Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition

Andrew Hudson is a freelance journalist who specializes in writing about Linux. He has significant experience in Red Hat and Debian-based Linux distributions and deployments and can often be found sitting at his keyboard tweaking various settings and config files just for the hell of it. He lives in Wiltshire, which is a county of England, along with his wife, Bernice, and their son, John. Andrew does not like Emacs. He can be reached at andy.hudson@gmail.com.   Paul Hudson is a recognized expert in open-source technologies. He is also a professional developer and full-time journalist for Future Publishing. His articles have appeared in Mac Format, PC Answers, PC Format, PC Plus, and Linux Format. Paul is passionate about free software in all its forms and uses a mix of Linux and BSD to power his desktops and servers. Paul likes Emacs. Paul can be contacted through http://hudzilla.org.   Matthew Helmke is an active member of the Ubuntu Linux community as an Administrator and Forum Council member for the Ubuntu Forums (http://ubuntuforums.org), and coauthored the most recent editions of Prentice Hall's The Official Ubuntu Book. Matthew first used Unix in 1987 while studying Lisp on a Vax at the university. He is currently working on a master's degree in Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona while working as the senior technical writer for iPlant Collaborative, a project creating software to help biologists do genetic research.   Ryan Troy has more than 12 years of Unix/Linux system administration experience in industries ranging from web hosting to newspapers. He serves as technical administrator and chairman of the Ubuntu Forum Council and founded the Ubuntu Forums in 2004. He currently works for a Michigan based consulting company and specializes in Storage and Virtualization. You can find out more about Ryan at http://rtroy.com.  

Introduction 1

Part I Installation and Configuration

1 Installing Ubuntu 11

Before You Begin the Installation.................................................................11

Researching Your Hardware Specifications .........................................12

Installation Options.............................................................................12

Planning Partition Strategies ...............................................................12

The Boot Loader ..................................................................................13

Installing from CD or DVD .................................................................13

Step-by-Step Installation...............................................................................13

Starting the Install ...............................................................................14

First Update..........................................................................................20

Wubi–The Easy Installer for Windows ..............................................22

Shutting Down ....................................................................................24

Reference .......................................................................................................24

2 Post-Installation Configuration 25

Troubleshooting Post-Installation Configuration Problems ........................26

The sudo command ......................................................................................27

First Update...................................................................................................28

Configuring Software Repositories ...............................................................30

Installing Graphics Drivers ...........................................................................33

Changing Ubuntu’s Look and Feel...............................................................34

Changing the Desktop Background ....................................................34

Changing Colors..................................................................................35

Modifying System Fonts......................................................................36

Changing How Menus Look ...............................................................36

Visual Effects........................................................................................37

Preferred Behaviors .......................................................................................37

Preferred Applications .........................................................................37

Removable Drives and Media..............................................................39

Input Devices ................................................................................................39

Keyboard Shortcuts..............................................................................40

Keyboard Layout..................................................................................40

Mouse...................................................................................................41

Detecting and Configuring a Modem ..........................................................42

Configuring a Serial-Port Modem .......................................................42

Configuring WinModems for Laptops................................................42

Configuring Power Management in Ubuntu ...............................................43

Setting the Date and Time............................................................................44

Using the date Command ...................................................................45

Using the hwclock Command ............................................................45

Changing the Time and Date..............................................................46

Configuring and Using CD, DVD, and CD-RW Drives................................46

Checking Drive Assignment................................................................47

Configuring Wireless Networks ....................................................................48

Reference .......................................................................................................49

3 Working with Gnome 51

The Gnome Desktop Environment ..............................................................52

Gnome: The GNU Network Object Model Environment...................52

Eye Candy for the Masses.............................................................................54

Basic X Concepts...........................................................................................55

Using X..........................................................................................................56

Elements of the xorg.conf File ............................................................57

Configuring X......................................................................................62

Starting X ......................................................................................................64

Using a Display Manager.....................................................................65

Changing Window Managers..............................................................73

KDE–The Other Environment.....................................................................77

XFce...............................................................................................................78

Reference .......................................................................................................78

4 Command Line Quickstart 79

What Is the Command Line? .......................................................................79

Navigating Through the File System...................................................83

Managing Files with the Shell.............................................................85

