Linux Cookbook

Practical Advice for Linux System Administrators

Larger Cover

Linux Cookbook

Practical Advice for Linux System Administrators

By Carla Schroder

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Released: November 2004

Pages: 592

This unique and valuable collection of tips, tools, and scripts provides clear, concise, hands-on solutions that can be applied to the challenges facing anyone running a network of Linux servers from small networks to large data centers in the practical and popular problem-solution-discussion O'Reilly cookbook format.

The Linux Cookbook covers everything you'd expect: backups, new users, and the like. But it also covers the non-obvious information that is often ignored in other books the time-sinks and headaches that are a real part of an administrator's job, such as: dealing with odd kinds of devices that Linux historically hasn't supported well, building multi-boot systems, and handling things like video and audio.

The knowledge needed to install, deploy, and maintain Linux is not easily found, and no Linux distribution gets it just right. Scattered information can be found in a pile of man pages, texinfo files, and source code comments, but the best source of information is the experts themselves who built up a working knowledge of managing Linux systems. This cookbook's proven techniques distill years of hard-won experience into practical cut-and-paste solutions to everyday Linux dilemmas.

Use just one recipe from this varied collection of real-world solutions, and the hours of tedious trial-and-error saved will more than pay for the cost of the book. But those who prefer to learn hands-on will find that this cookbook not only solves immediate problems quickly, it also cuts right to the chase pointing out potential pitfalls and illustrating tested practices that can be applied to a myriad of other situations.

Whether you're responsible for a small Linux system, a huge corporate system, or a mixed Linux/Windows/MacOS network, you'll find valuable, to-the-point, practical recipes for dealing with Linux systems everyday. The Linux Cookbook is more than a time-saver; it's a sanity saver.

