Linux All-In-One For Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
1 Getting Started with Linux
Chapter 1 Introducing Linux
What Is Linux?
The Linux kernel
System memory management
Software program management
Hardware management
GNU utilities
Linux user interfaces
The X Window system
The KDE Plasma desktop
The GNOME desktop
The command-line interface
Linux Distributions: Why So Many?
Core Linux distributions
Specialized Linux distributions
Chapter 2 Installing Linux
Dual-Booting with Linux and Microsoft Windows
Installing a second hard drive
Partitioning an existing drive
Partitioning using Windows tools
Partitioning using Linux tools
Finally, Finally, Before You Get Started
Disabling the secure boot feature
Creating a boot disk
Creating a bootable DVD
Creating a bootable USB stick
Installing Ubuntu
Your First Ubuntu Boot
Chapter 3 Living in a Virtual World
What Are Virtual Servers?
Installing VirtualBox
Creating a Linux Virtual Machine
Installing Linux on a Virtual Machine
Changing settings
Loading the operating system
Working with the sandbox
The Machine menu
The View menu
The Input menu
The Devices menu
Chapter 4 Trying Out Linux
Starting Linux
Playing with the Shell
Starting the bash shell
Understanding shell commands
Trying a few Linux commands
Shutting Down
Chapter 5 Troubleshooting and Customizing Linux
Using Text Mode Installation
Lookin’ for Trouble
Using the kernel ring buffer
Using log files
Using the journal
Resolving Other Installation Problems
Using KNOPPIX boot commands
Handling the fatal signal 11 error
Getting around the PC reboot problem
Using Linux kernel boot options
Setting Up Printers
Managing DVDs, CD-ROMs, and Flash Drives
Updating the Operating System
Updating Ubuntu
Updating openSUSE
Installing New Software
Adding applications
Adding applications in Ubuntu
Adding applications in openSUSE
Adding packages
The Synaptic Package Manager
Installing with YaST2
2 Linux Desktops
Chapter 1 The GNOME Desktop
Looking at the History of GNOME
Breaking Down the GNOME Desktop
Menu, please!
The desktop
Exploring the Activities Overview
Customizing Your Ride
Chapter 2 The KDE Plasma Desktop
The KDE Plasma Desktop
The Application launcher
The panel
The desktop
Using Widgets
Adding widgets
Getting more widgets
Plasma System Settings
Desktop Settings
Chapter 3 Other Popular Desktops
Spicing Things Up with Cinnamon
Reviewing the history of Cinnamon
Looking at the menu
Changing settings
Adding more spice
Working with MATE
The history of MATE
Looking at the menu
Changing desktop settings
Applets
The Xfce Desktop Interface
The history of Xfce
The Whisker menu
Changing Xfce settings
Applets
Chapter 4 Linux Desktop Applications
The LibreOffice Suite
Browsing the Web with Firefox
Configuring Firefox
Communicating with Email
Evolving into email
Working with KMail
Setting up KMail
The amazing Thunderbird
Listening to Audio
Listening to downloaded music
Amarok
Rhythmbox
Viewing Movie Files
Creating and Modifying Graphics
Chapter 5 The Linux File System
Pieces of the Puzzle
Touring the Linux File System
The root of the tree
Where removable media lives
Managing Your File System without a Net (or Mouse)
Viewing information about files on the command line
Understanding file listing information
Comprehending file types
Navigating the file system in Linux
A Permissions Primer
Checking out the triplets
Beware of owners
Hanging out in groups
Clicking Your Way through the File System
Using files
Creating new directories
Opening files and running programs
Copying and moving files
Deleting files and directories
Taking out the trash
Viewing and changing permissions
Swimming with Dolphin
Don’t forget Xfce!
