Linux Part I

By:Aayan

PART I (Getting Started)

CHAPTER 1
Get started (just important concepts)

PART I (Getting Started)

Linux Part I 1
 CHAPTER 1
Get started (just important concepts)
Administrative concepts

Introduction to Linux OS

Linux is a community of open-source Unix like operating systems that are based on the
Linux Kernel. It was initially released by Linus Torvalds on September 17, 1991. It is a
free and open-source operating system and the source code can be modified and
distributed to anyone commercially or noncommercially under the GNU General Public
License.
Initially, Linux was created for personal computers and gradually it was used in other
machines like servers, mainframe computers, supercomputers, etc. Nowadays, Linux is
also used in embedded systems like routers, automation controls, televisions, digital
video recorders, video game consoles, smartwatches, etc. The biggest success of Linux
is Android(operating system) it is based on the Linux kernel that is running on
smartphones and tablets. Due to android Linux has the largest installed base of all
general-purpose operating systems. Linux is generally packaged in a Linux distribution.

Linux architecture

Linux Part I 2
 Linux Kernel

The main purpose of a computer is to run a predefined sequence of instructions,

known as a program. A program under execution is often referred to as a process.
Now, most special purpose computers are meant to run a single process, but in a
sophisticated system such a general purpose computer, are intended to run many
processes simulteneously. Any kind of process requires hardware resources such are
Memory, Processor time, Storage space, etc.

In a General Purpose Computer running many processes simulteneously, we need a

middle layer to manage the distribution of the hardware resources of the computer
efficiently and fairly among all the various processes running on the computer. This

Linux Part I 3
 middle layer is referred to as the kernel. Basically the kernel virtualizes the common
hardware resources of the computer to provide each process with its own virtual
resources. This makes the process seem as it is the sole process running on the
machine. The kernel is also responsible for preventing and mitigating conflicts between
different processes.

The Core Subsystems of the Linux Kernel are as follows:

1. The Process Scheduler

2. The Memory Management Unit (MMU)

3. The Virtual File System (VFS)

4. The Networking Unit

5. Inter-Process Communication Unit

The Process Scheduler:This kernel subsystem is responsible for fairly distributing

the CPU time among all the processes running on the system simulteneously.

The Memory Management Unit:This kernel sub-unit is responsible for proper

distribution of the memory resources among the various processes running on the
system. The MMU does more than just simply provide separate virtual address
spaces for each of the processes.

The Virtual File System:This subsystem is responsible for providing a unified

interface to access stored data across different filesystems and physical storage
media.

The Linux Kernel networking unit: processes incoming packets arriving at Layer
2 to the network layer and then passes for local delivery to the transport layer
protocols listening to TCP or UDP sockets.

Inter-process communication (IPC): is a mechanism that allows processes to

communicate with each other and synchronize their actions. The communication
between these processes can be seen as a method of co-operation between them.

Linux Part I 4
 Processes can communicate with each other through both: Shared Memory.
Message passing.

Different types of the kernel are:

Monolithic Kernel

Hybrid kernels

Exo kernels

Micro kernels

System Library: Is the special types of functions that are used to implement the
functionality of the operating system.

Shell: A Unix shell is a command-line interpreter or shell that provides a command line
user interface for Unix-like operating systems. The shell is both an interactive command
language and a scripting language, and is used by the operating system to control the
execution of the system using shell scripts.
Hardware Layer: This layer consists all peripheral devices like RAM/ HDD/ CPU etc.

System Utility: It provides the functionalities of an operating system to the user.

GNU

Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole
system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux”
distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

Linux Distribution

Linux Part I 5
 Linux distribution is an operating system that is made up of a collection of software
based on Linux kernel or you can say distribution contains the Linux kernel and
supporting libraries and software. And you can get Linux based operating system by
downloading one of the Linux distributions and these distributions are available for
different types of devices like embedded devices, personal computers, etc. Around 600
+ Linux Distributions are available and some of the popular Linux distributions are:

MX Linux

Manjaro

Linux Mint

elementary

Ubuntu

Debian

Solus

Fedora (We’ll be using this in this complete book)

openSUSE

Deepin

We’ll be using FEDORA Distro in this course book as mentioned Above

Administrative concepts

Offering Administrative utilities:

In Linux, hundreds (perhaps thousands) of

commands and graphical windows are available to do such things as add users,
manage disks, monitor the network, install software, and generally secure and manage
your

Linux Part I 6
 computer. Web UI tools, such as Cockpit, have lowered the bar for doing complex
administrative tasks.

Starting up services:

system and network services, processes called daemon processes

run in the background, waiting for requests to come in. Many types of services run in
Linux. Linux provides different ways of starting and stopping these services. Popular
server features include web, mail,
database, printer, file, DNS, and DHCP servers.

Clustering:

Linux cluster is a group of Linux computers or nodes, storage devices

that work together and are managed as a single system
. In a traditional clustering configuration, two nodes are connected to shared storage

Virtualization:

To the outside world, each of those virtual guests appears as a

separate computer. KVM and Xen are two technologies in Linux for creating virtual
hosts.

Specialized storage:

Instead of just storing data on the computer’s hard disk, you

can store it on many specialized local and networked storage interfaces that are
available in Linux. Shared storage devices available in Linux include iSCSI, Fibre

Linux Part I 7
 Channel, and Infiniband. Entire open source storage platforms include projects such
as Ceph (https://ceph.io) and GlusterFS (https://www.gluster.org).

Linux Part I 8