red hat ®

®
TRAINING

C H A PT E R 1

ACCESSING THE COMMAND

LINE

Overview

Goal To log i n t o a Lin u x system a n d r u n s i m p l e c o m m a nds u s i n g

the shell.

Objectives • Use B a s h s h e l l syntax to enter c o m m a nds at a L i n ux

console.

• L a u n c h a p p l i ca t i o n s i n a G N O M E desktop e n v i ro n me nt.

• Use Bash features to run c o m m a nds from a s h e l l p ro m pt

u s i n g fewer keystrokes.

Sections • Acces s i n g t h e C o m m a nd Line U s i n g t h e Loc a l Console

(a nd P ra c t i ce)

• Acces s i n g the C o m m a nd Line U s i n g the Desktop (a nd

Practice)

• Exec u t i n g C o m m a nds U s i n g t h e Bash S h e l l (and Pract ice)

Lab • Acces s i n g t h e C o m m a nd L i ne

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C h a pte r 1 . Acces s i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
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Access i n g t h e Co m m a n d L i n e U s i n g t h e Loca l
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Conso l e
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Objectives
After com p l et i n g t h i s sect i o n , students s h o u l d be a b l e to l o g i nto a L i n u x system on a loca l text -

The bash shell

console a n d run s i m p l e co m m a n d s u s i n g the s h e l l .

A command line i s a text-based i nt e rface which c a n b e used to i n put i n st r u c t i o n s to a com puter

syste m. The L i n u x co m m a n d line i s p rovided by a p ro g ra m c a l l e d t h e shell. Over t h e long h i story
-
of U N IX - l i ke syste ms, m a ny s h e l l s have been deve l o pe d . The defa u lt s h e l l for u s e rs in Red H a t
E n t e r p r i s e L i n u x is t h e G N U Bourn e-Ag a i n S h e l l (bash). B a s h is a n i m p roved vers i o n of o n e o f
t h e m ost s u ccess f u l s h e l l s used o n U N I X- l i ke syste m s , t h e B o u r n e S h e l l ( s h ) .
-

W h e n a s h e l l i s used i nteractive l y, it d i s p l ays a stri n g w h e n it i s wa iting for a c o m m a n d from t h e

user. This is ca l l ed t h e shell prompt. W h e n a reg u l a r u s e r s t a r t s a s h e l l , t h e defa u lt p ro m pt e n d s
-
with a $ c h a racter.

r-
l [ student@desktopX -]$ -

T h e $ i s re p l a ced b y a # i f t h e sh e l l is r u n n i n g a s t h e s u pe r u s e r, root. T h i s m a kes it m o re obvious

t h a t it is a s u pe r u s e r s h e l l , which h e l ps to avo i d a c c i d e nts and m i sta kes i n t h e priv i l eg e d a ccou nt. -

[ root@desktopX -]#
� - �����
I
i
I
-

U s i n g bash to execute co m m a n d s c a n be powerf u l . T h e bash s h e l l prov ides a s c r i pt i n g l a n g u a g e

t h a t can s u p port a ut o m a t i o n o f tas ks. The s h e l l h a s a d d i t i o n a l ca pa b i l ities t h a t c a n s i m p l ify o r
-
m a ke poss i b l e o p e rat i o n s t h a t a re h a rd to acco m p l i s h eff i c i e n t l y w i t h g ra p h i c a l too l s .

L>=-SJ
-�>,
Note -

The bash s h e l l is s i m i l a r i n concept to t h e com m a n d l i n e interpreter fou n d i n recent

vers i o n s of M ic rosoft W i n d ows cmd . exe, a l t h o u g h bash h a s a m o re s o p h isticated
-
scri pti n g l a n g u a g e. It i s a l so s i m i l a r to W i n d ows Powe r S h e l l i n W i n d ows 7 and W i n dows
Server 2008 R2. Mac O S X a d m i n ist rators who u s e the M a c i ntos h ' s Te r m i n a l u t i l ity
may b e p l eased to note that bash is the d e fa u l t s h e l l in Mac OS X.
-

Virtual consoles -

Users access t h e bash s h e l l t h ro u g h a terminal. A t e r m i n a l provides a key boa rd for u s e r i n put

a n d a d i s p l a y for output. O n text-based i n sta l l a t i o n s , this c a n b e t h e L i n u x m a c h i n e ' s physical
-
console, t h e h a rdware key b o a rd a n d d i s p l ay. Te r m i n a l access c a n a l so be config u red t h ro u g h
seria l ports.

Another way to a ccess a s h e l l is from a virtual console. A L i n u x m a c h i n e ' s phys i c a l conso l e

s u p po rts m u l t i p l e v i rt u a l consoles w h i c h act l i ke s e p a rate term i n a l s. Each v i rt u a l co n s o l e
s u p po rts a n i n d e p e n d e n t l o g i n sess i o n .
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Shel l basics
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I f t h e g ra p h i c a l en vi ro n m e n t i s ava i l a b l e, it w i l l r u n on t h e first v i rt u a l conso l e i n Red H a t

E n te r p r i s e L i n u x 7. Five a d d i t i o n a l t e x t l o g i n p ro m pts a re a va i l a b l e o n conso l es t w o t h ro u g h s i x
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(or o n e t h ro u g h f i v e if t h e g ra p h ica l e n v i ro n m e nt i s t u r n e d off). With a g ra p h ica l e n v i ro n m e n t
r u n n i n g , access a text l o g i n pro m pt o n a v i r t u a l conso l e by h o l d i ng Ct r l +Alt a n d p ress i n g a
f u n c t i o n key (F2 t h ro u g h F6). Press C t r l +Al t + F l to ret u r n to t h e fi rst virtua l conso l e a n d t h e
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g ra p h i c a l d e s ktop.

-
Important
I n t h e p re-config u re d v i rt u a l i m a g es d e l ivered by Red H a t , l o g i n p ro m pts have b e e n
- d i sa b l ed i n t h e v i rt u a l co n s o l es .

-
Note
I n Red H a t Enterprise L i n u x 5 a n d ea r l i e r, t h e f i rst six v i r t u a l c o n s o l e s a l ways p rovided
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text login prom pts. When the g ra p h i ca l e n v i ro n m e nt was l a u n c h e d , it ran o n v i rt u a l
c o n s o l e seven (accessed t h ro u g h Ct r l +Al t + F 7 ) .

Shell basics
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C o m m a n d s entered at t h e s h e l l p ro m pt have t h ree basic pa rts:
• Command to run
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• Options to adjust the b e h a v i o r of t h e com m a n d

• Arguments, w h i c h a re typica l l y t a rg ets o f t h e co m m a n d

-

T h e command is t h e n a m e o f t h e p ro g ra m t o r u n . I t may b e fo l l owed by o n e or m o re options,

w h i c h a dj u st t h e behavior of t h e c o m m a n d or w h a t it w i l l d o. O pt i o n s n o rm a l l y sta rt w i t h o n e o r
- t w o d a s hes ( - a o r - - all, for exa m p l e) to d i st i n g u i s h t h e m from a rg u ments. Com m a n d s may a l so
b e fo l l owed by one or m o re arguments, w h i c h often i n d icate a t a rg et t h a t t h e co m m a n d s h o u l d
o p e rate o n .
-

Fo r exa m p l e, t h e com m a n d l i n e u s e r mod - L mo r gan h a s a com m a n d ( use rmod), a n option

( - L), and a n a rg u m e n t (mo r g an ) . T h e effect of t h i s com m a n d i s to l o c k t h e passwo rd o n user
-
m o rg a n ' s a ccount.

To u s e a com m a n d effect i ve l y, a user needs to k n ow w h a t options and a rg u ments it ta kes a n d

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i n w h a t o rd e r i t expects t h e m (t h e syntax o f t h e com m a n d). M ost c o m m a n d s have a - - help
option. This causes t h e com m a n d to print a description of what it does, a " u sage state m e n t " t h a t
d e s c r i b e s t h e co m m a n d ' s sy n t a x , a n d a l i st o f t h e opt i o n s it a ccepts a n d w h at t hey d o .
-

U s a g e statements m a y seem c o m p l icated a n d d i ff i c u l t to rea d . T h e y b e c o m e m u c h s i m p l e r t o

u n d e rsta n d once a user beco m e s fa m i l i a r w i t h a few b a s i c convent i o n s :
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• S q u a re b ra c kets, [ ] , s u rro u n d o pt i o n a l ite m s .

• Anyt h i n g fol lowed by ... represents a n a r b it ra ry- l e n g t h l i st o f items o f t h a t type.

-

• M u lt i p l e items sepa rated by p i pes, I. m e a n s o n l y one of t h e m ca n b e specified.

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C h a pte r 1 . Access i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
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• Text i n a n g l e b ra c kets, < > , represe n t s va r i a b l e data. Fo r exa m p l e, <filename> m e a n s " i n s e rt

t h e f i l e n a m e you w i s h to u s e h e re". S o m et i m es these va ria b l es a re s i m p l y written i n c a p ita l -
l etters (e.g., F I L E N A M E).

C o n s i d e r t h e f i rst usage state m e n t for t h e da t e co m m a n d :

-

r·�
[student@desktopX -]$ date
date [OPTION] . . . [+FORMAT]
! - - h elp

I -

T h i s i n d icates t h a t d at e c a n take a n o pt i o n a l l i st of o p t i o n s ( [OPTION] . . . ), fo l l owed by a n

o pt i o n a l fo r m a t stri n g , prefixed w i t h a p l u s c h a racter, +, t h a t defines how t h e c u rrent date s h o u l d -

b e d i s p l ayed ( [+FORMAT]). S i n ce b o t h o f these a re option a l , d a t e wi l l w o r k even if it i s n o t g i v e n

o p t i o n s o r a rg u me nts (it w i l l p r i n t t h e c u rrent date a n d t i m e u s i n g i t s defa u lt form at).
-

Note
T h e man page for a com m a n d h a s a SY N O P S I S sect i o n t h a t p rovi d e s i nfor m a t i o n a b o u t -

t h e co m ma n d ' s s y n t a x . T h e man - pages(7) m a n pa g e d e s c r i b e s how to interpret a l l

t h e s q u a re b rac kets, vertica l ba rs, a n d s o forth t h at u s e rs see i n SY N O PS I S o r a u s a g e
message.

W h e n a u s e r is f i n ished u s i n g t h e s h e l l a n d wa nts to q u it. t h e re a re a c o u p l e of ways to e n d t h e -

s e s s i o n . T h e e x i t com m a n d ter mi nates t h e c u rrent s h e l l s e s s i o n . A n o t h e r w a y t o f i n i s h a sess i o n

is by typ i n g C t r l+D.
-

R References
in t r o(l), bash(l ) , console(4), p t s (4), a n d man - pages(7) m a n pages -

Note: Some details of the console(4) man page, involving init(B) and inittab(S), are
outdated. -

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Pract ice: Loca l Conso l e Access Te r m s

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P ra ct i ce: Loca l Conso l e Access Te r m s

-

-
Quiz

M atch t h e fo l l ow i n g item s to t h e i r cou nterparts i n t h e t a b l e.

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- I A rg u m e nt jI 18 Command Phys i ca l c o n s o l e

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j P ro m pt
!B I I
Shell Te r m i n a l Vi r t u a l c o n s o l e

Description Term
-
I

T h e i n t e r p rete r t h at exe c u tes co m m a n d s typed

-
a s st r i n g s.

T h e v i s u a l c u e t h a t i n d i cates a n i nt e ract ive s h e l l

i s wa i t i n g fo r t h e u s e r to type a co m m a n d .
-

-
T h e n a m e o f a p ro g ra m to r u n .

- T h e pa rt o f t h e c o m m a n d l i n e t h a t a dj u sts t h e
b e h a v i o r o f a co m m a n d .
-

T h e p a rt o f t h e co m m a n d l i n e t h a t s pe c i f i e s t h e
- ta rget t h a t t h e co m m a n d s h o u l d o p e rate o n .

-
T h e h a rd wa re d i s p l a y a n d keyboa rd u s e d t o
i nt e ract w i t h a syst e m .
-

O n e of m u lt i p l e l o g i ca l co n s o l es t h a t c a n e a c h
- s u p po rt a n i n d e pe n d e n t l og i n sess i o n .

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C h a pte r 1 . Access i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
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Description Term -

A n inte rfa ce t h a t p rovid es a dis p l a y f o r o u t p u t -

a n d a key boa rd fo r in p u t to a s h e l l sessio n.

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6 RH124- R H E L 7 - e n -1-20140606 -

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Solution
-

Solution
-

M atch t h e fo l l owi n g items to t h e i r cou nterparts i n t h e ta b l e.

Description Term

T h e i nt e r p rete r t h a t executes com m a n ds ty p e d Shell

a s st r i n g s .
-

- T h e v i s u a l c u e t h a t i n d i cates a n i nt e ra ct ive s h e l l Prom pt

is wa i t i n g for t h e u s e r to t y p e a co m m a nd .

T h e n a m e of a p rog ra m to r u n . Co m m a n d
-

T h e p a rt of t h e c o m m a n d l i n e that a dj u sts t h e Option

- b e h a v i o r of a co m m a n d .

-
T h e pa rt of t h e c o m m a n d l i n e that s p e c i f i es t h e A rg u m e nt
ta rg et t h a t t h e c o m m a n d s h o u l d o p e rate o n .
-

T h e h a rd wa re d i s p l ay a n d keybo a rd u s ed to Phys i ca l c o n s o l e
-
i nt e ra ct w i t h a syst e m .

·-
O n e of m u l t i p l e l o g i ca l c o n s o l es t h a t ca n e a c h V i rt u a l co n so l e
s u p p o rt a n i n d e p e n d e n t l og i n sess i o n .
-

A n i nte rfa ce t h a t p rov i d es a d i s p l a y for o u t p u t Te r m i n a l

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a n d a key boa rd for i n p u t to a s h e l l sess i o n .

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C h a pter 1 . Accessi n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
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Access i n g t h e Co m m a n d L i n e U s i n g t h e
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D es kt o p
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Objectives
Afte r com p l e t i n g t h i s sect i o n , students s h o u l d be a b l e to l o g i nto t h e L i n u x system u s i n g t h e -

G N O M E 3 d es ktop enviro n m e n t to r u n c o m m a n d s f r o m a s h e l l p ro m pt i n a term i n a l p rog ra m .

-
The GNOME desktop environment
T h e desktop environment is t h e g ra p h ica l user i nterface on a L i n u x system. T h e defa u l t des ktop
e n v i ro n m e nt i n Red Hat Enterprise L i n u x 7 is provided by G N O M E 3. I t p rovides a n i ntegrated -

d e s ktop for users and a u n ified deve l o p m e nt p l a tform o n top of a g ra p h i c a l framework p rovided
by the X W i n d o w System.
-

T h e GN O M E S h e l l provides the core user i nterface f u n ct i o n s for the G N O M E d esktop

e n v i ro n m e nt. The gnome - s hell a p p l ication i s h i g h l y custo m i z a b l e. By defa u lt, R H E L 7 u s e rs
u s e t h e " G N O M E C l assic" t h e m e for g nome - s hell, w h i c h i s s i m i l a r to t h e G N O M E 2 desktop -

e n v i ro n m e nt. A n o t h e r ava i l a b l e o p t i o n i s t h e " m o d e r n " G N O M E 3 theme used by t h e u pstrea m

G N O M E p roj ect. E i t h e r t h e m e c a n b e s e l ected p e rs i ste n t l y at l o g i n by s e l e c t i n g the g e a r i c o n next
to the S i g n I n button when e n t e r i n g t h e user's password. -

T h e f i rst time a new u s e r l o g s in, an i n i t i a l set u p program runs to h e l p them config u re b a s i c

acco u nt sett i n gs. The GN O M E He l p a p p l ication i s t h e n sta rted o n t h e Gett i n g Started w i t h -

GN O M E screen. This screen i n c l u d e s v i d eos and documentation to help o r i e n t n ew u s e rs to the

G N O M E 3 e n v i ro n ment. GN O M E He l p c a n be q u i c k l y sta rted by t y p i n g F1 i n g nome - shell, by
-
selecting A p p l i c a t i o n s > D o c u m e n t a t i o n > He l p , o r by r u n n i n g t h e yelp com m a n d .

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 The GN O M E desktop e nvi ronment

._ Applications Ptaces en2 �») 2 Fri 08:43 Q Student User

1/4

Figure 1.1: An empty GNOME 3 desktop

Pa rts of t h e G N O M E S h e l l
The v a r i o u s pa rts of t h e GN O M E S h e l l have s p e cific na mes a nd pu r poses. These pa rts inc l u d e t h e
fo l l ow i n g :

top bar: The bar t h a t r u n s a l o ng t h e top of t h e s c r e e n . The top ba r p rovides t h e A p p l icat i o n s

and Places menus, a nd cont ro l s for vo l u m e, netwo rking , c a l e nd a r a ccess, a nd selecting
between keybo a rd input methods (if t h e re are m ore t h a n o n e config u re d ) . U nd e r t h e m e n u for
t h e u s er's nam e are opti ons to a d just a c c o u nt sett i ngs, l o c k t h e screen, switch u sers, log out of
t h e syst e m , o r s h u t it d own.

Applications menu: T h i s menu on t h e t o p ba r p rovides a way to start a p p l ications, categorized

into s u bm enus. T h e Activities Overview c a n a lso be started fro m t h i s m e n u .

Places menu: T h i s menu to t h e r i g ht o f t h e A p p l icat i o n s menu p rov i d e s q u i c k a ccess t h r o u g h

a g ra p h i c a l f i l e m a n a g e r t o i m po rtant m enus i n t h e use r's home d i re cto ry, to I , a nd to exports
and file s h a res o n the n etwork.

window list: The ba r that runs a lo n g t h e bottom of t h e screen. The w i ndow l i st p rovides a n easy
way to a ccess, m i ni m ize, a nd rest o re a l l w i nd ows in t h e c u rrent workspace. On t h e right corne r
is an i nd icator to tell t h e user w h i c h workspace t h ey are on a n d how m a ny a re ava i l a ble.

message tray: The messa g e t ra y p rovides a way to review notifications sent by a p p l icati ons or
system c o m p o ne nts to GN O M E. If a notification occ u rs, no r m a l ly the notification f i rst a p pears
briefly a s a s i n g l e l i ne at t h e bottom of the s c re e n , a nd a persistent i nd i cator a p pe a rs i n the
l ower right c o r n e r to i nform t h e user of how m a ny notifications have bee n recent l y received.

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C h a pter 1 . Acces s i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

The m e s s a g e t ray c a n b e opened to review t h ese notifications by c l i c k i n g t h e i n d icator o r

typing Supe r+M. T h e m e s s a g e t ray c a n be c l osed by typ i n g either Esc o r Supe r+M a g a i n .

Activities Overview: T h i s i s a s p e c i a l m o d e t h a t h e l p s a user organ ize w i n d ows a n d start

a p p l ications. The Activit ies Overview c a n b e started by selecting A p p l i ca t i o n s> Activities
Overview. A faster way is to press the S u p e r key (somet i m es ca l led the Windows key), fou n d
n e a r t h e lowe r l eft c o r n e r of a n I B M PC 1 04/1 0 5- key keyboard. The t h ree m a i n areas o f t h e
A c t i v i t i e s Overview are t h e d a s h o n t h e l eft s i d e of t h e s c r e e n , t h e w i n dows overview i n t h e
center o f t h e s c reen , a n d t h e workspace selector o n t h e right side of t h e screen. T h e A ctivities
Overview c a n b e exited by p ressing t h e Esc key.

dash: T h is is a confi g u ra b l e l i st of icons of t h e u s e r ' s favorite a p p l i ca t i o n s, a p p l ications which

a re c u r rently r u n n i n g , a n d a g r i d button w h i c h c a n b e used to select a r b it ra ry a p p l i cations.
A p p l ications c a n b e started by clicking o n o n e of the icons o r by u s i n g t h e g r i d button to find a
less c o m m o n l y used a p p l ication. T h e d a s h is a l s o sometimes cal l ed t h e dock.

