Reference Sheet

CLI Commands Cheat Sheet

OS & Networking · Google IT Cert · Windows CMD / PowerShell & Linux Bash

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WIN Windows CMD LIN Linux / macOS Bash BOTH Works on both (or close equivalent)

Network Diagnostics

Command What it does
ipconfig WIN Show IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for all adapters
ipconfig /all WIN Full details — MAC address, DHCP server, DNS servers, lease times
ipconfig /release WIN
ipconfig /renew		 Drop and re-request a DHCP lease — fixes "wrong IP" problems
ipconfig /flushdns WIN Clear the DNS resolver cache — forces fresh lookups on next request
ip addr LIN
older: ifconfig		 Show IP addresses and network interface details
ping <host> BOTH Test basic reachability — sends ICMP echo requests. -t (Win) or -c N (Lin) to control count
tracert <host> WIN
traceroute <host> LIN		 Show each router hop to the destination — pinpoint where packets stop
pathping <host> WIN Combines ping + tracert — shows packet loss at each hop over time
nslookup <domain> BOTH Query DNS — check what IP a hostname resolves to, or which server answered
netstat -an BOTH List all active connections and listening ports with addresses. -b (Win) adds the process name
ssh user@host BOTH Open an encrypted remote shell session. Port 22. Win also has PuTTY (putty.exe -ssh user@ip)
scp file user@host:/path LIN Securely copy a file over SSH. Windows equivalent: pscp.exe (PuTTY SCP)

Process Management

Command What it does
tasklist WIN List all running processes with PID, memory usage, and session name
taskkill /PID <id> WIN Terminate a process by PID. Add /F to force-kill without cleanup
Get-Process WIN
PowerShell		 List processes in PowerShell. Pipe to Stop-Process -Id <id> to kill
ps LIN Snapshot of current processes. -ef shows all processes with full details including hidden ones
ps -ef | grep <name> LIN Find a specific process by name in the full process list
top LIN Live view of top CPU/memory consuming processes — %CPU and %MEM are key columns
kill <PID> LIN Send SIGTERM — lets the process clean up before exiting
kill -KILL <PID> LIN Send SIGKILL — instant forced termination, no cleanup. Last resort
kill -TSTP <PID> LIN Suspend (pause) a process. Resume it with kill -CONT <PID>
lsof LIN List open files and which processes hold them — useful when a file "can't be deleted"
uptime LIN Show how long the system has been running + average CPU load over 1/5/15 min

File System Navigation & Operations

Command What it does
dir WIN
ls -la LIN		 List directory contents. -la shows hidden files and permissions
cd <path> BOTH Change directory. cd .. goes up one level. cd / (Lin) or cd \ (Win) goes to root
mkdir <name> BOTH Create a new directory
del <file> WIN
rm <file> LIN		 Delete a file. Linux: -r deletes a directory recursively, -f skips confirmation
copy / xcopy WIN
cp LIN		 Copy files. xcopy handles directories. robocopy is the modern Win equivalent with resume support
move WIN
mv LIN		 Move or rename a file or directory
type <file> WIN
cat <file> LIN		 Print a file's contents to the terminal
grep <pattern> <file> LIN Search for a text pattern in files. -r searches recursively in directories
find <path> -name "*.txt" LIN Find files by name, type, or other attributes
tail -f <file> LIN Stream the end of a file in real time — essential for watching live log output
chmod <mode> <file> LIN Set file permissions. chmod 755 = owner rwx, group/other rx. chmod +x makes executable
chown user:group <file> LIN Change file owner and group. Usually run with sudo
attrib WIN View or set file attributes (Read-only, Hidden, System, Archive). attrib +h file hides a file

