Common Commands
Overview of Networking
Overview of TCP/IP
Overview of Firewalls and Masquerading
Overview of NFS
Overview of NIS
Administering NIS
RPC and XDR
Following are lists of commonly used system administration commands.
hwclock | Manage hardware clock. |
netdate | Set clock according to host's clock. |
rdate | Manage time server. |
zdump | Print list of time zones. |
zic | Create time conversion information files. |
apmd | Advanced Power Management daemon. |
bootpd | Internet Boot Protocol daemon. |
fingerd | Finger daemon. |
ftpd | File Transfer Protocol daemon. |
gated | Manage routing tables between networks. |
identd | Identify user running TCP/IP process. |
imapd | IMAP mailbox server daemon. |
inetd | Internet services daemon. |
kerneld | Provide automatic kernel module loading. |
klogd | Manage syslogd. |
lpd | Printer daemon. |
mountd | NFS mount request server. |
named | Internet domain name server. |
nfsd | NFS daemon. |
pop2d | POP server. |
pop3d | POP server. |
powerd | Monitor UPS connection. |
pppd | Maintain Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) network connections. |
rdistd | Remote file distribution server. |
rexecd | Remote execution server. |
rlogind | rlogin server. |
routed | Routing daemon. |
rshd | Remote shell server. |
rwhod | Remote who server. |
syslogd | System logging daemon. |
talkd | Talk daemon. |
tcpd | TCP network daemon. |
tftpd | Trivial File Transfer Protocol daemon. |
update | Buffer flush daemon. |
ypbind | NIS binder process. |
yppasswdd | NIS password modification server. |
ypserv | NIS server process. |
agetty | Start user session at terminal. |
arp | Manage the ARP cache. |
cardctl | Control PCMCIA cards. |
cardmgr | PCMCIA card manager daemon. |
cfdisk | Maintain disk partitions (graphical interface). |
fdisk | Maintain disk partitions. |
getty | Start user session at terminal. |
kbdrate | Manage the keyboard's repeat rate. |
ramsize | Print information about RAM disk. |
setserial | Set serial port information. |
slattach | Attach serial lines as network interfaces. |
arch | Print machine architecture. |
dnsdomainname | Print DNS domain name. |
domainname | Print NIS domain name. |
free | Print memory usage. |
host | Print host and zone information. |
hostname | Print or set hostname. |
nslookup | Query Internet domain name servers. |
uname | Print host information. |
cpio | Copy file archives. |
install | Copy files into locations providing user access and set permissions. |
rdist | Distribute files to remote systems. |
tar | Copy files to or restore files from an archive medium. |
fetchmail | Retrieve mail from remote servers. |
formail | Convert input to mail format. |
mailq | Print a summary of the mail queue. |
makemap | Update sendmail's database maps. |
rmail | Handle uucp mail. |
sendmail | Send and receive mail. |
To Unix systems, a filesystem is some device (such as a hard drive, floppy, or CD-ROM) that is formatted to store files. Filesystems can be found on hard drives, floppies, CD-ROMs, or other storage media that permit random access.
The exact format and means by which the files are stored are not important; the system provides a common interface for all filesystem types that it recognizes. Under Linux, filesystem types include the Second Extended Filesystem, or ext2fs, which you probably use to store Linux files. The second extended filesystem was developed primarily for Linux and supports 256-character filenames, 4-terabyte maximum filesystem size, and other useful features. (It is "second" because it is the successor to the extended filesystem type.) Other common filesystem types include the MS-DOS filesystem, which allows files on MS-DOS partitions and floppies to be accessed under Linux, and the ISO 9660 filesystem used by CD-ROMs.
