Book Image

Linux for System Administrators

By : Viorel Rudareanu, Daniil Baturin
Book Image

Linux for System Administrators

By: Viorel Rudareanu, Daniil Baturin

Overview of this book

Linux system administration is an essential aspect of maintaining and managing Linux servers within an organization. The role of a Linux system administrator is pivotal in ensuring the smooth functioning and security of these servers, making it a critical job function for any company that relies on Linux infrastructure. This book is a comprehensive guide designed to help you build a solid foundation in Linux system administration. It takes you from the fundamentals of Linux to more advanced topics, encompassing key areas such as Linux system installation, managing user accounts and filesystems, networking fundamentals, and Linux security techniques. Additionally, the book delves into the automation of applications and infrastructure using Chef, enabling you to streamline and optimize your operations. For both newcomers getting started with Linux and professionals looking to enhance their skills, this book is an invaluable hands-on guide with a structured approach and concise explanations that make it an effective resource for quickly acquiring and reinforcing Linux system administration skills. With the help of this Linux book, you’ll be able to navigate the world of Linux administration confidently to meet the demands of your role.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1: Linux Basics
7
Part 2: Configuring and Modifying Linux Systems
13
Part 3: Linux as a Part of a Larger System

Package files

Conventionally, packages come as files in a special format that includes both files from the software project that must be installed in the system and metadata for the package manager, such as file checksums, lists of dependencies, and system requirements for the package (such as CPU architecture). We will look inside .rpm and .deb package files and compare their implementation details.

Inspecting package files

First, we will examine package files to see what’s inside them and learn how to examine and unpack them.

Please note that normally, you will not need to manually download and unpack package files! We are doing it only for educational purposes.

Inspecting a Debian package

We will use the GNU hello package for our experiments. GNU hello is a demo program that simply prints hello world—its real purpose is to serve as an example of development and packaging practices and show new developers how to write build scripts, implement internationalization...