Learning Red Hat Linux, Third Edition

Book description

The Linux success story is well known: firmly established as an operating system in widespread use, its worldwide installations are still increasing at phenomenal rates. Much of this success has been on the server side, but more and more PC users are turning to Linux on the desktop, as well. For those grounded in Microsoft Windows or older versions of Apple's Macintosh OS, the first look at Unix-style operating system can be daunting. Learning Red Hat Linux provides a clear, no-nonsense introduction to the popular Red Hat distribution of Linux. The third edition of Learning Red Hat Linux will ease into the world of Linux, guiding you through the process of installing and running Red Hat Linux on your PC. Written in a friendly, easy-to-understand style, this book contains all you need to get started, including the complete Red Hat 8.0 distribution on CDs. With new tutorials covering OpenOffice Tools and the desktop, this book is excellent for first-time Linux users who want to install the operating system on a new PC or convert an existing system to Linux. Highlights of the book include:

  • Preparing your system for installing Linux

  • Installing and configuring your Linux system and the two popular desktop environments, GNOME and KDE

  • Linux fundamentals: understanding the basic concepts

  • Using Linux productivity tools like Open Office

  • Configuring and administering a multi-user Linux system

  • Connecting to the Internet

  • Burn CDs and sync a PalmPilot

  • Setting up a networked workstation

  • Setting up Internet services

  • Understand and write shell scripts so you can peek under the hood and extend the power of Linux

Since the release of its first edition, Learning Red Had Linux has guided many a PC user into the world of Linux. By the time you've finished this book, you'll have set your computer to create nicely formatted documents, spreadsheets or even graphically appealing presentations, integrated your computer into your local network, set up your e-mail, and even accessed the Internet using the ISP of your choice. You'll need nothing else to get started.

