RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX 5, 6, AND 7
Common administrative commands
1 Be aware of potential issues when using subscription-manager
on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5: https://access.redhat.com/
solutions/129003.
SYSTEM BASICS
TASK
RHEL
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid
View subscription information
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid
subscription-manager identity
subscription-manager identity
rhn_register
subscription-manager 1
2 Subscription-manager is used for Satellite 6, Satellite 5.6 with
SAM and newer, and Red Hats CDN.
3 RHN tools are deprecated on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.
rhn_register should be used for Satellite server 5.6 and newer
only. For details, see: Satellite 5.6 unable to register RHEL 7
client system due to rhn-setup package not included in
Minimal installation (https://access.redhat.com/
solutions/737373)
rhn_register
Configure subscription
rhnreg_ks
subscription-manager
subscription-manager 2
rhn_register 3
sosreport
dmidecode
hwbrowser
View system profile
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
sosreport
dmidecode
lstopo
TASK
lscpu
View RHEL version information
/etc/redhat-release
top
ps
sar
iostat
netstat
vmstat
mpstat
numastat
BASIC CONFIGURATION
TASK
Graphical configuration tools
RHEL
system-config-*
6
7
gnome-control-center
system-config-network
Configure network
View system usage
nmcli
nmtui
nm-connection-editor
Configure system language
system-config-language
system-config-date
Configure time and date
date
7
5
timedatectl
date
ntpdate
/etc/ntp.conf
Synchronize time and date
View disk usage
timedatectl
/etc/chrony.conf
ntpdate
Configure keyboard
system-config-keyboard
top
ps
sar
iostat
netstat
ss
vmstat
mpstat
numastat
tuna
df
6
7
localectl
top
ps
sar
iostat
ss
vmstat
mpstat
numastat
tuna
localectl
RHEL
df
iostat
Trace system calls
strace
Trace library calls
ltrace
Change process
priority
nice
renice
Text-based configuration tools
system-config-*-tui
Configure printer
system-config-printer
Change process
run location
taskset
Kill a process
kill
pkill
killall
/etc/ssh/ssh_config
Configure SSH
/etc/ssh/sshd_config
~/.ssh/config ssh-keygen
SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
TASK
NETWORKING
RHEL
yum install
yum groupinstall
TASK
iptables and ip6tables
/etc/sysconfig/ip*tables
Install software
yum install
yum group install
yum info
View software
info
yum groupinfo
Update software
yum update
Upgrade software
yum upgrade
Find file in
package
View software
version
View installed
software
subscription-manager repos
/etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo
rpm -qf filename
yum provides filename-glob
rpm -q packagename
rpm -qa
yum list installed
iptables and ip6tables
/etc/sysconfig/ip*tables
system-config-firewall
Configure
name
resolution
/etc/hosts
/etc/resolv.conf
/etc/sysconfig/network
Configure
hostname
View network
interface info
Configure
network
interface
RHEL
system-config-users
Create user
account
useradd
Delete user
account
userdel
usermod
View/change user
account details
/etc/passwd
vipw
View ports/
sockets
id
Create user group
groupadd
Delete user group
groupdel
Change group
details
groupmod
Change user
password
/etc/group
passwd
Change user
permissions
usermod
Change group
permissions
groupmod
visudo
visudo
Change password
policy
chage
View user
sessions
View routes
7
5
6
7
ip addr
nmcli dev show
teamdctl
brctl
bridge
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-*
nmcli con [add|mod|edit]
nmtui
nm-connection-editor
ss
lsof
netstat
ss
lsof
ip route add
system-config-network
/etc/sysconfig/route-iface
Configure
routes
hostnamectl
/etc/hostname
nmtui
ip addr
ifconfig
brctl
USER MANAGEMENT
Graphical user
management
/etc/hosts
/etc/resolv.conf
nmcli con mod
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-*
TASK
firewall-cmd
firewall-config
yum group info
Configure
software
repository
Configure
firewall
yum info
RHEL
ip route add
nmcli
nmtui
nm-connection-editor
/etc/sysconfig/route-iface
ip route
SECURITY AND IDENTITY
TASK
RHEL
Configure system
