VIRTUAL MACHINES

Dr. N. Rakesh
Vice chair - Dept.of CSE
Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru

1
 Virtual Machine

• A Virtual Machine is a software that

creates a virtualized environment
between the computer platform and the
end user in which the end user can
operate software.

2
 Description

• A virtual machine provides an interface

identical to the underlying bare hardware.
• The operating system creates the illusion
of multiple processes, each executing on
its own processor with its own (virtual)
memory.

3
 Virtualization
• Virtualization is an abstraction layer that
decouples the physical hardware from the
operating system to deliver greater IT resource
utilization and flexibility.
• It allows multiple virtual machines, with
heterogeneous operating systems to run in
isolation, side-by-side on the same physical
machine.

4
 Virtualization contd..

• Each virtual machine has its own set of

virtual hardware (e.g., RAM, CPU, NIC, etc.)
upon which an operating system and
applications are loaded.
• The operating system creates the illusion
of multiple processes, each executing on its
own processor with its own (virtual)
memory.

5
 History

• Virtualization was first introduced in the

1960s to allow partitioning of large,
mainframe hardware.
• In the 1990s, researchers began to see how
virtualization could solve some of the
problems associated with the proliferation of
less expensive hardware, including
underutilization, escalating management
costs and vulnerability.

6
 Virtual Machine Monitor
• The host software
that provides
virtualization is often
referred to as a
virtual machine
monitor (VMM) or
hypervisor.
• The VMM gives each
virtual machine an
illusion of a complete
computer to itself.
7
8
Architecture

9
 Features
• Each virtual machine has its own set of virtual hardware (e.g.,
RAM, CPU, NIC, etc.) upon which an operating system and
applications are loaded.
• The operating system sees a consistent, normalized set of
hardware regardless of the actual physical hardware
components.

10
 Benefits

1. Partitioning
- Multiple applications and operating
systems can be supported within a single
physical system.
- There is no overlap amongst
memory as each Virtual Memory has its
own memory space.

11
 Benefits

2.Isolation
• Virtual machines are completely
isolated from the host machine and
other virtual machines.
• If a virtual machine crashes, all others
are unaffected.
• Data does not leak across virtual
machines.

12
 Summary

• Virtual machines are a number of discrete identical execution

environments on a single computer, each of which runs an
operating system.
• This can allow applications written for one OS to be executed
on a machine which runs a different OS which provide a
greater level of isolation between processes than is achieved
when running multiple processes on the same instance of an
OS.

13
 VirtualBox
• Virtual x86 machine(s)
– install other operating systems (OSs) running inside a
window, we’ll install Ubuntu (Linux) as a Guest OS
• Free application at https://www.virtualbox.org

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS*

under
VirtualBox
under
OS X 10.10.5

*LTS = Long Term Support

 VirtualBox
• Download extension pack as well:

• Enable it from VirtualBox Preferences…

 VirtualBox
• Step 1: download Ubuntu ISO image from
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
• ISO image: this is an image of a CD.
• Choose 64 bits (recent machine). 32 bits for older machines.
• 64 bits Mac (for recent Macs) – for booting with a Mac (in BIOS emulation mode)

Skip the
donation
page …
 VirtualBox
• The file ubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso takes considerable time to
download (size: about 1GB)
• We don’t boot off real cds anymore; the .iso file is a special file that
can be interpreted as a virtual cd
• ISO images:
– Macs can mount ISO images.
– Macs can’t boot off a multitrack ISO image; hence the special
adm64+mac version.
– some versions of Windows can’t mount an ISO image (without extra
software). Install Microsoft’s Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel.

• Next, we need to create the virtual machine on which we’re going

to install Ubuntu on
 VirtualBox
• Step 2: in VirtualBox, select New and give new virtual
machine of type Linux a name

dynamically allocated
VirtualBox Disk Image
 VirtualBox
• Need to add your .iso file in Settings > Storage:

Select your
downloaded
.iso file
 VirtualBox
• Dynamically allocated virtual hard drive:
VirtualBox
 VirtualBox
• Created Virtual Machine:
VirtualBox
VirtualBox
 VirtualBox
• Step 3: start your virtual machine, install Ubuntu:
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
 Ubuntu
• Virtual Box > Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD
Image …
 Ubuntu
• Guest Additions:
Ubuntu

restart
 Ubuntu
• After restart, login, System Settings > Details
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
 Ubuntu
• Ubuntu Software Center
– App store
– (full screen to see Search box)
• Software packages
– Terminal: sudo apt-get install <pkg-name>
– sudo prefix: means execute the apt-get command with superuser privileges
(typically needed for packages)
• How to find Terminal: use search
Lock to Launcher
 Ubuntu
• Terminal:
The shell has a programming language
– runs a shell: bash
– enter commands: some are built-in to the shell, others are executable
files in specified directories ($PATH), still others will require apt-get
– simple commands:
• pwd print working directory
• ls (ls -a) list current directory (-a option: show . (dot) files too)
• cd change directory
• mkdir create a new directory
• which name the directory where command name is located
• man name display manual page for command name
• echo $SHELL prints the shell ($ prefixes a variable)
– pre-defined environment variables: env dpkg –get-selections
– lots of packages are pre-loaded: wish, python, perl, etc.
 COMPUTER ESSENTIALS
Basic Linux commands

1) pwd COMMAND:
pwd - Print Working Directory. pwd command prints the full filename of
the current working directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
pwd [options]

2) cd COMMAND:
cd command is used to change the directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cd [directory | ~ | ./ | ../ | - ]
3) ls COMMAND:
ls command lists the files and directories under current working directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
ls [OPTIONS]... [FILE]

OPTIONS:
-l Lists all the files, directories and their mode, Number of links,
owner of the file, file size, Modified date and time and filename.
-t Lists in order of last modification time.
-a Lists all entries including hidden files.
-d Lists directory files instead of contents.
-p Puts slash at the end of each directories.
-u List in order of last access time.
-i Display inode information.

4) rm COMMAND:
rm linux command is used to remove/delete the file from the directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
rm [options..] [file | directory]

OPTIONS:

-f Remove all files in a directory without prompting the user.

-i Interactive. With this option, rm prompts for confirmation before
removing any files.

5) mv COMMAND:
mv command which is short for move. It is used to move/rename file
from one directory to another. mv command is different from cp command
as it completely removes the file from the source and moves to the directory
specified, where cp command just copies the content from one file to
another.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
mv [-f] [-i] oldname newname
OPTIONS:
-f This will not prompt before overwriting (equivalent to --
reply=yes). mv -f will move the file(s) without prompting even
if it is writing over an existing target.
-I Prompts before overwriting another file.
6) cat COMMAND:
cat linux command concatenates files and print it on the standard output.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cat [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
OPTIONS:
-A Show all.
-b Omits line numbers for blank space in the output.

-E Displays a $ (dollar sign) at the end of each line.

-n Line numbers for all the output lines.

7) cmp COMMAND:
cmp linux command compares two files and tells you which line numbers are
different.
SYNTAX:

The Syntax is
cmp [options..] file1 file2
OPTIONS:
-c Output differing bytes as characters.
-l Print the byte number (decimal) and the differing byte values
(octal) for each difference.
-s Prints nothing for differing files, return exit status only.

8) cp COMMAND:
cp command copy files from one location to another. If the
destination is an existing file, then the file is overwritten; if the destination is
an existing directory, the file is copied into the directory (the directory is not
overwritten).
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cp [OPTIONS]... SOURCE DEST

9) echo COMMAND:
echo command prints the given input string to standard output.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
echo [options..] [string]

10)mkdir COMMAND:
mkdir command is used to create one or more directories.

SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
mkdir [options] directories
OPTIONS:
11) paste COMMAND:
paste command is used to paste the content from one file to another file. It is
also used to set column format for each line.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
paste [options]
OPTIONS:

-s Paste one file at a time instead of in parallel.

12) rmdir COMMAND:
rmdir command is used to delete/remove a directory and its subdirectories.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
rmdir [options..] Directory
OPTIONS:
-p
Allow users to remove the directory dir name and its parent
directories which become empty.

13) cal command

Displays the calendar of the current month.

14) echo command

This command will echo whatever you provide it.

15) date command

Displays current time and date.

16)whoami command
This command reveals the user who is currently logged in.

17)clear command

This command clears the screen.

18)help option

With almost every command, ‘--help’ option shows usage summary for that
command.

$ date --help

19) whatis command

This command gives a one line description about the command. It can be
used as a quick reference for any command.

$ whatis date
date (1) - print or set the system date and time

20)Manual Pages

‘--help’ option and ‘whatis’ command do not provide thorough information

about the command. For more detailed information, Linux provides man pages
and info pages. To see a command's manual page, man command is used.

$ man date

21)Info pages

Info documents are sometimes more elaborate than the man pages. But for some
commands, info pages are just the same as man pages. These are like web
pages. Internal links are present within the info pages. These links are called
nodes. Info pages can be navigated from one page to another through these
nodes.

$ info date
22) The touch command is a standard command used in UNIX/Linux operating
system which is used to create, change and modify timestamps of a file.
Basically, there are two different commands to create a file in the Linux system
which is as follows:
• cat command: It is used to create the file with content.
 • touch command: It is used to create a file without any content. The file
created using touch command is empty. This command can be used when
the user doesn’t have data to store at the time of file creation.

touch file_name
touch File1_name File2_name File3_name

touch -a: This command is used to change access time only. To change or
update the last access or modification times of a file touch -a command is used.
Syntax:
touch -a fileName
touch -c : This command is used to check whether a file is created or not. If not
created then don’t create it. This command avoids creating files.
Syntax:
touch -c fileName
23. whoami
The whoami command tells you your username.
[root@RHEL5 ~]# whoami
Root
24. who
The who command will give you information about who is logged on the
system.
[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ who
root tty1 2008-06-24 13:24
sandra pts/0 2008-06-24 14:05 (192.168.1.34)
paul pts/1 2008-06-24 16:23 (192.168.1.37)
25.who am i
With who am i the who command will display only the line pointing to your
current
session.
[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ who am i
paul pts/1 2008-06-24 16:23 (192.168.1.34)

26.Redirection > < >>

Command>filename

Cat>filename is used for writing contents into file

Cat<filename is used for displaying contents of file
Cat>>filename for appending data into file
 COMPUTER ESSENTIALS
Basic Linux commands

1) pwd COMMAND:
pwd - Print Working Directory. pwd command prints the full filename of
the current working directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
pwd [options]

2) cd COMMAND:
cd command is used to change the directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cd [directory | ~ | ./ | ../ | - ]
cd .. -----> Take one directory previous to the current directory
cd ----> Take tp the hokme directory from then current directory.
3) ls COMMAND:
ls command lists the files and directories under current working directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
ls [OPTIONS]... [FILE]

OPTIONS:
-l Lists all the files, directories and their mode, Number of links,
 owner of the file, file size, Modified date and time and filename.
-t Lists in order of last modification time.
-a Lists all entries including hidden files.
-d Lists directory files instead of contents.
-p Puts slash at the end of each directories.
-u List in order of last access time.
-i Display inode information.

4) rm COMMAND:
rm linux command is used to remove/delete the file from the directory.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
rm [options..] [file | directory]

OPTIONS:

-f Remove all files in a directory without prompting the user.

-i Interactive. With this option, rm prompts for confirmation before
removing any files.

5) mv COMMAND:
mv command which is short for move. It is used to move/rename file
from one directory to another. mv command is different from cp command
as it completely removes the file from the source and moves to the directory
specified, where cp command just copies the content from one file to
another.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
mv [-f] [-i] oldname newname
OPTIONS:
-f This will not prompt before overwriting (equivalent to --
reply=yes). mv -f will move the file(s) without prompting even
if it is writing over an existing target.
-I Prompts before overwriting another file.
6) cat COMMAND:
cat linux command concatenates files and print it on the standard output.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cat [OPTIONS] [FILE]...
OPTIONS:
-A Show all.
-b Omits line numbers for blank space in the output.

-E Displays a $ (dollar sign) at the end of each line.

-n Line numbers for all the output lines.

7) cmp COMMAND:
cmp linux command compares two files and tells you which line numbers are
different.
SYNTAX:

The Syntax is
cmp [options..] file1 file2
OPTIONS:

-c Output differing bytes as characters.

-l Print the byte number (decimal) and the differing byte values
(octal) for each difference.
-s Prints nothing for differing files, return exit status only.

8) cp COMMAND:
cp command copy files from one location to another. If the
destination is an existing file, then the file is overwritten; if the destination is
an existing directory, the file is copied into the directory (the directory is not
overwritten).
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
cp [OPTIONS]... SOURCE DEST

9) echo COMMAND:
echo command prints the given input string to standard output.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
echo [options..] [string]

10)mkdir COMMAND:
mkdir command is used to create one or more directories.

SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
mkdir [options] directories
OPTIONS:
11) paste COMMAND:
paste command is used to paste the content from one file to another file. It is
also used to set column format for each line.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
paste [options]
OPTIONS:

-s Paste one file at a time instead of in parallel.

12) rmdir COMMAND:
rmdir command is used to delete/remove a directory and its subdirectories.
SYNTAX:
The Syntax is
rmdir [options..] Directory
OPTIONS:
-p
Allow users to remove the directory dir name and its parent
directories which become empty.

13) cal command

Displays the calendar of the current month.

14) echo command

This command will echo whatever you provide it.

15) date command

Displays current time and date.

16)whoami command

This command reveals the user who is currently logged in.

17)clear command

This command clears the screen.

18)help option

With almost every command, ‘--help’ option shows usage summary for that
command.

$ date --help

19) whatis command

This command gives a one line description about the command. It can be
used as a quick reference for any command.

$ whatis date
date (1) - print or set the system date and time

20)Manual Pages

‘--help’ option and ‘whatis’ command do not provide thorough information

about the command. For more detailed information, Linux provides man pages
and info pages. To see a command's manual page, man command is used.

$ man date

21)Info pages

Info documents are sometimes more elaborate than the man pages. But for some
commands, info pages are just the same as man pages. These are like web
pages. Internal links are present within the info pages. These links are called
nodes. Info pages can be navigated from one page to another through these
nodes.

$ info date
22) The touch command is a standard command used in UNIX/Linux operating
system which is used to create, change and modify timestamps of a file.
Basically, there are two different commands to create a file in the Linux system
which is as follows:
• cat command: It is used to create the file with content.
• touch command: It is used to create a file without any content. The file
created using touch command is empty. This command can be used when
the user doesn’t have data to store at the time of file creation.

touch file_name
touch File1_name File2_name File3_name

touch -a: This command is used to change access time only. To change or
update the last access or modification times of a file touch -a command is used.
Syntax:
touch -a fileName
touch -c : This command is used to check whether a file is created or not. If not
created then don’t create it. This command avoids creating files.
Syntax:
touch -c fileName
23. whoami
The whoami command tells you your username.
[root@RHEL5 ~]# whoami
Root
24. who
The who command will give you information about who is logged on the
system.
[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ who
root tty1 2008-06-24 13:24
sandra pts/0 2008-06-24 14:05 (192.168.1.34)
paul pts/1 2008-06-24 16:23 (192.168.1.37)
25.who am i
With who am i the who command will display only the line pointing to your
current
session.
[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ who am i
paul pts/1 2008-06-24 16:23 (192.168.1.34)

26.Redirection > < >>

Command>filename

Cat>filename is used for writing contents into file

Cat<filename is used for displaying contents of file
Cat>>filename for appending data into file

Clear ----To clear the contets of the screen

man----gives the manual page for the particular command
date-----give the current date
time----gives the current time
rmdir----used to remove the directory without contents
rm -r directoryname: used to remove the directory with contents
rm file name---> delete the file
 Chapter 3:
Operating Systems

Computer Science: An Overview

Twelfth Edition

by
J. Glenn Brookshear
Dennis Brylow

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Chapter 3: Operating Systems

• 3.1 The History of Operating Systems

• 3.2 Operating System Architecture
• 3.3 Coordinating the Machine’s Activities
• 3.4 Handling Competition Among Processes
• 3.5 Security

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-2

 Functions of Operating Systems

• Oversee operation of computer

• Store and retrieve files
• Schedule programs for execution
• Coordinate the execution of programs

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-3

 Evolution of Shared Computing

• Batch processing
• Interactive processing
– Requires real-time processing
• Time-sharing/Multitasking
– Implemented by Multiprogramming
• Multiprocessor machines

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-4

 Figure 3.1 Batch processing

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-5

 Figure 3.2 Interactive processing

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-6

 Types of Software

• Application software
– Performs specific tasks for users
• System software
– Provides infrastructure for application software
– Consists of operating system and utility
software

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-7

 Figure 3.3 Software classification

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-8

 Operating System Components

• User Interface: Communicates with users

– Text based (Shell)
– Graphical user interface (GUI)
• Kernel: Performs basic required functions
– File manager
– Device drivers
– Memory manager
– Scheduler and dispatcher

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-9

 Figure 3.4 The user interface act as an
intermediary between users and the
operating system kernel

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-10

 File Manager

• Directory (or Folder): A user-created

bundle of files and other directories
(subdirectories)
• Directory Path: A sequence of directories
within directories

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-11

 Memory Manager

• Allocates space in main memory

• May create the illusion that the machine
has more memory than it actually does
(virtual memory) by playing a “shell
game” in which blocks of data (pages) are
shifted back and forth between main
memory and mass storage

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-12

 Getting it Started (Bootstrapping)

• Boot loader: Program in ROM (example of

firmware)
– Run by the CPU when power is turned on
– Transfers operating system from mass storage
to main memory
– Executes jump to operating system

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-13

 Figure 3.5 The booting process

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-14

 Processes

• Process: The activity of executing a

program
• Process State: Current status of the
activity
– Program counter
– General purpose registers
– Related portion of main memory

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-15

 Process Administration

• Scheduler: Adds new processes to the

process table and removes completed
processes from the process table
• Dispatcher: Controls the allocation of time
slices to the processes in the process table
– The end of a time slice is signaled by an
interrupt.

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-16

 Figure 3.6 Time-sharing between
process A and process B

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-17

 Handling Competition for
Resources
• Semaphore: A “control flag”
• Critical Region: A group of instructions
that should be executed by only one
process at a time
• Mutual exclusion: Requirement for proper
implementation of a critical region

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-18

 Deadlock

• Processes block each other from

continuing
• Conditions required for deadlock
1. Competition for non-sharable resources
2. Resources requested on a partial basis
3. An allocated resource can not be forcibly
retrieved

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-19

 Figure 3.7 A deadlock resulting from
competition for nonshareable railroad
intersections

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-20

 Security

• Attacks from outside

– Problems
• Insecure passwords
• Sniffing software
– Counter measures
• Auditing software

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-21

 Security (continued)

• Attacks from within

– Problem: Unruly processes
– Counter measures: Control process activities
via privileged modes and privileged
instructions

Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. 3-22

19CSE101 COMPUTER SYSTEMS ESSENTIALS 303 4

Preamble

The course gives students an overview of computer science: A foundation from which they can appreciate
the relevance and interrelationships of further courses in the field. Computer Networks deals with
components and principles of networks and its protocols. Operating System acts as a platform of
information exchange between a computer's hardware and the applications running on it. Database
Management Systems have become a part of all computer based systems automating real word
applications to handle data storage. This course provides an insight on the general structures of operating
systems, database management systems and computer networks.

Prerequisite(s): NIL

Syllabus

Unit 1

Introduction to Computers, Computer Science, Computer Systems. Essential components of computer

systems: Operating Systems Fundamentals, Principles of Database Systems, Basic concepts in Computer
Networks. Installing a Linux virtual machine. Using package manager to install/update software.
Understanding disk partitions and obtaining partition information using system tools. Obtaining essential
system resource utilization and information using system tools and proc file system: disk utilization,
memory utilization, process information, CPU utilization. Pipes and redirection. Searching the file system
using find and grep with simple regular expressions. Basic process control using signals: pausing and
resuming process from a Linux terminal, terminating a process. Adding/removing from search path using
PATH variable. Compressing/uncompressing using tar/gzip and zip tools. Using man pages to understand
tool documentation.

Unit 2

Querying a database using simple SQL commands. Writing simple SQL queries. Creating and editing tables.
Creating indexes to improve performance. Exporting and importing data from/to database tables to/from
Excel.

Unit 3

Obtaining essential system network information using system tools: network interfaces and their
addresses, routing table, active processes using network communication. Basic network debugging: using
traceroute to discover route to a remote computer, ping to check network connectivity, nslookup for DNS
lookup. Understanding basic HTTP client and server using netcat. Using ssh and sftp.

TEXTBOOK:

1. Brookshear JG. Computer science: an overview. Eleventh Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing

Company; 2011.
REFERENCES:

1. Silberschatz A, Gagne G, Galvin PB. Operating system concepts. Ninth Edition, Wiley; 2012.
2. Cobbaut P. Linux Fundamentals. Samurai Media Limited; 2016.
3. Silberschatz A, Korth HF, Sudarshan S. Database system concepts. Sixth Edition, McGraw
Hill;2010.
4. Kurose JF, Ross KW. Computer networking: a top-down approach. Sixth Edition, Pearson;2013.

Course Outcomes

CO Statement Level

CO01 Understand the basic components of computer systems and its functionality. L2

CO02 Demonstrate the functions of operating system and its role as a resource manager to L2
execute any application

CO03 Understand the need for database storage and learn to retrieve using SQL. L2

CO04 Implement the connection between operating systems, computer networks and database L3
management through a case study
CO-PO Mapping

CO PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 PO11 PO12 PSO1 PSO2

CO1 3 1 2 2 2

CO2 3 2 2 2 2

CO3 3 2 2 2 2

CO4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Course Plan: 19CSE101 – Computer Systems Essentials

Marked in Yellow are lab sessions.

Lecture Topics Description CO BTL

Hours
1-3 Introduction to Computers, Computer Programme and Course 1 2
Science, Computer Systems. Essential Overview, Objectives,
components of computer systems: Outcomes, BTL,
Operating Systems Fundamentals, Evaluation Pattern,
Principles of Database Systems, Basic Requirements, Plagiarism
concepts in Computer Networks. Policy
Fundamentals of OS,
CN, DB

4-6 Introduce to sites to learn CS: coursera, Introduce to such sites,

udacity, edX, How Stuff works? CS demo of a few sites
Unplugged, other sites for learning,

7-9 Operating System: Linux – History, licensing, Reference: Linux 2 2

Installing Linux Fundamentals
Paul Cobbaut

10-12 Installing Linux as (through) Virtual Machine Available in Slides

(or Virtual Box)

13-15 Working in Command Prompt: man pages, Reference: Linux 2 3

directories, files, file contents Fundamentals
Paul Cobbaut
16-18 Working in $ prompt, Simple Create files w/o editor,
commands Commands to work in
dollar prompt
19-21 Linux File Structure, Working with Shells – Reference: Linux 2 3
Simple Shell programs Fundamentals
Paul Cobbaut
22-24 Working with Shells Simple Shell Programs

25-28 Database Fundamentals, Database Reference: Database 3 2

Application, Motivation, Need, file system System Concepts-
vs data base , View of data Silberschatz

29-31 Databases: Create tables, Manipulate Connecting to Database,

Data Create Tables,
manipulate-insert, select,
delete

32-34 Data Models, Database Languages, Reference: Database 3 2

Database users and administrators, System Concepts-
Transaction management, Database Silberschatz
structure.

35-37 Databases: Working with databases Update, selection based

on conditions and pattern
matching, Aggregate
function

38-40 Entity relationship model- Basic Reference: Database 3 2

concepts, constraints ,keys System Concepts-
Silberschatz

41-43 ER Diagram using DIA tool ER Diagram

44-46 Network Fundamentals : Brookshear JG. 4 2

Understanding networks, Simple network, Computer science: an
Interconnected networks overview.

Basic terms: Internet, IPAddress, Domain Dordal, Peter. "An

Name, Packet, Protocol, Interface, introduction to computer
datarate, bandwidth, Throughput, delay, networks." (2017) –
loss, firewalls chapter 1
Analogy to other networks (Packet,
The Internet Book:
switching, routing, Congestion)
Everything You Need to
Know about Computer
Networking and How the
Internet Works 5th
 Edition
Douglas E. Come

Tanenbaum, “Computer-
Networks”,5th-edition,
Prentice Hall

47-49 Network Debugging: Basic Networking Paul Cobbaut , “Linux 4 3

Commands: interface commands (ifconfig, Networking”,
ifup, ifdown, ethtool), connectivity (ping, 2015
traceroute, telnet), routing (route, netstat)

50-52 Networking: Layering Model Brookshear JG. 4 2

(Application, Transport, network, Computer science: an
datalink, physical) overview.

Understanding Internet Applications and Behrouz A. Forouzan,”

its protocols : WorldWideWeb Data Communications and
and HTTP, Web Based Email, File Transfer Networking”, Fifth Edition,
and FTP, Peer-to-Peer Application McGraw-Hill,
(Bittorrent), Remote Login 2013

Tanenbaum, “Computer-
Networks”,5th-edition,
Prentice Hall

53-55 Networking Commands Filetransfer (ftp, Paul Cobbaut , “Linux 4 3

scp), other useful commands (nslookup, Networking”,
dig, netcat) 2015

56-58 Networks: Understanding Transport layer Behrouz A. Forouzan,” 4 2

and Internet Protocols: IP, ICMP, TCP and Data Communications
UDP and Networking”, Fifth
Edition, McGraw-Hill,
2013
Tanenbaum, “Computer-
Networks”,5th-edition,
Prentice Hall
59-60 Understanding basic HTTP client and server Paul Cobbaut , “Linux 4 3
using netcat, File Server using VsFTP and Networking”,
remote login using ssh 2015

Lab Work: -- An observation Note book to be maintained by each student for the lab work and all
evaluations to be graded in that note book.
Tentative Evaluation Pattern: 65:35 (Internal: End Semester)

Assessment Internal End

Semester
Midsem 20
Online exam- 10 marks
Viva -10 marks
*Continuous Assessment (Theory) 15
3 Quizes-5 marks each
Continuous Assessment (Lab) 30
3 Assignments-10 marks each
End Semester 35
Onlineexam-10 marks
Viva-15 marks+10 marks (CaseStudy)
 UNIT-II
• Querying a database using simple SQL
commands. Writing simple SQL queries.
Creating and editing tables. Creating indexes to
improve performance. Exporting and importing
data from/to database tables to/from Excel.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 1

Recap
Data is nothing but facts and figures which are generally raw and unprocessed.

• For example: When you visit any website, they might store you IP address, that is
data, in return they might add a cookie in your browser, marking you that you visited
the website, that is data, your name, it's data, your age, it's data.

Data becomes information when it is processed, turning it into something meaningful.

• Like, based on the cookie data saved on user's browser, if a website can analyze that
generally men of age 20-25 visit us more, that is information, derived from the data
collected.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 2

Database Management System (DBMS)
• DBMS is a software application/tool used by end
users to access the data stored in the database files.
• A DBMS is also used to perform administrative
tasks on the database .
• DBMS is a collection of applications that allow users
and other programs to capture and analyze data by
providing additional functionality like reporting
services to help you create, deploy and manage reports
for your organization.
19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 3
Characteristics of Database Management System
• A database management system has following characteristics:
• Data stored into Tables: Data is never directly stored into the database. Data is stored into tables, created
inside the database. DBMS also allows to have relationships between tables which makes the data more
meaningful and connected. You can easily understand what type of data is stored where by looking at all the
tables created in a database.
• Reduced Redundancy: In the modern world hard drives are very cheap, but earlier when hard drives were
too expensive, unnecessary repetition of data in database was a big problem. But DBMS
follows Normalisation which divides the data in such a way that repetition is minimum.
• Data Consistency: On Live data, i.e. data that is being continuously updated and added, maintaining the
consistency of data can become a challenge. But DBMS handles it all by itself.
• Support Multiple user and Concurrent Access: DBMS allows multiple users to work on it(update, insert,
delete data) at the same time and still manages to maintain the data consistency.
• Query Language: DBMS provides users with a simple Query language, using which data can be easily
fetched, inserted, deleted and updated in a database.
• Security: The DBMS also takes care of the security of data, protecting the data from un-authorised access. In
a typical DBMS, we can create user accounts with different access permissions, using which we can easily
secure our data by restricting user access.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 4

Advantages of DBMS

• Minimal data redundancy.

• Easy retrieval of data using the Query Language.
• Reduced development time and maintenance need.
• With Cloud Datacenters, we now have Database
Management Systems capable of storing almost infinite
data.
• Seamless integration into the application programming
languages which makes it very easier to add a database to
almost any application or website.
19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 5
Disadvantages of DBMS

• It's Complexity
• Except MySQL, which is open source, licensed
DBMSs are generally costly.
• They are large in size.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 6

Users of DBMS
• Administrators − Administrators maintain the DBMS and are
responsible for administrating the database. They are
responsible to look after its usage and by whom it should be
used. They create access profiles for users and apply limitations
to maintain isolation and force security.
• Designers − Designers are the group of people who actually
work on the designing part of the database. They keep a close
watch on what data should be kept and in what format.
• End Users − End users are those who actually reap the benefits
of having a DBMS. End users can range from simple viewers
who pay attention to the logs or market rates to sophisticated
users such as business analysts.
19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 7
DBMS Architecture: 1-Tier, 2-Tier & 3-Tier

• DBMS architecture helps in design, development,

implementation, and maintenance of a database. A
database stores critical information for a business.
Selecting the correct Database Architecture helps in
quick and secure access to this data.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 8

1 tier Architecture

• The simplest of Database Architecture are 1 tier where

the Client, Server, and Database all reside on the same
machine.
• Anytime you install a DB in your system and access it
to practise SQL queries it is 1 tier architecture.
• But such architecture is rarely used in production.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 9

2-tier Architecture

• A two-tier architecture is a database architecture where

• Presentation layer runs on a client (PC, Mobile, Tablet, etc)
• Data is stored on a Server.
• An application interface which is called ODBC (Open
Database Connectivity) an API which allows the client-side
program to call the DBMS. Today most of the DBMS offers
ODBC drivers for their DBMS. 2 tier architecture provides
added security to the DBMS as it is not exposed to the end
user directly.
19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 10
Example of Two-tier Architecture is a Contact
Management System created using MS- Access.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 11

 3-tier Architecture
• 3-tier schema is an extension of the 2-tier architecture.
3-tier architecture has following layers
• Presentation layer (your PC, Tablet, Mobile, etc.)
• Application layer (server)
• Database Server

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 12

• This DBMS architecture contains an Application layer
between the user and the DBMS, which is responsible
for communicating the user's request to the DBMS
system and send the response from the DBMS to the
user.
• The application layer(business logic layer) also
processes functional logic, constraint, and rules before
passing data to the user or down to the DBMS
19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 13
 DBMS components

◼ Hardware –
the physical computer system that allows physical access to data.
◼ Software –
the actual program that allows users to access, maintain, and update
physical data.
◼ Data – stored physically on the storage devices
◼ Users –
 End users - Normal user and DBA (Database Administrator)
 Application programs
◼ Procedures –
a set of rules that should be clearly defined and followed by the users.
19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 14
Database Schema

• A database schema is the skeleton structure that

represents the logical view of the entire database.
• It defines how the data is organized and how the
relations among them are associated.
• A database schema defines its entities and the
relationship among them. It contains a descriptive
detail of the database, which can be depicted by means
of schema diagrams.
19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 15
19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 16
• A database schema can be divided broadly into two
categories −
• Physical Database Schema − This schema pertains to the
actual storage of data and its form of storage like files,
indices, etc. It defines how the data will be stored in a
secondary storage.
• Logical Database Schema − This schema defines all the
logical constraints that need to be applied on the data
stored. It defines tables, views, and integrity constraints.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 17

What is a Database (db)?
• A Database (db) is an organized collection of data, typically stored in electronic format.

• It allows you to input, manage, organize and retrieve data quickly.

• Traditional databases are organized by records (rows), fields (columns) stored in tables which
are stored in database files.
• It’s a file used to store information.

• A database table is a collection of rows and columns that is used to organize information
about a single topic or object. Each row within a table corresponds to a single record and
contains several different attributes that describe the row.

• A database table is the most common and simplest form of data storage in a relational
database.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 18

What is a Database (db)?

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 19

What is a Database (db)?
• A relational database is a collection of tables of data all of
which are formally described and organized according to the
relational model. Each table must identify a column or group
of columns, called the Primary Key, to uniquely identify each
row.

• Entity
• Object comprised of various pieces of data.
• Attribute
• Piece of information (data) that describes an
entity.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 20

What is a Database (db)?

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 21

• Relational Database Management Software (RDBMS) is a
software system designed to allow the definition, creation,
querying and updating of data stored in a relational database.
• A few examples of RDBMS include:
• Microsoft Access
• MYSQL
• Oracle
• MySql
• IBM DB2
• PostgreSQL
• Amazon SimpleDB (cloud based) etc

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 22

What is a Database (db)?
• The main differences between DBMS and RDBMS are:
• A DBMS has to provide some uniform methods independent
of a specific application accessing the information that is
stored in the tables.
• RDBMS adds the additional condition that the system supports
a tabular structure for the data, with enforced relationships
between the tables.
• DBMS does not impose any constraints or security with regard
to data manipulation, while RDBMS does utilize an internal
security model.
• RDBMS is the basis for Structured Query Language (SQL).

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 23

Database models
• A database model
• defines the logical design of data.
• Describes the relationships between different parts of data.
• 3 models
• Hierarchical model
• Network model
• Relational model

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 24

 Hierarchical model
◼ Data are organized as an upside down tree.
◼ Each entity has only one parent but can have
several children.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 25

 Network model
◼ The entities are organized in a graph.
◼ Some entities can be accessed through several paths.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 26

 Relational model
◼ Data are organized in two-dimensional tables
called relations.
◼ The tables are related to each other.
◼ The most popular model.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 27

Relational model

• RDBMS (Relational Database Management

System)
• external view
• The data are represented as a set of relations.
• A relation is a two-dimensional table.
• This doesn’t mean that data are stored as tables;
the physical storage of the data is independent of
the way the data are logically organized.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 28

 Figure 14-6
Relation
◼ Name – each relation in a relational database should have a name that is
unique among other relations.
◼ Attribute – each column in a relation.
 The degree of the relation – the total number of attributes for a relation.
◼ Tuple – each row in a relation.
 The cardinality of the relation – the total number of rows in a relation.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 29

Operations on relations
• In a relational database, we can define several operations to create
new relations out of the existing ones.
• Basic operations:
• Insert
• Delete
• Update
• Select
• Project
• Join
• Union
• Intersection
• Difference

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 30

 Insert operation

◼ An unary operation.
◼ Insert a new tuple into the relation.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 31

 Delete operation

◼ An unary operation.
◼ Delete a tuple defined by a criterion from the relation.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 32

 Update operation

◼ An unary operation.
◼ Changes the value of some attributes of a tuple.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 33

 Select operation

◼ An unary operation.
◼ It is applied to one single relation and creates another
relation.
◼ The tuples in the resulting relation are a subset of the tuples
in the original relation.
◼ Use some criteria to select

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 34

 Project operation
◼ An unary operation.
◼ It is applied to one single relation and creates another
relation.
◼ The attributes in the resulting relation are a subset of the
attributes in the original relation.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 35

 Join operation
◼ A binary operation.
◼ Combines two relations based on common attributes.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 36

 Union operation
◼ A binary operation.
◼ Creates a new relation in which each tuple is either in the
first relation, in the second, or in both.
◼ The two relations must have the same attributes.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 37

 Intersection operation
◼ A binary operation.
◼ Creates a new relation in which each tuple is a member in
both relations.
◼ The two relations must have the same attributes.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 38

 Difference operation
◼ A binary operation.
◼ Creates a new relation in which each tuple is in the first
relation but not the second.
◼ The two relations must have the same attributes.

19-09-2019 19cse101 Computer Essentials Unit-II 39

Linux Installation

What is a Partition?

Partitioning is a means to divide a single hard drive

into many logical drives.
A partition is a contiguous set of blocks on a drive
that are treated as an independent disk.
A partition table is an index that relates sections of the
hard drive to partitions.
Linux Installation

Why have multiple partitions?

Reduce the risk of system failure in case a partition
becomes full. Runaway processes or maniacal users
can consume so much disk space that the operating
system no longer has room on the hard drive for its
bookkeeping operations. This will lead to disaster. By
segregating space, you ensure that things other than
the operating system die when allocated disk space is
exhausted.

Encapsulate your data. Since file system corruption is

local to a partition, you stand to lose only some of
your data if an accident occurs.
 Role of Linux file system
The data is organized and can be easily
located
- The data can be easily retrieved at any
later point in time
- The integrity of the data is preserved
The Hierarchical Structure of
the Linux File System
 Notice that the topmost directory in the structure
is the / directory, also called the
root directory.
• Primary hierarchy root and root directory of the entire file
system hierarchy.
• Every single file and directory starts from the root directory
• Only root user has the right to write under this directory
• /root is root user’s home directory, which is not same as /

• Beneath the root directory are a series of subdirectories.

Specifications for how these directories are to be named
are contained in the File system Hierarchy Standard
(FHS)
 /bin
• Contains binary executables
• Common linux commands you need to use in single-user
modes are located under this directory.
• Commands used by all the users of the system are
located here e.g. ps, ls, ping, grep, cp
 /boot

• This directory contains your bootloader

files, which are required to boot your
system
 /dev
• This directory contains special files that are
used to represent the various hardware
devices installed in the system
• EX: hda, hdb ...
 /etc

• This directory contains text-based

configuration files used by the system as
well as services running on the system. You
can edit these files with a text editor to
customize how Linux behaves
 /home

• This directory contains subdirectories that

serve as home directories for each user
account on your Linux system.
 /lib

• This directory contains code libraries used

by programs in /bin and /sbin. Your kernel
modules are also stored in the modules
subdirectory of /lib.
 /media

• This directory is used by some Linux

distributions (such as SUSE Linux) to
mount external devices, including CD
drives, DVD drives, and floppy drives.
 /mnt

• This directory is used by some Linux

distributions (such as Fedora or Red Hat) to
mount external devices, including CD
drives, DVD drives, and floppy drives
 /opt
• This directory contains files for some
programs you install on the system
 /proc
• This directory is a little different from the other
directories in this list.
• /proc doesn’t actually exist in the file system
• Within /proc are a number of different
subdirectories,Notice that each of these
subdirectories is identified with a number, not a
name. These numbers correspond to the
process ID (PID) number of the associated
process running on the system
 /root
• This directory is the root user’s home
directory. Notice that it is located separately
from the home directories for other users in
/home.
 /sbin
• This directory contains important system
management and administration files, such
as fdisk, fsck, ifconfig, init, mkfs, shutdown,
and halt.
 /srv
• This directory contains subdirectories
where services running on the system
(such as httpd and ftpd) save their files.
 /sys
• This directory contains information about
the hardware in your system.
 /tmp
• This directory contains temporary files
created by you or by the system.
 /usr
• This directory contains application files. In
fact, most of the application files used on
your system are saved in a subdirectory of
/usr
 /var
• This directory contains a variety of variable
data, including your system log files
Linux Installation
Filesystem Types

ext2 — An ext2 filesystem supports standard Unix file types (regular

files, directories, symbolic links, etc). It provides the ability to assign
long file names, up to 255 characters. Versions prior to Red Hat
Linux 7.2 used ext2 filesystems by default.
ext3 — The ext3 filesystem is based on the ext2 filesystem and has
one main advantage — journaling. Using a journaling filesystem
reduces time spent recovering a filesystem after a crash as there is
no need to fsck the filesystem.
swap — Swap partitions are used to support virtual memory. In
other words, data is written to a swap partition when there is not
enough RAM to store the data your system is processing.
vfat — The VFAT filesystem is a Linux filesystem that is compatible
with Windows 95/NT long filenames on the FAT filesystem.
Linux Installation

Recommended Partitioning Scheme

Unless you have a reason for doing otherwise, it is

recommended that you create the following partitions:
/boot partition – contains kernel images and grub configuration
and commands
/ partition
/var partition
/home partition
Any other partition based on application (e.g /usr/local for
squid)
swap partition — swap partitions are used to support virtual
memory. In other words, data is written to a swap partition when
there is not enough RAM to store the data your system is
processing. The size of your swap partition should be equal to
twice your computer's RAM.
Linux Installation

Disk Partition
IDE Disk Partitions
/dev/hda (Primary Master Disk)
/dev/hda1 (First Primary Partition)
/dev/hda2 (Second Primary Partition)
/dev/hdb (Primary Slave Partition)
/dev/hdb1
/dev/hdc (Secondary Master/Slave Partition)
/dev/hdc1
SCSI Disk Partitions
/dev/sda1, /dev/sda2
/dev/sdb1, /dev/sdb2
/dev/sdc1, /dev/sdc2
 Commands to check hard disk
partitions and disk space on Linux
1. Fdisk
2. Sfdisk
3. Cfdisk
4. Parted
5. Df
6. Pydf
7. Lsblk
8. Blkid
9. hwinfo
 1. fdisk

• Fdisk is the most commonly used command to

check the partitions on a disk. The fdisk
command can display the partitions and details
like file system type. However it does not report
the size of each partitions.
“superuser do”

$ sudo fdisk -l

• Each device is reported separately with details

about size, seconds, id and individual partitions.
 sfdisk

• Sfdisk is another utility with a purpose

similar to fdisk, but with more features. It
can display the size of each partition in
MB.
• $ sudo sfdisk -l
 cfdisk
• cfdisk command is used to create,
delete, and modify partitions on a disk
device. It displays or manipulates the disk
partition table by providing a text-based
“graphical” interface.

cfdisk /dev/sda
 parted

• Parted is yet another command line utility

to list out partitions and modify them if
needed.
Here is an example that lists out the
partition details.

• $ sudo parted -l
 df

• df is not a partitioning utility, but prints out

details about only mounted file systems.
The list generated by df even includes file
systems that are not real disk partitions.
• $ df -h
 pydf

• Improved version of df, written in python.

Prints out all the hard disk partitions in a
easy to read manner.
• $ pydf
 lsblk

• Lists out all the storage blocks, which

includes disk partitions and optical drives.
Details include the total size of the
partition/block and the mount point if any.
Does not report the used/free disk space
on the partitions.
• $ lsblk
 blkid

• Prints the block device (partitions and

storage media) attributes like uuid and file
system type. Does not report the space on
the partitions.
• $ sudo blkid
 hwinfo

• The hwinfo is a general purpose hardware

information tool and can be used to print
out the disk and partition list. The output
however does not print details about each
partition like the above commands.
• $ hwinfo --block --short
Introduction to Computers
 WHAT IS A COMPUTER?

Computer is an electronic device which capable of solving

problems and manipulating data.
Computer can be defined in terms of its functions. It can
i) accept data.
ii) store data.
iii) process data as desired by doing some mathematical and
logical operations.
iv) retrieve the stored data as and when required.
v) print the result in desired format.

2
Data Vs. Information
Data : Data in computer terminology mean raw facts and figures.
For example,’Mohan’,1977,A . Data are processed to form
information.
Information : It means what we get after processing data (meaningful
data).
For example, ’Mohan, whose roll number is 1977, has got grade A’ is
an information as it is conveying some meaning.
This process of turning data into information is also known as
information processing.
FUNCTIONING OF A COMPUTER :
Certain input is needed to accomplish a task, a process is carried out on the
input to obtain the output.
Every process follows this Input-Process-Output cycle (IPO cycle).
Ex: c=a+b a=10,b=5 & c=15(output) or Paytm example

Functional Components of a Computer :

1. Input Unit :
• It is formed by the input devices attached to the computer.
• Ex. Keyboard, mouse, magnetic ink character reader (MICR), optical mark
reader (OMR), optical character reader (OCR), joystick etc.
• It is responsible for taking input and converting it into computer
understandable form (the binary code).
• Basic Structure of a computer :

INPUT CENTRAL OUTPUT

UNIT PROCESSING UNIT
UNIT (CPU)
Storage
Devices

MAIN MEMORY

• Computer can understand only two stages ON/OFF or High/Low voltage or the binary language
that uses just two symbols : 1 for ON and 0 for OFF.

2. Central Processing Unit (CPU) :

• It is the control center for a computer.
• It guides, directs and governs its performance.
• It is the brain of the computer.
• CPU has two components : (i) CU (Control Unit)
(ii) ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)
Arithmetic Logic Unit : It performs all the four arithmetical (+,-,*,/) and
some logical (<,>,<=,>=,<>) operations.
• When two numbers are required to be added, these numbers are sent
from memory to ALU where addition takes place and the result is put
back in the memory.
• For logical operation also same procedure. The result of logical operation
is either TRUE or FALSE.
Control Unit :
• It controls and guides the interpretation, flow and manipulation of all data and information.
• It sends control signals until the required operations are done properly by ALU and memory.
• Another function of CU is program execution.
• It gets program instructions from memory and executes them one after the other.
• After getting the instructions from memory in CU, the instruction is decoded and interpreted.
• Then the asked operation is carried out.
• After the work of this instruction is completed, control unit sends signal to memory to send the
next instruction in sequence to CU.
• It also control the flow of data from input devices to memory and from memory to output
devices.
Output Unit :
• It is formed by the output devices attached to the computer.
• The o/p coming from the CPU is in the form of electronic binary signals which needs conversion in some form
which can be easily understood by human beings. i.e. characters, graphical or audio visual.
• This function of conversion is performed by output units.
• Example. VDU (Visual Display Unit), printer, plotter, speech synthesizer and coder etc.

The Memory :
• Def : A memory cell may be defined as a device which can store a symbol selected from a set of
symbols. Each of these cells is further broken down into smaller parts known as bits.
• A bit means a binary digit. i.e., either 0 or 1.
• A bit is an element unit of the memory.
• Def. A group of 8 bits is called a byte and a group of 4 bits is called
a nibble.
• One byte is the smallest unit which can represent a data item or a
character.
• One KB(Kilobyte) -> 2¹º -> 1024 bytes.
• One MB(Megabyte) -> 2¹º KB -> 1024 x 1024 bytes.
• One GB(Gigabyte) -> 2¹º MB -> 1024 x 1024 x 1024 bytes.
• One TB(Terabyte) -> 2¹º GB -> 1024 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 bytes.
• Two types of memory : (i) Volatile - > Primary Memory
(ii) Non Volatile -> Secondary Memory

Hardware and Software :

• Hardware : It represent the physical and tangible components of
the computer i.e., the components that can be seen and touched.
• The electronic, electrical and mechanical equipment that makes
up a computer is called hardware.
• Example. Input devices, Output Devices, CPU, floppy disk, hard
disk, etc.
Peripherals :
Def. Peripherals are the devices that surround the system unit. E.g., the keyboard,
mouse, speakers, printers, monitors etc.
A computer consists of five primary hardware components :
(i) input devices
(ii) CPU
(iii) memory
(iv) output devices
(v) storage devices
Software : It represent the set of programs that govern the operation of a
computer system and make the hardware run.
Three types :
(i)Operating System
(ii)Language Processor
(iii)Application Software
CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTER
1- Speed
Computer can work very fast .
Computer can perform millions of instructions and even more per second.
The speed of computer in terms of microsecond (10-6 part of second) or
nanosecond (10-9 part of a second).
The speed of microprocessors, called the clock speed, is measured in
megahertz.
A microprocessor that runs at 200 MHz executes 200 million cycles per
second .

