A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux

by Sobell, Mark G.

• ISBN13: 9780132542487
• ISBN10: 013254248X
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-12
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

The Most Complete, Easy-to-Follow Guide to Ubuntu Linux

-The #1 Ubuntu server resource, fully updated for Ubuntu 10.4 (Lucid Lynx)–the Long Term Support (LTS) release many companies will rely on for years!

-Updated JumpStarts help you set up Samba, Apache, Mail, FTP, NIS, OpenSSH, DNS, and other complex servers in minutes

-Hundreds of up-to-date examples, plus comprehensive indexes that deliver instant access to answers you can trust

Mark Sobell’s A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux®, Third Edition, is the most thorough and up-to-date reference to installing, configuring, and working with Ubuntu, and also offers comprehensive coverage of servers—critical for anybody interested in unleashing the full power of Ubuntu.

This edition has been fully updated for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx), a milestone Long Term Support (LTS) release, which Canonical will support on desktops until 2013 and on servers until 2015.

Sobell walks you through every essential feature and technique, from installing Ubuntu to working with GNOME, Samba, exim4, Apache, DNS, NIS, LDAP, gufw, firestarter, iptables, even Perl scripting. His exceptionally clear explanations demystify everything from networking to security.

You’ll find full chapters on running Ubuntu from the command line and desktop (GUI), administrating systems, setting up networks and Internet servers, and much more. Fully updated JumpStart sections help you get complex servers running—often in as little as five minutes.

Sobell draws on his immense Linux knowledge to explain both the “hows” and the “whys” of Ubuntu. He’s taught hundreds of thousands of readers and never forgets what it’s like to be new to Linux. Whether you’re a user, administrator, or programmer, you’ll find everything you need here—now, and for many years to come.

The world’s most practical Ubuntu Linux book is now even more useful!

This book delivers

-Hundreds of easy-to-use Ubuntu examples

-Important networking coverage, including DNS, NFS, and Cacti

-Coverage of crucial Ubuntu topics such as sudo and the Upstart init daemon

-More detailed, usable coverage of Internet server configuration, including Apache (Web) and exim4 (email) servers

-State-of-the-art security techniques, including up-to-date firewall setup techniques using gufw and iptables, and a full chapter on OpenSSH

-A complete introduction to Perl scripting for automated administration

-Deeper coverage of essential admin tasks–from managing users to CUPS printing, configuring LANs to building a kernel

-Complete instructions on keeping Ubuntu systems up-to-date using aptitude, Synaptic, and the Software Sources window

-And much more...including a 500+ term glossary

Includes DVD! Get the full version of Lucid Lynx, the latest Ubuntu LTS release!

Author Biography

Mark G. Sobell is President of Sobell Associates Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in UNIX/Linux training, support, and custom software development. He has more than twenty-five years of experience working with UNIX and Linux systems and is author of many best-selling books, including A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux®, Fifth Edition; A Practical Guide to Linux® Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming, Second Edition; and A Practical Guide to Linux® for Mac OS® X Users (with Peter Seebach), all from Prentice Hall; and A Practical Guide to the UNIX System from Addison-Wesley.

Table of Contents

List of JumpStarts xxxvii

Preface xxxix

 

Chapter 1: Welcome to Linux 1

Ubuntu Linux 2

The History of UNIX and GNU—Linux 3

What Is So Good About Linux? 6

Overview of Linux 12

Additional Features of Linux 17

Conventions Used in This Book 19

Chapter Summary 21

Exercises 22

 

Part I: Installing Ubuntu Linux 23

 

Chapter 2: Installation Overview 25

The Live/Install Desktop CD and the Live/Install DVD 26

More Information 26

Planning the Installation 27

The Installation Process 42

Downloading and Burning a CD/DVD 43

Gathering Information About the System 47

Chapter Summary 49

Exercises 49

Advanced Exercises 49

 

Chapter 3: Step-by-Step Installation 51

Booting from a Live/Install Desktop CD or a Live/Install DVD 52

Graphical Partition Editors 63

Upgrading to a New Release 74

Installing KDE 75

Setting Up a Dual-Boot System 76

Advanced Installation 77

Chapter Summary 93

Exercises 94

Advanced Exercises 94

 

Part II: Getting Started with Ubuntu Linux 95

 

Chapter 4: Introduction to Ubuntu Linux 97

Curbing Your Power: root Privileges/sudo 98

A Tour of the Ubuntu Desktop 99

Getting Help 116

Updating, Installing, and Removing Software Packages 131

Where to Find Documentation 136

More About Logging In 144

Working from the Command Line 150

Controlling Windows: Advanced Operations 153

Chapter Summary 156

Exercises 157

Advanced Exercises 158

 

