CHAPTER 01

ACCESSING THE COMMAND-

LINE
• RHCSA I (124)
• RHEL 7
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE

THE BASH SHELL

 A COMMAND LINE IS A TEXT-BASED INTERFACE WHICH CAN BE USED
TO INPUT INSTRUCTIONS TO A COMPUTER SYSTEM. THE LINUX
COMMAND LINE IS PROVIDED BY A PROGRAM CALLED THE SHELL.
OVER THE LONG HISTORY OF UNIX-LIKE SYSTEMS, MANY SHELLS
HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED. THE DEFAULT SHELL FOR USERS IN RED HAT
ENTERPRISE LINUX IS THE GNU BOURNE-AGAIN SHELL (BASH). BASH IS
AN IMPROVED VERSION OF ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SHELLS
USED ON UNIX-LIKE SYSTEMS, THE BOURNE SHELL (SH).
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE

 WHEN A SHELL IS USED INTERACTIVELY, IT DISPLAYS A STRING

WHEN IT IS WAITING FOR A COMMAND FROM THE USER. THIS IS
CALLED THE SHELL PROMPT.
 THE USERS STANDARDS ARE :
 STANDARD USER. IT IS REPRESENTED BY “$”
 ROOT USER. IT IS REPRESENTED BY “#”
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE

VIRTUAL CONSOLES
 USERS ACCESS THE BASH SHELL THROUGH A TERMINAL. A TERMINAL
PROVIDES A KEYBOARD FOR USER INPUT AND A DISPLAY FOR OUTPUT. ON
TEXT-BASED INSTALLATIONS, THIS CAN BE THE LINUX MACHINE'S
PHYSICAL CONSOLE, ANOTHER WAY TO ACCESS A SHELL IS FROM A
VIRTUAL CONSOLE. A LINUX MACHINE'S PHYSICAL CONSOLE SUPPORTS
MULTIPLE VIRTUAL CONSOLES WHICH ACT LIKE SEPARATE TERMINALS.
EACH VIRTUAL CONSOLE SUPPORTS AN INDEPENDENT LOGIN SESSION.
 ACCESS A TEXT LOGIN PROMPT ON A VIRTUAL CONSOLE BY PRESSING
CTRL+ALT AND PRESSING A FUNCTION KEY (F2 THROUGH F6)
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE

SHELL BASICS
 COMMANDS ENTERED AT THE SHELL PROMPT HAVE THREE BASIC PARTS:
 COMMAND TO RUN
 OPTIONS TO ADJUST THE BEHAVIOR OF THE COMMAND
 ARGUMENTS, WHICH ARE TYPICALLY TARGETS OF THE COMMAND
 OPTIONS NORMALLY START WITH ONE OR TWO DASHES (-A OR --)
 MOST COMMANDS HAVE A --HELP OPTION.
 CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE
COMMAND-LINE

USEFUL COMMAND LINE-EDITING SHORTCUTS :

 SHORTCUT DESCRIPTION
 CTRL+A JUMP TO THE BEGINNING OF THE COMMAND LINE.
 CTRL+E JUMP TO THE END OF THE COMMAND LINE.
 CTRL+U CLEAR FROM THE CURSOR TO THE BEGINNING OF
THE COMMAND LINE.
 CTRL+K CLEAR FROM THE CURSOR TO THE END OF THE
COMMAND LINE.
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE

 CTRL+LEFT ARROW JUMP TO THE BEGINNING OF THE

PREVIOUS WORD ON THE COMMAND LINE.
 CTRL+RIGHT ARROW JUMP TO THE END OF THE NEXT WORD
ON THE COMMAND LINE.
 CTRL+R SEARCH THE HISTORY LIST OF COMMANDS FOR A
PATTERN.
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
 MATCH THE FOLLOWING ITEMS TO THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN THE TABLE.
 DESCRIPTION TERM
 THE INTERPRETER THAT EXECUTES COMMANDS TYPED AS STRINGS. SHELL
 THE VISUAL CUE THAT INDICATES AN INTERACTIVE SHELL IS WAITING FOR
THE USER TO TYPE A COMMAND. PROMPT
 THE NAME OF A PROGRAM TO RUN. COMMAND
 THE PART OF THE COMMAND LINE THAT ADJUSTS THE BEHAVIOR OF A
COMMAND. OPTION
 THE PART OF THE COMMAND LINE THAT SPECIFIES THE TARGET THAT THE
COMMAND SHOULD OPERATE ON. ARGUMENT
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE

 DESCRIPTION TERM
 THE HARDWARE DISPLAY AND KEYBOARD USED TO INTERACT
WITH A SYSTEM.
 PHYSICAL CONSOLE
 ONE OF MULTIPLE LOGICAL CONSOLES THAT CAN EACH SUPPORT
AN INDEPENDENT LOGIN SESSION. VIRTUAL
CONSOLE
 AN INTERFACE THAT PROVIDES A DISPLAY FOR OUTPUT AND A
KEYBOARD FOR INPUT TO A SHELL SESSION.
TERMINAL
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE

 COMMANDS
 DATE ()
 EXIT OR CTRL+D ()
 SUPER+M ()
 PASSWD ()
 FILE ()
 TAIL AND HEAD ()
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
 WC {-L –W -C} ()
 DOUBLE TAB ()
 SINGLE TAB ()
 HISTORY ()
 !STRING ()
 ESC+. ()
 CTRL+LEFT ARROW ()
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE

 CTRL+RIGHT ARRW ()
 WHOAMI ()
 PWD ()
 CAT ()
 CD ()
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
 ACCESSING THE COMMAND LINE PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST IN THIS
LAB, YOU WILL USE THE BASH SHELL TO EFFICIENTLY EXECUTE
COMMANDS USING SHELL METACHARACTERS. RESOURCES: FILES:
 • PRACTICE USING SHELL COMMAND LINE EDITING AND HISTORY
FUNCTIONS TO EFFICIENTLY EXECUTE COMMANDS WITH MINOR
CHANGES.
 • CHANGE THE PASSWORD OF THE STUDENT USER TO T3ST1NGT1ME.
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
 • EXECUTE COMMANDS USED TO IDENTIFY FILE TYPES AND DISPLAY
PARTS OF TEXT FILES. RESET YOUR DESKTOPX SYSTEM.
 PERFORM THE FOLLOWING STEPS ON DESKTOPX.
 1. LOG INTO YOUR DESKTOPX SYSTEM'S GRAPHICAL LOGIN SCREEN
AS STUDENT.
 2. OPEN A TERMINAL WINDOW THAT WILL PROVIDE A BASH PROMPT.
 3. CHANGE STUDENT'S PASSWORD TO T3ST1NGT1ME.
 4. DISPLAY THE CURRENT TIME AND DATE.
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
 5. USE THE WC COMMAND AND BASH SHORTCUTS TO DISPLAY THE SIZE
OF /ETC/PASSWD

 6. DISPLAY THE FIRST 10 LINES OF /ETC/PASSWD .

 7. DISPLAY THE LAST 10 LINES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE /ETC/PASSWD FILE.

10. REPEAT THE PREVIOUS COMMAND, BUT USE THE -N 20 OPTION TO
DISPLAY THE LAST 20 LINES IN THE FILE.

 8. EXECUTE THE DATE COMMAND WITHOUT ANY ARGUMENTS TO DISPLAY

THE CURRENT DATE AND TIME.

 9. USE BASH HISTORY TO DISPLAY JUST THE TIME.

 10. FINISH YOUR SESSION WITH THE BASH SHELL.

CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE
CHAPTER 01 : ACCESSING THE COMMAND-
LINE