File editing with nano/vim, creating simple scripts with nano/vim

🎯 Purpose

This task introduces text editors (nano and vim) and basic shell scripting on Red Hat Linux. It teaches how to edit files efficiently and create simple scripts for automation.

1. 📝File Editing

a. Using Nano

nano is beginner-friendly, easy to navigate

Open or Create a file

nano file.txt     →       Opens file.txt If it doesn’t exist, it creates it

Basic Nano Commands for File Editing

b. Using Vim

vim is powerful but has a learning curve

Open or Create a file

vim file.txt        →      Opens file.txt if it doesn’t exist, it creates it

Basic Modes:

• Normal mode → for navigation (default)
• Insert mode → for editing text ( i to enter insert mode)
• Command mode → for saving, quitting ( : to enter command mode)
• From insert mode to switch to command mode you use ( esc )

Basic Vim commands for file editing

2. 📄 Creating simple scripts

A script is a file containing commands that linux can execute.

Step 1 — Create a Script File

nano myscript.sh                or             vim myscript.sh

Step 2 — Add commands

In nano → just start typing

In vim → press “i” to go into insert mode

#!/bin/bash
# This is a simple script
echo "Hello, Red Hat Linux!"
date

• !/bin/bash → tells Linux this is a bash script

• echo → prints text
• date → prints current date and time

Step 3 — Save and Exit

• In Nano: ctrl + o → Enter, then ctrl + x
• In Vim: press “esc” key, then :wq! → Enter

Step 4 — Make Script Executable

chmod +x myscript.sh

Step 5 — Run the Script

./myscript.sh

Creating Simple Script using nano

Creating simple script using vim

3. 🔐File Permissions for script

• Script need execute ( x ) permission to run:

chmod u+x myscript.sh

• Verify permissions:

ls -l myscript.sh

4. Notes & Best Practices

• Always use chmod +x for scripts.
• Include #!/bin/bash at the top of every bash script.
• Use comments (#) to describe what your script does.
• Save frequently when using nano or vim.

Day 3 Complete — Progress

Learning nano/vim and writing simple scripts today. One step closer to real-world Linux administration.