introduction to Linux/Unix environment

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 Lecture summary
• Course introduction and syllabus

• Unix and Linux operating system

• Introduction to Bash shell

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 Operating systems
• What is an OS? Why have one?

• What is a Kernel?

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 Operating systems
• operating system: Manages activities and resources of a computer.
 software that acts as an interface between hardware and user
 provides a layer of abstraction for application developers

• features provided by an operating system:

 ability to execute programs (and multi-tasking)
 memory management (and virtual memory)
 file systems, disk and network access
 an interface to communicate with hardware
 a user interface (often graphical)

• kernel: The lowest-level core of an operating system.

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 Unix
• brief history:
 Multics (1964) for mainframes
 Unix (1969)
 K&R
 Linus Torvalds and Linux (1992)

• key Unix ideas:

 written in a high-level language (C)
 virtual memory
 hierarchical file system; "everything" is a file
 lots of small programs that work together to solve larger problems
 security, users, access, and groups
 human-readable documentation included
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On to Linux

Courtesy XKCD.com
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 Linux
• Linux: A kernel for a Unix-like operating system.
 commonly seen/used today in servers, mobile/embedded devices, ...

• GNU: A "free software" implementation of many Unix-like tools

 many GNU tools are distributed with the Linux kernel

• distribution: A pre-packaged set of Linux software.

 examples: Ubuntu, Fedora

• key features of Linux:

 open source software: source can be downloaded
 free to use
 constantly being improved/updated by the community
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 Linux Desktop
• X-windows
• window managers
• desktop environments
 Gnome
 KDE

• How can I try out Linux?

 CSE Virtual machine
 CSE basement labs
 attu shared server

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 Things you can do in Linux
• Load the course web site in a browser

• Install and play games

• Play MP3s

• Edit photos

• IM, Skype

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 Shell
• shell: An interactive program that uses user input to manage the
execution of other programs.
 A command processor, typically runs in a text window.
 User types commands, the shell runs the commands
 Several different shell programs exist:
• bash : the default shell program on most Linux/Unix systems
• We will use bash
• Other shells: Bourne, csh, tsch

• Why should I learn to use a shell when GUIs exist?

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 Why use a shell?
• Why should I learn to use a shell when GUIs exist?
 faster
 work remotely
 programmable
 customizable
 repeatable

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 Shell commands
command description

exit logs out of the shell

ls lists files in a directory
pwd print the current working directory

cd changes the working directory

$ pwd man brings up the manual for a command
/homes/iws/rea
$ cd CSE391
$ ls
file1.txt file2.txt
$ ls –l
-rw-r--r-- 1 rea fac_cs 0 2016-03-29 17:45 file1.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 rea fac_cs 0 2016-03-29 17:45 file2.txt
$ cd ..
$ man ls
$ exit

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 Relative directories
directory description
. the directory you are in ("working directory")

.. the parent of the working directory

(../.. is grandparent, etc.)
~ your home directory
(on many systems, this is /home/username )

~username username's home directory

~/Desktop your desktop

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 Directory commands
command description
ls list files in a directory
pwd print the current working directory
cd changes the working directory
mkdir create a new directory
rmdir delete a directory (must be empty)

• some commands (cd, exit) are part of the shell ("builtins")

• others (ls, mkdir) are separate programs the shell runs

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 Shell commands
• many accept arguments or parameters
 example: cp (copy) accepts a source and destination file path

• a program uses 3 streams of information:

 stdin, stdout, stderr (standard in, out, error)

• input: comes from user's keyboard

• output: goes to console
• errors can also be printed (by default, sent to console like output)

• parameters vs. input

 parameters: before Enter is pressed; sent in by shell
 input: after Enter is pressed; sent in by user
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 Command-line arguments
• most options are a - followed by a letter such as -c
 some are longer words preceded by two - signs, such as --count

• options can be combined: ls -l -a -r can be ls -lar

• many programs accept a --help or -help option to give more

information about that command (in addition to man pages)
 or if you run the program with no arguments, it may print help info

• for many commands that accept a file name argument, if you omit
the parameter, it will read from standard input (your keyboard)

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 Shell/system commands
command description
man or info get help on a command
clear clears out the output from the console

exit exits and logs out of the shell

command description
date output the system date
cal output a text calendar
uname print information about the current system

• "man pages" are a very important way to learn new commands

man ls
man man
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 File commands
command description
cp copy a file
mv move or rename a file
rm delete a file
touch create a new empty file, or
update its last-modified time stamp

• caution: the above commands do not prompt for confirmation

 easy to overwrite/delete a file; this setting can be overridden (how?)
• Exercise : Given several albums of .mp3 files all in one folder, move
them into separate folders by artist.

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 Mounting homedir on VM
•Create a directory in your home directory, called csehomedir:
 cd
 mkdir csehomedir
•Now to use that directory as a “link” to your CSE files on your VM:
 sshfs username@attu: ~/csehomedir OR
 sshfs [email protected]:/homes/iws/username ~/csehomedir/
•It is a good idea to back up your files from your VM regularly.
 Actually keep your files on your CSE home directory
 Regularly move files from your VM to another location
 If you need to get a fresh VM image, you can save the files from your
old VM using this procedure: "My VM Seems Broken. How Do I Recover?"

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 My VM is Broken!
•If your VM is misbehaving, first try a reboot of the VM and also of
your machine. If that doesn’t work, often it is easiest just to get a
fresh VM image and start over (maybe you saved the .zip file you
downloaded previously?)
•BEFORE you delete your current copy of the VM, you can save the
files from your current copy of the VM using this procedure:

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 Exercise Solutions
• caution: the cp, rm, mv commands do not prompt for confirmation
 easy to overwrite/delete a file; this setting can be overridden (how?)
• Use “-i” with the command, “interactive” to prompt before overwrite
• Exercise : Given several albums of .mp3 files all in one folder, move
them into separate folders by artist.
 mkdir U2
 mkdir PSY
 mkdir JustinBieber
 mv GangnamStyle.mp3 PSY/
 mv Pride.mp3 U2/

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 Basic Emacs Commands
• C- = control key M- = meta/alt key
• read a file into Emacs: C-x C-f
• save a file back to disk: C-x C-s
• exit Emacs permanently: C-x C-c
• search forward: C-s search backward: C-r
• scroll to next screen: C-v scroll to previous screen: M-v
• Undo: C-x u
entity to move over backward forward

character C-b C-f

word M-b M-f
line C-p C-n
go to line beginning/end C-a C-e
go to buffer beginning/end M-< M->

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 Basic Vim Commands
• :w Write the current file
• :wq Write the current file and exit.
• :q! Quit without writing
• To change into insert mode: i or a
 Use escape to exit
• search forward /, repeat the search backwards: N
• Basic movement:
 h l k j character left, right; line up, down (also arrow keys)
 bw word/token left, right
 ge e end of word/token left, right
 0$ jump to first/last character on the line
• x delete
• u undo

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