Linux Administration Made Easy

by Steve Frampton, <frampton@LinuxNinja.com>

The “Linux Administration Made Easy” (LAME) guide attempts to describe day-to-day administration and maintenance issues commonly faced by Linux system administrators. Part of the Linux Documentation Project.


Table of Contents
1. Preface
Acknowledgements
Copyright Information and Legal Disclaimers
A Plea for Help
2. Introduction
Scope
Choosing a Linux Distribution
3. Linux Overview
What is Linux?
Breaking the Myths
One User's Perspective
4. Installation and Hardware Configuration
Creating an Installation Diskette
Booting Linux Installation Program
Partitioning Hard Drive(s)
Setting up Swap Space
Choosing Partitions to Format
Choosing Desired Packages to Install
Hardware Configuration
Booting with LILO
Multi-boot with Other Operating Systems
Downloading and Installing Red Hat Updates
5. Configuring the X Window System
Getting the X Window System Working with X-Configurator
Using the X Desktop Manager
Improving Font Appearance Under X
Choosing a Window Manager for X
GNOME Installation and Configuration
KDE Installation and Configuration
6. General System Administration Issues
Root Account
Creating User Accounts
Changing User Passwords
Disabling User Accounts
Removing User Accounts
Linux Password & Shadow File Formats
System Shutdown and Restart
7. Custom Configuration and Administration Issues
Web Server and HTTP Caching Proxy Administration
Domain Name Server (DNS) Configuration and Administration
Internet User Authentication with TACACS
Windows-style File and Print Services with Samba
Macintosh-style File and Print Services with Netatalk
Network File System (NFS) Services
Configuration from A-Z with Linuxconf
8. Backup and Restore Procedures
Server Backup Procedures
Backing up with ``tar'':
Backing up with ``KDat'':
Server Restore Procedures
Restoring with ``tar'':
Restoring with ``KDat'':
Cisco Router Configuration Backups
9. Various & Sundry Administrative Tasks
Checking Storage Space
Managing Processes
Starting and Stopping Processes
Automating Tasks with Cron and Crontab files
10. Upgrading Linux and Other Applications
Using the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM)
Installing or Upgrading Without RPM
Strategies for Keeping an Up-to-date System
Linux Kernel Upgrades
Upgrading a Red Hat Stock Kernel
Building a Custom Kernel
Moving to the Linux 2.2.x Kernels
Configuring the Apache Web Server
Configuring the Squid HTTP Caching Proxy Daemon
Configuring the Sendmail E-mail Daemon
11. Enterprise Computing with Linux
Performance Tuning
High Availability with RAID
Server Migration and Scalability Issues
12. Strategies for Keeping a Secure Server
13. Help! Trouble in Paradise!
Getting Linux Installed on new, Unsupported Hardware
File System Corruption after Power Outage or System Crash
Where to Turn for Help
Pointers to Additional Documentation