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Linux Beginners Series' Final Installment
As this series comes to a close, we move up a notch on the complexity scale to install Linux as a network client. Where some previous books have discussed how to make your new OS play nicely with others, here are two dedicated to helping you replace an existing box or setup a new server from scratch.
The eleven books we've featured barely scratch the surface of the printed documentation available for new Linux users. For example, O'Reilly has two particularly good choices, Learning Debian GNU/Linux, available through their Open Books Project, and Running Linux, reviewed last year.
We've obviously overlooked other worthy titles. For the sake of completeness, what else may come in handy? Which books have you found most useful?
title Linux Administration: A Beginner's Guide publisher Osborne Included Stuff RedHat 6.1 CD-ROM (Publishers Edition) Intended Audience NT Administrators new to Linux. Scope Installation, introduction to Linux, networking setup, Internet and intranet applications. Technical Correctness Good. Writing style Easy to read and informative. Other
Though this book comes with a RedHat CD, nearly everything can apply to other distributions.
Here's a book aimed squarely at the ranks of NT administrators. Not only does it point out (fairly) the differences between NT and Linux, but it explains the Linux method in relation to the NT method. (For example, compare NT file sharing via Network Neighborhood and SMB to NFS shares.) From a practical standpoint, professional experience is almost necessary to understand the initial concepts -- but it's certainly understandable without too much prior knowledge.
Shah starts with some background, then steps lightly through a RedHat 6.1 Server installation. X, KDE, and GNOME get basic treatment, mostly related to configuration. Software installation comes next, in both RPM and tarball (.tar.gz file) formats.
Section two covers basic administration. Users come first, with command line and Linuxconf tools presented. A good chapter introduces the shell and basic commands for file manipulation, processes, and permissions. Next up is the boot process, detailing LILO and the rc scripts. Basic file system theory, tools, partitioning schemes, mounting, and quotas get their due. The core system services chapter covers important daemons like the parent process, the Internet super daemon, system logging, and the cron scheduler. Shah rounds out this section by discussing kernel building, patching, and installing, and includes a good chapter on individual system security. (While brief, it's good and useful, including plenty of links to sites with much more information).
Internet Services looks at DNS, ftp, web, SMTP, POP, and SSH services. While there's theory given, it's accompanied by practical examples of setting up the appropriate software. BIND (for DNS) and wu-ftpd (for FTP) get excellent treatment, while the sendmail section is pared down (compared to Shah's chapter in the previously reviewed Red Hat Linux 6 Unleashed) and the Apache chapter is slim. That's not a problem with sendmail, as there's plenty of information provided to use the m4 macros, but a serious Apache configuration would require additional research. The section ends with a chapter on QPopper (providing POP3 access to users) and another discussing security and cryptography as related to SSH. Versions one and two of the protocol are covered, with information on running both.
Part four details intranet services. Here's how to make your Linux server speak eloquently on a larger network. NFS server and client setup takes up one chapter, and NIS server and client setup the next. The author sagely includes suggestions for different network configurations. Samba has a similar treatment, though the configuration section concentrates mostly on the SWAT web-configuration tool. A short chapter on printing includes accessing remote printers via SMB shares, while a quick DHCP chapter packs in a lot of information. Rounding things out is a quick look at backups, concentrating on command line tools like dump and tar.
The final section, entitled "Advanced Linux Networking", covers NIC configuration and routing, as well as TCP/IP theory. It's short, but effective. Somewhat longer is the chapter on packet filtering, ipchains, and IP Masquerading. There's plenty of information to build an effective firewall, and pointers to additional resources won't leave you hanging. Shah concludes with an interesting tour of the /proc virtual file system. Two appendixes discuss, very briefly, popular Linux programming languages and popular programs for certain tasks -- mostly desktop software.
This book is likable and readable, while providing good information. While the treatment of some subjects is short, the author always provides references to more information. Administrators familiar with NT who are willing to see what the Linux fuss is all about will have no difficulty learning from this book.
title Linux Network Administrators Guide publisher O'Reilly & Associates Included Stuff Complete text online. Intended Audience New and moderately experienced administrators already somewhat familiar with Linux. Scope Network setup and configuration, some programs. Technical Correctness Complete. Writing style Readable, while aimed at the technically proficient. Other Wide scope of network types discussed.
The Linux Documentation Project has produced some excellent work. This book is no exception. O'Reilly has updated the dead tree version with a new edition while providing the complete text at the link above.
