Basic Commands

1. File and Directory Management:

o ls (list): List directory contents.
o cd (change directory): Change the current directory.
o pwd (print working directory): Show the current directory.
o mkdir (make directory): Create a new directory.
o rmdir (remove directory): Delete an empty directory.
o rm (remove): Delete files or directories.
o cp (copy): Copy files or directories.
o mv (move): Move or rename files or directories.
o touch (touch): Create an empty file or update a file's timestamp.
o cat (concatenate): Display the content of a file.
o less (less): View file content one screen at a time.
o more (more): View file content with limited navigation.
o head (head): Display the first lines of a file.
o tail (tail): Display the last lines of a file.
2. File Permissions and Ownership:
o chmod (change mode): Change file permissions.
o chown (change owner): Change file owner and group.
o chgrp (change group): Change group ownership.
3. File Content Manipulation:
o echo (echo): Display a line of text.
o grep (global regular expression print): Search text using patterns.
o awk (awk): Pattern scanning and processing language.
o sed (stream editor): Stream editor for filtering and transforming text.
4. System Information:
o uname (unix name): Display system information.
o df (disk free): Show disk usage of file systems.
o du (disk usage): Estimate file space usage.
o free (free): Display memory usage.
o uptime (uptime): Show how long the system has been running.
o top (top): Display tasks and system performance.
o htop (htop): Interactive process viewer.
o ps (process status): Display information about active processes.
o who (who): Show who is logged on.
o w (w): Display who is logged on and their activity.
5. Networking:
o ping (ping): Check network connectivity.
o ifconfig (interface configuration): Configure network interfaces (deprecated
in favor of ip).
o ip (ip): Show/manipulate routing, devices, policy routing, and tunnels.
o netstat (network statistics): Print network connections, routing tables,
interface statistics.
o ss (socket statistics): Another utility to investigate sockets.
o traceroute (traceroute): Trace the route packets take to the destination.
o nslookup (name server lookup): Query internet name servers interactively.
o dig (domain information groper): DNS lookup.
Intermediate Commands

1. Archiving and Compression:

o tar (tape archive): Archive files.
o gzip (GNU zip): Compress files.
o gunzip (GNU unzip): Decompress files.
o bzip2 (bzip2): Compress files.
o bunzip2 (bunzip2): Decompress files.
o zip (zip): Package and compress files.
o unzip (unzip): Extract compressed files.
2. Text Processing:
o sort (sort): Sort lines of text files.
o uniq (unique): Report or omit repeated lines.
o tr (translate): Translate or delete characters.
o cut (cut): Remove sections from each line of files.
o paste (paste): Merge lines of files.
o wc (word count): Print newline, word, and byte counts for each file.
3. User and Group Management:
o useradd (user add): Create a new user.
o userdel (user delete): Delete a user.
o usermod (user modify): Modify a user.
o passwd (password): Update user's authentication tokens (passwords).
o groupadd (group add): Create a new group.
o groupdel (group delete): Delete a group.
o groupmod (group modify): Modify a group.
4. Disk Management:
o mount (mount): Mount a filesystem.
o umount (unmount): Unmount a filesystem.
o fdisk (format disk): Partition table manipulator for Linux.
o parted (partition editor): A partition manipulation program.
o mkfs (make filesystem): Build a Linux file system.
o fsck (file system check): Check and repair a Linux file system.