Chapter 1 Finding Documentation
1. Introduction
2. Understanding man Pages
3. Finding Appropriate man Pages
4. Finding Lost man Pages
5. Reading man Pages Without a man Viewer
6. Configuring Your manpath
7. Using info Pages
8. Printing man Pages
9. Printing info Pages
10. Printing Selected man or info Pages
11. Finding All of the Documentation for a Program
Chapter 2 Installing and Managing Software on RPM-Based Systems
1. Introduction
2. Installing RPMs
3. Upgrading RPMs
4. Removing RPMs
5. Collecting Information on Installed RPMs
6. Collecting Information from RPMs That Are Not Installed
7. Finding Recently Installed RPMs
8. Rebuilding the RPM Database
9. Tracking Source-Built Libraries on an RPM-Based System
10. Fixing RPM Installation Problems
11. Installing Source RPMs
12. Customizing Build Options in a Source RPM
13. Installing Yum
14. Configuring Yum
15. Installing and Upgrading Packages with Yum
16. Removing Packages with Yum
17. Getting Information on Installed Packages with Yum
18. Maintaining Yum
Chapter 3 Installing and Managing Software on Debian-Based Systems
1. Introduction
2. Getting Software for a Debian System
3. Installing Debian Packages from CD-ROM
4. Installing Packages on Debian-Based Systems
5. Removing Packages from a Debian System
6. Installing from Sources on a Debian System
7. Upgrading Packages on Debian
8. Upgrading a Debian System
9. Upgrading to a Newer Debian Release
10. Running a Mixed Debian System
11. Finding Out What Is Installed on a Debian System
12. Maintaining the Debian Package Cache
13. Resolving Debian Dependency Conflicts
14. Building a Local Debian Repository
15. Selecting Package Mirrors for apt-proxy.conf
16. Adding Your Existing Package Cache to apt-proxy.conf
Chapter 4 Installing Programs from Source Code
1. Introduction
2. Preparing Your System for Compiling Programs from Sources
3. Generating a List of Files from a Source Install for Easy Uninstalls
4. Installing Programs from Source Code
5. Using CheckInstall to Create Packages from Sources
Chapter 5 Discovering Hardware from Outside the Box
1. Introduction
2. Detecting Hardware with lspci
3. Using dmesg to Collect Hardware Information
4. Getting Live Hardware Snapshots with /proc
5. Viewing Drive Partitions with fdisk
6. Calculating Hard Drive Capacity
Chapter 6 Editing Text Files with JOE and Vim
1. Introduction
2. Finding JOE Commands
3. Customizing JOE
4. Organizing JOE's Preferences in a Separate File
5. Copying Between Two Files in JOE
6. Searching and Replacing in JOE
7. Selecting Text Vertically in JOE
8. Finding and Opening Files in JOE
9. Learning Vim Quickly
10. Creating Autotext with Vim's Abbreviations
11. Mapping Commands to Keystrokes
12. Customizing Vim
13. Navigating Quickly in Vim with Marks
14. Picking Up Where You Left Off: Using Vim's Sessions
15. Setting Your Default Editor
16. Discovering Vim's Compile-Time Options
Chapter 7 Starting and Stopping Linux
1. Introduction
2. Changing Runlevels After Bootup
3. Changing the Default Runlevel
4. Starting and Stopping X
5. Managing Debian's Runlevels
6. Creating Both Text and Graphical Login Runlevels on Debian
7. Managing Red Hat's Runlevels
8. Manually Configuring Startup Services
9. Manually Starting and Stopping Services
10. Shutting Down or Rebooting Linux
11. Disabling or Limiting Access to Ctrl-Alt-Delete
12. Shutting Down Automatically
Chapter 8 Managing Users and Groups
1. Introduction
2. Sorting Human Users from System Users
3. Finding a User's UID and GID
4. Adding Users with useradd
5. Adding Users with adduser
6. Modifying User Accounts
7. Deleting a User
8. Killing User Processes the Easy, Fun Way
9. Disabling Accounts
10. Managing Passwords
11. Adding Groups with groupadd
12. Deleting Groups with groupdel
