CLI in Modern Computing Operating Systems - Assignment Example

The role of the CLI in modern computing operating systems Introduction This paper aims at discussing command language and comparing it with alternative mechanisms of using operating system. The paper majorly deals with discussion of the function of CLI in current computation methods (Herder et al. 2006). The further demonstrates the use of CLI in comparison to other ways of applying other operating systems (Wyk et al. 2008). The functions of CLI in both windows and MAX OS X are also discussed based on the relationship between CLI shells and scripting. The paper finally compares CLI and GUI in addition to comparing MAC OS X terminal and windows command prompt. Functions of command language interface Command language involves interaction with the computer by employing the keyboard to type codes instead of using the mouse as seen in GUI. Codes are used to execute programs. Even though the language is meant for online users, the language has a provision for batch working (Bardram 2005). The command language is mainly important to programmers. However, other systems such as UNIX use command language to execute programs. This language is easy to use and is often straightforward (Rode, Toye and Blacwell 2004). Command language has the configuration and operation al modes. Operational mode is used for monitoring and troubleshooting network connectivity, software and the router. The configuration mode is used for configuring JUNOS software via the creation of hierarchical statements (Wintner, Lavie and MacWhinney 2009). This is attained via the use of CLI or creation of text (ASCII) file. This language is mainly used by system administrators and programmers in the engineering and scientific environment. Visually impaired individuals can also use command language (Nada and Rine 2000). The command line interface can also enable users to check the status and processes running on the computer. For instance, the task list in the command prompt can be used to display network connections (Ceruzzi 2003). For example the netstat command can be used to monitor and mange network connection on the computer. Command-line shell in comparison to Graphical User Interface (GUI) UNIX command line shell UNIX command line shell has a text window terminal that has a fixed number of lines and the columns are controlled by the shell program. When the shell is ready to receive commands it prints a prompt where the user types a command using the keyboard (Wyk et al. 2008). The command is then processed and executed and an output text is then printed. Once the command is complete the shell prompts the user to insert another command. Even though CLI lacks graphical capabilities, some specialized graphic terminals and images of UNIX programs are displayed (Wintner, Lavie and MacWhinney 2009). Graphical User Interface (GUI) The GUI contains menus, which display all programs, and files that can be run and accessed on the computer (D’Ulizia and Ferri 2009). A mouse is used to execute commands via clicking and selecting items displayed. The output of open programs is displayed in form of colour graphics or text. The keyboard is used to enter data or text. Command prompt in MAC OS X terminal and windows Command prompt in windows has its own window in which it is run. The windows XP command interpreter has the file cmd.exe, which is located in the folder \windows\system32 (Sim et al. 2006). This folder has some files, which resembles DOS files. The command prompt window is found in the accessories folder located in the all programs window found in the start menu. The window resembles old DOS window and it has black background (Sharlin et al. 2004). Mac OS X terminal is constructed on the foundation of UNIX. Complete UNIX environment can be accessed using this terminal via UNIX commands. The commands in the terminal and UNIX are almost similar. The terminal has many short cuts that help the user to save time (Bardram 2005). It allows copying and pasting of text commands. The terminal can be customized using user’s favourite fonts, background colour and other multiple sessions in a single window via the use of tabs (Rode, Toye and Blacwell 2004). Relationship between CLI shells and scripting The shell software provides the user with an interface between him and the operating system. A text-based environment is provided by a non-graphical user interface, which allows typing of commands using the computer keyboard to enable the computer to run the applications (Sim et al. 2006). The shell allows execution of programs and displaying of output on the screen through the use of text, which is similar to the command interpreter in the MS DOS. Cmd.exe command interpreter is used by the windows shell to load applications and to send information between applications (Wyk et al. 2008). It is also used to translate the input of the user in a form that is understandable to the windows server operating system. Shell allows creation and editing of batch files that enables automation of routine tasks. For instance, scripts can be used for automating the management of the accounts of users or provide backups. In addition, CScript can be hosted by the command line version of windows script (Sharlin et al. 2004). This allows running of sophisticated scripts in the command shell. The creation of batch files provides increased efficiency as compared to that provided by the user interface since batch files accept all kinds of commands that are in the command line (D’Ulizia and Ferri 2009). There are two types of shell. These are the CLI shell and the GUI shell. In the CLI, information is provided in form of text while in GUI shell information is provided in the form of moving files (Wintner, Lavie and MacWhinney 2009). The operation of the GUI shell is simple as compared to CLI. In spite this; the best shell is dependent on the way and the purpose the user wants to execute (Bardram 2005). CLI shell is usually suited for a server that is used to transfer and processing of information while GUI is suitable for editing images and videos. GUI shells consists of X windows and Microsoft windows. On the other hand, CLI shells include the UNIX shell and non-UNIX shell (Nada and Rine 2000). Scripting languages enables the user to control a single or several software applications (D’Ulizia and Ferri 2009). The scripts are executed independently