Figure 1 .2: The GNOME 3 Activities Overview

Wo rks pa ces
Workspaces a re s e p a rate d es ktop screen s w h i c h have d ifferent a p p l icat i o n w i n d ows. T h e s e c a n
be u s e d to organize t h e w o r k i n g enviro n m ent by g ro u p i n g o p e n a p p l ic a t i o n w i ndows by t a s k .
For exa m p l e, w i n d ows b e i n g u s e d to perform a p a rt i c u l a r syste m m a i nt e n a n ce activity (such
a s setti n g u p a n e w r e m ote server) c a n b e g ro u p ed i n o n e workspa ce, while e m a i l and other
c o m m u n i ca t i o n a p pl i c a t i o n s can b e g ro u p ed in a n ot h e r workspace.

10 R H 1 24- R H E L7-en-1-20140606
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Sta rt i n g a t e r m i n a l
-

T h e re a re t h ree m e t h o d s for switc h i n g between workspa ces. O n e method is t o c l i c k t h e i n d icator

i n t h e r i g ht corner of t h e window l ist a nd s e l ect t h e d e s i re d works p a ce. A n o t h e r, p e r h a p s t h e
-
fastest, is t o type C t r l+Alt + U pA r r ow or Ct r l+Al t + DownAr row to switch betwe e n works paces
s e q u e n t i a l l y. A t h i rd i s to switch to the Act i v i t i e s Overview and c l i c k the desired workspace.

-
An advantage of u s i n g the A c t i v i t i e s Ove rview is t h a t w i n d ows ca n be c l i c ked a n d d ra g g e d
betwe e n t h e c u rrent workspace a n d o n e o f t h e others by u s i n g t h e w o r k s p a c e s e l e c t o r o n t h e
r i g h t s i d e o f t h e screen a n d t h e w i n d ows overview i n t h e c e n t e r o f t h e screen.
-

Starting a terminal
-
To get a s h e l l pro m pt in G N O M E, start a g ra p h i c a l term i n a l a p p l ica t i o n s u c h as G N O ME Te r m i n a l.
T h e re a re severa l ways to do t h i s . H e re a re t h e t h re e most com m o n l y used methods:

-
• S e l e ct A p p l icat i o n s > Ut i l it i e s > Te r m i n a l.

• O n a n e m pty des ktop, r i g ht-c l i c k , or press t h e Menu key, a n d s e l ect O p e n in Te r m i n a l from t h e

- context m e n u t h a t a p pears.

• Fro m t h e A c t i v i t i e s O v e r v i e w , s e l ect Te r m i n a l from the d a s h (e it h e r from t h e favorites a rea o r

- b y f i n d i n g it w i t h e i t h e r t h e g r i d b u tton ( i n s i d e U t i l it i e s g ro u p i n g ) o r t h e search f i e l d a t t h e t o p
o f t h e w i n d ows overvi ew).

-
W h e n a te r m i n a l w i ndow is o p e n e d , a s he l l p ro m pt d i s p l ays for t h e user t h a t started t h e g ra p h ic a l
term i n a l p ro g ra m . T h e s h e l l p ro m pt a n d t h e term i n a l w i n d ow ' s t it l e b a r w i l l i n d icate t h e c u rrent
user n a m e, host n a me, and wo r k i n g d i recto ry.
-

Locking the screen or logging out

-
Loc k i n g t h e scree n , or l o g g i n g out e n t i re l y, can be d o n e from t h e m e n u for t h e u s e r ' s n a m e o n
t h e fa r r i g h t s i d e o f t h e t o p b a r.

To l o c k t h e scree n , s e l ect (Us e r)> Lock or type Ct r l+Al t + L. The screen w i l l l o c k if t h e g ra p h i c a l

-
s ess i o n i s i d l e for a few m i n utes.

A lock s c r e e n c u rta i n w i l l a p p e a r that shows the syst e m t i m e and the n a m e of the l o g g e d - i n

-
user. To u n l o c k t h e s c r e e n , press E n t e r or Space to ra ise t h e l oc k s c r e e n c u rta i n , t h e n enter t h e
u s e r ' s password o n t h e l o c k s c reen.
-
To log out and end the c u rrent g ra p h i c a l l o g i n sess ion, s e l ect (Us e r)> Log Out from the top b a r. A
d i a l o g w i n d ow w i l l a p pe a r, g i v i n g t h e o pt i o n to C a n c e l t h e l o g out w i t h i n 60 seco n d s , o r co nfi r m
-
the Log Out action.

Powering off or re booting the system

-
To s h ut down t h e syst e m , s e l ect (Us e r)> Power Off from t h e top b a r or type Ct r l+Al t +Del. I n
t h e d i a l o g t h a t a p pea rs, t h e u s e r c a n c h oose t o Power Off, Restart t h e m a c h i n e, o r C a n c e l t h e
o p e rat i o n . I f t h e u s e r d o e s n o t m a ke a choice i n t h i s d i a l o g , t h e syste m w i l l automatica l l y s h ut
-
down after 60 seco n d s .

- R H124-R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606 11

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C h a pter 1 . Acces s i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

References
GNOME Help
·yelp
-

G N O M E H e l p: Getting Started with GNOME

· yelp help:gnome - help/ge t t ing - s t a r t ed
-

-·

12 R H 1 24- R H E L7 - e n -1 -20140606 -
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Practice: The G N O M E 3 Desktop Enviro n m e nt

P ra ct i ce: T h e G N O M E 3 Des ktop E nvi ro n ment

-

Guided exercise
-

I n t h i s l a b , you w i l l l o g i n t h ro u g h t h e g ra p h i c a l d i s p l ay m a na g e r as a reg u l a r u s e r to become

fa m i l i a r w i t h t h e G N O M E C l assic d e s ktop e n v i ro n m e n t provided by G N O M E 3.
-

Outco m e :
A basic orientation to t h e G N O M E 3 d esktop e n v i ro n m e nt.
-
Before you begin ...
Access the g ra p h i c a l l o g i n screen of d e s k t opX . example . com.
-

Important
- T h e re a re two v i rt u a l m a c h i n es ava i l a b l e for l a b exercises, a d e s ktop m a c h i n e
(g e n e rica l l y c a l l e d d e s k t o pX) a n d a s e rv e r (g e n e rica l l y ca l l ed s e rve rX).

Ta ke c a re to keep stra i g h t w h i c h v i rt u a l m a c h i n e a n exerc i se wants you to u se.

-

Do each of the fo l l o w i n g tasks on the d e s k t o pX m a c h i n e. M a r k each t a s k a s it is co m p l eted.

-

D 1. L o g i n as s t u d e n t u s i n g t h e password s t u d e n t .

- D 1 .1 . A t t h e G N O M E l o g i n scree n , c l i c k t h e s t ude nt u s e r account. Enter s t udent

when p ro m pted for t h e password.

-
D 1 .2. C l i c k Sign I n o n ce the password has been typed i n .

D 2. C h a n g e t h e password f o r s t u d e n t f r o m passwo r d to 55Tu r n K3y.

-
0 2.1 . T h e s i m p l est a p proac h is t o o p e n G N O M E Ter m i n a l a n d u s e t h e pas swd
com m a n d at t h e s h e l l p ro m pt.

- O n t h e e m pty desktop, press the Menu key o r rig ht-c l i c k with t h e mouse to open
t h e context m e n u .

- D 2 . 2 . S e l ect O p e n i n Term i n a l .

D 2 . 3 . I n t h e ter mi n a l w i n d o w t h a t a p pea rs, type pas swd a t t h e s h e l l prom pt. Fo l l ow

- the i n structions p rovided by the progra m to c h a n g e the s t ud e n t password from
s t u de n t to 55Tu r n K3y.

-
D 3. Log o u t .

D 3.1 . S e l ect t h e student > Log O u t m e n u item.

-
0 3.2. C l i c k t h e Log Out button i n the confirmation w i n d ow that a p pears.

D 4. Log back in a s s t u d e n t with t h e new p a ssword of 55Tu r n K3y.

-

D 4.1 . A t t h e G N O M E l og i n scree n , c l i c k t h e s t u d e n t user a c c o u n t . E n t e r 55Tu r n K3y

w h e n p ro m pted for the password.
-

- R H1 24- R H E L7 - en-1-20140606 13

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C h a pter 1 . Access i n g t h e Co m m a n d L i n e

-
D 4.2. C l ic k Sign I n o nce t h e pa ssword h a s b e e n typed i n .

D 5. L o c k t h e scree n .
-

D 5.1 . S e l ect t h e student > Lock m e n u item.

D 6. U n l o c k t h e scre e n . -

D 6.1 . P ress E n t e r to l i ft t h e l o c k s c r e e n c u rt a i n .
-

D 6.2. I n the Password fie l d , en ter 55Tu r n K3y a s t h e password.

D 6.3. C l ic k the Un l o c k button. T h e G N O M E d esktop s h o u l d rea p p e a r. -

D 7. Dete r m i n e how to s h u t down d e s k t opX from t h e g ra p h ica l i nte rface, b u t C a n ce l the

o p e rat i o n w i t h o u t s h utt i n g down t h e syst e m .
-

D 7.1 . S e lect t h e s t u d e n t > Powe r Off m e n u item.

D 7.2 . C l i c k t h e Cancel button i n t h e confi r m a t i o n screen that a p p e a rs. -

14 R H 1 24- R H E L 7 - e n -1-20140606
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Executing Commands Using the Bash Shell

-

Exec ut i n g Co m m a n d s U s i n g t h e B a s h S h e l l
-

-
Objectives
After com p l et i n g t h i s section, students s h o u l d be a b l e to save t i m e r u n n i n g com m a n d s from a
s h e l l p ro m pt u s i n g B a s h s h o rtcuts.
-

Basic command syntax

The GN U B o u rne-A g a i n S h e l l (bash) is a p rog ra m t h a t i nt e r p rets co m m a n d s typed in by t h e
-
user. E a c h st r i n g typed i nto t h e s h e l l can h a v e u p to t h re e pa rts: t h e c o m m a n d , o pt i o n s (that
beg i n w i t h a - o r --), and a rg u m e nts. Each word typed i nto t h e s h e l l i s separated from each
ot h e r w i t h s paces. C o m m a n d s a re the n a m es of p ro g ra m s t h a t a re i n sta l l e d on t h e syst e m . Each
-
c o m m a n d h a s its own options and a rg u m e nts.

T h e E n t e r key is p ressed when a user is rea dy to execute a c o m m a n d . Each co m m a n d is typed

-
on a s e p a rate l i ne and the o u t p u t from each com m a n d d i s p l ays before the s he l l d i s p l ays a
p ro m pt. If a user wants to type m o re t h a n o n e com m a n d on a s i n g l e l i ne, a semico l o n , ; , can
b e used a s a com m a n d s epa rator. A semico l o n i s a member of a c l ass of c h a racters c a l l e d
-
metacharacters t h a t h a s spec i a l m e a n i ngs for ba sh .

-
Examples of simple commands
T h e d a t e c o m m a n d is u s e d to d i s p l ay t h e c u r re n t d a t e a n d t i m e. I t c a n a l so be u s e d by t h e
s u pe r u s e r t o set t h e system c l oc k . A n a rg u m e n t t h a t beg i n s w i t h a p l u s s i g n (+) specifies a
- format st r i n g for t h e date com m a n d .

[student@desktopX -]$ date

Sat Apr 5 08 : 13 : 50 PDT 2014
[ student@desktopX -]$ date +%R
-

08 : 13
[student@desktopX -]$ date +%x
-
04/05/2014
The pas swd com m a n d c h a n g e s a user's own pa ssword. The o r ig i n a l password for the account
-
m u st b e s pecified before a change w i l l be a l l owed. By defa u lt , pas swd i s config u red to req u i re a
strong pa ssword, c o n s i st i n g of l owe rcase l etters, u p p e rcase l etters, n u m bers, a n d sy m b o l s , a n d
-
i s n o t based o n a d i ct i o n a ry word. T h e s u p e r u s e r c a n u s e t h e pas swd c o m m a n d t o c h a n g e ot h e r
u s e rs' pa sswords.

[student@desktopX -]$ pas swd

Changing password for user student .
Changing password for student .
-

(current ) UNIX password : old_password

New password : new_password
Retype new password : new_password
-

passwd : all authentication tokens updated successfully .

-

L i n u x does not req u i re f i l e n a m e exte n s i o n s to c l assify f i l es by type. T h e file com m a n d s ca n s

t h e b eg i n n i n g o f a f i l e ' s contents a n d d i s p l ays w h a t type it i s . T h e f i l e s t o be c l assified a re passed
- a s a rg u m en ts to t h e co m m a n d .

[student@desktopX -]$
I
I file /etc/passwd

- R H 1 24- R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606 15

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C h a pte r 1. Access i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

/etc/passwd : ASCII text

-

[ student@desktopX -]$ file /bin/passwd

/bin/passwd : setuid ELF 64- bit LSB shared obj ect , x86- 64, version 1
(SYSV) , dynamically linked ( uses shared libs ) , for GNU/Linux 2 . 6 . 32,
BuildID [ sha1] =0x91a7160a019b7f5f754264d920e257522c5bce67, stripped
-

[ student@desktopX -]$ file /home

/home : directory -

T h e head a n d t ail co m m a n d s d i s p l ay t h e beg i n n i n g a n d e n d of a f i l e res pective l y. By defa u lt ,

-
t h ese com m a n d s d i s p l a y 1 0 l i n es, b u t t h ey bot h have a - n o p t i o n t h a t a l l ows a d iffe rent n u m b e r
o f l i nes to be specified. T h e f i l e to d i s p l a y i s passed a s a n a rg u m e nt t o t h ese com m a nds.

[student@desktopX -]$ head /etc/passwd

-

root : x : 0 : 0 : root : /root : /bin/bash

,�--

bin : x : l : l : bin : /bin : /sbin/nologin

daemon : x : 2 : 2 : daemon : /sbin : /sbin/nologin
adm : x : 3 : 4 : adm : /var/adm : /sbin/nologin
-

lp : x : 4 : 7 : lp : /var/spool/lpd : /sbin/nologin
sync : x : 5 : 0 : sync : /sbin : /bin/sync
shutdown : x : 6 : 0 : shutdown : /sbin : /sbin/shutdown
halt : x : 7 : 0 : halt : /sbin : /sbin/halt
-

mail : x : 8 : 12 : mail : /var/spool/mail : /sbin/nologin

operator : x : 11 : 0 : operator : /root : /sbin/nologin
[ student@desktopX -]$ t ail -n 3 /et c/passwd
-

gdm : x : 42 : 42 : : /var/lib/gdm : /sbin/nologin

gnome-initial- setup : x : 993 : 991 : : /run/gnome-initial-setup/ : /sbin/nologin
tcpdump : x : 72 : 72 : : / : /sbin/nologin -

�-------"----�----'

T h e we c o m m a n d counts l i nes, words, a n d c h a racters i n a f i l e. I t c a n ta ke a - 1, - w, or - c o p t i o n -

to d i s p l a y o n l y t h e l i n es, w o r d s , o r c h a ra cte rs, res pective l y.

�-�student@desk :�pX -]$

39 70 2005 /etc/passwd
wc /etc/passwd

[ student@desktopX -]$
-

39 /etc/passwd
wc -1 /etc/pas swd

[ student@desktopX -]$
843 /etc/group
wc -c /etc/group /etc/ho s t s -

227 /etc/hosts
1070 total -

Tab com pletion -

Tab completion a l l ows a u s e r to q u i c k l y c o m p l ete co m m a n d s or fi l e na mes once t h ey have typed

e n o u g h at the prompt to make it u n iq u e. I f t h e c h a racters typed a re not u n i q ue, press i n g the Tab
key twice d i s p lays a l l co m m a n d s that beg i n with t h e c h a racters a l ready typed. -

[student@desktopX -]$ pas<Tab><Tab>

passwd paste pasuspender
[student@desktopX -]$ pass<Tab>
-

[ student@desktopX -]$ pas swd

Changing password for user student .
Changing password for student .
( current ) UNIX password :
-

-
Ta b com p l et i o n can be used to co m p l ete f i l e n a m e s w h e n ty p i n g t h e m as a rg u ments to
c o m m a n d s. W h e n Tab i s p ressed, i t w i l l com p l ete the f i l e n a m e a s m u c h a s i t can. P res s i n g Tab
a second t i m e c a u ses the s h e l l to l ist a l l of t h e f i l e s that a re m a t c h e d by the c u rrent patte r n .
-

16 R H 1 24- R H E L7-en-1-20140606 -

--
-

Co m m a n d h i story
-

Ty pe a d d it i o n a l c h a ra cters u n t i l t h e n a m e i s u n i q ue, t h e n use t a b c o m p l et i o n to f i n i s h off the

com m a n d l i n e.

[student@desktopX -]$
-

[student@desktopX -]$
ls /etc/pas<Tab>

passwd passwd -
ls /etc/passwd<Tab>
-

A rg u m e nts a n d o p t i o n s ca n be m a t c h e d w i t h t a b c o m p l e t i o n for m a n y co m m a n d s. T h e u s e r ad d
-
co m m a n d i s u s e d by t h e s u pe r u s e r, r oo t , to c reate a d d i t i o n a l users o n t h e syste m . I t h a s m a n y
o pt i o n s t h a t can b e u s e d t o control h o w t h a t c o m m a n d beh aves. Ta b c o m p l et i o n fo l l ow i n g a
pa rt i a l o p t i o n can be used to com p l ete t h e o p t i o n without a l ot of typ i n g .

[ root@desktopX ]# useradd - - <Tab><Tab>

-

- - base-dir - -groups - - no-log-init - - shell

- -comment - -help - - non- unique - - skel
-

- -create- home - - home-dir - - no- user-group - - system

-

- -defaults - -inactive - -password - - uid

- -expiredate - - key - - root - - user -group
- -gid - -no-create-home - - selinux- user
[ root@desktopX -]# use radd - -
-

Com mand history

-
The h i s t o r y com m a n d d i s p l ays a l i st of p revio u s l y executed com m a n d s p refixed w i t h a
com m a n d n u m be r.

The exc l a m a t i o n p o i n t c h a racter, ! , is a meta c h a racter t h a t is used to expa n d prev i o u s

-
com m a n d s w i t h o u t h a v i n g to rety pe t h e m . ! number expa n d s to t h e c o m m a n d matc h i n g the
n u m be r s p e c ified. ! s t ring expa n d s to t h e most recent com m a n d t h a t beg i n s w i t h t h e st r i n g
specified.

[ student@desktopX -]$ his t o ry

-

. . . Output omitted . . .
23 clear
24 who
-

25 pwd
26 ls /etc
27 uptime
28 ls - 1
-

29 date
30 history
[student@desktopX -]$ ! ls
ls - 1
-

total e
drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 6 Mar 29 21 : 16 Desktop
. . . Output omitted . . .
-

[student@desktopX -]$ ! 26
ls /etc
ab rt hosts pulse
adj time hosts . allow purple
-

aliases hosts . deny qemu-ga

- . . . Output omitted . . .
The a r row keys c a n be used to n a v i g ate t h ro u g h prev i o u s c o m m a n d l i n e s i n t h e s h e l l ' s h isto ry. U p
-
Ar row e d i t s t h e p rev i o u s com m a n d i n t h e h i story l i st. Down A r r ow e d i t s t h e n ext c o m m a n d i n
t h e h istory l ist. U s e t h i s key w h e n t h e U p Ar r ow has b e e n p ressed t o o m a ny t i m es. L e f t A r r ow
a n d Rig h t A r row m ove t h e c u rsor l eft a n d r i g h t i n t h e cu rrent c o m m a n d l i n e b e i n g e d ited.
-

- R H1 24- R H E L 7 - en -1 -20140606 17

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C h a pte r 1 . Access i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

T h e Esc+ . k e y co m b i n at i o n causes t h e s h e l l to c o p y t h e l a st word o f t h e p revious c o m m a n d o n

t h e c u rrent c o m m a n d l i n e w h e re t h e c u rsor i s . I f u s e d repeate d l y, it wi l l cont i n u e to g o t h ro u g h
-
e a r l i e r c o m m a n ds.