13. Creating a System User
14. Creating System Groups with addgroup
15. Adding and Deleting Group Members
16. Checking Password File Integrity
17. Adding New Users in Batches
18. Changing Masses of Passwords
19. Adding Batches of Users to Groups
20. Using su to Be Root Temporarily
21. Granting Limited Rootly Powers with sudo
22. Using Disk Quotas
Chapter 9 Managing Files and Partitions
1. Introduction
2. Setting File and Directory Permissions with chmod's Numeric Notation
3. Doing Batch Operations with chmod
4. Setting File and Directory Permissions with chmod's Symbolic Notation
5. Setting File Ownership with chown
6. Doing Batch Operations with chown
7. Setting Up a Shared Directory with setgid and the Sticky Bit
8. Setting Permissions Defaults with umask
9. Mounting and Unmounting Removable Disks
10. Configuring Filesystem Mounts with /etc/fstab
11. Mounting and Unmounting Filesystems on Hard Drives
12. Finding Device Names for mount and fstab
13. Creating Files and Directories
14. Deleting Files and Directories
15. Copying, Moving, and Renaming Files and Directories
16. Creating Linux Disk Partitions with fdisk
17. Creating a Filesystem on a New Partition
Chapter 10 Patching, Customizing, and Upgrading Kernels
1. Introduction
2. Adding New Features to the 2.4 Kernel
3. Slimming a Stock 2.4 Kernel
4. Upgrading to the Latest Stable Version of the 2.4 Kernel
5. Building the 2.6 Kernel
6. Adding New Features to the 2.6 Kernel
7. Adding a New Loadable Kernel Module
8. Patching a Kernel
9. Removing a Kernel Patch
10. Creating an initrd Image
11. Creating a Boot Disk on Debian
12. Creating a Boot Disk on Red Hat
Chapter 11 CD and DVD Recording
1. Introduction
2. Finding the SCSI Address for CD and DVD Writers
3. Enabling SCSI Emulation for IDE/Atapi CD and DVD Writers
4. Making a Data CD for General Distribution
5. Building File Trees on a Data CD
6. Copying a CD or DVD
7. Erasing a CD-RW
8. Recording a Multisession Data CD
9. Creating a Bootable CD
10. Spanning a Large File over Several CDs
11. Recording Data DVDs
12. Recording an Audio CD for Standard CD Players
Chapter 12 Managing the Bootloader and Multi-Booting
1. Introduction
2. Migrating from LILO to GRUB
3. Installing GRUB Without a Floppy Disk
4. Installing GRUB with grub-install
5. Preparing a System for Multibooting Linux
6. Adding More Linuxes to a Multiboot System
7. Discovering Boot Parameters from the GRUB Command Shell
8. Configuring the Boot Partition
9. Creating the GRUB Boot Menu
10. Customizing menu.lst
11. Adding Windows 95/98/ME to a Linux System
12. Adding Windows NT/2000/XP to a Multiboot System
13. Restoring GRUB to the MBR with a Knoppix CD
14. Protecting System Files with a GRUB Password
15. Locking Out Users from Individual GRUB Menu Entries
16. Creating a GRUB Splash Image
17. Booting Linux with LILO
18. Multibooting Linuxes with LILO
19. Multibooting Windows and Linux with LILO
20. Creating a LILO Boot Diskette
21. Password-Protecting LILO
22. Backing Up the MBR
Chapter 13 System Rescue and Recovery with Knoppix
1. Introduction
2. Booting Knoppix
3. Creating a Knoppix Boot Diskette
4. Saving Your Knoppix Configuration on a USB Memory Stick
5. Creating a Persistent, Encrypted Knoppix Home Directory
6. Copying Files to Another Linux PC
7. Copying Files to a Samba Share
8. Copying Files to a CD-R/RW
9. Editing Configuration Files from Knoppix
10. Installing Software from Knoppix
11. Repairing a Lost Root Password
12. Installing Knoppix to a Hard Disk
13. Virus-Scanning Windows PCs with Knoppix
Chapter 14 Printing with CUPS
1. Introduction
2. Installing a Printer on a Standalone Linux PC
3. Serving Linux Clients
4. Sharing a Printer Without Using Name Resolution
5. Serving Windows Clients Without Samba
