{"id":2668,"date":"2015-05-29T11:44:58","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T11:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/?p=2668"},"modified":"2015-05-29T11:44:58","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T11:44:58","slug":"top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 tools for Linux System Admins"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_77 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#Introduction\" >Introduction:<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#So_lets_begin_with_our_Linux_Tools_Here_is_our_short_list_of_essential_tools\" >So let\u2019s begin with our Linux Tools: Here is our short list of essential tools!<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#1_Top\" >1) Top:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#2_PS\" >2) PS:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#3_Monit\" >3) Monit:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#4_Uptime\" >4) Uptime:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#5_Tcpdump\" >5) Tcpdump:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#6_Cron\" >6) Cron:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#7_vmstat\" >7) vmstat:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#8_Man\" >8) Man:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#9_Auditd\" >9) Auditd:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/#10_Lsof\" >10) Lsof:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Introduction\"><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" size-full wp-image-2669 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Penguin_Admin.png\" alt=\"Linux_Admin\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Penguin_Admin.png 300w, https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Penguin_Admin-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/> Introduction:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Today, we are going to see top 10 Linux system admin tools that we think are essential and that any system administrator working under Linux environment should at least find them useful. As we all know Linux is a distribution where we find sequential orders for absolutely everything. Here, we will see controls that allow us to debug, configure and monitor the system and serve us at the usual necessary interferences.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"So_lets_begin_with_our_Linux_Tools_Here_is_our_short_list_of_essential_tools\"><\/span>So let\u2019s begin with our Linux Tools: Here is our short list of essential tools!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Top\"><\/span>1) Top:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Quick control and easy direct monitoring present by default on Unix\/Linux systems. This command quickly displays the main ongoing processes in condensed form, the state of consumption of the SWAP, RAM, CPU and average load of the load of the machine during 5, 10 and 15 minutes. This is very useful command when trying to quickly establish the charge of a machine, all dynamically.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_PS\"><\/span>2) PS:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">This is a handy command that allows viewing of the current process. PS captures at Time T when to launch the command. This means that it doesn\u2019t display information dynamically. This tool is to use and can still take many parameters which can refine the research and the information displayed. For example:<\/p>\n<p>To see the current process:<\/p>\n<pre style=\"font-family: monospace;font-size: 0.99em;width: 99%;height: 5%;border: green 2px solid;color: yellow;background-color: #000000\">ps \u2013ef<\/pre>\n<p>* \u201cE\u201d displays the list of all processes<br \/>\n* \u201cF\u201d allows us to have all the necessary information when viewing<\/p>\n<p>To search for a process and the process through their PID \/ PPID:<\/p>\n<pre style=\"font-family: monospace;font-size: 0.99em;width: 99%;height: 5%;border: green 2px solid;color: yellow;background-color: #000000\">ps -f --ppid [PID_NUM]<\/pre>\n<p>To search all processes launched by a specific user:<\/p>\n<pre style=\"font-family: monospace;font-size: 0.99em;width: 99%;height: 5%;border: green 2px solid;color: yellow;background-color: #000000\">ps -f -u user_name<\/pre>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Monit\"><\/span>3) Monit:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Supervision is essential for the proper functioning of an entire system. When it\u2019s necessary to supervise a host only, it\u2019s the tool \u201cMonit\u201d that allow to perform verification tasks and fairly precise alerts. It\u2019s a monitoring tool service on premises but it remains in a local context and fails to perform operation on remote hosts.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Uptime\"><\/span>4) Uptime:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Does the server\/s have survived the last night? A question that sometimes is legitimate to ask and can be answered very easily via the command \u201cuptime\u201d that return time from which the server is started. The command also displays the average server load of 1, 5 and 15 minutes.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Tcpdump\"><\/span>5) Tcpdump:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Along with WireShark this is a network sniffer that allows inspecting in detail to analyze what goes in and what goes out of the network cards or form server. It\u2019s often extremely useful during maintenance and troubleshooting of what passes from the server, because it often helps to better understand the causes of a malfunction. This tool is not available by default and can be installed using the following command.<\/p>\n<p>For CentOS<\/p>\n<pre style=\"font-family: monospace;font-size: 0.99em;width: 99%;height: 5%;border: green 2px solid;color: yellow;background-color: #000000\"> yum install tcpdump<\/pre>\n<p>For Debian<\/p>\n<pre style=\"font-family: monospace;font-size: 0.99em;width: 99%;height: 5%;border: green 2px solid;color: yellow;background-color: #000000\"> apt-get install tcpdump<\/pre>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Cron\"><\/span>6) Cron:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Cron whose name is derived from the god of time \u201cChronos\u201d, is a tool that gives the ability to run scripts automatically, commands or software at a data and time specified in advance, or on a cycle defined in advance. These schedules can be point (a specific day) or regular (for example, every Monday at 7.30 am). This is a very useful tool because it helps regular maintenance procedures that are often tedious or they used to do the work for you when you cannot stand before the machine at a specific date.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_vmstat\"><\/span>7) vmstat:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">This command returns information about processes, memory, input output (I\/O) and activity of the CPU in clear and simple form. It\u2019s also very useful when trying to quickly see the state of our machine and its overall load.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_Man\"><\/span>8) Man:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">This is one of the most used command in Linux, it make it possible to see the manual for each tool on the present system and thus helps to know how to use them. We often find the answers to the features in question which are explained very well in the Man tool. In this tool, we find the explanation of each option and each use of the command. For example, to find installed features on the FTP, type the following command:<\/p>\n<pre style=\"font-family: monospace;font-size: 0.99em;width: 99%;height: 5%;border: green 2px solid;color: yellow;background-color: #000000\"> man -k ftp<\/pre>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"9_Auditd\"><\/span>9) Auditd:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Auditd is a tool that allows implementing some security on the system. It also allows file monitoring establishment to issue an alert if a file is consulted and so find the facts on the different access or monitored files. It\u2019s a pretty interesting tool and rather easy to use for the help it can provide.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"10_Lsof\"><\/span>10) Lsof:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Lsof or \u201clist open files\u201d is a command that allow us, as does \u201cTop\u201d with the process to list all open files at the moment of launching the command. This is great help when trying to find the actions of a program. For example, by whom a file is busy when it cannot be accessed.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, we have seen <a href=\"http:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/blog\/7-best-tools-for-network-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>7 Best Tools for Network Administration<\/strong><\/a> and now we covered top 10 tools for Linux System Admins. If you are using some other tools regularly or frequently along with these tools, then let us know so we can discuss about them here or in the next article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction: Today, we are going to see top 10 Linux system admin tools that we think are essential and that any system administrator working under Linux environment should at least find them useful. As we all know Linux is a distribution where we find sequential orders for absolutely everything. Here, we will see controls that&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esds.co.in\/kb\/top-10-tools-for-linux-system-admins\/\" class=\"gdlr-button small excerpt-read-more\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[454],"tags":[641],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.9.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Top 10 tools for Linux System Admins<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Top 10 Linux system admin tools that we think are essential for every system admin that working under Linux environment.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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