Chapter 5: The Linux Utilities 159

Special Characters 160

Basic Utilities 161

Working with Files 163

(Pipe): Communicates Between Processes 170

Four More Utilities 171

Compressing and Archiving Files 174

Locating Commands 178

Obtaining User and System Information 180

Communicating with Other Users 184

Email 185

Tutorial: Using vim to Create and Edit a File 186

Chapter Summary 193

Exercises 196

Advanced Exercises 197

 

Chapter 6: The Linux Filesystem 199

The Hierarchical Filesystem 200

Directory Files and Ordinary Files 200

Pathnames 205

Working with Directories 207

Access Permissions 215

ACLs: Access Control Lists 221

Links 226

Chapter Summary 232

Exercises 234

Advanced Exercises 236

 

Chapter 7: The Shell 237

The Command Line 238

Standard Input and Standard Output 243

Running a Command in the Background 254

Filename Generation/Pathname Expansion 256

Builtins 261

Chapter Summary 261

Exercises 262

Advanced Exercises 264

 

Part III: Digging into Ubuntu Linux 265

 

Chapter 8: Linux GUIs: X and GNOME 267

X Window System 268

The Nautilus File Browser Window 276

The Nautilus Spatial View 282

GNOME Utilities 284

Chapter Summary 288

Exercises 289

Advanced Exercises 289

 

Chapter 9: The Bourne Again Shell 291

Background 292

Shell Basics 293

Parameters and Variables 312

Special Characters 326

Processes 328

History 330

Aliases 346

Functions 349

Controlling bash: Features and Options 352

Processing the Command Line 356

Chapter Summary 365

Exercises 367

Advanced Exercises 369

 

Chapter 10: Networking and the Internet 371

Types of Networks and How They Work 373

Communicate over a Network 388

Network Utilities 390

Distributed Computing 397

Usenet 407

WWW: World Wide Web 409

Chapter Summary 411

Exercises 412

Advanced Exercises 413

 

Part IV: System Administration 415

 

Chapter 11: System Administration: Core Concepts 417

Running Commands with root Privileges 419

The Upstart Event-Based init Daemon 432

System Operation 443

Avoiding a Trojan Horse 453

Getting Help 454

Textual System Administration Utilities 455

Setting Up a Server 460

nsswitch.conf: Which Service to Look at First 475

PAM 478

Chapter Summary 483

Exercises 484

Advanced Exercises 484

 

Chapter 12: Files, Directories, and Filesystems 487

Important Files and Directories 488

File Types 500

Filesystems 505

Chapter Summary 514

Exercises 515

Advanced Exercises 515

 

Chapter 13: Downloading and Installing Software 517

JumpStart: Installing and Removing Packages Using aptitude 519

Finding the Package That Holds a File You Need 521

APT: Keeps the System Up-to-Date 522

dpkg: The Debian Package Management System 532

BitTorrent 539

Installing Non-dpkg Software 541

wget: Downloads Files Noninteractively 543

Chapter Summary 544

Exercises 545

Advanced Exercises 545

 

Chapter 14: Printing with CUPS 547

Introduction 548

JumpStart I: Configuring a Local Printer 549

system-config-printer: Configuring a Printer 550

JumpStart II: Setting Up a Local or Remote Printer Using the CUPS Web

Interface 555

Traditional UNIX Printing 558

Configuring Printers 560

Printing from Windows 566

Printing to Windows 568

Chapter Summary 568

Exercises 569

Advanced Exercises 569

 

Chapter 15: Building a Linux Kernel 571

Prerequisites 572

Downloading the Kernel Source Code 573

Read the Documentation 575

Configuring and Compiling the Linux Kernel 575

Installing the Kernel, Modules, and Associated Files 582

Rebooting 583

GRUB: The Linux Boot Loader 583

dmesg: Displays Kernel Messages 589

Chapter Summary 590

Exercises 590

Advanced Exercises 591

 

Chapter 16: Administration Tasks 593

Configuring User and Group Accounts 594

Backing Up Files 599

Scheduling Tasks 605

System Reports 608

parted: Reports on and Partitions a Hard Disk 611

Keeping Users Informed 614

Creating Problems 615

Solving Problems 616

MySQL 628

Chapter Summary 635

Exercises 636

Advanced Exercises 636

Chapter 17: Configuring and Monitoring a LAN 637

Setting Up the Hardware 638

Configuring the Systems 641

NetworkManager: Configures Network Connections 642

Setting Up Servers 646

Introduction to Cacti 647

More Information 658

Chapter Summary 659

Exercises 660

Advanced Exercises 660

 

