Solaris Advanced User’s Guide

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

4150 Network Circle
Santa Clara, CA 95054
U.S.A.

Part No: 806–7612–10

May 2002
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020115@3062
 Contents

Preface 9

1 Differences Between Command Line Interface and Graphical User Interface 13

Command Line Interface 13
Graphical User Interfaces 13
Common Desktop Environment 14
GNOME Desktop 14

2 Logging In and Using Basic SunOS Commands 15

Logging In 15
Your Login Shell 16
Logging Out 17
Keyboard Equivalents 17
Command Prompt 18
Typing Commands 19
Correcting Typing Mistakes 19
Typing Multiple Commands and Long Commands 19
Repeating Previous Commands 20
Adding Command Options 22
Redirecting and Piping Command Output 22
Running Commands in the Background 23
Using a Password 24
Changing Your Password 25
Password Aging 25
Getting Help With OS Commands 26

3
 Displaying Manual Pages With man 26
Displaying a One-line Summary With whatis 26
Keyword Lookup With apropos 27

3 Working With Files and Directories 29

File Concepts 29
Using File Commands 30
Before You Begin 30
Creating a Test File 30
Listing Files (ls) 31
Copying Files (cp) 31
Moving and Renaming Files (mv) 31
Deleting Files (rm) 32
Displaying File Contents (more, cat) 32
Displaying File Type (file) 32
Directories and Hierarchy 33
Directory Hierarchy 33
Printing the Working Directory (pwd) 34
Your Home Directory 34
Changing the Working Directory (cd) 34
Creating a Directory (mkdir) 35
Relative Path Names 36
Moving and Renaming Directories 36
Copying Directories 37
Removing Directories (rmdir) 37
Viewing Differences Between Files (diff) 37
Comparing Three Different Files (diff3) 39
Using bdiff on Large Files 39
Searching for Files (find) 39
File and Directory Security 41
Displaying Permissions and Status (ls -l) 42
Listing Hidden Files (ls -a) 43
Changing Permissions (chmod) 43
Setting Absolute Permissions 45

4 Searching Files 49
Searching for Patterns With grep 49

4 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

 grep as a Filter 50
grep With Multiword Strings 51
Searching for Lines Without a Certain String 51
Using Regular Expressions With grep 51
Searching for Metacharacters 52
Single or Double Quotes on Command Lines 53

5 Managing Processes and Disk Usage 55

Processes and PIDs 55
What Commands Are Running Now (ps) 55
Terminating Processes (pkill) 56
Managing Disk Storage 57
Displaying Disk Usage (df -k) 57
Displaying Directory Usage (du) 57

6 Using the vi Editor 59

Starting vi 59
Creating a File 60
Status Line 60
Two Modes of vi 61
Entry Mode 61
Command Mode 62
Ending a Session 62
Saving Changes and Quitting vi 63
Printing a File 64
Basic vi Commands 64
Moving Around in a File 64
Inserting Text 67
Changing Text 68
Undoing Changes 68
Deleting Text 69
Copying and Moving Text — Yank, Delete, and Put 69
Using a Count to Repeat Commands 70
Using ex Commands 71
Turning Line Numbers On and Off 71
Copying Lines 72
Moving Lines 72

Contents 5
 Deleting Lines 73
Searching and Replacing With vi 73
Finding a Character String 73
Refining the Search 74
Replacing a Character String 75
Going to a Specific Line 75
Inserting One File Into Another 76
Editing Multiple Files 76
Summary of Basic vi Commands 76

7 Using Mail 83
mailx Basics 83
Starting mailx 84
Sending Yourself a Sample Message 84
Reading Your Sample Message 85
Quitting mailx 86
Reading Messages 86
Deleting (and Undeleting) Messages 87
Printing Messages 88
Sending Messages 89
Undeliverable Messages 90
Canceling an Unsent Message 90
Adding Carbon and Blind Carbon Copies 90
Inserting a Copy of a Message or File 91
Replying to a Message 92
Saving and Retrieving Messages 93
Saving and Copying Messages in Files 93
Saving and Copying Messages in Folders 93
Reading Messages in Files and Folders 95
Using vi With mailx 96
Mail Aliases 96
Setting Up Mail Aliases in .mailrc 97
Setting Up Mail Aliases in /etc/aliases 98
Tilde Commands 100
Getting Help: Other mailx Commands 102

6 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

8 Using Printers 103
Submitting Print Requests 103
Submitting Print Requests to the Default Printer 103
Submitting Print Requests Using a Printer Name 104
Requesting Notification When Printing Is Complete 105
Printing Multiple Copies 105
Summary Table of lp Options 105
Determining Printer Status 106
Checking on the Status of Your Print Requests 106
Checking Available Printers 107
Displaying All Status Information 107
Displaying Status for Printers 108
Summary Table of lpstat Options 108
Canceling a Print Request 109
Canceling a Print Request by ID Number 109
Canceling a Print Request by Printer Name 110

9 Using the Network 111

Networking Concepts 111
Logging In Remotely (rlogin) 112
rlogin Without a Home Directory 112
rlogin as Someone Else 113
rlogin to an Unknown Machine 113
Aborting an rlogin Connection 114
Suspending an rlogin Connection 114
Verifying Your Location (who am i) 115
Copying Files Remotely (rcp) 115
Copying Files From a Remote Machine 115
Copying Files From Your Machine to Another 116
Executing Commands Remotely (rsh) 116
Viewing User Information (rusers) 117
Running Networked Applications 118
Using rlogin to Run a Networked Application 118
More About Security 119

10 Customizing Your Working Environment 127

Modifying Initialization Files 127

Contents 7
 Setting Environment Variables 128
User Profile 129
Setting the PATH Variable 130
Command Aliases 131
Changing Your Command Prompt 132
Other Useful Variables 133
Setting Default File Permissions 134

A Modifying the Keyboard 137

Disabling and Enabling the Compose Key 137
SPARC: Left-Handed Key Remapping 138
SPARC: Using the Remapping Script 138
SPARC: Undoing the Keyboard Remapping 140
IA: Function Key and Control Key Remapping 141
IA: Using the Remapping Script 141
IA: Undoing the Keyboard Remapping 142

Index 147

8 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Preface

This book describes how to use the command line interface (CLI) of the Solaris™
operating environment to perform various system tasks.

Note – The Solaris operating environment runs on two platforms, SPARC™ and IA.
The information in this document pertains to both platforms unless otherwise
specified in a special chapter, section, note, bulleted item, figure, table, or example.

Who Should Read This Book

This book is for users of the Solaris 9 operating environment who want learn how to
use the command line interface.

Before You Read This Book

Your system should be installed and ready for use. If the Solaris operating
environment is not installed on your system, see the installation manual specific to
your system before you read this book.

9
 How This Book Is Organized
The Solaris Advanced User’s Guide describes the following topics.
■ Chapter 1 briefly describes the command line interface and the two graphical user
interfaces supported by the Solaris operating environment, the Common Desktop
Environment and GNOME.
■ Chapter 2 describes how to log in and out of your system and how to use basic
commands to perform system tasks.
To view license terms, attribution, and copyright statements for bash, tcsh, and
zsh, the default path is /usr/share/src. If the Solaris operating environment
has been installed anywhere other than the default, modify the given path to access
the file at the installed location.
■ Chapter 3 describes how to create, copy, move, and delete files and directories. This
chapter also describes how to search for files, compare differences between files,
and how to set permissions on files and directories.
■ Chapter 4 describes how to use the grep command to search through files for
specific character strings.
■ Chapter 5 describes how to monitor and manage your system’s processes and disk
usage.
■ Chapter 6 describes how to use the vi text editor to create, edit, save, and print
text files.
■ Chapter 7 describes how to use the mailx tool to read, create, send, and print
email.
■ Chapter 8 describes how to print files and manage printer status.
■ Chapter 9 describes how to perform system tasks from a remote machine.
■ Chapter 10 describes how to customize your working environment by modifying
your system initialization files and environment variables.
■ Appendix A describes how to customize the key mapping on your keyboard.

Related Books
The Solaris operating environment documentation set provides access to a number of
books about the Solaris software. These books are organized into the following related
sets:
■ Solaris 9 System Administrator Collection

10 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

 This set offers detailed installation and system administration information for a
variety of system configurations, including larger networks of Sun workstations.
■ Solaris 9 Software Developer Collection
This set gives software developers the information they need to write, debug, and
maintain programs on the system.
■ Solaris 9 Reference Manual Collection
This set contains a description of every SunOS command. This collection, often
referred to as man pages, can optionally be installed as online documentation.
■ Solaris 9 User Collection
This set offers a detailed description of various aspects of the Solaris operating
environment. These aspects include:
■ How to use SunOS™ commands
■ How to work with window environments
■ How to customize your work environment
■ How to write shell scripts
■ How to use email
■ How to work on the network

Accessing Sun Documentation Online

The docs.sun.comSM Web site enables you to access Sun technical documentation
online. You can browse the docs.sun.com archive or search for a specific book title or
subject. The URL is http://docs.sun.com.

Typographic Conventions
The following table describes the typographic changes used in this book.

Preface 11
 TABLE P–1 Typographic Conventions

Typeface or Symbol Meaning Example

AaBbCc123 The names of commands, files, and Edit your .login file.
directories; on-screen computer output
Use ls -a to list all files.
machine_name% you have
mail.

AaBbCc123 What you type, contrasted with machine_name% su

on-screen computer output
Password:

AaBbCc123 Command-line placeholder: replace with To delete a file, type rm

a real name or value filename.

AaBbCc123 Book titles, new words, or terms, or Read Chapter 6 in User’s Guide.
words to be emphasized.
These are called class options.
You must be root to do this.

Shell Prompts in Command Examples

The following table shows the default system prompt and superuser prompt for the C
shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell.

TABLE P–2 Shell Prompts

Shell Prompt

C shell prompt machine_name%

C shell superuser prompt machine_name#

Bourne shell and Korn shell prompt $

Bourne shell and Korn shell superuser prompt #

12 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

CHAPTER 1

Differences Between Command Line

Interface and Graphical User Interface

Desktop software should already be installed on your hard disk or on an accessible

server in your network. If you are unsure that you have access to the desktop
software, see your system administrator, or refer to the installation manual for your
specific platform.

This chapter briefly describes the differences between the command line interface and
the desktop environment.

Command Line Interface

A command line interface (CLI) enables users to type commands in a terminal or
console window to interact with an operating system. Users respond to a visual
prompt by typing a command on a specified line, and receive a response back from
the system. Users type a command or series of commands for each task they want to
perform.

This book describes how to use the command line interface to perform various system
tasks.

Graphical User Interfaces

A graphical user interface (GUI) uses graphics, along with a keyboard and a mouse, to
provide an easy-to-use interface to a program. A GUI provides windows, pull-down
menus, buttons, scrollbars, iconic images, wizards, other icons, and the mouse to
enable users to interact with the operating system or application.

13
 The Solaris 9 operating environment supports two GUIs, the Common Desktop
Environment (CDE) and the GNOME desktop.

Common Desktop Environment

The Common Desktop Environment (CDE) provides windows, workspaces, controls,
menus, and the Front Panel to help you organize and manage your work. You can use
the CDE GUI to organize your files and directories, read, compose and send email,
access files, and manage your system.

For more information, see Solaris Common Desktop Environment: User’s Guide.

GNOME Desktop
GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a GUI and set of computer
desktop applications. You can use the GNOME desktop, panel, applications, and tool
set to customize your working environment and manage your system tasks. GNOME
also provides an application set, including a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a
database manager, a presentation tool, a Web browser, and an email program.

14 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

CHAPTER 2

Logging In and Using Basic SunOS

Commands

This chapter describes the following topics.

■ “Logging In” on page 15
■ “Logging Out” on page 17
■ “Typing Commands” on page 19
■ “Correcting Typing Mistakes” on page 19
■ “Typing Multiple Commands and Long Commands” on page 19
■ “Adding Command Options” on page 22
■ “Using a Password” on page 24
■ “Getting Help With OS Commands” on page 26

To enter commands, use a terminal or window. Use your desktop environment

documentation if you need information on starting a terminal or window.

Logging In
A standard work session is the interval between the time you log in to the system and
the time you log out. The SunOS multiuser environment requires that you identify
yourself each time you want to use the system. Your login name (also known as a user
name or an account) serves as your identity to the system and to other users on the
system. Your password restricts use of your account to you. If you don’t already have a
login name and password, ask your system administrator to set up an account for you.
After you have this information, you are ready to log in.

Before you log in to the system, your screen should look similar to the following:
hostname console login:

Type the login name given to you by the system administrator and press the Return
key. For example, if your login name is spanky, type:

15
 hostname console login: spanky

and press Return. Next, the system requests your password as follows:
hostname console login: spanky
Password:

Type your password at the prompt and press Return. If your account does not have a
password assigned to it, the system logs you in without asking you for a password.
Note that the system does not display (echo) your password on the screen as you type
it. The failure to display your password helps to prevent others from discovering your
password.

Your Login Shell

In the chapters that follow, you enter SunOS commands. When you issue a command
to the system, you are actually providing information to a command interpretation
program, called a shell. The shell program then reads the information you have
provided and causes the proper action to occur within the system.

The default shell for SunOS system software is the Bourne shell. The Solaris operating
environment also supports the following shells.
■ GNU Bourne Again shell (bash)
■ C shell (csh)
■ Korn shell (ksh)
■ TC shell (tcsh)
■ Z shell (zsh)

Each of these shells has its own unique differences.

Note – You can get specific information about any SunOS command, including each of
the available shells, by viewing its man (manual reference) page. For more information
on man pages, see “Displaying Manual Pages With man” on page 26.

When you initially log in to the system (or open a new terminal or window) and you
see your command prompt, it indicates that a shell program has been started for you
automatically. This shell is called your login shell. If your login shell is not the SunOS
default (the Bourne shell), it is because a different shell has been specified for you by
your system administrator.

Some commands or procedures available when using one shell might not be available
when using another shell. Unless stated otherwise, all commands and procedures
described in this manual are available in the Bourne shell.

16 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Logging Out
When you have finished your work session and are ready to exit the operating system,
log out by typing the following:
$ exit

After a moment, the system once again displays the login prompt:
$ exit
hostname console login:

When you see the login prompt, it indicates that you have successfully logged out.
The system is now ready for you or another user to log in.

Note – In the SunOS operating system, turning off your workstation or terminal does
not necessarily log you out. Unless you log out explicitly, you might remain logged in
to the system.

Keyboard Equivalents
You can often speed up operations by using a sequence of keystrokes, called keyboard
accelerators, that duplicate the operations of the mouse and menus, and of the
preconfigured keyboard keys.

The following table lists several command operations and the keyboard equivalents
for both SPARC™ and IA machines.

Note – The Meta key is the <> key on SPARC keyboards and is obtained on IA
keyboards by pressing Ctrl-Alt.

To use a keyboard accelerator, press and hold the first key (Meta or Ctrl-Alt together)
and type the second key. For example, to cut selected text, press and hold the Meta
key and press X on a SPARC system. On an IA system, press and hold Ctrl and Alt
together and press X simultaneously.

Chapter 2 • Logging In and Using Basic SunOS Commands 17

 TABLE 2–1 Keyboard Accelerators

Operation Keyboard Equivalent Action

Again Meta - a Repeats the previous operation

Copy Meta - c Copies the selection to the clipboard

Cut Meta - x Cuts the selection and puts it on the clipboard

Find Meta - f Finds the selection to the right of the caret

Help Help or F1 Displays a help window with context-sensitive

help for the object at the pointer location

New Meta - n Loads a new file

Open (File) Meta - o Opens a file (for example, if you’ve highlighted a

file icon in File Manager)

Open (Window) Meta - w Opens an icon or closes a window to an icon

Paste Meta - v Copies the clipboard selection to the insertion

point

Print Meta - p Sends the file to the printer (for example, if you’ve
highlighted a file icon in File Manager)

Props Meta - i Displays the property window for the application

at the pointer location

Redo Shift-Meta - p Undoes an Undo

Save Meta - s Saves the current file

Stop Stop or Esc Stops the current operation

Undo Meta - u Undoes the previous operation

Command Prompt
When you log in, the screen or window displays an initial prompt. The appearance of
this prompt varies depending on the shell you are using and on how your system
administrator originally set it up. Because the default command prompt for SunOS
system software is the dollar sign ($), this prompt is used in most of the examples
presented in this manual.

If you decide later that you want to change your command prompt, see “Changing
Your Command Prompt” on page 132 for instructions.

18 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Typing Commands
When you see the command prompt, the system is waiting for you to type a
command. Try typing the command date at the prompt, as shown in this example
(type date and press the Return key):
$ date
Mon Sep 17 10:12:51 PST 2001
$

This command displays the current date and time. When you type the same
command, but capitalized, you receive the following message.
$ Date
Date: Command not found.
$

The Solaris operating environment interprets an uppercase D differently than a

lowercase d, and the Date command fails. Most commands in the Solaris operating
environment are lowercase.

Correcting Typing Mistakes

The commands you type are not sent to the system until you press Return. If you
type a command incorrectly, but do not press Return, you can correct your mistake in
the following ways.
■ Press the Delete or Back Space key to move back a space to the error; or
■ Type Ctrl-U to erase the entire line and start over. Hold down the Control key
and press u.

Try both of these methods and see how they work. The Delete/Back Space key varies
on some systems. Ctrl-U should work on most systems.

Typing Multiple Commands and Long Commands

You can type more than one command on a single line. Simply place a semicolon (;)
between the commands, as shown here with the date command and the logname
command:
$ date; logname
Tue Oct 31 15:16:00 MST 2000
spooky

Chapter 2 • Logging In and Using Basic SunOS Commands 19

 This command entry displays the current date and time (from the date command)
and the login name of the user currently logged in to the system (from the logname
command).

If you are typing a long command, you can use the backslash character (\) to continue
typing on a second line. For example:
$ date; \
logname
Tue Oct 31 15:17:30 MST 2000
spooky

Although the date and logname commands are not long commands, they
demonstrate the concept of continuing a set of commands on the next line. Later, when
the commands you want to use are longer than the width of your screen, you will see
how useful the backslash character can be.

Note – If you use a desktop window, you might not need to use the backslash
character to continue typing commands on the next line. When you reach the end of a
line, the commands you type wrap to the next line automatically, and the system
executes all commands when you press Return.

Repeating Previous Commands

The Korn, Bourne Again, C, TC, and Z shells enable your system to keep a history of
commands you type and are able to repeat previous commands.

Note – The Bourne shell (sh) does not support the history command.

Repeating Commands in the Bourne Again, C, TC, or Z

Shell
If you use the Bourne Again, C, TC, or Z shell, type !! and press Return to repeat the
last command you typed.
example%!!
date
Tue Oct 31 15:18:38 MST 2000
example%

You can also repeat any previously typed command by typing !x, where x is the
desired command’s corresponding number on the history list. To see the history list,
type the history command and press Return. The following is an example of what
you might see.

20 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

example% history
1 pwd
2 clear
3 ls -l
4 cd $HOME
5 logname
6 date
7 history

Note – The Z shell does not display the history command in the history list.

Another method for repeating characters from the history list is to follow the ! with a
negative number. For example, to repeat the second from the last command on the
history list, type the following command.
example% !-2
date
Tue Oct 31 15:20:41 MST 2000
example%

Note – If you use this command repetition method immediately after the history
command in the Z shell, increase the negative number after the ! by one (!-3).

Using the previous example history list, the date command is repeated.

You can also type the ! character, followed by the first few characters of a previous
command to repeat that command. For example, if you had previously typed the
clear command to clear your screen, you could type !cl to clear your screen again.
With this method for repeating commands, however, you must use enough characters
for the desired command to be unique in the history list. If you use only one letter
after the !, the system repeats the most recent command that begins with that letter.

Repeating Commands in the Korn Shell

If you use the Korn shell, type the following command to repeat the previous
command.
$ fc -s -
date
Tue Oct 31 15:18:38 MST 2000
$

You can also repeat any previously typed command by typing fc -s x, where x is the
desired command’s corresponding number on the history list. To see the history list,
type the fc -l command and press Return. The following example is a sample
history list.

Chapter 2 • Logging In and Using Basic SunOS Commands 21

 $ fc -l
344 pwd
345 clear
346 ls -l
347 cd $HOME
348 logname
349 date
350 history
$

You can also repeat commands from the history list by following the fc -s command
with a negative number. For example, to repeat the second from the last command on
the history list, type the following command.
$ fc -s -2
date
Tue Oct 31 15:20:41 MST 2000
$

Using the previous example history list, the date command repeats.

You can also use the fc -s command with the first few characters of a previous
command. For example, if you had previously typed the date command to display
the current date, you could type fc -s da to display the date again. However, you
must use enough characters for the desired command to be unique in the history list.
If you use only one letter after the fc -s command, the system repeats the most
recent command that begins with that letter.

Adding Command Options

Many commands have options that invoke special features of the command. For
example, the date command has the option -u, which expresses the date in
Greenwich Mean Time instead of local time:
$ date -u
Tue Oct 31 22:33:16 GMT 2000
$

Most options are expressed as a single character preceded by a dash (-). Not all
commands have options. Some commands have more than one option. If you use
more than one option for a command, you can either type the options separately (-a
-b) or together (-ab).

Redirecting and Piping Command Output

Unless you indicate otherwise, commands normally display their results on the screen.
Some special symbols allow you to redirect the output of a command. For example,
you might want to save the output to a file rather than display it on the screen. The
following example illustrates the use of the redirect symbol (>).

22 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

$ date > sample.file
$

In this example, the output from the date command is redirected to a new file called
sample.file. You can display the contents of sample.file by typing the more
command.
$ more sample.file
Tue Oct 31 15:34:45 MST 2000
$

As you can see, the contents of sample.file now contain the output from the date
command. See Chapter 3 for information on the more command.

Sometimes you might want to redirect the output of one command as input to another
command. A set of commands strung together in this way is called a pipeline. The
symbol for this type of redirection is a vertical bar (|) called a pipe.

For example, instead of saving the output of a command to a file, you might want to
direct it as input to the command for printing (lp) by using the pipe symbol (|). To
send the output from the date command directly to the printer, type the following:
$ date | lp
request id is jetprint-46 (1 file)
$

This pipeline would print the results of the date command. See “Submitting Print
Requests to the Default Printer” on page 103 for information on using the lp
command to print files.

The command redirection examples shown here are simple, but when you learn more
advanced commands, you will find many uses for piping and redirection.

Running Commands in the Background

When you type a command and press the Return key, your system runs the command,
waits for the command to complete a task, and then prompts you for another
command. However, some commands can take a long time to finish, and you might
prefer to type other commands in the meantime. If you want to run additional
commands while a previous command runs, you can run a command in the
background.

If you know you want to run a command in the background, type an ampersand (&)
after the command as shown in the following example.
$ bigjob &
[1] 7493
$

Chapter 2 • Logging In and Using Basic SunOS Commands 23

 The number that follows is the process id. The command bigjob will now run in the
background, and you can continue to type other commands. After the job completes,
you will see a message similar to the following the next time you type another
command, such as date in the following example.
$ date
Tue Oct 31 15:44:59 MST 2000
[1] Done bigjob
$

If you plan to log off before a background job completes, use the nohup (no hangup)
command to enable the job to complete, as shown in the following example. If you do
not use the nohup command , the background job terminates when you log off.
$ nohup bigjob &
[3] 7495
$

Using a Password
To ensure your system’s security, the Solaris operating environment requires you use a
password to access your system. Changing your password several times a year helps
to ensure that you are the only user with easy access to your account.

Note – If you believe someone has used your account without your permission,
change your password immediately.

When you choose a password, follow these guidelines.

■ Choose a password that you can remember without writing it down. A password
that you cannot remember is worse than one that is too easily guessed.
■ Choose a password that is at least six characters long and contains at least one
number.
■ Don’t use your own name or initials or the name or initials of your spouse.
■ Don’t use the names of pets or objects common to your interests.
■ Don’t use all capital letters.
■ If you have more than one account, don’t use the same password for every
account.
■ Avoid using the characters Ctrl-C, Ctrl-Z, Ctrl-U, Ctrl-S, Esc, Tab, #, and @ in your
password. The terminal might interpret these characters as signals rather than text
characters, and this interpretation would preclude you from properly typing in
your password.

24 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

 Changing Your Password
To change your personal password, type the passwd command:
$ passwd
passwd: Changing password for user2
Enter login password:
New password:
Re-enter new password:
passwd (SYSTEM): passwd successfully changed for user2
$

1. When the system prompts you for Enter login password:, type your current
password.
If no password is currently assigned to your account, the system skips the Old
Password: prompt.
The system does not echo (display) your password on the screen and thereby prevents
other users from discovering your password.

2. When the system prompts you for New Password:, type your new password.
Again, the password you type does not echo on the screen.

3. At the final prompt, Re-enter new password:, type your new password a second
time.
Your system verifies that you typed the password you intended to type.
If you do not type your password precisely the way you did at the previous prompt,
the system refuses to change your password and responds with the following
message:
passwd: They don’t match; try again.
If you receive this message repeatedly, contact your system administrator to get a new
password.

Note – Passwords containing fewer than six characters are not allowed. Also, a new
password must differ from the old password by at least three characters.

Password Aging
If your system uses password aging (implemented with options to the passwd
command), your password can have either a maximum, or a maximum and minimum
lifespan. The lifespan of your password is set by your system administrator.

