UNIX FAQ

Index

1. How does the UNIX shell work?
2. What software do I need to use my shell account?
3. What are UNIX man pages and how do I use them?
4. What is a symlink? How do I use it?
5. How do I perform tasks on files, such as moving, copying and deleting files?
6. How do I move around within my home directory and create and remove directories underneath it?
7. How can I simply view a file without actually editing it?
8. What commands can I use to read and send mail?
9. How do I use FTP through my shell account?
10. What commands can I use to read news?
11. What editors can I use?

1. Q. How does the UNIX shell work?
   A. The UNIX shell is a command line interpreter. That actually sounds much more complicated than it really is. Basically, a shell is simply a place where a user can type in UNIX commands and have the machine execute them. It's nothing more than an environment for you to use to communicate with the system. You type in the commands, and the UNIX server takes them, processes them, and sends back the information you need, or the program you want to run.
2. Q. What software do I need to use my shell account?
   A. The only software necessary to use a Ziplink shell account is a terminal emulation package that supports VT100 or VT102 emulation. Nearly any dialup DOS or Windows communications software will do this. Examples of available software include, but are not limited to:
• Procomm and Procomm Plus for DOS or Windows
• Crosstalk Communicator for DOS or Windows
• MS-Kermit for DOS or Windows
• NCSA Telnet for DOS or MacIntosh platforms
• Terminal programs available from Windows 3.1 or later versions
• Xterm programs on UNIX systems
3. Q. What are UNIX man pages and how do I use them?
   A. You may hear the phrase, "RTFM" which stands for "Read the fine manual". Well, man pages are the UNIX version of a manual. To view the man pages for a program or utility, simply type man programname at your UNIX prompt.

Man pages are divided up into sections such as name, synopsis, description, bugs, and "see also". There may also be other sections involved. A man page may be as short as one screen of text, or up to 20 screens of text. Pay attention to the description of the program and necessary command line switches for the program. Don't be discouraged if a man page is confusing, or seems overly complex. Usually just a brief skimming of the page is enough to get you started with a program or utility. You can then use the remainder of the information in the man page as a reference. To quit out of a man page, simply hit q.

4. Q. What is a symlink? How do I use it?
   A. Symlink is short for "symbolic link" and it does just that; it symbolically links one file in your directory to another file located elsewhere. Web customers may wish to symlink their index.html file to another file such as index.htm and would issue the following command to do so:
   

ln -s index.htm index.html

For more details on using ln to link your files, read up on the man pages for ln.

5. How do I perform tasks on files, such as moving, copying and deleting files?
   
• mv
  Moves a file from one name to another. The old file is completely replaced with the new file.
  Syntax: mv oldfile.html newfile.html
• cp
  Copies a file to another name. Both copies of the file still exist.
  Syntax: cp oldfile.html newfile.html
• rm
  Removes a file from your directory completely. Only us this command if you are ABSOLUTELY certain you will no longer need the file! Syntax: rm filename.html
6. Q .How do I move around within my home directory and create and remove directories underneath it?
   A. Your home directory is the directory in which all of your Ziplink files reside. You will have a www subdirectory within your home directory that you should not remove. Other directories that you might have include a Mail directory and News directory. The basic warning here is that unless you have created a directory for yourself, you should not attempt to remove it.
• cd
  Used to change to another directory. Syntax for lower level directory: cd directoryname
  Syntax for higher level directory: cd ../upperdirectory
  Note: It is helpful to view your directory structure as a directory tree.
• rmdir
  Removes a directory. WARNING: Do not do this unless you are absolutely certain you don't want any of the contents of this directory!
  Syntax: rmdir directoryname
• mkdir
  Makes a new directory.
  Syntax: mkdir newdirectory
• ls
  Lists the contents of your current directory.
  Syntax: ls
7. Q. How can I simply view a file without actually editing it?
   
• less
  The less command allows you to view a file and scroll backwards in it. If you know vi then most of the movement commands for that editor will work with less.
  Syntax: less filename
8. Q. What commands can I use to read and send mail?
   You can use one of several mail readers on our system.

Pine
A. Probably the best mailer for beginners. Pine prompts with an interactive screen so that it's difficult to get lost or confused within the mailer.
Syntax to read and send mail: pine

9. Q .How do I use FTP through my shell account?
   A .You will have to type ftp name.of.site. So if you here connecting to
   Ziplink. It would be ftp ftp.ziplink.net. If you were logging into a site that you havd and account on you would have to put in your username and password. If you were going in anonymously. Your username would be anonymous and your password would be your e-mail address. You would have to use Unix commands to move around on the FTP site you connected to. To get one of those files you would have to type get filename. To upload a file your would type put filename. The file would have to be in your Ziplink directory. Any file that you get from an FTP site you will have to download to your computer by using a download protocal such as Zmodem.

10. Q. What commands can I use to read news?
    A. Ziplink suggest one of these news reading packages.
• nn
  A some what complicated, but very powerful Newsreader.
• tin
  A relatively simple, albeit slightly slow news reader. Uses menus and makes navigation through Usenet rather simple. Tin also allows the use of killfiles and select files with simple interactive interface.
• trn
  A threaded newsreader which is faster than tin, but is slightly more complex.
11. Q. What editors can I use?
    
• pico
  Pico is likely the easiest editor online for novice users. Man pages for this editor are online, and prompts for quitting and various editor options are always left onscreen for easy reference.
• VI
  VI is based on an old editor, ex. It's slightly more complex than pico. Be certain to read the man page on this editor, and remember the general rule of thumb for VI: When in doubt, hit escape.
• Emacs
  Emacs is a very powerful editor that is designed for use by advanced users. If you want to give emacs a try, check out the man page for this program before you start.

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