Linux Troubleshooting Bible [Paperback]

Christopher Negus (Author), Thomas Weeks (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 076456997X | ISBN-13: 978-0764569975 | Publication Date: July 30, 2004 | Edition: 1

* An indispensable resource for Fedora users who must now work without customer support from Red Hat, Inc., covering critical troubleshooting techniques for networks, internal servers, and external servers
* Chris Negus is a well-known Linux authority and also the author of the top-selling Red Hat Linux Bible (0-7645-4333-4); Thomas Weeks is a trainer and administrator who manages hundreds of Red Hat Linux systems
* Covers all of the most common Fedora problem areas: firewalls, DNS servers, print servers, Samba, NFS, Web servers, FTP servers, e-mail servers, modems, adding hardware, and hardware certification
* Features easy-to-use flowcharts that guide administrators step by step through common Fedora troubleshooting scenarios
* A companion Web site offers troubleshooting updates to keep pace with the frequent Fedora Core releases as well as a forum for exchanging troubleshooting tips

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

If something goes wrong, roll up your sleeves, then troubleshoot and fix Linux yourself!

Commercial support packages for Linux can be expensive. This unique book gives you the power to diagnose and fix a wide range of Linux problems. Using Fedora Core Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux examples, Thomas Weeks and bestselling Red Hat Linux Bible author Christopher Negus offer you scores of step-by-step procedures and tools to resolve Linux hardware incompatibilities and system conflicts commonly encountered in workstation, server and networking environments.

Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of Linux troubleshooting

• Prevent failures with install-time troubleshooting
• Formulate solid backup and recovery strategies
• Automate, secure, and provision both client and server systems
• Create intrusion detection systems and firewalls
• Diagnose and resolve driver issues for video cards, modems, and other hardware
• Deal with file system corruption using emergency boot environments
• Perform server-side configuration and trouble-shooting of BIND9/DNS, Samba, NFS, FTP, Web (Apache), Mail (Sendmail/Postfix), printing (CUPS), and other servers
• Find special sections on Debian and SUSE troubleshooting techniques

About the Author

Christopher Negus is the author of Red Hat Linux Bible (all editions), Linux Toys, and dozens of other books on Linux and UNIX systems. Chris began his career writing about UNIX systems at AT& T more than two decades ago. His work with AT& T included an 8-year run with Bell Laboratories and UNIX System Laboratories, where he worked directly with the developers of the UNIX System V operating system. Later, Chris followed the UNIX source code to Novell, Inc., in Utah, where he helped develop UnixWare documentation and wrote several books on UNIX and UnixWare.

Thomas (“Tweeks”) Weeks holds a BS-EET/Telecom degree from Texas A& M, has worked for several large government and IT/security contractors in the positions of Test and Integration lab coordinator and general sysadmin, sysadmin technical trainer and course developer, as well as electrical and systems engineer. He has been working with Rackspace Managed Hosting since 1999 in the roles of Sys-Admin, Corporate Technical Trainer, and has acted as liaison between customer support/security/product/engineering departments. Tweeks has also been president of the San Antonio user group, X-otic Computer Systems of San Antonio (xcssa.org) since 1996.

Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (July 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076456997X
• ISBN-13: 978-0764569975
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Negus has been one of the world's leading writers of Linux books for nearly a decade. His Red Hat Linux Bible series has sold more than one-quarter million copies worldwide. Chris also authored or coauthored the books Linux Bible (2005 through 2007 editions), Linux Toys, Linux Toys II, and Linux Troubleshooting Bible for Wiley Publishing. For Prentice Hall, Chris is the editor of the Negus Live Linux Series and author of that series' flagship book, Live Linux CDs. Before becoming a full-time author, Chris Negus worked on UNIX operating system development teams at AT&T Bell Labs, UNIX System Labs, and Novell in the 1980s and 1990s. In particular, Chris worked in the areas of UNIX system administration and networking. When not working on computer books, Chris likes to spend time with his family: Sheree, Seth, and Caleb. Chris also enjoys playing soccer, singing opera (when nobody can hear him), and making things out of old computers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a RHCE, Sys admin, and Linux daily user., November 30, 2004

By 

dprovenger - See all my reviews

This review is from: Linux Troubleshooting Bible (Paperback)

This book contains a great amount of information regarding the troubleshooting of key services like Bind, Samba, NFS, Apache, FTP, SSH, and Sendmail. I found very useful information related to printing services, system tools, and backup solutions. The book contains some key "Tips and Tricks" that seem very useful for the everyday issues I see as an administrator. As and RHCE and experienced system administrator, I found the book very useful and find myself picking up the book very often to review and test some of the ideas mentioned on its content.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Troubleshooting Linux yourself, November 8, 2004

By 

Chris Negus (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Linux Troubleshooting Bible (Paperback)

Linux systems have become easy enough to use that you no longer have to be a computer expert to operate a Linux desktop or set up a simple server. However, making the leap of faith to bet your organization on Linux requires a decision to:

* Purchase expensive support contracts from Red Hat Inc., Novell, Inc. or some other Linux vendor, or

* Take the responsibility to configure and troubleshoot Linux yourself.

Knowing how to safely deploy a Linux system on the Internet, or debug server software or desktop hardware, can take years to develop. Contributors to the Linux Troubleshooting Bible condense their years of experience into a few hundred pages that will set you on your own road to becoming a Linux guru.

I put together the team of writers on this book to save you the thousands of hours it would take to start from scratch learning Linux troubleshooting on your own. Among the contributors is Tom Weeks, who trains technicians that support and protect literally thousands of Linux systems at Rackspace Managed Hosting, and Jesse Keating, founder of the Fedora Legacy Project, which provides critical security updates to Red Hat Linux and Fedora Core Linux systems. I've tried to leverage more than 20 years of my own experience writing about UNIX and Linux system administration to make the information interesting and entertaining.

I took on this project because I felt strongly that the Linux community needs cohesive resources to take the Linux enthusiast forward to where he can become a skilled Linux professional. With a focus on Red Hat (Fedora and RHEL), Debian, and SuSE systems, I hope you find the Linux Troubleshooting Bible to be a useful way to expand your hobby into a powerful profession.


-- Chris Negus
Co-author Linux Troubleshooting Bible
Author Red Hat Linux Bible (all editions)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good. Great assistance information, December 5, 2004

By 

Snowdog - See all my reviews

This review is from: Linux Troubleshooting Bible (Paperback)

This book is the best I've ever used for working on my systems. Though it leans heavily on the Red Hat and Fedora distributions, the reader can apply most of the information to their favorite distribution. If I hadn't used it, I never would had known that BIND is now chrooted.