When your password reaches the maturity date, your system prompts you to change
your password when you log in. The following message displays.
Your password has expired. Choose a new one.

Chapter 2 • Logging In and Using Basic SunOS Commands 25

 The system then automatically runs the passwd program and prompts you for a new
password.

If, for example, the minimum age of your password has been set for two weeks, and
you try to change your password before the minimum life span has elapsed, the
following message displays.
Sorry, less than 2 weeks since the last change.

For more information on passwd(1) and password aging, refer to the man Pages(1):
User Commands.

Getting Help With OS Commands

This section describes various online help features. These features enable you to view
reference information from your workstation or terminal.

Displaying Manual Pages With man

If you know the name of a command, but you are not sure what it does, the man
command can be helpful. Type the following to find out more about this command:
$ man man

This command displays the first part of a SunOS manual reference page in the
window display area. Press the space bar to see the next screen, or press the Q key to
quit and return to the command prompt. Use the man command to see all the available
options and to show the proper command syntax. Manual reference pages often
provide examples that illustrate various uses of the command.

Displaying a One-line Summary With whatis

If you want just a one-line summary of the command’s function, use the whatis
command, as shown here:
$ whatis date
date (1) -display or set the date
$

The number in parentheses after the command name in the previous example
indicates the Reference Manual section to which this command belongs. Commands
are grouped into various categories according to function. Most user commands are in

26 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

section 1. By common convention, the section number is displayed in parentheses after
the name of the command. You can find the printed manual reference page for a
command in alphabetical order within its group.

Note – The whatis command is only available if your system administrator has set
up a special database of command descriptions.

Keyword Lookup With apropos

If you know what you want to do, but you do not know which command to use, use
the apropos command to locate commands by keyword lookup. The apropos
command lists all commands that have one-line summaries that contain any keywords
you supply. The output of the apropos can be lengthy, as some keywords might
appear in many places.

Note – The apropos command is only available if your system administrator has set
up a special database of command descriptions.

To view examples of apropos output, type one or more of the following commands.
■ apropos who
■ apropos execute
■ apropos apropos

If you do type a keyword that generates an unreasonably lengthy display, press Ctrl-C
to interrupt the display and return you to the command prompt. Hold down the
Control key and press “c.”

Chapter 2 • Logging In and Using Basic SunOS Commands 27

28 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002
CHAPTER 3

Working With Files and Directories

You can use the SunOS command line to work with, organize, and manage files and
directories. You type the file and directory names with SunOS commands to complete
specific operations. The command line operates differently than a desktop File
Manager. In a File Manager, you can display files as icons that you can click on and
move, and you can select commands from menus.

This chapter describes the following topics.

■ “File Concepts” on page 29
■ “Using File Commands” on page 30
■ “Directories and Hierarchy” on page 33
■ “Viewing Differences Between Files (diff)” on page 37
■ “Searching for Files (find)” on page 39
■ “File and Directory Security” on page 41

File Concepts
A file is the basic unit in the SunOS operating system. Almost everything is treated as a
file, including the following items.
■ Documents – These items include text files, such as letters or reports, computer
source code, or any other document that you write and want to save.
■ Commands – Most commands are executable file. That is, they are files you can
execute to run a particular program. For example, the date command in the
previous chapter, which executes a program that provides the current date, is an
executable file.
■ Devices – Your terminal, printer, and disk drive(s) are all treated as files.
■ Directories – A directory is simply a file that contains other files.

29
 The following section explains the commands for creating, listing, copying, moving,
and deleting files. This section also includes information on how to list the contents of
a file and how to determine the nature of a file.

Using File Commands

Each of the command descriptions in this section includes an example of how to use
the command. Try the examples as you read the text.

Before You Begin

Before you experiment with files, make sure that you are in your home directory. Your
system administrator established this directory for you at your account creation. To
avoid changes to parts of your system that other users expect to remain unchanged,
perform the following tasks in your home directory.

To make certain that you are in your home directory, type the cd (change directory)
command. This command moves you to your home (default) directory. Then type the
pwd (print working directory) command to display your current location within the
file system. The directory displayed is your home directory:
$ cd
$ pwd
/export/home/username

In this example, the user’s home directory is /export/home/username, where

username is the name of the user who owns the home directory.

Creating a Test File

Use the touch command to create an empty file.
$ touch tempfile
$

If a file by the name you specify does not exist, the touch command creates an empty
file.

Note – If the file already exists, touch updates the last file access time.

30 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Listing Files (ls)
Now list the file with the ls command to verify that you’ve created it:
$ ls tempfile
tempfile

When you type the ls command by itself, it lists all the files in your current location.
If you type the ls command with a specific file name, it lists only that file, if the file
exists.

For more information on listing files, see the man page ls(1).

Copying Files (cp)

Use the cp command to copy tempfile to a file called copyfile:
$ cp tempfile copyfile
$

Now list both files. Notice that both names end with the characters “file.” You can use
the wildcard character, asterisk (*), to match any character or sequence of characters.
The command ls *file lists both tempfile and copyfile, and any other file in
this directory with a name that ends with file.
$ ls *file
copyfile tempfile

Notice that copyfile is listed first. Files are listed in alphabetical order. Capital
letters and numbers precede lowercase letters.

For detailed information on copying files, see the man page cp(1).

Moving and Renaming Files (mv)

You can move and rename files by using the same command, mv (move). In this
example, use the mv command to rename tempfile to emptyfile:
$ mv tempfile emptyfile
$

Then list both files again to verify the change.

$ ls *file
copyfile emptyfile

tempfile is replaced by emptyfile.

For more information on moving and renaming files, see the man page mv(1).

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 31

 Deleting Files (rm)
Use the rm (remove) command to delete copyfile, and verify the result with the ls
command:
$ rm copyfile
$ ls *file
emptyfile

Caution – Be careful when you use the rm command, and be particularly careful when
you use rm with the wildcard character (*). You cannot recover files that you have
removed with rm.

For more information on the rm(1) command, refer to the man Pages(1): User
Commands.

Displaying File Contents (more, cat)

Use the more command to display the contents of a file. Type more and follow it with
the name of the file to be displayed. The contents of the file scroll down the screen. If
the file is longer than one screen, this message appears:
--More--(nn%)

where nn is the percentage of the file already displayed.

You can also use the cat command to display the contents of a file, but it displays the
file contents rapidly without pausing. The cat (concatenate) command is more often
used to join two or more files into one large file, as in this example:
$ cat file1 file2 file3 > bigfile
$ ls *file
bigfile
file1
file2
file3
$

For further information on the more(1) or cat(1) commands, refer to the man Pages(1):
User Commands.

Displaying File Type (file)

Some files, such as binary files and executable files, are not printable and cannot be
displayed on the screen. Use the file command to show the file type.

32 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

$ file *
myscript: executable shell script
print.ps: PostScript document
save.txt: ascii text

Directories and Hierarchy

This section describes the directory hierarchy that the Solaris operating environment
uses to manage and organize files.

Directory Hierarchy
Files are grouped into directories, and directories are organized in a hierarchy. At the
top of the hierarchy is the “root” directory, symbolized by “/”.

In the following example, Figure 3–1, each directory in the file system contains many
subdirectories. The / character distinguishes directory levels. The directory / (root)
contains the subdirectories /usr, /bin, /export/home and /lib, among others
subdirectories. The subdirectory /export/home contains user1, user2, and user3.

When you initiate commands, you specify directories and files by including the names
of the directories that contain the files or directories you want to work with. The
names of directories and the files beneath them, combined with slash separators,
constitute a path name. For example, the path name for the user3 directory in the
following illustration is /export/home/user3.

root (/)

bin export lib usr

home
ccs lib

user1 user2 user3

FIGURE 3–1 File System Hierarchy

All subdirectory names and file names within a directory must be unique. However,
names within different directories can be the same. For example, the directory /usr
contains the subdirectory /usr/lib. No conflict occurs between /usr/lib and /lib
because the path names are different.

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 33

 Path names for files work exactly like path names for directories. The path name of a
file describes that file’s place within the file-system hierarchy. For example, if the
/export/home/user2 directory contains a file called report5, the path name for
this file is /export/home/user2/report5. This example shows that the file
report5 is within the directory user2, which is within the directory home, which is
within the root (/) directory.

Printing the Working Directory (pwd)

The pwd command (print working directory) displays where you are in the file system
hierarchy.
$ pwd
/home/user1

Your output might be different from the example, as your directory structure is
different. Your working directory is your current location within the file-system
hierarchy.

Your Home Directory

Every user has a home directory. When you first open a terminal or a window, your
initial location is your home directory. Your system administrator creates your home
directory for you at your account creation.

Changing the Working Directory (cd)

The cd (change directory) command enables you to move around within the
file-system hierarchy.
$ cd /usr/lib
$ pwd
/usr/lib

When you type the cd command by itself, you return to your home directory. For
example, if your home directory was /export/home/user1:
$ cd
$ pwd
/home/user1

Although your home directory is /export/home/user1, the cd command returns

you to the/home/user1 because home directories are mounted on the /home
directory by the automounter.

In the Bourne Again, C, Korn, TC, and Z shells, the tilde (~) is used as a shortcut for
specifying your home directory. For example, you would type the following to change
to the subdirectory music within your home directory:

34 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

example% cd ~/music

You can also use this shortcut to specify another user’s home directory. For example:
example% cd ~username

where username is another user’s login name, you would change to that user’s home
directory.

Note – The Bourne shell does not support the ~ shortcut.

If you use the Bourne shell, your system administrator might have configured the
system so that you can type $home to specify your home directory. With this
configuration, you type the following command to change your working directory to
the subdirectory music in your home directory.
$ cd $home/music

The directory immediately “above” a subdirectory is called the parent directory. In the
preceding example, /home is the parent directory of /home/user1. The symbol ..
(“dot-dot”) represents the parent directory. The command cd .. changes the working
directory to the parent directory, as in this example:
$ pwd
/home/user1
$ cd ..
$ pwd
/home

If your current working directory is /home/user1 and you want to work with some
files in /home/user2, type the following command.
$ pwd
/home/user1
$ cd ../user2
$ pwd
/home/user2

../user2 tells the system to look in the parent directory for user2. As you can see,
this command is much easier than typing the entire path name /home/user2.

Creating a Directory (mkdir)

To create a new directory, type the mkdir command and follow it with the name of
the new directory.
$ mkdir veggies
$ cd veggies
$ mkdir broccoli

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 35

 $ cd broccoli
$ pwd
/home/user2/veggies/broccoli

Relative Path Names

The full path name of a directory or a file begins with a slash (/) and describes the
entire directory structure between that file (or directory) and the root directory.
However, you can often use a shorter name that defines the file or directory relative to
the current working directory.

When you are in a parent directory, you can move to a subdirectory by using only the
directory name and not the full path name. In the previous example, the command cd
veggies uses the relative path name of the directory veggies. If the current working
directory is /home/user2, the full path name of this directory is
/home/user2/veggies.

Create several different subdirectories, and then move around within this directory
structure. Use both full path names and relative path names, and confirm your
location with the pwd command.

Moving and Renaming Directories

You rename a directory by moving it to a different name. Use the mv command to
rename directories.
$ pwd
/home/user2/veggies
$ ls
broccoli
$ mv broccoli carrots
$ ls
carrots

You can also use mv to move a directory to a location within another directory.
$ pwd
/home/user2/veggies
$ ls
carrots
$ mv carrots ../veggies2
$ ls ../veggies2
carrots

In this example, the directory carrots is moved from veggies to veggies2 with
the mv command.

36 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Copying Directories
Use the cp -r command to copy directories and the files they contain:
$ cp -r veggies veggies3
$

The command in the previous example copies all files and subdirectories within the
directory veggies to a new directory veggies3. This is a recursive copy, as
designated by the -r option. If you attempt to copy a directory without using this
option, the system displays an error message.

Removing Directories (rmdir)

To remove an empty directory, use the rmdir command as follows:
$ rmdir veggies3
$

If the directory still contains files or subdirectories, the rmdir command does not
remove the directory.

To remove a directory and all its contents, including any subdirectories and files, use
the rm command with the recursive option, -r.
$ rm -r veggies3
$

Caution – Directories that are removed with the rmdir command cannot be
recovered, nor can directories and their contents removed with the rm -r command.

Viewing Differences Between Files

(diff)
Use the diff command to view differences between similar files. The following
command scans each line in leftfile and rightfile to check for differences.
$ diff leftfile rightfile

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 37

 When the diff utility finds a line or lines that differ, diff determines if the difference
is the result of an addition, a deletion, or a change to the line, and how many lines are
affected. diff tells you the respective line number or numbers in each file, followed
by the relevant text from each file.

If the difference is the result of an addition, diff displays a line with the following
format.
l[,l] a r[,r]

In the previous example, l is a line number in leftfile and r is a line number in

rightfile.

If the difference is the result of a deletion, diff uses a d in place of a. If the difference
is the result of a change on the line, diff uses a c.

The relevant text from both files immediately follow the line number information. Text
from leftfile is preceded by a left angle bracket (<). Text from rightfile is
preceded by a right angle bracket (>).

This example shows two sample files, followed by their diff output.
$ cat sched.7.15
Week of 7/15

Day: Time: Action Item: Details:

T 10:00 Hardware mtg. every other week

W 1:30 Software mtg.
T 3:00 Docs. mtg.
F 1:00 Interview
$ cat sched.7.22
Week of 7/22

Day: Time: Action Item: Details:

M 8:30 Staff mtg. all day

T 10:00 Hardware mtg. every other week
W 1:30 Software mtg.
T 3:00 Docs. mtg.
$ diff sched.7.15 sched.7.22
1c1
< Week of 7/15
---
> Week of 7/22
4a5
> M 8:30 Staff mtg. all day
8d8
< F 1:00 Interview

If the two files to be compared are identical, diff does not display output.

For more information on the diff(1) command, refer to the man Pages(1): User
Commands.

38 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Comparing Three Different Files (diff3)
To compare three different versions of a file, use the diff3 command.
$ diff3 file1 file2 file3

diff3 compares three versions of a file and publishes the differing ranges of text that
are flagged with these codes:

==== all three files differ

====1 file1 is different

====2 file2 is different

====3 file3 is different

Using bdiff on Large Files

If you are comparing large files, use bdiff instead of diff. Use the diff command
syntax with bdiff.
$ bdiff leftfile rightfile

Use bdiff instead of diff for files longer than 3500 lines.

Searching for Files (find)

The find command searches for files that meet conditions you specify, starting from a
directory you name. For example, you might search for file names that match a certain
pattern or that have been modified within a specified time frame.

Unlike most commands, find options are several characters long. You must specify
the starting directory before your desired options.
$ find directory options

In the previous example, directory is the name of the starting directory and options
represents the options for the find command.

Each option describes a criterion for selecting a file. A file must meet all criteria to be
selected. The more options you apply, the narrower the field becomes. The -print
option indicates that you want the system to display the results.

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 39

 The -name filename option tells find to select files that match filename. Here filename is
taken to be the rightmost component of a file’s full path name. For example, the
rightmost component of the file /usr/bin/calendar is calendar. This portion of a
file’s name is often called the base name.

For example, to see which files within the current directory and its subdirectories end
in s, type the following command.
$ find . -name ’*s’ -print
./programs
./programs/graphics
./programs/graphics/gks
./src/gks
$

The following table describes other options of the find command.

TABLE 3–1 find Options

Option Description

-name filename Selects files with a rightmost component that

matches filename. Surround filename with
single quotes if it includes filename
substitution patterns.

-user userid Selects files that are owned by userid. userid

can be either a login name or user ID number.

-group group Selects files that belong to group.

-m -time n Selects files that have been modified within n

days.

-newer checkfile Selects files that have been modified more

recently than checkfile.

You can specify an order of options by combining options within escaped parentheses
(for example, \(options\) ). Within escaped parentheses, you can use the -o flag
between options to indicate that find should select files that qualify under either
category, rather than just those files that qualify under both categories.
$ find . \( -name AAA -o -name BBB \) -print
./AAA
./BBB

In the previous example, the find command searches in the . directory for all files
that are named AAA, then looks for all files named BBB. find then displays the results
of both searches.

You can invert the sense of an option by including an escaped exclamation point
before the option. find then selects files for which the option does not apply:

40 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

$ find . \!-name BBB -print
./AAA

You can also use find to apply commands to the files it selects with the following
options.

-exec command ’{}’ \;

You terminate this option with an escaped semicolon (\;). The quoted braces are
replaced with the file names that find selects.

You can use find to automatically remove temporary work files. If you name your
temporary files consistently, you can use find to search for and remove these files. For
example, if you name your temporary files junk or dummy, this command finds and
removes the files.
$ find . \( -name junk -o -name dummy \) -exec rm ’{}’ \;

For more information on searching for files, see the man page find(1).

File and Directory Security

File permissions help to protect files and directories from unauthorized reading and
writing. Often you will have files you want to allow others to read but not change. In
other situations, you might want to share executable files or programs. File
permissions enable you to control access to your files.

The following list describes the three basic file and directory permission types.
■ r – read permission. A file must be readable in order for you to examine or copy it.
A directory must be readable in order for you to list its contents.
■ w – write permission. A file must be writable in order for you to modify it, remove
it, or rename it. A directory must be writable in order for you to add or delete files
in it.
■ x – execute permission. A file with executable permissions is one you can run, such
as a program. A directory must be executable in order for you to gain access to any
of its subdirectories.

You can set permissions for three categories of users.

■ User – The file owner
■ Group – Other users within the same group as the user, such as all staff members
of a particular division. The system administrator establishes and maintains
groups.
■ Others – All users.

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 41

 Displaying Permissions and Status (ls -l)
Use the -l with the ls command to display a long listing of files and directories in
alphabetical order.

$ pwd
/home/hostname/user2
$ ls -l
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 user2 users 1024 Feb 9 14:22 directory1
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 0 Feb 10 10:20 emptyfile
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 104357 Feb 5 08:20 large-file
drwxr-xr-x 3 user2 users 1024 Feb 10 11:13 veggies2

Permissions Links Owner Group Size Date Time File or

directory name

FIGURE 3–2 Displaying Permissions and Status

The first character on the line indicates the file type. A dash (-) indicates an ordinary
file, a d indicates a directory, and other characters can indicate other special file types.

The next nine characters indicate the permissions for the file or directory. The nine
characters consist of three groups of three, showing the permissions for the owner, the
owner’s group, and the world, respectively. The permissions for emptyfile are
rw-r--r--, indicating that the owner can read and write this file, everyone can read
it, and no one can execute it. The permissions for the directory veggies2 are
rwxr-xr-x, indicating that everyone has read and execute permissions, but only the
owner can write to it.

In addition to file permissions, the display shows the following information:

■ Number of links to this file or directory
■ Name of the owner (user2 in this case)
■ Name of the group owner (users in this case)
■ Number of bytes (characters) in the file
■ Date and time the file or directory was last updated
■ Name of the file or directory
Use the cd command to move to your home directory, and try the ls -l
command.
Now type the following command, where dirname is the name of an actual
directory in your file system.
$ ls -l dirname

42 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

When you give the name of a directory, the ls -l command prints information on all
the files and directories in that directory.

Listing Hidden Files (ls -a)

Some files are not listed by the ls command. These files have names that begin with
the character . (called “dot”), such as .cshrc, .login and .profile. Use the ls -a
command to list these dot files:
$ ls -a
.
..
.cshrc
.login
.profile
emptyfile

Notice that the files beginning with . are listed before the other files. The file . is the
reference for the current directory, and the file .. is the reference for the parent
directory.

In general, system utilities use files that begin with . and the user cannot modify these
files. Some exceptions to this rule do exist.

Changing Permissions (chmod)

Use the chmod command to change permissions for a file or directory. You must be the
owner of a file or directory, or have root access, to change its permissions. The general
form of the chmod command is:
chmod permissions name

In this example, permissions indicates the permissions to be changed and name is the
name of the affected file or directory.

You can specify the permissions in several ways. Here is one of the forms that is easy
to use:
1. Use one or more letters to indicate the type of users.
■ u (for the user)
■ g (for group)
■ o (for others)
■ a (for all three of the previous categories.))
2. Indicate whether the permissions are to be added (+) or removed (-).
3. Use one or more letters to indicate the permissions.
■ r (for read)

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 43

 ■ w (for write)
■ x (for execute)

In the following example, write permission is added to the directory carrots for
users who belong to the same group (thus, permissions is g+w and name is carrots).
$ cd veggies2
$ ls -l
drwxr-xr-x 2 user2 users 512 Nov 1 09:11 carrots
$ chmod g+w carrots
$ ls -l
drwxrwxr-x 2 user2 users 512 Nov 1 09:11 carrots
$

The chmod g+w carrots command in the previous example gives the group write
permission on the file carrots. The hyphen (-) in the set of permissions for group is
changed to a w.

To make this same directory unreadable and unexecutable by other users outside your
group type the following commands.
$ ls -l
drwxrwxr-x 2 user2 users 512 Nov 1 09:11 carrots
$ chmod o-rx carrots
$ ls -l
drwxrwx--- 2 user2 users 512 Nov 1 09:11 carrots
$

Now, the r (for read) and the x (for execute) in the set of permissions for other users
are both changed to hyphens (-).

When you create a new file, the system automatically assigns the following
permissions.

-rw-r--r--

When you create a new directory, the system automatically assigns the following
permissions.

drwxr-xr-x

For example, to make a new file turnip executable by its owner (user2), type the
following command.
$ ls -l turnip
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 124 Nov 1 09:14 turnip
$ chmod u+x turnip
$ ls -l turnip
-rwxr--r-- 1 user2 users 124 Nov 1 09:14 turnip
$

44 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

If you want to change permissions for all categories of users, use the -a option of the
ls command. To make a new file garlic executable by everyone, type the following
command.
$ ls -l garlic
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 704 Nov 1 09:16 garlic
$ chmod a+x garlic
$ ls -l garlic
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user2 users 704 Nov 1 09:16 garlic
$

The x in the output of the ls -l command indicates garlic is executable by

everyone.

You can also use the * wildcard character to change permissions for groups of files
and directories. For example, to change the permissions for all the files in the current
directory veggies so that the files can be written by you alone, type the following
command.
$ pwd
/home/user2/veggies
$ ls -l
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 5618 Nov 1 09:18 beets
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 1777 Nov 1 09:18 corn
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 3424 Nov 1 09:18 garlic
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 65536 Nov 1 09:18 onions
$ chmod go-w *
$ ls -l
total 152
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user2 users 5618 Nov 1 09:18 beets
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user2 users 1777 Nov 1 09:18 corn
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user2 users 3424 Nov 1 09:18 garlic
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user2 users 65536 Nov 1 09:18 onions
$

Note – Perform this chmod operation on the current directory only.

Setting Absolute Permissions

In the previous section, you used the chmod command to change file permissions
relative to their current settings. You can also set the permissions for a file or directory
absolutely by using numeric codes with the chmod command.

The syntax for this usage of the chmod command is:

chmod numcode name

In this example, numcode is the numeric code and name is the name of the file or
directory for which you are changing permissions.

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 45

 The complete numeric code consists of three numbers. One number is used for each of
the three categories: user, group, and others. For example, the following command sets
absolute read, write, and execute permissions for the user and the group, and execute
permissions only for others.
$ chmod 771 garlic

Table 3–2 illustrates how the the code 771 describes the permissions for garlic.

TABLE 3–2 Permissions for garlic

Permission User Group Others

Read 4 4 0

Write 2 2 0

Execute 1 1 1

Total 7 7 1

Each of the columns in Table 3–2 represents one of the categories: user, group, and
others. To set read permissions, add 4 to the appropriate column. To set write
permissions, add 2. To add execute permissions, add 1. The total in all three columns
in the last row of the table is the complete numeric code.

The following is another example of using numeric codes to set absolute permissions,
with the inclusion of the ls -l command to demonstrate the results.
$ ls -l onions
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user2 users 65536 Nov 1 09:18 onions
$ chmod 755 onions
$ ls -l onions
-rwxr-xr-x 1 user2 users 65536 Nov 1 09:18 onions
$

The chmod 755 onions command sets the permissions for the file onions so that
the user can read, write, and execute, group members can read and execute, and others
can read and execute. Table 3–3 describes the numeric code that is used to set the
permissions for onions.

TABLE 3–3 Permissions for onions

Permission User Group Others

Read 4 4 4

Write 2 0 0

Execute 1 1 1

Total 7 5 5

46 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

To provide read, write, and execute permissions for the file cabbage to yourself, your
group, and all other users, type the following command.
$ ls -l cabbage
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 75 Nov 1 09:28 cabbage
$ chmod 777 cabbage
$ ls -l cabbage
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 75 Nov 1 09:28 cabbage
$

Table 3–4 describes the numeric code that is used to set permissions in the previous
example.

TABLE 3–4 Permissions for cabbage

Permission User Group Others

Read 4 4 4

Write 2 2 2

Execute 1 1 1

Total 7 7 7

The numeric code 777 represents the maximum level of permissions you can provide.

Similar to changing relative permissions, you can also use the wildcard character * to
set absolute permissions for all in the files in the current directory. For example,
suppose you want to set absolute permissions for all files in the current directory as
follows:
■ Owner – Read, write, and execute permissions
■ Group – Read and write permissions
■ Others – Execute permissions

To set these permissions, type the following commands.

