Introduction to UNIX

Overview
The course provides a broad and comprehensive introduction to Unix for a wide range of activities. It covers the use of command-line utilities such as the shell, in addition to graphical tools based on the CDE desktop environment. Important specific applications such as printing and CD writers are discussed, but the course pays equal attention to the more general and powerful UNIX "tool-building" philosophy which allows solutions to be built at the command line by using existing tools in combination.
The course covers the basics of the Bourne and Korn shells, and the principles of user level system administration.

Key Skills

• Understand both terminal and CDE logging on
• View and manage files and directories using command line tools
• Make productive use of the CDE desktop environment
• Develop simple scripted solutions using the shell and text filter tools
• Be able to use the basic CDE text editors
• Be able to use vi for history editing
• Use peripherals such as printers, scanners and CD writers
• Become self-sufficient by locating and studying Unix documentation
• Be able to carry out simple backups
• Be able to safely shutdown and startup Unix
• Understand the shell and CDE startup files

Practical Work
In addition to the major exercises listed below, the course includes numerous "follow-along" examples within the lecture material to provide extensive hands-on experience.

• Logging on and off
• Customising the CDE desktop and task bar
• Browsing and Managing the file system using CDE
• Creating a script to locate and consolidate log files
• Finding the documentation you need
• Processing system reports using text filters
• Creating simple text documents and scripts
• Making use of the Korn Shell history mechanism

Course Contents
The Background to Unix

• A little bit of history
• The scope of Unix
• The currently used variants of Unix (Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Linux)

Using the CDE Desktop

• Using the taskbar, menus and virtual desktops
• File system basics
• Managing files with File Manager
• Customising the desktop

Working at the Command Line

• Introducing the Korn and Bourne Shells
• Examining files and directories
• Managing the file system from the command line
• Using wildcards
• Changing file permissions

Power Tools

• Filtering and processing text
• Using programs in combination
• Editing text files: vi and friends

Scripting with ksh

• Creating a simple shell script
• Processing arguments, variables, input and output
• Looping and branching within a script
• Other scripting languages

Networking Tools

• Remote login
• File sharing tools

Unix Documentaion

• Making sense of the man pages
• HOWTO documents
• Documentation on the Internet

Peripherals and Multimedia

• Setting up a printer
• CD players and sound cards
• Scanners
• Burning CDs

Basic System Admin Skills

• Unix security and file permissions
• Password and shadow files
• Root privileges
• Basic backup techniques using tar and cpio
• Creating user accounts
• Stopping and starting Unix
• Running batch jobs with Cron
• basics of network interfaces and TCP/IP

X Windows

• The X client and the X server
• The Window manager
• Command line options for X clients - display, geometry ...
• Controlling X Windows resources