Linux Basics for Network and Cloud Engineers

Why Linux Matters for Network and Cloud Engineers

Most modern infrastructure—routers, firewalls, cloud platforms, containers and monitoring systems—runs on or around Linux. Even if you never become a full-time system administrator, you need basic Linux skills to debug issues, run tools and understand what automation is doing behind the scenes.

Many certifications (cloud, DevOps, security) assume you can use a Linux shell comfortably. This article focuses on the essentials that give you 80% of the value with 20% of the effort.

Shell Navigation and File Basics

Start with becoming fluent in moving around the filesystem:

• pwd, ls, cd for navigation.
• cp, mv, rm for file management.
• less, cat, tail -f for reading logs and configs.

Learn how Linux permissions work at a high level—owner, group, others—and practice chmod and chown with test files. You will need this when dealing with SSH keys, web server directories or configuration files.

Networking Tools You Will Use Every Week

For network and cloud engineers, the following tools are critical:

• ip addr, ip route – see interfaces and routing tables.
• ping, traceroute – basic connectivity and path tests.
• tcpdump – packet captures for deeper troubleshooting.
• curl, wget – testing HTTP APIs and downloads.

Practice these in small lab scenarios: for example, debug why a container cannot reach an external service, or why an application cannot resolve DNS.

Processes, Services and Logs

When something breaks, you need to check whether the right processes are running, whether services are enabled and what logs are saying:

• ps aux, top or htop for process overview.
• systemctl status, systemctl restart for services.
• journalctl or files in /var/log for logs.

Many exam labs expect you to interpret basic log output or to verify that a service is enabled at boot. Focus on patterns: what a successful startup looks like and how failures usually appear.

Scripting and Automation: Just Enough to Be Dangerous

You do not need to write complex shell scripts, but understanding:

• Variables (MYVAR=value, echo $MYVAR).
• Simple loops (for, while).
• Pipelines and redirection (|, >, >>).

will let you automate repetitive checks: pinging multiple hosts, verifying open ports, or grabbing metrics from APIs. This is especially useful in DevOps and cloud exams, where configuration is often applied in bulk.

Article Details

• Level: Beginner to Intermediate
• Topic: Linux Fundamentals
• Audience: Network & cloud engineers

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