This is a totally random post full of linux commands that I find useful but am always forgetting. I use linux at work and also on a command-line-only VM at home. I'm always battling with it, largely because I'm a noob. Usually after a couple of hours of playing with it I have a head full of really useful commands. However the next time I run into a problem I won't remember any of them.
To prevent that happening again, this is a brain dump of all the commands I really, really should remember.
Installing stuff
You want to install something:[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ####[/cc]
Keeping things up-to-date:
[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade[/cc]
It seems that a lot of the time aptitude is actually better at this stuff?
[cc lang="bash"]sudo aptitude full-upgrade[/cc]
Cleaning up:
[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get clean[/cc]
(or use aptitude)
Something won't install because you've not got access to it (it's not available for your distro etc). You probably need to find a URL for a "PPA" from somewhere like http://launchpad.net (Try Googling "project-name ppa site:launchpad.net" - thanks @Keithamus) to add to:
[cc lang="bash"]sudo vim /etc/apt/sources.list[/cc]
These usually require keys which are provided with the URL. To add the key:
[cc lang="bash"]sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys ###key###[/cc]
There's loads of useful information about this here: https://launchpad.net/+help/soyuz/ppa-sources-list.html
Where am I / it ?
What version of ubuntu am I on?[cc lang="bash"]cat /etc/issue[/cc]
Where is something installed (e.g. mysql)
[cc lang="bash"]which mysql[/cc]
Where are the files located?
[cc lang="bash"]locate mysql[/cc]
You probably want to pipe that into less
[cc lang="bash"]locate mysql | less
[/cc]
To find a file with a specific file name the syntax is:
[cc lang="bash"]find PATH -name 'FILENAME'[/cc]
An example might be:
[cc lang="bash"]find / -name 'myfile.txt'[/cc]
To find text within a file the syntax is:
[cc lang="bash"]grep -r 'SEARCH' PATH[/cc]
An example might be
[cc lang="bash"]grep -r 'Hello World' /[/cc]
I always forget the -r to make it recursive and wonder why it doesn't work.
Samba
Samba broke? Go Windows stylee & restart it:[cc lang="bash"]sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart[/cc]
Still broke? Get a more useful error message from Windows by going into the command prompt and typing
[cc lang="dos"]net use m: \ip-address\service[/cc] (Yes OK this is a Windows command not a linux one...)
Perhaps it doesn't recognise the username/password combo:
[cc lang="bash"]sudo smbpasswd –a username[/cc] (and enter a new password when prompted)
Still broke? You might need to do some reconfiguring in the config file. Remember to check that everything has the access privileges it needs
[cc lang="bash"]sudo /etc/samba/smb.conf[/cc]