Linux commands cheat sheet for VPS owners

Updated 2026-10-13 · Kvnthost guides

You don't need hundreds of commands to run a server. These are the ones that come up every week, grouped by what you're trying to do. Commands that change the system need sudo if you're not logged in as root.

Moving around and files

Command	What it does
`pwd`	Show the current directory
`ls -lah`	List files with sizes and hidden files
`cd /var/www`	Change directory
`mkdir -p app/data`	Create directories, including parents
`cp -r src dst`	Copy files or folders
`mv old new`	Move or rename
`rm -r folder`	Delete (no recycle bin — double-check!)
`nano file.conf`	Edit a file (Ctrl+O save, Ctrl+X exit)
`cat` / `less file`	Print / scroll through a file
`grep -rn "text" /etc`	Find text inside files
`find / -name "*.log"`	Find files by name

Disk and memory

Command	What it does
`df -h`	Free disk space per partition
`du -sh * \| sort -h`	Which folders are biggest
`free -m`	RAM and swap usage
`ncdu /`	Interactive disk-usage browser (install first)

Processes and performance

Command	What it does
`htop`	Live CPU/RAM per process (install with apt)
`ps aux \| grep node`	Find a running process
`kill 1234` / `kill -9 1234`	Stop / force-stop a process by PID
`uptime`	How long the server has run, plus load
`nproc`	Number of CPU cores

Services (systemd)

Command	What it does
`systemctl status nginx`	Is a service running? Recent log lines
`systemctl restart nginx`	Restart after a config change
`systemctl enable --now app`	Start now and on every boot
`journalctl -u nginx -f`	Follow a service's log live
`journalctl --disk-usage`	How much space the logs take

Network

Command	What it does
`ip a`	Your IP addresses
`ss -tulpn`	Which ports are open and which program listens
`curl -I https://example.com`	Test a website from the server
`ping -c 4 1.1.1.1`	Check connectivity
`ufw status` / `ufw allow 443`	Firewall status / open a port

Run ss -tulpn after installing anything. If a database (MySQL 3306, PostgreSQL 5432, Redis 6379, MongoDB 27017) listens on 0.0.0.0, it's open to the whole internet — bind it to 127.0.0.1 or firewall it.

Users and permissions

Command	What it does
`adduser deploy`	Create a user
`usermod -aG sudo deploy`	Give the user admin rights
`chown -R deploy:deploy /srv/app`	Change ownership
`chmod 600 file`	Owner-only read/write — work it out with the chmod calculator
`passwd`	Change your password

Updates and packages (Ubuntu/Debian)

Command	What it does
`apt update && apt upgrade -y`	Install all updates
`apt install htop`	Install a package
`apt autoremove`	Remove leftovers
`reboot`	Restart the server

New to servers? Start with what a VPS is and how to connect over SSH.

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