Part V: Using Clients and Setting Up Servers 661

 

Chapter 18: OpenSSH: Secure Network Communication 663

Introduction to OpenSSH 664

Running the ssh, scp, and sftp OpenSSH Clients 667

Setting Up an OpenSSH Server (sshd) 676

Troubleshooting 680

Tunneling/Port Forwarding 681

Chapter Summary 684

Exercises 684

Advanced Exercises 685

 

Chapter 19: FTP: Transferring Files Across a Network 687

Introduction to FTP 688

Running the ftp and sftp FTP Clients 690

Setting Up an FTP Server (vsftpd) 699

Chapter Summary 711

Exercises 712

Advanced Exercises 712

 

Chapter 20: exim4: Setting Up Mail Servers, Clients, and More 713

Introduction to exim4 714

Setting Up a Mail Server (exim4) 715

Working with exim4 Messages 720

Configuring an exim4 Mail Server 724

SpamAssassin 727

Additional Email Tools 731

Authenticated Relaying 736

Chapter Summary 738

Exercises 738

Advanced Exercises 739

 

Chapter 21: NIS and LDAP 741

Introduction to NIS 742

Running an NIS Client 744

Setting Up an NIS Server 750

LDAP 758

Setting Up an LDAP Server 760

Other Tools for Working with LDAP 767

Chapter Summary 770

Exercises 771

Advanced Exercises 771

 

Chapter 22: NFS: Sharing Filesystems 773

Introduction to NFS 774

Running an NFS Client 776

Setting Up an NFS Server 782

automount: Mounts Directory Hierarchies on Demand 792

Chapter Summary 795

Exercises 795

Advanced Exercises 795

 

Chapter 23: Samba: Linux and Windows File and Printer Sharing 797

Introduction to Samba 798

Setting Up a Samba Server 800

Working with Linux Shares from Windows 814

Working with Windows Shares from Linux 815

Troubleshooting 817

Chapter Summary 819

Exercises 820

Advanced Exercises 820

 

Chapter 24: DNS/BIND: Tracking Domain Names and Addresses 821

Introduction to DNS 822

Setting Up a DNS Server 834

Setting Up Different Types of DNS Servers 850

Chapter Summary 860

Exercises 860

Advanced Exercises 861

 

Chapter 25: firestarter, gufw, and iptables: Setting Up a Firewall 863

Introduction to firestarter 864

firestarter: Setting Up and Maintaining a Firewall 866

ufw: The Uncomplicated Firewall 874

gufw: The Graphical Interface to ufw 876

Introduction to iptables 880

Building a Set of Rules Using iptables 885

Copying Rules to and from the Kernel 891

Sharing an Internet Connection Using NAT 892

Chapter Summary 896

Exercises 897

Advanced Exercises 897

 

Chapter 26: Apache: Setting Up a Web Server 899

Introduction 900

Running a Web Server (Apache) 902

Configuration Directives 909

Configuration Files 932

Advanced Configuration 935

Troubleshooting 940

Modules 941

webalizer: Analyzes Web Traffic 948

MRTG: Monitors Traffic Loads 948

Error Codes 948

Chapter Summary 949

Exercises 950

Advanced Exercises 950

 

Part VI: Programming Tools 951

 

Chapter 27: Programming the Bourne Again Shell 953

Control Structures 954

File Descriptors 987

Parameters and Variables 990

Builtin Commands 1002

Expressions 1016

Shell Programs 1024

Chapter Summary 1034

Exercises 1036

Advanced Exercises 1038

 

Chapter 28: The Perl Scripting Language 1041

Introduction to Perl 1042

Variables 1049

Control Structures 1057

Working with Files 1066

Sort 1069

Subroutines 1071

Regular Expressions 1073

CPAN Modules 1079

Examples 1081

Chapter Summary 1085

Exercises 1085

Advanced Exercises 1086

 

Part VII: Appendixes 1087

 

Appendix A: Regular Expressions 1089

Characters 1090

Delimiters 1090

Simple Strings 1090

Special Characters 1090

Rules 1093

Bracketing Expressions 1094

The Replacement String 1094

Extended Regular Expressions 1095

Appendix Summary 1097

 

Appendix B: Help 1099

Solving a Problem 1100

Finding Linux-Related Information 1101

Specifying a Terminal 1106

 

Appendix C: Security 1109

Encryption 1110

File Security 1115

Email Security 1115

Network Security 1116

Host Security 1119

Security Resources 1124

Appendix Summary 1127

 

Appendix D: The Free Software Definition 1129

 

Glossary 1133

JumpStart Index 1183

File Tree Index 1185

Utility Index 1189

Main Index 1195