LINUX CLI The Expert Way - Post #19
Aloe Vera growth in our backyard. Even the plants speak of how beautiful this world is……...
WHAT IS A CLI
It may help you in this reading if you have already read my previous I.T. Spice post as I suggest the most preferable linux desktop environments, the link below.
To be able to take advantage of Linux capabilities, one has to master the art of using the linux CLI (Command Line Interface). The CLI is like a do-it-all task program for linux, it is here that you can start or stop any running programs that may have already locked your computer. It is also at the CLI that you can do some manipulations of your linux desktop in a way a common GUI (Graphical User Interface) can not do anymore. You see, linux does things the reverse. I can imagine the main programmers firstly taking care of the CLI way of doing things before going into the GUI ones.
If we try to analyze, this approach is the reverse of what we all know about the Windows OS, where everything is clicking a graphical representation of some tasks. In my experience with such tasks, both at the desktop and on the level of the robust servers, I can say it this way:
“GUI (Graphical User Interface) is good, but we need CLI (Command Line Interface)……...”
One thing I can assure everyone is that as long as the computer has no faults hardware-wise (hardisk, CPU, memory etc), be it an old desktop or the latest server hardware, the linux CLI will and can perform any task you want it to do.
This I can guarantee you.
ADDING SYSTEM USERS THE CLI WAY
OK, here it is now. I have a new desktop, but we are many users, how do I add each one using the linux CLI? This is a very easy task, and in mentoring this the elementary way, I will do this the numbered tasks approach:
-1. Be sure to have your Linux Mint desktop ready as per my last post on the I.T. Spices, link below. The cairo dock is the one at the bottom and the default panel dock is the one above the screen.
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-2. Click “Applications Menu”, then “Utilities”, then “Terminal”. Once the Terminal program opens up, this is your CLI. It is here that you can do all sorts of things you wanna do on linux, of course we can do this adding users task on a GUI but since I have already said that I will teach “direct to the expert’s point” on my I.T. spices posts, I suggest you forget GUI for now, believe me if I will say that the only way to become a linux ambassador is to do things linux the CLI way. So many experiences already for my part on very crucial tasks that I really had wished I had opened the CLI firstly, as the GUI becomes unresponsive and may even give much headaches later when one can not do things anymore with his desktop.
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-3. I expect for the Terminal program to be opened as per step #2, you can type this to become “root” user first (this part is just once): “passwd root”, after which you type the root password twice. Once you have a root password, you can then login as root user, the most powerful user of your desktop. To login as the root user, type “su – root” then press “Enter”, you will know you have become the root user because the green colored username turns into red. If you wanna know how powerful this user is, well, enough to do things that will render your desktop unusable!!! So be very careful if you do things as a root user. On Linux Mint, when one becomes the root user the username on the right of the screen turns to a red color.
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-4. The root user can add new users to your desktop, these users will become the lesser-privileged ones but can do tasks as Office programs (most common), browse the Web (another most common), or possibly edit some pictures and graphics (the less common but still very important tasks). If you will try to imagine now, since you are both an ordinary user (non-root) and the most privileged user (root user), you are now what is called the “super admin” of your own desktop. In big organizations such as banks where daily transactions are very sensitive, the super admins are the very people that can make or break the day’s run, or possibly the whole Company’s. Imagine the fate of a Company in the hands of a few super admins, this description alone will at least give you the idea of your responsibility as far as your new desktop is concerned.
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-5. As the root user, add new users with this command: “adduser user2”, this is just an example, with user2 as the decided username, you can add any username of your own liking or depending on the real user of your new desktop. I suggest you don’t waste time filling up those names, etc. Just hit ENTER on your keyboard until you reach the question “Is the information correct?”. You can press “Y” to say yes to the computer, after which point the new user is already added and be ready for his/her login using the “username” and “password” used during the creation.
Once the named user logs in, he/she will be presented with the same environment and tools as default installation for a Linux Mint desktop. You can tell the users to spend time in familiarizing themselves with the productivity tools by going into the “Applications Menu”, the button that has the Linux Mint icon bottom left side of your screen.
Everytime you elevate yourself as the root user, be sure to exit of that privilege everytime your task as a root is finished. This is a “must” for security (now we are talking haha) and safety purposes. Security because you really do not know who will sit down at your desktop while you are away, as a root user you are already giving this person your whole desktop System, even changing the root password! Safety because you never really know if your keyboard has been pressed, and the letters that are accidentally typed constituted a legitimate cli command that turns out to be a very destructive one. Take it from me directly to avoid any headaches. To exit out of being the root user, you need to do this at the cli as the rot user: type firstly “exit”, after typing that word press “Enter” key of your keyboard. You will know that you are out of the root privilege because the red letters will turn into green.
Let us do this one step at a time, so I really think for now adding new users to your Linux Mint desktop is the main task of the day. Let us do some other time for some more linux tasks the CLI approach.
Just remember, linux is opensource, it is free, it is very secure and stable and it is used by lots of people and companies all over the world. If you become an ambassador for linux one day, I strongly believe you will add to the good things that this life can offer.
Stay tuned for more posts as I intend to reach the part where you have to program your way into any important task that may need it.
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