Beginner's Guide to Linux System Administration Last Updated : 15 Jul, 2025 Summarize Comments Improve Suggest changes Share Like Article Like Report A Linux System Administrator manages the operations such as maintaining proper software, observing them, and even taking care of backup and hardware systems. It is recommended that before reading this article please go through the article What is Linux System Administration. Here we have some basics of Linux System Administration. Some Basic ConfigurationsSet the Hostname: Open terminal and enter the following command in order to change the hostname. sudo hostname your_hostnameReplace "your_hostname" with the hostname that you want to keep. Setting up the time zone: Move to /usr/share/zoneinfo/your_zone and then link the zone file with /etc/localtime to set the time zone. sudo ln -sf Kolkata /etc/localtimeFile System and ManagementManaging files is the most important task in Linux as all devices, directories, and packages are just a type of file in Linux. 1. To know about File system read the article File System in Linux. 2. To learn more about Linux file hierarchy structure you can read the article Linux File System Hierarchy 3. To get the difference between Linux and Windows File System read the article Windows vs Linux Below is the list of some file management commands in Linux: CommandDescriptioncdUsed to change the current directorylsUsed to list the directories and files in a directoryviA good text editor to edit filestouchUsed to create new filesnanoA good text editor to edit filescpUsed to copy files and directories.mvUsed to move files and directories.rmUsed to remove files and directories.fdiskUsed to partition disks and to work with file systemsmountUsed to mount a file system or a deviceYou can also read the file management in Linux from the article https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/linux-unix/file-management-in-linux/ Networking CommandsNetworking commands play an important role in system Administration and a good system Administrator must have good hands-on networking commands. Here is a list of such commands that are mostly used for networking in Linux. CommandDescriptionrouteused to view and manipulate ip routing tables.pingUsed to send some packets to a server and receive them back in case of a good network connection.tracerouteUsed to trace the path taken by the traffic.nslookupUsed for querying the Domain Name System to obtain domain name or IP address mapping, or other DNS records.ifconfigUsed to view and change the configuration of the network interfaces on your systemtracepathUsed to traces path to destination discovering MTU along this pathsshProvides a secure encrypted connection between two hosts over an insecure networktelnetUsed to test if a port is open and even to work with telnet protocol.curlUsed to transfer data to or from a server, using any of the supported protocols.scpUsed to securely copy files and directories between two locations over a network.wProvides a quick summary of every user logged into a computernetcatused for performing any operation in Linux related to TCP, UDP, or UNIX-domain socketsnmapUsed for network exploration and security auditingnetstatUsed for monitoring network connections both incoming and outgoing as well as viewing routing tables, interface statistics, etcipUsed to assign an address to a network interface and/or configure network interface parameters on Linux operating systemsManaging Users and Group in LinuxA system administrator has to manage the users working on the system. Users are the accounts which are logged in to your system or may log in to the system. Each user in Linux has a unique UID to identify the user. All information of the users is stored in /etc/passwd file and all hashed passwords are stored in /etc/shadow file. There are basically 2 types of user in Linux on the basis of their rights to access. Superuser or AdministratorGeneral usersEach user may or may not be a part of a group which is a collection of users. To learn more about users in Linux go through the article Users in Linux System Administration. Here is a list of commands that are used to manage users. CommandDescriptionusermodUsed to modify users and their respective settingsuseraddUsed to add a new usersu and sudoUsed to change the user and work with rootchangeUsed to change the user's aging/expiry informationgroupdelUsed to delete a groupgpasswdUsed to change password of groupgroupmodUsed to modify group and its settingsgroupaddUsed to add a new groupTo learn more about how to manage users read the article User Management in Linux To learn more about how to manage groups read the article Group Management in Linux System Diagnostics/Monitor PerformanceA System Administrator should be able to diagnose problems in a system and even to monitor the performance of the system so that it may be improved. Here is the list of some useful commands for the same. CommandDescriptiontopUsed to display the running processes.vmstatUsed to get information about processes, memory, paging, block IO, disk, and CPU schedulinglsofUsed to check list of open files.htopUsed to determine the cause of load of each processiostatUsed to monitor IO devices loadingnmonIt displays performance about the CPU, MEMORY, NETWORK, DISKS, FILE SYSTEM, NFS, TOP PROCESSES, RESOURCES, AND POWER MICRO-PARTITIONReading and Analysing LogsA good system Administrator must have an idea of how to read and manage logs as they give a lot of crucial and required information. CommandDescriptiondmesgUsed to print the message buffer of the kerneltailUsed to print details from the log files located in the folder /var/logjournalctlUsed to read systemd logs Comment More infoAdvertise with us Next Article What is Linux Operating System M manav014 Follow Improve Article Tags : Linux-Unix Linux-system-commands Similar Reads Linux/Unix Tutorial Linux is one of the most widely used open-source operating systems. It's fast, secure, stable, and powers everything from smartphones and servers to cloud platforms and IoT devices. Linux is especially popular among developers, system administrators, and DevOps professionals.Linux is:A Unix-like OS 10 min read Getting Started with LinuxWhat is Linux Operating SystemThe Linux Operating System is a type of operating system that is similar to Unix, and it is built upon the Linux Kernel. The Linux Kernel is like the brain of the operating system because it manages how the computer interacts with its hardware and resources. 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