Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Objectives
In this lesson, you will learn to:
☛ Identify the functions of an operating system

☛ Differentiate between single-user and multi-user

operating systems
☛ Identify the inception, growth, features, and
architecture of Linux
☛ Identify the various shells available in Linux

☛ Start a Linux session

☛ List the users who are currently logged in

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Objectives(contd.)
☛ Assign passwords to a Linux user using the passwd
command

☛ End a Linux session

☛ Identify the features of the Linux filesystem
☛ Create a directory using the mkdir command

☛ Delete a directory using the rmdir command

☛ List the contents of a directory using the ls command

☛ Copy a file using the cp command

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Objectives(contd.)
☛ Move a file using the mv command

☛ Delete a file using the rm command

☛ Use man command to get online help

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Getting Started
☛ Operating Systems
✓ An operating system (OS) is a software program
that acts as an interface between a user and a
computer, e.g Linux, Unix, Microsoft DOS etc
☛ Functions of an Operating System
✓ Command Interpretation
✓ Process Management
✓ Memory Management
✓ I/O Operations and Peripheral Management
✓ File management
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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Getting Started(contd.)
☛ Types Of Systems
✓ Single-User Systems
➤A single-user system was designed for use by
one person at a time. A personal computer (PC)
is a popular single-user system
✓ Single–User Operating Systems
➤ MSDOS (Disk Operating System) is an
example of a single-user operating system

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Getting Started(contd.)
☛ Types Of Systems(contd.)
✓ Multi-User Systems
➤ More than one user can work simultaneously on
a multi-user system
Printer
Communication Lines

Multi-user System

System Unit
-Processor
-Disk(s)
-Tape(s)
-Floppy Disk(s) Graphical or text Remote User
System Console Terminals Terminals

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Getting Started(contd.)
☛ Types Of Systems(contd.)
✓ Multi–User Operating Systems
➤ Linux,
Unix, and Windows NT Terminal Server
are examples of multi-user operating systems
➤ Morethan one user can connect to the system
and work concurrently at any point in time

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Flavours of Linux
Distributor Name Website
☛ Red Hat http://www.redhat.com
☛ Caldera http://www.caldera.com
☛ Mandrake http://www.linux-mandrake.com
☛ Debian http://www.debian.org
☛ SuSE http://www.suse.com
☛ Slackware http://www.slackware.com

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

The Linux Architecture

The Linux operating system consists of the following:

☛ Kernel
☛ Shell

☛ Utilities and Application Programs

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Shells Available in Linux

☛ Bourne Shell (sh)
☛ C Shell (csh)
☛ Korn Shell (ksh)
☛ Restricted Shell (rsh)
☛ Bash Shell (bash)
☛ Tcsh Shell (tcsh)
☛ A Shell (ash)
☛ Z Shell (zsh)

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Starting a Linux Session: Logging on

☛ Connect to a computer running the Linux operating
system from any other computer using the telnet
program
telnet <hostname or IP address>
☛ The administrator assigns each user a HOME
directory when a new logon account is created. When
you log on, you are taken directly to your HOME
directory

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Listing the Users Currently Logged In

☛ A list of users who are currently logged in can be
found by using the who command
who [options]

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Security for the Users: Passwords

☛ Linux provides an additional measure of security by
allowing you to have a password associated with your
login name
☛ The combination of the login name and password is
checked by Linux to verify if it is an authorized user
Changing the User Password
☛ Passwords can be changed using the passwd
command
☛ The passwd command asks for the old password to
ensure that only the authorized user is trying to
change the password
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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Root user:
☛ The root user (also known as the superuser) is the
administrator of the Linux operating system

Ending a Linux Session: Logging out

☛ Typing exit or logout at the command prompt ends
your current Linux session. You can also press
<CTRL>+d to end the Linux session

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System
The Linux Filesystem

bin boot home etc usr dev

cat cp ch ls
m tom michael user3
od

Desktop Templates pr pr
og og
ra ra
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1 2 Legend
De St
fa ar Directory
ul t
t File

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System
The Linux Filesystem (contd.)
☛ The /bin directory stores many utilities of Linux
☛ The /dev directory stores all the device-related files for
the system
☛ The /etc directory stores the operating system-related
data which users and the operating system need to
refer to, such as the passwd file
☛ The /lib directory contains libraries of data for the
compilers installed in the Linux operating system, for
example, the C language routines
☛ The /home directory generally contains all the HOME
directories of users

