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System Administration

List of articles about Linux system administration.

• Book review: The Linux Enterprise Cluster
  A review of the book "The Linux Enterprise Cluster" from No Starch press.

• LF Tip: USB mice and laptops
  How to get a USB mouse to work without restarting the X-server process.

• LF tip: Using Acrobat 7 with kde and kprinter
  How to work around a bug in acroread version 7

• LF Tip: Don't beep at me
  How to quickly stop your linux computer from beeping.

• Wireless LAN under Linux
  In this article, the author talks about driver installation and usage of some common Wireless LAN adapters and related issues such as authentication based on 802.1x methods.

• Checkinstall
  Checkinstall is utility to automatically build RPM/Debian/Slackware packages from tar.gz source pages. This makes it possible to do a "clean" installation and de-installation of almost any source code tar.gz package.

• An introduction to SPF
  SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework an antiforgery standard to prevent the forging of e-mail addresses.

• darkstat - a network traffic analyser
  In this article we present the network traffic analyzer "darkstat". We cover installation, start and usage of this program.

  
  
• vsftpd - an introduction to the Very Secure FTP Daemon
  This article gives a basic introduction to the "Very Secure FTP Daemon". I am beginning with a general description of FTP and vsftpd. After that we will have a look at the installation, configuration and start options of the vsftp daemon.

• Data loss, worst case
  A real-life case of data loss with a happy end, thanks to reiserfsck. Three cheers for journaling file systems and their tools.

• shivalik -- simple configuration backup (defying Murphy's laws)
  There are a whole lot of HOWTOs out there which tell you what to do if you have a serious problem with your Linux installation. Good for us. But there is no one there who told you what you should do before disaster strikes you!

• Gentoo linux
  Gentoo Linux is a source package based Linux system. It is very different from the established commercial Linux distributions.

• Colorful shells -- Using ANSI color codes
  This article explains how to use colors or bold text in a Terminal.

• uucpssh.org: UUCP e-mail for Linux fans
  In the windows world incomming mails are received via POP3 or IMAP and outgoing mails are sent directly via SMTP. This split setup can cause all kind of headaches especially if you are using different ISPs all the time.

• Rsync: The Best Backup System Ever
  Backup is one of the hardest and most neglected parts of system administration. This article presents a very easy solution based on rsync.

• storeBackup, the unconventional backup tool
  storeBackup is a very versatile backup tool.

• 8cm-Multiboot-CDROM with modified Knoppix linux
  This is an instruction how to make your own bootable mini CD.

• IDS - Intrusion Detection System, part II
  In this article we present methods to detect an intrusion and explain possibilities to respond to such and attack.

• Packet filtering with Linux
  How to setup a basic firewall

• Accessing PostgreSQL through JDBC via a Java SSL tunnel
  This article shows how to set up JDBC access for PostgreSQL on redhat 8.0 and how to create a SSL tunnel using Sun's Java Secured Socket Extensions, to enable secured access to a remote postgres database.

• External attacks
  This article presents the different types of external attacks that a cracker can use.

• Automating system administration with ssh and scp
  This article demonstrates the usage of ssh and scp commands to automate system administration jobs, such as installing and configuring software on Linux systems.

• Intrusion detection with Debian GNU/Linux
  The article presents techniques and the tools for Debian GNU/Linux to detect and track people wo broke into your computer network.

• Secure your connections with SSH
  This article is an in depth description of SSH.

• Installation of a LAMP-Systems
  LAMP is an abbreviation for Linux Apache MySQL PHP. In this article you will learn how to install a Webserver based on LAMP.

• Root-kit and integrity
  This article presents the different operations a cracker can do after having succeeded in entering a machine. We will also discuss what an administrator can do to detect that the machine has been jeopardized.

• FreeBSD, another alternative
  This article is an overview over another free Unix system: FreeBSD

• Viruses : a concern for all of us
  Viruses, Worms and Trojan Horses could also be a threat to Linux.

• Receiving faxes with efax
  Setting up Efax to send and receive faxes on RedHat 7.2.

• Replacing a Windows NT/2000 server using Linux and SAMBA
  This article is is focused on a Linux system with SAMBA in order to run some services, typically provided by Windows operating systems.

• How to secure an heterogeneous network with free tools
  Security in computers networks is probably one of the biggest technology challenges of the 21st century. This article provides a general overview over the most important aspects.

• Introduction to cryptography
  This article expains what cryptography is and how it works.

• Using the Minolta Dimage 5 camera under Linux
  This is a short description on how to setup the usb drivers for the Minolta Dimage 5/7 cameras under Linux

• Setting up a Squid-Proxy Server
  A proxy server can help to speed up an internet connection.

• Linux System Administration - A User's Guide (Book Review)
  This is a review of the book titled "Linux System Administration - A User's Guide" by Marcel Gagne. The book has 532 pages and 26 chapters that cover installation, daemons, run-levels,file systems, password policy, kernel building, printing, devices, backups, network administration, secure computing, and more.

• Chrooting all services in Linux
  Chrooted system services improve security by limiting damage that someone who broke into the system can possibly do

• MosixView, a management-GUI for MOSIX-cluster
  This article describes a management GUI for the MOSIX-Cluster technologie (www.mosix.org)

• Nessus : another brick in the (security) wall
  Nessus is more than a single security scanner

• E-mail over UUCP: The professional solution for dialup users
  UUCP is an old protocol but it is very good to handle E-mail over dialup connections.

