HP-UX Reference (11i v2 07/12) - 7 Device (Special) Files, 9 General Information, Index (vol 10)

introduction(9) introduction(9)
XPG3 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 3 (X/Open, Ltd.)
XPG4 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4 (X/Open, Ltd.)
XPG4.2 X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4 (X/Open, Ltd.) Version 2
GETTING STARTED WITH HP-UX
This is a very brief overview of how to use the HP-UX system: how to log in and log out, how to communi-
cate through your machine, and how to run a program.
HP-UX uses control characters to perform certain functions. Control characters are generally shown in
the form
ˆx, such as ˆD
for Control-D. Hold down the Control (Ctrl) key while you press the character
key.
Logging In
To log in you must have a valid user name and password, which can be obtained from your system adminis-
trator.
When a connection has been established, the system displays
login: on your terminal. Type your user
name and press the Return key. Enter your password (it is not echoed by the system) and press Return.
A list of copyright notices and a message-of-the-day may greet you before the first prompt.
It is important that you type your login name with lowercase letters, if possible. If you type uppercase
letters, HP-UX assumes that your terminal cannot generate lowercase letters, and treats subsequent
uppercase input as lowercase.
When you log in successfully, the system starts your login shell. The default is the POSIX shell,
/usr/bin/sh . The POSIX shell (and its predecessors, the Korn and Bourne shells) uses
$ as the default
prompt. The C shell uses
%. All the shells use # as the default superuser prompt.
See login(1) for more on login, passwd(1) to change your password, chsh(1) to change your login shell.
Logging Out
You can log out of the shells by typing an
exit command or the eof
(end-of-file) character (see the Spe-
cial Interactive Characters subsection below). The shell terminates and the
login: prompt appears
again. (If you are using the C, Korn, or POSIX shells, respectively, see csh(1), ksh(1), or sh-posix(1) for
information about the
ignoreeof special command.)
How to Communicate Through Your Terminal
HP-UX gathers keyboard input characters and saves them in a buffer. The accumulated characters are not
passed to the shell or other program until you type Return.
HP-UX terminal input/output is full-duplex. It has full read-ahead, which means that you can type at any
time, even while a program is printing on your display or terminal. Of course, if you type during output,
the output display will have the input characters interspersed in it. However, whatever you type will be
saved and interpreted in the correct sequence. There is a limit to the amount of read-ahead, but it is gen-
erous and not likely to be exceeded unless the system is severely overloaded or operating abnormally.
When the read-ahead limit is exceeded, the system throws away all the saved characters.
stty(1) tells you how to describe the characteristics of your terminal to the system. profile(4) explains how
to accomplish this task automatically every time you log in.
Special Interactive Characters
A number of special characters are used to control the input and output of your terminal. These characters
have defaults and can be redefined with the
stty command (see stty(1)).
268 Hewlett-Packard Company − 4 − HP-UX 11i Version 2: December 2007 Update