Since we will be working with many different Linux systems, we need to learn the structure and the information about the system, its processes, network configurations, users, directories, user settings, and the corresponding parameters. Here is a list of the necessary tools that will help us get the above information. Most of them are installed by default.
Command Description
whoami Displays current username.
id Returns users identity
hostname Sets or prints the name of current host system.
uname Prints basic information about the operating system name and system hardware.
pwd Returns working directory name.
ifconfig The ifconfig utility is used to assign or to view an address to a network interface and/or configure network interface parameters.
ip Ip is a utility to show or manipulate routing, network devices, interfaces and tunnels.
netstat Shows network status.
ss Another utility to investigate sockets.
ps Shows process status.
who Displays who is logged in.
env Prints environment or sets and executes command.
lsblk Lists block devices.
lsusb Lists USB devices
lsof Lists opened files.
lspci Lists PCI devices.
terminal $ uname -a
UNAME(1) User Commands UNAME(1)
NAME
uname - print system information
SYNOPSIS
uname [OPTION]...
DESCRIPTION
Print certain system information. With no OPTION, same as -s.
-a, --all
print all information, in the following order, except omit -p and -i if unknown:
-s, --kernel-name
print the kernel name
-n, --nodename
print the network node hostname
-r, --kernel-release
print the kernel release
-v, --kernel-version
print the kernel version
-m, --machine
print the machine hardware name
-p, --processor
print the processor type (non-portable)
-i, --hardware-platform
print the hardware platform (non-portable)
-o, --operating-system
Running uname -a will print all information about the machine in a specific order: kernel name, hostname, the kernel release, kernel version, machine hardware name, and operating system. The -a flag will omit -p (processor type) and -i (hardware platform) if they are unknown.