Working with Compressed Files..........................................................86

Use Essential Commands from the /bin and /sbin Directories ..........87

Use and Edit Files in the /etc Directory ..............................................87

Protect the Contents of User Directories–/home ..............................87

Use the Contents of the /proc Directory to Interact

with the Kernel..................................................................................87

Work with Shared Data in the /usr Directory.....................................89

Temporary File Storage in the /tmp Directory....................................89

Access Variable Data Files in the /var Directory .................................89

Logging In to and Working with Linux .......................................................90

Text-based Console Login....................................................................90

Logging Out.........................................................................................90

Logging In and Out from a Remote Computer ..................................91

Using Environment Variables..............................................................92

Using the Text Editors ..................................................................................95

Working with vi...................................................................................96

Working with emacs............................................................................97

Working with Permissions............................................................................99

Assigning Permissions .......................................................................100

Directory Permissions........................................................................101

Understanding Set User ID and Set Group ID Permissions..............103

Working as Root..........................................................................................104

Creating Users....................................................................................105

Deleting Users....................................................................................106

Shutting Down the System ...............................................................106

Rebooting the System........................................................................107

Reading Documentation.............................................................................108

Using Man Pages................................................................................108

Reference .....................................................................................................110

Part II Desktop Ubuntu

5 On the Internet 113

Getting Started with Firefox .......................................................................114

Choosing an Email Client ..........................................................................115

Evolution ...........................................................................................116

Mozilla Thunderbird..........................................................................118

KMail..................................................................................................120

Other Mail Clients.............................................................................120

RSS Readers..................................................................................................120

Firefox ................................................................................................122

Liferea.................................................................................................122

Instant Messaging with Pidgin ...................................................................123

Internet Relay Chat.....................................................................................124

Usenet Network Newsgroups......................................................................127

The Pan News Client Newsreader...............................................................128

Videoconferencing with Ekiga....................................................................130

Reference .....................................................................................................132

6 Productivity Applications 133

Introducing OpenOffice.org .......................................................................134

Configuring OpenOffice.org .............................................................136

Working with OpenOffice.org Writer ...............................................137

Working with OpenOffice.org Calc...................................................140

Office Suites for Ubuntu .............................................................................144

Working with Gnome Office.............................................................146

Working with KOffice........................................................................149

Productivity Applications Written for Microsoft Windows.......................150

Reference .....................................................................................................152

7 Multimedia Applications 153

Sound and Music ........................................................................................153

Sound Cards.......................................................................................154

Adjusting Volume..............................................................................155

Sound Formats...................................................................................156

Listening to Music .............................................................................157

Graphics Manipulation...............................................................................163

The GNU Image Manipulation Program...........................................163

Using Scanners in Ubuntu ................................................................164

Working with Graphics Formats .......................................................166

Capturing Screen Images...................................................................168

Using Digital Cameras with Ubuntu ..........................................................168

Handheld Digital Cameras ................................................................168

Using F-Spot.......................................................................................169

Burning CDs and DVDs in Ubuntu............................................................170

Creating CDs and DVDs with Ubuntu’s Graphical Clients..............172

Creating CDs from the Command Line ...........................................174

Creating DVDs from the Command Line.........................................176

Viewing Video.............................................................................................178

TV and Video Hardware ....................................................................178

Video Formats....................................................................................180

Viewing Video in Linux.....................................................................181

Personal Video Recorders ..................................................................181

DVD and Video Players .....................................................................182

Reference .....................................................................................................182

8 Printing with Ubuntu 185

Overview of Ubuntu Printing.....................................................................185

Configuring and Managing Print Services .................................................187

GUI-Based Printer Configuration Quickstart ....................................187

Managing Printing Services ...............................................................188

Creating and Configuring Local Printers ...................................................189

Creating the Print Queue ..................................................................190

Editing Printer Settings......................................................................192

Reference .....................................................................................................195

9 Games 197

Linux Gaming.............................................................................................197

Installing Proprietary Video Drivers..................................................198

Installing Games in Ubuntu .......................................................................199

DOOM 3 ............................................................................................200

Unreal Tournament 2004 ..................................................................201

Quake 4..............................................................................................202

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory ...........................................................203

Battle for Wesnoth.............................................................................204

