Linux Server Hacks (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: authentication source, ssh client keys, using vtun, Information Servers, Server Basics, Revision Control (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is such fun, that it has become a great way to test the memory and knowledge of other admins with quickfire questions over a drink. Overall the book is an excellent source of quick fixes for common problems." Linux Magazine, August 2003 "Definitely one for the bookshelf." Computer Shopper, March 2004

Product Description

Setting up and maintaining a Linux server requires understanding not only the hardware, but the ins and outs of the Linux operating system along with its supporting cast of utilities as well as layers of applications software. There's basic documentation online but there's a lot beyond the basics you have to know, and this only comes from people with hands-on, real-world experience. This kind of "know how" is what we sought to capture in Linux Server Hacks. Linux Server Hacks is a collection of 100 industrial-strength hacks, providing tips and tools that solve practical problems for Linux system administrators. Every hack can be read in just a few minutes but will save hours of searching for the right answer. Some of the hacks are subtle, many of them are non-obvious, and all of them demonstrate the power and flexibility of a Linux system. You'll find hacks devoted to tuning the Linux kernel to make your system run more efficiently, as well as using CVS or RCS to track the revision to system files. You'll learn alternative ways to do backups, how to use system monitoring tools to track system performance and a variety of secure networking solutions. Linux Server Hacks also helps you manage large-scale Web installations running Apache, MySQL, and other open source tools that are typically part of a Linux system. O'Reilly's new Hacks Series proudly reclaims the term "hacking" for the good guys. Hackers use their ingenuity to solve interesting problems.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (January 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596004613
• ISBN-13: 978-0596004613
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,342 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems > Linux > Servers
  #6 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Security & Encryption > Linux Security
  #8 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > Web Servers > Apache

• This item is part of The O'Reilly Hacks Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Linux Server Hacks, October 7, 2003

By A Customer

This well written guidebook covers a hundred real-life time saving scripts and command-line magic.
Everything your local *nix guru knows that you don't; narrow the gap!

Highlights include CVS commands, creating unchangeable files (even by root!), filtering
and organizing apache log files (for example, listing the top 20 broken links, sorted
and numbered by frequency of occurrence), modifying the titlebar to display load average,
host, current directory, etc., ntop and httptop and much more.

I've been using *nix for 6 years now, and I found this book both a refreshing review of
previously known concepts as well as a great introduction to some new utilities and tools.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An ax worth having, June 29, 2003

By	Ales Kavsek (Ljubljana, Slovenia) - See all my reviews

I can't help myself not to begin this review with a big *thanks* to O'Reilly for choosing Linux to launch this new series.
First thing that crossed my mind after opening this tiny book, was a notion of close resemblance with another O'Reilly book that I read recently, "Unix Power Tools". Book is organized in almost identical way, short articles (anything from a page or two, to several pages) that are presented with a clear writing style, examples and efficient layout. Articles are cross-referenced in such a way that you can easily start reading the book from whatever end you wish.
The hacks that I like the most are those in chapters on Server Basics, Backups, SSH and Information Servers (BIND, Apache, MySQL, OpenSSL). If you're hardcore Linux sysadmin you'll probably appreciate hacks in other chapters too; Networking, Revision Control and Monitoring. For me, the most challenging hacks in this book are the ones that deal with tunneling (IPIP/GRE encapsulation, vtun over SSH), due to complete lack of experience on my side, otherwise I found the book well worth the price and time to read, even if you'll end up with only one or two implemented hacks in your production environment. (If I could only say this more often in my reviews :-).
Keep in mind, this is not the book that'll likely collect the dust on your bookshelf after you'll read it. Mine is always close to the Linux box that I manage (in a good company with already mentioned "Unix Power Tools").

I'm really looking forward to other books from O'Reilly Hacks series, what about 100 hacks on Oracle, MySQL, regular expressions "one liners" (with sed, awk, grep, perl...), Windows NT...

