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1346.

You can open the terminal by clicking \menu{Applications \then Accessories \then Terminal}.

1347.

When the terminal window opens, it will be largely blank apart from some text at the top left of the screen, followed by a blinking block. This text is your \gls{prompt}\dash it displays your login name and your computer's name, followed by the current directory. The tilde (\textasciitilde) means that the current directory is your home directory. Finally, the blinking block is the \gls{cursor}\dash this marks where text will be entered as you type.

1348.

To test things out, type \userinput{pwd} and press \keystroke{Enter}. The terminal should display \code{/home/\emph{ubuntu-manual}}. This text is called the ``\gls{output}.'' You have just used the \commandlineapp{pwd} (print working directory) command, and the output that was displayed shows the current directory.

1349.

\screenshot{06-default-terminal.png}{ss:default-terminal}{The default terminal window allows you to run hundreds of useful commands.}

1350.

All commands in the terminal follow the same approach. Type in the name of a command, possibly followed by some \glspl{parameter}, and press \keystroke{Enter} to perform the specified action. \marginnote{\emph{Parameters} are extra segments of text, usually added at the end of a command, that change how the command itself is interpreted. These usually take the form of \userinput{-h} or \userinput{--help}, for example. In fact, \userinput{--help} can be added to most commands to display a short description of the command, as well as a list of any other parameters that can be used with that command.} Often some output will be displayed that confirms the action was completed successfully, although this depends on the command. For example, using the \commandlineapp{cd} command to change your current directory (see below) will change the prompt, but will not display any output.

1351.

The rest of this chapter covers some very common uses of the terminal, however, there are almost infinite possibilities available to you when using the command-line interface in Ubuntu. Throughout the second part of this manual we will continue to refer to the command line, particularly when discussing steps involved in troubleshooting and the more advanced management of your computer.

1367.

If you leave out the quotation marks, the terminal will think that you are trying to change to a directory named \code{\textasciitilde/Music/The}.

1372.

\marginnote{Note that the terminal is case-sensitive. For example, if you have a directory called \texttt{Directory1}, you must remember to include the capital letter whenever referring to it in the terminal, otherwise the command will not work.}

1394.

\marginnote{When using \commandlineapp{sudo} in the terminal, you will be prompted to enter your password. You will not see any dots, stars, or other characters appearing in the terminal as you type your password, however, don't be put off\dash this is an extra security feature to help protect you from any prying eyes.}

1397.

Managing software through the terminal