from other applications and are therefore distinct from such programs. the scripts also differ from application codes, which are often written in different languages but are accessible to the user (Bradley 2004). The scripts are usually interpreted from the source code or can be semi compiled to byte code. Most applications are commonly compiled to machine code on which they run. Script languages are more often than not embedded in the associated application (Wyk et al. 2008). A shell script is written for operating system’s shell. Such shell scripts are involved in the execution of programs being performed, printing text and in the manipulation of file (Herder et al. 2006). Almost all shell script interpreters also act as command line language such as windows power shell, UNIX shells or MS DOS command.com (Sharlin et al. 2004). Shell scripts enable one to add scripting abilities to the computing environment without the need for a command language interface. The shell scripting programming languages are either DCL or JCL (Nada and Rine 2000). Scripting language is used for controlling applications by programmers while shell is used for executing programs, manipulating files and printing text (Bardram 2005). Thus scripting is only used by programmers while shell is used by both programmers and end users. The Use of CLI in networking and monitoring operating systems Windows IP configuration The ip config command line tells the TCP/IP network configuration value whether the computer is connected to the internet or not (D’Ulizia and Ferri 2009). In case the computer is connected to the internet the command provides an ip address as an output. The screenshot below shows an ip configuration. Pathping This is a combination of ping and tracert command. This command first tells the end user the number of hops that are needed to reach the address being tested and then it sends multiple pings to each router between the user and the destination. The results computed by this command are based on the number of packets returned from each router (Bardram 2005). The command results also display the degree of packets lost at any given router or link. The command enables one to know the subnet or router that could be causing network problems. The results of ip config command also tell the user about network latency and loss of network at intermediate hops between destination address and the source of the address (Wintner, Lavie and MacWhinney 2009). The command sends echo request through internet control mail protocol (ICMP) and analyses the results. The screenshot below shows results of pathping command. D:\>pathping -n microsoft Tracing route to microsoft [157.54.1.196] over a maximum of 30 hops: 0 172.16.87.35 1 172.16.87.218 2 192.168.52.1 3 192.168.80.1 4 157.54.247.14 5 157.54.1.196 Computing statistics for 125 seconds... Source to Here This Node/Link Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address 0 172.16.87.35 0/ 100 = 0% | 1 41ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 172.16.87.218 13/ 100 = 13% | 2 22ms 16/ 100 = 16% 3/ 100 = 3% 192.168.52.1 0/ 100 = 0% | 3 24ms 13/ 100 = 13% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.80.1 0/ 100 = 0% | 4 21ms 14/ 100 = 14% 1/ 100 = 1% 157.54.247.14 0/ 100 = 0% | 5 24ms 13/ 100 = 13% 0/ 100 = 0% 157.54.1.196 Trace complete. TaskList This is a command that tells the user all the running applications on the computer. The output of this command is in the form of a table with columns of information. Some of the columns found on the tasklist include PID, session name, and session and memory usage (Heiser et al. 2007). PID is a process id that is assigned to each process for their tracking. One can have several processes running at the same time. Some of these processes could have identical names with unique process names. The process id changes as new programs are opened by the user (Sim et al. 2006). Session name enables one to know whether he or she is on the network. It reads console, which shows that the process was launched locally. Session is in form of a number assigned to each of the session (Warford and Hug 2003). Memory usage provides the user with information concerning the memory being used by the running task in the tasklist (Wintner, Lavie and MacWhinney 2009). The screenshot below shows results of tasklist command showing the image name, PID, session name, session number and memory usage (Ceruzzi 2003). Nestat This is a network command, which is used to display active TCP connections and ports, Ethernet statistics, ip routing table and statistics for the TCP, IP, UDP and ICMP protocols (Straussfogel 2006). It consists of several switches, which are used to display a variety of the network and TCP connection properties. The command helps the user to detect spyware and to check network and internet connections. The figure below shows a screen shot of nestat command. NSLOOKUP This is a command that enables the user to locate the domain name system (DNS) infrastructure. This command has subcommands which are used by the system administrator. The following is a screenshot for the results of NSLOOKUP command prompt. NBTSTAT This command is used to display the protocol statistics and the TCP connections by the use of NBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP). This command displays the name of the remote machine and the session table consisting of the ip address. Conclusion Command line interface is very important in the current computing error. It is apparent from the discussion above that CLI plays an important role in networking and operating systems. This enables both programmers and end users to detect problems in networking and operating systems. The CLI is also used by users to detect connectivity of their computer to the internet and to detect any problems in the connection to the internet. The CLI provides some additional solutions that are not provided by GUI. Thus, the importance of command line interface cannot be underestimated in the modern computing error. References Bardram, J 2005, ‘The trouble with login: on usability and computer security in ubiquitous computing’, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 357-367 Bradley, R 2004, Understanding Computing AS Level for AQA, Nelson Thornes, London. Ceruzzi, P 2003, A history of modern computing, MIT Press, New York. 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