Linux Commands - Part 2 (Practical Daily-Use Commands)

vennela sunkara — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 04:05:31 GMT

In my previous blog, I covered basic Linux commands.

In this part, I’m sharing a few practical Linux commands used in real-time scenarios like system monitoring, networking and file management.

Networking & Connectivity Commands:
- ping -
  
  Used to check whether a server or website is reachable.
```
  ping google.com
```
- curl -
  
  Used to test URLs and APIs or fetch data from a server.
```
  curl https://example.com
```
- wget -
  
  Used to download files from the internet.
```
  wget https://example.com/file.zip
```
  - If you’re already in root user then sudo is not needed.
- ss -
  
  Shows active network connections and listening ports.
```
  ss -tuln
```
Process & System Monitoring:
- top -
  
  Shows real-time CPU and memory usage.
```
  top
```
- ps -
  
  Displays currently running processes.
```
  ps aux
```
- kill -
  
  Stops a running process using PID (Process ID).
```
  kill PID
```
- uptime -
  
  Shows how longthe system has been running.
```
  uptime
```
Disk & Memory Information:
- lsblk -
  
  Lists all disks and partitions.
```
  lsblk
```
- df -h -
  
  Shows disk space usage in readable format.
```
  df -h
```
- free -
  
  Displays memory usage.
```
  free -h
  free -m
  free -g
```
  - free -h: Human-Readable format.
  - free -m: Shows memory in MB (megabytes).
  - free -g: Shows memory in GB (gigabytes).
- uname -
  
  Shows system and kernel information.
```
  uname
  uname -a
```
File Compression & Archiving:
- tar -
  
  Used to create or extract archive files.
```
  tar -cvf backup.tar folder /
  tar -xvf backup.tar
```
- Zip / unzip -
  
  Compress and extract zip files.
```
  zip files.zip file1 file2
  unzip files.zip
```
- gzip / gunzip -
  
  Fast file compression.
```
  gzip file.txt
  gunzip file.txt.gz
```

Conclusion:

These Linux commands are widely used by Linux administrators and DevOps engineers in day-to-day work for monitoring systems, managing files and troubleshooting issues.
Practicing these commands regularly helps build strong hands-on Linux skills.