DevOps Shack
100 Most Important Linux
. Commands For DevOps . .
. Engineers
File System Management:
1. ls: List directory contents.
ls
Example Output:
file1.txt file2.txt directory1 directory2
2. cd: Change directory.
cd directory_name
Example Output: (No Output, just changes directory)
3. pwd: Print working directory.
pwd
Example Output:
/home/user/directory_name
4. mkdir: Make directory.
mkdir directory_name
Example Output: (No Output, creates directory)
5. rm: Remove files or directories.
rm file_name
Example Output: (No Output, removes file)
6. cp: Copy files or directories.
cp source_file destination_file
Example Output: (No Output, copies file)
7. mv: Move or rename files or directories.
mv old_file_name new_file_name
Example Output: (No Output, renames file)
8. touch: Create an empty file.
touch file_name
Example Output: (No Output, creates empty file)
9. cat: Concatenate and display files.
cat file_name
Example Output:
Contents of file
10. less/more: View file contents page by page.
less file_name
Example Output:
Contents of file
File Manipulation:
11. grep: Search for a pattern in files.
grep pattern file_name
Example Output:
Matching lines containing pattern
12. find: Search for files in a directory hierarchy.
find directory_name -name file_name
Example Output:
/directory_name/file_name
13. chmod: Change file permissions.
chmod permissions file_name
Example Output: (No Output, changes file permissions)
14. chown: Change file owner and group.
chown user:group file_name
Example Output: (No Output, changes file owner and group)
Archive Management:
15. tar: Manipulate archive files.
tar -czvf archive_name.tar.gz directory_to_compress
Example Output: (No Output, creates tar.gz archive)
16. gzip/gunzip: Compress or decompress files.
gzip file_name
Example Output: (No Output, compresses file)
17. zip/unzip: Compress or decompress zip files.
zip -r archive_name.zip directory_to_compress
Example Output: (No Output, creates zip archive)
Process Management:
18. ps: Display information about running processes.
ps
Example Output:
PID TTY TIME CMD
123 pts/1 00:00:00 bash
19. kill: Terminate processes.
kill process_id
Example Output: (No Output, terminates process)
20. top: Display and update sorted information about processes.
top
Example Output:
Tasks: 100 total, 1 running, 99 sleeping
Network Management:
21. ifconfig/ip: Display or configure network interface parameters.
ifconfig
Example Output:
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
22. ping: Test a network connection.
ping host_name
Example Output:
PING host_name (192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
23. ssh: Securely connect to a remote server.
ssh user@host
Example Output: (No Output, connects to remote server)
24. scp: Securely copy files between hosts.
scp file user@host:/path
Example Output: (No Output, copies file to remote host)
System Information:
25. df: Display disk space usage.
df
Example Output:
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 12345678 98765 11223344 10% /
26. du: Estimate file space usage.
du
Example Output:
12345678 .
27. uname: Print system information.
uname -a
Example Output:
Linux hostname 4.4.0-18362-Microsoft #1-Microsoft
28. uptime: Show how long the system has been running.
uptime
Example Output:
12:34:56 up 10 days, 2:30, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.01, 0.05
Users and Permissions:
29. passwd: Change user password.
passwd
Example Output: (No Output, changes user password)
30. useradd: Create a new user.
useradd username
Example Output: (No Output, creates new user)
31. userdel: Delete a user account.
userdel username
Example Output: (No Output, deletes user account)
32. usermod: Modify a user account.
usermod -aG group_name username
Example Output: (No Output, modifies user account)
33. groupadd: Create a new group.
groupadd group_name
Example Output: (No Output, creates new group)
34. groupdel: Delete a group.
groupdel group_name
Example Output: (No Output, deletes group)
Package Management:
35. yum/dnf: Package manager for RPM-based Linux distributions.
yum install package_name
Example Output: (No Output, installs package)
36. apt/apt-get: Package manager for Debian-based Linux distributions.
apt-get install package_name
Example Output: (No Output, installs package)
37. rpm: Package manager for RPM-based
Linux distributions. bash rpm -i package.rpm
Example Output: (No Output, installs package)
38. dpkg: Package manager for Debian-based Linux distributions.
dpkg -i package.deb
Example Output: (No Output, installs package)
System Maintenance:
39. cron: Schedule tasks to run periodically.
crontab -e
Example Output: (No Output, opens cron file for editing)
40. at: Schedule a one-time task.
at now + 1 hour
Example Output: (No Output, schedules task)
System Control:
41. systemctl: Control the systemd system and service manager.
systemctl start|stop|restart service_name
Example Output: (No Output, starts/stops/restarts service)
42. journalctl: Query and display messages from the journal.
journalctl
Example Output: (No Output, displays system journal)
Miscellaneous:
43. hostname: Display or set the system's hostname.
hostname
Example Output:
Hostname
44. whoami: Print the current user.
whoami
Example Output:
Username
Monitoring and Performance:
45. top: Display and update sorted information about processes.
top
Example Output:
top - 12:34:56 up 10 days, 2:30, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.01,
0.05
Tasks: 100 total, 1 running, 99 sleeping
46. htop: Interactive process viewer.
htop
Example Output:
CPU% MEM%
10.2 5.0
47. vmstat: Report virtual memory statistics.
vmstat
Example Output:
procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- -system-- ---
---cpu-----
r b swpd free buff cache si so bi bo in cs us
sy id wa st
1 0 0 123456 78901 2345678 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
48. sar: Collect, report, or save system activity information.
sar
Example Output:
12:00:00 PM CPU %user %nice %system %iowait %steal %idle
49. iostat: Report CPU and I/O statistics.
iostat
Example Output:
avg-cpu: %user %nice %system %iowait %steal %idle
0.12 0.04 0.21 0.10 0.00 99.53
Text Processing:
50. sed: Stream editor for filtering and transforming text.
