Ubuntu Unleashed

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.

    Introduction

        What Is Linux?

            What Is Ubuntu?

            Roots of Ubuntu

            Licensing

        Why Use Linux?

        Who This Book Is For

        What This Book Contains

        Conventions Used in This Book

Part I    Installation and Configuration

    1  Introducing Ubuntu

        What Is Ubuntu?

            Inside Ubuntu

            Features of the Ubuntu Install

            Ubuntu File System Features

        Ubuntu for Business

        Ubuntu in Your Home

        64-Bit Ubuntu

        Ubuntu on the PPC Platform

        Ubuntu on Dual-Core Machines

        Getting the Most from Ubuntu and Linux Documentation

        Ubuntu Developers and Documentation

        Reference

    2  Preparing to Install Ubuntu

        Planning Your Ubuntu Deployment

            Business Considerations

            System Considerations

            User Considerations

            A Predeployment Planning Checklist

            Planning the Installation

        Hardware Requirements

            Meeting the Minimum Ubuntu Hardware Requirements

            Using Legacy Hardware

            Planning for Hard Drive Storage for Your Ubuntu Installation Class

            Checking Hardware Compatibility

            Preparing for Potential Hardware Problems

            Preparing and Using a Hardware Inventory

        Preparing for the Install Process

            Preparing to Install from a CD-ROM

        Partitioning Before and During Installation

            Choosing a Partitioning Scheme

            Hosting Parts of the Linux File System on Separate Partitions

        Using Ubuntu’s kickstart Installation Method

        Reference

    3  Installing Ubuntu

        Before You Begin the Installation

            Research Your Hardware Specifications

            Installation Options

            Planning Partition Strategies

            The Boot Loader

            Installing from CD or DVD

        Step-by-Step Installation

            Starting the Install

            First Update

        Shutting Down

        Reference

    4  Post-Installation Configuration

        Troubleshooting Post-Installation Configuration Problems

        The sudo command

        First Update

        Configuring Software Repositories

        Installing Graphics Drivers

        Changing Ubuntu’s Look and Feel

            Changing the Desktop Background

            Changing Colors

            Modifying System Fonts

        Preferred Behaviors

            Preferred Applications

            Removable Drives and Media

        Input Devices

            Keyboard Shortcuts

            Keyboard Layout

            Mouse

        Detecting and Configuring a Modem

            Configuring a Serial-Port Modem

            Configuring WinModems for Laptops

        Configuring Power Management in Ubuntu

        Resetting the Date and Time

            Using the date Command

            Using the hwclock Command

            Changing the Time and Date

        Managing PCMCIA

            Using PCMCIA

            Controlling PCMCIA Service

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

            Checking Drive Assignment

        Configuring Wireless Networks

        Configuring Firestarter

        Reference

    5  First Steps with Ubuntu

        Working with the Linux File System

            Viewing the Linux File System

            Use Essential Commands from the /bin and /sbin Directories

            Store the Booted Kernel and View Stored Devices in the /boot and /dev Directories

