From the Publisher
The best just became BETTER! Completely revised to meet all your Red Hat Linux needs! Fedora Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are advanced operating systems. You need a book that's just as advanced. This book explains Linux clearly and effectively--with a focus on the features you care about, including system security, Internet server setup, and sharing files and printers with Windows systems. Best-selling Linux author Mark Sobell starts at the beginning and walks you through everything that matters, from installing Fedora Core using the included CDs to GNOME, KDE, Samba 3, sendmail, Apache, DNS, NIS, and iptables. Along the way, you learn the "hows" and the "whys." Whether you are a user, an administrator, or a programmer, this book gives you all you need and more. Mark Sobell knows every Linux nook and cranny, has taught hundreds of thousands of readers, and never forgets what it's like to be new to Linux. Don't settle for yesterday's Linux book...get the ONLY book that meets today's challenges and tomorrow's! Compared with the other Linux books out there, A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux®, Second Edition, delivers... The full Fedora Core operating system on 4 CDs (not the truncated "Publisher's Edition") AND complete coverage of Fedora Core and the 2.6 Linux kernel, PLUS coverage of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deeper coverage of GNOME and KDE, including customization More practical coverage of file sharing with Samba, NFS, and FTP Easier-to-follow coverage of Internet server configuration including Apache, sendmail, NFS, and DNS More up-to-date coverage of security, including SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux), OpenSSH, and firewall setup using iptables Better coverage of "meat-and-potatoes" system/network administration tasks A more practical introduction to writing bash shell scripts More complete coverage of configuring local and network printers using CUPS And much more...including a 500+ word glossary and a comprehensive index to help you find what you need fast! Includes 4 CDs! Get the full version of Red Hat's Fedora Core 2 release!

From the Back Cover
The best just became BETTER! Completely revised to meet all your Red Hat Linux needs!Fedora Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are advanced operating systems. You need a book that's just as advanced. This book explains Linux clearly and effectively--with a focus on the features you care about, including system security, Internet server setup, and sharing files and printers with Windows systems. Best-selling Linux author Mark Sobell starts at the beginning and walks you through everything that matters, from installing Fedora Core using the included CDs to GNOME, KDE, Samba 3, sendmail, Apache, DNS, NIS, and iptables. Along the way, you learn the "hows" and the "whys." Whether you are a user, an administrator, or a programmer, this book gives you all you need and more. Mark Sobell knows every Linux nook and cranny, has taught hundreds of thousands of readers, and never forgets what it's like to be new to Linux. Don't settle for yesterday's Linux book...get the ONLY book that meets today's challenges and tomorrow's! Compared with the other Linux books out there, A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux®, Second Edition, delivers... The full Fedora Core operating system on 4 CDs (not the truncated "Publisher's Edition") AND complete coverage of Fedora Core and the 2.6 Linux kernel, PLUS coverage of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deeper coverage of GNOME and KDE, including customization More practical coverage of file sharing with Samba, NFS, and FTP Easier-to-follow coverage of Internet server configuration including Apache, sendmail, NFS, and DNS More up-to-date coverage of security, including SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux), OpenSSH, and firewall setup using iptables Better coverage of "meat-and-potatoes" system/network administration tasks A more practical introduction to writing bash shell scripts More complete coverage of configuring local and network printers using CUPS And much more...including a 500+ word glossary and a comprehensive index to help you find what you need fast!Includes 4 CDs!
Get the full version of Red Hat's Fedora Core 2 release!



About the Author
Mark G. Sobell is president of Sobell Associates Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in UNIX/Linux training, support, and custom software development. He is the author of many best-selling UNIX and Linux books and has more than twenty-five years of experience working with UNIX and Linux.



Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Whether you are an end user, a system administrator, or a little of each, this book explains, with step-by-step examples, how to get the most out of your Fedora Core or Red Hat Enterprise Linux system. In 28 chapters, this book takes you from installing a Fedora Core or Red Hat Enterprise Linux system through understanding its inner workings, to setting up secure servers.

This book is designed for a wide range of readers; it does not require programming experience, but some experience using a general-purpose computer is helpful. This book is appropriate for Students taking a class in which they use Linux Home users who want to set up and/or run Linux Professionals who use Linux at work System administrators who need an understanding of Linux and the tools that are available to them Computer science students studying the Linux operating system Programmers who need to understand the Linux programming environment Technical executives who want to get a grounding in Linux

A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux®, Second Edition: Fedora Core™ and Red Hat Enterprise Linux gives you a broad understanding of many facets of Linux, from installing Red Hat linux through using and customizing it. Regardless of your background, this book gives you the knowledge you need to get on with your work: You will come away from this book understanding how to use Linux, and this book will remain a valuable reference for years to come. This Book Includes the Full Fedora Core 2 on Four CDs Tip: The CDs in This Book Hold the Full Release of Fedora Core 2

This book includes the full Fedora Core version 2 CDs, not the truncated publisher’s edition CDs. These four CDs include the complete release of Red Hat’s Fedora Core 2. See fedora.redhat.com for details.