Editing the com mand line -

W h e n used i ntera ctive l y, bash h a s a com m a n d l i n e- e d i t i n g featu re. T h i s a l l ows t h e u s e r to use

text editor c o m m a n d s to move a ro u n d wit h i n and m o d i fy the c u rrent com m a n d bei n g typed.
-
U s i n g t h e a r row keys to m ove wit h i n the c u rre n t co m m a n d and to step t h ro u g h t h e com m a n d
h i story w a s i n t ro d u ce d e a r l i e r i n t h i s session. M o re powerfu l e d i t i n g com m a n d s a re i nt rod u ced i n
t h e fo l l ow i n g t a b l e.
-

Useful command line -editing shortcuts

S h o rtcut Desc r i p t i o n
-
Ct rl+a J u m p to the beg i n n i n g of the c o m m a n d l i ne.
Ct rl+e J u m p to the end of the com m a n d l i n e.
-
Ct rl+u C l e a r from t h e c u rs o r to t h e beg i n n i n g of the com m a n d l i ne.
Ct rl+k C l e a r from t h e c u rs o r to t h e e n d of t h e com m a n d l i n e .
-
Ct rl+Left A r row J u m p to t h e beg i n n i n g of t h e p rev ious word on t h e c o m m a n d l i ne.
Ct rl+Ri gh t Ar row J u m p to t h e beg i n n i n g of t h e next word on t h e com m a n d l i ne.
-
Ct rl+ r Searc h t h e h istory l i st o f co m m a n d s f o r a patte r n .

T h e re a re severa l ot h e r c o m m a n d l i ne-e d i t i n g c o m m a nds ava i l a b l e, but t h ese a re t h e m o s t usef u l

-
c o m m a n d s f o r beg i n n i n g users. T h e ot h e r com m a n d s can be fo u n d i n t h e bash(1 ) m a n page.

R References -

bash(1 ) , date(1 ) , file(1 ) , head(1 ), passwd( 1) , t ail(1 ), a n d wc (1 ) m a n p a g es

18 R H1 24- R H E L 7 - e n -1 -20140606 -

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-

P ractice: B a s h C o m m a n d s a n d Key b o a rd S h o rtcuts

-

P ra ct i ce: B a s h Co m m a n d s a n d Keyboa rd
-

S h o rtcuts
-

Quiz
-

M a t c h t h e fo l l ow i n g B a s h s h o rtcuts to t h e i r d e s c r i p t i o n s i n t h e ta b l e.

I IOI I
-

! number ! s t ring C t r l+ L e f t A r r ow C t r l+a

l��I
-

Ct rl+k h i s t o ry
-

Descript ion S h e l l com m a n d

J u m p to t h e beg i n n i n g of t h e prev i o u s wo rd o n
-
t h e com m a n d l i n e.

- S e p a rate com m a n d s o n t h e s a m e l i n e.

-
C l e a r f ro m t h e c u rs o r to t h e e n d of t h e co m m a n d
l i ne.
-

Re-exe c u te a rec e n t co m m a n d by m a tc h i n g t h e
-
co m m a n d n a m e.

-
S h o rt c u t u s e d to com p l ete co m m a n d s , f i l e
n a m es , a n d o p t i o n s .
-

Re-execute a s p e c i f i c co m m a n d i n t h e h isto ry l ist.

-

J u m p to the beg i n n i n g fo r the co m m a n d l i n e.

-

- R H1 24- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 19

-
C h a pte r 1 . Acces s i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

D es c r i pt i o n Shell command

D i s p l a y t h e l i st o f p rev i o u s c o m m a n d s .

C o p y t h e l a st a rg u m e n t of p rev i o u s c o m m a n d s .

20 R H1 24- R H EL7-e n -1-20140606

-

Solution
-

Solution
-

Match t h e fo l l ow i n g B a s h s h o rtcuts to t h e i r d e s c r i pt i o n s i n t h e ta b l e.

D escr i p ti o n S h e l l com m a n d

J u m p to t h e b eg i n n i n g of t h e p revi o u s word o n C t r l + L e f t A r row

t h e co m m a n d l i ne.
-

- S e p a rate co m m a n d s o n t h e s a m e l i n e. .
I

- C l e a r f r o m t h e c u rs o r to t h e e n d of t h e co m m a n d Ct rl+k
l i ne.
-

Re-ex e c u t e a rec e n t co m m a n d by m a tc h i n g t h e ! s t ring

... c o m m a n d n a m e.

-
S h o rt c u t u s e d to com p l ete c o m m a n d s, f i l e Tab
n a m es , a n d o p t i o n s.
-

Re-ex e c u t e a s p e c i f i c co m m a n d i n t h e h i st o ry l ist. ! number

-

J u m p to t h e b eg i n n i n g for t h e co m m a n d l i n e. Ct rl+a
-

-
D i s p l ay t h e l i st of p rev i o u s co m m a n d s . h is t o ry

- C o py t h e l a st a rg u m e n t of p rev i o u s co m m a n d s. Esc+ .

- R H1 24- R H E L7-en-1-20140606 21

-
 -

C h a pte r 1 . Accessi n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

La b: Access i n g t h e Co m m a n d L i n e
-

Perfor mance checklist -

I n t h i s l a b, you w i l l use t h e Bash s he l l to effic i e n t l y execute com m a n d s u s i n g s h e l l

meta c h a racters. -

Outcomes:
-
• Practice u s i n g s he l l com m a n d line e d i t i n g and h i story fu n c t i o n s to effi c i e n t l y execute
co m m a n d s with m i n o r c h a n g es.

• C h a n g e the pa ssword of the s t u d e n t u s e r to T3s t 1ngT1me. -

• Execute co m m a n d s used to ident ify f i l e types a n d d i s p l ay parts of text f i l es .

-
Before you begin ...
Perform t h e fo l l o w i n g steps o n desktopX.
-
1. Log i nto yo u r d e s k t opX syste m ' s g ra p h i c a l l o g i n screen a s s t ud e n t .

2. O p e n a t e r m i n a l w i n dow that w i l l p rovide a bash prom pt.

-

3. C h a n g e s t uden t ' s password to T3 s t ln gT1me.

4. D i s p l ay t h e c u rre nt t i m e a n d date. -

5. D i s p l a y the c u rrent t i m e in t h e fo l l ow i n g fo r m a t : H H : M M : S S A/PM. H i nt: The format stri ng

that d i s p l ays t h a t output i s %r. -

6. What k i n d of f i l e i s / u s r /bin/clean - binary - files? Is i t rea d a b l e by h u m a ns?

-
7. U se t h e we com m a n d a n d bash s h o rtcuts to d i s p l ay t h e size of
/ u s r /bin/clean - binary - files.
-
8. D i s p l a y the fi rst 1 0 l i nes of / u s r /bin/clean - binary - files.

9. D i s p l a y t h e l a st 10 l i nes at the botto m of t h e / u s r /bin/clean - binary - files f i l e.

-

10. Repeat the p rev i o u s com m a n d , b u t u s e the - n 20 opt i o n to d i s p l ay the l a st 20 l i nes in the
f i l e. U s e co m m a n d l i n e e d i t i n g to accom p l i s h this w i t h a m i n i m a l a m o u nt of keyst rokes.
-

11. Execute the date c o m m a n d w i t h o u t any a rg u m e nts to d i s p l ay the c u r re n t date and t i me.

12. Use bash h i story to d i s p l ay j u st the t i me. -

13. F i n i s h yo u r sess i o n with t h e bash s h e l l .

-

22 R H 1 24- R H E L 7 - e n -1 -20140606 -

-
-

Sol ution
-

Solution
-

I n t h i s l a b, you w i l l use t h e B a s h s h e l l to effic i e n t l y execute co m m a n d s u s i n g s h e l l

m eta c h a ra cters.
-

O utcomes:
- • Practice using s h e l l c o m m a n d l i n e editing and h istory f u n c t i o n s to effic i e n t l y execute
co m m a n d s w i t h m i n o r c h a n g es.

- • C h a n g e t h e password of t h e s t u d e n t user to T3s t 1 n gT1me.

• Execute com m a n d s used to i d e n t i fy file types and d is p l a y pa rts of text f i l es.

-
Before you begin ...
Perform the fo l lo w i n g steps o n d e s ktopX.
-
1. Log i nto you r d e s k t opX syste m ' s g ra p h i c a l l o g i n screen as st u d e n t .

2. O p e n a termi n a l w i n d ow t h a t wi l l prov i d e a bash p ro m pt.

-

S e l ect A p p l i c a t i o n s > Ut i l it i e s > Te r m i n a l .

- 3. C h a n g e s t ud e n t 's pa sswo rd to T3s t 1 ngT1me.

Use the pas swd c o m m a n d to c h a nge the password. Be s u re to p rov i d e the o r i g i n a l

- pa ssword, s t u d e n t , fi rst.

[student@desktopX - ] $ passwd
Changing password for user student .
Changing password for student .
-

( current ) UNIX password : st udent

New password : T3s t lngT1me
Retype new password : T3s t ln gT1me
passwd : all authentication tokens updated successfully .
-

- - --------- -----�

-
4. D i s p l ay t h e current t i m e a n d date.

[student@desktopX - ] $ date
Thu Apr 3 10 : 13 : 04 PDT 2014
�----� ---�-- ----- - ·--- �--� ----�------ ----��-

- 5. D i s p l a y the c u rrent time in the fo l l ow i n g fo rmat: H H : M M : S S A/PM . H i nt: The fo r m a t st r i n g

t h a t d i s p l ays t h a t o u t p u t i s %r.

- S pecify t h e +%r argument to date.

[ student@desktopX
10 : 14 : 07 AM
- ] $ d a t e +%r
,_.

6. W h a t kind of file i s / u s r / bin/clean - binary - files? I s it rea d a b l e by h u m a n s?

-

- R H124- R H E L7 -e n -1-20140606 23

-
 -

C h a pter 1 . Accessi n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

.I
Use t h e file co m m a n d to dete r m i n e i t s f i l e type.

[student@desktopX - ] $ file / u s r/bin/clean - binary - files

/usr/bin/clean- binary-files : POSIX shell script , ASCII text executable
-

7. U s e t h e we com m a n d a n d bash s h o rtcuts to d i s p l ay t h e s i z e of

/ u s r / bin/clean - binary - files.
-
The eas iest s h o rtcut to use is Esc+ . to re use the a rg u m e n t from t h e p revious co m ma n d.

[student@desktopX - ] $ w c <Esc> .
[student@desktopX - ] $ wc / u s r/bin/clean - binary - files
-

594 1780 13220 /usr/bin/clean - binary-files

-

8. D i s p l a y t h e fi rst 1 0 l i nes of / u s r / bin/clean - binary - files.

The head com m a n d d i s p l ays the beg i n n i n g of the f i l e. Did you use t h e bash s h o rtcut a g a i n? -

[student@desktopx - ] $ head <Esc> .

[student@desktopX - ] $ head / u s r/bin/clean - binary - files
# ! /bin/sh
-

#
# Script to clean binary files .
#
# JPackage Proj ect <http : //www . j package . org/>
-

#
# $Id : clean-binary-files, v 1 . 1 2006/09/19 19 : 39 : 37 fnasser Exp $

# Import j ava functions

-

[ -r "/usr/share/j ava- utils/j ava-functions" ] \ -

9. D i s p l ay t h e l a st 1 0 l i n es at t h e bottom of t h e / u s r /bin/clean - binary - files fi l e.

U s e t h e t ail com m a n d .

[ student@desktopX - ] $
[student@desktopX - ] $
tail <Esc> . -

. . Output omitted . . .
tail / u s r/bin/clean - binary - files
.

1 0. Repeat t h e p revi o us co m m a n d , b u t use t h e - n 20 o p t i o n to d i s p l ay t h e l a s t 20 l i n es i n t h e

f i l e. U s e c o m m a n d l i n e e d i t i n g to accom p l i s h t h i s w i t h a m i n i m a l a m o u nt o f keystrokes.
-

U p Ar row d i s p l ays the p revio u s co m m a n d . Ct r l +a m a kes the c u rsor j u m p to the beg i n n i n g

o f t h e l i ne. C t r l+Right Ar row j u m ps t o t h e next word, t h e n add t h e - n 2 0 o pt i o n a n d h i t
E n t e r t o execute t h e co m m a n d . -

[student@desktopX - ] $
. . . Output omitted . . .
t ail - n 20 / u s r/bin/clean - binary - files
-

11. E x e c u t e t h e d at e c o m m a n d w i t h o u t any a rg u m e nts to d i s p l ay t h e c u rrent date a n d t i m e. -

I [ student@desktopX - ] $ date
-

24 R H1 24- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 -

-
-

I Thu Apr 3 10 : 48 : 30 PDT 2014

Solution
-

i
-
12. U s e b as h h istory t o d i s p l ay j u st t h e t i m e.

D i s p l a y t h e l ist o f p revious co m m a n d s w i t h t h e h i s t o r y com m a n d to i d e n t ify t h e specific

-
d a t e command to be executed. Execute t h e com m a n d w i t h t h e ! number h istory com m a n d .

[ student@desktopX ]$
date +%X
! 44

10 : 49 : 56 AM
- -

13. Fi n i s h yo u r session with t h e bash s h e l l .

-
U s e e i t h e r exit o r t h e Ct r l +d k e y c o m b i n at i o n t o c l ose t h e s h e l l .

I [ student@desktopX ]$ - exit
-

- R H1 24- R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606 25

-
 -

C h a pter 1 . Access i n g t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

S u m m a ry
-

Acces s i n g t h e Co m m a n d L i n e Using t h e Loca l Console

U s e t h e p hys i ca l console to view o u t p u t and i n put com m a n d s w i t h correct syntax u s i n g
-
t h e bash s h e l l .

Acces s i n g t h e Co m ma n d L i n e U s i n g t h e Des ktop

-
U s e the G N O M E g ra p h i c a l e n v i ro n m e nt to l a u nc h a p p l i cations, e s p e c i a l l y the g ra p h ica l
term i n a l prog ra m .

Exec u t i n g C o m m a n d s U s i n g t h e B a s h S h e l l -

U s e t h e t a b co m p l et i o n , co m m a n d h i sto ry, a n d com m a n d l in e-ed i t i n g featu res o f t h e

B a s h s h e l l to execute co m m a n d s m o re effi c i e n t l y.
-

26 R H1 24- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 -

-
 red h at ®

®
TRAINING

C H A PT E R 2

MANAGING FILES F ROM THE

COMMAND LINE

Overview

Goal To copy, move, create, delete, and org a n ize files w h i l e

wo r k i n g from t h e B a s h s h e l l prompt.

Objectives • Identify t h e p u rpose fo r i m portant di rectories on a L i n ux

system.

• Specify files u s i n g a b s o l ute and re lative path n a mes.

• C reate, copy, move, and remove files and directories u s i n g

command- l i ne uti l it ies.

• Match o n e or more f i l e n a mes using shell expa n s i o n as

a rg u m e nts to s h e l l com ma nds.

Sections • The L i n ux F i l e System H i e ra rchy (a nd Pra c t i ce)

• Locat ing Files by N a m e (and Practice)

• M a n a g i n g Files U s i n g C o m m a nd- L i n e Too l s (and P ra c t ice)

• M atch i n g F i l e N a m e s U s i n g Pat h N am e Exp a n s i o n (and

Pract ice)

Lab • M a n a g i n g F iles with S h e l l Expa n s i o n

R H 1 24- R H E L7-en-1 -20140606 27

 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l es Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

T h e L i n u x F i l e Syste m H i e ra rc hy -

Objectives -
After com p l e t i n g t h i s sect i o n , st u d e n t s s h o u l d be a b l e to u n d e rsta n d f u n d a m e ntal f i l e system
l ayout, o rg a n i za t i o n , and the l ocat i o n of key f i l e types.
-

The file system hierarchy

A l l f i l es o n a L i n u x syste m a re stored o n f i l e systems w h i c h a re o rg a n i zed into a s i n g l e inverted -
t ree of d i recto ries, k n o w n as a file system hierarchy. T h i s t re e is i nverted because t h e root of t h e
t ree i s s a i d t o be at t h e top o f t h e h i e ra rchy, a n d t h e b ra n c h e s of d i rectories a n d s u b d i rectories
st retc h below t h e root. -

• -

I
-

• • • • • • • • • • •
bin
........ b o ot dev etc home root ru n sbin tmp usr va r
-

I I . . ..

•• . . . �
·.

....
·... . .

I , .. .... I

• • •
..
. tmp -

a l ice bob eve bin loca l sbin tmp .. ... .. . . .....

Figure 2. 1 : Significant file system directories in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 -

T h e d i rectory I is t h e root d i rectory at t h e top of t h e f i l e syste m h i e ra rchy. T h e I c h a racter

i s a l so used a s a directory separator i n f i l e names. Fo r exa m p l e, i f e t c is a s u b d i rectory of the -
I d i recto ry, we co u l d ca l l t h a t d i rectory /etc. L i kewise, i f t h e /etc d i rectory conta i n e d a file
n a m ed issue, we co u l d refe r to t h a t file a s /etc/issue.
-
S u b d i rectories of I a re used for sta n d a rd ized pu rposes to o rg a n ize f i l e s by type a n d p u r pose.
This m a kes it e a s i e r to find f i l es. Fo r exa m p le, i n the root d i recto ry, the s u b d i rectory /boot is
used for sto r i n g f i l es needed to boot the system. -

' ,......._ ,
Note
� -

T h e fo l l ow i n g t e r m s a re e n c o u ntered i n descri b i n g f i l e syste m d i rectory contents:

- static i s content that rema i n s u n c h a ng e d u n t i l ex p l i c i t l y e d ited o r reconfi g u re d .
-
- dynamic o r variable i s c o n t e n t typica l l y m o d i f i e d o r a p pe n d e d by active p rocesses.
- persistent i s content, partic u l a r l y confi g u ra t i o n sett i n g s, that re m a i n after a reboot.
- runtime i s p rocess- o r syste m-specific content o r att ri butes c l e a red d u r i n g reboot.
-

T h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e l ists some of the most i m porta nt d i rectories o n t h e system by n a m e a n d

-
p u rpose.

28 R H 1 24- R H E L 7 - e n -1-20140606 -

-
-

T h e f i l e system h i e ra rc h y
-

Important Red H a t Enterprise Linux directories

Locat i o n Pu r p o se
-

/usr I n sta l l ed softwa re, s h a red l i b ra ries, i n c l u d e fi l es, a n d static rea d -o n l y pro g ra m
data. I m portant s u b d i rectories i n c l u d e :
- - /u s r /bin: User commands.
- / u s r/sbin: System administration commands.
- / u s r /local: L ocally customized software.
-
/etc Config u ration f i l e s s p e c i f i c to t h i s syste m .
/va r Va r i a b l e data s p e c i f i c to t h i s system that s h o u l d p e rs ist betwee n boots. F i l e s
- that d y n a m i ca l l y c h a n g e (e.g. databases, ca c h e d i rectories, log f i l es, p r i nter-
s p o o l e d doc u m e nts, and webs ite content) may be fo u n d u n d e r /va r.
/run R u nt i m e data f o r p rocesses sta rted s i n c e t h e last boot. T h i s i n c l udes process
ID files a n d lock f i l es, a m o n g ot h e r t h i ngs. The contents of this d i rectory a re
recreated o n reboot. ( T h i s d i rectory c o n s o l idates /va r / r u n a n d /va r /loc k
from o l d e r vers i o n s of Red H a t Enterprise L i n ux.)
-

/ home Home directories w h e re reg u l a r users sto re t h e i r p e rs o n a l data a n d

confi g u ration f i l es.
-
/ root Home d i rectory for t h e a d m i n istrative s u pe r u s e r, root.
/tmp A wo r ld -writa b l e s pace for tem pora ry f i l es. F i l es w h i c h a re m o re t h a n 1 0
d a y s o l d a re d e l eted f r o m t h i s d i rectory a utomatica l l y. A n o t h e r tem pora ry
d i rectory exists, /var / t m p , i n w h i c h f i l es t h a t have n ot been accessed,
c h a n g e d , o r mod ified i n m o re than 3 0 days a re d e l eted a utomatica l l y.
-
/boot Files needed i n order to sta rt t h e boot p rocess.
/dev Conta i n s spec i a l device files which a re used by the syste m to access
-
h a rdwa re.

-
Important
I n Red H a t Enterprise L i n u x 7, f o u r o l d e r d i rectories i n I n ow have i d e ntica l contents a s
- t h e i r cou nterparts l ocated i n / u s r :
- / b i n a n d / u s r /bin.
- /sbin and / u s r /s bin.
- - /lib a n d / u s r/lib.
- /lib64 and / u s r /lib64.

