Learning path

The Linux command line for Windows admins

Enough Bash to find your way around a Linux server, read its logs and check its disks, with three tested scripts to take away.

Beginner · About 2 and a half hours · 16 steps

Sooner or later every Windows admin is handed a Linux box. This path covers what you need on that first day: moving around, reading files and logs, and checking disk and memory. The lab exercises tick themselves off as you solve them.

If you know PowerShell, the ideas carry over. The big difference is that Bash pipes pass text, not objects.

Shell Lab · Bash · Getting startedWhere am I?
Shell Lab · Bash · Navigating and listingList your folder
Shell Lab · Bash · Navigating and listingLong listing

The long listing shows permissions, owners and sizes: most of what you need to know about a file.
Shell Lab · Bash · Navigating and listingRead a file
Shell Lab · Bash · Navigating and listingMove into a folder
Cheat sheetThe Bash cheat sheet

Keep it open for the rest of the path.
Shell Lab · Bash · Reading and filtering textFind matching lines

grep is the tool you will use most on a Linux server.
Shell Lab · Bash · Reading and filtering textFirst few lines
Shell Lab · Bash · Counting and summarisingTally by value
Shell Lab · Bash · System resourcesDisk space
Shell Lab · Bash · System resourcesMemory in use
Shell Lab · Bash · System logsErrors only

journalctl is where a modern Linux system keeps its logs.
ScriptRead a real script: disk usage alert
ScriptRead a real script: find the biggest directories
ScriptRead a real script: summarise failed SSH logins

Who is knocking on the door, and how often.
Shell Lab · Bash · ScriptingLoop over files

A for loop over files is the start of every Bash script.