Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have read about 3/4th of this book so far,most of it is mainly just review for me since the RHEL 5 release. I have noticed so far a few issues mainly with grammar, spelling, and multiple misguided instructions such as the PXE installation method, LDAP setup, and a few other minor things. Overall the book is my favorite linux related book since it gets right to the point and doesnt have all the boring history lessons about 15 years ago when service such and such was developed and how it is completely different etc etc. Any one who's read a linux related book knows what im talking about.
In regards to the misguided instructions, for instance the PXE setup. I have gone through the chapter about 5 times now and slowly stepped through the documentation as it explains but still have yet to be able to get the correct outcome.(a working PXE installation). I have previous experience with PXE so I was able to figure this out on my own with no issue but worry that some new admins to RHEL will have a hard time getting this particular method of installation setup. I'm unfortunetly human so I still may have gotten the steps down wrong and other may find that the instructions are infact correct. If so ... cool. :)
- runlevel -

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This comprehensive guide can help youadminister Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 effectively in any productionenvironment, no matter how complex or challenging.

Long-timeRed Hat insider Tammy Fox brings together today's best practices forthe entire system lifecycle, from planning and deployment throughmaintenance and troubleshooting. Fox shows how to maximize yourefficiency and effectiveness by automating day-to-day maintenancethrough scripting, deploying security updates via Red Hat Network,implementing central identity management services, and providing shareddata with NFS and Samba.

RedHat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed contains extensivecoverage of network and web services, from the Apache HTTP server andSendmail email services to remote login with OpenSSH. Fox alsodescribes Red Hat's most valuable tools for monitoring and optimizationand presents thorough coverage of security—including a detailedintroduction to Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux).


Streamline deployment with Kickstart
Find, install, update, remove, and verify software
Detect, analyze, and manage hardware
Manage storage with LVM, RAID, ACLs, and quotas
Use Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 on 64-bit and multi-core systems
Administer users and groups more efficiently and securely
Ensure trustworthy backup and rapid recovery
Script and schedule tasks to run automatically
Provide unified identity management services
Configure Apache, BIND, Samba, and Sendmail
Monitor and tune the kernel and individual applications
Protect against intruders with SELinux and ExecShield
Set up firewalls with iptables
Enable the Linux Auditing System
Use virtualization to run multiple operating systems concurrently

Part I Installation and Configuration
Chapter 1 Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Chapter 2 Post-Installation Configuration
Chapter 3 Operating System Updates

Part II Operating System Core Concepts
Chapter 4 Understanding Linux Concepts
Chapter 5 Working with RPM Software
Chapter 6 Analyzing Hardware
Chapter 7 Managing Storage
Chapter 8 64-Bit, Multi-Core, and Hyper-Threading Technology Processors

Part III System Administration
Chapter 9 Managing Users and Groups
Chapter 10 Techniques for Backup and Recovery
Chapter 11 Automating Tasks with Scripts

Part IV Network Services
Chapter 12 Identity Management
Chapter 13 Network File Sharing
Chapter 14 Granting Network Connectivity with DHCP
Chapter 15 Creating a Web Server with the Apache HTTP Server
Chapter 16 Hostname Resolution with BIND
Chapter 17 Securing Remote Logins with OpenSSH
Chapter 18 Setting Up an Email Server with Sendmail
Chapter 19 Explaining Other Common Network Services
Part V Monitoring and Tuning
Chapter 20 Monitoring System Resources
Chapter 21 Monitoring and Tuning the Kernel
Chapter 22 Monitoring and Tuning Applications
Chapter 23 Protecting Against Intruders with Security-Enhanced Linux
Chapter 24 Configuring a Firewall
Chapter 25 Linux Auditing System
Appendixes
Appendix A Installing Proprietary Kernel Modules
Appendix B Creating Virtual Machines
Appendix C Preventing Security Breaches with ExecShield
Appendix D Troubleshooting


TammyFox served as technical leader of Red Hat's documentation group, whereshe wrote and revised The Red Hat Enterprise Linux SystemAdministration Guide. She was founding editor of Red Hat Magazine, nowan online publication reaching more than 800,000 system administratorsand others interested in Linux and open source. She wrote Red Hat'sLogViewer tool and has written and contributed to several Red Hatconfiguration tools. Fox is also the founding leader of the Fedora DocsProject.