- In o l d e r vers i o n s of Red H a t Enterprise L i n u x , these were d i s t i n c t d i rectories conta i n i n g

d iffe rent sets of f i l es . I n R H E L 7, t h e d i rector i es i n I a re sym b o l i c l i n ks to t h e matc h i n g
d i rectories i n / u s r .
-

- R H1 24- R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606 29

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 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l e s Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

.- _

References
I

,!, Ri -
t!i__I
hie r (7 ) m a n page

F i l esyste m H i e ra rchy Sta n d a rd

htt p : //www. pa t h n a m e.com/fhs

30 R H1 24- R H E L7-en-1-20140606 -

-
-

P ract ice: F i l e System H i e ra rchy

-

P ra ct i ce: F i l e Syste m H i e ra rc hy
-

-
Quiz

Match t h e fo l l ow i n g items to t h e i r cou nte r p a rts i n t h e t a b l e.

-

DBEJ BGB B
-
I I B
/u s r/b i n /u s r/s b i n

D i rectory p u r p o s e L o ca t i o n
-

T h i s d i rectory c o n t a i n s sta t i c , p e rs i st e n t syst e m

c o n f i g u ra t i o n d a t a .

T h i s i s t h e syst e m ' s root d i recto ry.

U s e r h o m e d i recto r i es a re l o cated u n d e r t h i s d i recto ry.

-

T h i s i s t h e root a c co u n t ' s h o m e d i recto ry.

-

T h i s d i rectory c o n t a i n s d y n a m i c c o n f i g u ra t i o n d a ta ,
-
s u c h a s F T P a n d w e b s i tes.

-
Reg u l a r user c o m m a n d s a n d u t i l i t i e s a re l ocated h e re.

System a d m i n i st ra t i o n b i n a r i e s , fo r root u s e , a re h e re.

Te m po ra ry f i l e s a re sto red h e re.

-

- R H124- R H E L7-en-1-20140606 31

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 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l es From t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

D i rectory p u rpose Loca t i o n -

C o n ta i n s d y n a m i c , n o n - pe rs i st e n t a p p l i c a t i o n r u n t i m e -

data.
-

C o n ta i n s i n sta l l e d softwa re p rog ra m s a n d l i b ra r i es .

-

32 R H 1 24- R H E L7 -e n -1 -20140606 -

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-

Solution
-

Solution
-

Ma tc h t h e fo l l ow i n g items to t h e i r c o u nte r p a rts i n t h e t a b l e.

Di recto r y p u rpose Location

T h i s d i rectory conta i n s sta t i c , p e r s i s t e n t syst e m /etc

co n fi g u ra t i o n d a t a .
-

- T h i s i s t h e syst e m ' s root d i recto ry. I

-
U s e r h o m e d i recto ries a re l o cated u n d e r t h i s d i recto ry. /home

-
T h i s i s t h e root acco u nt ' s h o m e d i recto ry. /root

T h i s d i rectory conta i n s d y n a m i c c o n f i g u ra t i o n d a t a , /va r

s u c h a s F T P a n d websites.
-

Re g u l a r u s e r co m m a n d s a n d u t i l i t i e s a re l ocated h e re. /u s r/b i n

-

- Syste m a d m i n i st ra t i o n b i n a r i e s , fo r root use, a re h e re. /u s r/s b i n

- Te m p o ra ry fi l es a re sto red h e re. /t m p

-
C o n t a i n s d y n a m i c , n o n - p e rs i stent a p p l icat i o n r u n t i m e /ru n
data.
-

C o n t a i n s i n sta l l e d softwa re p ro g ra m s a n d l i b ra r i es. /u s r

-

- R H1 24- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 33

-
C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i les Fro m the C o m m a n d L i n e

Locat i n g F i l es by N a m e

O bject ives
After c o m p l e t i n g t h i s secti o n , stu d e n t s s h o u l d b e a b le t o correct l y u s e a b s o l ute path n a mes,
c h a n g e a work i n g d i rectory, a n d use c o m m a n d s to d ete r m i n e d i rectory l o c a t i o n s and contents.

A b so l u t e pat h s a n d re l a t i ve pat h s
I
I
home

home var

al e
ic bob eve log
I I

.�·
· log -- 1mesfages
...,
.
meslagel
l '"I

Figure 2.2: The common file browser view (left) is equivalent to the top-down view (right)

The path of a f i l e o r d i rectory specifies its u n i q u e f i l e system location. Fo l l o w i n g a f i l e path

traverses o n e o r more n a med s u b d i rectories, d e l i m ited by a fo rward s l a s h ( / ) , u nt i l the
dest i nation is reached . Sta n d a rd file behavior definitions apply to d i rectories (a lso ca l l ed folders)
t h e s a m e as other f i l e types.

I m p o rta nt
A l t h o u g h a Space is a n accepta b l e c h a racter i n L i n u x file n a mes, a s p a c e is t h e
d e l i miter used b y t h e comma n d s h e l l f o r c o m m a n d syntax interp retat i o n . New
a d m i n i strators a re a d vi sed to avo i d using s pa ces i n file n a mes, since file n a mes that
i n c l u d e s p a ces frequently res u l t i n u n de s i re d command execution behavior.

Absol ute p a t h s
A n absolute path i s a fully qualified n a me, beg i n n i n g at the root (!) d i rectory a n d specifying each
s u b d i rectory t raversed to reach a n d u n i q u ely re p resent a s i n g l e f i l e. Every f i l e i n a file system has
a u n i q u e a bsol ute path n a me, recog n ized w i t h a simple r u l e: A path name w i t h a fo rward s l a s h
( / ) a s t h e fi rst c h a ra cter is a n a bs o l ute p a t h n a me. For exa m p le, t h e a b s o l ute p a t h n a m e f o r t h e
system m e s s a g e l og f i l e i s /var /log/messages. Absol ute p a t h n a m es c a n b e long to type, s o
files may a l so b e l ocated relatively.

W h e n a u s e r logs in a n d opens a com m a n d w i n d ow, t h e i n i t i a l l ocation i s n o r m a l l y t h e user's

h o m e d i recto ry. System p rocesses also have an i n i t i a l d i recto ry. Users and p rocesses navigate to
other d i rectories as needed; the terms working directory o r current working directory refer to t h e i r
current location.

34 R H1 24- R H E L7-en-1-20140606
-

N a v i g a t i n g paths
-

R e l at i v e pat h s
L i ke a n a bsol ute p a t h , a relative path identifies a u n iq u e f i l e , s pecify i n g o n l y t h e p a t h n e cessa ry
-
to rea c h the f i l e from the wo r k i n g d i rectory. Recog n i z i n g re l a t ive path n a m e s fo l l ows a s i m p l e
r u l e: A p a t h n a m e w i t h anything other than a forwa rd s l a s h ( / ) as a fi rst c h a racter is a relat ive
path n a m e. A user i n the /var d i rectory co u l d refe r to the message log f i l e re l a t i ve l y a s
-
log/messages.

Fo r sta n d a rd L i n u x file systems, t h e path name of a file, i n c l u d i n g a l l I c h a racters, m a y b e n o

-
m o re t h a n 4 0 9 5 bytes l o n g . Each c o m p o n e n t of t h e path n a m e separated by I c h a racters may
b e no m o re t h a n 255 bytes l o n g . File n a mes c a n u s e a n y U T F-8 encoded U n icode c h a racter
except I and t h e NUL c h a racter. (ASC I I c h a racters req u i re one byte; ot h e r Latin, Greek, H e b rew,
-
or Cyri l l ic c h a racters take two bytes; re ma i n i n g c h a racters in t h e U n icode Basic M u l t i l i n g u a l
P l a n e take t h ree; a n d n o c h a racter w i l l take m o re t h a n fo u r bytes.)
-
L i n u x f i l e systems- i n c l u d i n g , but not l i m ited to, ext4, X FS , BTR FS, G FS2, and G l u st e r FS-are case­
sensit ive. C reat i n g FileCase . txt and filecas e . txt in the same d i rectory res u l t s in two
u n i q u e f i l es. A l t h o u g h m a n y n o n - L i n u x file syste m s a re s u p p o rted in L i n u x , each has u n i q u e
-
f i l e n a m i n g r u l es. Fo r exa m p l e, t h e u bi q u itous V FAT fi l e system i s n o t case-sensit ive a n d a l l ows
o n l y one of the two exa m p l e fi l es to be created. H oweve r, V FAT, a l o n g w i t h M i c rosoft 's N T FS a n d
A p p l e ' s H FS+, h a s case preserving behavior. A l t h o u g h t h ese f i l e systems a re not case-s e n s i t ive
-
(e nforced p r i m a r i l y to s u p port backwa rd compat i b i l ity), t h ey d o d i s p l a y f i l e n a m e s w i t h t h e
o r ig i n a l ca p ita l ization used w h e n t h e fi l e w a s c reated.
-

Navigating paths
The pwd com m a n d d i s p l ays t h e fu l l path n a m e of t h e c u rrent l ocati o n , w h i c h h e l ps d eterm i n e
-
a p p rop riate syntax f o r rea c h i n g f i l e s u s i n g re l a t ive p a t h n a m es. T h e ls com m a n d l ists d i rectory
contents for t h e s peci fi ed d i rectory o r, if n o d i rectory i s g iv e n , for t h e c u rrent d i recto ry.

-
[student@desktopX -]$
rI /home/student pwd

[student@desktopX -]$ l
Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public Templates Videos
s

[student@desktopX -]$
-

- U se t h e c d co m m a n d t o c h a n g e d i rectories. W i t h a wo r k i n g d i rectory o f / home/ s t u d e n t ,

relat ive p a t h syntax is s h o rtest to rea c h t h e Videos s u b d i recto ry. The Docume n t s s u b d i rectory
i s then rea c h e d u s i n g a b s o l ute path syntax.

[student@desktopX -]$ cd Videos

-

[student@desktopX Videos] $ pwd

/home/student/Videos
[student@desktopX Videos] $ cd /home/student /Docume n t s
-

[student@desktopX Documents]$ pwd

/home/student/Documents
[student@desktopX Documents]$ c d
[student@desktopX -]$ pwd
-

/home/student
- [student@desktopX -]$
T h e s h e l l p rog ra m p ro m pt d i s p l ays, for brevity, o n l y t h e l a st component o f t h e c u r re n t d i rectory
-
path. For / home/ s t u d e n t /Video s, only Videos d i s p l ays. At any t i me, ret u r n to the u s e r ' s
h o m e d i rectory u s i n g c d without specify i n g a d e st i n a t i o n . T h e pro m pt d i s p l ays t h e tilde (-)
c h a racter when the u s e r ' s c u rrent d i rectory i s t h e i r h o m e d i rectory.

- R H 1 24- R H E L7-e n-1-20140606 35

-
 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i ng F i l es Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

T h e t o u c h c o m m a n d n o r m a l l y u pd ates a f i l e ' s t i mesta m p to t h e c u rre nt d a t e a n d t i m e w i t h o u t

o t h e rwise modifying it. T h i s i s usef u l for c reat i n g e m pty f i l es, w h i c h can b e used for p ra ct ice,
-
s i n ce "to u c h i n g " a f i l e n a m e that does not exist causes the f i l e to be created. U s i n g t o u c h ,
p ract ice f i l e s a re c reated i n t h e Docume n t s a n d Videos s u b d i rectories.

[student@desktopX
-

[student@desktopX
-]$ touch Videos/blockbus t e r l . ogg

[student@desktopX
-]$ touch Videos/blockb u s t e r 2 . ogg

[ student@desktopX
-]$ touch Documents/t hesis_ch ap t e r l . odf

[student@desktopX
-
-]$ touch Docume n t s / t hesis_chapt e r 2 . odf
-]$

-·
T h e l s co m m a n d has m u lt i p l e o pt i o n s for d i s p l a y i n g att r i b utes o n f i l es. T h e m ost co m m o n a n d
usefu l a re - 1 ( l o n g l is t i n g format), - a (a l l f i l es, i n c l ud e s hidden f i l es), a n d - R (recursive, to i n c l u d e
t h e contents o f a l l s u b d i rectories). -

[student@desktopX - ] $ ls
total 15
-1

drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 7 14 : 02 Desktop

-

drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Documents

drwxr-xr - x . 3 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Downloads
drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Music
drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Pictures
-

drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Public

drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Templates
drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Videos
[student@desktopX - ] $ l s - a
-

total 15
d rwx - - - - - - . 16 student student 4096 Feb 8 16 : 15
drwxr-xr - x . 6 root root 4096 Feb 8 16 : 13
-

- rw- - - - - - - . 1 student student 22664 Feb 8 00 : 37 . bash_history

- rw- r- - r- - . 1 student student 18 Jul 9 2013 . bash_logout
- rw- r- - r - - . 1 student student 176 Jul 9 2013 . bash_profile
- rw- r - - r- - . 1 student student 124 Jul 9 2013 . bashrc
-

drwxr-xr - x . 4 student student 4096 Jan 20 14 : 02 . cache

drwxr -xr - x . 8 student student 4096 Feb 5 11 : 45 . config
drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 7 14 : 02 Desktop
drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Documents
-

drwxr -xr-x . 3 student student 4096 Jan 25 20 : 48 Downloads

drwxr-xr-x . 11 student student 4096 Feb 6 13 : 07 . gnome2
drwx- - - - - - . 2 student student 4096 Jan 20 14 : 02 . gnome2_private
-

- rw- - - - - - - . 1 student student 15190 Feb 8 09 : 49 . ICEauthority

drwxr-xr - x . 3 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 . local
drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Music
drwxr-xr - x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Pictures
-

d rwxr-xr-x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Public

drwxr-xr-x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Templates
drwxr -xr-x . 2 student student 4096 Jan 9 15 : 00 Videos
-

[student@desktopX - ] $
-
T h e two specia l d i rectories a t t h e top o f t h e l is t i n g refe r t o t h e c u rrent d i rectory ( . ) a n d t h e
parent d i rectory ( ) . T h e s e s p e c i a l d i rectories exist i n every d i rectory o n t h e syst e m . T h e i r
• .

u s ef u l ness w i l l b e c o m e a p pa re n t w h e n f i l e m a n a g e m e n t c o m m a n d s a re practiced. -

36 R H 1 24- R H E L 7 - e n -1-20140606 -

-
-

Navigating paths
-

A Important
T
-

F i l e n a m es b eg i n n i n g w i t h a dot ( . ) i n d icate f i l es hidden from n o r m a l view u s i n g ls

and o t h e r commands. T h i s i s not a s e c u rity featu re. H id d e n files keep necessary u s e r
- confi g u ra t i o n f i l es f r o m c l utte r i n g h o m e d i rectories. M a ny co m m a n d s process h i d d e n
f i l es o n l y with specific com m a n d - l i n e o p t i o n s , preve n t i n g o n e u s e r ' s confi g u ra t i o n f r o m
b e i n g accidenta l l y c o p i e d to o t h e r d i rectories o r u s e rs.
-

To p rotect file contents from i m p ro p e r viewing req u i res t h e u s e of file permissions.

[student@desktopX -]$ ls - R
-
Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures Public Templates Videos
. /Desktop :
. /Documents :
thesis_chapter1 . odf thesis_chapter2 . odf
-

-
. /Downloads :
. /Music :
. /Pictures :
. /Public :
. /Templates :
-

. /Videos :
blockbuster1 . ogg blockbuster2 . ogg
[student@desktopX -]$
-

-
T h e cd co m ma n d h a s m a ny o p t i o n s . A few a re so usef u l as t o be wort h pract i c i n g e a r l y a n d u s i n g
ofte n . T h e co m m a n d cd - c h a n g e s d i rectory to t h e d i rectory w h e re t h e u s e r w a s previous to t h e
c u rre nt d i recto ry. Watch as t h i s u s e r ta kes a d va ntage o f t h i s b e h a v i o r to a l ternate between two
-
d i rectories, u s ef u l when process i n g a series of s i m i l ar tasks.

[student@desktopX -]$ cd Videos

[student@desktopX Videos]$ pwd
/home/student/Videos
-

[student@desktopX Videos]$ cd /home/st u d e n t /Document s

[student@desktopX Documents]$ pwd
/home/student/Documents
-

[student@desktopX Documents]$ cd -
[student@desktopX Videos]$ pwd
/home/student/Videos
[student@desktopX Videos]$ cd -
-

[ student@desktopX Documents]$ pwd

/home/student/Documents
[student@desktopX Documents]$ cd -
-

[student@desktopX Videos]$ pwd

/home/student/Videos
[student@desktopX Videos]$ cd
[student@desktopX -]$
-

- R H1 24- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 37

-
 -

C h a pter 2 . M a n a g i n g F i l e s Fro m t h e Co m m a n d L i n e
-

T h e cd . . com m a n d u s e s t h e . . h i d d e n d i rectory to move u p o n e l eve l to t h e parent d i recto ry,

without n e ed i n g to k n ow t h e exact parent n a m e. T h e other h i d d e n d i rectory ( . ) specifies t h e
-
current directory o n com m a n d s i n w h i c h t h e c u rrent l ocat i o n i s e i t h e r t h e s o u rce o r dest i n a t i o n
a rg u ment. avo i d i n g t h e need to type o u t t h e d i rectory's a b s o l ute path n a m e .

[student@desktopX Videos] $ pwd

/home/student/Videos
-

[student@desktopX Videos]$ cd
[student@desktopX Videos] $ pwd
.

/home/student/Videos
-

[student@desktopX Videos] $ c d
[student@desktopX -]$ pwd
/home/student
[student@desktopX -]$ cd
-

[ student@desktopX home]$ pwd

. .

/home
[student@desktopX home]$ cd
-

[student@desktopX /]$ pwd

[student@desktopX /]$ cd
I

[student@desktopX -]$ pwd

-

/home/student
[student@desktopX -]$ -

R References -

info libc ' file n ame resolu t ion ' (GNU C Library Reference Manual)
•Section 11.2.2 F i l e n a m e reso l ut i o n -

b a s h ( 1) , cd(1), ls(1), pwd (1 ) , u nicode(7 ) , a n d u t f - 8(7 ) m a n pages

-
U T F-8 and U n icode
http://www. u tf-8.com/

38 R H 1 24- R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606 -

-
-

Practice: Locat i n g F i l es a n d D i rectories

-

P ra ct i ce: Locat i n g Fi l es a n d D i recto ries

-

-
Quiz
Match t h e fo l l owi n g items to t h e i r cou nterparts i n t h e t a b l e.
-

Act i o n to a c co m p l i s h Co m m a n d

L i st t h e c u r re n t u s e r ' s h o m e d i rectory ( l o n g fo r m at) i n

-
s i m p l est synta x , w h e n i t i s n ot t h e c u r re n t l ocat i o n .

- Ret u r n to t h e c u r re n t u s e r ' s h o m e d i recto ry.

-
Dete r m i n e t h e a bs o l ute p a t h n a m e of t h e c u r r e n t locat i o n .

-
Ret u rn to t h e m ost p rev i o u s wo r k i n g d i recto ry.

M ove u p two l eve l s f ro m t h e c u r re n t l o cat i o n .

L i st t h e c u r re n t l oca t i o n ( l o n g fo r m a t ) w i t h h i d d e n f i l e s .
-

M ove to t h e b i n a r i e s l o cat i o n , from a ny c u r r e n t l ocat i o n .

-

M ove u p to t h e pa re nt of t h e cu r re n t l oc a t i o n .
-

M ove to t h e b i n a r i e s l ocat i o n , fro m t h e root d i rectory.

-

- R H124- R H E L 7 - en -1 -20140606 39

-
 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l es Fro m t h e Co m m a n d L i n e

Solution
-

M a t c h t h e fo l l ow i n g items to t h e i r cou nterparts i n t h e tab l e.

