Linux User Environment

When you log in to a Diamond workstation, whether in person, or remotely via NX, you are working in a Linux operating system. Most data processing at Diamond happens through a text-based terminal (also called a shell or command line).

If you have never used Linux before, don't worry. You only need a handful of commands to get around, and this page covers everything you need to get started.

Once you are logged in to your Diamond session, look for a Terminal application in the taskbar or application menu (it may be labelled "Terminal Emulator" or similar). Click it to open a terminal window.

You will see a prompt that looks something like:

This is where you type commands and press Enter to run them.

Knowing Where You Are

Print Working Directory - shows the full path of the folder you are currently in. Useful for confirming your location, particularly after navigating with `cd`.

Listing Files and Folders

Lists everything in your current folder.

A long listing - shows file sizes, permissions, and dates. Useful for checking when files were last modified.

Lists the contents of a specific folder without having to navigate there first.

Moving Between Folders

Changes Directory - moves you into a subfolder.

Moves you up one level (into the parent folder). 

Moves you directly to any folder using its full path. 

Takes you back to your home directory from anywhere. 

Tip: Press Tab after typing the first few letters of a folder or file name and Linux will try to complete it for you. This saves a lot of typing and prevents typos.

Viewing File Contents

Prints the entire contents of a file to the terminal. Good for short files.

Opens a file for scrolling. Use the arrow keys to scroll, and press q to quit. 

Shows the first 10 lines of a file. Useful for quickly checking log files.

Shows the last 10 lines. Useful for checking whether a processing job completed successfully. 

Creating and Managing Files and Folders

Creates a new folder.

Copies a file. To copy a whole folder, add `-r` (recursive):

Moves or renames a file (it works for folders too).

Deletes a file. This cannot be undone - there is no recycle bin. 

Deletes a folder and everything inside it. Use with care.

Getting Help

Opens the manual page for a command (in this case `ls`). Press q to quit. 

Most commands accept a `--help` flag that prints a quick summary of options.

Your experimental data is stored under a path like:

Where `{beamline}` is the beamline (e.g. `i03`, `i04`), `{year}` is the year, and `{visit_id}` is your visit identifier. You can find your visit ID in ISPyB.