Advanced Commands

1. System Monitoring and Performance:

o iostat (I/O statistics): Report CPU and I/O statistics.
o vmstat (virtual memory statistics): Report virtual memory statistics.
o sar (system activity reporter): Collect, report, or save system activity
information.
o strace (system call trace): Trace system calls and signals.
o lsof (list open files): List open files.
2. Security and Access Control:
o iptables (IP tables): Administration tool for IPv4 packet filtering and NAT.
o firewalld (firewalld): Manage firewall with zones.
o ufw (uncomplicated firewall): Frontend for managing firewall rules.
o ssh (secure shell): OpenSSH SSH client (remote login program).
o scp (secure copy): Securely copy files between hosts.
o rsync (remote sync): Remote file and directory synchronization.
 3. System Administration:
o crontab (cron table): Schedule periodic background tasks.
o at (at): Schedule a command to be run at a particular time.
o systemctl (system control): Examine and control the systemd system and
service manager.
o journalctl (journal control): Query and display messages from the journal.
4. Development and Scripting:
o gcc (GNU compiler collection): Compiler from GNU.
o make (make): Build and manage dependencies.
o git (git): Distributed version control system.
o perl (perl): Practical Extraction and Report Language.
o python (python): Python interpreter.
5. Virtualization and Containers:
o docker (docker): Docker container platform.
o docker-compose (docker-compose): Define and run multi-container Docker
applications.
o virsh (virtual shell): Manage virtual machines.
o kvm (kernel-based virtual machine): Virtualization solution for Linux.

Expert Commands

1. System Recovery and Debugging:

o rescue (rescue mode): Boot into rescue mode for system recovery.
o debugfs (debug file system): Debug the ext2/ext3/ext4 file systems.
o gdb (GNU debugger): Debugging information and symbols.
2. Kernel Management:
o modprobe (module probe): Add and remove modules from the Linux kernel.
o lsmod (list modules): Show the status of modules in the Linux kernel.
o rmmod (remove module): Remove a module from the Linux kernel.
3. Cluster Management and High Availability:
o pacemaker (pacemaker): Cluster resource manager.
o corosync (corosync): Provides cluster membership and messaging.
4. Automation and Configuration Management:
o ansible (ansible): Automation tool for configuration management.
o puppet (puppet): IT automation tool.
o chef (chef): Configuration management tool.
5. Advanced Networking:
o ipvsadm (IP virtual server administration): Admin tool for IP virtual server.
o bridge (bridge): Show/manipulate bridge addresses and devices.
o nmcli (network manager command line): Command-line client for
NetworkManager.
Advanced Run Level and Target Management Commands

1. Viewing and Changing Run Levels (SysVinit Systems)

o runlevel: Display the previous and current run level.
o init (initialize): Change the run level.

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sudo init 3 # Change to run level 3 (multi-user mode without
GUI)
sudo init 5 # Change to run level 5 (multi-user mode with
GUI)
sudo init 0 # Halt the system

2. Managing Targets with systemd

o systemctl get-default: Display the default target.
o systemctl set-default [target]: Set the default target.

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sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target # Set default
to multi-user mode without GUI
sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target # Set default
to graphical mode with GUI

o systemctl isolate [target]: Change the current target.

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sudo systemctl isolate multi-user.target # Switch to multi-
user mode without GUI
sudo systemctl isolate graphical.target # Switch to
graphical mode with GUI
sudo systemctl isolate rescue.target # Switch to rescue
mode

3. Listing Available Targets and Units

o systemctl list-units --type=target: List all active targets.
o systemctl list-units --all --type=target: List all available targets,
active and inactive.
 4. Creating and Modifying Targets
o Customizing and creating new systemd targets involves creating target unit
files, usually located in /etc/systemd/system/ or /lib/systemd/system/.

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sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/custom.target

Example content for a custom target:

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[Unit]
Description=Custom Target

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

5. Managing Services within Targets

o systemctl enable [service]: Enable a service to start at boot.
o systemctl disable [service]: Disable a service from starting at boot.
o systemctl start [service]: Start a service immediately.
o systemctl stop [service]: Stop a service immediately.
o systemctl restart [service]: Restart a service.
o systemctl status [service]: Check the status of a service.
6. Inspecting Target Dependencies
o systemctl list-dependencies [target]: List all dependencies of a target.

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systemctl list-dependencies graphical.target

Advanced Topics and Concepts

1. Understanding systemd Units

o Unit files define how services, mounts, devices, sockets, targets, etc., behave
in systemd. They are typically found in /etc/systemd/system/ and
/lib/systemd/system/.
o Types of units include service, socket, device, mount, automount, swap,
target, path, timer, slice, and scope.
2. System Rescue and Recovery
o Rescue Mode: Single-user mode with minimal services, useful for
maintenance and recovery tasks.