6. Sharing Printers on a Mixed LAN with Samba
7. Building a Dedicated CUPS Printer Server
8. Distributed Printing with Classes
9. Restricting Users from Printers and Classes
10. Troubleshooting
Chapter 15 Configuring Video and Managing X Windows
1. Introduction
2. Using Both X Windows and Consoles
3. Installing a New Video Adapter
4. Editing XF86Config
5. Enabling 3D Hardware Acceleration with XFree86/DRI
6. Troubleshooting 3D Acceleration Problems
7. Configuring a Multihead Display
8. Choosing Different ServerLayouts at Startup
9. Setting a Default ServerLayout
10. Configuring startx
11. Changing Your Login Display Manager
12. Running Different Window Managers Simultaneously with Xnest
Chapter 16 Backup and Recovery
1. Introduction
2. Using rsync for Local File Transfers and Synchronization
3. Making Secure Transfers with rsync and ssh
4. Building an rsync Backup Server
5. Securing rsync Modules
6. Building an Anonymous Public rsync Server
7. Launching the rsync Daemon at Startup
8. Fine-Tuning File Selection
9. Automating rsync over ssh Backups
10. Limiting rsync's Bandwidth Requirements
11. Customizing Filepaths in rsync
12. Installing rsync on Windows Clients
13. Creating a Message of the Day for rsync
14. Creating a Bootable System Restore CD with Mondo Rescue
15. Verifying the Mondo Backup
16. Creating a Bootable System Restore DVD with Mondo Rescue
17. Using Mondo Rescue to Clone Linux Systems
18. Using the mindi-kernel for a "Sane" Backup
19. Restoring a System from a Mondo Rescue Disk
20. Restoring Selected Files from a Mondo Disk
Chapter 17 Remote Access
1. Introduction
2. Setting Up OpenSSH the First Time
3. Generating New Host Keys
4. Authenticating Via Public Keys
5. Using Multiple Key Pairs
6. Passwordless Logins with ssh-agent
7. Better Passwordless Logins with keychain
8. Passwordless Logins for cron Jobs
9. Shutting Down ssh-agent Automatically at Logout
10. Customizing the Bash Prompt for ssh
11. Tunneling X over SSH
12. Connecting from a Windows PC
13. Setting File Permissions on ssh Files
Chapter 18 Version Control
1. Introduction
2. Building a Simple Local RCS Repository
3. Retrieving Older File Revisions from RCS
4. Comparing File Versions in RCS
5. Managing System Configuration Files with RCS
6. Using CVS for a Single-User Local Repository
7. Adding New Files to a CVS Repository
8. Deleting Files from a CVS Repository
9. Creating a Shared CVS Repository
10. Sharing a Single Repository Between Several Groups
11. Accessing a Remote CVS Repository
12. Updating Your Working Files in CVS
13. Retrieving Specific Older Revisions from CVS
14. Building an Anonymous Read-Only CVS Repository with Pserver
15. Mirroring a CVS Repository
16. Storing Binary Files in CVS
17. Creating Release Snapshots with Tags
18. Creating Stable and Development Branches for a Project
19. Customizing Your CVS Environment
20. Calculating Storage Size for a CVS Repository
Chapter 19 Keeping Time with NTP
1. Introduction
2. Building a Local Time Server
3. Connecting to a Local Time Server
4. Adding Access Controls
5. Deciding Which NTP Pools to Use
6. Connecting to a Time Server from an Intermittent Connection
7. Setting Up Multiple Local Time Servers
8. Using NTP Keys for Authentication
Chapter 20 Building a Postfix Mail Server
1. Introduction
2. Building a POP3 Mail Server
3. Building a POP3 Mail Server on Debian
4. Testing the SMTP/POP3 Mail Server
5. Sending Internet Mail
6. Receiving Internet Mail
7. Installing Cyrus-SASL for SMTP Authorization
8. Installing Cyrus-SASL on Debian
9. Setting Up smtp-auth to Authenticate Users
10. Using smtp-auth to Authenticate Postfix to Another Server
11. Configuring a Fully Qualified Domain Name
12. Building an IMAP Mail Server
13. Connecting Your Users