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Addition to your Desk, March 14, 2003

By	Eater (Columbus, GA) - See all my reviews

Those who love UNIX (and UNIX-inspired operating systems) will surely
adore Linux Server Hacks by Rob Flickenger. For decades, a mysterious
sect of bearded wizards has dominated the inner sanctums of our
network infrastructures, inspiring the awe of onlookers by crafting
clever scripts and piping output in ingenious ways most of us never
even thought of. This small but marvelous book attempts to steer
apprentice wizards in the noble direction of clever system
administration, with examples taken from experience in O'Reilly's own
LAMP networks.

The book begins with a refreshing introduction (by esr) detailing what
it means to be a hacker. No, not the hax0ring w4r3z d00dz of frequent
media attention, but the aforementioned bearded variety who spend most
of their waking effort forging uncommon techniques for solving
otherwise dull problems. Kudos to Mr. Flickenger (and O'Reilly) for
not only acknowledging the difference, but celebrating it.

As the title would indicate, the audience of this book is the
administrator in charge of a server--that is, a Linux box performing
only a couple of dedicated tasks, probably of a network-oriented
nature. Although Linux enthusiasts from the desktop realm are not part
of the intended audience, they will almost certainly pick up a thing
or two from the material anyway.

The book is organized into the following sections:
* Sever Basics is a variety of general purpose tips that don't fit
into the other major categories. Some of the more interesting
items include:
+ Persistent daemons with init
+ Building complex command lines
+ Using xargs with tricky arguments
+ Effectively using sudo
+ Makefiles for automating administrative tasks
I think the real magic of this chapter isn't necessarily the tips
themselves, but the creative process behind them; the author is
demonstrating a methodology for dealing with common problems by
introducing clever solutions. This will ideally inspire the reader
to deal with other problems in the same creative manner.
* Revision Control. Servers with multiple administrators may benefit
from using a revision control system to handle changes to
configuration files. This section illustrates using RCS, with
examples of checking config files in and out of the system. This
provides a segway into using CVS for controlling revision of large
software projects.
* Backups becoming a nuisance? Approach them from a new angle by
implementing some of the tips from this chapter. Examples
including automated incremental backups over tar, rsync, and ssh;
archiving with pax; and even some very creative (if not a little
scary) ideas like piping your backups over ssh directly into
cdrecord. The UNIX philosophy is illustrated well: simple tools
working well together as an efficient solution.
* The Networking chapter covers material that is no doubt already
familiar to security-conscious Linux users. However, iptables
newbies (or those transitioning from ipf or pf) will appreciate
the netfilter primer and discussion of masquerading (NAT) and TCP
port forwarding. Some tunneling and encapsulation techniques are
also detailed here.
* Monitoring details the use of syslog, and a great deal more.
Networking aspects are given ample attention, without any
redundant information in respect to the previous chapter. Some
simple tips are given (like using lsof to track down elusive
processes) as well as more advanced ideas (like a short shell
script to perform an IP fail-over.)
* SSH tips: are you still tapping out a password every time you hop
to a new machine? If you administrate more than a few, this can be
distracting and tedious. This chapter illustrates some of the
inner beauty beneath SSH's surface functionality.
* Scripting details a handful of ways to make your command-line life
a bit easier.
* Information Servers (like BIND, MySQL, and Apache servers) are the
topic of the final chapter, with an emphasis on commercial web
administration. Certificates, load distribution, and flexible
Apache configurations are just a few examples of the items
covered. Although administrators of mid-to-high-traffic servers
are given special attention, those of you who run a humble Apache
box from the broom-closet will find plenty of useful information
as well.

For someone already familiar with the basics, Linux Server Hacks is a
fun way to spend an afternoon tinkering with Linux machines. Truly
expert administrators may find very little new information in this
book, but the sheer number of tips (and breadth of topics) would make
it difficult not to learn at least a couple of shortcuts... and that
makes it a worthwhile read for anybody.

I'm eagerly looking forward to more titles from the Hack series. This
title is available online from O'Reilly and Safari[1].

[1] No, I don't work for O'Reilly. I do think their books are
excellent, however, and would love to see their Safari service thrive!