Finding Things
Chapter 6 Text Editors
Viewing the Contents of a Text File
Editing Text Files with nano
Going with gedit
Editing Text in the KDE Plasma Desktop
Writing with KWrite
Meet Kate
Text Editing with ed and vi
Using ed
Using vi
3 Networking
Chapter 1 Connecting to the Internet
Understanding the Internet
Deciding How to Connect to the Internet
Connecting with DSL
How DSL works
DSL alphabet soup: ADSL, IDSL, SDSL
Typical DSL setup
Connecting with a Cable Modem
How a cable modem works
Typical cable modem setup
Chapter 2 Setting Up a Local Area Network
Understanding TCP/IP
IP addresses
Internet services and port numbers
Setting Up an Ethernet LAN
How Ethernet works
Ethernet cables
Configuring TCP/IP Networking
Connecting Your LAN to the Internet
Chapter 3 Going Wireless
Understanding Wireless Ethernet Networks
Understanding infrastructure and ad hoc modes
Understanding wireless security
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
Setting Up Wireless Hardware
Configuring the Wireless Access Point
Configuring Wireless Networks
Chapter 4 Managing the Network
Configuring Network Features
Manually editing network configuration files
Using a graphical tool
Using a command-line tool
NetworkManager command-line tools
The iproute2 utilities
Basic Network Troubleshooting
Advanced Network Troubleshooting
4 Administration
Chapter 1 Working with the Shell
Opening Terminal Windows and Virtual Consoles
Using the Bash Shell
Understanding the syntax of shell commands
Working with files
Combining shell commands
Controlling command input and output
Getting command input from a file
Saving command output in a file
Saving error messages in a file
Going wild with asterisks and question marks
Discovering and Using Linux Commands
Becoming root (superuser)
Managing processes
Working with date and time
Processing files
Counting words and lines in a text file
Sorting text files
Substituting or deleting characters from a file
Splitting a file into several smaller files
Writing Shell Scripts
Chapter 2 Introducing Basic System Administration
Taking Stock of System Administration Tasks
Becoming root
Using the su - command
Using the sudo command
Understanding How Linux Boots
Understanding the SysVinit method
Examining the /etc/inittab file
Trying a new runlevel with the init command
Understanding the Linux startup scripts
Manually starting and stopping servers
Automatically starting servers at system startup
Understanding the Systemd method
Units and targets
Configuring units
Setting the default target
The systemctl program
Monitoring System Performance
Using the top utility
Using the uptime command
Using the vmstat utility
Checking disk performance and disk usage
Viewing System Information with the /proc File System
Understanding Linux Devices
Device files
Block devices
Character devices
Network devices
Persistent device naming with udev
Managing Loadable Driver Modules
Loading and unloading modules
Understanding the /etc/modprobe.d files
Scheduling Jobs in Linux
Scheduling one-time jobs
Scheduling recurring jobs
Introducing Some GUI System Administration Tools
Chapter 3 Managing Users and Groups
Adding User Accounts
Managing user accounts by using a GUI user manager
Managing user accounts by using commands
Managing Groups
Exploring the User Environment
Changing User and Group Ownership of Files
Chapter 4 Managing File Systems
Exploring the Linux File System
Understanding the file-system hierarchy
Mounting a device on the file system
Examining the /etc/fstab file
Sharing Files with NFS
Installing NFS
Exporting a file system with NFS
Mounting an NFS file system
Accessing a DOS or Windows File System
Mounting a DOS or Windows disk partition
Mounting an NTFS partition
5 Managing Linux Servers
Chapter 1 Hosting Internet Services
What Is a Linux Server?
Launching services
Running background processes
Using a super-server
Listening for clients
Serving the Basics
Web services
The Apache server
The NGINX server
The lighthttpd package
Database services
The PostgreSQL server
The MySQL server
The MariaDB server
The MongoDB server
Mail services
The mail transfer agent
The mail delivery agent
Serving Local Networks
File servers
NFS
Samba
Print servers
Network resource servers
IP addresses
Logging
Name servers
Network management
Time
Chapter 2 Managing a Web Server
Linux Web Servers
Apache
NGINX
The Apache Web Server
Installing an Apache server
Configuring an Apache server
Basic setup
Apache logs
User web hosting
Virtual web hosting
Creating a secure web server
The NGINX Server
Installing NGINX
Configuring NGINX
Chapter 3 Managing a Database Server
Using the MySQL/MariaDB Database
Installing MariaDB
Looking at the MariaDB command prompt
Using the mysql commands
Creating database objects
Creating a database
Creating a user account
Using the PostgreSQL Database
Installing PostgreSQL
Looking at the PostgreSQL command interface
Connecting to the server
The psql commands
Creating PostgreSQL database objects
Creating a database
Creating user accounts
Chapter 4 Working with Samba and NFS
Sharing Files with NFS
Installing NFS
Exporting a file system with NFS
Mounting an NFS file system
Setting Up a Windows Server Using Samba
Installing Samba
Configuring Samba
Trying out Samba
Chapter 5 Managing Mail Servers
Working with sendmail
The sendmail configuration file
The m4 macro processor
The sendmail macro file
Syntax of the sendmail.cf file
Other sendmail files
The .forward file
The sendmail alias file
Working with Postfix
A Mail-Delivery Test
Using the mail command
The mail-delivery mechanism
6 Security
Chapter 1 Introducing Linux Security
Why Worry about Security?
