AlmaLinux Command Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet collects the most commonly used commands for day-to-day operations on AlmaLinux 9 / 10, organized by function. Unless otherwise noted, most commands require root privileges or should be prefixed with sudo.

Package Management (DNF)

Operation	Command
Search for a package	`dnf search <keyword>`
Install a package	`dnf install <package>`
Remove a package	`dnf remove <package>`
Upgrade all installed packages	`dnf upgrade`
Check for available updates only	`dnf check-update`
Find the package providing a file/capability	`dnf provides <file path or capability>`
List enabled repositories	`dnf repolist`
List all repositories (including disabled)	`dnf repolist --all`
Clean the cache	`dnf clean all`
Rebuild the metadata cache	`dnf makecache`
View transaction history	`dnf history`
Roll back a specific transaction	`dnf history undo <ID>`
List module streams	`dnf module list`
Enable and install a module stream	`dnf module install <module>:<stream>`
List package groups	`dnf group list`
Install a package group	`dnf group install "<group name>"`
View package information	`dnf info <package>`
List a package's dependencies	`dnf repoquery --requires <package>`

Service Management (systemctl)

Operation	Command
Start a service	`systemctl start <service>`
Stop a service	`systemctl stop <service>`
Restart a service	`systemctl restart <service>`
Reload configuration (without interruption)	`systemctl reload <service>`
View service status	`systemctl status <service>`
Enable a service at boot	`systemctl enable <service>`
Disable a service at boot	`systemctl disable <service>`
Enable and start immediately	`systemctl enable --now <service>`
List running units	`systemctl list-units`
List all service units	`systemctl list-units --type=service`
Check whether a service is running	`systemctl is-active <service>`
Check whether a service starts at boot	`systemctl is-enabled <service>`
Reload the systemd configuration	`systemctl daemon-reload`

Viewing Logs (journalctl)

Operation	Command
View logs for a specific service	`journalctl -u <service>`
Follow logs in real time	`journalctl -f`
Follow logs for a specific service	`journalctl -u <service> -f`
Filter by priority (e.g. errors)	`journalctl -p err`
View logs after a given time	`journalctl --since "2026-06-01 08:00:00"`
View logs since the current boot	`journalctl -b`
View logs from the previous boot	`journalctl -b -1`
View disk space used by logs	`journalctl --disk-usage`
Clean logs by size	`journalctl --vacuum-size=500M`
Clean logs by time	`journalctl --vacuum-time=2weeks`

Firewall (firewalld)

Operation	Command
View firewall running state	`firewall-cmd --state`
View all rules in the current zone	`firewall-cmd --list-all`
Permanently allow a service	`firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http`
Permanently allow a port	`firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8080/tcp`
Reload rules to apply permanent config	`firewall-cmd --reload`
View the default zone	`firewall-cmd --get-default-zone`
List all zones	`firewall-cmd --get-zones`
Bind an interface to a zone	`firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --change-interface=eth0`
Add a rich rule	`firewall-cmd --permanent --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source address="192.168.1.0/24" service name="ssh" accept'`

SELinux

Operation	Command
View the current mode	`getenforce`
Temporarily switch to permissive mode	`setenforce 0`
Temporarily switch to enforcing mode	`setenforce 1`
View detailed SELinux status	`sestatus`
Restore a file's default context	`restorecon -Rv <path>`
Permanently set a boolean	`setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on`
Add a type label to a port	`semanage port -a -t http_port_t -p tcp 8080`
View SELinux denial records	`ausearch -m avc -ts recent`
Analyze denials and get suggestions	`sealert -a /var/log/audit/audit.log`

Networking (NetworkManager)

Operation	Command
List connection profiles	`nmcli con show`
List network devices	`nmcli dev status`
Bring up a connection	`nmcli con up <connection>`
Set a static IP	`nmcli con mod <connection> ipv4.addresses 192.168.1.10/24 ipv4.method manual`
Set DNS	`nmcli con mod <connection> ipv4.dns "8.8.8.8 1.1.1.1"`
View IP addresses	`ip addr`
View the routing table	`ip route`
View listening ports (ss recommended)	`ss -tulpn`

Users and Permissions

Operation	Command
Create a user	`useradd <username>`
Set/change a password	`passwd <username>`
Add a user to a supplementary group	`usermod -aG wheel <username>`
View/change password aging	`chage -l <username>`
Safely edit sudoers	`visudo`
Change file permissions	`chmod 640 <file>`
Change file owner and group	`chown user:group <file>`
View ACL permissions	`getfacl <file>`
Set ACL permissions	`setfacl -m u:user:rw <file>`

Storage Management

Operation	Command
View the block device tree	`lsblk`
View partition UUID/filesystem	`blkid`
View disk usage (with type)	`df -hT`
View directory usage	`du -sh <directory>`
Mount a filesystem	`mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt`
Make a mount persistent	Edit `/etc/fstab`
Extend a logical volume	`lvextend -L +10G /dev/vg0/lv0`
Grow an XFS filesystem online	`xfs_growfs /`
Grow an ext4 filesystem online	`resize2fs /dev/vg0/lv0`

Processes and Performance

Operation	Command
View all processes	`ps aux`
Monitor processes in real time	`top`
Enhanced interactive monitoring	`htop`
View memory usage	`free -h`
View system load and uptime	`uptime`
View resource usage by cgroup	`systemd-cgtop`
View resources for a specific process	`ps -p <PID> -o %cpu,%mem,cmd`

System Information

Operation	Command
View hostname and system info	`hostnamectl`
Set the timezone	`timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Shanghai`
View the AlmaLinux version	`cat /etc/almalinux-release`
View the kernel version	`uname -r`
View the DNF version	`dnf --version`
View CPU information	`lscpu`
View time and timezone status	`timedatectl`

Further Reading

Firewall Configuration and Management: a detailed walkthrough of firewalld zones, rich rules, and port forwarding.
Server Security Hardening: a complete practice guide for SELinux, SSH, account, and system hardening.