Basic Shell

Commands

Bok, JongSoon
javaexpert@[Link]
[Link]
Focusing on Linux Commands
 These days, many important tasks in Linux can be done
from both graphical interfaces and from commands.
 However, the command line has always been, and still
remains, the interface of choice for Linux power users.
Focusing on Linux Commands (Cont.)
 For the following cases, Will probably need to rely on the
command line:
 Almost any time something goes wrong
 Remote systems administration

 Features not supported by GUI

 GUI is broken or not installed

Finding Commands
 $ echo $PATH
 Show the current PATH
 $ which
 Locate a command
 $ find
 Search for files in a directory hierarchy.
 $ whereis
 Locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command.
Finding Commands (Cont.)
 $ locate
 List files in databases that match a pattern.
 $ apropos
 Search the manual page names and descriptions.
 $ man 8 umount
 View section 8 of the man page for umount (type q to quit)
which Command
 Shows the full path of commands.
 Syntax
 which [OPTION] command

 Options
 -a, --all : Print all matching executables in PATH

 Examples
 $ which ls
find Command

 Search for files in a directory hierarchy.

 Syntax
 find [PATH][OPTION] filename [EXPRESSION]
Searching Files with find
 Searches the root file system (/) recursively for files named *stat:
$ find / -name ‘*stat’ –print
 Can find files based on timestamps.
 Finds files in /usr/bin/ that have been accessed in the past 2
minutes:
$ find /usr/bin/ -amin -2 –print
 Finds files that have not been accessed in /home/chris for more
than 60 days:
$ find /home/chris/ -atime +60
Searching Files with find (Cont.)
 Use the -type d option to find directories.
 Finds all directories under /etc:

$ find /etc -type d -print

 Finds files in /sbin with permissions that match 750:

$ find /sbin/ -perm 750 -print

 The xargs option lets act on the files found:

$ find . –perm 644 –print | xargs ls -l

Searching Files with find (Cont.)
 Finds all files that are greater than 8 KB (+8k), lists those files from
largest to smallest (ls -lS) and directs that list to a file (/tmp/[Link]
):
$ find . -size +8k -print | xargs ls -lS >
/tmp/[Link]
$ head -5 /tmp/[Link]
 Examples
 $ find / -name passwd
 $ find / -name passwd 2> /dev/null
 $ find ~ -name ‘core*’ –exec rm {} \;
Lab 1 : Using find command
find command
1. $ find /bin –name ls
2. $ find /home –user instructor

1. $ cd temp
2. $ touch doc1 doc2 doc3 doc4
3. $ find . –user instructor
4. $ find . –user instructor –exec rm {} \;

1. $ touch doc1 doc2 doc3 doc4

2. $ find . –user instructor –ok rm {} \;
whereis Command
 Locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command.
 Syntax
 whereis [OPTION] filename

 Options
 -b : Search only for binaries.

 -m : Search only for manual sections.

 -s : Search only for sources.

 -B : Change or limit the place for binaries.

 -M : Change or limit the place for manual secs.

 -S : Change or limit the place for sources.

Lab 2 : Using whereis command
whereis Command
 $ whereis find
 $ whereis perl
 $ whereis –b find
 $ whereis –m find
apropos Command
 Search the manual page names and descriptions.
 Syntax
 apropos keyword …

 Examples
 $ apropos zip
locate Command
 List files in databases that match a pattern.
 Print out the complete path along with the filename containing the
string.
 Before use, must build the index used by locate.
 $ sudo apt install –y mlocate

 This index makes it possible to find files quickly.

 The command to build this index is : updatedb
 Syntax
 $ sudo updatedb

 The locate database is saved in the following directory in Ubuntu :

/var/lib/mlocate/[Link]
locate Command (Cont.)
 Syntax
 locate filename or pattern

 Pattern (with –r option)

 ^ : beginning of line

 $ : end of line

 [] : match on a class of characters

 Examples
 $ locate passwd

 $ locate –r /passwd$
grep Command
 Prints the matching lines.
 Syntax
 grep [options] pattern [filename]
 -i, --ignore-case
 -l, --files-with-match
 -n, --line-number
 Examples
 $ grep root /etc/passwd
 $ grep –n unix ~/*.txt
 $ grep –l hello*.c
Lab 3 : Using grep command
grep Command
 $ cd temp
 $ cp /etc/services data
 $ grep SSL data
 $ grep –n SSL data
Using help Messages
 Nearly all commands on a Linux system print some form of
brief usage information if asked to.
 Frequently, the way to ask for this usage info is by way of
the –h or –-help argument to the command, and nothing
more.
$ ls --help
 Since there is so much information printed by the --help
flag, you can again use a pager to limit the output to one
screen at a time.
$ ls --help | more
Using man Pages
 Can use the apropos command to search the man page
database for any keyword or group of characters.
 The output will show man page sections which contain the
word you supply to apropos.

$ apropos crontab

$ man man
man Page Sections
Number Types of Pages
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 such as /etc/passwd
6 Games
7 Miscellaneous (including macro packages and conventions), such as man(7), groff(7)
8 System administration commands (usually only for root)
9 Kernel routines [Non standard]
Using man Pages (Cont.)
 Can view the man pages from those sections by passing the
section number as an argument to the man command.

$ man 5 crontab

 If we omit the section number, man will return the man page from the
first section it finds.

$ man crontab
man Command Options
Option Description
man –a crontab Shows all man page sections, in succession, for
crontab
man 5 crontab Shows the section 5 man page for crontab
man crontab –P more Uses the pager program more for paging through the
crontab man page
man –f crontab Equivalent to the whatis command
man –k crontab Equivalent to the apropos command
whatis Command
 Is another man page searching utility.
 It is different from apropos in that it only prints man page descriptions
that match the keyword you type in.
 Running the apropos command for the route command returns
three different man pages where a reference to the word route was
found:

$ apropos route
whatis Command (Cont.)
 In running whatis for the route command, only the section 8 man
page for the route command is returned.

