Red Hat Linux System Administration Handbook

Mark F. Komarinski is a columnist for Linux Journal. He works for Carlo Gavazzi Computer Systems in Eastern Massachusetts as a compatibility engineer and systems administrator. Cary Collett is a systems administrator for Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico.

1. Introduction.


Oh No! Not Another Linux Book! Linux Theory. Is It Really Free? Why Linux? Is Linux SYSV or BSD? Support. What You Need. Red Hat Recommended Settings.



2. Installation.


Getting Linux. Preparing for the Install. Performing the Install. LILO Installation. Linux and Other Operating Systems. Upgrading Red Hat Linux. Migrating from Other Distributions. Applications CD. Summary.



3. Linux Boot and Shutdown.


LILO. Kernel Boot. init. What's a Runlevel? When Something Goes Wrong. The Red Hat Rescue Diskette. System Shutdown. Keeping a PC Safe from Reboots. Summary.



4. Account Administration.


Adding Users. Deleting or Disabling Users. Using Shadow Passwords. Using PAM. Linuxconf. Interaction with Users. Summary.



5. RPM.


Binary RPM Installation. Source RPM (SRPM). Other RPM Utilities. Summary.



6. Networking with Linux.


TCP/IP. INETD. Network Applications. AppleTalk. Network Information Services (NIS and NIS+). Routing with Linux. Internet Agencies. Summary.



7. Printing and Print Sharing.


Connecting Printers to Linux. Serial vs. Parallel vs. Ethernet Printers. Configuring a Printer. Print Filters. Printers on the Network! Managing Print Queues. Ghostscript. Summary.



8. Samba.


Setting up a MS Windows Network. Installing Samba. Linux SMB Connections. SWAT (Samba Web Administration Tool). Installing Linux Printers on Windows. Summary.



9. Email.


Using m4 Files. You Have Mail! MIME. The .forward File. Mailing Lists. Qmail: An Alternative to Sendmail. Remote Email (POP and IMAP). Summary.



10. Setting Up FTP Services.


FTP under Red Hat Linux. Configuring wu-ftpd. Anonymous FTP. ProFTPD. BeroFTPD. TFTP. FTP Clients. Summary.



11. Applications for Linux.


Office Products, Word Processors, and Editors. Drawing, Graphics, and Image Viewing and Manipulation. Scientific Programs. Emulators. Summary.



12. Linux Database Software.


MySQL and mSQL. Other Native Linux DMBS's. Summary.



13. Programming Languages.


C. C++. Perl. Python. Lisp, Scheme,, and Guile. Java. Tcl/Tk. SQL. PHP. Other Languages. Summary.



14.Web Serving.


Web Server Software. Hardware Issues. Apache and ApacheSSL/Stronghold. Logging. Databases and Web Servers. Setting Up a Killer Web Server. Streaming Audio and Video. Summary.



15. X Windowing System.


X Concepts. Setting Up X Using Xconfigurator. Setting Up X Manually. gdm. Using X Window Managers. User Programs. X Resources. X Applications. Using Remote Displays. Major X Libraries. Commercial X Resources. Summary.



16. Securing Linux.


Physical Security. Software Security. Denial of Service Attacks. Network Security. Packet Filtering with Linux. Summary.



17. Kernel Administration.


Customizing Your Kernel. Which Kernel? Getting Ready. Adding Kernels to LILO. Modules or Compiled In? Dive on In! Summary.



18. System and Network Monitoring.


Syslog. Network Monitoring. Network Monitoring Distributions. Summary.



19. Backing Up Your Data.


tar and mt. cpio. Dump and Restore. Commercial Backup Products. Backup Strategies. RAID and Disk Mirroring. Summary.



20.Talking to Your Peripherals.


Scanners. Modems. Tape Drives. UPS. 3D Cards. USB Support. Adding a New Hard Drive. PCMCIA Devices and Laptop Machines. ZIP and JAZ Drives. Quick Guide to Serial Ports. CD-ROMs and CD-R Writers. Summary.



21. Connecting to the Internet.


Overview. Software Versions. Networking. PPP. IP Masquerading. Summary.



Appendix A.


URLs To Keep Track Of. URLs Referenced in This Book.



Appendix B.


Problems Using Very Large Hard Disks. Linux-allocated Devices. Additional /dev Directory Entries.



Index.