Book Image

Linux Utilities Cookbook

By : James Kent Lewis
Book Image

Linux Utilities Cookbook

By: James Kent Lewis

Overview of this book

<p>Linux is a stable, reliable and extremely powerful operating system. It has been around for many years, however, most people still don't know what it can do and the ways it is superior to other operating systems. Many people want to get started with Linux for greater control and security, but getting started can be time consuming and complicated. <br /><br />A practical, hands-on guide that provides you with a number of clear step-by-step examples to help you solve many of the questions that crop up when using an operating system you may not be familiar with.</p> <p>Presenting solutions to the most common Linux problems in a clear and concise way, this helpful guide starts with spicing up the terminal sessions by command retrieval and line editing, and shell prompt variables. We will then get to know the different desktops (GUIs) available for Linux systems and which is the best fit for you. We will then explore the world of managing files and directories, connectivity, and what to do when it goes wrong. We will also learn a range of skills, from creating and managing user accounts to securing your system, managing and limiting processes, and letting information flow from one process to another using pipes. Later, we will master disk management, working with scripts and automating tasks quickly, and finally, understand the need for a custom kernel and tips on how to build one.</p> <p><br />Based on the author's extensive experience, there is a section on best practices that every Linux user should be familiar with.</p>
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Linux Utilities Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Using sudo to secure a system


There may be times, especially if you are a system administrator, when you would like to give a user more access to the computer, but not actually root authority. This can be done by modifying the /etc/sudoers file and having your users invoke the sudo command.

Getting ready...

The following steps should not harm your system. We will perform these with a user account made above. You will need to be the root user for this section.

How to do it...

Here we will work with the /etc/sudoers file:

  1. Make a backup copy of your /etc/sudoers file :

    cp /etc/sudoers /tmp/sudoers.orig
    
  2. You don’t edit this file directly, the visudo command is used. This is poorly named as any text editor can be used if you export the EDITOR variable accordingly. Set the variable if desired then run the command:

    visudo
    
  3. This command makes a temporary copy of the sudoers file and edits it. If all goes well it then copies the temporary file over the original when you are done. So, let’s take a look...