Contents

1 Brief synopsis of Linux 3

1.1 How to begin and end a work session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Shut down a system: poweroff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Help for a command: man command name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Get the IP address of your computer: ifconfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.5 Connecting to another computer via secure shell: ssh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.6 Copy files on some other computer via secure copy: scp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.7 Directories and files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.7.1 Change current directory: cd new directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.7.2 Print working directory (the name of the current directory): pwd . . . . . . . . 5
1.7.3 Paths to files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.7.4 Symbolic Links: ln -s file shortcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.7.5 Archives: tar (or via GUI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.7.6 Midnight Commander (a Total Commander-like tool): mc . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.8 Environment variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.8.1 Setting: use export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.8.2 Displaying: echo $VARIABLE NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.8.3 Automatic Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.9 USB memory stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.10 Rights over files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.10.1 Rights and types of users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.10.2 Displaying rights: ls -l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.10.3 Changing rights: chmod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.10.4 Changing file owner and group: chown and chgrp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.11 Seek for a file: locate file name or find . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.12 Search for a string inside a file: grep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.13 Editing files: mcedit, gedit, kile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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1.14 Redirecting commands: >, >> and < . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.15 Pipes: | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.16 Compiling and running programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.16.1 C programs: gcc and make . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.16.2 Java programs: javac, java and ant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.17 Processes on the system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.17.1 Listing processes and their status: ps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.17.2 Forcibly stopping a process: kill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.18 Display a .pdf file from a terminal: okular or evince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.19 Browsers: firefox or google-chrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.20 MS Office-like packages: LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 1

Brief synopsis of Linux

Here you have some basic, useful Linux commands. This synopsis is not meant to be exhaustive or
to always offer the best way to achive one goal. It is rather intended to help a beginner use a Linux
system and get a quick start in running the lab applications. The synopsis is mainly concerned with
the Fedora distribution (the one which is used in the lab). Unless otherwise specified, the commands
are to be typed at a terminal prompt.

1.1 How to begin and end a work session

In the login screen, you should enter: you username (aka login name or account name or simply user)
and your password, as provided by the administrator. Henceforthh, the username will be iia.
login: iia
password: < −− Please continue typing even if no echo is shown!
Typically, your current directory will be /home/iia (we’ll call this your home directory). If you open a
terminal, you will ”arrive” in that directory. The home directory is denoted by ~ (the tilde character).
Most of the time it is here that you find a file which has been copied from a remote computer (e.g.,
a file copied to you machine by your teacher), unless otherwise specified by the person who did this
(and most of the time your teacher will not bother to specify a different destination).
To end your session and quit, search for System -> Logout in the upper right corner of the graphical
interface.

1.2 Shut down a system: poweroff

Alternatively to typing poweroff at the prompt, you may use System -> Shut down, also available
from the upper right corner of the graphical interface.
Pay attention! Before shutting down a computer, always do:
who
in a terminal, in order to see whether some other users are connected to your computer (don’t forget
Linux is actually a multiuser operating system – more users can work on the same machine in the
same time and share its resources. See more details in Section 1.5).

3
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1.3 Help for a command: man command name

Example:
man ls
shows a help for the command ls (list all files in a folder/directory).

1.4 Get the IP address of your computer: ifconfig

Your LAN interface is typically called eth0. The IP address consists of 4 dot-separated numbers,
e.g., 192.168.1.3

1.5 Connecting to another computer via secure shell: ssh

Example: If you are working on computer c1 and want to connect to computer c2, in the iia
account, you should do on c1:
ssh -X iia@c2
then type the password of iia on computer c2 (even if you see no echo when typing). Here, c2 is
either the name or the IP address of the remote computer. You will get acces to a terminal on c2
and be able to run programs there, including GUI featuring programs (due to the X option).
To close (i.e. end) the connection, just type in the remote terminal:
exit

1.6 Copy files on some other computer via secure copy: scp
Example: if you want to copy file f1 from computer c1 to destination computer c2, into account
iia, open a terminal on c1, change directory (see Section 1.7.1) to the one containing f1 and type:
scp f1 iia@c2: < −− Please note the colon at the end!
then type the password of iia on computer c2. f1 is copied on computer c2, in /home/iia.

