The Digital Research Initiative
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This Old HomePage
Repairs the hard way

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!! Now the real fun starts!! Here's where we login to the server and edit Ashley's index online! For those of you unfamilar with UNIX, this is very deadly. The wrong command and -bam!- you've nuked a small south pacific island! But don't sweat it. That's what makes this part so much fun: the danger!!

silky milky boy Before we start, here are some basic commands you'll want to keep in your back pocket as we delve ever-so-deep into the bowels of the server:
  • cd <directory> to change directories
  • ls -al to see a list of files in your current directory with all file information like file size, permissions and last date edited
  • mv <original_filename> <new_filename> to move or rename a file or directory
  • mkdir <new_directory> to make a directory
  • rm <filename> to delete a file
  • rmdir <directory> to delete a directory
  • pico <filename> to edit a file using the same text editor your e-mail client, pine, uses
  • pwd to see the name of the present working directory
  • man <command> to access help pages for a given command (for example: man rm)

Let's play pretend! Pretend you're logging into your e-mail. So login to the server, but just before you enter your e-mail, the isis menu should give you the choice to drop into a shell or prompt. Select that option and you should get something like this:

logged into server....

Now issue the cd html (or cd public_html for those of you using isis) to get to your web pages. Then type ls -al to view the files and decide which one you want to edit.

looking at the files....

We want to edit her index page, so we type pico index.html. That brings up the source code for index.html in the telnet window. Now we can cause some damage. This is the same text editor your e-mail client, pine, uses, so all the commands should be familar to you.

editing the file....

To save and exit, simply pretend you're sending an e-mail and press Control and X.

saving the file....

Answer yes to this, then press Return to accept the file's name. Viola! We've just changed the index page online! FTP everything back up and check the page in a browser. The changes are instantaneous. Total coolness!

Okay, you can stop playing pretend now.

[Index] [The Damage] [Easy Way] [Image Editing] [Hard Way] [Tools] [Links]

Who said I was a one-hit wonder?  The JavaScript Suppository was no fluke!!   This site was created by Adam Fuller especially for students of the UNC School of Journalism's JOMC 050 Class, and anyone else who may be interested. For more info rmation, please contact daikat@email.unc.edu
Last Updated: Thursday, 10-Dec-1998 13:05:03 EST