Rent 9780131478237 | Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming, A

Summary Table of Contents

Explains how to work with the Linux operating system from the command line. The first few chapters quickly bring readers with little computer experience up to speed. The rest of the book is appropriate for more experienced computer users. This book does not describe a particular release or distribution of Linux but rather pertains to all recent versions of Linux. Using clear descriptions and many examples, this book shows you how to get the most out of your Linux system using the command interface.

Praise for Mark ... MORESobell's Books "I keep searching for books that collect everything you want to know about a subject in one place, and keep getting disappointed. Usually the books leave out some important topic, while others go too deep in some areas and must skim lightly over the others. A Practical Guide to Red Hatreg; Linuxreg; is one of those rare books that actually pulls it off. Mark G. Sobell has created a single reference for Red Hat Linux that cannot be beat! This marvelous text (with a 4-CD set of Linux Fedora Core 2 included) is well worth the price. This is as close to an 'everything you ever needed to know' book that I've seen. It's just that good and rates 5 out of 5." -Ray Lodato, Slashdot contributor "Mark Sobell has written a book as approachable as it is authoritative." -Jeffrey Bianchine, Advocate, Author, Journalist "Excellent reference book, well suited for the sysadmin of a linux cluster, or the owner of a PC contemplating installing a recent stable linux. Don't be put off by the daunting heft of the book. Sobell has striven to be as inclusive as possible, in trying to anticipate your system administration needs." -Wes Boudville, Inventor "A Practical Guide to Red Hatreg; Linuxreg; is a brilliant book. Thank you Mark Sobell." -C. Pozrikidis, University of California at San Diego "This book presents the best overview of the Linux operating system that I have found. . . . It should be very helpful and understandable no matter what the reader's background is: traditional UNIX user, new Linux devotee, or even Windows user. Each topic is presented in a clear, complete fashion and very few assumptions are made about what the reader knows. . . . The book is extremely useful as a reference, as it contains a 70-page glossary of terms and is very well indexed. It is organized in such a way that the reader can focus on simple tasks without having to wade through more advanced topics until they are ready." -Cam Marshall, Marshall Information Service LLC, Member of Front Range UNIX Users Group FRUUG, Boulder, Colorado "Conclusively, this is THE book to get if you are a new Linux user and you just got into RH/Fedora world. There's no other book that discusses so many different topics and in such depth." -Eugenia Loli-Queru, Editor in Chief, OSNews.com The Most Useful Linux Tutorial and Reference Ever, with Hundreds of High-Quality Examples Covering Every Linux Distribution!To be truly productive with Linux, you need to thoroughly master the shells and the command line. Until now, you had to buy two books to gain that mastery: a tutorial on fundamental Linux concepts and techniques, plus a separate reference. Worse, most Linux references offer little more than prettied-up man pages. Now, there's a far better solution. Renowned Linux expert Mark Sobell has brought together comprehensive, insightful guidance on the tools system administrators, developers, and power users need most, and an outstanding day-to-day reference, both in the same book. This book is 100 percent distribution and release agnostic: You can use it on any Linux system, now and for years to come. What's more, it's packed with hundreds of high-quality examples: better examples than you'll find in any other Linux guidebook. This is Linux from the ground up: the clearest explanations and most useful knowledge about everything from filesystems to shells, editors to utilities, and programming tools to regula

Preface

xxvii

Welcome to Linux

(18)

The GNU--Linux Connection

(3)

... MORE

The History of GNU--Linux

(2)

The Code Is Free

(1)

Have Fun!

(1)

The Heritage of Linux: UNIX

(1)

What Is So Good About Linux?

(4)

Why Linux Is Popular with Hardware Companies and Developers

(1)

Linux Is Portable

(1)

Standards

(1)

The C Programming Language

(1)

Overview of Linux

(5)

Linux Has a Kernel Programming Interface

(1)

Linux Can Support Many Users

(1)

Linux Can Run Many Tasks

(1)

Linux Provides a Secure Hierarchical Filesystem

(1)

The Shell: Command Interpreter and Programming Language

(2)

A Large Collection of Useful Utilities

(1)

Interprocess Communication

(1)

System Administration

(1)

Additional Features of Linux

(1)

GUIs: Graphical User Interfaces

(1)

(Inter)networking Utilities

(1)

Software Development

(1)

Chapter Summary

(1)

Exercises

(2)

PART I The Linux Operating System

(118)

Getting Started

(20)

Conventions Used in This Book

(2)

Logging In

(1)

Logging In from a Terminal

(1)

Logging In Remotely: Terminal Emulation, ssh, and telnet

(1)

Working with the Shell

(3)

Which Shell Are You Running?