12
2- Accuracy
The degree of accuracy of computer is very high and every calculation is performed
with the same accuracy.
The accuracy level is determined on the basis of design of computer.
The errors in computer are due to human and inaccurate data.
3- Diligence
A computer is a lack of concentration.
It can work for hours without creating any error
Due to this capability it overpowers human being in routine type of work.

13
4- Versatility
It means the capacity to perform completely different type of work.
5-Power of Remembering
Any amount of information can be stored in computer and recalled as
long as you require it, for any numbers of years.
It depends entirely upon you how much data you want to store in a
computer and when to lose or retrieve these data.

14
6- No IQ (intelligence quotient)
Computer is a dumb machine and it cannot do any work without instruction
from the user and it cannot take its own decision as you can.
7- No Feeling
It does not have feelings , it does not get tired even after long hours of work.
8- Storage
The Computer has an in-built memory where it can store a large amount of
data.
You can also store data in secondary storage devices such as floppies, CDs Flash
Memory which can be kept outside your computer and can be carried to other
computers.

15
 COMPUTER SCIENCE

• Computer science is the discipline that seeks to build a scientific

foundation for such topics as computer design, computer
programming, information processing, algorithmic solutions of
problems, and the algorithmic process itself.
• It provides the underpinnings for today's computer applications as
well as the foundations for tomorrow's applications
• Informally, an algorithm is a set of steps that defines how a task is
performed
• A representation of an algorithm is called a program
• The process of developing a program, encoding it in machine-
compatible form, and inserting it into a machine is called
programming.
• Programs, and the algorithms they represent, are collectively
referred to as software, in contrast to the machinery itself, which is
known as hardware.
 Central Questions of Computer Science

• Which problems can be solved by algorithmic processes?

• How can algorithm discovery be made easier?
• How can techniques of representing and communicating algorithms
be improved?
• How can characteristics of different algorithms be analyzed and
compared?
• How can algorithms be used to manipulate information?
• How can algorithms be applied to produce intelligent behavior?
• How does the application of algorithms affect society?
0-19
 Figure. The central role of algorithms in computer science

0-20
Abstraction

• Abstraction: The distinction between the external properties of an

entity and the details of the entity’s internal composition. Ex: CPU
processing
• Abstract tool: A “component” that can be used without concern for
the component’s internal properties Ex: Paint tool box

0-21
 EVOLUTION OF COMPUTERS :

Abacus :
• Around 3000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Mesopotamians
quite unknowingly laid the foundation of the computer era.
They discovered the earliest form of a bead-and-wire
counting machine, which subsequently came to be known
as abacus.
• An abacus consists of beads divided into two parts which are movable on the rods of the two parts. Addition and
multiplication etc. of numbers is done by using the place value of the digits of the numbers and position of beads
in the abacus.
Napier’s ‘Logs’ and ‘Bones’ :
 John Napier (1550-1617) developed the idea of Logarithm. He used ‘logs’ to transform multiplication problem to
addition problem.
Pascal’s Adding Machine :
 Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, invented a machine in 1642 made up of gears which was used for adding
numbers quickly. This machine was named as Adding Machine ( Pascaline ) and was capable of addition and
subtraction.
 The adding machine
consisted of numbered
toothed wheels having
unique position values. The
rotation of wheels
controlled the addition and
subtraction operations.

 Leibnitz’s Calculator :
Gottfried Leibnitz, a German Mathematician,
improved an adding machine and
constructed a new machine in 1671 that was
able to perform multiplication and division
as well. This machine performed
multiplication through repeated addition of
numbers.

• Leibnitz’z machine used stepped cylinder each with nine teeth of varying lengths instead of wheels
as was used by Pascal.
 Jacquard’s Loom :
• Joseph Jacquard manufactured punched cards at the end of American revolution and
used them to control looms in 1801. Thus the entire control weaving process was
automatic.
• The entire operation was under a program’s control.

 Babbage’s Difference Engine :

Charles Babbage. A professor of
mathematics, developed a machine called
Difference Engine in the year 1822.

This machine was expected to calculate

logarithmic tables to a high degree of
precision. It was made to calculate various
mathematical functions.
Babbage’s Analytical Engine :
• This engine was capable of performing all four arithmetic operations as well as
comparison.
 He included the concept of central processor,
storage area, memory and input - output
devices in his design.
The two revolutionary innovations
incorporated in Anaytical Engine were
comparisons and modification of stored
information.
• Charles Babbage known as the ‘Father of Modern Computers’.
• Hollerith’s Machine :
In 1887,an American named Herman Hollerith
fabricated the first electromechanical punched
card tabulator that used punched cards for
input, output and instructions.
This machine was used by American
Department of Census to compile their 1880
census data and were able to complete compilation in 3 years which
earlier used to take around 10 years.
Mark-I :
Prof. Howard Aiken in U.S.A.
constructed in 1943 an electromechanical
computer named Mark-I which could
multiply two 10-digit number in 5 seconds.
It was the first machine which could
perform according to pre programmed
instructions automatically without any manual interference.
• This was the first operational general purpose computer.

GENERATIONS OF MODERN COMPUTER :

First Generation Computers(1949-55) :
• It used thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) and machine language was used for giving instructions.
• It used the concept of stored program.
• Large in size
• Programming was difficult task.
• Examples :
1. ENIAC : (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator)
 First electronic computer developed in 1946 by a team lead by Prof.Eckert and
Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania in U.S.A.
 Used high speed vacuum tube switching devices
 Very small memory
 Used for calculating the trajectories of missiles.
 Took 200 micro sec for addition and 2800 micro sec for multiplication.
 30x50 feet long, 30 tons weight, 18000 vacuum tubes, 70000 resistors, 10000
capacitors, 6000 switches, used 150000 watts of electricity and cost $400000.
2. EDVAC : (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)
 Binary arithmetic was used in construction
 Completed in 1950
 Concept of stored program was used
 Operation became faster since the computer could rapidly access both the
program and data.
3. EDSAC : (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer)
 Developed by Prof. M. V. Wilkes at Cambridge University in 1949
Used mercury delayed lines for storage
Concept of stored program used
This allowed easy implementation of program loops.

4. UNIVEC – I : (Universal Automatic Computer – I)

Commercial production of stored program electronic computers
Built by Univac division of Remington Rand and delivered in 1951.
Limitations of First Gen. Computers :
Slow operating Speed
Restricted computing capacity
High power consumption
Short mean time between failures
Very large space requirements
Limited programming capabilities
Second Generation Computers (1956-65)
 Invention of transistors in 1946, which were highly reliable compared to vacuum tubes, less
space and required only 1/10 of the power required by tubes.
 Took 1/10 time (switching from 0 to 1 and 1 to 0) needed by tubes and were ten times cheaper
than those using tubes
 Invention of magnetic cores which were used to construct large random access memories.
 These are tiny ferrite rings (0.02 inch dia.) that can be magnetised in either clockwise or anti-
clock wise direction. The two directions represent 0 and 1.
 Used transistors in place of vacuum tubes and development of magnetic disk storage devices
made these computers more reliable
 HLL like FORTRAN, COBOL, Algol and Snobol etc. developed
 Operating Systems came in to existence
 Commercial applications rapidly developed
 Some second generation computers :
Model Size Area of Applicatio
IBM 1401 Small to Medium Business
IBM 1620 Small Scientific
IBM 7094 Large Scientific & Business
CDC 1604 Medium to Large Scientific
CDC 3600 Large Scientific
RCA 501 Medium Business
UNIVAC 1108 Large Scientific & Business

Third Generation Computers (1966-1975)

Replaced transistors with Integrated Circuits which was inverted
by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in 1958.
A single I.C. has many transistors, resistors and capacitors
along with the associated circuitry encapsulated in a small
package with many leads.
In Small Scale Integrated (SSI) circuits about 10 transistors per chip used
 Medium Scale Integrated (MSI) circuits developed with 100 transistors per
chip
 Size of main memories reached about 4 MB.
 Highly reliable
 Relatively inexpensive
 Faster
 Examples : IBM-360 Series, ICL-1900 series, IBM-370/168, ICL-2900,
Honeywell Model 316, Honeywell-6000 series.
Fourth Generation Computers (1976- present)
 Development of Large and Very Large Scale Integrated(VLSI) circuits
packing about 50000 transistors in a chip.
 Semiconductor memories replaced magnetic core memories
 Emergence of the microprocessor (CPU on a single chip) led to the
emergence of extremely powerful personal computers.
 Costs of computers came down rapidly
 Speed of microprocessors, size of memory and Hard Disk increased
 Use of RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computers)
 For larger disks RAID technology (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) used
 CDROMs becoming popular, which can store info. Upto 650 MBs.

Fifth Generation Computers (Coming Generation)

 Based on artificial intellegence, are still in development
 Voice recognition is being used today
 Parallel processing and semiconductors are used in fifth gen. computers.
 The goal of fifth generation computing is to develop devices that
respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and
self organization.
 Characteristic : Ability to apply previously gained knowledge, draw conclusion and
then execute a task.

 Computers will have to be able to classify information, search large database

rapidly, plan, apply the rules which humans regard as clear thinking, make
decision and learn from their mistakes.

 It also include speech and visual recognition as input devices.

 Applications for Fifth Generation Computers :

 Intelligent robots

 Intelligent system that could control the route of a missile and defense systems
that could fend off attacks

 Word processors that could be controlled by means of speech recognition

 Programs that could translate documents from one language to another.

TYPES OF COMPUTERS
The computers have been classified into three categories.
1. Digital Computers 2. Analog Computers 3. Hybrid Computers
COMPUTERS

Digital Analog Hybrid

Purpose-Wise Size and Performance Wise

Special Purpose General Purpose Embedded Micro Mini Mainframes Super

Programmable Laptop Workstations

Digital Computers :
• The digital computers work upon discontinuous data. They convert
the data into digits (0 and 1) and all operations are carried out on
these digits at extremely fast rates.
• Digital computers are much faster than analog computers and far
more accurate.
• Used for business and scientific applications
• Classification of Digital computers in two ways :
(i) Purpose wise Digital Computers : Classified in to two ways
1. Special-purpose Computer : It is designed to perform a specific task.
-> The instructions to carry out task are permanently stored in the
machine.
-> Computers are not versatile.
2. General Purpose Computer : It can work on different types of
programs input to it and so used in countless applications.
-> Programs are not permanentaly stored but are input at the
time of execution.
-> Computers are versatile.
(ii) Size and performance wise Digital Computers :Classified in to
following types
1. Embedded Computers : Exist in a wide range of sizes and
power.
-> The smallest are embedded within the circuitry of appliances,
such as televisions, washing machines and wrist watches.
-> Programmed for a specific task.
2. Microcomputers : It is a computer whose CPU is a
microprocessor.
-> Microprocessor is a processor whose all components are on a
single integrated – circuit chip.
-> Normally used in offices, homes, schools, shops, stores etc.
Three categories of Microcomputers :
Three categories of microcomputers :
(i)PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) :
Programmable computers
Vary in their power, speed, memory, and physical size.
Smallest of these computers can be held in one hand.
Used as notepads, scheduling systems, and address books
They can connect to worldwide computer networks if equipped with a
cellular phone.

(ii) Laptop (Notebook) Computers and Desktop Personal Computers (PCs) :

Used in business and at home to communicate on computer networks,
for word processing to track finances,
play games
Large amounts of internal memory
Equipped with kb, mouse, track ball, monitor or LCD
 Laptop have similar h/w and s/w as PCs, but they are more compact and
have flat, lightweight LCDs instead of video display monitors.
 Laptop computers are so called as they can sit on a Lap and Desktop
computers are so called as they can sit on a desk.
(iii) Workstations :
 Similar to PCs but have greater memory and more extensive mathematical
abilities
 Connected to other workstations t or PC to exchange data.
 Found in scientific, industrial and business environments that require high
levels of computational abilities.

3. Minicomputers :
 Also called mid range servers
 More powerful than micro computers in terms of processing power and
capabilities.
 Multiuser system (Multi users can work simultaneously)
Greater storage capacity and larger memories compared to micro
comp.
Capable of handling more i/p and o/p devices.
Examples : PDP-11, VAX, 7500 MAGNUM etc.

4. Mainframe Computers :
Designed to handle huge volumes of data and information.
Can support more than 100 users at same time
Large and expensive
Great processing speeds and very large storage capacity and
memory as compared to mini comp.
Possess and work with more than one processor at the same time
Very sophisticated operating systems are needed to control and
supervise their operations.
Examples : ICL 39, CDC 6600, VAX 8842, IBM 3090/600, IBM 4381
5. Super Computers :
Most powerful among the digital computers
Consist of several processors running together, so
very powerful and faster
Capable of handling huge amounts of calculations
It can perform billions of instructions per second
Today’s some super computers have the computing
capability equal to that of 40,000 micro computers
These computers cost in 15-20 million dollar range.
Used for weather forecasting, nuclear science
research, aerodynamic modelling, seismology,
metrology etc.
Examples : CRAY X-MP-14, CDC-205, ETA GF-10,
FUJITSU VP-400, NEC SX-2, PARAM, PACE
 Fro general purpose applications, supercomputers
do not make the ideal choice.
It can process information of only a certain kind.
Super computers
 Its power measured in flops (floating point operations per second)
 Analog Computers :
As input continuous quantities are used
Computations are carried out with physical quantities such as voltage, length,
current, temperature etc.
Operate by measuring rather than counting
All calculations take place in parallel and hence are faster
Accuracy is poor as compared to digital comp.
Mostly used in engg. And sci. applications.
Example : An electronic weighing scale

 Hybrid Computers :
Utilize the best qualities of both the digital and analog comp.
Some calculations take place in analog manner and rest of them take place in
digital manner
Best used in Hospitals, also used for weather forecasting
QUIZ
• One mega byte is equivalent to?
1. 210 bytes
2. 220 bytes
3. 230 bytes
4. None of these
• Which of the following are parts of the CPU?
1. ALU
2. Memory
3. CU
4. Input device
5. Main Memory
• Which of the following is not hardware?
1. Hard Disk
2. Printer
3. Keyboard
4. CPU
5. Assembler
6. Program to print table of 13
• Which of the following are parts of the CPU?
1. ALU
2. Memory
3. CU
4. Input device
5. Main Memory
• The modern age of data processing began with the competition of the computer?
1. Analytical Engine
2. ENIAC
3. MARK 1
4. UNIVAC I
• A Micro processor is
1. A solid state device
2. Capable of performing Arithmetic operations
3. Capable of performing Logical operations
4. All the above
• In computer science ,by information we mean
1. Any output coming out from computer
2. Processed data put out from computer
3. A report printed by computer
4. Plural of data
• The CPU
1. Is operated from the control panel
2. Is controlled by the input data entering the system
3. Controls the storage unit
4. Controls all input , output, processing
• A data is a collection of-
1. Raw facts
2. Processing
3. Transformations
4. None of these
• Which of the following are software and hardware?
1. Transistor
2. FORTON
3. Compiler
4. Integrated Circuit
• Who invented the punched card?
1. Charles Babbage
2. Herman Hollerith
3. Both 1 and 2
4. None of these
• Define each of the following-
1. Nibble
2. Byte
3. Kilobyte
4. Megabyte
5. Gigabyte
6. Tetra byte
• Which of the following does not represent an I/O device?
1. Speaker which beeps
2. Plotter
3. Joystick
4. ALU
• Storage of 1 KB means the following number of bytes-
1. 1000
2. 964
3. 1024
4. 1064
Linux Fundamentals
Paul Cobbaut
Linux Fundamentals
Paul Cobbaut
lt-2.0

Published Tue 17 Jul 2012 01:00:39 CEST

Abstract
This book is meant to be used in an instructor-led training. For self-study, the intent is to read this book next to a
working Linux computer so you can immediately do every subject, practicing each command.

This book is aimed at novice Linux system administrators (and might be interesting and useful for home users that
want to know a bit more about their Linux system). However, this book is not meant as an introduction to Linux
desktop applications like text editors, browsers, mail clients, multimedia or office applications.

More information and free .pdf available at http://linux-training.be .

Feel free to contact the author:

• Paul Cobbaut: [email protected], http://www.linkedin.com/in/cobbaut

Contributors to the Linux Training project are:

• Serge van Ginderachter: [email protected], build scripts and infrastructure setup

• Ywein Van den Brande: [email protected], license and legal sections

• Hendrik De Vloed: [email protected], buildheader.pl script

We'd also like to thank our reviewers:

• Wouter Verhelst: [email protected], http://grep.be

• Geert Goossens: [email protected], http://www.linkedin.com/in/geertgoossens

• Elie De Brauwer: [email protected], http://www.de-brauwer.be

• Christophe Vandeplas: [email protected], http://christophe.vandeplas.com

• Bert Desmet: [email protected], http://blog.bdesmet.be

• Rich Yonts: [email protected],

Copyright 2007-2012 Netsec BVBA, Paul Cobbaut

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free
Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section
entitled 'GNU Free Documentation License'.
Table of Contents
I. introduction to Linux ........................................................................................ 1
1. Linux history ............................................................................................... 2
2. distributions ................................................................................................. 4
3. licensing ...................................................................................................... 6
4. getting Linux at home ............................................................................... 10
II. first steps on the command line .................................................................... 21
5. man pages ................................................................................................. 22
6. working with directories ........................................................................... 26
7. working with files ..................................................................................... 35
8. working with file contents ........................................................................ 44
9. the Linux file tree ..................................................................................... 51
III. shell expansion .............................................................................................. 72
10. commands and arguments ....................................................................... 73
11. control operators ..................................................................................... 83
12. variables .................................................................................................. 89
13. shell history ........................................................................................... 100
14. file globbing .......................................................................................... 106
IV. pipes and commands .................................................................................. 113
15. redirection and pipes ............................................................................. 114
16. filters ..................................................................................................... 123
17. basic Unix tools .................................................................................... 136
V. vi ..................................................................................................................... 145
18. Introduction to vi .................................................................................. 146
VI. scripting ....................................................................................................... 156
19. scripting introduction ............................................................................ 157
20. scripting loops ....................................................................................... 163
21. scripting parameters .............................................................................. 170
22. more scripting ....................................................................................... 178
VII. local user management ............................................................................. 186
23. users ...................................................................................................... 187
24. groups .................................................................................................... 207
VIII. file security ............................................................................................... 213
25. standard file permissions ...................................................................... 214
26. advanced file permissions ..................................................................... 225
27. access control lists ................................................................................ 231
28. file links ................................................................................................ 235
IX. Appendices ................................................................................................... 242
A. certifications ........................................................................................... 243
B. keyboard settings .................................................................................... 245
C. hardware ................................................................................................. 247
Index .................................................................................................................... 251

iii
List of Tables
18.1. getting to command mode ......................................................................... 147
18.2. switch to insert mode ................................................................................. 147
18.3. replace and delete ...................................................................................... 148
18.4. undo and repeat .......................................................................................... 148
18.5. cut, copy and paste a line .......................................................................... 148
18.6. cut, copy and paste lines ............................................................................ 149
18.7. start and end of line ................................................................................... 149
18.8. join two lines ............................................................................................. 149
18.9. words .......................................................................................................... 150
18.10. save and exit vi ........................................................................................ 150
18.11. searching .................................................................................................. 151
18.12. replace ...................................................................................................... 151
18.13. read files and input .................................................................................. 151
18.14. text buffers ............................................................................................... 152
18.15. multiple files ............................................................................................ 152
18.16. abbreviations ............................................................................................ 152
23.1. Debian User Environment .......................................................................... 206
23.2. Red Hat User Environment ........................................................................ 206
25.1. Unix special files ....................................................................................... 216
25.2. standard Unix file permissions .................................................................. 217
25.3. Unix file permissions position ................................................................... 217
25.4. Octal permissions ....................................................................................... 220

iv
Part I. introduction to Linux
Chapter 1. Linux history

Table of Contents
1.1. Linux history .................................................................................................... 3

This chapter briefly tells the history of Unix and where Linux fits in.

If you are eager to start working with Linux without this blah, blah, blah over history,
distributions, and licensing then jump straight to Part II - Chapter 6. Working with
Directories page 26.

2
 Linux history

1.1. Linux history

All modern operating systems have their roots in 1969 when Dennis Ritchie and
Ken Thompson developed the C language and the Unix operating system at AT&T
Bell Labs. They shared their source code (yes, there was open source back in the
Seventies) with the rest of the world, including the hippies in Berkeley California. By
1975, when AT&T started selling Unix commercially, about half of the source code
was written by others. The hippies were not happy that a commercial company sold
software that they had written; the resulting (legal) battle ended in there being two
versions of Unix in the Seventies : the official AT&T Unix, and the free BSD Unix.

In the Eighties many companies started developing their own Unix: IBM created
AIX, Sun SunOS (later Solaris), HP HP-UX and about a dozen other companies did
the same. The result was a mess of Unix dialects and a dozen different ways to do the
same thing. And here is the first real root of Linux, when Richard Stallman aimed
to end this era of Unix separation and everybody re-inventing the wheel by starting
the GNU project (GNU is Not Unix). His goal was to make an operating system that
was freely available to everyone, and where everyone could work together (like in the
Seventies). Many of the command line tools that you use today on Linux or Solaris
are GNU tools.

The Nineties started with Linus Torvalds, a Swedish speaking Finnish student,
buying a 386 computer and writing a brand new POSIX compliant kernel. He put
the source code online, thinking it would never support anything but 386 hardware.
Many people embraced the combination of this kernel with the GNU tools, and the
rest, as they say, is history.

Today more than 90 percent of supercomputers (including the complete top 10), more
than half of all smartphones, many millions of desktop computers, around 70 percent
of all web servers, a large chunk of tablet computers, and several appliances (dvd-
players, washing machines, dsl modems, routers, ...) run Linux. It is by far the most
commonly used operating system in the world.

Linux kernel version 3.2 was released in January 2012. Its source code grew by almost
two hundred thousand lines (compared to version 3.1) thanks to contributions of over
4000 developers paid by about 200 commercial companies including Red Hat, Intel,
Broadcom, Texas Instruments, IBM, Novell, Qualcomm, Samsung, Nokia, Oracle,
Google and even Microsoft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds
http://kernel.org
http://lwn.net/Articles/472852/
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
http://www.levenez.com/unix/ (a huge Unix history poster)

3
Chapter 2. distributions

Table of Contents
2.1. Red Hat ............................................................................................................ 5
2.2. Ubuntu .............................................................................................................. 5
2.3. Debian .............................................................................................................. 5
2.4. Other ................................................................................................................ 5
2.5. Which to choose ? ........................................................................................... 5

This chapter gives a short overview of current Linux distributions.

A Linux distribution is a collection of (usually open source) software on top of a

Linux kernel. A distribution (or short, distro) can bundle server software, system
management tools, documentation and many desktop applications in a central secure
software repository. A distro aims to provide a common look and feel, secure and
easy software management and often a specific operational purpose.

Let's take a look at some popular distributions.

4
 distributions

2.1. Red Hat

Red Hat is a billion dollar commercial Linux company that puts a lot of effort in
developing Linux. They have hundreds of Linux specialists and are known for their
excellent support. They give their products (Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora)
away for free. While Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is well tested before release
and supported for up to seven years after release, Fedora is a distro with faster updates
but without support.

2.2. Ubuntu
Canonical started sending out free compact discs with Ubuntu Linux in 2004 and
quickly became popular for home users (many switching from Microsoft Windows).
Canonical wants Ubuntu to be an easy to use graphical Linux desktop without need
to ever see a command line. Of course they also want to make a profit by selling
support for Ubuntu.

2.3. Debian
There is no company behind Debian. Instead there are thousands of well organised
developers that elect a Debian Project Leader every two years. Debian is seen as one
of the most stable Linux distributions. It is also the basis of every release of Ubuntu.
Debian comes in three versions: stable, testing and unstable. Every Debian release is
named after a character in the movie Toy Story.

2.4. Other
Distributions like CentOS, Oracle Enterprise Linux and Scientific Linux are based
on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and share many of the same principles, directories and
system administration techniques. Linux Mint, Edubuntu and many other *buntu
named distributions are based on Ubuntu and thus share a lot with Debian. There are
hundreds of other Linux distributions.

2.5. Which to choose ?

When you are new to Linux in 2012, go for the latest Ubuntu or Fedora. If you only
want to practice the Linux command line then install one Ubuntu server and/or one
CentOS server (without graphical interface).
redhat.com
ubuntu.com
debian.org
centos.org
distrowatch.com

5
Chapter 3. licensing

Table of Contents
3.1. about software licenses .................................................................................... 7
3.2. public domain software and freeware .............................................................. 7
3.3. Free Software or Open Source Software ......................................................... 8
3.4. GNU General Public License .......................................................................... 8
3.5. using GPLv3 software ..................................................................................... 8
3.6. BSD license ..................................................................................................... 9
3.7. other licenses ................................................................................................... 9
3.8. combination of software licenses ..................................................................... 9

This chapter briefly explains the different licenses used for distributing operating
systems software.

Many thanks go to Ywein Van den Brande for writing most of this chapter.

Ywein is an attorney at law, co-author of The International FOSS Law Book and
author of Praktijkboek Informaticarecht (in Dutch).

http://ifosslawbook.org
http://www.crealaw.eu

6
 licensing

3.1. about software licenses

There are two predominant software paradigms: Free and Open Source Software
(FOSS) and proprietary software. The criteria for differentiation between these two
approaches is based on control over the software. With proprietary software, control
tends to lie more with the vendor, while with Free and Open Source Software it
tends to be more weighted towards the end user. But even though the paradigms
differ, they use the same copyright laws to reach and enforce their goals. From a
legal perspective, Free and Open Source Software can be considered as software to
which users generally receive more rights via their license agreement than they would
have with a proprietary software license, yet the underlying license mechanisms
are the same.

Legal theory states that the author of FOSS, contrary to the author of public domain
software, has in no way whatsoever given up his rights on his work. FOSS supports on
the rights of the author (the copyright) to impose FOSS license conditions. The FOSS
license conditions need to be respected by the user in the same way as proprietary
license conditions. Always check your license carefully before you use third party
software.

Examples of proprietary software are AIX from IBM, HP-UX from HP and Oracle
Database 11g. You are not authorised to install or use this software without paying a
licensing fee. You are not authorised to distribute copies and you are not authorised
to modify the closed source code.

3.2. public domain software and freeware

Software that is original in the sense that it is an intellectual creation of the
author benefits copyright protection. Non-original software does not come into
consideration for copyright protection and can, in principle, be used freely.

Public domain software is considered as software to which the author has given up all
rights and on which nobody is able to enforce any rights. This software can be used,
reproduced or executed freely, without permission or the payment of a fee. Public
domain software can in certain cases even be presented by third parties as own work,
and by modifying the original work, third parties can take certain versions of the
public domain software out of the public domain again.

Freeware is not public domain software or FOSS. It is proprietary software that you
can use without paying a license cost. However, the often strict license terms need
to be respected.

Examples of freeware are Adobe Reader, Skype and Command and Conquer:
Tiberian Sun (this game was sold as proprietary in 1999 and is since 2011 available
as freeware).

7
 licensing

3.3. Free Software or Open Source Software

Both the Free Software (translates to vrije software in Dutch and to Logiciel
Libre in French) and the Open Source Software movement largely pursue similar
goals and endorse similar software licenses. But historically, there has been some
perception of differentiation due to different emphases. Where the Free Software
movement focuses on the rights (the four freedoms) which Free Software provides to
its users, the Open Source Software movement points to its Open Source Definition
and the advantages of peer-to-peer software development.

Recently, the term free and open source software or FOSS has arisen as a neutral
alternative. A lesser-used variant is free/libre/open source software (FLOSS), which
uses libre to clarify the meaning of free as in freedom rather than as in at no charge.

Examples of free software are gcc, MySQL and gimp.

Detailed information about the four freedoms can be found here:

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

The open source definition can be found at:

http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd

The above definition is based on the Debian Free Software Guidelines available
here:
http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines

3.4. GNU General Public License

More and more software is being released under the GNU GPL (in 2006 Java was
released under the GPL). This license (v2 and v3) is the main license endorsed by
the Free Software Foundation. It’s main characteristic is the copyleft principle. This
means that everyone in the chain of consecutive users, in return for the right of use
that is assigned, needs to distribute the improvements he makes to the software and his
derivative works under the same conditions to other users, if he chooses to distribute
such improvements or derivative works. In other words, software which incorporates
GNU GPL software, needs to be distributed in turn as GNU GPL software (or
compatible, see below). It is not possible to incorporate copyright protected parts of
GNU GPL software in a proprietary licensed work. The GPL has been upheld in court.

3.5. using GPLv3 software

You can use GPLv3 software almost without any conditions. If you solely run the
software you even don’t have to accept the terms of the GPLv3. However, any other
use - such as modifying or distributing the software - implies acceptance.

8
 licensing

In case you use the software internally (including over a network), you may modify
the software without being obliged to distribute your modification. You may hire
third parties to work on the software exclusively for you and under your direction and
control. But if you modify the software and use it otherwise than merely internally,
this will be considered as distribution. You must distribute your modifications under
GPLv3 (the copyleft principle). Several more obligations apply if you distribute
GPLv3 software. Check the GPLv3 license carefully.

You create output with GPLv3 software: The GPLv3 does not automatically apply
to the output.

3.6. BSD license

There are several versions of the original Berkeley Distribution License. The most
common one is the 3-clause license ("New BSD License" or "Modified BSD
License").

This is a permissive free software license. The license places minimal restrictions on
how the software can be redistributed. This is in contrast to copyleft licenses such as
the GPLv. 3 discussed above, which have a copyleft mechanism.

This difference is of less importance when you merely use the software, but kicks in
when you start redistributing verbatim copies of the software or your own modified
versions.

3.7. other licenses

FOSS or not, there are many kind of licenses on software. You should read and
understand them before using any software.

3.8. combination of software licenses

When you use several sources or wishes to redistribute your software under a different
license, you need to verify whether all licenses are compatible. Some FOSS licenses
(such as BSD) are compatible with proprietary licenses, but most are not. If you detect
a license incompatibility, you must contact the author to negotiate different license
conditions or refrain from using the incompatible software.

9
Chapter 4. getting Linux at home

Table of Contents
4.1. download a Linux CD image ......................................................................... 11
4.2. download Virtualbox ..................................................................................... 11
4.3. create a virtual machine ................................................................................. 12
4.4. attach the CD image ...................................................................................... 17
4.5. install Linux ................................................................................................... 20

This book assumes you have access to a working Linux computer. Most companies
have one or more Linux servers, if you have already logged on to it, then you 're all
set (skip this chapter and go to the next).

Another option is to insert a Ubuntu Linux CD in a computer with (or without)

Microsoft Windows and follow the installation. Ubuntu will resize (or create)
partitions and setup a menu at boot time to choose Windows or Linux.

If you do not have access to a Linux computer at the moment, and if you are unable
or unsure about installing Linux on your computer, then this chapter proposes a third
option: installing Linux in a virtual machine.

Installation in a virtual machine (provided by Virtualbox) is easy and safe. Even

when you make mistakes and crash everything on the virtual Linux machine, then
nothing on the real computer is touched.

This chapter gives easy steps and screenshots to get a working Ubuntu server in a
Virtualbox virtual machine. The steps are very similar to installing Fedora or CentOS
or even Debian, and if you like you can also use VMWare instead of Virtualbox.

10
 getting Linux at home

4.1. download a Linux CD image

Start by downloading a Linux CD image (an .ISO file) from the distribution of your
choice from the Internet. Take care selecting the correct cpu architecture of your
computer; choose i386 if unsure. Choosing the wrong cpu type (like x86_64 when
you have an old Pentium) will almost immediately fail to boot the CD.

4.2. download Virtualbox

Step two (when the .ISO file has finished downloading) is to download Virtualbox. If
you are currently running Microsoft Windows, then download and install Virtualbox
for Windows!

11
 getting Linux at home

4.3. create a virtual machine

Now start Virtualbox. Contrary to the screenshot below, your left pane should be
empty.

Click New to create a new virtual machine. We will walk together through the wizard.
The screenshots below are taken on Mac OSX; they will be slightly different if you
are running Microsoft Windows.

12
 getting Linux at home

Name your virtual machine (and maybe select 32-bit or 64-bit).

Give the virtual machine some memory (512MB if you have 2GB or more, otherwise
select 256MB).

13
 getting Linux at home

Select to create a new disk (remember, this will be a virtual disk).

If you get the question below, choose vdi.

14
 getting Linux at home

Choose dynamically allocated (fixed size is only useful in production or on really

old, slow hardware).

Choose between 10GB and 16GB as the disk size.

15
 getting Linux at home

Click create to create the virtual disk.

Click create to create the virtual machine.

16
 getting Linux at home

4.4. attach the CD image

Before we start the virtual computer, let us take a look at some settings (click
Settings).

Do not worry if your screen looks different, just find the button named storage.

17
 getting Linux at home

Remember the .ISO file you downloaded? Connect this .ISO file to this virtual
machine by clicking on the CD icon next to Empty.

Now click on the other CD icon and attach your ISO file to this virtual CD drive.

18
 getting Linux at home

Verify that your download is accepted. If Virtualbox complains at this point, then
you probably did not finish the download of the CD (try downloading it again).

It could be useful to set the network adapter to bridge instead of NAT. Bridged usually
will connect your virtual computer to the Internet.

19
 getting Linux at home

4.5. install Linux

The virtual machine is now ready to start. When given a choice at boot, select install
and follow the instructions on the screen. When the installation is finished, you can
log on to the machine and start practising Linux!

20
Part II. first steps on
the command line
Chapter 5. man pages

Table of Contents
5.1. man $command .............................................................................................. 23
5.2. man $configfile .............................................................................................. 23
5.3. man $daemon ................................................................................................. 23
5.4. man -k (apropos) ............................................................................................ 23
5.5. whatis ............................................................................................................. 23
5.6. whereis ........................................................................................................... 24
5.7. man sections ................................................................................................... 24
5.8. man $section $file .......................................................................................... 24
5.9. man man ........................................................................................................ 24
5.10. mandb ........................................................................................................... 25

This chapter will explain the use of man pages (also called manual pages) on your
Unix or Linux computer.

You will learn the man command together with related commands like whereis,
whatis and mandb.

Most Unix files and commands have pretty good man pages to explain their use. Man
pages also come in handy when you are using multiple flavours of Unix or several
Linux distributions since options and parameters sometimes vary.

22
 man pages

5.1. man $command

Type man followed by a command (for which you want help) and start reading. Press
q to quit the manpage. Some man pages contain examples (near the end).

paul@laika:~$ man whois

Reformatting whois(1), please wait...

5.2. man $configfile

Most configuration files have their own manual.

paul@laika:~$ man syslog.conf

Reformatting syslog.conf(5), please wait...

5.3. man $daemon

This is also true for most daemons (background programs) on your system..

paul@laika:~$ man syslogd

Reformatting syslogd(8), please wait...

5.4. man -k (apropos)

man -k (or apropos) shows a list of man pages containing a string.

paul@laika:~$ man -k syslog

lm-syslog-setup (8) - configure laptop mode to switch syslog.conf ...
logger (1) - a shell command interface to the syslog(3) ...
syslog-facility (8) - Setup and remove LOCALx facility for sysklogd
syslog.conf (5) - syslogd(8) configuration file
syslogd (8) - Linux system logging utilities.
syslogd-listfiles (8) - list system logfiles

5.5. whatis
To see just the description of a manual page, use whatis followed by a string.

paul@u810:~$ whatis route

route (8) - show / manipulate the IP routing table

23
 man pages

5.6. whereis
The location of a manpage can be revealed with whereis.

paul@laika:~$ whereis -m whois

whois: /usr/share/man/man1/whois.1.gz

This file is directly readable by man.

paul@laika:~$ man /usr/share/man/man1/whois.1.gz

5.7. man sections

By now you will have noticed the numbers between the round brackets. man man
will explain to you that these are section numbers. Executable programs and shell
commands reside in section one.

1 Executable programs or shell commands

2 System calls (functions provided by the kernel)
3 Library calls (functions within program libraries)
4 Special files (usually found in /dev)
5 File formats and conventions eg /etc/passwd
6 Games
7 Miscellaneous (including macro packages and conventions), e.g. man(7)
8 System administration commands (usually only for root)
9 Kernel routines [Non standard]

5.8. man $section $file

Therefor, when referring to the man page of the passwd command, you will see it
written as passwd(1); when referring to the passwd file, you will see it written as
passwd(5). The screenshot explains how to open the man page in the correct section.

[paul@RHEL52 ~]$ man passwd # opens the first manual found

[paul@RHEL52 ~]$ man 5 passwd # opens a page from section 5

5.9. man man

If you want to know more about man, then Read The Fantastic Manual (RTFM).

Unfortunately, manual pages do not have the answer to everything...

paul@laika:~$ man woman
No manual entry for woman

24
 man pages

5.10. mandb
Should you be convinced that a man page exists, but you can't access it, then try
running mandb.

root@laika:~# mandb
0 man subdirectories contained newer manual pages.
0 manual pages were added.
0 stray cats were added.
0 old database entries were purged.

25
Chapter 6. working with directories

Table of Contents
6.1. pwd ................................................................................................................. 27
6.2. cd .................................................................................................................... 27
6.3. absolute and relative paths ............................................................................. 28
6.4. path completion .............................................................................................. 29
6.5. ls ..................................................................................................................... 29
6.6. mkdir .............................................................................................................. 31
6.7. rmdir ............................................................................................................... 31
6.8. practice: working with directories ................................................................. 32
6.9. solution: working with directories ................................................................. 33

To explore the Linux file tree, you will need some basic tools.

This chapter is small overview of the most common commands to work with
directories : pwd, cd, ls, mkdir, rmdir. These commands are available on any Linux
(or Unix) system.

This chapter also discusses absolute and relative paths and path completion in the
bash shell.

26
 working with directories

6.1. pwd
The you are here sign can be displayed with the pwd command (Print Working
Directory). Go ahead, try it: Open a command line interface (like gnome-terminal,
konsole, xterm, or a tty) and type pwd. The tool displays your current directory.
paul@laika:~$ pwd
/home/paul

6.2. cd
You can change your current directory with the cd command (Change Directory).
paul@laika$ cd /etc
paul@laika$ pwd
/etc
paul@laika$ cd /bin
paul@laika$ pwd
/bin
paul@laika$ cd /home/paul/
paul@laika$ pwd
/home/paul

cd ~
You can pull off a trick with cd. Just typing cd without a target directory, will put
you in your home directory. Typing cd ~ has the same effect.
paul@laika$ cd /etc
paul@laika$ pwd
/etc
paul@laika$ cd
paul@laika$ pwd
/home/paul
paul@laika$ cd ~
paul@laika$ pwd
/home/paul

cd ..
To go to the parent directory (the one just above your current directory in the
directory tree), type cd .. .
paul@laika$ pwd
/usr/share/games
paul@laika$ cd ..
paul@laika$ pwd
/usr/share

To stay in the current directory, type cd . ;-) We will see useful use of the . character
representing the current directory later.

27
 working with directories

cd -
Another useful shortcut with cd is to just type cd - to go to the previous directory.
paul@laika$ pwd
/home/paul
paul@laika$ cd /etc
paul@laika$ pwd
/etc
paul@laika$ cd -
/home/paul
paul@laika$ cd -
/etc

6.3. absolute and relative paths

You should be aware of absolute and relative paths in the file tree. When you type
a path starting with a slash (/), then the root of the file tree is assumed. If you don't
start your path with a slash, then the current directory is the assumed starting point.

The screenshot below first shows the current directory /home/paul. From within this
directory, you have to type cd /home instead of cd home to go to the /home directory.
paul@laika$ pwd
/home/paul
paul@laika$ cd home
bash: cd: home: No such file or directory
paul@laika$ cd /home
paul@laika$ pwd
/home

When inside /home, you have to type cd paul instead of cd /paul to enter the
subdirectory paul of the current directory /home.
paul@laika$ pwd
/home
paul@laika$ cd /paul
bash: cd: /paul: No such file or directory
paul@laika$ cd paul
paul@laika$ pwd
/home/paul

In case your current directory is the root directory /, then both cd /home and cd
home will get you in the /home directory.
paul@laika$ pwd
/
paul@laika$ cd home
paul@laika$ pwd
/home
paul@laika$ cd /
paul@laika$ cd /home
paul@laika$ pwd
/home

This was the last screenshot with pwd statements. From now on, the current directory
will often be displayed in the prompt. Later in this book we will explain how the shell
variable $PS1 can be configured to show this.

28
 working with directories

6.4. path completion

The tab key can help you in typing a path without errors. Typing cd /et followed by
the tab key will expand the command line to cd /etc/. When typing cd /Et followed by
the tab key, nothing will happen because you typed the wrong path (upper case E).

You will need fewer key strokes when using the tab key, and you will be sure your
typed path is correct!

6.5. ls
You can list the contents of a directory with ls.
paul@pasha:~$ ls
allfiles.txt dmesg.txt httpd.conf stuff summer.txt
paul@pasha:~$

ls -a
A frequently used option with ls is -a to show all files. Showing all files means
including the hidden files. When a file name on a Unix file system starts with a dot,
it is considered a hidden file and it doesn't show up in regular file listings.

paul@pasha:~$ ls
allfiles.txt dmesg.txt httpd.conf stuff summer.txt
paul@pasha:~$ ls -a
. allfiles.txt .bash_profile dmesg.txt .lesshst stuff
.. .bash_history .bashrc httpd.conf .ssh summer.txt
paul@pasha:~$

ls -l
Many times you will be using options with ls to display the contents of the directory
in different formats or to display different parts of the directory. Typing just ls gives
you a list of files in the directory. Typing ls -l (that is a letter L, not the number 1)
gives you a long listing.
paul@pasha:~$ ls -l
total 23992
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 24506857 2006-03-30 22:53 allfiles.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 14744 2006-09-27 11:45 dmesg.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 8189 2006-03-31 14:01 httpd.conf
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4096 2007-01-08 12:22 stuff
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2006-03-30 22:45 summer.txt

29
 working with directories

ls -lh
Another frequently used ls option is -h. It shows the numbers (file sizes) in a more
human readable format. Also shown below is some variation in the way you can give
the options to ls. We will explain the details of the output later in this book.
paul@pasha:~$ ls -l -h
total 24M
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 24M 2006-03-30 22:53 allfiles.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 15K 2006-09-27 11:45 dmesg.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 8.0K 2006-03-31 14:01 httpd.conf
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4.0K 2007-01-08 12:22 stuff
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2006-03-30 22:45 summer.txt
paul@pasha:~$ ls -lh
total 24M
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 24M 2006-03-30 22:53 allfiles.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 15K 2006-09-27 11:45 dmesg.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 8.0K 2006-03-31 14:01 httpd.conf
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4.0K 2007-01-08 12:22 stuff
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2006-03-30 22:45 summer.txt
paul@pasha:~$ ls -hl
total 24M
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 24M 2006-03-30 22:53 allfiles.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 15K 2006-09-27 11:45 dmesg.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 8.0K 2006-03-31 14:01 httpd.conf
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4.0K 2007-01-08 12:22 stuff
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2006-03-30 22:45 summer.txt
paul@pasha:~$ ls -h -l
total 24M
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 24M 2006-03-30 22:53 allfiles.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 15K 2006-09-27 11:45 dmesg.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 8.0K 2006-03-31 14:01 httpd.conf
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4.0K 2007-01-08 12:22 stuff
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2006-03-30 22:45 summer.txt

30
 working with directories

6.6. mkdir
Walking around the Unix file tree is fun, but it is even more fun to create your own
directories with mkdir. You have to give at least one parameter to mkdir, the name
of the new directory to be created. Think before you type a leading / .
paul@laika:~$ mkdir MyDir
paul@laika:~$ cd MyDir
paul@laika:~/MyDir$ ls -al
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4096 2007-01-10 21:13 .
drwxr-xr-x 39 paul paul 4096 2007-01-10 21:13 ..
paul@laika:~/MyDir$ mkdir stuff
paul@laika:~/MyDir$ mkdir otherstuff
paul@laika:~/MyDir$ ls -l
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4096 2007-01-10 21:14 otherstuff
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4096 2007-01-10 21:14 stuff
paul@laika:~/MyDir$

mkdir -p
When given the option -p, then mkdir will create parent directories as needed.
paul@laika:~$ mkdir -p MyDir2/MySubdir2/ThreeDeep
paul@laika:~$ ls MyDir2
MySubdir2
paul@laika:~$ ls MyDir2/MySubdir2
ThreeDeep
paul@laika:~$ ls MyDir2/MySubdir2/ThreeDeep/

6.7. rmdir
When a directory is empty, you can use rmdir to remove the directory.
paul@laika:~/MyDir$ rmdir otherstuff
paul@laika:~/MyDir$ ls
stuff
paul@laika:~/MyDir$ cd ..
paul@laika:~$ rmdir MyDir
rmdir: MyDir/: Directory not empty
paul@laika:~$ rmdir MyDir/stuff
paul@laika:~$ rmdir MyDir

rmdir -p
And similar to the mkdir -p option, you can also use rmdir to recursively remove
directories.
paul@laika:~$ mkdir -p dir/subdir/subdir2
paul@laika:~$ rmdir -p dir/subdir/subdir2
paul@laika:~$

31
 working with directories

6.8. practice: working with directories

1. Display your current directory.

2. Change to the /etc directory.

3. Now change to your home directory using only three key presses.

4. Change to the /boot/grub directory using only eleven key presses.

5. Go to the parent directory of the current directory.

6. Go to the root directory.

7. List the contents of the root directory.

8. List a long listing of the root directory.

9. Stay where you are, and list the contents of /etc.

10. Stay where you are, and list the contents of /bin and /sbin.

11. Stay where you are, and list the contents of ~.

12. List all the files (including hidden files) in your home directory.

13. List the files in /boot in a human readable format.

14. Create a directory testdir in your home directory.

15. Change to the /etc directory, stay here and create a directory newdir in your home
directory.

16. Create in one command the directories ~/dir1/dir2/dir3 (dir3 is a subdirectory

from dir2, and dir2 is a subdirectory from dir1 ).

17. Remove the directory testdir.

18. If time permits (or if you are waiting for other students to finish this practice),
use and understand pushd and popd. Use the man page of bash to find information
about these commands.

32
 working with directories

6.9. solution: working with directories

1. Display your current directory.
pwd

2. Change to the /etc directory.

cd /etc

3. Now change to your home directory using only three key presses.
cd (and the enter key)

4. Change to the /boot/grub directory using only eleven key presses.

cd /boot/grub (use the tab key)

5. Go to the parent directory of the current directory.

cd .. (with space between cd and ..)

