Logging in, Session, Logging out

To use the system, a user must have an account on it. Basically, an account is a login, a password, and a personal home directory.

A user identifies himself to the system by typing his login and password when they are requested (by a virtual console, or by a graphical program called a display manager):

• Logging in in a virtual console gives the user a shell (called a login shell).
• Opening a "console" or a "terminal" in a graphical user interface means opening a new text window which contains a shell (which is a not a login shell).

Logging in is the beginning of a user session. Sessions end when users log out.

logout

Terminate a login shell.

exit

Terminate a login or a non login shell.