A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux®, Second Edition, includes CDs that you can use to install or upgrade to Fedora Core 2. Chapter 2 helps you get ready to install, and Chapter 3 provides step-by-step instructions on installing, Fedora Core from these CDs. This book guides you through learning about, using, and administrating Fedora Core or Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

This book covers Fedora Core 2 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 3. Features of This Book

This book is designed and organized so you can get the most out of it in the shortest amount of time. You do not have to read this book in page order. Once you are comfortable using Linux, you can use this book as a reference: Look up a topic of interest in the table of contents or index and read about it. Or think of this book as a catalog of Linux topics: Flip through the pages until a topic catches your eye. This book has many pointers to Web sites where you can get additional information: Consider the Web an extension of this book.

A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux®, Second Edition, is structured with the following features: In this book, the term Red Hat Linux refers to both Fedora Core and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Features that apply to one operating system or the other only are marked as such using these markers: FEDORA or RHEL. Optional sections mean you can read the book at different levels, returning to more difficult material when you are ready. Caution boxes highlight procedures that can easily go wrong, giving you guidance before you run into trouble. Tip boxes highlight places in the text where you can save time by doing something differently or when it may be useful or just interesting to have additional information. Security boxes point out places where you can make your system more secure. The security appendix gives you a quick background in system security issues. Concepts are illustrated by practical examples throughout the book. Chapter summaries provide a review of the important points covered in each chapter. Review exercises are included at the end of each chapter for readers who want to hone their skills. Answers to even-numbered exercises are at www.sobell.com. This book provides resources for finding, downloading, and installing software: Web sites, Apt, yum, BitTorrent, and Red Hat Network (RHN). Important GNU tools, including gcc, gdb, GNU Configure and Build System, make, gzip, and many others are described in detail. Pointers throughout provide help in obtaining online documentation from many sources including the local system, the Red Hat Web site, and other locations on the Internet. Many useful URLs (Internet addresses) point to sites where you can obtain software, security programs and information, and more. Key Topics This Book Covers

This book contains a lot of information. This section distills and summarizes what is in the book. You may also want to review the table of contents for more detail. This book Describes how to download from the Internet and burn Fedora Core Installation CDs. Helps you plan your hard disk layout and use Disk Druid or fdisk to partition disks. Explains the use of the Logical Volume Manager (LVM) to grow and migrate partitions without interrupting users. Describes in detail how to install Red Hat Linux from CDs, a hard disk, or over a network using FTP, NFS, or HTTP. Covers responses to the boot: prompt and how to work with Anaconda, Red Hat’s graphical installer. Covers the details of installing and customizing the X Window System, including XFree86 (RHEL) and the new X.org (FEDORA) version of X. Introduces the graphical desktop and explains how to use desktop tools including the Panel, Panel menu, Main menu, Window Operations menu, Desktop menu, Desktop switcher, and terminal emulator. Presents the KDE desktop and covers using Konqueror to manage files, start programs, and browse the Web. Covers the GNOME desktop and the Nautilus file manager. Explains how to customize your desktop. Covers the Borne Again Shell (bash) in three chapters, including a full chapter on shell programming that includes many sample scripts. Explains the command line interface and covers 30+ command line utilities. Presents a tutorial on the vim (vi work-alike) editor. Covers networks and network protocols. Explains hostnames, IP addresses, subnets, and how to look up domain names and IP addresses on the Internet. Covers distributed computing and the client/server model. Explains how to use the Red Hat system-config-* tools to configure the display, DNS, Apache, a network interface, and more. You can also use the tools to add users and manage local and remote printers. See page 393 for a list. Describes how to use the following tools to download software and keep a system current: yum     Downloads software from the Internet, keeping a system up-todate and resolving dependencies as it goes. Apt     An alternative to yum. You can also use synaptic, a graphical interface to Apt. BitTorrent     Good for distributing large amounts of data such as the Fedora installation CDs. up2date     Red Hat’s tool for keeping system software current. Covers graphical system administration tools, including the Main menu, GNOME and KDE menu systems, KDE Control Center, and KDE Control Panel. Explains system operation, including the boot process, init scripts, emergency mode, single- and multiuser mode, and what to do if the system crashes. Describes files, directories, and filesystems, including types of files and filesystems, fstab, automatically mounted filesystems, filesystem integrity checks, filesystem utilities, and how to tune filesystems. Covers backup utilities, including tar, cpio, dump, and restore. Explains how to rebuild the kernel. Helps you manage basic system security issues using ssh (secure shell), vsftpd (secure FTP server), Apache (Web server), iptables (firewall), and more. Describes how to set up a chroot jail to protect a server. Explains how to use TCP wrappers to control who can access a server. Covers controlling servers using the xinetd super server. Explains how to set up and use the most popular Linux servers, providing a chapter on each: Apache, Samba, OpenSSH, sendmail, DNS, NFS, FTP, iptables, and NIS, all included with Red Hat Linux. Covers setting up a CUPS print server. Describes how to set up and use a DHCP server. Covers programming tools including the GNU gcc compiler, make, and CVS for managing source code. Explains how to debug a C program. Describes how to work with shared libraries. Provides a complete chapter on shell programming using bash, including many examples. Details

Part I, “Installing Red Hat Linux,” discusses how to install either version of Red Hat Linux. Chapter 2 presents an overview of installing Red Hat Linux, including hardware requirements, downloading and burning CD-ROMs, and planning the layout of the hard disk. Chapter 3 is a step-by-step guide to installing either version of Red Hat Linux and covers installing from CDs, from a local hard disk, and over the network using FTP, NFS, or HTTP, as well as how to set up the X Window System for a customized graphical user interface (GUI).

