10 Linux commands to boost productivity

Here are 10 Linux commands you can use to learn about your system and quickly become more productive.

10 Linux commands to understand your system

Open the Terminal application and start typing the following commands to get to know your Linux desktop or cloud server/VM.

1. free - get free and used memory

Are you out of memory? Use the free command to display the total amount of available and used physical (RAM) and swap memory in your Linux system. It also shows the buffers and caches used by the kernel:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com

free # Output in an easy-to-understand format linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com

free -h
# Use the cat command to find detailed information
linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ cat /proc/meminfo

However, the free command does not provide information about the memory configuration, the maximum memory supported by the Linux server, and the speed of Linux memory. Therefore, we must use the dmidecode command:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ sudo dmidecode -t memory

To determine the amount of memory of the graphics card under Linux, please try:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com

glxinfo | egrep -i ‘device|memory’
Device: llvmpipe (LLVM 11.0.0, 256 bits) (0xffffffff)
Video memory: 3895MB
Unified memory: no

2. hwinfo – hardware probe

We can quickly detect the hardware in a Linux server or desktop:

# Find detailed information about a Linux machine
hwinfo
# Show only summary
# hwinfo –short
# View all disks
# hwinfo –disk
# Get an overview
# hwinfo –short –block
# Find a specific disk
# hwinfo –disk –only /dev/sda
# Try monitor data from 4 graphics ports
# hwprobe=bios.ddc.ports=4 hwinfo –monitor
# Restrict information to specific devices
# hwinfo –short –cpu –disk –listmd –gfxcard –wlan –printer

Also, you may find the lshw command and inxi command useful for displaying Linux hardware information:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com

inxi -Fxz

3. id – Display user information
Displays Linux user and group information for a given USER name. If the username is omitted, the current user's information is displayed:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ id

See who is logged in on your Linux server:

who
who am i

4. lsblk – list block storage device

All Linux block devices provide buffered access to the hardware device and allow blocks to be read and written based on configuration. Linux block devices have names. For example, for NVMe it is /dev/nvme0n1, for SCSI devices such as HDD/SSD it is /dev/sda. But you don't have to memorize them. You can easily list them using the following syntax:

lsblk
# List only
# lsblk -l
# Use grep command to filter out loop devices
# lsblk -l | grep ‘^loop’

5. lsb_release – Linux release information

Want to get distribution-specific information, such as the description, release number, and codename of the currently installed distribution:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ lsb_release -a

No LSB module available.

LSB Version: core-11.1.0ubuntu2-noarch:security-11.1.0ubuntu2-noarch
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS
Release: 20.04
Codename: focal

6. lscpu – displays information about the CPU

The lscpu command collects and displays CPU architecture information, including various CPU errors, in an easy-to-understand format:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ lscpu

You can also use the lshw command to list the Cpu:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ sudo lshw -C cpu

7. lstopo – Display hardware topology

Want to view the topology of the Linux server or desktop version? try:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ lstopo

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ lstopo-no-graphics

You will see information about:

1. NUMA memory nodes
2. Shared cache
3. CPU Kit
4. Processor core
5. Processor "threads" etc.

8. lsusb – List USB devices

We all use USB devices such as external hard drives and keyboards. Run the NA command to display information about the USB bus and its connected devices in your Linux system.

lsusb

#Detect PID and VID information of USB devices connected to the system

#sudo usbview

usbview provides a graphical summary of the USB devices connected to the system. Detailed information can be displayed by selecting an individual device in the tree display

lspci – List PCI devices

We use the lspci command to display information about the PCI bus in the system and the devices connected to it:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ lspci

9. timedatectl – View the current date and time zone

Usually, we use the date command to set or get date/time information on the CLI:

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ date | lolcat

Sunday, December 20, 2020 13:30:22 CST

However, modern Linux distributions use the timedatectl command to query and change the system clock and its settings, and to enable or disable time synchronization services (NTPD and co):

linuxmi@linuxmi:~/www.linuxmi.com$ timedatectl | lolcat

10. w – Who logged in

Run the w command on Linux to view information about the Linux users currently in use on your computer and their processes:

Summarize

Now, we have learned 10 system Linux commands to understand the system and quickly improve productivity to solve problems. In the comments section below, let me know your favorite tool you know. Thanks!

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