This is just to document some of my favorite Linux utilities. The original list is from a HowTo Virtulaization article 7 Tools I Always Install on Every New Home Lab Linux Server by Brandon Lee.

htop

system monitor

sudo apt install htop

ncdu

disk usage analysis

sudo apt install ncdu

ufw

basic firewall

sudo apt install ufw

sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443
sudo ufw status
sudo ufw allow samba

Fail2Ban

basic intrusion protection for internet exposed services

sudo apt install fail2ban
sudo systemctl status fail2ban
sudo fail2ban-client status

unattended-upgrades

automatic security updates

sudo apt install unattended-upgrades

Docker

for running applications

sudo apt install docker.io
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo docker run hello-world

to deploy nginx:
sudo docker run -d -p 8080:80 nginx

Netdata

monitoring

bash <(curl -Ss https://my-netdata.io/kickstart.sh)

http://your-server-ip:19999

tmux

Tmux lets you create a session, exit it, close ssh, open ssh and resume session.

tmux – creates new session
tmux mysession – creates new session named mysession
tmux ls or list-sessions – lists sessions
tmux a or attach – (re)attaches to last session
tmux a or attach <name> – (re)attaches to named session
Ctrl+b then d – detaches from session

Ubuntu Crash Troubleshooting

Check Logs: Use journalctl -b -1 -e to see the last messages before the crash