AIX Version 4.3 System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices

About This Book

This book contains information for novice system users who want to acquire greater expertise with the AIX operating system. It covers information such as running commands, handling processes, handling files and directories, and printing. In addition, it introduces system commands covering tasks such as securing files, using storage media, customizing environment files (.profile, .Xdefaults, .mwmrc), and writing shell scripts. For DOS users, this guide presents procedures on using DOS files in the AIX environment.

Users in a networked environment who are interested in learning more about the AIX operating system communications commands should read the AIX Version 4.3 System User's Guide: Communications and Networks, SC23-4122.

Note: You can find the online version of this book, which has been designed for viewing with a Version 3.2 HTML-compatible web browser in the AIX Version 4.3 Base Documentation CD.

Who Should Use This Book

This book is intended for all system users.

How to Use This Book

The following information is an overview of the book's contents and an explanation of the highlighting conventions used to identify certain types of items.

Overview of Contents

This book contains the following chapters:

Chapter 1, "Login Names, System IDs, and Passwords," introduces commands on identifying users and systems. This chapter also describes logging in and off of your system.
Chapter 2, "User Environment and System Information," introduces commands on identifying your user and system environment.
Chapter 3, "Commands and Processes," provides overviews and some procedures related to the fundamentals of the operating system, commands, and processes.
Chapter 4, "Input and Output Redirection," provides overviews and some procedures related to input and output handling.
Chapter 5, "File Systems and Directories," provides overviews and introduces commands on working with file systems and directories.
Chapter 6, "Files," introduces commands used for working with files.
Chapter 7, "Printers, Print Jobs, and Queues," provides overviews and some procedures related to printing files.
Chapter 8, "Backup Files and Storage Media," provides overviews and introduces commands on backing up files and using diskettes and tapes.
Chapter 9, "File and System Security," provides overviews and introduces commands on keeping your files secure.
Chapter 10, "User Environment Customization," provides overviews and introduces commands on customizing your system. This chapter also introduces the system initialization files.
Chapter 11, "Shells," provides overviews and introduces the Korn (also known as the POSIX shell), Bourne, and C shells.
Chapter 12, "Miscellaneous Tools and Utilities," introduces other miscellaneous commands you may find useful.
Chapter 13, "Document Search Service," introduces this service and provides information about how to search online HTML documents.
Appendix A, "Accessing Information with InfoExplorer," describes the different types of documentation available in the Hypertext Information Base Library and how to access it.

Highlighting

The following highlighting conventions are used in this book:

Bold	Identifies commands, keywords, files, directories, and other items whose names are predefined by the system.
Italics	Identifies parameters whose actual names or values are to be supplied by the user.
`Monospace`	Identifies examples of specific data values, examples of text similar to what you might see displayed, examples of portions of program code similar to what you might write as a programmer, messages from the system, or information you should actually type.

ISO 9000

ISO 9000 registered quality systems were used in the development and manufacturing of this product.

AIX Support for the X/Open UNIX95 Specification

Beginning with AIX Version 4.2, the operating system is designed to support the X/Open UNIX95 Specification for portability of UNIX-based operating systems. Many new interfaces, and some current ones, have been added or enhanced to meet this specification. Beginning with Version 4.2, AIX is even more open and portable for applications.

At the same time, compatibility with previous AIX releases is preserved. This is accomplished by the creation of a new environment variable, which can be used to set the system environment on a per-system, per-user, or per-process basis.

To determine the proper way to develop a UNIX95-portable application, you may need to refer to the X/Open UNIX95 Specification, which can be obtained on a CD-ROM by ordering the printed copy of AIX Version 4.3 Commands Reference, order number SBOF-1877, or by ordering Go Solo: How to Implement and Go Solo with the Single Unix Specification, order number SR28-5705, a book which includes the X/Open UNIX95 Specification on a CD-ROM.

Related Publications

The following books contain information about or related to using AIX products:

Order Number	Bibliography
SC23-2456	AIX and Related Products Documentation Overview
SC23-4114	AIX Version 4.3 Quick Beginnings
SC23-4122	AIX Version 4.3 System User's Guide: Communications and Networks
SC23-4126	AIX Version 4.3 System Management Guide: Operating System and Devices
SC23-4130	AIX Version 4.3 Guide to Printers and Printing
SBOF-1877	AIX Version 4.3 Commands Reference
SC23-4168	AIX Version 4.3 Files Reference
SC23-2793	Common Desktop Environment 1.0: User's Guide

Industry Documentation

Order Number	Bibliography
N/A	Quercia, Valerie, and Tim O'Reilly. The Definitive Guides to the X Window System: Volume 3, X Window System User's Guide, Motif Edition. O'Reilly & Associates, 1993.
SR23-7467	Garfinkel, Simson, and Gene Spafford. Practical UNIX and Internet Security. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, 1996.
SR23-7481	Todino, Grace, and John Strang. Learning the UNIX Operating System. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, 1993.
SR23-7636	Gilly, Daniel. UNIX in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference for System V and Solaris 2.0. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, 1992.
N/A	Cutler, Ellie, Daniel Gilly, and Tim O'Reilly, ed. The Definitive Guides to the X Window System: Desktop Quick Reference, The X Window System in a Nutshell for Version 11 Release 4 and Release 5 of the X Window System. O'Reilly & Associates, 1992.
N/A	Peek, Jerry, Mike Loukides, and Tim O'Reilly. UNIX Power Tools. O'Reilly & Associates, 1993.
N/A	Open Software Foundation. Introduction to OSF. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1992.
SR28-5268	Rosenblatt, Bill. Learning the Korn Shell. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, 1993.
N/A	Hunter, Bruce H., and Karen Bradford Hunter. UNIX Systems Advanced Administration and Management Handbook. New York: Macmillan, 1991.
N/A	Rosenberg, Barry. KornShell Programming Tutorial. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1991.
SR28-5705	X/Open Company, Ltd. and Prentice Hall, Inc. Go Solo: How to Implement and Go Solo with the Single Unix Specification. United Kingdom: X/Open Company, Ltd., 1995.

Ordering Publications

You can order publications from your sales representative or from your point of sale. To order additional copies of this book, use order number SC23-4121. Use AIX and Related Products Documentation Overview for information on related publications and how to obtain them.