Useful Commands

This section contains useful Linux commands for stake pool operators that veteran administrators are familiar with but some new admins may not be aware of.

The which command

This command is used to find out which version of a program is being accessed by the node. This is very useful if you have multiple versions of a program in your system like when you have just performed an upgrade.

Syntax:

which cardano-cli

This command will show the full path of the cardano-cli that is being used by the node.

The find command

This command is useful when looking for where a particular file is located.

Syntax: Search for the file "filename' from the root directory '/' and return the full path if the file is located

find / -name 'filename' -print

Syntax: Search from the current directory, all files ending in ".sh" and display the full path to these files

find . -name '*.sh' -print

The netstat command

This command can show various network related outputs depending on the parameters that you pass to it.

Syntax: To show configured network routes

netstat -rn

Syntax: To display which IP address port 12788 is listening in

netstat -ln | grep 12788

The htop command

This command will show you a dashboard of CPU, Memory and process utilization which is updated in realtime.

Syntax:

htop

NOTE: A similar command "top" is also available with simpler output

The umount command

This command is used to unmount filesystems. You should use this command before removing a USB drive from the server.

Syntax: Unmount the USB drive connected to the system

umount /media/cardano

NOTE: Go to a different directory tree from the mount point or this command may fail.