Introduction to Linux

Module Objectives

This module will be fully interactive. Participants are strongly encouraged to follow along on the command line. Even if you already have Linux familiarity, please follow along because we will create files / directories that we use later on in the workshop. After taking this module, participants should be able to:

• Describe basic functions of essential Linux commands
• Use Linux commands to navigate a file system and manipulate files
• Look up how to use unkown Linux commands
• Edit files directly on a Linux system using a command line utility (e.g. vim, nano, emacs)

Why Linux?

Linux is an operating system often cited for its:

• Stability
• Security
• Speed
• Compatibility
• Control

These are all good reasons to use Linux. But the real reasons we are learning Linux today are:

• Most supercomputers you will use operate on Linux
• Most visualization packages will use were probably designed and optimized for Linux

Topics Covered

• Looking and moving around (pwd, ls, mkdir, cd, rmdir)
• Creating and manipulating files (touch, rm, mv, cp)
• Looking at the contents of files (cat, more, less, head, tail, grep)
• More files commands (ln, chmod, tar, gzip)
• Network and file transfers (hostname, whoami, logout, ssh, scp, rsync)
• Miscellaneous commands (man, echo, which, date, history)
• Shortcuts (Tab, Up Arrow, Ctrl+c, Ctrl+d, ./, ../, ~/, >, >>, *, |, &)
• Text editing with vim (insert mode, normal mode, navigating, saving, quitting)

Next: Looking and Moving Around

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