Customer Reviews

UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook (4th Edition)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Also not designed to teach you how to run Linux in your basement (but you can take everything they say and still apply yourself to that if you choose.) I was almost scared off when I read that in the preface, since I didn't have large systems to test on. Fear not however, the book is a masterpiece and even non-pro users will find themselves discovering the power of Unix/Linux, and I mean the full power, they don't leave many stones unturned in this book.

However this book is targeted to larger system deployments and real world large systems. Which is fantastic, everything to get Linux users to the 'next' level is here. IT/IS professionals who have for the most part mastered basic *Nix commands will find this book extraordinary. I have the e-book version of this, but I really needed to get the paper one too. That is how good this is, and I have read just about everything in it at this point.

The book is well laid out, unlike my review it stays focused within each section. So much content is in here I can't even pull out half of the parts I found useful so I won't even try.

If you're a Unix/Linux user (IT/IS pro), buy it. If you're learning how to walk in Linux, you might want to stay away for a little bit, though it does do a reasonable job of refreshing the memory of most users, there is not THAT much introductory level information in this book to get you all the way up to speed. If you're ambitious enough I guess a new user could make use of this book, but I would suggest reading other material before this.

Best Linux book I have purchased ever to date.

I used and liked a much earlier edition of this book; the new one looks as good. The 4 stars is for the book, the Kindle edition would get 1-2 stars because of the following flaws:

1) The book contains many tables of text information. These were apparently formatted as images, or at least they are images in the Kindle edition. The result is that the tiny text cannot be magnified. Worse, the characters are a very light gray which is very difficult to read.

2) The newer go-to-page-number feature is not supported in this edition; perhaps the feature wasn't available at the time. Since the authors make many references to other page numbers, go-to-page-number is necessary.

I hope the publisher improves the Kindle edition; otherwise get the print version.

The problem that I've had with most Linux/Unix Sys Administration books is the fact that they're either too easy (assume that you've never touched a command line and don't want to) or they teach the material in the most obfuscated/difficult to understand manner. This book is great! I've been a sys admin for around a year and a half and I've learned so much from this book. Unlike other books, it details the history of certain concepts to enforce the concept rather than just to provide you with a history lesson. Definitely pick this book up!

The 3rd edition is great, the 4th edition updates that greatness. This book had been out for about a week when I noticed it and I had to get my hands on it!

There is a change I am bummed out about... They removed FreeBSD as one of their example systems but included OpenSolaris ( Oracle killed OpenSolaris after buying Sun). Thankfully FreeBSD has it's own Bible, Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD, 2nd Edition, by Michael W. Lucas ( must have for FreeBSD admins).

Besides the OpenSolaris/FreeBSD change, this is still a solid book worthy of 5 stars. Since this might be the last edition of The Handbook I am glad to see an update. There is more Linux in this edition compared to the 3rd, they added a great introduction to scripting chapter, updated chapters for with the latest technologies, and removed references and chapters on obsolete tech.

If this is their last edition good way to go out. I hope someone else can put together a similar book for the future that can live up to this classic. Again, MUST HAVE!!!

I encountered the first edition of this book in the early 90's when I was first learning Unix. It was the textbook for a college Unix Admin course. It moved to my desk when I started working as a system administrator, and was a constant reference whenever there was something concrete I needed to set up.

Over time, as Unix evolved, each new edition immediately replaced the prior addition as my #1 reference. The fourth edition is the most changed, reflecting the rise of Linux, internet and the Web, and coexistence with Microsoft Windows. It remains the first book to look into when you need to get something done, or want to know how something works.

This is one of the best books I have read as a Systems Administrator. I recommend it to anyone and everyone that has questions about managing Linux systems.

I've owned three of the four editions of this book over the years, starting with the second one and having heard murmerings about the awesomeness of the first from colleagues. This book proves that Unix and Linux Systems Administration texts can be well written. I read somewhere that Tim O'Reilly wanted to emulate the quality of this book when he set up his company. The clarity that this book provides for core administration tasks is exceptional and it's a pity that few other books on the subject have approached this level of quality. I read somewhere that this will be the last edition of this book - which depresses me greatly. The core stuff is all here. How you do it changes over time. I hope that sometime in the near future there is a 5th edition.

If anyone is working as an administrator on Unix or Linux this is a great book to learn from. I have been working in IT for 5 years Windows And Linux and going through this book I have learned a lot more about Unix and Linux. if you are just starting out as Linux administrator this is a good book for you to learn from.

Whether your intermediate or ninja you while find this book resourceful. If you are relatively new to Linux/Unix I would also recommend purchasing Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming, A (2nd Edition). I use both books on a daily basis.

This book is very thorough in its details for the current line of Unix/Linux systems, including Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Red Hat, Solaris, HP-UX and IBM AIX. It is well written, often entertaining and always informative. The amount of detail the authors go into for the various operating systems is impressive. If one looks at the definition for "absolute and relative paths" (page 142), they can get a pretty good idea of the approach this book takes;

"The list of directories that must be traversed to locate a particular file plus that file's filename form a pathname. Pathnames can be either absolute (/tmp/foo) or relative (book4/filesystem). Relative pathnames are interpreted starting at the current directory. You might be accustomed to thinking of the current directory as a feature of the shell, but every process has one."

Now the definition from "A Practical Guide to Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux" (page 193) by Mark Sobell:

"Every file has a pathname. An absolute pathname always starts with a slash(/), the name of the root directory. You can then build the absolute pathname of a file by tracing a path from the root directory through all the intermediate directories to the file. A relative pathname traces a path from the working directory to a file"

Of the two I felt the explanation from Sobell's book was more straightforward, but the "The Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook" integrate the philosophy of the Unix/Linux world much more into the text than others I have read.
If you are a beginner, you might not be able to rely ONLY on this book, you will almost certainly need something a little more elementary; "Linux in Easy Steps" by Mike McGrath is good for those who are visually oriented. "Administration Handbook" book is good at is covering the breadth of Unix/Linux system administration duties across multiple versions. It makes it relatively clear and easy. It sticks to principles rather than a "cookbook" approach. The section on shell and bash scripting is a very good primer, but you will need to build out from there. There is also a good chapter on virtualization and particularity Amazon Web services. If you thought Amazon was just about books and music, well, that is the tip of the iceberg.
Students and professionals alike will find this a valuable reference. If you are a previous owner, it is worth it to get the new edition. I would think this book will cover at least 90% of what you are likely to run into as you administer systems.
Beginning Linux books only go so far. Books that focus on one area such as writing shell scripts won't be general enough. This book covers a lot and covers it well. It is the one I kept in my backpack to lug to class.