Basic Linux Commands for DevOps Engineers¶

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Linux is the foundation of DevOps. Whether you are working on cloud servers, CI/CD pipelines, or Kubernetes nodes, these basic Linux commands are used daily.

This page covers basic navigation and file viewing commands that every DevOps engineer must know.

pwd – Print Working Directory¶

To check the current working directory.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ pwd
/home/opc

NOTE: In Linux operating system, a folder is also called a directory.

ls – List Files and Directories¶

To show the files and folders in the current working directory in horizontal view.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ls
first-project  hello.txt  shellscript  swapfile

ls -l – Long Listing Format¶

To show the files and folders in the current working directory in vertical view.

It also shows details of each file and folder such as permissions, owner, group, and size.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ls -l
total 3072004
drwxrwxr-x. 3 opc  opc          65 May 18 12:50 first-project
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc          14 Jun 18 03:53 hello.txt
drwxrwxr-x. 5 opc  opc          70 May 13 12:56 shellscript
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3145728000 Jan 11  2022 swapfile

ls -la – List Including Hidden Files¶

To show normal files, folders, and also hidden files and folders in vertical view.

In Linux, hidden files or folders start with a dot (.).

Examples: - .file_name → hidden file - .folder_name → hidden folder

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ls -la
total 3072060
drwxr-x---. 12 opc  opc          4096 Jun 18 03:54 .
drwxr-xr-x.  4 root root           32 Apr 13 12:25 ..
-rw-------.  1 opc  opc         18412 Jun 15 12:46 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--.  1 opc  opc            18 Nov 22  2019 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r--.  1 opc  opc           193 Nov 22  2019 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r--.  1 opc  opc           232 Apr 15 13:02 .bashrc
drwxrwxr-x.  4 opc  opc            30 Nov 26  2021 .cache
drwxrwxr-x.  4 opc  opc            30 Nov 26  2021 .config
drwxrwxr-x.  4 opc  opc            82 Jan 11  2022 .docker
drwxrwxr-x.  3 opc  opc            65 May 18 12:50 first-project
-rw-rw-r--.  1 opc  opc            57 May 18 12:42 .gitconfig
-rw-rw-r--.  1 opc  opc            14 Jun 18 03:53 hello.txt
-rw-r--r--.  1 opc  opc           172 Apr  2  2020 .kshrc
drwxr-xr-x.  3 opc  docker         33 Jul  4  2021 .kube
drwxrwxr-x.  3 opc  opc            24 May  7 03:40 .m2
drwxrw----.  3 opc  opc            19 Jul  4  2021 .pki
drwxrwxr-x.  5 opc  opc            70 May 13 12:56 shellscript
drwx------.  2 opc  opc            80 May 26  2022 .ssh
-rw-r--r--.  1 root root   3145728000 Jan 11  2022 swapfile
drwxr-xr-x.  2 opc  opc            24 May  8 12:30 .vim
-rw-------.  1 opc  opc          9145 May 18 12:41 .viminfo

cd – Change Directory¶

To go to another folder.

cd folder_name

Example¶

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cd first-project/
[opc@new-k8s first-project]$ pwd
/home/opc/first-project

[opc@new-k8s first-project]$ ll
total 12
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc opc 31 May 18 12:50 2.txt
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc opc 21 May 18 12:40 hello.txt
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc opc 30 May 18 12:40 README.md

Relative Path¶

A relative path is given from the current directory.

Current directory:

/home/opc

cd first-project

Absolute Path¶

An absolute path is given from the root directory /.

cd /home/opc/first-project

cat – Print / Read File Content¶

Used to print or read the content of a file.

ubuntu@manikandan:~$ cat /etc/os-release

PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="22.04"
VERSION="22.04.2 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy

Abbreviations¶

pwd → print working directory
cd → change directory
cat → concatenate

Commands Summary¶

pwd → Check current working directory
ls → List files and folders (horizontal view)
ls -l → List files and folders (vertical view)
ls -la → List including hidden files and folders
ll → Alias of ls -la
cd → Change directory
cat → Print file content

Other Common Linux Utility Commands¶

`which`¶

Find the location of a command.

which kubectl

`man`¶

View the manual page of a command.

man df

`id`¶

Display user and group information.

id

`hostname`¶

Check the system hostname.

hostname

cd .. → Move one directory up
cd ../.. → Move two directories up
cd → Go to home directory
cd ~ → Go to home directory explicitly
cd - → Switch to previous directory

`date` – Check Date and Time¶

[opc@new-k8s test]$ date
Sat Apr 15 04:39:46 GMT 2023

To display the date in a specific format like YYYYMMDD:

[opc@new-k8s test]$ date +%Y%m%d
20230415

Practice Tasks¶

Check the current folder name using pwd
Check the files and folders present in the current directory using ls
Check normal and hidden files in the current directory using ls -la
Navigate to /etc/ssl and verify the path
List the files in the SSL directory using ls -l
Navigate up one directory level
Go to /tmp and list all hidden files
Go to /etc and verify the existence of the os-release file
Print the content of the os-release file
Find the location of the pwd binary using which
Check your current user identity using id
Check the system hostname
Print the current date, then print it in YYYYMMDD format

🧠 Quick Quiz — Basic Linux Commands¶

#

Which command will list all files, including hidden ones, in the current directory?

📝 Want More Practice?¶

To strengthen your understanding and prepare for interviews, try the full 20-question practice quiz based on this chapter:

👉 Start Linux Basic Commands Quiz (20 Questions)

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