sed 's/old_string/new_string/g' file_name
Example Output:
Modified contents of file
51. awk: A versatile programming language for working on files.
awk '{print $1}' file_name
Example Output:
Column_1_Data
52. grep: Search for a pattern in files.
grep pattern file_name
Example Output:
Matching lines containing pattern
53. sort: Sort lines of text files.
sort file_name
Example Output:
Sorted lines
Input/Output:
54. tee: Redirect output to multiple files or displays.
command | tee file1 file2
Example Output: (No Output, redirects output to files)
55. tail: Output the last part of files.
tail file_name
Example Output:
Last 10 lines of file
56. head: Output the first part of files.
head file_name
Example Output:
First 10 lines of file
57. less/more: View file contents page by page.
less file_name
Example Output:
Contents of file
Compression and Archiving:
58. gzip/gunzip: Compress or decompress files.
gzip file_name
Example Output: (No Output, compresses file)
59. zip/unzip: Compress or decompress zip files.
zip -r archive_name.zip directory_to_compress
Example Output: (No Output, creates zip archive)
60. tar: Manipulate archive files.
tar -czvf archive_name.tar.gz directory_to_compress
Example Output: (No Output, creates tar.gz archive)
System Information:
61. df: Display disk space usage.
df
Example Output:
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 12345678 98765 11223344 10% /
62. free: Display amount of free and used memory in the system.
free -m
Example Output:
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 1234 567 890 123 456
789
63. ps: Display information about running processes.
ps
Example Output:
PID TTY TIME CMD
123 pts/1 00:00:00 bash
Networking:
64. netstat: Display network connections, routing tables, interface statistics,
masquerade connections, and multicast memberships.
netstat
Example Output:
Active Internet connections
65. lsof: List open files.
lsof
Example Output:
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
66. ping: Test a network connection.
ping host_name
Example Output:
PING host_name (192.168.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
67. ssh: Securely connect to a remote server.
ssh user@host
Example Output: (No Output, connects to remote server)
68. scp: Securely copy files between hosts.
scp file user@host:/path
Example Output: (No Output, copies file to remote host)
69. wget: Retrieve files from the internet via HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP.
wget URL
Example Output: (No Output, retrieves file)
70. curl: Transfer data from or to a server.
curl URL
Example Output: (No Output, transfers data)
Process Management:
71. kill: Terminate processes.
kill process_id
Example Output: (No Output, terminates process)
User and Group Management:
72. groups: Print group memberships for a user.
groups username
Example Output:
username : group1 group2
System Information:
73. hostname: Display or set the system's hostname.
hostname
Example Output:
Hostname
74. whoami: Print the current user.
whoami
Example Output:
Username
75. uptime: Show how long the system has been running.
uptime
Example Output:
12:34:56 up 10 days, 2:30, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.01, 0.05
76. date: Display or set the system date and time.
date
Example Output:
Mon Apr 4 12:34:56 UTC 2024
77. uname: Print system information.
uname -a
Example Output:
Linux hostname 4.4.0-18362-Microsoft #1-Microsoft
78. lsblk: List block devices.
lsblk
Example Output:
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 20G 0 disk
└─sda1 8:1 0 20G 0 part /
79. df: Display disk space usage.
df -h
Example Output:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 20G 9.8G 9.2G 52% /
80. free: Display amount of free and used memory in the system.
free -m
Example Output:
total used free shared buff/cache
available
Mem: 2002 1054 346 199 602
648
81. ps: Display information about running processes.
ps
Example Output:
PID TTY TIME CMD
123 pts/1 00:00:00 bash
82. lsof: List open files.
lsof
Example Output:
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
83. netstat: Display network connections, routing tables, interface statistics,
masquerade connections, and multicast memberships.
netstat
Example Output:
Active Internet connections
System Control:
84. systemctl: Control the systemd system and service manager.
systemctl start|stop|restart service_name
Example Output: (No Output, starts/stops/restarts service)
85. journalctl: Query and display messages from the journal.
journalctl
Example Output: (No Output, displays system journal)
Package Management:
86. yum/dnf: Package manager for RPM-based Linux distributions.
yum install package_name
Example Output: (No Output, installs package)
87. apt/apt-get: Package manager for Debian-based Linux distributions.
apt-get install package_name
Example Output: (No Output, installs package)
88. rpm: Package manager for RPM-based Linux distributions.
rpm -i package.rpm
Example Output: (No Output, installs package)
89. dpkg: Package manager for Debian-based Linux distributions.
dpkg -i package.deb
Example Output: (No Output, installs package)
System Maintenance:
90. cron: Schedule tasks to run periodically.
crontab -e
Example Output: (No Output, opens cron file for editing)
91. at: Schedule a one-time task.
at now + 1 hour
Example Output: (No Output, schedules task)
Miscellaneous:
92. su: Run a command with substitute user and group ID.
su - username
Example Output: (No Output, switches user)
93. sudo: Execute a command as another user.
sudo command
Example Output: (No Output, executes command as another user)
94. chmod: Change file mode bits.
chmod 755 file_name
Example Output: (No Output, changes file permissions)
95. chown: Change file owner and group.
chown user:group file_name
Example Output: (No Output, changes file owner and group)
96. passwd: Change user password.
passwd
Example Output: (No Output, changes user password)
97. useradd: Create a new user or update default new user information.
useradd username
Example Output: (No Output, creates new user)
98. userdel: Delete a user account and related files.
userdel username
Example Output: (No Output, deletes user account)
99. usermod: Modify a user account.
usermod -aG group_name username
Example Output: (No Output, modifies user account)
100. groupadd: Create a new group. bash groupadd group_name Example
Output: (No Output, creates new group)
