Datasheet
4
Phase 1
Working on the Command Line
Procedure
To complete this task, you must log into your account on the affected workstation and enter
several Linux commands. In the process, you’ll learn how to type and edit commands, how to
use command completion, and how to use command history. You’ll also learn a few of the
more common Linux commands.
Logging In
The first task is logging into the Linux system. From the console, there are two ways to log in:
using a graphical user interface (GUI) login manager or using a text-mode console. In either
case, you type your username and then your password, typically in response to a
login
or
username
prompt and a
password
prompt, respectively.
Upon a successful text-mode login, you’ll be greeted by a Linux command prompt and you
can begin issuing Linux commands. GUI logins, though, present you with a graphical desktop
environment—probably the K Desktop Environment (KDE) or the GNU Network Object
Model Environment (GNOME). Although GUI desktop environments are convenient for end
users, they don’t usually present you with a text shell by default. To access one, you must
locate an appropriate option from the menuing system. Look for entries called Shell, Terminal,
or
xterm
. If all else fails, look for an option to run a command by name and type
xterm
in the
dialog box. This should launch an
xterm
window, as shown in Figure 1.1. Your default shell
should be running in this window.
If your computer displays a GUI login prompt but you’d prefer to work in a purely text-
mode session, press Ctrl+Alt+F1. This key sequence switches to the first virtual console, which
normally holds a text-mode session. You can switch between several (usually six) text-mode
consoles by pressing Alt+F1 through Alt+F6 for each of the first six virtual consoles. The X
Window System, Linux’s GUI environment, normally runs in virtual console 7, so pressing
Alt+F7 from a text-mode session switches to X if it’s running.
FIGURE 1.1
An xterm window enables you to type text-mode commands in a GUI session.
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