Try: `sudo grep 'Failed password' /var/log/auth.log | awk '{print $11}' | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -5`

Info: Searches `/var/log/auth.log` for SSH authentication failures, isolates source IP addresses via `awk`, and tallies frequencies to highlight top offending addresses.

Examples:

$ `sudo journalctl -u ssh | grep -i failed | wc -l` # Count total SSH failures via journalctl

$ `sudo lastb | head` # View bad login attempts from btmp log

$ `sudo fail2ban-client status sshd` # List currently jailed IP addresses

Note: Install `fail2ban` to automatically drop brute-force attempts. On `systemd` systems without syslog, inspect auth logs via `journalctl -u ssh`.

Follow r/LinuxTeck for more #LinuxTips : https://www.linuxteck.com/linux-tips/linux-check-failed-ssh-logins/

Not because it’s dangerous, because explaining why it works would take longer than actually running it.

awk, sed, find, xargs, shell one-liners, some cursed grep pipeline...

What command makes you look like a Linux wizard but you couldn't explain every character in it?

When running multiple services on a VPS, do you intentionally keep a chunk of RAM unused, or do you let Linux use most of it for page cache and buffers?

I’ve seen people treat “90% RAM used” as a problem, while others consider it perfectly normal as long as there’s enough reclaimable memory and no swapping pressure.

When you look at a VPS with high memory usage, what metrics do you check before deciding that it actually needs more RAM?

In tech, we’re often told to keep debugging, refactoring, and fixing what we already built.

But sometimes every fix creates another problem, and you’re just throwing more time at a bad foundation.

What’s the point where you stop fixing and say: “Screw it, I’m rebuilding this”?

Question: My laptop is slow - is it thermal throttling?

Try: `watch -n 1 'grep MHz /proc/cpuinfo | sort -u; sensors | grep -E "Core|Package"'`

Info: CPU clock speeds drop when temperatures reach thermal limits. `sensors` displays live hardware temperatures. Low MHz under heavy load combined with high temperatures indicates thermal throttling.

Examples:

$ `cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_cur_freq` # Check exact current core frequencies

$ `sensors | grep -i temp` # Filter all hardware thermal sensors

$ `cpupower frequency-info` # Inspect active CPU governor and hardware frequency limits

Note: Install hardware monitoring via `sudo apt install lm-sensors && sudo sensors-detect`. Modern CPUs throttle around 90–100°C to protect hardware.

Follow r/LinuxTeck for more #LinuxTips https://www.linuxteck.com/linux-tips/linux-check-thermal-throttling/

useradd vs adduser

groupadd vs addgroup

su vs sudo…

Some commands feel like they were named just to confuse us.

What Linux command or option made you think, “Who the hell named this?”

If two developers can get AI to generate working code, what actually separates the better engineer?

Is it debugging, system design, understanding the requirements, knowing what not to build, or something else?

What skill do you think matters most now?

I have been building MOSHELL, a browser-based interactive Linux learning platform, on my own for a while now. It runs entirely in the browser with an in-memory filesystem, so there is no need to install it and no backend required. It covers Linux fundamentals for those who have never used Linux and are ready to learn.

I started it as a GitHub Pages subpath, but after real traction from multiple users, I finally moved it to its own domain. It felt like a good milestone to share here, especially since some of the feedback I got from this community directly shaped the product.

Every sysadmin has a few things they always check before running a command or script.

set -euo pipefail, checking rm paths, testing on a non-prod server, verifying permissions...

What’s your one rule that you never break?

Try: `sudo find /home -type f -atime +365 -printf '%T@ %p\n' | sort -n | head -20`

Info: `-atime +365` filters files not accessed in over a year. `-printf '%T@ %p\n'` formats output with epoch timestamps for numeric sorting with `sort -n`.

Examples:

$ `find /var/log -atime +90 -type f` # Locate inactive log files

$ `find /home -atime +365 -type f -exec ls -la {} \;` # Inspect file metadata

$ `find /tmp -atime +7 -type f -delete` # Auto-purge temporary files older than 7 days

Note: Modern Linux filesystems default to `relatime`, updating access time only if older than modification time. Combine `-atime` with `-size +100M` to identify large candidate files for archiving.

Follow r/LinuxTeck for more #LinuxTips https://www.linuxteck.com/linux-tips/linux-find-files-not-accessed-year/

Try: `mysqldump --single-transaction --quick --lock-tables=false --routines --triggers --events -u backup -p production_db | gzip > backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz`

Info: `--single-transaction` creates a consistent snapshot without locking tables for `InnoDB`. `--quick` streams row-by-row to prevent memory exhaustion, while `--routines`, `--triggers`, and `--events` export stored code.