Playing Windows Games with Cedega.......................................................204

Reference .....................................................................................................205

Part III System Administration

10 Managing Users 209

User Accounts .............................................................................................209

The Super User/Root User .................................................................210

User IDs and Group IDs ....................................................................212

File Permissions .................................................................................212

Managing Groups .......................................................................................213

Group Management Tools.................................................................214

Managing Users...........................................................................................216

User Management Tools ....................................................................216

Adding New Users .............................................................................218

Monitoring User Activity on the System ..........................................219

Managing Passwords...................................................................................220

System Password Policy .....................................................................220

The Password File ..............................................................................220

Shadow Passwords .............................................................................221

Managing Password Security for Users..............................................223

Changing Passwords in a Batch ........................................................224

Granting System Administrator Privileges to Regular Users......................224

Temporarily Changing User Identity with the su Command ..........225

Granting Root Privileges on Occasion–The sudo Command .........227

Disk Quotas.................................................................................................229

Implementing Quotas .......................................................................230

Manually Configuring Quotas ..........................................................230

Reference .....................................................................................................232

11 Automating Tasks 233

Running Services at Bootup........................................................................234

Beginning the Boot Loading Process..........................................................234

Loading the Linux Kernel..................................................................235

System Services and Runlevels ..........................................................236

Runlevel Definitions..........................................................................236

Booting into the Default Runlevel ....................................................237

Booting to a Non-Default Runlevel with GRUB ...............................237

Understanding init Scripts and the Final Stage of Initialization......238

Controlling Services at Boot with Administrative Tools ..................239

Changing Runlevels...........................................................................240

Troubleshooting Runlevel Problems .................................................240

Starting and Stopping Services Manually...................................................241

Scheduling Tasks .........................................................................................242

Using at and batch to Schedule Tasks for Later................................242

Using cron to Run Jobs Repeatedly...................................................245

Basic Shell Control......................................................................................248

The Shell Command Line .................................................................248

Shell Pattern-Matching Support........................................................250

Redirecting Input and Output...........................................................251

Piping Data ........................................................................................252

Background Processing ......................................................................252

Writing and Executing a Shell Script..........................................................253

Running the New Shell Program.......................................................254

Storing Shell Scripts for Systemwide Access......................................255

Interpreting Shell Scripts Through Specific Shells............................256

Using Variables in Shell Scripts .........................................................258

Assigning a Value to a Variable .........................................................258

Accessing Variable Values ..................................................................259

Positional Parameters ........................................................................259

A Simple Example of a Positional Parameter....................................259

Using Positional Parameters to Access and Retrieve

Variables from the Command Line ................................................260

Using a Simple Script to Automate Tasks..........................................261

Built-In Variables ...............................................................................263

Special Characters..............................................................................263

Use Double Quotes to Resolve Variables in Strings with

Embedded Spaces ............................................................................264

Using Single Quotes to Maintain Unexpanded Variables ................265

Using the Backslash as an Escape Character.....................................266

Using the Backtick to Replace a String with Output ........................266

Comparison of Expressions in pdksh and bash................................267

00_1091_fm.xml.qxp 11/16/09 6:16 PM Page x

Comparing Expressions with tcsh.....................................................272

The for Statement ..............................................................................276

The while Statement..........................................................................277

The until Statement...........................................................................279

The repeat Statement (tcsh) ..............................................................280

The select Statement (pdksh) ............................................................280

The shift Statement ...........................................................................281

The if Statement ................................................................................281

The case Statement ............................................................................283

The break and exit Statements..........................................................285

Using Functions in Shell Scripts........................................................285

Reference .....................................................................................................287

12 System-Monitoring Tools 289

Console-Based Monitoring .........................................................................289

Using the kill Command to Control Processes.................................291

Using Priority Scheduling and Control.............................................292

Displaying Free and Used Memory with free ...................................294

Disk Space ..........................................................................................295

Disk Quotas........................................................................................296

Graphical Process and System Management Tools ....................................296

KDE Process- and System-Monitoring Tools ..............................................298

Reference .....................................................................................................299

13 Backing Up 301

Choosing a Backup Strategy .......................................................................301

Why Data Loss Occurs.......................................................................302

Assessing Your Backup Needs and Resources ....................................303

