Help Topics for Unix Users

  1. Is it possible to check the amount of disk space that I have left below my quota?

This can be accomplished with the "quota" command. To check your quota, type: "quota -v". This will output a table that looks like such:
Filesystem usage quota limit timeleft ...
/var/mail 7184 8000 17000
The number listed under "usage" is how kilobytes have been used. The number listed under "quota" is the actual size of quota listed in kilobytes. The number listed under "limit" is the maximum size of the user's directory listed in kilobytes. For more information, type "man quota" at the prompt to access the on-line manual pages. It may be necessary to send the output to "more" or "less" (see next question).

  1. How can I break a long directory listing into individual pages so that I may view all of its contents?

The easiest way to do this is by the use of the "more" or "less" commands. An example of breaking up a long list is:
ls -la | more
ls -la | less
Either one of these commands will work. "less" is a little more powerful than "more" in that it allows back-paging ('b'). "more" will simply quit when it reaches the end of a list or file where "less" requires the user to type 'q' to exit explicitly.
Both of these commands can be used to list the contents of an ascii text file one page at a time: more or cat | more
less or cat | less
For more information, access the on-line manual pages:
man more
man less

  1. If I accidentally have two processes of the same kind running at the same time, how do I stop one of them?

This can be done by using the "kill" command. To kill the process that you don't want, type: "kill XXXX" where XXXX is the process ID number. To get the process ID number, use the "ps" command. This will list out all of the present processes that are running in your account. You may kill any of these processes, but it is not wise to kill your shell processes (-sh, -csh, -ksh, -tcsh, -bash). If you want a listing of a particular process, type :
"ps -ef | grep -i <proc>"
where <proc> is the process that you are looking for. For example:
{galaxy1}:/>ps -ef | grep -i pine


In this example, the process ID is the five digit number in the second column of each line. To kill this, you would type:
kill 21458
If a simple "kill" does not work, try a "kill -KILL" on the process id. For more information, type "man ps" or "man kill" at the prompt.

  1. How do I delete the Trash directory from my directory?

This is only an issue for people who use the Sun workstations and use the file manager to erase files with drag and drop. The command would be: "% rm ~/.dt/Trash/*"

  1. How do I remove files that have hidden control characters (direction arrows, etc.) in the name of the file?

The easiest way this can be accomplished is through the tcsh shell. This shell allows you to automatically complete a filename after typing just the first few characters. To do this, type: "tcsh". Now you are in the tcsh shell. Now to remove the file, type: "rm XX^I", where XX is the first few characters of the filename and ^I is the Tab key. The Tab key will match the file and complete the name. For example, the filename is: "^[[A^[[B". At the tcsh prompt, type: "rm ^[^I".

  1. How do I change my password for my account?

Simply type: "passwd" to do this. It will prompt you to enter your old password, and then enter a new one. There is a small section in the Kettering UNIX User's Guide on how to pick a good password.

  1. How do I change my password if I can not remember it?

You must come to the Help Desk, 2-336 AB, during normal business hours (Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.) with your Kettering ID card. If you are working and cannot come in during that time, you may fax us a copy of your Kettering ID with a phone number where you can be reached. We will then call you with your new password. We will not change passwords if we only receive an email from you.

  1. How can I keep my account open while I am on work term?

Your account will remain open until you graduate or leave Kettering.

  1. What printers are available for student use?

Please visit the Wireless Network Printing page for a list of available printers.

  1. How do I change the default printer?

The default printer is the one in the lab you are currently using and these machines are only setup to print to that printer, however there may be times in which you wish to print to different printers on nova. Set your environment printer to the printer that you wish to use. For example: "setenv PRINTER your_favorite_printer".
Example : % setenv PRINTER glq
Add this to your .cshrc file to make it permanent.

  1. How do I print a file from within Unix?

Type: "lp <filename>"
Type: "lp -d <printername> <filename>"
Example : % lp -d csceq myfile

  1. How can I find out which printer I am hooked up to?

Type: "lpstat -d" There will be a statement telling you the system default printer.