Chapter 1: Introduction to UNIX UNIX Operating System

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO UNIX

Evolution of UNIX- UNIX System Structure- Features of UNIX- Operating
System Services. Architecture of UNIX system, architecture of kernel, features
of Kernel.

 Definition of operating system

Operating System is the system software that manages computer hardware,
software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.

 Features of operating system

1) Memory management
Memory management module performs allocation and de-allocation of
memory space.
2) Processor management
It helps OS to create and delete processes.
3) Device management
It keeps tracks of all devices.
4) File management
It manages all file related activities such as organization, storage, retrieval,
naming, sharing and protection of files.
5) Security
Security modules protects the data and information of a computer system
against authorized access.
6) Job accounting
Keep track of time and resource used by various jobs and users.
7) Control over system performance
Recording delays between request for a service and response from the system.

 How operating system works?

Operating system is loaded into memory when a computer is booted and remains
active as long as machine is up. After any program has completed execution, the
operating system cleans up the memory and registers and makes them available
for the next program

 Examples of operating system

Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Linux, MacOS etc

 Definition of UNIX
UNIX is a portable, multitasking, multiuser, time sharing operating system(OS).
Chapter 1: Introduction to UNIX UNIX Operating System

 Founder of UNIX
The UNIX was founded by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and Brain
kerninghan at AT& T Bell Labs research in 1969.

 Founder of LINUX
Linus Benedict Torvalds in 1991.

 Difference between UNIX and LINUX (linux is a unix clone)

UNIX LINUX
It is a multi tasking, multiuser operating It is a free and open source software.
system
Developed by ken Thompson, Dennis Developed by Linus Benedict Torvalds.
Ritchie and Brain Kerninghan
Source code is not available to general Source code is available to general
public. public
Not portable Portable
Solaris, HP UNIX are some versions. Ubuntu, Fedora are some versions.

 Need of UNIX
Network capability:
With other OS, additional software must be purchased for networking but with
UNIX, network capability is the part of the operating system.

 History of UNIX
1960 Bell labs involved in the project with MIT, General Electric and Bell
Laboratories to develop a time sharing system called
MULTICS(Multiplexed Operating and Computing System).
1969 Ken Thompson wrote the first version of the UNIX called
UNICS(Uniplexed Information and Computing System)
1970 Finally UNICS became UNIX.

 Differences between UNIX and DOS

UNIX DOS
UNIX can have GUI DOS Can’t have GUI
UNIX is more secure DOS is not more secure compared to UNIX
UNIX is multitasking DOS is singletasking
UNIX are multiuser DOS is single user
UNIX is case sensitive DOS is not case sensitive
UNIX is used in servers DOS is used in embedded systems

 Differences between UNIX and Windows

UNIX Windows
UNIX is an open source(free Windows is not an open source(paid
Chapter 1: Introduction to UNIX UNIX Operating System

download) one)
UNIX has very high security system Windows has low security system
UNIX is a command based operating Windows is not a command based
system operating system
The file system is arranged in The file system is arranged in parallel
hierarchical manner manner
UNIX is not a user friendly Windows is a user friendly
Free office(such as excel, PowerPoint Pay for MS Office
and others)
Low Hardware cost High Hardware cost
Customizable add features Not customizable

 Architecture of UNIX System/ UNIX System Structure

The Architecture of the UNIX system is divided into 4 major components. They are:

1) The Kernel
2) The Shell
3) Files and Processes
4) System Calls
1. The Kernel
 The Kernel is the heart of the Operating System.
 It interface between Shell and Hardware.
 It performs Low Level Task.
 Eg: Device Management, Memory Management etc.
2. The Shell
Chapter 1: Introduction to UNIX UNIX Operating System

 The Shell is a collection of UNIX Commands.

 The Shell acts as an interface between the user and the kernel.
 The Shell is a Command Line Interpreter(CLI)–Translates the commands
provided by the user and converts it into a language that is understood by the
Kernel.
 Only one Kernel running on the system, but several shells in action-one for
each user who is logged in.
 Eg: C Shell, Bourne Shell, Korn Shell etc.
3. Files and Processes
 A File is an array of bytes and can contain anything.
 All the data in UNIX is organized into files.
 A Process is a program file under execution.
 Files and Processes belongs to a separate hierarchical structure.
4. System Calls
 UNIX is written in C.
 Thousands of commands in the system uses a handful of functions called
System Calls to communicate with the kernel.

 Features of UNIX
1) Simple design, organization and functioning
The architecture of the UNIX is simple, organized and functional.
2) Portability
The code can be changed and compiled on a new machine.
3) UNIX Shell
The user interface UNIX Shell provides the services that the user wants.
4) Hierarchical file system
UNIX uses a hierarchical file structure to store information.
5) Multi user
UNIX allows more than one user to share the same computer system at the
same time.
6) Multi-tasking
More than one program can be run at a time.
7) Security
UNIX provides high security level( System level security and File level
security)
8) Pipes and Filters
In UNIX, we can create complex programs from simple programs.
9) Utilities
UNIX has over 200 utility programs for various functions.
10) Machine Independence
Chapter 1: Introduction to UNIX UNIX Operating System

The system hides the machine architecture from the user, making it easier to
write applications that can run any computer system.

 Architecture of Kernel

 The system call and library interface represent the border between user
programs and the kernel.
 The File subsystem manages files, allocating file space, administrating
free space, controlling access to files and retrieving data for users.
 Kernel Interface to Hardware is responsible for handling interrupts and
for communicating with the machine.
 Device drivers are the kernel modules that control the operation of
peripheral devices.
 Block I/O devices are random access storage devices to reset the system.
 Scheduler module allocates CPU to processes.
 Memory management module controls allocation of memory.
 Inter-process communication (IPC) ranges from asynchronous signaling
of events to synchronous transmission of messages between processes.

 Features of Kernel
1) Concurrency
Many processes run concurrently to improve the performance of the system.
2) Virtual Memory(VM)
Chapter 1: Introduction to UNIX UNIX Operating System

Memory management subsystem implements the virtual memory and users

need not worry about the executable program size and RAM size.
3) Paging
It is a technique to minimize the internal and external fragmentation in the
physical memory.
4) Virtual File System(VFS)
A VFS is a file system used to help the user to hide the different file systems
complexities.
5) Inter process communication
Itranges from asynchronous signaling of events to synchronous transmission
of messages between processes.

 Operating System Services

1) User interface
User interface refers to the software that allows a person to interact with the
computer.
2) Program execution
The system creates a special environment for that program.
3) File system manipulation
File manipulation commands manipulates the file.
4) Input/ Output operation
OS provides the capability to change where standard input comes from or
where output goes using Input/Output concept.
5) Communication
Communication commands makes proper communication between different
computers, networks and remote users.
6) Resource allocation
Resource allocation techniques allocates resources when a program need
them.
7) Error detection
Error detection techniques helps us to detect and correct errors.
8) Accounting
It helps us to maintain account details of users.
9) Security and protection
Only authorised users can access the files and directories.
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CHAPTER-2

UNIX FILE SYSTEM

Introduction
A file is one in which data can be stored.It is a sequence of bits,bytes or lines and stored on a
storage device like a disk.Inunix everything is stored in terms of files.It could be a program,an
executable code,a file,a set of instructions,a database,a directory or a subdirectory. A unix file is a
tool or an application that defines the structure of the file and its format.

Unix Filenames

 Unix is case sensitive! So a file named my data. Txt is different from mydata.txt
which is again different from mydata.txt.
 Unix filenames contain only letters,numbers and the_(underscore)&.(dot)
characters.All other characters should be avoided. The /(slash) characters is
especially important/since it is used to designate subdirectories.
 It is also possible to have additional dots in the filename.
 The part of the name that follows the dot is often used to designate the type of file.
 Files that end in.TXT are text files.
 Files thatend in.C are source code in the ‘C’ language.
 Files that end in.HTML files for the web.
 But this is just a convention and not a rule enforced by the operating system.this
is a good and sensible convention which you should follow.
 Most UNIX system allow a maximum of 14 characters as the length of a
filename. However it depends on the UNIX variant used.

FILE SYSTEM

The unix file system is organized as a hierarchical tree structure.

