CHAPTER 3Basic Bash Shell Commands
The default shell used in many Linux distributions is the GNU Bash shell. This chapter describes the basic features available in the Bash shell, such as the Bash manual, command-line completion, and how to display a file's contents. We will walk you through how to work with Linux files and directories using the basic commands provided by the Bash shell. If you're already comfortable with the basics in the Linux environment, feel free to skip this chapter and go to Chapter 4, “More Bash Shell Commands,” to see more advanced commands.
Starting the Shell
The GNU Bash shell is a program that provides interactive access to the Linux system. It runs as a regular program and is normally started whenever a user logs into a terminal. The shell that the system starts depends on your user ID configuration.
The /etc/passwd file contains a list of all the system user accounts, along with basic configuration information about each user. Here's a sample entry from an /etc/passwd file:
christine:x:1001:1001::/home/christine:/bin/bash
Every entry has seven data fields, separated by colons (:). The system uses the data in these fields to assign specific features for the user. Most of these entries are discussed in more detail in Chapter 7, “Understanding Linux File Permissions.” ...
Get Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible, 4th Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