            Use and Edit Files in the /etc Directory

            Protect the Contents of User Directories–/home

            Use the Contents of the /proc Directory to Interact with the Kernel

            Work with Shared Data in the /usr Directory

            Temporary File Storage in the /tmp Directory

            Access Variable Data Files in the /var Directory

        Logging In to and Working with Linux

            Text-based Console Login

            Working with Virtual Consoles

            Using Simple Keyboard and Mouse Techniques in a Linux Console Session

            Logging Out

            Logging In and Out from a Remote Computer

        Changing Your User Information

        Reading Documentation

            Using man Pages

            Finding and Reading Software Packages Documentation

        Using the Shell

            Using Environment Variables

            Navigating and Searching with the Shell

            Managing Files with the Shell

            Compressing and Decompressing Files Through the Shell

        Using the Text Editors

            Working with vi

            Working with emacs

        Working with Permissions

            Assigning Permissions

            Directory Permissions

            Understanding Set User ID and Set Group ID Permissions

        Working As Root

            Creating Users

            Deleting Users

            Shutting Down the System

            Rebooting the System

        Reference

    6  The X Window System

        Basic X Concepts

        Using X11R7

            Elements of the xorg.conf File

            Configuring X

        Starting X

            Using a Display Manager

            Starting X from the Console by Using startx

        Selecting and Using Window Managers

        The GNOME and KDE Desktop Environments

            GNOME: The GNU Network Object Model Environment

            KDE: The K Desktop Environment

            Xfce: The Lightweight Alternative

        Reference

    7  Managing Software

        Using Add/Remove Applications for Software Management

        Using Synaptic for Software Management

        Staying Up-to-Date

        Working on the Command Line

            Day-to-Day Usage

            Finding Software

        Compiling Software from Source

        Reference

    8  On the Internet: Surfing the Web, Writing Email, and Reading the News

        Choosing a Web Browser

            Mozilla Firefox

            The Mozilla Suite

            Epiphany

            Konqueror

        Choosing an Email Client

            Evolution

            Mozilla Thunderbird

            Balsa

            KMail

            Mozilla Mail

            The mail Application

            mutt

            Other Mail Clients

        An Overview of Network News

            Newsgroups

        Selecting a Newsreader

            The slrn News Client

            The Pan News Client

            The Mozilla News Client

            The Thunderbird News Client

        Internet Relay Chat

        Internet Messaging with GAIM

        Videoconferencing with Ekiga

        Reference

    9  Productivity Applications

        Office Suites for Ubuntu

            Working with OpenOffice.org

            Working with OpenOffice.org Writer

            Working with OpenOffice.org Calc

            Working with GNOME Office

            Working with KOffice

        Productivity Applications Written for Microsoft Windows

        Reference

    10 Multimedia Applications

         Burning CDs and DVDs in Ubuntu

            Creating CDs from the Command Line

            Creating DVDs from the Command Line

            Creating CDs and DVDs with Ubuntu’s Graphical Clients

         Sound and Music

            Sound Cards

            Recording Sound

            Sound Formats

            Ripping Music

            Music Players

            Streaming Audio

         Viewing TV and Video

            TV and Video Hardware

            Video Formats

            Viewing Video in Linux

            Viewing Television with Linux

            Personal Video Recorders

            DVD and Video Players

         Reference

    11 Graphics Manipulation

            The GNU Image Manipulation Program

         Using Digital Cameras with Ubuntu

            Webcams

            Handheld Digital Cameras

            Using F-Spot

         Using Scanners in Ubuntu

            Working with Graphics Formats

            Capturing Screen Images

         Reference

    12 Printing with Ubuntu

         Overview of Ubuntu Printing

         Configuring and Managing Print Services

            GUI-Based Printer Configuration Quickstart

            Managing Printing Services

         Creating and Configuring Local Printers

            Creating the Print Queue

            Editing Printer Settings

         Reference

13    Games

        Linux Gaming

            Installing Proprietary Video Drivers

            Installing DOOM 3