The structure of a simple unix file system divided into 4 parts.

1. The Boot block
2. The Super block
3. The Inode block
4. The Data blocks

1) The Boot Block

 The boot block is located at the beginning of the file system.
 It can be accessed with minimal code incorporated in the computer’s ROM bios.
 It contains the initial bootstrap program used to load the os.
It is usually a part of the disk label, aspecial set of blocks containing information on the disk
layout.
2) The Super Block
 It contains statistical information to keep track of the entire file system. Whenever
disk manipulation is required,the super block is accessed.
The Super Block contains the following information:
1. Size of the file system: This is the storage size of the device.

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2. List of storage blocks: The storage space is divided up into a series of standard
size blocks.
3. Number of free blocks on the file system.
4. A list of free blocks with their location.
5. Index to next free block on the list.
6. A list of free inodes.
3) The Inode Block
 Information about each file in the file system is a special kernel structure called an
inode.
 It contains a pointer to the disk blocks containing the data in the file,information
such as type of file,permission bits,the owner and group,file size,file modification
and so on.
 The name of each file is listed in the directory the file is associated with.A directory
is special type of containing a list of filenames and associated inodes.
 When a user attempts to access a given file by name,the name is looked up in the
directory. Where the corresponding inode is found.
An inode for a file contains the following information
 File owerid : It is the numeric id used in the password file to
uniquely identify a user on the system.
 Group id (GID) :This identifies a group that can be granted special
access by the ower.
 File type :It indicates whether inode represents a
file,adirectory,aFIFO,character device.

File access permissions

User access: Access by the person who owns the file.

Group access: Access by the members of a specified group.
Other access: The rest of the world, who are not the owner.

Types of Access

Read access:To be able to read the data stored in file.

Write access : To be able to modify the data stored in file.
Execute access : To be able to request that the system attempt to execute the file.

4) Data Block
 It contain the actual data contained in the files.
 These blocks follows the inode table and occupy most of the storage device
space.
 It allotted to one file cannot be allotted to another file, unless the two files
are linked.

Advantages
 Data in small files can be accessed directly from the inode.
 Once read operation fectures the inode ,and another read fectures the first data block.
 Larger files can be accessed efficiently .
 Disk can be filled completely ,with little with wasted space.

Disadvantages

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 Since inode information is kept separetly from data access of data often requires a long
seek when files is initially accessed.
 Orginal file system uses only 512 bytes blocks, an insufficient transfer size.
 Free list quickly becomes scrambled increasing overhead of finding free blocks.

Types of Files
The unixos is built around the concept of the a file system which is which is used to store
all of information. Including the operating sysem kernel itself.
There are 4 types of files:
1. Ordinary or Regular files
2. Directory files
3. Device files or special files
4. Hidden files
1. Regular or ordinary files: It can contain text, data,or program information, files
cannot contain other files or directories. Instead use the underscore(’_’) symbol.it is
ordinary file.
An ordinary file can be of 2 types.
i. Text file
ii. Binary file
I. Text File: A text file contains only printable characters.it contains line
of character, each line terminated by a newline character .
Ex:text files include c and Java program ,shell and perl scripts.

II. Binary File:a binary file contains both printable and unprintable
character(0 to 255 ASCII code).
Ex:binary files include unix command ,object code of c programs
,pictures,sound,and video files.

2. Directory files : Directories are containers or folders that holdfiles,and other

directories.Directories can point to other directories which are known as Sub
directories.
The directories generally contains files and other sub directories along with their
link information . normally a directory contains 2 pieace of information.
i. The file name
ii. A unique identification number.
When a user creates or remove a file ,the kernel updates the
corresponding directory by adding or removing the inode number and
filesname associated with the file.
3. Device files :To provide applications, with easy access to hardware devices.UNIX
allows them to be used in much the same way as ordinary files. The video screen of
your pc,RAM,disk,input ports and other such devices are usually accessed through
device file.
Two types of device files in unix
 Block-oriented :Block-oriented devices which transfer data in blocks.
EX: Hard disk
 Character-oriented: Character oriented devices that transfer data on a byte -by-
byte basis(eg.modems,printers and networks).
2 Hidden files :The filename can begin with a dot character is called hidden file.

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Types of users
1. The ower of file(user)
2. The users who belong to the same group as the file(group)
3. Everyone else(other)

UNIX Directory Structure

 Directories are organised into a hierarchical structure that fan out like an upside own tree.
 The top most directory is known as root and it is written as (/).
 The roots contains subdirectory and each of these can contains more subdirectory and so
on.

Directory Contents
/ The root directory
/bin Essential low-level system utilities
/usr/bin Higher-level system utilities and application programs
/sbin Super user system utilities (for performing system
administration tasks )
/lib Progarm liberaries (collections of system calls that can be
included in programs by a compiler)for low level system
utilities.
/usr/lib Program libraries for higher level user programs
/tmp Temporary file storage space (can be used by any user)
/home User home directories containing personal file space for
each user.each directory is named after the login of the
user.
/etc Unix system configuration and information files.
/dev Holds the files /device drivers necessary to operate peri-
pherals such as terminals , keyboard,printer,hard disk etc
/var Contains files that vary in size,mail
directories,printer,spool file,logs etc..
/usr/include Contains standard headed files used by c programs

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File access methods

 Owner:

It is the owner of the file.the owner’s permissions determine what actions the owner of the File
can perform on the file.

 Group:

It gives the name of the group.the groups permissions determine what actions a user,who is
a member ofthe group that a file belongs to , can perform on the file.
 Other:

the rest of the world who are not the owner . the permissions for others indicate what
action

all other users can perform on the file.

File and Directory related commands

 Ls command : listing files

It is used to display all the files and sub directories in a current directory.

Synatx : ls options filenames

Ls options :

-a : list all files including hidden files . Hidden file names start with a dot character.

A single dot (.) refers to the current directory and a double dot (..) refer to the parent

Dirctory .

-x : list the content in a row – wise format.

-r : list contents,sorted in reverse alphabetical order.

*t : list all files ending with letter t .

t* : list all filnames starting with letter t .

-u : list the contents based on the access time or using time .

 Cat command : it is used to

i. Creating files :
cat command can be used to create small files

syntax :

cat options inputfile

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Example :

$cat > fruits

Apple

Banana

Orange

<ctrl d> or (ctrl + d)

ii. Displaying contents of a file :

cat display only the contents of the file

syntax :

$cat filename

Ex :

$cat > veg

Carrot

Beans

Tomato

< ctrl + d>

$cat fruits veg

Apple

Banana

orange

carrot

Beans

Tomato

iii. Concatenation of files :

Cat command can concatenate the contents of two or more files and start

Store then in another file.

Syntax :

$cat test1 test2 > test3

Ex :

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$cat fruits veg > food

$cat food

Apple

Banana

Orange

Carrot

Beans

Tomato

iv. Append files :

Cat command is to append or add data to the contents of the file

Syntax :
$cat >> filname1

Ex :
$cat fruit1
Grapes
(ctrl + d)

Options

-v : displays non-printable ASCII characters.

-n : numbers the lines in the file .
-s : silent (no error messages).

 Cal command :
Cal command is used to print the calender of a required month or year

Syntax :

cal { [month] year }

Ex :

$cal 2013 | more

 Date and time command :

it displays the current date with time .

syntax :
date options arguments

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options :

d : day of the month.

y : last two digits of the year .
H,M& S : hour ,minutes,seconds.
D : date in mm/dd/yy format .
T :time in hh : mm : ss format .
h :month name.
a :day of week.

Ex :
$date
Sat jan 05 15:35:30 1st 2016

 Who :
Who command provides the login details of all current users in 3 columns format.

Syntax :
Who options ami

First column shows login names , second column shows the devices names of the
terminals and third column shows the login date and time .

Options :

-H :displays headers for the columns .

U :displays more details including idle time ,PID and comments .

PID is the process – ID , which is a unique number identifying a process .

Whoami gives the self login details of a week .

 Printf : print formatted output

command .
it is used to write formatted output .

syntax :
printf format arguments

 TTY : terminal command

It is used to known the name of the device file .

