Beginning the
Linux Command Line
Sander van Vugt
Beginning the Linux Command Line
Copyright © 2009 by Sander van Vugt
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iii
Contents at a Glance
About the Author ..................................................................xiii
About the Technical Reviewer ......................................................xv
Introduction ..................................................................... xvii
CHAPTER 1 Starting Linux Command-Line Administration .....................1
CHAPTER 2 Performing Essential Command-Line Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
CHAPTER 3 Administering the Linux File System ............................47
CHAPTER 4 Working with Text Files .........................................69
CHAPTER 5 Managing Partitions and Logical Volumes .......................91
CHAPTER 6 Managing Users and Groups ...................................133
CHAPTER 7 Managing Permissions ........................................163
CHAPTER 8 Managing Software ...........................................179
CHAPTER 9 Process and System Management .............................197
CHAPTER 10 System Logging ...............................................217
CHAPTER 11 Configuring the Network .......................................237
CHAPTER 12 Configuring a File Server ......................................277
CHAPTER 13 Working with the Kernel .......................................299
CHAPTER 14 Introduction to Bash Shell Scripting ............................319
APPENDIX Installing Linux ................................................353
INDEX .......................................................................361
v
Contents
About the Author ..................................................................xiii
About the Technical Reviewer ......................................................xv
Introduction ..................................................................... xvii
CHAPTER 1 Starting Linux Command-Line Administration .............1
Linux Distributions ................................................1
Linux History ................................................1
Open Source ................................................2
The First Distributions ........................................2
Linux Turning Mainstream ....................................2
Logging In and Out ...............................................4
Different Login Interfaces .....................................5
Working with a User Account ..................................7
Command-Line Basics ............................................8
The Command Interpreter ....................................9
Commands, Options, and Arguments ...........................9
Piping and Redirection ...........................................12
Piping .....................................................12
Redirection ................................................14
Getting Help ....................................................16
Using man to Get Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Using the --help Option ......................................19
Getting Information on Installed Packages .....................20
Working with the Shell ...........................................20
Using the Shell to Best Effect .................................21
Managing Bash with Key Sequences ..........................25
Summary .......................................................26
