Linux Networking Commands for DevOps Engineers¶

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This page covers essential Linux networking commands used by DevOps engineers to troubleshoot connectivity, inspect network interfaces, and debug service-to-service communication in production systems.

Pipe (|)¶

A pipe (|) is used to pass the output from one command/program to the input for another command.

[opc@new-k8s test]$ pwd
/home/opc/test
[opc@new-k8s test]$ ll
total 8
drwxrwxr-x. 2 opc opc 27 Mar 17 14:03 client
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc opc 77 Apr 12 12:26 Dockerfile
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc opc  0 Apr 12 12:54 hello.txt
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc opc 23 Apr 12 12:56 mani.txt
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc opc  0 Mar 17 14:03 server
drwxrwxr-x. 3 opc opc 18 Apr 13 12:46 vignesh
[opc@new-k8s test]$ ll | wc -l
7

jq Command¶

Used to read JSON data or files.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ pwd
/home/opc
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ll
total 3072012
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc         852 Apr 15 03:15 fruits.txt
drwxrwxr-x. 2 opc  opc          39 Apr 15 12:46 myprogram
-rwxrwxr-x. 1 opc  opc          81 Apr 15 13:27 newtest
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc        2026 Apr 18 11:39 output.json
drwxrwxr-x. 2 opc  opc          25 Nov 26  2021 prometheus
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3145728000 Jan 11  2022 swapfile
drwxrwxr-x. 4 opc  opc         100 Apr 15 13:04 test
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat output.json | jq .
{
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389",
  "assets_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389/assets",
  "upload_url": "https://uploads.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389/assets{?name,label}",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/tag/clean",
  "id": 43010389,
  "author": {
    "login": "vigneshsweekaran",
    "id": 40670015,
    "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjQwNjcwMDE1",
    "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/40670015?v=4",
    "gravatar_id": "",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/vigneshsweekaran",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/received_events",
    "type": "User",
    "site_admin": false
  },
  "node_id": "MDc6UmVsZWFzZTQzMDEwMzg5",
  "tag_name": "clean",
  "target_commitish": "master",
  "name": "Clean repo with maven application",
  "draft": false,
  "prerelease": false,
  "created_at": "2021-05-16T06:18:49Z",
  "published_at": "2021-05-16T06:26:47Z",
  "assets": [],
  "tarball_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/tarball/clean",
  "zipball_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/zipball/clean",
  "body": ""
}

Piping curl output to jq¶

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ curl https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/latest | jq .
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100  2026  100  2026    0     0   3455      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 3463
{
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389",
  "assets_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389/assets",
  "upload_url": "https://uploads.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389/assets{?name,label}",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/tag/clean",
  "id": 43010389,
  "author": {
    "login": "vigneshsweekaran",
    "id": 40670015,
    "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjQwNjcwMDE1",
    "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/40670015?v=4",
    "gravatar_id": "",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/vigneshsweekaran",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/received_events",
    "type": "User",
    "site_admin": false
  },
  "node_id": "MDc6UmVsZWFzZTQzMDEwMzg5",
  "tag_name": "clean",
  "target_commitish": "master",
  "name": "Clean repo with maven application",
  "draft": false,
  "prerelease": false,
  "created_at": "2021-05-16T06:18:49Z",
  "published_at": "2021-05-16T06:26:47Z",
  "assets": [],
  "tarball_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/tarball/clean",
  "zipball_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/zipball/clean",
  "body": ""
}

Reading specific data with jq¶

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat output.json | jq .url
"https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389"

Reading raw output with jq¶

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat output.json | jq -r .url
https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389

Reading nested values with jq¶

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat output.json | jq .
{
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389",
  "assets_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389/assets",
  "upload_url": "https://uploads.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/43010389/assets{?name,label}",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/releases/tag/clean",
  "id": 43010389,
  "author": {
    "login": "vigneshsweekaran",
    "id": 40670015,
    "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjQwNjcwMDE1",
    "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/40670015?v=4",
    "gravatar_id": "",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/vigneshsweekaran",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/vigneshsweekaran/received_events",
    "type": "User",
    "site_admin": false
  },
  "node_id": "MDc6UmVsZWFzZTQzMDEwMzg5",
  "tag_name": "clean",
  "target_commitish": "master",
  "name": "Clean repo with maven application",
  "draft": false,
  "prerelease": false,
  "created_at": "2021-05-16T06:18:49Z",
  "published_at": "2021-05-16T06:26:47Z",
  "assets": [],
  "tarball_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/tarball/clean",
  "zipball_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/vigneshsweekaran/hello-world/zipball/clean",
  "body": ""
}
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat output.json | jq .author.login
"vigneshsweekaran"

Exit Codes ($?)¶

$? is a special variable which holds the status code of the last executed command.

