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Interacting with a UNIX computer in the MathCS Lab

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• Introduction
  • The computers in the MathCS lab are using the UNIX Operating System

  • Most students have not used a computer that is controlled by the UNIX Operating System

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  • This webnote is a short overview on how to interact (use) a UNIX based computer

  • An extensive lab (in fact, it's the first lab) will teach you hands on how interact with UNIX based computers:

    Lab 1: click here

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  • Important notice:

    It is extremely important that you attend all labs If you don't understand some part of the lab, please ask the Teaching Assistant for help They are paid to explain the material to you; so take advantage of this service. The labs is an essential part of the course and supplements the lecture materials that are best taught hands on (such as the material in this webnote) If you miss a lab, make sure you do (most) the lab on your own before coming to the next lab And if you don't understand some part of the lab, ask the Teaching Assistant for help during the next lab

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  • In what follows, I will summarize the things that you will learn (or have learned) in lab 1....

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• Log in
  • Log in procedure:

    Use your Emory ID as ID Use your Emory password as password

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  • After a successful login, you should see a desktop that look something like this:

    The (white) window in the center of the desktop is a Terminal application

    This is a UNIX "shell" program that allow you to interact with the computer through command lines typed from the keyboard

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• Lauching a new "Terminal" application
  • To launch another Terminal application from the Launch bar, do the following:

    Left click on the Launch button in the lower left corner of the desktop Left click on the Application entry Left click on the Utilities entry Finally, left click on the Terminal entry

  • To launch another Terminal application using a command line (that must be entered in a Terminal window), type the following command in a Terminal window:

    gnome-terminal

    and hit the ENTER key

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• Directory paths
  • A directory is a computer folder that can contain (hold):

    files (other) directories

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  • Directory path:

    A directory path of a particular directory x is the list of directory names from the root directory to the directory x

    Example 1:

    The directory path for the highlighted directory is:

    /home

  • A directory path uniquely identifies one particular directory.

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• Home directory
  • Each user is assigned a home directory