Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed
by Tammy Fox
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed blends step-by-step instructions with just enough conceptual knowledge to help RHEL 5 administrators on a daily basis. Why another Linux book you might ask? I have been writing about Linux for years and reading Linux books for longer. When I first started learning Linux, I was frustrated with the lack of detail in most books. I would look up a topic, read all the theory and conceptual sections, and then turn the page expecting to see the actual instructions for implementing what I had read about. To my disappointment, most books didn't give these instructions. If there were instructions, they were overview steps without examples to guide me along the way, and steps were often not explained adequately.
So, I finally decided to write the Linux book I always wanted while learning Linux system administration. After a year and a half, here it is. Hopefully you will learn from it and use it as a reference from time to time. If you have any suggestions on how to make it even better, please don't hesitate to email me at tfox+rhel5book at linuxheadquarters.com.
Read the forward, a sample chapter, and the Table of Contents: samspublishing.com
Buy the book: Amazon.com | BN.com | Safari
Download files for the book: tarball | zip file
In the Press
From Jack Loftus, SearchEnterpriseLinux.com:
Tammy Fox has worn many hats in the past for Red Hat Inc., including technical writer, lead of the documents team and founding editor of Red Hat Magazine. She has also been a professional Linux writer for the past seven years. In other words, she knows Red Hat Linux.
From Neil Horman, Red Hat Magazine:
Thats where this book shines. While it's almost impossible to keep up with so many rapidly developing technologies, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed really delivers. New and newer technologies such as Kexec/kdump, Xen, Oprofile, and SystemTap really get a boost from books like this one.
This is a reference book for newer technologies in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. If you're interested in learning more about those, you will find this book an excellent addition to your reference shelf.
From James Pyles, The Linux Tutorial:
Having gone through this "Unleashed" title, I suspect it will earn a place next to these other well regarded and classic books [Linux Administration Handbook and Linux Administration: A Beginners Guide].
From ArsGeek:
There are three areas where this book shines. The first is in the coverage of SELinux. There's enough information here not just to get started but to really understand what Security Enhanced Linux is and how it is vital to any enterprise installation of Linux.
The second is the section concerning monitoring and tweaking your Kernel and other system processes. This is a great resource for any SysAdmin looking to track down a particularly meddlesome problem and also vital to securing your install.
The last (and my personal favorite) is the appendix concerning virtualization at the Kernel level using Xen. Here you'll find a very complete guide to getting multiple virtual instances of RHEL5 up and running on the same hardware with multiple processors or cores.
If your enterprise is using or will use Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 you'll want to have this book as a resource. If you're serious about honing your Linux skills and have chosen this OS to work with you'll find this book a great start.
What This Book Covers
The book is divided into six parts: Installation and Configuration, Operating System Core Concepts, System Administration, Network Services, Monitoring and Tuning, and Security.Topics covered include
- Installing on a single system or on multiple systems simultaneously with Kickstart
- Installing, updating, and removing software with YUM and Red Hat Network
- Navigating the Filesystem from the command line
- Managing storage with partitions, LVM, and RAID
- Using access control lists and disk quotas
- Managing users and groups efficiently
- Performing backups and rapid recovery
- Automating tasks with scripts and scheduling them with cron
- Setting up unified identity management services
- Administering network services for file sharing, network connectivity, an secure remote login
- Monitoring and tuning system resources, the kernel, and applications
- Protecting against security vulnerabilities with SELinux and ExecShield
- Setting up a firewall with IPTables
- Customing the Linux Auditing System
- Running multiple operating systems concurrently with Virtualization