CSCI 4061: Unix Basics

Chris Kauffman

Last Updated:
Wed Jan 27 03:56:05 PM CST 2021

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Logistics

Reading: Stevens and Rago Assignments

▶ Ch 1: Unix Overview ▶ HW01/Lab01 up
▶ Ch 2: Unix Standards (skim) ▶ Due Mon 2/1
▶ Ch 7: Processes (Up Next) ▶ Project 1 is coming

Goals Today Lab01 Today

▶ Finish C review ▶ Comments?
▶ Unix Basics ▶ Discord work alright?
▶ Process Sys Calls

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Wrap up C Programming Exercises

▶ Finish Reviewing C programs from last time

▶ Answer any pressing questions
▶ Reminder: C programming links on Canvas Homepage

3
Access to Unix Machines

Several options described in a class tutorial getting access to Unix

https://www.cs.umn.edu/~kauffman/tutorials/unix-environment
▶ CSE Labs
▶ Via SSH
▶ Via http://vole.cse.umn.edu
▶ Windows: Maybe Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
▶ Mac OS X: No native environment, use a Virtual Machine
▶ Any: Install VirtualBox to host a Unix you like
▶ Install Native Linux or BSD: "Now you’re playing with power!"

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Unix Standards: POSIX
POSIX defines what you an plausibly expect on unix-like systems
like Linux/BSD. Includes
▶ C libraries for system calls, standard libraries
▶ Basic layout of file system and naming conventions
▶ Some Devices such as /dev/null
▶ Presence of a shell and certain utilities like cat, grep, ...

Distinction: C Standard vs Unix Library

▶ Lots of systems have a C compiler which has the C standard
library: printf(), fopen(), pow() etc.
▶ Unix systems have additional, separate libraries for
Unix-specific stuff like read(), fork(), kill()
▶ Some branches of Unix have their own special, special versions
of these like Linux clone()

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Brief Tour of Unix Utilities

▶ Will discuss briefly tools that are useful for interacting with
Unix in a "command shell"
▶ Shell / Terminal / Command Line / Non-graphical login, etc.
▶ Most of the discussion is widely applicable to any Unix system
▶ A few parts are specific to the Bash shell specifically
(alternatives exist but Bash is default on many systems)

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Command Line: Basic File System Navigation
Command Effect
pwd print the current directory
cd folder change directory / folder
ls list files in directory
cd ~ change to home directory
> pwd
/home/kauffman
> ls
1103-F2017 aurs Downloads Hello.class Hello.java~ PathClassLoader.txt
4061-F2017 Desktop Dropbox Hello.java misc public_html
> cd 4061-F2017
> ls
exams lectures Makefile~ projects schedule.html~ schedule.org~ textbook
labs Makefile misc schedule.html schedule.org syllabus
> pwd
/home/kauffman/4061-F2017
> cd lectures
> pwd
/home/kauffman/4061-F2017/lectures
> ls
00-course-mechanics.org 00-course-mechanics.tex 01-introduction.org 01-introduction.tex
00-course-mechanics.org~ 01-introduction-code 01-introduction.org~ 02-unix-basic.c
00-course-mechanics.pdf 01-introduction-code.zip 01-introduction.pdf 02-unix-basics.org
> cd ~
> pwd
/home/kauffman
> ls
1103-F2017 aurs Downloads Hello.class Hello.java~ PathClassLoader.txt
4061-F2017 Desktop Dropbox Hello.java misc public_html 7
Typical Unix Directory Structure

Source: The Unix File System by Mark Thomas

▶ rooted at /, reachable via ’cd /’

▶ user directories such as /home/kauffman/
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Determining File Types
Command Effect
file something.ext try to determine the type of given file
> file xxx
xxx: UTF-8 Unicode text, with very long lines
> file test.txt
test.txt: ASCII text
> file www
www: directory
> file 4061-F2017
4061-F2017: symbolic link to /home/kauffman/Dropbox/teaching/4061-F2017
> file 4061-F2017/
4061-F2017/: directory
> cd 4061-F2017/lectures/
> file 01-introduction-code.zip
01-introduction-code.zip: Zip archive data, at least v1.0 to extract

