UNIX Tutorial for Beginners

A beginners guide to the Unix and Linux operating system. Eight simple tutorials which cover the basics of UNIX / Linux commands.

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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

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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.

M.Stonebank@surrey.ac.uk, 19 October 2001