INTRODUCTION TO LINUX

OPERATING SYSTEM

Third School on LHC Physics

Taimoor Khurshid
Exp High Energy Physics Group
National Center for Physics
LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM
Linux operating system consists of Kernel, Shell and File System:
The kernel
!Kernel is heart of Linux OS
!It manages resource of Linux OS
!Resources means facilities available in
Linux. For e.g. Facility
!To store data,
!Print data on printer,
!Memory
!File management

!Kernel decides who will use resources, for how long and
when.
!It runs your programs (or set up to execute binary files).
!The kernel acts as an intermediary between the computer
hardware and various programs/application/shell.
 LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM
Linux operating system consists of Kernel, Shell and File System:
The Shell
!The shell is a program that acts as an interface between users and
kernel
!It is a command interpreter and also has programming capability of
its own.
!Shell Types
!Bourne Shell (sh) (First shell by Stephen Bourne)
!C Shell(sh)
!Korn Shell (ksh)
!Bourne Again Shell(bash)
!Filename Completion or TAB completion
!History - The shell keeps a list of the commands you have typed in
File System
!Linux treats everything as a file including hardware devices.
Arranged as a directory hierarchy.
!The top level directory is known as “root (/)”.
 DIFFERENT SHELLS
AVAILABLE IN LINUX
Program
Shell Description
Name

The original shell from AT&T, available on all

Bourne shell sh
UNIX machines

C shell csh Shell developed as part of BSD UNIX

Korn shell ksh AT&T improvement of the Bourne shell

Shell distributed with Linux, version of Bourne

Bourne again
bash shell that includes command line editing and
shell
other nice things
 FILES AND PROCESSES
!Everything in LINUX is either a file or a process
!A process is an executing program identified by a unique
PID (process identifier).
!A file is a collection of data. They are created by users using
text editors, running compilers etc.
!Examples of files:
!A document (report, essay etc.)
!A program text (high-level programming language )
!Instructions:
! comprehensible directly to the machine
! incomprehensible to a casual user
! for example, a collection of binary digits (an executable or binary
file);
!A directory, containing mixture of other directories and ordinary
files.
 DIRECTORY STRUCTURE
!All the files are grouped together in a directory
structure.
!The file-system is arranged in a hierarchical
structure, like an inverted tree.
!The top of the hierarchy is traditionally called
root (written as a slash / )
!The full path to the file report.doc is

"/home/its/ug1/ee51vn/report.doc"
 DIRECTORIES IN LINUX
Directory: /bin
/bin contains the binaries which are needed to run LINUX.
Directory: /boot
/boot has all the files required for booting LINUX on system.
Directory: /dev
/dev has the devices for all the files.
Directory: /etc
/etc contains the configuration files of the various software.
Normally no one touch this directory.
Directory: /home
/home is like My Documents in Windows.
This contains the username as the sub directory.
Directory: /lib
/lib contains the shared libraries required for the system files.
 DIRECTORIES IN LINUX
Directory: /lost+found
/lost+found contains the files which are damaged or which are
not linked to any directory.
These damages are due to the incorrect shutdown.
Directory: /mnt
This is the directory in which we mount the devices and other
file systems.
Directory: /opt
Here the optional softwares are installed.
Directory: /root
The directory for the user root
 LINUX COMMANDS
Commands tell the operating system to perform set of operations.
The syntax form of the commands are
Command options arguments

We can divide Linux commands into following categories

!File Handling !Archival

!Text Processing !Network
!System Administration !File Systems
!Process Management !vi Commands
 LINUX COMMANDS

!Primary – man(manual) pages.

!man <command>
!shows all information about the command
!<command> --help
!shows the available options for that command

! Secondary – Books and Internet

 FILE HANDLING
mkdir:
make directories
Usage: mkdir [OPTION] DIRECTORY...
eg. mkdir LHC_School
ls:
list directory contents
Usage: ls [OPTION]... [FILE]…
eg. ls, ls -l, ls LHC_School
cd:
changes directories
Usage: cd [DIRECTORY]
eg. cd LHC_School
 FILE HANDLING
pwd:
prints the name of current working directories
Usage: pwd
eg. mkdir LHC_School
vim:
Vi Improved, a programmers text editor
Usage: vim [OPTION] [file]...
eg. vim file1.txt
cp:
copy files and directories
Usage: cp [OPTION]... SOURCE / DEST
eg. cp sample.txt sample_copy.txt
cp sample_copy.txt target_dir
 FILE HANDLING
mv:
move (rename) files
Usage: mv [OPTION]... SOURCE / DEST
eg. mv source.txt target_dir
mv old.txt new.txt
rm:
remove files or directories
Usage: rm [OPTION]… [file]...
eg. rm file1.txt ,
rm -rf some_dir
 FILE HANDLING
find:
search for files in a directory hierarchy
Usage: find [OPTION] [path] [pattern]
eg. find file1.txt
find -name file1.txt

history:
prints recently used commands
Usage: history
 PATTERN
A Pattern is an expression that describes a set of strings
which is used to give a concise description of a set,
without having to list all elements.

