Fedora Linux is a free, open-source Linux distribution developed by the Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat. It's known for its rapid innovation, integration of cutting-edge open-source technologies, and its role as a testing ground for features that eventually make their way into Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Fedora is suitable for developers, system administrators, and users who want the latest Linux advancements.
Fedora offers different "Editions" and "Spins" tailored for specific use cases and desktop preferences.
These are official variants of Fedora that include different desktop environments or specialized software sets.
Specialized bundles of software for specific purposes, like Design Suite, Games, Scientific, Security Lab, or Python Classroom.
You can install Fedora in several ways:
# To install an RHEL-compatible distro (like AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux) on WSL:
wsl --install -d AlmaLinux # or RockyLinuxFedora Workstation uses the GNOME desktop environment, providing a modern and user-friendly interface.
# Example: Customizing appearance via GUI
# 1. Click on "Activities" (top-left) or press the Super key.
# 2. Type "Settings" and open the Settings application.
# 3. In the sidebar, click on "Appearance".
# 4. Change "Style" (Light/Dark), "Accent color", "Icon size", etc.
# 5. Observe changes on your desktop.The command-line interface (CLI) is fundamental for managing Fedora. Open a "Terminal" application (e.g., from the Dash or Activities search).
pwd
# Example Output: /home/yourusernamels -l # Long format (details: permissions, owner, size, date)
ls -a # List all files, including hidden ones (starting with .)
ls -lh # Long format, human-readable sizes (KB, MB, GB)
ls /var/log # List contents of a specific directorycd Documents # Move into 'Documents'
cd .. # Move up one directory
cd ~ # Move to your home directory
cd / # Move to the root directory
cd - # Move to the previous directorymkdir my_new_folder
mkdir -p projects/my_app # Creates parent directories if they don't existrmdir my_empty_foldertouch new_document.txt
touch script.shcp file1.txt file2.txt # Copy file1.txt to file2.txt in same directory
cp image.jpg /home/user/Pictures/ # Copy to another directory
cp -r my_folder /backup/ # Copy a directory recursivelymv old_name.txt new_name.txt # Rename a file
mv document.pdf /archive/ # Move file to /archive/rm unwanted_file.txt
rm -i important_file.txt # Prompt before deleting
rm -r my_folder # Remove a directory and its contents recursively (USE WITH CAUTION!)
rm -f stubborn_file.txt # Force remove (no prompt)
rm -rf very_critical_folder # Force remove recursively (EXTREME CAUTION: Irreversible!)cat my_document.txt
cat /etc/os-release # Show OS informationless /var/log/messages # Press Space to scroll, 'q' to quithead -n 5 file.txt # Show first 5 lines
tail -n 10 file.txt # Show last 10 lines
tail -f /var/log/audit/audit.log # Follow a log file in real-time (Ctrl+C to exit)echo "Hello, Fedora!"man dnf # Press 'q' to quitsudo dnf update # Update package lists (requires password)Fedora, like other Linux distributions, adheres to the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS), which defines a standardized directory structure.
Linux security relies on file permissions and ownership to control access to files and directories.
Permissions are assigned to three categories:
ls -l my_script.sh
# Example Output: -rwxr-xr-- 1 yourusername yourusername 1234 Jul 19 10:00 my_script.shBreakdown of `-rwxr-xr--`:
Can use symbolic mode (r, w, x, u, g, o, a) or octal (numeric) mode.
chmod 755 my_script.sh # Owner: rwx (7), Group: r-x (5), Others: r-x (5)
# Visual: -rwxr-xr-x
chmod 644 my_document.txt # Owner: rw- (6), Group: r-- (4), Others: r-- (4)
# Visual: -rw-r--r--
chmod +x my_script.sh # Add execute permission for all (commonly used for scripts)Requires `sudo` (superuser privileges).
sudo chown webadmin:webadmin /var/www/html/index.html
sudo chown -R newuser:newgroup /opt/my_app # Recursively change for folder contentssudo chgrp developers /home/shared_projectFedora provides commands for managing user accounts and groups.
id yourusername
# Output example: uid=1000(yourusername) gid=1000(yourusername) groups=1000(yourusername),10(wheel),27(sudo)...sudo adduser newuser
# Follow prompts for password and user information.sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash newuser2 # -m: create home dir, -s: set shellpasswd # Change your own password
sudo passwd newuser # Set password for newusersudo usermod -aG wheel newuser # Add newuser to 'wheel' group (grants sudo privileges on Fedora)
sudo usermod -l new_name old_name # Change username (careful with this!)
sudo usermod -d /home/customhome newuser # Change home directorysudo userdel olduser # Delete user, but leave home directory
sudo userdel -r olduser2 # Delete user and remove home directoryGroups are collections of users, simplifying permission management for multiple users.
sudo groupadd webdevssudo groupdel oldgroupsudo gpasswd -a newuser webdevs # Add newuser to webdevs group
sudo gpasswd -d olduser webdevs # Remove olduser from webdevs groupgroups # List groups for current user
groups newuser # List groups for newuserFedora uses `dnf` (Dandified YUM) as its primary package manager. It's a modern, powerful, and easy-to-use tool for installing, updating, and removing software packages and their dependencies.