$ whatis route
Using info Documents
 Read documentation in Info format.
 Can enter the info database by simply typing the info
command or by opening a particular component (use the q
key to quit the info utility).

$ info ls
shutdown Command
 Bring the system down.
 Syntax
 shutdown [OPTION] … TIME [MESSAGE]

 Options
 -k : Don't really shutdown; only send the warning messages to everybody.
 -r : Reboot after shutdown.
 -h : Halt after shutdown.
 -H : Requests that the system be halted after it has been brought down.
shutdown Command (Cont.)
 Options
 -P : Requests that the system be powered off after it has been brought down.
 -c : Cancel an already running shutdown.
 Example
 $ sudo shutdown –h +10
 $ sudo shutdown +3 “System is going down”
 $ sudo shutdown –r now
 $ sudo shutdown -h 20:30 System will be halted
halt Command
 Halt system.
 Syntax
 halt [OPTION]

 Options
 -p : When halting the system, do a poweroff. This is the default when halt is
called as poweroff.
 -w : Don't actually halt but only write the wtmp record (in the
/var/log/wtmp file).
 Example
 $ sudo halt -p
poweroff Command
 System power off.
 Syntax
 poweroff [OPTION]

 Options
 -p : When halting the system, do a poweroff.
 -w : Don't actually halt but only write the wtmp record (in the
/var/log/wtmp file).
 Example
 $ sudo poweroff –p
reboot Command
 Reboot system.
 Syntax
 reboot

 Example
 $ sudo reboot
init Command
 Is the parent of all processes.
 Refer to [Link]
default-runlevel-on-ubuntu-18-04
 $ systemctl list-units –-type=target –-all | cat
init Command (Cont.)
 Default runlevel
runlevel Description
0 System halt ; no activity, the system can be safely powered down.
1 Single user; rarely used.
2 Multiple users, no NFS
3 Multiple users, command line interface; the standard runlevel for most Linux-based server
hardware.
4 Unused.
5 Multiple users, GUI; the standard runlevel for most Linux-based desktop systems.
6 Reboot; used when restarting the system.

 $ sudo init 0 : System shutdown

 $ sudo init 6 : System reboot
init Command (Cont.)
 For desktop systems the default is [Link] :
 $ systemctl get-default
 Can switch the target whenever you want with systemctl isolate comm
and.
 The example below will switch to text-based [Link]
 $ sudo systemctl isolate [Link]
 Default target can be changed the following way :
 $ sudo systemctl set-default [Link]

More info : [Link]

who Command
 Show who is logged on.
 Syntax
 who [OPTION]

 Options
 -a, --all: Same as -b -d --login -p -r -t -T -u
 -b, --boot : Time of last system boot.
 -d, --dead : Print dead processes
 --login : Print system login processes.

Refer to [Link]
who Command (Cont.)
 Options
 -p, --process: Print active processes spawned by init
 -r, --runlevel : Print current runlevel.
 -t, --time : Print last system clock change
 -u, --users : List users logged in.
 -H, --heading : Print line of column headings
 -q, --count : All login names and number of users logged on
Lab 4 : Using who command
who Command
 $ who
 $ who –H
 $ who –b
 $ who –r
 $ who -a
uname Command
 Print system information, print information about the machine and
operating system it is run on.
 Refer to /proc/version
 Syntax
 uname [OPTION]

 Options
 -a, --all : Print all information, in the following order :
KERNEL-NAME NODENAME KERNEL-RELEASE
KERNEL-VERSION MACHINE PROCESSOR
HARDWARE-PLATFORM OERATING-SYSTEM
uname Command
 Options
 -s : Print the kernel name
 -n : Print the network node hostname
 -r : Print the kernel release
 -v : Print the kernel version
 -m : Print the machine hardware name
 -p : Print the processor type
 -i : Print the hardware platform
 -o : Print the operating system
last Command
 Show listing of last logged in users.
 By default it shows a log of the file /var/log/btmp
 Syntax
 last [OPTION]

 Options
 -n : This is a count telling last how many lines to show.
 -t YYYYMMDDHHMMSS: Display the state of logins as of the specified time.
 date Command
 Display the current time in the given FORMAT, or set the system date.
 Syntax
 date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT1]
date [-u|--utc|--universal] [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]
]
 Options
 -s,--set=STRING : Set time described by STRING.
 -u,--utc, --universal : Print or set Coordinated Universal Time

1. FORMAT refer to [Link]

Lab 5 : Using date command
date Command
 $ date
 $ date ‘+%A %B %d %G’
 $ date ‘+The date today is %F.’
 $ date –-date=‘4 weeks’
 $ date –-date=‘8 months 3 days’
 $ date 052112452016
 $ date -s '2016-10-20 23:34:21'
cal Command
 Displays a simple calendar.
 Syntax
 cal [-smjy13 ] [[ month ] year ]

 Options
 -1 : Display single month output. (This is the default.)
 -3 : Display prev/current/next month output.
 -s : Display Sunday as the first day of the week. (This is the default.)
 -m : Display Monday as the first day of the week.
 -j : Display Julian dates (days one-based, numbered from January 1).
 -y : Display a calendar for the current year.
whoami Command
 Print effective userid.
 Syntax
 whoami
pwd Command
 Print the full filename of the current working directory.
 Syntax
 pwd
clear Command
 Clear the terminal screen.
 Syntax
 clear