Syntax :
Tty

Ex :

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$tty
/dev/pts /1

 Sttycomman:
Set teletype. It will change and print the terminal line settings.

Syntax:
Stty[-a/g] [-f device] [settings]

Options:
-a :print, all current setting in human readable form.
-g(save): print all current setting in a stty readable form.
-f:(file): open and use the specified device.

 Uname : system name command

It is used to know the name and certain features of the system

Syntax :
Uname options

Options

-v :prints the versions of os .

-a :options displays all deatails of the system .
-m :machine details .

 Passwd :
It is used to change password in passwd .

Syntax :
$passwd

 echo :
it is usually used in shell scripts to display messages on the terminal

syntax :
echo options arguments

Ex :

$echo I am studing in 2 Bca

 I am studing in 2 Bca

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$echo “ I am studing in 2 Bca “

 I am studing in 2 Bca

 tput : reposting cursor command

it is used to control the movement of the cursor on the screen .

syntax :
tput options row_num column _num

 Bc : calculator command
there are two types of calculator .

1. Xcalc :it is a graphical object which

is used only on x- window system and is easy to use .
2. bc : it is a text – based command .
it behaves both as base calculator and a small language .it can perform all
arithmetic operations .

Syntax :
bc arguments

Ex :
$bc $bc $bc
15+5 sqrt(49)10/3
20 7 3
21 22 23

 script command:
it is a unix utility that records a terminal session. after executing yhe script
command it starts recording everything printed on screen including I/p and O/P until
exit.by default , all the terminal information is saved in the file typescript, if no
argument is given.

Syntax:$script [options] filename

Ex:$script
script started, file is typescript

 Spell command :
Read one or more files and print a list of words that may be misspelled .
Simplest a sometimes most convenient of these spelling chekes the spell.
Spell compares words typed in the keyboard or the contents of a text file to those in a
built in a directory files and there written all of the words not in the directory to a
standard output ( which displace screen by default )

Syntax :

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$spell file1 file2 file3 > file 4

 ispellcommand :
If the directory contains any near missletters (that is words that differ by only a single
character , a missing or extra letter , missing space or _

ispell is a spell checking prpgram available for many uniximplementation .

 ispellfilename :
r : replace the misspelled word completely .
a : accept the word for the rest of these ispell session .
I : accept the word capitalized as it is in the file and update the provide directory .
U :accept the word and add a lowercase session to the provide directory .

 Pwd : print working directory

command
Pwd in a command that prints the absolute pathname of your current working directory

Syntax :
Pwd

Ex :
$pwd
/home/rama

 The home directory :

When you log into unix ,your current working directory is your user home directory.
we can refer to home directory at any times as (tilde)” ~ ” . so ~std2/play is another way
for user std 1 tp specify an absolute path to the directory /home/std2/play ,user std2
may refer to the directory as ~ /play .
The home directory can be found using a shell variable called HOME as shown :
$ echo $HOME
/home/rama

 Pathnames :
It is the notation used to point to the particular file or directory

Pathnames is divided in to two

a) Absolute path
b) Relative path

a) Absolute path :
Absolute path all ways starts from root directory (/) .

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Ex :
User /jen /person
b) Relative path :
It points to a file or directory relative to your current working directory .
Ex :
Person /art.html

 Cd-changing the directory

It is used to move from one directory to another.it uses a pathname as its arguments.
 .(single dot)means current
directory.
 ..(double dot)means the parent
directory.
 ~(tilde)means your home directory.
 A plain cd without pathname brings
you back to your home directory.

Syntax
Cd pathname

Ex :$pwd
/home/rama
$mkdirpartha
$cd partha
$pwd
/home/rama/partha

 mkdir:making directors
mkdir command is used to creat new directories.
Syntax:
mkdir optionsdir-names

ex:$mkdirranjitha
$cd ranjitha
Ranjitha$ pwd
/home/ranjitha

 rmdir:
It removes one or more directories or subdirectories.

Syntax
rmdirdir-names

ex: $cd\
$rmdirranjitha

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 Unix Operating System , 4th Sem BCA

SPECIAL TOOLS UTILITIES

Unix (shell) has some special features that are useful for interaction and programming.
Before discussing further, we should know about standard files.

Standard files are the special files which are the streams of characters seen as input
or output by the commands. There are three files representing three streams, each
associated with a default device.

 Standard input(stdin)

 Standard output(stdout)

 Standard error(stderr)

Standard input: is a file or a stream representing input. Keyboard is the Standard input
file .But we can use redirection with the < symbol or pipeline with the symbol | to specify
other files as input files.

Standard output: is a file or a stream representing output. Terminal screen (monitor) is

the Standard output file .But we can use redirection with the >, >> symbol s or pipeline
with the symbol | to specify other files as output files.

Standard error: it is a file or stream representing error messages that emerge from the
command or the shell. This is also connected to display screen.

Each standard files are represented by a number called file descriptor, they are

0standard input
Key Board
1standard output

2standard error
Display
unit/Monitor

I/O Redirection: Redirection is a feature that reassigns the standard input and output
files. For input redirection (input source) < operator is used, so that input is not from
keyboard, but from another file. And for output redirection > or>> operators are used,
which outputs to other files but not to the terminal.

Eg: $ banner < file1 [ it takes input from file1 and displays it on monitor]

$ echo “ good morning” > file2 [ sends output to file2]

Note : 1. > operator is used for overwriting

2. >> operator is used for appending

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 Unix Operating System , 4th Sem BCA

Piping : it is a feature available in Unix where two or more commands can be combined
together. Here output of first command is treated as input for second command. The
symbol used for pipe is | . A sequence of commands using one or more pipes is called a
pipeline. The advantage of pipe is that, a command line containing many commands can
be executed as a background process.

For example: $ cat stdlist | sort

[ here output of the command cat is directly send as input to sort command]

Filters: Filters are UNIX commands that take their inputs from the standard input file,
process it and send it to the standard output file. A filter is actually a program that can
read directly from files whose names are provided as arguments, process it or filer it and
sends the result to the standard output, unless a redirection or a pipeline symbol is used.
Some commonly used filter commands are :

 cat
 head
 tail
 cut
 paste
 uniq
 tr
 wc
 sort
 grep

NOTE: All filter commands does not change the contents of files but changes will appear
only while displaying. The changes can be stored permanently by using redirection
facility

cat: This command is a multipurpose filter command used for creating file, displaying
contents of file, copy file, append to file and to concatenate two or more files.This
command is already discussed in earlier chapter.
Options
-n : displays each line with its line number
-b : same as -n but it ignores blank lines
-u : the output is not blubbered
-s : silent about nonexistent files

head: This command is used to display the first few lines of a file. The user can specify
the number of lines to be displayed by using the n argument. The default number of lines
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that are displayed is 10.

Syntax: head [-options] filename
 Unix Operating System , 4th Sem BCA

Selected options:
-cn : print the first n characters of the file
-n : print the first n lines the default is 10
$ head dolls [ displays first 10 lines of dolls file ]
$ head -5 dolls [displays first 5 lines from dolls file ]
$ head -c5 dolls [displays first 5 characters (including white space) from dolls file ]

tail: This command is used to display the last few lines from a file. The user can specify
the number of lines to be displayed by using the n argument. The default number of lines
that are displayed is 10.
Syntax: tail [-options] filename
Selected options:
-cn : print the last n characters of the file
-n : print the last lines the default is 10
+n : prints the lines from nth line to end of file
$ tail dolls [ displays last 10 lines of dolls file ]
$ tail -5 dolls [displays last 5 lines from dolls file ]
$ tail –c5 dolls [ displays last 5 characters (includes whitespace)]
usage
ls | tail -15 [ displays last 15 lines of file listing]
head abc | tail -5 [ prints lines 6 through 10 of file abc]

cut: This command is used to cut the file vertically i.e to copy (display) the specified
columns to the standard output file. This command can be used to cut out parts of a file .
it takes filenames as arguments. It can cut columns or fields in a file. However it does not
delete the selected parts of the file
Options
-b list : to specify the bite position
-c list : to extract the characters as specified position in the list . a dash (–) is used
to indicate the range and comma(,) is used to separate items in the list.
-f list : to extract the fields as specified position in the list. a dash (–) is used to
indicate the range and comma(,) is used to separate items in the list.
-dc : the character following the d is field delimiter and this option is used only
with -f option
$ cut -c 10-15 stdlist
$ cut -d”:” –f 1,3 stdlist

paste: This command is used to combine two or more files vertically. The lines of the
input files must be in corresponding order before the paste utility can be used. If there is
no corresponding field the command puts the delimiter and leaves it blank.
Options
-dc : to specify the delimiter character used in combined file