Evaluating Backup Strategies.............................................................304

Making the Choice ............................................................................307

Choosing Backup Hardware and Media .....................................................307

Removable Storage Media .................................................................308

Network Storage.................................................................................309

Tape Drive Backup .............................................................................309

Using Backup Software ...............................................................................310

tar: The Most Basic Backup Tool .......................................................310

The GNOME File Roller .....................................................................312

Using the Amanda Backup Application............................................315

Alternative Backup Software..............................................................316

Copying Files...............................................................................................316

Copying Files Using tar .....................................................................317

Compressing, Encrypting, and Sending tar Streams ........................317

Copying Files Using cp......................................................................318

Copying Files Using mc.....................................................................318

System Rescue .............................................................................................319

The Ubuntu Rescue Disc....................................................................320

Backing Up and Restoring the Master Boot Record..........................320

Booting the System from a Generic Boot Floppy .............................320

Using a GRUB Boot Floppy ...............................................................321

Using the Recovery Facility ...............................................................322

Reference .....................................................................................................322

14 Networking 325

Laying the Foundation: The localhost Interface........................................326

Checking for the Availability of the Loopback Interface .................326

Configuring the Loopback Interface Manually ................................326

Networking with TCP/IP.............................................................................328

TCP/IP Addressing .............................................................................329

Using IP Masquerading in Ubuntu ...................................................331

Ports ...................................................................................................332

Network Organization ................................................................................333

Subnetting..........................................................................................333

Subnet Masks .....................................................................................334

Broadcast, Unicast, and Multicast Addressing ..................................334

Hardware Devices for Networking..............................................................335

Network Interface Cards....................................................................335

Network Cable ...................................................................................337

Hubs and Switches.............................................................................338

Routers and Bridges ...........................................................................339

Initializing New Network Hardware..................................................339

Using Network Configuration Tools...........................................................342

Command-Line Network Interface Configuration ...........................342

Network Configuration Files .............................................................347

Using Graphical Configuration Tools ...............................................349

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol ......................................................351

How DHCP Works .............................................................................351

Activating DHCP at Installation and Boot Time ..............................352

DHCP Software Installation and Configuration ...............................353

Using DHCP to Configure Network Hosts........................................354

Other Uses for DHCP.........................................................................357

Wireless Networking ...................................................................................357

Support for Wireless Networking in Ubuntu ....................................357

Advantages of Wireless Networking..................................................358

Choosing from Among Available Wireless Protocols .......................359

Beyond the Network and onto the Internet ..............................................360

Common Configuration Information........................................................360

Configuring Digital Subscriber Line Access................................................362

Understanding Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet.....................363

Configuring a PPPoE Connection Manually.....................................363

Configuring Dial-Up Internet Access .........................................................365

Configuring a Dial-Up Connection Manually..................................365

Troubleshooting Connection Problems .....................................................368

Reference .....................................................................................................369

15 Remote Access with SSH and Telnet 371

Setting Up a Telnet Server...........................................................................371

Telnet Versus SSH........................................................................................372

Setting Up an SSH Server ............................................................................372

The SSH Tools..............................................................................................373

Using scp to Copy Individual Files Between Machines....................374

Using sftp to Copy Many Files Between Machines ..........................374

Using ssh-keygen to Enable Key-based Logins..................................375

Remote X.....................................................................................................377

XDMCP..............................................................................................377

VNC....................................................................................................378

Reference .....................................................................................................378

Part IV Ubuntu as a Server

16 File and Print 381

Using the Network File System...................................................................382

Installing and Starting or Stopping NFS ...........................................382

NFS Server Configuration..................................................................383

NFS Client Configuration..................................................................384

Putting Samba to Work...............................................................................385

Manually Configuring Samba with /etc/samba/smb.conf................387

Testing Samba with the testparm Command ...................................390

Starting the smbd Daemon ...............................................................390

Mounting Samba Shares....................................................................391

Configuring Samba Using SWAT.......................................................392

Network and Remote Printing with Ubuntu..............................................397

Creating Network Printers ..........................................................................397

Enabling Network Printing on a LAN ...............................................397

Session Message Block Printing.........................................................398

Using the Common UNIX Printing System GUI .......................................399

Creating a CUPS Printer Entry ..........................................................400

