2.0 Getting Started

2.1 Logging In

Each user has a "login name" on the system. Your login name is your unique identifier to the system. In addition to the login name everyone is assigned a password. Passwords should not be trivial(ie.your names) and should preferably contain letters and digits. When you sit down to start your session you will see a prompt similar to the one below.

In the login field type in your login name and press <Return>.

Next type in your password and press <Return>. You will notice that when you type in your password it is not shown. This is a security feature that prevents people from looking over your shoulder to gain access to your account.

2.2 The Window Manager

After you login you will automatically be in the HP-VUE windowing environment. This is Hewlett-Packards "front-end" to the X Window System. All of our typing will be done in a window called an hpterm.

You will see this icon at the bottom left hand corner of your vue bar. Click on this icon to get an hpterm.

Place the cursor in this window. This is where you will do your typing.

2.3 Changing Passwords

Once you are have successfully logged in it is time to change your password. You should change your password at reasonably frequent intervals for security reasons. The passwd command will change your password.

% passwd
Changing NIS password for scot...
Old NIS password:
New password:
Retype new password:
The NIS passwd has been changed on iriquois, the master NIS passwd server.
%

2.4 Some Simple Commands

Lets start out with some commands to get you familiar with Unix. One simple command, date, tells you the current date and time. 

% date
Fri Mar  4 11:25:25 EST 1994
%

Another command cal displays the calender for this month. 

% cal
   March 1994
 S  M Tu  W Th  F  S
       1  2  3  4  5
 6  7  8  9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
%

2.5 Getting Help

Unix contains an online help facility called the man (manual) pages. The man command displays a command syntax plus a detailed description of the commands including its options and arguments. Also, man displays examples of command usage and provides other information such as files used, related commands, diagonostics and possible problems.

% man cal

 cal(1)                                                               cal(1)

 NAME
      cal - print calendar

 SYNOPSIS
      cal [[month] year]

 DESCRIPTION
      cal prints a calendar for the specified year.  If a month is also
      specified, a calendar just for that month is printed.  If neither is
      specified, a calendar for the present month is printed.  year can be
      between 1 and 9999.  month is a decimal number between 1 and 12.  The
      calendar produced is that for England and English colonies.

 EXAMPLES
      The command:
--More--
This command will give you information on using the cal command. If the whole page cannot fit on your screen you will see a --More-- at the bottom of the page. If you want to see more of the file press the <SPACEBAR>. If you are finished viewing and you want to quit the man pages use <CTRL-c>

The -k (keyword) option is used to do keyword searches. For example, if I wanted information on a debugger I would do man -k debug to get a listing of all man pages that have debug in their text.

2.6 Logging Out

When you are finished with your session you must exit. If you had a single shell you would exit using the exit or logout command. However, since we are using a windows manager you will need to exit using the window manager.

Use the mouse to click on the exit button. Then you will be prompted to confirm your logout. Choose Ok.

However, if you want to continue with this tutorial go to the next section.

Last Modified: 4/22/94 by Scott Miller