$ pwd
/home/user2/veggies
$ ls -l
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 5618 Nov 1 09:18 beets
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 1777 Nov 1 09:18 corn
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 3424 Nov 1 09:18 garlic
-rwxrwxrwx 1 user2 users 65536 Nov 1 09:18 onions
$ chmod 751 *
$ ls -l
-rwxr-x--x 1 user2 users 5618 Nov 1 09:18 beets
-rwxr-x--x 1 user2 users 1777 Nov 1 09:18 corn
-rwxr-x--x 1 user2 users 3424 Nov 1 09:18 garlic
-rwxr-x--x 1 user2 users 65536 Nov 1 09:18 onions
$

Chapter 3 • Working With Files and Directories 47

 The pwd command is included in this example to illustrate that the directory on which
you perform this operation must be the current directory. The ls -l command is
shown only to illustrate the changes in permissions. When setting absolute
permissions, you do not need to know what the permissions are currently.

For more information on the chmod(1) command, refer to the man Pages(1): User
Commands.

48 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

CHAPTER 4

Searching Files

This chapter describes how to search directories and files for keywords and strings by
using the grep command.

Searching for Patterns With grep

To search for a particular character string in a file, use the grep command. The basic
syntax of the grep command is:
$ grep string file

In this example, string is the word or phrase you want to find, and file is the file to be
searched.

Note – A string is one or more characters. A single letter is a string, as is a word or a

sentence. Strings can include blank spaces, punctuation, and invisible (control)
characters.

For example, to find Edgar Allan Poe’s telephone extension, type grep, all or part of
his name, and the file containing the information:
$ grep Poe extensions
Edgar Allan Poe x72836
$

Note that more than one line might match the pattern you give.
$ grep Allan extensions
David Allan x76438
Edgar Allan Poe x72836

49
 $ grep Al extensions
Louisa May Alcott x74236
David Allan x76438
Edgar Allan Poe x72836
$

grep is case sensitive; that is, you must match the pattern with respect to uppercase
and lowercase letters:
$ grep allan extensions
$ grep Allan extensions
David Allan x76438
Edgar Allan Poe x72836
$

Note that grep failed in the first try because none of the entries began with a
lowercase a.

grep as a Filter
You can use the grep command as a filter with other commands, enabling you to filter
out unnecessary information from the command output. To use grep as a filter, you
must pipe the output of the command through grep. The symbol for pipe is “|”.

The following example displays files that end in “.ps” and were created in the month
of September.
$ ls -l *.ps | grep Sep

The first part of this command line produces a list of files ending in .ps.
$ ls -l *.ps
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 833233 Jun 29 16:22 buttons.ps
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 39245 Sep 27 09:38 changes.ps
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 608368 Mar 2 2000 clock.ps
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 827114 Sep 13 16:49 commands.ps
$

The second part of the command line pipes that list through grep, looking for the
pattern Sep.
| grep Sep

The search provides the following results.

$ ls -l *.ps | grep Sep
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 39245 Sep 27 09:38 changes.ps
-rw-r--r-- 1 user2 users 827114 Sep 13 16:49 commands.ps
$

50 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

grep With Multiword Strings
To find a pattern that is more than one word long, enclose the string with single or
double quotation marks.
$ grep “Louisa May” extensions
Louisa May Alcott x74236
$

The grep command can search for a string in groups of files. When it finds a pattern
that matches in more than one file, it prints the name of the file, followed by a colon,
then the line matching the pattern.
$ grep ar *
actors:Humphrey Bogart
alaska:Alaska is the largest state in the United States.
wilde:book. Books are well written or badly written.
$

Searching for Lines Without a Certain String

To search for all the lines of a file that do not contain a certain string, use the -v option
to grep. The following example shows how to search through all the files in the
current directory for lines that do not contain the letter e.
$ ls
actors alaska hinterland tutors wilde
$ grep -v e *
actors:Mon Mar 14 10:00 PST 1936
wilde:That is all.
$

Using Regular Expressions With grep

You can also use the grep command to search for targets that are defined as patterns
by using regular expressions. Regular expressions consist of letters and numbers, in
addition to characters with special meaning to grep. These special characters, called
metacharacters, also have special meaning to the system. When you use regular
expressions with the grep command, you need to tell your system to ignore the special
meaning of these metacharacters by escaping them. When you use a grep regular
expression at the command prompt, surround the regular expression with quotes.
Escape metacharacters (such as & ! . * $ ? and \) with a backslash (\). See
“Searching for Metacharacters” on page 52 for more information on escaping
metacharacters.
■ A caret (^) metacharacter indicates the beginning of the line. The following
command finds any line in the file list that starts with the letter b.
$ grep ’^b’ list

Chapter 4 • Searching Files 51

 ■ A dollar-sign ($) metacharacter indicates the end of the line. The following
command displays any line in which b is the last character on the line.
$ grep ’b$’ list

The following command displays any line in the file list where b is the only
character on the line.
$ grep ’^b$’ list
■ Within a regular expression, dot (.) finds any single character. The following
command matches any three-character string with “an” as the first two characters,
including “any,” “and,” “management,” and “plan” (because spaces count, too).
$ grep ’an.’ list
■ When an asterisk (*) follows a character, grep interprets the asterisk as “zero or
more instances of that character.” When the asterisk follows a regular expression,
grep interprets the asterisk as “zero or more instances of characters matching the
pattern.”
Because it includes zero occurrences, the asterisk can create a confusing command
output. If you want to find all words with the letters “qu” in them, type the
following command.
$ grep ’qu*’ list

However, if you want to find all words containing the letter “n,” type the following
command.
$ grep ’nn*’ list

If you want to find all words containing the pattern “nn,” type the following
command.
$ grep ’nnn*’ list
■ To match zero or more occurrences of any character in list, type the following
command.
$ grep .* list

Searching for Metacharacters

To use the grep command to search for metacharacters such as & ! . * ? and \,
precede the metacharacter with a backslash (\). The backslash tells grep to ignore
(escape) the metacharacter.

For example, the following expression matches lines that start with a period, and is
useful when searching for nroff or troff formatting requests (which begin with a
period).
$ grep ^\.

52 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Table 4–1 lists common search pattern elements you can use with grep.

TABLE 4–1 grep Search Pattern Elements

Character Matches

^ The beginning of a text line

$ The end of a text line

. Any single character

[...] Any single character in the bracketed list or

range

[^...] Any character not in the list or range

* Zero or more occurrences of the preceding

character or regular expression

.* Zero or more occurrences of any single

character

\ The escape of special meaning of next

character

Note that you can also use these search characters in vi text editor searches.

Single or Double Quotes on Command Lines

As shown earlier, you use quotation marks to surround text that you want to be
interpreted as one word. For example, type the following to use grep to search all
files for the phrase “dang it, boys”:
$ grep "dang it, boys" *

You can also use single quotation marks (’) to group multiword phrases into single
units. Single quotation marks also make sure that certain that the system interprets
metacharacters, such as $, literally.

Note – The history metacharacter ! is always interpreted as a metacharacter, even

inside quotation marks, unless you escape it with a backslash.

Escape characters such as & ! $ ? . ; and \ when you want grep to interpret these
characters as ordinary typographical characters.

For example, if you type the following command, the system displays all the lines in
the file list.

Chapter 4 • Searching Files 53

 $ grep $ list

However, if you type the following command, the system displays only those lines
that contain the “$” character.
$ grep ’\$’ list

For more information on the grep(1) command, refer to the man Pages(1): User
Commands.

54 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

CHAPTER 5

Managing Processes and Disk Usage

This chapter describes the following topics..

■ “Processes and PIDs” on page 55
■ “Terminating Processes (pkill)” on page 56
■ “Managing Disk Storage” on page 57

Processes and PIDs

After your system interprets each command, the system creates an independent process
with a unique process identification number (PID) to perform the command. The
system uses the PID to track the current status of each process.

What Commands Are Running Now (ps)

Use the ps command to see what processes are currently running.The ps command
shows the process identification number (listed under PID) for each process you own,
which is created after you type a command. This command also shows you the
terminal from which it was started (TTY), the cpu time it has used so far (TIME), and the
command it is performing (COMMAND).

If you add the -l option to the ps command, the system displays other process
information, including the state of each running process (listed under S). The
following list defines the codes used to describe processes.
■ O – Process is running on a processor
■ S – Sleeping: Process is waiting for an event to complete
■ R - Runnable: Process is on run queue

55
 ■ I - Idle: Process is being create.
■ Z – Zombie state: Process terminated and parent not waiting
■ T – Traced: Process stopped by a signal because parent is tracing it
■ X – SXBRK state: Process is waiting for more primary memory.

Note that while ps is running, the status of an individual process can change. Since
the ps command gives you only a snapshot of what’s going on at the moment you
issue the command, the output is only accurate for a split second after you type the
command.

The ps(1) command has more options than those covered here. Refer to the man
Pages(1): User Commands.

Terminating Processes (pkill)

Most window environments have a tool for managing processes. See the tool’s online
help if you need information on using it.

You can use the pgrep and pkill commands to identify and stop command
processes that you no longer want to run. These commands are useful when you
mistakenly start a process that takes a long time to run.

To terminate a process:
1. Type pgrep to find out the PID(s) for the process(es).

2. Type pkill followed by the PID(s).

The following example illustrates how to find all the processes with a specific name
(xterm) and terminate the xterm process that was started last.
$ pgrep xterm
17818
17828
17758
18210
$ pkill -n 18210
$

If you need to forcibly terminate a process, use the -9 option to the pkill command.
$ pkill -9 -n xterm

56 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Managing Disk Storage
Because space on the disk is a limited resource, make sure that you know the amount
of space currently in use.

Displaying Disk Usage (df -k)

The df -k command displays the amount of space currently in use on each disk
mounted (directly accessible) to your system. For the capacity of each disk mounted
on your system, the amount of space available, and the percentage of space in use, use
the df -k command.
$ df -k

If the output of the df -k command indicates your file systems are at or above 90
percent capacity, clear unnecessary files. Clear the files by moving them to a disk or
tape, using cp to copy files and mv to move them, or removing files with the rm
command. Perform these kinds of “housekeeping” chores only on files that you own.

Displaying Directory Usage (du)

You can use du to display the usage of a directory and all its subdirectories in units of
512 bytes or characters.

du shows you the disk usage in each subdirectory. For a list of subdirectories in a file
system, change the directory to the path name that is associated with that file system.
Then run the following pipeline:
$ du | sort -r -n

This pipeline, which uses the reverse (-r) and numeric (-n) options of the sort
command, identifies large directories. Use ls -l to examine the size (in bytes) and
modification times of files within each directory. Old files and text files larger 100
KBytes might warrant storage offline.

Chapter 5 • Managing Processes and Disk Usage 57

58 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002
CHAPTER 6

Using the vi Editor

vi (pronounced “vee-eye,” short for visual display editor) is the standard SunOS text
editor. vi is not window based and can be used on any kind of terminal to edit a wide
range of file types.

You can type and edit text with vi, but it is not a word processor. vi does not process
formatted text in the familiar manner of a commercial word processor. To produce
formatted printouts, vi relies on a typesetting emulation program, such as nroff,
troff, or ditroff. These programs enable you to format vi text by inserting codes
that are then interpreted by the emulator.

vi uses a variety of commands, many of which have functions that overlap. This
chapter provides an overview of the most essential vi commands. As you begin to use
vi, you will find that it is an extremely powerful text editor, and proficiency happens
with practice.

Note – The view utility is a read-only version of vi. When you open a file with view,
you can use vi commands, but you cannot accidentally change the file by saving your
changes.

Starting vi
The following sections describe how to start vi, type text in a file, save (write) the file,
and quit vi.

59
 Creating a File
Start vi and edit the file paint as shown in this example:
$ vi paint

If paint already exists, vi opens the existing file. If this is a new file, vi creates it. For
the purposes of this example, paint should be a new file.

The vi editing screen appears in a moment:

Cursor
~
~
~
~
~
Blank lines ~
~
~
~
~
~
Status line "paint" [new file]

FIGURE 6–1 vi Editing Screen

The cursor appears in the upper left corner of the screen. Blank lines are indicated by a
vertical series of tildes (~).

Note that you can also start vi without specifying a file name by just typing vi. You
can then name the file later when you exit vi.

Status Line
The last line of the screen, called the status line, shows the name of the file and the
number of lines and characters in the file. When you create a new file, as is the case
with the example, the status line indicates that it is a new file.

60 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Two Modes of vi
Two modes of operation in vi are entry mode and command mode. You use entry
mode to type text into a file, while command mode is used to type commands that
perform specific vi functions. Command mode is the default mode for vi.

Because vi doesn’t indicate which mode you’re currently in, distinguishing between
command mode and entry mode is probably the single greatest cause of confusion
among new vi users. However, if you remember just a few basic concepts from the
beginning, you should be able to avoid most of the usual “vi stress.”

When you first open a vi file, it’s always in command mode. Before you can type text
in the file, you must type one of the vi entry commands, such as i (“insert”), to insert
text at the current cursor location, or a (“append”), to insert text after the current
cursor location. These and other vi entry commands are covered in greater detail later
in this chapter.

Whenever you want to return vi to command mode, press Esc. If you’re not sure
which mode vi is presently in, simply press Esc to make sure it’s in command mode
and continue from there. If you press Esc while vi is already in command mode, the
system beeps and the screen flashes, but no harm is done.

Entry Mode
To type text in the sample file paint, type the vi “insert” command i. This command
removes vi from command mode and puts it into entry mode.

Now type a few short lines of text, ending every line with a Return. Characters you
type appear to the left of the cursor and push any existing characters to the right. For
the moment, you can correct your mistakes by backspacing and retyping a line before
you press Return. For information on editing text in vi, see “Changing Text”
on page 68.

When you finish typing text in paint, press Esc to return to command mode. The
cursor moves back onto the last character you typed. Now you can type more vi
commands.

If vi seems to act unpredictably, make sure that you are not in “Caps Lock” mode,
which would cause your entries to be all capital letters. On some systems, the F1 key
(usually next to the Esc key) acts as the Caps Lock. Pressing this key instead of Esc is a
common error.

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 61

 Note – Occasionally you might need to instruct vi to clear or redraw the screen to
eliminate, for example, extraneous system messages. To redraw the screen, enter
command mode and press Ctrl-L.

Command Mode
When you open a file with vi, you are in command mode. In this mode, you can type
commands to implement a wide range of functions. Most vi commands consist of one
or two letters and an optional number. Usually, uppercase and lowercase versions of
commands perform related but different functions. As an example, typing a appends
the file to the right of the cursor, while typing A appends the file at the end of the line.

Most vi commands do not require that you press Return to execute them. Commands
beginning with a colon (:), however, do require that you press Return after the
command. Some discussions of the vi editor refer to commands that are preceded
with a colon as a third, and uniquely separate mode of vi, last-line mode. This mode is
so named because when you type the colon while in command mode, the colon and
the remainder of what is typed appear on the bottom line of the screen. For the
purpose of this discussion, however, all vi commands are initiated from command
mode.

Commands that are preceded with a colon are actually ex commands. vi and ex are
two separate interfaces to the same text-editing program. While vi is a screen-oriented
interface, ex is a line-oriented interface. The full set of ex commands is available from
within vi. When you press the colon, you are actually switching to the line-oriented,
ex interface. This switch enables you to perform many file manipulation commands
without ever leaving vi. See “Using ex Commands” on page 71, in this chapter, for
further information.

Ending a Session
When you edit a file in vi, your changes are not made directly to the file. Instead, they
are applied to a copy of the file that vi creates in a temporary memory space that is
called the buffer. The permanent disk copy of the file is modified only when you write
(save) the contents of the buffer.

This arrangement is both positive and negative. A positive feature is that you can quit
a file and discard all the changes that you have made during an editing session,
leaving the disk copy intact. The negative feature is that you could lose the (unsaved)
contents of the work buffer if the system crashes. People on remote terminals that are
connected by phone lines are especially vulnerable to unplanned interruptions.

62 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

The best policy is to save your work frequently, especially when you are making
substantive changes.

Caution – Although it’s possible to run multiple, simultaneous vi sessions on one file,
it is not a good idea. Great confusion could result when you try to determine which
changes have been written to the file and which changes have been overwritten from a
simultaneous session.

Saving Changes and Quitting vi

vi is rich in substantively synonymous commands that control the save of the buffer
contents to a file and the exit from vi. These commands give you the option of saving,
saving-and-quitting, or quitting-without-saving.

Saving
Save the contents of the buffer (write the buffer to the file on disk) by typing:
:w

Press Return.

Saving and Quitting

Save and quit by typing:
:wq

Press Return. Alternatively, type ZZ.

Note that the command ZZ is neither preceded by a colon nor followed by Return.

Quitting Without Saving

When you’ve made no changes to a file and want to quit, type:
:q

Press Return. If you have made changes, vi does not let you quit with :q. Instead, it
displays the following message.
No write since last change (:quit! overrides)

If you do not want to save your changes, type:

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 63

 :q!

Press Return.

Printing a File
After you quit a vi file, you can print the file with the following command:
$ lp filename

In this example, filename is the name of the vi file to be printed. This command prints
the file to your default printer. The file is printed without any formatting, line for line,
just as it appears on the screen. See Chapter 8 for more information on printer
commands.

Basic vi Commands
The following sections explain the following categories of vi commands.
■ Moving around in a file
■ Inserting text
■ Changing and substituting text
■ Undoing changes to text
■ Deleting text
■ Checking your spelling
■ Formatting your file output
■ Repeating commands

Moving Around in a File

In the previous sections you learned how to create, save, print, and exit a vi file. Now
that you have created a file, you’ll need to understand the concepts that are required
to navigate within it. Open your practice file now, and try each of the commands that
are discussed in this section.

64 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Moving the Cursor
When you start vi, the cursor is in the upper left corner of the vi screen. In command
mode, you can move the cursor with a number of keyboard commands. Certain letter
keys, the arrow keys, and the Return key, Back Space (or Delete) key, and the Space
Bar can all be used to move the cursor when you’re in command mode.

Note – Most vi commands are case sensitive. The same command typed in lowercase
and uppercase characters might have different effects.

Moving With Arrow Keys

If your machine is equipped with arrow keys, try these now. You should be able to
move the cursor freely about the screen by using combinations of the up, down, right,
and left arrow keys. Notice that you can only move the cursor across already existing
text or input spaces.

If you’re using vi from a remote terminal, the arrow keys might not work correctly.
The arrow key behavior depends on your terminal emulator. If the arrow keys don’t
work for you, you can use the following substitutes:
■ To move left, press h.
■ To move right, press l.
■ To move down, press j.
■ To move up, press k.

Moving One Word

Press w (“word”) to move the cursor to the right one word at a time.

Press b (“back”) to move the cursor to the left one word at a time.

Press W or B to move the cursor past the adjacent punctuation to the next or previous
blank space.

Press e (“end”) to move the cursor to the last character of the current word.

Moving to Start or End of Line

Press ^ to move the cursor to the start of the current line.

Press $ to move the cursor to the end of the current line.

Moving Down One Line

Press the Return key to move the cursor to the beginning of the next line down.

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 65

 Moving Left
Press the Back Space key to move the cursor one character to the left.

Moving Right
Press the Space Bar to move the cursor one character to the right.

Moving to the Top

Press H (“high”) to move the cursor to the top of the screen.

Moving to the Middle

Press M (“middle”) to move the cursor to the middle of the screen.

Moving to the Bottom

Press L (“low”) to move the cursor to the bottom of the screen.

Paging and Scrolling

If you move down when the cursor is at the bottom of the screen, or move up when
the cursor is at the top of the screen, you will see the text scroll up or down. This
scrolling can be an effective way to display more text in a short file, but it can be
tedious to move this way through a long file.

You can page or scroll backward or forward through a file, a screen or a half-screen at
a time. To try out these commands on paint, you might want to add text so you have
a longer file to work with.

Note that paging and scrolling are fundamentally different. Scrolling actually scrolls
the cursor up or down through the text a line at a time, as though it were on a paper
scroll. Paging moves the cursor up or down through the text a screenful at a time. On a
fast system, you might not notice the difference. However, if you’re working from a
remote terminal or in any other situation where your system is running slower than
usual, this difference can become painfully apparent.

Page Forward One Screen

To scroll forward (move down) one screenful, press Ctrl-F. (Hold down the Control
key and press the F key.) The cursor moves to the upper left corner of the new screen.

Scroll Forward One-Half Screen

To scroll forward one half of a screen, press Ctrl-D.

66 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Page Backward One Screen
To scroll backward (that is., move up) one screenful, press Ctrl-B.

Scroll Backward One-Half Screen

To scroll backward one half of a screen, press Ctrl-U.

Inserting Text
vi provides many commands for inserting text. This section introduces you to the
most useful of these commands. Note that each of these commands places vi in entry
mode. To use any of these commands, you must first be in command mode.
Remember to press Esc to make sure you are in command mode.

Append
Type a (append) to insert text to the right of the cursor. Experiment by moving the
cursor anywhere on a line and typing a, followed by the text you want to add. Press
Esc when you’re finished.

Type A to add text to the end of a line. To see how this command works, position the
cursor anywhere on a text line and type A. The cursor moves to the end of the line,
where you can type your additions. Press Esc when you are finished.

Insert
Insert text to the left of the cursor by typing i from command mode.

Type I to insert text at the beginning of a line. The command moves the cursor from
any position on that line. Press Esc to return to command mode after you type the
desired text.

Open Line
Use these commands to open new lines, either above or below the current cursor
position.

Type o to open a line below the current cursor position. To experiment, type o followed
by a bit of text. You can type several lines of text if you like. Press Esc when you are
finished.

Type O to open a line above the current cursor position.

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 67

 Changing Text
Changing text involves the substitution of one section of text for another. vi has
several ways to do this, depending on circumstances.

Changing a Word
To replace a word, position the cursor at the beginning of the word to be replaced.
Type cw, followed by the new word. To finish, press Esc.

To change part of a word, place the cursor on the word, to the right of the portion to be
saved. Type cw, type the correction, and press Esc.

Changing a Line
To replace a line, position the cursor anywhere on the line and type cc. The line
disappears, leaving a blank line for your new text (which can be of any length). Press
Esc to finish.

Substituting Character(s)
To substitute one or more characters for the character under the cursor, type s,
followed by the new text. Press Esc to return to command mode.

Replacing One Character

Use this command to replace the character highlighted by the cursor with another
character. Position the cursor over the character and type r, followed by just one
replacement character. After the substitution, vi automatically returns to command
mode (you do not need to press Esc).

Undoing Changes
When you edit text and make changes to a vi file, you might occasionally wish that
you had not changed something. vi’s undo commands enable you to back up one
operation and continue on from there.

Undoing the Previous Command

If you make a mistake in vi or if you just change your mind after an operation is
completed, you can undo your last command by pressing u immediately after the
command. You do not need to press Esc after you type u. By pressing u a second time
you undo the undo.

68 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Undoing Changes to a Line
Type U to undo all changes you’ve made to a line. This command works only if you
haven’t moved the cursor off the line. You do not need to press Esc after you type U.

Deleting Text
These vi commands delete the character, word, or line you indicate. vi stays in
command mode, so any subsequent text insertions must be preceded by additional
commands to enter entry mode.

Deleting One Character

To delete one character, position the cursor over the character to be deleted and type x.

The x command also deletes the space the character occupied—when a letter is
removed from the middle of a word, the remaining letters will close up, leaving no
gap. You can also delete blank spaces in a line with the x command.

To delete one character before (to the left of) the cursor, type X (uppercase).

Deleting a Word or Part of a Word

To delete a word, position the cursor at the beginning of the word and type dw. The
word and the space it occupied are removed.

To delete part of a word, position the cursor on the word to the right of the part to be
saved. Type dw to delete the rest of the word.

Deleting a Line
To delete a line, position the cursor anywhere on the line and type dd. The line and the
space it occupied are removed.

Copying and Moving Text — Yank, Delete, and Put

Many word processors allow you to “copy and paste” and “cut and paste” lines of
text. The vi editor also includes these features. The vi command-mode equivalent of
“copy and paste” is yank and put. The equivalent of “cut and paste” is delete and put.

The methods for copying or moving small blocks of text in vi involves the use of a
combination of the yank, delete, and put commands.

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 69

 Copying Lines
Copying a line requires two commands: yy or Y (“yank”) and either p (“put below”)
or P (“put above”). Note that Y does the same thing as yy.

To yank one line, follow these steps.

1. Position the cursor anywhere on the line you want to yank.
2. Type yy.
3. Move the cursor to the line above where you want to put (copy) the yanked line.
4. Type p.
A copy of the yanked line appears in a new line below the cursor.
To place the yanked line in a new line above the cursor, type P.

The yy command works well with a count: to yank 11 lines, for example, type 11yy.
Eleven lines, counting down from the cursor, are yanked, and vi indicates this with a
message at the bottom of the screen: 11 lines yanked.

You can also use the P or p commands immediately after any of the deletion
commands discussed earlier. This action puts the text you deleted above or below the
cursor, respectively.

Caution – Use only cursor-moving commands between yanking or deleting and

putting. If you delete or yank any other text before putting the new text in place, the
lines you yanked or deleted are lost.

Moving Lines
Moving lines also requires two commands: dd (“delete”) and either p or P.

To move one line, position the cursor anywhere on the line and type dd. For example,
to delete 5 lines, type 5dd.

