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A List Of Useful Console Services For Linux Users

By sk
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A while ago, we have seen a list of useful tools for Linux sysadmins and useful BASH scripts for commandline users. Today, we will discuss some useful console services for Linux users. These console services are nothing but minimal web applications that performs a particular operation. All of the console services are accessible from command line via http, https and other network protocols like ssh and telnet. Good thing is they don't require any installation or additional applications, except curl or wget tools which comes pre-installed in almost all Linux and Unix distributions. If you have a Linux system with an active Internet connection, you can start using these console services to perform various tasks.

List Of Useful Console Services For Linux Users

To access the following console services, we use the below tools:

  • curl or wget
  • ssh
  • telnet
  • nc

These tools comes preinstalled in many Linux operating systems. Just in case if they are not available, just install them using your distribution's package manager.

To install them on Debian-based systems, run:

$ sudo apt install curl wget openssh-client telnet nc

On RPM-based systems:

$ sudo yum install curl wget openssh-client telnet nc

On Arch Linux:

$ sudo pacman -S curl wget openssh-client telnet nc

On openSUSE:

$ sudo zypper install curl wget openssh-client telnet nc

Now let us see the usage of some console services.

Please note that some of the services listed here may not work all the time. If they don't work, try after some time or try different service.

Cheatsheets for Linux/Unix commands

You probably heard about cheat.sh. I use this service everyday! This is one of the useful service for all Linux users. It displays concise Linux command examples.

For instance, to view the curl command cheatsheet, simply run the following command from your console:

$ curl cheat.sh/curl

curl command cheatsheet

It is that simple! You don't need to go through man pages or use any online resources to learn about commands. It can get you the cheatsheets of most Linux and unix commands in couple seconds.

ls command cheatsheet:

$ curl cheat.sh/ls

find command cheatsheet:

$ curl cheat.sh/find

It is highly recommended tool!


Recommended read:


World Map

Did you know we can view the World Map right from the Terminal? Yes! MapSCII, a Braille and ASCII world map renderer for your xterm-compatible terminals.

To display the world map from your console, simply run:

$ telnet mapscii.me

MapSCII World Map

Don't underestimate it. MapSCII is not a lame project. It is highly commendable project. It can even display the map of a small town accurately. More details in the following link.

Weather details

This is another commendable console service. It will get us the weather details of any location in the world.

To know the weather details of your current location, simply run:

$ curl wttr.in

wttr weather details from Terminal

You can also display the weather details of a particular country, city, airport, geographical location and a lot more.

Refer the following guide for more details.

IP Address

We can find the local ip address using ip command. But what about the public IP address? It is simple!

To find your public IP address, just run the following commands from your Terminal:

$ curl ipinfo.io/ip
157.46.122.176
$ curl eth0.me
157.46.122.176
$ curl checkip.amazonaws.com
157.46.122.176
$ curl icanhazip.com
2409:4072:631a:c033:cc4b:4d25:e76c:9042

Console Services To Find Ip Address

There is also a console service to display the ip address in JSON format.

$ curl httpbin.org/ip
{
  "origin": "157.46.122.176"
}

Geolocation

The following console services will display the geolocation details.

$ curl ipinfo.io/8.8.8.8
{
  "ip": "8.8.8.8",
  "hostname": "dns.google",
  "city": "Mountain View",
  "region": "California",
  "country": "US",
  "loc": "37.3860,-122.0838",
  "org": "AS15169 Google LLC",
  "postal": "94035",
  "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles",
  "readme": "https://ipinfo.io/missingauth"
}

Or only display the location:

$curl ipinfo.io/8.8.8.8/loc
37.3860,-122.0838

Display country:

$ curl ifconfig.co/country
India

Display city:

$ curl ifconfig.co/city
Chennai

Related read:


Money

Wondering what is happening in Cryptocurreny market?

