Karl O'Connell evSD1 - 2018

Operating
Systems in
Practice

Lecture: Linux Overview

Karl O’Connell

Linux Overview
Logging On

Requires a user name and a password.

Only the root user (i.e. the administrator)

can create a new user.

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Linux Overview - users

There are two different types of users:

Ordinary user: limited in what he / she can do. Usually has permission
to read (view files), write (create & save files) and execute (run
executables) in his /her home directory. Users usually have permission
to run certain commands but would not have access to parts of the
system.

Root user (also known as the superuser): is an administrator and can

do everything. The root user has control over what others users can do
and which parts of the system they have access to.

Linux Overview – users (cont.)

Every Linux user has the following attributes:

username: used to log into the system

password: used to authenticate the user

user id: unique integer generated by the system

group id: a unique integer generated by the system

home directory: where the user can store his / her files

default shell: the default terminal shell

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Linux Overview - groups

Linux users can belong to a group (or several groups)

It’s possible to enable a group of users to have certain privileges

while denying others. For example, some users may have
access to specific software while others do not.

When a new Ubuntu user is created a group (with the same

name as the user) is also created.

In some Linux distributions, all new users are added to a

common group (e.g. in Suse Linux).

Linux Configuration files

Linux stores information about users in the following files:

passwd – has an entry for each user. It contains information about each
user such as user id, home directory, etc.

shadow – contains the encryption of users’ passwords (can only be

read by root)

group – lists groups and group members.

All these files are in the /etc directory

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Linux passwd file

Example:

karl:x:1000:1000:Karl OConnell,,,:/home/karl:/bin/bash

joe:x:1001:1001:joe,,,:/home/joe:/bin/bash

tony:x:1002:1002:tony,,,:/home/tony:/bin/bash

kate:x:1003:1005::/home/kate:/bin/bash

The numbers represent the user & group ids (uid + gid)
The x indicates that the encrypted password is contained in the shadow file.

Linux shadow file

Example
joe:$6$6d/77tiY.I4V.jfC$BfDVhWndx8PlBe0lWoKSjGEUT/Gf6qIp6tgkV1hm6uIfg2l7K7TL
xlNZ8c84nIwQhL6H8WPIKWwQ.AzdUbsa4/:17423:0:99999:7:::

tony:$6$AS36G$VPhHTlmCN.S8LnP3z.ZWeegJUrFrIcCzQ7IFbfDGmYgxe1/5JnjNN7KB
WRAzS/9HYw/h697DC6XvdT14dctO1.:17423:0:99999:7:::

kate:!:17423:0:99999:7:::

The string (after the user name) is the encryption of the user’s password.

The user kate has yet to be given a password

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Linux group file

Example

groupZ:x:1003:tony,joe

This group has a user id 1003.

The group has two members.

Interfacing with Linux

Once logged on, user can interface with Linux using the
GUI (graphical user interface) or entering commands
directly.

One enters commands directly using the command line

interface i.e. the terminal program.

Users need to know the correct syntax for each command.

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Linux Terminal Program

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Linux Terminal Program

When you launch the terminal you will probably see the
bash shell (other shells are available but bash is often the
default).

Running commands at the terminal uses fewer resources

than a GUI and provides more functionality

It’s possible to write your own short operating systems

programs known as scripts.

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Linux Commands
ls lists files in current directory

pwd current directory

cat view file contents

cal displays calendar

date displays date

su switches user

cp copy a file

mv move a file & change file name

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Linux Documentation
There is a wealth of documentation available. Obviously one can
search the Internet using any search engine.

Basic commands have built in documentation. Every command has a

manual (man) page which should provide anything you might require
about a specific command.

For example, if you require information about the ls command (lists files
in current directory), enter the following:

man ls

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Linux Documentation (cont.)

The man pages list all command options relating to
the command e.g.

ls can be used with in a variety of options such as:

ls –l provides a long listing, giving more detailed

information about each file.

ls –i lists files with their i-node numbers.

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Linux Documentation (cont.)

man pages are not always user-friendly, but should (with
some patience) provide what you need.

When using the command, use space to scroll through and

q to quit.

An alternative to man is info e.g.

info ls

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Linux Directories
Linux directories (or folders) are containers that
may contain sub-directories and files.

A directory is a type of file and has the same

attributes as an ordinary file such as ownership,
permissions, etc.

As well as directories, Linux has other types of file

such as symbolic links, device, etc.
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Linux Directory Structure

Like windows, Linux has a hierarchical directory
structure.

At the top of the tree is: /

There are a number of top-level directories

under /. These may vary from distribution to
distribution. However, you would expect to see
the following:
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Linux Directory Tree

/bin: contains binaries, the commands that you use
to perform tasks such as ls and cat.

/etc: contains configuration files such as passwd,

shadow and group.

/home: contains the home directory for each user.

/root: root’s home directory

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Linux Directory Tree (cont.)