(1)

Correcting Mistakes

(2)

Curbing Your Power: Superuser Access

(1)

Getting the Facts: Where to Find Documentation

(6)

The--help Option

(1)

man: Displays the System Manual

(2)

info: Displays Information About Utilities

(2)

HOWTOs: Finding Out How Things Work

(1)

Using the Internet to Get Help

(1)

More About Logging In

(3)

What to Do If You Cannot Log In

(1)

Logging Out

(1)

Using Virtual Consoles

(1)

Changing Your Password

(1)

Chapter Summary

(1)

Exercises

(1)

Advanced Exercises

(2)

Command Line Utilities

(34)

Special Characters

(1)

Basic Utilities

(2)

Is: Lists the Names of Files

(1)

cat: Displays a Text File

(1)

rm: Deletes a File

(1)

less Is more: Displaying a Text File One Screen at a Time

(1)

hostname: Displays the System Name

(1)

Working with Files

(7)

cp: Copies a File

(1)

mv: Changes the Name of a File

(1)

lpr: Prints a File

(1)

grep: Finds a String

(1)

head: Displays the Beginning of a File

(1)

tail: Displays the End of a File

(1)

sort: Displays a File in Order

(1)

uniq: Removes Duplicate Lines from a File

(1)

diff: Compares Two Files

(1)

file: Tests the Contents of a File

(1)

(Pipe): Communicates Between Processes

(1)

Four More Utilities

(3)

echo: Displays Text

(1)

date: Displays the Time and Date

(1)

script: Records a Linux Session

(1)

unix2dos: Converts Linux Files to Windows Format

(1)

Compressing and Archiving Files

(5)

bzip2: Compresses a File

(1)

bunzip2 and bzcat: Decompress a File

(1)

gzip: Compresses a File

(1)

tar: Packs and Unpacks Files

(3)

Locating Commands

(2)

which and whereis: Locate a Utility

(1)

apropos: Searches for a Keyword

(1)

slocate: Searches for a File

(1)

Obtaining User and System Information

(4)

who: Lists Users on the System

(1)

finger: Lists Users on the System

(2)

w: Lists Users on the System

(1)

Communicating with Other Users

(2)

write: Sends a Message

(1)

mesg: Denies or Accepts Messages

(1)

Chapter Summary

(3)

Exercises

(1)

Advanced Exercises

(2)

The Linux Filesystem

(32)

The Hierarchical Filesystem

(1)

Directory and Ordinary Files

(11)

Filenames

(2)

mkdir: Creates a Directory

(1)

The Working Directory

(1)

Home Directory

(1)

Absolute Pathnames

(1)

Relative Pathnames

(2)

Important Standard Directories and Files

(2)

Working with Directories

(3)

rmdir: Deletes a Directory

(1)

Pathnames

(1)

mv, cp: Moves or Copies a File

(1)

mv: Moves a Directory

(1)

Access Permissions

(5)

Is --1: Displays Permissions

(1)

chmod: Changes Access Permissions

(2)

Setuid and Setgid Permissions

(1)

Directory Access Permissions

(2)

Links

(6)

Hard Links

(2)

Symbolic Links

(2)

rm: Removes a Link

101

(1)

Chapter Summary

102

(1)

Exercises

103

(2)

Advanced Exercises

105

(2)

The Shell

107

(30)

The Command Line

108

(5)

Syntax

108

(3)

Processing the Command Line

111

(2)

Executing the Command Line

113

(1)

Standard Input and Standard Output

113

(12)

The Screen as a File

114

(1)

The Keyboard and Screen as Standard Input and Standard Output

115

(1)

Redirection

116

(6)

Pipes

122

(3)

Running a Program in the Background

125

(2)

Filename Generation/Pathname Expansion

127

(5)

