Fall 2019 CSCE-221 Data Structures and Algorithms

Lab Sections 501 - 504

Basic Linux Guide

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"Distributions"

Not precise definition of Linux distributions. You can use following environments for this course:

Basic commands

Some commands you may have to use, but not limited to:

Command Usage
pwd Show current directory.
$pwd
ls List files of current directory.
$ls
Options:
-a: Show all files, including hidden files.
-l: Long format, including time, date, permissions, and owner.
cd Change directory. E.g.
$cd ..
go to parent folder.
mkdir Make a new directory.
$mkdir folderName
rmdir Remove a directory.
$mkdir folderName
cp Copy a file.
$cp file newfile
mv Move a file. Used as rename if the file is moved to the same folder.
$mv filename newfile
rm Remove a file.
$rm filename
Use -R to recusively delete all files and subfolders.
cat Display a plain text file on the screen.
$cat filename
touch Touch an existed file to change the timestamp to current time.
Touch a non-existed file to generate a new plain text file.
$touch filename
sudo Run command under root privilege
$sudo somecmd
$ means the command is run under normal user privilege, while # means root privilege.

Basic tools

Some (external) commands you may have to use, but not limited to:

Package Installation

OS Command
Debian/Ubuntu Use #apt-get update to update repo information.
Use $apt-cache search something to search for softwares.
Use #apt-get install something to install the package.
RH/Fedora Use #yum update to update your packages.
Use $yum search something to search for softwares.
Use #yum install something to install the package.
Archlinux Use #pacman -Su to update repo information.
Use $pacman -Ss something to search for softwares.
Use #pamcan -S something to install the package.
Mac OS Install Homebrew and use $brew install something to install the missing packages.
MinGW https://sourceforge.net/p/mingw-w64/wiki2/GeneralUsageInstructions/

C++ Tool Chain

You may need GCC, GDB, MAKE, CMAKE, BOOST, GLIBC to compile your code. On Debian/Ubuntu, #apt-get install build-essential to install some of them. On other distributions, you may have to install them seperately.

Text Editors

In this course, you can use any editor you want. Three options for cmd-line are: Nano, Vim and Emacs.

The fastest way to use vim is: use $vim filename to edit a file, press i to enter insertion mode, press esc to exit editing mode, press two capitalised Z to save and exit, i.e. ZZ or Shift+zz. A vim cheat sheet: https://devhints.io/vim

For Emacs, https://wiki.cse.tamu.edu/index.php/How_to_use_emacs

Some options for editing with GUI (on Windows, Linux, or Mac): Notepad++, VS Code, Sublime, Atom

Remote Access

Protocals Usage
SSH $ssh username@linux2.cs.tamu.edu to login to remote server, then you get a linux shell.
SFTP $sftp username@linux2.cs.tamu.edu to login to remote server.
cd to the file your want to download.
lcd to the directory you want to use locally.
$get filename to download the file.
Or
$get filename localFile

Use $put filename to upload the file.

File Archive

Tools Usage
tar $tar -czvf filename.tar.gz yourFolder to compress your folder to a gzip file.
$tar -xzvf filename.tar.gz to extract your files from a gzip file to current directory.
zip $zip -r filename.zip yourFolder to compress your folder to a zip file.
$unzip filename.zip to extract your files from a zip file to current directory.

Resources

https://wiki.cse.tamu.edu/index.php/Basic_UNIX_Commands

https://wiki.cse.tamu.edu/index.php/Vi_tutorial

https://wiki.cse.tamu.edu/index.php/How_to_use_emacs

https://wiki.archlinux.org/