and >>.
5. Track your workflows: Document complex commands and workflows to reuse or
share later.
6. Make your own tools: Write simple shell scripts and aliases for frequent tasks.
7. Start without sudo: Use a standard user account initially to understand
permissions.

And remember to keep testing out new commands over virtual machines or VPS
servers so they become second nature to you before you start using them on
production servers.

DreamHost Glossary

VPS Hosting
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a virtual platform that stores data. Many web
hosts offer VPS hosting plans, which give site owners a dedicated, private
space on a shared server.
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Better Linux Hosting With DreamHost
After you master the essential Linux commands, you also need a hosting and server
provider that gives you full control to take advantage of Linux’s power and flexibility.

That’s where DreamHost shines.

DreamHost’s optimized Linux infrastructure is perfect for running your apps, sites,
and services:

Fast web hosting on modern Linux servers.

SSH shell access for command line control.
Customizable PHP versions including PHP 8.0.
Apache or NGINX web servers.
Managed MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis databases.
1-click installs of apps like WordPress and Drupal.
SSD-accelerated NVMe storage for speed.
Free Let’s Encrypt SSL auto-renewal.

DreamHost’s experts can help you get the most out of the Linux platform. Our
servers are meticulously configured for security, performance, and reliability.

Launch your next project on a Linux hosting platform you can trust. Get started with
robust, scalable hosting at DreamHost.com.
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Matt Stamp

Matt is a DevOps Engineer at DreamHost. He is responsible for infrastructure

automation, system monitoring and documentation. In his free time he enjoys 3D
printing and camping. Follow Matt on LinkedIn: Lhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-
stamp-7a8b3a10a

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