Introduction to UNIX-like systems

Computing Laboratory

http://www.isical.ac.in/~dfslab

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Outline

1 Getting started

2 File system hierarchy

3 Commands

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Your desktop

File manager

Search for applications

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What you will need
Code editor: Visual Studio Code (if you do not already have a
preferred editor)
search for “linux vscode setup for c programming”
Text editor (gedit): for quick edits
Terminal (image source: https://linux.how2shout.com/)

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Outline

1 Getting started

2 File system hierarchy

3 Commands

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File system structure

Files are organised in a hierarchical structure of folders, sub-folders, and

files.

Courtesy: https://www.slideshare.net/okmomwalking/windows-7-unit-b-ppt

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File system hierarchy

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File system hierarchy

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File system structure: terminology

Folders ≡ directories
Top of the hierarchy: root directory (/)
Default starting location: home directory (~)
Location of a file or directory: specified by path
Current location in terminal or file browser: current working directory
Paths: absolute or relative
absolute path: from root (starts with /)
Example: /usr/bin/firefox, /tmp, /user1/student
relative path: from current working directory (does not start with /)
Example: clab/assignment1/hello.c

Note the difference between (forward) slash (/, used in Unix-like

systems) and backslash (\, used in Windows-like systems) !

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Graphical file manager

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Managing files from the terminal

Navigating the file system

cd : change directory
Example:
cd /home/student/Desktop
cd clab/day1/
cd ←− go to home directory
pwd : print current working directory

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Managing files from the terminal

Navigating the file system

cd : change directory
Example:
cd /home/student/Desktop
cd clab/day1/
cd ←− go to home directory
pwd : print current working directory

Special directory names

∼ : home directory
Example: cd ∼/Desktop
. (dot) : current working directory
Example: ./program1
.. (dot dot) : parent directory (one level up)
Example: cd .., cd ../assignment2, cd ../..
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Managing files from the terminal
Listing files
ls : view list of files in current directory
ls <path> : view list of files in specified path
ls -l : view detailed list of files
ls -lt : view detailed list of files sorted by modification time
ls -ltr : view detailed list of files sorted by modification time in
reverse order

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Managing files from the terminal
Listing files
ls : view list of files in current directory
ls <path> : view list of files in specified path
ls -l : view detailed list of files
ls -lt : view detailed list of files sorted by modification time
ls -ltr : view detailed list of files sorted by modification time in
reverse order

Example:
$ /bin/ls -l
total 68
drwx------ 2 mandar mandar 4096 Jul 19 00:45 assignments
drwx------ 2 mandar mandar 4096 Jul 22 2016 exams
-rw-r--r-- 1 mandar mandar 13521 Jul 19 00:41 index.html
drwx------ 2 mandar mandar 4096 Jul 19 00:45 lectures
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Essential commands: permissions

drwx- - - - - - 2 mandar mandar 4096 Jul 19 00:45 lectures

Permissions Size Modification time

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Essential commands: permissions

drwx- - - - - - 2 mandar mandar 4096 Jul 19 00:45 lectures

Permissions Size Modification time

Permissions:
9 possible permissions:
{ read, write, execute } × { user (owner), group, other (everyone else) }
9 bits (1 ≡ permission granted)
ur uw ux gr gw gx or ow ox
chmod: changing permissions
Example:
chmod g+wx <path>
chmod og-wx <path>
chmod 644 <path> ←− 644 ≡ 110 100 100 ≡ rw-r--r--
chmod 700 <path> ←− 700 ≡ 111 000 000 ≡ rwx------

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Essential commands: directories

mkdir : create a directory

Examples:
mkdir clab
mkdir clab/assignment1
Create directories as appropriate.
OR
mkdir -p clab/assignment1 clab/assignment2
rmdir : remove an (empty) directory
Example: rmdir assignment2, rmdir clab/programs

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Outline

1 Getting started

2 File system hierarchy

3 Commands

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Compiling and running your program

Compiling
command options / flags other arguments
gcc -g -Wall -o prog1 prog1.c

OR

gcc -g -Wall prog1.c

Running
./prog1 OR ./a.out
OR
./prog1 input.txt output.txt
etc.

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Essential commands: files

cp : copy a file
Example:
cp program1.c program2.c
cp -i source-file target-file
cp -i source-file target-directory

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Essential commands: files

cp : copy a file
Example:
cp program1.c program2.c
cp -i source-file target-file
cp -i source-file target-directory
mv : rename (move) a file
Example:
mv program1.c program2.c
mv -i source-file target-file
mv -i source-file target-directory

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Essential commands: files

cp : copy a file
Example:
cp program1.c program2.c
cp -i source-file target-file
cp -i source-file target-directory
mv : rename (move) a file
Example: -i ≡ interactive
mv program1.c program2.c (asks for confirmation)
mv -i source-file target-file
mv -i source-file target-directory
rm : remove (delete) a file
Example:
rm program1.c
rm -i file1 file2.c *.bak
rm -r some-directory (remove directory and everything inside it)

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Viewers / pagers

Useful for quickly viewing a file (not editing)

Use less
Example: less cs19xx-day0-prog1.c
space: move forward one page
backspace or b: move backward one page
q : exit the pager
/ : search for a string in the file
run man less for more information

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Input/output redirection

Input/output
involves a file or a terminal
requires a file pointer
stdin ≡ file pointer corresponding to reading input from keyboard
stdout ≡ file pointer corresponding to printing output to terminal
Taking stdin from a file: ./prog1 < input.txt
Printing stdout to a file: ./prog1 > input.txt
Taking stdin / printing stdout from / to a program: use the vertical bar /
pipe character (|)
./prog1 | less
cat input.txt | ./prog1
Input/output from/to file / program may be combined
./prog1 < input.txt > output.txt

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Other commands

man
Example: man ls, man cp, man rm

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Other commands

man
Example: man ls, man cp, man rm

Find out more about these on your own.

alias (giving your own, easy-to-remember names to commands)
wc (counting characters, words, lines)
sort
head, tail (first few / last few lines)
cmp, diff (comparing two files)
ps, top, kill (checking what programs are running)
find (finding files or directories)
grep (searching for patterns)
awk, sed (programming)

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Useful references / cheat-sheets

http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/bash_cheat_sheet.pdf
https://ubuntudanmark.dk/filer/fwunixref.pdf
http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/docs/leaflets/u5
http://mally.stanford.edu/~sr/compuGng/basic-unix.html
http://www.math.utah.edu/lab/unix/unix-commands.html

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