Establishing a Security Framework
Determining business requirements for security
Performing risk analysis
Typical threats
Typical vulnerabilities
The 1-2-3 of risk analysis (probability and effect)
Establishing a security policy
Implementing security solutions (mitigation)
Managing security
Securing Linux
Understanding the host-security issues
Understanding network-security issues
Delving Into Computer Security Terminology and Tools
Keeping Up with Security News and Updates
Chapter 2 Securing Linux
Securing Passwords
Shadow passwords
Pluggable authentication modules (PAMs)
Protecting Files and Directories
Viewing ownerships and permissions
Changing file ownerships
Changing file permissions
Setting default permission
Checking for set user ID permission
Encrypting and Signing Files with GnuPG
Understanding public key encryption
Understanding digital signatures
Using GPG
Generating the key pair
Exchanging keys
Signing a file
Encrypting and decrypting documents
Monitoring System Security
Securing Internet Services
Turning off stand-alone services
Configuring the Internet super server
Configuring TCP wrapper security
Using Secure Shell for Remote Logins
Setting Up Simple Firewalls
Using NAT
Enabling packet filtering on your Linux system
Using the security level configuration tool
Using the iptables command
Security Files to Be Aware Of
Chapter 3 Vulnerability Testing and Computer Security Audits
Understanding Security Audits
Nontechnical aspects of security audits
Technical aspects of security audits
Implementing a Security Test Methodology
Some common computer vulnerabilities
Online resources on computer vulnerabilities
Typical computer vulnerabilities
Host-security review
Operating system updates
File permissions
Password security
Incident response
Network-security review
Services started by inetd or xinetd
Stand-alone services
Penetration test
Vulnerability Testing Types
Exploring Security Testing Tools
7 Scripting
Chapter 1 Introductory Shell Scripting
Trying Out Simple Shell Scripts
Exploring the Basics of Shell Scripting
Storing stuff
Calling shell functions
Controlling the flow
Exploring bash’s built-in commands
Chapter 2 Advanced Shell Scripting
Trying Out sed
Working with awk and sed
Step 1: Pull out the ISBN
Step 2: Calculate the 13th digit
Step 3: Add the 13th digit to the other 12
Step 4: Finish the process
Final Notes on Shell Scripting
Chapter 3 Programming in Linux
An Overview of Programming
Exploring the Software-Development Tools in Linux
GNU C and C++ compilers
Using GCC
Compiling C++ programs
Exploring GCC options
The GNU make utility
Makefile names
The makefile
Variables (or macros)
A sample makefile
How to run make
The GNU debugger
Preparing to debug a program
Running gdb
Finding bugs by using gdb
Fixing bugs in gdb
Understanding the Implications of GNU Licenses
The GNU General Public License
The GNU Library General Public License
8 Linux Certification
Chapter 1 Studying for the Linux Professional Institute Exams
Overview of LPI Certification Exams
Overview of the Linux Essentials Exam
Getting involved in the Linux community and finding a career in open source
Finding your way on a Linux system
The power of the command line
The Linux operating system
Security and file permissions
Overview of the Linux Professionals Exams
The LPIC-1 exams
The LPIC-2 exams
The LPIC-3 exams
Chapter 2 Studying for the CompTIA Linux+ Exam
Overview of the CompTIA Linux+ Exam
System Management
Security
Scripting, Containers, and Automation
Troubleshooting
Chapter 3 Other Linux Certifications
Vendor-Neutral Certifications
The Linux Foundation
The GIAC Certifications
Vendor-Specific Certifications
Index
EULA