This workshop is for University of Sheffield researchers. Please ensure that you sign up using a University of Sheffield email address so that your booking is accepted.

The Unix Shell

The Unix shell (which you may know as the terminal, console, or 'bash') has been around longer than most of its users have been alive. It has survived because it’s a powerful tool that allows users to perform complex and powerful tasks, often with just a few keystrokes or lines of code. It helps users automate repetitive tasks and easily combine smaller tasks into larger, more powerful workflows. Use of the shell is fundamental to a wide range of advanced computing tasks, including high-performance computing. This lesson will introduce you to this powerful tool.

Who is this lesson for?

This lesson is for any and all researchers at the University of Sheffield who use computing in their research. The shell is an important and useful tool for anyone in this area and is vital for use of HPC systems, but it is commonly used for interacting with git and python among other tools as well as managing a computer and its files and folders. Whilst the Unix shell is particularly relevant to MacOS and Linux users, it is now commonly used in Windows as well.

What will we learn?

This is a fundamental lesson in which you will learn to use the shell for:

Navigating and working with files and directories,
Combining commands to automate workflows,
Speed up and streamline your workflow.

We'll be teaching from the Unix Shell lesson from The Carpentries

How will it be taught?

This will be a online lesson taught via live coding and demonstration, you will get the most out of it by participating in the live exercises.

Prerequisite knowledge

There is no prerequisite knowledge for this lesson except being familiar with your computer and the concepts of navigating files and directories (folders).

Technical Requirements

Users of Windows, MacOS or Linux can take part in this lesson. Setup instructions will be circulated ahead of time.

Unix Shell Fundamentals