Table of contents

  1. Learning Red Hat Linux, 3rd Edition
    1. Preface
      1. Organization of This Book
      2. Sources of Information
        1. Red Hat’s Web Site
        2. Linux Documentation Project Guides
        3. Documentation Available via the Web
        4. Documentation Available Commercially
        5. Linux Journal and Linux Magazine
        6. Online Linux Support
        7. Linux User Groups (LUGs)
        8. Other Web Sites
      3. Conventions Used in This Book
        1. Path Notation
        2. Keyboard Accelerators
      4. How to Contact Us
      5. Acknowledgments
    2. 1. Why Run Linux?
      1. What Is Linux?
        1. Desktop and Server Operating Systems
        2. How Linux Is Different
        3. The Origins of Linux
        4. Free Software
        5. The Linux Kernel
        6. The X Window System
        7. Linux Distributions
        8. Linux Features and Performance
      2. Reasons to Choose or Not Choose Linux
    3. 2. Preparing to Install Red Hat Linux
      1. Minimum Hardware Requirements
        1. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
        2. Motherboard
        3. Drives
      2. Collecting Information About Your System
        1. Information You Need
        2. Collecting Configuration Information from Windows
      3. Installation Types
        1. Personal Desktop Installation
        2. Workstation Installation
        3. Server Installation
        4. Custom Installation
      4. Preparing Your Hard Disk
        1. How Hard Disks Are Organized
        2. Viewing Disk Partitions
          1. Using fdisk (Windows 95/98)
          2. Using the Disk Management tool (Windows 2000/XP)
        3. Obtaining Sufficient Disk Space
          1. Installing a new disk drive
          2. Identifying an unused partition
          3. Shrinking a partition
    4. 3. Installing Red Hat Linux
      1. Installing the Operating System and Applications
      2. Start the Installation
        1. Creating a Boot Floppy
        2. Boot the Installation Program
        3. The Installation Program’s User Interface
        4. Use Virtual Consoles to Monitor the Installation
        5. Choose the Installation Language
        6. Select the Keyboard Type
        7. Select the Mouse Type
        8. Select the Installation Type
        9. Create Partitions
          1. Manual disk partitioning
          2. What to add
            1. Create the swap partition
            2. Create the /boot partition
            3. Create the / partition
          3. Editing a partition
          4. Deleting a partition
          5. Starting over
          6. Saving your changes
        10. Configure the Boot Loader
        11. Configure Networking
        12. Configure the Language
        13. Configure the System Clock
        14. Configure User Accounts and Authentication
        15. Select Packages
        16. Install Packages
        17. Create a Boot Floppy
        18. Configure Video
          1. Identifying your system’s monitor
          2. Selecting custom graphics options
        19. Complete the Installation
      3. The Setup Agent
      4. Logging into GNOME
      5. Getting Help
        1. Failed Graphical Login
        2. Additional Resources
    5. 4. How Linux Works
      1. User Accounts
      2. How Linux Organizes Data
        1. Devices
        2. Filesystems
        3. Directories and Paths
          1. Home and working directories
          2. The directory tree
          3. Absolute and relative pathnames
        4. File Permissions
        5. Mounting and Unmounting Filesystems
      3. Using X
        1. Window Managers
        2. Desktop Environments
          1. GNOME
          2. KDE
        3. Keyboard Operations
          1. Switching video modes
          2. Using virtual consoles
          3. Terminating X
        4. Terminal Windows and Pop-up Menus
        5. Mouse Operations
          1. Copying and pasting text
          2. Using scrollbars
        6. Virtual Desktop
    6. 5. Using the GNOME and KDE Desktops
      1. Using the GNOME Desktop
        1. The GNOME Desktop
          1. Pager
          2. Home Directory icon
          3. Drive icons
          4. Start Here icon
          5. Trash icon
        2. The GNOME Panel
        3. Using Nautilus
        4. Using GNOME Terminal
        5. Configuring GNOME
          1. The GNOME panel
          2. The GNOME Start Here facility
        6. GNOME Resources
      2. Using the KDE Desktop
        1. The KDE Desktop
          1. Start Here icon
          2. Home Directory icon
          3. Drive icons
          4. Trash icon
          5. The KDE Panel
        2. Using Konqueror
        3. Using KDE Terminal
        4. Configuring KDE
          1. The KDE Panel
          2. The KDE Control Center
          3. Adding an application link
        5. KDE Resources
    7. 6. Using Linux Applications
      1. OpenOffice.org
        1. Writer: The OpenOffice.org Word Processor
        2. Calc: The OpenOffice.org Spreadsheet
        3. Draw: The OpenOffice.org Drawing Program
        4. Impress: The OpenOffice.org Presentation Manager
      2. Evolution
      3. Pilot/Handspring Tool
      4. CD Writer
    8. 7. Conquering the bash Shell
      1. Issuing Shell Commands
        1. Correcting Commands
      2. Working with the Linux Command Prompt
        1. Commands and Arguments
        2. Getting Help
          1. Using man
          2. Using apropos
        3. Using Commands That Work with Directories
          1. Displaying the working directory
          2. Changing the working directory
          3. Displaying directory contents
          4. Creating a directory
          5. Removing a directory
        4. Working with Files
          1. Displaying the contents of a file
          2. Removing a file
          3. Copying a file
          4. Renaming or moving a file
          5. Finding a file
          6. Printing a file
          7. Working with compressed files
          8. Working with links
