If you spend any time in a terminal, you know the power (and the occasional pain) of the Linux command line. Linux Command Line Tips here are meant to shave minutes off repetitive tasks, make scripts less fragile, and help you feel more confident at the prompt. I’ll share practical tips, commands, and small habits that paid dividends for me—especially when juggling SSH sessions, scripting, and fast file searches. Read on for hands-on examples and copy-paste-ready snippets.
Essential habits to master the terminal
Good habits beat memorizing every command. Start small and be consistent.
1. Learn a few shell shortcuts
- Ctrl+R: reverse search command history — lifesaver for long git or ssh commands.
- Tab completion: press Tab twice to see options; saves a ton of typing.
- Alt+.: insert last argument from previous command (great for reusing filenames).
2. Use aliases and a tidy .bashrc
Alias frequently used commands to prevent typos and speed things up. In my experience, a few well-chosen aliases reduce friction more than a dozen obscure functions.
# ~/.bashrc
alias ll=’ls -alF’
alias gs=’git status’
alias lsd=’ls -d */’
Fast file search and content search
Searching is where the terminal shines—if you pick the right tool.
Find vs ripgrep vs locate
find is powerful but verbose. For text search, I prefer rg (ripgrep) when available because it’s fast and ignores binary files by default.
| Task | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Find files by name | find | Flexible filters and actions |
| Search text in files | rg / grep | Speed and modern defaults |
| Quick filename lookup | locate | Uses updatedb, very fast |
Example commands
# find files modified in last 7 days
find . -type f -mtime -7
# fast text search with ripgrep (install rg)
rg “TODO” –hidden
# fallback with grep
grep -R –line-number “TODO” .
Command-line text processing: grep, awk, sed
These are classic tools—learn one at a time. Each shines in different scenarios.
| Tool | Best for |
|---|---|
| grep | Quick pattern matching |
| awk | Field extraction & lightweight reports |
| sed | In-place edits and transforms |
Practical awk example
# print 1st and 3rd columns from space-separated file
awk ‘{print $1, $3}’ data.txt
SSH, remote work, and multiplexing
SSH is standard, but small tweaks make remote work tolerable.
- Use an SSH config (~/.ssh/config) to store host nicknames and key paths.
- Multiplex connections with ControlMaster to speed repeated SSH commands.
# ~/.ssh/config
Host myserver
HostName server.example.com
User ubuntu
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
ControlMaster auto
ControlPath ~/.ssh/cm-%r@%h:%p
ControlPersist 10m
Productivity tricks and automation
I automate small chores—backups, logs pruning, repetitive builds. Shell scripts + cron still win for lightweight automation.
Make scripts robust
- Start scripts with set -euo pipefail.
- Use functions and clear logging.
- Test scripts interactively before scheduling with cron or systemd timers.
Example: safe copy with progress
rsync -avh –progress /src/ user@host:/dest/
Debugging commands and monitoring
When things fail, these commands are my first look:
- top / htop for live resource use
- journalctl -u service for systemd services
- strace for syscalls when debugging weird failures
If you want to learn more about how Linux works at a high level, the Linux Wikipedia page is a good background resource. For shell specifics and reference, consult the GNU Bash manual.
Quick reference: cheat sheet
- ls -al — detailed listing
- cd – — jump to previous directory
- history | grep — find past commands
- xargs -P — parallelize simple jobs
Learning path for beginners to intermediates
From what I’ve seen, progress follows this arc:
- Get comfortable with navigation, file ops, and piping.
- Learn text tools: grep, awk, sed, cut.
- Start small scripts, use version control for them.
- Automate and monitor with cron/systemd and logging.
Final tips and best practices
- Keep your dotfiles tidy and versioned in Git.
- Favor readability over clever one-liners in scripts.
- Back up automation and test in a safe environment.
Take one tip, try it today—maybe set up a useful alias or add ControlPersist to your SSH config—and you’ll notice the little time savings add up. If you want examples tailored to your workflow (devops, data work, web ops), tell me where you spend most time in the terminal and I’ll suggest targeted tips.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with navigation (cd, ls), file ops (cp, mv, rm), and using tab completion. Learn piping and redirection, then add a few aliases and a tidy ~/.bashrc for convenience.
Use ripgrep (rg) for fast text searches, locate for quick filename lookups, and limit find with -type and -name filters. Index-based tools like locate are fastest for filenames.
Use aliases for short, frequently typed commands and scripts for multi-step or reusable logic. Keep scripts in version control and add logging for reliability.
Configure ~/.ssh/config for host aliases and use ControlMaster/ControlPath to multiplex connections. Store keys securely and consider SSH agent forwarding only when necessary.
Start with grep for pattern matching, awk for field-based extraction and light reporting, and sed for stream editing. Each tool covers distinct use cases and pairs well with pipes.