1. Shell Self-Assessment

Before we dive into the course content, let’s assess your current level of familiarity with the command line shell. Our goal is to ensure everyone gets on the same page, building a solid foundation in basic shell skills while also providing new insights for those already experienced. Since we’ll be remotely connecting and using the Yens cluster via the command line, mastering the shell is crucial for conducting research effectively on the Yens.

Step 1: What’s your experience level?

  • Beginner: You’re new to the shell or have only explored it a little (e.g., you can open it, but most commands are still unfamiliar).
  • Intermediate: You have some hands-on experience with the shell, and you’re familiar with basic commands like ls, cd, and cp.
  • Advanced: You feel confident navigating the shell, can write simple shell scripts, and use tools like grep, awk, or sed.

Once you’ve identified your experience level, we’ll split into two or three groups, each led by an instructor. This way, you’ll get the support that best suits your current skill set, whether you’re learning the basics, strengthening core skills, or diving into advanced shell usage.

Step 2: Find Your Table

1. Beginner Table

If you’ve never used a shell or feel unsure about navigating through it:

  • Please head over to one of the tables.
  • The instructor will go over the Introduction to the Shell to get you started with the shell basics.

2. Intermediate and Advanced Groups

If you’ve used the shell before, let’s make this fun! Try out the following exercise to determine whether you should follow the intermediate or advanced materials. Do not use the Internet / ChatGPT for this assessment!

The Fun Exercise!

Follow the steps below and answer the questions within the file you create.

  1. In your home directory, create a new directory called quiz_dir
  2. Navigate into quiz_dir
  3. Create a new file called answers.txt inside quiz_dir
  4. Now, answer the following questions by writing your answers into answers.txt

Questions:

  1. Which command lists all files, including hidden ones, in the current directory?
  2. Which command redirects the output of echo “Hello” into a file called hello.txt, overwriting its content?
  3. Which command renames the file hello.txt to greeting.txt?
  4. In one line, what is the command to see how many “disallow” statements are in the https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/robots.txt file?
  5. Finally, write the answer to how many “disallow” statements are in the https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/robots.txt file.
  6. Append the text “End of quiz” to the answers.txt file.

After you are done with the quiz, print the content of the answers.txt to the screen and put a sticky note on your laptop so that the instructors can check your answers.

  • If you get some but not all answers right, head over to the “Intermediate” table for Intermediate Shell.
  • If you get all the answers right, head over to the “Advanced” table for Advanced Shell.