UNIX System Administration Handbook, 3/e and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle � Amazon�s new wireless reading device. Learn more

Alert Me

Want us to e-mail you when this item becomes available?

Share with Friends

Share your own customer images

Look inside another edition of this book

Start reading UNIX System Administration Handbook, 3/e on your Kindle in under a minute. Don�t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook (4th Edition) (Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author), Trent Hein (Author), Ben Whaley (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (98 customer reviews)

Formats		Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Kindle Edition $29.59 Available for download now. Published December 9, 2008	Kindle Edition	$29.59	--	--
Paperback $53.70 In Stock. Published September 7, 2000	Paperback	$53.70	$39.94	$18.36
Paperback Sign up to be notified when this item becomes available. Published April 25, 2008	Paperback, April 25, 2008	--	--	--
	See # more paperbacks
	Show fewer paperbacks

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Essential System Administration, Third Edition

by Eleen Frisch

4.4 out of 5 stars (77) $34.62

Linux Administration Handbook (2nd Edition)

by Garth Snyder

4.4 out of 5 stars (48) $31.19

Unix Power Tools, Third Edition

by Shelley Powers

4.7 out of 5 stars (69) $47.24

Practice of System and Network Administration, The (2nd Edition)

by Christina J. Hogan

4.6 out of 5 stars (27) $38.33

Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition

by Arnold Robbins

4.4 out of 5 stars (58) $23.07

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The third edition of Unix System Administration Handbook stands as a fantastic Unix book, perhaps one that's destined for legend. It's arguably the best general Unix book around. Don't delay in getting it, and don't spend too much time flinching at the price; it's worth it. If you work with Unix--in any of its flavors--you'll use this book, and frequently.

How, then, to begin the song of praises for the book? Let's start with its comprehensiveness. The authors--a whole passel of them, but miraculously consistent in style--deal with every subject that's central to the Unix universe. Their diligence extends even to detailed coverage of subjects (like the Domain Name System (DNS)) that many authorial squads omit. System administrators need to understand it all--it's good to see everything covered in one book. Of course, you still will need more focused texts for really complicated situations, but the coverage here will carry you a long way.

Although you probably will want to read this book cover to cover eventually, you might first look at the index, which typically will guide you to a couple of sections. First, an overview of the subject that interests you will explain what the service or feature is meant to do, what it isn't meant to do, and how (in fairly general terms) it does its job. You'll find four sections--one each on the relevant configuration facts of the four emphasized Unix variants. These sections aren't presented as explicit sequences of steps (which invariably leave the reader asking, "But, what if... " anyway), but as narratives that are interspersed with commands and configuration file listings. The approach works well, and it's made even better by the syntax summaries and conceptual diagrams that pop up now and then. --David Wall

Topics covered: Administration of Unix systems, with specific reference to Solaris 2.7, HP-UX 11.00, Red Hat Linux 6.2, and FreeBSD 3.4. Administration is a broad subject, and the authors touch on most of its aspects, including user and file operations (basic and advanced), hardware configuration, and kernel tweaking. Networking coverage includes basic connectivity, routing, server software, DNS, and security. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

An ideal tutorial for those new to administration and an invaluable reference for experienced professionals. Stresses a practical approach to systems and administration, from basic topics to UNIX esoterica. Now covering Red Hat Linux. Previous edition not cited. Softcover. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Paperback: 1300 pages
Publisher: Prentice Hall; 4th edition (April 25, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0131480057
ISBN-13: 978-0131480056

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (98 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,429,925 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#87 in Books > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems > Unix > Administration

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Evi Nemeth

Scott Seebass

Garth Snyder

Look Inside This Book

Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover

Citations (learn more)

17 books cite this book:

The Debian System: Concepts and Techniques by Martin F Krafft on page 19, and page 356
Firewalls and Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker (2nd Edition) by William R. Cheswick in Back Matter
TCP/IP Addressing, Second Edition: Designing and Optimizing your IP Addressing Scheme by Buck Graham in Back Matter
Oracle 24x7 Tips and Techniques by Venkat S. Devraj in Back Matter
The FreeBSD Handbook 3rd Edition, Vol. 1: User Guide by Murray Stokely in Back Matter