14. Sharing IMAP Folders
15. Using Postfix's Virtual Mailbox Domains
16. Creating a Mail List with couriermlm
17. Administering a couriermlm List
18. Squirreling Around with Webmail
19. Table of SMTP Response Codes and SMTP Commands
Chapter 21 Managing Spam and Malware
1. Introduction
2. Basic Checklist: Preparing to Build Spam Malware Defenses
3. Safely Testing New UBE Controls in Postfix
4. Basic UBE Configurations for Postfix
5. Creating Whitelists
6. Using DNS Blackhole Lists
7. Rejecting Messages with Attachments
8. Setting Up Clam Anti-Virus on a Postfix Server
9. Setting Up SpamAssassin on Postfix with Amavisd-new
10. Setting Up SpamAssassin Without Amavisd-new
Chapter 22 Running an Apache Web Server
1. Introduction
2. Installing Apache 2.0 from Sources
3. Adding New Modules After Installation
4. Setting Apache File Permissions and Ownership
5. Accessing the Apache User's Manual Locally
6. Setting Up a Simple Public Web Server
7. Redirecting URLs to a New Directory
8. Giving Users Individual Web Directories
9. Starting Apache at Boot
10. Hosting Multiple Domains with Apache
11. Using Individual Log Files for Virtual Hosts
12. Keeping LAN Web Sites Off the Internet
13. Password-Protecting Individual Directories
14. Using robots.txt to Control Web Crawlers
15. Blocking Obnoxious Visitors
16. Making Custom Error Pages
17. Customizing Apache's Default Error Pages
18. Making Full-Length Directory Indexes
19. Using Content Negotiation to Deliver Pages in Different Languages
20. Using Favicons
21. Viewing Apache Access Logs with Webalizer
Chapter 23 File and Printer Sharing, and Domain Authentication with Samba
1. Introduction
2. Building a Simple Anonymous Samba File Server for Windows
3. Building a Windows/Linux Peer Network
4. Enabling File Sharing on Windows PCs
5. Adding Authentication to a Samba Server
6. Batch-Converting System Users to Samba Users
7. Managing Samba Logins from Windows 95/98/ME
8. Dealing with Windows Encrypted Password Confusion
9. Controlling Share Access with Access Control Lists
10. Creating Public Shares for Users
11. Accessing Users' Home Directories in Samba
12. Building a Primary Domain Controller with Samba
13. Connecting Windows 95/98/ME to a Samba Domain
14. Connecting Windows NT/2000 Clients to a Samba Domain
15. Connecting Windows XP Clients to a Samba Domain
16. Enabling Roaming Profiles
17. Connecting Linux Clients to a Samba File Server or Peer Network
18. Connecting Linux Clients to Samba Workgroups with Command-Line Tools
19. Connecting Linux Clients to a Samba Domain with GUI LAN Browsers
20. Connecting Linux Clients to a Samba Domain with Command-Line Tools
21. Keeping Samba and Linux Passwords in Sync
22. Sharing Linux Printers with Windows
23. Sharing Windows Printers with Linux
24. Running Windows Applications on Linux with CrossOver Office
Chapter 24 Managing Name Resolution
1. Introduction
2. Enabling Local Name Resolution with hosts Files
3. Setting Up a DHCP Server
4. Configuring dhcp Clients
5. Adding Static Hosts to dhcp
6. Running a Public DNS Server
7. Installing djbdns
8. Moving tinydns's and dnscache's Logfiles
9. Running a Local Caching Name Server with djbdns
10. Configuring Linux and Windows Clients to Use Your Caching DNS Server
11. Building a Public DNS Server with tinydns
12. Building a Private tinydns Server
13. Enabling Simple Load Balancing with tinydns
14. Synchronizing with a Second tinydns Server
15. Running a Local Caching Name Server with BIND
16. Running a Private BIND DNS Server
17. Checking Syntax
18. Configuring a Public BIND DNS Server
19. Building a BIND Secondary Server
20. Simple Load Balancing with BIND
21. Testing Your tinydns Server
22. Testing and Querying DNS Servers with dig and dnstrace