            Installing Unreal Tournament 2004

            Installing Quake 4

            Installing Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

            Installing Battle for Wesnoth

            Playing Windows Games with Cedega

         Reference

Part II    System Administration

    14 Managing Users

        User Accounts

            User IDs and Group IDs

            File Permissions

        Managing Groups

            Group Management Tools

        Managing Users

            User Management Tools

            Adding New Users

            Monitoring User Activity on the System

        Managing Passwords

            System Password Policy

            The Password File

            Shadow Passwords

            Managing Password Security for Users

            Changing Passwords in a Batch

        Granting System Administrator Privileges to Regular Users

            Temporarily Changing User Identity with the su Command

            Granting Root Privileges on Occasion–The sudo Command

            Control via Restricted Shells

        The User Login Process

        Disk Quotas

            Implementing Quotas

            Manually Configuring Quotas

        Reference

    15 Automating Tasks

        Running Services at Bootup

            Beginning the Boot Loading Process

            Loading the Linux Kernel

            System Services and Runlevels

            Runlevel Definitions

            Booting into the Default Runlevel

            Booting to a Non-Default Runlevel with GRUB

            Understanding init Scripts and the Final Stage of Initialization

            Controlling Services at Boot with Administrative Tools

            Changing Runlevels

            Troubleshooting Runlevel Problems

        Starting and Stopping Services Manually

        Scheduling Tasks

            Using at and batch to Schedule Tasks for Later

            Using cron to Run Jobs Repeatedly

        Basic Shell Control

            The Shell Command Line

            Shell Pattern-Matching Support

            Redirecting Input and Output

            Piping Data

            Background Processing

        Writing and Executing a Shell Script

            Running the New Shell Program

            Storing Shell Scripts for Systemwide Access

            Interpreting Shell Scripts Through Specific Shells

            Using Variables in Shell Scripts

            Assigning a Value to a Variable

            Accessing Variable Values

            Positional Parameters

            A Simple Example of a Positional Parameter

            Using Positional Parameters to Access and Retrieve Variables from the Command Line

            Using a Simple Script to Automate Tasks

            Built-in Variables

            Special Characters

            Use Double Quotes to Resolve Variables in Strings with Embedded Spaces

            Using Single Quotes to Maintain Unexpanded Variables

            Using the Backslash As an Escape Character

            Using the Backtick to Replace a String with Output

            Comparison of Expressions in pdksh and bash

            Comparing Expressions with tcsh

            The for Statement

            The while Statement

            The until Statement

            The repeat Statement (tcsh)

            The select Statement (pdksh)

            The shift Statement

            The if Statement

            The case Statement

            The break and exit Statements

            Using Functions in Shell Scripts

        Reference

    16 System Resources

        System-Monitoring Tools

            Console-Based Monitoring

            Using the kill Command to Control Processes

            Using Priority Scheduling and Control

            Displaying Free and Used Memory with free

            Disk Quotas

            Graphical Process and System Management Tools

            KDE Process- and System-Monitoring Tools

        Reference

    17 Backing Up, Restoring, and Recovery

        Choosing a Backup Strategy

            Why Data Loss Occurs

            Assessing Your Backup Needs and Resources

            Evaluating Backup Strategies

            Making the Choice

        Choosing Backup Hardware and Media

            Removable Storage Media

            Network Storage

            Tape Drive Backup

        Using Backup Software

            tar: The Most Basic Backup Tool

            The GNOME File Roller

            The KDE Archiving Tools (KDE ark and kdat)

            Using the dd Command for Archiving

            Using the Amanda Backup Application

            Alternative Backup Software

        Copying Files

            Copying Files Using tar

            Compressing, Encrypting, and Sending tar Streams

            Copying Files Using cp

            Copying Files Using mc

            Copying Files Using scp

            Copying Files Using rsync

        Undeleting Files

            Reformatting with the -S Option When Experiencing Unrecoverable File System Errors

