VPS Plans HelpDesk Services MARKETPLACE Tutorials Support My Account
Home / Linux / Basic Linux Commands for Your VPS

Basic Linux Commands for Your VPS

A beginner-friendly guide to the most important Linux commands you will use on a VPS: navigation, files, permissions, processes, networking, and safe habits. Includes what each command does, why you need it, expected output, and warnings.

Views: 22 Unique: 16 Updated: 2026-03-19

What this is

This article is a beginner-friendly “for dummies” reference of the most common Linux commands used on a VPS. It is designed for people who are starting and want a practical cheat sheet with explanations.

What it is for

  • Move around the server (folders and paths)
  • Create, view, edit, copy, and delete files
  • Understand permissions (why “Permission denied” happens)
  • Check disk space, memory, CPU usage
  • Start/stop services and verify health
  • Get basic network information and troubleshoot

Prerequisites

  • You are connected to your VPS via SSH (PowerShell/Terminal)
  • Basic comfort with copy/paste
  • If you are not root, you may need sudo for some commands

Important beginner notes (read first)

  • Linux is case-sensitive: File.txt and file.txt are different.
  • Be careful with delete commands (rm): there is no “Recycle Bin”.
  • When you see Permission denied, it usually means you need sudo or correct ownership/permissions.
  • When in doubt, run a “safe read” command first (like ls or cat) before changing anything.

Step-by-step: the essential commands

1) Where am I? (current folder)

Command:

pwd

What it does: Prints your current directory.

Why it is needed: Helps you avoid editing the wrong location.

Expected output: A path like /root or /home/ubuntu.

2) List files and folders

Command:

ls

What it does: Lists files in the current directory.

Expected output: Names of files/folders.

Most useful variant:

ls -la

What it does: Shows hidden files (-a) and detailed info (-l).

Expected output: Lines with permissions, owner, size, date, file name.

Useful note: If you see files beginning with . they are hidden configuration files.

3) Change directory (move into a folder)

Command:

cd /path/to/folder

Example:

cd /var/www

What it does: Moves you into another directory.

Expected output: Nothing (success is silent). Check with pwd.

Go back:

cd ..

What it does: Goes one directory up.

Go home:

cd ~

4) Create folders and files

Create a folder

mkdir myfolder

What it does: Creates a directory.

Expected output: Nothing (silent on success).

Create an empty file

touch notes.txt

What it does: Creates the file if it does not exist (or updates its timestamp).

5) View file contents (safe reading)

Quick view

cat file.txt

What it does: Prints file content to the terminal.

Warning: For very large files it will “spam” your screen.

Paginated view (recommended for logs)

less /var/log/syslog

What it does: Opens an interactive viewer (scroll with arrows; press q to quit).

Show last lines of a file (very common)

tail -n 50 /var/log/syslog

What it does: Shows the last 50 lines.

Follow a log live

tail -f /var/log/syslog

What it does: Continues showing new lines as they appear.

How to stop: Press Ctrl + C.

6) Edit files (beginner-friendly)

Option A (simple editor):

nano /etc/hosts

What it does: Opens a terminal text editor.

How to save: Press Ctrl + O then Enter.

How to exit: Press Ctrl + X.

Important note: Editing system files often requires sudo:

sudo nano /etc/hosts

7) Copy, move, and delete

Copy a file

cp source.txt destination.txt

What it does: Copies a file.

Copy a folder (recursive)

cp -r folderA folderB

Warning: Be careful with large folders (it can take time and disk space).

Move / rename

mv oldname.txt newname.txt

Delete a file (dangerous)

rm file.txt

Warning: This permanently deletes the file.

Delete a folder (very dangerous)

rm -rf foldername

What it does: Removes a folder and everything inside without asking.

Beginner rule: Double-check with ls -la before using rm -rf.

8) Search: find text inside files

grep -R "ERROR" /var/log

What it does: Searches recursively for the text ERROR in files under /var/log.

Expected output: Matching lines with filenames.

9) Understand permissions

Check permissions and owner

ls -la

What to look for: The left side like -rw-r--r-- and the owner/group columns.

Change permissions (example)

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

What it does: Sets file permissions to owner read/write only.

Why it matters: SSH will reject keys if permissions are too open.

Change owner (example)

sudo chown -R username:username /var/www/my-site

What it does: Changes ownership of a directory (recursive).

Warning: Changing ownership incorrectly can break services. Use carefully.

10) Check disk and memory quickly

Disk usage

df -h

Expected output: Filesystems and how full they are. Watch / (root) usage.

Folder sizes (quick)

du -sh *

What it does: Shows the size of each item in the current folder.

Memory usage

free -h

Expected output: Total, used, and available memory.

11) Processes: see what is using CPU/RAM

top

What it does: Shows live process activity.

How to exit: Press q.

Tip: If installed, htop is easier to read:

htop

12) Services: start/stop and check status

sudo systemctl status ssh
sudo systemctl status nginx
sudo systemctl status apache2

What it does: Shows whether each service is running.

Expected output: A line like Active: active (running).

Final verification (after you practice)

  • Run pwd and ls -la in a couple of folders and confirm you understand paths.
  • Create a test folder with mkdir and a test file with touch.
  • Open a file with nano, write a line, save, and view it with cat.
  • Check disk space with df -h and memory with free -h.

Conclusion

These commands are the foundation of working on a VPS. Once you are comfortable with them, tasks like installing a web server, enabling a firewall, or troubleshooting logs become much easier and safer.

Back to category