Login and Logout

Logging in to a UNIX system requires two pieces of information:

• A username,
• and a password.

When you sit down for a UNIX session, you are given a login prompt that looks like this:

Figure 1: Login Screen

• Type your username at the login prompt, and press the return key. The system will then ask you for your password. When you type your password, the screen will not display what you type.
• After login process is completed, open a terminal. The first thing you should do is change your password, using the passwd utility (see Fig. 2). Here are some rules for selecting a good password:
  • Do not use any part of your name, your spouse's name, your child's name, your pet's name, or anybody's name. Do not use any backward spellings of any name, either.
  • Do not use an easily-guessable number, like your phone number, your social security number, your address, license plate number, etc.
  • Do not use any word that can be found in an English or foreign-language dictionary.
  • Do not use all the same letter, or a simple sequence of keys on the keyboard, like qwerty.
  • Do use a mix of upper-case and lower-case letters, numbers, and control characters.
  • Do use at least six characters.

  Figure 2: Terminal/Console/Shell

  
• When you're ready to quit, type the command exit. This command will make you close the shell, but not the logout o the system.
• Use logout item in the main menu to logout. Before you leave your computer, make sure that you see the login prompt (Fig. 1), indicating that you have successfully logged out.
• Some shells will recognize other commands to log you out, like "logout'' or even "bye''.