Linux Basics for IT Support

Many corporate servers run Linux. Basic command-line familiarity is valuable even for Windows/macOS-focused support roles.

Essential Commands

pwd - show current directory
ls -la - list files (including hidden) with details
cd /path - change directory
cat filename - view file contents
sudo command - run command with admin privileges

Networking Commands

ip a - show IP addresses (modern replacement for ifconfig)
ping google.com - test connectivity
traceroute google.com - trace network path
nslookup domain.com - DNS lookup

System Monitoring

top or htop - view running processes and resource usage
df -h - check disk space
free -h - check memory usage
systemctl status servicename - check status of a service

File Permissions

Linux file permissions follow the pattern rwx (read, write, execute) for three groups: owner, group, others.

-rwxr-xr-- 1 user group file.txt ||| ||| ||| ||| ||| +-- others: read only ||| +-- group: read + execute +-- owner: read, write, execute

Common Interview Talking Point

"While my main experience is with Windows, I'm building familiarity with Linux command-line basics - navigation, checking system resources, and basic networking diagnostics like ping and ip a."