The Command Line

Question 1

The Command line

Answer 1

The command line is a text-based interface that allows you to enter commands, execute them, and view the results. You can run terminal ( a textual screen within the graphical desktop, or the text console itself outside of any graphical interface) and a command interpreter inside it (the shell).

Question 2

Graphical interface missing

Answer 2

In the event that you don’t have a graphical interface, or when your graphical interface is broken, you can still get a command line on virtual consoles (up to six of them can be accessed through the six key combinations of CRTL+ALT+F1 through CTRL+ALT+F6).

Question 3

Shell/Bash

Answer 3

The program handling your input and executing your commands is called a shell ( or a command-line interpreter). The default shell provided in Kali Linux is Bash ( it stands for Bourne Again Shell). The trailing “$” or “#” character indicates that the shell is awaiting your input. It also indicates whether Bash recognizes you as a normal user (the former case with the dollar) or as a superuser ( the latter case with the Hash).