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Linux Administration

Linux is the operating system running under virtually every server, container, and cloud workload. Fluency at the shell is non-negotiable for DevSecOps engineers.

TopicWhy it matters
Essential commandsNavigate, inspect, and manipulate the filesystem from the shell
Process managementsystemd, ps, top, kill — understand what’s running
Networkingss, ip, curl, dig — diagnose connectivity from the inside
File permissionschmod, chown, ACLs — least-privilege on the filesystem
System hardeningReduce attack surface: disable unused services, configure sshd, run lynis
Log analysisjournalctl, /var/log/, structured logs — find what went wrong

This knowledge base uses Debian/Ubuntu syntax for package management (apt) and RHEL/Rocky (dnf) where they differ. Most concepts apply to any distribution.

All examples assume:

  • Shell: bash (most common default on servers)
  • User: non-root with sudo access
  • Prompt: $ for user, # for root

Essential Commands — the 50 commands you’ll use every day