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sudo systemctl isolate rescue.target

o Emergency Mode: Even more minimal than rescue mode, requiring root
password for access.

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sudo systemctl isolate emergency.target

3. Analyzing Boot Performance

o systemd-analyze: Analyze and debug boot-up performance.

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systemd-analyze
systemd-analyze blame # Show time taken by each service
systemd-analyze critical-chain # Show the critical chain of
services during boot

4. Custom Init Scripts (SysVinit Systems)

o Custom init scripts are typically placed in /etc/init.d/ and symlinked to
/etc/rc.d/ directories corresponding to run levels.
5. Handling Orphaned Processes
o Use pstree to visualize the process tree and identify orphaned processes.

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pstree -p

6. Kernel Command Line Parameters

o Modifying boot loader configurations (e.g., GRUB) to change the run level or
target at boot time.

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sudo nano /etc/default/grub
# Add or modify the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT line
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash systemd.unit=multi-
user.target"
sudo update-grub # Update GRUB configuration.
 7. Debugging Services and Units
o journalctl: View logs to debug services and units.

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journalctl -u [service]
journalctl -b # View logs from the current boot

Additional Advanced Commands

1. Boot Management and Configuration:

o grub2-mkconfig: Generate a GRUB configuration file.

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sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

o grub2-install: Install GRUB to a device.

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sudo grub2-install /dev/sda

2. Advanced Process Management:

o systemd-cgls: Show control group process tree.

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systemd-cgls

o systemd-cgtop: Show top control groups by resource usage.

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systemd-cgtop

3. Service Management:
o systemctl mask: Prevent a service from being started manually or
automatically.

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sudo systemctl mask [service]

o systemctl unmask: Remove the mask from a service.

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sudo systemctl unmask [service]
4. Power Management:
o systemctl suspend: Suspend the system.

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sudo systemctl suspend

o systemctl hibernate: Hibernate the system.

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sudo systemctl hibernate

o systemctl hybrid-sleep: Hybrid sleep (suspend to both RAM and disk).

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sudo systemctl hybrid-sleep

5. Emergency and Rescue Mode Commands:

o systemctl default: Return to the default target from rescue or emergency
mode.

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sudo systemctl default

6. Network Management with systemd:

o networkctl: Query and manage network settings.

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networkctl status
networkctl list

7. Analyzing and Debugging:

o systemd-analyze verify: Check unit files for errors.

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sudo systemd-analyze verify /etc/systemd/system/[unit].service

8. Service Configuration:
o systemctl edit: Edit a service's unit file or override file.

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sudo systemctl edit [service]
Additional Topics and Concepts

1. Customizing the Initramfs:

o dracut: Used for creating and managing initramfs images.

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sudo dracut --force

2. Securing System Boot:

o Configuring GRUB password to protect boot settings.

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sudo grub2-setpassword

3. Managing and Configuring Swap:

o swapon: Enable swap space.

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sudo swapon /dev/sdX

o swapoff: Disable swap space.

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sudo swapoff /dev/sdX

4. Handling Systemd Timers:

o systemctl list-timers: List active timers.

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systemctl list-timers

5. Kernel Management:
o uname -r: Display the current kernel version.

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uname -r

o kexec: Load a new kernel for rebooting without going through the bootloader.

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sudo kexec -l /boot/vmlinuz-<version> --
initrd=/boot/initrd.img-<version> --reuse-cmdline
sudo kexec -e
6. Inspecting Systemd Journal:
o journalctl -f: Follow (tail) the journal log.

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journalctl -f

o journalctl --disk-usage: Show disk usage of journal logs.

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journalctl --disk-usage

o journalctl --vacuum-size=1G: Reduce journal size to 1GB.

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sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=1G

7. Using Btrfs Filesystem:

o btrfs: Manage Btrfs file systems.