> file 02-unix-basics-code/no_interruptions.c

02-unix-basics-code/no_interruptions.c: C source, ASCII text

> file 02-unix-basics-code/no_interruptions.o

02-unix-basics-code/no_interruptions.o: ELF 64-bit LSB relocatable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV),
not stripped

> file 02-unix-basics-code/a.out

02-unix-basics-code/a.out: ELF 64-bit LSB shared object, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV),
dynamically linked, interpreter /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2, for GNU/Linux 2.6.32,
BuildID[sha1]=ffb87934737b0e48b891d27573ae8a2e5687c46a, not stripped
>

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Searching and Manipulating Text

Command Effect
cat file.txt show contents of file in terminal
less file.txt "page" text file, press "q" to quit
grep ’expression’ file.txt show lines matching expression in file
grep ’expression’ *.txt search every .txt file for lines
find . show all files recursively from current directory
find . -name ’*.c’ find all C source files recursively

These are very handy, worth knowing about, but won’t be covered
in detail during our course. Try the relevant session in Tool Time
Lectures if curious.

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Editing Files

▶ There are fancy text editors like Atom (free, GUI, on lab
machines)
▶ Then there are the old-school terminal editors like these:
Command Effect
vi modal editing, terse, powerful, ALWAYS present
emacs modes for editing, extensible, mostly available, ♡
nano simple, podunky, usually available

▶ Learn some vi or emacs: long-term worthwhile investment

▶ Comes in real handy when you need to edit but there is no
graphical login

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File Permissions / Modes
▶ Unix enforces file security via modes: permissions as to who can read /
write / execute each file
▶ See permissions/modes with ls -l
▶ Look for series of 9 permissions
> ls -l
total 140K
-rwx--x--- 2 kauffman faculty 8.6K Oct 2 17:39 a.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 kauffman devel 1.1K Sep 28 13:52 files.txt
-rw-rw---- 1 kauffman faculty 1.5K Sep 26 10:58 gettysburg.txt
-rwx--x--- 2 kauffman faculty 8.6K Oct 2 17:39 my_exec
---------- 1 kauffman kauffman 128 Oct 2 17:39 unreadable.txt
-rw-rw-r-x 1 root root 1.2K Sep 26 12:21 scripty.sh
U G O O G S M T N
S R T W R I O I A
E O H N O Z D M M
R U E E U E E E
P R R P
^^^^^^^^^^
PERMISSIONS
▶ Every file has permissions set from somewhere on creation
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Changing File Permissions

Command Effect
ls -l long listing of files, shows permissions
chmod u+x file.abc make file executable by user
chmod o-rwx file.abc remove permissions from other users
chmod 777 file.abc everyone can do anything to file
> ls
a.out no_interruptions.c no_interruptions.c~ no_interruptions.o
> ls -l
total 40K
-rwxrwx--- 1 kauffman kauffman 8.5K Sep 7 09:55 a.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 kauffman kauffman 955 Sep 7 09:55 no_interruptions.c
-rw-r--r-- 1 kauffman kauffman 883 Sep 7 09:54 no_interruptions.c~
-rw-rw---- 1 kauffman kauffman 2.4K Sep 7 11:59 no_interruptions.o
> chmod u-x a.out
> ls -l
total 40K
-rw-rwx--- 1 kauffman kauffman 8.5K Sep 7 09:55 a.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 kauffman kauffman 955 Sep 7 09:55 no_interruptions.c
-rw-r--r-- 1 kauffman kauffman 883 Sep 7 09:54 no_interruptions.c~
-rw-rw---- 1 kauffman kauffman 2.4K Sep 7 11:59 no_interruptions.o
> ./a.out
bash: ./a.out: Permission denied
> chmod u+x a.out
> ./a.out
Ma-na na-na!

