A beginners guide to the Unix and Linux operating system. Eight simple tutorials which cover the basics of UNIX / Linux commands.
Introduction to the UNIX Operating System
- What is UNIX?
- Files and processes
- The Directory Structure
- Starting an UNIX terminal
Tutorial One
- Listing files and directories
- Making Directories
- Changing to a different Directory
- The directories . and ..
- Pathnames
- More about home directories and pathnames
Tutorial Two
- Copying Files
- Moving Files
- Removing Files and directories
- Displaying the contents of a file on the screen
- Searching the contents of a file
Tutorial Three
- Redirection
- Redirecting the Output
- Redirecting the Input
- Pipes
Tutorial Four
- Wildcards
- Filename Conventions
- Getting Help
Tutorial Five
- File system security (access rights)
- Changing access rights
- Processes and Jobs
- Listing suspended and background processes
- Killing a process
Tutorial Six
- Other Useful UNIX commands
Tutorial Seven
- Compiling UNIX software packages
- Download source code
- Extracting source code
- Configuring and creating the Makefile
- Building the package
- Running the software
- Stripping unnecessary code
Tutorial Eight
- UNIX variables
- Environment variables
- Shell variables
- Using and setting variables
Recommended UNIX and Linux books
- If you wish to continue learning Unix, here is a list of good Unix and Linux books, ranging from beginners to advanced.
Download
- This tutorial is available for download so you can work offline. You can also copy and modify it for your own site. Please read the terms and conditions.
Useful Links
- Links to other UNIX resources.
This tutorial is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
M.Stonebank@surrey.ac.uk, 19 October 2001