In this tutorial, we’re going to play with some traditional Linux commands on Android.
We’re using Terminal Emulator, available free on Google Play. If your device has root access, you can also install BusyBox to unlock more advanced utilities.
Anyway — the commands below don’t require BusyBox. They’re built-in.
Enable your data connection for better results with network commands.
1. iftop
iftop shows real-time bandwidth usage on a network interface — who is sending and receiving, and how much.
If you have root, type su first to get elevated privileges, then run iftop.
2. df
df shows disk usage without needing any app. Just type df in the terminal to see storage info for every mounted filesystem — app sizes, cache, and available space.
3. Poweroff / Reboot [root]
Normally you power off or restart using hardware buttons. But you can also do it from the terminal.
Grant root permission first:
su
Then:
poweroff
or to reboot:
reboot
4. Ping
ping sends ICMP echo requests to check if a host is reachable and measure round-trip time:
ping www.example.com
This also shows you the IP address of the site.
To send a fixed number of pings (Linux syntax):
ping -c 1000 www.example.com
Note: Regular ping is not a DDoS attack. Sending ICMP requests at this scale to a public server with no permission is rude and may be blocked — but it won’t meaningfully impact a well-resourced server. Actual DDoS tools like LOIC are a different matter.
5. logcat
logcat streams the system log in real time — useful for debugging apps and understanding what the system is doing. Requires root:
su
logcat
Logs will start streaming to your screen.
That’s it for this one. Hope you found it useful — more commands coming in a follow-up.