6. Go to the root directory.

cd /

7. List the contents of the root directory.

ls

8. List a long listing of the root directory.

ls -l

9. Stay where you are, and list the contents of /etc.

ls /etc

10. Stay where you are, and list the contents of /bin and /sbin.
ls /bin /sbin

11. Stay where you are, and list the contents of ~.

ls ~

12. List all the files (including hidden files) in your home directory.
ls -al ~

13. List the files in /boot in a human readable format.

ls -lh /boot

14. Create a directory testdir in your home directory.

mkdir ~/testdir

15. Change to the /etc directory, stay here and create a directory newdir in your home
directory.

33
 working with directories

cd /etc ; mkdir ~/newdir

16. Create in one command the directories ~/dir1/dir2/dir3 (dir3 is a subdirectory

from dir2, and dir2 is a subdirectory from dir1 ).
mkdir -p ~/dir1/dir2/dir3

17. Remove the directory testdir.

rmdir testdir

18. If time permits (or if you are waiting for other students to finish this practice),
use and understand pushd and popd. Use the man page of bash to find information
about these commands.
man bash

The Bash shell has two built-in commands called pushd and popd. Both commands
work with a common stack of previous directories. Pushd adds a directory to the stack
and changes to a new current directory, popd removes a directory from the stack and
sets the current directory.

paul@laika:/etc$ cd /bin
paul@laika:/bin$ pushd /lib
/lib /bin
paul@laika:/lib$ pushd /proc
/proc /lib /bin
paul@laika:/proc$
paul@laika:/proc$ popd
/lib /bin
paul@laika:/lib$
paul@laika:/lib$
paul@laika:/lib$ popd
/bin
paul@laika:/bin$

34
Chapter 7. working with files

Table of Contents
7.1. all files are case sensitive .............................................................................. 36
7.2. everything is a file ......................................................................................... 36
7.3. file .................................................................................................................. 36
7.4. touch ............................................................................................................... 37
7.5. rm ................................................................................................................... 37
7.6. cp .................................................................................................................... 38
7.7. mv .................................................................................................................. 39
7.8. rename ............................................................................................................ 40
7.9. practice: working with files ........................................................................... 41
7.10. solution: working with files ......................................................................... 42

In this chapter we learn how to recognise, create, remove, copy and move files using
commands like file, touch, rm, cp, mv and rename.

35
 working with files

7.1. all files are case sensitive

Linux is case sensitive, this means that FILE1 is different from file1, and /etc/hosts
is different from /etc/Hosts (the latter one does not exist on a typical Linux computer).

This screenshot shows the difference between two files, one with upper case W, the
other with lower case w.
paul@laika:~/Linux$ ls
winter.txt Winter.txt
paul@laika:~/Linux$ cat winter.txt
It is cold.
paul@laika:~/Linux$ cat Winter.txt
It is very cold!

7.2. everything is a file

A directory is a special kind of file, but it is still a (case sensitive!) file. Even a
terminal window (/dev/pts/4) or a hard disk (/dev/sdb) is represented somewhere in
the file system as a file. It will become clear throughout this course that everything
on Linux is a file.

7.3. file
The file utility determines the file type. Linux does not use extensions to determine
the file type. Your editor does not care whether a file ends in .TXT or .DOC. As a
system administrator, you should use the file command to determine the file type.
Here are some examples on a typical Linux system.
paul@laika:~$ file pic33.png
pic33.png: PNG image data, 3840 x 1200, 8-bit/color RGBA, non-interlaced
paul@laika:~$ file /etc/passwd
/etc/passwd: ASCII text
paul@laika:~$ file HelloWorld.c
HelloWorld.c: ASCII C program text

The file command uses a magic file that contains patterns to recognise file types.
The magic file is located in /usr/share/file/magic. Type man 5 magic for more
information.

It is interesting to point out file -s for special files like those in /dev and /proc.
root@debian6~# file /dev/sda
/dev/sda: block special
root@debian6~# file -s /dev/sda
/dev/sda: x86 boot sector; partition 1: ID=0x83, active, starthead...
root@debian6~# file /proc/cpuinfo
/proc/cpuinfo: empty
root@debian6~# file -s /proc/cpuinfo
/proc/cpuinfo: ASCII C++ program text

36
 working with files

7.4. touch
One easy way to create a file is with touch. (We will see many other ways for creating
files later in this book.)
paul@laika:~/test$ touch file1
paul@laika:~/test$ touch file2
paul@laika:~/test$ touch file555
paul@laika:~/test$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-01-10 21:40 file1
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-01-10 21:40 file2
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-01-10 21:40 file555

touch -t
Of course, touch can do more than just create files. Can you determine what by
looking at the next screenshot? If not, check the manual for touch.
paul@laika:~/test$ touch -t 200505050000 SinkoDeMayo
paul@laika:~/test$ touch -t 130207111630 BigBattle
paul@laika:~/test$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 1302-07-11 16:30 BigBattle
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2005-05-05 00:00 SinkoDeMayo

7.5. rm
When you no longer need a file, use rm to remove it. Unlike some graphical user
interfaces, the command line in general does not have a waste bin or trash can to
recover files. When you use rm to remove a file, the file is gone. Therefore, be careful
when removing files!
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
BigBattle SinkoDeMayo
paul@laika:~/test$ rm BigBattle
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
SinkoDeMayo

rm -i
To prevent yourself from accidentally removing a file, you can type rm -i.
paul@laika:~/Linux$ touch brel.txt
paul@laika:~/Linux$ rm -i brel.txt
rm: remove regular empty file `brel.txt'? y
paul@laika:~/Linux$

37
 working with files

rm -rf
By default, rm -r will not remove non-empty directories. However rm accepts several
options that will allow you to remove any directory. The rm -rf statement is famous
because it will erase anything (providing that you have the permissions to do so).
When you are logged on as root, be very careful with rm -rf (the f means force and
the r means recursive) since being root implies that permissions don't apply to you.
You can literally erase your entire file system by accident.
paul@laika:~$ ls test
SinkoDeMayo
paul@laika:~$ rm test
rm: cannot remove `test': Is a directory
paul@laika:~$ rm -rf test
paul@laika:~$ ls test
ls: test: No such file or directory

7.6. cp
To copy a file, use cp with a source and a target argument. If the target is a directory,
then the source files are copied to that target directory.
paul@laika:~/test$ touch FileA
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
FileA
paul@laika:~/test$ cp FileA FileB
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
FileA FileB
paul@laika:~/test$ mkdir MyDir
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
FileA FileB MyDir
paul@laika:~/test$ cp FileA MyDir/
paul@laika:~/test$ ls MyDir/
FileA

cp -r
To copy complete directories, use cp -r (the -r option forces recursive copying of
all files in all subdirectories).

paul@laika:~/test$ ls
FileA FileB MyDir
paul@laika:~/test$ ls MyDir/
FileA
paul@laika:~/test$ cp -r MyDir MyDirB
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
FileA FileB MyDir MyDirB
paul@laika:~/test$ ls MyDirB
FileA

38
 working with files

cp multiple files to directory

You can also use cp to copy multiple files into a directory. In this case, the last
argument (a.k.a. the target) must be a directory.
cp file1 file2 dir1/file3 dir1/file55 dir2

cp -i
To prevent cp from overwriting existing files, use the -i (for interactive) option.

paul@laika:~/test$ cp fire water

paul@laika:~/test$ cp -i fire water
cp: overwrite `water'? no
paul@laika:~/test$

cp -p
To preserve permissions and time stamps from source files, use cp -p.

paul@laika:~/perms$ cp file* cp
paul@laika:~/perms$ cp -p file* cpp
paul@laika:~/perms$ ll *
-rwx------ 1 paul paul 0 2008-08-25 13:26 file33
-rwxr-x--- 1 paul paul 0 2008-08-25 13:26 file42

cp:
total 0
-rwx------ 1 paul paul 0 2008-08-25 13:34 file33
-rwxr-x--- 1 paul paul 0 2008-08-25 13:34 file42

cpp:
total 0
-rwx------ 1 paul paul 0 2008-08-25 13:26 file33
-rwxr-x--- 1 paul paul 0 2008-08-25 13:26 file42

7.7. mv
Use mv to rename a file or to move the file to another directory.

paul@laika:~/test$ touch file100

paul@laika:~/test$ ls
file100
paul@laika:~/test$ mv file100 ABC.txt
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
ABC.txt
paul@laika:~/test$

When you need to rename only one file then mv is the preferred command to use.

39
 working with files

7.8. rename
The rename command can also be used but it has a more complex syntax to enable
renaming of many files at once. Below are two examples, the first switches all
occurrences of txt to png for all file names ending in .txt. The second example
switches all occurrences of upper case ABC in lower case abc for all file names ending
in .png . The following syntax will work on debian and ubuntu (prior to Ubuntu 7.10).

paul@laika:~/test$ ls
123.txt ABC.txt
paul@laika:~/test$ rename 's/txt/png/' *.txt
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
123.png ABC.png
paul@laika:~/test$ rename 's/ABC/abc/' *.png
paul@laika:~/test$ ls
123.png abc.png
paul@laika:~/test$

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux (and many other Linux distributions like Ubuntu 8.04),
the syntax of rename is a bit different. The first example below renames all *.conf
files replacing any occurrence of conf with bak. The second example renames all (*)
files replacing one with ONE.

[paul@RHEL4a test]$ ls
one.conf two.conf
[paul@RHEL4a test]$ rename conf bak *.conf
[paul@RHEL4a test]$ ls
one.bak two.bak
[paul@RHEL4a test]$ rename one ONE *
[paul@RHEL4a test]$ ls
ONE.bak two.bak
[paul@RHEL4a test]$

40
 working with files

7.9. practice: working with files

1. List the files in the /bin directory

2. Display the type of file of /bin/cat, /etc/passwd and /usr/bin/passwd.

3a. Download wolf.jpg and book.pdf from http://www.linux-training.be (wget http://

linux-training.be/files/studentfiles/wolf.jpg and wget http://linux-training.be/files/
books/LinuxFun.pdf)

3b. Display the type of file of wolf.jpg and book.pdf

3c. Rename wolf.jpg to wolf.pdf (use mv).

3d. Display the type of file of wolf.pdf and book.pdf.

4. Create a directory ~/touched and enter it.

5. Create the files today.txt and yesterday.txt in touched.

6. Change the date on yesterday.txt to match yesterday's date.

7. Copy yesterday.txt to copy.yesterday.txt

8. Rename copy.yesterday.txt to kim

9. Create a directory called ~/testbackup and copy all files from ~/touched in it.

10. Use one command to remove the directory ~/testbackup and all files in it.

11. Create a directory ~/etcbackup and copy all *.conf files from /etc in it. Did you
include all subdirectories of /etc ?

12. Use rename to rename all *.conf files to *.backup . (if you have more than one
distro available, try it on all!)

41
 working with files

7.10. solution: working with files

1. List the files in the /bin directory
ls /bin

2. Display the type of file of /bin/cat, /etc/passwd and /usr/bin/passwd.

file /bin/cat /etc/passwd /usr/bin/passwd

3a. Download wolf.jpg and book.pdf from http://www.linux-training.be (wget http://

linux-training.be/files/studentfiles/wolf.jpg and wget http://linux-training.be/files/
books/LinuxFun.pdf)
wget http://linux-training.be/files/studentfiles/wolf.jpg
wget http://linux-training.be/files/studentfiles/wolf.png
wget http://linux-training.be/files/books/LinuxFun.pdf

3b. Display the type of file of wolf.jpg and book.pdf

file wolf.jpg book.pdf

3c. Rename wolf.jpg to wolf.pdf (use mv).

mv wolf.jpg wolf.pdf

3d. Display the type of file of wolf.pdf and book.pdf.

file wolf.pdf book.pdf

4. Create a directory ~/touched and enter it.

mkdir ~/touched ; cd ~/touched

5. Create the files today.txt and yesterday.txt in touched.

touch today.txt yesterday.txt

6. Change the date on yesterday.txt to match yesterday's date.

touch -t 200810251405 yesterday.txt (substitute 20081025 with yesterday)

7. Copy yesterday.txt to copy.yesterday.txt

cp yesterday.txt copy.yesterday.txt

8. Rename copy.yesterday.txt to kim

mv copy.yesterday.txt kim

9. Create a directory called ~/testbackup and copy all files from ~/touched in it.
mkdir ~/testbackup ; cp -r ~/touched ~/testbackup/

10. Use one command to remove the directory ~/testbackup and all files in it.
rm -rf ~/testbackup

11. Create a directory ~/etcbackup and copy all *.conf files from /etc in it. Did you
include all subdirectories of /etc ?

42
 working with files

cp -r /etc/*.conf ~/etcbackup

Only *.conf files that are directly in /etc/ are copied.

12. Use rename to rename all *.conf files to *.backup . (if you have more than one
distro available, try it on all!)
On RHEL: touch 1.conf 2.conf ; rename conf backup *.conf

On Debian: touch 1.conf 2.conf ; rename 's/conf/backup/' *.conf

43
Chapter 8. working with file contents

Table of Contents
8.1. head ................................................................................................................ 45
8.2. tail .................................................................................................................. 45
8.3. cat ................................................................................................................... 46
8.4. tac ................................................................................................................... 47
8.5. more and less ................................................................................................. 48
8.6. strings ............................................................................................................. 48
8.7. practice: file contents ..................................................................................... 49
8.8. solution: file contents ..................................................................................... 50

In this chapter we will look at the contents of text files with head, tail, cat, tac, more,
less and strings.

We will also get a glimpse of the possibilities of tools like cat on the command line.

44
 working with file contents

8.1. head
You can use head to display the first ten lines of a file.
paul@laika:~$ head /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/bin/sh
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/bin/sh
sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/bin/sh
man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/bin/sh
lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/bin/sh
mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/bin/sh
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/bin/sh
paul@laika:~$

The head command can also display the first n lines of a file.
paul@laika:~$ head -4 /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/bin/sh
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/bin/sh

Head can also display the first n bytes.

paul@laika:~$ head -c4 /etc/passwd
rootpaul@laika:~$

8.2. tail
Similar to head, the tail command will display the last ten lines of a file.
paul@laika:~$ tail /etc/services
vboxd 20012/udp
binkp 24554/tcp # binkp fidonet protocol
asp 27374/tcp # Address Search Protocol
asp 27374/udp
csync2 30865/tcp # cluster synchronization tool
dircproxy 57000/tcp # Detachable IRC Proxy
tfido 60177/tcp # fidonet EMSI over telnet
fido 60179/tcp # fidonet EMSI over TCP

# Local services
paul@laika:~$

You can give tail the number of lines you want to see.
$ tail -3 count.txt
six
seven
eight

The tail command has other useful options, some of which we will use during this
course.

45
 working with file contents

8.3. cat
The cat command is one of the most universal tools. All it does is copy standard
input to standard output. In combination with the shell this can be very powerful and
diverse. Some examples will give a glimpse into the possibilities. The first example
is simple, you can use cat to display a file on the screen. If the file is longer than the
screen, it will scroll to the end.
paul@laika:~$ cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 194.7.1.4
paul@laika:~$

concatenate
cat is short for concatenate. One of the basic uses of cat is to concatenate files into
a bigger (or complete) file.
paul@laika:~$ echo one > part1
paul@laika:~$ echo two > part2
paul@laika:~$ echo three > part3
paul@laika:~$ cat part1 part2 part3
one
two
three
paul@laika:~$

create files
You can use cat to create flat text files. Type the cat > winter.txt command as shown
in the screenshot below. Then type one or more lines, finishing each line with the
enter key. After the last line, type and hold the Control (Ctrl) key and press d.
paul@laika:~/test$ cat > winter.txt
It is very cold today!
paul@laika:~/test$ cat winter.txt
It is very cold today!
paul@laika:~/test$

The Ctrl d key combination will send an EOF (End of File) to the running process
ending the cat command.

46
 working with file contents

custom end marker

You can choose an end marker for cat with << as is shown in this screenshot. This
construction is called a here directive and will end the cat command.
paul@laika:~/test$ cat > hot.txt <<stop
> It is hot today!
> Yes it is summer.
> stop
paul@laika:~/test$ cat hot.txt
It is hot today!
Yes it is summer.
paul@laika:~/test$

copy files
In the third example you will see that cat can be used to copy files. We will explain
in detail what happens here in the bash shell chapter.
paul@laika:~/test$ cat winter.txt
It is very cold today!
paul@laika:~/test$ cat winter.txt > cold.txt
paul@laika:~/test$ cat cold.txt
It is very cold today!
paul@laika:~/test$

8.4. tac
Just one example will show you the purpose of tac (as the opposite of cat).
paul@laika:~/test$ cat count
one
two
three
four
paul@laika:~/test$ tac count
four
three
two
one
paul@laika:~/test$

47
 working with file contents

8.5. more and less

The more command is useful for displaying files that take up more than one screen.
More will allow you to see the contents of the file page by page. Use the space bar to
see the next page, or q to quit. Some people prefer the less command to more.

8.6. strings
With the strings command you can display readable ascii strings found in (binary)
files. This example locates the ls binary then displays readable strings in the binary
file (output is truncated).

paul@laika:~$ which ls
/bin/ls
paul@laika:~$ strings /bin/ls
/lib/ld-linux.so.2
librt.so.1
__gmon_start__
_Jv_RegisterClasses
clock_gettime
libacl.so.1
...

48
 working with file contents

8.7. practice: file contents

1. Display the first 12 lines of /etc/services.

2. Display the last line of /etc/passwd.

3. Use cat to create a file named count.txt that looks like this:
One
Two
Three
Four
Five

4. Use cp to make a backup of this file to cnt.txt.

5. Use cat to make a backup of this file to catcnt.txt.

6. Display catcnt.txt, but with all lines in reverse order (the last line first).

7. Use more to display /var/log/messages.

8. Display the readable character strings from the /usr/bin/passwd command.

9. Use ls to find the biggest file in /etc.

10. Open two terminal windows (or tabs) and make sure you are in the same directory
in both. Type echo this is the first line > tailing.txt in the first terminal, then issue
tail -f tailing.txt in the second terminal. Now go back to the first terminal and type
echo This is another line >> tailing.txt (note the double >>), verify that the tail -f
in the second terminal shows both lines. Stop the tail -f with Ctrl-C.

11. Use cat to create a file named tailing.txt that contains the contents of tailing.txt
followed by the contents of /etc/passwd.

12. Use cat to create a file named tailing.txt that contains the contents of tailing.txt
preceded by the contents of /etc/passwd.

49
 working with file contents

8.8. solution: file contents

1. Display the first 12 lines of /etc/services.
head -12 /etc/services

2. Display the last line of /etc/passwd.

tail -1 /etc/passwd

3. Use cat to create a file named count.txt that looks like this:
cat > count.txt
One
Two
Three
Four
Five (followed by Ctrl-d)

4. Use cp to make a backup of this file to cnt.txt.

cp count.txt cnt.txt

5. Use cat to make a backup of this file to catcnt.txt.

cat count.txt > catcnt.txt

6. Display catcnt.txt, but with all lines in reverse order (the last line first).
tac catcnt.txt

7. Use more to display /var/log/messages.

more /var/log/messages

8. Display the readable character strings from the /usr/bin/passwd command.

strings /usr/bin/passwd

9. Use ls to find the biggest file in /etc.

ls -lrS /etc

10. Open two terminal windows (or tabs) and make sure you are in the same directory
in both. Type echo this is the first line > tailing.txt in the first terminal, then issue
tail -f tailing.txt in the second terminal. Now go back to the first terminal and type
echo This is another line >> tailing.txt (note the double >>), verify that the tail -f
in the second terminal shows both lines. Stop the tail -f with Ctrl-C.

11. Use cat to create a file named tailing.txt that contains the contents of tailing.txt
followed by the contents of /etc/passwd.
cat /etc/passwd >> tailing.txt

12. Use cat to create a file named tailing.txt that contains the contents of tailing.txt
preceded by the contents of /etc/passwd.
mv tailing.txt tmp.txt ; cat /etc/passwd tmp.txt > tailing.txt

50
Chapter 9. the Linux file tree

Table of Contents
9.1. filesystem hierarchy standard ........................................................................ 52
9.2. man hier ......................................................................................................... 52
9.3. the root directory / ......................................................................................... 52
9.4. binary directories ........................................................................................... 53
9.5. configuration directories ................................................................................ 55
9.6. data directories ............................................................................................... 57
9.7. in memory directories .................................................................................... 59
9.8. /usr Unix System Resources .......................................................................... 64
9.9. /var variable data ............................................................................................ 66
9.10. practice: file system tree .............................................................................. 68
9.11. solution: file system tree .............................................................................. 70

This chapters takes a look at the most common directories in the Linux file tree. It
also shows that on Unix everything is a file.

51
 the Linux file tree

9.1. filesystem hierarchy standard

Many Linux distributions partially follow the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. The
FHS may help make more Unix/Linux file system trees conform better in the future.
The FHS is available online at http://www.pathname.com/fhs/ where we read: "The
filesystem hierarchy standard has been designed to be used by Unix distribution
developers, package developers, and system implementers. However, it is primarily
intended to be a reference and is not a tutorial on how to manage a Unix filesystem
or directory hierarchy."

9.2. man hier

There are some differences in the filesystems between Linux distributions. For
help about your machine, enter man hier to find information about the file system
hierarchy. This manual will explain the directory structure on your computer.

9.3. the root directory /

All Linux systems have a directory structure that starts at the root directory. The
root directory is represented by a forward slash, like this: /. Everything that exists
on your Linux system can be found below this root directory. Let's take a brief look
at the contents of the root directory.

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ ls /
bin dev home media mnt proc sbin srv tftpboot usr
boot etc lib misc opt root selinux sys tmp var

52
 the Linux file tree

9.4. binary directories

Binaries are files that contain compiled source code (or machine code). Binaries can
be executed on the computer. Sometimes binaries are called executables.

/bin
The /bin directory contains binaries for use by all users. According to the FHS the /
bin directory should contain /bin/cat and /bin/date (among others).

In the screenshot below you see common Unix/Linux commands like cat, cp, cpio,
date, dd, echo, grep, and so on. Many of these will be covered in this book.
paul@laika:~$ ls /bin
archdetect egrep mt setupcon
autopartition false mt-gnu sh
bash fgconsole mv sh.distrib
bunzip2 fgrep nano sleep
bzcat fuser nc stralign
bzcmp fusermount nc.traditional stty
bzdiff get_mountoptions netcat su
bzegrep grep netstat sync
bzexe gunzip ntfs-3g sysfs
bzfgrep gzexe ntfs-3g.probe tailf
bzgrep gzip parted_devices tar
bzip2 hostname parted_server tempfile
bzip2recover hw-detect partman touch
bzless ip partman-commit true
bzmore kbd_mode perform_recipe ulockmgr
cat kill pidof umount
...

other /bin directories

You can find a /bin subdirectory in many other directories. A user named serena
could put her own programs in /home/serena/bin.

Some applications, often when installed directly from source will put themselves in
/opt. A samba server installation can use /opt/samba/bin to store its binaries.

/sbin
/sbin contains binaries to configure the operating system. Many of the system
binaries require root privilege to perform certain tasks.

Below a screenshot containing system binaries to change the ip address, partition a

disk and create an ext4 file system.
paul@ubu1010:~$ ls -l /sbin/ifconfig /sbin/fdisk /sbin/mkfs.ext4
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 97172 2011-02-02 09:56 /sbin/fdisk
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 65708 2010-07-02 09:27 /sbin/ifconfig
-rwxr-xr-x 5 root root 55140 2010-08-18 18:01 /sbin/mkfs.ext4

53
 the Linux file tree

/lib
Binaries found in /bin and /sbin often use shared libraries located in /lib. Below is
a screenshot of the partial contents of /lib.
paul@laika:~$ ls /lib/libc*
/lib/libc-2.5.so /lib/libcfont.so.0.0.0 /lib/libcom_err.so.2.1
/lib/libcap.so.1 /lib/libcidn-2.5.so /lib/libconsole.so.0
/lib/libcap.so.1.10 /lib/libcidn.so.1 /lib/libconsole.so.0.0.0
/lib/libcfont.so.0 /lib/libcom_err.so.2 /lib/libcrypt-2.5.so

/lib/modules
Typically, the Linux kernel loads kernel modules from /lib/modules/$kernel-
version/. This directory is discussed in detail in the Linux kernel chapter.

/lib32 and /lib64

We currently are in a transition between 32-bit and 64-bit systems. Therefore, you
may encounter directories named /lib32 and /lib64 which clarify the register size used
during compilation time of the libraries. A 64-bit computer may have some 32-bit
binaries and libraries for compatibility with legacy applications. This screenshot uses
the file utility to demonstrate the difference.

paul@laika:~$ file /lib32/libc-2.5.so

/lib32/libc-2.5.so: ELF 32-bit LSB shared object, Intel 80386, \
version 1 (SYSV), for GNU/Linux 2.6.0, stripped
paul@laika:~$ file /lib64/libcap.so.1.10
/lib64/libcap.so.1.10: ELF 64-bit LSB shared object, AMD x86-64, \
version 1 (SYSV), stripped

The ELF (Executable and Linkable Format) is used in almost every Unix-like
operating system since System V.

/opt
The purpose of /opt is to store optional software. In many cases this is software from
outside the distribution repository. You may find an empty /opt directory on many
systems.

A large package can install all its files in /bin, /lib, /etc subdirectories within /opt/
$packagename/. If for example the package is called wp, then it installs in /opt/wp,
putting binaries in /opt/wp/bin and manpages in /opt/wp/man.

54
 the Linux file tree

9.5. configuration directories

/boot
The /boot directory contains all files needed to boot the computer. These files don't
change very often. On Linux systems you typically find the /boot/grub directory
here. /boot/grub contains /boot/grub/grub.cfg (older systems may still have /boot/
grub/grub.conf) which defines the boot menu that is displayed before the kernel
starts.

/etc
All of the machine-specific configuration files should be located in /etc. Historically
/etc stood for etcetera, today people often use the Editable Text Configuration
backronym.

Many times the name of a configuration files is the same as the application, daemon,
or protocol with .conf added as the extension.
paul@laika:~$ ls /etc/*.conf
/etc/adduser.conf /etc/ld.so.conf /etc/scrollkeeper.conf
/etc/brltty.conf /etc/lftp.conf /etc/sysctl.conf
/etc/ccertificates.conf /etc/libao.conf /etc/syslog.conf
/etc/cvs-cron.conf /etc/logrotate.conf /etc/ucf.conf
/etc/ddclient.conf /etc/ltrace.conf /etc/uniconf.conf
/etc/debconf.conf /etc/mke2fs.conf /etc/updatedb.conf
/etc/deluser.conf /etc/netscsid.conf /etc/usplash.conf
/etc/fdmount.conf /etc/nsswitch.conf /etc/uswsusp.conf
/etc/hdparm.conf /etc/pam.conf /etc/vnc.conf
/etc/host.conf /etc/pnm2ppa.conf /etc/wodim.conf
/etc/inetd.conf /etc/povray.conf /etc/wvdial.conf
/etc/kernel-img.conf /etc/resolv.conf
paul@laika:~$

There is much more to be found in /etc.

/etc/init.d/
A lot of Unix/Linux distributions have an /etc/init.d directory that contains scripts to
start and stop daemons. This directory could disappear as Linux migrates to systems
that replace the old init way of starting all daemons.

/etc/X11/
The graphical display (aka X Window System or just X) is driven by software from
the X.org foundation. The configuration file for your graphical display is /etc/X11/
xorg.conf.

55
 the Linux file tree

/etc/skel/
The skeleton directory /etc/skel is copied to the home directory of a newly created
user. It usually contains hidden files like a .bashrc script.

/etc/sysconfig/
This directory, which is not mentioned in the FHS, contains a lot of Red Hat
Enterprise Linux configuration files. We will discuss some of them in greater
detail. The screenshot below is the /etc/sysconfig directory from RHELv4u4 with
everything installed.
paul@RHELv4u4:~$ ls /etc/sysconfig/
apmd firstboot irda network saslauthd
apm-scripts grub irqbalance networking selinux
authconfig hidd keyboard ntpd spamassassin
autofs httpd kudzu openib.conf squid
bluetooth hwconf lm_sensors pand syslog
clock i18n mouse pcmcia sys-config-sec
console init mouse.B pgsql sys-config-users
crond installinfo named prelink sys-logviewer
desktop ipmi netdump rawdevices tux
diskdump iptables netdump_id_dsa rhn vncservers
dund iptables-cfg netdump_id_dsa.p samba xinetd
paul@RHELv4u4:~$

The file /etc/sysconfig/firstboot tells the Red Hat Setup Agent not to run at boot time.
If you want to run the Red Hat Setup Agent at the next reboot, then simply remove
this file, and run chkconfig --level 5 firstboot on. The Red Hat Setup Agent allows
you to install the latest updates, create a user account, join the Red Hat Network and
more. It will then create the /etc/sysconfig/firstboot file again.
paul@RHELv4u4:~$ cat /etc/sysconfig/firstboot
RUN_FIRSTBOOT=NO

The /etc/sysconfig/harddisks file contains some parameters to tune the hard disks.
The file explains itself.

You can see hardware detected by kudzu in /etc/sysconfig/hwconf. Kudzu is

software from Red Hat for automatic discovery and configuration of hardware.

The keyboard type and keymap table are set in the /etc/sysconfig/keyboard file.
For more console keyboard information, check the manual pages of keymaps(5),
dumpkeys(1), loadkeys(1) and the directory /lib/kbd/keymaps/.
root@RHELv4u4:/etc/sysconfig# cat keyboard
KEYBOARDTYPE="pc"
KEYTABLE="us"

We will discuss networking files in this directory in the networking chapter.

56
 the Linux file tree

9.6. data directories

/home
Users can store personal or project data under /home. It is common (but not
mandatory by the fhs) practice to name the users home directory after the user name
in the format /home/$USERNAME. For example:
paul@ubu606:~$ ls /home
geert annik sandra paul tom

Besides giving every user (or every project or group) a location to store personal files,
the home directory of a user also serves as a location to store the user profile. A typical
Unix user profile contains many hidden files (files whose file name starts with a dot).
The hidden files of the Unix user profiles contain settings specific for that user.

paul@ubu606:~$ ls -d /home/paul/.*
/home/paul/. /home/paul/.bash_profile /home/paul/.ssh
/home/paul/.. /home/paul/.bashrc /home/paul/.viminfo
/home/paul/.bash_history /home/paul/.lesshst

/root
On many systems /root is the default location for personal data and profile of the
root user. If it does not exist by default, then some administrators create it.

/srv
You may use /srv for data that is served by your system. The FHS allows locating
cvs, rsync, ftp and www data in this location. The FHS also approves administrative
naming in /srv, like /srv/project55/ftp and /srv/sales/www.

On Sun Solaris (or Oracle Solaris) /export is used for this purpose.

/media
The /media directory serves as a mount point for removable media devices such as
CD-ROM's, digital cameras, and various usb-attached devices. Since /media is rather
new in the Unix world, you could very well encounter systems running without this
directory. Solaris 9 does not have it, Solaris 10 does. Most Linux distributions today
mount all removable media in /media.
paul@debian5:~$ ls /media/
cdrom cdrom0 usbdisk

57
 the Linux file tree

/mnt
The /mnt directory should be empty and should only be used for temporary mount
points (according to the FHS).

Unix and Linux administrators used to create many directories here, like /mnt/
something/. You likely will encounter many systems with more than one directory
created and/or mounted inside /mnt to be used for various local and remote
filesystems.

/tmp
Applications and users should use /tmp to store temporary data when needed. Data
stored in /tmp may use either disk space or RAM. Both of which are managed by
the operating system. Never use /tmp to store data that is important or which you
wish to archive.

58
 the Linux file tree

9.7. in memory directories

/dev
Device files in /dev appear to be ordinary files, but are not actually located on the hard
disk. The /dev directory is populated with files as the kernel is recognising hardware.

common physical devices

Common hardware such as hard disk devices are represented by device files in /dev.
Below a screenshot of SATA device files on a laptop and then IDE attached drives
on a desktop. (The detailed meaning of these devices will be discussed later.)

#
# SATA or SCSI or USB
#
paul@laika:~$ ls /dev/sd*
/dev/sda /dev/sda1 /dev/sda2 /dev/sda3 /dev/sdb /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdb2

#
# IDE or ATAPI
#
paul@barry:~$ ls /dev/hd*
/dev/hda /dev/hda1 /dev/hda2 /dev/hdb /dev/hdb1 /dev/hdb2 /dev/hdc

Besides representing physical hardware, some device files are special. These special
devices can be very useful.

/dev/tty and /dev/pts

For example, /dev/tty1 represents a terminal or console attached to the system. (Don't
break your head on the exact terminology of 'terminal' or 'console', what we mean
here is a command line interface.) When typing commands in a terminal that is part
of a graphical interface like Gnome or KDE, then your terminal will be represented
as /dev/pts/1 (1 can be another number).

/dev/null

On Linux you will find other special devices such as /dev/null which can be
considered a black hole; it has unlimited storage, but nothing can be retrieved from
it. Technically speaking, anything written to /dev/null will be discarded. /dev/null
can be useful to discard unwanted output from commands. /dev/null is not a good
location to store your backups ;-).

59
 the Linux file tree

/proc conversation with the kernel

/proc is another special directory, appearing to be ordinary files, but not taking up
disk space. It is actually a view of the kernel, or better, what the kernel manages, and
is a means to interact with it directly. /proc is a proc filesystem.

paul@RHELv4u4:~$ mount -t proc

none on /proc type proc (rw)

When listing the /proc directory you will see many numbers (on any Unix) and some
interesting files (on Linux)

mul@laika:~$ ls /proc
1 2339 4724 5418 6587 7201 cmdline mounts
10175 2523 4729 5421 6596 7204 cpuinfo mtrr
10211 2783 4741 5658 6599 7206 crypto net
10239 2975 4873 5661 6638 7214 devices pagetypeinfo
141 29775 4874 5665 6652 7216 diskstats partitions
15045 29792 4878 5927 6719 7218 dma sched_debug
1519 2997 4879 6 6736 7223 driver scsi
1548 3 4881 6032 6737 7224 execdomains self
1551 30228 4882 6033 6755 7227 fb slabinfo
1554 3069 5 6145 6762 7260 filesystems stat
1557 31422 5073 6298 6774 7267 fs swaps
1606 3149 5147 6414 6816 7275 ide sys
180 31507 5203 6418 6991 7282 interrupts sysrq-trigger
181 3189 5206 6419 6993 7298 iomem sysvipc
182 3193 5228 6420 6996 7319 ioports timer_list
18898 3246 5272 6421 7157 7330 irq timer_stats
19799 3248 5291 6422 7163 7345 kallsyms tty
19803 3253 5294 6423 7164 7513 kcore uptime
19804 3372 5356 6424 7171 7525 key-users version
1987 4 5370 6425 7175 7529 kmsg version_signature
1989 42 5379 6426 7188 9964 loadavg vmcore
2 45 5380 6430 7189 acpi locks vmnet
20845 4542 5412 6450 7191 asound meminfo vmstat
221 46 5414 6551 7192 buddyinfo misc zoneinfo
2338 4704 5416 6568 7199 bus modules

Let's investigate the file properties inside /proc. Looking at the date and time will
display the current date and time showing the files are constantly updated (a view
on the kernel).

paul@RHELv4u4:~$ date
Mon Jan 29 18:06:32 EST 2007
paul@RHELv4u4:~$ ls -al /proc/cpuinfo
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Jan 29 18:06 /proc/cpuinfo
paul@RHELv4u4:~$
paul@RHELv4u4:~$ ...time passes...
paul@RHELv4u4:~$
paul@RHELv4u4:~$ date
Mon Jan 29 18:10:00 EST 2007
paul@RHELv4u4:~$ ls -al /proc/cpuinfo
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Jan 29 18:10 /proc/cpuinfo

60
 the Linux file tree

Most files in /proc are 0 bytes, yet they contain data--sometimes a lot of data. You
can see this by executing cat on files like /proc/cpuinfo, which contains information
about the CPU.

paul@RHELv4u4:~$ file /proc/cpuinfo

/proc/cpuinfo: empty
paul@RHELv4u4:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 15
model : 43
model name : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+
stepping : 1
cpu MHz : 2398.628
cache size : 512 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge...
bogomips : 4803.54

Just for fun, here is /proc/cpuinfo on a Sun Sunblade 1000...

paul@pasha:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo

cpu : TI UltraSparc III (Cheetah)
fpu : UltraSparc III integrated FPU
promlib : Version 3 Revision 2
prom : 4.2.2
type : sun4u
ncpus probed : 2
ncpus active : 2
Cpu0Bogo : 498.68
Cpu0ClkTck : 000000002cb41780
Cpu1Bogo : 498.68
Cpu1ClkTck : 000000002cb41780
MMU Type : Cheetah
State:
CPU0: online
CPU1: online

Most of the files in /proc are read only, some require root privileges, some files are
writable, and many files in /proc/sys are writable. Let's discuss some of the files in /
proc.

61
 the Linux file tree

/proc/interrupts
On the x86 architecture, /proc/interrupts displays the interrupts.

paul@RHELv4u4:~$ cat /proc/interrupts

CPU0
0: 13876877 IO-APIC-edge timer
1: 15 IO-APIC-edge i8042
8: 1 IO-APIC-edge rtc
9: 0 IO-APIC-level acpi
12: 67 IO-APIC-edge i8042
14: 128 IO-APIC-edge ide0
15: 124320 IO-APIC-edge ide1
169: 111993 IO-APIC-level ioc0
177: 2428 IO-APIC-level eth0
NMI: 0
LOC: 13878037
ERR: 0
MIS: 0

On a machine with two CPU's, the file looks like this.

paul@laika:~$ cat /proc/interrupts
CPU0 CPU1
0: 860013 0 IO-APIC-edge timer
1: 4533 0 IO-APIC-edge i8042
7: 0 0 IO-APIC-edge parport0
8: 6588227 0 IO-APIC-edge rtc
10: 2314 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi acpi
12: 133 0 IO-APIC-edge i8042
14: 0 0 IO-APIC-edge libata
15: 72269 0 IO-APIC-edge libata
18: 1 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi yenta
19: 115036 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi eth0
20: 126871 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi libata, ohci1394
21: 30204 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi ehci_hcd:usb1, uhci_hcd:usb2
22: 1334 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi saa7133[0], saa7133[0]
24: 234739 0 IO-APIC-fasteoi nvidia
NMI: 72 42
LOC: 860000 859994
ERR: 0

/proc/kcore
The physical memory is represented in /proc/kcore. Do not try to cat this file, instead
use a debugger. The size of /proc/kcore is the same as your physical memory, plus
four bytes.
paul@laika:~$ ls -lh /proc/kcore
-r-------- 1 root root 2.0G 2007-01-30 08:57 /proc/kcore
paul@laika:~$

62
 the Linux file tree

/sys Linux 2.6 hot plugging

The /sys directory was created for the Linux 2.6 kernel. Since 2.6, Linux uses sysfs
to support usb and IEEE 1394 (FireWire) hot plug devices. See the manual pages
of udev(8) (the successor of devfs) and hotplug(8) for more info (or visit http://linux-
hotplug.sourceforge.net/ ).

Basically the /sys directory contains kernel information about hardware.

63
 the Linux file tree

9.8. /usr Unix System Resources

Although /usr is pronounced like user, remember that it stands for Unix System
Resources. The /usr hierarchy should contain shareable, read only data. Some
people choose to mount /usr as read only. This can be done from its own partition
or from a read only NFS share.

/usr/bin
The /usr/bin directory contains a lot of commands.
paul@deb508:~$ ls /usr/bin | wc -l
1395

(On Solaris the /bin directory is a symbolic link to /usr/bin.)

/usr/include
The /usr/include directory contains general use include files for C.
paul@ubu1010:~$ ls /usr/include/
aalib.h expat_config.h math.h search.h
af_vfs.h expat_external.h mcheck.h semaphore.h
aio.h expat.h memory.h setjmp.h
AL fcntl.h menu.h sgtty.h
aliases.h features.h mntent.h shadow.h
...

/usr/lib
The /usr/lib directory contains libraries that are not directly executed by users or
scripts.
paul@deb508:~$ ls /usr/lib | head -7
4Suite
ao
apt
arj
aspell
avahi
bonobo

/usr/local
The /usr/local directory can be used by an administrator to install software locally.
paul@deb508:~$ ls /usr/local/
bin etc games include lib man sbin share src
paul@deb508:~$ du -sh /usr/local/
128K /usr/local/

64
 the Linux file tree

/usr/share
The /usr/share directory contains architecture independent data. As you can see, this
is a fairly large directory.
paul@deb508:~$ ls /usr/share/ | wc -l
263
paul@deb508:~$ du -sh /usr/share/
1.3G /usr/share/

This directory typically contains /usr/share/man for manual pages.

paul@deb508:~$ ls /usr/share/man
cs fr hu it.UTF-8 man2 man6 pl.ISO8859-2 sv
de fr.ISO8859-1 id ja man3 man7 pl.UTF-8 tr
es fr.UTF-8 it ko man4 man8 pt_BR zh_CN
fi gl it.ISO8859-1 man1 man5 pl ru zh_TW

And it contains /usr/share/games for all static game data (so no high-scores or play
logs).
paul@ubu1010:~$ ls /usr/share/games/
openttd wesnoth

/usr/src
The /usr/src directory is the recommended location for kernel source files.
paul@deb508:~$ ls -l /usr/src/
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 2011-02-01 14:43 linux-headers-2.6.26-2-686
drwxr-xr-x 18 root root 4096 2011-02-01 14:43 linux-headers-2.6.26-2-common
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 2009-10-28 16:01 linux-kbuild-2.6.26

65
 the Linux file tree

9.9. /var variable data

Files that are unpredictable in size, such as log, cache and spool files, should be
located in /var.

/var/log
The /var/log directory serves as a central point to contain all log files.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ ls /var/log
acpid cron.2 maillog.2 quagga secure.4
amanda cron.3 maillog.3 radius spooler
anaconda.log cron.4 maillog.4 rpmpkgs spooler.1
anaconda.syslog cups mailman rpmpkgs.1 spooler.2
anaconda.xlog dmesg messages rpmpkgs.2 spooler.3
audit exim messages.1 rpmpkgs.3 spooler.4
boot.log gdm messages.2 rpmpkgs.4 squid
boot.log.1 httpd messages.3 sa uucp
boot.log.2 iiim messages.4 samba vbox
boot.log.3 iptraf mysqld.log scrollkeeper.log vmware-tools-guestd
boot.log.4 lastlog news secure wtmp
canna mail pgsql secure.1 wtmp.1
cron maillog ppp secure.2 Xorg.0.log
cron.1 maillog.1 prelink.log secure.3 Xorg.0.log.old

/var/log/messages
A typical first file to check when troubleshooting on Red Hat (and derivatives) is
the /var/log/messages file. By default this file will contain information on what just
happened to the system. The file is called /var/log/syslog on Debian and Ubuntu.
[root@RHEL4b ~]# tail /var/log/messages
Jul 30 05:13:56 anacron: anacron startup succeeded
Jul 30 05:13:56 atd: atd startup succeeded
Jul 30 05:13:57 messagebus: messagebus startup succeeded
Jul 30 05:13:57 cups-config-daemon: cups-config-daemon startup succeeded
Jul 30 05:13:58 haldaemon: haldaemon startup succeeded
Jul 30 05:14:00 fstab-sync[3560]: removed all generated mount points
Jul 30 05:14:01 fstab-sync[3628]: added mount point /media/cdrom for...
Jul 30 05:14:01 fstab-sync[3646]: added mount point /media/floppy for...
Jul 30 05:16:46 sshd(pam_unix)[3662]: session opened for user paul by...
Jul 30 06:06:37 su(pam_unix)[3904]: session opened for user root by paul

/var/cache
The /var/cache directory can contain cache data for several applications.
paul@ubu1010:~$ ls /var/cache/
apt dictionaries-common gdm man software-center
binfmts flashplugin-installer hald pm-utils
cups fontconfig jockey pppconfig
debconf fonts ldconfig samba

66
 the Linux file tree

/var/spool
The /var/spool directory typically contains spool directories for mail and cron, but
also serves as a parent directory for other spool files (for example print spool files).

/var/lib
The /var/lib directory contains application state information.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for example keeps files pertaining to rpm in /var/lib/rpm/.

/var/...
/var also contains Process ID files in /var/run (soon to be replaced with /run) and
temporary files that survive a reboot in /var/tmp and information about file locks in
/var/lock. There will be more examples of /var usage further in this book.

67
 the Linux file tree

9.10. practice: file system tree

1. Does the file /bin/cat exist ? What about /bin/dd and /bin/echo. What is the type
of these files ?

2. What is the size of the Linux kernel file(s) (vmlinu*) in /boot ?

3. Create a directory ~/test. Then issue the following commands:

cd ~/test

dd if=/dev/zero of=zeroes.txt count=1 bs=100

od zeroes.txt

dd will copy one times (count=1) a block of size 100 bytes (bs=100) from the file /
dev/zero to ~/test/zeroes.txt. Can you describe the functionality of /dev/zero ?

4. Now issue the following command:

dd if=/dev/random of=random.txt count=1 bs=100 ; od random.txt

dd will copy one times (count=1) a block of size 100 bytes (bs=100) from the file /
dev/random to ~/test/random.txt. Can you describe the functionality of /dev/random
?

5. Issue the following two commands, and look at the first character of each output
line.
ls -l /dev/sd* /dev/hd*

ls -l /dev/tty* /dev/input/mou*

The first ls will show block(b) devices, the second ls shows character(c) devices. Can
you tell the difference between block and character devices ?

6. Use cat to display /etc/hosts and /etc/resolv.conf. What is your idea about the
purpose of these files ?

7. Are there any files in /etc/skel/ ? Check also for hidden files.

8. Display /proc/cpuinfo. On what architecture is your Linux running ?

9. Display /proc/interrupts. What is the size of this file ? Where is this file stored ?

10. Can you enter the /root directory ? Are there (hidden) files ?

11. Are ifconfig, fdisk, parted, shutdown and grub-install present in /sbin ? Why are
these binaries in /sbin and not in /bin ?

12. Is /var/log a file or a directory ? What about /var/spool ?

13. Open two command prompts (Ctrl-Shift-T in gnome-terminal) or terminals (Ctrl-

Alt-F1, Ctrl-Alt-F2, ...) and issue the who am i in both. Then try to echo a word from
one terminal to the other.

68
 the Linux file tree

14. Read the man page of random and explain the difference between /dev/random
and /dev/urandom.

69
 the Linux file tree

9.11. solution: file system tree

1. Does the file /bin/cat exist ? What about /bin/dd and /bin/echo. What is the type
of these files ?
ls /bin/cat ; file /bin/cat

ls /bin/dd ; file /bin/dd

ls /bin/echo ; file /bin/echo

2. What is the size of the Linux kernel file(s) (vmlinu*) in /boot ?

ls -lh /boot/vm*

3. Create a directory ~/test. Then issue the following commands:

cd ~/test

dd if=/dev/zero of=zeroes.txt count=1 bs=100

od zeroes.txt

dd will copy one times (count=1) a block of size 100 bytes (bs=100) from the file /
dev/zero to ~/test/zeroes.txt. Can you describe the functionality of /dev/zero ?

/dev/zero is a Linux special device. It can be considered a source of zeroes. You

cannot send something to /dev/zero, but you can read zeroes from it.

4. Now issue the following command:

dd if=/dev/random of=random.txt count=1 bs=100 ; od random.txt

dd will copy one times (count=1) a block of size 100 bytes (bs=100) from the file /
dev/random to ~/test/random.txt. Can you describe the functionality of /dev/random
?

/dev/random acts as a random number generator on your Linux machine.

5. Issue the following two commands, and look at the first character of each output
line.
ls -l /dev/sd* /dev/hd*

ls -l /dev/tty* /dev/input/mou*

The first ls will show block(b) devices, the second ls shows character(c) devices. Can
you tell the difference between block and character devices ?

Block devices are always written to (or read from) in blocks. For hard disks, blocks
of 512 bytes are common. Character devices act as a stream of characters (or bytes).
Mouse and keyboard are typical character devices.