Appendix A Finding Linux Documentation
1. Linux Documentation on the Web
2. Books and Magazines
Appendix B Online References
1. Hardware Web Sites
2. Usenet
Appendix C Microsoft File Types
Appendix D Init Script for CVSD
Colophon

Title:

Linux Cookbook

By:

Carla Schroder

Publisher:

O'Reilly Media

Formats:

Print
Ebook
Safari Books Online

Print:

November 2004

Ebook:

February 2009

Pages:

592

Print ISBN:

978-0-596-00640-2

| ISBN 10:

0-596-00640-3

Ebook ISBN:

978-0-596-10454-2

| ISBN 10:

0-596-10454-5

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The image on the cover of Linux Cookbook depicts armament workers. In World War I, women found opportunites in the workplace as skilled laborers in armament factories. A Women's Bureau was created to protect the women's jobs, but many returned to the home when the soldiers returned at the war's end. Women's contribution in the workplace was an important element in the growing support for women's suffrage, finally achieved in 1920 with the passing of the 20th Amendment.

During World War II, the number of women who found new jobs and responsibilities increased, with women filling the roles of journalist, nurse, and factory worker. The new wage laborers often found themselves working in poor conditions for low pay. They also encountered discrimination, harassment, and resentment, but they still made tremendous advances in the perception of women's abilities. The image of Rosie the Riveter evokes the attitude of many of the newly empowered women, who took a long-awaited opportunity to increase their strength and freedom. Colleen Gorman was the production editor and proofreader, and Rachel Wheeler was the copyeditor for Linux Cookbook. Genevieve d'Entremont and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Mary Agner and Meghan Lydon provided production support. John Bickelhaupt wrote the index.

Emma Colby designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Hanna Dyer and Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from Trades and Occupations. Clay Fernald produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. The chapter opening images are from Marvels ofthe New West: A Vivid Portrayal ofthe Stupendous Marvels in the Vast Wonderland West ofthe Missouri River, by William Thayer (The Henry Bill Publishing Co., 1888), and The Pioneer History ofAmerica: A Popular Account of the Heroes and Adventures, by Augustus Lynch Mason, A.M. (The Jones Brothers Publishing Company, 1884). This book was converted by Joe Wizda to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Lucas-Font's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Colleen Gorman.

Description

Table of Contents

Product Details

About the Author

Colophon

Recommended for You

Chapter 1 Finding Documentation

Introduction

Understanding man Pages

Finding Appropriate man Pages

Finding Lost man Pages

Reading man Pages Without a man Viewer

Configuring Your manpath

Using info Pages

Printing man Pages

Printing info Pages

Printing Selected man or info Pages

Finding All of the Documentation for a Program

Chapter 2 Installing and Managing Software on RPM-Based Systems

Introduction

Installing RPMs

Upgrading RPMs

Removing RPMs

Collecting Information on Installed RPMs

Collecting Information from RPMs That Are Not Installed

Finding Recently Installed RPMs

Rebuilding the RPM Database

Tracking Source-Built Libraries on an RPM-Based System

Fixing RPM Installation Problems

Installing Source RPMs

Customizing Build Options in a Source RPM

Installing Yum

Configuring Yum

Installing and Upgrading Packages with Yum

Removing Packages with Yum

Getting Information on Installed Packages with Yum

Maintaining Yum

Chapter 3 Installing and Managing Software on Debian-Based Systems

Introduction

Getting Software for a Debian System

Installing Debian Packages from CD-ROM

Installing Packages on Debian-Based Systems

Removing Packages from a Debian System

Installing from Sources on a Debian System

Upgrading Packages on Debian

Upgrading a Debian System

Upgrading to a Newer Debian Release

Running a Mixed Debian System

Finding Out What Is Installed on a Debian System

Maintaining the Debian Package Cache

Resolving Debian Dependency Conflicts

Building a Local Debian Repository

Selecting Package Mirrors for apt-proxy.conf

Adding Your Existing Package Cache to apt-proxy.conf

Chapter 4 Installing Programs from Source Code

Introduction

Preparing Your System for Compiling Programs from Sources

Generating a List of Files from a Source Install for Easy Uninstalls

Installing Programs from Source Code

Using CheckInstall to Create Packages from Sources

Chapter 5 Discovering Hardware from Outside the Box

Introduction

Detecting Hardware with lspci

Using dmesg to Collect Hardware Information

Getting Live Hardware Snapshots with /proc

Viewing Drive Partitions with fdisk

Calculating Hard Drive Capacity

Chapter 6 Editing Text Files with JOE and Vim

Introduction

Finding JOE Commands

Customizing JOE

Organizing JOE's Preferences in a Separate File

Copying Between Two Files in JOE

Searching and Replacing in JOE

Selecting Text Vertically in JOE

Finding and Opening Files in JOE

Learning Vim Quickly

Creating Autotext with Vim's Abbreviations

Mapping Commands to Keystrokes

Customizing Vim

Navigating Quickly in Vim with Marks

Picking Up Where You Left Off: Using Vim's Sessions

Setting Your Default Editor

Discovering Vim's Compile-Time Options

Chapter 7 Starting and Stopping Linux

Introduction