The ? Special Character

128

(1)

The Special Character

129

(1)

The [ ] Special Characters

130

(2)

Builtins

132

(1)

Chapter Summary

133

(1)

Utilities and Builtins Introduced in This Chapter

134

(1)

Exercises

134

(2)

Advanced Exercises

136

(1)

PART II The Editors

137

(116)

The vim Editor

139

(56)

History

140

(1)

Tutorial: Creating and Editing a File with vim

141

(7)

Starting vim

141

(1)

Command and Input Modes

142

(2)

Entering Text

144

(1)

Getting Help

144

(3)

Ending the Editing Session

147

(1)

The compatible Parameter

148

(1)

Introduction to vim Features

148

(6)

Online Help

149

(1)

Modes of Operation

149

(1)

The Display

150

(1)

Correcting Text as You Insert It

151

(1)

Work Buffer

151

(1)

Line Length and File Size

151

(1)

Windows

151

(1)

File Locks

152

(1)

Abnormal Termination of an Editing Session

152

(1)

Recovering Text After a Crash

153

(1)

Command Mode: Moving the Cursor

154

(4)

Moving the Cursor by Characters

155

(1)

Moving the Cursor to a Specific Character

155

(1)

Moving the Cursor by Words

156

(1)

Moving the Cursor by Lines

156

(1)

Moving the Cursor by Sentences and Paragraphs

157

(1)

Moving the Cursor Within the Screen

157

(1)

Viewing Different Parts of the Work Buffer

158

(1)

Input Mode

158

(2)

Inserting Text

158

(1)

Appending Text

159

(1)

Opening a Line for Text

159

(1)

Replacing Text

159

(1)

Quoting Special Characters in Input Mode

159

(1)

Command Mode: Deleting and Changing Text

160

(4)

Undoing Changes

160

(1)

Deleting Characters

160

(1)

Deleting Text

160

(2)

Changing Text

162

(1)

Replacing Text

163

(1)

Changing Case

163

(1)

Searching and Substituting

164

(6)

Searching for a Character

164

(1)

Searching for a String

164

(2)

Substituting One String for Another

166

(4)

Miscellaneous Commands

170

(1)

Join

170

(1)

Status

171

(1)

(Period)

171

(1)

Yank, Put, and Delete Commands

171

(3)

The General-Purpose Buffer

171

(1)

Named Buffers

172

(1)

Numbered Buffers

173

(1)

Reading and Writing Files

174

(1)

Reading Files

174

(1)

Writing Files

174

(1)

Identifying the Current File

175

(1)

Setting Parameters

175

(5)

Setting Parameters from Within vim

175

(1)

Setting Parameters in a Startup File

176

(1)

The .vimrc Startup File

176

(1)

Parameters

177

(3)

Advanced Editing Techniques

180

(4)

Using Markers

180

(1)

Editing Other Files

181

(1)

Macros and Shortcuts

182

(1)

Executing Shell Commands from Within vim

182

(2)

Units of Measure

184

(4)

Character

184

(1)

Word

185

(1)

Blank-Delimited Word

185

(1)

Line

185

(1)

Sentence

186

(1)

Paragraph

186

(1)

Window

187

(1)

Repeat Factor

187

(1)

Chapter Summary

188

(5)

Exercises

193

(1)

Advanced Exercises

194

(1)

The emacs Editor

195

(58)

History

196

(2)

Evolution

196

(1)

emacs Versus vim

197

(1)

Tutorial: Getting Started with emacs

198

(6)

Starting emacs

198

(1)

Stopping emacs

199

(1)

Inserting Text

199

(1)

Deleting Characters

199

(1)

Moving the Cursor

200

(2)

Editing at the Cursor Position

202

(1)

Saving and Retrieving the Buffer

203

(1)

Basic Editing Commands

204

(5)

Keys: Notation and Use

204

(1)

Key Sequences and Commands

205

(1)

META-x: Running a Command Without a Key Binding

205

(1)

Numeric Arguments

205

(1)

Point and the Cursor

206

(1)

Scrolling Through a Buffer

206

(1)

Erasing Text

207

(1)

Searching

207

(2)

Online Help

209

(3)

Advanced Editing

212

(13)

Undoing Changes

212

(1)