Registeryour book at www.samspublishing.com/register for convenient access toupdates and to download example scripts presented in this book.

Category:Linux/Networking
Covers:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
User Level:Intermediate–Advanced

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Linux Administration Handbook (2nd Edition) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The first edition of Unix System Administration was a classic. The updated versions have been split into a linux-only version and the original, pan-Unix treatment (including Linux--just not as many variants of Linux as this book covers). I bought the Linux one, but now I wish I had the updated pan-Unix book. The authors' strength is their knowledge of Unix fundamentals, not the (ever-changing) details of various Linux distros. You're better off learning from them how vendor Unices are different in major ways from each other and from Linux. Finally, the authors don't seem nearly as well informed about Linux as they do about the older Unices. While their older book's advice was bulletproof, in this one they miss some important information. The most serious example is their recommendation to use 'dump' for filesystem backups, when Linux Torvalds has explicitly announced that it's not safe to use. 90% of this book is the same as the Unix book, so it's not a loss either way, but I'd recommend you get your Linux info fresh off the net, or in some other book series that's updated more frequently.

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"As this book shows, Linux systems are just as functional, secure, and reliable as their proprietary counterparts. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of thousands of Linux developers, Linux is more ready than ever for deployment at the frontlines of the real world. The authors of this book know that terrain well, and I am happy to leave you in their most capable hands."—Linus Torvalds"The most successful sysadmin book of all time—because it works!"—Rik Farrow, editor of ;login:"This book clearly explains current technology with the perspective of decades of experience in large-scale system administration. Unique and highly recommended."—Jonathan Corbet, cofounder, LWN.net"Nemeth et al. is the overall winner for Linux administration: it's intelligent, full of insights, and looks at the implementation of concepts." —Peter Salus, editorial director, Matrix.net
Since 2001, Linux Administration Handbook has been the definitive resource for every Linux® system administrator who must efficiently solve technical problems and maximize the reliability and performance of a production environment. Now, the authors have systematically updated this classic guide to address today's most important Linux distributions and most powerful new administrative tools.

The authors spell out detailed best practices for every facet of system administration, including storage management, network design and administration, web hosting, software configuration management, performance analysis, Windows interoperability, and much more. Sysadmins will especially appreciate the thorough and up-to-date discussions of such difficult topics such as DNS, LDAP, security, and the management of IT service organizations.

Linux® Administration Handbook, Second Edition, reflects the current versions of these leading distributions:

Red Hat® Enterprise Linux®
FedoraTM Core
SUSE® Linux Enterprise
Debian® GNU/Linux
Ubuntu® Linux

Sharing their war stories and hard-won insights, the authors capture the behavior of Linux systems in the real world, not just in ideal environments. They explain complex tasks in detail and illustrate these tasks with examples drawn from their extensive hands-on experience.

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Principles of Network and System Administration Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This work is a good one on the non-technical side of system adminsitration. It does not deal with stuff like HOW to install a system, but the WHYs, such as WHY you want to properly document your installations.
This sort of work has been needed for a long time, since "The Keys to Successful Unix System Management" went out of print. However, this work may be a bit too academic for many admins. They might find the recent "Practice of System and Network Administration" to be a bit better. If you can afford both, do so.