Topics included cover what you'd expect, along with some features you might not have considered. Early on, the authors put forth an example network connecting a small brewery to an affiliated small pub. Subsequent chapters build on this simple Ethernet setup serving as a commented example.
This book is strong on theory, while not skimping on actual usage information. Detailed data about IP routing and address resolution, for example, contributes to understanding the tools, though the knowledge isn't a requirement to setting up BIND or gated. As you might expect, what's covered is covered comprehensively -- protocols like TCP, UDP, ICMP, and UUCP, dedicated Ethernet hardware, parallel port networking, and serial port-driven communications.
The first few chapters cover theory and configuration. There's plenty of information to get a single Linux box on an existing network, but read on! DNS server and client setup comes next. SLIP and PPP get their own chapters, of course. The firewalling chapter explains both ipfwadm (from the 2.0 series of kernels) and ipchains (2.2 series), clearly explaining the slightly different approaches to reach the same goal, in a long and excellent discussion. IP Accounting comes next, with IP Masquerading close behind. The discussions take a similar approach.
Network services take up the next few chapters. First up is the Internet daemon (inetd) and tcpwrappers. Next comes the NIS chapter, with good information about configuration and security. NFS follows suit. Rather unique to this book is a chapter on Novell's IPX protocol and the NCP filesystem, packing in some history, lots of theory, and information on managing bindery objects, printing to remote printers, and routing IPX packets. Following that is a discussion of Taylor UUCP, both as a client and a server.
E-mail and Netnews discussions end the book. Each gets a chapter describing the service from a basic standpoint, then a technical approach. Next, there are two or three chapters describing popular packages providing that service. For e-mail, these cover sendmail and exim (quite well). For news, it features C news, nntpd, and INN. As you'd expect, these chapters are quite detailed and easy enough to follow. Appendixes include copyright information, cable configurations, diagrams of the example network, and a quick blurb about SAGE (the System Adminstrators Guild).
While other books cover a wide range of topics in a scattershot fashion, the coverage here is highly focused. There's a good balance of history, theory, and applicability, making this book a very good starting point or a refresher for someone looking to fill in some gaps.
Taking space to explain the fundamentals of a topic instead of diving right into configuration files is very helpful. Knowing the theory of mail transport is more likely to help you configure any MTA than just knowing what's in sendmail.cf. Be aware that this isn't a one-stop shopping spot for every service you'll want to configure on your network. Instead, it's an overview of networking issues; narrow in scope, and detailed.
See the earlier Slashdot review by Christopher Thompson, for more on this book.
You can purchase Linux Administration: A Beginner's Guide or the Linux Network Administrator's Guide at Fatbrain.
Being a newbie to linux I'm most of the way through "Running Linux" published by O'Reilly
It's a great book, very readable, and is really good at explaining a lot of nuances in a concise and easy to understand way. It's also really good for reference. It's in it's third edition, last published in Aug 1999. I highly reccomend it to anyone ready to bust into Linux.
BOSTON SUCKS!
rm -rf /* does not mean "repair-machine, rapid and fast". Don't beleive what people tells you in chat rooms. And trust me, don't try it. Really.
Stupid /. bug that is twice today it has been right in preview and then bad when I hit submit. Oh well. They did in fact do Debian
Cypherpunks: Civil Liberty Through Complex Mathematics. Those who live by the sword die by the arrow.
I must admit, I come from the NT world, and even have my MCSE (did I hear a gasp?)but wanted to learn more about running linux, as NT was getting old. The book was extremely helpful and covered all the basics of Linux admin, I can now use and recommend linux to most of my clients, as I am now able to configure a server. If you are new to linux, I would highly recommend this book.
What I'd really like to see is 'Linux for Bullies' or 'Linux for Egotistical Anarchists'. Heck, go ahead and target all degenerate, self-depricating market segments.
We may not be dummies, but we want our books too!
Your monitor is staring at you.
I don't know what possibility is sadder, the possibility that there might actually be a genuine l33t j03 fan, or the possibility that this person is so lonely and empty inside that he has to make a second account to 'drum up support' for his primary account. God, I think I'll go cry silently in the corner for a few minutes. Someone should weep for this poor soul.
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
But there wasn't a manual with my dist...
"RTFM!"
But I can't even connect to...
"RTFM!"
But those "Dummies" books don't help too mu...
" R T F M !!"
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
...killed oreilly.com ;-)
It seems to be down, uhm, for maintenance purposes...