Useful Linux Commands

redo the last command but as root

sudo !!

open an editor to run a command (probably a long one)

ctrl + x + e

Fix or change a really long command that you last ran with a text editor

fc

create a super-fast disk for IO dependent tasks to run on it

mkdir -p /mnt/ramdisk && mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /mnt/ramdisk -o size=8192M

don’t add the command to the history

(add one space in front of the command)

ls -lhistory # check the history

create a tunnel with SSH to port that is not open to the public (local port 8080 -> remote host’s 127.0.0.1 on port 6070)

ssh -L 8080:127.0.0.1:6070 root@my-public-server.com -N

Log output but don’t show it on the console

cat somefile | tee -a log.txt | cat > /dev/null

Exit terminal but leave all processes running

disown -a && exit

Clear your terminal without “clear” command

ctrl + l  # L

Paste the arguments of the previous command

alt + -

Completely clean and clear your terminal

reset

Get CPU info quickly

cat /proc/cpuinfo

Get memory info quickly

cat /proc/meminfo

Recursively find a text in a directory that have a lot of files in it

grep -rn /etc/ -e text_to_find

Find files bigger than 100 MB

find -type f -size +100MB -exec ls -lah {} \;

Create a web server in the current directory to serve files from it

python -m SimpleHTTPServer

Find your public IP

curl ifconfig.me

Get a tree view of folders only three levels deep

tree -L 3

Get a tree view of processes

pstree

Use the last command’s arguments

!$