6. Use cat to display /etc/hosts and /etc/resolv.conf. What is your idea about the
purpose of these files ?

70
 the Linux file tree

/etc/hosts contains hostnames with their ip address

/etc/resolv.conf should contain the ip address of a DNS name server.

7. Are there any files in /etc/skel/ ? Check also for hidden files.
Issue "ls -al /etc/skel/". Yes, there should be hidden files there.

8. Display /proc/cpuinfo. On what architecture is your Linux running ?

The file should contain at least one line with Intel or other cpu.

9. Display /proc/interrupts. What is the size of this file ? Where is this file stored ?

The size is zero, yet the file contains data. It is not stored anywhere because /proc is
a virtual file system that allows you to talk with the kernel. (If you answered "stored
in RAM-memory, that is also correct...).

10. Can you enter the /root directory ? Are there (hidden) files ?
Try "cd /root". Yes there are (hidden) files there.

11. Are ifconfig, fdisk, parted, shutdown and grub-install present in /sbin ? Why are
these binaries in /sbin and not in /bin ?
Because those files are only meant for system administrators.

12. Is /var/log a file or a directory ? What about /var/spool ?

Both are directories.

13. Open two command prompts (Ctrl-Shift-T in gnome-terminal) or terminals (Ctrl-

Alt-F1, Ctrl-Alt-F2, ...) and issue the who am i in both. Then try to echo a word from
one terminal to the other.
tty-terminal: echo Hello > /dev/tty1

pts-terminal: echo Hello > /dev/pts/1

14. Read the man page of random and explain the difference between /dev/random
and /dev/urandom.
man 4 random

71
Part III. shell expansion
Chapter 10. commands and arguments

Table of Contents
10.1. echo .............................................................................................................. 74
10.2. arguments ..................................................................................................... 74
10.3. commands .................................................................................................... 76
10.4. aliases ........................................................................................................... 77
10.5. displaying shell expansion ........................................................................... 78
10.6. practice: commands and arguments ............................................................. 79
10.7. solution: commands and arguments ............................................................. 81

This chapter introduces you to shell expansion by taking a close look at commands
and arguments. Knowing shell expansion is important because many commands
on your Linux system are processed and most likely changed by the shell before they
are executed.

The command line interface or shell used on most Linux systems is called bash,
which stands for Bourne again shell. The bash shell incorporates features from sh
(the original Bourne shell), csh (the C shell), and ksh (the Korn shell).

73
 commands and arguments

10.1. echo
This chapter frequently uses the echo command to demonstrate shell features. The
echo command is very simple: it echoes the input that it receives.
paul@laika:~$ echo Burtonville
Burtonville
paul@laika:~$ echo Smurfs are blue
Smurfs are blue

10.2. arguments
One of the primary features of a shell is to perform a command line scan. When
you enter a command at the shell's command prompt and press the enter key, then
the shell will start scanning that line, cutting it up in arguments. While scanning the
line, the shell may make many changes to the arguments you typed. This process
is called shell expansion. When the shell has finished scanning and modifying that
line, then it will be executed.

white space removal

Parts that are separated by one or more consecutive white spaces (or tabs) are
considered separate arguments, any white space is removed. The first argument is
the command to be executed, the other arguments are given to the command. The
shell effectively cuts your command into one or more arguments.

This explains why the following four different command lines are the same after shell
expansion.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Hello World
Hello World
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Hello World
Hello World
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Hello World
Hello World
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Hello World
Hello World

The echo command will display each argument it receives from the shell. The echo
command will also add a new white space between the arguments it received.

single quotes
You can prevent the removal of white spaces by quoting the spaces. The contents of
the quoted string are considered as one argument. In the screenshot below the echo
receives only one argument.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo 'A line with single quotes'
A line with single quotes
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

74
 commands and arguments

double quotes
You can also prevent the removal of white spaces by double quoting the spaces.
Same as above, echo only receives one argument.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo "A line with double quotes"
A line with double quotes
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

Later in this book, when discussing variables we will see important differences
between single and double quotes.

echo and quotes

Quoted lines can include special escaped characters recognised by the echo command
(when using echo -e). The screenshot below shows how to use \n for a newline and
\t for a tab (usually eight white spaces).
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo -e "A line with \na newline"
A line with
a newline
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo -e 'A line with \na newline'
A line with
a newline
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo -e "A line with \ta tab"
A line with a tab
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo -e 'A line with \ta tab'
A line with a tab
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

The echo command can generate more than white spaces, tabs and newlines. Look
in the man page for a list of options.

75
 commands and arguments

10.3. commands

external or builtin commands ?

Not all commands are external to the shell, some are builtin. External commands
are programs that have their own binary and reside somewhere in the file system.
Many external commands are located in /bin or /sbin. Builtin commands are an
integral part of the shell program itself.

type
To find out whether a command given to the shell will be executed as an external
command or as a builtin command, use the type command.
paul@laika:~$ type cd
cd is a shell builtin
paul@laika:~$ type cat
cat is /bin/cat

As you can see, the cd command is builtin and the cat command is external.

You can also use this command to show you whether the command is aliased or not.
paul@laika:~$ type ls
ls is aliased to `ls --color=auto'

running external commands

Some commands have both builtin and external versions. When one of these
commands is executed, the builtin version takes priority. To run the external version,
you must enter the full path to the command.
paul@laika:~$ type -a echo
echo is a shell builtin
echo is /bin/echo
paul@laika:~$ /bin/echo Running the external echo command...
Running the external echo command...

which
The which command will search for binaries in the $PATH environment variable
(variables will be explained later). In the screenshot below, it is determined that cd
is builtin, and ls, cp, rm, mv, mkdir, pwd, and which are external commands.
[root@RHEL4b ~]# which cp ls cd mkdir pwd
/bin/cp
/bin/ls
/usr/bin/which: no cd in (/usr/kerberos/sbin:/usr/kerberos/bin:...
/bin/mkdir
/bin/pwd

76
 commands and arguments

10.4. aliases

create an alias
The shell allows you to create aliases. Aliases are often used to create an easier to
remember name for an existing command or to easily supply parameters.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat count.txt
one
two
three
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ alias dog=tac
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ dog count.txt
three
two
one

abbreviate commands
An alias can also be useful to abbreviate an existing command.
paul@laika:~$ alias ll='ls -lh --color=auto'
paul@laika:~$ alias c='clear'
paul@laika:~$

default options
Aliases can be used to supply commands with default options. The example below
shows how to set the -i option default when typing rm.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ rm -i winter.txt
rm: remove regular file `winter.txt'? no
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ rm winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ ls winter.txt
ls: winter.txt: No such file or directory
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ touch winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ alias rm='rm -i'
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ rm winter.txt
rm: remove regular empty file `winter.txt'? no
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

Some distributions enable default aliases to protect users from accidentally erasing
files ('rm -i', 'mv -i', 'cp -i')

viewing aliases
You can provide one or more aliases as arguments to the alias command to get their
definitions. Providing no arguments gives a complete list of current aliases.
paul@laika:~$ alias c ll
alias c='clear'
alias ll='ls -lh --color=auto'

77
 commands and arguments

unalias
You can undo an alias with the unalias command.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ which rm
/bin/rm
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ alias rm='rm -i'
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ which rm
alias rm='rm -i'
/bin/rm
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ unalias rm
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ which rm
/bin/rm
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

10.5. displaying shell expansion

You can display shell expansion with set -x, and stop displaying it with set +x. You
might want to use this further on in this course, or when in doubt about exactly what
the shell is doing with your command.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ set -x
++ echo -ne '\033]0;paul@RHELv4u3:~\007'
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo $USER
+ echo paul
paul
++ echo -ne '\033]0;paul@RHELv4u3:~\007'
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo \$USER
+ echo '$USER'
$USER
++ echo -ne '\033]0;paul@RHELv4u3:~\007'
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ set +x
+ set +x
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo $USER
paul

78
 commands and arguments

10.6. practice: commands and arguments

1. How many arguments are in this line (not counting the command itself).
touch '/etc/cron/cron.allow' 'file 42.txt' "file 33.txt"

2. Is tac a shell builtin command ?

3. Is there an existing alias for rm ?

4. Read the man page of rm, make sure you understand the -i option of rm. Create
and remove a file to test the -i option.

5. Execute: alias rm='rm -i' . Test your alias with a test file. Does this work as
expected ?

6. List all current aliases.

7a. Create an alias called 'city' that echoes your hometown.

7b. Use your alias to test that it works.

8. Execute set -x to display shell expansion for every command.

9. Test the functionality of set -x by executing your city and rm aliases.

10 Execute set +x to stop displaying shell expansion.

11. Remove your city alias.

12. What is the location of the cat and the passwd commands ?

13. Explain the difference between the following commands:

echo

/bin/echo

14. Explain the difference between the following commands:

echo Hello

echo -n Hello

15. Display A B C with two spaces between B and C.

(optional)16. Complete the following command (do not use spaces) to display exactly
the following output:
4+4 =8
10+14 =24

18. Use echo to display the following exactly:

??\\

79
 commands and arguments

19. Use one echo command to display three words on three lines.

80
 commands and arguments

10.7. solution: commands and arguments

1. How many arguments are in this line (not counting the command itself).
touch '/etc/cron/cron.allow' 'file 42.txt' "file 33.txt"

answer: three

2. Is tac a shell builtin command ?

type tac

3. Is there an existing alias for rm ?

alias rm

4. Read the man page of rm, make sure you understand the -i option of rm. Create
and remove a file to test the -i option.
man rm

touch testfile

rm -i testfile

5. Execute: alias rm='rm -i' . Test your alias with a test file. Does this work as
expected ?
touch testfile

rm testfile (should ask for confirmation)

6. List all current aliases.

alias

7a. Create an alias called 'city' that echoes your hometown.

alias city='echo Antwerp'

7b. Use your alias to test that it works.

city (it should display Antwerp)

8. Execute set -x to display shell expansion for every command.

set -x

9. Test the functionality of set -x by executing your city and rm aliases.

shell should display the resolved aliases and then execute the command:
paul@deb503:~$ set -x
paul@deb503:~$ city
+ echo antwerp
antwerp

10 Execute set +x to stop displaying shell expansion.

set +x

11. Remove your city alias.

81
 commands and arguments

unalias city

12. What is the location of the cat and the passwd commands ?
which cat (probably /bin/cat)

which passwd (probably /usr/bin/passwd)

13. Explain the difference between the following commands:

echo

/bin/echo

The echo command will be interpreted by the shell as the built-in echo command.
The /bin/echo command will make the shell execute the echo binary located in the
/bin directory.

14. Explain the difference between the following commands:

echo Hello

echo -n Hello

The -n option of the echo command will prevent echo from echoing a trailing newline.
echo Hello will echo six characters in total, echo -n hello only echoes five characters.

(The -n option might not work in the Korn shell.)

15. Display A B C with two spaces between B and C.

echo "A B C"

16. Complete the following command (do not use spaces) to display exactly the
following output:
4+4 =8
10+14 =24

The solution is to use tabs with \t.

echo -e "4+4\t=8" ; echo -e "10+14\t=24"

18. Use echo to display the following exactly:

??\\
echo '??\\'

19. Use one echo command to display three words on three lines.
echo -e "one \ntwo \nthree"

82
Chapter 11. control operators

Table of Contents
11.1. ; semicolon ................................................................................................... 84
11.2. & ampersand ................................................................................................ 84
11.3. $? dollar question mark ............................................................................... 84
11.4. && double ampersand ................................................................................. 85
11.5. || double vertical bar .................................................................................... 85
11.6. combining && and || ................................................................................... 85
11.7. # pound sign ................................................................................................ 86
11.8. \ escaping special characters ........................................................................ 86
11.9. practice: control operators ........................................................................... 87
11.10. solution: control operators ......................................................................... 88

In this chapter we put more than one command on the command line using control
operators. We also briefly discuss related parameters ($?) and similar special
characters(&).

83
 control operators

11.1. ; semicolon
You can put two or more commands on the same line separated by a semicolon ; .
The shell will scan the line until it reaches the semicolon. All the arguments before
this semicolon will be considered a separate command from all the arguments after
the semicolon. Both series will be executed sequentially with the shell waiting for
each command to finish before starting the next one.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Hello
Hello
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo World
World
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Hello ; echo World
Hello
World
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

11.2. & ampersand

When a line ends with an ampersand &, the shell will not wait for the command
to finish. You will get your shell prompt back, and the command is executed in
background. You will get a message when this command has finished executing in
background.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ sleep 20 &
[1] 7925
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$
...wait 20 seconds...
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$
[1]+ Done sleep 20

The technical explanation of what happens in this case is explained in the chapter
about processes.

11.3. $? dollar question mark

The exit code of the previous command is stored in the shell variable $?. Actually $?
is a shell parameter and not a variable, since you cannot assign a value to $?.
paul@debian5:~/test$ touch file1
paul@debian5:~/test$ echo $?
0
paul@debian5:~/test$ rm file1
paul@debian5:~/test$ echo $?
0
paul@debian5:~/test$ rm file1
rm: cannot remove `file1': No such file or directory
paul@debian5:~/test$ echo $?
1
paul@debian5:~/test$

84
 control operators

11.4. && double ampersand

The shell will interpret && as a logical AND. When using && the second command
is executed only if the first one succeeds (returns a zero exit status).
paul@barry:~$ echo first && echo second
first
second
paul@barry:~$ zecho first && echo second
-bash: zecho: command not found

Another example of the same logical AND principle. This example starts with a
working cd followed by ls, then a non-working cd which is not followed by ls.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cd gen && ls
file1 file3 File55 fileab FileAB fileabc
file2 File4 FileA Fileab fileab2
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ cd gen && ls
-bash: cd: gen: No such file or directory

11.5. || double vertical bar

The || represents a logical OR. The second command is executed only when the first
command fails (returns a non-zero exit status).
paul@barry:~$ echo first || echo second ; echo third
first
third
paul@barry:~$ zecho first || echo second ; echo third
-bash: zecho: command not found
second
third
paul@barry:~$

Another example of the same logical OR principle.

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cd gen || ls
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ cd gen || ls
-bash: cd: gen: No such file or directory
file1 file3 File55 fileab FileAB fileabc
file2 File4 FileA Fileab fileab2

11.6. combining && and ||

You can use this logical AND and logical OR to write an if-then-else structure on
the command line. This example uses echo to display whether the rm command was
successful.
paul@laika:~/test$ rm file1 && echo It worked! || echo It failed!
It worked!
paul@laika:~/test$ rm file1 && echo It worked! || echo It failed!
rm: cannot remove `file1': No such file or directory
It failed!
paul@laika:~/test$

85
 control operators

11.7. # pound sign

Everything written after a pound sign (#) is ignored by the shell. This is useful to
write a shell comment, but has no influence on the command execution or shell
expansion.
paul@debian4:~$ mkdir test # we create a directory
paul@debian4:~$ cd test #### we enter the directory
paul@debian4:~/test$ ls # is it empty ?
paul@debian4:~/test$

11.8. \ escaping special characters

The backslash \ character enables the use of control characters, but without the shell
interpreting it, this is called escaping characters.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo hello \; world
hello ; world
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo hello\ \ \ world
hello world
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo escaping \\\ \#\ \&\ \"\ \'
escaping \ # & " '
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo escaping \\\?\*\"\'
escaping \?*"'

end of line backslash

Lines ending in a backslash are continued on the next line. The shell does not interpret
the newline character and will wait on shell expansion and execution of the command
line until a newline without backslash is encountered.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo This command line \
> is split in three \
> parts
This command line is split in three parts
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

86
 control operators

11.9. practice: control operators

0. Each question can be answered by one command line!

1. When you type passwd, which file is executed ?

2. What kind of file is that ?

3. Execute the pwd command twice. (remember 0.)

4. Execute ls after cd /etc, but only if cd /etc did not error.

5. Execute cd /etc after cd etc, but only if cd etc fails.

6. Echo it worked when touch test42 works, and echo it failed when the touch
failed. All on one command line as a normal user (not root). Test this line in your
home directory and in /bin/ .

7. Execute sleep 6, what is this command doing ?

8. Execute sleep 200 in background (do not wait for it to finish).

9. Write a command line that executes rm file55. Your command line should print
'success' if file55 is removed, and print 'failed' if there was a problem.

(optional)10. Use echo to display "Hello World with strange' characters \ * [ } ~ \

\ ." (including all quotes)

87
 control operators

11.10. solution: control operators

0. Each question can be answered by one command line!

1. When you type passwd, which file is executed ?

which passwd

2. What kind of file is that ?

file /usr/bin/passwd

3. Execute the pwd command twice. (remember 0.)

pwd ; pwd

4. Execute ls after cd /etc, but only if cd /etc did not error.

cd /etc && ls

5. Execute cd /etc after cd etc, but only if cd etc fails.

cd etc || cd /etc

6. Echo it worked when touch test42 works, and echo it failed when the touch
failed. All on one command line as a normal user (not root). Test this line in your
home directory and in /bin/ .
paul@deb503:~$ cd ; touch test42 && echo it worked || echo it failed
it worked
paul@deb503:~$ cd /bin; touch test42 && echo it worked || echo it failed
touch: cannot touch `test42': Permission denied
it failed

7. Execute sleep 6, what is this command doing ?

pausing for six seconds

8. Execute sleep 200 in background (do not wait for it to finish).

sleep 200 &

9. Write a command line that executes rm file55. Your command line should print
'success' if file55 is removed, and print 'failed' if there was a problem.
rm file55 && echo success || echo failed

(optional)10. Use echo to display "Hello World with strange' characters \ * [ } ~ \

\ ." (including all quotes)
echo \"Hello World with strange\' characters \\ \* \[ \} \~ \\\\ \. \"

or

echo \""Hello World with strange' characters \ * [ } ~ \\ . "\"

88
Chapter 12. variables

Table of Contents
12.1. about variables ............................................................................................. 90
12.2. quotes ........................................................................................................... 92
12.3. set ................................................................................................................. 92
12.4. unset ............................................................................................................. 92
12.5. env ................................................................................................................ 93
12.6. export ........................................................................................................... 93
12.7. delineate variables ........................................................................................ 94
12.8. unbound variables ........................................................................................ 94
12.9. shell options ................................................................................................. 95
12.10. shell embedding ......................................................................................... 96
12.11. practice: shell variables .............................................................................. 97
12.12. solution: shell variables ............................................................................. 98

In this chapter we learn to manage environment variables in the shell. These

variables are often read by applications.

We also take a brief look at child shells, embedded shells and shell options.

89
 variables

12.1. about variables

$ dollar sign
Another important character interpreted by the shell is the dollar sign $. The shell
will look for an environment variable named like the string following the dollar
sign and replace it with the value of the variable (or with nothing if the variable does
not exist).

These are some examples using $HOSTNAME, $USER, $UID, $SHELL, and
$HOME.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo This is the $SHELL shell
This is the /bin/bash shell
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo This is $SHELL on computer $HOSTNAME
This is /bin/bash on computer RHELv4u3.localdomain
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo The userid of $USER is $UID
The userid of paul is 500
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo My homedir is $HOME
My homedir is /home/paul

case sensitive
This example shows that shell variables are case sensitive!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Hello $USER
Hello paul
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Hello $user
Hello

$PS1
The $PS1 variable determines your shell prompt. You can use backslash escaped
special characters like \u for the username or \w for the working directory. The bash
manual has a complete reference.

In this example we change the value of $PS1 a couple of times.

paul@deb503:~$ PS1=prompt
prompt
promptPS1='prompt '
prompt
prompt PS1='> '
>
> PS1='\u@\h$ '
paul@deb503$
paul@deb503$ PS1='\u@\h:\W$'
paul@deb503:~$

To avoid unrecoverable mistakes, you can set normal user prompts to green and the
root prompt to red. This picture shows (one way) to do this.

90
 variables

$PATH
The $PATH variable is determines where the shell is looking for commands to
execute (unless the command is builtin or aliased). This variable contains a list of
directories, separated by colons.
[[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $PATH
/usr/kerberos/bin:/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:

The shell will not look in the current directory for commands to execute! (Looking
for executables in the current directory provided an easy way to hack PC-DOS
computers). If you want the shell to look in the current directory, then add a . at the
end of your $PATH.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ PATH=$PATH:.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $PATH
/usr/kerberos/bin:/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

Your path might be different when using su instead of su - because the latter will take
on the environment of the target user. The root user typically has /sbin directories
added to the $PATH variable.
[paul@RHEL3 ~]$ su
Password:
[root@RHEL3 paul]# echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin
[root@RHEL3 paul]# exit
[paul@RHEL3 ~]$ su -
Password:
[root@RHEL3 ~]# echo $PATH
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:
[root@RHEL3 ~]#

creating variables
This example creates the variable $MyVar and sets its value. It then uses echo to
verify the value.
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ MyVar=555
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ echo $MyVar
555
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

91
 variables

12.2. quotes
Notice that double quotes still allow the parsing of variables, whereas single quotes
prevent this.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ MyVar=555
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo $MyVar
555
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo "$MyVar"
555
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo '$MyVar'
$MyVar

The bash shell will replace variables with their value in double quoted lines, but not
in single quoted lines.
paul@laika:~$ city=Burtonville
paul@laika:~$ echo "We are in $city today."
We are in Burtonville today.
paul@laika:~$ echo 'We are in $city today.'
We are in $city today.

12.3. set
You can use the set command to display a list of environment variables. On Ubuntu
and Debian systems, the set command will also list shell functions after the shell
variables. Use set | more to see the variables then.

12.4. unset
Use the unset command to remove a variable from your shell environment.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ MyVar=8472
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $MyVar
8472
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ unset MyVar
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $MyVar

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

92
 variables

12.5. env
The env command without options will display a list of exported variables. The
difference with set with options is that set lists all variables, including those not
exported to child shells.

But env can also be used to start a clean shell (a shell without any inherited
environment). The env -i command clears the environment for the subshell.

Notice in this screenshot that bash will set the $SHELL variable on startup.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ bash -c 'echo $SHELL $HOME $USER'
/bin/bash /home/paul paul
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ env -i bash -c 'echo $SHELL $HOME $USER'
/bin/bash
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

You can use the env command to set the $LANG, or any other, variable for just
one instance of bash with one command. The example below uses this to show the
influence of the $LANG variable on file globbing (see the chapter on file globbing).
[paul@RHEL4b test]$ env LANG=C bash -c 'ls File[a-z]'
Filea Fileb
[paul@RHEL4b test]$ env LANG=en_US.UTF-8 bash -c 'ls File[a-z]'
Filea FileA Fileb FileB
[paul@RHEL4b test]$

12.6. export
You can export shell variables to other shells with the export command. This will
export the variable to child shells.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ var3=three
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ var4=four
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ export var4
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $var3 $var4
three four
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ bash
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $var3 $var4
four

But it will not export to the parent shell (previous screenshot continued).
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ export var5=five
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $var3 $var4 $var5
four five
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ exit
exit
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $var3 $var4 $var5
three four
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

93
 variables

12.7. delineate variables

Until now, we have seen that bash interprets a variable starting from a dollar sign,
continuing until the first occurrence of a non-alphanumeric character that is not an
underscore. In some situations, this can be a problem. This issue can be resolved with
curly braces like in this example.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ prefix=Super
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo Hello $prefixman and $prefixgirl
Hello and
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo Hello ${prefix}man and ${prefix}girl
Hello Superman and Supergirl
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

12.8. unbound variables

The example below tries to display the value of the $MyVar variable, but it fails
because the variable does not exist. By default the shell will display nothing when a
variable is unbound (does not exist).
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ echo $MyVar

[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

There is, however, the nounset shell option that you can use to generate an error
when a variable does not exist.
paul@laika:~$ set -u
paul@laika:~$ echo $Myvar
bash: Myvar: unbound variable
paul@laika:~$ set +u
paul@laika:~$ echo $Myvar

paul@laika:~$

In the bash shell set -u is identical to set -o nounset and likewise set +u is identical
to set +o nounset.

94
 variables

12.9. shell options

Both set and unset are builtin shell commands. They can be used to set options of
the bash shell itself. The next example will clarify this. By default, the shell will treat
unset variables as a variable having no value. By setting the -u option, the shell will
treat any reference to unset variables as an error. See the man page of bash for more
information.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $var123

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ set -u

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $var123
-bash: var123: unbound variable
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ set +u
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $var123

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

To list all the set options for your shell, use echo $-. The noclobber (or -C) option
will be explained later in this book (in the I/O redirection chapter).
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $-
himBH
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ set -C ; set -u
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $-
himuBCH
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ set +C ; set +u
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo $-
himBH
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

When typing set without options, you get a list of all variables without function when
the shell is on posix mode. You can set bash in posix mode typing set -o posix.

95
 variables

12.10. shell embedding

Shells can be embedded on the command line, or in other words, the command line
scan can spawn new processes containing a fork of the current shell. You can use
variables to prove that new shells are created. In the screenshot below, the variable
$var1 only exists in the (temporary) sub shell.
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ echo $var1

[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ echo $(var1=5;echo $var1)

5
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ echo $var1

[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

You can embed a shell in an embedded shell, this is called nested embedding of
shells.

This screenshot shows an embedded shell inside an embedded shell.

paul@deb503:~$ A=shell
paul@deb503:~$ echo $C$B$A $(B=sub;echo $C$B$A; echo $(A=sub;echo $C$B$A))
shell subshell subsub

backticks
Single embedding can be useful to avoid changing your current directory. The
screenshot below uses backticks instead of dollar-bracket to embed.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo `cd /etc; ls -d * | grep pass`
passwd passwd- passwd.OLD
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

You can only use the $() notation to nest embedded shells, backticks cannot do this.

backticks or single quotes

Placing the embedding between backticks uses one character less than the dollar
and parenthesis combo. Be careful however, backticks are often confused with single
quotes. The technical difference between ' and ` is significant!
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ echo `var1=5;echo $var1`
5
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ echo 'var1=5;echo $var1'
var1=5;echo $var1
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

96
 variables

12.11. practice: shell variables

1. Use echo to display Hello followed by your username. (use a bash variable!)

2. Create a variable answer with a value of 42.

3. Copy the value of $LANG to $MyLANG.

4. List all current shell variables.

5. List all exported shell variables.

6. Do the env and set commands display your variable ?

6. Destroy your answer variable.

7. Find the list of shell options in the man page of bash. What is the difference
between set -u and set -o nounset?

8. Create two variables, and export one of them.

9. Display the exported variable in an interactive child shell.

10. Create a variable, give it the value 'Dumb', create another variable with value 'do'.
Use echo and the two variables to echo Dumbledore.

11. Activate nounset in your shell. Test that it shows an error message when using
non-existing variables.

12. Deactivate nounset.

13. Find the list of backslash escaped characters in the manual of bash. Add the time
to your PS1 prompt.

14. Execute cd /var and ls in an embedded shell.

15. Create the variable embvar in an embedded shell and echo it. Does the variable
exist in your current shell now ?

16. Explain what "set -x" does. Can this be useful ?

(optional)17. Given the following screenshot, add exactly four characters to that
command line so that the total output is FirstMiddleLast.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo First; echo Middle; echo Last

18. Display a long listing (ls -l) of the passwd command using the which command
inside back ticks.

97
 variables

12.12. solution: shell variables

1. Use echo to display Hello followed by your username. (use a bash variable!)
echo Hello $USER

2. Create a variable answer with a value of 42.

answer=42

3. Copy the value of $LANG to $MyLANG.

MyLANG=$LANG

4. List all current shell variables.

set

set|more on Ubuntu/Debian

5. List all exported shell variables.

env

6. Do the env and set commands display your variable ?

env | more
set | more

6. Destroy your answer variable.

unset answer

7. Find the list of shell options in the man page of bash. What is the difference
between set -u and set -o nounset?

read the manual of bash (man bash), search for nounset -- both mean the same thing.

8. Create two variables, and export one of them.

var1=1; export var2=2

9. Display the exported variable in an interactive child shell.

bash
echo $var2

10. Create a variable, give it the value 'Dumb', create another variable with value 'do'.
Use echo and the two variables to echo Dumbledore.
varx=Dumb; vary=do

echo ${varx}le${vary}re
solution by Yves from Dexia : echo $varx'le'$vary're'
solution by Erwin from Telenet : echo "$varx"le"$vary"re

11. Activate nounset in your shell. Test that it shows an error message when using
non-existing variables.

98
 variables

set -u
OR
set -o nounset

Both these lines have the same effect.

12. Deactivate nounset.

set +u
OR
set +o nounset

13. Find the list of backslash escaped characters in the manual of bash. Add the time
to your PS1 prompt.
PS1='\t \u@\h \W$ '

14. Execute cd /var and ls in an embedded shell.

echo $(cd /var ; ls)

The echo command is only needed to show the result of the ls command. Omitting
will result in the shell trying to execute the first file as a command.

15. Create the variable embvar in an embedded shell and echo it. Does the variable
exist in your current shell now ?
$(embvar=emb;echo $embvar) ; echo $embvar (the last echo fails).

$embvar does not exist in your current shell

16. Explain what "set -x" does. Can this be useful ?

It displays shell expansion for troubleshooting your command.

(optional)17. Given the following screenshot, add exactly four characters to that
command line so that the total output is FirstMiddleLast.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ echo First; echo Middle; echo Last

echo -n First; echo -n Middle; echo Last

18. Display a long listing (ls -l) of the passwd command using the which command
inside back ticks.
ls -l `which passwd`

99
Chapter 13. shell history

Table of Contents
13.1. repeating the last command ....................................................................... 101
13.2. repeating other commands ......................................................................... 101
13.3. history ......................................................................................................... 101
13.4. !n ................................................................................................................. 101
13.5. Ctrl-r ........................................................................................................... 102
13.6. $HISTSIZE ................................................................................................ 102
13.7. $HISTFILE ................................................................................................ 102
13.8. $HISTFILESIZE ........................................................................................ 102
13.9. (optional)regular expressions ..................................................................... 103
13.10. (optional)repeating commands in ksh ...................................................... 103
13.11. practice: shell history ............................................................................... 104
13.12. solution: shell history ............................................................................... 105

The shell makes it easy for us to repeat commands, this chapter explains how.

100
 shell history

13.1. repeating the last command

To repeat the last command in bash, type !!. This is pronounced as bang bang.
paul@debian5:~/test42$ echo this will be repeated > file42.txt
paul@debian5:~/test42$ !!
echo this will be repeated > file42.txt
paul@debian5:~/test42$

13.2. repeating other commands

You can repeat other commands using one bang followed by one or more characters.
The shell will repeat the last command that started with those characters.
paul@debian5:~/test42$ touch file42
paul@debian5:~/test42$ cat file42
paul@debian5:~/test42$ !to
touch file42
paul@debian5:~/test42$

13.3. history
To see older commands, use history to display the shell command history (or use
history n to see the last n commands).
paul@debian5:~/test$ history 10
38 mkdir test
39 cd test
40 touch file1
41 echo hello > file2
42 echo It is very cold today > winter.txt
43 ls
44 ls -l
45 cp winter.txt summer.txt
46 ls -l
47 history 10

13.4. !n
When typing ! followed by the number preceding the command you want repeated,
then the shell will echo the command and execute it.
paul@debian5:~/test$ !43
ls
file1 file2 summer.txt winter.txt

101
 shell history

13.5. Ctrl-r
Another option is to use ctrl-r to search in the history. In the screenshot below i only
typed ctrl-r followed by four characters apti and it finds the last command containing
these four consecutive characters.
paul@debian5:~$
(reverse-i-search)`apti': sudo aptitude install screen

13.6. $HISTSIZE
The $HISTSIZE variable determines the number of commands that will be
remembered in your current environment. Most distributions default this variable to
500 or 1000.
paul@debian5:~$ echo $HISTSIZE
500

You can change it to any value you like.

paul@debian5:~$ HISTSIZE=15000
paul@debian5:~$ echo $HISTSIZE
15000

13.7. $HISTFILE
The $HISTFILE variable points to the file that contains your history. The bash shell
defaults this value to ~/.bash_history.
paul@debian5:~$ echo $HISTFILE
/home/paul/.bash_history

A session history is saved to this file when you exit the session!

Closing a gnome-terminal with the mouse, or typing reboot as root will NOT save
your terminal's history.

13.8. $HISTFILESIZE
The number of commands kept in your history file can be set using $HISTFILESIZE.
paul@debian5:~$ echo $HISTFILESIZE
15000

102
 shell history

13.9. (optional)regular expressions

It is possible to use regular expressions when using the bang to repeat commands.
The screenshot below switches 1 into 2.
paul@deianb5:~/test$ cat file1
paul@debian5:~/test$ !c:s/1/2
cat file2
hello
paul@debian5:~/test$

13.10. (optional)repeating commands in ksh

Repeating a command in the Korn shell is very similar. The Korn shell also has the
history command, but uses the letter r to recall lines from history.

This screenshot shows the history command. Note the different meaning of the
parameter.
$ history 17
17 clear
18 echo hoi
19 history 12
20 echo world
21 history 17

Repeating with r can be combined with the line numbers given by the history
command, or with the first few letters of the command.
$ r e
echo world
world
$ cd /etc
$ r
cd /etc
$

103
 shell history

13.11. practice: shell history

1. Issue the command echo The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and
everything is 42.

2. Repeat the previous command using only two characters (there are two solutions!)

3. Display the last 5 commands you typed.

4. Issue the long echo from question 1 again, using the line numbers you received
from the command in question 3.

5. How many commands can be kept in memory for your current shell session ?

6. Where are these commands stored when exiting the shell ?

7. How many commands can be written to the history file when exiting your current
shell session ?

8. Make sure your current bash shell remembers the next 5000 commands you type.

9. Open more than one console (press Ctrl-shift-t in gnome-terminal) with the same
user account. When is command history written to the history file ?

104
 shell history

13.12. solution: shell history

1. Issue the command echo The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and
everything is 42.
echo The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42

2. Repeat the previous command using only two characters (there are two solutions!)
!!
OR
!e

3. Display the last 5 commands you typed.

paul@ubu1010:~$ history 5
52 ls -l
53 ls
54 df -h | grep sda
55 echo The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42
56 history 5

You will receive different line numbers.

4. Issue the long echo from question 1 again, using the line numbers you received
from the command in question 3.
paul@ubu1010:~$ !56
echo The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42
The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42

5. How many commands can be kept in memory for your current shell session ?
echo $HISTSIZE

6. Where are these commands stored when exiting the shell ?

echo $HISTFILE

7. How many commands can be written to the history file when exiting your current
shell session ?
echo $HISTFILESIZE

8. Make sure your current bash shell remembers the next 5000 commands you type.
HISTSIZE=5000

9. Open more than one console (press Ctrl-shift-t in gnome-terminal) with the same
user account. When is command history written to the history file ?
when you type exit

105
Chapter 14. file globbing

Table of Contents
14.1. * asterisk .................................................................................................... 107
14.2. ? question mark .......................................................................................... 107
14.3. [] square brackets ....................................................................................... 107
14.4. a-z and 0-9 ranges ..................................................................................... 108
14.5. $LANG and square brackets ...................................................................... 108
14.6. preventing file globbing ............................................................................. 109
14.7. practice: shell globbing .............................................................................. 110
14.8. solution: shell globbing .............................................................................. 111

The shell is also responsible for file globbing (or dynamic filename generation). This
chapter will explain file globbing.

106
 file globbing

14.1. * asterisk
The asterisk * is interpreted by the shell as a sign to generate filenames, matching
the asterisk to any combination of characters (even none). When no path is given,
the shell will use filenames in the current directory. See the man page of glob(7) for
more information. (This is part of LPI topic 1.103.3.)
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls
file1 file2 file3 File4 File55 FileA fileab Fileab FileAB fileabc
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls File*
File4 File55 FileA Fileab FileAB
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls file*
file1 file2 file3 fileab fileabc
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls *ile55
File55
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls F*ile55
File55
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls F*55
File55
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

14.2. ? question mark

Similar to the asterisk, the question mark ? is interpreted by the shell as a sign to
generate filenames, matching the question mark with exactly one character.
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls
file1 file2 file3 File4 File55 FileA fileab Fileab FileAB fileabc
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls File?
File4 FileA
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls Fil?4
File4
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls Fil??
File4 FileA
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls File??
File55 Fileab FileAB
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

14.3. [] square brackets

The square bracket [ is interpreted by the shell as a sign to generate filenames,
matching any of the characters between [ and the first subsequent ]. The order in this
list between the brackets is not important. Each pair of brackets is replaced by exactly
one character.
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls
file1 file2 file3 File4 File55 FileA fileab Fileab FileAB fileabc
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls File[5A]
FileA
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls File[A5]
FileA
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls File[A5][5b]
File55
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls File[a5][5b]
File55 Fileab

107
 file globbing

[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls File[a5][5b][abcdefghijklm]

ls: File[a5][5b][abcdefghijklm]: No such file or directory
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls file[a5][5b][abcdefghijklm]
fileabc
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

You can also exclude characters from a list between square brackets with the
exclamation mark !. And you are allowed to make combinations of these wild cards.
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls
file1 file2 file3 File4 File55 FileA fileab Fileab FileAB fileabc
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls file[a5][!Z]
fileab
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls file[!5]*
file1 file2 file3 fileab fileabc
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls file[!5]?
fileab
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

14.4. a-z and 0-9 ranges

The bash shell will also understand ranges of characters between brackets.
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls
file1 file3 File55 fileab FileAB fileabc
file2 File4 FileA Fileab fileab2
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls file[a-z]*
fileab fileab2 fileabc
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls file[0-9]
file1 file2 file3
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$ ls file[a-z][a-z][0-9]*
fileab2
[paul@RHELv4u3 gen]$

14.5. $LANG and square brackets

But, don't forget the influence of the LANG variable. Some languages include lower
case letters in an upper case range (and vice versa).
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls [A-Z]ile?
file1 file2 file3 File4
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls [a-z]ile?
file1 file2 file3 File4
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ echo $LANG
en_US.UTF-8
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ LANG=C
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ echo $LANG
C
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls [a-z]ile?
file1 file2 file3
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls [A-Z]ile?
File4
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$

108
 file globbing

14.6. preventing file globbing

The screenshot below should be no surprise. The echo * will echo a * when in an
empty directory. And it will echo the names of all files when the directory is not
empty.
paul@ubu1010:~$ mkdir test42
paul@ubu1010:~$ cd test42
paul@ubu1010:~/test42$ echo *
*
paul@ubu1010:~/test42$ touch file42 file33
paul@ubu1010:~/test42$ echo *
file33 file42

Globbing can be prevented using quotes or by escaping the special characters, as

shown in this screenshot.
paul@ubu1010:~/test42$ echo *
file33 file42
paul@ubu1010:~/test42$ echo \*
*
paul@ubu1010:~/test42$ echo '*'
*
paul@ubu1010:~/test42$ echo "*"
*

109
 file globbing

14.7. practice: shell globbing

1. Create a test directory and enter it.

2. Create files file1 file10 file11 file2 File2 File3 file33 fileAB filea fileA fileAAA
file( file 2 (the last one has 6 characters including a space)

3. List (with ls) all files starting with file

4. List (with ls) all files starting with File

5. List (with ls) all files starting with file and ending in a number.

6. List (with ls) all files starting with file and ending with a letter

7. List (with ls) all files starting with File and having a digit as fifth character.

8. List (with ls) all files starting with File and having a digit as fifth character and
nothing else.

9. List (with ls) all files starting with a letter and ending in a number.

10. List (with ls) all files that have exactly five characters.

11. List (with ls) all files that start with f or F and end with 3 or A.

12. List (with ls) all files that start with f have i or R as second character and end
in a number.

13. List all files that do not start with the letter F.

14. Copy the value of $LANG to $MyLANG.

15. Show the influence of $LANG in listing A-Z or a-z ranges.

16. You receive information that one of your servers was cracked, the cracker
probably replaced the ls command. You know that the echo command is safe to use.
Can echo replace ls ? How can you list the files in the current directory with echo ?

17. Is there another command besides cd to change directories ?

110
 file globbing

14.8. solution: shell globbing

1. Create a test directory and enter it.
mkdir testdir; cd testdir

2. Create files file1 file10 file11 file2 File2 File3 file33 fileAB filea fileA fileAAA
file( file 2 (the last one has 6 characters including a space)
touch file1 file10 file11 file2 File2 File3
touch file33 fileAB filea fileA fileAAA
touch "file("
touch "file 2"

3. List (with ls) all files starting with file

ls file*

4. List (with ls) all files starting with File

ls File*

5. List (with ls) all files starting with file and ending in a number.
ls file*[0-9]

6. List (with ls) all files starting with file and ending with a letter
ls file*[a-z]

7. List (with ls) all files starting with File and having a digit as fifth character.
ls File[0-9]*

8. List (with ls) all files starting with File and having a digit as fifth character and
nothing else.
ls File[0-9]

9. List (with ls) all files starting with a letter and ending in a number.
ls [a-z]*[0-9]

10. List (with ls) all files that have exactly five characters.
ls ?????

11. List (with ls) all files that start with f or F and end with 3 or A.
ls [fF]*[3A]

12. List (with ls) all files that start with f have i or R as second character and end
in a number.
ls f[iR]*[0-9]

13. List all files that do not start with the letter F.
ls [!F]*

111
 file globbing

14. Copy the value of $LANG to $MyLANG.

MyLANG=$LANG

15. Show the influence of $LANG in listing A-Z or a-z ranges.

see example in book

16. You receive information that one of your servers was cracked, the cracker
probably replaced the ls command. You know that the echo command is safe to use.
Can echo replace ls ? How can you list the files in the current directory with echo ?
echo *

17. Is there another command besides cd to change directories ?

pushd popd

112
Part IV. pipes and commands
Chapter 15. redirection and pipes

Table of Contents
15.1. stdin, stdout, and stderr .............................................................................. 115
15.2. output redirection ....................................................................................... 115
15.3. error redirection ......................................................................................... 117
15.4. input redirection ......................................................................................... 118
15.5. confusing redirection .................................................................................. 119
15.6. quick file clear ........................................................................................... 119
15.7. swapping stdout and stderr ........................................................................ 119
15.8. pipes ........................................................................................................... 120
15.9. practice: redirection and pipes ................................................................... 121
15.10. solution: redirection and pipes ................................................................. 122

One of the powers of the Unix command line is the use of redirection and pipes.

This chapter first explains redirection of input, output and error streams. It then
introduces pipes that consist of several commands.

114
 redirection and pipes

15.1. stdin, stdout, and stderr

The shell (and almost every other Linux command) takes input from stdin (stream
0) and sends output to stdout (stream 1) and error messages to stderr (stream 2) .

The keyboard often serves as stdin, stdout and stderr both go to the display. The
shell allows you to redirect these streams.

15.2. output redirection

> stdout
stdout can be redirected with a greater than sign. While scanning the line, the shell
will see the > sign and will clear the file.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today!
It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today! > winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt
It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

Note that the > notation is in fact the abbreviation of 1> (stdout being referred to
as stream 1.

output file is erased

To repeat: While scanning the line, the shell will see the > sign and will clear the
file! This means that even when the command fails, the file will be cleared!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt
It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ zcho It is cold today! > winter.txt
-bash: zcho: command not found
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

noclobber
Erasing a file while using > can be prevented by setting the noclobber option.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt
It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ set -o noclobber
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today! > winter.txt
-bash: winter.txt: cannot overwrite existing file
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ set +o noclobber
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

115
 redirection and pipes

overruling noclobber
The noclobber can be overruled with >|.

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ set -o noclobber

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today! > winter.txt
-bash: winter.txt: cannot overwrite existing file
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is very cold today! >| winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt
It is very cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

>> append
Use >> to append output to a file.

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today! > winter.txt

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt
It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Where is the summer ? >> winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt
It is cold today!
Where is the summer ?
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

116
 redirection and pipes

15.3. error redirection

2> stderr
Redirecting stderr is done with 2>. This can be very useful to prevent error messages
from cluttering your screen. The screenshot below shows redirection of stdout to a
file, and stderr to /dev/null. Writing 1> is the same as >.

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ find / > allfiles.txt 2> /dev/null

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

2>&1
To redirect both stdout and stderr to the same file, use 2>&1.

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ find / > allfiles_and_errors.txt 2>&1

[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

Note that the order of redirections is significant. For example, the command
ls > dirlist 2>&1

directs both standard output (file descriptor 1) and standard error (file descriptor 2)
to the file dirlist, while the command
ls 2>&1 > dirlist

directs only the standard output to file dirlist, because the standard error made a copy
of the standard output before the standard output was redirected to dirlist.

117
 redirection and pipes

15.4. input redirection

< stdin
Redirecting stdin is done with < (short for 0<).

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ cat < text.txt

one
two
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ tr 'onetw' 'ONEZZ' < text.txt
ONE
ZZO
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

<< here document

The here document (sometimes called here-is-document) is a way to append input
until a certain sequence (usually EOF) is encountered. The EOF marker can be typed
literally or can be called with Ctrl-D.

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ cat <<EOF > text.txt

> one
> two
> EOF
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ cat text.txt
one
two
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ cat <<brol > text.txt
> brel
> brol
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ cat text.txt
brel
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

<<< here string

The here string can be used to directly pass strings to a command. The result is the
same as using echo string | command (but you have one less process running).
paul@ubu1110~$ base64 <<< linux-training.be
bGludXgtdHJhaW5pbmcuYmUK
paul@ubu1110~$ base64 -d <<< bGludXgtdHJhaW5pbmcuYmUK
linux-training.be

See rfc 3548 for more information about base64.

118
 redirection and pipes

15.5. confusing redirection

The shell will scan the whole line before applying redirection. The following
command line is very readable and is correct.
cat winter.txt > snow.txt 2> errors.txt

But this one is also correct, but less readable.

2> errors.txt cat winter.txt > snow.txt

Even this will be understood perfectly by the shell.

< winter.txt > snow.txt 2> errors.txt cat

15.6. quick file clear

So what is the quickest way to clear a file ?
>foo

And what is the quickest way to clear a file when the noclobber option is set ?
>|bar

15.7. swapping stdout and stderr

When filtering an output stream, e.g. through a regular pipe ( | ) you only can filter
stdout. Say you want to filter out some unimportant error, out of the stderr stream.
This cannot be done directly, and you need to 'swap' stdout and stderr. This can be
done by using a 4th stream referred to with number 3:
3>&1 1>&2 2>&3

This Tower Of Hanoi like construction uses a temporary stream 3, to be able to swap
stdout (1) and stderr (2). The following is an example of how to filter out all lines
in the stderr stream, containing $error.
$command 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3 | grep -v $error 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3

But in this example, it can be done in a much shorter way, by using a pipe on
STDERR:
/usr/bin/$somecommand |& grep -v $error

119
 redirection and pipes

15.8. pipes
One of the most powerful advantages of Linux is the use of pipes.

