Unit 1: UNIX Architecture (08 Hours)

The UNIX Operating System

• Introduction: UNIX is a powerful, multiuser, multitasking operating system originally developed in the 1960s
and 1970s at AT&T's Bell Labs. It forms the foundation of many modern operating systems, including Linux.
• LINUX and GNU: Linux is a UNIX-like operating system kernel developed by Linus Torvalds. The GNU (GNU's
Not Unix) project provides a collection of free software, aiming to create a free UNIX-like operating system.
The UNIX Architecture
• Architecture Overview: UNIX consists of several key components:
o Kernel: The core of the operating system, managing hardware resources and system calls.
o Shell: A command-line interpreter that allows users to interact with the kernel.
o File System: Organizes and stores files and directories.
o Utilities: Standard tools and applications for performing common tasks.
Features of UNIX
• Multiuser Capability: Multiple users can access the system simultaneously.
• Multitasking: The ability to run multiple processes concurrently.
• Portability: UNIX can run on various hardware platforms.
• Security: Robust security features, including file permissions and user authentication.
POSIX and Single UNIX Specification
• POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface): A set of IEEE standards designed to maintain compatibility
between operating systems. POSIX defines APIs, command line interfaces, and utility interfaces for UNIX-like
operating systems.
• Single UNIX Specification: A standard that defines the requirements for an operating system to be
considered UNIX. It ensures interoperability and compatibility across different UNIX systems.
Internal and External Commands
• Internal Commands: Built into the shell and executed directly by it (e.g., cd, echo).
• External Commands: Separate executable programs stored in the file system (e.g., ls, grep).
Command Structure
• Syntax: UNIX commands follow a consistent syntax: command [options] [arguments]
• Examples:
o ls -l: Lists directory contents in long format.
o grep 'text' file.txt: Searches for 'text' in file.txt.
Man Browsing and Manual Pages On-line
• Man Pages: Manual pages provide documentation for UNIX commands and functions. They can be accessed
using the man command followed by the command name (e.g., man ls).
• Sections: Man pages are divided into sections like User Commands, System Calls, and Library Functions.
The File System
• Parent-Child Relationship: Directories can contain subdirectories, creating a hierarchical structure.
• The Home Variable: $HOME stores the path of the user's home directory.
• Common Commands:
o pwd: Prints the current working directory.
o cd: Changes the current directory.
o mkdir: Creates a new directory.
• Pathnames:
o Absolute Pathname: Specifies the complete path from the root directory (e.g., /home/user/docs).
o Relative Pathname: Specifies the path relative to the current directory (e.g., ../docs).
Unit 2: Basic File Attributes and The Process (10 Hours)
Basic File Attributes
• Listing Directory Contents: The ls command lists directory contents. Options like -l provide detailed
information.
• The UNIX File System: Organizes files into a hierarchical directory structure. Files and directories have
attributes like name, size, permissions, and timestamps.
• Using ls -l and -d Option:
o ls -l: Displays detailed information, including permissions, ownership, size, and modification time.
 o ls -d: Lists directories themselves, rather than their contents.
• File Ownership: Each file has an owner and a group. The chown command changes file ownership.
• File Permissions: Define read, write, and execute permissions for the owner, group, and others. The chmod
command modifies file permissions.
o Syntax: chmod [permissions] file
o Examples:
▪ chmod 755 file: Sets read, write, and execute permissions for the owner, and read and
execute permissions for the group and others.
▪ chmod u+x file: Adds execute permission for the owner.
The Process
• Process Basics: A process is an instance of a running program. Each process has a unique process ID (PID).
• Process Status: The ps command displays information about running processes.
• System Processes: Options like ps -e or ps -a show all system processes.
• Mechanism of Process Creation: The fork() system call creates a new process (child) by duplicating the
existing process (parent).
• Process States: A process can be in states like running, waiting, or stopped. Zombies are processes that have
completed execution but still have an entry in the process table.
• Running Jobs in Background: The & operator runs a command in the background, allowing the user to
continue working in the shell.

