The Linux Commands I Actually Use Every Week
January 20, 2026
Most Linux cheat sheets try to cover too much. I prefer a shorter list of commands I use often enough to remember, along with what I use each one for.
Finding your way around
pwd # where am I
ls -la # what's actually here (including hidden files)
cd - # jump back to the previous directory
cd - is useful when switching between two directories repeatedly.
Looking inside files without opening an editor
cat file.txt # dump the whole file
head -n 20 file.log # just the first 20 lines
tail -f file.log # watch a file update live — great for logs
grep -i "error" file.log
tail -f is useful for watching logs as they change instead of repeatedly reopening the file.
Permissions, the part everyone glosses over
ls -l file.sh
chmod +x file.sh # make it executable
chown user:group file.sh
Understanding rwx for the owner, group, and others took some practice. Once it clicked, permission errors became much easier to diagnose.
Processes and what's using what
ps aux | grep nginx
top
kill -9 <pid>
ps aux | grep is a quick way to check whether a process is running.
Networking basics
ip a # what are my interfaces and IPs
ping -c 4 host # is it even reachable
ss -tulpn # what's listening on what port
ss -tulpn is one of the first commands I use when a service is not working. It shows which ports are listening and which processes own them.
What I learned
None of these commands is difficult on its own. The useful part is knowing when to reach for the terminal and being comfortable checking what the system is actually doing.