Save time and mental strain by letting ShellGPT generate clean one-liners for advanced system checks.
Being a Linux sysadmin often means juggling memory usage checks, digging through logs, finding who’s hogging ports, or debugging network issues—all while managing daily operational pressure.
Many of these CLI tasks are powerful but get avoided or deferred because remembering exact flags feels like mental tax.
Enter ShellGPT.
It generates clean, ready-to-run one-liners for advanced system checks, helping you troubleshoot and learn simultaneously.
Here’s how I use ShellGPT in my RHEL 9.6 VM lab for real-world sysadmin workflows:
1️⃣ Filter System Logs with journalctl
🔹 Prompt:
sgpt "Write a one-liner to filter system logs for sshd failures in the last 24 hours"
Why: Saves you from recalling time flags and filtering syntax during SSH troubleshooting.
2️⃣ Find Who’s Using a Port with lsof
🔹 Prompt:
sgpt "Generate a command to find which process is using port 443"
Why: Useful when services clash on critical ports.
3️⃣ Advanced Network Checks
🔹 Prompt:
sgpt "How to check all active TCP connections with remote IPs and their states"
Why: Useful during connection debugging or tracing suspicious IPs.
4️⃣ Monitor Memory Usage Over Time
🔹 Prompt:
sgpt "Create a one-liner to monitor free memory every 10 seconds with timestamp"
Why: Helps during incident analysis or load testing.
5️⃣ Disk Space Alerts
🔹 Prompt:
sgpt "Write a bash script to alert if disk usage crosses 85%"
Why: Proactive monitoring to prevent downtime from full disks.
Why This Matters
✅ Frees your mental bandwidth to focus on architecture and higher-level tasks.
✅ Reduces repetitive Google searches for syntax.
✅ Becomes your practical LLM co-pilot for real workflows, not just theoretical exploration.
Try It Yourself
Copy-paste these prompts in your ShellGPT setup and let it simplify your sysadmin workflows.
If you find this helpful:
✅ Follow for more ShellGPT + Linux productivity workflows.
✅ Share with fellow sysadmins to save their time.
✅ Comment below on how you use ShellGPT in your lab.
✍️ Murali Pala
📍 Ajman, UAE | Ex-IAF | Linux & AI Infra | Writer
🛠️ Building AI-powered sysadmin workflows, one prompt at a time.
📢 Follow for more ShellGPT and Linux productivity workflows.
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