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sudo btrfs filesystem df /mnt
sudo btrfs balance start /mnt

8. Advanced Firewall Configuration:

o firewalld commands:

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sudo firewall-cmd --get-active-zones
sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=8080/tcp --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

9. LVM Management:
o lvcreate, lvremove, lvextend, lvresize: Commands to manage Logical
Volumes.

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sudo lvcreate -L 10G -n lvname vgname
sudo lvextend -L +5G /dev/vgname/lvname
sudo lvresize -r -L 15G /dev/vgname/lvname
sudo lvremove /dev/vgname/lvname
 10. Advanced Disk Management:
o xfs_growfs: Grow an XFS filesystem.

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sudo xfs_growfs /mount/point

o resize2fs: Resize ext2/ext3/ext4 file systems.

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sudo resize2fs /dev/sdX

Advanced Commands

1. Advanced File System and Disk Management:

o blkid: Locate/print block device attributes.

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sudo blkid

o partprobe: Inform the OS of partition table changes.

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sudo partprobe

o cryptsetup: Manage encrypted volumes.

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sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /dev/sdX
sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdX my_encrypted_volume

2. Advanced Networking:
o ethtool: Display or change Ethernet device settings.

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sudo ethtool eth0

o bonding: Configure bonded interfaces.

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sudo ifenslave bond0 eth0 eth1

o ipset: Manage IP sets for iptables.

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sudo ipset create myset hash:ip
sudo ipset add myset 192.168.1.1
3. Kernel Modules:
o modinfo: Show information about a kernel module.

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modinfo [module_name]

4. System Resource Limits:

o ulimit: Control user process resource limits.

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ulimit -a # Show all limits
ulimit -n 4096 # Set the number of open files limit

5. Troubleshooting and Diagnostics:

o dmesg: Print or control the kernel ring buffer.

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dmesg | grep -i error

o sysctl: Modify kernel parameters at runtime.

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sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

6. Automation and Scripting:

o expect: Automate interactive applications.

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expect myscript.exp

7. Hardware Management:
o lshw: List hardware configuration.

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sudo lshw -short

o hdparm: Get/set SATA/IDE device parameters.

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sudo hdparm -Tt /dev/sdX
 8. Advanced Backup and Restore:
o dd: Convert and copy a file.

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sudo dd if=/dev/sdX of=/path/to/backup.img bs=4M

o rsnapshot: Filesystem snapshot utility.

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sudo rsnapshot configtest
sudo rsnapshot daily

Advanced Topics

1. Understanding and Managing SELinux:

o getenforce and setenforce: Get and set SELinux mode.

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getenforce
sudo setenforce 1 # Enforce mode
sudo setenforce 0 # Permissive mode

o semanage, restorecon, and chcon: Manage SELinux policies and contexts.

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sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_content_t "/web(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -Rv /web
sudo chcon -R -t httpd_sys_content_t /web

2. Advanced Logging and Monitoring:

o rsyslog: Advanced logging system.

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sudo systemctl restart rsyslog
sudo nano /etc/rsyslog.conf

o logrotate: Manages log file rotation and compression.

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sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.conf
 3. Containerization and Orchestration:
o podman: Manage containers without a daemon.

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podman run -it --rm fedora bash

o kubernetes: Container orchestration platform.

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kubectl get pods
kubectl apply -f myapp.yaml

4. Cloud Infrastructure Management:

o terraform: Infrastructure as code tool.

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terraform init
terraform apply

5. DevOps and CI/CD Tools:

o jenkins: Automation server.

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sudo systemctl start jenkins
sudo systemctl enable jenkins

o ansible-playbook: Run Ansible playbooks for configuration management.

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ansible-playbook site.yml

Tips for Continuous Learning

1. Documentation and Manuals:

o Always refer to the man pages and official documentation for detailed
information.

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man [command]

o Check /usr/share/doc for additional documentation.

Additional Commands and Topics for Expertise

1. Filesystem Management:
o XFS Tools:
▪ xfs_info: Display information about an XFS filesystem.

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sudo xfs_info /mount/point

▪ xfs_repair: Repair an XFS filesystem.

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sudo xfs_repair /dev/sdX

o Btrfs Tools:
▪ btrfs scrub: Verify and correct errors in a Btrfs filesystem.

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sudo btrfs scrub start /mnt

▪ btrfs balance: Balance chunks across devices in a Btrfs filesystem.

