# System tools and applications

***Copyright © Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.***

---

# Archive tools

In **Linux** systems, the **tar** command is usually included by default and does not require additional installation. It is one of the core tools, and almost all Linux distributions (such as **Ubuntu, CentOS, Linux**, etc.) come pre-installed with it.

Install **tar** (if needed):

```bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt install tar
```

**tar** supports packing and unpacking by default, but compression/decompression functionality depends on other tools (such as **gzip, bzip2, xz**), which are usually also pre-installed.

| **Format** | **Compression command** | **Decompression command** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| .tar | tar -cvf file.tar dir/ | tar -xvf file.tar |
| .tar.gz | tar -czvf file.tar.gz dir/ | tar -xzvf file.tar.gz |
| .tar.bz2 | tar -cjvf file.tar.bz2 dir/ | tar -xjvf file.tar.bz2 |
| .zip | zip file.zip dir | unzip file.zip |
| .7z | 7z a file.7z dir | 7z x file.7z |
| .rar | rar a file.rar dir | unrar x file.rar |

# File system tools

| **Tool** | **Function** | **Example command** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| df | View disk usage | df -h |
| du | View file size in directory | du -sh /path/to/dir |
| lsblk | View block device information | lsblk -f |
| fdisk | View disk partition information | sudo fdisk -l |
| mount/umount | Mount/Unmount | sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt |
| mkfs | Formatting tool | sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1 |
| fsck | File system check and repair | sudo fsck /dev/sdX1 |

# Disk management tools

| **Tool** | **Function** | **Example command** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| lsblk / fdisk -l / parted | View disk information | sudo parted /dev/sdX |
| gdisk / fdisk / gparted | GPT / MBR / GUI partition tools | sudo gdisk /dev/sdX |
| partprobe | Update partition information | sudo partprobe /dev/sdX |
| pvcreate / vgcreate / dd | Advanced management (LVM/cloning) | sudo pvcreate /dev/sdX1 |
| df / du / ncdu | View disk usage | df -h |
| mkfs.ext4 / mkfs.ntfs | Formatting tools | sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1 |

# Process management tools

| **Tool** | **Function** | **Example command** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ps / top / htop | View processes | ps aux |
| kill / pkill / killall | Terminate processes | kill -9 PID |
| nohup / bg / jobs | Run programs in background | nohup python3 script.py & |
| nice / renice | Set process priority | nice -n 19 python3 script.py |
| vmstat / pidstat | Resource monitoring | pidstat -d 1 |
| systemctl / journalctl | Manage services | systemctl status nginx |