Linux — Getting Started Guide
You Probably Already Have Linux Access
Linux is the OS running nearly all cloud servers, containers, and DevOps tools. Here's how to get a Linux environment on any machine.
Option 1: WSL2 on Windows (Fastest Setup)
Windows Subsystem for Linux runs a real Linux kernel inside Windows.
powershell
# Open PowerShell as Administrator
wsl --install
# Restart your PC
# After restart, Ubuntu opens automatically
# Create a username and password when prompted
# Verify
wsl --list --verbose
You now have Ubuntu with a full Linux terminal. Open it anytime from the Start Menu as "Ubuntu".
Option 2: macOS Terminal (Already Linux-like)
macOS is Unix-based. The Terminal app gives you most Linux commands. Install Homebrew first:
bash
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
For a full Linux experience on Mac, use multipass:
bash
brew install multipass
multipass launch --name myvm --cpus 2 --memory 2G --disk 10G
multipass shell myvm # Opens Ubuntu shell
Option 3: Free Cloud VM (Real Production Linux)
AWS Free Tier — verified update: this changed in July 2025
If your AWS account was created before July 15, 2025: the old model applies — 12 months of free usage on eligible services (EC2, S3, RDS) within stated limits.
If you're creating a new AWS account today: AWS replaced that model with a credit-based system. New accounts choose a Free or Paid plan, both starting with $100 in credits (growing to $200 by completing onboarding tasks), valid for 6 months or until credits run out. This is a meaningfully different setup than "12 months free" — track your credit balance, since the account behaves like a prepaid balance rather than a fixed-duration free allowance.
1.Create account at aws.amazon.com
2.Go to EC2 → Launch Instance
3.Choose: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (or current LTS)
4.Instance type: a small/free-eligible type under whichever plan you're on
5.Create a key pair (.pem file)
6.Launch — and set a cost budget alert immediately, regardless of which model your account is on
bash
# SSH to your EC2 instance (Linux/Mac)
chmod 400 my-key.pem
ssh -i my-key.pem ubuntu@YOUR-EC2-PUBLIC-IP
# Windows: use PuTTY or Windows Terminal with .pem file
Oracle Cloud (Always Free — no credit card expiry)
Oracle offers 2 AMD VMs free forever:
1.Create account at cloud.oracle.com
2.Create Compute Instance → Oracle Linux or Ubuntu
3.Download the SSH key
Google Cloud ($300 free credit for 90 days)
bash
gcloud compute instances create my-vm --machine-type=e2-micro --image-family=ubuntu-2204-lts --image-project=ubuntu-os-cloud
gcloud compute ssh my-vm
Option 4: Local VM with VirtualBox (Fully Offline)
1.Download VirtualBox from virtualbox.org (free)
2.Download Ubuntu 22.04 ISO from ubuntu.com
3.Create new VM: 2 CPU, 4GB RAM, 20GB disk
4.Attach the ISO and install Ubuntu
Essential First Commands to Run
bash
# Who am I and where am I?
whoami # your username
pwd # current directory
hostname # machine name
uname -r # Linux kernel version
cat /etc/os-release # OS details
# System resources
free -h # RAM usage
df -h # Disk usage
nproc # CPU count
top # Live process monitor (q to quit)
# Navigation
ls -la # List files (with hidden files and permissions)
cd /var/log # Change to /var/log directory
cd ~ # Go to home directory
cd - # Go to previous directory
# Update packages (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
The Linux Filesystem — Know These Directories
/ root of the filesystem
├── home/ user home directories (/home/ubuntu, /home/john)
├── etc/ configuration files (nginx.conf, sshd_config, crontab)
├── var/ variable data: logs (/var/log), databases, caches
├── usr/ installed programs (/usr/bin, /usr/local/bin)
├── tmp/ temporary files (cleared on reboot)
├── proc/ virtual filesystem — kernel and process info
└── opt/ optional third-party software
Next Steps
You have Linux access. Go to the Fundamentals tab to start learning the core commands used daily in DevOps work.