security
/etc/selinux/config
chcon
restorecon
semanage
setsebool
system-config-selinux
Report on system
security
sealert
LDAP, SSSD,
Kerberos
authconfig
authconfig-tui
authconfig-gtk
Network users
getent
JOBS AND SERVICES
TASK
RHEL
/etc/syslog.conf
5
6
/etc/rsyslog.conf
Configure logging
/etc/rsyslog.conf
/etc/rsyslog.d/*.conf
/var/log/journal
systemd-journald.service
chkconfig --list
ls /etc/init.d/
List all services
List running services
Start/stop service
Enable/disable service
View service status
Check if service is enabled
Create new service file or modify
configuration
View run level/target
Change run level/target
systemctl -at service
ls /etc/systemd/system/*.service
ls /usr/lib/systemd/system/*.service
service --status-all
7
5
6
7
systemctl -t service --state=active
service name start
service name stop
systemctl start name.service
systemctl stop name.service
chkconfig name on
chkconfig name off
7
5
systemctl enable name.service
systemctl disable name.service
service name status
7
5
6
7
systemctl status name.service
chkconfig name --list
6
7
systemctl is-enabled name
chkconfig --add
systemctl daemon-reload
/etc/systemd/system/*.service
runlevel
who -r
7
5
systemctl get-default
who -r
/etc/inittab
init run_level
7
5
systemctl isolate name.target
systemctl set-default
/var/log
View logs
7
5
/var/log
journalctl
Configure system audit
add audit=1 to kernel cmdline
auditctl
/etc/audit/auditd.conf
/etc/audit/audit.rules
authconfig
/etc/pam.d/system-auth
pam_tty_audit kernel module
View audit output
aureport /var/log/faillog
Schedule/batch tasks
cron
at
batch
Find file by name
locate
Find file by characteristic
find
Create archive
tar
cpio
zip
FILE SYSTEMS, VOLUMES, AND DISKS
TASK
RHEL
ext3
Default file system
ext4
xfs
copy data to new file system
fsck (look for non-contiguous inodes)
Defragment disk space
Create volume group
Enlarge volumes formatted with
default file system
Shrink volumes formatted with
default file system
Configure NFS share
7
5
6
7
6
7
lvcreate
ssm create (if backend is lvm)
vgextend
lvextend
resize2fs
vgextend
lvextend
xfs_growfs
ssm resize
resize2fs
lvreduce
vgreduce
XFS cannot currently be shrunk; copy desired data to
a smaller file system.
fsck
Check/repair file system
vgcreate
ssm create (if backend is lvm)
lvcreate
Create logical volume
pvcreate
ssm create (if backend is lvm)
vgcreate
7
5
fsck
ssm check
/etc/exports
service nfs reload
mount
/etc/fstab
ssm mount
pvcreate
Create physical volume
mkfs.filesystem_type (ext4, xfs)
mkswap
ssm create
mount
/etc/fstab
Mount storage
fdisk
gdisk
parted
ssm create
mkfs.filesystem_type (ext4, xfs)
mkswap
Format disk partition
copy data to new file system
fsck (look for non-contiguous inodes)
xfs_fsr
fdisk
parted
Create/modify disk partitions
7
5
/etc/exports
systemctl reload nfs.service
Mount and activate swap
/etc/fstab
swapon -a
Configure static mounts
/etc/fstab
View free disk space
df
FILE SYSTEMS, VOLUMES, AND DISKS (CONT.)
TASK
RHEL
View logical volume info
lvdisplay
lvs
vgdisplay
vgs
pvdisplay
pvs
View NFS share
showmount -e
mount
Configure on-demand auto-mounts
/etc/auto.master.d/*.autofs
/etc/auto.*
Change file permissions
chmod
chown
chgrp
umask (future file creation)
Change file attributes
chattr
Change access control list
setfacl
KERNEL, BOOT, AND HARDWARE
TASK
Single user/rescue mode
RHEL
append 1 or s or init=/bin/bash to kernel cmdline
6
7
append rd.break or init=/bin/bash to kernel cmdline
shutdown
Shut down system
Configure default run level/target
View hardware configured
6
7
6
7
reboot
systemctl reboot
/etc/inittab
7
5
systemctl set-default
/boot/grub/grub.conf
Configure GRUB bootloader
halt
systemctl halt
reboot
Reboot system
poweroff
systemctl poweroff
halt
Halt system
shutdown
systemctl shutdown
poweroff
Power off system
7
5
/etc/default/grub
grub2-mkconfig
grub-set-default
hwbrowser
7
5
lshw (in EPEL)
Configure kernel module
modprobe
Configure hardware device
udev
View kernel parameters
sysctl -a
cat /proc/cmdline
Load kernel module
modprobe
Remove kernel module
modprobe -r
View kernel version
rpm -q kernel
uname -r
11/14
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