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Time Management for System Administrators Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)To save everyone the trouble, I'll make the obvious joke: "I bought a book on time management, but I haven't had time to read it..."
Tom Limoncelli knows this about you. He knows a lot about you. He's encountered, and found solutions for, just about every one of the paradoxes, dilemmas, Catch-22s, and neverending Sisyphean ordeals that comprise the day-to-day challenge of being a professional system administrator. He wrote (with Christine Hogan) The Practice of System and Network Administration, which presents a thorough and practical body of knowledge for IT professionals: it describes all the things you need to do to build and run a manageable infrastructure. Now he's written an equally practical book on how to actually get those things done, and he wrote it in a way that makes it palatable for system administrators -- a famously cynical bunch when it comes to books about personal productivity. And there's a lot to be cynical about...
Here's how "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", by Stephen Covey, begins:
In more than 25 years of working with people in business,
university, and marriage and family settings, I have come in
contact with many individuals who have achieved an incredible
degree of outward success, but have found themselves struggling
with an inner hunger, a deep need for personal congruency and
effectiveness and for healthy, growing relationships with other
people.
Deep need for personal congruency? The only deep need I feel at the moment involves my gag reflex, and not in a good way.
In comparison, here's how Tom begins:
Wait! Before we get started, let's do something to make sure we
actually finish. I realize that as a system administrator, you
are flooded with constant interruptions. The phone rings, a
customer stops by with questions, your email reader beeps with
the arrival of a new message, and someone on Instant Messenger
is trying to raise your attention. Heck, I bet someone's
interrupted you while reading this paragraph. I'm not going to
cover how to deal with interruptions until the next chapter, and
I hope you don't take offense, but at this rate, I'm worried you
won't get that far. To mitigate this problem I'm going to share
a tip from Chapter 2, which, if you implement, will shield you
from interruptions between now and when we can deal with the
subject of interruptions properly.
This book is for system administrators.
Much of the geek community has embraced David Allen's Getting Things Done as a purely pragmatic way to, well, get things done, and Tom's book complements GTD in two ways. First, Tom describes his own personal system in the space of a couple of chapters, for those who aren't interested in drinking the GTD Kool-Aid but still need to start using a system. Second, Time Management for System Administrators is totally system-agnostic -- whether you use a PDA or index cards, just about every chapter of the book will amplify the effectiveness of your existing system. He also tells you how to get into Disneyland and ride all the rides without waiting in line, and how to minimize the time you spend walking around the video store looking for something to rent.
Anyway, I need to cut this short; I'm supposed to be packing for a trip to a weeklong conference, and my girlfriend just called to remind me that we were supposed to see a movie tonight, and -- well, you know.
Incidentally, anyone who runs computers for a living should also own, read, and re-read The Practice of System and Network Administration. Buy it now if you haven't already. Also buy it for your staff, your peers, and your boss. If you don't have time to do that now, add it to your to-do list. You do have a to-do list, don't you?

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Time is a precious commodity, especially if you're a system administrator. No other job pulls people in so many directions at once.Users interrupt you constantly with requests, preventing you from getting anything done.Your managers want you to get long-term projects done but flood you with requests for quick-fixes that prevent you from ever getting to those long-term projects. But the pressure is on you to produce and it only increases with time. What do you do?

The answer is time management. And not just any time management theory--you want Time Management for System Administrators, to be exact. With keen insights into the challenges you face as a sys admin, bestselling author Thomas Limoncelli has put together a collection of tips and techniques that will help you cultivate the time management skills you need to flourish as a system administrator.

Time Management for System Administrators understands that an Sys Admin often has competing goals: the concurrent responsibilities of working on large projects and taking care of a user's needs.That's why it focuses on strategies that help you work through daily tasks, yet still allow you to handle critical situations that inevitably arise.

Among other skills, you'll learn how to:

Manage interruptions
Eliminate timewasters
Keep an effective calendar
Develop routines for things that occur regularly
Use your brain only for what you're currently working on
Prioritize based on customer expectations
Document and automate processes for faster execution

What's more, the book doesn't confine itself to just the work environment, either.It also offers tips on how to apply these time management tools to your social life.It's the first step to a more productive, happier you.

