The system’s standard utilities are a collection of essential software programs included with Unix-like operating systems. These utilities offer a wide range of functionalities crucial for managing, configuring, and maintaining the operating system.
Used to compress and archive files and directories to save space or bundle multiple files together.
zip: A utility for packaging files into a compressed archive.unzip: A utility for extracting files from a compressed archive created by zip.tar: A utility for creating and manipulating archive files, often used in conjunction with compression utilities like gzip and bzip2.gzip: A compression utility designed to reduce the size of files.bzip2: A compression utility that offers higher compression ratios than gzip.xz: A compression utility that provides high compression ratios and supports various compression algorithms.Use cases:
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Manage files and directories, including copying, moving, deleting, and listing files.
cp: Copy files and directories.mv: Move or rename files and directories.rm: Remove files or directories.ls: List directory contents.find: Search for files and directories.df: Report file system disk space usage.Use cases:
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Monitor system performance, resource usage, and running processes.
top: Display and update sorted information about processes.htop (Not installed by default): An interactive process viewer for Unix systems.ps: Report a snapshot of current processes.free: Display the amount of free and used memory in the system.df: Report file system disk space usage.iotop: Display I/O usage by processes or threads.Use cases:
Manage and diagnose network connections and data transfers.
ping: Check the network connectivity between your system and another host.ifconfig: Configure and display network interface parameters for a network using TCP/IP.netstat: Display network connections, routing tables, interface statistics, masquerade connections, and multicast memberships.curl: Transfer data from or to a server using various protocols such as HTTP, FTP, and more.wget: Retrieve files from the web using HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP protocols.Use cases:
Process and manipulate text files and streams.
grep: Search for patterns within text files.awk: A powerful programming language for pattern scanning and processing.sed: Stream editor for filtering and transforming text.sort: Sort lines of text files.cut: Remove sections from each line of files.Use cases:
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Configure and manage system services and settings.
systemctl: Control the systemd system and service manager.crontab: Schedule and manage recurring tasks.hostnamectl: Query and change the system hostname and related settings.Use cases:
systemd: An init system and system manager that provides a suite of tools for managing system services, logging, and other system functions.
service: A utility to run System V init scripts, which are used to start, stop, and manage system services.
chkconfig: A tool to manage the runlevel settings of system services.
update-rc.d: A utility to install and remove System V init script links.
systemctl: A command to introspect and control the state of the systemd system and service manager.
journalctl: A command to query and display messages from the systemd journal.
sysctl: A tool to modify kernel parameters at runtime.
init: The parent of all processes, responsible for starting system processes as defined in /etc/inittab.
telinit: A command to change the system runlevel.
rcconf: A utility to manage the startup of services.
supervisord: A process control system that allows users to monitor and control a number of processes on UNIX-like operating systems.
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cron: A time-based job scheduler that allows users to run scripts or commands at specified times and intervals. It is commonly used for automating system maintenance or administration tasks.Use cases:
More: System scheduler and recurring tasks management
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cloud-init: A tool used to initialize cloud instances during boot time. It handles tasks such as setting up SSH keys, configuring network interfaces, and running user-defined scripts. It is widely used in cloud environments to automate the initial configuration of virtual machines.Use cases:
More: Cloud computing system tools