Mark and Region

213

(2)

Cut and Paste: Yanking Killed Text

215

(1)

Inserting Special Characters

216

(1)

Global Buffer Commands

217

(2)

Files

219

(1)

Buffers

220

(2)

Windows

222

(2)

Foreground Shell Commands

224

(1)

Background Shell Commands

224

(1)

Language-Sensitive Editing

225

(10)

Selecting a Major Mode

226

(1)

Human-Language Modes

226

(3)

C Mode

229

(3)

Customizing Indention

232

(1)

Comments

233

(1)

Special-Purpose Modes

233

(2)

Customizing emacs

235

(5)

The .emacs Startup File

236

(1)

Remapping Keys

237

(2)

A Sample .emacs File

239

(1)

More Information

240

(1)

Access to emacs

240

(1)

Chapter Summary

241

(7)

Exercises

248

(2)

Advanced Exercises

250

(3)

PART III The Shells

253

(132)

The Bourne Again Shell

255

(84)

Background

256

(1)

Shell Basics

257

(20)

Startup Files

257

(3)

Commands That Are Symbols

260

(1)

Redirecting Standard Error

260

(3)

Writing a Simple Shell Script

263

(4)

Separating and Grouping Commands

267

(4)

Job Control

271

(3)

Manipulating the Directory Stack

274

(3)

Parameters and Variables

277

(15)

User-Created Variables

278

(3)

Variable Attributes

281

(2)

Keyword Variables

283

(8)

Special Characters

291

(1)

Processes

292

(3)

Process Structure

293

(1)

Process Identification

293

(1)

Executing a Command

294

(1)

History

295

(17)

Variables That Control History

295

(2)

Reexecuting and Editing Commands

297

(8)

The Readline Library

305

(7)

Aliases

312

(3)

Single Versus Double Quotation Marks in Aliases

312

(1)

Examples of Aliases

313

(2)

Functions

315

(3)

Controlling bash Features and Options

318

(4)

Command Line Options

318

(1)

Shell Features

319

(3)

Processing the Command Line

322

(10)

History Expansion

323

(1)

Alias Substitution

323

(1)

Parsing and Scanning the Command Line

323

(1)

Command Line Expansion

323

(9)

Chapter Summary

332

(2)

Exercises

334

(2)

Advanced Exercises

336

(3)

The TC Shell

339

(46)

Shell Scripts

340

(1)

Entering and Leaving the TC Shell

341

(2)

Startup Files

342

(1)

Features Common to the Bourne Again and TC Shells

343

(6)

Command Line Expansion (Substitution)

344

(4)

Job Control

348

(1)

Filename Substitution

348

(1)

Manipulating the Directory Stack

349

(1)

Command Substitution

349

(1)

Redirecting Standard Error

349

(1)

Working with the Command Line

350

(5)

Word Completion

350

(3)

Editing the Command Line

353

(1)

Correcting Spelling

354

(1)

Variables

355

(13)

Variable Substitution

356

(1)

String Variables

356

(1)

Arrays of String Variables

357

(1)

Numeric Variables

358

(2)

Braces

360

(1)

Special Variable Forms

361

(1)

Shell Variables

361

(7)

Control Structures

368

(9)

368

(3)

goto

371

(1)

Interrupt Handling

371

(1)

if...then...else

372

(1)

foreach

373

(2)

while

375

(1)

break and continue

376

(1)

switch

376

(1)

Builtins

377

(4)

Chapter Summary

381

(1)

Exercises

382

(2)

Advanced Exercises

384

(1)

PART IV Programming Tools

385

(196)

Programming Tools

387

(48)

Programming in C

388

(8)

Checking Your Compiler

388

(1)

A C Programming Example

389

(4)

Compiling and Linking a C Program

393

(3)

Using Shared Libraries

396

(3)

Fixing Broken Binaries

397

(1)

Creating Shared Libraries

398

(1)

make: Keeps a Set of Programs Current

399

(8)

Implied Dependencies

401

(3)

Macros

404

(3)

Debugging C Programs

407

(10)

gcc: Compiler Warning Options

408

(3)

Symbolic Debugger

411

(6)

Threads

417

(1)

System Calls

417

(3)

strace: Traces System Calls

418

(1)