$ paste file1 file2

Page3

$ paste -d”:” file1 file2

 Unix Operating System , 4th Sem BCA

Note: paste expands table’s (file’s) width by increasing the number of columns. But cat
expands a table’s length by increasing the number of rows.

uniq: This command is used to remove the repeated lines from a file. The file must be in
sorted order before using this command.
Options
-c: precedes each line in o/p with count of number of times the line occurred in i/p
file
-d: selects only one copy of the duplicate entries
-u:selects lines which are not repeated
-i: ignore case

$ uniq names
$ uniq -c names
$ uniq -u names

tr: This command is used to translate characters. This command manipulates individual
characters in a line. It takes input only from standard input. The syntax is:

tr [options] [expression 1] [expression 2] < input file

Options
-c: it complement the set of characters in the expression
-d: deletes specified range of characters
-s:sequeezes multiple occurrences of a character into a single character
$ tr “[a-z]” “[A-Z]” < fruits
$tr -d ‘:’ <file1
$ tr -s ‘ ‘ < file1
$ tr -c ‘a-zA-Z’ ‘*’ <file2 [it matches all the characters that are not found in the first string
and replaces the matched characters with character in the second string , here all
spaces.dots and newline character are replaced with hyphens]

wc: this command is used to count the number of lines ,words and characters in one or
more files. It gives 4 column output, where the first column indicates number of lines in
the file, second column indicates number of words, the third indicates number of
characters and the last column indicates the file name.
Options
-c: it prints the counts of characters
-w: it prints the counts of words
-l : it prints the counts of lines
$ wc fruits
$ wc -c fruits
$wc -w fruits
Page4

$wc -l fruits
 Unix Operating System , 4th Sem BCA

sort: this command is used to sort the contents of a file. Using this utility one or more
files can be sorted in alphabetic or numeric order, and also it can reorder the file based
on one or more of the fields.

Options
-d : sorts according to dictionary and ignores punctuation.
-f:ignores caps while sorting
-m : merges two or more given sorted files tnto single sorted file
-n : sorts according to numeric order
-r : sorts in reverse order
-u : removes duplicates and displays unique values
-o : specifies output file name
-t : specifies the delimiter used in the file
-k fieldno : sorts the data according the field number specified by the fieldno
$ sort file1
$ sort -o sfile file1
$ sort -r file1

grep: this command is used to searches its input for a pattern and displays lines
containing the pattern (Globally search a Regular Expression and Print it) . The syntax is:
grep [options] [pattern] [file name]…..
the pattern can be a string with single or multiple words or special characters. It is
advised to enclose the pattern with single codes.
Options
-e : pattern : to specify multiple search pattern.
-i : prepares case while searching.
-n: used to display records (lines) along with line number
-v: prints those lines which do not match the pattern
-c: displays only the count of lines which contains pattern
-l: displays only the names of files containing the pattern
$ grep “bca” stdlist
$ grep -i “bca” stdlist
$ grep -n “BCA” stdlist
grep family contains three commands namely grep, egrep(extended grep) and
fgrep(fixed grep)

egrep [Extended Global Regular Expressions Print] is a pattern searching command

which belongs to the family of grep functions. It works the same way as grep -E does. It
treats the pattern as an extended regular expression and prints out the lines that match
the pattern. If there are several files with the matching pattern, it also displays the file
names for each line.
The egrep command used mainly due to the fact that it is faster than the grep command.
Page5

The egrep command treats the meta-characters as they are and do not require to be
 Unix Operating System , 4th Sem BCA

escaped as is the case with grep. This allows reducing the overhead of replacing these
characters while pattern matching making egrep faster than grep or fgrep.
Syntax:
egrep [options] '<regular expression>' <filename>
Some common options are: 
-c for counting the number of successful matches and not printing the actual matches
 -i to make the search case insensitive, -n to print the line number before each match
printout
-v to take the complement of the regular expression (i.e. return the lines
which don't match),
 -l to print the filenames of files with lines which match the expression.

$ egrep ‘bca|bcom’ studfile

$ egrep –i ‘bca|bcom’ studfile
$ egrep –f pfile studfile where pfile contains pattern

fgrep : This command searches for fixed-character strings in a file or files. "Fixed-

character" means the string is interpreted literally — metacharacters do not exist, and
therefore regular expressions cannot be used.
fgrep is useful when you need to search for strings which contain lots of regular
expression metacharacters, such as "$", "^", etc. By specifying that your search string
contains fixed characters, you don't need to escape each of them with a backslash.

Running fgrep is the same as running grep with the -F option.

$ egrep ‘bca
Bcom
bsc’ studfile
$ egrep –i ‘bca
bcom’ studfile

Difference between egrep and fgrep

1. Both egrep and fgrep are derived from the base grep command. The “egrep” stands for
“extended grep” while the fgrep stands for “fixed-string grep.”
2.An egrep command is used to search for multiple patterns inside a file or other kind of data
repository while frgrep is used to look for strings.
3.The term “egrep” is commonly expressed as “grep-E” while “fgrep” is encoded as “grep-F.”
4.The egrep command allows the use of extended regular expressions while grep only searches
for the matching word or term that the user specified in the command. The frep doesn’t
recognize or understand regular or extended regular expression.
5.Compared to the other search commands, the search process for fgrep is very fast since it is
only concerned with the provided search word.
6.The egrep command usually uses operators in order to yield a more progressive or specific
search research. A plus sign and the question mark deal with single, regular expressions or
search terms. On the other hand, vertical bars and parentheses are used for multiple, regular
Page6

expressions with opposing functions. The vertical bar separates the expressions while the
parentheses operator groups them.
 Unix Operating System , 4th Sem BCA

tar
The Linux ‘tar’ stands for tape archive, is used to create Archive and extract the Archive
files. tar command in Linux is one of the important command which provides archiving
functionality in Linux. We can use Linux tar command to create compressed or
uncompressed Archive files and also maintain and modify them.
Syntax:
tar [ptions] filename
Options:
-c : Creates Archive
-x : Extract the archive
-f : creates archive with given filename
-t : displays or lists files in archived file
-u : archives and adds to an existing archive file
-v : Displays Verbose Information
-A : Concatenates the archive files
-z : zip, tells tar command that create tar file using gzip
-j : filter archive tar file using tbzip
-W : Verify a archive file
-r : update or add file or directory in already existed .tar file
An Archive file is a file that is composed of one or more files along with metadata. Archive files
are used to collect multiple data files together into a single file for easier portability and storage,
or simply to compress files to use less storage space.
Examples:
Creating an uncompressed tar Archive using option -cvf : This command creates a tar
file called file.tar which is the Archive of all .c files in current directory.
$ tar cvf file.tar *.c
Extracting files from Archive using option -xvf : This command extracts files from
Archives.
$ tar xvf file.tar
gzip compression on the tar Archive, using option -z : This command creates a tar file
called file.tar.gz which is the Archive of .c files.
$ tar cvzf file.tar.gz *.c
Extracting a gzip tar Archive *.tar.gz using option -xvzf : This command extracts files
from tar archived file.tar.gz files.
$ tar xvzf file.tar.gz
Creating compressed tar archive file in Linux using option -j : This command
compresses and creates archive file less than the size of the gzip. Both compress and
decompress takes more time then gzip.
$ tar cvfj file.tar.tbz example.cpp
untar single tar file or specified directory in Linux : This command will Untar a file in
current directory or in a specified directory using -C option.
$ tar xvfj file.tar
Untar multiple .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.tbz file in Linux : This command will extract or untar
Page7

multiple files from the tar, tar.gz and tar.bz2 archive file. For example the above
command will extract “fileA” “fileB” from the archive files.
 Unix Operating System , 4th Sem BCA

$ tar xvf file.tar "fileA" "fileB"

Page8
Cha
pte
r4

Pr
oces
sma
nag
ement

Pr
oce
ss:
-Pr
oce
ssc
anbede
fine
dasapr
ogr
amunde
rEx
ecut
ion.
Uni
xrunsma
nypr
ogr
amsa
tthe
s
amet
imebyus
ingRound-
robi
nSc
hedul
i
nga
lgor
it
hm.

