Windows admin meets Linux: 25 commands compared directly

Administrators moving between Windows and Linux do not need to learn two completely unrelated worlds. Many tasks have direct counterparts. This guide deliberately presents them as a practical translation table, including `ipconfig` and the classic `ifconfig`.

Network configuration

Windows: `ipconfig` · Linux/Unix: classic `ifconfig`. Modern Linux prefers `ip addr`, but `ifconfig` is a useful direct comparison.

Windows: ipconfig
Linux/Unix: ifconfig

DNS resolution

Windows: `nslookup` or `Resolve-DnsName` · Linux: `dig` or `nslookup`.

Windows: nslookup / Resolve-DnsName
Linux: dig / nslookup

Routing

Windows: `route print` · Linux: `route -n` or `ip route`.

Windows: route print
Linux: route -n / ip route

Connections

Windows: `netstat -ano` · Linux: `ss -tulpn`.

Windows: netstat -ano
Linux: ss -tulpn

Processes

Windows: `tasklist` · Linux: `ps aux` or `top`.

Kill a process

Windows: `taskkill /PID 1234 /F` · Linux: `kill 1234` or `kill -9 1234`.

Services

Windows: `Get-Service` · Linux: `systemctl status servicename`.

Logs

Windows: Event Viewer/PowerShell · Linux: `journalctl`.

Find files

Windows: `Get-ChildItem -Recurse` · Linux: `find`.

Copy files

Windows: `robocopy` · Linux: `rsync` or `cp`.

Users

Windows: `Get-LocalUser` · Linux: `getent passwd`.

Groups

Windows: `Get-LocalGroup` · Linux: `getent group`.

Disks

Windows: `Get-Disk` / `Get-Volume` · Linux: `lsblk` / `df -h`.

Disk usage

Windows: `Get-Volume` · Linux: `df -h` and `du -sh`.

Firewall

Windows: `Get-NetFirewallProfile` · Linux: depending on the system, `nft`, `ufw` or `firewalld`.

SSH

Windows: OpenSSH client `ssh user@host` · Linux: also `ssh user@host`.

File permissions

Windows: `icacls` · Linux: `ls -l`, `chmod`, `chown`.

Environment variables

Windows: `$env:PATH` · Linux: `echo $PATH`.

Text search

Windows PowerShell: `Select-String` · Linux: `grep`.

Archives

Windows: `Compress-Archive` · Linux: `tar`.

Packages

Windows: `winget` · Debian: `apt`.

Hostname

Windows: `hostname` · Linux: `hostname`.

Time

Windows: `Get-Date` · Linux: `date`.

System information

Windows: `Get-ComputerInfo` · Linux: `uname -a`, `lsb_release` or `/etc/os-release`.

The important mindset

Commands matter less than the diagnostic model: check networking, DNS, service state, logs and resources, then change one thing at a time.

Conclusion

Knowing the counterparts makes cross-platform administration much faster. `ipconfig` versus classic `ifconfig` is a good example of how similar the underlying admin questions really are.