Linux commands that every DevOps engineer should know

Linux commands that every DevOps engineer should know

Here are some essential Linux commands that every DevOps engineer should know. These commands cover a range of functionalities including file and directory management, process management, system monitoring, networking, and package management

File and Directory Management

  • ls: List directory contents.
  • cd: Change the current directory.
  • pwd: Print the current working directory.
  • mkdir: Create a new directory.
  • rm: Remove files or directories.
  • cp: Copy files or directories.
  • mv: Move or rename files or directories.
  • touch: Create an empty file or update the timestamp of a file.
  • find: Search for files and directories.
  • grep: Search for patterns within files.

File Viewing and Editing

  • cat: Concatenate and display file content.
  • less: View file content one page at a time.
  • head: Display the first few lines of a file.
  • tail: Display the last few lines of a file.
  • nano / vi / vim: Text editors for file editing.

Process Management

  • ps: Display currently running processes.
  • top: Display real-time system statistics and running processes.
  • htop: An improved, interactive process viewer (needs to be installed separately).
  • kill: Terminate processes by PID.
  • killall: Terminate processes by name.
  • systemctl: Manage systemd services.

System Monitoring

  • df: Display disk space usage.
  • du: Display disk usage of files and directories.
  • free: Display memory usage.
  • uptime: Display how long the system has been running.
  • iostat: Display CPU and I/O statistics (requires sysstat package).
  • vmstat: Display virtual memory statistics.

Networking

  • ifconfig: Display or configure network interfaces (deprecated in favor of ip command).
  • ip: Display or configure IP addresses, routes, and devices.
  • ping: Check connectivity to a host.
  • netstat: Network statistics (deprecated in favor of ss).
  • ss: Display socket statistics.
  • traceroute: Display the route packets take to a network host.
  • curl: Transfer data from or to a server.
  • wget: Download files from the web.

Package Management

Debian-based distributions (e.g., Ubuntu):

  • apt-get / apt: Package management commands.
    • sudo apt-get update
    • sudo apt-get install package_name
    • sudo apt-get upgrade
    • sudo apt-get remove package_name
    • sudo apt-cache search package_name

Red Hat-based distributions (e.g., CentOS, Fedora):

  • yum / dnf: Package management commands.
    • sudo yum install package_name
    • sudo yum update
    • sudo yum remove package_name
    • sudo yum search package_name
    • sudo dnf install package_name
    • sudo dnf update
    • sudo dnf remove package_name
    • sudo dnf search package_name

User and Permission Management

  • chmod: Change file permissions.
  • chown: Change file owner and group.
  • usermod: Modify user accounts.
  • passwd: Change user password.

Miscellaneous

  • alias: Create command shortcuts.
  • crontab: Schedule periodic tasks.
  • tar: Archive files.
  • ssh: Securely connect to remote servers.
  • scp: Securely copy files between hosts.

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