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Sun (R) Certified System Administrator for Solaris (TM) 10 Study Guide (Exams 310-200 & 310-202) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'd say this book, is one of the worse SCSA study guides I've read.
*So, far I've corrected a good amount of the selftest questions/answers.
*VERY limited information about SMF. There's TONS of information that's 9 related. Statements about starting SSHD via /etc/init.d/sshd SORRY Solaris 10 uses 'svcadm -v enable ssh' NOT an init script. Coverage on settng up rlogin/rsh tools with no password. However, NO mention of SSH doing the same over an encrypted line. Talk about misleading! The covering of inetd implies that you can use the 'standard' /etc/inet/inetd.conf script. NO mention of the inetconv only the inetadm. There's also NO mention of the '-r' flag that starts everything that a service needs. Hence, 'svcadm -v enable -r nfs/server'.
*What's with 'how to setup NIS'? NIS is DEAD that's POOR material for Solaris 10 (maybe 7/8), how about LDAP setup coverage? Even Sun has dropped support of NIS. They don't provide the ldap client SMF mention in the book. They suggest the client is started with the 'ldapclient' command where it's 'ldap.client'. MOST things he implies are standard init scripts where MOST are wrappers for SMF. This SHOULD be mentioned since most newbies will probably miss it.
*SVM coverage doesn't really explain 'how' to create volumes. The tools they mention in a setup (how to do it) use SMC MOST people or seasoned SAs will use the command line tools. There's NO mention to the fact two disk mirror of the root doesn't work right in Solaris 10 (known bug and waiting patch for).
*The coverage of Jumptart & Zones are fast and brief. It's more like a 'summary' then an actual insight of the two. Page: 160
Question 2.)
Correct answer should be A, BUT the device name is incorrect it should be.
/dev/rdsk/c0d0s0 NOT /dev/rdsk/c0d0s3
Page: 161
Question 7.) Grammatical error: 'mountall' command should be 'umountall'
Page: 178
There is NO -D useradd default option for "shell" never has probably never will be.
useradd -D -s /bin/ksh does NOT work there IS NO -s command.
I'm using Solaris Express Nevada latest release and it doesn't have it either. Someone thinking Linux?
Page: 210
There is NO /etc/init.d/sshd for Solaris 10 EVER! It's always been
svcadm -v enable ssh
Someone was clearly thinking Solaris 9 on this.
Page: 229
Question 11: The "real" correct answer is B, head will report the 'first three' most recent reboot commands, last will report the 'first' from the creation date of the file.
Page: 498
Question 4.)
Should A,B,C be within /etc/security/ NOT just /etc/?
These are the 'quick' skim from the book of notes I made. When I got tired I said I'd go back and make more corrections, but haven't had the chance yet. Probably won't got what I needed out of the book which wasn't much.I can go on and on.
Don't waste your time on this book. If you're a 'newbie' to Solaris, great. If you're a seasoned SA looking for "Real 10" material, read all the docs.sun.com Solaris 10 information. However, save your money and attempt the Bill Calkins release (still being delivered to me, hopefully better then this waste of money) or as mentioned docs at Sun. This is a total disappointment for anyone 'really' wanting to know the juice of Solaris 10. Coming for a guy who's wrote a lot of stuff for BigAdmin and what not this is a waste. Contact me if you want 'specifics' on this search for William Pool rotaecho@yahoo.com

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Primarily Written for those who want to earn the Sun Certified System Administrator (SCSA) certification for Solaris 10, this guide presents full coverage of the official objectives for both the required exams: CX-310-200 and CX-310-202. In spite of the laser sharp focus on the exam objectives, this is not a cram style book. Written in a classroom-based teaching style, this book presents material in a sequential fashion: topics and chapters build upon the previously covered topics and chapters. There is no hopping from topic to topic. An introductory chapter for beginners and a cohesive, concise, yet comprehensive presentation of the material makes it a self contained book that requires no prior experience in Solaris or UNIX. Even after passing the exam, you will find yourself coming back to use this book as an on-the-job reference.Full coverage of exam topics includes:
Basic and advanced Solaris 10 installation
Managing file systems and core dumps
Performing user and security administration
Managing network printers and system processes
Performing system backups and restores and managing storage volumes
Managing naming services
Managing role based access control and system messaging
Understanding fundamentals of TCP/IP networking and managing network services
The book features complete details on all exam objectives, 250+ practice questions, step-by-step exercises, on-the-job elements, a two-minute drill at the end of each chapter that reviews the key points in the chapter, and chapter self-tests. The CD contains MasterExam practice exam software with all new questions, a Searchable electronic book, and a second practice exam (with free online registration).

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Network Management: Principles and Practice Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this book with great hope. I have spent the past 12 odd years of my career working on various networking protocols. But, I had never worked on network management systems. I figured I could use a good book about network management. Looking at the TOC and the author's info (the author teaches at GaTech), I figured I wouldn't go wrong if I read this book.
The author definitely covers a lot of ground. The emphasis is squarely on SNMP based systems. The author also has some decent discussion about EMS/NMS, event-correlation, commercial and open-source management systems, etc.
So, why am I giving it 2*-s? I didn't like the book because it is very hard to read. The sentences are very difficult to read and understand. You have to make a big effort to figure out what the author is saying and even then, it's not easy. I am hoping the author and the editors simplify the language of the book and update some of the content in the next edition. So, my suggestion would be: wait till the next edition if you can, else, be ready to put in a lot of time into reading this book.


