Linux Administration: A Beginner’s Guide, 7th Edition

Effectively set up and manage any version of Linux on individual servers or entire networks using this practical resource. Fully updated to cover the latest tools and techniques, Linux Administration: A Beginner’s Guide, Seventh Edition features clear explanations, step-by-step instructions, and real-world examples. Find out how to configure hardware and software, work from the GUI or command line, maintain Internet and network services, and secure your data. Performance tuning, virtualization, containers, software management, and backup solutions are covered in detail.

• Install and configure Linux, including the latest distributions from Fedora, Ubuntu, CentOS, openSUSE, Debian, and RHEL
• Manage users, permissions, files, folders, and applications
• Set up and administer system services and daemons
• Manage software from source code or binary packages
• Customize, build, or patch the Linux kernel
• Work with physical and virtual file systems, such as proc, SysFS, and cgroup
• Understand networking protocols, including TCP/IP, ARP, and sub-netting
• Build reliable firewalls and routers with Netfilter (iptables and nftables) and Linux
• Monitor and test network activity and minimize security threats
• Create and maintain DNS, FTP, Web, e-mail, and VoIP servers
• Share resources using GlusterFS, NFS, and Samba
• Implement popular cloud-based technologies using Linux virtualization and containers using KVM and Docker

Table of Contents

PART I Introduction, Installation, and Software Management
Chapter 1 Technical Summary of Linux Distributions
Chapter 2 Installing Linux in a Server Configuration
Chapter 3 The Command Line
Chapter 4 Managing Software

PART II Single-Host Administration
Chapter 5 Managing Users and Groups
Chapter 6 Booting and Shutting Down
Chapter 7 File Systems
Chapter 8 Core System Services
Chapter 9 The Linux Kernel
Chapter 10 Knobs and Dials: API (Virtual) File Systems

PART III Networking and Security
Chapter 11 TCP/IP for System Administrators
Chapter 12 Network Configuration
Chapter 13 Linux Firewall (Netfilter)
Chapter 14 Local Security
Chapter 15 Network Security

PART IV Internet Services
Chapter 16 Domain Name System (DNS)
Chapter 17 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
Chapter 18 Apache Web Server
Chapter 19 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
Chapter 20 Post Office Protocol and Internet Mail Access Protocol (POP and IMAP)
Chapter 21 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
Chapter 22 Secure Shell (SSH)

PART V Intranet Services
Chapter 23 Network File System (NFS)
Chapter 24 Samba
Chapter 25 Distributed File Systems (DFS)
Chapter 26 Network Information Service (NIS)
Chapter 27 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
Chapter 28 Printing
Chapter 29 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
Chapter 30 Virtualization
Chapter 31 Backups

PART VI Appendixes
Appendix A Creating a Linux Installer on Flash/USB Devices
Appendix B Demo Virtual Machine