/dev: device files – used to make devices
(such as storage) available.

/sbin: system binaries – contains commands

used by root, such as groupadd and
usermod.

Others: /lib, /usr, /tmp and many others.

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Linux Directory Tree (cont.)

To view top level directories:

Use the GUI to navigate to the top of the tree.

Using the terminal program:

cd /
ls

Alternatively

tree –L 1

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Linux Directory Tree (cont.)

To view all directories in a tree formation:

tree –d | less
(space to scroll, q to exit)

Install tree

apt-get install tree (if necessary)

man tree (for documentation)

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Absolute PATH
The absolute (or full) path is given using the / symbol
(which donates the top of the tree).

A directory might have a path such as /media/myDir/subDir

This means that subDir is a subdirectory of myDir which in

turn is a subdirectory of media which is a subdirectory of /.

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Absolute PATH (cont.)

Every file and directory has

an absolute path.

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Home Directory
When a user logs on, he / she generally has a home directory.

Here the user can store his / her own files including sub-directories and
their contents.

It is usually the default login directory i.e. where a user goes after
logging in.

It is possible for a user to have no home directory e.g. a guest user in

an Internet café or a public library.

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Home Directory (cont.)

Users ‘own’ their home directories and files
they create here.

Users can add, remove and edit home directory

contents.

Users can allow (or prevent) others permission

to their home directory and home directory
contents.
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Home Directory (cont.)

Usually, home directories are subdirectories
of /home.

A user joe’s home directory would be

/home/joe.

It is possible that home directories could be

located elsewhere on the system.
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Files
A file is a collection of data items stored on disk. What ever you store in a
computer - it must be a file. Files are associated with devices like hard disk,
etc. Every file has a location i.e. an absolute path.

The command ls –l (long listing) displays the different properties of files in the
current directory. There are different types of files such as:

Regular (ordinary): this is the most common type of file. It’s identified by the –
at the beginning of the permission string.

Example:
-rw-r--r-- 1 joe joe 16 Jan 31 13:56 myFile

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Types of File
Directory: in a typical system about 10% of files are directories. It’s
identified by the d at the beginning of the permission string.

Example:
drwxr-xr-x 2 joe groupX 4096 Jan 31 13:57 newDir

Symbolic (soft) link: this is a short cut to an other file. It’s identified by
the l at the beginning of the permission string.

lrwxrwxrwx 1 joe joe 11 Jan 31 13:57 passLink -> /etc/passwd

Other types also exist such as device files.

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File Attributes
Every file has a number of properties (attributes). Some of these can be seen when
entering ls –l

-rw-r--r-- 1 joe groupX 16 Jan 31 13:56 myFile

The first item is the permission string (-rw-r--r-- ). This is followed by the number of hard
links (1), owner (joe), the group (groupX), the size in bytes (16), date (Jan 31), time
(13:56) and file name (myFile).

More information can be displayed e.g. ls –i displays the information node (i-node)
number; ls –s displays the number of blocks required to store the file. Try man ls.

There are many commands used with files such as cat, rm, touch, cp, etc.

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File Permissions
Consider the following.

-rw-r--r-- 1 bill staff 28 Oct 2 11:43 temp

• The -rw-r--r-- is known as the permission string. The first character

indicates the type of file. The other nine characters represent permissions.

• The permissions are read r, write w and execute x. The first three are user
permissions; the next three are for the group the final three are for others.

• The above file temp can be read and written to by the owner, read by
members of the group staff and read by all users. The above permissions
are the usual default permissions when a file is created. Permissions can be
changed by the owner or by the root user.

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Ordinary File Permissions

Example
-rwxr-xr-- 1 joe groupX 34 Feb 1 12:50 myFile

This is an ordinary file

The owner of the file is joe

joe can read (view file contents), write (make & save changes) and myFile (if it’s a program or a script)
the file myFile

Members of groupX can read and execute myFile

Other system users can read myFile

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Directory Permissions
Directories also have permissions but have slightly different meanings.

Example

drwxr-x-- joe groupY 1024 2 Feb 12:50 myDir

joe owns this directory and can change any of its nine permissions

joe can see directory contents and add or remove files to / from it.

Members of groupY can see directory contents (& copy them) but can not add
or remove contents.

Other users have no permission.

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Editors
Although strictly not part of the operating system, all Linux systems
come with at least one editor.

There are many types of editors available both GUI (gedit) or command
line (nano)

Editors are used to create, edit and save files.

Usually, users only have permission to save files in their home

directories.

The vi editor used to be the standard UNIX editor and is still included in
all distributions.
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Editors (cont.)
gedit runs in a GUI environment.

gedit is similar to Windows notepad

Uses drop down menus for different

functions.

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gedit Editor

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Editors (cont.)
Nano has a command line interface.

No GUI (e.g. no use of mouse) available.

Text can be entered and commands require

use of the CTRL key e.g. to exit CTRL+ x

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nano Editor

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