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3 Quick and Easy Ways to Get Access to a Shell Account So You Can Start Learning Linux Today

It’s one thing to read about Linux, but it’s another thing entirely to use it. If you are just getting started or have some newfound Linux knowledge that you would like to put to the test, you’ll need a shell account. Luckily, getting an account on a Linux server is fairly easy.

Web Hosting Shell Accounts

blue-host-120x240If you use a web hosting service to host your website you may already have a Linux account that you can use. Consult your hosting company’s documentation and search for “SSH” or “shell access.” If you don’t already have a web hosting provider, you can sign up for one and use it for shell access. Shared web hosting providers typically charge just a few dollars a month.

Here are some shared web hosting companies that can provide you with a shell account and SSH access.

Request a Free Account on an Existing System

You can request a free Linux shell account at BlinkenShell. However, you have to jump through some hoops like waiting a minimum of 24 hours and asking for people in their IRC chat room to vouch for you. You can also get free shell accounts on SDF, CJB, and Devio.us but they won’t be Linux accounts. SDF is NetBSD, CJB is FreeBSD, and Devio.us is OpenBSD. Since the BSD descendants and Linux are all Unix-like operating systems there is a lot of commonality.

Using Preinstalled Linux Images with VirtualBox

Linux Mint Desktop
Linux Mint Desktop

VirtualBox is virtualization software that can be installed on Windows, Mac, Solaris, or Linux. It allows you to run an operating system (guest) inside your current operating system (host). In this scenario you will spend a few minutes installing the virtualization software, downloading a pre-installed Linux image, and importing that image.

To get started, head over to the VirtualBox download page and grab the installer for your current operating system. Click through the install screens and accept the defaults. Here’s a video that walks you through the process.

Next, download a virtual disk image (VDI) to use. If your goal is to eventually become a Linux system administrator, download a CentOS or Ubuntu image. CentOS is a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) derivative. As a general rule, CentOS and RHEL are often found in corporate environments. Ubuntu is popular with startups and smaller companies that run their operations in the cloud. Honestly, you can’t make a wrong decision. The concepts are the same, but the implementations vary slightly from distribution to distribution. If you can do something on one distro, you can surely figure out how to do it on another.

Launch VirtualBox, create a new virtual machine, and use the virtual disk image that you just downloaded. When you are asked for a hard disk image select the “Use existing hard disk” radio button and click on the directory icon. Next, click “Add” and select the virtual disk image. When the virtual machine is powered on you can log into the server using the username and password provided with the downloaded image.

To recap, here are three easy ways to get access to a shell account today.

Read the “Create, Build, Test Drive, or Deploy Your Very Own Linux Server with Full Root Access” article for even more ideas.

Create, Build, Test Drive, or Deploy Your Very Own Linux Server with Full Root Access

We’ve covered four ways to get access to a Linux shell account, but most of those methods do not allow you to run commands as the superuser, also known as root. You can learn a lot with a normal user account, but if you want to start getting into the system administration aspects of Linux you’ll want to have complete control over an entire server or set of servers. Below are some strategies for doing just that.

Create a Virtual Machine Using Vagrant and VirtualBox

Vagrant allows you to easily create virtual machines with just a few commands. The idea behind vagrant is that you can create reproducible work environments that are disposable. This is great for learning Linux because it allows you to quickly create a virtual machine on which you can experiment. When you are ready to start over, discard the current image with vagrant destroy and recreate a pristine one with vagrant up.

Got root?
Got root?

To get started, head over to the VirtualBox download page and grab the installer for your current operating system. Click through the install screens and accept the defaults. Here’s a video that walks you through the process. Next, download a copy of Vagrant by visiting the Vagrant download page. Install it using the normal procedures for your operating system.

You will need to download an image to use with Vagrant and VirtualBox. Vagrant calls these images “boxes.” You can find a list of boxes at VagrantBox.es. You can add, remove, and list boxes with the vagrant box command. The format of the command to add a box is vagrant box add NAME URL.

Here is how you can download Ubuntu and CentOS boxes, for example.

$ vagrant box add ubuntu12.04 http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/vagrant/precise/current/precise-server-cloudimg-amd64-vagrant-disk1.box
$ vagrant box add centos6.5 https://github.com/2creatives/vagrant-centos/releases/download/v6.5.1/centos65-x86_64-20131205.box 
$ vagrant box list
ubuntu12.04 (virtualbox)
centos6.5 (virtualbox)

Vagrant makes it easy to create a virtual machine, start it, and connect to it.

$ mkdir temp-box
$ cd temp-box
$ vagrant init ubuntu12.04
$ vagrant up
$ vagrant ssh

Vagrant comes with out of the box support for VirtualBox, but it can provision machines on other backend services as well. You can use vagrant with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Rackspace, DigitalOcean, and others by installing the corresponding vagrant provider plugin.

Spin up a Cloud Instance

With cloud computing providers you can pick a pre-installed Linux image and launch an instance of that image. Instance is the cloudy way of saying virtual machine or server. One of the advantages of using a cloud provider is that you pay as you go. Traditional hosting services typically require you to pay for services in monthly increments. If you only need access to a server for a few hours a month, it is probably cheaper to use a cloud provider. Some providers charge by the minute like Rackspace and others charge by the hour like Amazon Web Services.

Here is a short list of popular cloud providers.