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Manual Pages
Command Effect
man ls Bring up the manual page for command ls
’space’ scrolls down, ’q’ quits
> man ls | cat
LS(1) User Commands LS(1)

NAME
ls - list directory contents

SYNOPSIS
ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION

List information about the FILEs (the current directory by

default). Sort entries alphabetically if none of -cftuvSUX nor
--sort is specified.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short

options too.

-a, --all
do not ignore entries starting with .

-A, --almost-all
do not list implied . and ..
...

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Program Search PATH

Command Effect
echo $PATH show where shell looks for programs
PATH=$PATH:/home/kauffman/bin also look in my bin directory
PATH=$PATH:. also look in current directory
PATH=. ONLY look in the current directory
> echo $PATH
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/default/bin:
/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl:/home/kauffman/bin:
/home/kauffman/Dropbox/bin:/home/kauffman/code/bin:/home/kauffman/code/utils:.

Search directories are separated by colons in Unix

Note: PATH is a notable Environment Variable. We’ll discuss
these soon and how they relate to processes.

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Exercise: Compilation

1. What command is typically used to compile C programs?

2. What is the default name of a compiled program on Unix and
how can it be changed?
3. What function does a runnable C file need to have to make a
program?
4. Must every C file have that special function? Can you compile
C files without that special function?
Write down your answers as a team for screen sharing

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Answers: Compilation
1. What command is typically used to compile C programs?
> gcc myprog.c
2. What is the default name of a compiled program on Unix and
how can it be changed?
> ./a.out
> gcc -o mprog mprog.c
> ./myprog
3. What function does a runnable C file need to have to make a
program?
▶ main() must be present in at least one C file to make program
4. Must every C file have that special function? Can you compile
C files without that special function?
> gcc -c funcs1.c # produces funcs1.o
> gcc -c funcs2.c # produces funcs2.o
> gcc -o prog funcs1.o funcs2.o # link object files
# Either funcs1.c or funcs2.c had main(), not both
> ./prog
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make and Makefiles

▶ Example of a build system

▶ Very old system, many newer ones but a good starting point
▶ Discussed in HW01 which is due soon
▶ Get some experience creating a Makefile
▶ Will be a required element for Projects

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How make and Makefile Works
Build up dependencies recursively
▶ A tree-like structure (actually a DAG)
▶ Run commands for the lowest level
▶ Then go up a level
▶ Then up another . . .
▶ Can recurse to subdirectories to use other Makefiles as well
▶ Makefile describes dependencies between source/program
files and commands to generate/compile

Makefile Format
target1 : dependecy1 dependency2
do command 1
then do command 2

target2 : target1 dependency3

do command X
then do command Y

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Showing and Murdering Running Processes

Command Effect
ps show running processes associated with terminal
ps a show ALL running processes
ps u show all processes for me
kill 1234 send process 1234 the TERM signal
kill -9 1234 send process 1234 the KILL signal
pkill a.out send process named a.out the TERM signal
pkill -9 a.out send process named a.out the KILL signal
top or htop interactive process monitoring / signaling
> ps
PID TTY TIME CMD
8050 pts/1 00:00:00 bash
8061 pts/1 00:00:00 ssh
11033 pts/1 00:00:00 ps
> ps u
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
kauffman 724 0.0 0.0 201092 5520 tty2 Ssl+ Sep06 0:00 /usr/lib/gdm/gdm-x-session --run-script c
kauffman 726 0.1 0.5 691872 94388 tty2 Rl+ Sep06 2:08 /usr/lib/xorg-server/Xorg vt2 -displayfd
kauffman 737 0.0 0.3 603020 49496 tty2 Sl+ Sep06 0:00 cinnamon-session --session cinnamon
kauffman 784 0.0 0.1 565264 23008 tty2 Sl+ Sep06 0:00 /usr/lib/cinnamon-settings-daemon/csd-ori
...

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Exercise: Summarize the most important Unix Commands

1. Discuss what the most important Unix command line

concepts and commands are for beginners
2. Explain these in your own words, how to use them, and why
they are important
3. How do these commands interact with the operating system?
What role does the OS play in the command?
Write down your answers as a team for screen sharing

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