Linux cheat sheet

[+] kevinskii|13 years ago|reply

I've long had this website bookmarked in my browser toolbar. It is excellent both as a quick reference and as an in-depth guide to commands:

http://cb.vu/unixtoolbox.xhtml

[+] williamhackmore|13 years ago|reply

Hey all, yes, I am the author of the cheat sheet. You all spotted a ton of typos that I hadn't even noticed. Thank you! I have just been flooded with patches. I am trying to sort through them now. Thank you for all of your work.

I know it may seem odd to GPL a list of commands. My intention was to build up a minimal reference sheet covering just what people need to know to get started with Linux Dev, but also with a special attempt to include obscure and useful features that may benefit old-timers perusing this reference.

I have since attempted to address the Ubuntu/Debian centric perspective of the sheet. I also addressed the comments about "&&" and "ssh -X" I will also expand the section on "tar."

-William Hackmore

[+] visarga|13 years ago|reply

Can I find out what files a process is using, and what files are most used at the moment? It would help debug heavy load moments, when the disk becomes less responsive.

[+] gnosis|13 years ago|reply

To find out what files a given process is using:

  lsof -p PID

where "PID" is the process id of the process in question.

As for which files are most used at the moment, I'm not sure. However, "iotop" will show you which processes are using the most io at the moment.

[+] chrisbolt|13 years ago|reply

Most used files:

  lsof -n | grep REG | awk '{print $9}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -n

[+] stuffihavemade|13 years ago|reply

ls -a should be ls -la if you want "maximum information" (not really maximum)

Also, ifconfig is deprecated.

[+] scjr|13 years ago|reply

I'm yet to see any of these command line tips show (GNU) tar with the -a (--auto-compress) tag

    # compress a file, tar will automatically compress it according to the file extension you use
    tar -caf archive.tar.gz file1 file2 ...
    
    # extract a file, again tar will automatically pass it through the right decompression program
    tar -xaf archive.tar.gz

[+] nawitus|13 years ago|reply

I think it's faster to Google something than to use these kind of lists. Of course, there's value from skimming through the list once.

[+] LukeShu|13 years ago|reply

What package is md5deep from? I've never seen it, but had several use-cases for it.

[+] timdoug|13 years ago|reply

What's wrong with:

  find . -type f -exec md5sum {} \;

[+] sp332|13 years ago|reply

The "md5deep" package contains several different hashes including the actual md5deep program but also whirlpooldeep etc.

[+] fsck0ff|13 years ago|reply

I can't believe a list of commands is GPL licensed, this is ridiculous...

[+] MereInterest|13 years ago|reply

By the letter of the law, the arrangement is copyrightable, though the information itself is not, in the same way that the arrangement of a phone book is copyrightable even though the phone numbers are not. Yes, it is ridiculous.

[+] felipebrnd|13 years ago|reply

Interesting, there is mention to execution control but doesn't cite

[command] && [command]

and

[command] || [command]

[+] dmckay|13 years ago|reply

Good stuff, except this, ssh -x [username]@[ipaddress] is the opposite of what he wanted to do, it's ssh -X. -x disables forwarding.

[+] subway|13 years ago|reply

ssh -Y would probably be an even better choice for this sort of document, lest the end user find themselves going 'Why the heck isn't this working?'.

[+] Nursie|13 years ago|reply

Nice work, would be a good guide for *nix (ok mostly linux) command line beginners to have around.

29 comments