Unit 3: Simple Filters and Regular Expressions (10 Hours)

Simple Filters
• pr: The pr command formats text files for printing. It can add headers, footers, page numbers, and handle
multiple columns.
• head: Displays the first few lines of a file. By default, it shows the first 10 lines, but this can be adjusted using
the -n option.
• tail: Shows the last few lines of a file, also defaulting to 10 lines. The -f option can be used to follow the file as
it grows.
• cut: Extracts specific columns or fields from a file. The -d option specifies the delimiter, and the -f option
selects fields.
• paste: Merges lines from multiple files. It pastes the content side-by-side, separated by a tab or specified
delimiter.
• sort: Sorts lines in a file. Options like -n for numerical sorting and -r for reverse sorting are available.
• uniq: Removes duplicate lines from a sorted file. The -c option can count occurrences.
• tr: Translates or deletes characters. For example, it can be used to convert lowercase letters to uppercase.
Filters Using Regular Expressions
• grep: Searches for patterns in files using regular expressions. Variants include egrep (supports extended
regex) and fgrep (searches for fixed strings).
• Basic Regular Expressions (BRE): Supported by grep, BRE includes simple patterns and special characters like
. (any single character), * (zero or more occurrences), ^ (start of line), and $ (end of line).
• Extended Regular Expressions (ERE): Supported by egrep, ERE includes additional features like + (one or
more occurrences), ? (zero or one occurrence), and | (alternation).
• sed (Stream Editor): A powerful text processing tool. It can perform basic text transformations like
substitution (s/old/new/), deletion (d), and insertion (i).
o Line Addressing: Allows targeting specific lines for editing using line numbers or patterns.
o Multiple Instructions: Can be specified using -e for multiple commands or -f to read commands from
a file.
o Context Addressing: Applies commands to lines that match specific patterns.
Unit 4: The Shell (12 Hours)
The Shell’s Interpretive Cycle
• Overview: The shell interprets and executes user commands. It reads commands, interprets them, executes
them, and displays the results.
• Process:
 1. Prompt: The shell displays a prompt and waits for input.
2. Reading: It reads the input from the user.
3. Tokenizing: The input is broken into tokens (commands, options, arguments).
4. Execution: The shell executes the command.
5. Output: The result is displayed to the user.
Shell Offerings
• Different Shells: Common shells include sh (Bourne shell), bash (Bourne Again shell), csh (C shell), ksh (Korn
shell), and zsh (Z shell). Each has unique features and scripting capabilities.
Pattern Matching
• Wildcards: Symbols like * (matches any string) and ? (matches any single character) are used for matching
filenames and strings.
• Globbing: The process of pattern matching using wildcards.
Escaping and Quoting
• Escaping: Using the backslash \ to treat special characters literally.
• Quoting:
o Single Quotes (''): Preserve the literal value of characters.
o Double Quotes (""): Preserve the literal value except for $, `, and \.
Redirection
• Standard Input/Output:
o Input (<): Redirects input from a file.
o Output (>): Redirects output to a file, overwriting it.
o Append (>>): Redirects output to a file, appending to it.
• Error Redirection (2>): Redirects standard error.
Pipes
• Definition: Used to pass the output of one command as input to another. Syntax: command1 | command2.
tee
• Function: Reads from standard input and writes to both standard output and one or more files. Useful for
logging.
Command Substitution
• Syntax:
o Backticks (` `): result=$(command).
o $(command): Executes command and substitutes its output.
Shell Variables
• Types:
o Environment Variables: Affect the environment in which processes run (e.g., PATH, HOME).
o User-Defined Variables: Custom variables created by the user.
• Syntax:
o Defining: VAR=value.
o Accessing: $VAR.
Essential Shell Programming
• Scripting: Writing scripts to automate tasks.
• Basic Constructs:
o Conditionals: if, else, elif, case.
o Loops: for, while, until.
o Functions: Defining reusable blocks of code with function name { commands }.