Introduction to Unix

The Introduction to Unix course is intended to educate average Unix users and start them down the path to becoming advanced users and nascent system administrators. This course also serves as a stepping stone for the Unix System Administrator EdCert class.

The only pre-requisite for the ItU class is that you have some basic knowledge of a Unix environment:
  • Have some prior experience as a user (logging in and out, using man pages).
  • Know how to move around the filesystem (cd, ls).
  • Know how to create, edit and delete files (touch, pico or nano or emacs or vi, rm, rmdir).

The ItU class is open to anyone who wishes to take it and spend a day with the USSG. Seating is granted on a first come-first served basis. Please contact us to reserve a seat. Class size, location and dates are listed below. After reserving a seat, you will receive further instructions and the readings via email.

  • The class will take one full day, from 9:00am until 5:00pm (one hour for lunch around noon).
  • Class size will be between 6 and 10 students.
  • Classes less than six students will be postponed and all students will have priority seating in the next ItU session.
  • Anyone with rudimentary Unix knowledge is eligible.
  • The class is free.
  • Course reading packet will be emailed to participants ahead of class time (PDF format).
The course will have a mixture of lecture, readings and hands-on exercises. There will be an exam at the end of the day (mixture of multiple choice, true/false, and short answer). Students who score a 70% on the exam and 70% on the exercises will be exempt from having to take the EdCert pretest and will qualify for a seat in the EdCert course for up to one year after passing the ItU exam.

2007 ItU Class Dates

  • IU Bloomington: Wednesday, December 5th
  • IUPUI: Friday, December 14th
Contact us to reserve a seat.

The Unix Systems Support Group (aka USSG) is a subunit of the Research Computing (RC) division of University Information Technology Services (UITS).
The USSG provides software, support, and resources to faculty, staff, and students at Indiana University who use or administer Unix/Linux workstations or servers.