            Undeleting Files Using mc

        System Rescue

            The Ubuntu Rescue Disc

            Backing Up and Restoring the Master Boot Record

            Booting the System from a Generic Boot Floppy

            Using a GRUB Boot Floppy

            Using the Recovery Facility

        Reference

    18 Network Connectivity

        Laying the Foundation: The localhost Interface

            Checking for the Availability of the Loopback Interface

            Configuring the Loopback Interface Manually

        Networking with TCP/IP

            TCP/IP Addressing

            Using IP Masquerading in Ubuntu

            Ports

        Network Organization

            Subnetting

            Subnet Masks

            Broadcast, Unicast, and Multicast Addressing

        Hardware Devices for Networking

            Network Interface Cards

            Network Cable

            Hubs and Switches

            Routers and Bridges

            Initializing New Network Hardware

        Using Network Configuration Tools

            Command-Line Network Interface Configuration

            Network Configuration Files

            Using Graphical Configuration Tools

        Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

            How DHCP Works

            Activating DHCP at Installation and Boot Time

            DHCP Software Installation and Configuration

            Using DHCP to Configure Network Hosts

            Other Uses for DHCP

        Wireless Networking

            Support for Wireless Networking in Ubuntu

            Advantages of Wireless Networking

            Choosing from Among Available Wireless Protocols

        Beyond the Network and onto the Internet

        Common Configuration Information

        Configuring Digital Subscriber Line Access

            Understanding Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet

            Configuring a PPPoE Connection Manually

        Configuring Dial-Up Internet Access

                Configuring a Dial-Up Connection Manually

        Troubleshooting Connection Problems

            Using Patches/Upgrades to Keep Your Network Secure

        Reference

            General

            DHCP

            Wireless

            Books

    19  Remote Access with SSH and Telnet

            Setting Up a Telnet Server

            Telnet Versus SSH

            Setting Up an SSH Server

            The SSH Tools

            Using scp to Copy Individual Files Between Machines

            Using sftp to Copy Many Files Between Machines

            Using ssh-keygen to Enable Key-based Logins

            Remote X

            XDMCP

            VNC

            Reference

Part III    Ubuntu as a Server

    20 Apache Web Server Management

        About the Apache Web Server

        Installing the Apache Server

            Installing with APT

            Building the Source Yourself

        Starting and Stopping Apache

            Starting the Apache Server Manually

            Using /etc/init.d/apache2

        Runtime Server Configuration Settings

            Runtime Configuration Directives

            Editing httpd.conf

            Apache Multiprocessing Modules

        Using .htaccess Configuration Files

        File System Authentication and Access Control

            Restricting Access with allow and deny

            Authentication

            Final Words on Access Control

        Apache Modules

            mod_access

            mod_alias

            mod_asis

            mod_auth

            mod_auth_anon

            mod_auth_dbm

            mod_auth_digest

            mod_autoindex

            mod_cgi

            mod_dir and mod_env

            mod_expires

            mod_headers

            mod_include

            mod_info and mod_log_config

            mod_mime and mod_mime_magic

            mod_negotiation

            mod_proxy

            mod_rewrite

            mod_setenvif

            mod_speling

            mod_status

            mod_ssl

            mod_unique_id

            mod_userdir

            mod_usertrack

        mod_vhost_alias

        Virtual Hosting

            Address-Based Virtual Hosts

            Name-Based Virtual Hosts

        Logging

        Dynamic Content

            CGI

            SSI

            Basic SSI Directives

            Flow Control

        Other Web Servers for Use with Ubuntu

            Sun ONE Web Server

            Zope

            Zeus Web Server

        Reference

    21 Administering Database Services

        A Brief Review of Database Basics

            How Relational Databases Work

            Understanding SQL Basics

            Creating Tables

            Inserting Data into Tables

