Linux distro command and config reference: pick your distro, pick a topic, get the box
A practical reference for the commands and config files that differ between Linux distributions. Pick your distro and a topic (network, firewall, services, logs, packages, users, system, storage) and get the quick command, the files involved, a step-by-step workflow for the most common task, the verification command, and the gotcha that catches everyone the first time. Optional side-by-side compare mode for when you are migrating from one distro to another.
What the reference covers (and what it does not)
The reference is built for the 90 percent of tasks that change syntax between distros but mean the same thing in practice. Configure a static IP. Open a port in the firewall. Start a service on boot. Install a package. Add a user with sudo. Look at the journal for the last hour. The output box for each (distro, topic) pair gives you the quick command, the canonical config file path, the step-by-step workflow for the most common task in that topic, a verification command to check it worked, and a gotcha note for the mistake that gets everyone on first contact with the distro.
What the reference is not: a substitute for the official documentation when you are doing something unusual. The output covers the standard case. For exotic setups (multi-homed routing, complex storage layouts, custom kernel parameters) the official wiki of the distro you use is still the right destination. The reference exists to save you the five minutes of “wait, is it service or systemctl on Alpine again” — those five minutes add up.
Distros currently covered
Seven distros representing the bulk of production Linux in 2026.
- Ubuntu 24.04 LTS — the default choice for new Linux servers in 2026, default cloud image on every major provider.
- Debian 12 Bookworm — upstream of Ubuntu, lighter, more conservative, often used as bare-metal base.
- Fedora 40 — leading edge of the RHEL ecosystem, six-month release cycle, where new features land first.
- Rocky Linux 9 / Alma 9 / RHEL 9 — the enterprise RHEL family, identical syntax across the three.
- Arch Linux — rolling release, minimal defaults, picks every component explicitly.
- openSUSE Leap 15.5 — the openSUSE ecosystem with its YaST and wicked toolchain.
- Alpine Linux 3.19 — the musl + OpenRC + apk combination that powers most container base images.
Other distros (NixOS, Gentoo, Slackware, Void, FreeBSD) are not in v1. If your distro is missing and you would like it added, drop a note on the contact page with the topics you use most.
Topics covered
- Network — static IP, DNS resolver, hostname, interface restart. Where the dominant tool is netplan, ifupdown, NetworkManager or systemd-networkd depends on the distro and version.
- Firewall — opening a port persistently, listing active rules. ufw, firewalld, nftables or iptables under the hood.
- Services — start, stop, restart, enable on boot, view status. Almost always systemd in 2026, with Alpine on OpenRC.
- Logs — system journal, application logs, common log file locations, filtering by service or time.
- Packages — install, remove, search, update, upgrade. apt, dnf, pacman, zypper, apk.
- Users — add, modify, grant sudo, change password, view who is logged in.
- System — hostname change, timezone, kernel version, distro version, reboot, available memory.
- Storage — mount, persist with fstab, list block devices, free space, filesystem-specific tools.
Side-by-side compare
The compare mode renders two distros next to each other for the same topic. Useful when you are migrating a service from one distro to another, when you are documenting the difference for a runbook, or when you are training someone on a distro they have not used before. localStorage remembers your last distro choice so you do not have to re-pick on every visit.
Why we built this rather than another cheatsheet
Existing cheatsheets are usually a flat list of commands without context. They tell you the command but not the file, not the verification step, and not the thing that breaks the first time. The output box format here is intentional: each step exists because we have personally hit the gotcha at the bottom on first contact with that distro. The “compare” mode exists because migrations are where the friction concentrates: a senior Linux admin reads two columns side-by-side in under a minute, where reading two separate cheatsheets takes ten minutes and a context switch.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Rocky 9, Alma 9 and RHEL 9 in one entry?
They are binary-compatible rebuilds of the same upstream. Every command and file path in the network, firewall, services, logs, packages, users, system and storage topics is identical across the three. We list them as one entry to avoid triplicating the same data.
Why is Fedora 40 separate from Rocky 9 if both are in the RHEL family?
Because Fedora moves faster. By Fedora 40 (and 41), defaults have shifted ahead of where RHEL 9 sits: newer dnf5, newer kernel, newer systemd. The differences are small but real, and a Fedora-specific entry catches them.
Can I bookmark a specific distro and topic?
Yes. The URL includes the active distro and topic as hash parameters, so ?d=ubuntu24&t=firewall deep-links to the Ubuntu 24.04 firewall box. Bookmark the URL and you land back on the same view.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the page is loaded, all the data is in your browser. No backend call is required to render any box. You can save the page locally for use on an air-gapped server.
How is this different from running man?
man tells you what a single command does. This tells you what command and config file you actually need for the common task across distros. The two complement each other; you reach for this first, then man when you need a specific flag.
Will you add more distros?
If there is demand. Send the distro name and the topic you use most via contact. Distros under active enterprise use jump the queue.
