IT 244: Introduction to Linux/Unix
Answers to Midterm Exam - Even Columns

  1. How do you you abort a running program? 
    Control C
  2. Look at the diagram on the last page.
    You are in the directory gh.
    Write the command to create a soft link to the django directory under the projects directory.
    You may use either an absolute or relative pathname. 
    ln -s /projects/django
  3. Look at the diagram on the last page.
    You are in the directory named it116.
    Write the RELATIVE pathname for the root directory.
    You do not have to write a Unix command, I only want the pathname. 
    ../../..
  4. Name the three types of access permissions. 
    read, write and execute
  5. What does the PATH shell variable contain? 
    the list of directories the shell must search 
to find the file to run a command
  6. Write the command you would use to run who but send the output to the file listing.txt. 
    who > listing.txt
  7. What directory is the starting point for EVERY absolute path? 
    the root directory
  8. Look at the diagram on the last page.
    You are in the directory named courses.
    Write the RELATIVE pathname for the directory named hw2 under the it244 directory.
    You do not have to write a Unix command, I only want the pathname. 
    it/it244/hw/hw2
  9. What does a program do just before it stops running? 
    it sends an exit status to the shell
  10. What is the name of the only program that can create a process? 
    the kernel
  11. Name the three categories of accounts which are used in assigning access permissions. 
    owner, group, everyone else
  12. What would you type at the command line if you wanted to see the value of the variable SHELL? 
    echo  $SHELL
  13. Look at the diagram on the last page.
    You are in the directory named gh under home.
    Write the RELATIVE pathname for the test directory under projects.
    You do not have to write a Unix command, I only want the pathname. 
    ../../projects/test
  14. What is the name of the directory at the top of the Unix filesystem? 
    root
  15. If you started typing the name of a file on the command line and wanted Unix to supply the rest, what would you do? 
    hit the Tab key
  16. Write the command line you would use on notes.txt to give all permissions to the owner, read permission to the group and no permission to everyone else. 
    chmod 740 notes.txt
  17. Write the command you would use to find all the lines in the file results.txt that contained the line "nature" but not "bird". 
    grep nature results.txt | grep -v bird
  18. Who can change the access permissions on a file or directory? 
    only the owner
  19. What directory is the starting point for a relative path? 
    the current directory
  20. What would you write on the command line to remove the directory dir1 in your parent directory.
    Assume this directory is empty. 
    rmdir ../dir1
  21. Look at the diagram on the last page.
    You are in the directory named it.
    Write the ABSOLUTE pathname for the directory named hw1 under the it117 directory.
    You do not have to write a Unix command, I only want the pathname. 
    /courses/it/it117/hw/hw1
  22. What symbol is used to represent the top of the Unix filesystem? 
    /
  23. What do you call a text file containing Unix commands that is run just before the shell gives you a prompt? 
    a startup file
  24. By default, which account is the owner of a file or directory? 
    the account that created it
  25. What is a process? 
    a running program