Advice for everyday Unix systems administration and some clever ways to approach more challenging problems.
What Linux commands bring up visions of monsters and ghosts? Let’s look and see!
How to use the ip, ethtool, traceroute, tcptraceroute, and tcpdump commands to see what's up with your network on Linux systems.
To make sure files aren't removed accidentally when running the Linux find command, use the -ok command. It will ask for permission before removing any files.
Ping commands are useful, but would-be attackers often use them to identify systems. To prevent that, we show you how to get your system to ignore these requests.
The /proc file system provides amazingly detailed views into your processes and your system's guts.
There are many clever ways to hunt down files on Linux systems. Here's a look at the most useful commands and options.
All you need to know about Linux umask — how the settings work and why they're important.
Learn how run levels are configured and how you can change the run level interactively or modify what services are available.
Configuring login messages on Linux servers is more complex and dynamic. Let's look at the message of the day setup on an Ubuntu server to decipher how the process works.
Some very useful Linux commands for making life on the command line more rewarding
Ever wonder how logrotate manages log files so well? Let's dive into some of the details.
Environment variables on Unix systems — how to understand, modify and appreciate them
The GNU aspell tool is a very clever utility for not only checking your spelling, but also fixing it.
Signals on Unix systems are critical to the way processes live and die. This article looks at how they're generated, how they work, and how processes receive or block them.
On Unix systems, there are many ways to generate random numbers and many important roles that random data plays.
The Unix shell's && and || operators have some interesting and not-so-obvious behaviors.
The column command can reformat the output from various commands to make it more useful or appealing
Want a process to keep running even after you log off? No problem. Use nohup. It's easy.
Ready to make the Linux history command work harder to serve your needs? Let's look at some new tricks you might want to shove up your sleeve.
The jot command is very handy for generating lists of numbers or characters in almost any way you might imagine
Password complexity settings on Linux systems is a lot more interesting -- and complex -- than it might appear.
How to get a clear view of network bandwidth usage on a Linux system.
Things to watch and tools to use to make sure your Unix/Linux systems maintain their health and vigor
Symbolic and hard links can save both time and disk space. In this post, you will see how they are different and how they are created and used.
There are lots of ways to compare files on Unix systems and some of the choices are going to be just right for you
It's not quite as hard as it sometimes seems
Some tips for how to get started and how to stay on track for learning how to be a command line pro.
Some of the less obvious Linux commands might still come in very handy from time to time
The relatively new bash on Ubuntu on Windows brings some new possibilities to Windows users
There are even more ways to kill a process on a Unix/Linux system than there are ways to skin a cat.
Easy ways to pull together important and interesting stats on your running processes -- using the pgrep command
The everlastingly useful grep command can change its character with the flip of a switch to help you find things.
Unix commands can help you get a feel for how your users are working and what's usual or unusual about their command line activities
Some useful tips and tricks to get 2017 off to a good start
Removing, moving, and renaming files with troublesome names and files extracted to the wrong location
Some handy tricks for using vi more effectively amd efficiently
How the umask setting works
Colored file listings can make your work easier or drive you mad. Here's how to take control.
Some things to do today before the ghostly spirits go back into hiding
Clever use of history commands to help you move faster on the Unix command line.
Managing password resets without making headlines
The lsof command has so many options that you may not be making good use of it. Let's look at ways that you can make it work better for you.
There's more to the lsof command than you might imagine. Check out all the ways that it can be used to help you with your troubleshooting.
Just about all you need to know about arguments in scripts and on the command line
Put all the commands you need for extracting from archives in a script and you'll never find yourself scrambling for the right syntax
Easy ways to keep petty differences from spoiling your day
Some ideas on how to celebrate
Useful things that you can do on the command line with xargs
Brace expansion is one of the features of bash that is either never used or is one of its users favorite commands. The difference likely lies in unraveling the syntax just enough to understand how it works.
Unix aliases are generally extremely helpful, but watch out -- they can be used for mischievous ends.