Controlling Processes

418

(1)

Accessing the Filesystem

419

(1)

Source Code Management

420

(10)

CVS: Concurrent Versions System

420

(10)

Chapter Summary

430

(1)

Exercises

431

(1)

Advanced Exercises

432

(3)

Programming the Bourne Again Shell

435

(92)

Control Structures

436

(34)

if...then

437

(3)

if...then...else

440

(2)

if...then...elif

442

(7)

for...in

449

(2)

for

451

(2)

while

453

(3)

until

456

(3)

break and continue

459

(1)

case

459

(7)

select

466

(2)

Here Document

468

(2)

File Descriptors

470

(4)

Parameters and Variables

474

(13)

Array Variables

474

(1)

Locality of Variables

475

(3)

Special Parameters

478

(2)

Positional Parameters

480

(5)

Expanding Null and Unset Variables

485

(2)

Builtin Commands

487

(14)

type: Displays Information About a Command

487

(1)

read: Accepts User Input

487

(4)

exec: Executes a Command

491

(2)

trap: Catches a Signal

493

(4)

kill: Aborts a Process

497

(1)

getopts: Parses Options

497

(3)

A Partial List of Builtins

500

(1)

Expressions

501

(9)

Arithmetic Evaluation

501

(2)

Logical Evaluation (Conditional Expressions)

503

(1)

String Pattern Matching

504

(1)

Operators

505

(5)

Shell Programs

510

(10)

A Recursive Shell Script

510

(3)

The quiz Shell Script

513

(7)

Chapter Summary

520

(2)

Exercises

522

(2)

Advanced Exercises

524

(3)

The gawk Pattern Processing Language

527

(36)

Syntax

528

(1)

Arguments

528

(1)

Options

529

(1)

Notes

529

(1)

Language Basics

530

(7)

Patterns

530

(1)

Actions

531

(1)

Comments

531

(1)

Variables

531

(1)

Functions

532

(1)

Arithmetic Operators

533

(1)

Associative Arrays

534

(1)

printf

534

(1)

Control Structures

535

(2)

Examples

537

(17)

Advanced gawk Programming

554

(5)

getline: Controlling Input

554

(3)

Coprocess: Two-Way I/O

557

(1)

Getting Input from a Network

558

(1)

Error Messages

559

(1)

Chapter Summary

560

(1)

Exercises

561

(1)

Advanced Exercises

561

(2)

The sed Editor

563

(18)

Syntax

564

(1)

Arguments

564

(1)

Options

564

(1)

Editor Basics

565

(3)

Addresses

565

(1)

Instructions

566

(1)

Control Structures

567

(1)

The Pattern Space and the Hold Space

568

(1)

Examples

568

(10)

Chapter Summary

578

(1)

Exercises

579

(2)

PART V Command Reference

581

(244)

Standard Multiplicative Suffixes

586

(1)

Common Options

587

(1)

The sample Utility

587

(238)

sample Very brief description of what the utility does

588

(1)

aspell Checks a file for spelling errors

589

(4)

at Executes commands at a specified time

593

(3)

bzip2 Compresses or decompresses files

596

(2)

cal Displays a calendar

598

(1)

cat Joins and displays files

599

(2)

cd Changes to another working directory

601

(2)

chgrp Changes the group associated with a file

603

(1)

chmod Changes the access mode (permissions) of a file

604

(4)

chown Changes the owner of a file and/or the group the file is associated with

608

(2)

cmp Compares two files

610

(2)

comm Compares sorted files

612

(2)

configure Configures source code automatically

614

(2)

cp Copies files

616

(3)

cpio Creates an archive or restores files from an archive

619

(5)

crontab Maintains crontab files

624

(3)

cut Selects characters or fields from input lines

627

(3)

date Displays or sets the system time and date

630

(3)

dd Converts and copies a file

633

(3)

df Displays disk space usage

636

(2)

diff Displays the differences between two files

638

(6)

du Displays information on disk usage by file

644

(3)

echo Displays a message

647

(2)

expr Evaluates an expression

649

(4)

file Displays the classification of a file

653

(2)

find Finds files based on criteria

655

(6)

finger Displays information about users

661

(3)

fmt Formats text very simply

664

(2)

fsck Checks and repairs a filesystem

666

(5)

ftp Transfers files over a network

671

(7)

gcc Compiles C and C++ programs

678

(5)

grep Searches for a pattern in files

683

(5)

gzip Compresses or decompresses files

688

(3)

head Displays the beginning of a file

691

(2)

kill Terminates a process by PID

693

(2)

killall Terminates a process by name

695

(2)

less Displays text files, one screen at a time

697

(5)