In Linux, 0 means success, any other value indicates failure.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ll
total 3072008
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc         852 Apr 15 03:15 fruits.txt
-rwxrwxr-x. 1 opc  opc          81 Apr 15 13:27 newtest
drwxrwxr-x. 2 opc  opc          25 Nov 26  2021 prometheus
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3145728000 Jan 11  2022 swapfile
drwxrwxr-x. 4 opc  opc         100 Apr 15 13:04 test
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ echo $?
0
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ddhghg
-bash: ddhghg: command not found
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ echo $?
127

grep Command¶

The grep command is used to search for a word and print the matching lines.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat /etc/passwd | grep bash
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
opc:x:1000:1000:Oracle Public Cloud User:/home/opc:/bin/bash
vignesh:x:1001:1001::/home/vignesh:/bin/bash

grep - Ignore Case¶

-i → Used to ignore case sensitivity.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat /etc/passwd | grep BASH
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat /etc/passwd | grep -i BASH
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
opc:x:1000:1000:Oracle Public Cloud User:/home/opc:/bin/bash
vignesh:x:1001:1001::/home/vignesh:/bin/bash

grep - Print Lines After Match¶

-A n → Argument used to print the next n lines after the match.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat states.txt | grep -i tamil
Tamil Nadu
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat states.txt | grep -i -A5 tamil
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Telangana
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal

grep - Print Lines Before Match¶

-B n → Argument used to print n lines before the match.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat states.txt | grep -i tamil
Tamil Nadu
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat states.txt | grep -i -B5 tamil
Nagaland
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu

awk Command¶

The awk command is used to print specific columns from the output.

It has a lot of features to operate on text.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ll
total 3072024
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc         852 Apr 15 03:15 fruits.txt
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc        9943 Apr 19 11:16 india.txt
-rwxrwxr-x. 1 opc  opc          81 Apr 15 13:27 newtest
drwxrwxr-x. 2 opc  opc          25 Nov 26  2021 prometheus
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc         282 Apr 19 11:22 states.txt
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3145728000 Jan 11  2022 swapfile
drwxrwxr-x. 4 opc  opc         100 Apr 15 13:04 test
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ll | awk '{print $9}'

fruits.txt
india.txt
newtest
prometheus
states.txt
swapfile
test

awk - Customizing Output¶

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ll
total 3072024
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc         852 Apr 15 03:15 fruits.txt
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc        9943 Apr 19 11:16 india.txt
-rwxrwxr-x. 1 opc  opc          81 Apr 15 13:27 newtest
drwxrwxr-x. 2 opc  opc          25 Nov 26  2021 prometheus
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc         282 Apr 19 11:22 states.txt
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3145728000 Jan 11  2022 swapfile
drwxrwxr-x. 4 opc  opc         100 Apr 15 13:04 test
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ll | awk '{print $1 "t" $9}'
total
-rw-rw-r--.     fruits.txt
-rw-rw-r--.     india.txt
-rwxrwxr-x.     newtest
drwxrwxr-x.     prometheus
-rw-rw-r--.     states.txt
-rw-r--r--.     swapfile
drwxrwxr-x.     test

cut Command¶

The cut command can be used to print specific columns. -d → delimiter -f → field number

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ll
total 3072024
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc         852 Apr 15 03:15 fruits.txt
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc        9943 Apr 19 11:16 india.txt
-rwxrwxr-x. 1 opc  opc          81 Apr 15 13:27 newtest
drwxrwxr-x. 2 opc  opc          25 Nov 26  2021 prometheus
-rw-rw-r--. 1 opc  opc         282 Apr 19 11:22 states.txt
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3145728000 Jan 11  2022 swapfile
drwxrwxr-x. 4 opc  opc         100 Apr 15 13:04 test
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ ll | cut -d " " -f 1
total
-rw-rw-r--.
-rw-rw-r--.
-rwxrwxr-x.
drwxrwxr-x.
-rw-rw-r--.
-rw-r--r--.
drwxrwxr-x.

