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RHEL vs Ubuntu

Where the two dominant server families differ in command, file and default. RHEL rows cover Rocky and other rebuilds; Ubuntu rows cover Debian. Where a tool is identical on both, it is not listed here.

Packages

RHEL / Rocky Ubuntu / Debian
Install a package dnf install pkg apt install pkg
Remove a package dnf remove pkg apt remove pkg
Update the index Automatic on each dnf run apt update first
Upgrade everything dnf upgrade apt upgrade
Search dnf search term apt search term
Which package owns a file rpm -qf /path, dnf provides /path dpkg -S /path
List a package's files rpm -ql pkg dpkg -L pkg
Low-level package tool rpm dpkg
Repository files /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
Hold a version dnf versionlock apt-mark hold

See rpm and dnf and dpkg and apt.

Users and Account Creation

RHEL / Rocky Ubuntu / Debian
Create a user (low-level) useradd creates the home by default (CREATE_HOME yes) useradd creates no home without -m
Create a user (interactive) Not shipped adduser (Perl wrapper, prompts, makes the home)
Default admin group wheel sudo
Regular UID start 1000 1000

See Users and Sudo and su.

Networking

RHEL / Rocky Ubuntu / Debian
Configure an interface nmcli, nmtui (NetworkManager) netplan YAML, then netplan apply
Connection storage /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ /etc/netplan/*.yaml
Resolver stub systemd-resolved or NetworkManager systemd-resolved
Default firewall front end firewalld ufw

See Network Configuration and Firewalld and UFW.

Security

RHEL / Rocky Ubuntu / Debian
Mandatory access control SELinux, enforcing by default AppArmor, enforcing by default
Policy tools getenforce, semanage, restorecon, audit2allow aa-status, aa-complain, aa-enforce
CA trust store /etc/pki/ca-trust/, update-ca-trust /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/, update-ca-certificates
Verify installed packages rpm -Va debsums

See SELinux, AppArmor and OpenSSL and Trust Store.

Logs and Boot

RHEL / Rocky Ubuntu / Debian
General log file /var/log/messages /var/log/syslog
Authentication log /var/log/secure /var/log/auth.log
Journal journalctl (same on both) journalctl (same on both)
Regenerate GRUB grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg update-grub
Regenerate initramfs dracut -f update-initramfs -u

See Log Locations and GRUB2.

Filesystems and Defaults

RHEL / Rocky Ubuntu / Debian
Default root filesystem XFS ext4
Default volume layout LVM on install Plain partition or LVM (installer choice)
Shrink the root filesystem Not possible (XFS cannot shrink) Possible (ext4 shrinks)

See Filesystems and LVM.

The same software ships under different package names

The same software often ships under different package names, for example cloud-utils-growpart on RHEL and cloud-guest-utils on Ubuntu, or openssh-server present on both. A provisioning script that hard-codes one family's names fails on the other, so the topic pages use distro tabs wherever the name differs.

One habit works on both: ask the system, do not assume

command -v tool, cat /etc/os-release and type -a name report what is actually installed, so a runbook that checks before acting survives a move between families. This is why the folder leads with distro-neutral commands and only splits into tabs where output or syntax truly differs.