My Skill Lab
Cloud & DevOpsBeginner

Linux Command Line for Beginners

Files, permissions, processes, shell scripting and SSH.

Taught by Suman Ghimire · DevOps Engineer

What you'll learn

  • Navigate the Linux filesystem confidently using absolute and relative paths
  • Create, copy, move, search and safely delete files and directories from the terminal
  • Read and change file permissions and ownership with chmod, chown and sudo
  • Combine commands with pipes and redirection to filter logs and text
  • Manage processes, systemd services and packages on Ubuntu and Fedora
  • Write bash scripts and connect to remote servers securely with SSH keys

About this course

This free Linux command line course is for complete beginners who want to feel at home in a terminal before moving into cloud, DevOps or cybersecurity work. You will learn to navigate the Linux filesystem, create and find files, read and change file permissions, chain commands together with pipes and redirection, manage processes and systemd services, install software with apt and dnf, and write your first bash scripts. The final lesson covers SSH keys, an SSH config file and copying files to remote servers, which is exactly what you need to manage a cloud virtual machine. Every lesson is hands-on, with commands you can run on a current Ubuntu LTS release, Fedora, Windows Subsystem for Linux or a free-tier cloud server. No prior programming or Linux experience is required, only a computer and the willingness to type commands and read what comes back.

Course content

7 lessons
  1. 1Meet the Terminal and Find Your Way AroundWhat the shell is, how the Linux filesystem is laid out, and the commands for moving around it.Preview
  2. 2Creating, Reading and Finding FilesMake, copy, move and delete files safely, read them without an editor, and search by name or content.
  3. 3Users, Groups and File PermissionsRead permission strings, change them with chmod, change ownership with chown and use sudo responsibly.
  4. 4Pipes, Redirection and Text ProcessingSend output to files, chain commands together, and slice logs with grep, sort, cut, sed and awk.
  5. 5Processes, Services and Package ManagersInspect and stop running programs, control systemd services, read their logs, and install software.
  6. 6Your First Bash ScriptsTurn repeated commands into scripts with variables, arguments, conditions, loops and safe defaults.
  7. 7SSH and Working on Remote ServersLog in with SSH keys, simplify connections with a config file, copy files, and apply basic SSH hardening.