Avoiding Printer Support Problems............................................................403

All-in-One (Print/Fax/Scan) Devices .................................................403

Using USB and Legacy Printers .........................................................403

Reference .....................................................................................................405

17 Apache Web Server Management 407

About the Apache Web Server ....................................................................407

Installing the Apache Server.......................................................................409

Installing with APT............................................................................409

Building the Source Yourself .............................................................410

Starting and Stopping Apache ....................................................................413

Starting the Apache Server Manually................................................413

Using /etc/init.d/apache2..................................................................414

Runtime Server Configuration Settings......................................................416

Runtime Configuration Directives ....................................................416

Editing apache2.conf.........................................................................417

Apache Multiprocessing Modules .....................................................419

Using .htaccess Configuration Files ..................................................420

File System Authentication and Access Control ........................................422

Restricting Access with allow and deny............................................422

Authentication...................................................................................423

Final Words on Access Control .........................................................425

Apache Modules..........................................................................................426

mod_access ........................................................................................427

mod_alias ...........................................................................................427

mod_asis ............................................................................................427

mod_auth...........................................................................................428

mod_auth_anon.................................................................................428

mod_auth_dbm .................................................................................428

mod_auth_digest ...............................................................................428

mod_autoindex..................................................................................429

mod_cgi..............................................................................................429

mod_dir and mod_env ......................................................................429

mod_expires.......................................................................................429

mod_headers......................................................................................429

mod_include ......................................................................................429

mod_info and mod_log_config .........................................................430

mod_mime and mod_mime_magic ..................................................430

mod_negotiation ...............................................................................430

mod_proxy.........................................................................................430

mod_rewrite.......................................................................................430

mod_setenvif .....................................................................................430

mod_speling.......................................................................................431

mod_status.........................................................................................431

mod_ssl ..............................................................................................431

mod_unique_id..................................................................................431

mod_userdir .......................................................................................431

mod_usertrack....................................................................................431

mod_vhost_alias ................................................................................431

Virtual Hosting............................................................................................432

Address-Based Virtual Hosts ..............................................................432

Name-Based Virtual Hosts .................................................................432

Logging........................................................................................................434

Other Web Servers for Use with Ubuntu....................................................435

Sun ONE Web Server .........................................................................436

Zope ...................................................................................................436

Zeus Web Server.................................................................................436

Reference .....................................................................................................437

18 Remote File Serving with FTP 439

Choosing an FTP Server..............................................................................439

Choosing an Authenticated or Anonymous Server ..........................440

Ubuntu FTP Server Packages .............................................................440

Other FTP Servers ..............................................................................440

Installing FTP Software ...............................................................................441

The FTP User ...............................................................................................442

inetd Configuration for wu-ftpd ................................................................444

Starting the Very Secure FTP Server (vsftpd) Package.......................445

Configuring the Very Secure FTP Server.....................................................445

Controlling Anonymous Access........................................................445

Other vsftpd Server Configuration Files ...........................................446

Configuring the Server ...............................................................................448

Using Commands in the ftpaccess File to Configure wu-ftpd...................448

Configure Access Control..................................................................449

Configure User Information..............................................................452

Configure System Logging ................................................................456

Configure Permission Control ..........................................................457

Configure Commands Directed Toward the cdpath.........................459

Structure of the shutdown File..........................................................460

Configuring FTP Server File-Conversion Actions.......................................460

Strip Prefix .........................................................................................461

Strip Postfix........................................................................................461

Add-On Prefix ....................................................................................461

Add-On Postfix ..................................................................................461

External Command ...........................................................................461

An Example of Conversions in Action..............................................462

Using the ftphosts File to Allow or Deny FTP Server Connection ............463

Using Commands for Server Administration.............................................464

Display Information About Connected Users...................................464

Count the Number of Connections..................................................465

Use /usr/sbin/ftpshut to Schedule FTP Server Downtime ................466

Use /var/log/xferlog to View a Log of Server Transactions...............467

Reference .....................................................................................................470

19 Handling Electronic Mail 471

How Email Is Sent and Received ................................................................471

The Mail Transport Agent..................................................................472

Choosing an MTA..............................................................................474

The Mail Delivery Agent ...................................................................474

The Mail User Agent..........................................................................475

