Essential Linux Commands For Managing Servers

1. Navigation and File Management

pwd – Print the current working directory:

pwd

ls – List files and directories:

ls -lah

cd – Change directories:

cd /var/www

cp, mv, rm – Copy, move, and delete files:

cp file.txt /backup/
mv oldname.txt newname.txt
rm file.txt

2. File Content Viewing

cat, less, head, tail – View content of files:

cat file.txt
less /var/log/syslog
head -n 10 file.txt
tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log

3. User and Permission Management

adduser, passwd, userdel – Manage users:

adduser newuser
passwd newuser
userdel newuser

chmod, chown – Change file permissions and ownership:

chmod 755 script.sh
chown www-data:www-data index.html

4. Package Management

Depending on your distro, use apt (Debian/Ubuntu) or yum/dnf (RHEL/CentOS):

# Debian/Ubuntu
apt update
apt install nginx

# RHEL/CentOS
dnf install nginx

5. Process Management

top, ps, kill – Monitor and control processes:

top
ps aux | grep nginx
kill -9 1234

6. Networking Commands

ping, curl, netstat, ss, ip – Network diagnostics and configuration:

ping google.com
curl ifconfig.me
netstat -tuln
ss -tuln
ip addr

7. System Monitoring

df, du, free, uptime – Monitor disk and memory usage:

df -h
du -sh /var/log
free -m
uptime

8. Services and Systemd

systemctl – Manage services on modern Linux distributions:

systemctl status nginx
systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx

9. Archiving and Compression

tar, gzip, unzip – Compress and extract files:

tar -czvf archive.tar.gz folder/
tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz
unzip file.zip

Conclusion

These Linux commands form the backbone of daily server management. By mastering them, you can navigate and control your Linux environment with confidence. Whether you’re deploying apps, troubleshooting, or monitoring performance, these tools are essential for every system administrator or DevOps engineer. Practice them regularly and explore their options for even more power and flexibility.