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System
The Linux Filesystem (contd.)
☛ The /usr directory stores the operating system files
that are not involved in the boot process
☛ The /var directory has information specific to different
utilities of Linux

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

In Linux, File Names:

☛ Can be up to 256 characters long
☛ Can contain special characters, except for ‘/’
☛ Can contain both uppercase and lowercase letters of
alphabets
☛ Are case-sensitive
☛ Should not have a blank or a tab

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Types of Files in Linux

File Types

Ordinary files Directory files Special files

Character Block Hard links Symbolic

Device files Device files links

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System
Types of Users in Linux
☛ System Administrator
✓ A System Administrator (SA) is primarily
responsible for the smooth operation of the Linux
operating system
☛ File Owner
✓ The user who creates a file is said to be its owner
☛ Group Owner
✓ A group of users is also given a name, just as a
user is given a name
☛ Other Users
✓ These are users who do not belong to a particular
group
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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Directory Commands in Linux

☛ Identifying the Current Directory Path

✓ The pwd (print working directory) command is used

to display the full path name of the current
directory
☛ Changing the Current Directory
✓ The cd (change directory) command changes the
current directory to the directory specified
☛ Creating a Directory
✓ The mkdir (make directory) command is used to
create directories
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Directory Commands in Linux (contd.)

☛ Removing a Directory

✓ The rmdir (remove directory) command removes

the directory specified
☛ Listing the Contents of a Directory
✓ The ls command is used to display the names of
the files and sub-directories in a directory

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

File Commands in Linux

☛ The cat (concatenate) command displays the
contents of the specified file
☛ Copying Files
✓ The cp (copy) command duplicates the contents of
the source file into a target file
✓ cp [options] <source file/s> <destination
directory/file>
☛ Removing Files
✓ The rm (remove) command is used to delete files
or directories
✓ rm [options] file/s
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File Commands in Linux (contd.)

☛ Moving and Renaming Files
✓ The mv (move) command is used to move a file or
directory from one location to another or to change
its name
✓ mv [option] source destination
☛ Displaying the Contents Page–Wise
✓ The more command is used to display data one
screen-full at a time. While viewing a file using the
more command, once you have scrolled down, you
cannot move up

✓ more [options] <filename>

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File Commands in Linux (contd.)

☛ Displaying the Contents Page–Wise (contd.)
✓ The less command is similar to the more
command except that you can scroll upwards also
while viewing the contents of a file
✓ less [options] <filename>
Wildcard Characters
☛ The shell offers the facility to perform an operation on
a set of files by the use of certain special characters in
the command in place of the actual file names

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File Commands in Linux (contd.)

Wildcard Characters (contd.)
☛ The * Wildcard
✓ The * wildcard is interpreted as a string of none,
one, or more characters
☛ The ? Wildcard
✓ The ? wildcard matches exactly one occurrence of
any character
☛ The [ ] Wildcard
✓ The [ ] wildcard can be used to restrict the
characters to be matched

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Getting Online Help

☛ The man command is used to get online help to a
user about the various options for any command in
Linux
✓ man <command name>

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Summary
In this lesson you learned that:
☛ An operating system has the following functions:
✓ Command Interpretation
✓ Process Management
✓ Memory Management
✓ I/O Operations and Peripheral Management
✓ File Management
☛ A single-user system is designed for use by one
person at a time
☛ More than one user can work simultaneously on a
multi-user system
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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Summary(contd.)
☛ The Linux operating system consists of kernel, shell,
utilities, and application programs
☛ Some of the commonly available shells in Linux along
with their executable file names are:
✓ The Bourne shell (sh)
✓ the C shell (csh)
✓ The Korn shell (ksh)
✓ The Restricted shell (rsh)
✓ The Bash shell (bash)
✓ The Tcsh shell (csh/tcsh)

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Summary(contd.)
✓ The A shell (ash)
✓ The Z shell (zsh)

☛ The telnet command is used to connect to a Linux server

☛ The passwd command is used to change the password of the
user
☛ For organizing data on the disk, Linux provides a filesystem
which allows you to group files in a convenient manner. The
Linux filesystem has a hierarchical structure and files can be
stored under directories

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Summary(contd.)
☛ In Linux, there are three categories of files:
✓ Ordinary files
✓ Directory files
✓ Special files

☛ The types of users in Linux are:

✓ System Administrator
✓ File owner
✓ Group owner
✓ Other users

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Introduction to the Linux Operating System

Summary(contd.)
☛ In Linux, chat and e-mail programs are used to
communicate with each other.

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