            Retrieving Data from a Database

        Choosing a Database: MySQL Versus PostgreSQL

            Speed

            Data Locking

            ACID Compliance in Transaction Processing to Protect Data Integrity

            SQL Subqueries

            Procedural Languages and Triggers

        Configuring MySQL

            Setting a Password for the MySQL Root User

            Creating a Database in MySQL

            Granting and Revoking Privileges in MySQL

        Configuring PostgreSQL

            Initializing the Data Directory in PostgreSQL

            Creating a Database in PostgreSQL

            Creating Database Users in PostgreSQL

            Deleting Database Users in PostgreSQL

            Granting and Revoking Privileges in PostgreSQL

        Database Clients

        SSH Access to a Database

            Local GUI Client Access to a Database

            Web Access to a Database

            The MySQL Command-Line Client

            The PostgreSQL Command-Line Client

        Graphical Clients

        Reference

    22    File and Print

        Using the Network File System

            Installing and Starting or Stopping NFS

            NFS Server Configuration

            NFS Client Configuration

        Putting Samba to Work

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

            Testing Samba with the testparm Command

        Starting the smbd Daemon

            Mounting Samba Shares

            Configuring Samba Using SWAT

        Network and Remote Printing with Ubuntu

        Creating Network Printers

            Enabling Network Printing on a LAN

            Session Message Block Printing

        Using the Common UNIX Printing System GUI

            Creating a CUPS Printer Entry

        Avoiding Printer Support Problems

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

            Using USB and Legacy Printers

        Reference

    23    Remote File Serving with FTP

        Using FTP Clients

            The FTP Client Interface

            Using the Text-Based FTP Client Interface

            Using Graphical FTP Clients

        FTP Servers

            Choosing an Authenticated or Anonymous Server

            Ubuntu FTP Server Packages

        Other FTP Servers

        Installing FTP Software

        The FTP User

        inetd Configuration for wu-ftpd

            Starting the Very Secure FTP Server (vsftpd) Package

        Configuring the Very Secure FTP Server

            Controlling Anonymous Access

            Other vsftpd Server Configuration Files

        Configuring the Wu-FTPd Server

        Using Commands in the ftpaccess File to Configure wu-ftpd

            Configure Access Control

            Configure User Information

            Configure System Logging

            Configure Permission Control

            Configure Commands Directed Toward the cdpath

            Structure of the shutdown File

        Configure FTP Server File-Conversion Actions

            Strip Prefix

            Strip Postfix

            Add-On Prefix

            Add-On Postfix

            External Command

            Types

            Options

            Description

            An Example of Conversions in Action

        Using Commands in the ftphosts File to Allow or Deny FTP Server Connection

        Server Administration

            Display Information About Connected Users

            Count the Number of Connections

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

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

        Reference

    24    Handling Electronic Mail

        How Email Is Sent and Received

            The Mail Transport Agent

            Choosing an MTA

            The Mail Delivery Agent

            The Mail User Agent

        Basic Postfix Configuration and Operation

            Configuring Masquerading

            Using Smart Hosts

            Setting Message Delivery Intervals

            Mail Relaying

            Forwarding Email with Aliases

        Using Fetchmail to Retrieve Mail

            Installing Fetchmail

            Configuring Fetchmail

        Choosing a Mail Delivery Agent

            Procmail

            Spamassassin

            Squirrelmail

            Virus Scanners

        Mail Daemons

        Alternatives to Microsoft Exchange Server

            Microsoft Exchange Server/Outlook Client

            CommuniGate Pro

            Oracle Collaboration Suite

            Bynari

            Open-Xchange

            phpgroupware

            PHProjekt

            Horde

        Reference

            Web Resources

            Books

    25    Proxying and Reverse Proxying

        What Is a Proxy Server?