S
hel
lpr
oce
ss(
sh)
:-

s
hel
lcr
eat
esapr
oce
ssf
ore
xec
uti
ngt
hec
atc
omma
nd.

T
heshel
lpr
oce
ss(s
h)i
sapar
entproc
essandthec
atpr
ocessi
sachil
dpr
oces
s.Asl
ongaspr
oce
ssi
s
r
unni
ng,
iti
sal
iv
e.Aft
erc
omplet
ingt
hejob,i
tbec
omesina
c t
ivea
ndiss
aidt
obedead.

Pa
renta
ndc
hil
dpr
oce
ss:
-

I
nUnixonepr
ocesscangener
ateanothe
rproces
s.T
heproc
esswhi
chgene
rat
esa
not
herpr
oce
ssi
s
c
all
edPare
ntproc
e s
s.Ne
wl ygene
rate
dpr oc
essi
scal
le
dchi
ldpr
oces
s.

T
hepa
rentc
anha
veoneormor
echi
l
dre
n
E
g:-$c
atf
rui
ts|g
repor
ang
efr
uit
s

T
hes
hel
lcr
eat
est
woc
hil
dpr
oce
ssc
ata
ndg
reps
imul
tane
ous
ly.

Pr
oce
sss
tat
e:-

Pr
oce
sss
tat
edi
agr
am

T
hema
inf
iv
e-s
tat
emode
lofa
nyope
rat
ings
yst
ema
re:
-

1)Ne
w:T
hepr
oce
ssi
scr
eat
ed.

2)Runni
ng:
Thepr
oce
ssi
sbe
inge
xec
ute
d.

3)Wa
iti
ng:
Thepr
oce
ssi
swa
iti
ngf
ors
omer
equi
redr
esour
cesl
i
kei
nputa
ndout
putde
vic
es

4)Re
ady:Theproc
essi
swa i
ti
ngt
obea
ll
oca
tedt
oapr
oce
ssor
.Thepr
oce
ssc
ome
stot
hiss
tat
e
i
mme di
ate
lyaf
tercr
eat
ion.

5)T
ermi
nat
ed:
Apr
oce
sst
ermi
nat
es(
exi
ted)a
fte
rfi
ni
shi
ngi
tse
xec
uti
on.

Uni
xpr
oce
sss
tat
e(s
yst
empr
oce
ss):
-
I
nUni
xthe
rea
re7Pr
oce
sss
tat
ess
amea
sfi
ve-
sta
temode
l
UNI
XPr
oce
ssS
tat
esa
re:
-

1)Cr
eat
ed:
-Jus
tcr
eat
edbutnoty
etr
eadyt
orun.

2)

i
.Re
ady(
inMe
mor
y):
-Re
adyt
oruna
ssoona
ske
rne
lsc
hedul
esi
t.

i
i
.Re
ady(
Swa
ppe
d):
-Re
adyt
orun,
butne
edst
obes
wappe
dint
ome
mor
y.

3)

i
.As
lee
p(i
nme
mor
y):
-Thepr
oce
ssi
sbl
ock
eda
ndwa
iti
ngf
ora
nev
enti
n

me
mor
y.

i
i
.As
lee
p(s
wappe
d):
-Thepr
oce
ssi
sswa
ppe
douta
ndwa
iti
ngf
ora
nev
entont
hedi
sk.

4)Runni
ng(
ker
nel
):
-Ex
ecut
ingi
nke
rne
lmode
.

5)Runni
ng(
use
r):
-Ex
ecut
ingi
nus
ermode
.

6)Zombi
e:-Az
ombi
eproce
ssinUNIXi
saproces
sthathaste
rmi
nat
ed,
butwhos
epa
rentha
snotwa
ite
d
fori
t.Ma
ybeapare
ntproc
essexi
tedwi
thoutwai
ti
ngforitt
ote
rmi
nat
e

7)Pr
e-empt
ed:
-isapr
ocessr
etur
ningf
romk
erne
lmodet
ous
ermode
l,s
inc
eiti
npr
eempt
edbyk
erne
l,
tosc
hedul
eanot
herproc
ess.
Uni
xpr
oce
ssc
rea
tion:
-

★ Pa
renti
sthe
or
gina
lpr
oce
ss.

★ ne
wpr
oce
ssi
sca
ll
edc
hil
d.

★c
hil
dca
nta
ins
amec
ode
,sa
meda
taofi
tspa
rent
.

★thepa
rentc
ane
ithe
rwa
itf
orc
hil
dtoc
ompl
ete,
orc
ont
inuee
xec
uti
ngi
npa
ral
l
elwi
tht
he
c
hil
d.

★c
hil
disc
rea
tedbys
yst
emc
all
for
k()
.

★f
ork
()r
etur
ns0(z
ero)i
nchi
l
dpr
oce
ss.

★f
ork
()r
etur
nsPI
Dofne
wchi
l
dinpa
rentpr
oce
ss.

★f
ork
()s
yst
emc
all
isnots
ucc
ess
ful
,i
tre
tur
ns-
1.

★ Re
sour
ces
har
ing
:apr
oce
ssne
edsc
ert
ainr
esour
cel
i
keCPUt
ime
,Me
mor
y,I
/Ode
vic
ese
tc.

★e
xec
()s
yst
emc
all
isus
eda
fte
rfor
k()
,tos
tar
tanot
herdi
ff
ere
ntpr
ogr
am.

★ psc
omma
ndi
sus
eddi
spl
ayal
i
sti
ngofc
urr
ent
lya
cti
vepr
oce
sse
sint
hes
yst
em.

j
obsi
nfor
egr
ounda
ndba
ckg
round:
-
T
heuni
xsuppor
tsbot
hmul
tius
era
swe
lla
smul
tipr
oce
sss
ing
.
T
her
ear
e3t
ype
sofpr
oce
sss
es.

1.
i
nte
r-a
cti
ve(
for
egr
ound)
proc
ess
:-

Al
lthepr
oce
sss
esc
ret
edbyt
heus
erus
ingt
hes
hel
landa
tac
hedt
othet
ermi
nal
sar
eca
ll
edf
ore
g
roundproc
ess
.

-
>whe
nus
erpa
ssac
omma
ndt
oshe
ll,
thes
hel
lpa
sse
s,r
ebui
l
dsa
nds
endsi
ttot
hek
erna
lfore
xec
uti
on.

-
>dui
ringt
hee
xec
uti
onofonepr
oce
sst
heus
ers
houl
dwa
itf
ort
hek
erna
lunt
ilc
ompi
l
ati
tonoft
hat
pr
oces
s.

-
>nof
urt
herc
omma
ndc
anr
undur
inge
xec
uti
onofol
derone
.

2.
non-
int
era
cti
ve(
bac
kgr
ound)
proc
ess
:-
T
hepr
oce
sswhi
chc
anwi
thoutus
ingt
het
ermi
nal
arek
now a
sba
ckg
roundpr
oce
ss.

->backgr
oundproces
sta
kei
nputf
romaf
il
e,pr
oce
sst
hemwi
thouthol
di
ngupt
het
ermi
nal
andwr
it
e
outputonothe
rfil
e.

-
>the
sec
omma
ndsa
ree
ndswi
th'
&'s
ign.

i
.
e.$s
ort-
ost
d.s
orts
td.
sor
t&

-
>fore
x:-s
ort
inga
nds
ear
chi
ngoff
il
es/
cont
entf
roml
ongf
il
es.

l
i
mit
ati
tons
:-

-
>ba
ckg
roundpr
oce
ssdon'
tre
por
tthe
irs
ucc
ess
ful
oruns
ucc
ess
ful
exe
cut
it
on.

-
>pi
disus
edt
ofi
nde
xec
uti
ons
tat
e.

