Linux Commands Cheat Sheet

Organized by scenario, perfect for daily operations and troubleshooting.

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1. Files and Directories

ls -al
pwd
cd /path
cp -r src dst
mv old new
rm -rf target
mkdir -p /path/to/dir

2. System and Resources

uname -a
uptime
free -h
df -h
top
htop   # Install with: sudo apt install htop (Ubuntu) or sudo dnf install -y htop (Rocky)

3. Processes and Services

ps aux | grep nginx
sudo systemctl status nginx --no-pager
sudo systemctl restart nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

4. Network Troubleshooting

ip a
ss -tulpen
ping -c 4 8.8.8.8
curl -I https://example.com
traceroute example.com   # Install with: sudo apt install traceroute (Ubuntu) or sudo dnf install -y traceroute (Rocky)

5. Log Viewing

sudo journalctl -u nginx --no-pager | tail -n 50
tail -f /var/log/nginx/access.log
tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
dmesg | tail -n 50

6. Firewall (firewalld - Rocky/AlmaLinux)

sudo firewall-cmd --list-services
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

6. Firewall (ufw - Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo ufw status
sudo ufw allow http
sudo ufw allow https
sudo ufw enable

7. Package Management (APT - Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y package-name
sudo apt search package-name
sudo apt remove package-name

8. Package Management (DNF - Rocky/AlmaLinux)

sudo dnf makecache
sudo dnf search package-name
sudo dnf install -y package-name
sudo dnf update -y