A pipe takes stdout from the previous command and sends it as stdin to the next
command. All commands in a pipe run simultaneously.

| vertical bar
Consider the following example.
paul@debian5:~/test$ ls /etc > etcfiles.txt
paul@debian5:~/test$ tail -4 etcfiles.txt
X11
xdg
xml
xpdf
paul@debian5:~/test$

This can be written in one command line using a pipe.

paul@debian5:~/test$ ls /etc | tail -4
X11
xdg
xml
xpdf
paul@debian5:~/test$

The pipe is represented by a vertical bar | between two commands.

multiple pipes
One command line can use multiple pipes. All commands in the pipe can run at the
same time.
paul@deb503:~/test$ ls /etc | tail -4 | tac
xpdf
xml
xdg
X11

120
 redirection and pipes

15.9. practice: redirection and pipes

1. Use ls to output the contents of the /etc/ directory to a file called etc.txt.

2. Activate the noclobber shell option.

3. Verify that nocclobber is active by repeating your ls on /etc/.

4. When listing all shell options, which character represents the noclobber option ?

5. Deactivate the noclobber option.

6. Make sure you have two shells open on the same computer. Create an empty
tailing.txt file. Then type tail -f tailing.txt. Use the second shell to append a line of
text to that file. Verify that the first shell displays this line.

7. Create a file that contains the names of five people. Use cat and output redirection
to create the file and use a here document to end the input.

121
 redirection and pipes

15.10. solution: redirection and pipes

1. Use ls to output the contents of the /etc/ directory to a file called etc.txt.
ls /etc > etc.txt

2. Activate the noclobber shell option.

set -o noclobber

3. Verify that nocclobber is active by repeating your ls on /etc/.

ls /etc > etc.txt (should not work)

4. When listing all shell options, which character represents the noclobber option ?
echo $- (noclobber is visible as C)

5. Deactivate the noclobber option.

set +o noclobber

6. Make sure you have two shells open on the same computer. Create an empty
tailing.txt file. Then type tail -f tailing.txt. Use the second shell to append a line of
text to that file. Verify that the first shell displays this line.
paul@deb503:~$ > tailing.txt
paul@deb503:~$ tail -f tailing.txt
hello
world

in the other shell:

paul@deb503:~$ echo hello >> tailing.txt
paul@deb503:~$ echo world >> tailing.txt

7. Create a file that contains the names of five people. Use cat and output redirection
to create the file and use a here document to end the input.
paul@deb503:~$ cat > tennis.txt << ace
> Justine Henin
> Venus Williams
> Serena Williams
> Martina Hingis
> Kim Clijsters
> ace
paul@deb503:~$ cat tennis.txt
Justine Henin
Venus Williams
Serena Williams
Martina Hingis
Kim Clijsters
paul@deb503:~$

122
Chapter 16. filters

Table of Contents
16.1. cat ............................................................................................................... 124
16.2. tee ............................................................................................................... 124
16.3. grep ............................................................................................................. 124
16.4. cut ............................................................................................................... 126
16.5. tr ................................................................................................................. 126
16.6. wc ............................................................................................................... 127
16.7. sort .............................................................................................................. 128
16.8. uniq ............................................................................................................. 129
16.9. comm .......................................................................................................... 129
16.10. od .............................................................................................................. 130
16.11. sed ............................................................................................................ 131
16.12. pipe examples ........................................................................................... 132
16.13. practice: filters ......................................................................................... 133
16.14. solution: filters ......................................................................................... 134

Commands that are created to be used with a pipe are often called filters. These
filters are very small programs that do one specific thing very efficiently. They can
be used as building blocks.

This chapter will introduce you to the most common filters. The combination of
simple commands and filters in a long pipe allows you to design elegant solutions.

123
 filters

16.1. cat
When between two pipes, the cat command does nothing (except putting stdin on
stdout.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ tac count.txt | cat | cat | cat | cat | cat
five
four
three
two
one
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

16.2. tee
Writing long pipes in Unix is fun, but sometimes you might want intermediate results.
This is were tee comes in handy. The tee filter puts stdin on stdout and also into a
file. So tee is almost the same as cat, except that it has two identical outputs.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ tac count.txt | tee temp.txt | tac
one
two
three
four
five
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat temp.txt
five
four
three
two
one
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

16.3. grep
The grep filter is famous among Unix users. The most common use of grep is to
filter lines of text containing (or not containing) a certain string.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat tennis.txt
Amelie Mauresmo, Fra
Kim Clijsters, BEL
Justine Henin, Bel
Serena Williams, usa
Venus Williams, USA
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat tennis.txt | grep Williams
Serena Williams, usa
Venus Williams, USA

You can write this without the cat.

[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ grep Williams tennis.txt
Serena Williams, usa
Venus Williams, USA

One of the most useful options of grep is grep -i which filters in a case insensitive
way.

124
 filters

[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ grep Bel tennis.txt

Justine Henin, Bel
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ grep -i Bel tennis.txt
Kim Clijsters, BEL
Justine Henin, Bel
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

Another very useful option is grep -v which outputs lines not matching the string.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ grep -v Fra tennis.txt
Kim Clijsters, BEL
Justine Henin, Bel
Serena Williams, usa
Venus Williams, USA
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

And of course, both options can be combined to filter all lines not containing a case
insensitive string.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ grep -vi usa tennis.txt
Amelie Mauresmo, Fra
Kim Clijsters, BEL
Justine Henin, Bel
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

With grep -A1 one line after the result is also displayed.
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ grep -A1 Henin tennis.txt
Justine Henin, Bel
Serena Williams, usa

With grep -B1 one line before the result is also displayed.
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ grep -B1 Henin tennis.txt
Kim Clijsters, BEL
Justine Henin, Bel

With grep -C1 (context) one line before and one after are also displayed. All three
options (A,B, and C) can display any number of lines (using e.g. A2, B4 or C20).
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ grep -C1 Henin tennis.txt
Kim Clijsters, BEL
Justine Henin, Bel
Serena Williams, usa

125
 filters

16.4. cut
The cut filter can select columns from files, depending on a delimiter or a count of
bytes. The screenshot below uses cut to filter for the username and userid in the /etc/
passwd file. It uses the colon as a delimiter, and selects fields 1 and 3.
[[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cut -d: -f1,3 /etc/passwd | tail -4
Figo:510
Pfaff:511
Harry:516
Hermione:517
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

When using a space as the delimiter for cut, you have to quote the space.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cut -d" " -f1 tennis.txt
Amelie
Kim
Justine
Serena
Venus
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

This example uses cut to display the second to the seventh character of /etc/passwd.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cut -c2-7 /etc/passwd | tail -4
igo:x:
faff:x
arry:x
ermion
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

16.5. tr
You can translate characters with tr. The screenshot shows the translation of all
occurrences of e to E.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat tennis.txt | tr 'e' 'E'
AmEliE MaurEsmo, Fra
Kim ClijstErs, BEL
JustinE HEnin, BEl
SErEna Williams, usa
VEnus Williams, USA

Here we set all letters to uppercase by defining two ranges.

[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat tennis.txt | tr 'a-z' 'A-Z'
AMELIE MAURESMO, FRA
KIM CLIJSTERS, BEL
JUSTINE HENIN, BEL
SERENA WILLIAMS, USA
VENUS WILLIAMS, USA
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

Here we translate all newlines to spaces.

[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat count.txt
one

126
 filters

two
three
four
five
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat count.txt | tr '\n' ' '
one two three four five [paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

The tr -s filter can also be used to squeeze multiple occurrences of a character to one.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat spaces.txt
one two three
four five six
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat spaces.txt | tr -s ' '
one two three
four five six
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

You can also use tr to 'encrypt' texts with rot13.

[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat count.txt | tr 'a-z' 'nopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklm'
bar
gjb
guerr
sbhe
svir
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ cat count.txt | tr 'a-z' 'n-za-m'
bar
gjb
guerr
sbhe
svir
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

This last example uses tr -d to delete characters.

paul@debian5:~/pipes$ cat tennis.txt | tr -d e
Amli Maursmo, Fra
Kim Clijstrs, BEL
Justin Hnin, Bl
Srna Williams, usa
Vnus Williams, USA

16.6. wc
Counting words, lines and characters is easy with wc.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ wc tennis.txt
5 15 100 tennis.txt
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ wc -l tennis.txt
5 tennis.txt
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ wc -w tennis.txt
15 tennis.txt
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ wc -c tennis.txt
100 tennis.txt
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$

127
 filters

16.7. sort
The sort filter will default to an alphabetical sort.
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ cat music.txt
Queen
Brel
Led Zeppelin
Abba
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ sort music.txt
Abba
Brel
Led Zeppelin
Queen

But the sort filter has many options to tweak its usage. This example shows sorting
different columns (column 1 or column 2).
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ sort -k1 country.txt
Belgium, Brussels, 10
France, Paris, 60
Germany, Berlin, 100
Iran, Teheran, 70
Italy, Rome, 50
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ sort -k2 country.txt
Germany, Berlin, 100
Belgium, Brussels, 10
France, Paris, 60
Italy, Rome, 50
Iran, Teheran, 70

The screenshot below shows the difference between an alphabetical sort and a
numerical sort (both on the third column).
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ sort -k3 country.txt
Belgium, Brussels, 10
Germany, Berlin, 100
Italy, Rome, 50
France, Paris, 60
Iran, Teheran, 70
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ sort -n -k3 country.txt
Belgium, Brussels, 10
Italy, Rome, 50
France, Paris, 60
Iran, Teheran, 70
Germany, Berlin, 100

128
 filters

16.8. uniq
With uniq you can remove duplicates from a sorted list.
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ cat music.txt
Queen
Brel
Queen
Abba
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ sort music.txt
Abba
Brel
Queen
Queen
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ sort music.txt |uniq
Abba
Brel
Queen

uniq can also count occurrences with the -c option.

paul@debian5:~/pipes$ sort music.txt |uniq -c
1 Abba
1 Brel
2 Queen

16.9. comm
Comparing streams (or files) can be done with the comm. By default comm will
output three columns. In this example, Abba, Cure and Queen are in both lists, Bowie
and Sweet are only in the first file, Turner is only in the second.
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ cat > list1.txt
Abba
Bowie
Cure
Queen
Sweet
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ cat > list2.txt
Abba
Cure
Queen
Turner
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ comm list1.txt list2.txt
Abba
Bowie
Cure
Queen
Sweet
Turner

129
 filters

The output of comm can be easier to read when outputting only a single column. The
digits point out which output columns should not be displayed.

paul@debian5:~/pipes$ comm -12 list1.txt list2.txt

Abba
Cure
Queen
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ comm -13 list1.txt list2.txt
Turner
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ comm -23 list1.txt list2.txt
Bowie
Sweet

16.10. od
European humans like to work with ascii characters, but computers store files in bytes.
The example below creates a simple file, and then uses od to show the contents of
the file in hexadecimal bytes

paul@laika:~/test$ cat > text.txt

abcdefg
1234567
paul@laika:~/test$ od -t x1 text.txt
0000000 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 0a 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 0a
0000020

The same file can also be displayed in octal bytes.

paul@laika:~/test$ od -b text.txt
0000000 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 012 061 062 063 064 065 066 067 012
0000020

And here is the file in ascii (or backslashed) characters.

paul@laika:~/test$ od -c text.txt
0000000 a b c d e f g \n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 \n
0000020

130
 filters

16.11. sed
The stream editor sed can perform editing functions in the stream, using regular
expressions.

paul@debian5:~/pipes$ echo level5 | sed 's/5/42/'

level42
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ echo level5 | sed 's/level/jump/'
jump5

Add g for global replacements (all occurrences of the string per line).

paul@debian5:~/pipes$ echo level5 level7 | sed 's/level/jump/'

jump5 level7
paul@debian5:~/pipes$ echo level5 level7 | sed 's/level/jump/g'
jump5 jump7

With d you can remove lines from a stream containing a character.

paul@debian5:~/test42$ cat tennis.txt

Venus Williams, USA
Martina Hingis, SUI
Justine Henin, BE
Serena williams, USA
Kim Clijsters, BE
Yanina Wickmayer, BE
paul@debian5:~/test42$ cat tennis.txt | sed '/BE/d'
Venus Williams, USA
Martina Hingis, SUI
Serena williams, USA

131
 filters

16.12. pipe examples

who | wc
How many users are logged on to this system ?
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ who
root tty1 Jul 25 10:50
paul pts/0 Jul 25 09:29 (laika)
Harry pts/1 Jul 25 12:26 (barry)
paul pts/2 Jul 25 12:26 (pasha)
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ who | wc -l
4

who | cut | sort

Display a sorted list of logged on users.
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ who | cut -d' ' -f1 | sort
Harry
paul
paul
root

Display a sorted list of logged on users, but every user only once .
[paul@RHEL4b pipes]$ who | cut -d' ' -f1 | sort | uniq
Harry
paul
root

grep | cut
Display a list of all bash user accounts on this computer. Users accounts are
explained in detail later.
paul@debian5:~$ grep bash /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
paul:x:1000:1000:paul,,,:/home/paul:/bin/bash
serena:x:1001:1001::/home/serena:/bin/bash
paul@debian5:~$ grep bash /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f1
root
paul
serena

132
 filters

16.13. practice: filters

1. Put a sorted list of all bash users in bashusers.txt.

2. Put a sorted list of all logged on users in onlineusers.txt.

3. Make a list of all filenames in /etc that contain the string samba.

4. Make a sorted list of all files in /etc that contain the case insensitive string samba.

5. Look at the output of /sbin/ifconfig. Write a line that displays only ip address and
the subnet mask.

6. Write a line that removes all non-letters from a stream.

7. Write a line that receives a text file, and outputs all words on a separate line.

8. Write a spell checker on the command line. (There might be a dictionary in /usr/
share/dict/ .)

133
 filters

16.14. solution: filters

1. Put a sorted list of all bash users in bashusers.txt.
grep bash /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f1 | sort > bashusers.txt

2. Put a sorted list of all logged on users in onlineusers.txt.

who | cut -d' ' -f1 | sort > onlineusers.txt

3. Make a list of all filenames in /etc that contain the string samba.
ls /etc | grep samba

4. Make a sorted list of all files in /etc that contain the case insensitive string samba.
ls /etc | grep -i samba | sort

5. Look at the output of /sbin/ifconfig. Write a line that displays only ip address and
the subnet mask.
/sbin/ifconfig | head -2 | grep 'inet ' | tr -s ' ' | cut -d' ' -f3,5

6. Write a line that removes all non-letters from a stream.

paul@deb503:~$ cat text
This is, yes really! , a text with ?&* too many str$ange# characters ;-)
paul@deb503:~$ cat text | tr -d ',!$?.*&^%#@;()-'
This is yes really a text with too many strange characters

7. Write a line that receives a text file, and outputs all words on a separate line.

paul@deb503:~$ cat text2

it is very cold today without the sun

paul@deb503:~$ cat text2 | tr ' ' '\n'

it
is
very
cold
today
without
the
sun

8. Write a spell checker on the command line. (There might be a dictionary in /usr/
share/dict/ .)

paul@rhel ~$ echo "The zun is shining today" > text

paul@rhel ~$ cat > DICT

is
shining
sun
the
today

134
 filters

paul@rhel ~$ cat text | tr 'A-Z ' 'a-z\n' | sort | uniq | comm -23 - DICT
zun

You could also add the solution from question number 6 to remove non-letters, and
tr -s ' ' to remove redundant spaces.

135
Chapter 17. basic Unix tools

Table of Contents
17.1. find ............................................................................................................. 137
17.2. locate .......................................................................................................... 138
17.3. date ............................................................................................................. 138
17.4. cal ............................................................................................................... 139
17.5. sleep ........................................................................................................... 139
17.6. time ............................................................................................................. 139
17.7. gzip - gunzip .............................................................................................. 140
17.8. zcat - zmore ............................................................................................... 140
17.9. bzip2 - bunzip2 .......................................................................................... 141
17.10. bzcat - bzmore ......................................................................................... 141
17.11. practice: basic Unix tools ........................................................................ 142
17.12. solution: basic Unix tools ........................................................................ 143

This chapter introduces commands to find or locate files and to compress files,
together with other common tools that were not discussed before. While the tools
discussed here are technically not considered filters, they can be used in pipes.

136
 basic Unix tools

17.1. find
The find command can be very useful at the start of a pipe to search for files. Here are
some examples. You might want to add 2>/dev/null to the command lines to avoid
cluttering your screen with error messages.

Find all files in /etc and put the list in etcfiles.txt

find /etc > etcfiles.txt

Find all files of the entire system and put the list in allfiles.txt
find / > allfiles.txt

Find files that end in .conf in the current directory (and all subdirs).
find . -name "*.conf"

Find files of type file (not directory, pipe or etc.) that end in .conf.
find . -type f -name "*.conf"

Find files of type directory that end in .bak .

find /data -type d -name "*.bak"

Find files that are newer than file42.txt

find . -newer file42.txt

Find can also execute another command on every file found. This example will look
for *.odf files and copy them to /backup/.
find /data -name "*.odf" -exec cp {} /backup/ \;

Find can also execute, after your confirmation, another command on every file found.
This example will remove *.odf files if you approve of it for every file found.
find /data -name "*.odf" -ok rm {} \;

137
 basic Unix tools

17.2. locate
The locate tool is very different from find in that it uses an index to locate files. This
is a lot faster than traversing all the directories, but it also means that it is always
outdated. If the index does not exist yet, then you have to create it (as root on Red
Hat Enterprise Linux) with the updatedb command.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ locate Samba
warning: locate: could not open database: /var/lib/slocate/slocate.db:...
warning: You need to run the 'updatedb' command (as root) to create th...
Please have a look at /etc/updatedb.conf to enable the daily cron job.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ updatedb
fatal error: updatedb: You are not authorized to create a default sloc...
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ su -
Password:
[root@RHEL4b ~]# updatedb
[root@RHEL4b ~]#

Most Linux distributions will schedule the updatedb to run once every day.

17.3. date
The date command can display the date, time, time zone and more.
paul@rhel55 ~$ date
Sat Apr 17 12:44:30 CEST 2010

A date string can be customised to display the format of your choice. Check the man
page for more options.
paul@rhel55 ~$ date +'%A %d-%m-%Y'
Saturday 17-04-2010

Time on any Unix is calculated in number of seconds since 1969 (the first second
being the first second of the first of January 1970). Use date +%s to display Unix
time in seconds.
paul@rhel55 ~$ date +%s
1271501080

When will this seconds counter reach two thousand million ?

paul@rhel55 ~$ date -d '1970-01-01 + 2000000000 seconds'
Wed May 18 04:33:20 CEST 2033

138
 basic Unix tools

17.4. cal
The cal command displays the current month, with the current day highlighted.
paul@rhel55 ~$ cal
April 2010
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30

You can select any month in the past or the future.

paul@rhel55 ~$ cal 2 1970
February 1970
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28

17.5. sleep
The sleep command is sometimes used in scripts to wait a number of seconds. This
example shows a five second sleep.
paul@rhel55 ~$ sleep 5
paul@rhel55 ~$

17.6. time
The time command can display how long it takes to execute a command. The date
command takes only a little time.
paul@rhel55 ~$ time date
Sat Apr 17 13:08:27 CEST 2010

real 0m0.014s
user 0m0.008s
sys 0m0.006s

The sleep 5 command takes five real seconds to execute, but consumes little cpu
time.
paul@rhel55 ~$ time sleep 5

real 0m5.018s
user 0m0.005s
sys 0m0.011s

139
 basic Unix tools

This bzip2 command compresses a file and uses a lot of cpu time.
paul@rhel55 ~$ time bzip2 text.txt

real 0m2.368s
user 0m0.847s
sys 0m0.539s

17.7. gzip - gunzip

Users never have enough disk space, so compression comes in handy. The gzip
command can make files take up less space.
paul@rhel55 ~$ ls -lh text.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 6.4M Apr 17 13:11 text.txt
paul@rhel55 ~$ gzip text.txt
paul@rhel55 ~$ ls -lh text.txt.gz
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 760K Apr 17 13:11 text.txt.gz

You can get the original back with gunzip.

paul@rhel55 ~$ gunzip text.txt.gz
paul@rhel55 ~$ ls -lh text.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 6.4M Apr 17 13:11 text.txt

17.8. zcat - zmore

Text files that are compressed with gzip can be viewed with zcat and zmore.
paul@rhel55 ~$ head -4 text.txt
/
/opt
/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-3.1.6
/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-3.1.6/routines.sh
paul@rhel55 ~$ gzip text.txt
paul@rhel55 ~$ zcat text.txt.gz | head -4
/
/opt
/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-3.1.6
/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-3.1.6/routines.sh

140
 basic Unix tools

17.9. bzip2 - bunzip2

Files can also be compressed with bzip2 which takes a little more time than gzip,
but compresses better.
paul@rhel55 ~$ bzip2 text.txt
paul@rhel55 ~$ ls -lh text.txt.bz2
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 569K Apr 17 13:11 text.txt.bz2

Files can be uncompressed again with bunzip2.

paul@rhel55 ~$ bunzip2 text.txt.bz2
paul@rhel55 ~$ ls -lh text.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 6.4M Apr 17 13:11 text.txt

17.10. bzcat - bzmore

And in the same way bzcat and bzmore can display files compressed with bzip2.
paul@rhel55 ~$ bzip2 text.txt
paul@rhel55 ~$ bzcat text.txt.bz2 | head -4
/
/opt
/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-3.1.6
/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-3.1.6/routines.sh

141
 basic Unix tools

17.11. practice: basic Unix tools

1. Explain the difference between these two commands. This question is very
important. If you don't know the answer, then look back at the shell chapter.
find /data -name "*.txt"

find /data -name *.txt

2. Explain the difference between these two statements. Will they both work when
there are 200 .odf files in /data ? How about when there are 2 million .odf files ?
find /data -name "*.odf" > data_odf.txt

find /data/*.odf > data_odf.txt

3. Write a find command that finds all files created after January 30th 2010.

4. Write a find command that finds all *.odf files created in September 2009.

5. Count the number of *.conf files in /etc and all its subdirs.

6. Two commands that do the same thing: copy *.odf files to /backup/ . What would
be a reason to replace the first command with the second ? Again, this is an important
question.
cp -r /data/*.odf /backup/

find /data -name "*.odf" -exec cp {} /backup/ \;

7. Create a file called loctest.txt. Can you find this file with locate ? Why not ? How
do you make locate find this file ?

8. Use find and -exec to rename all .htm files to .html.

9. Issue the date command. Now display the date in YYYY/MM/DD format.

10. Issue the cal command. Display a calendar of 1582 and 1752. Notice anything
special ?

142
 basic Unix tools

17.12. solution: basic Unix tools

1. Explain the difference between these two commands. This question is very
important. If you don't know the answer, then look back at the shell chapter.
find /data -name "*.txt"

find /data -name *.txt

When *.txt is quoted then the shell will not touch it. The find tool will look in the
/data for all files ending in .txt.

When *.txt is not quoted then the shell might expand this (when one or more files
that ends in .txt exist in the current directory). The find might show a different result,
or can result in a syntax error.

2. Explain the difference between these two statements. Will they both work when
there are 200 .odf files in /data ? How about when there are 2 million .odf files ?
find /data -name "*.odf" > data_odf.txt

find /data/*.odf > data_odf.txt

The first find will output all .odf filenames in /data and all subdirectories. The shell
will redirect this to a file.

The second find will output all files named .odf in /data and will also output all files
that exist in directories named *.odf (in /data).

With two million files the command line would be expanded beyond the maximum
that the shell can accept. The last part of the command line would be lost.

3. Write a find command that finds all files created after January 30th 2010.
touch -t 201001302359 marker_date
find . -type f -newer marker_date

There is another solution :

find . -type f -newerat "20100130 23:59:59"

4. Write a find command that finds all *.odf files created in September 2009.
touch -t 200908312359 marker_start
touch -t 200910010000 marker_end
find . -type f -name "*.odf" -newer marker_start ! -newer marker_end

The exclamation mark ! -newer can be read as not newer.

5. Count the number of *.conf files in /etc and all its subdirs.
find /etc -type f -name '*.conf' | wc -l

6. Two commands that do the same thing: copy *.odf files to /backup/ . What would
be a reason to replace the first command with the second ? Again, this is an important
question.
cp -r /data/*.odf /backup/

143
 basic Unix tools

find /data -name "*.odf" -exec cp {} /backup/ \;

The first might fail when there are too many files to fit on one command line.

7. Create a file called loctest.txt. Can you find this file with locate ? Why not ? How
do you make locate find this file ?

You cannot locate this with locate because it is not yet in the index.
updatedb

8. Use find and -exec to rename all .htm files to .html.

paul@rhel55 ~$ find . -name '*.htm'

./one.htm
./two.htm
paul@rhel55 ~$ find . -name '*.htm' -exec mv {} {}l \;
paul@rhel55 ~$ find . -name '*.htm*'
./one.html
./two.html

9. Issue the date command. Now display the date in YYYY/MM/DD format.
date +%Y/%m/%d

10. Issue the cal command. Display a calendar of 1582 and 1752. Notice anything
special ?
cal 1582

The calendars are different depending on the country. Check http://linux-training.be/

files/studentfiles/dates.txt

144
Part V. vi
Chapter 18. Introduction to vi

Table of Contents
18.1. command mode and insert mode ............................................................... 147
18.2. start typing (a A i I o O) ........................................................................... 147
18.3. replace and delete a character (r x X) ........................................................ 148
18.4. undo and repeat (u .) .................................................................................. 148
18.5. cut, copy and paste a line (dd yy p P) ....................................................... 148
18.6. cut, copy and paste lines (3dd 2yy) ........................................................... 149
18.7. start and end of a line (0 or ^ and $) ......................................................... 149
18.8. join two lines (J) and more ........................................................................ 149
18.9. words (w b) ................................................................................................ 150
18.10. save (or not) and exit (:w :q :q! ) ............................................................. 150
18.11. Searching (/ ?) .......................................................................................... 151
18.12. replace all ( :1,$ s/foo/bar/g ) ................................................................... 151
18.13. reading files (:r :r !cmd) ........................................................................... 151
18.14. text buffers ............................................................................................... 152
18.15. multiple files ............................................................................................ 152
18.16. abbreviations ............................................................................................ 152
18.17. key mappings ........................................................................................... 153
18.18. setting options .......................................................................................... 153
18.19. practice: vi(m) .......................................................................................... 154
18.20. solution: vi(m) .......................................................................................... 155

The vi editor is installed on almost every Unix. Linux will very often install vim (vi
improved) which is similar. Every system administrator should know vi(m), because
it is an easy tool to solve problems.

The vi editor is not intuitive, but once you get to know it, vi becomes a very powerful
application. Most Linux distributions will include the vimtutor which is a 45 minute
lesson in vi(m).

146
 Introduction to vi

18.1. command mode and insert mode

The vi editor starts in command mode. In command mode, you can type commands.
Some commands will bring you into insert mode. In insert mode, you can type text.
The escape key will return you to command mode.

Table 18.1. getting to command mode

key action
Esc set vi(m) in command mode.

18.2. start typing (a A i I o O)

The difference between a A i I o and O is the location where you can start typing.
a will append after the current character and A will append at the end of the line. i
will insert before the current character and I will insert at the beginning of the line.
o will put you in a new line after the current line and O will put you in a new line
before the current line.

Table 18.2. switch to insert mode

command action
a start typing after the current character
A start typing at the end of the current line
i start typing before the current character
I start typing at the start of the current line
o start typing on a new line after the current line
O start typing on a new line before the current line

147
 Introduction to vi

18.3. replace and delete a character (r x X)

When in command mode (it doesn't hurt to hit the escape key more than once) you
can use the x key to delete the current character. The big X key (or shift x) will delete
the character left of the cursor. Also when in command mode, you can use the r key
to replace one single character. The r key will bring you in insert mode for just one
key press, and will return you immediately to command mode.

Table 18.3. replace and delete

command action
x delete the character below the cursor
X delete the character before the cursor
r replace the character below the cursor
p paste after the cursor (here the last deleted character)
xp switch two characters

18.4. undo and repeat (u .)

When in command mode, you can undo your mistakes with u. You can do your
mistakes twice with . (in other words, the . will repeat your last command).

Table 18.4. undo and repeat

command action
u undo the last action
. repeat the last action

18.5. cut, copy and paste a line (dd yy p P)

When in command mode, dd will cut the current line. yy will copy the current line.
You can paste the last copied or cut line after (p) or before (P) the current line.

Table 18.5. cut, copy and paste a line

command action
dd cut the current line
yy (yank yank) copy the current line
p paste after the current line
P paste before the current line

148
 Introduction to vi

18.6. cut, copy and paste lines (3dd 2yy)

When in command mode, before typing dd or yy, you can type a number to repeat
the command a number of times. Thus, 5dd will cut 5 lines and 4yy will copy (yank)
4 lines. That last one will be noted by vi in the bottom left corner as "4 line yanked".

Table 18.6. cut, copy and paste lines

command action
3dd cut three lines
4yy copy four lines

18.7. start and end of a line (0 or ^ and $)

When in command mode, the 0 and the caret ^ will bring you to the start of the current
line, whereas the $ will put the cursor at the end of the current line. You can add 0 and
$ to the d command, d0 will delete every character between the current character and
the start of the line. Likewise d$ will delete everything from the current character till
the end of the line. Similarly y0 and y$ will yank till start and end of the current line.

Table 18.7. start and end of line

command action
0 jump to start of current line
^ jump to start of current line
$ jump to end of current line
d0 delete until start of line
d$ delete until end of line

18.8. join two lines (J) and more

When in command mode, pressing J will append the next line to the current line.
With yyp you duplicate a line and with ddp you switch two lines.

Table 18.8. join two lines

command action
J join two lines
yyp duplicate a line
ddp switch two lines

149
 Introduction to vi

18.9. words (w b)
When in command mode, w will jump to the next word and b will move to the
previous word. w and b can also be combined with d and y to copy and cut words
(dw db yw yb).

Table 18.9. words

command action
w forward one word
b back one word
3w forward three words
dw delete one word
yw yank (copy) one word
5yb yank five words back
7dw delete seven words

18.10. save (or not) and exit (:w :q :q! )

Pressing the colon : will allow you to give instructions to vi (technically speaking,
typing the colon will open the ex editor). :w will write (save) the file, :q will quit an
unchanged file without saving, and :q! will quit vi discarding any changes. :wq will
save and quit and is the same as typing ZZ in command mode.

Table 18.10. save and exit vi

command action
:w save (write)
:w fname save as fname
:q quit
:wq save and quit
ZZ save and quit
:q! quit (discarding your changes)
:w! save (and write to non-writable file!)

The last one is a bit special. With :w! vi will try to chmod the file to get write
permission (this works when you are the owner) and will chmod it back when the
write succeeds. This should always work when you are root (and the file system is
writable).

150
 Introduction to vi

18.11. Searching (/ ?)
When in command mode typing / will allow you to search in vi for strings (can be
a regular expression). Typing /foo will do a forward search for the string foo and
typing ?bar will do a backward search for bar.

Table 18.11. searching

command action
/string forward search for string
?string backward search for string
n go to next occurrence of search string
/^string forward search string at beginning of line
/string$ forward search string at end of line
/br[aeio]l search for bral brel bril and brol
/\<he\> search for the word he (and not for here or the)

18.12. replace all ( :1,$ s/foo/bar/g )

To replace all occurrences of the string foo with bar, first switch to ex mode with : .
Then tell vi which lines to use, for example 1,$ will do the replace all from the first
to the last line. You can write 1,5 to only process the first five lines. The s/foo/bar/
g will replace all occurrences of foo with bar.

Table 18.12. replace

command action
:4,8 s/foo/bar/g replace foo with bar on lines 4 to 8
:1,$ s/foo/bar/g replace foo with bar on all lines

18.13. reading files (:r :r !cmd)

When in command mode, :r foo will read the file named foo, :r !foo will execute the
command foo. The result will be put at the current location. Thus :r !ls will put a
listing of the current directory in your text file.

Table 18.13. read files and input

command action
:r fname (read) file fname and paste contents
:r !cmd execute cmd and paste its output

151
 Introduction to vi

18.14. text buffers

There are 36 buffers in vi to store text. You can use them with the " character.

Table 18.14. text buffers

command action
"add delete current line and put text in buffer a
"g7yy copy seven lines into buffer g
"ap paste from buffer a

18.15. multiple files

You can edit multiple files with vi. Here are some tips.

Table 18.15. multiple files

command action
vi file1 file2 file3 start editing three files
:args lists files and marks active file
:n start editing the next file
:e toggle with last edited file
:rew rewind file pointer to first file

18.16. abbreviations
With :ab you can put abbreviations in vi. Use :una to undo the abbreviation.

Table 18.16. abbreviations

command action
:ab str long string abbreviate str to be 'long string'
:una str un-abbreviate str

152
 Introduction to vi

18.17. key mappings

Similarly to their abbreviations, you can use mappings with :map for command mode
and :map! for insert mode.

This example shows how to set the F6 function key to toggle between set number
and set nonumber. The <bar> separates the two commands, set number! toggles
the state and set number? reports the current state.
:map <F6> :set number!<bar>set number?<CR>

18.18. setting options

Some options that you can set in vim.

:set number ( also try :se nu )

:set nonumber
:syntax on
:syntax off
:set all (list all options)
:set tabstop=8
:set tx (CR/LF style endings)
:set notx

You can set these options (and much more) in ~/.vimrc for vim or in ~/.exrc for
standard vi.

paul@barry:~$ cat ~/.vimrc

set number
set tabstop=8
set textwidth=78
map <F6> :set number!<bar>set number?<CR>
paul@barry:~$

153
 Introduction to vi

18.19. practice: vi(m)

1. Start the vimtutor and do some or all of the exercises. You might need to run
aptitude install vim on xubuntu.

2. What 3 key combination in command mode will duplicate the current line.

3. What 3 key combination in command mode will switch two lines' place (line five
becomes line six and line six becomes line five).

4. What 2 key combination in command mode will switch a character's place with
the next one.

5. vi can understand macro's. A macro can be recorded with q followed by the name
of the macro. So qa will record the macro named a. Pressing q again will end the
recording. You can recall the macro with @ followed by the name of the macro. Try
this example: i 1 'Escape Key' qa yyp 'Ctrl a' q 5@a (Ctrl a will increase the number
with one).

6. Copy /etc/passwd to your ~/passwd. Open the last one in vi and press Ctrl v. Use
the arrow keys to select a Visual Block, you can copy this with y or delete it with
d. Try pasting it.

7. What does dwwP do when you are at the beginning of a word in a sentence ?

154
 Introduction to vi

18.20. solution: vi(m)

1. Start the vimtutor and do some or all of the exercises. You might need to run
aptitude install vim on xubuntu.
vimtutor

2. What 3 key combination in command mode will duplicate the current line.
yyp

3. What 3 key combination in command mode will switch two lines' place (line five
becomes line six and line six becomes line five).
ddp

4. What 2 key combination in command mode will switch a character's place with
the next one.
xp

5. vi can understand macro's. A macro can be recorded with q followed by the name
of the macro. So qa will record the macro named a. Pressing q again will end the
recording. You can recall the macro with @ followed by the name of the macro. Try
this example: i 1 'Escape Key' qa yyp 'Ctrl a' q 5@a (Ctrl a will increase the number
with one).

6. Copy /etc/passwd to your ~/passwd. Open the last one in vi and press Ctrl v. Use
the arrow keys to select a Visual Block, you can copy this with y or delete it with
d. Try pasting it.
cp /etc/passwd ~
vi passwd
(press Ctrl-V)

7. What does dwwP do when you are at the beginning of a word in a sentence ?

dwwP can switch the current word with the next word.

155
Part VI. scripting
Chapter 19. scripting introduction

Table of Contents
19.1. prerequisites ............................................................................................... 158
19.2. hello world ................................................................................................. 158
19.3. she-bang ..................................................................................................... 158
19.4. comment ..................................................................................................... 159
19.5. variables ..................................................................................................... 159
19.6. sourcing a script ......................................................................................... 159
19.7. troubleshooting a script .............................................................................. 160
19.8. prevent setuid root spoofing ...................................................................... 160
19.9. practice: introduction to scripting .............................................................. 161
19.10. solution: introduction to scripting ............................................................ 162

Shells like bash and Korn have support for programming constructs that can be saved
as scripts. These scripts in turn then become more shell commands. Many Linux
commands are scripts. User profile scripts are run when a user logs on and init
scripts are run when a daemon is stopped or started.

This means that system administrators also need basic knowledge of scripting to
understand how their servers and their applications are started, updated, upgraded,
patched, maintained, configured and removed, and also to understand how a user
environment is built.

The goal of this chapter is to give you enough information to be able to read and
understand scripts. Not to become a writer of complex scripts.

157
 scripting introduction

19.1. prerequisites
You should have read and understood part III shell expansion and part IV pipes
and commands before starting this chapter.

19.2. hello world

Just like in every programming course, we start with a simple hello_world script.
The following script will output Hello World.
echo Hello World

After creating this simple script in vi or with echo, you'll have to chmod +x
hello_world to make it executable. And unless you add the scripts directory to your
path, you'll have to type the path to the script for the shell to be able to find it.
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ echo echo Hello World > hello_world
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ chmod +x hello_world
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ ./hello_world
Hello World
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$

19.3. she-bang
Let's expand our example a little further by putting #!/bin/bash on the first line of
the script. The #! is called a she-bang (sometimes called sha-bang), where the she-
bang is the first two characters of the script.
#!/bin/bash
echo Hello World

You can never be sure which shell a user is running. A script that works flawlessly
in bash might not work in ksh, csh, or dash. To instruct a shell to run your script in
a certain shell, you can start your script with a she-bang followed by the shell it is
supposed to run in. This script will run in a bash shell.
#!/bin/bash
echo -n hello
echo A bash subshell `echo -n hello`

This script will run in a Korn shell (unless /bin/ksh is a hard link to /bin/bash). The
/etc/shells file contains a list of shells on your system.
#!/bin/ksh
echo -n hello
echo a Korn subshell `echo -n hello`

158
 scripting introduction

19.4. comment
Let's expand our example a little further by adding comment lines.
#!/bin/bash
#
# Hello World Script
#
echo Hello World

19.5. variables
Here is a simple example of a variable inside a script.
#!/bin/bash
#
# simple variable in script
#
var1=4
echo var1 = $var1

Scripts can contain variables, but since scripts are run in their own shell, the variables
do not survive the end of the script.
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ echo $var1

[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ ./vars

var1 = 4
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ echo $var1

[paul@RHEL4a ~]$

19.6. sourcing a script

Luckily, you can force a script to run in the same shell; this is called sourcing a script.

[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ source ./vars

var1 = 4
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ echo $var1
4
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$

The above is identical to the below.

[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ . ./vars

var1 = 4
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$ echo $var1
4
[paul@RHEL4a ~]$

159
 scripting introduction

19.7. troubleshooting a script

Another way to run a script in a separate shell is by typing bash with the name of
the script as a parameter.
paul@debian6~/test$ bash runme
42

Expanding this to bash -x allows you to see the commands that the shell is executing
(after shell expansion).
paul@debian6~/test$ bash -x runme
+ var4=42
+ echo 42
42
paul@debian6~/test$ cat runme
# the runme script
var4=42
echo $var4
paul@debian6~/test$

Notice the absence of the commented (#) line, and the replacement of the variable
before execution of echo.

19.8. prevent setuid root spoofing

Some user may try to perform setuid based script root spoofing. This is a rare but
possible attack. To improve script security and to avoid interpreter spoofing, you need
to add -- after the #!/bin/bash, which disables further option processing so the shell
will not accept any options.
#!/bin/bash -
or
#!/bin/bash --

Any arguments after the -- are treated as filenames and arguments. An argument of
- is equivalent to --.

160
 scripting introduction

19.9. practice: introduction to scripting

0. Give each script a different name, keep them for later!

1. Write a script that outputs the name of a city.

2. Make sure the script runs in the bash shell.

3. Make sure the script runs in the Korn shell.

4. Create a script that defines two variables, and outputs their value.

5. The previous script does not influence your current shell (the variables do not exist
outside of the script). Now run the script so that it influences your current shell.

6. Is there a shorter way to source the script ?

7. Comment your scripts so that you know what they are doing.

161
 scripting introduction

19.10. solution: introduction to scripting

0. Give each script a different name, keep them for later!

1. Write a script that outputs the name of a city.

$ echo 'echo Antwerp' > first.bash
$ chmod +x first.bash
$ ./first.bash
Antwerp

2. Make sure the script runs in the bash shell.

$ cat first.bash
#!/bin/bash
echo Antwerp

3. Make sure the script runs in the Korn shell.

$ cat first.bash
#!/bin/ksh
echo Antwerp

Note that while first.bash will technically work as a Korn shell script, the name ending
in .bash is confusing.

4. Create a script that defines two variables, and outputs their value.
$ cat second.bash
#!/bin/bash

var33=300
var42=400

echo $var33 $var42

5. The previous script does not influence your current shell (the variables do not exist
outside of the script). Now run the script so that it influences your current shell.
source second.bash

6. Is there a shorter way to source the script ?

. ./second.bash

7. Comment your scripts so that you know what they are doing.
$ cat second.bash
#!/bin/bash
# script to test variables and sourcing

# define two variables

var33=300
var42=400

# output the value of these variables

echo $var33 $var42

162
Chapter 20. scripting loops

Table of Contents
20.1. test [ ] ......................................................................................................... 164
20.2. if then else ................................................................................................. 165
20.3. if then elif .................................................................................................. 165
20.4. for loop ....................................................................................................... 165
20.5. while loop .................................................................................................. 166
20.6. until loop .................................................................................................... 166
20.7. practice: scripting tests and loops .............................................................. 167
20.8. solution: scripting tests and loops .............................................................. 168

163
 scripting loops

20.1. test [ ]
The test command can test whether something is true or false. Let's start by testing
whether 10 is greater than 55.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ test 10 -gt 55 ; echo $?
1
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

The test command returns 1 if the test fails. And as you see in the next screenshot,
test returns 0 when a test succeeds.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ test 56 -gt 55 ; echo $?
0
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

If you prefer true and false, then write the test like this.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ test 56 -gt 55 && echo true || echo false
true
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ test 6 -gt 55 && echo true || echo false
false

The test command can also be written as square brackets, the screenshot below is
identical to the one above.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ [ 56 -gt 55 ] && echo true || echo false
true
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ [ 6 -gt 55 ] && echo true || echo false
false

Below are some example tests. Take a look at man test to see more options for tests.
[ -d foo ] Does the directory foo exist ?
[ -e bar ] Does the file bar exist ?
[ '/etc' = $PWD ] Is the string /etc equal to the variable $PWD ?
[ $1 != 'secret' ] Is the first parameter different from secret ?
[ 55 -lt $bar ] Is 55 less than the value of $bar ?
[ $foo -ge 1000 ] Is the value of $foo greater or equal to 1000 ?
[ "abc" < $bar ] Does abc sort before the value of $bar ?
[ -f foo ] Is foo a regular file ?
[ -r bar ] Is bar a readable file ?
[ foo -nt bar ] Is file foo newer than file bar ?
[ -o nounset ] Is the shell option nounset set ?

Tests can be combined with logical AND and OR.

paul@RHEL4b:~$ [ 66 -gt 55 -a 66 -lt 500 ] && echo true || echo false
true
paul@RHEL4b:~$ [ 66 -gt 55 -a 660 -lt 500 ] && echo true || echo false
false
paul@RHEL4b:~$ [ 66 -gt 55 -o 660 -lt 500 ] && echo true || echo false
true

164
 scripting loops

20.2. if then else

The if then else construction is about choice. If a certain condition is met, then
execute something, else execute something else. The example below tests whether a
file exists, and if the file exists then a proper message is echoed.
#!/bin/bash

if [ -f isit.txt ]
then echo isit.txt exists!
else echo isit.txt not found!
fi

If we name the above script 'choice', then it executes like this.

[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$ ./choice
isit.txt not found!
[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$ touch isit.txt
[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$ ./choice
isit.txt exists!
[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$

20.3. if then elif

You can nest a new if inside an else with elif. This is a simple example.
#!/bin/bash
count=42
if [ $count -eq 42 ]
then
echo "42 is correct."
elif [ $count -gt 42 ]
then
echo "Too much."
else
echo "Not enough."
fi

20.4. for loop

The example below shows the syntax of a classical for loop in bash.
for i in 1 2 4
do
echo $i
done

An example of a for loop combined with an embedded shell.

#!/bin/ksh
for counter in `seq 1 20`
do
echo counting from 1 to 20, now at $counter
sleep 1
done

165
 scripting loops

The same example as above can be written without the embedded shell using the bash
{from..to} shorthand.
#!/bin/bash
for counter in {1..20}
do
echo counting from 1 to 20, now at $counter
sleep 1
done

This for loop uses file globbing (from the shell expansion). Putting the instruction
on the command line has identical functionality.
kahlan@solexp11$ ls
count.ksh go.ksh
kahlan@solexp11$ for file in *.ksh ; do cp $file $file.backup ; done
kahlan@solexp11$ ls
count.ksh count.ksh.backup go.ksh go.ksh.backup

20.5. while loop

Below a simple example of a while loop.
i=100;
while [ $i -ge 0 ] ;
do
echo Counting down, from 100 to 0, now at $i;
let i--;
done

Endless loops can be made with while true or while : , where the colon is the
equivalent of no operation in the Korn and bash shells.
#!/bin/ksh
# endless loop
while :
do
echo hello
sleep 1
done

20.6. until loop

Below a simple example of an until loop.
let i=100;
until [ $i -le 0 ] ;
do
echo Counting down, from 100 to 1, now at $i;
let i--;
done

166
 scripting loops

20.7. practice: scripting tests and loops

1. Write a script that uses a for loop to count from 3 to 7.

2. Write a script that uses a for loop to count from 1 to 17000.

3. Write a script that uses a while loop to count from 3 to 7.

4. Write a script that uses an until loop to count down from 8 to 4.

5. Write a script that counts the number of files ending in .txt in the current directory.

6. Wrap an if statement around the script so it is also correct when there are zero files
ending in .txt.

167
 scripting loops

20.8. solution: scripting tests and loops

1. Write a script that uses a for loop to count from 3 to 7.
#!/bin/bash

for i in 3 4 5 6 7
do
echo Counting from 3 to 7, now at $i
done

2. Write a script that uses a for loop to count from 1 to 17000.

#!/bin/bash

for i in `seq 1 17000`

do
echo Counting from 1 to 17000, now at $i
done

3. Write a script that uses a while loop to count from 3 to 7.

#!/bin/bash

i=3
while [ $i -le 7 ]
do
echo Counting from 3 to 7, now at $i
let i=i+1
done

4. Write a script that uses an until loop to count down from 8 to 4.

#!/bin/bash

i=8
until [ $i -lt 4 ]
do
echo Counting down from 8 to 4, now at $i
let i=i-1
done

5. Write a script that counts the number of files ending in .txt in the current directory.
#!/bin/bash

let i=0
for file in *.txt
do
let i++
done
echo "There are $i files ending in .txt"

6. Wrap an if statement around the script so it is also correct when there are zero files
ending in .txt.
#!/bin/bash

ls *.txt > /dev/null 2>&1

if [ $? -ne 0 ]

168
 scripting loops

then echo "There are 0 files ending in .txt"

else
let i=0
for file in *.txt
do
let i++
done
echo "There are $i files ending in .txt"
fi

169
Chapter 21. scripting parameters

Table of Contents
21.1. script parameters ........................................................................................ 171
21.2. shift through parameters ............................................................................ 172
21.3. runtime input .............................................................................................. 172
21.4. sourcing a config file ................................................................................. 173
21.5. get script options with getopts ................................................................... 174
21.6. get shell options with shopt ....................................................................... 175
21.7. practice: parameters and options ................................................................ 176
21.8. solution: parameters and options ............................................................... 177

170
 scripting parameters

21.1. script parameters

A bash shell script can have parameters. The numbering you see in the script below
continues if you have more parameters. You also have special parameters containing
the number of parameters, a string of all of them, and also the process id, and the last
return code. The man page of bash has a full list.