Part II, “Getting Started with Red Hat Linux,” familiarizes you with Red Hat Linux, covering logging in, the graphical user interface, utilities, the filesystem, and the shell. Chapter 4 introduces desktop features, including the panel and the Main menu, explains how to use Konqueror to manage files, run programs, and browse the Web, and covers finding documentation, login problems, and using the window manager. Chapter 5 introduces the shell command line interface, describes over 30 useful utilities, and presents a tutorial on the vim (vi) text editor. Chapter 6 discusses the Linux hierarchical filesystem, covering files, filenames, pathnames, working with directories, access permissions, and hard and symbolic links. Chapter 7 introduces the Borne Again Shell (bash) and discusses command line arguments and options, how to redirect input to and output from commands, running programs in the background, and using the shell to generate and expand filenames. Tip: Experienced Users May Want to Skim Part II

If you have used a UNIX/Linux system before, you may want to skim over or skip some or all of the chapters in Part II. All readers should take a look at “Conventions Used in This Book” (page 16), which explains the typographic and layout conventions that this book uses, and “Getting the Facts: Where to Find Documentation” (page 94) which points you toward both local and remote sources of Linux and Red Hat documentation.

Part III, “Digging Into Red Hat Linux,” goes into more detail about working with Red Hat Linux. Chapter 8 discusses the graphical user interface and includes a section on how to run a graphical program on a remote system and have the display appear locally. The section on GNOME talks about GNOME utilities and explains how to use the Nautilus file manager, including its new spatial view, while the section on KDE explains more about Konqueror and the KDE utilities. Chapter 9 extends the bash shell coverage from Chapter 7, explaining how to redirect errors, avoid overwriting files, and how to work with job control, processes, startup files, important shell builtin commands, parameters, shell variables, and aliases. Chapter 10 explains networks, network security, and the Internet and discusses types of networks, subnets, protocols, addresses, hostnames, and various network utilities. The section on distributed computing describes the client/server model and some of the servers you can use on a network. Details of setting up and using clients and servers is reserved for Part V.

Part IV In seven chapters, Part IV covers system administration. Chapter 11 discusses core concepts such as Superuser, SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux), system operation, general information about how to set up a server, DHCP, and PAM. Chapter 12 explains the Linux filesystem, going into detail about types of files, including special and device files, how to use fsck to verify filesystems, and using tune2fs to change filesystem parameters. Chapter 13 explains how to keep a system up-to-date by downloading software from the Internet and installing it, including examples of using Red Hat’s up2date utility, yum, Apt, and BitTorrent. Chapter 14 explains how to set up the CUPS printing system so you can print on the local system and on remote systems. Chapter 15 details rebuilding the Linux kernel. Chapter 16 covers additional administration tasks, including setting up user accounts, backing up files, scheduling automated tasks, tracking disk usage, and general problem solving. Chapter 17 explains how to set up a local area network (LAN), covering hardware (including wireless) and software setup.

Part V goes into detail about setting up servers and connecting to them with clients. With one chapter apiece, this part of the book covers the following clients/servers: OpenSSH     Set up an OpenSSH server and use sh, scp, and sftp to communicate securely over the Internet. FTP     Set up a vsftpd secure FTP server and use any of several FTP clients to exchange files. Mail     Configure sendmail and use Webmail, POP3, or IMAP to retrieve email; use SpamAssassin to combat spam. NIS     Set up NIS to make system administration of a LAN easier. NFS     Share filesystems between systems on a network. Samba     Share filesystems and printers between Windows and Linux systems. DNS/BIND     Set up a domain name server to let other systems on the Internet know the names and IP addresses of your systems they may need to contact. iptables     Set up a firewall to protect local systems. Apache     Set up an HTTP server that serves Web pages that browsers can view.

Part VI covers programming. Chapter 27 discusses programming tools and environments available under Red Hat Linux, including the C programming language and debugger, make, shared libraries, and source code management using CVS. Chapter 28 goes into depth about shell programming using bash, with extensive examples.

Part VII includes appendixes on regular expressions, where to find help on the Web, system security, and free software. This part also includes an extensive glossary with over 500 entries and a comprehensive index. Supplements

My home page (www.sobell.com) contains downloadable listings of the longer programs from the book as well as pointers to many interesting and useful Linux sites on the World Wide Web, a list of corrections to the book, answers to even-numbered exercises, and a solicitation for corrections, comments, and suggestions.

0131470248P07272004

FROM THE PUBLISHER