GOOGLE IT SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE

Course 3 – Operating Systems and You: Becoming A Power User

Week 1: Navigating the System

Coursera Study Guide

TABLE OF CONTENT

Welcome to the Operating Systems course of the IT Support Professional Certificate! In the first week of this course, we will cover the basics of Windows and Linux operating systems (OS). We will learn about how directories and files work in Windows and Linux OS. You will also learn practical ways to manipulate files and directories in the Windows graphical user interface (GUI), Windows command line interface (CLI), and Linux shell. By the end of this module, you will interact with files and directories and perform basic text manipulation in Windows and Linux OS.

Learning Objectives

  • List, change, remove and make directories and files in the Windows GUI, Windows CLI and Linux shell.
  • Search for specific files and directories in Windows GUI, Windows CLI and Linux shell.
  • Manipulate text in the Windows GUI, Windows CLI and Linux shell.

PRACTICE QUIZ: BASIC COMMANDS

1. Using a Linux machine, you have the following directory tree:

/
|-- home
|   |-- cindy
|       |-- Pictures
|           |--Alaska
|           |--Canada
|       |-- Movies
|-- var

If your current path is /home/cindy/Pictures/Canada, and you want to change to the Alaska directory, which of the following commands can you use? Check all that apply.

  • cd ~/Pictures/Alaska (CORRECT)
  • cd ../Alaska (CORRECT)
  • cd /Pictures/Alaska
  • cd /home/cindy/Pictures/Alaska (CORRECT)

Nice work! You can use the ~ to get to the user’s home directory, and you can use the cd .. to get to the parent directory you’re currently in.

2. In Bash, which of the following commands can you use to view a long list of all files in the /home directory? Check all that apply.

  • list -a /home
  • ls -la /home (CORRECT)
  • ls -l -a /home (CORRECT)
  • ls -la ~

Awesome! You can use the ls command with the -la flags to show a long list of all files in a directory.

3. In Bash, which of the following commands can you use to remove a directory named: “Miscellaneous Directory?”

  • rm Miscellaneous Directory
  • rm -r Miscellaneous Directory
  • rm Miscellaneous\ Directory
  • rm -r Miscellaneous\ Directory (CORRECT)

Nice job! To remove a directory you have recursively remove the files with -r. Don’t forget that folders with spaces in the name have to be escaped with an \.

4. What’s the main directory in a Linux filesystem called? 

  • Home directory
  • Root directory (CORRECT)
  • Master directory
  • C Drive

Great job! The root directory is the main directory in Linux. We denote it with a /.

5. In Bash, if you need a little help with how a command like ls works, which of the commands can you use to get more information? Check all that apply.

  •  ls –help (CORRECT)
  • man ls (CORRECT)
  • manual ls
  • help ls

Wohoo! The –help flag shows useful information on how to use a command, and the man command shows the manual pages of a command.

PRACTICE QUIZ:  FILE AND TEXT MANIPULATION

1. In Bash, which of the following commands can you use to view the contents of a document. Check all that apply. 

  • open
  • cat (CORRECT)
  • less (CORRECT)
  • Dog

You nailed it! You can use the cat and less command to view the contents of a file.

2. In a Linux machine, you have the following files:

  • apple.txt
  • banana.jpg
  • chocolate.txt
  • orange.txt

What command can you use to search for the word “fruit” in the text files in the above directory? Check all that apply.

  • grep fruit apple.txt chocolate.txt orange.txt (CORRECT)
  • grep fruit *.txt (CORRECT)
  • find fruit apple.txt chocolate.txt
  • find fruit apple.txt chocolate.txt orange.txt

Great work! You can use the grep command to search files for certain words. You can also use the * wildcard command to filter by a specific pattern.

3. In a Linux machine, you have a file named “types_of_fish.txt” and you want to append the word “trout” to the file contents. Which of the following commands can you use?

  • echo trout < types_of_fish.txt
  • echo trout > types_of_fish.txt
  • echo trout >> types_of_fish.txt (CORRECT)
  • echo trout 2> types_of_fish.txt

You got it! The >> is used as an append redirector.

4. In a Linux machine, you want to list through a directory called /home/ben/Documents and search for the word “important” in the filenames in that directory. Which of the following commands can you use?

  • ls /home/ben/Documents | grep important (CORRECT)
  • ls /home/ben/Documents >> grep important
  • ls /home/ben/Documents < grep important
  • ls /home/ben/Documents > grep important

Great job! You can use the | command to pipe the output of one command into another.

5. In a Linux machine, which of the following redirection operators is used to change standard input?

  • < (CORRECT)
  • >> 
  • 2>

Awesome work! The < redirector is used for stdin.

6. In a Linux machine, which of the following redirection operators is used to redirect to standard error?

  • >> 
  • 2> (CORRECT)

Correct: Great job! The 2> redirector is used for stderr.

GRADED QUIZ: ACCESSING QWIKLABS

1.  How long do you have to complete each Qwiklab? 

  • 20 minutes
  • 1 hour (CORRECT)
  • 24 hours
  • As long as you need.

Great job! You’ll have one hour to complete every lab in this program.

2. True or false: It can take some time for the labs to load once you click “start lab.”

  • True (CORRECT)
  • False

Yep! The labs can take some time to load. You can use this time to review the lab instructions.

3. True or false: It can take some time for the working instance of Linux and Windows OS to load.

  • True (CORRECT)
  • False

That’s exactly right! We’re loading a working instance of the OS for you. Each time you open the OS, we’ll need to download some key software for you, which can take some time.

4. What do you need to do to finish a lab and have your grade posted to Coursera?

  • Close all lab windows
  • Refresh the Coursera course page
  • Click the red “End Lab” button (CORRECT)

Excellent! Once you click the red “End Lab” button, your grade will post to Coursera.

5. True or false: You are able to access your work once you click the “End Lab” button.

  • True
  • False (CORRECT)

You got it! Once you click “End Lab,” you won’t be able to access your work.