        Installing Squid

        Configuring Clients

        Access Control Lists

        Specifying Client IP Addresses

        Example Configurations

        Reference

    26    LDAP

        Configuring the Server

            Populating Your Directory

        Configuring Clients

            Evolution

            Thunderbird

        Administration

        Reference

Part IV    Programming Linux

    27    Using Perl

        Using Perl with Linux

            Perl Versions

            A Simple Perl Program

        Perl Variables and Data Structures

            Perl Variable Types

            Special Variables

        Operators

            Comparison Operators

            Compound Operators

            Arithmetic Operators

            Other Operators

            Special String Constants

        Conditional Statements: if/else and unless

            if

            unless

        Looping

            for

            foreach

            while

            until

            last and next

            do ... while and do ... until

        Regular Expressions

        Access to the Shell

        Modules and CPAN

        Code Examples

            Sending Mail

            Purging Logs

            Posting to Usenet

            One-Liners

            Command-Line Processing

        Reference

            Books

            Usenet

            WWW

            Other

    28    Working with Python

        Python on Linux

            Getting Interactive

        The Basics of Python

            Numbers

            More on Strings

            Lists

            Dictionaries

            Conditionals and Looping

        Functions

        Object Orientation

            Class and Object Variables

            Constructors and Destructors

            Class Inheritance

            Multiple Inheritance

        The Standard Library and the Vaults of Parnassus

        Reference

    29    Writing PHP Scripts

        Introduction to PHP

            Entering and Exiting PHP Mode

            Variables

            Arrays

            Constants

            References

            Comments

            Escape Sequences

            Variable Substitution

            Operators

            Conditional Statements

            Special Operators

            Switching

        Loops

            Including Other Files

        Basic Functions

            Strings

            Arrays

            Files

        Miscellaneous

        Handling HTML Forms

        Databases

            Introduction to PEAR::DB

        Reference

    30    C/C++ Programming Tools for Ubuntu

        Programming in C with Linux

            Programming in C++

            Getting Started with Linux C/C++ Programming

            The Process of Programming

        Elements of the C/C++ Language

        Using the C Programming Project Management Tools Provided with Ubuntu

            Building Programs with make

            Using the autoconf Utility to Configure Code

            Managing Software Projects with RCS and CVS

            Debugging Tools

        Using the GNU C Compiler

        A Simple C Program

        Graphical Development Tools

            Using the KDevelop Client

            Trolltech’s Qt Designer

            The Glade Client for Developing in GNOME

        Reference

Part V    Ubuntu Housekeeping

    31    Securing Your Machines

        Understanding Computer Attacks

        Assessing Your Vulnerability

        Protecting Your Machine

            Securing a Wireless Network

            Passwords and Physical Security

            Configuring and Using Tripwire

            Devices

        Viruses

        Configuring Your Firewall

        Forming a Disaster Recovery Plan

        Keeping Up-to-Date on Linux Security Issues

        Reference

    32    Performance Tuning

        Hard Disk

            Using the BIOS and Kernel to Tune the Disk Drives

            The hdparm Command

            File System Tuning

            The tune2fs Command

            The e2fsck Command

            The badblocks Command

            Disabling File Access Time

        Kernel

        Apache

        MySQL

            Measuring Key Buffer Usage

            Using the Query Cache

            Miscellaneous Tweaks

            Query Optimization

        Reference

    33    Command Line Masterclass

        Why Use the Shell?

        Basic Commands

            Printing the Contents of a File with cat

            Changing Directories with cd

            Changing File Access Permissions with chmod

            Copying Files with cp

            Printing Disk Usage with du

            Finding Files by Searching with find

            Searches for a String in Input with grep

            Paging Through Output with less

            Creating Links Between Files with ln

            Finding Files from an Index with locate

            Listing Files in the Current Directory with ls

            Reading Manual Pages with man

            Making Directories with mkdir

            Moving Files with mv

            Listing Processes with ps

            Deleting Files and Directories with rm

            Printing the Last Lines of a File with tail

            Printing Resource Usage with top

            Printing the Location of a Command with which

        Combining Commands Together

        Multiple Terminals

        Reference

            Books

    34    Advanced APT

        Using Aptitude

        The dpkg Back-End

        Configuring APT

        Reference

    35    Kernel and Module Management

        The Linux Kernel

            The Linux Source Tree

            Types of Kernels

        Managing Modules

        When to Recompile

        Kernel Versions

        Obtaining the Kernel Sources

        Patching the Kernel

        Compiling the Kernel

            Using xconfig to Configure the Kernel

            Creating an Initial RAM Disk Image

        When Something Goes Wrong

            Errors During Compile

            Runtime Errors, Boot Loader Problems, and Kernel Oops

        Reference

Part VI    Appendix

    A    Ubuntu and Linux Internet Resources

        Websites and Search Engines

            Web Search Tips

            Google Is Your Friend

            Ubuntu Package Listings

            Certification

            Commercial Support

            Documentation

            Linux Guides

            The Ubuntu Project

            Mini-CD Linux Distributions

            Floppy-Based Linux Distributions

            Various Intel-Based Linux Distributions

            PowerPC-Based Linux Distributions

            Linux on Laptops and PDAs

            The X Window System

        Usenet Newsgroups

        Mailing Lists

            Ubuntu Project Mailing Lists

        Internet Relay Chat

0672329093, TOC, 8/8/2006