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sudo btrfs balance start /mnt

2. Advanced Network Configuration:

o VLANs:
▪ ip link add link eth0 name eth0.100 type vlan id 100:
Create a VLAN.

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sudo ip link add link eth0 name eth0.100 type vlan id 100

o Bridging:
▪ brctl: Manage Ethernet bridges.

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sudo brctl addbr br0
sudo brctl addif br0 eth0
sudo brctl stp br0 on
3. Security and Auditing:
o Auditd:
▪ auditctl: Configure audit rules.

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sudo auditctl -w /etc/passwd -p wa -k passwd_changes

▪ ausearch: Search audit logs.

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sudo ausearch -k passwd_changes

▪ aureport: Generate audit reports.

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sudo aureport -k

o AppArmor:
▪ aa-status: Display the current AppArmor status.

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sudo aa-status

▪ aa-complain: Set a profile to complain mode.

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sudo aa-complain /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.mysqld

4. Container Management:
o Docker:
▪ docker-compose: Define and run multi-container Docker applications.

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docker-compose up -d

o Kubernetes:
▪ minikube: Run Kubernetes locally.

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minikube start

▪ helm: Kubernetes package manager.

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helm install mychart ./mychart
5. Performance Tuning:
o CPU and Memory Tuning:
▪ cpulimit: Limit the CPU usage of a process.

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sudo cpulimit -l 50 -p 1234

▪ numactl: Control NUMA policy for processes or shared memory.

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sudo numactl --membind=0 --cpunodebind=0 myprogram

o Disk I/O Tuning:

▪ ionice: Set or get the I/O scheduling class and priority.

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sudo ionice -c3 -p 1234

▪ iostat: Report CPU and I/O statistics.

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iostat -xz 1

6. Virtualization:
o KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine):
▪ virsh: Manage KVM-based virtual machines.

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virsh list --all
virsh start myvm
virsh shutdown myvm

o QEMU:
▪ qemu-system-x86_64: Emulate a full system.

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qemu-system-x86_64 -hda /path/to/disk.img -boot d -cdrom
/path/to/cd.iso

7. Advanced System Monitoring:

o Netdata:
▪ Real-time performance monitoring.

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sudo netdata
Prometheus and Grafana:

▪ Monitor and visualize metrics.

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prometheus --config.file=prometheus.yml
grafana-server --config=/etc/grafana/grafana.ini

Summary of Advanced Linux Commands and Topics

1. Run Level and Target Management:

o SysVinit: runlevel, init
o systemd: systemctl get-default, systemctl set-default, systemctl
isolate, systemctl list-units
2. File System and Disk Management:
o Commands: blkid, partprobe, cryptsetup, xfs_info, xfs_repair, btrfs
scrub, btrfs balance
3. Network Configuration:
o Commands: ip link add link, brctl, ethtool, bonding, ipset,
networkctl
4. Security and Auditing:
o Tools: auditctl, ausearch, aureport, aa-status, aa-complain
o SELinux: getenforce, setenforce, semanage, restorecon, chcon
5. Service and Process Management:
o Commands: systemctl mask, systemctl unmask, systemctl edit,
ulimit, pstree, systemd-cgls, systemd-cgtop, journalctl
6. Containerization and Orchestration:
o Tools: podman, docker-compose, minikube, helm, kubernetes, ansible-
playbook
7. Virtualization:
o Tools: virsh, qemu-system-x86_64
8. Performance Tuning and Monitoring:
o Commands: cpulimit, numactl, ionice, iostat, systemd-analyze
o Tools: netdata, Prometheus, Grafana
9. Backup and Restore:
o Tools: dd, rsnapshot
10. Advanced Logging and Monitoring:
o Tools: rsyslog, logrotate, journalctl
11. Kernel Management:
o Commands: uname -r, kexec, modinfo, sysctl
12. Automation and Scripting:
o Tool: expect
13. Hardware Management:
o Commands: lshw, hdparm
14. DevOps and CI/CD Tools:
o Tools: terraform, jenkins
15. Boot Management and Configuration:
o Commands: grub2-mkconfig, grub2-install, dracut