Action to a ccomp l is h Com m a n d

L i st t h e c u r re n t u s e r ' s h o m e d i rectory ( l o n g f o r m at) i n Is -I �

s i m p l est sy n t a x , w h e n i t i s not t h e c u r re n t l ocat i o n . -

Ret u r n to t h e c u r re n t u s e r ' s h o m e d i recto ry. cd -

-
Dete r m i n e t h e a bs o l ute p a t h n a m e of t h e c u r re n t l oca t i o n . pwd

-
Ret u r n to t h e m ost p rev i o u s wo r k i n g d i recto ry. cd -

M ove u p two l eve l s f r o m t h e c u r re n t l ocat i o n . c d . . /. .

L i st t h e c u rrent l o c a t i o n ( l o n g format) w i t h h i d d e n f i l es. Is -a l

-

M ove to t h e b i n a r i e s l ocat i o n , from a ny c u r re n t l ocat i o n . cd / b i n

-

M ove u p to t h e p a re n t of t h e c u rrent l ocat i o n . cd ..

-

M ove to t h e b i n a r i e s l o cat i o n , f ro m t h e root d i rectory. cd b i n

-

40 R H 1 24- R H E L 7 - e n -1-20140606 -

-
 M a n a g i n g F i l e s U s i n g C o m m a n d - L i n e Too l s

M a n a g i n g F i l es U s i n g C o m m a n d - L i n e Too l s

O bj ect ives
After c o m p leting t h i s sect i o n , students s h o u l d be a b l e to c reate, co py, l i n k , move, a n d remove
f i l es a n d s u b d i rectories in various d i rectories.

Co m m a n d - l i n e fi l e m a n a g e m e n t
F i l e m a na g e m e n t i nvolves c reat i n g , d e l e t i n g , copying, a n d moving f i l es. Add iti o n a l l y, d i rectories
c a n b e c reated, d e l eted, copied, and m oved to help o rg a n ize f i l es l o g i c a l ly. When wo r k i n g at the
co m m a n d line, file m a n a g e m e n t req u i res a wa re n ess of t h e c u rrent w o r k i n g d i rectory to choose
e i t h e r a bs o l ute o r re lat ive path syntax as most efficient for t h e i m m e d iate task.

File management commands

<note) (note)
A c t i v i ty S i ng l e s o u rce M u l t i p l e sou rce
<5l
Copy f i l e cp f i l e1 f i l e 2 c p f i l e1 f i l e2 f i l e3 d i r
<1l <4l
M ove f i l e mv f i l e1 f i l e2 mv f i l e1 f i l e2 fi l e3 dir
<5l
Re m ove f i l e r m f i l e1 rm -f f i l e 1 f i l e2 f i l e3
<6l
C reate d i re ctory m kd i r d i r m kd i r -p p a r1 /p a r2 /d i r
<2l <4l
Copy d i rectory c p - r d i r1 d i r2 c p -r d i r1 d i r2 d i r3 d i r4
<3l <4l
M ove d i rectory mv d i r1 d i r2 mv d i r1 d i r2 d i r3 d i r4
<2l <5l
R e m ove d i rectory r m -r d i r1 rm -rf d i r1 d i r2 d i r3
Ol
N ote: The res u l t i s a re n a me.
<2l
The " re c u rsive" option is req u i red to p rocess a s o u rce d i recto ry.
<3l
l f d i r2 exists, t h e res u l t is a m ove. If d i r2 doesn't exist , t h e res u l t is a
re n a m e.
<4l
T h e l a st a r g u m e n t m u st be a d i recto ry.
<5l
use c a u t i o n w i t h "force" o pt i o n ; you w i l l not be prom pted to confi r m
yo u r a ct i o n .
<6l
use c a u t i o n with " c reate parent" option; typing errors a re not c a u g h t .

C reate d i rectories
The mkdir c o m m a n d c reates o n e o r m o re d i rectories o r s u b d i recto ries, genera t i n g e r ro rs if
t h e file name a l ready exists o r w h e n atte m pt i n g to cre ate a d i rectory i n a parent d i rectory
t h at d o e s n ' t exist . The -p parent o p t i o n c reates m i s s i n g pa rent d i rectories for the re q u ested
desti n at i o n . Be cautious when u s i n g mkdir - p, s i n ce a c c i d e n t a l s p e l l i ng m ista kes c reate
u n i ntended d i rectories without g e n e ra t i n g error messages.

[ s t ud e n t@des ktopX -]$ mkdir Video/Watched

m k d i r : cannot c r e a t e d i r e c t o ry · video/Watc h ed ' : No s u c h file or d i r e c t o r y

The m kdir fa i l ed because Videos was m i s s p e l l e d . "Video" does n ot exist as a locat i o n i n w h i c h

to c reate t h e Wat ched s u b d i rectory. I f a p were u s e d , t h e user wou l d not have received a n e r r o r
-

m e s s a g e a nd n o w h a v e t w o d i rectories, Video a n d Videos.

[ s t u d e n t@des k t o pX - ] $ mkdir Videos/Watched

[ s t u d e n t@d e s k t opX - ] $ cd Docume n t s

R H 1 24 - R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 41
 -

C h a pter 2 . M a n a g i ng F i l e s Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

[student@desktopX Documents]$ mkdir P roj ectX Proj ectY

-

[ student@desktopX Documents]$ mkdir -p Thesis/Chapt e r 1 Thesis/Chapt e r 2

[student@desktopX Documents]$ c d
Thesis/Chap t e r 3

[ student@desktopX -]$ ls - R Videos Docume n t s

Documents :
-

ProjectX P r oj ectY Thesis thesis_chapterl . odf thesis_chapter2 . odf

Documents/Proj ectX :
-

Documents/Proj ectY :
Documents/Thesis :
-

Chapter1 Chapter2 Chapter3

Documents/Thesis/Chapter1 :
-

Documents/Thesis/Chapter2 :
Documents/Thesis/Chapter3 :
-·

Videos :
blockbuster1 . ogg blockbuster2 . ogg Watched -

Videos/Watched :
[ student@desktopX -]$
-

T h e l a st m k d i r c reated t h ree Cha pterN s u bd i rectories with o n e co m m a n d . T h e - p parent option -

c reated t h e missing parent d i rectory Thesis.

Copy files -

T h e c p c o m m a n d copies o n e o r m o re fi l es to become new, i n d e pe n d e n t f i l es. Syntax a l l ows

copy i n g an e x i st i n g f i l e to a new f i l e i n the cu rrent o r a nother d i recto ry, o r copying m u l t i p l e f i l e s
into a n o t h e r d i rectory. I n a ny dest i n a t i o n , new f i l e n a mes m u st be u n i q u e. I f t h e new f i l e n a m e i s -

not u n i q u e, t h e copy co m m a n d w i l l ove rw rite t h e e x i s t i n g f i l e.

[student@desktopX -]$ cd Videos

[student@desktopX Videos] $ c p block b u s t e r1 . ogg bloc kbus t e r 3 . ogg
-

[student@desktopX Videos]$ ls
total 0
- rw- rw- r - - . 1 student student 0 Feb 8 16 : 23 blockbusterl . ogg
-1

- rw- r w- r - - . 1 student student 0 Feb 8 16 : 24 blockbuster2 . ogg

·-·

- r w- rw- r - - . 1 student student 0 Feb 8 19 : 02 blockbuster3 . ogg

d r wx rwxr - x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 8 23 : 35 Watched
[ student@desktopX Videos]$
-

W h e n copy i n g m u lt i p l e f i l es with o n e c o m m a n d , t h e l a st a rg u m e n t m u st b e a d i rectory. Copied -

f i l es reta i n their ori g i n a l n a m es i n t h e n ew d i recto ry. Conf l i c t i n g fi l e n a m e s t h a t exist at a

dest i n a t i o n m a y be ove rwritte n. To p rotect users from accidenta l l y ove rwrit i n g d i rectories with
-
contents, m u l t i p l e f i l e c p com m a n d s i g n o re d i rectories specified as a sou rce. Copy i n g n o n - e m pty

i
d i rectories, with contents, req u i res the - r recursive option.

[ student@desktopX Videos]$ cd . . /Docume n t s

[ student@desktopX Documents]$ cp t h e sis_chap t e r 1 . odf
-

cp : omitting directory 'Thesis '

t h e sis_chapt e r 2 . odf Thesis Proj ectX I

I
[student@desktopX Documents]$ cp - r Thesis Proj ectX
[ student@desktopX Documents]$ c p t he sis_chap t e r 2 . odf
-

[ student@desktopX Documents]$ ls - R
Thesis/Chap t e r 2 /

42 R H1 24- R H EL 7-e n-1-20140606 -

-
-

Com m a n d - l i n e f i l e m a n a g e m e n t

Proj ectX Proj ectY Thesis thesis_chapter1 . odf thesis_chapter2 . odf

-

. /Proj ectX :
-
Thesis thesis_chapter1 . odf thesis_chapter2 . odf
. /Proj ectX/Thesis :
. /Proj ectY :
-

. /Thesis :
-
Chapter1 Chapter2 Chapter3
. /Thesis/Chapter1 :
. /Thesis/Chapter2 :
thesis_chapter2 . odf
-

. /Thesis/Chapter3 :
[student@desktopX Documents]$
-

- I n t h e fi rst c p com m a n d , Thesis fa i l ed to copy, b u t t hesis_c hapt e r l . odf a n d

t hesis_chapt e r 2 . o d f succeeded. U s i n g t h e - r recursive option, copy i n g Thesis s u cceed ed.

-
M ove fi l e s
The mv command re n a m e s f i l e s i n t h e same d i rectory, o r re l ocates f i l e s to a new d i recto ry. F i l e
contents re m a i n u n c h a n g ed. F i l es m oved to a d iffe re nt f i l e system req u i re c rea t i n g a n e w f i l e by
- copy i n g the s o u rce f i l e, t h e n d e l e t i n g the s o u rce f i l e. A l t h o u g h norma l l y t ra n s pa re n t to the user,
l a rge f i l e s may t a ke n o ti cea b l y l o n g e r to m ove.

[student@desktopX Videos]$ cd
[student@desktopX Documents]$
- . . /Docume n t s

total 0
ls - 1

- rw- rw- r - - . 1 student student 0 Feb 8 16 : 24 thesis_chapter1 . odf

- rw- rw- r - - . 1 student student 0 Feb 8 16 : 24 thesis_chapter2 . odf
[student@desktopX Documents]$
-

[student@desktopX Documents]$
mv thesis_c h ap t e r 2 . odf t h esis_chapter2_reviewed . odf

[student@desktopX Documents]$
mv t hesis_c hap t e r 1 . odf Thesis/Chap t e r 1

..
ls - lR

total 16
-

drwxrwxr-x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 11 11 : 58 Proj ectX

drwxrwxr-x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 11 11 : 55 Proj ectY
drwxrwxr-x . 5 student student 4096 Feb 11 11 : 56 Thesis
-

- rw- rw- r - - . 1 student student 0 Feb 11 11 : 54 thesis_chapter2_reviewed . odf

. /Proj ectX :
total 0
-

- rw- rw- r - - . 1 student student 0 Feb 11 11 : 58 thesis_chapter1 . odf

- rw- rw- r - - . 1 student student 0 Feb 11 11 : 58 thesis_chapter2 . odf
. /Proj ectX/Thesis :
-

total 0
. /Proj ectY :
-

total 0
. /Thesis :
total 12
-

drwxrwxr - x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 11 11 : 59 Chapter1

drwxrwxr-x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 11 11 : 56 Chapter2
drwxrwxr-x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 11 11 : 56 Chapter3
-

-
. /Thesis/Chapter1 :

- R H124- R H E L 7-e n -1-20140606 43

-
 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l es Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

total 0
-

- rw- rw- r- - . 1 student student e Feb 11 11 : 54 thesis_chapter1 . odf

. /Thesis/Chapter2 :
total e
-

- rw-rw- r- - . 1 student student 0 Feb 11 11 : 54 thesis_chapter2 . odf

. /Thesis/Chapter3 :
-

total 0
[student@desktopX Documents]$ -

T h e fi rst mv com m a n d i s a n exa m p l e o f rena m i n g a f i l e . T h e seco n d causes t h e f i l e t o b e

re l ocated t o a nother d i rectory. -

R e m ove fi l es a n d d i re c t o r i e s
Defa u l t syntax for rm d e l etes fi les, but not d i rectories. D e l e t i n g a d i recto ry, and pote n t i a l l y m a n y -
s u b d i rectories a n d fi l es b e l ow it, req u i res the - r recursive o pt i o n . There is n o com m a n d - l i n e
u n d e l ete fea t u re, n o r a t ra s h b i n from w h i c h to restore.

[student@desktopX Documents]$ pwd

-

/home/student/Documents
[ student@desktopX Documents]$ r m thesis_chap t e r 2_reviewed . odf
[ student@desktopX Documents]$ rm Thesis/Chap t e r l
rm : cannot remove ' Thesis/Chapter1 ' : Is a directory
-

[student@desktopX Documents]$ rm - r Thesis/Chapt e r l

[student@desktopX Documents]$ ls Thesis
total 8
-1 -

drwxrwxr-x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 11 12 : 47 Chapter2

drwxrwxr-x . 2 student student 4096 Feb 11 12 : 48 Chapter3
[student@desktopX Documents]$ r m - ri Thesis
rm : descend into directory 'Thesis ' ? y
-

rm : descend into directory 'Thesis/Chapter2 ' ? y

rm : remove regular empty file 'Thesis/Chapter2/thesis_chapter2 . odf ' ?
rm : remove directory ' Thesis/Chapter2 ' ? y
y

rm : remove directory 'Thesis/Chapter3 ' ? y

-

rm : remove directory 'Thesis ' ? y

[student@desktopX Documents]$ -

After r m fa i l ed t o d e l ete t h e Chap t e r 1 d i recto ry, t h e - r recursive o pt i o n s u cceed e d . T h e l a st

-
rm com m a n d pa rsed into e a c h s u b d i rectory f i rst, i n d iv id u a l l y d e l et i n g conta i n e d f i l es before
re moving each now-em pty d i recto ry. U s i n g - i w i l l i n t e ract ive l y p rompt for each d e l et i o n . This is
essentia l l y t h e o p posite of - f which will force t h e d e l et i o n w i t h o u t p ro m p t i n g t h e u s e r.
-

T h e rmd i r com m a n d d e l etes d i rectories o n l y if e m pty. Removed d i recto ries ca n not b e

u n d e l eted.

[student@desktopX Documents]$ pwd

-

/home/student/Documents
[student@desktopX Documents]$ rmdir P roj ectY
[ student@desktopX Documents]$ rmdir Proj ectX
-

rmdir : failed to remove ' Proj ectX ' : Directory not empty
[student@desktopX Documents]$ rm - r P roj ectX
[student@desktopX Documents]$ ls - lR -

total e
[student@desktopX Documents]$ -

T h e rmd i r com m a n d fa i l e d t o d e l ete n o n - e m pty P r o j ec tx, b u t rm - r s u cceed e d .

-

44 R H 1 24- R H E L 7 - e n -1 -20140606 -

-
-

Command-line file ma nagement

-

References
-

cp(1), m k d i r (1 ) . mv(1 ) , rm(1 ) , a n d rmd i r (1 ) m a n pages

- R H 1 24- R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606 45

-
 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i ng F i l e s Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

P ra ct i ce: Com m a n d - L i n e Fi l e M a n a g e ment

-

Guide d exercise -

I n t h i s l a b , you w i l l practice efficient tec h n i q u e s for c rea t i n g a n d o rg a n i z i n g f i l e s u s i n g

d i rectories, f i l e copies, a n d l i n ks. -

Outcomes:
S t u d e nts w i l l practice c reat i n g , rea rra n g i n g , and d e l et i n g f i l es. -

Before you begin...

Log i nto yo u r student acco u n t on serverX. Beg i n i n yo u r home d i recto ry. -

0 1. I n yo u r h o m e d i recto ry, create sets o f e m pty practice fi l es to u s e f o r t h e re m a i n d e r of

t h i s l a b . If t h e i nt e n d e d co m m a n d is not i m med iate l y recog n i ze d , stude nts a re expected -

to use the g u ided s o l u t i o n to see and practice how the t a s k is acco m p l i s he d . U s e the s h e l l
t a b c o m p l et i o n to l ocate a n d c o m p l ete p a t h n a mes m o re e a s i l y.
-
C reate s i x f i l es with n a m e s of t h e form songX . mp3.

C reate six f i l es with names of the form s napX . j pg.

-

C reate s i x f i l es with n a m e s of the form filmX . avi.

-
I n e a c h set, re p l a ce X with t h e n u m be rs 1 t h ro u g h 6.

[student@serverx - ] $ t o u c h song1 . mp3 song2 . mp3 song3 . mp3 song4 . mp3 song5 . mp3

[ student@serverx
-
song6 . mp3
- ] $ t o u c h snapl . j pg snap2 . j pg snap3 . j pg s n ap4 . j pg snap5 . j pg

[ student@serverX
snap6 . j pg
- ] $ t o u c h filml . avi film2 . avi film3 . avi film4 . avi film5 . avi

[student@serverx
-
film6 . avi
- ] $ ls -1

0 2. Fro m yo u r home d i rectory, move t h e s o n g f i l e s into you r Music s u b d i recto ry, t h e

s n a ps h ot f i l e s i nto yo u r Pic t u r e s s u b d i recto ry, a n d t h e movie f i l es i nto your Vid eos
s u b d i recto ry. -

W h e n d i s t r i b u t i n g f i l e s fro m o n e l ocat i o n to m a ny l ocat i o n s , fi rst c h a n g e to t h e d i rectory

conta i n i n g the source f i l es. Use the s i m p l est path synta x , a bs o l ute o r re l at ive, to reac h -

t h e d e st i n a t i o n f o r e a c h f i l e m a n a g e m e n t task.

[student@serverX - ] $ m v song1 . mp3 song2 . mp3 song3 . mp3 song4 . mp3 song5 . mp3 -

[student@serverX - ] $ mv
song6 . mp3 Music
snapl . j pg snap2 . j pg snap3 . j pg snap4 . j pg snap5 . j pg

[ student@serverx - ] $ mv
snap6 . j pg Pic t u res -
filml . avi film2 . avi film3 . avi film4 . avi film5 . avi

[student@serverX - ] $ ls
film6 . avi Videos
-1 M u s ic Pic t u res Videos
-

D 3. I n yo u r h o m e d i recto ry, create t h ree s u b d i rectories for o rg a n i z i n g yo u r f i l e s i nto p rojects.

Ca l l t hese d i rectories f r iends, family, and wo r k . C reate a l l t h re e with o n e com m a n d . -

46 R H 1 24- R H E L7-e n-1-20140606 -

-
-

G u i d e d exercise
-

Yo u w i l l u s e t h ese d i rectories to rea rra n g e yo u r f i l es into p rojects.

[student@serverX -]$ mkdi r

[student@serverX -]$ ls
-
friends family wo rk
-1

D 4. Yo u w i l l co l l ect some of the new fi l es i nto t h e p roj ect d i rectories for fa m i l y and friends.
U s e a s m a n y c o m m a n d s as needed. Yo u d o not have to use o n l y o n e com m a n d as i n t h e
exa m p l e. For e a c h project, fi rst c h a n g e to t h e p roject d i rectory, t h e n c o p y t h e s o u rce f i l es
into t h i s d i recto ry. Yo u a re m a k i n g copies, s i n c e you wi l l keep t h e ori g i n a l s after g i v i n g
t h e s e proj ects to fa m i l y a n d friends.
-

Copy f i l es (a l l types) conta i n i n g n u m b e rs 1 a n d 2 to t h e friends fo l d e r.

- Copy f i l e s (a l l types) conta i n i n g n u m be rs 3 a n d 4 to t h e fa m i l y fo l d e r.

W h e n co l l e ct i n g fi les from m u lt i p l e l ocat i o n s i n to o n e l ocat i o n , c h a n g e to t h e d i rectory

- that w i l l conta i n the destination f i l es. Use the s i m p l est path synta x , a b s o l ute o r re l a t i ve, to
reac h the s o u rce for each f i l e m a n a g e m e n t task.

[student@serverX -]$ cd f riends

[student@serverX friends]$ cp -/Music/song 1 . mp3 -/Music/song2 . mp3 -/Pic t u res/
-

[student@serverX friends]$ ls
snap1 . j pg -/Pic t u res/snap2 . j pg -/Videos/film1 . avi -/Videos/film2 . avi .