          9. Working with file permissions
          10. Running programs
        5. Mounting and Unmounting Drives
        6. Formatting a Floppy Disk
      3. Useful Linux Programs
        1. Viewing System Information
        2. Using the pico Editor
    9. 8. Installing Software Using the RPM Package Manager
      1. The Package Management Tool
        1. Installing Package Groups and Packages
        2. Removing Package Groups and Packages
        3. Installing Packages from the Hard Disk
      2. The redhat-install-packages Command
      3. The rpm Command
        1. General rpm Options
      4. Querying the RPM Database
      5. Installing a Package
        1. Package Is Already Installed
        2. Conflicting File
        3. Failed Dependency
      6. Uninstalling a Package
      7. Updating a Package
      8. Freshening a Package
      9. Advanced RPM Techniques
      10. Red Hat Network
        1. Using Red Hat Network
          1. Signing up
          2. Creating a system profile
          3. Updating your system
    10. 9. Configuring and Administering Linux
      1. Configuring Red Hat Linux by Using the System Settings Menu
        1. Setting Up X Logins
        2. Configuring a Printer
        3. Changing the Root User Password
        4. Configuring Sound
        5. User and Group Administration
          1. Modifying a user account
          2. Adding a new user
          3. Deleting a user account
          4. Configuring groups
        6. Switching Desktops
      2. Administering Red Hat Linux by Using the System Tools Menu
        1. Managing Disks
        2. Browsing Hardware Devices
        3. Monitoring the System
        4. Viewing System Logs
      3. Administering Services by Using the Server Settings Menu
        1. Associating Services with Runlevels
        2. Starting and Stopping Services
        3. Hardening Your System
    11. 10. Connecting to the Internet
      1. Networking Overview
      2. Configuring an Internet Connection
        1. Setting Up Hardware Devices
          1. Setting up a dialup modem
          2. Setting up an ISDN modem
          3. Setting up an xDSL modem
          4. Setting up an Ethernet adapter
          5. Setting up a wireless adapter
        2. Specifying DNS Settings and Hostnames
        3. Activating the Device
      3. The Mozilla Web Browser
      4. gFTP FTP Client
      5. Using wvdial
        1. The /etc/wvdial.conf File
      6. Configuring Linux to Use a Cable or DSL Modem
    12. 11. Setting Up a Networked Workstation
      1. Configuring Hosts
      2. Samba
        1. Installing the Samba Server
        2. Configuring Samba
          1. Configuring global variables
          2. Configuring file share parameters
          3. Configuring printer share parameters
        3. Viewing Samba Server Status
        4. Viewing Samba Server Configuration
        5. Managing Users and Passwords
        6. Starting and Stopping Samba
        7. Troubleshooting Samba
        8. Samba Client Configuration and Use
          1. Windows client
          2. Linux client
          3. Using the Linux Samba client for file backup and recovery
      3. Setting Up a DHCP Server
        1. Installing the DHCP Server
        2. Configuring the DHCP Service
        3. Starting the DHCP Service
        4. Configuring DHCP Clients
    13. 12. Setting Up Internet Services
      1. Running an FTP Server
        1. Installing and Starting the FTP Server
        2. Testing the FTP Server
        3. Securing Your FTP Server
      2. Running Apache
        1. Installing Apache
        2. Configuring Apache
        3. Starting and Stopping Apache
        4. Creating Web Pages
      3. The Secure Shell
        1. Installing SSH
        2. Using SSH
        3. Using a Windows SSH Client
        4. Protocol Tunneling
      4. Configuring DNS
      5. Implementing a Basic Firewall
        1. Configuring the Firewall
        2. Controlling the Firewall
        3. Configuring IP Masquerading
      6. Checking Your Security by Using Nmap
      7. Network Security Tips
    14. 13. Advanced Shell Usage and Shell Scripts
      1. The Power of the Unix Shell
      2. Filename Globbing
      3. Shell Aliases
      4. Using Virtual Consoles
        1. Logging In
        2. Logging Out
      5. X and the Shell
        1. Configuring a Nongraphical Login
        2. Starting and Stopping X from a Text-Based Login
      6. Shell Scripts
        1. Input/Output Redirection and Piping
        2. Shell Variables
        3. The Search Path
        4. Quoted Strings
      7. Understanding Shell Scripts
        1. Processing Arguments
        2. Exit Codes
        3. Conditional Logic
          1. The test command
          2. The if command
          3. The case command
          4. The while command
          5. The until command
          6. The for command
          7. The break and continue commands
        4. Periscope: A Useful Networking Script
        5. Using Periscope
    15. A. Linux Directory Tree
    16. B. Principal Linux Files
    17. C. Managing the Boot Process
      1. Booting Linux
      2. Boot Floppies
        1. Creating a Boot Floppy
        2. Using a Boot Floppy
      3. The GRUB Loader
      4. Boot Parameters
        1. General Boot Arguments
        2. RAM Disk Boot Arguments
        3. SCSI Host Adapter Boot Arguments
        4. IDE Hard Drive and CD-ROM Boot Arguments
        5. Non-IDE CD-ROM Drive Boot Arguments
        6. Floppy Drive Boot Arguments
        7. Bus Mouse Boot Arguments
        8. Parallel Port Printer Boot Arguments
        9. Loadable Ethernet Drivers
        10. Dynamically Loading a Modular Driver
        11. Loading Modular Drivers at Boot Time
        12. Administering Modular Drivers
    18. D. Linux Command Quick Reference
    19. Index
    20. Colophon

Product information

  • Title: Learning Red Hat Linux, Third Edition
  • Author(s): Bill McCarty
  • Release date: March 2003
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596004699