Getting to the Prompt
Before you can interact directly with a command-line shell, you must get to the command-line (or prompt). You can access the command line in a number of ways:
If Gnome (or another desktop environment) is running, you can open a terminal window.
You can access your Linux server remotely, using a telnet application.
You can start in Failsafe mode at the Red Hat logon screen. (This is somewhat like using Windows 95/98's Safe mode.)
You can set your system to boot directly to the command prompt.
In the bash shell, the interactive prompt is indicated with a dollar sign ($). In other words, at $, you type your command and press enter: for example,
$ logout
To reach a command prompt in a Terminal window:
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Choose the Terminal icon on the Gnome panel (it looks like a monitor, just to the left of the Netscape icons) or select GNOME terminal from the Utilities fly-out on the Gnome main menu. A terminal window will open (Figure 10.1).
Figure 10.1. To open a terminal window, choose the Terminal icon on the Gnome panel.
Tip
You can have multiple terminal windows open at the same time. In fact, it is quite often useful and desirable to do so. For example, you might be logged on as a normal user in one window and working as root in another. Or—to borrow an example from Chapter 9—you could start a database server engine in one terminal window and interact with it as a client in another.
Tip
If you are logged as root, the interactive prompt is indicated with a # rather than a $.
To telnet from Microsoft Windows:
1. | Choose Run from the Windows Start menu. The Run Program dialog box will open (Figure 10.2). Figure 10.2. To open a Windows telnet client, type talenet in the windows Run Program dialog box.
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2. | Type telnet in the Open box. |
3. | Click OK. An empty Telnet window—referred to as a telnet session—will open (Figure 10.3). Figure 10.3. A telnet session that is not connected specifies None in its title bar.
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4. | Choose Remote System from the Connect menu. The Connect dialog box will open (Figure 10.4). Figure 10.4. The Connect dialog box is used to specify a remote computer connection.
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5. | In the Host Name box, type the IP address or fully qualified host name for the remote computer you want to telnet to. |
6. | Click Connect. You will be connected to the logon screen at the remote system (Figure 10.5). Figure 10.5. When you connect with a telent session, you will be asked to log on.
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7. | Type your logon ID and password. The command prompt will appear. |
Tip
You can enter the remote host name as part of the command that invokes the Telnet window in the Run Program dialog box, for example:
telnet linuxbear.bearhome.com
Tip
As with terminal windows, you can (and often will) have multiple telnet sessions open. Of course, you can also mix and match Telnet and terminal windows—and have several of each open simultaneously.
Tip
There are many Windows telnet applications available as shareware or commercial software in addition to the utility that ships with Microsoft Windows.
Tip
For more information on connecting remotely to your Linux server from Microsoft Windows, see Chapter 13.
To start Failsafe mode:
1. | At the Red Hat logon screen, click the Options button. |
2. | Choose Failsafe from the Sessions fly-out menu. |
Tip
For more information on the Red Hat logon Sessions options, see Chapter 6.
To default to the command prompt:
1. | Log on as root. |
2. | Open the Linux Configuration applet. |
3. | Set Initial System Services to Run Level 3 (Figure 10.6). Figure 10.6. If you set your system run level to 3, it will boot to the command line.
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4. | Click Accept. |
Tip
For more information on how to default to the command prompt, the meanings of the various run levels, and the procedure for reversing this process, see Chapter 3