[student@serverX friends]$ c d . . /family

-1

[student@serverX family]$ c p -/Music/song3 . mp3 -/Music/song4 . mp3 -/Pic t u res/

-

[student@serverX family]$ ls
snap3 . j pg -/Pic t u res/s nap4 . j pg -/Videos/film3 . avi -/Videos/film4 . avi
- -1

D 5. Fo r yo u r w o r k p roj ect, you w i l l c reate a d d i t i o n a l copies.

-

[student@serverX family]$ cd . . /wo r k

[student@serverX work]$ c p -/Music/song5 . mp3 -/Music/song6 . mp3 -/Pic t u res/
[student@serverX work]$ ls
-
snapS . j pg -/Pic t u res/snap6 . j pg -/Videos/film5 . avi -/Videos/film6 . avi
-1

-
D 6. Yo u r p rojects a re n o w d o n e. Time to c l e a n u p t h e p rojects.

C h a n g e to yo u r home d i recto ry. Atte m p t to de lete both the fa m i ly and f r i e n d s p rojects

-
with a s i n g l e rmdir com m a n d .

[student@serverX work]$ c d
[student@serverX -]$ rmdir family f riends
rmdi r : failed to remove ' family ' : Directory not empty
-

-
rmdir : failed to remove ' friends ' : Directory not empty
U s i n g the r md i r co m m a n d s h o u l d fa i l s i n ce both d i rectories a re n o n - e m pty.
-
D 7. U s e a n o t h e r co m m a n d that w i l l s u cceed i n d e l e t i n g both t h e fa m i l y a n d f r i e n d s fo l d e rs.

[student@serverX -]$
[student@serverX -]$
- rm - r family f riends
ls - 1

- R H 1 24- R H E L 7-e n-1 -20140606 47

-
 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l e s Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

D 8. D e l ete a l l t h e files i n t h e work p roject. b u t d o not d e l ete t h e wo r k d i rectory.

[student@serverx -]$ cd
[student@serverX work]$
-
wo rk
rm song5 . mp3 song6 . mp3 snap5 . j pg snap6 . j pg film5 . avi

[student@serverx work]$
film6 . avi
-
ls - 1

D 9. F i n a l l y, from yo u r h o m e d i rectory, use t h e r m d i r co m m a n d to d e l ete t h e w o r k d i rectory.

-
The c o m m a n d s h o u l d s ucceed n ow that it i s e m pty.

[student@serverx work]$ cd
[student@serverx -]$ rmdir
[student@serverx -]$ ls
-
wo rk
-1

48 R H 1 24- R H E L7-en-1-20140606 -

-
-

M a tc h i n g F i l e N a m e s U s i n g Pat h N a m e E x p a n s i o n
-

M atc h i n g Fi l e N a m es U s i n g Pat h N a m e
-

E xp a n s i o n
-

Objectives
- After c o m p l et i n g t h i s sect i o n , s t u d e n t s s h o u l d be a b l e to u s e m eta-cha racte rs a n d e x pa n s i o n
tec h n i q ues to i m p rove f i l e m a n a g e m e n t p rocess i n g eff i c i e n cy.

-
File globbing: path name ex pansion
T h e B a s h s h e l l has a path n a m e - m a t c h i n g capa b i l ity h isto rica l l y ca l l ed globbing, a b b reviated from
-
t h e "g l o b a l com m a n d " file path e x p a n s i o n p ro g ra m of early U N I X . T h e B a s h g l o b b i n g feat u re,
co m m o n l y c a l led pattern matching o r " w i l d ca rd s " , ma kes m a n a g i n g l a rg e n u m be rs of files e a s i e r.
U s i n g meta-characters that "expa n d " to match f i l e a n d path n a mes b e i n g soug ht, co m m a n d s
-
p e rfo r m o n a focused s e t o f fi l es at o n ce.

Patt e r n m a t c h i n g

-
G l o b b i n g is a shell c o m m a n d - p a rs i n g opera t i o n t h a t expa n d s a w i l d ca rd pattern i nto a l i st of
matc h i n g path n a m es. C o m m a n d- l i n e meta-cha racters a re re p l aced by t h e match l ist p r i o r to
com m a n d execut i o n . Patte rns, e s p e c i a l l y s q u a re- b rac keted c h a racter c l asses, t h at d o not ret u r n
-
matches d i s p l ay t h e orig i n a l patte r n requ est a s l itera l text. T h e fo l l ow i n g a re co m m o n m eta­
c h a racters and pattern c l asses.

-
Patte rn M at c h e s

*
Any st r i n g of 0 or m o re c h a racte rs.
? A n y s i n g l e c h a racter.
-

- T h e cu rrent u s e r ' s h o m e d i recto ry.

- u s e r name U s e r u s e rname ' s h o m e d i recto ry.
-
-+ The cu rrent worki n g d i recto ry.
-- T h e prev i o u s wo r k i n g d i rectory.
-
[abc . . . ] A n y o n e c h a racter i n t h e e n c l osed c l ass.
[!abc . . . ] Any o n e c h a racter not i n t h e e n c l osed c l ass.
-
["abc . . . ] Any o n e c h a racter not i n t h e e n c l osed c l ass.
<n
[ [: a l p h a :] ] A n y a l p h a betic c h a racter.
-
[ [: l ower:] ] A n y l ower-case c h a racter.° )
<n
[ [ : u p pe r : ] ] A n y u p p e r-case c h a racter.
- [ [: a l n u m :J J A n y a l p h a betic c h a racter o r d i g it. m
)
[ [: p u nct:JJ Any p r i n ta b l e c h a racter n ot a space o r a l p h a n u m e r i c .°
<1l
- [ [: d i g it:] ] A n y d i g it, 0 - 9.
[ [: s pace: ] ] A n y o n e w h itespace c h a racter; m a y i n c l u d e tabs, newl i ne, o r ca r r i a g e
ret u r n s , a n d f o r m f e e d s as we l l a s spa ce. <n
-
<1l
N ote p re-set P O S I X c h a racter c l ass; a dj u sts fo r c u rrent loca l e.

- R H 1 24- R H E L 7-en -1 -20140606 49

-
 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l e s Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

A s a m p l e s e t o f f i l es is u s e f u l to d e m o n st rate expa n s i o n .

[student@desktopX -]$ mkdir glob ; cd glob

[student@desktopX glob] $ touch alfa b r avo charlie delta echo able
-

[student@desktopX glob] $ ls
baker cast dog easy

able alfa baker bravo cast charlie delta dog easy echo
[student@desktopX glob] $
-

Fi rst. s i m p l e pattern matches u s i n g * a n d ?. -

[student@desktopX glob] $ ls a *
able alfa
[student@desktopX glob] $ ls * a *
-

able alfa baker bravo cast charlie delta easy

[student@desktopX glob] $ ls [ ac ] *
able alfa cast charlie
[student@desktopX glob]$ ls ????
-

able alfa cast easy echo

[student@desktopX glob] $ ls ?????
baker bravo delta
-

[student@desktopX glob] $
-

T i l d e ex p a n s i o n
T h e t i l d e c h a racter (-), w h e n fo l l owed by a s l a s h d e l i m iter, matches t h e c u rrent u s e r ' s h o m e
d i recto ry. W h e n fo l l owed by a stri n g o f c h a racters u p to a s l a s h , it w i l l b e i n t e r p reted as a -

u s e r n a me, if o n e matches. I f n o u s e r n a m e matches, t h e n a n a ct u a l t i l d e fo l l owed by t h e string of

c h a racters w i l l be ret u r n e d .

[student@desktopX glob] $ ls -/glob

-

able alfa baker bravo cast charlie delta dog easy echo
[student@desktopX glob] $ e c h o -/glob
/home/student/glob
-

[student@desktopX glob]$
-

B ra c e ex p a n s i o n
B race ex p a n s i o n is u s e d to g e n e rate d i s c retio n a ry strings of c h a racters. B races conta i n a c o m m a ­
-
s e p a rated l ist of s t r i n g s , o r a seq u e n ce ex p ress i o n . The res u lt i n c l udes t h e t e x t preced i n g o r
fo l l owing t h e brace d e f i n i t i o n . Brace expa n s i o n s may be neste d , o n e i n s i d e a n ot h e r.

[student@desktopX glob] $ e c ho {Sunday , Monday , Tuesday , Wednesday} . log

Sunday . log Monday . log Tuesday . log Wednesday . log
-

[student@desktopX glob] $ echo file{ l . . 3} . txt

filel . txt file2 . txt file3 . txt
[ student@desktopX glob] $ echo file{ a . . c } . t x t
-

filea. txt fileb . txt filec . txt

[student@desktopX glob]$ e c h o file { a , b } { l , 2 } . txt
fileal . txt filea2 . txt filebl . txt fileb2 . txt
[student@desktopX glob] $ echo file{a{ l , 2 } , b , c } . tx t
-

fileal . txt filea2 . txt fileb . txt filec . txt

[student@desktopX glob] $ -

C o m m a n d s u bst i t u t i o n
-
Co m m a n d s u bst i t u t i o n a l l ows t h e o u t p u t of a co m m a n d to re p l ace t h e command itse l f. Co m m a n d
s u bst itution occ u rs w h e n a co m m a n d i s e n c losed w i t h a beg i n n i n g d o l l a r s i g n a n d p a re n t h es i s ,
$ ( command ) , o r with b a c k t i c k s , · command ' . T h e form with b a c kt i c ks i s o l d e r, a n d h a s t w o
--

50 R H 1 24-R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 -

-
-

F i l e g l o b b i n g : path n a m e expa n s i o n
-

d isadva ntages: 1 ) it ca n b e e a s y to v i s u a l l y c o n f u s e b a c kt i c ks with s i n g l e q u ote m a rks, a n d 2 )

backticks ca n not b e n ested i n s i d e b a c kt i c ks. T h e $ ( command ) f o r m c a n n e st m u lt i p l e com m a n d
-
expa n s i o n s i n s i d e e a c h other.

[student@desktopX glob]$ echo Today is

Today is Wednesday .
' d ate +%A ' .

[student@desktopX glob]$ echo The time

-

The time is 26 minutes past 11AM .

is $ ( date +%M } minutes past $ ( da t e +%1%p ) .

- [student@desktopX glob]$
Prote c t i n g arg u m e n t s fro m expa n s i o n
-
M a n y c h a racters h a ve s pecia l m ea n i n g i n t h e B a s h s h e l l . To i g n ore m eta-c h a racter s p e c i a l
mea n i n g s , quoting a n d escaping a re u s e d to p rotect t h e m f r o m s h e l l e x p a n s i o n . T h e backs l as h
(\) is a n e s c a p e c h a racter i n Bash, p rotect i n g t h e s i n g l e fo l l ow i n g c h a racter fro m s p e c i a l
-
interpreta t i o n . To p rotect l o n g e r c h a racter st r i n g s, s i n g l e ( ' ) or d o u b l e q u otes ( " ) a re used to
e n c l ose st r i n g s.

-
Use d o u b l e q u ot a t i o n m a rks to s u p p ress g l o b b i n g a n d s h e l l expa n s i o n , but sti l l a l l o w com m a n d
a n d va ria b l e s u bs t i t u t i o n . Va r i a b l e s u bst i t u t i o n i s concept u a l l y identica l to com m a n d
s u bstitut i o n , b u t may u s e opt i o n a l b race syntax.

[student@desktopX glob]$ host=S ( host n ame ) ; e c h o Shost

-

desktopX
[student@desktopX glob]$ echo " * * * * * h o s t n ame is $ { h o s t } * * * * * "
hostname is desktopX
-

[student@desktopX glob]$ echo You r u s e rname variable is \$USER .

Your username variable is $USER .
* * * * * * * * * *

-
[student@desktopX glob]$
- U s e s i n g l e q u ot a t i o n m a rks t o i nterpret a// text l itera l l y. Obse rve t h e d i fferen ce, o n both screen
a n d keyboard, betwee n the s i n g l e q u ote ( ' ) and the c o m m a n d substitution ba c k t i c k ( ' ) . Besides
s u ppress i n g g l o b b i n g and s h e l l expa n s i o n , q u otat i o n s d i rect the s h e l l to a d d itio n a l l y s u p press
- com m a n d and va r i a b l e s u bst i t u t i o n . The q u est i o n m a r k is a m eta-c h a racter that a l so needed
p rotect i o n from e x pa n s io n .

[student@desktopX glob]$ echo "Will var iable

Will variable desktopX evaluate to desktopX?
- $ho s t evaluate to S ( host name } ? "

[student@desktopX glob]$ echo ' Will var iable

Will variable $host evaluate to $( hostname) ?
Shost evaluate to S ( host name } ? '

-
[student@desktopX glob]$

-
R References
bash(1), cd(1), glob(7), isalpha(3), ls(1), pat h_resolu t ion(7) , a n d pwd(1) m a n
- pages

- R H1 24- R H E L 7 -en -1-20140606 51

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 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l e s Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

P ract i ce: Pat h N a m e Expa n s i o n

-

Quiz -

Match the fo l l owing items to their counterparts i n the tab l e.

G�881 IG
-

* [ [:d i g i t : ] ] * [ [: u p p e r: ] ] *

Req u ested m a t c h to f i n d Patte r n s

O n l y f i l e n a m e s b e g i n n i n g w i t h " b"

O n l y filena mes e n d i n g in " b"

O n l y f i l e n a m e s c o n ta i n i n g a " b "
-

O n l y f i l e n a m e s w h e re f i rst c h a ra cte r i s n ot " b " -

O n l y f i l e n a m e s a t l east 3 c h a ra c t e rs i n l e n g t h -

O n l y f i l e n a m e s t h a t conta i n a n u m b e r -

-
O n l y f i l e n a mes t h a t b e g i n w i t h a n u p pe r-case l ette r

52 RH124- R H E L 7-e n-1-20140606 -

-
 Sol ution
-

Solution
-

Match t h e fo l l ow i n g ite m s to t h e i r cou nterparts i n t h e ta b l e.

Req u ested m a t c h to fi n d Pa tte r n s

O n l y f i l e n a m es beg i n n i n g w i t h " b " b*

-

O n l y f i l e n a mes e n d i n g i n " b " *b

-

O n l y f i l e n a m es c o n ta i n i n g a " b " *b*

-

O n l y f i l e n a m es w h e re f i rst c h a ra c t e r i s not " b " [ ! b] *

-

-
O n l y f i l e n a m es at l east 3 c h a racters i n l e n g t h ???*

O n l y f i l e n a m es t h a t conta i n a n u m be r * [ [:digit:] ] *

-
O n l y f i l e n a m es t h a t beg i n w i t h a n u p p e r-case l ette r [ [: u pper: ] ] *

- R H 1 24- R H E L7-e n-1-201 40606 53

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 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l es Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e
-

L a b : M a n a g i n g F i l es wit h S h e l l Expa n s i o n
-

Perfor mance checkl ist -

I n t h i s l a b, you w i l l c reate, m ove, a n d re m ove f i l es a n d fo l d e rs u s i n g a variety of fi l e n a m e

matc h i n g s h o rtcuts. -

Outcomes:
Fa m i l ia rity and p ractice with many fo r m s of w i l d c a rd s for l o ca t i n g and u s i n g f i l es. -

Before you begin ...

Perform the fo l l ow i n g steps o n serverX u n l ess d i rected ot h e rw i se. Log in a s s t ud e n t a n d beg i n
t h e l a b i n t h e h o m e d i recto ry.

1. To b e g i n , c reate sets o f e m pty p ractice f i l e s to u s e i n t h i s l a b. I f a n i n t e n d e d s h e l l e x pa n s i o n -

s h o rtcut i s n ot i m m e d i a t e l y recog n ized, st u d ents a re e x p e c t e d to u s e t h e s o l u t i o n to l e a r n

a n d practi ce. Use s he l l t a b co m p l et i o n to l ocate f i l e pat h n a m e s e a s i l y.

C reate a tota l of 12 f i l e s with n a m e s tv_seasonX_episodeY . ogg. R e p l a ce X w i t h t h e

season n u m ber a n d Y w i t h t h a t season's e p i sode, f o r t w o s e a s o n s o f s i x e p i sodes e a c h .

2. A s t h e author of a s u ccessf u l series of myste ry nove l s , yo u r next bestse l l e r ' s

c h a pters a re bei n g ed ited f o r p u b l is h i n g . C reate a tota l of e i g h t f i l e s w i t h n a mes
mys t e ry_ch ap t e rX . odf. R e p l a c e X with t h e n u m be rs 1 t h ro u g h 8. -

3. To o rg a n ize the TV e p isod es, c reate two s u b d i rectories n a m e d seasonl and season2 u n d e r
t h e exist i n g Videos d i recto ry. U s e o n e com m a n d .
-

4. M ove t h e a p p ropriate TV episodes i nto t h e season s u b d i recto r i es. U s e o n l y two c o m m a n d s ,

specify i n g desti n a t i o n s u s i n g re l a t ive syntax.

5. To o rg a n ize t h e mystery book c h a pters, c reate a two- level d i rectory h i e ra rc hy w i t h o n e

c o m m a n d . C reate my_b e s t s e lle r u nd e r t h e exist i n g Documen t s d i recto ry, a n d c h a p t e r s
b e n e a t h t h e n e w my_bes t selle r d i recto ry. -

6. U s i n g o n e c o m m a n d , c reate t h ree more s u b d i rectories d i re ct l y u n d e r t h e my_be st selle r

d i recto ry. N a m e these s u b d i rectories edi t o r , plot_ch a nge, a n d vaca t ion. The create -

parent option is not n e e d e d s i n c e t h e my_b e s t selle r parent d i rectory a l ready exists.

7. C h a n g e to t h e chap t e r s d i recto ry. U s i n g t h e h o m e d i rectory s h o rtcut to specify t h e -

s o u rce f i l es, move a l l book c h a pters i nto t h e c h ap t e r s d i recto ry, w h i c h i s n o w yo u r c u rrent

d i recto ry. What i s t h e s i m p l est syntax to spec ify t h e dest i n at i o n d i rectory?
-
8. The fi rst two c h a pters a re sent to the editor for revi ew. To re m e m b e r to not mod ify t hese
c h a pters d u ri n g t h e rev i ew, m ove t h ose two c h a pters o n l y to the e d i t o r d i rectory. Use
relative syntax sta r t i n g from the c h a p t e r s s u b d i rectory. -

9. C h a pt e rs 7 a n d 8 w i l l be w ritten w h i l e o n vacat i o n . M ove t h e f i l es from chapt e r s to

vac a t ion. Use one com m a n d w i t h o u t w i l d c a rd c h a racte rs. -

10. With one c o m m a n d , c h a n g e t h e w o r k i n g d i rectory to the s e a s o n 2 T V e p i sodes l ocat i o n , t h e n

copy t h e fi rst episode o f t h e s e a s o n to t h e vacat ion d i recto ry.
-

54 R H 1 24- R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606 -

-
-

Perfo r m a n c e check l i st
-

11. W i t h o n e co m m a n d , change t h e work i n g d i rectory to vacation, then l ist its f i l es. Episode
2 i s a l so needed. Ret u r n to t h e season2 d i rectory using the previous working directory
-
s h o rtcut. T h i s w i l l s u cceed if t h e l a st d i rectory c h a n g e was acco m p l i shed w i t h o n e com m a n d .
C o p y t h e e p i s o d e 2 f i l e i nto vac ation. Ret u r n to vacat ion u s i n g t h e s h o rtcut a g a i n .

- 12. C h a pters 5 a n d 6 may need a p l ot c h a n g e. To p revent t h ese c h a n g es f r o m m o d ify i n g orig i n a l

f i l es, copy both f i l es i n to plot_change. M ove u p o n e d i rectory to vacat i o n ' s p a rent
d i recto ry, then u s e o n e co m m a n d from t h e re.

13. To t ra c k c h a n g es, m a ke t h ree backups of c h a pter 5. C h a n g e to the plot_change d i recto ry.

Copy mys t e ry_c h ap t e r s . odf as a n e w f i l e n a m e to i n c l ude t h e f u l l date ( Ye a r- M o- Da).
- M a ke a n o t h e r copy a p p e n d i n g the cu rrent t i m esta m p (as the n u m be r of seco n d s s i n ce
t h e epoch) to e n s u re a u n i q u e fi l e n a m e. A l s o m a ke a copy a p p e n d i n g t h e c u rrent user
($USER) to t h e file n a me. See t h e s o l u t i o n for t h e syntax of a n y you a re u n s u re of ( l i ke what
- a rg u m e n t s to pass t h e date).

