Advice for everyday Unix systems administration and some clever ways to approach more challenging problems.
Process accounting can provide a lot of details that can help monitor user and system activity on Linux. Here's a look at how it works and what kind of data it provides.
Using Linux commands to find words that, when reversed, turn into other words turned out to be an enjoyable mental challenge. How many can you find?
There are quite a few ways to merge and sort text files on Linux. The command to choose depends on your data and your preferences.
Dig is a powerful and flexible tool for interrogating domain name system (DNS) servers. In this post, we’ll take a deep dive into how it works and what it can tell you.
With a modest string of commands, you can get a quick look at what commands you're using on your Linux system and how often.
A lot of encryption tools are available for Linux systems. In this post, we look at some easy-to-use commands and a script for making the process even easier.
Displaying and interpreting information about Linux releases is a bit more complicated than it might seem.
Extracting files from archives isn't difficult, but it can be tedious, especially with all the archive naming conventions in use today. But you can make the task a little easier by putting everything you know about the process into a clever litt....
Stressing your Linux servers can be a good idea if you'd like to see how well they function when they're loaded down. In this post, we'll look at some tools that can help you add stress and gauge the results.
In this post, we look at commands that Linux server admins can use to view user activity
Looping forever on the command line or in a bash script is easy. Coming up with the reasons why you want to interrupt an infinite loop and how you want to do that requires a little more effort.
How to use the cat, more, head and tail commands to look at the content of Linux files, not just text files.
A symlink or "symbolic link" is a Linux file that simply points at another file. If the referenced file is removed, the symlink will remain but not indicate there's a problem until you try to use it. Here are some easy ways to find and....
tmux is a terminal multiplexer – a tool that allows you to open multiple panes in a single terminal window and run separate commands in each of them. This post provides an introduction to tmux including how to navigate between the panes and pr....
Opening a Linux terminal on a Windows 10 desktop can help you practice your Linux skills and explore Windows from an entirely different point of view. In this post, we look at Ubuntu 18.04 running through Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
The ls command is far from the only command that can let you examine running processes on Linux. Let's run through some command options and what they can tell you.
You can easily set up a Linux command that keeps trying until it succeeds. Let's look at how to loop your way to success
Linux systems don't only know a lot of words, it has commands that can help you use them by finding words that are on the tip of your tongue or fixing your typos.
There are a number of tools that you use to compress files on Linux systems, but they don't all behave the same way or yield the same level of compression. In this post, we compare five of them.
The bash shell's history command in Linux makes it easy to review and reuse commands, but there's a lot you do to control how much it remembers and how much forgets.
The at command makes it easy to schedule Linux tasks to be run at any time or date you choose. Check out what it can do for you.
The cd command is probably one of the first 10 that any Linux user learns, but it's not the only way to navigate the Linux file system.Here are some other ways.
We take a look at ufw - the uncomplicated firewall - on Linux, providing some insights and commands for making changes.
Linux system log files are by default set to rotate. Depending on the age or size, a sequence of files moves back a step, the oldest being removed and a new one taking over as the current log file. When needed, however, you can manually invoke the ....
With proper settings, Linux users can be forced to periodically change their passwords. Here's how to view password aging settings and how to configure some of the settings.
Linux systems offer a number of easy commands for sending messages to other logged in users. In this post, we examine some very handy messaging tools.
The watch and tail commands can help monitor activity on Linux systems. This post looks at some helpful ways to use these commands.
The find command has a huge array of options to help you locate exactly the files you're looking for on a Linux system. This post explores a series of extremely useful commands.
The dig command is extremely versatile both for retrieving information from domain name servers and for troubleshooting.
The man pages on a Linux system can do more than provide information on particular commands. They can help discover commands you didn't realize were available.
Here are some warm-up exercises for anyone just starting to use the Linux command line. Warning: It can be addictive.
There are several commands for checking up on memory usage in a Linux system, and here are some of the better ones.
Using a set of public/private keys to allow you to log into a remote Linux system or run commands using ssh without a password can be very convenient, but setup is just tad tricky. Here's how and a script to help.
There are times when locking a Linux user account is necessary and times when you need to reverse that action. Here are commands for managing account access and what's behind them.
The Linux seq command can generate lists of numbers and at lightning speed. It's easy to use and flexible, too.
Unix time, also known as 'epoch time,' is the number of seconds that have passed since Jan 1, 1970. As Unix turns 50, let's take a look at what worries kernel developers.
A built-in is a Linux command that's part of whatever shell you're using. Can you tell what commands are built-ins and which are not?
Linux commands run from the nearly obvious to the very complicated, but there are many ways that you can easily remember and use even the most obscure commands.
Need to know how many days there are before some important event? Let bash and the date command help with that!
The Linux date command provides more options for displaying dates and times than you can shake a stick at (without hurting your wrist anyway). Here are some of the more useful choices.
Most of us with Debian-based systems use apt-get routinely to install packages and upgrades, but how often do we pull out the cleaning tools? Let's check out some of the tool's options for cleaning up after itself.
There are many ways to loop through data in a bash script and on the command line. Which way is best depends on what you're trying to do.
Introducing bmon, a monitoring and debugging tool that captures network statistics and makes them easily digestible.
Multitail allows you to watch multiple files as they are being updated -- like a split-window tail -f display. Let's check out how you can use it to monitor system activity and your files.
A look at three Linux commands - ps, pstree and tree - for viewing files and processes in a tree-like format.
The Linux screen command can be a life-saver when you need to ensure long-running tasks don't get killed when an SSH session is interrupted. Here's how to use it.
Linux provides lots of commands for finding, counting, and renaming files. Here's a look at some useful choices.
When carriage returns (also referred to as Ctrl+M's) get on your nerves, don't fret. There are several easy ways to remove them.
What it means to freeze a terminal window and lock a screen -- and how to manage these activities on your Linux system.
Providing an option for multiple GNOME terminals within a single window frame, terminator lets you flexibly align your workspace to suit your needs.
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