#!/bin/bash
echo The first argument is $1
echo The second argument is $2
echo The third argument is $3

echo \$ $$ PID of the script

echo \# $# count arguments
echo \? $? last return code
echo \* $* all the arguments

Below is the output of the script above in action.

[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$ ./pars one two three

The first argument is one
The second argument is two
The third argument is three
$ 5610 PID of the script
# 3 count arguments
? 0 last return code
* one two three all the arguments

Once more the same script, but with only two parameters.

[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$ ./pars 1 2

The first argument is 1
The second argument is 2
The third argument is
$ 5612 PID of the script
# 2 count arguments
? 0 last return code
* 1 2 all the arguments
[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$

Here is another example, where we use $0. The $0 parameter contains the name of
the script.

paul@debian6~$ cat myname

echo this script is called $0
paul@debian6~$ ./myname
this script is called ./myname
paul@debian6~$ mv myname test42
paul@debian6~$ ./test42
this script is called ./test42

171
 scripting parameters

21.2. shift through parameters

The shift statement can parse all parameters one by one. This is a sample script.

kahlan@solexp11$ cat shift.ksh

#!/bin/ksh

if [ "$#" == "0" ]
then
echo You have to give at least one parameter.
exit 1
fi

while (( $# ))
do
echo You gave me $1
shift
done

Below is some sample output of the script above.

kahlan@solexp11$ ./shift.ksh one

You gave me one
kahlan@solexp11$ ./shift.ksh one two three 1201 "33 42"
You gave me one
You gave me two
You gave me three
You gave me 1201
You gave me 33 42
kahlan@solexp11$ ./shift.ksh
You have to give at least one parameter.

21.3. runtime input

You can ask the user for input with the read command in a script.

#!/bin/bash
echo -n Enter a number:
read number

172
 scripting parameters

21.4. sourcing a config file

The source (as seen in the shell chapters) can be used to source a configuration file.

Below a sample configuration file for an application.

[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$ cat myApp.conf
# The config file of myApp

# Enter the path here

myAppPath=/var/myApp

# Enter the number of quines here

quines=5

And her an application that uses this file.

[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$ cat myApp.bash

#!/bin/bash
#
# Welcome to the myApp application
#

. ./myApp.conf

echo There are $quines quines

The running application can use the values inside the sourced configuration file.

[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$ ./myApp.bash

There are 5 quines
[paul@RHEL4a scripts]$

173
 scripting parameters

21.5. get script options with getopts

The getopts function allows you to parse options given to a command. The following
script allows for any compination of the options a, f and z.

kahlan@solexp11$ cat options.ksh

#!/bin/ksh

while getopts ":afz" option;

do
case $option in
a)
echo received -a
;;
f)
echo received -f
;;
z)
echo received -z
;;
*)
echo "invalid option -$OPTARG"
;;
esac
done

This is sample output from the script above. First we use correct options, then we
enter twice an invalid option.

kahlan@solexp11$ ./options.ksh
kahlan@solexp11$ ./options.ksh -af
received -a
received -f
kahlan@solexp11$ ./options.ksh -zfg
received -z
received -f
invalid option -g
kahlan@solexp11$ ./options.ksh -a -b -z
received -a
invalid option -b
received -z

174
 scripting parameters

You can also check for options that need an argument, as this example shows.
kahlan@solexp11$ cat argoptions.ksh
#!/bin/ksh

while getopts ":af:z" option;

do
case $option in
a)
echo received -a
;;
f)
echo received -f with $OPTARG
;;
z)
echo received -z
;;
:)
echo "option -$OPTARG needs an argument"
;;
*)
echo "invalid option -$OPTARG"
;;
esac
done

This is sample output from the script above.

kahlan@solexp11$ ./argoptions.ksh -a -f hello -z
received -a
received -f with hello
received -z
kahlan@solexp11$ ./argoptions.ksh -zaf 42
received -z
received -a
received -f with 42
kahlan@solexp11$ ./argoptions.ksh -zf
received -z
option -f needs an argument

21.6. get shell options with shopt

You can toggle the values of variables controlling optional shell behaviour with the
shopt built-in shell command. The example below first verifies whether the cdspell
option is set; it is not. The next shopt command sets the value, and the third shopt
command verifies that the option really is set. You can now use minor spelling
mistakes in the cd command. The man page of bash has a complete list of options.
paul@laika:~$ shopt -q cdspell ; echo $?
1
paul@laika:~$ shopt -s cdspell
paul@laika:~$ shopt -q cdspell ; echo $?
0
paul@laika:~$ cd /Etc
/etc

175
 scripting parameters

21.7. practice: parameters and options

1. Write a script that receives four parameters, and outputs them in reverse order.

2. Write a script that receives two parameters (two filenames) and outputs whether
those files exist.

3. Write a script that asks for a filename. Verify existence of the file, then verify that
you own the file, and whether it is writable. If not, then make it writable.

4. Make a configuration file for the previous script. Put a logging switch in the config
file, logging means writing detailed output of everything the script does to a log file
in /tmp.

176
 scripting parameters

21.8. solution: parameters and options

1. Write a script that receives four parameters, and outputs them in reverse order.
echo $4 $3 $2 $1

2. Write a script that receives two parameters (two filenames) and outputs whether
those files exist.
#!/bin/bash

if [ -f $1 ]
then echo $1 exists!
else echo $1 not found!
fi

if [ -f $2 ]
then echo $2 exists!
else echo $2 not found!
fi

3. Write a script that asks for a filename. Verify existence of the file, then verify that
you own the file, and whether it is writable. If not, then make it writable.

4. Make a configuration file for the previous script. Put a logging switch in the config
file, logging means writing detailed output of everything the script does to a log file
in /tmp.

177
Chapter 22. more scripting

Table of Contents
22.1. eval ............................................................................................................. 179
22.2. (( )) ............................................................................................................. 179
22.3. let ................................................................................................................ 180
22.4. case ............................................................................................................. 181
22.5. shell functions ............................................................................................ 182
22.6. practice : more scripting ............................................................................ 183
22.7. solution : more scripting ............................................................................ 184

178
 more scripting

22.1. eval
eval reads arguments as input to the shell (the resulting commands are executed).
This allows using the value of a variable as a variable.
paul@deb503:~/test42$ answer=42
paul@deb503:~/test42$ word=answer
paul@deb503:~/test42$ eval x=\$$word ; echo $x
42

Both in bash and Korn the arguments can be quoted.

kahlan@solexp11$ answer=42
kahlan@solexp11$ word=answer
kahlan@solexp11$ eval "y=\$$word" ; echo $y
42

Sometimes the eval is needed to have correct parsing of arguments. Consider this
example where the date command receives one parameter 1 week ago.

paul@debian6~$ date --date="1 week ago"

Thu Mar 8 21:36:25 CET 2012

When we set this command in a variable, then executing that variable fails unless
we use eval.

paul@debian6~$ lastweek='date --date="1 week ago"'

paul@debian6~$ $lastweek
date: extra operand `ago"'
Try `date --help' for more information.
paul@debian6~$ eval $lastweek
Thu Mar 8 21:36:39 CET 2012

22.2. (( ))
The (( )) allows for evaluation of numerical expressions.
paul@deb503:~/test42$ (( 42 > 33 )) && echo true || echo false
true
paul@deb503:~/test42$ (( 42 > 1201 )) && echo true || echo false
false
paul@deb503:~/test42$ var42=42
paul@deb503:~/test42$ (( 42 == var42 )) && echo true || echo false
true
paul@deb503:~/test42$ (( 42 == $var42 )) && echo true || echo false
true
paul@deb503:~/test42$ var42=33
paul@deb503:~/test42$ (( 42 == var42 )) && echo true || echo false
false

179
 more scripting

22.3. let
The let built-in shell function instructs the shell to perform an evaluation of arithmetic
expressions. It will return 0 unless the last arithmetic expression evaluates to 0.

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="3 + 4" ; echo $x

7
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="10 + 100/10" ; echo $x
20
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="10-2+100/10" ; echo $x
18
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="10*2+100/10" ; echo $x
30

The shell can also convert between different bases.

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="0xFF" ; echo $x

255
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="0xC0" ; echo $x
192
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="0xA8" ; echo $x
168
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="8#70" ; echo $x
56
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="8#77" ; echo $x
63
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ let x="16#c0" ; echo $x
192

There is a difference between assigning a variable directly, or using let to evaluate

the arithmetic expressions (even if it is just assigning a value).
kahlan@solexp11$ dec=15 ; oct=017 ; hex=0x0f
kahlan@solexp11$ echo $dec $oct $hex
15 017 0x0f
kahlan@solexp11$ let dec=15 ; let oct=017 ; let hex=0x0f
kahlan@solexp11$ echo $dec $oct $hex
15 15 15

180
 more scripting

22.4. case
You can sometimes simplify nested if statements with a case construct.

[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ ./help

What animal did you see ? lion
You better start running fast!
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ ./help
What animal did you see ? dog
Don't worry, give it a cookie.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ cat help
#!/bin/bash
#
# Wild Animals Helpdesk Advice
#
echo -n "What animal did you see ? "
read animal
case $animal in
"lion" | "tiger")
echo "You better start running fast!"
;;
"cat")
echo "Let that mouse go..."
;;
"dog")
echo "Don't worry, give it a cookie."
;;
"chicken" | "goose" | "duck" )
echo "Eggs for breakfast!"
;;
"liger")
echo "Approach and say 'Ah you big fluffy kitty...'."
;;
"babelfish")
echo "Did it fall out your ear ?"
;;
*)
echo "You discovered an unknown animal, name it!"
;;
esac
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$

181
 more scripting

22.5. shell functions

Shell functions can be used to group commands in a logical way.
kahlan@solexp11$ cat funcs.ksh
#!/bin/ksh

function greetings {
echo Hello World!
echo and hello to $USER to!
}

echo We will now call a function

greetings
echo The end

This is sample output from this script with a function.

kahlan@solexp11$ ./funcs.ksh
We will now call a function
Hello World!
and hello to kahlan to!
The end

A shell function can also receive parameters.

kahlan@solexp11$ cat addfunc.ksh
#!/bin/ksh

function plus {
let result="$1 + $2"
echo $1 + $2 = $result
}

plus 3 10
plus 20 13
plus 20 22

This script produces the following output.

kahlan@solexp11$ ./addfunc.ksh
3 + 10 = 13
20 + 13 = 33
20 + 22 = 42

182
 more scripting

22.6. practice : more scripting

1. Write a script that asks for two numbers, and outputs the sum and product (as
shown here).
Enter a number: 5
Enter another number: 2

Sum: 5 + 2 = 7
Product: 5 x 2 = 10

2. Improve the previous script to test that the numbers are between 1 and 100, exit
with an error if necessary.

3. Improve the previous script to congratulate the user if the sum equals the product.

4. Write a script with a case insensitive case statement, using the shopt nocasematch
option. The nocasematch option is reset to the value it had before the scripts started.

5. If time permits (or if you are waiting for other students to finish this practice),
take a look at linux system scripts in /etc/init.d and /etc/rc.d and try to understand
them. Where does execution of a script start in /etc/init.d/samba ? There are also some
hidden scripts in ~, we will discuss them later.

183
 more scripting

22.7. solution : more scripting

1. Write a script that asks for two numbers, and outputs the sum and product (as
shown here).
Enter a number: 5
Enter another number: 2

Sum: 5 + 2 = 7
Product: 5 x 2 = 10

#!/bin/bash

echo -n "Enter a number : "

read n1

echo -n "Enter another number : "

read n2

let sum="$n1+$n2"
let pro="$n1*$n2"

echo -e "Sum\t: $n1 + $n2 = $sum"

echo -e "Product\t: $n1 * $n2 = $pro"

2. Improve the previous script to test that the numbers are between 1 and 100, exit
with an error if necessary.
echo -n "Enter a number between 1 and 100 : "
read n1

if [ $n1 -lt 1 -o $n1 -gt 100 ]

then
echo Wrong number...
exit 1
fi

3. Improve the previous script to congratulate the user if the sum equals the product.
if [ $sum -eq $pro ]
then echo Congratulations $sum == $pro
fi

4. Write a script with a case insensitive case statement, using the shopt nocasematch
option. The nocasematch option is reset to the value it had before the scripts started.
#!/bin/bash
#
# Wild Animals Case Insensitive Helpdesk Advice
#

if shopt -q nocasematch; then

nocase=yes;
else
nocase=no;
shopt -s nocasematch;
fi

echo -n "What animal did you see ? "

read animal

184
 more scripting

case $animal in
"lion" | "tiger")
echo "You better start running fast!"
;;
"cat")
echo "Let that mouse go..."
;;
"dog")
echo "Don't worry, give it a cookie."
;;
"chicken" | "goose" | "duck" )
echo "Eggs for breakfast!"
;;
"liger")
echo "Approach and say 'Ah you big fluffy kitty.'"
;;
"babelfish")
echo "Did it fall out your ear ?"
;;
*)
echo "You discovered an unknown animal, name it!"
;;
esac

if [ nocase = yes ] ; then

shopt -s nocasematch;
else
shopt -u nocasematch;
fi

5. If time permits (or if you are waiting for other students to finish this practice),
take a look at linux system scripts in /etc/init.d and /etc/rc.d and try to understand
them. Where does execution of a script start in /etc/init.d/samba ? There are also some
hidden scripts in ~, we will discuss them later.

185
Part VII. local user management
Chapter 23. users

Table of Contents
23.1. identify yourself ......................................................................................... 188
23.2. users ........................................................................................................... 189
23.3. passwords ................................................................................................... 191
23.4. home directories ......................................................................................... 196
23.5. user shell .................................................................................................... 197
23.6. switch users with su ................................................................................... 198
23.7. run a program as another user ................................................................... 199
23.8. practice: users ............................................................................................ 201
23.9. solution: users ............................................................................................ 202
23.10. shell environment ..................................................................................... 204

187
 users

23.1. identify yourself

whoami
The whoami command tells you your username.
[root@RHEL5 ~]# whoami
root
[root@RHEL5 ~]# su - paul
[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ whoami
paul

who
The who command will give you information about who is logged on the system.
[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ who
root tty1 2008-06-24 13:24
sandra pts/0 2008-06-24 14:05 (192.168.1.34)
paul pts/1 2008-06-24 16:23 (192.168.1.37)

who am i
With who am i the who command will display only the line pointing to your current
session.
[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ who am i
paul pts/1 2008-06-24 16:23 (192.168.1.34)

w
The w command shows you who is logged on and what they are doing.
$ w
05:13:36 up 3 min, 4 users, load average: 0.48, 0.72, 0.33
USER TTY FROM LOGIN@ IDLE JCPU PCPU WHAT
root tty1 - 05:11 2.00s 0.32s 0.27s find / -name shad
inge pts/0 192.168.1.33 05:12 0.00s 0.02s 0.02s -ksh
paul pts/2 192.168.1.34 05:13 25.00s 0.07s 0.04s top

id
The id command will give you your user id, primary group id, and a list of the groups
that you belong to.
root@laika:~# id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)
root@laika:~# su - brel
brel@laika:~$ id
uid=1001(brel) gid=1001(brel) groups=1001(brel),1008(chanson),11578(wolf)

188
 users

23.2. users

user management
User management on any Unix can be done in three complimentary ways. You can
use the graphical tools provided by your distribution. These tools have a look and
feel that depends on the distribution. If you are a novice Linux user on your home
system, then use the graphical tool that is provided by your distribution. This will
make sure that you do not run into problems.

Another option is to use command line tools like useradd, usermod, gpasswd, passwd
and others. Server administrators are likely to use these tools, since they are familiar
and very similar across many different distributions. This chapter will focus on these
command line tools.

A third and rather extremist way is to edit the local configuration files directly using
vi (or vipw/vigr). Do not attempt this as a novice on production systems!

/etc/passwd
The local user database on Linux (and on most Unixes) is /etc/passwd.

[root@RHEL5 ~]# tail /etc/passwd

inge:x:518:524:art dealer:/home/inge:/bin/ksh
ann:x:519:525:flute player:/home/ann:/bin/bash
frederik:x:520:526:rubius poet:/home/frederik:/bin/bash
steven:x:521:527:roman emperor:/home/steven:/bin/bash
pascale:x:522:528:artist:/home/pascale:/bin/ksh
geert:x:524:530:kernel developer:/home/geert:/bin/bash
wim:x:525:531:master damuti:/home/wim:/bin/bash
sandra:x:526:532:radish stresser:/home/sandra:/bin/bash
annelies:x:527:533:sword fighter:/home/annelies:/bin/bash
laura:x:528:534:art dealer:/home/laura:/bin/ksh

As you can see, this file contains seven columns separated by a colon. The columns
contain the username, an x, the user id, the primary group id, a description, the name
of the home directory, and the login shell.

root
The root user also called the superuser is the most powerful account on your Linux
system. This user can do almost anything, including the creation of other users. The
root user always has userid 0 (regardless of the name of the account).

[root@RHEL5 ~]# head -1 /etc/passwd

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

189
 users

useradd
You can add users with the useradd command. The example below shows how to
add a user named yanina (last parameter) and at the same time forcing the creation
of the home directory (-m), setting the name of the home directory (-d), and setting
a description (-c).

[root@RHEL5 ~]# useradd -m -d /home/yanina -c "yanina wickmayer" yanina

[root@RHEL5 ~]# tail -1 /etc/passwd
yanina:x:529:529:yanina wickmayer:/home/yanina:/bin/bash

The user named yanina received userid 529 and primary group id 529.

/etc/default/useradd
Both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Debian/Ubuntu have a file called /etc/default/
useradd that contains some default user options. Besides using cat to display this
file, you can also use useradd -D.

[root@RHEL4 ~]# useradd -D

GROUP=100
HOME=/home
INACTIVE=-1
EXPIRE=
SHELL=/bin/bash
SKEL=/etc/skel

userdel
You can delete the user yanina with userdel. The -r option of userdel will also remove
the home directory.

[root@RHEL5 ~]# userdel -r yanina

usermod
You can modify the properties of a user with the usermod command. This example
uses usermod to change the description of the user harry.

[root@RHEL4 ~]# tail -1 /etc/passwd

harry:x:516:520:harry potter:/home/harry:/bin/bash
[root@RHEL4 ~]# usermod -c 'wizard' harry
[root@RHEL4 ~]# tail -1 /etc/passwd
harry:x:516:520:wizard:/home/harry:/bin/bash

190
 users

23.3. passwords

passwd
Passwords of users can be set with the passwd command. Users will have to provide
their old password before twice entering the new one.

[harry@RHEL4 ~]$ passwd

Changing password for user harry.
Changing password for harry
(current) UNIX password:
New UNIX password:
BAD PASSWORD: it's WAY too short
New UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
[harry@RHEL4 ~]$

As you can see, the passwd tool will do some basic verification to prevent users
from using too simple passwords. The root user does not have to follow these rules
(there will be a warning though). The root user also does not have to provide the old
password before entering the new password twice.

/etc/shadow
User passwords are encrypted and kept in /etc/shadow. The /etc/shadow file is read
only and can only be read by root. We will see in the file permissions section how it
is possible for users to change their password. For now, you will have to know that
users can change their password with the /usr/bin/passwd command.

[root@RHEL5 ~]# tail /etc/shadow

inge:$1$yWMSimOV$YsYvcVKqByFVYLKnU3ncd0:14054:0:99999:7:::
ann:!!:14054:0:99999:7:::
frederik:!!:14054:0:99999:7:::
steven:!!:14054:0:99999:7:::
pascale:!!:14054:0:99999:7:::
geert:!!:14054:0:99999:7:::
wim:!!:14054:0:99999:7:::
sandra:!!:14054:0:99999:7:::
annelies:!!:14054:0:99999:7:::
laura:$1$Tvby1Kpa$lL.WzgobujUS3LClIRmdv1:14054:0:99999:7:::

The /etc/shadow file contains nine colon separated columns. The nine fields contain
(from left to right) the user name, the encrypted password (note that only inge and
laura have an encrypted password), the day the password was last changed (day 1 is
January 1, 1970), number of days the password must be left unchanged, password
expiry day, warning number of days before password expiry, number of days after
expiry before disabling the account, and the day the account was disabled (again,
since 1970). The last field has no meaning yet.

191
 users

password encryption

encryption with passwd

Passwords are stored in an encrypted format. This encryption is done by the crypt
function. The easiest (and recommended) way to add a user with a password to the
system is to add the user with the useradd -m user command, and then set the user's
password with passwd.

[root@RHEL4 ~]# useradd -m xavier

[root@RHEL4 ~]# passwd xavier
Changing password for user xavier.
New UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
[root@RHEL4 ~]#

encryption with openssl

Another way to create users with a password is to use the -p option of useradd, but that
option requires an encrypted password. You can generate this encrypted password
with the openssl passwd command.

[root@RHEL4 ~]# openssl passwd stargate

ZZNX16QZVgUQg
[root@RHEL4 ~]# useradd -m -p ZZNX16QZVgUQg mohamed

encryption with crypt

A third option is to create your own C program using the crypt function, and compile
this into a command.

[paul@laika ~]$ cat MyCrypt.c

#include <stdio.h>
#define __USE_XOPEN
#include <unistd.h>

int main(int argc, char** argv)

{
if(argc==3)
{
printf("%s\n", crypt(argv[1],argv[2]));
}
else
{
printf("Usage: MyCrypt $password $salt\n" );
}
return 0;
}

192
 users

This little program can be compiled with gcc like this.

[paul@laika ~]$ gcc MyCrypt.c -o MyCrypt -lcrypt

To use it, we need to give two parameters to MyCript. The first is the unencrypted
password, the second is the salt. The salt is used to perturb the encryption algorithm in
one of 4096 different ways. This variation prevents two users with the same password
from having the same entry in /etc/shadow.

paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate 12

12L4FoTS3/k9U
paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate 01
01Y.yPnlQ6R.Y
paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate 33
330asFUbzgVeg
paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate 42
42XFxoT4R75gk

Did you notice that the first two characters of the password are the salt?

The standard output of the crypt function is using the DES algorithm which is old
and can be cracked in minutes. A better method is to use md5 passwords which can
be recognized by a salt starting with $1$.

paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate '$1$12'

$1$12$xUIQ4116Us.Q5Osc2Khbm1
paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate '$1$01'
$1$01$yNs8brjp4b4TEw.v9/IlJ/
paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate '$1$33'
$1$33$tLh/Ldy2wskdKAJR.Ph4M0
paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate '$1$42'
$1$42$Hb3nvP0KwHSQ7fQmIlY7R.

The md5 salt can be up to eight characters long. The salt is displayed in /etc/shadow
between the second and third $, so never use the password as the salt!

paul@laika:~$ ./MyCrypt stargate '$1$stargate'

$1$stargate$qqxoLqiSVNvGr5ybMxEVM1

193
 users

password defaults

/etc/login.defs
The /etc/login.defs file contains some default settings for user passwords like
password aging and length settings. (You will also find the numerical limits of user
ids and group ids and whether or not a home directory should be created by default).

[root@RHEL4 ~]# grep -i pass /etc/login.defs

# Password aging controls:
# PASS_MAX_DAYS Maximum number of days a password may be used.
# PASS_MIN_DAYS Minimum number of days allowed between password changes.
# PASS_MIN_LEN Minimum acceptable password length.
# PASS_WARN_AGE Number of days warning given before a password expires.
PASS_MAX_DAYS 99999
PASS_MIN_DAYS 0
PASS_MIN_LEN 5
PASS_WARN_AGE 7

chage
The chage command can be used to set an expiration date for a user account (-E),
set a minimum (-m) and maximum (-M) password age, a password expiration date,
and set the number of warning days before the password expiration date. Much of
this functionality is also available from the passwd command. The -l option of chage
will list these settings for a user.

[root@RHEL4 ~]# chage -l harry

Minimum: 0
Maximum: 99999
Warning: 7
Inactive: -1
Last Change: Jul 23, 2007
Password Expires: Never
Password Inactive: Never
Account Expires: Never
[root@RHEL4 ~]#

disabling a password
Passwords in /etc/shadow cannot begin with an exclamation mark. When the second
field in /etc/passwd starts with an exclamation mark, then the password can not be
used.

Using this feature is often called locking, disabling, or suspending a user account.
Besides vi (or vipw) you can also accomplish this with usermod.

The first line in the next screenshot will disable the password of user harry, making
it impossible for harry to authenticate using this password.

194
 users

[root@RHEL4 ~]# usermod -L harry

[root@RHEL4 ~]# tail -1 /etc/shadow
harry:!$1$143TO9IZ$RLm/FpQkpDrV4/Tkhku5e1:13717:0:99999:7:::

The root user (and users with sudo rights on su) still will be able to su to harry
(because the password is not needed here). Also note that harry will still be able to
login if he has set up passwordless ssh!

[root@RHEL4 ~]# su - harry

[harry@RHEL4 ~]$

You can unlock the account again with usermod -U.

Watch out for tiny differences in the command line options of passwd, usermod,
and useradd on different distributions! Verify the local files when using features like
"disabling, suspending, or locking" users and passwords!

editing local files

If you still want to manually edit the /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow, after knowing these
commands for password management, then use vipw instead of vi(m) directly. The
vipw tool will do proper locking of the file.

[root@RHEL5 ~]# vipw /etc/passwd

vipw: the password file is busy (/etc/ptmp present)

195
 users

23.4. home directories

creating home directories

The easiest way to create a home directory is to supply the -m option with useradd
(it is likely set as a default option on Linux).

A less easy way is to create a home directory manually with mkdir which also
requires setting the owner and the permissions on the directory with chmod and
chown (both commands are discussed in detail in another chapter).

[root@RHEL5 ~]# mkdir /home/laura

[root@RHEL5 ~]# chown laura:laura /home/laura
[root@RHEL5 ~]# chmod 700 /home/laura
[root@RHEL5 ~]# ls -ld /home/laura/
drwx------ 2 laura laura 4096 Jun 24 15:17 /home/laura/

/etc/skel/
When using useradd the -m option, the /etc/skel/ directory is copied to the newly
created home directory. The /etc/skel/ directory contains some (usually hidden) files
that contain profile settings and default values for applications. In this way /etc/skel/
serves as a default home directory and as a default user profile.

[root@RHEL5 ~]# ls -la /etc/skel/

total 48
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 1 00:11 .
drwxr-xr-x 97 root root 12288 Jun 24 15:36 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 24 Jul 12 2006 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 176 Jul 12 2006 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 124 Jul 12 2006 .bashrc

deleting home directories

The -r option of userdel will make sure that the home directory is deleted together
with the user account.

[root@RHEL5 ~]# ls -ld /home/wim/

drwx------ 2 wim wim 4096 Jun 24 15:19 /home/wim/
[root@RHEL5 ~]# userdel -r wim
[root@RHEL5 ~]# ls -ld /home/wim/
ls: /home/wim/: No such file or directory

196
 users

23.5. user shell

login shell
The /etc/passwd file specifies the login shell for the user. In the screenshot below
you can see that user annelies will log in with the /bin/bash shell, and user laura with
the /bin/ksh shell.

[root@RHEL5 ~]# tail -2 /etc/passwd

annelies:x:527:533:sword fighter:/home/annelies:/bin/bash
laura:x:528:534:art dealer:/home/laura:/bin/ksh

You can use the usermod command to change the shell for a user.

[root@RHEL5 ~]# usermod -s /bin/bash laura

[root@RHEL5 ~]# tail -1 /etc/passwd
laura:x:528:534:art dealer:/home/laura:/bin/bash

chsh
Users can change their login shell with the chsh command. First, user harry obtains
a list of available shells (he could also have done a cat /etc/shells) and then changes
his login shell to the Korn shell (/bin/ksh). At the next login, harry will default into
ksh instead of bash.

[harry@RHEL4 ~]$ chsh -l

/bin/sh
/bin/bash
/sbin/nologin
/bin/ash
/bin/bsh
/bin/ksh
/usr/bin/ksh
/usr/bin/pdksh
/bin/tcsh
/bin/csh
/bin/zsh
[harry@RHEL4 ~]$ chsh -s /bin/ksh
Changing shell for harry.
Password:
Shell changed.
[harry@RHEL4 ~]$

197
 users

23.6. switch users with su

su to another user
The su command allows a user to run a shell as another user.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ su harry
Password:
[harry@RHEL4b paul]$

su to root
Yes you can alsu su to become root, when you know the root password.
[harry@RHEL4b paul]$ su root
Password:
[root@RHEL4b paul]#

su as root
Unless you are logged in as root, running a shell as another user requires that you
know the password of that user. The root user can become any user without knowing
the user's password.
[root@RHEL4b paul]# su serena
[serena@RHEL4b paul]$

su - $username
By default, the su command maintains the same shell environment. To become
another user and also get the target user's environment, issue the su - command
followed by the target username.
[paul@RHEL4b ~]$ su - harry
Password:
[harry@RHEL4b ~]$

su -
When no username is provided to su or su -, the command will assume root is the
target.
[harry@RHEL4b ~]$ su -
Password:
[root@RHEL4b ~]#

198
 users

23.7. run a program as another user

about sudo
The sudo program allows a user to start a program with the credentials of another
user. Before this works, the system administrator has to set up the /etc/sudoers file.
This can be useful to delegate administrative tasks to another user (without giving
the root password).

The screenshot below shows the usage of sudo. User paul received the right to run
useradd with the credentials of root. This allows paul to create new users on the
system without becoming root and without knowing the root password.

paul@laika:~$ useradd -m inge

useradd: unable to lock password file
paul@laika:~$ sudo useradd -m inge
[sudo] password for paul:
paul@laika:~$

setuid on sudo
The sudo binary has the setuid bit set, so any user can run it with the effective userid
of root.

paul@laika:~$ ls -l `which sudo`

-rwsr-xr-x 2 root root 107872 2008-05-15 02:41 /usr/bin/sudo
paul@laika:~$

visudo
Check the man page of visudo before playing with the /etc/sudoers file.

sudo su
On some linux systems like Ubuntu and Kubuntu, the root user does not have a
password set. This means that it is not possible to login as root (extra security). To
perform tasks as root, the first user is given all sudo rights via the /etc/sudoers. In
fact all users that are members of the admin group can use sudo to run all commands
as root.

root@laika:~# grep admin /etc/sudoers

# Members of the admin group may gain root privileges
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL

199
 users

The end result of this is that the user can type sudo su - and become root without
having to enter the root password. The sudo command does require you to enter your
own password. Thus the password prompt in the screenshot below is for sudo, not
for su.

paul@laika:~$ sudo su -
Password:
root@laika:~#

200
 users

23.8. practice: users

1. Create the users Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Justine Henin, all of them
with password set to stargate, with username (lower case!) as their first name, and
their full name in the comment. Verify that the users and their home directory are
properly created.

2. Create a user called kornuser, give him the Korn shell (/bin/ksh) as his default
shell. Log on with this user (on a command line or in a tty).

3. Create a user named einstime without home directory, give him /bin/date as his
default logon shell. What happens when you log on with this user ? Can you think of
a useful real world example for changing a user's login shell to an application ?

4. Try the commands who, whoami, who am i, w, id, echo $USER $UID .

5a. Lock the venus user account with usermod.

5b. Use passwd -d to disable the serena password. Verify the serena line in /etc/
shadow before and after disabling.

5c. What is the difference between locking a user account and disabling a user
account's password ?

6. As root change the password of einstime to stargate.

7. Now try changing the password of serena to serena as serena.

8. Make sure every new user needs to change his password every 10 days.

9. Set the warning number of days to four for the kornuser.

10a. Set the password of two separate users to stargate. Look at the encrypted
stargate's in /etc/shadow and explain.

10b. Take a backup as root of /etc/shadow. Use vi to copy an encrypted stargate to

another user. Can this other user now log on with stargate as a password ?

11. Put a file in the skeleton directory and check whether it is copied to user's home
directory. When is the skeleton directory copied ?

12. Why use vipw instead of vi ? What could be the problem when using vi or vim ?

13. Use chsh to list all shells, and compare to cat /etc/shells. Change your login shell
to the Korn shell, log out and back in. Now change back to bash.

14. Which useradd option allows you to name a home directory ?

15. How can you see whether the password of user harry is locked or unlocked ? Give
a solution with grep and a solution with passwd.

201
 users

23.9. solution: users

1. Create the users Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Justine Henin, all of them
with password set to stargate, with username (lower case) as their first name, and
their full name in the comment. Verify that the users and their home directory are
properly created.
useradd -m -c "Serena Williams" serena ; passwd serena
useradd -m -c "Venus Williams" venus ; passwd venus
useradd -m -c "Justine Henin" justine ; passwd justine
tail /etc/passwd ; tail /etc/shadow ; ls /home

Keep user logon names in lowercase!

2. Create a user called kornuser, give him the Korn shell (/bin/ksh) as his default
shell. Log on with this user (on a command line or in a tty).
useradd -s /bin/ksh kornuser ; passwd kornuser

3. Create a user named einstime without home directory, give him /bin/date as his
default logon shell. What happens when you log on with this user ? Can you think of
a useful real world example for changing a user's login shell to an application ?
useradd -s /bin/date einstime ; passwd einstime

It can be useful when users need to access only one application on the server. Just
logging on opens the application for them, and closing the application automatically
logs them off.

4. Try the commands who, whoami, who am i, w, id, echo $USER $UID .
who ; whoami ; who am i ; w ; id ; echo $USER $UID

5a. Lock the venus user account with usermod.

usermod -L venus

5b. Use passwd -d to disable the serena password. Verify the serena line in /etc/
shadow before and after disabling.
grep serena /etc/shadow; passwd -d serena ; grep serena /etc/shadow

5c. What is the difference between locking a user account and disabling a user
account's password ?

Locking will prevent the user from logging on to the system with his password (by
putting a ! in front of the password in /etc/shadow). Disabling with passwd will erase
the password from /etc/shadow.

6. As root change the password of einstime to stargate.

Log on as root and type: passwd einstime

7. Now try changing the password of serena to serena as serena.

log on as serena, then execute: passwd serena... it should fail!

202
 users

8. Make sure every new user needs to change his password every 10 days.
For an existing user: chage -M 10 serena

For all new users: vi /etc/login.defs (and change PASS_MAX_DAYS to 10)

9. Set the warning number of days to four for the kornuser.

chage -W 4 kornuser

10a. Set the password of two separate users to stargate. Look at the encrypted
stargate's in /etc/shadow and explain.

If you used passwd, then the salt will be different for the two encrypted passwords.

10b. Take a backup as root of /etc/shadow. Use vi to copy an encrypted stargate to

another user. Can this other user now log on with stargate as a password ?
Yes.

11. Put a file in the skeleton directory and check whether it is copied to user's home
directory. When is the skeleton directory copied ?
When you create a user account with a new home directory.

12. Why use vipw instead of vi ? What could be the problem when using vi or vim ?
vipw will give a warning when someone else is already using that file.

13. Use chsh to list all shells, and compare to cat /etc/shells. Change your login shell
to the Korn shell, log out and back in. Now change back to bash.
On Red Hat Enterprise Linux: chsh -l
On Debian/Ubuntu: cat /etc/shells

14. Which useradd option allows you to name a home directory ?

-d

15. How can you see whether the password of user harry is locked or unlocked ? Give
a solution with grep and a solution with passwd.
grep harry /etc/shadow

passwd -S harry

203
 users

23.10. shell environment

It is nice to have these preset and custom aliases and variables, but where do they all
come from ? The shell uses a number of startup files that are checked (and executed)
whenever the shell is invoked. What follows is an overview of startup scripts.

/etc/profile
Both the bash and the ksh shell will verify the existence of /etc/profile and execute
it if it exists.

When reading this script, you might notice (at least on Debian Lenny and on Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5) that it builds the PATH environment variable. The script might
also change the PS1 variable, set the HOSTNAME and execute even more scripts
like /etc/inputrc

You can use this script to set aliases and variables for every user on the system.

~/.bash_profile
When this file exists in the users home directory, then bash will execute it. On Debian
Linux it does not exist by default.

RHEL5 uses a brief ~/.bash_profile where it checks for the existence of ~/.bashrc
and then executes it. It also adds $HOME/bin to the $PATH variable.

[serena@rhel53 ~]$ cat .bash_profile

# .bash_profile

# Get the aliases and functions

if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
. ~/.bashrc
fi

# User specific environment and startup programs

PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin

export PATH

~/.bash_login
When .bash_profile does not exist, then bash will check for ~/.bash_login and
execute it.

Neither Debian nor Red Hat have this file by default.

204
 users

~/.profile
When neither ~/.bash_profile and ~/.bash_login exist, then bash will verify the
existence of ~/.profile and execute it. This file does not exist by default on Red Hat.

On Debian this script can execute ~/.bashrc and will add $HOME/bin to the $PATH
variable.

serena@deb503:~$ tail -12 .profile

# if running bash
if [ -n "$BASH_VERSION" ]; then
# include .bashrc if it exists
if [ -f "$HOME/.bashrc" ]; then
. "$HOME/.bashrc"
fi
fi

# set PATH so it includes user's private bin if it exists

if [ -d "$HOME/bin" ] ; then
PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"
fi

~/.bashrc
As seen in the previous points, the ~/.bashrc script might be executed by other scripts.
Let us take a look at what it does by default.

Red Hat uses a very simple ~/.bashrc, checking for /etc/bashrc and executing it. It
also leaves room for custom aliases and functions.

[serena@rhel53 ~]$ more .bashrc

# .bashrc

# Source global definitions

if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
. /etc/bashrc
fi

# User specific aliases and functions

On Debian this script is quite a bit longer and configures $PS1, some history variables
and a number af active and inactive aliases.

serena@deb503:~$ ls -l .bashrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 serena serena 3116 2008-05-12 21:02 .bashrc

205
 users

~/.bash_logout
When exiting bash, it can execute ~/.bash_logout. Debian and Red Hat both use this
opportunity to clear the screen.

serena@deb503:~$ cat .bash_logout

# ~/.bash_logout: executed by bash(1) when login shell exits.

# when leaving the console clear the screen to increase privacy

if [ "$SHLVL" = 1 ]; then
[ -x /usr/bin/clear_console ] && /usr/bin/clear_console -q
fi

[serena@rhel53 ~]$ cat .bash_logout

# ~/.bash_logout

/usr/bin/clear

Debian overview
Below is a table overview of when Debian is running any of these bash startup scripts.

Table 23.1. Debian User Environment

script su su - ssh gdm
~./bashrc no yes yes yes
~/.profile no yes yes yes
/etc/profile no yes yes yes
/etc/bash.bashrc yes no no yes

RHEL5 overview
Below is a table overview of when Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 is running any of
these bash startup scripts.

Table 23.2. Red Hat User Environment

script su su - ssh gdm
~./bashrc yes yes yes yes
~/.bash_profile no yes yes yes
/etc/profile no yes yes yes
/etc/bashrc yes yes yes yes

206
Chapter 24. groups

Table of Contents
24.1. about groups ............................................................................................... 208
24.2. groupadd ..................................................................................................... 208
24.3. /etc/group .................................................................................................... 208
24.4. usermod ...................................................................................................... 209
24.5. groupmod ................................................................................................... 209
24.6. groupdel ...................................................................................................... 209
24.7. groups ......................................................................................................... 209
24.8. gpasswd ...................................................................................................... 210
24.9. vigr ............................................................................................................. 210
24.10. practice: groups ........................................................................................ 211
24.11. solution: groups ........................................................................................ 212

207
 groups

24.1. about groups

Users can be listed in groups. Groups allow you to set permissions on the group level
instead of having to set permissions for every individual user. Every Unix or Linux
distribution will have a graphical tool to manage groups. Novice users are advised
to use this graphical tool. More experienced users can use command line tools to
manage users, but be careful: Some distributions do not allow the mixed use of GUI
and CLI tools to manage groups (YaST in Novell Suse). Senior administrators can
edit the relevant files directly with vi or vigr.

24.2. groupadd
Groups can be created with the groupadd command. The example below shows the
creation of five (empty) groups.

root@laika:~# groupadd tennis

root@laika:~# groupadd football
root@laika:~# groupadd snooker
root@laika:~# groupadd formula1
root@laika:~# groupadd salsa

24.3. /etc/group
Users can be a member of several groups. Group membership is defined by the /etc/
group file.

root@laika:~# tail -5 /etc/group

tennis:x:1006:
football:x:1007:
snooker:x:1008:
formula1:x:1009:
salsa:x:1010:
root@laika:~#

The first field is the group's name. The second field is the group's (encrypted)
password (can be empty). The third field is the group identification or GID. The
fourth field is the list of members, these groups have no members.

208
 groups

24.4. usermod
Group membership can be modified with the useradd or usermod command.
root@laika:~# usermod -a -G tennis inge
root@laika:~# usermod -a -G tennis katrien
root@laika:~# usermod -a -G salsa katrien
root@laika:~# usermod -a -G snooker sandra
root@laika:~# usermod -a -G formula1 annelies
root@laika:~# tail -5 /etc/group
tennis:x:1006:inge,katrien
football:x:1007:
snooker:x:1008:sandra
formula1:x:1009:annelies
salsa:x:1010:katrien
root@laika:~#

Be careful when using usermod to add users to groups. By default, the usermod
command will remove the user from every group of which he is a member if the group
is not listed in the command! Using the -a (append) switch prevents this behaviour.

24.5. groupmod
You can change the group name with the groupmod command.
root@laika:~# groupmod -n darts snooker
root@laika:~# tail -5 /etc/group
tennis:x:1006:inge,katrien
football:x:1007:
formula1:x:1009:annelies
salsa:x:1010:katrien
darts:x:1008:sandra

24.6. groupdel
You can permanently remove a group with the groupdel command.
root@laika:~# groupdel tennis
root@laika:~#

24.7. groups
A user can type the groups command to see a list of groups where the user belongs to.
[harry@RHEL4b ~]$ groups
harry sports
[harry@RHEL4b ~]$

209
 groups

24.8. gpasswd
You can delegate control of group membership to another user with the gpasswd
command. In the example below we delegate permissions to add and remove group
members to serena for the sports group. Then we su to serena and add harry to the
sports group.

[root@RHEL4b ~]# gpasswd -A serena sports

[root@RHEL4b ~]# su - serena
[serena@RHEL4b ~]$ id harry
uid=516(harry) gid=520(harry) groups=520(harry)
[serena@RHEL4b ~]$ gpasswd -a harry sports
Adding user harry to group sports
[serena@RHEL4b ~]$ id harry
uid=516(harry) gid=520(harry) groups=520(harry),522(sports)
[serena@RHEL4b ~]$ tail -1 /etc/group
sports:x:522:serena,venus,harry
[serena@RHEL4b ~]$

Group administrators do not have to be a member of the group. They can remove
themselves from a group, but this does not influence their ability to add or remove
members.

[serena@RHEL4b ~]$ gpasswd -d serena sports

Removing user serena from group sports
[serena@RHEL4b ~]$ exit

Information about group administrators is kept in the /etc/gshadow file.

[root@RHEL4b ~]# tail -1 /etc/gshadow

sports:!:serena:venus,harry
[root@RHEL4b ~]#

To remove all group administrators from a group, use the gpasswd command to set
an empty administrators list.

[root@RHEL4b ~]# gpasswd -A "" sports

24.9. vigr
Similar to vipw, the vigr command can be used to manually edit the /etc/group file,
since it will do proper locking of the file. Only experienced senior administrators
should use vi or vigr to manage groups.

210
 groups

24.10. practice: groups

1. Create the groups tennis, football and sports.

2. In one command, make venus a member of tennis and sports.

3. Rename the football group to foot.

4. Use vi to add serena to the tennis group.

5. Use the id command to verify that serena is a member of tennis.

6. Make someone responsible for managing group membership of foot and sports.
Test that it works.

211
 groups

24.11. solution: groups

1. Create the groups tennis, football and sports.
groupadd tennis ; groupadd football ; groupadd sports

2. In one command, make venus a member of tennis and sports.

usermod -a -G tennis,sports venus

3. Rename the football group to foot.

groupmod -n foot football

4. Use vi to add serena to the tennis group.

vi /etc/group

5. Use the id command to verify that serena is a member of tennis.

id (and after logoff logon serena should be member)

6. Make someone responsible for managing group membership of foot and sports.
Test that it works.
gpasswd -A (to make manager)

gpasswd -a (to add member)

212
Part VIII. file security
Chapter 25. standard file permissions

Table of Contents
25.1. file ownership ............................................................................................ 215
25.2. list of special files ...................................................................................... 216
25.3. permissions ................................................................................................. 217
25.4. practice: standard file permissions ............................................................. 222
25.5. solution: standard file permissions ............................................................. 223

214
 standard file permissions

25.1. file ownership

user owner and group owner

The users and groups of a system can be locally managed in /etc/passwd and /etc/
group, or they can be in a NIS, LDAP, or Samba domain. These users and groups
can own files. Actually, every file has a user owner and a group owner, as can be
seen in the following screenshot.
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls -l
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 17 Feb 7 11:53 file1
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 106 Feb 5 17:04 file2
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul proj 984 Feb 5 15:38 data.odt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Feb 7 16:07 stuff.txt
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$

User paul owns three files, two of those are also owned by the group paul; data.odt is
owned by the group proj. The root user owns the file stuff.txt, as does the group root.

chgrp
You can change the group owner of a file using the chgrp command.
root@laika:/home/paul# touch FileForPaul
root@laika:/home/paul# ls -l FileForPaul
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 2008-08-06 14:11 FileForPaul
root@laika:/home/paul# chgrp paul FileForPaul
root@laika:/home/paul# ls -l FileForPaul
-rw-r--r-- 1 root paul 0 2008-08-06 14:11 FileForPaul

chown
The user owner of a file can be changed with chown command.
root@laika:/home/paul# ls -l FileForPaul
-rw-r--r-- 1 root paul 0 2008-08-06 14:11 FileForPaul
root@laika:/home/paul# chown paul FileForPaul
root@laika:/home/paul# ls -l FileForPaul
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2008-08-06 14:11 FileForPaul

You can also use chown to change both the user owner and the group owner.
root@laika:/home/paul# ls -l FileForPaul
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2008-08-06 14:11 FileForPaul
root@laika:/home/paul# chown root:project42 FileForPaul
root@laika:/home/paul# ls -l FileForPaul
-rw-r--r-- 1 root project42 0 2008-08-06 14:11 FileForPaul

215
 standard file permissions

25.2. list of special files

When you use ls -l, for each file you can see ten characters before the user and group
owner. The first character tells us the type of file. Regular files get a -, directories get
a d, symbolic links are shown with an l, pipes get a p, character devices a c, block
devices a b, and sockets an s.

