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Do I have to be connected to a server to use the command line? I've been using MAMP to learn PHP and mysql. But I want to go outside of MAMP. Some of the tutorials I'm in send me to the terminal's command line but when I type in the code there I don't get the password prompt that's expected. I have a mac book pro 10.6.8. Any suggestions?

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What do you mean by "The code"? can you give an example? – Simon Sheehan Jan 14 at 23:59
What password prompt? To log into your system? – Daniel Beck Jan 15 at 0:04
I really wasn't sure what I was asking in this post. I had been trying to use the terminal in online mysql tutorial and when I typed in the command given I didn't get the results shown in the tut. I began to think I needed to be connected to a server to use the command line. Now because of your comments I getting some clarity on this subject. Thanks you all. – swydell Jan 15 at 3:17
When you open a command prompt on your mac, you are already logged in. Most dangerous commands will require you to enter your admin password again before running them. If you post the tutorial you're having trouble with as a question, I'm sure someone can explain what's wrong. – Abhi Beckert Jan 15 at 18:11
Consider, you know, posting a link to the tutorial so we can try to reproduce the issue. – Daniel Beck Jan 15 at 21:05
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3 Answers

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In Finder, go into Utilities and run Terminal. You've already logged in, so you won't be prompted for a password.

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This can also be done through spotlight – Simon Sheehan Jan 15 at 0:00
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You dont have to be connected to a server to use the "command line" on your Mac, but you do have to be connected to a server to run commands on the server.

Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal

That will open up the command line for your Mac, where you can log in to SSH on the server you want to run commands on.

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The reason you don't get a password when you launch the Terminal app is that you are already logged in. On OS X, Terminal.app will set you up a login shell (i.e. it executes .bash_profile) but uses already authenticated user account you logged in as when you started the machine. If you want to change to another user you can use su otherusername just as on any other Unix-like system.

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