Example:
ab*cd matches anything that starts with ab and
ends with cd etc.

ls *.txt – prints all text files

rm *.obj – removes all object files

 TEXT PROCESSING
cat:
concatenate files and print on the standard
output…
Usage: cat [OPTION] [FILE]…
eg. cat file1.txt file2.txt
cat -n file1.txt
echo:
display a line of text
Usage: echo [OPTION] [string] ...
eg. echo I love Pakistan
echo $HOME
 TEXT PROCESSING
grep:
print lines matching a pattern
Usage: grep [OPTION] PATTERN [FILE]...
eg. grep -i apple sample.txt
wc:
print the number of newlines, words, and bytes
in files…
Usage: wc [OPTION]... [FILE]...
eg. wc file1.txt
wc -L file1.txt
 TEXT PROCESSING
sort:
sort lines of text files
Usage: sort [OPTION]... [FILE]...
eg. sort file1.txt
sort -r file1.txt
 LINUX FILE PERMISSIONS
!3 types of file permissions – read, write, execute
!10 bit format from 'ls -l' command
1 234 5 6 7 8 9 10
file type owner group others
eg. drwxrw-r-- means owner has all three permissions,
group has read and write, others have only read permission
!read permission – 4, write – 2, execute -1
eg. rwxrw-r-- = 764
673 = rw-rwx-wx
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
chmod:
change file access permissions
Usage: chmod [OPTION] [MODE] [FILE]
eg. chmod 744 calculate.sh
chown:
change file owner and group
Usage: chown [OPTION]... OWNER[:[GROUP]] FILE...
eg. chown remo myfile.txt
su:
change user ID or become super-user
Usage: su [OPTION] [LOGIN]
eg. su remo, su
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
passwd:
update a user’s authentication tokens(s)
Usage: passwd [OPTION]
eg. passwd
who:
show who is logged on
Usage: who [OPTION]
eg. who , who -b , who -q
PROCESS MANAGEMENT
ps:
report a snapshot of the current processes
Usage: ps [OPTION]
eg. ps, ps -el
kill:
to kill a process(using signal mechanism)
Usage: kill [OPTION] pid
eg. kill -9 2275
 ARCHIVAL
tar:
to archive a file
Usage: tar [OPTION] DEST SOURCE
tar -cvf /home/archive.tar /home/original
tar -xvf /home/archive.tar
zip:
package and compress (archive) files
Usage: zip [OPTION] DEST SOURSE
eg. zip original.zip original
unzip:
list, test and extract compressed files in a ZIP archive
Usage: unzip filename
eg. unzip original.zip
 NETWORK
SSH:
SSH client (remote login program)
“ssh is a program for logging into a remote mach
ine and forexecuting commands on a remote machine”
Usage: ssh [options] [user]@hostname
eg. ssh -Y guest@10.105.11.20
scp:
secure copy (remote file copy program)
“scp copies files between hosts on a network”
Usage: scp [options] [[user]@host1:file1] [[user]@host2:file2]
eg. scp file1.txt guest@10.105.11.20:~/Desktop/
 FILE SYSTEM
fdisk:
partition manipulator
eg. sudo fdisk -l
mount:
mount a file system
Usage: mount -t type device dir
eg. mount /dev/sda5 /media/target
umount:
unmount file systems
Usage: umount [OPTIONS] dir | device...
eg. umount /media/target
 FILE SYSTEM
du:
estimate file space usage
Usage: du [OPTION]... [FILE]...
eg. du
df:
report file system disk space usage
Usage: df [OPTION]... [FILE]...
eg. df
quota:
display disk usage and limits
Usage: quota [OPTION]
eg. quota -v
 EDITOR COMMANDS
vi:
Vi Improved, a programmers text editor
Usage: vim [OPTION] [file]...
e.g. vi hello.c
gedit:
A text Editor. Used to create and edit files.
Usage: gedit [OPTION] [FILE]...
eg. gedit
pico:
Simple and very easy to use text editor
Usage: pico [OPTION]
eg. Pico
 USING ALIASES
Aliases provide command-substitution functionality. They can be used to
create new commands or modify the default behaviour of existing commands

Syntax: alias <string entered by user>=<string substituted by the shell>

The alias command is used to view and create aliases

!called with no arguments, it prints out the current aliases
!alias name=value creates a new alias
!custom user aliases are stored in .bashrc or .cshrc

Examples:

alias rm = 'rm -i' (change the behaviour of rm to confirm deletes)

alias ll = 'ls -l | more' (create a new command for friendly file listings)
 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
Environment variables refers to global settings that control the function of
the shell and other Linux programs. They are sometimes called global shell
variables
or in simple words
They define the user environment and are read from initialization files each
time a user logs in…

To view the value of a variable, type:

printenv VARNAME OR echo $VARNAME
To check your environment, type
printenv OR env
To Set Environment Variable
setenv EDITOR “vim”

Some common environment variables:

HOME: Your home directory (often be abbreviated as “~”)
PWD: Current working directory
EDITOR: User’s preferred text editor
 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
Some common environment variables:
EDITOR: Sets the editor to be used by programs such as mail
clients
PATH: Specifies directories to be searched for executables
SHELL: The default login shell
USER: Current loggedin user’s name
TERM: The type of terminal you are running (for example vt100,xterm,
and ANSI)
LD_LIBRARY_PATH: It is a colon seperated set of directories where libraries
should be searched for

To reload any initialization file without having to logout and login again, type
source <filename>
e.g. source ~/.bashrc
source ~/.tcshrc

Profile files: session startup files are hidden files, find them via command “ls –a”….

.tcshrc .cshrc .bashrc etc…

 USEFUL VI
EDITOR COMMANDS
Arrow keys Move cursor ^G show current file and line
hjkl Same as arrow keys ^F forward screen
insert / i Insert text ^B backward screen
x delete a character ^D scroll down half screen
dw delete a word ^U scroll up half screen
dd delete a line nG go to the beginning of the
3dd deletes 3 lines specified line (end default),
u undo previous change where n is a line number
ZZ exit vi , saving changes /pat search pat (next line matching
ESC end insert or pat)
incomplete command ^E scroll window down one line
DEL (delete or rubout) ^Y scroll window up one line
interrupts H top line on screen
^H erase last character L last line on
(backspace) screen
^W erase last word M middle line on screen
Good Luck