1.7 Directories and files

The directory system has a unique root called / (similar to C: in Windows). File names are Case
Sensitive. Files have no specific extensions; a dot “.” might be a part of the file name (a file could
be named f, f.c or even f.1.2.3.c).

1.7.1 Change current directory: cd new directory

Example: change directory to /home/iia/john:
cd /home/iia/john
1.7. DIRECTORIES AND FILES 5

Example: change directory to the parent of the current directory:

cd ..
Example: change directory to your home directory:
cd ~
or simply
cd

1.7.2 Print working directory (the name of the current directory): pwd

This prints the complete name of the current directory. You can also do echo $PWD (see section 1.8)

1.7.3 Paths to files

Let us assume that the current directory is /home/iia and we create here a folder called d1 and a
file called f1.txt in d1. We can reffer to the file f1.txt either as d1/f1.txt (we will say we use the
”relative path”) or as /home/iia/d1/f1.txt (in this case, we use the ”absolute path”). If we type
./d1/f1.txt, we also use a relative path as a dot means ”the current directory”.
If we now change directory to d1, we can reffer to f1.txt as simply f1.txt or as ./f1.txt, or as
/home/iia/d1/f1.txt. Please note the absolute path remains the same, while the relative path (not
surprisingly) changes.
Here, by ”path” we mean the name of a file preceded by the the names of the directories containing
it.

1.7.4 Symbolic Links: ln -s file shortcut

This command creates a symbolic link (like a Windows shortcut: an alternative name for a file). It’s
usually used in order to give a ”constant” name to a file whose ”true” name changes over time (e.g.,
a library, whose name includes the version number). Example:
ln -s /usr/local/lib/myjar.0.1.23.jar myjar.jar

1.7.5 Archives: tar (or via GUI)

To create a compressed archive called archive name.tgz, you should do:

tar zcvf archive name.tgz f1 f2 d1
where f1, f2, d1 are either files or directories. When adding a directory to an archive its whole
structure is preserved.
You can also do this via a graphical interface, by right clicking on the file.
To decompress and extract files from an archive, you may use:
tar zxvf archive name.tgz
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1.7.6 Midnight Commander (a Total Commander-like tool): mc

The mc command starts a tool which allows you to create, copy, delete files or directories by using
the Functional Keys. One can see their functionalities at the bottom of the panels (e.g., F7 allows
creating a new directory).

1.8 Environment variables

They contain data which is important for the whole system. Examples:

• PATH contains the name of directories, separated by colons, in which a file launched into exe-
cution is to be searched

• CLASSPATH tells Java applications and JDK tools where to search for classes

• PWD gives the present working directory

The env command shows all environment variables and their values.

1.8.1 Setting: use export

You need to type:
VARIABLE=value
export VARIABLE
or:
export VARIABLE=value
Example:
export PATH=$PATH:/home/iia/d1
sets the PATH new value to its old value ($PATH), to which we append (via : ) the value /home/iia/d1
Example:
export PATH=$PATH:.
appends the value . (i.e., the ”current directory”) to PATH
One coud reffer to the current directory by using the character . (a dot).
Let us assume now the current directory is /home/iia and we create here a folder called d2 and a
file called f1.exe in d2, then we set the execution rights to f1.exe as explained in Section 1.10.3.
In order to run f1.exe, we have the following options:

1. using the absolute path: /home/iia/d2/f1.exe

2. using the relative path: ./d2/f1.exe or simply d2/f1.exe

3. if the directory containing f1.exe (i.e., /home/iia/d2) has been added to PATH, you can just
type f1.exe and this will work no matter which your current directory is
1.9. USB MEMORY STICK 7

4. change directory to d2 and type ./f1.exe

5. provided you have changed directory to d2, you can do a f1.exe but this only works if the
current directory, denoted in Linux by a dot, has been added to the PATH. If this is not the
case and the directory containing f1.exe has not been added to the PATH either, then simply
typing f1.exe WILL NOT WORK and will return a command not found error.

