Essential System Administration

Aeleen Frisch has been a system administrator for over 15 years, tending a plethora of VMS, Unix, and Windows NT systems. Currently, she looks after a very heterogeneous network of Unix and Windows NT systems. Her other books include Essential Windows NT System Administration and Windows NT Desktop Reference (both O'Reilly & Associates) and Exploring Chemistry with Electronic Structure Methods (Gaussian, Inc.). She also writes the "NTegration" column for SunExpert magazine (discussing Windows NT from a Unix perspective). She has degrees from Caltech and Pitt and is an MCSE.

Preface 1. Introduction to System Administration Thinking About System Administration Becoming Superuser Communicating with Users About Menus and GUIs Where Does the Time Go? 2. The Unix Way Files Processes Devices 3. Essential Administrative Tools and Techniques Getting the Most from Common Commands Essential Administrative Techniques 4. Startup and Shutdown About the Unix Boot Process Initialization Files and Boot Scripts Shutting Down a Unix System Troubleshooting: Handling Crashes and Boot Failures 5. TCP/IP Networking Understanding TCP/IP Networking Adding a New Network Host Network Testing and Troubleshooting 6. Managing Users and Groups Unix Users and Groups Managing User Accounts Administrative Tools for Managing User Accounts Administering User Passwords User Authentication with PAM LDAP: Using a Directory Service for User Authentication 7. Security Prelude: What's Wrong with This Picture? Thinking About Security User Authentication Revisited Protecting Files and the Filesystem Role-Based Access Control Network Security Hardening Unix Systems Detecting Problems 8. Managing Network Services Managing DNS Servers Routing Daemons Configuring a DHCP Server Time Synchronization with NTP Managing Network Daemons under AIX Monitoring the Network 9. Electronic Mail About Electronic Mail Configuring User Mail Programs Configuring Access Agents Configuring the Transport Agent Retrieving Mail Messages Mail Filtering with procmail A Few Final Tools 10. Filesystems and Disks Filesystem Types Managing Filesystems From Disks to Filesystems Sharing Filesystems 11. Backup and Restore Planning for Disasters and Everyday Needs Backup Media Backing Up Files and Filesystems Restoring Files from Backups Making Table of Contents Files Network Backup Systems Backing Up and Restoring the System Filesystems 12. Serial Lines and Devices About Serial Lines Specifying Terminal Characteristics Adding a New Serial Device Troubleshooting Terminal Problems Controlling Access to Serial Lines HP-UX and Tru64 Terminal Line Attributes The HylaFAX Fax Service USB Devices 13. Printers and the Spooling Subsystem The BSD Spooling Facility System V Printing The AIX Spooling Facility Troubleshooting Printers Sharing Printers with Windows Systems LPRng CUPS Font Management Under X 14. Automating Administrative Tasks Creating Effective Shell Scripts Perl: An Alternate Administrative Language Expect: Automating Interactive Programs When Only C Will Do Automating Complex Configuration Tasks with Cfengine Stem: Simplified Creation of Client-Server Applications Adding Local man Pages 15. Managing System Resources Thinking About System Performance Monitoring and Controlling Processes Managing CPU Resources Managing Memory Disk I/O Performance Issues Monitoring and Managing Disk Space Usage Network Performance 16. Configuring and Building Kernels FreeBSD and Tru64 HP-UX Linux Solaris AIX System Parameters 17. Accounting Standard Accounting Files BSD-Style Accounting: FreeBSD, Linux, and AIX System V-Style Accounting: AIX, HP-UX, and Solaris Printing Accounting Afterword: The Profession of System Administration SAGE: The System Administrators Guild Administrative Virtues Appendix: Administrative Shell Programming Index