Said Jamal Uddin Afghani university

CS522
Network Operating System

Khalid Shinwari
khalidshinwari@gmail.com,
0788350228

Information Technology Department

Tuesday, December 12, 2023 Computer Science Faculty
 Lecture 6
Objectives
After completing this section, students should be able to log into a linux
system on a local text console and run simple commands using the shell.
 Accessing The Command line
The bash shell
• A command line is a text – based interface which can be used to into instructions
to a computer system. The Linux command line is provided by a program called
the shell.
• The default shell for users in Red Had enterprise Linux is the GNU Bourn-agent
shell (bash).
Bash (Bourne Again Shell) is the free and improved version of the Bourne shell
distributed with Linux and GNU operating systems. Bash is similar to the original, but
has added features such as command-line editing.

GNU is an operating system that is free software—that is, it respects users' freedom.
The GNU operating system consists of GNU packages (programs specifically released by
the GNU Project) as well as free software released by third parties.
• 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. When a regular user starts a shell, the
default prompt ends with a $ character.

• The $ is replaced by a # if the shell is running as the supervisor, root. This make more
obvious that it is a super user shell which helps to avoid accidents and mistakes in the
privileged account.
 Virtual console

An application that act out as a physical terminal device in software and connects it with
Linux system on serial port through software configuration virtually.

Users access the bash shell through a terminal. A terminal provides a keyboard for user
input and display for output.
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.
If the graphical environment is available, it will run on the first virtual console in red hat
enterprise linux7. Five additional text login prompts are available on consoles two through six
(or one to through five if the graphical environment is turned off). With a graphical
environment running, access a text login prompt on virtual console by holding Ctrl+Alt and
pressing a function key (f2 through f6). Press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to return the first virtual console and
the graphical desktop
Shell basics
Commands entered at the shell prompt have three basic parts.
 Command to run
 Options to adjust the behavior the command
 Arguments which are typically targets of the command