cut - Custom Delimiter¶

cat /etc/passwd | cut -d ":" -f 1

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
adm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin
lp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin
sync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync
shutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown
halt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt
mail:x:8:12:mail:/var/spool/mail:/sbin/nologin
operator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin
games:x:12:100:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin
ftp:x:14:50:FTP User:/var/ftp:/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:99:99:Nobody:/:/sbin/nologin
systemd-network:x:192:192:systemd Network Management:/:/sbin/nologin
dbus:x:81:81:System message bus:/:/sbin/nologin
polkitd:x:999:998:User for polkitd:/:/sbin/nologin
libstoragemgmt:x:998:997:daemon account for libstoragemgmt:/var/run/lsm:/sbin/nologin
rpc:x:32:32:Rpcbind Daemon:/var/lib/rpcbind:/sbin/nologin
abrt:x:173:173::/etc/abrt:/sbin/nologin
rpcuser:x:29:29:RPC Service User:/var/lib/nfs:/sbin/nologin
nfsnobody:x:65534:65534:Anonymous NFS User:/var/lib/nfs:/sbin/nologin
sshd:x:74:74:Privilege-separated SSH:/var/empty/sshd:/sbin/nologin
postfix:x:89:89::/var/spool/postfix:/sbin/nologin
chrony:x:997:994::/var/lib/chrony:/sbin/nologin
ntp:x:38:38::/etc/ntp:/sbin/nologin
tcpdump:x:72:72::/:/sbin/nologin
oracle-cloud-agent:x:996:993:Oracle Cloud Agent Service User:/var/lib/oracle-cloud-agent:/usr/sbin/nologin
oracle-cloud-agent-updater:x:995:993:Oracle Cloud Agent Updater Service User:/var/lib/oracle-cloud-agent:/usr/sbin/nologin
ocarun:x:994:993:Oracle Cloud Agent Runcommand Service User:/var/lib/ocarun:/usr/sbin/nologin
opc:x:1000:1000:Oracle Public Cloud User:/home/opc:/bin/bash
jenkins:x:993:991:Jenkins Automation Server:/var/lib/jenkins:/bin/false
vignesh:x:1001:1001::/home/vignesh:/bin/bash
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat /etc/passwd | cut -d ":" -f 1
root
bin
daemon
adm
lp
sync
shutdown
halt
mail
operator
games
ftp
nobody
systemd-network
dbus
polkitd
libstoragemgmt
rpc
abrt
rpcuser
nfsnobody
sshd
postfix
chrony
ntp
tcpdump
oracle-cloud-agent
oracle-cloud-agent-updater
ocarun
opc
jenkins
vignesh

sed Command¶

The sed command can be used to replace words.

By default, the sed command replaces the first occurrence of the pattern in each line. It won’t replace the second, third, etc. occurrence in the line.

It prints the modified content to the screen by default.

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat hello.txt
hello world
hello world world my world
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ sed "s/world/devops/" hello.txt
hello devops
hello devops world my world

sed - Global Replacement¶

g → replace all matches in a line

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat hello.txt
hello world
hello world world my world
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ sed "s/world/devops/g" hello.txt
hello devops
hello devops devops my devops

sed - Edit File in Place¶

-i → argument used to save the change to the actual file

[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat hello.txt
hello world
hello world world my world
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ sed "s/world/devops/g" hello.txt
hello devops
hello devops devops my devops
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat hello.txt
hello world
hello world world my world
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ sed -i "s/world/devops/g" hello.txt
[opc@new-k8s ~]$ cat hello.txt
hello devops
hello devops devops my devops

🧠 Quick Quiz — Networking Commands¶

#

Which command is most commonly used to test basic network connectivity to a remote host?

📝 Want More Practice?¶

To strengthen your understanding and prepare for interviews, try the full 20-question practice quiz based on this chapter:

👉 Start Networking Commands Quiz (20 Questions)

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