Let us assume if you have the dot in your PATH, but no other directories have been added there, and
you have a file called f1.exe in directory d1 and a file also called f1.exe in directory d2. If you
type just f1.exe, you will be able to run f1.exe, but the version to be run depends on your current
directory. So, if you do cd /home/iia/d1 then f1.exe, you will actually run /home/iia/d1/f1.exe.
But if you do cd /home/iia/d2 then f1.exe, you will actually run /home/iia/d2/f1.exe.
The command export PATH=$PATH:. in the example above basicly tells that, if the user tries to run
file x by typing x at the prompt, the shell must search x in the directory where the command x has
been issued, besides the other directories in the PATH.
To find out the absolute path to a program progr which is run, type:
which progr

1.8.2 Displaying: echo $VARIABLE NAME

If we want to see which is the current value of a specific environment variable, we may use:
echo $VARIABLE NAME
Example:
echo $PATH

1.8.3 Automatic Setting

If you want directory /home/iia/d1 to be added to your PATH automatically each time you log in,
please make sure the following lines are added to the file /home/iia/.bash profile:
PATH=$PATH:/home/iia/d1
export PATH
(alternatively, you can use the file .bashrc in your home directory).

1.9 USB memory stick

Usually, when the stick is introduced into the computer, it gets automatically mounted on the file
system. This means it temporarily becomes integrated into and visible as a part of the file system.
From a terminal, you may access it in /run/media/iia/THE NAME OF YOUR STICK/. If a writting
operation has been conducted over a file on the stick (like writting, modifying or deleting a file),
then, before removing the stick from the computer, you must unmount (eject) it. A right click on
the stick’s icon will guide you.
8 CHAPTER 1. BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF LINUX

1.10 Rights over files

1.10.1 Rights and types of users

In Linux, users of a file are divided into three categories: file owner, denoted by u; file owner group
g; others o. The rights a user may have over a file are r, w and x meaning the right to read, write
(i.e., modify) and execute (i.e., run) the file. A file that could be executed is either a binary file
(for example, the result of compiling and linking a C source), or a text file, aka script, containing
operating system commands (e.g., the PATH setting command above).
As an example: if you want to run a binary file or a script, you need to make sure its execution right
is set. Otherwise you will get an error message (e.g., Permission denied), signaling that you have
no permission to run that file.

1.10.2 Displaying rights: ls -l

Example:
ls -l f1
returns:
-rwxr-xr-- 1 iia students 32212 Oct 22 13:46 f1
The first column of the result contains 9 letters showing the rights over file f1 of its owner (rwx) –
so iia can read, write and execute the file, group members (r-x) – the members of the students
group can read and execute the file, but can’t modify it; the other users (r--) can only read it.

1.10.3 Changing rights: chmod

Example:
chmod ug+r file1
grants the owner (user u) and her group (g) the right ot read (r) the file file1 (if the user who
launches this command has the right to grant them).
Revoking the right of writting the file for everyone (user, group members and the others )is done by
either of the following two commands:
chmod a-w file1
chmod -R a-w dir1
The latter recursively changes the rights over the files and directories in dir1, at each nesting level.

1.10.4 Changing file owner and group: chown and chgrp

Example: to make iia the new owner of file1, do:
chown iia file1
Example: to change group for file1 into students, do:
chgrp students file1
1.11. SEEK FOR A FILE: LOCATE FILE NAME OR FIND 9

1.11 Seek for a file: locate file name or find

Example: locate passwd

returns the full path to all files in the system whose name includes the string ”passwd”. . It actually
looks in a system database which stores data about files, so it might not produce up-to-date results,
depending on the moment the database update has been done.
Example: find /home -name "passwd" -print
searches recursively in the file system, starting from /home, the files called passwd.