Table 25.1. Unix special files

first file type
character
- normal file
d directory
l symbolic link
p named pipe
b block device
c character device
s socket

Below a screenshot of a character device (the console) and a block device (the hard
disk).

paul@debian6lt~$ ls -ld /dev/console /dev/sda

crw------- 1 root root 5, 1 Mar 15 12:45 /dev/console
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 0 Mar 15 12:45 /dev/sda

And here you can see a directory, a regular file and a symbolic link.

paul@debian6lt~$ ls -ld /etc /etc/hosts /etc/motd

drwxr-xr-x 128 root root 12288 Mar 15 18:34 /etc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 372 Dec 10 17:36 /etc/hosts
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Dec 5 10:36 /etc/motd -> /var/run/motd

216
 standard file permissions

25.3. permissions

rwx
The nine characters following the file type denote the permissions in three triplets. A
permission can be r for read access, w for write access, and x for execute. You need
the r permission to list (ls) the contents of a directory. You need the x permission to
enter (cd) a directory. You need the w permission to create files in or remove files
from a directory.

Table 25.2. standard Unix file permissions

permission on a file on a directory
r (read) read file contents (cat) read directory contents (ls)
w (write) change file contents (vi) create files in (touch)
x (execute) execute the file enter the directory (cd)

three sets of rwx

We already know that the output of ls -l starts with ten characters for each file. This
screenshot shows a regular file (because the first character is a - ).

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls -l proc42.bash
-rwxr-xr-- 1 paul proj 984 Feb 6 12:01 proc42.bash

Below is a table describing the function of all ten characters.

Table 25.3. Unix file permissions position

position characters function
1 - this is a regular file
2-4 rwx permissions for the user owner
5-7 r-x permissions for the group owner
8-10 r-- permissions for others

When you are the user owner of a file, then the user owner permissions apply to
you. The rest of the permissions have no influence on your access to the file.

When you belong to the group that is the group owner of a file, then the group
owner permissions apply to you. The rest of the permissions have no influence on
your access to the file.

When you are not the user owner of a file and you do not belong to the group
owner, then the others permissions apply to you. The rest of the permissions have
no influence on your access to the file.

217
 standard file permissions

permission examples
Some example combinations on files and directories are seen in this screenshot. The
name of the file explains the permissions.

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -lh
total 12K
drwxr-xr-x 2 paul paul 4.0K 2007-02-07 22:26 AllEnter_UserCreateDelete
-rwxrwxrwx 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:21 EveryoneFullControl.txt
-r--r----- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:21 OnlyOwnersRead.txt
-rwxrwx--- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:21 OwnersAll_RestNothing.txt
dr-xr-x--- 2 paul paul 4.0K 2007-02-07 22:25 UserAndGroupEnter
dr-x------ 2 paul paul 4.0K 2007-02-07 22:25 OnlyUserEnter
paul@laika:~/perms$

To summarise, the first rwx triplet represents the permissions for the user owner.
The second triplet corresponds to the group owner; it specifies permissions for all
members of that group. The third triplet defines permissions for all other users that
are not the user owner and are not a member of the group owner.

setting permissions (chmod)

Permissions can be changed with chmod. The first example gives the user owner
execute permissions.

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt
paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod u+x permissions.txt
paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rwxr--r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

This example removes the group owners read permission.

paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod g-r permissions.txt

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rwx---r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

This example removes the others read permission.

paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod o-r permissions.txt

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rwx------ 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

This example gives all of them the write permission.

paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod a+w permissions.txt

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rwx-w--w- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

218
 standard file permissions

You don't even have to type the a.

paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod +x permissions.txt

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rwx-wx-wx 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

You can also set explicit permissions.

paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod u=rw permissions.txt

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rw--wx-wx 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

Feel free to make any kind of combination.

paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod u=rw,g=rw,o=r permissions.txt

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

Even fishy combinations are accepted by chmod.

paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod u=rwx,ug+rw,o=r permissions.txt

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rwxrw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

219
 standard file permissions

setting octal permissions

Most Unix administrators will use the old school octal system to talk about and set
permissions. Look at the triplet bitwise, equating r to 4, w to 2, and x to 1.

Table 25.4. Octal permissions

binary octal permission
000 0 ---
001 1 --x
010 2 -w-
011 3 -wx
100 4 r--
101 5 r-x
110 6 rw-
111 7 rwx

This makes 777 equal to rwxrwxrwx and by the same logic, 654 mean rw-r-xr-- . The
chmod command will accept these numbers.

paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod 777 permissions.txt

paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rwxrwxrwx 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt
paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod 664 permissions.txt
paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt
paul@laika:~/perms$ chmod 750 permissions.txt
paul@laika:~/perms$ ls -l permissions.txt
-rwxr-x--- 1 paul paul 0 2007-02-07 22:34 permissions.txt

220
 standard file permissions

umask
When creating a file or directory, a set of default permissions are applied. These
default permissions are determined by the umask. The umask specifies permissions
that you do not want set on by default. You can display the umask with the umask
command.

[Harry@RHEL4b ~]$ umask

0002
[Harry@RHEL4b ~]$ touch test
[Harry@RHEL4b ~]$ ls -l test
-rw-rw-r-- 1 Harry Harry 0 Jul 24 06:03 test
[Harry@RHEL4b ~]$

As you can also see, the file is also not executable by default. This is a general security
feature among Unixes; newly created files are never executable by default. You have
to explicitly do a chmod +x to make a file executable. This also means that the 1 bit
in the umask has no meaning--a umask of 0022 is the same as 0033.

mkdir -m
When creating directories with mkdir you can use the -m option to set the mode.
This screenshot explains.
paul@debian5~$ mkdir -m 700 MyDir
paul@debian5~$ mkdir -m 777 Public
paul@debian5~$ ls -dl MyDir/ Public/
drwx------ 2 paul paul 4096 2011-10-16 19:16 MyDir/
drwxrwxrwx 2 paul paul 4096 2011-10-16 19:16 Public/

221
 standard file permissions

25.4. practice: standard file permissions

1. As normal user, create a directory ~/permissions. Create a file owned by yourself
in there.

2. Copy a file owned by root from /etc/ to your permissions dir, who owns this file
now ?

3. As root, create a file in the users ~/permissions directory.

4. As normal user, look at who owns this file created by root.

5. Change the ownership of all files in ~/permissions to yourself.

6. Make sure you have all rights to these files, and others can only read.

7. With chmod, is 770 the same as rwxrwx--- ?

8. With chmod, is 664 the same as r-xr-xr-- ?

9. With chmod, is 400 the same as r-------- ?

10. With chmod, is 734 the same as rwxr-xr-- ?

11a. Display the umask in octal and in symbolic form.

11b. Set the umask to 077, but use the symbolic format to set it. Verify that this works.

12. Create a file as root, give only read to others. Can a normal user read this file ?
Test writing to this file with vi.

13a. Create a file as normal user, give only read to others. Can another normal user
read this file ? Test writing to this file with vi.

13b. Can root read this file ? Can root write to this file with vi ?

14. Create a directory that belongs to a group, where every member of that group
can read and write to files, and create files. Make sure that people can only delete
their own files.

222
 standard file permissions

25.5. solution: standard file permissions

1. As normal user, create a directory ~/permissions. Create a file owned by yourself
in there.
mkdir ~/permissions ; touch ~/permissions/myfile.txt

2. Copy a file owned by root from /etc/ to your permissions dir, who owns this file
now ?
cp /etc/hosts ~/permissions/

The copy is owned by you.

3. As root, create a file in the users ~/permissions directory.

(become root)# touch /home/username/permissions/rootfile

4. As normal user, look at who owns this file created by root.

ls -l ~/permissions

The file created by root is owned by root.

5. Change the ownership of all files in ~/permissions to yourself.

chown user ~/permissions/*

You cannot become owner of the file that belongs to root.

6. Make sure you have all rights to these files, and others can only read.
chmod 644 (on files)

chmod 755 (on directories)

7. With chmod, is 770 the same as rwxrwx--- ?

yes

8. With chmod, is 664 the same as r-xr-xr-- ?

No

9. With chmod, is 400 the same as r-------- ?

yes

10. With chmod, is 734 the same as rwxr-xr-- ?

no

11a. Display the umask in octal and in symbolic form.

umask ; umask -S

223
 standard file permissions

11b. Set the umask to 077, but use the symbolic format to set it. Verify that this works.
umask -S u=rwx,go=

12. Create a file as root, give only read to others. Can a normal user read this file ?
Test writing to this file with vi.
(become root)

# echo hello > /home/username/root.txt

# chmod 744 /home/username/root.txt

(become user)

vi ~/root.txt

13a. Create a file as normal user, give only read to others. Can another normal user
read this file ? Test writing to this file with vi.
echo hello > file ; chmod 744 file

Yes, others can read this file

13b. Can root read this file ? Can root write to this file with vi ?

Yes, root can read and write to this file. Permissions do not apply to root.

14. Create a directory that belongs to a group, where every member of that group
can read and write to files, and create files. Make sure that people can only delete
their own files.
mkdir /home/project42 ; groupadd project42

chgrp project42 /home/project42 ; chmod 775 /home/project42

You can not yet do the last part of this exercise...

224
Chapter 26. advanced file permissions

Table of Contents
26.1. sticky bit on directory ................................................................................ 226
26.2. setgid bit on directory ................................................................................ 226
26.3. setgid and setuid on regular files ............................................................... 227
26.4. practice: sticky, setuid and setgid bits ....................................................... 228
26.5. solution: sticky, setuid and setgid bits ....................................................... 229

225
 advanced file permissions

26.1. sticky bit on directory

You can set the sticky bit on a directory to prevent users from removing files that
they do not own as a user owner. The sticky bit is displayed at the same location as
the x permission for others. The sticky bit is represented by a t (meaning x is also
there) or a T (when there is no x for others).
root@RHELv4u4:~# mkdir /project55
root@RHELv4u4:~# ls -ld /project55
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 7 17:38 /project55
root@RHELv4u4:~# chmod +t /project55/
root@RHELv4u4:~# ls -ld /project55
drwxr-xr-t 2 root root 4096 Feb 7 17:38 /project55
root@RHELv4u4:~#

The sticky bit can also be set with octal permissions, it is binary 1 in the first of four
triplets.
root@RHELv4u4:~# chmod 1775 /project55/
root@RHELv4u4:~# ls -ld /project55
drwxrwxr-t 2 root root 4096 Feb 7 17:38 /project55
root@RHELv4u4:~#

You will typically find the sticky bit on the /tmp directory.
root@barry:~# ls -ld /tmp
drwxrwxrwt 6 root root 4096 2009-06-04 19:02 /tmp

26.2. setgid bit on directory

setgid can be used on directories to make sure that all files inside the directory are
owned by the group owner of the directory. The setgid bit is displayed at the same
location as the x permission for group owner. The setgid bit is represented by an
s (meaning x is also there) or a S (when there is no x for the group owner). As
this example shows, even though root does not belong to the group proj55, the files
created by root in /project55 will belong to proj55 since the setgid is set.
root@RHELv4u4:~# groupadd proj55
root@RHELv4u4:~# chown root:proj55 /project55/
root@RHELv4u4:~# chmod 2775 /project55/
root@RHELv4u4:~# touch /project55/fromroot.txt
root@RHELv4u4:~# ls -ld /project55/
drwxrwsr-x 2 root proj55 4096 Feb 7 17:45 /project55/
root@RHELv4u4:~# ls -l /project55/
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 root proj55 0 Feb 7 17:45 fromroot.txt
root@RHELv4u4:~#

You can use the find command to find all setgid directories.
paul@laika:~$ find / -type d -perm -2000 2> /dev/null
/var/log/mysql
/var/log/news
/var/local
...

226
 advanced file permissions

26.3. setgid and setuid on regular files

These two permissions cause an executable file to be executed with the permissions
of the file owner instead of the executing owner. This means that if any user executes
a program that belongs to the root user, and the setuid bit is set on that program,
then the program runs as root. This can be dangerous, but sometimes this is good
for security.

Take the example of passwords; they are stored in /etc/shadow which is only readable
by root. (The root user never needs permissions anyway.)

root@RHELv4u4:~# ls -l /etc/shadow
-r-------- 1 root root 1260 Jan 21 07:49 /etc/shadow

Changing your password requires an update of this file, so how can normal non-root
users do this? Let's take a look at the permissions on the /usr/bin/passwd.

root@RHELv4u4:~# ls -l /usr/bin/passwd
-r-s--x--x 1 root root 21200 Jun 17 2005 /usr/bin/passwd

When running the passwd program, you are executing it with root credentials.

You can use the find command to find all setuid programs.

paul@laika:~$ find /usr/bin -type f -perm -04000

/usr/bin/arping
/usr/bin/kgrantpty
/usr/bin/newgrp
/usr/bin/chfn
/usr/bin/sudo
/usr/bin/fping6
/usr/bin/passwd
/usr/bin/gpasswd
...

In most cases, setting the setuid bit on executables is sufficient. Setting the setgid bit
will result in these programs to run with the credentials of their group owner.

227
 advanced file permissions

26.4. practice: sticky, setuid and setgid bits

1a. Set up a directory, owned by the group sports.

1b. Members of the sports group should be able to create files in this directory.

1c. All files created in this directory should be group-owned by the sports group.

1d. Users should be able to delete only their own user-owned files.

1e. Test that this works!

2. Verify the permissions on /usr/bin/passwd. Remove the setuid, then try changing
your password as a normal user. Reset the permissions back and try again.

3. If time permits (or if you are waiting for other students to finish this practice), read
about file attributes in the man page of chattr and lsattr. Try setting the i attribute on
a file and test that it works.

228
 advanced file permissions

26.5. solution: sticky, setuid and setgid bits

1a. Set up a directory, owned by the group sports.
groupadd sports

mkdir /home/sports

chown root:sports /home/sports

1b. Members of the sports group should be able to create files in this directory.
chmod 770 /home/sports

1c. All files created in this directory should be group-owned by the sports group.
chmod 2770 /home/sports

1d. Users should be able to delete only their own user-owned files.
chmod +t /home/sports

1e. Test that this works!

Log in with different users (group members and others and root), create files and
watch the permissions. Try changing and deleting files...

2. Verify the permissions on /usr/bin/passwd. Remove the setuid, then try changing
your password as a normal user. Reset the permissions back and try again.

root@deb503:~# ls -l /usr/bin/passwd
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root root 31704 2009-11-14 15:41 /usr/bin/passwd
root@deb503:~# chmod 755 /usr/bin/passwd
root@deb503:~# ls -l /usr/bin/passwd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 31704 2009-11-14 15:41 /usr/bin/passwd

A normal user cannot change password now.

root@deb503:~# chmod 4755 /usr/bin/passwd

root@deb503:~# ls -l /usr/bin/passwd
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root root 31704 2009-11-14 15:41 /usr/bin/passwd

3. If time permits (or if you are waiting for other students to finish this practice), read
about file attributes in the man page of chattr and lsattr. Try setting the i attribute on
a file and test that it works.

paul@laika:~$ sudo su -
[sudo] password for paul:
root@laika:~# mkdir attr
root@laika:~# cd attr/
root@laika:~/attr# touch file42
root@laika:~/attr# lsattr
------------------ ./file42
root@laika:~/attr# chattr +i file42

229
 advanced file permissions

root@laika:~/attr# lsattr
----i------------- ./file42
root@laika:~/attr# rm -rf file42
rm: cannot remove `file42': Operation not permitted
root@laika:~/attr# chattr -i file42
root@laika:~/attr# rm -rf file42
root@laika:~/attr#

230
Chapter 27. access control lists

Table of Contents
27.1. acl in /etc/fstab ........................................................................................... 232
27.2. getfacl ......................................................................................................... 232
27.3. setfacl ......................................................................................................... 232
27.4. remove an acl entry ................................................................................... 233
27.5. remove the complete acl ............................................................................ 233
27.6. the acl mask ............................................................................................... 233
27.7. eiciel ........................................................................................................... 234

Standard Unix permissions might not be enough for some organisations. This chapter
introduces access control lists or acl's to further protect files and directories.

231
 access control lists

27.1. acl in /etc/fstab

File systems that support access control lists, or acls, have to be mounted with the
acl option listed in /etc/fstab. In the example below, you can see that the root file
system has acl support, whereas /home/data does not.
root@laika:~# tail -4 /etc/fstab
/dev/sda1 / ext3 acl,relatime 0 1
/dev/sdb2 /home/data auto noacl,defaults 0 0
pasha:/home/r /home/pasha nfs defaults 0 0
wolf:/srv/data /home/wolf nfs defaults 0 0

27.2. getfacl
Reading acls can be done with /usr/bin/getfacl. This screenshot shows how to read
the acl of file33 with getfacl.
paul@laika:~/test$ getfacl file33
# file: file33
# owner: paul
# group: paul
user::rw-
group::r--
mask::rwx
other::r--

27.3. setfacl
Writing or changing acls can be done with /usr/bin/setfacl. These screenshots show
how to change the acl of file33 with setfacl.

First we add user sandra with octal permission 7 to the acl.

paul@laika:~/test$ setfacl -m u:sandra:7 file33

Then we add the group tennis with octal permission 6 to the acl of the same file.
paul@laika:~/test$ setfacl -m g:tennis:6 file33

The result is visible with getfacl.

paul@laika:~/test$ getfacl file33
# file: file33
# owner: paul
# group: paul
user::rw-
user:sandra:rwx
group::r--
group:tennis:rw-
mask::rwx
other::r--

232
 access control lists

27.4. remove an acl entry

The -x option of the setfacl command will remove an acl entry from the targeted file.
paul@laika:~/test$ setfacl -m u:sandra:7 file33
paul@laika:~/test$ getfacl file33 | grep sandra
user:sandra:rwx
paul@laika:~/test$ setfacl -x sandra file33
paul@laika:~/test$ getfacl file33 | grep sandra

Note that omitting the u or g when defining the acl for an account will default it to
a user account.

27.5. remove the complete acl

The -b option of the setfacl command will remove the acl from the targeted file.
paul@laika:~/test$ setfacl -b file33
paul@laika:~/test$ getfacl file33
# file: file33
# owner: paul
# group: paul
user::rw-
group::r--
other::r--

27.6. the acl mask

The acl mask defines the maximum effective permissions for any entry in the acl.
This mask is calculated every time you execute the setfacl or chmod commands.

You can prevent the calculation by using the --no-mask switch.

paul@laika:~/test$ setfacl --no-mask -m u:sandra:7 file33

paul@laika:~/test$ getfacl file33
# file: file33
# owner: paul
# group: paul
user::rw-
user:sandra:rwx #effective:rw-
group::r--
mask::rw-
other::r--

233
 access control lists

27.7. eiciel
Desktop users might want to use eiciel to manage acls with a graphical tool.

You will need to install eiciel and nautilus-actions to have an extra tab in nautilus
to manage acls.

paul@laika:~$ sudo aptitude install eiciel nautilus-actions

234
Chapter 28. file links

Table of Contents
28.1. inodes ......................................................................................................... 236
28.2. about directories ......................................................................................... 237
28.3. hard links ................................................................................................... 238
28.4. symbolic links ............................................................................................ 239
28.5. removing links ........................................................................................... 239
28.6. practice : links ............................................................................................ 240
28.7. solution : links ............................................................................................ 241

An average computer using Linux has a file system with many hard links and
symbolic links.

To understand links in a file system, you first have to understand what an inode is.

235
 file links

28.1. inodes

inode contents
An inode is a data structure that contains metadata about a file. When the file system
stores a new file on the hard disk, it stores not only the contents (data) of the file, but
also extra properties like the name of the file, the creation date, its permissions, the
owner of the file, and more. All this information (except the name of the file and the
contents of the file) is stored in the inode of the file.

The ls -l command will display some of the inode contents, as seen in this screenshot.
root@rhel53 ~# ls -ld /home/project42/
drwxr-xr-x 4 root pro42 4.0K Mar 27 14:29 /home/project42/

inode table
The inode table contains all of the inodes and is created when you create the file
system (with mkfs). You can use the df -i command to see how many inodes are
used and free on mounted file systems.
root@rhel53 ~# df -i
Filesystem Inodes IUsed IFree IUse% Mounted on
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00
4947968 115326 4832642 3% /
/dev/hda1 26104 45 26059 1% /boot
tmpfs 64417 1 64416 1% /dev/shm
/dev/sda1 262144 2207 259937 1% /home/project42
/dev/sdb1 74400 5519 68881 8% /home/project33
/dev/sdb5 0 0 0 - /home/sales
/dev/sdb6 100744 11 100733 1% /home/research

In the df -i screenshot above you can see the inode usage for several mounted file
systems. You don't see numbers for /dev/sdb5 because it is a fat file system.

inode number
Each inode has a unique number (the inode number). You can see the inode numbers
with the ls -li command.

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ touch file1

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ touch file2
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ touch file3
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls -li
total 12
817266 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file1
817267 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file2
817268 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file3
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$

236
 file links

These three files were created one after the other and got three different inodes (the
first column). All the information you see with this ls command resides in the inode,
except for the filename (which is contained in the directory).

inode and file contents

Let's put some data in one of the files.

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls -li
total 16
817266 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file1
817270 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 92 Feb 5 15:42 file2
817268 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file3
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ cat file2
It is winter now and it is very cold.
We do not like the cold, we prefer hot summer nights.
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$

The data that is displayed by the cat command is not in the inode, but somewhere
else on the disk. The inode contains a pointer to that data.

28.2. about directories

a directory is a table
A directory is a special kind of file that contains a table which maps filenames
to inodes. Listing our current directory with ls -ali will display the contents of the
directory file.

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls -ali
total 32
817262 drwxrwxr-x 2 paul paul 4096 Feb 5 15:42 .
800768 drwx------ 16 paul paul 4096 Feb 5 15:42 ..
817266 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file1
817270 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 92 Feb 5 15:42 file2
817268 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file3
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$

. and ..
You can see five names, and the mapping to their five inodes. The dot . is a mapping
to itself, and the dotdot .. is a mapping to the parent directory. The three other names
are mappings to different inodes.

237
 file links

28.3. hard links

creating hard links

When we create a hard link to a file with ln, an extra entry is added in the directory.
A new file name is mapped to an existing inode.

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ln file2 hardlink_to_file2

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls -li
total 24
817266 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file1
817270 -rw-rw-r-- 2 paul paul 92 Feb 5 15:42 file2
817268 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file3
817270 -rw-rw-r-- 2 paul paul 92 Feb 5 15:42 hardlink_to_file2
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$

Both files have the same inode, so they will always have the same permissions and
the same owner. Both files will have the same content. Actually, both files are equal
now, meaning you can safely remove the original file, the hardlinked file will remain.
The inode contains a counter, counting the number of hard links to itself. When the
counter drops to zero, then the inode is emptied.

finding hard links

You can use the find command to look for files with a certain inode. The screenshot
below shows how to search for all filenames that point to inode 817270. Remember
that an inode number is unique to its partition.

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ find / -inum 817270 2> /dev/null

/home/paul/test/file2
/home/paul/test/hardlink_to_file2

238
 file links

28.4. symbolic links

Symbolic links (sometimes called soft links) do not link to inodes, but create a name
to name mapping. Symbolic links are created with ln -s. As you can see below, the
symbolic link gets an inode of its own.

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ln -s file2 symlink_to_file2

paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$ ls -li
total 32
817273 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 13 Feb 5 17:06 file1
817270 -rw-rw-r-- 2 paul paul 106 Feb 5 17:04 file2
817268 -rw-rw-r-- 1 paul paul 0 Feb 5 15:38 file3
817270 -rw-rw-r-- 2 paul paul 106 Feb 5 17:04 hardlink_to_file2
817267 lrwxrwxrwx 1 paul paul 5 Feb 5 16:55 symlink_to_file2 -> file2
paul@RHELv4u4:~/test$

Permissions on a symbolic link have no meaning, since the permissions of the target
apply. Hard links are limited to their own partition (because they point to an inode),
symbolic links can link anywhere (other file systems, even networked).

28.5. removing links

Links can be removed with rm.

paul@laika:~$ touch data.txt

paul@laika:~$ ln -s data.txt sl_data.txt
paul@laika:~$ ln data.txt hl_data.txt
paul@laika:~$ rm sl_data.txt
paul@laika:~$ rm hl_data.txt

239
 file links

28.6. practice : links

1. Create two files named winter.txt and summer.txt, put some text in them.

2. Create a hard link to winter.txt named hlwinter.txt.

3. Display the inode numbers of these three files, the hard links should have the same
inode.

4. Use the find command to list the two hardlinked files

5. Everything about a file is in the inode, except two things : name them!

6. Create a symbolic link to summer.txt called slsummer.txt.

7. Find all files with inode number 2. What does this information tell you ?

8. Look at the directories /etc/init.d/ /etc/rc.d/ /etc/rc3.d/ ... do you see the links ?

9. Look in /lib with ls -l...

10. Use find to look in your home directory for regular files that do not(!) have one
hard link.

240
 file links

28.7. solution : links

1. Create two files named winter.txt and summer.txt, put some text in them.
echo cold > winter.txt ; echo hot > summer.txt

2. Create a hard link to winter.txt named hlwinter.txt.

ln winter.txt hlwinter.txt

3. Display the inode numbers of these three files, the hard links should have the same
inode.
ls -li winter.txt summer.txt hlwinter.txt

4. Use the find command to list the two hardlinked files

find . -inum xyz

5. Everything about a file is in the inode, except two things : name them!

The name of the file is in a directory, and the contents is somewhere on the disk.

6. Create a symbolic link to summer.txt called slsummer.txt.

ln -s summer.txt slsummer.txt

7. Find all files with inode number 2. What does this information tell you ?

It tells you there is more than one inode table (one for every formatted partition +
virtual file systems)

8. Look at the directories /etc/init.d/ /etc/rc.d/ /etc/rc3.d/ ... do you see the links ?
ls -l /etc/init.d

ls -l /etc/rc.d

ls -l /etc/rc3.d

9. Look in /lib with ls -l...

ls -l /lib

10. Use find to look in your home directory for regular files that do not(!) have one
hard link.
find ~ ! -links 1 -type f

241
Part IX. Appendices
Appendix A. certifications

A.1. Certification

LPI: Linux Professional Institute

LPIC Level 1
This is the junior level certification. You need to pass exams 101 and 102 to
achieve LPIC 1 certification. To pass level one, you will need Linux command
line, user management, backup and restore, installation, networking, and basic system
administration skills.

LPIC Level 2
This is the advanced level certification. You need to be LPIC 1 certified and pass
exams 201 and 202 to achieve LPIC 2 certification. To pass level two, you will need
to be able to administer medium sized Linux networks, including Samba, mail, news,
proxy, firewall, web, and ftp servers.

LPIC Level 3
This is the senior level certification. It contains one core exam (301) which tests
advanced skills mainly about ldap. To achieve this level you also need LPIC Level
2 and pass a specialty exam (302 or 303). Exam 302 mainly focuses on Samba, and
303 on advanced security. More info on http://www.lpi.org.

Ubuntu
When you are LPIC Level 1 certified, you can take a LPI Ubuntu exam (199) and
become Ubuntu certified.

Red Hat Certified Engineer

The big difference with most other certifications is that there are no multiple choice
questions for RHCE. Red Hat Certified Engineers have to take a live exam consisting
of two parts. First, they have to troubleshoot and maintain an existing but broken
setup (scoring at least 80 percent), and second they have to install and configure a
machine (scoring at least 70 percent).

243
 certifications

MySQL
There are two tracks for MySQL certification; Certified MySQL 5.0 Developer
(CMDEV) and Certified MySQL 5.0 DBA (CMDBA). The CMDEV is focused
towards database application developers, and the CMDBA towards database
administrators. Both tracks require two exams each. The MySQL cluster DBA
certification requires CMDBA certification and passing the CMCDBA exam.

Novell CLP/CLE
To become a Novell Certified Linux Professional, you have to take a live practicum.
This is a VNC session to a set of real SLES servers. You have to perform several
tasks and are free to choose your method (commandline or YaST or ...). No multiple
choice involved.

Sun Solaris
Sun uses the classical formula of multiple choice exams for certification. Passing
two exams for an operating system gets you the Solaris Certified Administrator for
Solaris X title.

Other certifications
There are many other lesser known certifications like EC council's Certified Ethical
Hacker, CompTIA's Linux+, and Sair's Linux GNU.

244
Appendix B. keyboard settings

B.1. about keyboard layout

Many people (like US-Americans) prefer the default US-qwerty keyboard layout. So
when you are not from the USA and want a local keyboard layout on your system,
then the best practice is to select this keyboard at installation time. Then the keyboard
layout will always be correct. Also, whenever you use ssh to remotely manage a linux
system, your local keyboard layout will be used, independent of the server keyboard
configuration. So you will not find much information on changing keyboard layout
on the fly on linux, because not many people need it. Below are some tips to help you.

B.2. X Keyboard Layout

This is the relevant portion in /etc/X11/xorg.conf, first for Belgian azerty, then for
US-qwerty.

[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ grep -i xkb /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "be"

[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ grep -i xkb /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"

When in Gnome or KDE or any other graphical environment, look in the graphical
menu in preferences, there will be a keyboard section to choose your layout. Use the
graphical menu instead of editing xorg.conf.

B.3. shell keyboard layout

When in bash, take a look in the /etc/sysconfig/keyboard file. Below a sample US-
qwerty configuration, followed by a Belgian azerty configuration.

[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ cat /etc/sysconfig/keyboard

KEYBOARDTYPE="pc"
KEYTABLE="us"

[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ cat /etc/sysconfig/keyboard

KEYBOARDTYPE="pc"
KEYTABLE="be-latin1"

The keymaps themselves can be found in /usr/share/keymaps or /lib/kbd/keymaps.

245
 keyboard settings

[paul@RHEL5 ~]$ ls -l /lib/kbd/keymaps/

total 52
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 1 00:14 amiga
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 1 00:14 atari
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Apr 1 00:14 i386
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 1 00:14 include
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Apr 1 00:14 mac
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 Apr 1 00:14 ppc -> mac
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 1 00:14 sun

246
Appendix C. hardware

C.1. buses

about buses
Hardware components communicate with the Central Processing Unit or cpu over
a bus. The most common buses today are usb, pci, agp, pci-express and pcmcia aka
pc-card. These are all Plag and Play buses.

Older x86 computers often had isa buses, which can be configured using jumpers
or dip switches.

/proc/bus
To list the buses recognised by the Linux kernel on your computer, look at the
contents of the /proc/bus/ directory (screenshot from Ubuntu 7.04 and RHEL4u4
below).

root@laika:~# ls /proc/bus/
input pccard pci usb

[root@RHEL4b ~]# ls /proc/bus/

input pci usb

Can you guess which of these two screenshots was taken on a laptop ?

/usr/sbin/lsusb
To list all the usb devices connected to your system, you could read the contents
of /proc/bus/usb/devices (if it exists) or you could use the more readable output of
lsusb, which is executed here on a SPARC system with Ubuntu.

root@shaka:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0430:0100 Sun Microsystems, Inc. 3-button Mouse
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0430:0005 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Type 6 Keyboard
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 04b0:0136 Nikon Corp. Coolpix 7900 (storage)
root@shaka:~#

/var/lib/usbutils/usb.ids
The /var/lib/usbutils/usb.ids file contains a gzipped list of all known usb devices.

247
 hardware

paul@barry:~$ zmore /var/lib/usbutils/usb.ids | head

------> /var/lib/usbutils/usb.ids <------
#
# List of USB ID's
#
# Maintained by Vojtech Pavlik <[email protected]>
# If you have any new entries, send them to the maintainer.
# The latest version can be obtained from
# http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids
#
# $Id: usb.ids,v 1.225 2006/07/13 04:18:02 dbrownell Exp $

/usr/sbin/lspci
To get a list of all pci devices connected, you could take a look at /proc/bus/pci or
run lspci (partial output below).

paul@laika:~$ lspci
...
00:06.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB22/A IEEE-139...
00:08.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-816...
00:09.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7133/SAA713...
00:0a.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2500 802.11g Cardbus/mini-PCI
00:0f.0 RAID bus controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT6420 SATA ...
00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A...
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1....
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1....
...

C.2. interrupts

about interrupts
An interrupt request or IRQ is a request from a device to the CPU. A device raises
an interrupt when it requires the attention of the CPU (could be because the device
has data ready to be read by the CPU).

Since the introduction of pci, irq's can be shared among devices.

Interrupt 0 is always reserved for the timer, interrupt 1 for the keyboard. IRQ 2 is
used as a channel for IRQ's 8 to 15, and thus is the same as IRQ 9.

/proc/interrupts
You can see a listing of interrupts on your system in /proc/interrupts.

paul@laika:~$ cat /proc/interrupts

248
 hardware

CPU0 CPU1
0: 1320048 555 IO-APIC-edge timer
1: 10224 7 IO-APIC-edge i8042
7: 0 0 IO-APIC-edge parport0
8: 2 1 IO-APIC-edge rtc
10: 3062 21 IO-APIC-fasteoi acpi
12: 131 2 IO-APIC-edge i8042
15: 47073 0 IO-APIC-edge ide1
18: 0 1 IO-APIC-fasteoi yenta
19: 31056 1 IO-APIC-fasteoi libata, ohci1394
20: 19042 1 IO-APIC-fasteoi eth0
21: 44052 1 IO-APIC-fasteoi uhci_hcd:usb1, uhci_hcd:usb2,...
22: 188352 1 IO-APIC-fasteoi ra0
23: 632444 1 IO-APIC-fasteoi nvidia
24: 1585 1 IO-APIC-fasteoi VIA82XX-MODEM, VIA8237

dmesg
You can also use dmesg to find irq's allocated at boot time.
paul@laika:~$ dmesg | grep "irq 1[45]"
[ 28.930069] ata3: PATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x1f0 ctl 0x3f6 bmdma 0x2090 irq 14
[ 28.930071] ata4: PATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0x2098 irq 15

C.3. io ports

about io ports
Communication in the other direction, from CPU to device, happens through IO
ports. The CPU writes data or control codes to the IO port of the device. But this is
not only a one way communication, the CPU can also use a device's IO port to read
status information about the device. Unlike interrupts, ports cannot be shared!

/proc/ioports
You can see a listing of your system's IO ports via /proc/ioports.

[root@RHEL4b ~]# cat /proc/ioports

0000-001f : dma1
0020-0021 : pic1
0040-0043 : timer0
0050-0053 : timer1
0060-006f : keyboard
0070-0077 : rtc
0080-008f : dma page reg
00a0-00a1 : pic2
00c0-00df : dma2
00f0-00ff : fpu
0170-0177 : ide1
02f8-02ff : serial
...

249
 hardware

C.4. dma

about dma
A device that needs a lot of data, interrupts and ports can pose a heavy load on the
cpu. With dma or Direct Memory Access a device can gain (temporary) access to
a specific range of the ram memory.

/proc/dma
Looking at /proc/dma might not give you the information that you want, since it only
contains currently assigned dma channels for isa devices.

root@laika:~# cat /proc/dma

1: parport0
4: cascade

pci devices that are using dma are not listed in /proc/dma, in this case dmesg can be
useful. The screenshot below shows that during boot the parallel port received dma
channel 1, and the Infrared port received dma channel 3.

root@laika:~# dmesg | egrep -C 1 'dma 1|dma 3'

[ 20.576000] parport: PnPBIOS parport detected.
[ 20.580000] parport0: PC-style at 0x378 (0x778), irq 7, dma 1...
[ 20.764000] irda_init()
--
[ 21.204000] pnp: Device 00:0b activated.
[ 21.204000] nsc_ircc_pnp_probe() : From PnP, found firbase 0x2F8...
[ 21.204000] nsc-ircc, chip->init

250
 /etc/sysconfig/harddisks, 56
Index /etc/sysconfig/hwconf, 56
/etc/sysconfig/keyboard, 56
Symbols /etc/X11/xorg.conf, 55
; (shell), 84 /export, 57
!! (shell), 101 /home, 57
! (bash history), 101 /lib, 54
! (file globbing), 108 /lib/kbd/keymaps/, 56
? (file globbing), 107 /lib/modules, 54
/, 28, 52 /lib32, 54
/bin, 53, 76 /lib64, 54
/bin/bash, 73, 204 /media, 57
/bin/cat, 53 /opt, 54
/bin/csh, 73 /proc, 36, 60
/bin/date, 53 /proc/bus, 247
/bin/ksh, 73, 204 /proc/bus/pci, 248
/bin/rm, 77 /proc/bus/usb/devices, 247
/bin/sh, 73 /proc/cpuinfo, 61
/boot, 55 /proc/dma, 250
/boot/grub, 55 /proc/interrupts, 62, 248
/boot/grub/grub.cfg, 55 /proc/ioports, 249
/boot/grub/grub.conf, 55 /proc/kcore, 62
/dev, 36, 59 /proc/sys, 61
/dev/null, 59, 117 /root, 57
/dev/pts/1, 59 /run, 67
/dev/random, 70 /sbin, 53, 76
/dev/tty1, 59 /srv, 57
/dev/urandom, 69, 71 /sys, 63
/dev/zero, 70 /tmp, 58, 226
/etc, 55 /usr, 64
/etc/bashrc, 205 /usr/bin, 64
/etc/default/useradd, 190 /usr/bin/getfacl, 232
/etc/fstab, 232 /usr/bin/passwd, 227
/etc/group, 208, 215 /usr/bin/setfacl, 232
/etc/gshadow, 210 /usr/include, 64
/etc/hosts, 71 /usr/lib, 64
/etc/init.d/, 55 /usr/local, 64
/etc/inputrc, 204 /usr/share, 65
/etc/login.defs, 194 /usr/share/games, 65
/etc/passwd, 132, 189, 195, 195, 197, 215 /usr/share/man, 65
/etc/profile, 204 /usr/src, 65
/etc/resolv.conf, 71 /var, 66
/etc/shadow, 191, 193, 227 /var/cache, 66
/etc/shells, 158, 197 /var/lib, 67
/etc/skel, 56, 196 /var/lib/rpm, 67
/etc/sudoers, 199, 199 /var/lib/usbutils/usb.ids, 247
/etc/sysconfig, 56 /var/lock, 67
/etc/sysconfig/firstboot, 56 /var/log, 66

251
 Index

/var/log/messages, 66 2>&1, 117

/var/log/syslog, 66 777, 220
/var/run, 67
/var/spool, 67 A
/var/tmp, 67 access control list, 232
., 27 acl, 234
.., 27 acls, 232
.. (directory), 237 agp, 247
. (directory), 237 AIX, 3
. (shell), 159 alias(bash), 77
.bash_history, 102 alias(shell), 77
.bash_login, 204 apropos, 23
.bash_logout, 206 arguments(shell), 74
.bash_profile, 204
.bashrc, 204, 205 B
.exrc, 153 backticks, 96
.vimrc, 153 base64, 118
`(backtick), 96 bash, 171
~, 27 bash history, 101
'(single quote), 96 bash -x, 160
" (double quotes), 75 binaries, 53
(( (shell), 179 Bourne again shell, 73
-- (shell), 160 BSD, 3
[ (file globbing), 107 bunzip2, 141
[ (shell), 164 bus, 247
$? (shell variables), 84 bzcat, 141
$() embedded shell, 96 bzip2, 140, 141, 141
$ (shell variables), 90 bzmore, 141
$HISTFILE, 102
C
$HISTFILESIZE, 102
cal, 139
$HISTSIZE, 102
case, 181
$LANG, 108
case sensitive, 36
$PATH, 76, 91
cat, 124
$PS1, 28
cat(1), 46
* (file globbing), 107
cd(bash builtin), 27
\ (backslash), 86
cd -(bash builtin), 28
&, 84
CentOS, 5
&&, 85
chage(1), 194
#!/bin/bash, 158
chgrp(1), 215
#! (shell), 158
chkconfig, 56
# (pound sign), 86
chmod, 196, 220
>, 115
chmod(1), 150, 218
>>, 116
chmod +x, 158, 221
>|, 116
chown, 196
|, 120
chown(1), 215
||, 85
chsh(1), 197
1>, 117
CMDBA, 244
2>, 117
CMDEV, 244

252
 Index

comm(1), 129 F
command line scan, 74 Fedora, 5
command mode(vi), 147 FHS, 52
copyleft, 8 file(1), 36, 54
copyright, 7, 7 file globbing, 106
cp(1), 38, 38 file ownership, 215
cpu, 247 Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, 52
crypt, 192 filters, 123
csh, 158 find(1), 137, 226, 227, 238
Ctrl d, 46 FireWire, 63
ctrl-r, 102 for (bash), 165
current directory, 27 FOSS, 7
cut, 132 four freedoms, 8
cut(1), 126 Free Software, 7
free software, 8
D freeware, 7
daemon, 23 function (shell), 182
date, 138
Debian, 5 G
Dennis Ritchie, 3 gcc(1), 193
devfs, 63 getfacl, 232
df -i, 236 getopts, 174
directory, 237 GID, 208
distribution, 4 glob(7), 107
distributions, 52 GNU, 3
dma, 250 gpasswd, 210
dmesg(1), 249, 250 GPL, 8
dumpkeys(1), 56 GPLv3, 8
grep(1), 124
E grep -i, 124
echo, 74 grep -v, 125
echo(1), 74, 75 groupadd(1), 208
echo $-, 95 groupdel(1), 209
echo *, 109 groupmod(1), 209
Edubuntu, 5 groups, 208
eiciel, 234 groups(1), 209
ELF, 54 gunzip(1), 140
elif, 165 gzip, 140
embedding(shell), 96 gzip(1), 140
env(1), 93, 93
environment variable, 90 H
EOF, 118 hard link, 238
escaping (shell), 109 head(1), 45
eval, 179 here directive, 47
executables, 53 here document, 118
exit (bash), 102 here string, 118
export, 93 hidden files, 29
HP, 3

253
 Index

HP-UX, 3 man hier, 52

http://www.pathname.com/fhs/, 52 man -k, 23
md5, 193
I mkdir, 196
IBM, 3 mkdir(1), 31, 221
id(1), 188 mkdir -p, 31
IEEE 1394, 63 mkfs, 236
if then else (bash), 165 more(1), 48
inode, 235, 238 mv(1), 39
inode table, 236
insert mode(vi), 147 N
interrupt, 248 noclobber, 115
IO Ports, 249 nounset(shell), 94
IRQ, 248 Novell Certified Linux Professional, 244
isa, 247
O
K octal permissions, 220
Ken Thompson, 3 od(1), 130
kernel, 54 OEL, 5
keymaps(5), 56 open source, 8
Korn shell, 103 open source definition, 8
Korn Shell, 197 open source software, 7
ksh, 103, 158 openssl(1), 192
kudzu, 56 Oracle Enterprise Linux, 5
owner, 217
L
less(1), 48 P
let, 180 parent directory, 27
Linus Torvalds, 3 passwd, 194
Linux Mint, 5 passwd(1), 24, 191, 191, 192, 227
ln, 239 passwd(5), 24
ln(1), 238 path, 28, 29
loadkeys(1), 56 pc-card, 247
locate(1), 138 pci, 247
logical AND, 85 pci-express, 247
logical OR, 85 pcmcia, 247
Logiciel Libre, 8 pipe, 120
LPIC 1 Certification, 243 popd, 34
LPIC 2 Certification, 243 primary group, 190
ls, 217, 236 proprietary, 7
ls(1), 29, 29, 236, 237 public domain, 7
ls -l, 216 pushd, 34
lspci, 248 pwd(1), 27, 28
lsusb, 247
R
M random number generator, 70
magic(5), 36 read, 172
man(1), 23, 24, 24 reboot, 102
mandb(1), 25 Red Hat, 5

254
 Index

regular expressions, 103 sudo(1), 199

rename(1), 40 sudo su -, 200
repository, 4 Sun, 3
RHCE, 243 SunOS, 3
Richard Stallman, 3 superuser, 189
rm(1), 37, 239 symbolic link, 239
rmdir(1), 31 sysfs, 63
rmdir -p, 31 System V, 54
rm -rf, 38
root, 53, 189, 198, 199, 199 T
root directory, 52 tab key(bash), 29
rpm, 67 tac(1), 47
tail(1), 45
S tee(1), 124
salt (encryption), 193 test, 164
Scientific, 5 time, 139
sed, 131 touch(1), 37
set, 95 tr, 127
set(shell), 92 tr(1), 126
set +x, 78 type(shell), 76
setfacl, 232
setgid, 226, 226
U
setuid, 160, 199, 227, 227 Ubuntu, 5
set -x, 78 umask(1), 221
she-bang (shell), 158 unalias(bash), 78
shell, 204 uniq, 132
shell comment, 86 uniq(1), 129
shell escaping, 86 Unix, 3
shell expansion, 74, 74 unset, 95
shell functions, 182 unset(shell), 92
shift, 172 until (bash), 166
shopt, 175 updatedb(1), 138
skeleton, 56 usb, 63, 247
sleep, 139 useradd, 190, 196
soft link, 239 useradd(1), 192, 196
Solaris, 3 useradd -D, 190
sort, 132 userdel(1), 190
sort(1), 128 usermod, 209
source, 159, 173 usermod(1), 190, 194, 195
stderr, 115 V
stdin, 115, 120, 124
vi, 210
stdout, 115, 120, 124
vi(1), 146
sticky bit, 226
vigr(1), 210
strings(1), 48
vim(1), 146
su, 195, 210
vimtutor(1), 146
su -, 91
vipw(1), 195
su(1), 198, 198
visudo(1), 199
sudo, 195, 199
vrije software, 8

255
 Index

W
w(1), 188
wc(1), 127
whatis(1), 23
whereis(1), 24
which(1), 76
while (bash), 166
white space(shell), 74
who, 132
who(1), 188
who am i, 188
whoami(1), 188
wild cards, 108

X
X, 55
X Window System, 55

Z
zcat, 140
zmore, 140

256
 UNIT-II
DBMS
Lab Exercise-1
Table :Employee

emp_no emp_name age Designation city gender salary dno

100 Alan 54 Manager chennai Male 29000 001
101 Rohan 25 Analyst Chennai Male 22000 002
102 Amit 29 Programmer banglore Female 18000 003
103 Praveena 25 Clerk Delhi Female 16000 004
104 Rohit 51 Analyst banglore male 25000 005
105 Rithika 20 Programmer Goa Female 24000 001

Table : Department

d_no d.name
001 CSE
002 EEE
003 ECE
004 AI
005 MEE
1. Create the above tables
2. Insert the records as shown
3. Show the structure of the table
4. Retrieve the details of all employees
5. Retrieve the names of the employees
6. Retrieve the name and salary of all employees
7. List details of all employees of age above 30
8. List the names of employee from banglore who are of age 25
9. List the name and age of female employee who draw salary
between 20000 and 50000
10. List the employees not from banglore
11. List the name of male employees who are above 40 and female
below 35
12. List the age of employees who belong to the city
banglore and draws salary not more than 20000
13. Update the emp_no 105 to 106
14. Delete the details of record whose emp_no is 101
15. Display the details of employee table whose designation is not
programmer
16. Write a SQL statement to display all customers, who are either
belongs to the city banglore or of gender male
17. Change all cities “Chennai” to “Mumbai”
18. Rename the table employee to emp.
19. List the d_no of department ECE
20. Add a new column phone number to the employee table
21. Assign phone numbers to existing employees.
22. Display the unique designations for the employees.
Shell programs
1. hello world program

#!/bin/sh
# comment lines start with the # character
echo "Hello world"

2. #!/bin/sh
#this program is meant for printing welcome statemnet
echo "Hello world"
3. Introducing variables
#!/bin/sh
number=25
name="Bill Gates"
echo "the number is: $number and the name is : $name"
4. Introducing variables
echo "Enter name: "
read name
echo "How many friends do you have? "
read number
echo "$name has $number friends"
5. echo "Enter name: "
read name
echo "How many friends do you have? "
read number
echo "$name has $number friends"
6. #!/bin/sh
echo "enter your height"
read height
echo "My height is $height"

7. #!/bin/sh
echo "enter your first name and last name"
read firstname lastname

echo "enter your address"

echo "Enter door number"
read doornumber

echo "Enter street"

read street

echo "enter district"

read district

echo "enter state"

read state

echo "May name and my address : $firstname $lastname $doornumber $street $district $state"

8. #!/bin/sh
echo "Enter amount of book : "
 read cost
echo "The total cost in dollar is: \$$cost"

9. #!/bin/sh

i=5

#expr $i + 1

i= `expr $i + 1`
echo "the value of i is: $i"

10. addition
#!/bin/sh
echo "enter first number"
read number1
echo "enter second number"
read number2
#expr $number1 + $number2
#back quotes used ofr assigning expresseion result to another varikable
sum=`expr $number1 + $number2`
echo "the sum is: $sum"

11. multiplication
i=2
i=`expr $i \* 3`
echo $i

12. multiplication
#!/bin/sh
echo "enter first number"
read number1
echo "enter second number"
read number2
#expr $number1 + $number2
#back quotes used ofr assigning expresseion result to another varikable
res=`expr $number1 \* $number2`
echo "the result is: $res"

13. expression
num=2

# y=`expr 5 + \( $num \* 3 \)`

y=`expr 5 \* \( $num + 3 \)`

echo $y

13. user detials

#!/bin/sh

user=`whoami`
echo "user name is" $user

numusers=`who | wc -l`
echo "Hi $user! There are $numusers users logged on."

