[SOLVED] Can someone explain what this example command means and how it should be executed?

luckylinuxluser · 07-21-2015, 10:19 AM

Please see the attached image.

I tried just typing it out exactly, but it didn't work so I'm thinking maybe the author of this article meant something else with the "" part.

so far i've just executed the "sudo apt-get install rrdtool" but I want to make sure I get all the packages I need to continue on with this tut.

I'd also appreciate any links to articles or threads about distros, ubuntu packages or tutorials for aspiring network engineers if you got them. my searches just ended up with people suggesting using the most popular distros or whatever.

HMW · 07-21-2015, 11:54 AM

Ehm, I'm not sure I understand your question. The command:

Code:

# apt-get install rrdtool libmailtools-perl librrds-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl

Simply installs the packages.

If you are uncertain about what the different packages are, you can always do a:

Code:

aptitude show libio-socket-ssl-perl

Best regards,
HMW

luckylinuxluser · 07-21-2015, 01:36 PM

I typed in the command like this

Code:

apt-get install rddtool \ libmailtools-perl librrds-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl

I was wondering why the author of the tutorial i'm following used a backslash. What I wound up doing was just issuing the apt-get install command 4 times to install each package, but I suppose you can just separate different packages with a space and they'll install in succession?

grail · 07-21-2015, 01:38 PM

If you look closely at the example you will see it is over 2 lines. The backslash is there to escape the new line that would normally be at the end of the line and tell the command, apt-get,
that the information is on more than a single line.

273 · 07-21-2015, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckylinuxluser

I typed in the command like this

Code:

apt-get install rddtool \ libmailtools-perl librrds-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl

I was wondering why the author of the tutorial i'm following used a backslash. What I wound up doing was just issuing the apt-get install command 4 times to install each package, but I suppose you can just seperate different packages will a space and they'll install in succession?

The '\' can be followed by a carriage return and the rest of the command can go after it. It is used in things like the tutorial so that lines are broken at more convenient points for screenshots but, in my opinion, it is a bad idea to include in such tutorials as this thread demonstrates. Installing each package separately will do the same job though so don't worry.