Unix Tutorial

• Connecting to grove
• Your login name
• Your password
• The Unix shell
• Using the keyboard
• Common grove commands

You can connect to grove from AT lab computers by clicking on the Grove icon and from other campus or off-campus locations using an SSH client (such as putty) to connect to login.grove.ufl.edu.

Once you have connected to the Grove server, you will need to authenticate with your Grove username and password.

Your Login Name

You have a login name and a password that identifies you as a valid user of the Grove system.

• If you have a personal account associated with your Gatorlink username, you use your Gatorlink username and password when you authenticate to your Grove account.
• If you received an account from your instructor, the login name and password are on the card you received from your instructor. Once you have logged into your account, you will be prompted for your UFID and to change your password to something you will be able to remember.
• If you have an organizational or departmental group account:
  login: Grove-username
  password: GatorLink-username/current-GatorLink-password
• To log out, type this command and press Return:
  logout

Always logout of your account when you are finished working.

Your Password

You don't have to make your passwords from sentences. Any scheme that would force an attacker to make millions of guesses will do. Whatever way you choose to build your password, you should:

• Never tell anyone your password, or let them see you type it.
• Don't write it down or store it on a file in a computer.
• Use a password of at least ten characters.
• Don't use anything obviously connected to you, like your name, username, or ID number.
• Don't use a common word or phrase.
• Use a mixture of letters, symbols, and numbers. The password can contain any printable character.
• Change your password completely whenever you change it. If someone has learned an old password, they might guess at your new password.

The shell is the program that accepts and acts on the commands you type at the keyboard. On grove, your account is set to use the T shell, tcsh. It is not possible to change your default shell from the T shell. If you want to use a different shell, you can execute that shell at the command line. For example, to run the Bash shell, type:

bash

Unix systems are case-sensitive so be sure to type commands, file names, and other input in the correct case. Nearly all commands in Unix are in lower case.

Use the control key (Ctrl) in combination with another key to send a special control character to the computer. The control key is like a shift key that is held down while another key is pressed. For example, to type Ctrl-U, press and hold the Ctrl key and press the U key.

Use the delete key (Del) to erase the last character you typed.

The erase, kill, and interrupt characters have special meaning to Unix systems. On CIRCA's Unix system, these characters are mapped to the keyboard as follows:

Common Grove Commands

All commands listed below should be typed after login at the unix shell prompt >.  Extended Unix system help can be viewed by typing "man commandname". Grove specific information is available on the Grove web home page. To view the page, type "curl" at the grove prompt.