Basic Postfix Configuration and Operation ...............................................476

Configuring Masquerading ...............................................................477

Using Smart Hosts .............................................................................477

Setting Message Delivery Intervals....................................................477

Mail Relaying .....................................................................................478

Forwarding Email with Aliases ..........................................................478

Using Fetchmail to Retrieve Mail ...............................................................479

Installing Fetchmail...........................................................................479

Configuring Fetchmail ......................................................................480

Choosing a Mail Delivery Agent ................................................................483

Procmail .............................................................................................483

Spamassassin......................................................................................484

Squirrelmail........................................................................................484

Virus Scanners....................................................................................484

Mail Daemons.............................................................................................485

Alternatives to Microsoft Exchange Server.................................................485

Microsoft Exchange Server/Outlook Client ......................................486

CommuniGate Pro.............................................................................486

Oracle Collaboration Suite ................................................................486

Bynari.................................................................................................486

Open-Xchange...................................................................................486

phpgroupware....................................................................................487

PHProjekt ...........................................................................................487

Horde .................................................................................................487

Reference .....................................................................................................488

20 Proxying and Reverse Proxying 489

What Is a Proxy Server? ..............................................................................489

Installing Squid ...........................................................................................490

Configuring Clients ....................................................................................490

Access Control Lists ....................................................................................491

Specifying Client IP Addresses....................................................................495

Example Configurations .............................................................................496

Reference .....................................................................................................498

21 Administering Database Services 499

A Brief Review of Database Basics ..............................................................500

How Relational Databases Work .......................................................501

Understanding SQL Basics.................................................................503

Creating Tables ..................................................................................503

Inserting Data into Tables .................................................................504

Retrieving Data from a Database.......................................................505

Choosing a Database: MySQL Versus PostgreSQL......................................507

Speed..................................................................................................507

Data Locking......................................................................................508

ACID Compliance in Transaction Processing

to Protect Data Integrity .................................................................509

SQL Subqueries ..................................................................................509

Procedural Languages and Triggers ...................................................510

Configuring MySQL....................................................................................510

Setting a Password for the MySQL Root User ...................................511

Creating a Database in MySQL .........................................................511

Granting and Revoking Privileges in MySQL ...................................512

Configuring PostgreSQL .............................................................................513

Initializing the Data Directory in PostgreSQL ..................................514

Creating a Database in PostgreSQL ...................................................515

Creating Database Users in PostgreSQL ............................................516

Deleting Database Users in PostgreSQL ............................................517

Granting and Revoking Privileges in PostgreSQL .............................517

Database Clients..........................................................................................518

SSH Access to a Database...................................................................518

Local GUI Client Access to a Database .............................................520

Web Access to a Database..................................................................520

The MySQL Command-Line Client ..................................................521

The PostgreSQL Command-Line Client............................................523

Graphical Clients...............................................................................523

Reference .....................................................................................................524

22 LDAP 525

Configuring the Server ...............................................................................526

Populating Your Directory.................................................................528

Configuring Clients ....................................................................................530

Evolution ...........................................................................................531

Thunderbird.......................................................................................532

Administration............................................................................................532

Reference .....................................................................................................533

Part V Programming Linux

23 Using Perl 537

Using Perl with Linux.................................................................................537

Perl Versions ......................................................................................538

A Simple Perl Program.......................................................................538

Perl Variables and Data Structures..............................................................540

Perl Variable Types.............................................................................540

Special Variables.................................................................................541

Operators.....................................................................................................542

Comparison Operators ......................................................................542

Compound Operators........................................................................543

Arithmetic Operators.........................................................................544

Other Operators.................................................................................544

Special String Constants ....................................................................545

Conditional Statements: if/else and unless................................................545

if .........................................................................................................546

unless .................................................................................................546

Looping .......................................................................................................547

for.......................................................................................................547

foreach ...............................................................................................547

while ..................................................................................................548

until ...................................................................................................548

last and next ......................................................................................548

do ... while and do ... until ...............................................................549

Regular Expressions.....................................................................................549

Access to the Shell ......................................................................................550

Modules and CPAN.....................................................................................551

Code Examples............................................................................................552

Sending Mail......................................................................................552

Purging Logs ......................................................................................554

