30+ Linux Commands That Made Me a Confident DevOps Engineer

Linux Skills That Matter

linux

If you want to become a DevOps engineer, you’ll eventually realize one thing:

It isn’t Kubernetes. It isn’t Docker. It isn’t Terraform.

It’s Linux.

Every deployment, every server, every container, and almost every cloud VM eventually leads you back to a Linux terminal.

When I first started learning DevOps, the terminal felt intimidating. But after using Linux every day, I discovered that mastering a small set of commands dramatically improved my productivity and confidence.

Here are 30+ Linux commands that every aspiring DevOps engineer should know.

1. pwd — Know Where You Are

Prints your current working directory.

pwd

Example output:

/home/jessica/projects

2. ls — List Files

See files and folders.

ls

Useful options:

ls -l
ls -a
ls -lh

3. cd — Change Directory

Navigate between folders.

cd projects
cd ..
cd ~

4. mkdir — Create Directories

mkdir logs
mkdir -p project/src/components

The -p option creates nested directories automatically.

5. touch — Create Empty Files

touch app.py
touch docker-compose.yml

6. cp — Copy Files

cp file.txt backup.txt

Copy directories:

cp -r project backup

7. mv — Move or Rename Files

Rename:

mv old.txt new.txt

Move:

mv file.txt /var/log

8. rm — Remove Files

Delete a file:

rm file.txt

Delete a directory:

rm -r folder

Force delete:

rm -rf folder

Use this carefully.

9. cat — Read Files

cat config.yaml

Also useful for combining files.

10. less — Read Large Files

Instead of opening a huge log in an editor:

less application.log

Navigate with arrow keys and press q to quit.

11. head

Show the first few lines.

head file.txt
head -20 file.txt

12. tail

Show the last lines.

tail log.txt

Watch logs live:

tail -f application.log

This is one of the most-used DevOps commands.

13. grep — Search Text

Find matching text.

grep "ERROR" app.log

Ignore case:

grep -i error app.log

14. find — Locate Files

Search by name.

find . -name "*.log"

Find Docker files:

find . -name Dockerfile

15. locate

Find files much faster.

locate nginx.conf

Requires the locate database to be updated.

16. echo

Print text or variables.

echo "Hello Linux"

View environment variables:

echo $HOME

17. history

View previously executed commands.

history

Search history:

history | grep docker

18. clear

Clean the terminal.

clear

Shortcut:

Ctrl + L

19. whoami

Know which user you’re logged in as.

whoami

20. id

Display user and group information.

id

Useful when debugging permissions.

21. chmod

Modify file permissions.

chmod +x deploy.sh

Numeric mode:

chmod 755 app.sh

22. chown

Change ownership.

sudo chown user:user file.txt

23. df

Check disk usage.

df -h

One of the first commands to run when a server is running out of space.

24. du

Find what’s consuming storage.

du -sh *

25. free

View memory usage.

free -h

26. top

Monitor running processes.

top

Live CPU and memory monitoring.

27. ps

Display running processes.

ps aux

Find a process:

ps aux | grep nginx

28. kill

Terminate a process.

kill PID

Force kill:

kill -9 PID

29. systemctl

Manage services.

Start:

sudo systemctl start nginx

Stop:

sudo systemctl stop nginx

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Status:

systemctl status nginx

30. journalctl

Read system logs.

journalctl -u nginx

Follow logs:

journalctl -f

31. curl

Test APIs.

curl https://api.example.com

One of the most valuable commands for backend and DevOps engineers.

32. wget

Download files.

wget https://example.com/file.zip

33. ssh

Connect to remote servers.

ssh ubuntu@192.168.1.10

Every DevOps engineer uses this daily.

34. scp

Securely copy files.

scp app.tar.gz ubuntu@server:/home/ubuntu/

35. tar

Archive files.

Create:

tar -czvf backup.tar.gz project/

Extract:

tar -xzvf backup.tar.gz

36. zip and unzip

Compress:

zip archive.zip file.txt

Extract:

unzip archive.zip

37. ping

Check connectivity.

ping google.com

Useful when diagnosing network issues.

38. ip

View network information.

ip addr

View routing:

ip route

39. netstat (or ss)

See listening ports.

Modern Linux:

ss -tuln

40. sudo

Run commands with administrative privileges.

sudo apt update

One of the most frequently used Linux commands.

Some other commands to Learn

• awk
• sed
• sort
• uniq
• xargs
• cut
• tee
• watch
• env
• alias

These commands become incredibly powerful when combined into shell pipelines.

Example:

cat access.log | grep "500" | sort | uniq -c

My Learning Advice

You don’t need to memorize hundreds of Linux commands.

Instead:

• Learn 5 commands every week.
• Use them in real projects.
• Build small automation scripts.
• Practice troubleshooting on Linux servers.
• Try solving problems without relying on a graphical interface.

Within a few months, you’ll notice something interesting — you’ll stop thinking about the commands and start thinking about solving problems.

That’s when Linux transforms from a tool into a skill.

Finally:

Linux is the foundation of modern DevOps. Whether you’re deploying applications to the cloud, managing Docker containers, configuring CI/CD pipelines, or troubleshooting production servers, these commands will become part of your daily workflow.

The more time you spend in the terminal, the more comfortable you’ll become. Confidence doesn’t come from memorizing commands — it comes from using them consistently to solve real-world problems.

Which Linux command do you use the most? Share it in the comments — someone else might discover their new favorite command.