14. if else
#!/bin/sh
user=`whoami`
if [ $user = "am" ]
then
echo "my user naem is amma!"
else
echo "My user name is not AMMA!"
fi

15. if else if

#!/bin/sh
users=`who | wc -l`
if [ $users -ge 4 ]
then
echo "Heavy load"
elif [ $users -gt 1 ]
then
echo "Medium load"
else
echo "less load "
fi

16. positive or negative check

#!/bin/sh

echo "Enter the number: "

read num
if [ $num -gt 0 ]
then
echo "The number is positive: "
else
echo "The number is negative: "

fi

17. positive , negative or zero check

#!/bin/sh

echo "Enter the number: "

read num
if [ $num -gt 0 ]
then
 echo "The number is positive: "
elif [ $num -lt 0 ]
then
echo "The number is negative: "
else
echo "The number is zero: "

fi

18. Number equal or not equal check

echo "Enter the number: "
read num
if [ $num -eq 5 ]
then
echo "number is equal"
else
echo "number is not equal"
fi

loops

19.
#!/bin/sh
resp="no"
while [ $resp != "yes" ]
do
echo "Wakeup [yes/no]?"
read resp
done

20. display hi message in loop

#!/bin/sh

read n
i=1
while [ $i -le $n ]
do
echo "hi"
i=`expr $i + 1`
#read resp
done

21. check the factorial of a number

#!/bin/sh
echo "Enter number: "
read n
fac=1
i=1
while [ $i -le $n ]
do
 fac=`expr $fac \* $i`
i=`expr $i + 1`
done
echo "The factorial of $n is $fac"

22. display hello message

#!/bin/sh
echo "enter n:"
read n
echo " nvalue is" $n
i=1
while [ $i -le $n ]
do
echo "hello"
i=`expr $i + 1`
done

23. file oprations

#!/bin/sh
if [ -f displayhello.sh ]
then
echo "We have found the file!"
cat displayhello.sh
else
echo "Keep looking!"
fi

24. string comparison

s1="amrita"
s2="amrita"
if [ $s1 = $s2 ]
then
echo "strings are equal"
else
echo " not equal"
fi

24. logical oprators usage

#!/bin/sh
if [ `who | grep amma | wc -l` -ge 1 -a `whoami` != "amma" ]
then
echo "Bill is loading down the machine!"
else
echo "All is well!"
fi
25. logical opeartor usage

#!/bin/sh
read a
read b
read c

if [ $a -gt $b -a $a -gt $c ]
then
echo "a is greater!"
else
echo "not greater!"
fi

26. usage of break

#!/bin/sh
while [ 1 ]
do
echo "Wakeup [yes/no]?"
read resp
if [ $resp = "yes" ]
then
break
fi
done

27. for loop

#!/bin/bash
for i in 7 9 2 3 4 5
do
echo $i
done

28. break

#!/bin/bash
#breaking a loop
num=1
while [ $num -lt 10 ]
do
echo "$num"
if [ $num -eq 2 ]

then
break
fi
num=`expr $num + 1`
done
echo "Loop is complete"
29. continue

for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
do
if [ $i -eq 5 ]
then
continue
fi
echo "I is equal to: $i"
done

30. for loop

#!/bin/sh
for i in 1 2 3 4 5
do
echo "Looping ... number $i"
done

•Keywords are for, in, do, done

31. our varname is table, list is specified under curly braces. Within the curly braces, first two
will initialize the table from 2, 20 represents maximum value of $table and last 2 shows the
increment by value 2.

#!/bin/bash
for table in {2..20..2}
do
echo "table for 2: $table"
done
execute with : $chmod +x filename.sh
./filename.sh

32. for loop

#!/bin/bash
for (( i=10; i>=1; i-- ))
do
echo "$i"
done
execute with : $chmod +x filename.sh
./filename.sh

33. #!/bin/bash
for (( i=1; i<=10; i++ ))
do
echo "$i"
done

execute with : $chmod +x filename.sh

./filename.sh

32. pipe coomand

A pipe is a form of redirection (transfer of standard output to some other destination)

that is used to send the output of one command/program/process to another
command/program/process for further processing. The Unix/Linux systems allow
stdout of a command to be connected to stdin of another command. The symbol used is
pipe character ‘|’.
Pipe is used to combine two or more commands, and in this, the output of one
command acts as input to another command, and this command’s output may act as
input to the next command and so on. It can also be visualized as a temporary
connection between two or more commands/ programs/ processes. The command
line programs that do the further processing are referred to as filters.
This direct connection between commands/ programs/ processes allows them to
operate simultaneously and permits data to be transferred between them continuously
rather than having to pass it through temporary text files or through the display
screen.
Pipes are unidirectional i.e data flows from left to right through the pipeline.
Syntax :
command_1 | command_2 | command_3 | .... | command_N

$ sort record.txt | uniq

This will sort the given file and print the unique values only.

Use head and tail to print lines in a particular range in a file.

$ cat sample2.txt | head -7 | tail -5
This command select first 7 lines through (head -7) command and that will be input to
(tail -5) command which will finally print last 5 lines from that 7 lines.
Use cat, grep, tee and wc command to read the particular entry from user and store in
a file and print line count.
$ cat result.txt | grep "Rajat Dua" | tee file2.txt | wc -l
This command select Rajat Dua and store them in file2.txt and print total number of
lines matching Rajat Dua

33. The grep filter searches a file for a particular pattern of characters, and displays all
lines that contain that pattern. The pattern that is searched in the file is referred to as
the regular expression (grep stands for globally search for regular expression and
print out).
Syntax:

grep [options] pattern [files]

Options Description
-c : This prints only a count of the lines that match a pattern
-h : Display the matched lines, but do not display the filenames.
-i : Ignores, case for matching
-l : Displays list of a filenames only.
-n : Display the matched lines and their line numbers.
-v : This prints out all the lines that do not matches the pattern
-e exp : Specifies expression with this option. Can use multiple times.
-f file : Takes patterns from file, one per line.
-E : Treats pattern as an extended regular expression (ERE)
-w : Match whole word
-o : Print only the matched parts of a matching line,
with each such part on a separate output line.

-A n : Prints searched line and nlines after the result.

-B n : Prints searched line and n line before the result.
-C n : Prints searched line and n lines after before the result.

example:
$cat > geekfile.txt

unix is great os. unix is opensource. unix is free os.

learn operating system.
Unix linux which one you choose.
uNix is easy to learn.unix is a multiuser os.Learn unix .un
1. Case insensitive search : The -i option enables to search for a string case
insensitively in the give file. It matches the words like “UNIX”, “Unix”, “unix”.

$grep -i UNix" geekfile.txt

Output:
unix is great os. unix is opensource. unix is free os.
Unix linux which one you choose.
uNix is easy to learn.unix is a multiuser os.Learn unix .u
Displaying the count of number of matches : We can find the number of lines that
matches the given string/pattern

$grep -c "unix" geekfile.txt

Output:

2
3. Display the file names that matches the pattern : We can just display the files that
contains the given string/pattern.

$grep -l "unix" *

or

$grep -l "unix" f1.txt f2.txt f3.xt f4.txt

Output:

geekfile.txt
4. Checking for the whole words in a file : By default, grep matches the given
string/pattern even if it found as a substring in a file. The -w option to grep makes it
match only the whole words.
$ grep -w "unix" geekfile.txt
Output:

unix is great os. unix is opensource. unix is free os.

uNix is easy to learn.unix is a multiuser os.Learn unix .un
5. Displaying only the matched pattern : By default, grep displays the entire line which
has the matched string. We can make the grep to display only the matched string by
using the -o option.

$ grep -o "unix" geekfile.txt

Output:

unix
unix
unix
unix
unix
unix
6. Show line number while displaying the output using grep -n : To show the line
number of file with the line matched.

$ grep -n "unix" geekfile.txt

Output:

1:unix is great os. unix is opensource. unix is free os.

4:uNix is easy to learn.unix is a multiuser os.Learn unix .unix is a powerful.
7. Inverting the pattern match : You can display the lines that are not matched with the
specified search sting pattern using the -v option.

$ grep -v "unix" geekfile.txt

Output:

learn operating system.

Unix linux which one you choose.
8. Matching the lines that start with a string : The ^ regular expression pattern
specifies the start of a line. This can be used in grep to match the lines which start with
the given string or pattern.

$ grep "^unix" geekfile.txt

Output:

unix is great os. unix is opensource. unix is free os.

9. Matching the lines that end with a string : The $ regular expression pattern specifies
the end of a line. This can be used in grep to match the lines which end with the given
string or pattern.

$ grep "os$" geekfile.txt

10.Specifies expression with -e option. Can use multiple times :

$grep –e "Agarwal" –e "Aggarwal" –e "Agrawal" geekfile.txt

 5
Guru bhalge

Shell Programming
2

SHELLS
A
shell can be used in one of two
ways:
A command interpreter, used
interactively
 A programming language, to write shell
scripts (your own custom commands)
3g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
4g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
5g
r
a
m
m
i
n SHELL SCRIPTS
g

 A shell script is just a file containing shell commands, but

with a few extras:
 The first line of a shell script should be a comment of the
following form:
#!/bin/sh
for a Bourne shell script. Bourne shell scripts are the most
common, since C Shell scripts have buggy features.
 A shell script must be readable and executable.
chmod u+rx scriptname
 As with any command, a shell script has to be “in your path” to
be executed.
 If “.” is not in your PATH, you must specify “./scriptname” instead of
just “scriptname”
6

SHELL SCRIPT EXAMPLE

 Here is a “hello world” shell script:

$ ls -l
-rwxr-xr-x 1 horner 48 Feb 19 11:50 hello*
$ cat hello
#!/bin/sh
# comment lines start with the # character
echo "Hello world"
$ hello
Hello world
$

 The echo command functions like a print command in shell

scripts.
7g
r
a
m
m

SHELL VARIABLES
i
n
g

 The user variable name can be any sequence of letters,

digits, and the underscore character, but the first
character must be a letter.

 To assign a value to a variable:

number=25
name="Bill Gates"
 There cannot be any space before or after the “=“
 Internally, all values are stored as strings.
8g
r
a
m
m

SHELL VARIABLES
i
n
g

 To use a variable,
precede the name
with a “$”:

$ cat test1
#!/bin/sh
number=25
name="Bill Gates"
echo "$number $name"
$ test1
25 Bill Gates
$
9g
r
a
m
m

USER INPUT
i
n
g

 Use the read command to get and store input from the
user.
$ cat test2
#!/bin/sh
echo "Enter name: "
read name
echo "How many girlfriends do you have? "
read number
echo "$name has $number girlfriends!"
$ test2
Enter name:
Bill Gates
How many girlfriends do you have?
too many
Bill Gates has too many girlfriends!
0g
r
a
m
USER INPUT
m
i
n
g  read reads one line of input from the keyboard and
assigns it to one or more user-supplied variables.
$ cat test3
#!/bin/sh
echo "Enter name and how many girlfriends:"
read name number
echo "$name has $number girlfriends!"
$ test3
Enter name and how many girlfriends:
Bill Gates 63
Bill has Gates 63 girlfriends!
$ test3
Enter name and how many girlfriends:
BillG 63
BillG has 63 girlfriends!
$ test3
Enter name and how many girlfriends:
Bill
Bill has girlfriends!
 Leftover input words are all assigned to the last variable.
1g
r
a
m
m

$
i
n
g

 Use a backslash before $ if you really want to print the

dollar sign:
$ cat test4
#!/bin/sh
echo "Enter amount: "
read cost
echo "The total is: \$$cost"
$ test4
Enter amount:
18.50
The total is $18.50
2g
r
a
m
m

$
i
n
g

 You can also use single quotes

for printing dollar signs.
 Single quotes turn off the special meaning of all
enclosed dollar signs:
$ cat test5
#!/bin/sh
echo "Enter amount: "
read cost
echo ‘The total is: $’ "$cost"
$ test5
Enter amount:
18.50
The total is $ 18.50
3g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
EXPR
 Shell programming is not good at numerical computation,
it is good at text processing.
 However, the expr command allows simple integer
calculations.
 Here is an interactive Bourne shell example:
$ i=1
$ expr $i + 1
2
 To assign the result of an expr command to another shell
variable, surround it with backquotes:
$ i=1
$ i=`expr $i + 1`
$ echo "$i"
2
4g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
EXPR
 The * character normally means “all the files in the
current directory”, so you need a “\” to use it for
multiplication:
$ i=2
$ i=`expr $i \* 3`
$ echo $i
6
 expr also allows you to group expressions, but the “(“
and “)” characters also need to be preceded by
backslashes:
$ i=2
$ echo `expr 5 + \( $i \* 3 \)`
11
5g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g

#addition of two numbers

echo –n “Enter the first number”
read a
read b
sum=`expr $a + $b`
echo “Sum of $a and $b is $sum”
6g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
EXPR EXAMPLE
$ cat test6
#!/bin/sh
echo "Enter height of rectangle: "
read height
echo "Enter width of rectangle: "
read width
area=`expr $height \* $width`
echo "The area of the rectangle is $area"
$ test6
Enter height of rectangle:
10
Enter width of rectangle:
5
The area of the ractangle is 50
$ test6
Enter height of rectangle:
10.1
Enter width of rectangle:
5.1
expr: non-numeric argument Does not work for floats!
7g

BACKQUOTES:
r
a
m

COMMAND SUBSTITUTION
m
i
n
g

A command or pipeline surrounded by

backquotes causes the shell to:
 Run the command/pipeline
 Substitute the output of the command/pipeline for
everything inside the quotes
 You can use backquotes anywhere:
$ whoami
gates
$ cat test7
#!/bin/sh
user=`whoami`
numusers=`who | wc -l`
echo "Hi $user! There are $numusers users logged on."
$ test7
Hi gates! There are 6 users logged on.
8g
r
a
m
m

CONTROL FLOW
i
n
g

 The shell allows several control flow

statements:
 if
 while
 for
9g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
IF
 The if statement works mostly as expected:
$ whoami
clinton
$ cat test7
#!/bin/sh
user=`whoami`
if [ $user = "clinton" ]
then
echo "Hi Bill!"
fi
$ test7
Hi Bill!

 However, the spaces before and after the square

brackets [ ] are required.
0g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
IF THEN ELSE
 The if then else statement is similar:
$ cat test7
#!/bin/sh
user=`whoami`
if [ $user = "clinton" ]
then
echo "Hi Bill!"
else
echo "Hi $user!"
fi
$ test7
Hi horner!
1g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
IF ELIF ELSE
 You can also handle a list of cases:
$ cat test8
#!/bin/sh
users=`who | wc -l`
if [ $users -ge 4 ]
then
echo "Heavy load"
elif [ $users -gt 1 ]
then
echo "Medium load"
else
echo "Just me!"
fi
$ test8
Heavy load!
2g
r
a
m
m
i
n BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONS
g

 Relational operators:
-eq, -ne, -gt, -ge, -lt, -le

 File operators:
-f file True if file exists and is not a directory
-d file True if file exists and is a directory
-s file True if file exists and has a size > 0

 String operators:
-z string True if the length of string is zero
-n string True if the length of string is nonzero
s1 = s2 True if s1 and s2 are the same
s1 != s2 True if s1 and s2 are different
s1 True if s1 is not the null string
3g
r
a
m
m
i
n FILE OPERATOR EXAMPLE
g

$ cat test9
#!/bin/sh
if [ -f letter1 ]
then
echo "We have found the evidence!"
cat letter1
else
echo "Keep looking!"
fi
$ test9
We have found the evidence!
How much would it cost to buy Apple Computer?
Best,
Bill
4g
r
a
m
m

AND, OR, NOT

i
n
g

 You can combine and negate expressions with:

-a And
-o Or
! Not

$ cat test10
#!/bin/sh
if [ `who | grep gates | wc -l` -ge 1 -a `whoami` != “gates" ]
then
echo "Bill is loading down the machine!"
else
echo "All is well!"
fi
$ test10
Bill is loading down the machine!
5g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
WHILE
 The while statement loops indefinitely, while the
condition is true, such as a user-controlled condition:
$ cat test11
#!/bin/sh
resp="no"
while [ $resp != "yes" ]
do
echo "Wakeup [yes/no]?"
read resp
done
$ test11
Wakeup [yes/no]?
no
Wakeup [yes/no]?
y
Wakeup [yes/no]?
yes
$
6g
r
a
m
WHILE
m
i
n
 while can also do normal incrementing loops:
g $ cat fac
#!/bin/sh
echo "Enter number: "
read n
fac=1
i=1
while [ $i -le $n ]
do
fac=`expr $fac \* $i`
i=`expr $i + 1`
done
echo "The factorial of $n is $fac"
$ fac
Enter number:
5
The factorial of 5 is 120
7g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
BREAK
 The break command works like in C++, breaking out
of the innermost loop :
$ cat test12
#!/bin/sh
while [ 1 ]
do
echo "Wakeup [yes/no]?"
read resp
if [ $resp = "yes" ]
then
break
fi
done
$ test12
Wakeup [yes/no]?
no
Wakeup [yes/no]?
y
Wakeup [yes/no]?
yes
g
r
a
m
m

BASIC SHELL PROGRAMMING

i
n
g

 A script is a file that contains shell commands

 data structure: variables
 control structure: sequence, decision, loop

 Shebang line for bash shell script:

#! /bin/bash
#! /bin/sh
 to run:
 make executable: % chmod +x script
 invoke via: % ./script

28
g
r
a
m
m

BASH SHELL PROGRAMMING

i
n
g

 Input
 prompting user
 command line arguments
 Decision:
 if-then-else
 case
 Repetition
 do-while, repeat-until
 for
 select
 Functions
 Traps 29
g
r
a
m
m

USER INPUT
i
n
g

shell allows to prompt for user input

Syntax:

read varname [more vars]

 or

read –p "prompt" varname [more vars]

 words entered by user are assigned to

varname and “more vars”
 last variable gets rest of input line 30
g
r
a
m
m

USER INPUT EXAMPLE

i
n
g

#! /bin/sh
read -p "enter your name: " first last

echo "First name: $first"

echo "Last name: $last"

31
g
r
a
m
m

SPECIAL SHELL VARIABLES

i
n
g

Parameter Meaning
$0 Name of the current shell script
$1-$9 Positional parameters 1 through 9
$# The number of positional parameters
$* All positional parameters, “$*” is one string
$@ All positional parameters, “$@” is a set of strings
$? Return status of most recently executed command
$$ Process id of current process

32
g
r
a
m
m EXAMPLES: COMMAND LINE
ARGUMENTS
i
n
g

% set tim bill ann fred

$1 $2 $3 $4
% echo $* The ‘set’
command can
tim bill ann fred
be used to
% echo $# assign values to
4 positional
% echo $1 parameters
tim
% echo $3 $4
ann fred
33
g
r
a
m
m

BASH CONTROL STRUCTURES

i
n
g

 if-then-else
 case

 loops
 for
 while
 until

34
g
r
a
m
m

IF STATEMENT
i
n
g

if command
then
statements
fi

 statements are executed only if command

succeeds, i.e. has return status “0”

35
g
r
a
m
m

TEST COMMAND
i
n
g

Syntax:
test expression
[ expression ]
 evaluates ‘expression’ and returns true or false

Example:
if test –w "$1"
then
echo "file $1 is write-able"
fi
36
g
r
a
m
m

THE SIMPLE IF STATEMENT

i
n
g

if [ condition ]; then
statements
fi

 executes the statements only if condition is

true

37
g
r
a
m
m

THE IF-THEN-ELSE STATEMENT

i
n
g

if [ condition ]; then
statements-1
else
statements-2
fi

 executes statements-1 if condition is true

 executes statements-2 if condition is false

38
g
r
a
m
m

THE IF…STATEMENT
i
n
g

if [ condition ]; then
statements
elif [ condition ]; then
statement
else
statements
fi

 The word elif stands for “else if”

 It is part of the if statement and cannot be used 39
by itself
g
r
a
m
m
i RELATIONAL OPERATORS
n
g
Meaning Numeric String
Greater than -gt
Greater than or equal -ge
Less than -lt
Less than or equal -le
Equal -eg = or ==
Not equal -ne !=
str1 is less than str2 str1 < str2
str1 is greater str2 str1 > str2
String length is greater than zero -n str
40
String length is zero -z str
g
r
a
m
m

COMPOUND LOGICAL EXPRESSIONS

i
n
g

! not

and, or
&& and must be enclosed within
|| or
[[ ]]

41
g
r
a
m
m

THE UNTIL LOOP

i
n
g

 Purpose:
To execute commands in “command-list” as long
as “expression” evaluates to false

Syntax:
until [ expression ]
do
command-list
done

42
g
r
a
m
m

EXAMPLE: USING THE UNTIL LOOP

i
n
g

#!/bin/bash

COUNTER=20
until [ $COUNTER -lt 10 ]
do
echo $COUNTER
let COUNTER-=1
done

43
g
r
a
m
m

THE FOR LOOP

i
n
g

 Purpose:
To execute commands as many times as the
number of words in the “argument-list”

Syntax:
for variable in argument-list
do
commands
done

44
g
r
a
m
m

EXAMPLE 1: THE FOR LOOP

i
n
g

#!/bin/bash

for i in 7 9 2 3 4 5
do
echo $i
done

45
g
r
a
m
m

BREAK AND CONTINUE

i
n
g

 Interrupt for, while or until loop

 The break statement
 transfer control to the statement AFTER the done
statement
 terminate execution of the loop

 The continue statement

 transfer control to the statement TO the done
statement
 skip the test statements for the current iteration
 continues execution of the loop

46
g
r
a
m
m

THE BREAK COMMAND

i
n
g

while [ condition ]
do
cmd-1
break This iteration is over
cmd-n and there are no more
iterations
done
echo "done"

47
g
r
a
m
m

THE CONTINUE COMMAND

i
n
g

while [ condition ]
do
cmd-1 This iteration is
continue over; do the next
cmd-n iteration
done
echo "done"

48
g
r
a
m
m

EXAMPLE:
i
n
g

for index in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
do
if [ $index –le 3 ]; then
echo "continue"
continue
fi
echo $index
if [ $index –ge 8 ]; then
echo "break"
break
fi
done 49
0g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
1g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
2g
r
a
m
m
i
n
g
g
r
a
m
m

SHELL PROGRAMMING
i
n
g

 Sequence
 Decision:
 if-then-else
 case

 Repetition DONE !
 do-while, repeat-until
 for

53
15 simple TOP command examples on Linux to
monitor processes

Linux TOP command

One of the most basic command to monitor processes on Linux is the top
command. As the name suggests, it shows the top processes based on certain
criterias like cpu usage or memory usage.

The processes are listed out in a list with multiple columns for details like
process name, pid, user, cpu usage, memory usage.

Apart from the list of processes, the top command also shows brief stats
about average system load, cpu usage and ram usage on the top.

This post shows you some very simple examples of how to use the top
command to monitor processes on your linux machine or server.

Note your "top" command variant

Be aware that the top command comes in various variants and each has a
slightly different set of options and method of usage.

To check your top command version and variant use the -v option

$ top -v

procps-ng version 3.3.9

This post focuses on the top command coming from the procps-ng project.
This is the version available on most modern distros like Ubunut, Fedora,
CentOS etc.

1. Display processes
To get a glimpse of the running processes, just run the top command as is
without any options like this.
$ top
And immediately the output would be something like this -

top - 18:50:35 up 9:05, 5 users, load average: 0.68, 0.52, 0.39

Tasks: 254 total, 1 running, 252 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie

%Cpu(s): 2.3 us, 0.5 sy, 0.0 ni, 97.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

KiB Mem: 8165300 total, 6567896 used, 1597404 free, 219232 buffers

KiB Swap: 1998844 total, 0 used, 1998844 free. 2445372 cached Mem

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND

17952 enlight+ 20 0 1062096 363340 88068 S 4.8 4.4 0:49.33 chrome

14294 enlight+ 20 0 954752 203548 61404 S 2.1 2.5 2:00.91 chrome

1364 root 20 0 519048 105704 65348 S 0.6 1.3 17:31.27 Xorg

19211 enlight+ 20 0 576608 47216 39136 S 0.6 0.6 0:01.01 konsole

13 root rt 0 0 0 0 S 0.3 0.0 0:00.10 watchdog/1

25 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.3 0.0 0:03.49 rcuos/2

1724 enlight+ 20 0 430144 36456 32608 S 0.3 0.4 0:03.60 akonadi_contact

1869 enlight+ 20 0 534708 52700 38132 S 0.3 0.6 0:53.94 yakuake

14040 enlight+ 20 0 858176 133944 61152 S 0.3 1.6 0:09.89 chrome

The screen contains a lot of information about the system. The header areas
include uptime, load average, cpu usage, memory usage data.

The process list shows all the processes with various process specific details
in separate columns. Some of the column names are pretty self explanatory.

PID - Process ID
USER - The system user account running the process.
%CPU - CPU usage by the process.
%MEM - Memory usage by the process
COMMAND - The command (executable file) of the process

2. Sort by Memory/Cpu/Process ID/Running Time

To find the process consuming the most cpu or memory, simply sort the list.
Press M key ( yes, in capital, not small ) to sort the process list by memory
usage. Processes using the most memory are shown first and rest in order.

Here are other options to sort by CPU usage, Process ID and Running Time -

Press 'P' - to sort the process list by cpu usage.

Press 'N' - to sort the list by process id
Press 'T' - to sort by the running time.

3. Reverse the sorting order - 'R'

By default the sorting is done in descending order. Pressing 'R' shall reverse
the sorting order of the currently sorted column

Here is the output sorted in ascending order of cpu usage. Processes

consuming the least amount of cpu are shown first.

top - 17:37:55 up 8:25, 3 users, load average: 0.74, 0.88, 0.74

Tasks: 245 total, 1 running, 243 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie

%Cpu(s): 5.2 us, 1.7 sy, 0.0 ni, 93.2 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

KiB Mem: 8165300 total, 6089388 used, 2075912 free, 199060 buffers

KiB Swap: 1998844 total, 0 used, 1998844 free. 1952412 cached Mem

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND

1 root 20 0 185308 6020 4012 S 0.0 0.1 0:01.90 systemd

2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kthreadd

3 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.16 ksoftirqd/0

5 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/0:+

7 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:06.98 rcu_sched

8 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_bh

4. Highlight the sorted column with bold text - 'x'

Press x, to highlight the values in the sort column with bold text. Here is a
screenshot, with the memory column in bold text -
top command highlight column

5. Highlight sorted column background color 'b'

After highlighting the sorted column with bold font, its further possible to
highlight with a different background color as well. This is how it looks

Top command highlight column background

6. Change the update delay - 'd'
The top command updates the information on the screen every 3.0 seconds
by default. This refresh interval can be changed.

Press the 'd' key, and top will ask you to enter the time interval between each
refresh. You can enter numbers smaller than 1 second as well, like 0.5. Enter
the desired interval and hit Enter.

top - 18:48:23 up 9:19, 3 users, load average: 0.27, 0.46, 0.39

Tasks: 254 total, 1 running, 252 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie

%Cpu(s): 1.3 us, 0.4 sy, 0.0 ni, 98.1 id, 0.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

KiB Mem: 8165300 total, 7899784 used, 265516 free, 238068 buffers

KiB Swap: 1998844 total, 5432 used, 1993412 free. 3931316 cached Mem

Change delay from 3.0 to

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND

14512 enlight+ 20 0 1047688 302532 87156 S 1.3 3.7 1:34.87 /opt/googl+

15312 enlight+ 20 0 25148 3280 2628 R 0.8 0.0 0:00.04 top

7. Filter or Search processes - 'o'/'O'

You can filter the process list based on various criterias like process name,
memory usage, cpu usage etc. Multiple filter criterias can be applied.

Press the 'o' or 'O' to activate filter prompt. It will show a line indicating the
filter format like this -

add filter #1 (ignoring case) as: [!]FLD?VAL

Then enter a filter like this and hit Enter.

COMMAND=apache
Now top will show only those processes whose COMMAND field contains the
value apache.
Here is another filter example that shows processes consuming CPU actively
-

%CPU>0.0
See active filters - Press Ctrl+o to see currently active filters
Clear filter - Press '=' key to clear any active filters

8. Display full command path and arguments of

process - 'c'
Press 'c' to display the full command path along with the commandline
arguments in the COMMAND column.

%CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND

0.0 0.0 0:00.00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session /usr/bin/im-

laun+

0.0 0.1 0:01.52 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-

address+

0.0 0.3 0:00.41 /usr/bin/kwalletd --pam-login 17 20

0.0 0.0 0:00.00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/kf5/start_kdeinit -

-kde+

0.0 0.3 0:01.55 klauncher [kdeinit5] --fd=9

0.0 0.2 0:00.13 /usr/lib/telepathy/mission-control-5

0.0 0.1 0:00.00 /usr/lib/dconf/dconf-service

0.0 0.4 0:01.41 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/kdeconnectd

0.0 0.2 0:01.09 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-

gnu/libexec/kf5/kscreen_backend_lau+
9. View processes of a user - 'u'/'U'
To view the processes of a specific user only, press 'u' and then top will ask
you to enter the username.

Which user (blank for all)

Enter the desired username and hit Enter.
top - 17:33:46 up 8:21, 3 users, load average: 2.55, 1.31, 0.81

Tasks: 246 total, 1 running, 244 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie

%Cpu(s): 11.8 us, 3.3 sy, 0.6 ni, 84.2 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.1 si, 0.0 st

KiB Mem: 8165300 total, 6108824 used, 2056476 free, 198680 buffers

KiB Swap: 1998844 total, 0 used, 1998844 free. 1963436 cached Mem

Which user (blank for all) enlightened

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND

1696 enlight+ 20 0 440728 37728 33724 S 0.0 0.5 0:03.12 akonadi_bi+

1705 enlight+ 20 0 430304 37156 33264 S 0.0 0.5 0:03.08 akonadi_mi+

1697 enlight+ 20 0 430144 37100 33248 S 0.0 0.5 0:03.00 akonadi_co+

1599 enlight+ 20 0 504628 36132 32068 S 0.0 0.4 0:03.24 kdeconnectd

1608 enlight+ 20 0 570784 35688 29944 S 0.0 0.4 0:02.87 polkit-kde+

1584 enlight+ 20 0 781016 33308 29056 S 0.0 0.4 0:04.03 kactivitym+

10. Toggle the display of idle processes - 'i'

Press 'i' to toggle the display of idle/sleeping processes. By default all
processes are display.

11. Hide/Show the information on top - 'l', 't', 'm'

The 'l' key would hide the load average information.
The 'm' key will hide the memory information.
The 't' key would hide the task and cpu information.

Hiding the header information area, makes more processes visible in the list.
12. Forest mode - 'V'
Pressing 'V' will display the processes in a parent child hierarchy. It looks
something like this -

top - 09:29:34 up 17 min, 3 users, load average: 0.37, 0.58, 0.66

Tasks: 244 total, 1 running, 242 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie

%Cpu(s): 6.1 us, 2.1 sy, 0.0 ni, 91.8 id, 0.1 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

KiB Mem: 8165300 total, 3968224 used, 4197076 free, 82868 buffers

KiB Swap: 1998844 total, 0 used, 1998844 free. 1008416 cached Mem

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND

1 root 20 0 37844 5964 4012 S 0.0 0.1 0:01.08 systemd

279 root 20 0 35376 4132 3732 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.22 `- systemd-journal

293 root 20 0 44912 4388 3100 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.14 `- systemd-udevd

493 systemd+ 20 0 102360 2844 2572 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 `- systemd-timesyn

614 root 20 0 337360 8624 6904 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.03 `- ModemManager

615 avahi 20 0 40188 3464 3096 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 `- avahi-daemon

660 avahi 20 0 40068 324 12 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 `- avahi-daem+

617 root 20 0 166276 8788 8076 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.07 `- thermald

621 root 20 0 15664 2496 2312 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 `- anacron

2792 root 20 0 4476 844 760 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 `- sh

2793 root 20 0 4364 684 604 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 `- run-pa+

2802 root 20 0 4476 1672 1536 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 `- apt

2838 root 20 0 7228 676 596 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 `+

630 root 20 0 28932 3128 2860 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 `- cron

634 root 20 0 283120 6776 5924 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.04 `- accounts-daemon

636 root 20 0 86160 7224 6128 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.01 `- cupsd

13. Change the number of processes to display - 'n'

Lets say you want to monitor only few processes based on a certain filter
criteria. Press 'n' and enter the number of processes you wish to display.
It will display a line saying -
Maximum tasks = 0, change to (0 is unlimited)

14. Display all CPU cores - '1'

Pressing '1' will display the load information about individual cpu cores.
Here is how it looks -

top - 10:45:47 up 1:42, 5 users, load average: 0.81, 1.14, 0.94

Tasks: 260 total, 2 running, 257 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie

%Cpu0 : 3.6 us, 3.6 sy, 0.0 ni, 92.9 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

%Cpu1 : 3.1 us, 3.6 sy, 0.0 ni, 93.3 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

%Cpu2 : 7.6 us, 1.8 sy, 0.0 ni, 90.7 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

%Cpu3 : 9.6 us, 2.6 sy, 0.0 ni, 87.7 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

KiB Mem: 8165300 total, 7118864 used, 1046436 free, 204224 buffers

KiB Swap: 1998844 total, 0 used, 1998844 free. 3410364 cached Mem

15. Show/Hide columns 'f'

By default top displays only few columns out of many more that it can
display. If you want to add or remove a particular column or change the
order of columns, then press f

Fields Management for window 1:Def, whose current sort field is %CPU

Navigate with Up/Dn, Right selects for move then <Enter> or Left commits,

'd' or <Space> toggles display, 's' sets sort. Use 'q' or <Esc> to end!

* PID = Process Id PGRP = Process Group vMj = Major Faults

* USER = Effective Use TTY = Controlling T vMn = Minor Faults

PR = Priority TPGID = Tty Process G USED = Res+Swap Size

NI = Nice Value SID = Session Id nsIPC = IPC namespace

VIRT = Virtual Image nTH = Number of Thr nsMNT = MNT namespace

RES = Resident Size P = Last Used Cpu nsNET = NET namespace

SHR = Shared Memory TIME = CPU Time nsPID = PID namespace

 S = Process Statu SWAP = Swapped Size nsUSER = USER namespac

* %CPU = CPU Usage CODE = Code Size (Ki nsUTS = UTS namespace

* %MEM = Memory Usage DATA = Data+Stack (K

TIME+ = CPU Time, hun nMaj = Major Page Fa

* COMMAND = Command Name/ nMin = Minor Page Fa

PPID = Parent Proces nDRT = Dirty Pages C

UID = Effective Use WCHAN = Sleeping in F

RUID = Real User Id Flags = Task Flags <s

RUSER = Real User Nam CGROUPS = Control Group

SUID = Saved User Id SUPGIDS = Supp Groups I

SUSER = Saved User Na SUPGRPS = Supp Groups N

GID = Group Id TGID = Thread Group

GROUP = Group Name ENVIRON = Environment v

The fields marked * or bold are the fields that are displayed, in the order in
which they appear in this list.

Navigate the list using up/down arrow keys and press 'd' to toggle the
display of that field. Once done, press q to go back to the process list

The following output displays only PID, USER, CPU, MEMORY and
COMMAND columns.

top - 15:29:03 up 6:16, 4 users, load average: 0.99, 0.61, 0.63

Tasks: 247 total, 1 running, 245 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie

%Cpu(s): 6.3 us, 2.0 sy, 0.2 ni, 91.5 id, 0.1 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st

KiB Mem: 8165300 total, 6089244 used, 2076056 free, 189272 buffers

KiB Swap: 1998844 total, 0 used, 1998844 free. 1902836 cached Mem

PID USER %CPU %MEM COMMAND

1921 enlight+ 9.2 3.6 /opt/google/chrome/chrome

3078 enlight+ 6.9 4.2 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --lang=en-+

1231 root 5.3 1.0 /usr/bin/X :0 -auth /var/run/sddm/:0 -nolisten tcp -+

1605 enlight+ 2.8 2.5 /usr/bin/plasmashell --shut-up

1596 enlight+ 1.8 1.0 kwin_x11 -session 10d8d4e36b000144740943900000009530+

 2088 enlight+ 0.9 1.7 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --lang=en-+

2534 enlight+ 0.8 1.7 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --lang=en-+

5695 enlight+ 0.8 0.7 /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/terminator

1859 enlight+ 0.2 1.2 /usr/bin/perl /usr/bin/shutter --min_at_startup

2060 enlight+ 0.2 1.5 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --lang=en-+

3541 enlight+ 0.2 3.6 /opt/google/chrome/chrome --type=renderer --lang=en-+

16. Batch mode

Top also supports batch mode output, where it would keep printing
information sequentially instead of a single screen. This is useful when you
need to log the top output for later analysis of some kind.

Here is a simple example that shows the Cpu usage at intervals of 1 second.

$ top -d 1.0 -b | grep Cpu

17. Split output in multiple panels - 'A'

Each panel can be sorted on a different column. Press 'a' to move through the
panels. Each panel can have a different set of fields displayed and different
sort columns.
top command multiple panels
 Solution: file contents
1. Display the first 12 lines of /etc/services.
head -12 /etc/services
2. Display the last line of /etc/passwd.
tail -1 /etc/passwd
3. Use cat to create a file named count.txt that looks like this:
cat > count.txt One Two Three Four Five (followed by Ctrl-d)
4. Use cp to make a backup of this file to cnt.txt.
cp count.txt cnt.txt
5. Use cat to make a backup of this file to catcnt.txt.
cat count.txt > catcnt.txt
6. Display catcnt.txt, but with all lines in reverse order (the last line first).
tac catcnt.txt
7. Use more to display /var/log/messages.
more /var/log/messages
8. Display the readable character strings from the /usr/bin/passwd command.
strings /usr/bin/passwd
9. Use ls to find the biggest file in /etc.
ls -lrS /etc
10. Open two terminal windows (or tabs) and make sure you are in the same directory in both.
Type echo this is the first line > tailing.txt in the first terminal, then issue tail -f tailing.txt in the
second terminal. Now go back to the first terminal and type echo This is another line >> tailing.txt
(note the double >>), verify that the tail -f in the second terminal shows both lines. Stop the tail -f
with Ctrl-C.
11. Use cat to create a file named tailing.txt that contains the contents of tailing.txt followed by
the contents of /etc/passwd.
cat /etc/passwd >> tailing.txt
12. Use cat to create a file named tailing.txt that contains the contents of tailing.txt preceded by
the contents of /etc/passwd.
mv tailing.txt tmp.txt ; cat /etc/passwd tmp.txt > tailing.txt
Chapter – 15
15.1. stdin, stdout, and stderr
The shell (and almost every other Linux command) takes input from stdin (stream 0) and sends
output to stdout (stream 1) and error messages to stderr (stream 2) .
The keyboard often serves as stdin, stdout and stderr both go to the display. The shell allows you
to redirect these streams.
15.2. output redirection
> stdout
stdout can be redirected with a greater than sign. While scanning the line, the shell will see the >
sign and will clear the file.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today! It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today! > winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$
Note that the > notation is in fact the abbreviation of 1> (stdout being referred to as stream 1.
output file is erased
To repeat: While scanning the line, the shell will see the > sign and will clear the file! This
means that even when the command fails, the file will be cleared!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ zcho It is cold today! > winter.txt
-bash: zcho: command not found
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$
noclobber
Erasing a file while using > can be prevented by setting the noclobber option.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ set -o noclobber
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today! > winter.txt
-bash: winter.txt: cannot overwrite existing file
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ set +o noclobber
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

>> append
Use >> to append output to a file.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo It is cold today! > winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt It is cold today!
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ echo Where is the summer ? >> winter.txt
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ cat winter.txt It is cold today! Where is the summer ?
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$

15.3. error redirection

2> stderr
Redirecting stderr is done with 2>. This can be very useful to prevent error messages from
cluttering your screen. The screenshot below shows redirection of stdout to a file, and stderr to
/dev/null. Writing 1> is the same as >.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ find / > allfiles.txt 2> /dev/null
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$
2>&1
To redirect both stdout and stderr to the same file, use 2>&1.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ find / > allfiles_and_errors.txt 2>&1
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$
Note that the order of redirections is significant. For example, the command
ls > dirlist 2>&1
directs both standard output (file descriptor 1) and standard error (file descriptor 2) to the file
dirlist, while the command
ls 2>&1 > dirlist
directs only the standard output to file dirlist, because the standard error made a copy of the
standard output before the standard output was redirected to dirlist
15.5. confusing redirection
The shell will scan the whole line before applying redirection. The following command line is
very readable and is correct.
cat winter.txt > snow.txt 2> errors.txt
But this one is also correct, but less readable.
2> errors.txt cat winter.txt > snow.txt
Even this will be understood perfectly by the shell.
< winter.txt > snow.txt 2> errors.txt cat
15.6. quick file clear
So what is the quickest way to clear a file ?
>foo
And what is the quickest way to clear a file when the noclobber option is set ?
>|bar
15.7. swapping stdout and stderr
When filtering an output stream, e.g. through a regular pipe ( | ) you only can filter stdout. Say
you want to filter out some unimportant error, out of the stderr stream. This cannot be done
directly, and you need to 'swap' stdout and stderr. This can be done by using a 4th stream
referred to with number 3:
3>&1 1>&2 2>&3
This Tower Of Hanoi like construction uses a temporary stream 3, to be able to swap stdout (1)
and stderr (2). The following is an example of how to filter out all lines in the stderr stream,
containing $error.
$command 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3 | grep -v $error 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3
But in this example, it can be done in a much shorter way, by using a pipe on STDERR:
/usr/bin/$somecommand |& grep -v $error
 Unix commands
1. touch command

The touch command is the easiest way to create new, empty files. It is also used to change
the timestamps (i.e., dates and times of the most recent access and modification) on existing files
and directories. touch's syntax is

touch [option] file_name(s)

When used without any options, touch creates new files for any file names that are provided
as arguments (i.e., input data) if files with such names do not already exist. Touch can create any
number of files simultaneously.

Thus, for example, the following command would create three new, empty files
named file1, file2 and file3:

touch file1 file2 file3

2. Renaming files with “mv” Command

A simple way to rename files and folders is with the mv command (shortened from “move”). Its
primary purpose is moving files and folders, but it can also rename them, since the act of renaming
a file is interpreted by the filesystem as moving it from one name to another.
The following syntax is used to rename files with mv:
mv (option) filename1.ext filename2.ext
“filename1.ext” is the original, “old” name of the file, and “filename2.ext” is the new name.
3. tac
Just one example will show you the purpose of tac (as the opposite of cat).
paul@laika:~/test$ cat count
one
two
three
four
paul@laika:~/test$ tac count
four
three
two
one
paul@laika:~/test$
 the Linux file tree
1. the root directory /

All Linux systems have a directory structure that starts at the root directory. The root directory is
represented by a forward slash, like this: /. Everything that exists on your Linux system can be
found below this root directory. Let's take a brief look at the contents of the root directory.
[paul@RHELv4u3 ~]$ ls / bin dev home media mnt proc sbin srv tftpboot usr boot etc
lib misc opt root selinux sys tmp var

2. binary directories
Binaries are files that contain compiled source code (or machine code). Binaries can be
executed on the computer. Sometimes binaries are called executables.
/bin
The /bin directory contains binaries for use by all users. According to the FHS the / bin
directory should contain /bin/cat and /bin/date (among others).

3. /lib
Binaries found in /bin and /sbin often use shared libraries located in /lib. Below is a screenshot
of the partial contents of /lib.
paul@laika:~$ ls /lib/libc* /lib/libc-2.5.so /lib/libcfont.so.0.0.0 /lib/libcom_err.so.2.1
/lib/libcap.so.1 /lib/libcidn-2.5.so /lib/libconsole.so.0

4. /lib/modules
Typically, the Linux kernel loads kernel modules from /lib/modules/$kernelversion/. This
directory is discussed in detail in the Linux kernel chapter.
/lib32 and /lib64
We currently are in a transition between 32-bit and 64-bit systems. Therefore, you may
encounter directories named /lib32 and /lib64 which clarify the register size used during
compilation time of the libraries. A 64-bit computer may have some 32-bit binaries and
libraries for compatibility with legacy applications. This screenshot uses the file utility to
demonstrate the difference.

configuration directories
1. /boot
The /boot directory contains all files needed to boot the computer. These files don't change
very often. On Linux systems you typically find the /boot/grub directory here. /boot/grub
contains /boot/grub/grub.cfg (older systems may still have /boot/ grub/grub.conf) which
defines the boot menu that is displayed before the kernel starts.
2. /etc
All of the machine-specific configuration files should be located in /etc. Historically /etc stood
for etcetera, today people often use the Editable Text Configuration backronym.
Many times the name of a configuration files is the same as the application, daemon, or
protocol with .conf added as the extension.
Data directories
1. /home
Users can store personal or project data under /home. It is common (but not mandatory by the
fhs) practice to name the users home directory after the user name in the format
/home/$USERNAME. For example:
paul@ubu606:~$ ls /home geert annik sandra paul tom

2. /mnt
The /mnt directory should be empty and should only be used for temporary mount points
(according to the FHS).
Unix and Linux administrators used to create many directories here, like /mnt/ something/.
You likely will encounter many systems with more than one directory created and/or mounted
inside /mnt to be used for various local and remote filesystems.
3. /tmp
Applications and users should use /tmp to store temporary data when needed. Data stored in
/tmp may use either disk space or RAM. Both of which are managed by the operating system.
Never use /tmp to store data that is important or which you wish to archive.

Memory directories
1. /dev
Device files in /dev appear to be ordinary files, but are not actually located on the hard disk.
The /dev directory is populated with files as the kernel is recognising hardware.
common physical devices
Common hardware such as hard disk devices are represented by device files in /dev. Below a
screenshot of SATA device files on a laptop and then IDE attached drives on a desktop.