Next, move the cursor to the line above where you want the deleted line reinserted
and type p. This inserts the text on a new line below the cursor.

Alternatively, you can put the deleted line above the cursor by typing P.

Using a Count to Repeat Commands

Many vi commands can be preceded by a repeat factor (called a count)—a number
that precedes the command and tells it how many times to repeat the operation.

70 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Most of the commands in the previous sections take counts. For instance, 3dd repeats
the command to delete a line three times, therefore deleting three lines. 2dw deletes
two words, and 4x deletes four characters or spaces. You can also use counts with
commands to move the cursor, such as 3w and 2Ctrl-F. In the section “Summary of
Basic vi Commands” on page 76 each command that takes a count is indicated by
“[count]” before the command name.

Typing a period (.) repeats the previous text-changing command. For example, if you
have just deleted a line with dd, you can move the cursor to another line and delete it
by simply typing a period.

Using ex Commands
ex commands are more accurate and convenient than yank, delete, and put when
you’re dealing with large blocks of text. Rather than counting lines on the screen and
then searching for an insertion point, you give vi a range of lines to be moved or
copied and then specify the line before the insertion point. Of course, with a delete
command there is no insertion point.

Turning Line Numbers On and Off

To turn line numbers on, type :set nu and press Return.

Line numbers appear in the left margin. Note that these numbers do not appear when
you print out the file. They are visible only on the screen.
1 Oh, when I die, take my saddle from the wall,
2 Put it on my pony, lead him out of the stall.
3 Tie my bones to his back, point our faces to the west,
4 And we’ll ride the prairies that we love the best.
5
6 Ride around, little doggies,
7 Ride around real slow.
8 Firey and Snuffy are rarin’ to go.
~
~
~
~
~
~
:set nu

To turn line numbers off, type :set nonu and press Return.

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 71

 Copying Lines
The basic form of the ex copy command is:
:line#,line# co line#

The first two numbers (separated by a comma) specify the range of lines to be copied.
The third number is the line before the insertion point.

For example, to copy lines 1 through 5 of paint and place the copy after line 12, you
would type the following:
:1,5 co 12

Then press Return.

When you specify line ranges, use the abbreviations:

■ Period (.) to denote “from the current line.”
■ Dollar sign ($) to denote “to end of file.”

Thus, to copy the range “from the current line through line 5” and insert this block
after line 12, you would type:
:.,5 co 12

To copy the range “from line 6 through the end of the file” and insert this block after
line 2, you would type:
:6,$ co 2

Moving Lines
The basic form of the ex move command is similar to the copy command that is
discussed in the previous section.
:line#,line# m line#

Line ranges and insertion points are specified in the same ways, including use of the
abbreviations . and $. The difference in function is simply that “move” removes a
block from one location and reinserts it elsewhere.

For example, to move lines 1 through 5 to the line following 12, you would type:
:1,5 m 12

Then press Return.

72 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Deleting Lines
To delete a range of lines, use the command form:
:line#,line# d

For example, to delete lines 1 through 5, you would type:

:1,5 d

Searching and Replacing With vi

vi provides several ways to find your place in a file by locating a specified string of
characters. vi also has a powerful global replacement function.

Finding a Character String

A character string is one or more characters in succession. A string might include
letters, numbers, punctuation, special characters, blank spaces, tabs, or carriage
returns. A string can be a grammatical word or it can be part of a word.

To find a character string, type / followed by the string you want to search for, and
then press Return. vi positions the cursor at the next occurrence of the string. For
example, to find the string “meta,” type /meta followed by Return.

Type n to go to the next occurrence of the string. Type N to go to the previous

occurrence.

To search backward in a file, you can use ? instead of /. In this situation, the directions
of n and N are reversed.

Searches normally are case sensitive: a search for “china” will not find “China.” If you
want vi to ignore case during a search, type :set ic. To change it back to the
default, case-sensitive mode, type :set noic.

If vi finds the requested string, the cursor stops at its first occurrence. If the string is
not found, vi displays Pattern not found on the last line of the screen.

Certain special characters ( / & ! . ^ * $ \ ?) have special significance to the

search process and must be “escaped” when they are used in a search. To escape a
special character, precede it with a backslash (\). For example, to search for the string
“anything?” type /anything\? and press Return.

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 73

 You can use these special characters as commands to the search function. If you want
to search for a string that includes one or more of these characters, you must precede
the special character with a backslash. To escape a backslash itself, type \\.

Refining the Search

You can make searches more precise by tagging the string with indicators for the
following characteristics:
■ Beginning of line
■ End of line
■ Beginning of word
■ End of word
■ Wildcard characters

To match the beginning of a line, start the search string with a caret (^). For example,
to find the next line beginning with “Search”, type:
/^Search

To match the end of a line, end the search string with a dollar sign ($). For example, to
find the next line ending with “search.”, type:
/search\.$

Note that the period is escaped with a backslash.

To match the beginning of a word, type \< at the beginning of the string; to match the
end of a word, type \> at the end of the string. Thus, to match a word, rather than a
string, combine the end-of-word and beginning-of-word tags in the search pattern. For
example, to find the next occurrence of the word—as opposed to the string—“search”,
type:
/\<search\>

To match any character, type a period (.) in the string at the location to be matched.
For example, to find the next occurrence of “disinformation” or “misinformation,”
type:
/.isinformation

Because this is a search for a string and not a word, this search pattern might also find
such constructions as “misinformationalist” and “disinformationism.”

To search for alternative characters in a string, enclose the alternatives in brackets. The
search pattern /[md]stringfinds strings that begin with either “m” or “d.” Conversely,
/[d-m]string finds strings that begin with any letter from “d” through “m.”

74 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

To match zero or more occurrences of the last character, type an asterisk (*) in the
string. You can effectively combine brackets and the asterisk to look for well-defined
alternatives. For example, to find all strings beginning with a through z and ending
with “isinformation” and to find all occurrences of the string “isinformation”, type:
/[a-z]*isinformation

Replacing a Character String

The procedure for replacing a text string is based on the search procedures that are
discussed previously. You can use all the special matching characters for searches in
search-and-replace.

The basic command form is:

:g/search-string/s//replace-string/g

Then press the Return key.

Therefore, to replace every occurrence of the string “disinformation” with

“newspeak,” type:
:g/disinformation/s//newspeak/g

Then and press Return.

You can modify this command to halt the search and make vi query whether you
want to make the replacement in each instance. The following command uses gc
(adding c for “consult”) to make vi stop at every occurrence of “disinformation” and
ask whether you want to make the substitution. Respond with y for yes or n for no.
:g/disinformation/s//newspeak/gc

Note – You can cancel a “consulted” search-and-replace function by pressing Ctrl-C.

Going to a Specific Line

To go to the last line of an open file, type G. To return to the first line of the file, type
1G.

You can go to any other line by typing its number followed by G.

For example, suppose that you quit the file paint while editing line 51. You can
access that line by opening the file and typing 51G.

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 75

 Inserting One File Into Another
vi makes it convenient to “read” (insert) a file into the file you are editing. The
general form of the command is:
: line# r filename

If you do not specify a line number, vi inserts the file at the current cursor position.

For example, if you wanted to insert the file orwell at line 84 of the file paint, you
would type:
:84 r orwell

Or you could position the cursor on line 84 and type:

:r orwell

Editing Multiple Files

vi enables you to edit multiple files. For example, to edit the file orwell while you
are editing paint:
1. First, save your current work in paint. Type :w and press Return.

2. To edit orwell, type :n orwell and press Return.

3. Make editing changes to orwell and save your work.

4. When you are finished working with orwell and have saved your work, you have
three choices:
■ Exit vi. Type :q and press Return.
■ Return to paint. Type :n # and press Return.
■ Swap back and forth between two files with the command :n #.

Summary of Basic vi Commands

The following table describes basic vi commands.

76 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

TABLE 6–1 Starting vi

Command Description

vi filename Open or create file

vi Open new file to be named later

vi -r filename Recover crashed file

view filename Open file read-only

TABLE 6–2 Cursor Commands

Command Description

h Move left one character

j Move down one line

k Move up one line

l Move right one character

w Move right one word

W Move right one word (past punctuation)

b Move left one word

B Move left one word (past punctuation)

e Move to end of current word

Return Move down one line

Backspace Move left one character

Spacebar Move right one character

H Move to top of screen

M Move to middle of screen

L Move to bottom of screen

Ctrl-F Page forward one screen

Ctrl-D Scroll forward one-half screen

Ctrl-B Page backward one screen

Ctrl-U Scroll backward one-half screen

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 77

 TABLE 6–3 Inserting Characters and Lines

Command Description

a Insert characters to right of cursor

A Insert characters at end of line

i Insert characters to left of cursor

I Insert characters at beginning of line

o Insert line below cursor

O Insert line above cursor

TABLE 6–4 Changing Text

Command Description

cw Change word (or part of word) to right of

cursor

cc Change line

C Change from cursor to end of line

s Substitute string for character(s) from cursor

forward

r Replace character at cursor with one other

character

r Return Break line

J Join current line and line below

xp Transpose character at cursor and character to

right

~ Change case of letter (uppercase or lowercase)

u Undo previous command

U Undo all changes to current line

:u Undo previous last-line command

TABLE 6–5 Deleting Text

Command Description

x Delete character at the cursor

X Delete character to the left of the cursor

78 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

TABLE 6–5 Deleting Text (Continued)
Command Description

dw Delete word (or part of word to right of

cursor)

dd Delete line containing the cursor

D Delete part of line to right of cursor

dG Delete to end of file

d1G Delete from beginning of file to cursor

:5,10 d Delete lines 5-10

TABLE 6–6 Copying and Moving Text

Command Description

yy Yank or copy line

Y Yank or copy line

p Put yanked or deleted line below current line

P Put yanked or deleted line above current line

:1,2 co 3 Copy lines 1-2 and put after line 3

:4,5 m 6 Move lines 4-5 and put after line 6

TABLE 6–7 Setting Line Numbers

Command Description

:set nu Show line numbers

:set nonu Hide line numbers

TABLE 6–8 Setting Case-sensitivity

Command Description

:set ic Searches should ignore case

:set noic Searches should be case sensitive

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 79

 TABLE 6–9 Finding a Line

Command Description

G Go to last line of file

1G Go to first line of file

21G Go to line 21

TABLE 6–10 Searching and Replacing

Command Description

/string Search for string

?string Search backward for string

n Find next occurrence of string in search

direction

N Find previous occurrence of string in search

direction

:g/search/s//replace/g Search and replace

TABLE 6–11 Clearing the Screen

Command Description

Ctrl-L Clear (refresh) scrambled screen

TABLE 6–12 Inserting a File Into a File

Command Description

:r filename Insert (read) file after cursor

:34 r filename Insert file after line 34

TABLE 6–13 Saving and Quitting

Command Description

:w Save changes (write buffer)

:w filename Write buffer to named file

:wq Save changes and quit vi

ZZ Save changes and quit vi

80 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

TABLE 6–13 Saving and Quitting (Continued)
Command Description

:q! Quit without saving changes

Chapter 6 • Using the vi Editor 81

82 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002
CHAPTER 7

Using Mail

SunOS provides a program called mailx for sending and receiving electronic mail
(email). mailx provides features for reading, writing, sending, receiving, saving, and
deleting messages. The mailx program is not window based, and can therefore be run
on any terminal. Although you might prefer to use the window-based mail, you might
find that the mailx program is handy when you are dashing off a quick note. Also, if
you want to set up your own mail aliases, you can read about it here.

Note – If you are in a window environment and the Mail Tool icon appears on your
screen, quit from the Mail Tool before trying the examples in this chapter. Otherwise,
you will have two mail processes active, and these concurrent processes might
generate error and warning messages. You can safely send mail messages in a
Command Tool or Shell Tool window, but if you read your mail and save or delete
messages, this affects your “in tray,” thus confusing Mail Tool.

mailx Basics
This section describes how to perform basic tasks in mailx. Later sections describe
features and functions that can enhance your ability to use this program.

An intended recipient’s login name and machine name serve as a unique address for
the mailx program. If the intended recipient is on the same machine as the sender, the
login name is all that is required. Each user has a mailbox in which to receive mail. This
mailbox is generally located in the /var/mail/username directory, where username is
your login name.

The mailx program notifies you when you receive mail and places the mail in your
mailbox. After you read your mail, mailx automatically places these messages in a
storage file called mbox, which is also located in your home directory.

83
 Starting mailx
Start mailx by typing the following command at a prompt and then pressing the
Return key:
$ mailx

If you don’t have any mail waiting for you, your terminal displays the message:
No mail for username $

In this message, username is your login name.

Sending Yourself a Sample Message

To see at a glance how mailx works, you can begin by sending yourself a sample
message. At the prompt, give the mailx command again, but this time include your
address (your login name plus your machine name). For example, if your login was
rose and your machine name was texas, your address would be rose@texas. (The
@ symbol is read as “at.”) You might be able to use just your login on a local
network—consult your system administrator when in doubt.
$ mailx rose@texas

The program responds with a Subject: line:

$ mailx rose@texas
Subject:

If you like, type a word or two here about the content of the message you’re sending
yourself and press Return. Now type the body of the message. Use short lines and
press Return at the end of each line. Note that you can only make corrections as you
go by moving back a space and retyping lines before you press Return.

Your sample message might look something like this (the spaces between lines are
made by pressing Return twice):
$ mailx rose@texas
Subject: to someone who really cares

Dear Rosey,

From the ends of your fingers

To the tip of your nose
You’re a cool breeze in August
My sweet Texas Rose.

See you soon,

Rose

84 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

To send your sample message, press Return to complete the last line of the message
and then press Ctrl-D. After your message has been sent, the system returns a
command prompt.

Reading Your Sample Message

To read your sample message, use the mailx command again. Your screen should
look something like this:
$ mailx
Mail version 4.0 Thu Jan 16 12:59:09 PST 1992 Type ? for help.
“/var/mail/rose”: 2 messages 1 new
U 2 hal@uncertain Fri Feb 14 12:01 14/318 financial status
>N 1 rose@texas Mon Feb 17 08:12 21/453 to someone who
&

The first line identifies the version of mail that you are running. The second line
indicates your mailbox, usually located in /var/mail/username, where your
incoming mail is deposited. The third line in this example is the header of the message
you sent yourself. The “N” at the beginning of the line means that it’s a “new”
message. A “U” (unread) means the message was new, but was not read before
quitting the mailx program previously. The information in this screen is discussed in
greater detail in “Reading Messages” on page 86.

Every message is assigned a number as it is received: Rose’s message to herself is

shown as message number 1.

To read a message, type an ampersand (&) and the message number at the mailx
prompt, as follows:
& mailx
Mail version 4.0 Thu Jan 16 12:59:09 PST 1992 Type ? for help.
“/var/mail/rose”: 1 message 1 new
>N 1 rose@texas Fri Jul 14 12:01 21/453 to someone who
& 1

To: rose@texas
From: rose@texas
Subject: to someone who really cares

Dear Rose,

From the ends of your fingers

To the tip of your nose
You’re a cool breeze in August
My sweet Texas Rose.

See you soon,

Rose

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 85

 &

Quitting mailx
When you have finished your work in mailx, you can quit the program by using one
of two commands: q (quit) or x (exit).

If you type q at the mailx prompt and then press Return, you see a message similar
to the following:
Saved one message in home_directory/mbox.

In this message, home_directory is the path name to your home directory.

When you use q to quit mailx after reading messages, mailx moves the messages
from your mailbox and saves them in the mbox file in your home directory. mailx
also saves any changes or deletions you’ve made.

If you type x at the mailx prompt and then press Return, the mailx program does
not save any changes or deletions, nor does it move any messages you’ve already read
into the mbox file.

Reading Messages
If you have mail, mailx notifies you each time you log in with the message

You have mail

or

You have new mail

To read your messages, type mailx at a command prompt and press Return. If no
mail is waiting for you, you will see the message:

No mail for username

Otherwise, you see a list similar to the following:

$ mailx
Mail version 4.0 Thu Jan 16 12:59:09 PST 1992 Type ? for help.
“/var/mail/rose”: 4 messages 1 new 2 unread
1 rose@texas Fri Feb 14 12:01 21/453 to someone who
U 2 hank@fretful Fri Feb 14 18:31 19/353 so lonely I

86 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

 U 3 farmer@freeway Sat Feb 15 10:22 24/557 looks like my
>N 4 hoover@woofer Sun Feb 16 23:59 14/280 big old furry

&

The mailx program displays information about itself (version number and date) and
instructions for getting help (Type ? for help).

On the next line, mailx specifies the location of your mailbox, the number of
messages received, and their status.

Next, mailx shows a numbered list of the messages in your mailbox. From left to
right, the columns in each line specify:
■ Status: Indicates whether a message is new (N), unread (U), or read (no symbol). A
“>” at the beginning of a line indicates the current message. Deleted messages are
marked with an asterisk (*).
■ Number: Indicates the order in which message was received.
■ Sender: Indicates the name of the user (and usually machine) the message came
from.
■ Time: Indicates the date and time the message was sent.
■ Size: Indicates the number of lines or the number of characters in message.
■ Subject: Indicates the sender-designated subject of the message.

When you have several messages in your mailbox, the displayed list might not show
all of your mail. If this situation applies, type:
■ z – To display the next screenful of mail headers
■ h- – To display the previous screenful of mail headers
■ h – To redisplay the list of mail headers at any time

To view the current message in the mailbox list (marked with >), press Return. Press
Return again to display the next message. To read any message in the list, type its
number and press Return.

Deleting (and Undeleting) Messages

After you have read a message, you might decide to delete it rather than save it to
your mbox file. A save to the mbox file is the default when you quit the mailx
program.

To delete the last message you read, just type d at the mailx prompt. To delete a
specific message from your mailbox, use the command form:

d number

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 87

 For example, to delete the second message, use this command from within mailx:
& d 2

You can also delete several messages at a time. To delete messages 1 and 3, use the
command:
& d 1 3

To delete a range of messages, for example 1 through 3, use the command:

& d 1-3

Before you quit mailx, you can undelete messages you’ve removed from your
mailbox. Use the command form:

u number

followed by Return. For example, to undelete the second message, use this command:
& u 2

To undo your last deletion, just type u at the mailx prompt immediately after the
deletion. For example, if your last deletion command was d 2-5, type u to undelete
messages 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Note that all deletions are made permanent when you quit mailx with the q
command. That is, you can no longer undelete messages that have been deleted. You
can, however, quit mailx with the x command and leave your mailbox intact. As
mentioned previously, if you quit with x you leave read messages marked with a U,
deleted messages undeleted, and so forth.

Printing Messages
You can print a hard copy of a message by piping a message to a printer command. To
do so, use the following command form at a mailx prompt:

|number lp

The | symbol is called a pipe. For example, to print a copy of message 2, type:
& |2 lp

Then press Return. If a message number is not specified, mailx pipes the current
message to the printer. For more information on piping, see “Redirecting and Piping
Command Output” on page 22.

88 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

 Sending Messages
To send mail with the mailx program, you need to know the login name(s) of the
intended recipient(s) of your message. If an intended recipient is on a different
machine, you also need to know that user’s machine name. To determine this
information, you can use the who, finger, or rusers commands.

Type the who command to list all the users who are currently logged in to the file
server you are on. The displayed list contains users’ login names, their terminal types,
and the date and time they logged in. For example:
$ who
elmer tty15 Feb 20 10:22
susan tty04 Feb 20 10:37
stormy tty07 Feb 20 11:49
hankw tty06 Feb 20 12:02

Type the finger command to display the same type of information as who with more
detail. The information that appears depends on how your system administrator has
set up this command. As an example, you might see something like the following:
$ finger
Login Name TTY Idle When
elmer Elmer Brown tty15 43 Thu 10:22
susan Susan Lake tty04 Thu 10:37
stormy Stormy Ball tty07 12 Thu 11:49
hankw Hank Wilson tty06 22 Thu 12:02

The rusers command provides information on the users who are currently logged in
to your local network. Refer to Chapter 9 for instructions on the use of the rusers
command.

When you have determined the necessary user information, complete the following
steps to send a message.
1. Type the mailx command, followed by a user’s address:
$ mailx user@machine
In this command, user is the intended recipient’s login name and machine is the name
of the intended recipient’s machine.
■ If you’ve already started mailx, you can just type m at the mailx prompt,
followed by the intended recipient’s login and machine name:
& m user@machine
■ To send the same message to multiple recipients, separate each address with a
space or a comma, for example:
$ mailx hank@fretful sally@dakota tex@twister

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 89

 or
$ mailx hank@fretful,sally@dakota,tex@twister

2. When you press Return, the mailx program prompts you for a subject. Type a
subject for your message and press Return again.

3. Type the body of your message. To create a new line, press Return.
A sentence that wraps on your screen is not considered a new line until you press
Return.

Note – Each line of text within your message can be up to 256 characters long. When
you exceed this limitation, your screen freezes. If this situation occurs, press Ctrl-C to
abort your message.

4. When you have completed your message, press Return to move the cursor to a new
line. Then press Ctrl-D to send your message.

Undeliverable Messages
If you specify an incorrect user address when you send a message, the system
responds with the message

[email protected] unknown

The message is then returned to your mailbox. The next time you type the mailx
command, the header states that you have returned mail, similar to the following
example:
N 1 Mailer-Daemon Fri Jan 3 11:13 8/49 Returned mail: User unknown

When a message cannot be delivered, the file is also copied to a file in your home
directory named dead.letter.

Canceling an Unsent Message

You can cancel a message at any time before it is sent by pressing Ctrl-C twice.

Adding Carbon and Blind Carbon Copies

Before sending a message, you can specify that “carbon copies” be sent to other than
the main addressees. You can also send “blind carbons.” This specification ensures
that recipients of your message can read the addresses for the carbon copies, but not
the addresses for the blind carbons.

90 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Many people send themselves carbons or blind carbons in order to retain a copy for
their own record.

You can use three methods for sending carbon copies with a message:
■ Use a text editor to edit your .mailrc file (in your home directory) and insert the
following line:
set askcc

The mailx program now displays the carbon copy prompt (Cc:) after the subject
prompt. Type the addresses of the users you want to receive carbon copies.
Separate multiple addresses with spaces.
■ When you have typed the body of your message, but before you press Ctrl-D, press
Return to move to a new line and use the command form:
~c address(es)
To use this method to send carbon copies to multiple recipients, separate the
addresses with spaces. For example:
~c hank@fretful george@lonesome stormy@snoozer

■ You can also create a Cc: line with the ~h command, which displays the entire
header of the message. ~h prompts you with To:, Subject:, Cc:, and Bcc:
(blind carbon copy) lines, one line at a time. You can fill in blank lines. You can also
retype filled lines. As with other tilde commands, always use the ~h command on a
new line.

Note – ~c, ~h, and other tilde commands are described in “Tilde Commands”
on page 100.

Inserting a Copy of a Message or File

You can insert a copy of any message in your mailbox into the message you’re writing.
Likewise, you can insert a copy of any text file.

Inserting a Message
Use the following command form to insert a message.
~m number

In this example, number is the number of the message to be inserted. For example, to
send to another user a message that includes a copy of message number 3 from your
mailbox list, complete the following steps.
1. On a new line, type the command ~m 3, and then press Return.

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 91

 mailx displays the following message.
Interpolating: 3 (continue)
2. You do not see the text of message 3, but the recipient will. You can continue to
compose your message after (continue), or you can send it as is.
3. To see the complete message, interpolation included, type the command ~p.

Inserting a File
You can also insert a copy of any text file into a message. As you are writing a
message, use the following command form.
~r filename

For example, to insert the file outline in the current message, type the following
command.
& ~r outline

Replying to a Message
Reply to mail at a mailx prompt by typing the following command.

r number

If you omit the message number, mailx replies to the current message.

For example, to reply to the sender of message 2, type the following command.
& r 2

mailx automatically addresses your message and supplies an Re: Subject: line
that echoes the original Subject: line. Send your reply as you would with any other
message.

R is a variant of the reply command that sends your reply to all recipients of the
original message as well as to its sender. Use this command only when absolutely
necessary, to avoid generating “junk mail.”

Note – You can insert a message into your reply as shown in the previous section. To
insert a copy of the message to which you are replying, type the command ~m without
a message number.

92 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Saving and Retrieving Messages
In addition to sending and receiving messages, you might also save and retrieve them
for later use. In mailx you can save messages by appending them to regular text files.
You can also append messages to special files called folders. Both methods are
discussed subsequently.

mailx makes a distinction between saving messages and copying them. Saving
removes a message from the mailbox and appends it to a file or folder. Copying leaves
a message in the mailbox and appends a copy to a file or folder.

Saving and Copying Messages in Files

To save a message into a file, use the following command form at the mailx prompt.
s number filename

where number is the number of the message to be saved and filename is the file where
you want to save the message. For example, to save message 3 into a file called
~/notes/finance, you would type:
& s 3 ~/notes/finance

Remember that in a path name, the ~ represents your home directory.

You can also save several messages at once to the same file. For example, to save
messages 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 to ~/notes/finance, type the following command.
& s 3 5-8 ~/notes/finance

If the file you specify does not exist, mailx creates it. If the file does exist, mailx
appends the message you are saving to the end of the file.

Saving a file removes it from your mailbox. mailx displays an asterisk (*) next to the
header of any message than has been saved.

