{"id":3445,"date":"2026-09-29T10:44:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T10:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucartz.com\/blog\/linux-commands-cheat-sheet\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T05:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T05:40:24","slug":"linux-commands-cheat-sheet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucartz.com\/blog\/linux-commands-cheat-sheet\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux Commands Cheat Sheet for Server Admins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

These are the Linux commands you use most when looking after a web server or VPS, grouped by task. They work on Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux unless a note says otherwise; we checked them on Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13 and AlmaLinux 9. Commands that change the system need sudo<\/code> or the root user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Terminal
A few commands from this cheat sheet, run on an AlmaLinux 9 VPS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moving around<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
pwd                      # where am I?\nls -la                   # list files, including hidden ones, with details\ncd \/var\/www              # go to a folder\ncd ..                    # one level up\ncd ~                     # home folder\ncd -                     # previous folder<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Files and folders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
mkdir -p backups\/2026    # create folders (and parents)\ncp -r site site-copy     # copy a folder\nmv old.txt new.txt       # rename or move\nrm file.txt              # delete a file\nrm -r old-folder         # delete a folder and its contents\nln -s \/var\/www\/app current   # symbolic link\ntouch file.txt           # create an empty file or update its time<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Guides: rename files<\/a>, remove folders<\/a>, links<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Viewing and editing files<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
cat file.txt             # print a short file\nless \/var\/log\/syslog     # scroll a long file (q quits)\nhead -20 file.txt        # first 20 lines\ntail -f \/var\/log\/nginx\/error.log   # follow a log live\nnano \/etc\/hosts          # simple editor (Ctrl+O save, Ctrl+X exit)<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Searching<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
find \/var\/www -name \"wp-config.php\"   # files by name\nfind . -mtime -1                      # changed in the last day\ngrep -rn \"DB_NAME\" \/var\/www\/html      # text inside files\nwhich php                             # where a command lives<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Permissions and ownership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
chmod 644 file.php       # owner read\/write, others read\nchmod 755 script.sh      # owner can run it\nchown -R www-data:www-data \/var\/www\/site   # owner (apache on AlmaLinux)\nls -l                    # check permissions<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Users and passwords<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
whoami                   # current user\nsudo adduser alice       # Ubuntu, Debian (useradd -m alice on AlmaLinux)\nsudo passwd alice        # set a password\ngetent passwd            # all accounts\nid alice                 # user ID and groups<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
More: change a user password<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Processes and services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
top                      # live CPU and memory (htop is friendlier)\nps aux --sort=-%mem | head   # biggest memory users\npgrep -a nginx           # find a process\nkill 1234                # stop process 1234\nsudo systemctl status nginx     # service status\nsudo systemctl restart nginx    # restart a service\nsudo systemctl enable nginx     # start at boot\njournalctl -u nginx -n 50       # its recent log lines<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
More: list running processes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Disk and memory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
df -h                    # free space per disk\ndu -sh \/var\/www\/*        # size of each folder\ndu -h --max-depth=1 \/ -x | sort -rh | head   # what fills the disk\nfree -h                  # memory and swap\nuptime                   # load and time since boot<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Network<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
ip -4 addr               # IP addresses\nss -ltnp                 # which programs listen on which ports\nping -c 4 example.com    # is it reachable?\ncurl -I https:\/\/example.com   # HTTP status and headers\ndig +short example.com A      # DNS lookup\nnc -zv example.com 443        # is a port open?<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Packages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
# Ubuntu, Debian\nsudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade\nsudo apt install nginx\napt list --installed\n\n# AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux\nsudo dnf upgrade\nsudo dnf install nginx\ndnf list installed<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Archives and transfers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
tar -czf site.tar.gz site\/          # create\ntar -xzf site.tar.gz -C \/restore    # extract into a folder\nzip -r site.zip site\/ ; unzip site.zip -d \/restore\nscp -r site user@server:\/var\/www\/   # copy over SSH\nrsync -avz site\/ user@server:\/var\/www\/site\/   # sync, only changes\nwget -P \/tmp https:\/\/example.com\/file.tar.gz  # download<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Scheduling and system<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
crontab -l               # your cron jobs\ncrontab -e               # edit them\nsystemctl list-timers    # systemd timers\ncat \/etc\/os-release      # distribution and version\nhostnamectl              # host name, OS and kernel\nsudo reboot              # restart<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
More: list cron jobs and read crontab syntax<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tips that save time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n