Testout 1.5 Linux Basics

Distribution

What is a common version of Linux called

openSUSE, Fedora and Ubuntu

Name 3 popular Linux distributions

Shell

What is a Linux CLI called

superuser

What is Linux’s equivalent to a windows administrator

Command history: Each time you enter a command at the shell prompt, that command is saved
Command completion: When you begin entering a command, you can press the TAB key, and the Linux shell will guess what you’re trying to type and automatically complete the command for you.

What are two important features of Linux

Displays the path of the current directory (Present Working Directory) on the screen

Linux command pwd

Displays the IP address and the subnet mask assigned to this system

Linux command ifconfig

Displays a list of files and sub directory that exist within a directory.

-a Displays all files, including hidden files
-l Displays a detailed (long) listing of directory contents including ownership, permissions, modification dates, and file sizes
-R Displays the contents of the directory as well as all of it’s sub directories

Linux command ls and sub commands -a -l and -R

Displays a brief summary of how to use the command

Linux command –help

Displays the manual page for a command. It’s very similar to the help screen, but it provides more detail. Use the Q key to quit and go back to the shell prompt.

Linux command man

Displays more extensive documentation about the command. Use the Q key to go back to the shell prompt

Linux command info

Changes directories in the file system. For example, to change to the /home directory in the file system, you would enter cd /home at the shell prompt

Linux command cd

Copies files and directories from one location in the file system to another. For example, to copy the widget.odt file to the /home/rtracy directory, you would enter cp widget.ot /home/rtracy at the shell prompt

To copy an entire directory structure include the -R option which specifies the contents be recursively copied.

Linux command cp and sub command -R

Moves files and directories from one location in the file system to another. For example, to move the widget.odt file to the /home/rtracy directory, you would enter mv widget.odt /home/rtracy at the shell prompt

Linux command mv

Deletes files and directories from the file system. For example, to delete the widget.odt file you would enter rm widget.odt at the shell prompt

Linux command rm

Displays the contents of a text file on the screen. For example, to view the contents of the widget.txt file, you would enter widget.txt at the shell prompt

Linux command cat

Displays the contents of a text file on the screen, pausing the output one screen at a time. For example, to view the contents of the widget.txt file one page at a time, you would enter less widget.txt at the shell prompt

Linux command less

Displays the first few lines of a text file on the screen. For example, to view the first few lines of the widget.txt file you would enter head widget.txt at the shell prompt

Linux command head

Displays the last few lines of a text file on the screen. For example, to view the last lines of the widget.txt file, you would enter tail widget.txt at the shell prompt.

The -f option can be used with tail to monitor a file for changes. If new content is added to the end of the file (such as a log file), the new lines will be displayed on the screen.

Linux command tail and sub command -f

Edits the content of a text file. The vi uses four different operating modes
Command mode
Command-line mode
Insert mode
Replace mode
For example, to edit the contents of the widget.txt file, you would enter vi widget.txt at the shell prompt. You would then press the i key to enter insert mode and make the necessary changes to the file. When done editing the file, you would press the Esc key to enter Command mode. :wq saves and exits. They you would press the : key to enter command-line mode where you would enter exit to save your changes and exit the vi editor.

Linux command vi and sub commands i, Esc, : and :wq

Allows you to switch user accounts

Linux command su

The shutdown command brings the system down or reboots the system in a secure manner. The syntax of the shutdown command is shutdown +m -h | -r message. The options for the shutdown command include:
+m specifies when to preform the shutdown operation. The amount of time is specified in minutes
-h instructs the system to shutdown and power down
-r instructs the system to reboot after the shutdown
-p powers off the machine
message specifies a message that is sent to all users that accompanies the standard shutdown notification

Linux command shutdown and sub commands +m, -h, -r, -p, message

Creates a new file

Linux command touch

bash

What would you enter at the command prompt to start a new Bourne-again shell (bash) session

pwd

What would you enter at the command prompt on a Linux system to display the present working directory

ifconfig

What would you enter at the command prompt on a Linux system to display the IP addresses and the subnet masks assigned to each network interface on a Linus system.

ls

What would you enter at the command prompt on a Linux system to display a list of files and sub directories that exist within the present working directory.

su –

You are logged in as a user with limited system privileges, You are the Linux system administrator and you have the password to the root user account. When you need to switch to root user to perform administrative tasks, what command would you enter at the command prompt?

man ifconfig

You want to know more about the usage, command syntax, and the options available with the Linux ifconfig command. What would you enter at the command prompt to display this information about ifconfig.