Posting to Usenet...............................................................................555

One-Liners .........................................................................................556

Command-Line Processing................................................................556

Reference .....................................................................................................557

24 Working with Python 561

Python on Linux.........................................................................................561

Getting Interactive.............................................................................562

The Basics of Python...................................................................................563

Numbers.............................................................................................563

More on Strings .................................................................................564

Lists ....................................................................................................567

Dictionaries........................................................................................569

Conditionals and Looping ................................................................570

Functions.....................................................................................................572

Object Orientation......................................................................................573

Class and Object Variables ................................................................574

Constructors and Destructors............................................................575

Class Inheritance ...............................................................................575

The Standard Library and the Vaults of Parnassus ....................................577

Reference .....................................................................................................577

25 Writing PHP Scripts 579

Introduction to PHP ...................................................................................580

Entering and Exiting PHP Mode .......................................................580

Variables.............................................................................................580

Arrays .................................................................................................582

Constants...........................................................................................584

References ..........................................................................................584

Comments .........................................................................................585

Escape Sequences ...............................................................................585

Variable Substitution .........................................................................587

Operators ...........................................................................................587

Conditional Statements.....................................................................589

Special Operators ...............................................................................591

Switching ...........................................................................................592

Loops..................................................................................................593

Including Other Files.........................................................................596

Basic Functions ...........................................................................................596

Strings ................................................................................................596

Arrays .................................................................................................600

Files ....................................................................................................602

Miscellaneous.....................................................................................604

Handling HTML Forms ...............................................................................607

Databases.....................................................................................................608

Introduction to PEAR::DB .................................................................608

Reference .....................................................................................................610

26 C/C++ Programming Tools for Ubuntu 613

Programming in C with Linux ...................................................................613

Using the C Programming Project Management Tools

Provided with Ubuntu..............................................................................614

Building Programs with make ...........................................................615

Using Makefiles..................................................................................615

Using the autoconf Utility to Configure Code .................................617

Managing Software Projects with Subversion...................................617

Debugging Tools ................................................................................618

Using the GNU C Compiler .......................................................................619

Graphical Development Tools ....................................................................620

Using the KDevelop Client................................................................620

The Glade Client for Developing in GNOME...................................621

Reference .....................................................................................................623

27 Mono 625

Why Use Mono? .........................................................................................625

Mono on the Command Line ....................................................................626

The Structure of a C# Program..........................................................628

Printing Out the Parameters..............................................................629

Creating Your Own Variables ............................................................629

Adding Some Error Checking............................................................630

Building on Mono’s Libraries .....................................................................631

Searching with Beagle........................................................................631

Creating a GUI with Gtk# .................................................................634

Reference .....................................................................................................636

Part VI Ubuntu Housekeeping

28 Securing Your Machines 639

Understanding Computer Attacks..............................................................639

Assessing Your Vulnerability.......................................................................641

Protecting Your Machine ............................................................................642

Securing a Wireless Network .............................................................642

Passwords and Physical Security .......................................................643

Configuring and Using Tripwire .......................................................644

Devices ...............................................................................................645

Viruses .........................................................................................................645

Configuring Your Firewall...........................................................................646

Forming a Disaster Recovery Plan ..............................................................647

Keeping Up-to-Date on Linux Security Issues............................................648

Reference .....................................................................................................649

29 Performance Tuning 651

Hard Disk ....................................................................................................651

Using the BIOS and Kernel to Tune the Disk Drives ........................652

The hdparm Command.....................................................................653

File System Tuning ............................................................................654

The tune2fs Command......................................................................654

The e2fsck Command........................................................................655

The badblocks Command .................................................................655

Disabling File Access Time.................................................................655

Kernel ..........................................................................................................655

Apache.........................................................................................................656

MySQL.........................................................................................................658

Measuring Key Buffer Usage..............................................................658

Using the Query Cache .....................................................................660

Miscellaneous Tweaks........................................................................661

Query Optimization ..........................................................................661

Reference .....................................................................................................662

30 Command Line Masterclass 663

Why Use the Shell?.....................................................................................664

Basic Commands.........................................................................................665

Printing the Contents of a File with cat ...........................................666

Changing Directories with cd ...........................................................667

Changing File Access Permissions with chmod................................668

Copying Files with cp........................................................................669

