IT Glossary & Dictionary

An extension to standard Linux file permissions that allows setting fine-grained access rights for specific users and groups beyond owner/group/other.

A Linux security module that restricts program capabilities using per-application profiles, simpler to configure than SELinux.

A powerful text processing language for extracting and manipulating structured data from files or command output.

A text file containing a series of shell commands that are executed sequentially by the Bash interpreter.

A Linux kernel feature that limits, accounts for, and isolates resource usage of process groups.

A command to change file and directory access permissions using numeric or symbolic notation.

A command to change the owner and group of files and directories in Linux.

A mechanism that changes the apparent root directory for a process and its children, creating an isolated filesystem view.

A scheduled task in Unix-like systems that runs automatically at specified times or intervals.

The time specification format used in cron job scheduling, with five fields defining minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week.

A versatile command-line tool for transferring data using various network protocols, commonly used for API testing.

A background process that runs continuously on a system, typically providing services like web serving or logging.

A system for limiting the amount of disk space or number of files that individual users or groups can consume on a filesystem.

A command that displays kernel ring buffer messages, useful for diagnosing hardware and driver issues.

The PATH variable that tells the shell which directories to search when looking for executable commands.

A command-line utility for managing disk partition tables on Linux systems.

A security mechanism that controls who can read, write, or execute files and directories in Unix-like systems.

A powerful command for searching files and directories based on various criteria like name, size, type, and modification time.

A dynamic firewall management tool for Linux that provides a D-Bus interface for managing firewall rules with zones.

A command-line utility for searching plain-text data for lines matching a regular expression pattern.

The Grand Unified Bootloader, a program that loads the operating system kernel into memory during system startup.

A data structure in Unix filesystems that stores metadata about a file, excluding its name and data.

The traditional Linux firewall tool that filters network packets using configurable chains of rules organized in tables.

A command-line tool for querying and viewing logs collected by systemd's journal logging system.

The systemd journal daemon that collects and stores log data from services, the kernel, and boot messages in a structured binary format.

The core component of an operating system that manages hardware resources and provides services to software.

A software-based network switch in the Linux kernel that connects multiple network interfaces at Layer 2, enabling VM and container networking.

A piece of code that can be loaded into the kernel at runtime to extend functionality without rebooting, such as device drivers and filesystems.

A utility that manages automatic rotation, compression, and removal of log files to prevent disk space exhaustion.

A storage management framework that provides flexible disk management through abstract layers of physical and logical volumes.

A directory in the filesystem where a storage device or partition is attached and made accessible.

A Linux kernel feature that provides process isolation by creating separate instances of global system resources.

A command-line tool that displays network connections, routing tables, and interface statistics on a system.

A Linux kernel feature that provides isolated network stacks with independent interfaces, routing tables, and firewall rules.

The modern Linux packet filtering framework that replaces iptables with a unified, more efficient rule-processing architecture.

A command that runs a process immune to hangup signals, allowing it to continue after the terminal session ends.

A tool that automates the process of installing, updating, configuring, and removing software packages.

A mechanism that connects the output of one command directly to the input of another, enabling command chaining.

A running instance of a program, with its own memory space, process ID, and system resources.

A virtual filesystem in Linux that provides an interface to kernel data structures, exposing process and system information as files.

Redundant Array of Independent Disks — a technology combining multiple physical drives into a single unit for performance, redundancy, or both.

The superuser account in Unix/Linux systems with unrestricted access to all commands and files.

A fast, versatile file synchronization tool that efficiently transfers and syncs files between local and remote systems.

A stream editor for filtering and transforming text, commonly used for find-and-replace operations in files.

Security-Enhanced Linux — a mandatory access control system that confines programs to minimum required privileges beyond standard file permissions.

A command-line interface that interprets user commands and passes them to the operating system for execution.

A cryptographic network protocol for secure remote login and command execution over an unsecured network.

A diagnostic tool that traces system calls and signals made by a process, useful for debugging and performance analysis.