0 - Basic Information

Using the Ubuntu CIS benchmark requires a large amount of terminal usage.

The terminal is a window where commands can be sent, and where most actions in Linux occur. To open the terminal, search for terminal in the search bar, or press Ctrl + alt + t. This opens the terminal window, where you can type commands.

Basic Commands:

man

man allows you to view the manual for a command. For example, to see the manual for cat, run man cat. These manual pages can also be found online.

cd

cd allows you to change the current directory. For example, if you are in the directory /home, and would like to go to /home/Documents, you can run:

cd /home/Documents

or

cd Documents

Typing cd .. moves you up a directory (e.g.: from /home/Documents to /home)

ls

ls allows you to list the files in the current directory. See man ls for more information.

cat

cat allows you to read a file. To use cat, type cat and the path of the file(s) you would like to read. These will be printed onto the console.

grep

grep allows you to filter text. To use grep, type grep, the pattern you would like to match, and then the path of the file you would like to filter. For example, to filter for the word ubuntu in the file ubuntu.txt, run

grep ubuntu ubuntu.txt.

grep can also be used to filter the output of another command. To do this, type the other command, and then | grep PATTERN after it, replacing PATTERN with your pattern. For example, to filter the output of cat test.sh for the word test, run

cat test.sh | grep test.

nano

nano is a basic text editor. To use nano, type nano and then the path of the file (or the path of a new file). For example, to edit passwords.txt, run:

nano passwords.txt

This will turn the terminal into a basic GUI. To edit the file, move around the cursor with the arrow keys, and type in or delete the text you want.

To save and exit, press Ctrl + x. This will cause nano to ask whether or not to save, by entering Y or N. Then nano will ask for a file to save to, which defaults to the one that was opened.

Note

nano often requires sudo to edit files. See sudo for more information.

gedit

gedit is another basic text editor. To use gedit, type gedit and then the path of a file (or the path of a new file). For example, to edit passwords.txt, run:

gedit passwords.txt

This will open a new window with a text editor similar to notepad. To save and close the file, press Ctrl + S or the save button and close the window.

Note

gedit also often requires sudo to edit files. See sudo for more information.

sudo

sudo, which stands for superuser do, gives a command a higher permission level. It is often required to work with sensitive files. To use sudo, type sudo and another command after it. This will ask for your password, which is hidden while you type it.

For example, to run nano passwords.txt with sudo, run:

sudo nano passwords.txt

bash

bash, which stands for bourne-again shell, runs a shell script. Shell scripts end in .sh and contain a list of commands to be run. These are often useful for automating tasks.

find

The find command allows you to look for files matching a pattern. For example, to find a file with the name myfile.txt, run find -name myfile.txt. This will return all of the possible locations for myfile.txt in the current directory.