Linux Phase 4: Search, Info & Help for DevOps Beginners

🎯 Target Audience: Beginners in DevOps & DevSecOps
🧠 Key Concepts: find, which, man, history
⏱ Estimated Read Time: ~7 minutes
📚 Series: Yes, Part of “Linux for DevOps Beginners”
🌍 Real-World Focus: Practical commands for daily DevOps/SRE workflows

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Why This Matters in DevOps

In DevOps & DevSecOps, speed and accuracy are everything. Knowing how to quickly find files, locate executable paths, read documentation, and recall past commands means you work faster and troubleshoot smarter. These aren’t just “Linux tricks”, they’re efficiency boosters for your automation, deployment, and incident response workflows.

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1️⃣ Finding Files and Directories —> find

The find command is like Google Search for your Linux filesystem.

Basic Syntax:

find [path] [options] [expression]

Examples:

# Find all .log files under /var/log
find /var/log -name "*.log"

# Find all files owned by user 'deploy'
find / -user deploy

Real-World DevOps Use Case:

• Locating configuration files when debugging a failed deployment.

• Finding large log files that are eating disk space in production.

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2️⃣ Locating Executable Paths —> which

The which command tells you exactly where a command’s executable is located.

Example:

which python3

Output:

/usr/bin/python3

Real-World DevOps Use Case:

• Ensuring your CI/CD pipeline is using the correct binary version.

• Verifying which java your app server is actually running.

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3️⃣ Reading Built-in Documentation —> man

The man (manual) command is your built-in Linux encyclopedia.

Example:

man chmod

Tip: Use /keyword inside man to search within the page.

Real-World DevOps Use Case:

• Quickly checking command flags without leaving the terminal.

• Understanding obscure options when tuning performance or security.

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4️⃣ Checking Command History —> history

The history command shows the commands you’ve recently executed.

Example:

history | grep docker

Real-World DevOps Use Case:

• Reusing a complex one-liner you typed last week during incident response.

• Auditing commands used during maintenance windows.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

• find without specifying a path → Scans the whole system, which can be slow.

• Relying only on which → Use type -a to see all possible locations.

• Skipping man → Blindly running commands without reading flags can cause outages.

• Clearing history → Avoid unless necessary for security; history is a goldmine for learning.

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Quick Recap

• find → Locate files & directories quickly.

• which → Confirm executable paths.

• man → Read built-in documentation.

• history → Recall and reuse past commands.

Master these, and you’ll work smarter, not harder.

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If this helped you speed up your Linux workflow, share it with a fellow DevOps beginner. Follow the series for Phase 5: Networking & Internet, where we’ll cover ping, curl, and netstat in real-world automation and troubleshooting.

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👨‍💻 Written by: Abdulrahman A. Muhamad
🌐 LinkedIn | GitHub | Portfolio