debugfs | Debug extfs filesystem. |
dosfsck | Check and repair a DOS or VFAT filesystem. |
dumpe2fs | Print information about superblock and blocks group. |
e2fsck | Check and repair a second extended filesystem. |
fdformat | Format floppy disk. |
fsck | Check and repair filesystem. |
fsck.minix | Check and repair a MINIX filesystem. |
fuser | List processes using a filesystem. |
mke2fs | Make new second extended filesystem. |
mkfs | Make new filesystem. |
mkfs.ext2 | Another name for mke2fs. |
mkfs.minix | Make new MINIX filesystem. |
mklost+found | Make lost+found directory. |
mkraid | Set up a RAID device. |
mkswap | Designate swap space. |
mount | Mount a filesystem. |
raidstart | Activate a RAID device. |
raidstop | Turn off a RAID device. |
rdev | Describe or change values for root filesystem. |
rootflags | List or set flags to use in mounting root filesystem. |
showmount | List exported directories. |
swapdev | Display or set swap device information. |
swapoff | Cease using device for swapping. |
swapon | Begin using device for swapping. |
sync | Write filesystem buffers to disk. |
tune2fs | Manage second extended filesystem. |
umount | Unmount a filesystem. |
depmod | Create module dependency listing. |
insmod | Install new kernel module. |
lsmod | List kernel modules. |
modprobe | Load new module and its dependent modules. |
rmmod | Remove module. |
dip | Establish dial-up IP connections. |
gdc | Administer gated routing daemon. |
ifconfig | Manage network interfaces. |
ipchains | Administer firewall facilities (2.2 kernel). |
iptables | Administer firewall facilities (2.4 kernel). |
named | Translate between domain names and IP addresses. |
netstat | Print network status. |
portmap | Map daemons to ports. |
rarp | Manage RARP table. |
route | Manage routing tables. |
routed | Dynamically keep routing tables up-to-date. |
rpcinfo | Report RPC information. |
ruptime | Check how long remote system has been up. |
rwho | Show who is logged in to remote system. |
systat | Show status of remote systems. |
traceroute | Trace network route to remote host. |
domainname | Set or display name of current NIS domain. |
makedbm | Rebuild NIS databases. |
ypbind | Connect to NIS server. |
ypcat | Print values in NIS database. |
ypchfn | Change user information in NIS database for finger, email, etc. |
ypchsh | Change user login shell in NIS database. |
ypinit | Build new NIS databases. |
ypmatch | Print value of one or more NIS keys. |
yppasswd | Change user password in NIS database. |
yppasswdd | Update NIS database in response to yppasswd. |
yppoll | Determine version of NIS map at NIS server. |
yppush | Propagate NIS map. |
ypserv | NIS server daemon. |
ypset | Point ypbind at a specific server. |
ypwhich | Display name of NIS server or map master. |
ypxfr | Transfer NIS database from server to local host. |
badblocks | Search for bad blocks. |
chroot | Change root directory. |
bootpd | Internet Boot Protocol daemon. |
bootpgw | Internet Boot Protocol gateway. |
bootptest | Test bootpd. |
halt | Stop or shut down system. |
init | Change runlevel. |
reboot | Shut down, then reboot system. |
runlevel | Print system runlevel. |
shutdown | Shut down system. |
telinit | Change the current runlevel. |
uptime | Display uptimes of local machines. |
A number of additional commands in Chapter 3, "Linux Commands", are particularly useful in controlling processes, including kill, killall, killall5, pidof, ps, and who.
fuser | Identify processes using file or filesystem. |
psupdate | Update /boot/psupdate. |
renice | Change the priority of running processes. |
top | Show most CPU-intensive processes. |
chpasswd | Change multiple passwords. |
groupadd | Add a new group. |
groupdel | Delete a group |
groupmod | Modify groups. |
grpck | Check the integrity of group system files. |
grpconv | Convert group file to shadow group file. |
lastlog | Generate report of last user login times. |
newusers | Add new users in a batch. |
pwck | Check the integrity of password system files. |
pwconv | Convert password file to shadow passwords. |
rusers | Print who-style information on remote machines. |
rwall | Print a message to remote users. |
useradd | Add a new user. |
userdel | Delete a user and her home directory. |
usermod | Modify a user's information. |
w | List logged-in users. |
wall | Write to all users. |
whoami | Show how you are currently logged in. |
cron | Schedule commands for specific times. |
dmesg | Print bootup messages after the system is up. |
ldconfig | Update library links and do caching. |
logger | Send messages to the system logger. |
logrotate | Compress and rotate system logs. |
rstat | Display host's system status. |
run-parts | Run all scripts in a directory. |
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