-
>tooma
nyba
ckg
roundpr
oce
sse
sca
nef
fec
tsy
ste
mef
fec
ienc
y.

-
>nohup(
noha
ngup)whi
cha
voi
dsde
adl
ock
ingofomeba
ckg
roundpr
oce
ssdur
ingunus
ual
log
out
s.

r
una
waypr
oce
ss:
-whe
nba
ckg
roundpr
oce
ss(
usi
ng&a
tthee
nd)a
ndl
ogoutwi
thoutc
los
ingor
k
il
li
ngt
hepr
oce
ss.
suc
hapr
oce
sssi
sca
ll
edr
una
waypr
oce
ss.

#
chna
ngi
ngpr
oce
sspr
ior
it
ywi
thni
cec
omma
nd
 Ni
cec
omma
nd:
-Iti
sus
edt
ocha
ngeors
ett
hepr
ior
it
yofapr
oce
ss

s
ynt
ax:
$ni
ce-
val
uec
atf
il
ena
me

 T
hede
faul
tpr
ior
it
yofapr
oce
ssi
nuni
xis20

 t
hev
aluer
ang
efr
om0t
o39,
inl
i
nux-
9to20.
whe
re0i
shi
gha
nd39i
slowe
rva
lue
.

 t
hede
faul
tva
lueofr
educ
ti
oni
s10.

 t
hepr
ior
it
yofapr
oce
ssc
anbei
ncr
eas
edonl
ybya
dmi
nst
rat
orus
ingdoubl
emi
nus
(--
).

e
g:-$ni
ce-
-15c
atl
ast
.t
xt

 T
hepr
ior
it
yofapr
oce
ssc
anbema
del
owe
rus
ingt
heni
cec
omma
nd.

 f
ore
xampl
e:i
fapr
oce
ssi
sal
rea
dyr
unni
nga
ndus
ingal
otofc
put
ime
;the
nitc
anber
eni
ced.

I
.e.$ni
cec
atl
ast
.tx
t

$ni
ce-
10c
atl
ast
.tx
t

$ni
ce-
-15c
atl
ast
.tx
t

Da
emonPr
oce
sse
s:-
Daemonproces
sesarepr
oce
sse
stha
ta r
ec ons
tant
lyr
unni
ngwi
thoutus
ingas
soci
ate
dter
minal
orlog
in
she
ll
,andkeepswait
ingf
ors
omeins
truc
tionsei
therf
romt
hesy
stemoruserandi
mme di
ate
lys
tar
ts
per
for
mingthatta
sk.

T
hec
har
act
eri
st
icf
eat
ure
sofda
emonpr
oce
sse
sar
easf
oll
ows
:

★T
heys
tar
trunni
nga
ssoona
sthes
yst
emi
sini
ti
al
iz
ed.

★T
hel
i
fet
imeoft
heda
emonsi
sasl
onga
sthes
yst
emi
srunni
ng.

★T
heda
emonsc
annotbek
il
le
dpr
ema
tur
ely
.

★i
ni
tpr
oce
ssi
soneoft
hef
ir
stpr
ogr
amsl
oade
d,a
fte
rboot
str
appi
ng.

★T
hes
che
dul
erpr
oce
ssi
sus
edt
oma
nag
eands
che
dul
eot
herpr
oce
sse
s.

★ Pr
ocessv
hand,whi
chst
andsforvi
rt
ual
memoryhandl
er,i
sloade
dint
othes
yst
emt
oswa
pthea
cti
ve
pr
ocess
esbetwee
nme moryanddis
k,whent
heyar
ewa i
ti
ngforCPUti
me.
★ Pr
oce
ssbdf
lus
hisr
espons
ibl
efordi
skI
/O.

Pr
oce
ssT
ermi
nat
ion:
-
Therearesi
tuat
ionswhent
heuserha
stote
rmi
nat
eapr
oce
sspr
ema
tur
ely
.Se
ver
alr
eas
onSa
re
pos
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★★★★★
Special tools and utilites

File access permission (FAP)

The files that users create will not be accessible to other users.

However UNIX allows to explicitly make their files available to others.

Every file of folder in UNIX hasacces permission.

There are three types of permission:

 Read access
 Write access
 Execute access

Read permission allows users to view the contents of a file and to

copy it

writepermission allows users to modify the files

Execute permission allows users to run the file, if it is executable.
Types of users

 The owner of the file(user)

 The users who belong to the same group as the file(group)
 Everyone else (other)

File permissions notation

 Textual representation like “-rwxr- -r- -“
 Numeric(octal) representation like “644”
Textual representation
It is used in UNIX long directory listing.it is consists of 10 character.
The first character shows the file type. Next 9 characters are
permission, consisting of 3 group: Owner, group , others.

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Special tools and utilites
Each group consists of threesymbols : r w x (in this order)

If some permission is denied, then a dash “-“is used instead.

File type user permission group permission others permission

- r w x r - - r - -
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Numeric representation:
If a numeric representation is used (like in chmod command) then it is in the
octal format(base of 8)

Digits involved are 0 to 7. Every octal digit combines read, write and execute
permission together,respective access rights for owner, group and other are
the last three digits of the numeric file permissions representation .

Octal Text Binary Meaning

digits equivalent value
0 --- 000 All type of access are denied
1 --r 001 Execute access is allowed only
2 -w- 010 Write access is allowed only
3 -wx 011 Write and execute access are allowed
4 r-- 100 Read access allowed only
5 r-w 101 Read and execute access are allowed
6 Rw- 110 Read and write access are allowed
7 rwx 111 Everything as allowed

Head :-displaying first few lines.

The head command display the first few lines of one or more file .this
command is used to verify the contents of a file. Without any option. By
default it display the first 10 lines of the file

Syntax: head [option] file name selected

Options:

-cn: print the first n characters of the file.

-n: print the first n lines. the default is 10.

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Special tools and utilites
Tail : displaying last few lines

The tail command displays the last few lines of a file .by default, it displays
the last 10 lines of the file. It connot be used for multiple files

o Tail bcalist displays the last 10 lines of the file.

o Tail -5 bcalist displays last 5 lines of the bcalist.
o Tail +8 bcalist display all the lines starting from line number 8 upto
end of file.

WC:

Wc command is a filter used to count the number of lines , words and

character of one or more files

o It take one one or more filename as its arguments

o It gives the output in 4 columns:,
1 is number of lines
2 is number of words
3 number of characters and the lost column indicates the
filename

Wc options:

-c : prints the number of bytes.

-l : prints the line count.

-L : prints the length of the longest line.

-m: prints the number of character .

-w: counts words delimited by white space character or new line character.

TR: translate command

Tr commands is used to translate character .it is a filter that manipulates

individual character in a line

Syntax :tr[options ][expression1][expression]<input file

 Tr command take twoarguments .eacharguments may be a character

or a string of the character.
 The behaviour of tr command can be explained with an
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Special tools and utilites
 example:
$cat list1
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
$tr ‘frie’ FRI’<LIST1
AFRIInd InnIId Is a FRIIndInddIId.
$tr ‘fri’ ‘FRIE’ < list1
A FRIend In need Is a FRIend Indeed.

Cut command :

Cut command splits files vertically .this command can be used to

extract the required fields or columns from the file
Example:
$cut –c 1-3 stdlist
001
010
007
008
003
Cutoptions :
 -b list : the list after –b specifies the byte positions
 -c list : the list following -c specifies the character positions
such as –c 1-7 which passes the first 7 characters of each line .
 -f list : the list following -f is a list of fields , separated in the
file by a delimiter character (-d)

Sort :

The sort command is used to sort the information in a text file in ascending
or descending order .it is also used to merge sorted files it takes zero, one
or more filename as arguments

Sort option :

Sort command has several options .some of the most command options are
given below.

 -d : sorts according to dictionary and ignores the punctuation.

 -f : ignores caps while sorting .

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Special tools and utilites
 -n : sorts according to numeric order.
 -r : sorts in reverse order.
 -n : removes duplicates and display unique values.
 -0 outfile : place the sorted output in the file out file.