1.12 Search for a string inside a file: grep

Example:
grep abc file1
displays every line in file1 containing the string abc. The string could actually be a regular
expression (grep actually stands for ”get regular expression pattern”), e.g., f*.txt which means ”all
strings starting with f and ending in .txt”.

1.13 Editing files: mcedit, gedit, kile

mcedit file name

(or F4 on the file in Midnight Commander). mcedit heavily relies on Function keys. One can see
their functionalities at the bottom of the panels (e.g., F7 does a search of a word in the file).
Some other options are:
gedit file name
xemacs file name
For productively writing texts using LATEX, a very good Integrated Environment is kile.

1.14 Redirecting commands: >, >> and <

The result of a command can be sent into a file instead of being displyed on the screen. This is done
by > dest, if you want the original dest file to be erased, or >> dest if you need it to be appended.
Example:
ls -l > all.txt
creates a detailed list with all files in the current directory which will be written in the file all.txt.
Similarly, one can instruct the system to read from a file f.in instead of the keyboard (to redirect
the input). This is done by using < f.in (e.g., go < f.in makes go read from f.in).
10 CHAPTER 1. BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF LINUX

1.15 Pipes: |
More programs could be pipelined such that the output of one is used as the input for the next; the
operator used is |.
Example:
ls -l | grep *.c
produces a list of all files in a directory (ls -l); this list will be the input for grep *.c, which
searches for all files whose name end in .c.

1.16 Compiling and running programs

1.16.1 C programs: gcc and make

For .c programs, just do:
gcc
Example: let us assume we have in the file hw.c the following C code:

#include<stdio.h>

void main() {
printf("Hello, world!\n");
}

you may compile it from command line like this:

gcc hello.c -o hello.exe
This will produce the output hello.exe, which can be run by typing ./hello.exe
For bigger projects, the following command usually helps:
make
It assumes there is a file called Makefile or makefile in the current directory; this file contains the
commands to be actually launched for compiling the sources.
Quite often, projects could be compiled and installed using the following procedure:

./configure
make
make install

where the last line should be run with root priviledges.

1.16.2 Java programs: javac, java and ant

A Java program could be compiled using:
javac
1.17. PROCESSES ON THE SYSTEM 11

Example: if we have the following code in the file HelloWorld.java:

public class HelloWorld {

public static void main(String[] args) {

System.out.println("Hello, World!");
}

we can compile it with:

javac HelloWorld.java
which will produce the file HelloWorld.class.
Running the program needs launching the Java Virtual Machine, which is done by:
java
In order to run the example above, we can do:
java HelloWorld
If all we have is a jar file, e.g., hw.jar, we can type:
java -jar hw.jar
A program which does for a Java project pretty much the same job as make for C projects is ant.

1.17 Processes on the system

1.17.1 Listing processes and their status: ps

Example:
ps -ef
could return something like:

...
iia 5712 2692 0 22:54 ? 00:00:00 kdeinit4: kio_file [kdein e
root 5713 2 0 22:55 ? 00:00:00 [kworker/2:2]
iia 5752 2481 0 22:57 pts/0 00:00:00 ps -ef
...

showing each program running on your system, together with its ”process identifier”, or pid, which
is a unique number attached to each process, as seen in column 2.

1.17.2 Forcibly stopping a process: kill

kill -9 pid
where pid is the unique number of the process you want to stop, as returned by ps.
12 CHAPTER 1. BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF LINUX

1.18 Display a .pdf file from a terminal: okular or evince

Portable Document Format (.pdf):
okular file name.pdf &
or
evince file name.pdf&

1.19 Browsers: firefox or google-chrome

Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome etc. could be launched via the GUI or from a command line, e.g.,
by typing google-chrome& in a terminal.

1.20 MS Office-like packages: LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice

LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice are two alternatives for MS Office. Corresponding to Word,
Excel and PowerPoint, you have Writer, Calc and Impress.