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Network Management: Principles and Practice provides a balance of theoretical backgrounds and practical aspects of network management. Unlike other books that talk only about specific network technologies, Mani Subramanian lays the foundation for network management by presenting the background, the technologies, and the tools that all network managers simply must know. He does this by breaking the book down into three parts:*Part I provides a background on networking and network technologies such as hubs, routers, bridges, and switches. *Part II addresses network management architectures and protocols before moving on to discuss SNMP management, broadband management, and TMN. *Part III focuses on tools to monitor network parameters, network management applications, and solutions to manage networks and systems. Throughout the book, the author intertwines real-world examples based upon his experience in managing, engineering, and operating networks. 0201357429B04062001

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The Practice of System and Network Administration, Second Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Good sysadmins know the technical details. They can resurrect a dead server, understand the intricacies of sendmail or the Windows registry, and recite all of the types of DNS records by heart. They own copies of the UNIX System Administration Handbook and refer to them regularly. They are good sysadmins, and will contribute solidly at an intermediate level.
Great sysadmins know all of that and what is in this book. They are the ones who go on to become the senior sysadmins and consultants, have fabulous careers, and are respected by their bosses, co-workers, and customers.
There is much more to a technical job than simply the technical skills. Don't buy this book to learn how to run a system or you will be disappointed. Do, however, buy it to learn how to be an effective professional systems administrator.
It is also useful for a manager of sysadmins who is either non-technical, or has never been a sysadmin himself, as it is a good introduction to the issues and concerns that sysadmins need to face.
Limoncelli and Hogan cover many topics, including:
- Trouble ticket systems
- Desktops and Servers (how they're the same, differ, etc.)
- Administrative networks (why bother?)
- Requirements (gathering, tracking, etc.)
- Standards and centralization of services
- How to do debugging (not "you see this problem, do this" but rather learning the process of doing good debugging)
- Fix things once, not over and over again
- Security policies (including management and organizational issues for a variety of organizational profiles)
- Disaster Recovery (again, not how to backup data, but why you'd want to, legal issues, etc.)
- Systems Administration Ethics
- Change management and revision control
- Maintenance windows: what they are and why they're good for both you and your users
- Centralization versus Decentralization
- Helpdesks: sizing, scope, processes, escalation, etc.
- Data centers (many physical facility concerns that sysadmins don't often think of, including how to move a datacenter)
- Managing non-OS software (commercial and free)
They will help you answer questions like
- Does server hardware really cost more? Do we go with a few expensive servers or many cheap ones?
- What does "redundancy" actually mean?
- Why would we spend money on backups? There's never been an outage...
- What do I do when asked to do something illegal?
- How do I communicate and schedule large system changes?
- How do I do a safe server upgrade?
- They want to decentralize the sysadmin group -- what do we do?
- How do we move our datacenter?
- What sort of policy issues are there with email?
- How do I deal with my customers abusing printers?
- What do we have to worry about if we're implementing remote access (e.g. dialup modem banks) for our users?
Finally, they close with an entire section on Management:
- How to deal with cost centers, management chains, hiring, customer support, and outsourcing.
- How to manage your customers perceptions and your team's visibility
- How to manage your own happiness (time management, communication, professional development, managing your manager, etc.)
- How to be a technical manager, how to work with non-technical managers, manage your own career growth, etc.
- How to hire good sysadmins, recruiting, interviewing, soft skills, technical skills, employee retention, etc.
- The special concerns around how to fire sysadmins (often problematic, given their higher level of access)
They even have a chapter for non-technical managers who are in charge of sysadmins (this entire book would be very useful to give to a non-technical manager who doesn't really 'get it'.)
The book closes with three appendixes:
A. The Many Role of a System Administrator
B. What to Do When...
C. Acronyms
Appendix B is particularly useful, answering a wide variety of questions with solid, practical answers.
The skills and concepts in this book are the make-or-break in many careers. They turn you from just another sysadmin into a star performer, sensitive to your customers and the business, able to interact with a wide spectrum of people.

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