Linux Commands

Here's a list of killer commands on a typical Linux installation. Keep in mind that there are some flavors of Linux that may not support the commands listed here.

• chfn
  Used to insert user information (also known as finger info) for a user account.
• chkconfig
  Display or change run level settings for all services listed in /etc/rc.d.
• chcon
  File security modifier to change file and directory CONTEXT permissions - NEW!.
• chmod
  File security modifier to change permissions.
• chown
  File security modifier to change owner.
• cron
  Scheduling Utility
• df
  Generates a report on the freespace for each partition.
• diff
  Compares and displays the DIFFerence between two files. Similar to the comp utility in Windows.
• dig
  DNS Name Resolution Utility
• find
  Helpful search tool
• grep
  Text filtering Utility.
• init
  Switched from one run level to another.
• less
  See - more
• more
  Utility used to display text output one screen at a time. Ex. more /etc/motd
• rpm
  RedHat Package Manager - This tool allows you to install software packages that are already compiled. This makes software installation easier and even faster. Unfortunately the latest version is not always available.
• service
  Used to start, stop, restart, or reload any installed service.  EX. service sendmail stop
• su
  Used to get Super User rights (root) also great for logging in as another user if you append --login <username>.
• tar
  Tape ARchive - File backup program. Use man tar to get more info.
• top
  Resource usage analyzer. Will Display RAM, CPU, and total time usage.
• up2date
  Used to update Linux Packages to plug securitye vulnerabilities.
• useradd
  Used to create a new user account.
• userdel
  Used to delete a user account.
• vi
  Very flexible but cryptic text editor.
• wget
  Web Get - This is a great utility to download any file available on the Internet.
• yum
  Similar functionality to RPM (see above) however will automatically resolve dependencies.

Created by: Digital Foundation, inc.

Copyright © 2002-2005 Digital Foundation, inc.   www.networkclue.com

All content of the NetworkClue website is copyrighted. Articles, notes, outlines, and all other materials may not be stored on the Internet or sold or placed by themselves or with other material in any electronic or printed format in whole or part. However materials may be referenced by links to the site.