System Information & Configuration

Command What it does
systeminfo WIN Detailed system info — OS version, RAM, hotfixes, network config, domain
uname -a LIN Kernel version, hostname, architecture, OS name all in one line
hostname BOTH Print the computer's hostname
whoami BOTH Print the current logged-in username (and domain on Windows)
msconfig WIN System Configuration — manage startup programs, boot options, and services (GUI)
regedit WIN Registry Editor GUI — view and edit Windows registry keys. Use with caution
eventvwr.msc WIN Event Viewer — browse Windows logs (Application, System, Security)
devmgmt.msc WIN Device Manager — view hardware, update/rollback drivers, disable devices
services.msc WIN Services panel — start, stop, and set startup type for Windows services
gpupdate /force WIN Force an immediate Group Policy refresh — apply new GPO settings without reboot
shutdown /r /t 0 WIN Restart immediately. /s shuts down, /t N sets delay in seconds
systemctl status <svc> LIN Check whether a service is running. Replace status with start, stop, or enable
journalctl -u <svc> LIN View systemd logs for a specific service. -f follows in real time

Disk & Storage

Command What it does
chkdsk C: /f WIN Check and fix filesystem errors on a drive. /r also locates bad sectors (requires reboot on system drive)
sfc /scannow WIN System File Checker — scan for and restore corrupted Windows system files. Run as admin
diskpart WIN Interactive disk partitioning tool. Type list disk, select disk N, list partition inside it
df -h LIN Show disk space usage for all mounted filesystems in human-readable sizes
du -sh <path> LIN Show total size of a directory. Useful for finding what's eating disk space
free -h LIN Show total/used/free RAM and swap in human-readable form
dd if=<src> of=<dst> LIN Low-level disk clone / image tool. Copies block-for-block — can clone drives or create ISOs

User & Permission Management

Command What it does
net user WIN List all local user accounts. net user <name> shows details for one user
net user <name> <pass> /add WIN Create a new local user account
net localgroup administrators <name> /add WIN Add a user to the local Administrators group
sudo <command> LIN Run a command as root (superuser). Required for system-level operations
su <user> LIN Switch to another user account in the current terminal session
useradd <name> LIN Create a new user account. Use -m to create a home directory
passwd <user> LIN Set or change a user's password
userdel <name> LIN Delete a user account. Add -r to also remove the home directory

Package & Software Management

Command What it does
apt update LIN
apt upgrade		 Refresh package list, then install all pending updates (Debian/Ubuntu)
apt install <pkg> LIN Install a package. apt remove <pkg> removes it. Prefix with sudo
yum install <pkg> LIN Install a package on RHEL/CentOS. Modern systems use dnf instead
winget install <id> WIN Windows Package Manager — install apps from the command line (Windows 10+)

Remote Access

Command What it does
mstsc WIN Launch Remote Desktop Connection (RDP client, port 3389). mstsc /v:host connects directly
mstsc /admin WIN Connect to the console session of a remote server (bypasses session limits)
ssh -L 8080:target:80 user@jump BOTH SSH local port forwarding — tunnel traffic through a jump host

Quick Tips & Exam Shortcuts

Windows .msc Shortcuts

  • devmgmt.msc — Device Manager
  • diskmgmt.msc — Disk Management
  • eventvwr.msc — Event Viewer
  • services.msc — Services
  • compmgmt.msc — Computer Management
  • lusrmgr.msc — Local Users & Groups
  • gpedit.msc — Group Policy Editor
  • taskmgr — Task Manager
  • regedit — Registry Editor
  • msconfig — System Configuration
  • msinfo32 — System Information

Linux Log Locations

  • /var/log/syslog — general system log (everything)
  • /var/log/auth.log — logins, sudo, SSH auth
  • /var/log/kern.log — kernel messages
  • /var/log/dmesg — boot and hardware messages
  • /var/log/apt/ — package install history
  • journalctl -xe — systemd logs, most recent errors

Signal Quick-Ref

  • SIGTERM — graceful quit (kill default)
  • SIGKILL — instant terminate, no cleanup
  • SIGINT — Ctrl+C interrupt
  • SIGTSTP — Ctrl+Z suspend
  • SIGCONT — resume a suspended process
Pipe ( | ) & Redirect ( > ) work on both platforms.
ps -ef | grep nginx — filter output through grep
ipconfig /all > info.txt — save output to a file
tasklist | findstr notepad — Windows equivalent of grep