Use a Live Linux Distribution

Live Linux distributions give you the opportunity to try out Linux without having to modify your current system in any way. Just pop in the bootable CD, DVD, or USB drive and watch it run. Don’t use live distros to evaluate how Linux will perform on your hardware, though. Live images run in memory and also have to access a way-slower-than-your-hard-drive storage device. If you find that you like the distribution you can choose to install it on your hard drive.

Here are a few Live Linux distros to get you started.

Install Linux the Old-Fashioned Way

So far we’ve been looking at ways to create Linux servers without having to manually install them. However, installing Linux by hand can be a rewarding experience. It gives you the opportunity to see what decisions need to be made when deploying a server. You can choose the partitioning scheme, the file system types, the file system sizes, and even decide what software packages will be installed on your system. Having control over the installation process can allow you to create a customized Linux server that fits your needs.

Here are a couple of guides that provide step-by-step instructions on installing Linux complete with screenshots. Find some hardware or create a virtual machine and have fun installing Linux.

Now that you have your own Linux server, you’ll need a way to connect to it over the network. For that, see the “21 Windows SSH Clients You Can Use to Connect to Your Linux Server” article.

4 Quick and Easy Ways to Get Access to a Shell Account and Start Learning Linux Today

It’s one thing to read about Linux, but it’s another thing entirely to use it. If you are just getting started or have some newfound Linux knowledge that you would like to put to the test, you’ll need a shell account. Luckily, getting an account on a Linux server is fairly easy.

Web Based Command Line Access

The absolute quickest way to get access to a working shell account is to visit SimpleShell in your web browser and click “Start my session.” A terminal emulator that is connected to a Linux server will be displayed. You will be automatically logged in using a generic account and presented with a shell prompt.

Since you don’t have a personal account your shell history and any files that you create will be destroyed at the end of your session. SimpleShell is great for trying out a few commands or working for a short period of time since sessions are limited to 15 minutes each. You can easily start another session at the end of your 15 minutes, but just be aware that you’ll lose any work from the previous session.

Webminal is similar to SimpleShell, but with some additional features. You are required to create an account before you can use Webminal and your account persists between sessions. This means that your shell history and files remain intact and are waiting for you when you return. If you plan on writing shell scripts Webminal is a better choice than SimpleShell. You are limited to 1 MB of storage space, but if you are learning Linux commands and writing shell scripts, that is plenty.

LinuxZoo is yet another option. Like Webminal, you are required to create an account before you can use their service. Instead of getting a normal user account on a Linux server, you get access to the root account on a Linux virtual machine. It’s great for testing commands that require superuser privileges to run. Sessions are limited to 20 minutes and the virtual machine is destroyed at the end of that time. There is no picking up where you left off with LinuxZoo.

Here are your choices for Linux command line access from a web browser:

  • SimpleShell – No registration required. 15 minute session limit.
  • Webminal – Registration required. Account persists between sessions.
  • LinuxZoo – Registration required. Root access. 20 minute session limit.

Web Hosting Shell Accounts

If you use a web hosting service to host your website you may already have a Linux account that you can use. Consult your hosting company’s documentation and search for “SSH” or “shell access.” If you don’t already have a web hosting provider, you can sign up for one and use it for shell access. Shared web hosting providers typically charge just a few dollars a month.

Professional web hosting for $6.95/month.
Professional web hosting for $6.95/month.

Here are some shared web hosting companies that can provide you with a shell account and SSH access.

Request a Free Account on an Existing System

You can request a free Linux shell account at BlinkenShell. However, you have to jump through some hoops like waiting a minimum of 24 hours and asking for people in their IRC chat room to vouch for you. You can also get free shell accounts on SDF, CJB, and Devio.us but they won’t be Linux accounts. SDF is NetBSD, CJB is FreeBSD, and Devio.us is OpenBSD. Since the BSD descendants and Linux are all Unix-like operating systems there is a lot of commonality.

Using Preinstalled Linux Images with VirtualBox

Linux Mint Desktop
Linux Mint Desktop

VirtualBox is virtualization software that can be installed on Windows, Mac, Solaris, or Linux. It allows you to run an operating system (guest) inside your current operating system (host). In this scenario you will spend a few minutes installing the virtualization software, downloading a pre-installed Linux image, and importing that image.

To get started, head over to the VirtualBox download page and grab the installer for your current operating system. Click through the install screens and accept the defaults. Here’s a video that walks you through the process.

Next, download a virtual disk image (VDI) to use. If your goal is to eventually become a Linux system administrator, download a CentOS or Ubuntu image. CentOS is a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) derivative. As a general rule, CentOS and RHEL are often found in corporate environments. Ubuntu is popular with startups and smaller companies that run their operations in the cloud. Honestly, you can’t make a wrong decision. The concepts are the same, but the implementations vary slightly from distribution to distribution. If you can do something on one distro, you can surely figure out how to do it on another.

Launch VirtualBox, create a new virtual machine, and use the virtual disk image that you just downloaded. When you are asked for a hard disk image select the “Use existing hard disk” radio button and click on the directory icon. Next, click “Add” and select the virtual disk image. When the virtual machine is powered on you can log into the server using the username and password provided with the downloaded image.

To recap, here are four easy ways to get access to a shell account today.

Read the “Create, Build, Test Drive, or Deploy Your Very Own Linux Server with Full Root Access” article for even more ideas.