Get Coinmarketcap Top 100 Cryptocurrencies:

$ curl cmc.rjldev.com

Sample output:

Get Coinmarketcap Top 100 Cryptocurrencies

Get Cryptocurrencies Exchange Rates:

$ curl rate.sx

Sample output:

cryptocurrency exchange rate

You can also display a specific currency rate:

$ curl rate.sx/btc

Dictionary

Want to know the meanig of an English word? Here is how you can get the meaning of a word - gustatory

$ curl 'dict://dict.org/d:gustatory'
220 pan.alephnull.com dictd 1.12.1/rf on Linux 4.4.0-1-amd64 <auth.mime> <100411284.5191.1581597016@pan.alephnull.com>
250 ok
150 1 definitions retrieved
151 "Gustatory" gcide "The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48"
Gustatory \Gust"a*to*ry\, a.
Pertaining to, or subservient to, the sense of taste; as, the
gustatory nerve which supplies the front of the tongue.
[1913 Webster]
.
250 ok [d/m/c = 1/0/16; 0.000r 0.000u 0.000s]
221 bye [d/m/c = 0/0/0; 0.000r 0.000u 0.000s]

Text sharing

You can share texts via some console services. These text sharing services are often useful for sharing code.

Here is an example.

$ echo "Welcome To OSTechNix!" | curl -F 'f:1=<-' ix.io
http://ix.io/2bCA

The above command will share the text "Welcome To OSTechNix" via ix.io site. Anyone can view access this text from a web browser by navigating to the URL - http://ix.io/2bCA

text sharing console service

Another example:

$ echo "Welcome To OSTechNix!" | curl -F file=@- 0x0.st
http://0x0.st/i-0G.txt

File sharing

Not just text, we can even share files to anyone using a console service called filepush.

$ curl --upload-file ostechnix.txt filepush.co/upload/ostechnix.txt
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100    72    0     0  100    72      0     54  0:00:01  0:00:01 --:--:--    54http://filepush.co/8x6h/ostechnix.txt
100   110  100    38  100    72     27     53  0:00:01  0:00:01 --:--:--    81

The above command will upload the ostechnix.txt file to filepush.co site. You can access this file from anywhere by navgating to the link - http://filepush.co/8x6h/ostechnix.txt

filepush file sharing console service

Another text sharing console service is termbin:

$ echo "Welcome To OSTechNix!" | nc termbin.com 9999

There is also another console service named transfer.sh. But it doesn't work at the time of writing this guide.

Browser

There are many text browsers are available for Linux. Browsh is one of them and you can access it right from your Terminal using command:

$ ssh brow.sh

browsh text browser

Browsh is a modern, text browser that supports graphics including video. Technically speaking, it is not much of a browser, but some kind of terminal front-end of browser. It uses headless Firefox to render the web page and then converts it to ASCII art. Refer the following guide for more details.

Create QR codes for given string

Do you want to create QR-codes for a given string? That's easy!

$ curl qrenco.de/ostechnix

Here is the QR code for "ostechnix" string.

create QR-codes for a string

URL Shortners

Want to shorten a long URLs shorter to make them easier to post or share with your friends? Use Tinyurl console service to shorten them:

$ curl -s http://tinyurl.com/api-create.php?url=https://ostechnix.com/pigz-compress-and-decompress-files-in-parallel-in-linux/
http://tinyurl.com/vkc5c5p

Entertainment / Fun / Games

Feel bored at work? Here are some console services to pass your time.

Display random jokes in Terminal:

$ curl https://icanhazdadjoke.com

Display animated Parrot:

$ curl parrot.live

Disco in Terminal:

$ nc rya.nc 1987

Watch StarWars in terminal:

$ nc towel.blinkenlights.nl 23

Multiplayer tetris game:

$ ssh netris.rocketnine.space

Snake game:

$ ssh sshtron.zachlatta.com

Play Chess:

$ telnet freechess.org

Recommended read:


In this guide, I have listed only a few console services that I use from time to time. There is more. You can view the complete list in the following link.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Have a Good day!!

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