sudo dnf check-update # Check for available updates
sudo dnf update # Updates all installed packagessudo dnf install httpd # Install Apache HTTP Server
sudo dnf install git nano vim # Install multiple packagessudo dnf remove httpd
sudo dnf erase httpd # Same as removednf search phpdnf info httpddnf list installeddnf list availablesudo dnf group list # List available groups/environments
sudo dnf groupinstall "Development Tools" # Install a group of related packagessudo dnf autoremovesudo dnf clean allsudo dnf install https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf update
# Now you can install multimedia codecs or proprietary drivers.Managing running programs and background tasks on your system.
ps aux # Show all running processes (user, CPU, memory usage)
ps -ef # Show all processes in full format
ps -p <PID> # Show info for a specific Process IDtophtopkill <PID> # Sends SIGTERM (graceful termination request)
kill -9 <PID> # Sends SIGKILL (forceful termination, cannot be ignored)pkill firefox # Kills all processes named firefox
killall nginx # Kills all processes named nginxFedora uses `systemd` as its init system and service manager. It controls system services (daemons) and boot processes.
systemctl status httpd.service # Check Apache status
# Output shows Active: (running), Loaded: (enabled/disabled), etc.sudo systemctl start httpd.servicesudo systemctl stop httpd.servicesudo systemctl restart httpd.servicesudo systemctl enable httpd.servicesudo systemctl disable httpd.servicesudo systemctl reload httpd.servicesystemctl get-default # Will likely output graphical.target for WorkstationFedora uses `NetworkManager` for network configuration and `firewalld` for firewall management.
ip a # Shows interfaces like lo, ens33, wlp2s0 (wireless), etc.ip route showping google.comss -tulnp # Show TCP/UDP listening ports with process infonmcli device status # Show network device status
nmcli connection show # Show active network connections
nmcli device wifi list # Scan for Wi-Fi networks
nmcli device wifi connect "Your_SSID" password "Your_WiFi_Password" # Connect to Wi-Fisudo systemctl status firewalld # Check firewall status
sudo systemctl start firewalld # Start firewall
sudo systemctl enable firewalld # Enable firewall on boot
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http # Allow HTTP traffic permanently
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8080/tcp # Allow specific port permanently
sudo firewall-cmd --reload # Apply permanent changes immediately
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all # List all active rules for the default zoneManaging disk space, partitions, and file systems on Fedora.
df -h # Human-readable outputdu -sh /var/log # Summarize size of /var/loglsblksudo fdisk /dev/sda # Opens interactive partitioning tool for sdasudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1 # Format partition sdb1 with ext4 filesystemsudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/data # Mount sdb1 to /mnt/data
sudo umount /mnt/data # Unmount# Basic LVM commands (conceptual):
sudo pvcreate /dev/sdb1 # Create Physical Volume
sudo vgcreate myvg /dev/sdb1 # Create Volume Group
sudo lvcreate -L 10G -n mylv myvg # Create Logical Volume
sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/myvg/mylv # Format LV with XFS (common on Fedora)
sudo mount /dev/myvg/mylv /data # Mount LVAutomate tasks by writing a series of commands in a file. Fedora typically uses Bash as its default shell.
# Create a file named 'fedora_status.sh'
nano fedora_status.sh
# Add the following content:
#!/bin/bash
# This script checks basic system status on Fedora
echo "--- Fedora System Status ---"
echo "Hostname: $(hostname)"
echo "Kernel: $(uname -r)"
echo "Uptime: $(uptime -p)"
echo "Disk Free: $(df -h / | awk 'NR==2{print $4} /')" # Free space on root partition
echo "--- End Status ---"chmod +x fedora_status.sh
./fedora_status.shFedora provides both graphical and command-line text editors.
gnome-text-editor my_document.txt & # & runs in backgroundnano /etc/nginx/nginx.confvim /etc/ssh/sshd_configFedora emphasizes strong security, with SELinux and Firewalld enabled by default. Proper configuration is crucial.
sudo dnf update -ysestatussudo setenforce 0 # Switch to Permissive
sudo setenforce 1 # Switch to Enforcingsudo nano /etc/selinux/config
# Change SELINUX=enforcing to SELINUX=permissive or SELINUX=disabled
# Reboot after changing this file for permanent effect.sudo ausearch -c 'httpd' --raw | audit2allow -M mywebserver
sudo semodule -i mywebserver.pp # Create and apply custom SELinux policysudo systemctl disable <service_name>sudo journalctl -f # Follow live logs
sudo journalctl -u sshd.service # View SSH daemon logsFedora is a community project, and contributions are highly encouraged. You can contribute in various ways:
Visit the Fedora Project Contribute page to learn more.
Fedora is an excellent choice for users who want to experience the cutting edge of Linux. Its commitment to open source, rapid innovation, and strong security features make it a powerful platform for developers, system administrators, and enthusiasts. Embrace its fast-paced development, get comfortable with `dnf` and `systemd`, and always stay updated to get the most out of your Fedora experience.