To leave the message in your mailbox while appending it to another file, use the copy
command, as follows:
& c 3 ~/notes/finance

Saving and Copying Messages in Folders

You can avoid typing full path names to files if you save or copy messages to mail
folders. Folders are special files that are stored in a folder directory.

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 93

 The advantage of saving or copying messages to folders is that your messages are
automatically stored in the same directory, where they are easily accessible without
typing long path names.

Setting the Folder Directory

To use folders, you must first set up a folder directory. Follow these steps to set up a
folder directory.
1. Create a directory by using the mkdir command.
For example, if you wanted your folder directory to be called Messages, you
would first create the directory:
$ mkdir Messages
2. Edit the .mailrc file in your home directory (which contains mailx options) to
set the folder directory path.
Edit the folder variable to include the full path name of your newly created
folder directory. For example:
set folder=/home/austin/rose/Messages

Or use the C shell shortcut ~ to specify your home directory.

set folder=~/Messages

Now your folder directory is set to receive messages that are saved in folders. The
change to the .mailrc file becomes effective the next time you start mailx.

Designating Folders
You use the same commands to save or copy messages into folders as into files, except
that the folder name is preceded by a plus sign (+) instead of a path name. The + tells
mailx that the folder is to be kept in the folder directory (Messages).

For example, to save message 3 to a folder called projects, type:

& s 3 +projects

mailx interprets this command as “save message 3 into ~/Messages/projects.” If

the folder doesn’t already exist, mailx creates it.

Copy the message into a folder by typing:

& c 3 +projects

94 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Sending a Message Directly to a File or Folder
You can send copies of your messages directly to one of your files or folders. To send a
copy to a folder, simply type the folder name in either the Cc: or the Bcc: field. Sending
a copy to a file is similar, but you must include the full path name.

Reading Messages in Files and Folders

To read messages that are saved in a file, use the command form:
mailx -f filename

In the previous example, you would read the file ~/memos/finance by typing:
$ mailx -f ~/memos/finance

You can read messages that are saved in a folder with a similar command—just use
the + instead of a path name. For example, to read the messages in the folder
projects, you would type:
$ mailx -f +projects

This command starts mailx in the file or folder that you have designated. Only
headers for the messages in the file or folder are displayed. Select a message to read by
typing its number at the mailx prompt, and then press Return.

You can also work on mail folders within the mailx program. To see a list of your
folders, type this command at a mailx prompt:
& folders

To switch from your mailbox to a folder, use the command form:

& folder +foldername

To return to your mailbox, type this command at a mailx prompt:

& %

To return to the previous folder, type:

& #

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 95

 Using vi With mailx
You can use the vi text editor to compose messages while you run mailx. vi enables
you to correct mistakes and add and delete text before you send your messages. If you
are not already familiar with using vi, refer to Chapter 6 for instructions.

In the mailx program, you can use the standard vi commands for inserting, deleting,
and changing text.

To write a message with vi:

1. Type the mailx command with an address at either the mailx prompt (&) or the
command prompt ($).

2. Type the subject at the Subject: line. Press Return.

3. Start vi by typing the command ~v on a new line.

The vi screen appears, representing an empty file in your /tmp directory.

4. Use vi commands to type and edit the body of your message.

5. When you are finished, quit vi with the command :wq or ZZ.
After you quit vi, mailx displays the (continue): message. You can either add to
the message (outside vi) or send the message by pressing Ctrl-D.

Mail Aliases
A mail alias is a selection of user names that are grouped under a single name.

Use mail aliases when you want to send messages to the same group of people over
and over. For example, if you occassionally send mail to hank@fretful,
george@lonesome, and sally@dakota, you could create a mail alias called
amigos. Then, each time you sent mail to amigos, all three people would receive it.

Two locations where you can set up mail aliases are:

■ Your .mailrc file
■ The /etc/aliases file

Mail aliases that are set up in .mailrc behave differently from mail aliases set up in
/etc/aliases. These differences are summarized in Table 7-1 at the end of this
section.

96 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Setting Up Mail Aliases in .mailrc
Note the following about setting up mail aliases in .mailrc:
■ Mail aliases in .mailrc are private. That is, only you can use them. For example, if
you set up a mail alias called amigos in .mailrc and another user tries to send
mail to amigos, he receives an unknown user error message.
■ When the mail is sent, .mailrc aliases are automatically expanded to show
everyone on the mail alias. For example, if you send mail to amigos, your mail
arrives as though you had typed everyone’s names as recipients. The recipients do
not know that you used a mail alias to send the mail.

.mailrc is located in your home directory. This file contains several settings that
control the behavior of mailx and Mail Tool.

To add a mail alias to .mailrc, type:

$ vi ~/.mailrc

Note – You can use any text editor to edit the .mailrc file. The previous example
shows the method for using the vi editor to edit the file. If you are not already
familiar with vi, refer to Chapter 6 for instructions.

Each mail alias is contained on one line of the file. That is, the line can visually “wrap
around” to another line, but it cannot contain carriage returns. Each mail alias should
contain the following, separated by spaces:
■ The word “alias”
■ The name of the mail alias (must be one word)
■ The recipients (logins and machine names) in the mail alias, separated by spaces

The following example shows two mail aliases. The first alias (amigos) contains three
people. The second alias (softball) contains eight. Notice in softball how the
names are visually wrapped around on the screen. This is fine, as long as no carriage
returns are used.
alias amigos hank@fretful george@lonesome sally@dakota
alias softball earl@woofer tex@twister elmer@farmhouse
jane@freeway hank@fretful jj@walker sally@dakota steve@hardway

To send mail to people on a .mailrc alias, address the mail to the mail alias name.
Do not include your machine name. Suppose that you sent the following message:
$ mail amigos
Subject: Let’s eat

Hey Compadres. How about

getting together for lunch on Friday?
Anyone interested?

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 97

 The recipients would see the following (note the expanded To: line):
To: hank@fretful george@lonesome sally@dakota
Subject: Let’s eat

Hey Compadres. How about getting together for lunch on Friday?

Anyone interested?

Setting Up Mail Aliases in /etc/aliases

Note the following about setting up mail aliases in /etc/aliases:
■ Mail aliases in /etc/aliases are public. This means that if you set up a mail alias
called softball, anyone can send to softball@your-machinename and make use
of the mail alias.
■ When the mail is sent, /etc/aliases mail aliases are not expanded. For example,
if you send mail to softball@machinename, that’s how the mail reads when it is
received. The recipients know what the mail alias is, but not necessarily who else is
on it.

The format of mail aliases that are created in /etc/aliases is somewhat different
from those in .mailrc. Each /etc/aliases alias should use the following format:
■ The name of the mail alias, followed by a colon (:)
■ The recipients (logins and machine names), separated by commas. Note that the
mail alias does not have to be on a single line.

To modify your /etc/aliases file, you must first become root. If root is password
protected, you’ll need to know the root password.

Type the following to become the root user on the system:

$ su
Password:
#

Notice that the command prompt changes when you become root.

The following example shows how the alias softball@texas is added to the default
/etc/aliases file.
# vi /etc/aliases
##
#Aliases can have any mix of upper and lower case on the left-
#hand side,
#but the right-hand side should be proper case (usually lower)
#
# >>>>>>>>>>The program “newaliases” will need to be run after
# >> NOTE >>this file is updated for any changes to
# >>>>>>>>>>show through to sendmail.
#

98 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

#@(#)aliases 1.10 89/01/20 SMI
##
# Following alias is required by the mail protocol, RFC 822
# Set it to the address of a HUMAN who deals with this system’s
mail problems.
Postmaster: root

# Alias for mailer daemon; returned messages from our MAILER-

DAEMON
# should be routed to our local Postmaster.
MAILER-DAEMON: postmaster

# Aliases to handle mail to programs or files, eg news or vacation

# decode: “|/usr/bin/uudecode”
nobody: /dev/null

# Sample aliases:
# Alias for distribution list, members specified here:
#staff:wnj,mosher,sam,ecc,mckusick,sklower,olson,rwh@ernie

# Alias for distribution list, members specified elsewhere:

#keyboards: :include:/usr/jfarrell/keyboards.list

# Alias for a person, so they can receive mail by several names:

#epa:eric

#######################
# Local aliases below #
#######################
softball@texas: earl@woofer
tex@twister elmer@farmhouse
jane@freeway hank@fretful jj@walker sally@dakota steve@hardway
:wq (to quit viand save the /etc/aliasesfile )
# exit (to exit root)
$

You can use any text editor to edit the /etc/aliases file. The previous example
shows the method for using the vi editor to edit the file. If you are not already
familiar with vi, refer to Chapter 6 for instructions.

Note that the pound signs (#) you see within the /etc/aliases file have been placed
there to comment out the text and sample aliases. The pound signs prevent the system
from processing this information as actual aliases.

Do not place pound signs in front of aliases you add to this file, unless you
intentionally want to disable an alias.

To send mail to people on a /etc/aliases alias, address the mail by using the name
of the alias and your machine name. Suppose that you sent the following:
$ mail softball@texas
Subject: Practice Today

Let’s meet at the diamond

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 99

 behind Building 4 after work tonight.
Goodness knows we can use the practice for Saturday’s game! Be
there as early as you can.

The recipients would see the following:

To: softball@texas
Subject: Practice Today

Let’s meet at the diamond behind Building 4 after work tonight.

Goodness knows we can use the practice for Saturday’s game! Be
there as early as you can.

Notice that the To: line is not expanded.

Whenever you send mail by using a mail alias of this type, be sure to include the
machine name of the machine on which it’s located. If you set up a mail alias called
riders on the machine freeway, then you should send your mail to
riders@freeway.

Table 7-1 provides a summary comparison between mail aliases that are created in
.mailrc and those that are created in /etc/aliases.

TABLE 7–1 Comparing Mail Aliases in .mailrc and /etc/aliases

.mailrc /etc/aliases

Must be root to modify? no yes

Send message to: alias alias@machinename

Recipients list seen by recipients? yes no

Names separated by commas? no yes

Names all on one line? yes no

Others can use the mail alias? no yes

For more detailed information on mail aliases, type man aliases or man addresses
at the system prompt.

Tilde Commands
In the course of composing a message, you can use tilde commands to perform a
variety of functions. Tilde commands usually consist of the tilde character (~) followed
by a single character. The following table describes some of the more useful tilde
characters. Some of these characters have already been introduced in this chapter.

100 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Note – If you want to include a literal tilde character in a message, type two tildes in
succession. Only one tilde is displayed.

TABLE 7–2 Tilde Commands (mailx)

Command Description

~!command Escapes to a shell command.

~. Simulates pressing Ctrl-D to mark end of file.

~? Lists a summary of tilde commands.

~b username Adds user name(s) to the blind carbon copies (Bcc:) list.

~c username Adds user name(s) to the carbon copies (Cc:) list.

~d Reads the contents of the dead.letter file into current message.

~f number Forwards the specified message. Valid only when you send a message
while you read mail.

~h Prompts for header lines: Subject, To, Cc, and Bcc.

~m number Inserts text from the specified message into the current message. Valid
only when you send a message while you read mail.

~p Prints to the screen the message that you are typing.

~q Simulates pressing Ctrl-C twice. If the body of the current message is not
empty, the contents are saved to dead.letter.

~r filename Reads in the text from the specified file.

~s string Changes the subject line to string.

~t name Adds the specified name(s) to the To list.

~w filename Writes the current message without the header into the specified file.

~x Exits mailx. Similar to ~q except message is not saved in the

dead.letter file.

Chapter 7 • Using Mail 101

 Getting Help: Other mailx Commands
mailx has two help commands that display lists of commands and functions. When
in command mode, you can type ? at the mailx prompt (&) to see a list of commands
used in that mode. Similarly, when in input mode (for example, when writing a
message), you can use the equivalent command, ~? to view a list of tilde commands
(also called “tilde escapes”).

The man pages contain extensive information on mailx in more technical form. To see
this entry, type the command:
$ man mailx

For more information, refer to the man Pages(1): User Commands.

102 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

CHAPTER 8

Using Printers

The line printer subsystem (LP) print service provides the printing tools that are used
in the Solaris operating environment. LP provides a wide variety of functions, many of
which are not within the scope of this manual. This chapter provides the procedures
necessary for you to perform the following basic printing tasks with the LP print
service:
■ “Submitting Print Requests” on page 103
■ “Determining Printer Status” on page 106
■ “Canceling a Print Request” on page 109

See System Administration Guide: Advanced Administration for a complete description of

the LP print service.

Submitting Print Requests

To print a file from the command prompt, use the lp command to send a request to
the printer to print that file. When a request is made, the LP print service places it in
the queue for the printer, displays the request ID number, and then redisplays the shell
prompt.

Submitting Print Requests to the Default Printer

When your system administrator sets up the LP print service with a default printer,
you can submit print requests without typing the name of the printer by typing the
following command.
$ lp filename

In the previous example, filename is the name of the file you want to print.

103
 The specified file is placed in the print queue of the default printer, and the request id is
displayed.

For example, to print the /etc/profile file, type the following command.
$ lp /etc/profile
request id is jetprint-1 (1 file)
$

See System Administration Guide: Advanced Administration for information on how to

specify a default printer.

Submitting Print Requests Using a Printer Name

Whether or not a default printer has been designated for your system, you can submit
print requests to any printer that is configured for your system. To submit a print
request to a specific printer, type the following command.
$ lp -d printername filename

In the previous example, printername is the name of the specific printer and filename is
the name of the file you want to print.

The specified file is placed in the print queue of the destination printer, and the
request id is displayed.

For example, to print the /etc/profile file on the printer fastprint, type the
following command.
$ lp -d fastprint /etc/profile
request id is fastprint-1 (1 file(s))
$

If you submit a request to a printer that is not configured on your system, an

information message is displayed, as shown in the following example.
$ lp -d newprint /etc/profile
newprint: unknown printer
$

See System Administration Guide: Advanced Administration for information on

configuring printers. See “Determining Printer Status” on page 106 for information
about how to find out which printers are available on your system.

104 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Requesting Notification When Printing Is
Complete
When you submit a large file for printing, you might want the LP print service to
notify you when printing is complete. You can request that the LP print service notify
you in two ways:
■ Send an email message
■ Write a message to your console window

To request email notification, use the -m option when you submit the print request.
$ lp -m filename

To request a message be written to your console window, use the -w option when you
submit the print request.
$ lp -w filename

In the previous example, filename is the name of the file you want to print.

Printing Multiple Copies

You can use the -n option to the lp command to print more than one copy of a file.

Use the following command syntax to request multiple printed copies.

$ lp -n number filename

In the previous example, number is the desired number of copies and filename is the
name of the file you are printing. The print request is considered as one print job, and
only one header page is printed.

For example, to print four copies of the /etc/profile file, type the following
command.
$ lp -n4 /etc/profile
request id is jetprint-5 (1 file)
$

Summary Table of lp Options

You can use options to the lp command to customize your print request. Table 8–1
summarizes the frequently used options for the lp command. You can use these
options individually or combine them in any order on the command line. When you
combine options, use a space between each option and repeat the dash (-).

For example, to specify a destination printer, request email notification, and print six
copies of a file, type the following command.

Chapter 8 • Using Printers 105

 $ lp -d printername -m -n6 filename

In the previous example, printername is the name of the desired printer and filename is
the name of the file you want to print.
TABLE 8–1 Summary of Frequently Used lp Options

Option Description

-d Destination. Specifies a destination printer by

name.

-m Mail. Sends email to the requestor when the

file has printed successfully.

-n Number. Specifies the number of copies to be

printed.

-t Title. Specifies a title (printed only on the

banner page) for a print request.

-o nobanner Option. Suppresses printing of the banner

page for an individual request.

-w Write. Writes a message to your terminal when

the file has printed successfully.

See the lp(1) man page for a complete list of options.

Determining Printer Status

Use the lpstat command to determine the status of the LP print service. You can
check the status of your own jobs in the print queue, determine which printers you
can use, or determine request ids of your jobs if you want to cancel them.

Checking on the Status of Your Print Requests

Type the following command to find out the status of your print requests.
$ lpstat

A list of the files that you have submitted for printing is displayed.

In the following example, one file is queued for printing to the printer jetprint.
$ lpstat
jetprint-1 user2 11466 Nov 01 15:10 on jetprint

106 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

$

The lpstat command displays one line for each print job, showing the request id,
followed by the user who spooled the request, the output size in bytes, and the date
and time of the request.

Checking Available Printers

To find out which printers are configured on your system, type the following
command.
$ lpstat -s

The status of the scheduler is displayed, followed by the default destination and a list
of the systems and printers you can use.

In the following example, the scheduler is running, the default printer is jetprint,
and the print server for the jetprint and fastprint printers is prtsrv1.
$ lpstat -s
scheduler is running
system default destination: jetprint
system for jetprint: prtsrv1
system for fastprint: prtsrv1
$

Displaying All Status Information

The -t option for lpstat gives you a complete listing of the status of the LP print
service.

To display a complete listing of all status information, type the following command.
$ lpstat -t

The system displays all available status information.

In the following example, no jobs are in the print queue. When files are spooled for
printing, the status of those print requests is also displayed.
$ lpstat -t
scheduler is running
system default destination: jetprint
system for jetprint: prtsrv1
system for fastprint: prtsrv1

jetprint accepting requests since Wed Nov 1 15:09:29 MST 2000

fastprint accepting requests since Wed Nov 1 15:09:47 MST 2000
printer fastprint is idle. enabled since Wed Nov 1 15:09:46 MST 2000.

Chapter 8 • Using Printers 107

 jetprint-1 user2 11466 Nov 01 15:10 on jetprint
$

Displaying Status for Printers

You can use the -p to the lpstat command to request printer status information for
individual printers. This option shows whether the printer is active or idle, when the
printer was enabled or disabled, and whether the printer is available to accept print
requests.

To request status for all printers on a system, type the following command.
$ lpstat -p

In the following example, two printers are idle, enabled, and available.
$ lpstat -p
printer jetprint is idle. enabled since Wed Nov 1 15:09:28 MST 2000.
available.
printer fastprint is idle. enabled since Wed Nov 1 15:09:46 MST 2000.
available.
$

If one of those printers had jobs in the print queue, those jobs would also be
displayed.

To request status for an individual printer by name, type the following command.
$ lpstat -p printername

In this example, printername is the name of the specific printer.

Summary Table of lpstat Options

You can use the lpstat command to request different types of printing status
information. Table 8–2 summarizes the frequently used options for the lpstat
command. Use these options individually, or combine them in any order on the
command line. When you combine options, use a space between each option and
repeat the dash (-).

TABLE 8–2 Summary of Frequently Used lpstat Options

Option Description

-a Accept. Show whether print destinations are accepting requests.

-c Class. Show classes and their members.

108 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

TABLE 8–2 Summary of Frequently Used lpstat Options (Continued)
Option Description

-d Destination. Show default destination.

-f Forms. Show forms.

-o Output. Show status of print requests.

-p [list][-D][-l} Printer/Description/Long list. Show status of printers.

-r Request. Request scheduler status.

-R Show position of job in the queue.

-s Status. Show status summary.

-S Sets. Show character sets.

-u [username] User. Show requests by user.

-v Show devices.

See the lpstat(1) man page for a complete list of options.

Canceling a Print Request

Use the cancel command to cancel a print request while it is in the queue or while it
is printing. To cancel a request, you need to know the print request id. The request id
always includes the name of the printer, a dash, and the number of the print request.
When you submit the print request, the request id is displayed. If you do not
remember your request id, type lpstat -o and press Return. Only the user who
submitted the request, or someone logged in as root or lp can cancel a print request.

Canceling a Print Request by ID Number

To cancel a print request, type the following command.
$ cancel request_id

In the previous example, request_id is the request id number of the desired print
request.

A message informs you that the request is cancelled. The next job in the queue begins
printing.

In the following example two print requests are canceled.

Chapter 8 • Using Printers 109

 $ cancel jetprint-6 fastprint-5
jetprint-6: cancelled
fastprint-5: cancelled
$

Canceling a Print Request by Printer Name

You can also cancel just the job that is currently printing (if you submitted it) by
typing the printer name in place of the request id.
$ cancel printername

In the previous example, printername is the name of the printer to which you sent the
request.

A message informs you that the request is canceled. The next job in the queue begins
printing

In the following example, the current print request has been canceled.
$ cancel jetprint
jetprint7: cancelled
$

Your system administrator can log in as root or lp and cancel the currently printing
request by using the printer name as the argument for the cancel command.

110 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

CHAPTER 9

Using the Network

A network is a group of computers set up to communicate with one another. When

your machine is part of a network, you have the opportunity to use the resources of
other machines on the network while remaining logged in to your own machine. You
can log in to other machines or you can execute remote commands that affect other
machines from your own workstation.

This chapter describes the following topics.

■ “Networking Concepts” on page 111
■ “Logging In Remotely (rlogin)” on page 112
■ “Copying Files Remotely (rcp)” on page 115
■ “Executing Commands Remotely (rsh)” on page 116
■ “Viewing User Information (rusers)” on page 117
■ “Running Networked Applications” on page 118

If your machine is not currently attached to a network, the information presented here
might not be relevant to your situation. However, it might be valuable for you to
review this information to get an overall view of the benefits that networking can
provide.

Networking Concepts
A network connection between machines enables these systems to transmit
information to one another. The following list describes the more common network
types.
■ Local area network (LAN) — A network that ranges over a small area, generally
less than a few thousand feet
■ Wide area network (WAN) — A large network that can span thousands of miles
■ Campus area network (CAN) — An intermediately sized network

111
 A network that is composed of a linked group of networks is called an internetwork.
For example, your machine might be part of a network within your building and part
of an internetwork that connects your local network to similar networks across the
country. Because the difference between a network and an internetwork is generally
invisible to the user, the term network is used in this guide to refer to both networks
and internetworks.

Networked machines use a network protocol, or common network language, to

communicate. A network protocol ensures that information is transmitted to the
appropriate location on the network. An internetwork protocol, sometimes referred to as
a relay, links networks together.

Logging In Remotely (rlogin)

The rlogin command enables you to log in to other UNIX machines on your
network.

To remotely log in to another machine, type the following command.

$ rlogin machinename

In the previous example, machinename is the name of the remote machine.

If a password prompt appears, type the password for the remote machine and press
Return. If your machine name is in the other machine’s /etc/hosts.equiv file, the
current machine does not prompt you to type the password.
venus$ rlogin starbug -l user2
Password:
Last login: Wed Nov 1 13:08:36 from venus
Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic February 2002
venus$ pwd
/home/user2
venus$ logout
Connection closed.
venus$

rlogin Without a Home Directory

In the previous example, user user2 logs in to the remote machine starbug at the
directory /home/user2, as indicated by the pwd command. When you log in to a
machine where you have no account, rlogin displays a message stating that you
have no home directory on the remote machine. rlogin then logs you in to the root
(/) directory of that machine:

112 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

venus$ earth -l user2
Password:
No directory! Logging in with home=/
Last login: Thu Nov 2 12:51:57 from venus
Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic February 2002
earth$ pwd
/
earth$ logout
Connection closed.
earth$

rlogin as Someone Else

The -l option of the rlogin command enables to log in to a remote machine as
someone else. This option can be useful if you are working on someone else’s machine
(using their username) and you want to log in to your own machine as yourself.

Use the following command syntax for the -l option of the rlogin command.
# rloginmachinename -l username

The following example shows how user user2 on machine venus would log in to
machine starbug as user1.
venus$ rlogin starbug -l user1
Password:
Last login: Thu Nov 2 12:51:57 from venus
Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic February 2002
starbug$ pwd
/home/user1
starbug$ logout
Connection closed.
starbug$

Note that when you log in to a remote machine as someone else, you are placed in that
user’s home directory.

rlogin to an Unknown Machine

If you try to log in to a remote machine unknown to your machine, rlogin searches
unsuccessfully through the hosts database and then displays the following message.
$ rlogin stranger
stranger: unknown host
$

Chapter 9 • Using the Network 113

 Aborting an rlogin Connection
Normally you terminate an rlogin connection by typing logout at the end of a
work session. If cannot terminate a session in this manner, you can abort the
connection by typing a tilde character followed by a period (~.). The remote login
connection to the remote machine is aborted and you are placed back at your original
machine.

If you log in to a series of machines, gaining access to each machine through another
machine, and you use ~. to abort the connection to any of the machines, you are
returned to your original machine.
venus$ rlogin starbug -l user2
Password:
Last login: Thu Nov 2 15:13:10 from venus
Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic February 2002
starbug$ ~. (You may not see the ~ on the screen.)
Closed connection.
venus$

If you want to back up to an intermediate rlogin connection, use two tildes followed
by a period (~~.).
venus$ rlogin starbug -l user2
Password:
Last login: Thu Nov 2 15:14:58 from venus
Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic February 2002
starbug$ rlogin rlogin earth -l user2
Password:
Last login: Thu Nov 2 15:24:23 from starbug
Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic February 2002
earth$ ~~. (You may not see the ~~ on the screen.)
Closed connection.
starbug$

Suspending an rlogin Connection

When you want to suspend an rlogin connection so you can return to it later, type
the tilde character (~) followed by Ctrl-Z. The rlogin connection becomes a stopped
process and you are placed back at the machine from which you logged in.

