CLI:Basics – System Information Commands for New Linux Users
Welcome to the first video in the CLI:Basics playlist! If you’re just starting out with Linux or you’re a Windows expat learning the command line, you’re in the right place. We’re going to take things slow, focus on simple commands, and build a solid foundation together.
This post covers five essential commands for gathering system information:
manuptimelastdatew
💡 Using Linux Mint? Great! That’s what I’m using for this series. But don’t worry—these commands will work on nearly any Linux distribution.
Getting Started
Before we jump in, you might have noticed the colorful system info on the screen. That’s a tool called Neofetch. If you don’t have it yet, no worries—we’ll cover how to install software in the next video. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel and hit the notification bell so you don’t miss it!
To keep the screen clear, you can press Ctrl + L or type clear and hit Enter.
man – Your Built-in Manual
Just like anything else you buy, Linux comes with a user manual. The man command (short for manual) lets you look up help for other commands.
Try this:
man man
You’ll see:
- A short summary of what the command does
- A SYNOPSIS section showing usage
- A DESCRIPTION and list of options (don’t worry about these just yet)
❗ Tip: Press
qto quit out of the manual view.
We’ll dive deeper into man pages—including sections like man 7—in the CLI:Advanced playlist.
uptime – See How Long Your System Has Been Running
uptime
This command gives you:
- The current time
- How long the system has been up
- Number of users currently logged in
- Load averages for the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes
The load average values are a bit technical. Just know:
1.00= 100% usage of one CPU core- Lower is better unless you’re doing something CPU-heavy
- We’ll break this down further in CLI:Advanced, including how cores and threads affect these numbers
last – View Login History
last
This command shows:
- A list of previous user logins
- Terminal sessions (e.g.,
tty7,pts/0) - The last reboot time
It’s a quick way to check who has accessed your system recently.
date – Show the Current Date and Time
date
Simple and to the point—it shows:
- The day of the week
- The full date
- Current time
- Your system’s timezone
Want to customize how it looks? Try:
man date
The manual shows you how to:
- Display only the month, day, or year
- Format output
- View the time in other time zones
Examples are included at the bottom of the man page.
w – Who’s Logged In and What They’re Doing
w
This command is similar to last, but more detailed:
- Usernames, login times, and terminals
- Idle time
- CPU usage
- The command each user is currently running
This is useful on multi-user systems or when troubleshooting what’s running in the background.
Wrapping Up
That’s it for now! We’re starting slow, but these early commands lay the groundwork for understanding what’s happening under the hood of your Linux system.
As the series continues:
- Videos will get longer
- Commands will get more complex
- We’ll focus on fewer commands per video to allow deeper exploration
👉 Up Next:
How to Install Software Using apt – including how to get fun tools like neofetch, bashtop, and more.
Be sure to subscribe on YouTube, click the bell icon, and check back for the next post!
CLI:Basics is part of the full CLI series designed for new and growing Linux users. You can follow the entire series here on the blog or on my YouTube channel.