In Makes a link to a file

702

(3)

lpr Sends files to printers

705

(3)

Is Displays information about one or more files

708

(7)

make Keeps a set of programs current

715

(6)

man Displays documentation for commands

721

(3)

mkdir Creates a directory

724

(1)

mkfs Creates a filesystem on a device

725

(3)

Mtools Uses DOS-style commands on files and directories

728

(4)

mv Renames or moves a file

732

(2)

nice Changes the priority of a command

734

(2)

nohup Runs a command that keeps running after you log out

736

(1)

od Dumps the contents of a file

737

(5)

paste Joins corresponding lines from files

742

(2)

pr Paginates files for printing

744

(2)

ps Displays process status

746

(4)

rcp Copies one or more files to or from a remote system

750

(2)

rlogin Logs in on a remote system

752

(1)

rm Removes a file (deletes a link)

753

(2)

rmdir Removes a directory

755

(1)

rsh Executes commands on a remote system

756

(2)

scp Securely copies one or more files to or from a remote system

758

(2)

sleep Creates a process that sleeps for a specified interval

760

(2)

sort Sorts and/or merges files

762

(9)

split Divides a file in into sections

771

(2)

ssh Securely executes commands on a remote system

773

(4)

strings Displays strings of printable characters

777

(1)

stty Displays or sets terminal parameters

778

(5)

tail Displays the last part (tail) of a file

783

(3)

tar Stores or retrieves files to/from an archive file

786

(5)

tee Copies standard input to standard output and one or more files

791

(1)

telnet Connects to a remote system over a network

792

(2)

test Evaluates an expression

794

(4)

top Dynamically displays process status

798

(3)

touch Changes a file's access and/or modification time

801

(3)

tr Replaces specified characters

804

(3)

tty Displays the terminal pathname

807

(1)

tune2fs Changes parameters on an ext2 or ext3 filesystem

808

(2)

umask Establishes the file-creation permissions mask

810

(2)

uniq Displays unique lines

812

(2)

w Displays information about system users

814

(2)

wc Displays the number of lines, words, and bytes

816

(1)

which Shows where in PATH a command is located

817

(2)

who Displays information about logged-in users

819

(2)

xargs Converts standard input into command lines

821

(4)

PART VI Appendixes

825

(34)

Appendix A: Regular Expressions

827

(10)

Characters

828

(1)

Delimiters

828

(1)

Simple Strings

828

(1)

Special Characters

828

(1)

Periods

829

(1)

Brackets

829

(1)

Asterisks

830

(1)

Carets and Dollar Signs

830

(1)

Quoting Special Characters

831

(1)

Rules

831

(1)

Longest Match Possible

831

(1)

Empty Regular Expressions

832

(1)

Bracketing Expressions

832

(1)

The Replacement String

833

(1)

Ampersand

833

(1)

Quoted Digit

833

(1)

Extended Regular Expressions

834

(1)

Appendix Summary

835

(2)

Appendix B: Help

837

(10)

Solving a Problem

838

(1)

Finding Linux-Related Information

839

(1)

Documentation

839

(1)

Useful Linux Sites

840

(1)

Linux Newsgroups

841

(1)

Mailing Lists

841

(1)

Words

841

(1)

Software

842

(2)

Office Suites and Word Processors

844

(1)

Specifying a Terminal

844

(3)

Appendix C: Keeping the System Up-to-Date

847

(12)

yum: Updates and Installs Packages

848

(1)

Configuring yum

848

(1)

Using yum

849

(1)

Apt: An Alternative to yum

850

(1)

Using Apt

851

(4)

BitTorrent

855

(1)

Prerequisites

856

(1)

How BitTorrent Works

856

(1)

Using BitTorrent

857

(2)

Glossary

859

(54)

Index

913

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