To reactivate the connection, type fg. You can also type the percentage sign (%)
followed by the process number of the stopped process. If you do not specify a process
number, % activates the process most recently suspended.
venus$ rlogin goddess -l user2
Password:
Last login: Thu Aug 31 14:31:42 from venus
Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic February 2002
goddess$ pwd
/home/user2

114 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

goddess$~^Z

Stopped (user)
venus$ pwd
/home/user2/veggies
venus$fg
rlogin goddess
goddess$ logout
venus$

You can also type two tildes and press Ctrl-Z to suspend the current rlogin and
place you at an intermediate rlogin.

For more information on the rlogin(1) command, refer to the man Pages(1): User
Commands.

Verifying Your Location (who am i)

After logging in to a variety of remote machines, you might need to verify where you
are. Type who am i to display the name of the machine you are currently logged in to
as well as your current login name.

Copying Files Remotely (rcp)

The rcp command enables you to copy files from one machine to another. This
command uses the remote machine’s /etc/hosts.equiv and /etc/passwd files to
determine whether you have unchallenged access privileges. The syntax for rcp is
similar to the command syntax for cp.

Note – To copy subdirectories and their contents from one machine to another, use
rcp -r.

Copying Files From a Remote Machine

To copy from a remote machine to your machine, use the rcp command with the
following syntax.
$ rcp machinename:source destination

In the previous example, machinename is the name of the remote machine, source is the
name of the file(s) you want to copy, and destination is the path name on your machine
where you want the copied file(s) to reside.

Chapter 9 • Using the Network 115

 The following example illustrates how to copy the file /etc/hosts from the remote
machine starbug to the /tmp directory on the local machine venus.
venus$ rcp starbug:/etc/hosts /tmp

You can also combine various abbreviations and syntaxes when using rcp. For
example, to copy all of the files ending in .doc from user hank’s home directory on
remote machine fretful to the current directory on local machine venus, type the
following command.
venus$ rcp fretful:~hank/*.doc .
venus$

Copying Files From Your Machine to Another

To copy files from your local machine to a remote machine, use the following
command syntax.
$ rcp source machinename:destination

In the previous example, source is the file(s) you want to copy, machinename is the name
of the remote machine, and destination is the path name on the remote machine where
you want the copied file(s) to reside.

The following example illustrates how to copy the file newhosts from your /tmp
directory to the /tmp directory on the remote machine starbug.
venus$ cd /tmp
venus$ rcp newhosts starbug:/tmp
venus$

For more information on the rcp(1) command and its options, refer to the man
Pages(1): User Commands.

Executing Commands Remotely (rsh)

The rsh command (for remote shell) enables you to execute a single command on a
remote machine without having to log in to the remote machine. If you know you only
want to do one thing on a remote machine, rsh enables you to quickly execute one
command on a remote machine.

To execute a command on a remote machine, use the following command syntax.

rsh machinename command

The following example shows how you would view the contents of the directory
/etc/skel on the machine starbug.

116 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

venus$ rsh starbug ls /etc/skel*
local.cshrc
local.login
local.profile
venus$

Similar to the rlogin and rcp commands, rsh uses the remote machine’s
/etc/hosts.equiv and /etc/passwd files to determine whether you have
unchallenged access privileges to the remote machine.

For more information on the rsh(1) command and its options, refer to the man
Pages(1): User Commands.

Viewing User Information (rusers)

The rusers command (for remote users) shows you which users are logged in to other
machines on your network. Type the rusers command by itself to display each
machine on the network and the user(s) logged in to these machines.
$ rusers
starbug user2 user1 root
earth user1
venus user3

Notice that three users are logged in to the machine starbug.

To display information on a specific remote machine, type the rusers command

followed by the name of the machine.
$ rusers starbug
starbug user2 user1 root
$

The -l option to the rusers command displays the following information.

■ User names
■ Machine and terminal names
■ Time each user logged in
■ How long each user has been idle (if more than one minute)
■ Name of the machine that each user logged in from
$ rusers -l starbug
root starbug:console Oct 31 11:19 (:0)
user2 starbug:pts/7 Oct 31 11:20 40:05 (starbug)
user1 starbug:pts/13 Nov 1 14:42 17:18 (starbug)
$

You can also use the -l option without providing a machine name.

Chapter 9 • Using the Network 117

 For more information on the rusers(1) command and its options, refer to the man
Pages(1): User Commands.

Running Networked Applications

Normally, all the applications on your system are programs that are running on your
local machine. However, if your workstation is part of a network, you can run
applications on another machine and display them on your local screen. Running an
application on another machine saves computing cycles on your local machine, and
gives you access to an entire network of applications.

This section describes how to run an application on a remote machine and display it
on your local screen. See “More About Security” on page 119 for additional
information on the complexities of running networked applications.

Note – The process for running a networked application in your computing

environment might vary.

Using rlogin to Run a Networked Application

To use the following procedure to run a remote application, you must meet these
requirements.
■ You must have access rights to the remote machine.
■ Your home directory must be NFS-mountable on the remote machine.
■ The application and appropriate libraries must be installed on the remote machine.

Contact your system administrator if you do not understand these requirements.

To run a networked application on a remote machine, set your environment variables

with the following values.
■ Set the DISPLAY environment variable in your shell on the remote machine to your
local screen.
■ Enable the remote machine to display the application program on your local
machine. To enable this display access on the local machine, use the xhost
command:
$ xhost +remote_machine_name

The following procedure describes how to run an application on a remote machine

with the rlogin command.

118 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

▼ How to Run an Application on a Remote Machine
1. Use the xhost command on the local machine to give the remote machine display
access.
starbug$ xhost + venus

2. Log in to the remote machine.

starbug$ rlogin venus -l user2
Password:
Last login: Wed Nov 1 16:06:21 from starbug
Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic February 2002

3. Set the DISPLAY variable to the local machine.

venus$ DISPLAY=starbug:0.0

4. Export the DISPLAY variable to the local machine.

venus$ export DISPLAY

5. Run the application.

venus$ bigprogram &

Even though you interact with this application just as you would with any other
application on your screen, the application runs on the remote machine.

The benefit from running an application in this way is that it uses fewer computing
resources than an application that is installed on your machine. This example shows
how to run any remote application to which you have access.

More About Security

This section describes some fundamentals of network security that you might find
useful as you run applications across the network, including:
■ User-based and host-based access control mechanisms
■ The MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 and SUN-DES-1 authorization protocols
■ When and how to change a server’s access control
■ How to run applications remotely, or locally as a different user

Who Should Read this Section

You do not need to change the default security configuration in the Solaris operating
environment, at minimum, unless you run applications on a remote server.

Chapter 9 • Using the Network 119

 Access Control Mechanisms
An access control mechanism controls which clients or applications have access to the
X11 server. Only properly authorized clients can connect to the server. All other clients
are denied access, and are terminated with the following error message.
Xlib: connection to hostname refused by server
Xlib: Client is not authorized to connect to server

The connection attempt logs to the server console as:

AUDIT: <Date Time Year>: X: client 6 rejected from IP 129.144.152.193
port 3485 Auth name: MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1

Two different types of access control mechanisms are used: user based and host based.
That is, one mechanism grants access to a particular user’s account, while the other
mechanism grants access to a particular host, or machine. Unless the -noauth option
is used with Xsun, both the user-based access control mechanism and the host-based
access control mechanism are active. For more information see “Manipulating Access
to the Server” on page 122.

User-Based Access
A user-based, or authorization-based, mechanism allows you to give access explicitly
to a particular user on any host machine. The user’s client passes authorization data to
the server. If the data match the server’s authorization data, the user is allowed access.

Host-Based Access
A host-based mechanism is a general-purpose mechanism. This type of mechanism
enables you to give access to a particular host, in which all users on that host can
connect to the server. A host-based mechanism is a weaker form of access control. If
the host has access to the server, all users on that host are allowed to connect to the
server.

The Solaris environment provides the host-based mechanism for backward

compatibility.

Note – Relink clients that are linked with older versions of Xlib or libcps to enable
them to connect to the server with the new user-based access control mechanism.

120 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

Authorization Protocols
Two authorization protocols are supported in this version of the Solaris operating
environment: MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 and SUN-DES-1. They differ in the
authorization data used. The protocols are similar in the access control mechanism
used. The MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 protocol that uses the user-based mechanism is the
default in the Solaris operating environment.

MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1
The MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authorization protocol was developed by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At server startup, a magic cookie is created for
the server and the user who started the system. On every connection attempt, the
user’s client sends the magic cookie to the server as part of the connection packet. This
magic cookie is compared with the servers’ magic cookie. The connection is allowed if
the magic cookies match, or denied if they do not match.

SUN-DES-1
The SUN-DES-1 authorization protocol, developed by Sun Microsystems, is based on
Secure Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and requires Data Encryption Standard (DES)
support. The authorization information is the machine-independent netname, or
network name, of a user. This information is encrypted and sent to the server as part
of the connection packet. The server decrypts the information and, if the netname is
known, allows the connection.

This protocol provides a higher level of security than the MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1

protocol. No other user can use your machine-independent netname to access a server,
but another user can use the magic cookie to access a server.

This protocol is available only in libraries in the Solaris 1.1 and compatible
environments. Any applications built with static libraries cannot use this authorization
protocol.

“Allowing Access When Using SUN-DES-1” on page 124 describes how to allow
another user access to your server by adding that person’s netname to your server’s
access list.

Changing the Default Authorization Protocol

You can change the default authorization protocol, MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1, to
SUN_DES-1, the other supported authorization protocol, or to no user-based access
mechanism at all. You can change the default authorization protocol by editing the
Xsun line in the /usr/dt/config/Xservers file. For example, to change the
default from MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 to SUN-DES-1, add the -auth sun-des option
to the Xsun command by editing the following line in the
/usr/dt/config/Xservers file.

Chapter 9 • Using the Network 121

:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -nobanner -auth sun-des

If you must run the Solaris operating environment without the user-based access
mechanism, add the -noauth option to the Xsun command by editing the following
line in the /usr/dt/config/Xservers file.
:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -nobanner -noauth

Caution – By using the -noauth option, you weaken security. It is equivalent to

running Solaris software with the host-based access control mechanism only. The
server inactivates the user-based access control mechanism. Anyone who can run
applications on your local machine is allowed access to your server.

Manipulating Access to the Server

Unless the -noauth option is used with Xsun (see “Changing the Default
Authorization Protocol” on page 121), both the user-based access control mechanism
and the host-based access control mechanism are active. The server first checks the
user-based mechanism, then the host-based mechanism. The default security
configuration uses MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 as the user-based mechanism, and an
empty list for the host-based mechanism. Because the host-based list is empty, only the
user-based mechanism is effectively active. Using the -noauth option instructs the
server to inactivate the user-based access control mechanism, and initializes the
host-based list by adding the local host.

You can use either of two programs to change a server’s access control mechanism:
xhost and xauth. For more information, see these man pages. These programs access
two binary files that are created by the authorization protocol. These files contain
session-specific authorization data. One file is for server internal use only. The other
file is located in the user’s $HOME directory:
■ .Xauthority
■ Client Authority file

Use the xhost program to change the host-based access list in the server. You can add
hosts to, or delete hosts from the access list. If you are starting with the default
configuration—an empty host-based access list—and use xhost to add a machine
name, you lower the level of security. The server allows access to the host you added,
as well as to any user who specifies the default authorization protocol. See
“Host-Based Access” on page 120 or an explanation of why the host-based access
control mechanism is considered a lower level of security.

The xauth program accesses the authorization protocol data in the .Xauthority
client file. You can extract this data from your .Xauthority file so that other users
can merge the data into their .Xauthority files, thus allowing them access to your
server, or to the server to which you connect.

122 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

See “Allowing Access When Using MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1” on page 123 for
examples of how to use xhost and xauth.

Client Authority File

The client authority file is .Xauthority. It contains entries of the form:
connection-protocol auth-protocol auth-data

By default, .Xauthority contains MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 as the auth-protocol, and

entries for the local display only as the connection-protocol and auth-data. For example,
on host anyhost, the .Xauthority file might contain the following entries:
anyhost:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 82744f2c4850b03fce7ae47176e75
localhost:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 82744f2c4850b03fce7ae47176e75
anyhost/unix:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 82744f2c4850b03fce7ae47176e75

When the client starts, an entry corresponding to the connection-protocol is read from
.Xauthority, and the auth-protocol and auth-data are sent to the server as part of the
connection packet. In the default configuration, xhost returns empty host-based
access lists and states that authorization is enabled.

If you have changed the authorization protocol from the default to SUN-DES-1, the
entries in .Xauthority contain SUN-DES-1 as the auth-protocol and the netname of
the user as auth-data. The netname is in the following form:
unix.userid@NISdomainname

For example, on host anyhost the .Xauthority file might contain the following
entries, where [email protected] is the machine-independent netname of the
user:
anyhost:0 SUN-DES-1 ”[email protected]”
localhost:0 SUN-DES-1 ”[email protected]”
anyhost/unix:0 SUN-DES-1 ”[email protected]”

Note – If you do not know your network name, or machine-independent netname, ask
your system administrator.

Allowing Access When Using MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1

If you are using the MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authorization protocol, follow these steps
to allow another user access to your server:
1. On the machine that is running the server, use xauth to extract an entry that
corresponds to hostname:0 into a file.
For this example, hostname is anyhost and the file is xauth.info:
myhost% /usr/openwin/bin/xauth nextract - anyhost:0 > $HOME/xauth.info

Chapter 9 • Using the Network 123

 2. Send the file that contains the entry to the user who requests access,
Use an email tool, the rcp command, or some other file transfer method to send
the file.

Note – Mailing the file that contains your authorization information is a safer
method than using rcp. If you do use rcp, do not place the file in a directory that
is easily accessible by another user.

3. The other user must merge the entry into his or her.Xauthority file.
For this example, userhost merges xauth.info into the other user’s .Xauthority
file:
userhost% /usr/openwin/bin/xauth nmerge - < xauth.info

Note – The auth-data is session-specific. Therefore, it is valid only as long as the

server is not restarted.

Allowing Access When Using SUN-DES-1

If you are using the SUN-DES-1 authorization protocol, follow these steps to allow
another user access to your server.
1. On the machine that runs the server, use xhost to make the new user known to
the server.
For this example, to allow new user somebody to run on myhost:
myhost% xhost + somebody@
2. The new user must use the xauth command to add the entry into his or her
.Xauthority file.
For this example, the new user’s machine independent netname is
[email protected]. Note that this command should be typed on one
line with no carriage return. After the pipe symbol, type a space followed by the
remainder of the command.
userhost% echo ’add myhost:0 SUN-DES-1 “[email protected]”’ |
$OPENWINHOME/bin/xauth

Running Clients Remotely, or Locally as Another User

X clients use the value of the DISPLAY environment variable to get the name of the
server to which they should connect.

To run clients remotely, or locally as another user, follow these steps:

124 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

1. On the machine that runs the server, allow another user access.
Depending on which authorization protocol you use, follow the steps outlined in
either “Allowing Access When Using MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1” on page 123 or
“Allowing Access When Using SUN-DES-1” on page 124.
2. Set DISPLAY to the name of the host that runs the server.
For this example, the host is remotehost:
myhost% setenv DISPLAY remotehost:0
3. Run the client program as shown.
myhost% client_program&

The client is displayed on the remote machine, remotehost.

Chapter 9 • Using the Network 125

126 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002
CHAPTER 10

Customizing Your Working

Environment

You can modify the environment variables in your system initialization files to control
and adjust many aspects of your working environment. When you log in, your system
reads the initialization files and uses the environment variables to configure your
system. By setting the environment variables, you can customize your system to make
it easier and more efficient to do your work.

This chapter describes the following tasks.

■ “Modifying Initialization Files” on page 127
■ “Setting Environment Variables” on page 128
■ “Command Aliases” on page 131
■ “Changing Your Command Prompt” on page 132
■ “Setting Default File Permissions” on page 134

Modifying Initialization Files

The particular initialization files responsible for your system’s configuration depend
on which shell the system administrator has specified as your default shell when your
system was first installed. The Bourne shell is the default shell for the Solaris
operating environment, but you can also use the C shell or Korn shell. Each of these
shells has its own initialization file (or files).

To determine your default shell (your login shell), follow these steps.
1. Type echo $SHELL.
$ echo $SHELL
/bin/sh

2. Review the output of the command to determine your default shell.

Refer to the following list to identify your default shell.

127
 ■ /bin/sh – Bourne shell
■ /bin/bash – Bourne Again shell
■ /bin/csh – C shell
■ /bin/ksh – Korn shell
■ /bin/tcsh – TC shell
■ /bin/zsh – Z shell

Regardless of the shell you are using, when you first log in your system generally runs
the system profile file, /etc/profile. This file is generally owned by the system
administrator and is readable (but not writable) by all users.

After your system executes the system profile, it runs the user profile. The user profile
is one (or more) initialization files that define your working environment. For
example, if you’re in the CDE environment your system checks this file (or set of files)
each time you start a new terminal or window.

Depending on which shell is set up as your default, your user profile can be one of the
following:
■ .profile (for the Bourne and Korn shells)
■ .bash_profile (for the Bourne Again shell)
■ .login and .cshrc (for the C shell)
■ .tcshrc and .cshrc (for the TC shell)
■ .zlogin and .zshrc (for the Z shell)

Your user profile file(s) is located in your home directory and enables you to configure
your working environment to your preference.

Setting Environment Variables

Your system sets up your system environment by using a set of specifications that are
defined in the initialization files. If you want to temporarily modify your environment
for the current work session, you can issue commands directly at the command
prompt. However, if you want to modify your working environment on a more
permanent basis, you can store “permanent” environment variables in the appropriate
user profile files.

To display the environment variables that are currently set on your system, use the
env command.
● Type the env command and press Return:

$ env
HOME=/home/user2
PATH=/usr/bin:
LOGNAME=user2

128 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

HZ=100
TERM=dtterm
TZ=US/Mountain
SHELL=/bin/csh
MAIL=/var/mail/user2
PWD=/home/user2
USER=user2
$

Note – You can also use the env command to identify your login shell. It is specified
in the SHELL environment variable. In the previous example, the shell is set to
/bin/csh (the C shell).

User Profile
This section describes some of the more commonly used environment variables. Many
of these variables might already be in your user profile. As previously mentioned,
your user profile file is located in your home directory.

Note – To view hidden (“dot”) files, use the -la options of the ls command.

The following is a partial list of environment variables that you can include in your
user profile. Your current shell determines the syntax for defining environment
variables.
■ CDPATH – Specifies the directories to be searched when a unique directory name is
typed without a full path name.
■ HISTORY – Sets the number of commands available to the history command.
■ HOME – Defines the absolute path to your home directory. The system uses this
information to determine the directory to change to when you type the cd
command with no arguments.
■ LANG – Specifies the local language. Appropriate values are Japanese, German,
French, Swedish, and Italian.
■ LOGNAME – Defines your login name. The default for this variable is automatically
set to the login name specified in the passwd database as part of the login process.
See System Administration Guide: Basic Administration for information on the
passwd database.
■ LPDEST – Defines your default printer.
■ MAIL – Specifies the path to your mailbox, which is usually located in the
/var/mail/username directory, where username is your login name. See Chapter 7
for more information on this file.
■ MANSECTS – Sets the available sections of online man pages.

Chapter 10 • Customizing Your Working Environment 129

 ■ PATH – Lists, in order, the directories that the system searches to find a program to
run when you type a command. If the appropriate directory is not in the search
path, you have to type it or else type the complete path name when you enter a
command.
The default for this variable is automatically defined and set as specified in your
user profile file as part of the login process.
■ PS1 – Defines your command prompt. The default prompt for the Bourne, Bourne
Again, and Korn shells is the dollar sign ($). The default prompt for the C, TC, and
Z shells is the percent sign (%). The default prompt for root in either shell is the
pound sign (#).
■ SHELL – Defines the shell that is used by vi and other tools.
■ TERMINFO – Specifies the path name for an unsupported terminal that has been
added to the terminfo database. You do not need to set this variable for default
terminals in this database. See System Administration Guide: Advanced Administration
for information on the terminfo database.
■ TERM – Defines the terminal you’re currently using. When you run an editor, the
system searches for a file with the same name as the definition of this variable. The
system first searches the path (if any) referenced by the TERMINFO variable, and
then the default directory, /usr/share/lib/terminfo, to determine the
characteristics of the terminal. If a definition is not found in either location, the
terminal is identified as “dumb.”
■ TZ – Defines the time zone for your system clock.

Setting the PATH Variable

The PATH environment variable is used to locate commands within the SunOS
directory hierarchy. By setting the PATH, you create a fixed set of directories that the
system always searches whenever you type the name of a command.

For example, if you have no PATH variable set and you want to copy a file, you need
to type the full path name for the command, /usr/bin/cp. However, if you have set
the PATH variable to include the directory /usr/bin, then you can simply type cp
and your system will always execute the command. This is because your system
searches for the cp command in every directory that is named in the PATH variable,
and executes it when it is found. You can significantly streamline your work by using
the PATH variable to list the commonly used SunOS command directories.

For the Bourne, Bourne Again, and Korn shells, you can specify the PATH variable in
your user profile file (in your home directory) by using the following syntax.
PATH=.:/usr/bin:/home/bin

In the previous example, home represents the path name of your home directory.

For the C, TC, and Z shells, you can specify the PATH variable in your user profile file
(in your home directory) by using the following syntax:

130 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

set path=(/usr/bin home/bin .)

In this command, home is the path name of your home directory.

Note – In the C, Korn, TC, and Z shells you can use the shortcut ~ to represent the
path name of your home directory.

If you modify the PATH variable, and you are running the C, TC, or Z shell, use the
source command to make the changes effective in your current window without
having to log out:
example% source user-profile-file

If you are running the Bourne, Bourne Again, or Korn shell, type the following to
make the changes effective in your current window without having to log out:
$ . user-profile-file

Command Aliases
Command aliases are helpful shortcuts for commands you often type. For example,
the default setting for the remove command (rm) does not ask for confirmation before
it removes files. Sometimes this default is inconvenient, as a typing error can remove
the wrong file. However, you can use the alias variable to change this setting by
editing your user profile file.

In the C and TC shells, add the following line to your user profile file.
alias rm ’rm -i’

In the Bourne Again, Korn, and Z shells, add the following line to your user profile
file.
alias rm=’rm -i’

With this line in your user profile file, typing rm is now the same as typing rm -i,
which is the interactive form of the rm command. You will then always be asked to
confirm the command before any files are deleted. The quote marks around rm -i in
the previous example are necessary to include the blank space between rm and -i.
Without the quotation marks, the shell cannot correctly interpret the text after the
space.

To make your changes to your user profile file effective immediately in your current
window, you need to type an additional command. In the C and TC shells, type the
following command to make your alias effective immediately.
example% source user-profile-file

Chapter 10 • Customizing Your Working Environment 131

 The source command causes the system to read the current user profile file and
execute the commands in this file.

In the Bourne Again, Korn, and Z shells, type the following command to make your
alias effective immediately.
$ . user-profile-file

In the Bourne Again, Korn, and Z shells, the . command performs the same actions as
the source command in the C and TC shells.

Note – Command aliases that are created by using the alias command apply only to
the current session.

Changing Your Command Prompt

The syntax you use to change your command prompt depends on what shell you are
using.

Bourne, Bourne Again, Korn, and Z Shells

In the Bourne, Bourne Again, Korn, and Z shells, use the PS1 command to redefine
your command prompt. The following are three examples:
■ To set the prompt to a colon (:), followed by a space, type the following command.
PS1=": "
■ To create a prompt that consists of your machine name, followed by a colon and a
space, type the following command.
PS1="‘hostname‘: "
■ To set the prompt to your machine name, followed by your login name in braces
{}, a colon, and a space, type the following command
PS1="‘hostname‘{‘logname‘}: "

Type any of the previous examples to change your current command prompt. This
change applies until you change your command prompt again or log out.

If you want to make your changes more permanent, add one of the previous examples
(or a prompt of your own creation) to your user profile file. If you follow this
guideline, the prompt you specify appears each time you log in in or start a new shell.

C and TC Shells
For the C and TC shells, you personalize your command prompt with the set
prompt command. The following are three examples:

132 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

■ To set the prompt to a percent sign followed by a space, type the following
command.
example% set prompt="% "
■ To create a prompt that consists of your machine name, followed by the history
number of the command (hostname1, hostname2, hostname3, and so on), followed by
a colon, type the following command.
example% set prompt="‘hostname‘\!: "
■ To set the prompt to your machine name, followed by your login name in braces, a
colon, and a space, type the following command.
example% set prompt="‘hostname‘{‘logname‘}: "

Type any of the previous examples to change your current command prompt. This
change applies until you change your command prompt again or log out.

If you want to make your changes more permanent, add one of the previous examples
(or a prompt of your own creation) to your user profile file. If you follow this
procedure, the prompt you specify appears each time you log in or start a new shell.

Other Useful Variables

You can set many other variables in your user profile file. For a complete list, refer to
the man Pages(1): User Commands. The following sections describe some of the more
commonly used options.

noclobber Variable
Use set noclobber to prevent unintentional overwriting of files when you use the
cp command to copy a file. This variable affects the Bourne Again, C, Korn, and TC
shells. Type the following in your user profile file:
set noclobber

history Variable
The history variable enables you to set the number of commands that you saved in
your history list. The history command is useful to view commands you have
previously typed. You can also use the history file to repeat earlier commands. Type
the following in your .cshrc or .tcshrc file:
set history=100

You can also affect the Bourne, Bourne Again, Korn, and Z shells in the same manner
by typing the following line in your user profile file.