Grep:- searching for a pattern

UNIX consists of a special family of commands for handling search

requirement, known as the grep family

Globally searcha regular expression and print it

Syntax :$grep [options] [pattern][filename]….

Grep options :

 -c :- this is the count option.this option count the records or lines

that contain the specified pattern in all the files given as arguments. It
displays only the count.
 -i :- generally grep differentiates between uppercase and lowercase
Alphabets .this option ignores case and searches for all patterns
specified.
 -l :- when -l option is used,it display only the filenames containing
the specific pattern . both options –I and –i can be used together as –il
 -v :- this option is known as inverse option .it prints or displays only
those lines or records that do not match the specified pattern.
 -n :- print the matched line and its line number.

Egrep (extended grep) :-

Extendable global regular expressions Print is a pattern searching print

is a pattern searching command which belong to the family grep
function.

It works the same way as grep –e das it treats the pattern as an extched
regular expressions and prints out the lines that match the pattern.

It there are several files with the matching pattern it also displaythe file
name for each line.

The e-grep command used mainly due to the fact that it is faster than
grepcommand.the grep command treats the meta character they are
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Special tools and utilites
and donot required to be escape as the case with grep .this allows
reducing the overhead of replacing these characters while pattern

Matching making e-grep faster than grep or e-grep

Syntax:egrep[option]<regular expr><filename>

Egrepcommand options are:

-c :for counting the number of successful match and not printing the
actual matches.

-I :to make the search case insensitive .

-n : to print the line number before each match print out.

-v : to take the compliment of the regular expressions (return the lines

which does not match)

-l : to print the file names of files with lines which match the
expression.

f-grep

the command when you need to search for string which contain lots of
regular expressions meta character $ and ^etc. by specifying that your
search and strings contains fixed character you donot need to escape
each of then with a (back slash \)

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Special tools and utilites

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 Chapter-6

Shell Programming
The shell provides you with an interface to the UNIX system. It gathers input from
you and executes programs based on that input. When a program finishes executing, it
displays that program's output.

A shell is an environment in which we can run our commands, programs, and shell
scripts. There are different flavors of shells, just as there are different flavors of
operating systems. Each flavor of shell has its own set of recognized commands and
functions.

Shell Prompt:

The prompt, which is called command prompt, is issued by the shell. While the prompt is
displayed, you can type a command.

The shell reads your input after you press Enter. It determines the command you want
executed by looking at the first word of your input. A word is an unbroken set of
characters. Spaces and tabs separate words.

Following is a simple example of date command which displays current date and time:

$date

Thu Jun 2508:30:19 MST 2009

Shell Types:

In UNIX there are two major types of shells:

1. The Bourne shell. If you are using a Bourne-type shell, the default prompt is the
$ character.
2. The C shell. If you are using a C-type shell, the default prompt is the %
character.

There are again various subcategories for Bourne Shell which are listed as follows:

• Bourne shell ( sh)

• Korn shell ( ksh)
• Bourne Again shell ( bash)
• POSIX shell ( sh)
The different C-type shells follow:
 • C shell ( csh)
• TENEX/TOPS C shell ( tcsh)

The original UNIX shell was written in the mid-1970s by Stephen R. Bourne while he
was at AT&T Bell Labs in New Jersey.

The Bourne shell was the first shell to appear on UNIX systems, thus it is referred to as
"the shell".

The Bourne shell is usually installed as /bin/sh on most versions of UNIX. For this
reason, it is the shell of choice for writing scripts to use on several different versions of
UNIX.

Shell Scripts:

The basic concept of a shell script is a list of commands, which are listed in the order
of execution. A good shell script will have comments, preceded by a pound sign, #,
describing the steps.

There are conditional tests, such as value A is greater than value B, loops allowing us
to go through massive amounts of data, files to read and store data, and variables to
read and store data, and the script may include functions.

Shell scripts and functions are both interpreted. This means they are not compiled.

It supports less features. It supports input and output redirection operators.

Example Script:

Assume we create a test.sh script. Note all the scripts would have .sh extension.
Before you add anything else to your script, you need to alert the system that a shell
script is being started. This is done using the shebang construct. For example:

#!/bin/sh

This tells the system that the commands that follow are to be executed by the Bourne
shell. It's called a shebang because the # symbol is called a hash, and the !symbol is
called a bang.

To create a script containing these commands, you put the shebang line first and then add the
commands:
#!/bin/bash
pwd
ls
Shell Comments:

You can put your comments in your script as follows:

#!/bin/bash

# this is sscasc
# Copyright (c)
sscasc.com #
Script follows
here: pwd
ls

Now you save the above content and make this script executable as follows:

$chmod +x test.sh

Now you have your shell script ready to be executed as

follows: $./test.sh

Extended Shell Scripts:

The shell is, after all, a real programming language, complete with variables, control
structures, and so forth. No matter how complicated a script gets, however, it is still just
a list of commands executed sequentially.

Following script use the read command which takes the input from the keyboard and
assigns it as the value of the variable PERSON and finally prints it on STDOUT.

echo "What is
your name?"
read PERSON
echo "Hello,
$PERSON"

Here is sample run of the script:

$./test.sh
What is your
name? vvfgc
Hello, vvfgc
Variables:

Variable is value that always changes during execution of a program. It is an integral part of
shell programming. They provide the ability to store and manipulate information.

There are 2 types of variables. They are

• Environment variables
• User defined variables

Environment variables:

These variables are the part of the system and these are created and maintained by the
syatem itself. These variables always in capital letters only.

Variable meaning

PS1 this is first prompt setting in Unix ($)

PS2 this is second prompt setting in Unix (>)

PATH whether we are used absolute or relative path.

HOME it stores the current root directory.

LOGNAME it stores the login name of the user.

User defined variable:

Variables are defined as follows::

variable_name = variable_value

For example:

NAME = "sscasc"

Above example defines the variable NAME and assigns it the value "sscasc". Variables
of this type are called scalar variables. A scalar variable can hold only one value at a
time.

The shell enables you to store any value you want in a variable. For example:
VAR1="ssczsc "
VAR2=100
Accessing Values to variables:

To access the value stored in a variable, prefix its name with the dollar sign ( $):

For example, following script would access the value of defined variable NAME and
would print it on STDOUT:

NAME="v
vfgc "
echo
$NAME

This would produce following value:

Output: vvfgc

Read-only Variables:

The shell provides a way to mark variables as read-only by using the “read only”
command. After a variable is marked read-only, its value cannot be changed.

For example, following script would give error while trying to change the value of NAME:

NAME="vvfg
c "readonly
NAME
NAME="Qadiri"

This would produce following result:

/bin/sh: NAME: This variable is read only.

Unsetting Variables:

Unsetting or deleting a variable tells the shell to remove the variable from the list of
variables that it tracks. Once you unset a variable, you would not be able to access
stored value in the variable.

Following is the syntax to unset a defined variable using the unset

command: unset variable_name

Above command would unset the value of a defined variable. Here is a simple example

NAME="v
vfgc"
unset
NAME
echo
$NAME

Above example would not print anything. You cannot use the unset command to unset
variables that are marked readonly.

Read command

This command is used to take the input from the user.

Syntax: $read var1 var2 var3 ….. var n

Syntax: $ read var1

The variable used along with the read command need not be preceded by the

$ symbol. Ex: clear echo “enter ur name” read name echo “hello

$name”

Output: enter urname :vvfgc

Hello vvfgc

Expr command

This command is used to perform mathematical caluculations.

Syntax: ` expr operand1 operator operand2 `

Where ( ` ) this symbol is known as grep symbol. There is always must a space

between symbol and the expr command. Ex: clear echo “enter 2 numbers”

read a b

echo “ sum of 2 numbers is ` expr $a + $b ` “

echo “ sub of 2 numbers is ` expr $a - $b ` “

echo “ product of 2 numbers is ` expr $a \* $b

` “ echo “ quotient of 2 numbers is ` expr $a /

$b ` “ Note:
 In unix multiplication purpose we use the symbol of “\*” because only * is wild card
character.

Test operator [numerical test]

Arithmetic Operators:

There are following arithmetic operators supported by Bourne Shell.

