Intro to Linux, the command line, and programming in Python

Welcome to Systems Fundamentals! In this section, we’re going to learn how to use the computing resources available at CHESS. In particular, we’ll focus on the Linux cluster available to researchers. How to access these computers remotely, how to use them via their command-line interface, and how to write actual, legitimate Python programs are the three main topics. In addition, a “bonus” section at the end will look deeper into what is really happening on the servers when we do things like access files or run programs.

There is a lot of material to cover, and in truth we’ll still just be scratching the surface. The goal here is to give you enough information to get started and to find more information as you need it. We recommend you explore each of the following sections in order.

• Getting Started (logging in and out with NoMachine and ssh)
• Command Line Basics
• Writing Standalone Python Programs
• How Linux Really Works

Shall we begin? Go ahead, click on the link for “Getting Started”, and let’s connect to a server!