Linux / Unix tutorial: Advice needed

fred_easey · 28 Apr 2010 at 11:40

Hi,

I've just started a new job and have been told that it would be a good idea for me to install some sort of unix client on my windows PC and also to learn some basic unix commands in order to be able to browse data on the network and transfer files on to my local computer so I can then upload them in to a local database for querying/data analysis stuff.

So couple of questions:

1) What is a good, free application I use to access unix from my windows desktop? (I think I may have used PuTTY for this in the past, would that do a a job for me here, or is there a better alternative?)

2) Could anyone point me in the direction of a good online tutorial to learn the basics of browsing directories, locating files, copying / pasting, viewing samples of the data etc?

Any advice would be much appreciated,

Cheers,

Fred

BahBah · 28 Apr 2010 at 12:51

PuTTY for SSH
Filezilla for SFTP

http://www.laynetworks.com/linux.htm seems to have most of the basic filesystem commands and definitions.

For learning I would install virtualbox on your Windows PC and pick a distro like Debian.

Earth[Tera].bin · 28 Apr 2010 at 13:15

I'd also suggest using the man pages in the distro you install, usually overlooked by most but really in depth.

slylittlefox · 28 Apr 2010 at 14:37

Install Ubuntu Server or Debian base etc in a VM (using VirtualBox as suggested by BahBah). Then Google "<name of task> how to" for anything you want to do. I usually just ask the verbose question in Google:

"How do I copy files Linux", "How do I setup subversion"

If you use Ubuntu in the Google, the first link is usually the Ubuntu Community doc on that subject, and is a really good starting point.

JHeaton · 28 Apr 2010 at 15:42

I always get people to have a look through this, it's very informative in my opinion.

http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/

If you want something to play around with but don't fancy going through the install process and getting everything set up in VirtualBox, I can give you a standard account on my VPS for you to test out basic commands on, if you would like. It would be Arch linux, but commands like mv, cp, ls and the like are all pretty much generic.

fred_easey · 28 Apr 2010 at 16:46

Thanks for the links guys!

Our techy guys are in the process of setting up a dev box for me to play around with. Will report back here once I'm up and running...