N ote, we cou l d a l so m a ke t h e same backups of t h e c h a pte r 6 files too.

-

14. The p l o t c h a n g es were not s u ccessfu l . D e l ete t h e plot_c hange d i recto ry. F i rst, d e l ete
a l l of the f i l e s in the plot_c hange d i recto ry. C h a n g e d i rectory up one l ev e l because t h e
- d i rectory ca n n ot be d e l eted w h i l e it i s t h e w o r k i n g d i recto ry. Try to d e l ete t h e d i rectory u s i n g
t h e r m com m a n d without t h e recursive o pt i o n . T h i s att e m pt s h o u l d fa i l . Now u s e t h e rmd i r
co m m a n d , w h i c h w i l l succeed.
-

15. When t h e vaca t i o n is over, t h e vac ation d i rectory is n o longer needed. D e l ete it using the
rm co m m a n d w i t h t h e recursive option.
-
W h e n f i n i s h e d , ret u r n to t h e h o m e d i recto ry.

- R H 1 24- R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606 55

 -

C h a pter 2. M a n a g i n g F i l e s Fro m t h e Co m m a n d L i n e

Solution
-

I n t h i s l a b , you w i l l c reate, m ove, a n d re m ove f i l e s a n d fo l d e rs u s i n g a va r i ety of f i l e n a m e

matc h i n g s h o rtcuts. -

Outcomes:
Fa m i l ia rity and p ractice w i t h many forms of w i l d ca rd s for l ocati n g a n d using fi l es. -

Before you begin ...

Perform the fo l l ow i n g steps o n serverX u n l ess d i rected ot herwise. Log in a s s t ud e n t a n d beg i n -

t h e l a b i n t h e h o m e d i rectory.

1. To beg i n , c reate sets o f e m pty practice f i l e s t o u s e i n t h i s l a b. I f a n i n t e n d e d s h e l l e x p a n s i o n -

s h o rtcut i s not i m m e d iately recog n ized, s t u d e n t s a re expected to u s e t h e s o l u t i o n to l e a r n

a n d practice. U s e s h e l l t a b co m p l e t i o n to l ocate f i l e path n a m es e a s i l y.
-

C reate a tota l of 1 2 fi l es with n a m es tv_seasonX_episodeY . ogg. R e p l a c e X w i t h t h e

season n u m be r a n d Y with t h a t sea s o n ' s e p i s o d e, f o r t w o seasons o f s i x e p i sodes e a c h .

I� student@serverX - ] $ touch tv_season { 1 . . 2 }_episode{ 1 . . 6 } . ogg

I [student@serverX - ] $ ls -1

2. As t h e a u t h o r o f a s u ccessfu l series o f mystery nove l s, you r next bestse l l e r ' s

c h a pters a re b e i n g ed ited f o r p u b l i s h i n g . C reate a tot a l o f e i g h t f i l es w i t h n a mes -
mys t e ry_chapt e rx . odf. Replace X with t h e n u m be rs 1 t h ro u g h 8.

! [student@serverX
[student@serverX - �'"$
��--
- ] $ t ouch myst e ry_chap t e r { 1 . . 8} . odf

I
ls - 1
---�----

-
3. To o rg a n ize t h e TV e p i sodes, c reate two s u b d i rectories n a m e d season l a n d season2 u n d e r
t h e exist i n g Videos d i rectory. Use o n e co m m a n d .

[student@serverx
[student@serverx
- ] $ mkdir Videos/seaso n { 1 . . 2 }
- ] $ ls - lR

-
4. Move the a p p ro p riate T V episodes i nto t h e s e a s o n s u b d i rectories. Use o n l y two c o m m a n d s ,
specify i n g d e st i n a t i o n s u s i n g re l a t ive syntax.

lI.�[student@serverX
tudent@serverX - ] $ mv tv_season1* Videos/season1
-

[student@serverx
- ] $ mv tv_seaso n 2 * Videos/season2
- ] $ ls - lR
-
..

5. To orga n ize t h e mystery book c h a pt e rs, c reate a two- l eve l d i rectory h i e ra rc h y w i t h o n e

com m a n d . C reate my_b e s t seller u nd e r t h e e x i s t i n g Docume n t s d i recto ry, a n d chapt e r s -

beneath t h e n e w my_b e s t seller d i recto ry.

[student@serverx
I [student@serverX
-
- ] $ mkdir - p Docume n t s /my_best selle r/chapt e r s
- ] $ ls - lR

-
56 RH124- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606

-
-

Sol ution
-

6. U s i n g o n e co m m a n d , create t h ree more s u b d i rectories d i rect l y u nd e r the my_bes t selle r

d i recto ry. N a m e these s u b d i rectories edit o r , plo t_c hange, a n d vacat ion. T h e create

-·
ll � student@serverX -]$ � �
-
parent option is n ot needed s i n ce t h e my_b e s t selle r p a rent d i rectory a l re a d y exists.

[student@serverX -]$
mkd r Docume n t s /my_bes t s lle r / { edit o r , plot_change , vacation}
1 ls - lR
l

- 7. C h a n g e to t h e chapt e r s d i recto ry. U s i n g t h e h o m e d i rectory s h o rtcut to s p ecify t h e

s o u rce f i l es, move a l l book c h a pters i nto t h e chapt e r s d i recto ry, w h i c h is now y o u r c u rrent
d i recto ry. What i s the s i m p l est syntax to s p e c ify t h e d e s t i n a t i o n d i rectory?

1· [student@serverx -]$ cd Document s /my_be s t selle r/chapters

-

[student@serverX chapters]$
[student@serverX chapters] $
mv -/myste ry_chapte r * .
I ls - 1
L �������- �����--'

8. T h e f i rst two c h a pters a re sent to t h e editor for review. To re m e m b e r to not mod ify t h ese
-
c h a pte rs d u ri n g t h e revi ew, move those two c h a pters only to t h e editor d i recto ry. U s e
re l a t ive s y n t a x sta r ti n g from t h e chapt e r s s u b d i recto ry.

; [student@serverX chapters]$
II [student@serverx chapters]$
-
mv mys t e ry_chap t e r l . odf mys t e ry_chapte r2 . odf . . /ed i t o r

[student@serverx chapters]$
ls - 1
ls - 1 . . /editor
- L - �����

9. C h a pters 7 a n d 8 w i l l be w ritten w h i l e on va cat i o n . M ove t h e f i l es from chap t e r s to

I [student@serverX chapters]$
vacation. Use one com m a n d with out w i l d ca rd c h a racte rs.

!,.:' [ student@serverX chapters] $

i
mv mys te ry_chap t e r 7 . odf mys t e ry_chapterB . odf . . I vacation
. I

�� tudent@serverx chapters] $
ls - 1
I
..
I

-·
-
_ ls - 1 . . /vacation

- 1 0. W i t h one co m m a n d , c h a n g e t h e work i n g d i rectory to t h e season 2 TV episodes l ocat i o n , t h e n

c o p y t h e f i rst e p isode o f t h e season to t h e vacation d i recto ry.

l
i [ student@serverx chapters]$ cd -/Videos/season2
[stud � nt@serverX season2]$ cp tv_season2_episode1 . og g
vacation
-/Document s/my_best selle r /

-
.

11. W i t h o n e co m m a n d , c h a n g e t h e work i n g d i rectory to vacation, t h e n l ist i t s f i l es. E p i s o d e

2 i s a l so n e e d e d . Ret u r n to t h e season2 d i rectory u s i n g t h e previous working directory
-
s h o rtcut. This w i l l s u cceed if t h e last d i rectory c h a n g e was acco m p l ished w i t h o n e co m m a n d .
C o py t h e episode 2 f i l e i nto vacation. Ret u r n t o vacation u s i n g t h e s h o rtcut a g a i n .

[student@serverX season2] $ cd -/Documents/my_be s t seller/vacation

[student@serverX vacation] $ ls
-

[student@serverX vacation] $ c d -
-1

- [student@serverX season2] $ cp tv_season2_episode2 . ogg -/Document s/my_best selle r/

[student@serverx vacation] $ cd -
vacation

-
[student@serverX vacation] $ ls - 1
k- - ��������- -����- -���

- R H 1 24- R H E L7-en-1-20140606 57

-
C h a pter 2. M a n a g i ng F i l e s Fro m t h e C o m m a n d L i n e

12. C h a pt e rs 5 a n d 6 may need a p l ot c h a nge. To p revent t h e s e c h a n g e s f r o m modify i n g orig i n a l

fi les, copy both f i l e s i nto plo t_c h ange. M ove u p o n e d i rectory to vac a t io n ' s parent

-i
d i recto ry, t h e n use o n e co m m a n d from t h e re.

[student@serverx
[ student@serverX
[student@serverx
vacation] $ cd . .
my_bestseller]$ cp
my_bestseller]$ ls
I
I
chap t e r s/my s t e ry_c hapt e r [ 56 ] . odf plot_change

[student@serverx my_bestseller]$ ls
- 1 chapters
- 1 plot_change
L_ ���������������������--�������������

13. To track c h a n ges, m a ke t h re e b a c k u p s of c h a pter 5. C h a n g e to t h e plot_change d i recto ry.

Copy mys t e ry_c hap t e r s . odf as a new f i l e n a m e to i n c l u d e t h e f u l l date (Year-M o-Da).
M a ke a n ot h e r copy a p p e n d i n g the c u rrent t i m esta m p (as the n u m be r of seco n d s s i nce
t h e epoch) to e n s u re a u n i q u e file n a m e. A l s o m a ke a copy a p p e n d i n g t h e cu rrent user
($USER) to t h e f i l e n a m e. See t h e s o l ution for t h e syn t a x of a ny you a re u n s u re of ( l i ke what -

a rg u m e nts to pass t h e date).

[student@serverx my_bestseller]$ cd plot_change

[student@serverx plot_change] $ c p mys t e ry_c hap t e r 5 . odf
-

mys t e ry_chapter5_$ ( da t e +

[student@serverx plot_change]$ c p myst e ry_chapt e r 5 . odf

%F ) . odf
mys t ery_chapter5_$ ( date +

[student@serverX plot_change] $ c p mys t e ry_chapt e r5 . odf

%s ) . odf

[student@serverx plot_change] $ ls
mys t e ry_chapter5_$USER . odf
-1

N ote, we cou l d a l so m a ke t h e s a m e backups o f t h e cha pter 6 f i l es too.

-
14. The p l ot c h a n ges we re not s u ccessf u l . D e l ete the plot_c h ange d i recto ry. First, d e l ete
a l l of the f i l es i n t h e plot_change d i recto ry. C h a n g e d i rectory u p one level beca u s e t h e
d i rectory can not be d e l eted w h i l e it i s t h e w o r k i n g d i recto ry. Try to d e l ete t h e d i rectory u s i n g
t h e rm c o m m a n d without t h e recursive option. T h i s atte m pt s h o u l d fa i l . N o w u s e t h e rmdir
command, w h i c h wi l l succeed.

[student@serverx plot_change] $ rm myst e r y *

-

[student@serverX plot_change] $ cd . .
[student@serverx my_bestseller]$ rm plot_c hange
rm : cannot remove ' plot_change ' : Is a directory
[student@serverx my_bestseller]$ rmdir plot_change
[student@serverX my_bestseller]$ ls -1
-

1 5. W h e n t h e vacation is ove r, t h e vacat ion d i rectory is n o l o n g e r needed. D e l ete it u s i n g t h e

r m co m m a n d with t h e recursive o p t i o n . -

W h e n f i n i s h e d , ret u r n to t h e h o m e d i rectory.

[student@serverX my_bestseller]$
[student@serverx my_bestseller]$
rm - r vacation

[student@serverX my_bestseller]$
ls - 1
cd
-

58 R H 1 24- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606
-

Solution
-

S u m m a ry
-

T h e L i n u x F i l e Syste m H i e ra rc h y
I d e ntify t h e p u rpose for top- l ev e l d i rectories i n t h e L i n u x h i e ra rc hy.
-

Locat i n g F i l e s by N a m e
I nterpret a n d a p pro priate l y u s e f u l l a n d partia l p a t h f i l e n a m e synta x .

M a n a g i n g F i l es U s i n g Co m m a n d - L i n e Too l s
Work from t h e com m a n d l i n e t o c reate, m ove, a n d d e l ete f i l es a n d d i rectories.
-

M a t c h i n g F i l e N a mes U s i n g Pat h N a m e E x p a n s i o n
Lear n how to s pecify m u lt i p l e fi l es u s i n g many w i l d ca rd tec h n i q ues.

--

- R H124- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 59

-
-

--
1

--

--

-
I

--

-
 red h at ®

®
TRAINING

C H A PT E R 3

GETTING HEL P IN RED HAT

E N TER P RISE LINUX

Overview

Goal To resolve problems by u s i ng o n - l i n e h e l p syst e m s a n d Red

H a t su pport u t i l ities.

Objectives • Use the m a n L i n u x m a n u a l read e r.

• Use t h e p i nto G N U I nfo read e r.

• U se t h e Red Hat Pac k a g e M a n a g e r ( R PM ) package

d ocu mentation.

• Use the red h a t - s u p p o rt-tool c o m m a n d .

Sections • Read i n g Documentation U s i n g m a n C o m m a nd (and

Practice)

• Read i n g Documentation U s i n g p i nto C o m m a n d (a n d

Practice)

• Reading Documentation i n /us r/sha re/doc (a n d Practice)

• Gett i n g H e l p From Red Hat (and Practice)

Lab • Viewing a n d Print i n g H e l p Doc u mentation

R H 1 24- R H E L7-e n-1-201 40606 61

 -

C h a pter 3. Gett i n g H e l p i n Red Hat E nterp rise L i n u x

Rea d i n g Doc u m e ntat i o n U s i n g m a n Co m m a n d

Objectives
After com p l et i n g t h i s sect i o n , s t u d e n t s s h o u l d be a b l e to l ocate d o c u m e ntat i o n a n d research
a n swers a b o u t commands.

I ntroducing the man command

The h i storica l L i n u x P ro g ra m m e r ' s M a n u a l , fro m w h i c h m a n pages o r i g i nate, was l a rg e e n o u g h
to b e m u l t i p l e pri nted b o o ks. E a c h conta i ned i nfo rmat i o n f o r specific types o f fi l es, w h i c h h a ve
become t h e sections l i sted b e l ow. A r t i c l e s a re refe rred to a s topics, as pages n o l o n g e r a p p l ies.

Sections o f the Linux manual -

Section Content type

1 User com m a n d s (both executable and shell programs) -

2 System ca l l s (kernel routines invoked from user space)

3 L i b ra ry f u n c t i o n s (provided by program libraries)
4 Specia l f i l e s (such as device files)
5 F i l e formats (for many configuration files and structures)
6 Games (historical section for amusing programs)
7 Conve n t i o n s . sta n d a rd s , a n d m i s ce l l a n e o u s (protocols, file systems)
-
8 System a d m i n istra t i o n a n d p r i v i l eg e d com m a n d s (maintenance tasks)
9 L i n u x ke r n e l A P I (internal kernel calls)
-

Note
-
M a n u a l section 9 is a recent a d d it i o n to L i n u x . N o t a l l m a n sect i o n l is t i n g s refere n c e it.

To d i st i n g u i s h i d e n t i c a l topic names i n d iffe rent sect i o ns, man page refe re nces i n c l u d e t h e
section n u m be r i n pa re n t h eses after t h e topic. For exa m p l e, passwd(l ) describes t h e c o m m a n d
to c h a n g e pa sswords, w h i l e passwd ( 5 ) ex p l a i n s t h e / e t c / p a s swd fi l e format f o r sto r i n g l oca l
-
u s e r accou nts.

To read specific m a n pages, use man topic. To p i c contents d i s p l ay one screen at a t i m e. U se

a r row keys for s i n g l e l i n e scro l l i n g o r t h e s pace b a r for t h e next scree n . T h e man com m a n d
s e a rches m a n u a l sect i o n s i n a config u red ord e r, d i s p l a y i n g po p u l a r sect i o n s f i rst. Fo r exa m p le,
man passwd d i s p l a ys pas swd(l ) by defa u lt. To d i s p l ay t h e man page topic from a specific
-
sect i o n , i n c l u d e t h e sect i o n n u m be r a rg u ment: man 5 pas swd d i s p l ays passwd(5).

62 R H 1 24- R H E L7-e n -1-20140606 -

-
-

I d e nt ify m a n pages by keyword

-

I dentify man pages by keyword

- The a b i l ity to eff i c i e n t l y searc h for topics and navigate man pages i s a c r i t i c a l a d m i n istration s k i l l .
T h e fo l l o w i n g ta b l e l ists basic man n a v i g a t i o n c o m m a n d s :

- Navigat ing man pages

Co m m a n d Res u l t

-
Spac e b ar S c ro l l fo rwa rd (d own) o n e s c r e e n
Page Down S c ro l l forwa rd (d own) one screen
Page Up S c ro l l b a c kwa rd (u p) o n e screen
-

DownA r row S c ro l l forwa rd (d own) one l i n e

U pA r r ow S c ro l l b a c k (u p) o n e l i n e
-
d S c ro l l forward (d own) o n e h a l f-screen
u S c ro l l backwa rd (up) o n e h a l f-screen
-
/s t ring Search forwa rd (d own) fo r s t ri n g i n t h e m a n page
n Repeat previous search fo rwa rd (d own) i n t h e m a n p a g e
-
N R e p e a t p revi o u s search bac kwa rd ( u p ) i n t h e m a n page
g G o to start of t h e m a n page.
-
G Go to e n d of t h e man page.
q E x i t man a n d ret u rn to t h e com m a n d s h e l l p ro m pt
-

Important
- When p e rfo r m i n g searc h es, s t ri ng a l l ows regular expression syntax. W h i l e s i m p l e text
(s u c h a s p a s s wd ) works a s expected, reg u l a r express i o n s use m eta-c h a ra cters (s u c h
as $, * , . , a n d ") for more s o p h i st icated pattern matc h i n g . T h e refore, sea rc h i n g with
- stri n g s which i n c l u d e program ex pressi o n m eta-ch a racters, such a s make $$$, m i g h t
y i e l d u n expected res u lts.

- Reg u l a r express i o n s a n d synta x a re d is c u s s e d i n Red Hat System Administration II, and

i n the regex(7) man topic.

- R H124- R H E L 7-en-1-20140606 63

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 -

C h a pter 3. Gett i n g H e l p i n Red Hat Enterprise L i n u x

Searching for man pages by keyword

A keyword search of m a n pages is perfo r med u s i n g man - k keyword, w h i c h d i s p l ays a l i st of -

keyword -m atc h i n g m a n page topics w i t h sect i o n n u m be rs.

[student@desktopX -]$ m a n - k pas swd

checkPasswdAccess ( 3 ) query the SELinux policy database i n the kernel .
-

chpasswd ( 8 ) update passwords in batch mode

ckpasswd ( 8 ) nnrpd password authenticator
fgetpwent_r ( 3 ) get passwd file entry reentrantly
getpwent_r ( 3 ) get passwd file entry reentrantly
-

passwd ( 1 ) - update user ' s authentication tokens

sslpasswd ( 1ssl) compute password hashes
-

passwd ( 5 ) password file

passwd . nntp ( 5 ) - Passwords for connecting to remote NNTP servers
passwd2des ( 3 ) - RFS password encryption -

Po p u l a r syste m a d m i n istration topics a re i n sect i o n s 1 (user c o m m a nds), 5 (fi l e fo r m ats), a n d 8

(ad m i n istrative c o m m a n d s). Ad m i n istrators u s i n g certa i n t ro u b l eshoot i n g too l s a l so use section
2 (system ca l l s) . The re m a i n i n g sect i o n s a re co m m o n l y for prog ra m m e r refe rence o r a d va n ced
-
a d m i n istra t i o n .

Note -

Keyword s e a rc h e s re l y on a n i n dex g e n e rated by t h e mandb(8) com m a n d , w h i c h m u st

be r u n as root. T h e c o m m a n d r u n s d a i l y t h ro u g h c r o n . d aily, o r by anac r o n t a b -
wit h i n a n h o u r of boot if out of date.

