This text shows the average reader how to install and configure Linux correctly, how to maximize Linux's output, how to keep the system from developing bugs by using sound maintenance techniques, how to implement a strategy for backing up data and retrieving lost data, and more.

Linux System Administration; Foreword; Acknowledgments; Contents at a Glance; Contents; Introduction; Conventions Used in This Book; Help Us Help You; Part 1: The Basics; Chapter 1: The Basics of System Administration; Your Role as a System Administrator; Tasks of a System Administrator; Tools of the Linux Administrator; Working on the System as Root; In Sum; Chapter 2: Installing Linux; Benchmarks; Selecting Hardware; Selecting a Linux Distribution; Installing Red Hat Linux; In Sum; Chapter 3: Startup and Shutdown; The Linux Boot Process; Boot Loaders; Creating a Boot Floppy; Using LOADLIN Single-User ModeInitialization and Startup Scripts; User Initialization Files; Shutdown; In Sum; Chapter 4: Tools of the Trade; Locating Help Resources; Technical Support; Webmin; Command-Line Tools; In Sum; Part 2: Managing Users, Processes, and Files; Chapter 5: Creating and Maintaining User Accounts; User Accounts; Groups; In Sum; Chapter 6: Filesystems and Disk Management; Linux Filesystem Support; Filesystem Design; Accessing Filesystems; Updating and Maintaining Filesystems; In Sum; Chapter 7: Linux Files and Processes; The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard; File Characteristics; Processes In SumChapter 8: Software Administration; Installing Binary Packages; Compiling Source Code; Kernel Compilation; Checking for OS Updates; In Sum; Chapter 9: Backup and Restore; Backup Strategies; Backup Media; Linux Backup and Restore Tools; Backing Up the Operating System; Disaster Recovery Techniques; In Sum; Part 3: Communications and Networking; Chapter 10: Printers and the Spooling Subsystem; Printer Basics; The Linux Printing Process; Configuring Printers Using Red Hat's Printconf; Configuring Printers in Webmin; Printing with Other Distributions; Kernel Support; In Sum Chapter 11: Serial Communications, Terminals, and ModemsUnderstanding Serial Devices; Configuring Terminals; Configuring Modems; Configuring Serial Printers; In Sum; Chapter 12: TCP/IP Linux Networking; Understanding TCP/IP Networking; TCP/IP Configuration; File Sharing; Internet Servers; In Sum; Chapter 13: The X Window System; X Concepts; Configuring an X Server; Configuring a Font Server; Building a User Interface atop X; In Sum; Chapter 14: Setting Up Your Mail Server; Understanding E-Mail Protocols; Configuring Sendmail; Configuring POP and IMAP; Anti-Spam Measures; In Sum Part 4: System Optimization and ImprovementChapter 15: Security; Types of Attacks; Types of Security; Securing the Authentication Process; File Permissions; Protecting against Network Intrusion; In Sum; Chapter 16: Performance Tuning; The Elements of Performance; Measuring Performance; Finding Bottlenecks; Tuning the System; Upgrading; In Sum; Chapter 17: Making Your Job Easier with Scripts; Common Scripting Features; The Bash Shell Scripting Language; Other Types of Scripts; System Initialization Scripts; Using the cron Facility; Running a Script at a Specific Time