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

1.1. Acknowledgements
1.2. Copyright Information and Legal Disclaimers
1.3. A Plea for Help

2. Introduction

2.1. Scope
2.2. Choosing a Linux Distribution

3. Linux Overview

3.1. What is Linux?
3.2. Breaking the Myths
3.3. One User's Perspective

4. Installation and Hardware Configuration

4.1. Creating an Installation Diskette

4.2. Booting Linux Installation Program

4.3. Partitioning Hard Drive(s)

4.4. Setting up Swap Space

4.5. Choosing Partitions to Format

4.6. Choosing Desired Packages to Install

4.7. Hardware Configuration

4.8. Booting with LILO

4.8.1. Multi-boot with Other Operating Systems

4.9. Downloading and Installing Red Hat Updates

5. Configuring the X Window System

5.1. Getting the X Window System Working with X-Configurator
5.2. Using the X Desktop Manager
5.3. Improving Font Appearance Under X
5.4. Choosing a Window Manager for X
5.5. GNOME Installation and Configuration
5.6. KDE Installation and Configuration

6. General System Administration Issues

6.1. Root Account
6.2. Creating User Accounts
6.3. Changing User Passwords
6.4. Disabling User Accounts
6.5. Removing User Accounts
6.6. Linux Password & Shadow File Formats
6.7. System Shutdown and Restart

7. Custom Configuration and Administration Issues

7.1. Web Server and HTTP Caching Proxy Administration
7.2. Domain Name Server (DNS) Configuration and Administration
7.3. Internet User Authentication with TACACS
7.4. Windows-style File and Print Services with Samba
7.5. Macintosh-style File and Print Services with Netatalk
7.6. Network File System (NFS) Services
7.7. Configuration from A-Z with Linuxconf

8. Backup and Restore Procedures

8.1. Server Backup Procedures

8.1.1. Backing up with ``tar'':
8.1.2. Backing up with ``KDat'':

8.2. Server Restore Procedures

8.2.1. Restoring with ``tar'':
8.2.2. Restoring with ``KDat'':

8.3. Cisco Router Configuration Backups

9. Various & Sundry Administrative Tasks

9.1. Checking Storage Space
9.2. Managing Processes
9.3. Starting and Stopping Processes
9.4. Automating Tasks with Cron and Crontab files

10. Upgrading Linux and Other Applications

10.1. Using the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM)
10.2. Installing or Upgrading Without RPM
10.3. Strategies for Keeping an Up-to-date System
10.4. Linux Kernel Upgrades
10.5. Upgrading a Red Hat Stock Kernel
10.6. Building a Custom Kernel
10.7. Moving to the Linux 2.2.x Kernels
10.8. Configuring the Apache Web Server
10.9. Configuring the Squid HTTP Caching Proxy Daemon
10.10. Configuring the Sendmail E-mail Daemon

11. Enterprise Computing with Linux

11.1. Performance Tuning
11.2. High Availability with RAID
11.3. Server Migration and Scalability Issues

12. Strategies for Keeping a Secure Server

13. Help! Trouble in Paradise!

13.1. Getting Linux Installed on new, Unsupported Hardware
13.2. File System Corruption after Power Outage or System Crash
13.3. Where to Turn for Help
13.4. Pointers to Additional Documentation