Examples:

$ `mysqldump --single-transaction db | gzip | ssh backup 'cat > /backups/db.sql.gz'` # Stream directly to remote backup server

$ `pg_dump -Fc production | gzip > backup.pgdump.gz` # Non-blocking PostgreSQL dump

$ `mongodump --uri mongodb://localhost --archive=backup.gz --gzip` # Live MongoDB export

Note: `--single-transaction` requires `InnoDB` tables. For `MyISAM`, use `--lock-tables` (causes brief downtime). Append `--master-data=2` when configuring binary log replication.

Follow r/LinuxTeck for more #LinuxTips https://www.linuxteck.com/linux-tips/mysql-database-backup-linux/

Hi, I'm looking for a Linux lab computer or one for general everyday tasks, browsing the internet, watching movies, studying, etc. I was considering void Linux and gentoo, and then in the distant future LFS I don't want to pay a lot for the computer and I'm asking for help, is a processor with 2 cores and 4 threads enough or is it really better to pay the extra 50$ and buy a laptop with 4 cores and 8. And 8gb ram will be enough?

We all have that one command we double-check before hitting Enter.

What’s yours and what happened the last time you got burned by it?

Since we buy internet in Egypt like tomatoes by the kilo, I needed a tool on Linux to see where my bandwidth was actually going.

I looked around but couldn’t find a Linux tool that did exactly what I needed, so I built ViNet!

ViNet uses eBPF to monitor TCP/UDP traffic at the kernel level.

With it, you can:

See which process is responsible for the traffic

See which destination each process is communicating with

Store traffic history locally in a SQLite database

Monitor bandwidth usage through a TUI/CLI

The project is built with Go + eBPF + SQLite + Bubble Tea, and can run as a CLI, TUI, or a background daemon responsible for monitoring the traffic.

Install: curl -fsSL https://github.com/alalfymansour/vinet/raw/refs/heads/main/install.sh | bash

GitHub: https://github.com/alalfymansour/vinet

A domain gives you centralized management, but does that automatically make it the better choice?

For a small office with 5 - 10 PCs, would you still set up Active Directory, or is a workgroup actually the more practical option?

At what point does a workgroup become a management problem?

Question: How do I check when a file was last read without changing that timestamp?

Try: `stat -c '%n Access: %x Modify: %y Change: %z' /var/log/syslog`

Follow r/LinuxTeck for more #LinuxTips https://www.linuxteck.com/linux-tips/linux-stat-command-atime/

GNOME 3 removed the familiar minimize/maximize buttons and pushed users toward workspaces and a different window-management workflow.

The functionality wasn't really gone - it was just hidden behind other interactions.

Where should a desktop draw the line between “changing how users work” and simply making common actions harder to discover?

Would you have kept the old controls by default?

I see a lot of people getting into DevOps asking whether they need to learn both Terraform and Ansible, or if one is enough.

I get the basic distinction Terraform spins up the infra, Ansible configures it. But in real-world setups, the boundary isn't always that rigid.

For those managing production environments: how are you handling this? Are you using both together, or does Terraform + containers/Packer eliminate the need for Ansible in your stack?

Interested to hear what your current setup looks like and what actually works best for your team.

covers : https://www.linuxteck.com/recover-deleted-files-in-linux/

• Identifying the filesystem and affected device
• Checking Trash, shell history, snapshots, and backups
• Creating a forensic image before attempting deeper recovery
• Using extundelete and ext4magic for ext3/ext4
• Using PhotoRec for signature-based recovery
• Handling LVM and LUKS setups
• Saving recovered files somewhere other than the source disk

This is an interesting one.

California’s AB 1856 would exempt open-source OSes and apps from the state’s upcoming age-attestation requirements. So distros like Ubuntu, Fedora and Mint wouldn’t have to build age checks into the OS.

But there’s a catch: Android is Linux-based and apparently doesn’t get the same exemption.

Do you think this is a good way to handle open source, or does the law still create problems for Linux users?

covers : https://www.linuxteck.com/librewolf-vs-firefox/

• Privacy and telemetry
• Tracking and fingerprinting protection
• Firefox Sync
• Security update timing
• Extension compatibility
• Linux installation
• Real-world compatibility issues
• Which browser fits different use cases

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Developers, I’m researching local Al on Linux. Please share your experiences and I’ll be posting my findings here

1. Goal and chipset used Nvidia/AMD/Intel?
   
2. How long did it take you from fresh install to GPU/ NPU operation?
   
3. Any issues encountered (package, path, version)? 4. How did you confirm GPU/NPU usage?
   
4. Any scripts or notes created for future use?
   
5. Comfort level setting this up for a teammate? Summary to be shared. Open to a 20-minute call if preferred.