• Psionic Portsentry 1.1, the defender of the ports
  Port scan detection and active defense

• Through the tunnel
  Using free SSH with external applications on different OSes

• Realtime data mirroring on Linux
  This article will explain on how to set an inexpensive real.time data replication system on Linux without need of special hardware. This kind of replication will be especially useful for ISPs or webhosts.

• Using different ISPs for your Internet access
  In this article we develop configuration files to easily change between a number of different Internet Service Providers. We extend the configuration not only to one PC but to a whole network using IP masquerading. A DNS proxy will be used to make the changing DNS IP addresses invisible inside the masqueraded network.

• Security holes - part IV
  This fourth article deals with format strings security holes

• Security tools
  Free tools to harden your systems

• High Availability systems under Linux
  What is High Availability, why it is important and how to implement it using Linux.

• Samba Configuration
  This article describes the configuration of Linux-samba, a server needed to control domains of networks based on MS-windows machines. Examples given here are based on Debian GNU/Linux and Samba 2.0.7

• xinetd - extended Internet services daemon
  xinetd - extended Internet services daemon - provides an excellent security against the intrusions, and limit certain risks of attacks by Deny of Services ( DoS ). It allows, just like the most known pair ( inetd + tcpd ), to set access control to a computer, but its capacities extend well beyond. This article proposes you to discover them.

• Building Scalable ISPs with opensource softwares
  In my last article, I introduced you to using LDAP on Linux. In this article, we will build a scalable ISP that can scale from one to any number of backend machines. The backbone of setting up this ISP is LDAP.

• Learning with nmap
  nmap is a security scanner

• Bastille Linux
  Available by the beginning of june,version 1.1 of Bastille-Linux is not a new Linux Distribution but a set of security scripts. The authors have adopted a very pedagogic approach and one can learn a lot simply installing these scripts.

• Network File System (NFS)
  Network File System (NFS) is a tool to manage files spread among several computers on a network as if they were on the same local machine. So, the final user does not have to worry of the exact location of its own files in order to access them.

• Yellow Pages (Part III)
  In this last article about NIS, we explain how to install a NIS server. We will see which programs are used, configuration files and the building of the database.

• Yellow Pages (Part II)
  My previous article was an introduction to the yellow pages and RPCs. This one explains how to configure a NIS client, how this client works and a small introduction to the different tools coming with NIS. Finally, we'll have a few words about NIS+

• Installing Debian packages of LinuxFocus
  Article on how to install the Debian package of LinuxFocus.

• Using LDAP under Linux
  This article will talk about the benefits of deploying LDAP in an organization and how to implement it on Linux.

• Slackware 7.0 part II: Configuration Guide
  After the installation in the first part, the author now describes some basic configuration tasks in his now favorite Linux distribution. He explains how to configure X, how to compile a kernel (and how to use it with lilo), how to do user account management, how to dial in to internet and how to give your system some basic security.

• Virtual Network Computing
  The dream of the network administrator come true

• Slackware 7.0 part I: Installation Guide
  The author describes in detail the installation of the Slackware 7.0 Linux distribution. This article is written for beginners.

• Setting up IP-Masquerading
  IP-Masquerading provides the possibility to connect several computers to the Internet using a computer running Linux with just one public IP address.

• Building DHCP automatically
  This article explains how to configure easily DHCP on a network.

• Yellow Pages
  The Network Information Service (NIS) manages a data base on server. Each computer on a network running a NIS client NIS can then poll the server for informations (login name,password, users and groups informations, ...).

• Using Apache ProxyPass to access servers behind a Masquerading
  This article demonstrates how to make a webserver behind a firewall available on the internet without changing rules on your firewall or compromising security.

• Automount and autofs
  Automount and autofs are powerful tools and ease file systems management.

• Home Networking, glossary and overview
  This article explains hardware and networking terminology

• VXE, a Linux security tool
  Serge Lozovsky presents a software package that he developed to make UNIX systems more secure.

• Sendmail and Fetchmail: A local mail server.
  Sendmail is a powerful but complex software. This article explains how to configure sendmail and fetchmail for use on a typical home computer.

• Recycling Ip Addresses with Apache
  This article demonstrates how to serve multiple virtual web servers using the same Ip address with Apache on Unix/Linux.

• How to remove windows
  This article describes how to remove Windows and give the disk space to Linux without re-installing it

• Japanese on Linux Part I
  This article takes a brief overview at how to make your Linux system Japanese-capable.

• Enabling Chinese on Linux
  This brief article describes how to enable Chinese locale on a "standard" Linux box.

• An Introduction to Network Booting and Etherboot
  An advanced article that explains how to bootstrap your computer from a program stored in non-volatile memory without accessing your hard disk.

• TCPD and Firewalls using IPFWADM
  This article describes very briefly how to configure the inetd services in order to improve security on your system. We concentrate in the of the tool IPFWADM to administer and configure inetd services

• Adding Security to Common Linux Distributions
  How to modify a Linux distribution out of the box to get better security.

• Introduction to DNS
  You may have wondered what happens behind the scenes in Netscape after you enter a URL. This article will help you to understand the name-lookup process.

• The X Display Manager
  The X Display Manager runs as a daemon on a host machine and manages multiple X displays.

• Building, Installing and Configuring sendmail 8.8.x
  This is a copy of a Mini HOWTO on sendmail

• Network Management and Monitoring with Linux
  Some handy tools for managing today's ubiquitous networks