linuxexpert-practice-labs/labs/linux-plus/1-5-4-text-editors

Linux+ 1.5.4: Text editors

Vim's basic moves on a real file, a change in nano, and your preferred editor for programs such as crontab -e.

Before you start

The lab removes /tmp/s.conf if it's there, and notes the startup files task 4 may change so that reset can put them back. Ubuntu empties /tmp at boot, so do task 2 without a reboot.

On the RHEL family, install full Vim and nano first. A minimal or cloud install has only vi:

dnf install -y vim-enhanced nano

Reset removes them again if they weren't installed when the lab started.

Tasks

1. Run vimtutor and work through lessons 1 and 2 (about 15 minutes). Not graded.
2. Copy /etc/ssh/sshd_config to /tmp/s.conf and open it in Vim. Turn on line numbers, jump to the first line with Port, copy it, paste it below, and change the copy to Port 2222. Replace every yes with YES, undo that, and save and quit.
3. Make the same kind of change to /tmp/s.conf in nano, then quit without saving. Not graded.
4. Set your preferred editor for good (with EDITOR or VISUAL in a shell startup file, or with select-editor on Ubuntu), and try it with crontab -e; quit without saving.

Hints

• :set number, /Port, yy, p, cw or C, :%s/yes/YES/g, u, :wq.
• In nano, Ctrl+x then n quits without saving.
• export EDITOR=nano in ~/.bashrc; crontab -e reads VISUAL, then EDITOR.