Important
T h e man com m a n d - K option performs a f u l l -text page searc h , not j u st t i t l es a n d -

descr i p t i o n s l ike t h e - k . A fu l l-text search ca n u s e g reater systems resou rces a n d take

m o re t i me.
-

R References -

man(1 ), mandb(8), man - pages(7), less(1), i n t ro(1), int ro(2), i n t ro(5), i n t ro(7),
int ro(8) man pages
-

64 R H1 24- R H E L 7 - e n -1-20140606 -

-
-

Practice : U s i n g t h e m a n Co m m a n d
-

P ra ct i ce: U s i n g t h e m a n Co m m a n d
-

-
Guided exercise
I n t h i s l a b, you w i l l p ractice f i n d i n g re l eva nt i nfo r m a t i o n by u s i n g man options a n d a rg u ments.

O utcomes
Fa m i l i a rity w i t h t h e man L i n u x m a n u a l system and practice f i n d i n g usef u l i n fo r m a t i o n by
-
searc h i n g and b rows i n g .

Before you begin ...

Pe rfo rm t h e fo l l ow i n g steps o n serverX u n l ess d i rected o t h e rw ise.

D 1. View the gedit(1) man page.

[student@serverX ] $
-
- -- -- -·--------

I
-
- ma n i g e d i t
- --
_ --------
_ ____� - ----�

- D 2. Research how to edit a specific fi l e using gedit from t h e co m m a n d l i n e.

gedit fil ename

D 3. Research the gedit o pt i o n used to b eg i n a n e d i t i n g sess i o n with the c u rsor at the end of
the f i l e.
-
gedit + fil ename

D 4. Research t h e su(1) m a n page.

[student@serverX -]$
-
����- - - · ---··---------------- ---

man 1 su
._
, __
_ ----- - ··- - - · - --- -------

D 5. Research w h a t s u does w h e n t h e use rname a rg u m e n t is o m itted.

-
s u a s s u m es a use rname of root.

D 6. Research how s u beh aves when a s i n g l e d a s h option is used.

-
s u starts a c h i l d login shell (creat i n g login e n v i ro n m e n t by s o u rc i n g login scri pts).
Without the s i n g l e d a s h , a n o n - l o g i n c h i l d s he l l i s created, matc h i n g the u s e r ' s c u rrent
en vi ro n m e nt.
-

D 7. Cons u l t t h e pas swd(1) m a n page. Dete r m i n e t h e o pt i o n s t h a t w i l l l oc k a n d u n l o c k a u s e r

acco u n t w h e n t h i s co m m a n d is used by root.

[student@serverX -]$
-

man 1 pas swd

-
pas swd - 1 username

pas swd - u use rname

-

D 8. Locate t h e two p r i n c i p l es to re m e m b e r accord i n g to t h e pas swd man page a u t h o rs.

Searc h for the word " p r i n c i p l e".
-

- R H 1 24- R H E L7-e n-1-20140606 65

-
 -

C h a pter 3. Gett i n g H e l p i n Red H a t E n t e r p rise L i n u x

• Protect yo u r password .

• C hoose a h a rd-to-g u ess password. -

D 9. C o n s u l t t h e man page d oc u m e n t i n g t h e syntax of the / e t c / pas swd fi l e. What i s stored

i n t h e t h i rd fie l d of each l i n e? -

The re l evant m a n p a g e is passwd(5), fo u n d w i t h man - f pas swd.

-
The U I D ( n u m e r i c u s e r I D) for e a c h acco u nt.

D 10. Which c o m m a n d w i l l l i st d eta i l ed i n formation a bout a z i p a rc h i ve?

-

zipinfo(1) fo u n d w i t h man - k zip

D 11. Which m a n page conta i n s a l ist of paramete rs t h at c a n b e passed to the ke r n e l at boot -

t i m e?

boo t p a r am(7 ) fo u n d with man - k boot -

D 12. W h i c h comma n d i s used to t u n e ext4 f i l e syste m p a ra m ete rs?

-
t u ne2fs(8) fou n d w i t h man - k ext4

66 R H124- R H E L7-en+ 20140606

-
 Rea d i n g Documentation U s i n g pinfo C o m m a n d

Rea d i n g D o c u m e nt a t i o n U s i n g p i nfo C o m m a n d

O bj ect ives
After c o m p l e t i n g t h i s section, students s h o u l d be a b l e t o research a n swers u s i n g G N U I nfo
d o c u m e nt a t i o n .

I nt ro d u c i n g G N U i nfo
M a n p a g es have a formal f o r m a t u s e f u l a s a c o m m a n d referen ce, b u t less usef u l a s
g e n e r a l d o c u mentation. For s u c h d o c u m e nts, t h e GNU Project deve l o ped a d ifferent o n l i n e
d o c u m e ntation system, k n ow n a s GN U i nfo. I nfo d o c u ments a re a n i m po rt a nt resou rce o n a R e d
Hat Enterp rise Lin u x system b e c a u s e m a ny f u n d a mental com pone nts a n d u t i l ities, s u c h as t h e
coreutils p a c ka g e a n d glibc sta n d a rd l i b ra ries, a re e i t h e r deve l oped by t h e GNU P roject o r u t i l ize
the i nfo d o c u ment system.

File: dir Node: Top This is the top of the INFO tree

This ( t h e Directory node ) gives a menu of maj o r t o p ic s .

Typing "q" exi t s , " ? " l i s t s a l l Info c o mm a n d s , "d" returns h e re ,
" h " g ives a p rime r t o r f i rst - timers ,
" mEmacs<Return>" visits the Emacs t o p i c , etc .

In Ema c s , you can c l i c k mou s e b u t t o n 2 o n a menu item or c ro s s r e f e r e n c e

to select i t .

* Menu:

Archiving
• Cpio : ( cpio) . C o py - i n - c o p y - o u t a rc h i v er t o t a p e o r d i s k .
• Ta r : ( ta r ) . Making tape ( o r d i s k ) a rchive s .

Basics
• Common o p t i on s : { 'oreuti.ls ) Common options .
Common o p t i o n s .
• C o reutil s : (coreutils ) . C o re GNU (file , text , shel l ) utilities .
• D a t e input f o rmats : ( c o reutil s ) Date input formats .
• F ile p e rmi s s i o n s : ( c o reutils ) File permissions .
Access mode s .
• Finding file s : ( f ind ) . Operating o n f i l e s m a t c h i n g c e rt a i n c ri t e r i a .
* ed: ( ed ) . The GNU Line Edito r .
iewing line 25/2llfl2 , 1%

Figure 3. 1 : pinto Info document viewer, top directory

I nfo d o c u m entation is struct u red as hyper l i n ke d i nfo nodes. T h i s fo rmat is more f l e x i b l e t h a n

m a n p a g e s , a l lowing t h o rou g h disc u s s i o n of c o m p l ex c o m m a n d s a n d c o n ce pts. Like m a n pages,
i nfo n odes a re read fro m t h e c o m m a n d l i ne, using either t h e info o r pinto c o m m a nd s .

S o m e c o m m a n d s a n d u t i l ities h a v e both m a n pages a n d i nfo d oc u m e ntation; u s u a l l y, t h e i nfo

d o c u m e n t a t i o n w i l l be m o re in-depth. C o m p a re the d iffe rences i n tar d o c u mentation u s i n g man
a n d pinfo:

[ s t u d e n t@d e s k topX - ] $ man tar

[ s t u d e n t@d e s k t o pX - ] $ pinto tar

The pinfo info read e r i s m o re a d v a n ced t h a n t h e orig i n a l info c o m m a n d . D e s i g n ed to match

the lynx text web b rowser keyst rokes, it a l so adds color. I nfo nodes for a p a rt i c u l a r topic are
browsed with pinfo topic. Enter only pinto for the i nfo topics d i recto ry. New docu mentation
nodes become ava i l a b l e i n pinto w h e n their co rrespondin g software p a c kages a re i nsta l l e d .

R H 1 24· R H EL 7 ·en-1-20140606 67
 -

C h a pter 3. Gett i n g H e l p i n Red Hat E n t e r p r i se L i n u x

-

GNU I nfo vs. man page navigation

-
The info co m m a n d uses d iffe rent n a v i g a t i o n keystrokes t h a n does man. T h e info c o m m a n d
wa s d e s i g n e d to match t h e keyst rokes of t h e hype rtext-awa re lynx web b rowser. C o m p a re t h e
k e y b i n d i n g s i n t h e fo l l owi n g t a b l e : -

pinfo and man, key binding comparison

N av 1 g a t 1 on pinto man

S c ro l l forward (d own) o n e screen PageDown o r Space PageDown o r Space

S c ro l l b a c kwa rd (up) one screen PageUp o r b PageUp o r b
-

D i s p l ay t h e d i rectory of topics d -
-
S c ro l l forward (down) o n e h a l f-scre e n d
-
D i s p l ay t h e p a r e n t n o d e o f a topic u -

D i s p l a y t h e top (up) of a topic HOME 1G

-
-
S c ro l l bac kwa rd (up) o n e h a l f-screen u
Scro l l forwa rd (down) to next hype r l i n k DownAr row -
-
O p e n topic at c u rsor location Enter -

Scro l l forward (d own) o n e l i n e - DownA r r ow or E n t e r

-
Scro l l b a c kwa rd (up) to p revious hype r l i n k U pA r r ow -

S c ro l l bac kwa rd (u p) o n e l i n e - UpAr row

Searc h f o r a pattern / s t ring / s t ri n g
D i s p l ay next node (c h a pter) i n topic n -

Repeat prev i o u s search forwa rd (d own) I then Enter n -

D i s p l ay p revi o u s n o d e (c ha pter) i n topic p -

-
Repeat p rev i o u s sea rc h bac kwa rd ( u p) N -

Q u i t t h e p ro g ra m q q

R References
pinfo info (Info: An Introduction)
-
• A l l Sect i o n s

pinfo pinfo (Documentation for 'pinto ')

-
• A l l Sect i o n s

The G N U Project
-
http://www.g n u .o rg/g n u/t h e g n u p roject . h t m l

pinfo(1) a n d info(1 ) m a n pages

68 R H 1 24- R H E L 7-en-1 -20140606

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Practice: U s i n g t h e p i nto Co m m a n d
-

P ra c t i ce: U s i n g t h e p i nto Co m m a n d
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- Guide d exercise

I n t h i s l a b , you w i l l b rowse G N U I nfo d o c u m e nta t i o n u s i n g c o m m a n d - l i n e too l s.

-
O utcomes
U nd e rsta n d p ro g ra m d o c u mentation i n t h e G N U I nfo node syste m .
-
Before you begin...
Perfo r m t h e fo l l ow i n g steps o n serverX u n l ess d i rected ot h e r w i se.
-
D 1. I nvoke pinfo w i t h o u t a rg u m ents.

- ii [student@serverx - ] $ pinfo
I

- D 2. Navigate to the Common o p t ions to pic.

U s e U pAr row o r DownAr row u n t i l ( c o r e u t il s ) Common o p t ions i s h i g h l i g hted.

Press Enter to view this topic.
-
D 3. B rowse t h ro u g h t h i s info topic. Lea r n if l o n g -sty l e options c a n be a b b reviated.

- Use PageUp a n d PageDown to navigate t h ro u g h t h e topic. Yes, m a n y p rog ra m s a l low

l o n g options to b e a b b reviated.

- D 4. Dete r m i n e w h a t t h e sy m b o l s - - s i g n ify w h e n u s e d as a co m m a n d a rg u m e nt.

T h e sym b o l s - - s i g n ify the end of co m m a n d options and the start of co m m a n d

- arguments i n com p l ex co m m a nds w h e re t h e s h e l l ' s c o m m a n d - l i n e pars e r m i g ht not
correct l y m a k e t h e d i s t i n c t i o n .

- D 5. Without e x i t i n g p i n f o , m ove u p t o t h e G N U Co r e u t ils n ode.

Press u to move u p to the top node of the topic.

- D 6. M ove u p a g a i n , to the top topic.

Press u a g a i n . O b s e rve that when positioned at the top of a topic node, moving u p
- ret u r n s t o t h e d i rectory o f top ics. A lternate l y, p ress i n g d from a ny l eve l o r t o p i c w i l l m ove
d i rect l y to t h e d i rectory of topics.

.. D 7. Searc h for t h e patte r n nano a n d s e l ect t h a t t o p i c .

Press I fo l l owed by t h e search patte r n " n a n o" . W i t h t h e topic h i g h l i g hted, p ress E n t e r .

-
D 8. I n t h e I n t rod u c t io n , l ocate a n d s e l e c t Command L i n e Options. B rowse t h e topic.

P ress E n t e r to s e l ect I n t r o d u c t ion, t h e n DownAr r ow a n d E n t e r to s e l ect Command

-
Line Options. Use the a r row keys to b rowse the topic.

D 9. M ove u p o n e l ev e l to ret u r n to I n t r od u c t ion. M ove to t h e next topic.

-

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C h a pter 3. Gett i n g H e l p i n Red H a t Enterprise L i n u x

P ress u t o move u p o n e leve l . The n e w location w i l l b e nano's t o p i c 1 I n t r od u c t ion.

N ow p ress n. Yo u w i l l h ave m oved to nano ' s topic 2 Editor Basics.
-

D 1 0. Exit pinto.

Press q to q u i t pinto. -

D 11. I nvoke pinfo a g a i n , specify i n g nano a s the desti n a t i o n topic from t h e com m a n d l i n e.

[student@serverx -]$
-
!
j pinfo nano
!

D 12. S e l ect t h e Edit o r B a s i c s t o p i c . -

Press DownA r r ow to h i g h l i g h t Editor Bas i c s , t h e n p ress En t e r to s e lect t h i s topic.

-

D 13. Read t h e E n t e r i n g T e x t a n d Special F u n c t io n s s u btopi cs.

U s e a r row keys to h ig h l ig h t a topic, PageUp and PageDown to b rowse the text, t h e n press -
u to m ove u p one leve l . Press q to q u it pinfo when you a re fi n i s hed.

70 R H 1 24- R H E L7 - e n -1 -20140606 -

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Rea d i n g D o c u m e ntat i o n i n /u s r/s h a re/d o c

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Rea d i n g Doc u m e ntat i o n i n /u s r/s h a re/d oc

-

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Objectives
After com p l et i n g t h i s section, st u d e n t s s h o u l d be a b l e to researc h information u s i n g Red H a t
Packa g e M a n a g e r d o c u m e ntation.

Introducing package documentation

- I n a d d i t i o n to man a n d pinfo, deve l o p e rs m a y a l so c h oose to i n c l u d e d o c u m e n ta t i o n i n t h e i r
a p p l icat i o n ' s R P M d istribution package. W h e n t h e p a c k a g e is i n sta l l e d , f i l e s recog n ized as
d o c u m e nt a t i o n a re moved to / u s r / s hare/doc/packagename. Software package b u i l d e rs
- may i n c l u d e a nyt h i n g deemed h e l pf u l as a com p l e ment to, b u t not d u p l icat i n g , man pag es. G N U
packages a l so use / u s r /share/doc t o s u p p l e m e n t i nfo nodes.

- M ost p a c k a g es i n c l u d e f i l es desc r i b i n g package d istribution l i c e n s i n g . Some packages i n c l u d e

exte nsive P D F- o r H T M L-based d o c u m entat i o n . Accord i n g l y, a usef u l package b rows i n g method i s

I [student@desktopX -]$
p o i n t i n g a b rows e r of c h o i ce to f i l e : / / / u s r / s h a r e / d o c a n d uti l i z i n g a m o u se.
- - -- --- - --�---�----�--�
;
firefox file : // / u s r / s ha re/doc I
! ------��--- · __J
-
Some packages come with exte nsive exa m p l es, confi g u ration f i l e te m p l ates, scripts, tutori a l s ,
o r user g u ides. B rowse / u s r / s h a re/doc/vs f t pd - * as a n exa m p l e. S o m e d o c u m e ntation i s
-
s pa rse; t h e zip u t i l ity i n c l u d es t h e com p ress i o n a l g o r i t h m used a n d l itt l e e l se. O t h e r packages
i n c l udes l a rg e user m a n u a l s o r deve l o p e r g u ides, o r e l ectro n i c copies of related, p u b l i s h ed boo ks.

-
Note
Deve l op e rs may c hoose to b u n d l e exte n s ive doc u m e ntation i n a s e p a rate R P M . The
- gnuplot p rog ra m h a s t h e extra gnuplot-doc package, which m ust b e i n sta l l e d s e p a rate l y.
O t h e r s i m i l a r packages to b rowse i n c l u d e bash-doc a n d samba-doc. Often , extra
packages a re fo u n d i n Red H a t E n t e r p r i s e L i n u x ' s Optional softwa re c h a n n e l .
-

M a ny packages a l s o i n c l u d e d eve l o p e r d o c u mentat i o n , s u c h a s a n A p p l icat i o n

Prog ra m m i n g I nte rface ( A P I ) s p e c ificat i o n , p rovided i n a pa c k a g e w i t h a n a m e e n d i n g
-
i n -devel o r s i m i l a r. Packages may i n c l u d e a d d i t i on a l fi l es, s u c h a s h e a d e rs ; u s ef u l
d o c u m e ntation u s u a l l y o n l y n e e d e d f o r softwa re deve l o p me n t o r com p i l i n g .

Note
-
T h e k e r n e l itse l f h a s a s i g n if i c a n t d o c u m entation package. T h e kernel-doc package is a
trea s u re of kern e l , d r ive r, t u n i n g , a n d a d v a n ced config u ration i n f o r m a t i o n . E x p e rienced
-
syst e m a d m i n istrators reg u l a r l y research kernel-doc f i l es.

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C h a pter 3. Gett i n g H e l p i n Red Hat Enterp rise L i n u x

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References -

hie r (7 ) m a n page
• D i s c u sses t h e h i e ra rchy of Linux d i rectories, i n c l u d i n g /usr / s h a re/doc.
-

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P ra c t i ce: Viewing Pa c ka g e D o c u m entation

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P ra ct i ce: V i ewi n g Pa c ka g e Docu m e ntat i o n

-

-
Guide d exercise
I n t h i s l a b, you wi l l research t h e docu mentat i o n u n d e r / u s r / s hare/doc to a n sw e r q u est ions.
-
U s e yo u r cho i ce of l e s s , ged i t , o r a b rowse r to view t h e d o c u mentation f i l e contents.

O u tcomes
M o re fa m i l i a rity, t h ro u g h practice, with t h e types of i n fo r m a t i o n that deve l o pers i n c l u d e with
-
t h e i r softwa re packages.

Before you begin ...

-
Pe rfo rm t h e fo l lo w i n g steps o n serverX u n l ess d i rected o t h e r w ise.

D 1. W h e re can you f i n d t h e l atest n ews a b o u t the vim p roject?

[student@serverx -]$ cd / u s r/share/doc

-

[student@serverX doc]$ less vim - common - * / README . tx t

-

View t h e vim-common R E A D M E and search for " n ews".

-
D 2. What is the wiki U R I for t h e yum packa g e?

-
i [student@serverx doc]$ less yum - 3 * / README
I

Search for " w i k i " i n / u s r/s h a re/doc/yum - 3 * / README.

-
D 3. What exa m p l e s a re prov i d e d for the com m a n d - l i n e be ca l c u l ator?

- I [student@serverX doc]$ ls -1 bc - * /Examples

'

Fo u n d i n t h e d i rectory / u s r /share/doc/bc - * / Examples.

-

... I [student@serverx doc]$

D 4. How wou l d you read the provided G R U B2 m a n u a l ?

firefox g r u b 2 - t ools - * /g r u b . html

i

Use firefox to d i s p l ay / u s r /share/doc/g r u b 2 - t ools - * / g r u b . h t ml.

-

D 5. What softwa re p rovi des its d o c u m e n t a s a s e p a rate package?

[student@serverx doc]$
[student@serverx doc]$
-
yum list * - doc *

[student@serverx -]$
cd

U s e yum t o d i s p l ay o n l y t h ose packages t h a t conta i n "-doc", "-docs", o r " - d oc u m e ntation"

i n t h e package n a me. When f i n is h e d , ret u r n to t h e home d i rectory.
...

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