HP-UX 11.x System Administration "How To" Book (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Hewlett-Packard Professional Books (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The bestselling HP-UX administration book has been completely updated for the new Release 11.0. The guide shows exactly how to configure your system, network it, use the System Administrator Manager package, interface with Windows NT, write shell programs, and much more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 848 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; 2 edition (January 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130125156
• ISBN-13: 978-0130125156
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,501,750 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Marginally better than no documentation at all., July 19, 2001

By	W. H. Jamison, Jr. (Burien, Washington United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love HP/UX and I love HP hardware. HP/UX is a neat UNIX version that has a lot of great features and is rock solid, and HP hardware is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. The problem is that despite the quality of their OS and hardware the documentation for HP systems hoovers the tool. The Poniatowski book is a prime example of this, I suppose that this book is marginally better than having no documentation at all and if I were trapped on a desert island and knew nothing about UNIX I could use this book to set up a rudimentary HP/UX system and I could then use the pages for something more useful such as starting fires or wiping my bum. So what are the problems with this book. Well let's list them in no particular order. 1) An entire chapter is devoted to bourne shell programming. Why? There are better books out there that will teach you shell programming. 2) An entire chapter is devoted to teaching you how to program in csh. Quite frankly I'm embarassed to admit that I used to use csh and was horrified when I was forced to use sh. But therapy, and beatings from more seasoned administrators, cured me and now I can't imagine why I would want to do any systems administration task in csh or use it as my login shell. Quite frankly teaching someone how to perform systems administration tasks with csh is like teaching someone how to perform first aid with leeches and bloodletting. 3) Hundreds of pages in this book are reprints of man pages. I suppose that this might be useful if I were sitting around and playing Trivial Pursuit one night and one of the topics was "Obscure HP/UX command switches" and I wasn't near a terminal, but other than that it's quite useless. If I need man pages I can go online and type "man <subject>" and UNIX will give me all of the information I need. Why reprint this unless you are trying to pad your book? 4) A lot of the pages are reprints of screen shots, OK, you need some, but this is excessive, again, more padding. If you need HP documentation see if you can lay hands on the manuals that HP educational services hands out with their courses. They are quite full featured and have exercises that you can work your way through to learn the system. If you need more generalized UNIX documentation purchase the red or purple books and a copy of UNIX Power Tools, that would be money far better spent than buying this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Belongs in your HP Book Collection, June 2, 2000

By	Richard T. Malafa (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews

This book is an excellent companion to the HP Manual: "Installing HP-UX 11.0 and Updating HP-UX 10.x to 11.0. This manual is normally printed from the HP-UX 11.0 CDROM. I've used it in setting up a number of HP-UX 11.0 systems to clarify a number of installation items. Like his treatment of the Advanced Menu installation items that are used during installation.

Author exhibits a great attitude which is reflected in the the writing of his book. "You are going to have a great time setting up your HP-UX system(s). I know you are, because I have set up hundreds and hundreds of systems and my customers always enjoy it."

The book seems redundant in parts but his goal is for you to get "the common denominator of HP-UX system administration knowledge that applies to all systems." The additional inserted "man" pages relieve the tedium of bring up the man screen on the monitor. You do get a little tired of sometimes 8 to 10 hrs a day looking in man pages on the screen. It is a well known physical/psychology fact that you read a printed page better and faster than the tube. Especially when you have to go back and forth.

The scripts are easy to use and convert to your installation practices. Some of the customization feature tips described are very thoughtful. I understand that the author is going to put these scripts on a web site or in a CDROM in the near feature.

Nevertheless, typing them in is a good way to learn or refresh your memory of UNIX techniques. The review of shell programming is also good if you need a refresher course and don't have a lot of time.

The description of HP Performance tools when you need them is very handy. None of us really have enough time to research all the features and he make them very easy to use.

His description and uses of the UNIX directory structures is good enough to explain to your upper management when you want to modify or add to these. I can't remember where else I've seen such a nice job.

I can't do justice to the book and it's features. Once you get used to it, you'll be reaching for it when you need help on HP systems.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not For Experienced Sys Admins, November 22, 1999

By A Customer

With its reprinted man page filler, screen shots of the ridiculous SAM GUI, and introduction to shell scripting, this book might be useful for the most junior of systems administrators. For those of us who already know what a subnet mask is, however, it leaves quite a lot to be desired.

The author never really seems to go into great detail as to the 'why' of things. This might have something to do with the fact that the author has written very little original content for this book - again, it's almost all man pages and screen shots.

This book receives two stars rather than just one, because it could conceivably be useful for someone who's never administered a Unix system before. Otherwise, I would recommend avoiding this book altogether.