Chapter 10 • Customizing Your Working Environment 133

 HISTORY=100

Setting Default File Permissions

The umask command sets a default file permission for all the files and directories you
create. For example, if you are security conscious and you want to grant members of
your group, and all users, only read and execute permissions (-rwxr-xr-x) on your
directories and files, you can set the umask in your user profile file so that every new
file or directory you create is protected with these permissions.

Like the chmod command, umask uses a numeric code to represent absolute file
permissions. However, the method that is used to calculate the code for umask is
different from the method for chmod.

For example, if umask is set to 000, all files you create have the following (read and
write, but not execute) permissions:

rw-rw-rw- (mode 666)

All directories that are created have the following (read, write, and execute)
permissions:

rwxrwxrwx (mode 777)

To determine the value to use for umask, you subtract the value of the permissions
you want (using the value you would specify for the chmod command) from the
current default permissions assigned to files. The remainder is the value to use for the
umask command.

For example, suppose you want to change the default mode for files from 666
(rw-rw-rw-) to 644 (rw-r--r--). Subtract 644 from 666. The remainder, 022, is the
numeric value you would use with umask as follows:
$ umask 022

Similar to the numeric code for the chmod command, the three numbers that are used
with umask are as follows.
■ The first digit controls user permissions
■ The second controls group permissions
■ The third digit controls permissions for all others

Table 10-1 shows the file permissions that are created for each digit of the umask
command’s numeric code.

134 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

TABLE 10–1 Permissions for umask

umask code Permissions

0 rwx

1 rw-

2 r-x

3 r--

4 -wx

5 -w-

6 --x

7 ---(none)

For more information on the umask command, refer to the man Pages(1): User
Commands.

Chapter 10 • Customizing Your Working Environment 135

136 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002
APPENDIX A

Modifying the Keyboard

This appendix describes how to remap options for special keyboard keys and how to
disable and enable the Compose key on your keyboard.

For information on remapping your mouse buttons (for example, more convenient
left-handed use of the mouse), see the user documentation for your desktop
environment.

Disabling and Enabling the Compose

Key
IA only – The Compose key is defined to be Ctrl-Shift-F1 on IA-based systems.

If you do not use the Compose key, you can disable it so that you do not press it
inadvertently. First, find out the keycode for Multi_key:
$ xmodmap -pk | grep Multi_key

Your system displays a line similar to:

nn 0xff20 (Multi_key)

Use the two-digit keycode number at the beginning of the line, represented by nn, to
construct the following line in your .xinitrc file.
xmodmap -e ’keycode nn = NoSymbol’

To re-enable the Compose key, comment out the previous line in your .xinitrc file
and restart the OpenWindows software.

137
 SPARC: Left-Handed Key Remapping
The key remapping script in this section (provided for the Type-4 and Type-5
keyboards) remaps most of the special keys on the left panel and right panel of the
keyboard (that is, the keypads to the left and right of the main keyboard area).

SPARC only – Note the following sections that describe “Left-Handed Key
Remapping” apply only to SPARC-based machines.

SPARC: Using the Remapping Script

To remap the special keys on the left panel and right panel of your keyboard, follow
these steps.
1. Create a file called lefty.data by using any text editor.
This file can be in any directory. Step 4 must occur in the same directory in which you
create this file.

2. Type in the script as shown in “lefty.data Script” on page 138.

Any line with an exclamation point in front of it is a comment line, and does not
execute any operation.

3. Save the changes and quit the editor.

4. At the prompt, type:

$ xmodmap lefty.data

Note – You must be in the same directory as the script file.

5. Click a mouse button in the Workspace to make the script effective.

The keyboard is now remapped for left-handed use.

lefty.data Script
Type the following script into the file lefty.data, as described in Step 2.
!
! lefty.data
!

138 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

! Data for xmodmap to set up the left and right function keys
! for left-handed use on Sun Type-4 keyboard. To use this data,
! type the following where <filename> is the name of the file
! (i.e., lefty.data).
!
! xmodmap <filename>
!
! The comments below correspond to the keycode assignments
! following immediately thereafter.
!
! swap L2 (Again) with R1 (Pause)
! swap L3 (Props) with R6 (KP_Multiply)
! swap L4 (Undo) with R4 (KP_Equal)
! swap L5 (Front) with R9 (KP_9)
! swap L6 (Copy) with R7 (KP_7)
! swap L7 (Open) with R12 (KP_6)
! swap L8 (Paste) with R10 (KP_Left)
! swap L9 (Find) with R15 (KP_3)
! swap L10 (Cut) with R13 (KP_1)
!
! chng R3 (Break) to L1 (Stop)
! chng R2 (Print) to R10 (Left)
! chng R5 (KP_Divide) to R12 (Right)
!
! chng Linefeed to Control-R
!
keycode 10 = R1 R1 Pause
keycode 28 = L2 L2 SunAgain
keycode 32 = R6 R6 KP_Multiply
keycode 54 = L3 L3 SunProps
keycode 33 = R4 R4 KP_Equal
keycode 52 = L4 L4 SunUndo
keycode 56 = R9 R9 KP_9 Prior
keycode 77 = L5 L5 SunFront
keycode 58 = R7 R7 KP_7 Home

keycode 75 = L6 L6 SunCopy
keycode 79 = Right R12 KP_6
keycode 100 = L7 L7 SunOpen
keycode 80 = Left R10 KP_4
keycode 98 = L8 L8 SunPaste
keycode 102 = R15 R15 KP_3 Next
keycode 121 = L9 L9 SunFind
keycode 104 = R13 R13 KP_1 End
keycode 119 = L10 L10 SunCut
keycode 30 = L1 L1 SunStop
keycode 29 = Left R10 KP_4
keycode 53 = Right R12 KP_6
keycode 118 = Control_R
add control = Control_R

Appendix A • Modifying the Keyboard 139

 SPARC: Undoing the Keyboard Remapping
You can switch the keys back to their original settings in the following ways.
■ Exit the Solaris operating environment and start it up again
■ Create a second script and initiate it any time you want to switch back

Follow these instructions to create the second script.

1. Use a text editor to create a file called nolefty.data.

2. Type in the script as shown in “nolefty.data Script” on page 140

Any line with an exclamation point in front of it is a comment line, and does not
execute any operation.

3. Save the nolefty.data script in the same directory as the lefty.data script and
quit the editor.

4. At the prompt, type the following command.

$ xmodmap nolefty.data

Note – For the nolefty.data file to execute, you must type the previous command
in the same directory as the script file.

nolefty.data Script
!
! nolefty.data
!
! Data for xmodmap to reset the left and right function keys
! after being set for left-handed use on the Sun type-4 keyboard.
! To use this data, type the following where <filename> is the name
! of the file.
!
! xmodmap <filename>
!
! Reassign standard values to left function keys.
!
keycode 10 = L2 L2 SunAgain
keycode 32 = L3 L3 SunProps
keycode 33 = L4 L4 SunUndo
keycode 56 = L5 L5 SunFront
keycode 58 = L6 L6 SunCopy
keycode 79 = L7 L7 SunOpen
keycode 80 = L8 L8 SunPaste
keycode 102 = L9 L9 SunFind
keycode 104 = L10 L10 SunCut
!

140 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

 ! Reassign standard values to right function keys.
!
keycode 28 = R1 R1 Pause
keycode 29 = R2 R2 Print
keycode 30 = R3 R3 Scroll_Lock Break
keycode 52 = R4 R4 KP_Equal
keycode 53 = R5 R5 KP_Divide
keycode 54 = R6 R6 KP_Multiply
keycode 75 = R7 R7 KP_7 Home
keycode 77 = R9 R9 KP_9 Prior
keycode 98 = Left R10 KP_4
keycode 100 = Right R12 KP_6
keycode 119 = R13 R13 KP_1 End
keycode 121 = R15 R15 KP_3 Next
!
! Reassign the Linefeed key as such and remove from control map.
!
remove control = Control_R
keycode 118 = Linefeed

IA: Function Key and Control Key

Remapping
You can remap the function keys of an IA machine so that they function like the Help,
Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, and Front keys on a SPARC keyboard. You can also remap the
right Control key to be a Meta key.

IA only – Note that the following sections describing “Function Key Remapping”
apply only to IA machines. After you remap the keys, you cannot use kdmconfig to
change setup or video information without first undoing the keyboard remapping.

IA: Using the Remapping Script

Follow these steps to create and use your remapping script:
1. Create a file in your home directory that is called fkeys by using any text editor.

2. Type in the script as shown in “fkeys Script” on page 142.

3. Save the changes and quit the editor.

4. At the prompt, type the following command.

$ xmodmap fkeys

Appendix A • Modifying the Keyboard 141

 Note – You must be in the same directory as the script file.

5. Click a mouse button in the Workspace to make the script effective.

After you complete these steps, you can use the function keys as Help, Cut, Copy,
Paste, Undo, and Front keys.

fkeys Script
!
keysym F2 = L10
keysym F3 = L6
keysym F4 = L8
keysym F5 = L9

keysym F8 = L4
keysym F9 = L5

remove control = Control_R

keycode 0x47 = Meta_R
add mod1 = Meta_R

IA: Undoing the Keyboard Remapping

You can switch the keys back to their original settings in two ways.
■ Exit the Solaris operating environment and start it up again
■ Create a second script and initiate it any time you want to switch back

Follow these instructions to create the second script:

1. Use a text editor to create a file called normal.

2. Type the script as shown in “normal Script” on page 142.

3. Save the normal file in the same directory as the fkeys script and quit the editor.

4. At the prompt, type:

$ xmodmap normal

Note – You must type the previous command in the same directory as the script file.

normal Script
Type the following script into the file normal, as described in Step 1.

142 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

keycode 8 = grave asciitilde
keycode 9 = 1 exclam
keycode 10 = 2 at
keycode 11 = 3 numbersign
keycode 12 = 4 dollar
keycode 13 = 5 percent
keycode 14 = 6 asciicircum
keycode 15 = 7 ampersand
keycode 16 = 8 asterisk
keycode 17 = 9 parenleft
keycode 18 = 0 parenright

keycode 19 = minus underscore

keycode 20 = equal plus
keycode 21 =
keycode 22 = BackSpace
keycode 23 = Tab
keycode 24 = Q
keycode 25 = W
keycode 26 = E
keycode 27 = R
keycode 28 = T
keycode 29 = Y
keycode 30 = U
keycode 31 = I
keycode 32 = O
keycode 33 = P
keycode 34 = bracketleft braceleft
keycode 35 = bracketright braceright
keycode 36 = backslash bar brokenbar
keycode 37 = Caps_Lock

keycode 38 = A
keycode 39 = S
keycode 40 = D
keycode 41 = F
keycode 42 = G
keycode 43 = H
keycode 44 = J
keycode 45 = K
keycode 46 = L
keycode 47 = semicolon colon
keycode 48 = apostrophe quotedbl
keycode 49 =
keycode 50 = Return
keycode 51 = Shift_L
keycode 52 =
keycode 53 = Z
keycode 54 = X
keycode 55 = C
keycode 56 = V
keycode 57 = B
keycode 58 = N
keycode 59 = M
keycode 60 = comma less

Appendix A • Modifying the Keyboard 143

 keycode 61 = period greater
keycode 62 = slash question
keycode 63 =
keycode 64 = Shift_R
keycode 65 = Control_L
keycode 66 =
keycode 67 = Alt_L
keycode 68 = space
keycode 69 = Alt_R
keycode 70 =
keycode 71 = Control_R
keycode 72 =
keycode 73 =
keycode 74 =
keycode 75 =
keycode 76 =
keycode 77 =
keycode 78 =
keycode 79 =
keycode 80 =
keycode 81 =
keycode 82 = Insert
keycode 83 = Delete
keycode 84 =
keycode 85 =
keycode 86 = Left
keycode 87 = Home
keycode 88 = End
keycode 89 =
keycode 90 = Up
keycode 91 = Down
keycode 92 = Prior
keycode 93 = Next
keycode 94 =
keycode 95 =
keycode 96 = Right
keycode 97 = Num_Lock
keycode 98 = Home KP_7 KP_7
keycode 99 = Left KP_4 KP_4
keycode 100 = End KP_1 KP_1
keycode 101 =
keycode 102 = KP_Divide
keycode 103 = Up KP_8 KP_8
keycode 104 = KP_5 KP_5 KP_5
keycode 105 = Down KP_2 KP_2
keycode 106 = KP_Insert KP_0 KP_0
keycode 107 = KP_Multiply
keycode 108 = Prior KP_9 KP_9
keycode 109 = Right KP_6 KP_6
keycode 110 = Next KP_3 KP_3
keycode 111 = Delete KP_Decimal KP_Decimal
keycode 112 = KP_Subtract
keycode 113 = KP_Add
keycode 114 =
keycode 115 = KP_Enter

144 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

keycode 116 =
keycode 117 = Escape
keycode 118 =
keycode 119 = F1
keycode 120 = F2
keycode 121 = F3
keycode 122 = F4
keycode 123 = F5
keycode 124 = F6
keycode 125 = F7
keycode 126 = F8
keycode 127 = F9
keycode 128 = F10
keycode 129 = SunF36
keycode 130 = SunF37
keycode 131 = Print SunSys_Req
keycode 132 = Scroll_Lock
keycode 133 = Pause Break
keycode 134 =
keycode 135 = Multi_key
keycode 136 = Mode_switch

Appendix A • Modifying the Keyboard 145

146 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002
 Index

Numbers and Symbols aborting, See canceling

., See dot (.) absolute permissions, 45, 48
/, See forward slash (/) accelerators, See keyboard equivalents
-, command option designator, 22 access control mechanisms, 120
!, See exclamation point (!) accounts, defined, 15
#, See pound sign (#) Again operation, keyboard equivalent, 18
$, See dollar sign ($) aging of passwords, 25
&, See ampersand (&) alias environment variable, 131
*, See asterisk (*) aliases, 131
:, See colon (:) aliases (mail), 96, 100
;, See semicolon (;) .mailrc file compared to /etc/aliases
?, See question mark (?) file, 100
\, See backslash (\) defined, 96
^, See carat (^) private, 97
~, See tilde (~ ) public, 98
%, See percent sign (%) sending messages to
@, See at sign (@) .mailrc aliases, 97
+, mailx folder designator, 94 /etc/aliases aliases, 99
\, vi search command, 74 setting up
.., parent directory, 35, 43 in /etc/aliases file, 98, 100
>, redirect symbol, 22 in .mailrc file, 97
|, pipe symbol, 23 aliases file, See /etc/aliases file
-9 option (pkill command), 56 ampersand (&)
background symbol, 23
escaping, 53
mailx prompt, 85
A metacharacter, 51
a command (vi), 67 searching for, 52
A command (vi), 67 appending text (vi), 67
-a option apropos command, 27
lpstat command, 108 arrow keys, moving with (vi), 65
ls command, 43 asterisk (*)
grep command operator, 52

147
asterisk (*) (continued) .bash_profile file, environment variables in
mailx saved-message designator, 93 (continued)
metacharacter, 51 PATH, 131
searching for, 52 Bcc: prompt (mailx), 90, 101
wildcard character bdiff command, 39
changing permissions with, 45, 47 beginning of line
copying files with, 31 inserting text at (vi), 67
deleting files with, 32 moving to (vi), 65
grep command, 52 searching for (vi), 74
vi search command, 75 beginning of word
at sign (@) moving to (vi), 65
in email addresses, 84 searching for (vi), 74
in passwords, 24 /bin/bash command, 128
-auth option (Xsun command), 121 /bin/csh command, 128
authorization protocols, 121 /bin/ksh command, 128
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authorization /bin/sh command, 128
protocol, 121, 123 /bin/tcsh command, 128
SUN-DES-1 authorization protocol, 121 /bin/zsh command, 128
autowrap, command entry and, 20 blind carbon copies (mailx), 90, 101
block operations, See copying
bottom of screen, moving to (vi), 66
Bourne Again shell
B command for, 128
~b command (mailx), 101 command prompt for, 130, 132
b command (vi), 65 environment variables for
B command (vi), 65 See .bash_profile file
“back” command (vi), 65 help for, 16
Back Space key, vi and, 66 home directory specification, 34
background, running commands in, 23 repeating commands and, 20
backslash (\) user profile file for
command continuation symbol, 20 See .bash_profile file
as escape character, 51, 53, 73 Bourne shell
escaping, 53, 74 as default shell, 16
metacharacter, 51 command for, 128
searching for, 52 command prompt for, 130, 132
vi search commands, 74 environment variables for
backward searching (vi), 73 See .profile file
banner page suppression (lp), 106 help for, 16
base names, 40 home directory specification, 35
bash command, 128 user profile file for
.bash_profile file See .profile file
environment variables in, 131 buffer (vi), 62
location of, 128
environment variables in
HISTORY, 133
set commands, 133 C
umask (file permissions), 135 ~c command (mailx), 91, 101
commonly used, 129 c command (mailx), 93

148 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

-c option changing (continued)
lpstat command, 108 directories, 34, 129
C shell keyboard, 137, 145
command for, 128 passwords, 25
command prompt for, 130, 132 permissions, 43, 48, 134
environment variables for text
See .cshrc file from command line, 19
help for, 16 email (unsent), 84
home directory specification, 34 from vi, 61, 68
repeating commands and, 20 vi mode, 61
user profile for working directory, 34
See .cshrc file character strings, defined, 73
campus area network (CAN), defined, 112 characters
CAN (campus area network), defined, 112 deleting (vi), 69
cancel command, 109 moving left or right one character (vi), 65
canceling replacing (vi), 68
consulted search-and-replace, 75 substituting (vi), 68
displaying, 27 chmod command
mailx messages absolute permissions, 45, 48
if screen freezes during entry, 90 relative permissions, 43, 45
unsent messages, 90, 101 umask command vs., 134
print requests, 109 clearing screen (vi), 62
remote connection, 114 client authority file, 123
Caps Lock key, vi and, 61 client_program program, 125
carat (^) :co command (ex), 72
beginning-of-line command (vi), 65, 74 colon (:)
grep command operator, 51, 53 in mail alias names, 98
searching for, 52 vi commands beginning with, 62
carbon copies (mailx), 90, 101 command history, 20, 129, 133
case, changing (vi), 78 command line interface (CLI), described, 13
case sensitivity command mode (vi), 62
command names, 19 command prompt
searching files, 50 changing, 132
vi default, 18, 130
command names, 62, 65 described, 18
searches, 73 environment variable for defining, 130
cat command, 32 Command Tool
Cc: prompt (mailx), 90, 101 remote machines, 119
cc command (vi), 68 typing commands using, 15, 20
cd command, 34, 129 commands, 15, 27
CDE (Common Desktop Environment), aliases, 131
described, 14 background running of, 23
CDPATH environment variable, 129 case sensitivity, 19
changing as executable files, 29
access to server, 122, 124 executing remotely, 116
authorization protocol, 121 help for, 16, 26
case (vi), 78 keyword lookup, 27
command prompt, 132 long, 20

Index 149
commands (continued) correcting typing mistakes
multiple, 19 command line, 19
options, 22 email (unsent), 84
PATH environment variable and, 130 vi, 61
piping output, 23 counts, for repeating commands (vi), 70
redirecting output, 22 cp command, 31, 37
remote execution, 116 cpu time, 55
repeating, 20 creation of
repeating vi, 70 directories, 35
status of, 55 files
syntax, 26 touch command, 30
typing, 15, 19, 24 vi command for, 60
correcting typing mistakes, 19 csh command, 128
long commands, 20 .cshrc file
multiple commands, 19 described, 128
options, 22 environment variables in
overview, 19 history, 133
remote entry, 116 listing, 43
repeating previous commands, 20 location of, 128
repeating vi commands, 70 environment variables in, 129
commenting out /etc/aliases file lines, 99 commonly used, 129
Common Desktop Environment (CDE), alias, 131
described, 14 PATH, 130
comparing, files, 37, 39 set commands, 132
Compose Key, disabling/enabling, 137 umask (file permissions), 134
concatenating files, 32 Ctrl-B command (vi), 67
(continue): message (mailx), 96 Ctrl-C command (command line), 27
Control key remapping (IA based systems Ctrl-C command (mailx), 90, 101
only), 141, 145 Ctrl characters, in passwords, 24
copy Ctrl-D command
of directories, 37 mailx, 85, 101
from clipboard, keyboard equivalent, 18 vi, 66
to clipboard, keyboard equivalent, 18 Ctrl-F command (vi), 66
directories, 37 Ctrl-L command (vi), 62
keyboard equivalent for, 18 Ctrl-U command (vi), 67
of directories remotely, 115 ~Ctrl-Z command, suspending remote
of files connection, 114
description, 31 ~~Ctrl-Z command, suspending remote
remotely, 115 connection, 115
of lines cursor, See moving around in files (vi)
in ex, 72 customization, 127
in vi, 69 of environment variables, 128, 134
of mail of file permissions, 134
to a file, 93 of initialization files, 127
to a folder, 93 overview, 127
of previous commands, 20 cut and paste, See moving
copy and paste, See copy Cut operation, keyboard equivalent, 18
Copy operation, keyboard equivalent, 18 cw command (vi), 68

150 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

D directories (continued)
:d command (ex), 73 determining current location, 34
~d command (mailx), 101 as files, 29
d command (mailx), 87 display of directory disk usage, 57
-d option display of permissions, 42
lp command, 104, 106 display of remotely, 116
lpstat command, 109 display of status, 42
dash (-) environment variables for, 129
command option designator, 22 folder, 94
file type indicator, 42 hierarchy of, 33
date command, 19 home directory
dd command (vi), 69 changing to, 30, 34
dead.letter file, 90, 101 defined, 30
defaults defining absolute path to, 129
authorization protocol, 121 remote login and, 112
See also security listing, 57
command prompt, 18, 130 moving, 36
directory, 30 overview, 29
file permissions, 134 parent directory (..), 35, 43
permissions, 44 path names, 36
printer, 129 defined, 33
shell, 16, 127 environment variables for, 129
vi mode, 61 permissions, 48
deletion absolute, 45, 48
of command line, 19 changing, 43, 48, 134
of directories, 37 default setting, 134
of files defaults described, 44
description, 32 described, 41
temporary work files, 41 displaying, 42
of mail, 87 print working (pwd), 34
of text renaming, 36
ex command, 73 root directory (/), 33
vi commands, 69 searching
of typing mistakes, 19 See searching, files and directories
devices, 29 status, displaying, 42
df command, 57 subdirectories, 33
diff command, 37 working, 34
diff3 command, 39 disabling Compose Key, 137
directories, 33, 37 disk storage, managing, 57
changing, 34, 129 display
changing permissions, 43, 48, 134 of Command Tool window, 15
copying, 37 of directories remotely, 116
copying remotely, 115 of directory disk usage, 57
creation, 35 of directory permissions, 42
current directory (.), 43 of directory status, 42
default, 30 of disk usage, 57
defined, 29 of environment variables, 128
deletion, 37 of file contents, 32

Index 151
display (continued) E
of file permissions, 42 e command (vi), 65
of file status, 42 echo, passwords and, 16, 25
of file type, 32 editing, See changing
of history list, 20 editor, See vi editor
interruption of, 27 electronic mail, See mail
of mail headers, 86 email, See mail
of manual pages, 26 enabling Compose Key, 137
of network user information, 117 “end” command (vi), 65
of permissions, 42 end of file
of printer status, 107, 109 copying to in ex, 72
of property window, keyboard marking in mailx, 85, 101
equivalent, 18 end of line
of remote login location, 115 appending text to (vi), 67
of remote user information, 117 moving to (vi), 65
of Shell Tool window, 15 searching for (vi), 74
of users on your file server, 89 end of word, moving to (vi), 65
DISPLAY environment variable, 118, 124 ending, See quitting
ditroff program, 59 entering commands, See commands, typing
documents, defined, 29 entry mode (vi), 61
dollar sign ($) env command, 128
command prompt, 18, 130 environment variables, 128, 134
end-of-file designator (ex), 72 alias, 131
end-of-line command (vi), 65, 74 CDPATH, 129
escaping, 53 defined, 127
grep command operator, 52 DISPLAY, 118, 124
metacharacter, 51 displaying, 128
dot (.) HISTORY, 129, 133
~. command (mailx), 101 HOME, 129
current directory, 43 LANG, 129
current line designator (ex), 72 LOGNAME, 129
escaping, 53 LPDEST, 129
file prefix, 43 MAIL, 129
grep command operator, 52 MANSECTS, 129
listing hidden (dot) files, 43 networked applications and, 118
metacharacter, 51 noclobber, 133
search wildcard character (vi), 74 PATH, 130
searching for, 52 PS1, 130, 132
dot-dot (..), parent directory, 35, 43 SHELL, 130
dot files, 43 TERM, 130
double quotes TERMINFO, 130
grep command and, 51 TZ, 130
double quotes, grep command and, 53 umask, 134
down one line, moving (vi), 65 user profile, 129, 134
du command, 57 erasing, See deleting
dumb terminals, 130 error messages
duplicating, See copy “Sorry”, 26
dw command (vi), 69 “Stranger: unknown host”, 113

