History of UNIX

In 1960s the software giants namely, AT&T,GE AND

BELL labs undertook the development for a multitasking
and multiuser operating system called MULTICS, an
acronym for Multiplexed Information computer service.
When the hardware advancement took place, Mr. Ken
Thomson of BELL labs single handedly developed an
operating system for PDP-7 microprocessor which is called
as UNI-CYCLE then went on to be called as UNIX.
With the invent of 'C' programming Language, UNIX
system was coded almost in 'C'.
In late 1970's UNIX system was also developed at
University of California, Berkeley known as BSD (Berkeley
Software Distribution) implementation.
In 1993, The Bell Laboratory handed over the Patent
of Unix O/S to NOVELL technologies.
From then on People started calling the resembling
operating systems as UNIX like.

Introduction to UNIX Operating System

As the name implies the operating system tells your
computer how to operate, how to carry out its most
basic functions. It is responsible for the Efficient use of
the hardware.

Operating system must match your hardware to work
on a given computer. An Operating System (OS) is the
interface used by users and programs to control system
resources such as memory, printers, CPU etc.

Solaris/LINUX/ULTRIX powerful, portable, multi-
user & multitasking operating system, which carry the
same flavor of UNIX, but have enriched user functions
and utilities, to match the ongoing trend in utilization of
the computers.

ABOUT UNIX

1. A hierarchical file system incorporating demountable volumes.

2. Device independence is achieved, since devices are treated as files
and have entries in a system file.

3. Ability to initiate asynchronous processes.

4. Shell - the powerful command programming language.

5. System command language selectable on a per-user basis.

6. Highly rich set of utilities.

7. High degree of portability.

8. User friendly commands with online manual help.

9. Facilitates communication across homogenous and heterogeneous
systems.

UNIX COMPONENTS
Kernel


A kernel module is a hardware or software component that is
used to perform a specific task on the system.
It is loaded into memory when the system is booted.
It is the heart of the operating system and runs in supervisory
mode.
Kernel has a collection of programs and directly communicates
with the hardware.
There is only one kernel for any system.
Functions:-
1. Schedules tasks
2. Allocates system resources
3. Manages memory
4. Manages data storage
5. Controls access to the computer and monitors.
INTRODUCTION TO SHELL
SHELL

1. Shell is a command Processor, or itself is a program.

2. A program that reads and interprets the commands we
enter.

3. Well defined interface to project the internals.
(like an Oyster's shell)

4. Allows us to pause and start as many programs as we
can.



Some of the examples of Shells available in
the Present day unix environment.
YEAR DEVELOPERS NAME SHELL NAME
1970 STEVEN BOURNE bsh
1980 KEN GREEN tcsh
1980 DAVID KORN ksh
1989 BRIAN FOX CHET RAMEY bash
1990 FALSTAD zsh
BILL-JOY csh
The csh is normally used in our system and since the unix is
written C language and the operations featuring the same as
that in the programming of the C language.
UNIX File System

UNIX looks at everything as a file.

Files grow rapidly, and if all these files are not organized
in a systematic manner, you will find it virtually impossible to
access them.
Apart from files, the UNIX file system also permits creation
of directories.

The UNIX file system lets users access other files not
belonging to them, without infringing on security.

This requires an elaborate directory-based storage system
so that a user can place oneself in a directory, or transfer
files from one directory to another. It also requires an
adequate security arrangement so that outsiders are not able
to tamper with a file's contents.

FILES
A file is an ordered sequence of characters.

A name, the filename, identifies the file uniquely.

File System is a structure for organizing files.

Files are divided into three categories:

Regular file-Contains only data

Directory files-Contains other files and directories

Device files-Represents all hardware devices



Ordinary File
This includes all data, source programs, object and executable code, all
UNIX commands, as well as any files created by the User.
Directory File
The UNIX file system is organized with a number of such directories and
sub-directories A directory file contains two fields for each file-the name
of the file, and its identification number (the inode).It is the directory file
that contains the names of all files resident in the directory.
Device File
The definition of a file has been broadened by UNIX to consider even
physical devices as files. To provide applications with easy access to
hardware. UNIX allows them to be used in much the same way as ordinary
files.

There are two types of devices in UNIX: block-oriented devices which
transfer data in blocks (e.g. hard disk) and character-oriented devices that
transfer data on a byte-by-byte basis (e.g. terminals)

11 23 ls cat
/
(root)
sbin dev etc home tmp var usr
term bin lib sbin console
= Directories
= Ordinary Files
= Special Files
= Branch
stand
unix
EXAMPLES FOR TYPES OF FILES AND UNIX FILE STRUCTURE HIERARCHY
File name conventions: -

a filename can consist of up to 255 characters.
Files may or may not have extensions.

Can consist of practically any ASCII character except
the /.

Can also use control characters, or other un printable
characters in a filename.

Alphabets and numerals, The period (.), the hyphen (-)
and the underscore (_)
/bin
/sbin
/etc
/dev
/proc
/var
/tmp
/usr
/home
/boot
/lib
/opt
/mnt
/media
CONFIGURARION FILES
PROCESS INFORMATONS
VARIABLE DATA
TEMPROARY FILES
USER PROGRAM OR Secondary hierarchy
USER HOME DIRECTORY
BOOT LOADER FILES
SYSTEM LIBRARIES
OPTIONAL ADD-ON DEVICE FILES
MOUNTING DIRECTORY
REMOVAL MEDIA MOUNTABLE DIRECTORY(/FLOPPY./CDROM)
SYSTEM BINARIES
USER BINARIES
DEVICE FILES

General command format:

Command-name [options] [arguments]
(arguments within [ ] are optional)

1. options for a command always start with -
2. Command arguments are usually either flags or filenames
3. Shell searches a directory to find a command file
4. Command files may be available in any directory
5. Then the shell invokes the program and goes to sleep
6. Shell wakes up after program completion
7. User can prepare his own command files.

REDIRECTION:
STANDARD INPUT: <
STANDARD OUPUT : >
APPENDING OUPUT : >>
WILDCARDS: >, <, |, !, *, ?, [, ], $, &, {, }, ;
& background job submission
!! REPEAT THE PREVIOUS COMMAN IN
THE HISTORY
!n REPEAT THE Nth command FROM THE
HISTORY.
Initialization files

.cshrc rc run commands run automatically.
Set your shell variables define your aliases
.login belongs to CSH
.profile is given in ksh.
Bash mostly used in the Linux as default shell.