NetNIX — Documentation

# Clone the repository $ git clone https://github.com/squiblez/NetNIX.git $ cd NetNIX # Build the project $ dotnet build # Run NetNIX $ dotnet run --project NetNIX

02 — First-Time Setup

When NetNIX starts for the first time (no rootfs.zip exists), it runs the First-Time Setup wizard automatically:

Creates the standard UNIX directory hierarchy (/bin, /etc, /home, …)
Installs default skeleton files for new users
Prompts you to set a root password
Creates the root account and the sudo group
Optionally creates a regular user account
Installs the sandbox configuration (/etc/sandbox.conf)
Installs all built-in commands into /bin and /sbin
Installs built-in libraries into /lib
Installs manual pages into /usr/share/man
Installs factory files (default configs, demo scripts)
Saves everything to the rootfs.zip archive

After setup, you are presented with the login prompt.

03 — Using the Shell (nsh)

After logging in, you are dropped into nsh (NetNIX Shell). The prompt shows your username, hostname, current directory, and privilege level:

user@netnix:/home/user$          (regular user)
root@netnix:/root#               (root)

Basic Usage

Syntax	Description
command arg1 arg2	Run a command with arguments
command > file	Redirect output to a file
command >> file	Append output to a file
cmd1 \| cmd2 \| cmd3	Pipe output between commands
help	Show all available commands
man <topic>	Read the manual page for a topic
clear	Clear the screen
exit / logout	Log out of the current session

Shell Scripts

Source a file containing one command per line:

source myscript.sh
. myscript.sh

Lines starting with # are treated as comments. The file ~/.nshrc is automatically sourced on login.

04 — Built-in Commands

Shell Builtins

Command	Description
help	Show command overview
man	Manual page viewer
cd	Change directory (cd, cd ~, cd -)
chmod	Change file permissions
chown	Change file owner (root only)
adduser	Create a new user (root only)
su	Switch user
sudo	Run a command as root
daemon	Manage background services
run	Run a .cs script file
source / .	Execute a shell script

User Commands (/bin)

Command	Description
ls	List directory contents
cat	Display file contents
cp / mv / rm	Copy, move/rename, remove files
mkdir / rmdir	Create/remove directories
grep	Search file contents with patterns
find	Find files by name pattern
head / tail	Display first/last lines of a file
wc	Word, line, and character count
curl / wget / fetch	Network transfer tools
edit	Built-in text editor
zip / unzip	Archive management within the VFS
echo / pwd / whoami	Print text, directory, or username

System Administration (/sbin — root/sudo)

Command	Description
useradd / userdel / usermod	Manage user accounts
groupadd / groupdel / groupmod	Manage groups
mount / umount	Mount/unmount .zip archives
export / importfile	Bridge to host filesystem
npak	Package manager
nxconfig	Host-side configuration tool
httpd	HTTP server daemon
telnetd	Telnet server daemon (remote multi-user access)

05 — Virtual File System

NetNIX uses a fully in-memory virtual filesystem persisted as a .zip archive. All paths are UNIX-style (forward slashes, rooted at "/").

Default Archive Location

Platform	Path
Windows	%APPDATA%\NetNIX\rootfs.zip
Linux	~/.config/NetNIX/rootfs.zip
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/NetNIX/rootfs.zip

Directory Layout (FHS)

Path	Purpose
/bin	User command scripts
/sbin	System/admin command scripts
/lib	Shared libraries
/etc	Configuration files
/home	User home directories
/root	Root's home directory
/tmp	Temporary files (world-writable)
/usr	Secondary hierarchy (bin, lib, share)
/var	Variable data (logs, packages, www)
/mnt	Mount points for external archives

Permissions

Every file and directory has a 9-character permission string representing owner, group, and other access. Root (uid 0) bypasses all permission checks.

chmod rwxr-xr-x myfile       # symbolic notation
chmod 755 myfile             # octal notation
chown username myfile        # change owner (root only)

06 — Writing C# Scripts

Scripts are plain-text .cs files stored in the virtual filesystem. They are compiled at runtime by Roslyn and executed inside the NetNIX sandbox.

Basic Structure

/bin/mycommand.cs

using System; using NetNIX.Scripting; public class MyCommand { static int Run(NixApi api, string[] args) { Console.WriteLine("Hello from NetNIX!"); return 0; // 0 = success } }

The NixApi Object

The api parameter provides safe access to the entire environment:

Category	Methods
File I/O	ReadText, WriteText, ReadBytes, WriteBytes, AppendText, Exists, Delete, Copy, Move
Directories	IsDirectory, ListDirectory, CreateDir, CreateDirWithParents
Paths	ResolvePath, GetName, GetParent, Cwd
Users	Uid, Gid, Username, GetUsername, GetGroupName
Permissions	CanRead, CanWrite, CanExecute, GetPermissions
Networking	Net.Get, Net.Post, Net.Put, Net.Delete, Net.Patch, Net.Head
Host Logging	HostLog, HostLogRaw
Persistence	Save

The #include System

#include <libraryname>         // Search /lib, /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib
#include "path/to/file.cs"     // Resolve relative to cwd or absolute

Built-in Libraries

Library	Description
demoapilib	Demo/example library showing API usage patterns
netlib	Networking helper library
settingslib	Persistent key/value settings storage for scripts
ziplib	Zip archive manipulation within the VFS

Full Documentation

NetNIX includes 80+ built-in manual pages. Once inside the environment, use man <topic> to read detailed documentation on any command or concept, man --list to see all available pages, or man -k <keyword> to search.