Open a terminal

A terminal is a window where you type commands for your computer, instead of clicking on things. You use it for every other tool in this lesson, and for most of this course.

Open it

Steps are different on macOS, Windows and Linux. Click the name of your computer's system to open its section.

macOS

Check if it's already installed. Every Mac comes with Terminal. There is nothing to install: you only need to open it.

Open it.

1. Press Command (⌘) and Space together. This opens Spotlight search.
2. Type Terminal and press Return.

A window opens. This is where you type commands.

Check that it works. In the Terminal window that just opened, type this and press Return:

echo "hello"

You should see hello on the next line. That means the terminal is taking your commands.

Windows

NanoClaw can't run on Windows by itself. It runs inside WSL, a part of Windows that runs Linux. You install WSL once. After that, you type every command in this course into its Ubuntu terminal.

Check if it's already installed. Click Start and type PowerShell. Right-click Windows PowerShell and choose Run as administrator. Click Yes. Then run:

wsl -l -v

• If you see a list with Ubuntu in it, WSL and Ubuntu are already installed. Skip to step 3.
• If you see an error, or a list without Ubuntu, start at step 1.

Install it.

1. In the same PowerShell window, type this command and press Enter:

   wsl --install

   Windows downloads WSL and Ubuntu. This takes a few minutes.

   If the command only shows a help text, WSL is already on your computer. Run wsl --install -d Ubuntu instead.

2. Restart your computer.

3. Click Start, type Ubuntu, and open it.

4. Ubuntu asks you to make a username and a password. They don't need to match your Windows ones. While you type the password, nothing shows on the screen. That is normal. Remember this password: Ubuntu asks for it when you install things.

   If Ubuntu doesn't ask, you already made them earlier. Use those.

5. In the Ubuntu terminal, update Ubuntu with this command:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

   sudo means "run this as an administrator", so Ubuntu asks for the password you just made.

From now on, "open a terminal" means: click Start, type Ubuntu, and open it. Type the commands in this course there, not in PowerShell.

Check that it works. In the Ubuntu terminal, type this and press Enter:

echo "hello"

You should see hello on the next line. That means the terminal is taking your commands.

Linux

Check if it's already installed. Every Linux desktop comes with a terminal. There is nothing to install: you only need to open it.

Open it. Press Ctrl, Alt and T together. A terminal window opens.

If nothing happens, open your list of apps and search for Terminal.

Check that it works. In the terminal window that just opened, type this and press Enter:

echo "hello"

You should see hello on the next line. That means the terminal is taking your commands.

Next

Your terminal is open. Next, install Git.