UNIX BASICS

CS 3000 -- Lab Assignment #1 (For Unix Beginners)

1. Password Check:
   
   
   • login to one of the Sun Ultra's
     
     
   • If you don't have an appropriate password, change it. (Use the nispasswd command.)
     
     
   • If you changed your password, log out and then log back in to make sure your new password works the way you think it should.
     
     
2. Do the command:
   
   man ls
   
   Read the DESCRIPTION section, and look at some of the options such as -l, -a, -F, and -C. Leave the information on-screen
   
   
3. File Copy Exercise:
   
   
   • Open a new terminal window and do
     
     ls ~john
     
     This lists the contents of my home directory. Remember that the tilde (~) is a special symbol that means "home directory of." If you know a person's user name, you can use this notation to access his or her home directory, even though you may not know the path to the directory.
     
     
   • Do
     
     ls -l ~john
     
     (That's an "el up there after the hyphen," not a "one.") Look at the information that is written when you run the command. Using the output of
     
     man ls
     
     in the other window for help, figure out the meaning of each column of the output of
     
     ls -l ~john
     
     If you find you are "spinning your wheels" ask some questions.
     
     Next, find a directory below ~john with permisions that allow you to cd to it.
     
     
   • Do a cd to the directory you found.
     
     
   • Use cd and ls commands to look around and see the names of some of the files and directories there. (Ask for help if you get stuck.)
     
     
   • Look for an ascii file (a plain text file). You can check the files in a directory by cd'ing to the directory and running the command:
     
     file *
     
     If you don't find an ascii file where you are, try moving into a different directory.
     
     
   • Do
     
     cp filename ~/
     
     where filename stands for the name of the ascii file you found. This command copies the file into your home directory.
     
     
   • Do
     
     cd ~
     
     or just
     
     cd
     
     (This puts you back into your home directory)
     
     
4. Making a Directory and Moving a File:
   
   
   • Do an ls on your home directory
     
     
   • Do an ls -al on your home directory
     
     
   • Do mkdir CS3000
     
     
   • Do another ls -al and look at the permissions on the directory you just created
     
     
   • Move the file you copied from my home directory into the new CS3000 directory using the mv command
     
     
   • "One more time" -- Put a copy of a different file from my home directory into your CS3000 directory.
     
     
5. Reading a File:
   
   
   • Take a look at a file using more -- Do
     
     more filename
     
     
   • Take a look at a file using less
     
     
   • Take a look at a file using cat
     
     
   • Take a look at a file using cat, piping the file through more
     
     
6. Using the rm Command
   
   
   • Do a man on the rm command. Read the DESCRIPTION section and several of the descriptions of options.
     
     
   • Remove one of the files you previously put into your CS3000 directory.
     
     
7. Using the pwd Command
   
   
   • Do a pwd (this tells you the current working directory)
     
     
   • Do a cd to your home directory
     
     
   • Do a pwd again
     
     
   • Remove the other file you copied to your CS3000 directory, unless you want to hold on to it for a while.