Assume variable “a” holds 10 and variable “b” holds 20 then:

Show Examples

Operator Description Example

Addition - Adds values on either side of the
+ `expr $a + $b` will give 30
operator
Subtraction - Subtracts right hand operand from
- `expr $a - $b` will give -10 left
hand operand
Multiplication - Multiplies values on either side
* `expr $a \* $b` will give 200
of the operator
Division - Divides left hand operand by right
/ `expr $b / $a` will give 2 hand
operand
Modulus - Divides left hand operand by right
% `expr $b % $a` will give 0
hand operand and returns remainder
Assignment - Assign right operand in left a=$b would assign value of b into a operand
=

Equality - Compares two numbers, if both are [ $a == $b ] would return same then
==
returns true. false.
Not Equality - Compares two numbers, if both [ $a != $b ] would return are
!=
different then returns true. true.
It is very important to note here that all the conditional expressions would be put inside
square braces with one spaces around them, for example [ $a == $b ] is correct where as
[$a==$b] is incorrect.

All the arithmetical calculations are done using long integers.

Relational Operators:

Bourne Shell supports following relational operators which are specific to numeric values.
These operators would not work for string values unless their value is numeric.

For example, following operators would work to check a relation between 10 and 20 as well
as in between "10" and "20" but not in between "ten" and "twenty".
Assume variable “a” holds 10 and variable “b” holds 20 then:

Show Examples

Operator Description Example

Checks if the value of two operands is equal or
-eq [ $a -eq $b ] is not true.
not, if yes then condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of two operands is equal or
-ne not, if values are not equal then condition [ $a -ne $b ] is true.
becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is greater
-gt than the value of right operand, if yes then [ $a -gt $b ] is not true.
condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is less than
-lt the value of right operand, if yes then condition [ $a -lt $b ] is
true. becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is greater
-ge than or equal to the value of right operand, if [ $a -ge $b ] is not true.
yes then condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is less than
-le or equal to the value of right operand, if yes [ $a -le $b ] is true.
then condition becomes true.

It is very important to note here that all the conditional expressions would be put inside
square braces with one spaces around them, for example [ $a <= $b ] is correct where as
[$a <= $b] is incorrect.

Boolean Operators (or) logical operators:

There are following Boolean operators supported by Bourne Shell.

Assume variable “a” holds 10 and variable “b” holds 20 then:

Show Examples

Operator Description Example

This is logical negation. This inverts a true
! [ ! false ] is true.
condition into false and vice versa.
This is logical OR. If one of the operands is [ $a -lt 20 -o $b -gt 100 ] is
-o
true then condition would be true. true.
This is logical AND. If both the operands are
[ $a -lt 20 -a $b -gt 100 ] is
-a true then condition would be true otherwise it
f
alse. would be false.

String test Operators

There are following string operators supported by Bourne Shell.

Assume variable a holds "abc" and variable b holds "efg" then:

Show Examples

Operator Description Example

Checks if the value of two operands is equal or
= [ $a = $b ] is not true.
not, if yes then condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of two operands is equal or
!= not, if values are not equal then condition [ $a != $b ] is true.
becomes true.
Checks if the given string operand size is zero.
-z [ -z $a ] is not true.
If it is zero length then it returns true.
Checks if the given string operand size is non-
-n [ -n $a ] is true.
zero. If it is non-zero length then it returns true. Check if str is
not the empty string. If it is str [ $a ] is not false.
empty then it returns false.

File Test Operators

There are following operators to test various properties associated with a Unix file.

Assume a variable file holds an existing file name "test" whose size is 100 bytes and has
read, write and execute permission on:

Show Examples
Operator Description Example
Checks if file is a block special file if yes then
-b file [ -b $file ] is false.
condition becomes true.
Checks if file is a character special file if yes
-c file [ -b $file ] is false.
then condition becomes true.
Check if file is a directory if yes then condition
-d file [ -d $file ] is not true.
 becomes true.
Check if file is an ordinary file as opposed to a
-f file directory or special file if yes then condition [ -f $file ] is true.
becomes true.
Checks if file has its set group ID (SGID) bit
-g file [ -g $file ] is false.
set if yes then condition becomes true.
Checks if file has its sticky bit set if yes then
-k file [ -k $file ] is false.
condition becomes true.
Checks if file is a named pipe if yes then
-p file [ -p $file ] is false.
condition becomes true.
Checks if file descriptor is open and associated
-t file with a terminal if yes then condition becomes [ -t $file ]
is false. true.
Checks if file has its set user id (SUID) bit set
-u file [ -u $file ] is false.
if yes then condition becomes true.
Checks if file is readable if yes then condition
-r file [ -r $file ] is true.
becomes true.
Check if file is writable if yes then condition
-w file [ -w $file ] is true.
becomes true.
Check if file is execute if yes then condition
-x file [ -x $file ] is true.
becomes true.
Check if file has size greater than 0 if yes then
-s file [ -s $file ] is true.
condition becomes true.
Check if file exists. Is true even if file is a
-e file [ -e $file ] is true.
directory but exists.

Control statements
The ability to control the flow of execution of program is known as control statements.

The different types of control structures are

• Sequence control structure

• Selection control structure
• Looping control structure
Selection control structure
This type of instruction allows the shell script to be executed depending on the condition.

There are mainly 4 types of decision making instructions. They are

• if-then-fi statement
• if-then-else-fi statement
• if-then-elif-then-else-fi statement case-esac statement if-then-fi statement:

in this first check the condition. That condition is true then only the if block statements
will be executed otherwise the cursor transfer outside the if condition.

Syntax: ex:

if [ condition ] if [ $a –gt 18 ]

then then

statements echo “eligible for vote”

fi fi

if-then-else-fi statement:

in this first check the condition. That condition is true then only the if block statements
will be executed otherwise the else block statements will be executed.

Syntax: ex:

if [ condition ] if [ $a –gt $b ]

then then

statements echo “a is larger than b”

else else

statements echo “b is larger than a”

fi fi

if-then-elif-then-else-fi statement:

in this first check the condition. That condition is true then only the if block statements
will be executed otherwise the cursor checks the next condition then the second
condition will be true then inside that statements will be executed and so on. If any
conditions were not true then the else block statements will be executed.

Syntax: ex:

if [ condition 1 ] if [ $a –gt $b –a $a –gt $c

]

then then

statements echo ”a is larger”

elif [ condition 2] elif [ $b –gt $c ]

then then

statements echo “ b is larger”

else else

statements echo “c is larger”

fi fi

Case-esac statement:

Syntax: case $variable in

[match1] )statements ; ;

[match2] statements ; ;

[match3] statements ; ;

: :

: :

*) statements ; ;

esac

• here match1,match2 etc are the case labels.

• When a case statement is evaluated the value of variable is matched in any one of the
choices.
• When a match is found then shell executes that corresponding match statements.
• The pair of semicolon at the end of every choices. It identifies break.
• *) indicates default class. Ex: clear echo “enter a character”

readch
case $ch in

[a-z]) echo “entered character is lowercase letters” ; ;

[A-Z] echo “entered character is uppercase letters” ; ;

[0-9] echo “entered character isdigit” ; ;

*) echo “invalid choice” ;;

esac

Looping Control statements

In this all statements are executed repeatedly again and again as long as condition is true.
This is also known as repetition or iteration.

Shell allows various types of looping. They are

• While loop
• Until loop
• For loop

While loop:

This is the pretested loop or entry controlled loop. In this first check the condition, if
that condition was true then control enter inside the loop otherwise control transferred
outside the loop.

Syntax: ex:

while [ condition ] while [ i –le 10 ]

do do

Statements echo “$i”

done i =` expr $i + 1 `

done

until loop:

This is also pretested loop or entry controlled loop. In this first check the condition, if
that condition was false then control enter inside the loop otherwise control transferred
outside the loop.

Syntax: ex:

until [ condition ] until [ i -ge 10 ]

do do
Statements echo “$i”

done i =`

expr $i + 1 `

done

for loop:

This is a fixed execution loop. This loop is allow to execute list of statements certain
period of time.

Syntax:

for variable in value1 value2 value3

….. value n do

statements

done

ex:

for i

in 1 2

345

do

echo $i

i=` expr $i + 1 `

done