Printing Disk Usage with du .............................................................669

Finding Files by Searching with find ................................................670

Searches for a String in Input with grep ...........................................673

Paging Through Output with less .....................................................674

Creating Links Between Files with ln................................................676

Finding Files from an Index with locate...........................................677

Listing Files in the Current Directory with ls ...................................678

Reading Manual Pages with man......................................................679

Making Directories with mkdir .........................................................680

Moving Files with mv........................................................................680

Listing Processes with ps ...................................................................680

Deleting Files and Directories with rm .............................................681

Printing the Last Lines of a File with tail..........................................682

Printing Resource Usage with top .....................................................682

Printing the Location of a Command with which...........................684

Combining Commands ..............................................................................684

Multiple Terminals......................................................................................686

Reference .....................................................................................................687

31 Managing Software 689

Using Add/Remove Applications for Software Management.....................689

Using Synaptic for Software Management .................................................691

Staying Up-to-Date......................................................................................693

Working on the Command Line ................................................................694

Day-to-Day Usage ..............................................................................694

Finding Software................................................................................697

Compiling Software from Source ...............................................................698

Reference .....................................................................................................699

32 Kernel and Module Management 701

The Linux Kernel ........................................................................................702

The Linux Source Tree .......................................................................702

Types of Kernels.................................................................................704

Managing Modules .....................................................................................706

When to Recompile ....................................................................................708

Kernel Versions ...........................................................................................708

Obtaining the Kernel Sources .....................................................................709

Patching the Kernel ....................................................................................710

Compiling the Kernel .................................................................................712

Using xconfig to Configure the Kernel.............................................717

Creating an Initial RAM Disk Image .................................................720

When Something Goes Wrong...................................................................721

Errors During Compile ......................................................................721

Runtime Errors, Boot Loader Problems, and Kernel Oops ...............722

Reference .....................................................................................................723

Part VII Appendixes

A Ubuntu Under the Hood 727

What Is Linux?............................................................................................727

Why Use Linux?..........................................................................................729

What Is Ubuntu?.........................................................................................730

Roots of Ubuntu ................................................................................730

Ubuntu for Business....................................................................................731

Ubuntu in Your Home ................................................................................732

64-Bit Ubuntu .............................................................................................733

Ubuntu on the PPC Platform .....................................................................733

Getting the Most from Ubuntu and Linux Documentation .....................733

Ubuntu Developers and Documentation ...................................................735

Reference .....................................................................................................735

B Installation Resources 737

Planning Your Ubuntu Deployment ..........................................................738

Business Considerations ....................................................................738

System Considerations ......................................................................741

User Considerations...........................................................................742

A Predeployment Planning Checklist ...............................................742

Planning the Installation...................................................................742

Hardware Requirements..............................................................................743

Meeting the Minimum Ubuntu Hardware Requirements ................743

Using Legacy Hardware .....................................................................744

Planning for Hard Drive Storage for Your Ubuntu Installation .......744

Checking Hardware Compatibility ...................................................745

Preparing for Potential Hardware Problems......................................746

Preparing and Using a Hardware Inventory .....................................749

Preparing for the Install Process .................................................................750

Preparing to Install from a CD-ROM ................................................753

Partitioning Before and During Installation ..............................................754

Choosing a Partitioning Scheme.......................................................756

Hosting Parts of the Linux File System on Separate Partitions ........756

Reference .....................................................................................................757

C Ubuntu and Linux Internet Resources 759

Websites and Search Engines......................................................................760

Web Search Tips.................................................................................760

Google Is Your Friend ........................................................................761

Ubuntu Package Listings ...................................................................761

Certification.......................................................................................761

Commercial Support..........................................................................762

Documentation..................................................................................762

Linux Guides......................................................................................763

Ubuntu...............................................................................................763

Mini-CD Linux Distributions ............................................................763

Various Intel-Based Linux Distributions ...........................................764

PowerPC-Based Linux Distributions..................................................764

Linux on Laptops and PDAs..............................................................765

The X Window System ......................................................................765

Usenet Newsgroups.....................................................................................765

Mailing Lists................................................................................................767

Ubuntu Project Mailing Lists.............................................................767

Internet Relay Chat.....................................................................................767

Index 769