Linux

Commands

System

Syntax	Action / Description
shutdown -r now	Restart / reboot system, use -h to shutdown/halt. If command not available use init
init <level>	Level 0 - Halt system, level 6 - Reboot system
uname -a	Running OS info
arp -n	IP -> MAC arp table
ifconfig	Interface config (Unix equiv of Windows' ipconfig)
ps fx | grep <proc>	Find running process info
ps -aux	Running process info
kill <pid>	Kill a process
top	Task Manager (ish)
free -m	Free memory
nice <cmd>	Runs a command with reduced priority

File System and File Operations

Syntax	Action / Description
ls -l	List directory contents (-l long format) - see [[#Terminal Colours|Terminal Colours]
df -h	Disk space summary
df -i	Disk inodes summary
du -sh	Directory space usage summary
du -ma / | sort -nr | head -n 20	Find 20 largest files/directories
pwd	Present working directory
cp <src> <dest>	Copy a file (see also scp)
ln -s <src> <dest>	Create a symbolic link to a file
rm –i <file>	Remove (delete) file (-i prompts before remove)
rm –d -r -f <folder>	Remove (delete) folder and contents without prompting
find /path/ -iname "*FILENAME*"	Find file with *filename* in path
find <folder> -mtime +14 -exec rm {} \;	Remove (delete) files in folder older than 14 days
chmod +x <file>	Add execute permission to a file
lsof <folder>	List open files
tar czf file.tgz folder	Tar contents of folder to file

File Contents (Inspection and Manipulation)

Syntax	Action / Description
more <file>	Views a file (read only), q to exit, +line to start from line
less <file>	Views a file (read only), like more , but with increased functionality
watch -d "ls -lt *.vmdk ;date"	Watch modifications occurring to files matching *.vmdk
diff <file1> <file2>	Difference between two files
grep <find> <file>	Show all lines with occurrences of find in file
grep -A <n> -B <m> <find> <file>	As above, but additionally show the n lines after and m lines before
tail <file>	Displays the last 10 lines of a file, -f follows any updates (eg to monitor a log file)

NTP / Date and Time

Syntax	Action / Description
date	Show the local system date and time
date -d <string>	Show/calculate the date and time represented by <string> (eg 'tomorrow', 'next week', 'thursday')
ntpdate -p 1 -q -d ntp.domain.com	Test/query an NTP server (replace ntp.domain.com)
ntpdate -d ntp.domain.com	Set system clock from an NTP server (replace ntp.domain.com)
ntpq -p	Show list of ntp daemon peers

System Info

File	Description
/proc/cpuinfo	CPU(s) information - model, spec, features, etc

Terminal Colours

The colourisation of files and folders as seen through a terminal session (eg PuTTY) normally have the following meanings...

Type	Description
FILE	Normal file
MISSING	Missing file
DIR	Directory
EXEC	Executable file
LINK	Symbolic link
ORPHAN	Orphaned symbolic link
FIFO	Named pipe
SOCK	Socket
BLK	Block device driver
CHR	Character device driver
ARC	Archive / Compressed
MEDIA	Media files (image, video etc)

These colours are derived from the ISO 6429 standard for coded character sets. The above info is derived from the following sources...

• http://communities.vmware.com/message/678302#678302
• http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code

SCP

In order to be able to copy files from one machine to the other...

• scp user@server:/remote/server/path/file /local/server/path/

In order to be able to copy files within a script (and not get prompted for a user password, the public key of the machine running the script needs to be authorised on the remote server.

1. On the local machine, be logged in as the same user as will be running the script
2. Create public key on local machine (just hit return to accept default options)
   • ssh-keygen -t rsa
3. Copy the public key for local machine user to the remote machine
   • EG scp /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub server:/home/user/
4. On the remote machine, check if the following file already exists
   • /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
5. If so, append the contents of the copied key to the file
6. If not, copy the file

VI Editor

VI is a bit of a pain to use, go slowly, and use [Esc] regularly to get out of the current mode after each operation.

Crib sheet for VI mode commands...

Command	Purpose
i	Insert characters
x	Delete character
r	Replace character
cw	Overwrite word (use any delimiter)
o	Insert line
dd	Delete current line
<x>yy	Yank (copy) next x lines (inclusive of current line, default x is 1)
p	Paste yanked lines
/<string>	Search for next occurrence of string
:g/<find>/s//<replace>/g	Find and replace
:wq	Write (save) and Quit
:q!	Quit (don't save)
:undo	Undo last action

Unix User accounts

• Create Account - Use useradd <user> to add a new user account with the default policy settings
• Modify Password - Use passwd <user> to change password for user. To breach minimum complexity rules you must be logged in at the console (in the DC not remotely)
• Modify Expiry - To disable the password expiry policy for a account that already exists use chage -M 99999 <user> , to disable for all future account (ie modify the default policy) use esxcfg-auth --passmaxdays=99999