152 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

error messages (continued) exiting, See quitting
“No write since last change”, 63
password, 25
Esc key, vi command mode, 61
escape character (\), 51, 53, 73 F
escaping escape character, 53, 74 ~f command (mailx), 101
escaping to shell command (mailx), 101 -f option
/etc/aliases file, 98, 100 lpstat command, 109
.mailrc file compared to, 100 mailx program, 95
sending mail to, 99 fc -l command, 21
setting up aliases in, 98, 100 fc -s command, command repetition operator
/etc/hosts.equiv file, 112, 115, 117 (Korn shell), 22
/etc/passwd file, 115, 117 fg command, reactivating remote
/etc/profile file, 128 connection, 114
ex commands, 62, 71, 73 file command, 32
case sensitivity on/off (:set ic, :set noic), 73 File Manager, 29
copying lines (:co), 72 file systems, managing disk storage for, 57
deleting lines (:d), 73 files, 29, 33, 37, 48
described, 62, 71 changing permissions, 43, 48, 134
inserting files (:r), 76 comparing, 37, 39
line numbering (:set nu, :set nonu), 71 concatenating, 32
moving lines (:m), 72 copying, 31
opening files (:n), 76 remotely, 116
quitting, saving (:wq) and not saving (:q, copying mail to, 93
:q!), 63 copying remotely, 115
saving changes, quitting (:wq) and not creating
quitting (:w), 63 with touch command, 30
searching and replacing (:g), 75 with vi, 60
undoing (:u), 78 defined, 29
exclamation point (!) deleting, 32
~! command (mailx), 101 permanent files, 32
command repetition operator, 20 temporary work files, 41
escaping, 53 display of contents, 32
metacharacter, 51 display of permissions, 42
not operator, 40 display of status, 42
searching for, 52 displaying type, 32
-exec option (find command), 41 dot, 43
executable files, defined, 29 editing
execute permission See vi editor
absolute, 46, 48 executable, 29
relative, 41, 44 hidden, listing, 43
executing commands remotely, 116 initialization, 127
exit command (SunOS), 17 inserting into mail, 91, 101
inserting into other files, 76
large, comparing, 39
length of, displaying, 42
listing, 31, 42
listing hidden, 43

Index 153
files (continued) foreign languages, environment variable
loading new, keyboard equivalent, 18 for, 129
moving, 31 forward slash (/)
naming root directory, 33
base name, 40 vi search command, 73
renaming, 31 forwarding mail, 101
uniqueness requirements, 33 function key remapping (IA based systems
opening only), 141, 145
with ex, 76
keyboard equivalent, 18
with vi, 60
overview, 29 G
overwrite prevention, 133 :g command (ex), 75
path names, 33, 36 G command (vi), 75
permissions, 48 GNOME desktop, described, 14
absolute, 45, 48 graphical user interface (GUI), described, 13
changing, 43, 48, 134 greater than sign (>), redirect symbol, 22
default setting, 134 grep command, 49, 54
defaults described, 44 basic search, 49
described, 41 case sensitivity, 50
displaying, 42 escape character, 51, 53
printing filter function, 50
See printing lines not part of file, 51
reading mail saved in, 95 metacharacters
renaming, 31 as operators, 51, 53
saving, keyboard equivalent, 18 searching for, 52
saving mail in, 93 multi-word strings, 51
searching multiword strings, 51
See searching, files and directories regular expressions and, 51
searching for, 39, 41 single or double quotes, 51, 53
sending mail directly to, 95 -group option (find command), 40
size of, displaying, 42 Group user category, 41
status, displaying, 42
groups
temporary, deleting, 41
changing permissions for, 45
wildcard characters and, 31
sending mail to, 96, 100
filtering, grep command and, 50
GUI (graphical user interface), described, 13
find command, 39, 41
Find operation, keyboard equivalent, 18
finding, See searching
finger command, 89
H
folders (mailx), 93, 95
h command
listing, 95
mailx, 87
previous folder, 95
vi, 65
reading mail saved in, 95
~h command (mailx), 91, 101
saving and copying mail to, 93
h- command (mailx), 87
sending mail directly to, 95
H command (vi), 66
switching to/from mailbox, 95
switching to/from mailbox to/from, 95

154 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

headers, mailx, See mailx program, headers J
help j command (vi), 65
for commands, 16, 26
keyboard equivalent for, 18
mailx program, 87, 102
hidden files, listing, 43 K
“high” command (vi), 66 k command (vi), 65
history command, 20, 129 -k option (df command), 57
HISTORY environment variable, 129, 133 keyboard equivalents (accelerators), 17
$home command, 35 keyboard modification, 137, 145
home directory Compose Key disabling/enabling, 137
changing to, 30, 34 Control key remapping (IA based systems
defined, 30 only), 141, 145
defining absolute path to, 129 left-handed key remapping (SPARC
remote login and, 112 only), 138
HOME environment variable, 129 undoing remapping
host-based access control, 120, 122 IA, 142, 145
hosts.equiv file, 112, 115, 117 SPARC, 140
hyphen, See dash (-) keyword lookup, for command help, 27
Korn shell
command for, 128
command prompt for, 130, 132
I environment variables for
i command (vi), 61, 67 See .profile file
I command (vi), 67 help for, 16
IA based machines home directory specification, 34
Compose Key disabling/enabling, 137 repeating commands and, 21
keyboard modification user profile file for
function key remapping, 141, 145 See .profile file
undoing remapping, 142, 145 ksh command, 128
Solaris keyboard equivalents
(accelerators), 17
icons, keyboard equivalents, 18
ID number, canceling print requests by, 109 L
idle state, 56 l command (vi), 65
initialization files, 127 L command (vi), 66
inserting -l option
files ls command, 42
mailx, 91, 101 ps command, 55
vi, 76 rlogin command, 113
messages (mailx), 91, 101 rusers command, 117
text (vi), 61, 67 LAN (local area network), defined, 111
internetworks, defined, 112 LANG environment variable, 129
interrupting display, 27 large files, comparing, 39
last-line mode (vi), 62
left
deleting one character to left of cursor
(vi), 69

Index 155
left (continued) .login file (continued)
inserting text to left of cursor (vi), 67 described, 128
moving to (vi), 65 listing, 43
left-handed keyboard remapping (SPARC location of, 128
only), 138 login names
left-handed mouse button remapping, 137 defined, 15
lefty.data file, 139 defining, 129
length of files, displaying, 42 determining for other users, 89
line numbering (vi), 71 login shells, 16
line printer subsystem, See printing default shell, 16, 127
line wrap, command entry and, 20 identifying your login shell, 127, 129
lines remote shell command, 116
appending text to end (vi), 67 user profile for, 128
changing (vi), 68 logname command, 19
copying LOGNAME environment variable, 129
ex command, 72 logout command, 114
vi commands, 70 long commands, typing, 20
deleting long files, comparing, 39
ex command, 73 looking up, See searching
vi command, 69 “low” command (vi), 66
erasing command line, 19 lowercase, See case sensitivity
inserting text at beginning (vi), 67 lp command
moving to beginning or end (vi), 65 defined, 103
moving instruction, 64
ex command, 72 options summary, 105
vi commands, 70 LP print service, See printing
moving down one line (vi), 65 LPDEST environment variable, 129
moving to specific (vi), 75 lpstat command, 106, 109
opening (vi), 67 options summary, 108
undoing changes (vi), 69 ls command, 31, 42
listing
directories, 57
files, 31, 42
folders (mailx), 95 M
hidden files, 43
:m command (ex), 72
mail, 86
~m command (mailx), 91, 101
mailx commands, 102
M command (vi), 66
tilde commands (mailx), 102
-m option (lp command), 105
loading new files, keyboard equivalent, 18
-m time option (find command), 40
local area network (LAN), defined, 111
magic cookie authorization protocol, See
local language, 129
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authorization
logging in
protocol
basic procedure, 15
mail, See mailx program
remotely, 112, 115, 118
mail aliases, See aliases (mail)
as someone else, 113
MAIL environment variable, 129
logging out, 17
Mail Tool, 97
.login file
mailbox, 83, 129
environment variables in, 129, 134

156 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

.mailrc file mailx program (continued)
alias setup in, 97 multiple recipients
/etc/aliases file compared to, 100 carbon copies to, 91
set askcc variable, 91 sending messages to, 89
set folder variable, 94 overview, 83
mailx program, 83, 102 printing messages, 88, 101
address lookup, 89 quitting, 86, 88, 101
aliases reading messages
See aliases (mail) basic procedure, 85
basics, 83, 86 in files or folders, 95
blind carbon copies, 90, 101 replying to messages, 92, 101
canceling messages saving messages
if screen freezes during entry, 90 current message, 101
unsent messages, 90, 101 in mbox file, 83, 86
carbon copies, 90, 101 from mbox file to folder, 93, 95
copying messages from mbox file to other file, 93
to a file, 93 sending messages, 92
to a folder, 93 basic procedure, 84, 89
correcting typing errors, 84 blind carbon copies, 90, 101
dead.letter file, 90, 101 canceling unsent messages, 90
deleting messages from mbox file carbon copies, 90, 101
and saving elsewhere, 93 directly to a file or folder, 95
without saving, 87 to /etc/aliases aliases, 99
folders, 93, 95 group mailings, 96, 100
listing, 95 inserting files into current message, 91,
previous folder, 95 101
reading mail saved in, 95 inserting saved messages into current
saving and copying mail to, 93 message, 91
sending mail directly to, 95 to .mailrc aliases, 97
switching to/from mailbox, 95 multiple recipients, 89
switching to/from mailbox to/from, 95 undeliverable messages, 90
forwarding messages, 101 starting, 84
headers tilde commands
described, 86, 93 See tilde commands (mailx)
displaying, 86 To: prompt, 91, 101
prompts for, 84, 91, 101 undeleting messages, 88
help, 87, 102 undeliverable messages, 90
inserting files into current message, 91, 101 version number, 85, 87
inserting saved messages into current vi usage with, 96
message, 91, 101 man command, 26
listing commands, 102 MANSECTS environment variable, 129
listing messages, 86 manual pages (man pages)
login name, 84 described, 16
mailbox, 83, 129 displaying, 26
(continue): message, 96 setting available sections of, 129
maximum line length, 90 mbox file, described, 83, 86
mbox file, 83, 86

Index 157
messages N
See error messages :n command (ex, 76
See mail N command (vi), 73
Meta key, 17, 141 n command (vi), 73
metacharacters (grep command), 51, 53 -n option (lp command), 105
“middle” command (vi), 66 -name option (find command), 40
middle of screen, moving to (vi), 66 naming
MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authorization protocol directories, renaming, 36
allowing access when using, 123 files
as default, 121, 123 base name, 40
described, 121 renaming, 31
.Xauthorithy file and, 123 uniqueness requirements, 33
mkdir command, 35 passwords, 24
modes (vi), 61 navigating, See moving around in files
more command, 32 networks, 111, 118
mouse buttons, remapping, 137 aborting remote connection, 114
moving copying files remotely, 115
directories, 36 defined, 111
files, 31 displaying user information, 117
lines executing commands remotely, 116
ex command, 72 logging in remotely, 112
vi commands, 70 basic procedure, 112
moving around in files (vi), 64, 67 without home directory, 112
arrow keys and, 65 as someone else, 113
beginning of line, 65 to unknown machine, 113
beginning of word, 65 overview, 111
bottom of screen, 66 protocols, defined, 112
down one line, 65 running networked applications, 112, 115,
end of line, 65 118
end of word, 65 security fundamentals, 119, 125
left one character, 65 access control mechanisms, 120
left one word, 65 caution, 122
middle of screen, 66 manipulating server access, 122, 124
overview, 64 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authorization
paging, 66 protocol, 121, 123
right one character, 65 overview, 119
right one word, 65 running clients remotely or locally as
scrolling, 66 another user, 124
specific line, 75 SUN-DES-1 authorization protocol, 121
top of screen, 66 suspending remote connection, 114
multiple commands, typing, 19 verifying your location, 115
multiple copies, printing, 105 New operation, keyboard equivalent, 18
multiple mail recipients, 89 -newer option (find command), 40
multiple vi operations next occurrence, vi search, 73
multiple, simultaneous sessions, 63 next screen, moving to, 66
multiple-file editing, 76 “No write since last change” message, 63
mv command, 31, 36 -noauth option (Xsun command), 120, 122
nohup command, 24

158 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

not operation (grep command), 51 passwords (continued)
not operator (!), 40 when to change, 24
nroff program, 59 Paste operation, keyboard equivalent, 18
numbering lines (vi), 71 pasting, See copy
PATH environment variable, 130
path names, 36
defined, 33
O environment variables for, 129
o command (vi), 67 percent sign (%)
O command (vi), 67 command prompt, 130
-o flag (find command), 40 reactivating remote connection, 114
-o nobanner option (lp command), 106 period (.), See dot (.)
-o option (lpstat command), 109 permissions, 48
on-line help, See help absolute, 45, 48
Open File operation, keyboard equivalent, 18 changing, 43, 48, 134
Open Window operation, keyboard defaults
equivalent, 18 described, 44
opening setting, 134
files described, 41
ex, 76 displaying, 42
keyboard equivalent, 18 wildcard character (*) and, 45, 47
vi, 60 PIDs (process identification numbers), 55
lines (vi), 67 piping
options, command, 22 command output, 23
Others user category, 41 command output through grep, 50
du output through sort, 57
mail to lp command, 88
pkill command, 56
P plus sign (+), mailx folder designator, 94
~p command (mailx), 92, 101 pound sign (#)
P command (vi), 70 /etc/aliases file comment designator, 99
p command (vi), 70 in passwords, 24
-p option (lpstat command), 108 root prompt, 98, 130
paging (vi), 66 previous folder (mailx), 95
parent directory (..), 35, 43 previous occurrence, vi search, 73
passwd command, 25 previous screen, moving to (vi), 66
/passwd file, 112, 115, 117 Print operation, keyboard equivalent, 18
password error message, 25 -print option (find command), 39
passwords, 24, 26 printing, 103, 110
aging, 25 banner page suppression, 106
changing, 25 canceling, 109
choosing, 24 command output, 23
defined, 15 to default printer, 103
error message, 25 default printer environment variable, 129
overview, 24 file search results, 39
“Sorry” error message, 26 files, 64
remote login, 112 keyboard equivalent for, 18
typing, 16 mail, 88, 101

Index 159
printing (continued) question mark (?)
multiple copies, 105 ~? command (mailx), 101
options summary for, 105 escaping, 53
requesting completion notification, 105 mailx help command, 87, 102
to specific printer, 104 metacharacter, 51
status determination, 106, 109 searching for, 52
all status information, 107 vi search command, 73
available printers, 107 quitting
options summary for, 108 mailx program, 86, 88, 101
overview, 106 processes, 56
print requests, 106 SunOS, 17
printer status, 108 vi, 62, 64
submitting print requests, 103 quotation marks, See double quotes
titling printout, 106
vi files, 64
working directory, 34
process identification numbers (PIDs), 55 R
processes, 55 r command
.profile file mailx, 92
described, 128 vi, 68
environment variables in, 129, 131 :r command (ex), 76
commonly used, 129 ~r command (mailx), 92, 101
HISTORY, 133 R command (mailx), 92
PATH, 130 -R option (lpstat command), 109
PS1 (command prompt), 132 -r option
set commands, 133 cp command, 37
umask (file permissions), 134 lpstat command, 109
listing, 43 rcp command, 115
location of, 128 rm command, 37
profile file, described, 128 rcp command, 115, 124
prompts, See command prompt read permission
property window, displaying, keyboard absolute, 46, 48
equivalent, 18 relative, 41, 43
Props operation, keyboard equivalent, 18 reading files into files (vi), 76
protocols, 112 reading mail, See mailx program, reading
messages
ps command, 55
recursive copy, 37
PS1 environment variable, 130, 132
recursive removal, 37
put command (vi), 70
redirecting command output, 22
pwd command, 34
Redo operation, keyboard equivalent, 18
redrawing screen (vi), 62
regular expressions, 51
relative path names, 36
Q
relays, defined, 112
:q command (ex), 63
remapping
:q! command (ex), 63
keyboard, 137, 145
~q command (mailx), 101
mouse buttons, 137
q command (mailx), 86, 88
remote login, 112, 115, 118

160 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

remote machines, See networks saving (continued)
remote shell command, 116 vi changes
renaming and quitting, 63
directories, 36 without quitting, 63
files, 31 screen, redrawing (vi), 62
repeating scrolling (vi), 66
command line commands, 20 searching
operations, keyboard equivalent, 18 command keyword lookup, 27
vi commands, 70 for files, 39, 41
replacing, searching and (vi), 53, 75 files and directories, 49, 54
replying to mail (mailx), 92, 101 basic search, 49
Return key, vi and, 65 case sensitivity, 50
right escape character, 51, 53
appending text to right of cursor (vi), 67 filtering, 50
moving to (vi), 65 metacharacters and, 51, 53
rlogin command, 112, 115, 118 multi-word strings, 51
aborting a connection, 114 not operation, 51
basic procedure, 112 regular expressions for, 51, 53
without home directory, 112 single or double quotes and, 51, 53
networked applications and, 118 mail addresses, 89
as someone else, 113 for metacharacters, 52
suspending a connection, 114 vi, 53, 73, 75
to unknown machine, 113 searching and replacing (vi), 53, 73, 75
rm command, 32, 37 security, 119, 125
rmdir command, 37 access control mechanisms, 120
root directory (/), 33 caution regarding, 122
root prompt, 98, 130 manipulating server access, 122, 124
root user, becoming, 98 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 authorization
rsh command, 116 protocol, 121, 123
runnable state, 55 overview, 119
rusers command, 89, 117 running clients remotely or locally as another
user, 124
SUN-DES-1 authorization protocol, 121
xauth program, 122
S .Xauthority file, 122, 124
~s command (mailx), 101 semicolon (;)
s command (mailx), 93 command line concatenator, 19
s command (vi), 68 escaping, 53
-s option (lpstat command), 107, 109 sending mail, See mailx program, sending
-S option (lpstat command), 109 messages
Save operation, keyboard equivalent, 18 series of files, editing (vi), 76
saving set askcc variable (.mailrc file), 91
keyboard equivalent for, 18 set folder variable (.mailrc file), 94
mail set history command, 133
current message, 101 :set ic command (ex), 73
in mbox file, 83, 86 set noclobber command, 133
from mbox file to folder, 93, 95 :set noic command (ex), 73
from mbox file to other file, 93 :set nonu command (vi), 71

Index 161
:set nu command (vi), 71 SunOS commands, 15, 27
set prompt command, 132 suspending remote connection, 114
sh command, 128 swapping
SHELL environment variable, 130 between files (vi), 76
Shell Tool window, typing commands by between folders and mailbox (mailx), 95
using, 15, 20 SXBRK state, 56
shells, 16 syntax, commands, 26
default shell, 16, 127 system administrators, functions of, 15
identifying your login shell, 127, 129 system clock, 130
remote shell command, 116 system management, See admintool
user profile files for, 128 system profile file, 128
shortcuts, home directory specification, 34
single quotes, grep command and, 51, 53
size of files, displaying, 42
slash, See backslash T
sleeping state, 55 ~t command (mailx), 101
“Sorry” error message, 26 -t option (lp command), 106
sort command, 57 -t option (lpstat command), 107
source command, 131 TC shell
Space Bar, vi and, 66 command for, 128
space on disk, managing, 57 command prompt for, 130, 133
SPARC machines environment variables for
keyboard modification See .tcshrc file
left-handed key remapping, 138 help for, 16
undoing remapping, 140 home directory specification, 34
Solaris keyboard equivalents repeating commands and, 20
(accelerators), 17 user profile file for
standard work sessions, defined, 15 See .tcshrc file
start of line, See beginning of line tcsh command, 128
start of word, See beginning of word .tcshrc file
starting environment variables in
mailx program, 84 commonly used, 129
vi, 59 alias, 131
status set commands, 133
file, 42 umask (file permissions), 135, 131
printer, 106, 109 history, 133
process, 55 location of, 128
status line (vi), 60 temporary files, deleting, 41
Stop operation, keyboard equivalent, 18 TERM environment variable, 130
“Stranger: unknown host” message, 113 terminals
strings, defined, 73 environment variables for, 130
subdirectories, described, 33 from which command started, 55
Subject: prompt (mailx), 84, 91, 101 terminating, See quitting
substituting characters (vi), 68 TERMINFO environment variable, 130
SUN-DES-1 authorization protocol text mode (vi), 61
allowing access when using, 124 tilde (~)
described, 121 aborting remote connection, 114
.Xauthority file and, 123 home directory specifier, 34

162 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

tilde (~) (continued) uppercase, See case sensitivity
in mail, 101 user-based access control, 120, 122
suspending remote connection, 114 User category, 41
vi case toggle, 78 user names, defined, 15
vi editing screen marker, 60 -user option (find command), 40
tilde commands (mailx) user profile file
inserting a message, 91 defined, 128
listing, 102 environment variables in, 129, 134
literal tilde entry, 101 location of, 128
overview, 100 user types, for setting permissions, 41
replying to email, 92 /usr/openwin/bin/xauth program, 122
sending carbon copies, 91
starting vi while composing email, 96
summary of, 101
viewing a complete message, 92 V
time zone, setting, 130 ~v command (mailx), 96
titling printouts (lp), 106 -v option
To: prompt (mailx), 91, 101 grep command, 51
toggling, See changing lpstat command, 109
top of screen, moving to (vi), 66 /var/mail directory, 83
touch command, 30 version number, mailx program, 85, 87
traced state, 56 vertical bar (|), pipe symbol, 23
troff program, 59 vi editor, 59, 77
troubleshooting, vi, 61 appending text, 67
typing mistakes, See correcting typing mistakes buffers, 62
TZ environment variable, 130 Caps Lock key and, 61
case sensitivity
command names, 62, 65
searches, 73
U case toggle, 78
u command changing text, 61, 68
mailx, 88 command mode, 62
vi, 68 commands
:u command (ex), 78 case sensitivity, 62, 65
U command (vi), 69 entering, 62
repeating, 70
-u option (lpstat command), 109
summary of, 76
umask command, 134
copying lines
undeleting mail, 88
ex command, 72
undeliverable messages, 90
vi commands, 70
Undo operation, keyboard equivalent, 18
creating files, 60
undoing changes (vi), 68
cursor movement
undoing keyboard remapping
See moving around in files
IA, 142, 145
deleting text
SPARC, 140
ex command, 73
undoing undo
vi commands, 69
keyboard equivalent, 18
described, 59
vi, 68
editing screen, 60

Index 163
vi editor (continued) viewing, See display
entry mode, 61
Esc key and, 61
ex commands and
See ex commands W
inserting files, 76 :w command (ex, 63
inserting text, 61, 67 ~w command (mailx), 101
repeatedly, 71 w command (vi), 65
last-line mode, 62 W command (vi), 65
line numbering, 71 -w option (lp command), 105
mailx use of, 96 WAN (wide area network), defined, 111
modes, 61 whatis command, 26
moving around in files who am i command, remote login, 115
See moving around in files who command, 89
moving lines wide area network (WAN), defined, 111
ex command, 72 wildcard characters
vi commands, 70 asterisk (*)
multiple, simultaneous sessions, 63 changing permissions with, 45, 47
multiple-file editing, 76 copying files with, 31
“No write since last change” message, 63 deleting files with, 32
opening files, 76 grep command, 52
opening lines, 67 vi search command, 75
overview, 59 dot (.), vi search command, 74
paging, 66 windows
printing files, 64 closing to icons, keyboard equivalent, 18
put command, 69 opening icons, keyboard equivalent, 18
quitting “word” command (vi), 65
and saving changes, 63 words
without saving changes, 63 changing (vi), 68
read-only version, 59 deleting (vi), 69
redrawing screen, 62 moving to end of word (vi), 65
repeating commands, 70 moving one word (vi), 65
saving changes searching for beginning of (vi), 74
and quitting, 63 working directory
without quitting, 63 changing, 34
scrolling in, 66 printing, 34
searching and replacing, 53, 73, 75 :wq command (ex), 63
shell environment variable for, 130 wrapped lines, command entry and, 20
starting, 59 write permission
status line, 60 absolute, 46, 48
substituting characters, 68 relative, 41, 44
text entry, 61
troubleshooting unpredictable behavior, 62
undoing changes, 68
undoing undo, 68 X
yank command, 70 x command
vi search command, 74 mailx, 86, 88
view command, 59, 77 vi, 69

164 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002

~x command (mailx), 101 ZZ command (vi), 63
X command (vi), 69
X11 server, security fundamentals, 120, 125
xauth program, 122
.Xauthority file, 122, 124
xhost command, running networked
applications with, 119
xhost program, 122
.xinitrc file, Compose Key
disabling/enabling, 137
xmodmap command, 137, 139
Xsun command
-auth option, 121
-noauth option, 120, 122

Y
Y command (vi), 70
yank command (vi), 70
yy command (vi), 70

Z
z command (mailx), 87
Z shell
command for, 128
command prompt for, 130, 132
environment variables for
See .zshrc file
help for, 16
home directory specification, 34
repeating commands and, 20
user profile file for
See .zshrc file
.zlogin file
location of, 128
zombie state, 56
zsh command, 128
.zshrc file
environment variables in
commonly used, 129
alias, 131
HISTORY, 133
set commands, 132
umask (file permissions), 135, 131
location of, 128

Index 165
166 Solaris Advanced User’s Guide • May 2002