Useful Tweaks and Utilities for Ubuntu Server

Ubuntu Server is a reliable platform, but out of the box it’s fairly minimal. This guide collects practical tweaks and modern CLI tools that truly help in everyday server work. No generic ufw, no Docker dependencies—just clear, lightweight utilities that install with one command and deliver immediate value.

⚙️ Handy Aliases

1. Update and clean up:

alias aptf='apt update && apt upgrade -y && apt autoremove -y'

2. Remove system clutter and old logs:

alias cleanup='apt autoremove -y && apt autoclean && journalctl --vacuum-time=7d'

3. Find large files (useful when disk space runs low):

alias bigfiles='find / -type f -size +100M 2>/dev/null'

4. View real-time logs:

alias logs='journalctl -xe -f'

5. Regenerate GRUB config:

alias update-grub2='grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg'

📟 Modern CLI Tools

Monitoring and Resources

• btop — a beautiful system monitor with charts:

snap install btop

Just run btop

• glances — a powerful resource monitor with optional web interface (glances -w):

apt install -y glances

• tldr — concise help pages for Linux commands:

apt install -y tldr

Example: tldr rsync

File Handling and Navigation

• bat — a cat replacement with syntax highlighting and line numbers:

apt install -y bat

Use: batcat filename (or alias bat='batcat')

• eza — a modern ls with colors and tree view:

apt install -y eza

Use: eza -lh --tree

• fd — a simpler, faster alternative to find:

apt install -y fd-find

Example: fd config .

• ripgrep (rg) — fast text search across files, better than grep:

apt install -y ripgrep

Example: rg "search_text"

💾 Disk Usage and Backups

• ncdu — visual disk usage analyzer, sorts folders by size:

apt install -y ncdu

Run ncdu in any folder.

• duf — modern replacement for df, with colorful output:

apt install -y duf

• restic — encrypted, deduplicated backups:

apt install -y restic

Example:

restic -r /backup init
restic -r /backup backup /etc

Note: I don’t use this daily, but it’s a modern and reliable backup tool worth exploring.

🌐 Networking and Diagnostics

• mtr — interactive traceroute with live updates:

apt install -y mtr

Run: mtr google.com

• iperf3 — network bandwidth testing between hosts:

apt install -y iperf3

Usage: iperf3 -s on the server, iperf3 -c IP on the client

• bandwhich — displays bandwidth usage per process:

snap install bandwhich

Run: sudo bandwhich

🔐 Security and Utility Tools

• age — modern, minimal file encryption:

apt install -y age

Example:

age -e -r <public_key> file.txt > file.txt.age

• pass — CLI password manager based on GPG:

apt install -y pass

Example:

pass init "Your GPG ID"
pass insert my/password

• goss — system configuration testing (infrastructure-as-code):

curl -L https://github.com/goss-org/goss/releases/latest/download/goss-linux-amd64 -o /usr/local/bin/goss && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/goss

Example: goss validate

🧩 Conclusion

This list features only lightweight and truly useful tools, requiring no Docker or complicated configuration. Everything runs with a single command and delivers real benefit.

You can expand this into a script, a setup template, or even your own server image. Interested? Just ask.

Let your server run like clockwork—clean, stable, and efficient!