See all 17 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	69% buy the item featured on this page: Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook (4th Edition) 4.5 out of 5 stars (98)
	16% buy Linux Administration Handbook (2nd Edition) 4.4 out of 5 stars (48) $31.19
	8% buy Essential System Administration, Third Edition 4.4 out of 5 stars (77) $34.62
	5% buy Practice of System and Network Administration, The (2nd Edition) 4.6 out of 5 stars (27) $38.33

Explore similar items

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).

linux(61)

unix(66)

sysadmin(48)

system administration(37)

freebsd(23)

open source(11)

solaris(7)

bsd(12)

networking(9)

vi(14)

reference guide(5)

Customer Reviews

98 Reviews

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (98 customer reviews)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended with a couple of minor complaints, November 27, 2000

By	Phillip Wherry (Vienna, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: UNIX System Administration Handbook (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

This is the latest iteration of an absolutely essential guide to the art and science of Unix system administration. The authors earn my respect for calling things as they see them; while sometimes this is good for a chuckle (some of their swipes at Sun for nonstandard and stupid things in Solaris), it's even more useful when they're citing best practices. For those familar with Mark Minasi's books on Windows NT/2000, the tone is pretty similar. Though it won't be the largest computer book on your shelf, the information content (or "signal to noise ratio") is very, very high. What's not to like? The price, for one thing: at $68 (list), this is an extremely expensive paperback. The book also makes reference to a number of things on the companion web site (www.admin.com) - but the site itself hasn't been updated since the second edition, so the supplemental materials (which used to be on an included CD-ROM) simply aren't available right now (27-Nov-2000). Hopefully the authors will correct this problem in the not-too-distant future.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pricey, but best single-source, multi-platform UNIX book, January 27, 2002

By	Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity.com" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: UNIX System Administration Handbook (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I read "UNIX System Administration Handbook, Third Edition" (USAH:3E) to improve my knowledge of UNIX systems from a security analyst perspective. I am not a professional system administrator and I am not qualified to refute USAH:3E's advice. Nevertheless, because I deal with FreeBSD, Linux, and Solaris on a daily basis, I found USAH:3E to be insightful and invaluable.

USAH:3E stands out for three reasons. First, it covers the three most popular UNIX operating systems I know: FreeBSD, Linux, and Solaris. (The authors also support HP-UX, but I have no direct experience with that OS.) By comparing the features and configuration of multiple operating systems, USAH:3E is frequently far more educational than a single-OS book. USAH:3E is the one OS book I would include in my incident response kit, along with "Incident Response" by Mandia/Prosise/Pepe.

Second, USAH:3E is written to inform and entertain, and does both very well. While most OS books are content to explain the "what," and few include the "how," USAH:3E also delivers the "why." USAH:3E peers deep into the workings of the OS, but keeps the discussion clear and concise. For example, pp. 48-51 provide an excellent discussion of signals. Table 4.1 lists 13 'UNIX signals that every administrator should know,' showing whether processes can catch or block each. This chart and the text finally illuminated the difference between 'kill PID' and 'kill -9 PID' at the level of the OS. Furthermore, the writing style is direct, with numerous humorous references and personal opinions.

The third unique aspect of USAH:3E is the author's uncanny ability to include relevant hints and trivia. For example, as an intrusion detector, I sometimes see Windows machines appear with self-assigned 169.254.0.0/16 addresses. I also see Windows machines attempt to dynamically "update" DNS entries on uncooperative BIND servers. USAH:3E explains both events, and also how Windows 2000 increased the query load on the root name servers within a week of its release. (Remember, this is a UNIX book!)

As a security professional, I need to be familiar with the common systems and applications I encounter. USAH:3E fulfilled this need admirably. Professional system administrators may prefer to buy single-OS or single-application books.

(Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the publisher.)

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long overdue - BUY IT NOW!, October 24, 2000

By	Timothy Walker (Orlando, Florida USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: UNIX System Administration Handbook (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

If you have the slightest interest in Unix system administration, you NEED this book... it will either equip you for the job or make you consider a new line of work.

The changes in the IT industry over the last five years are reflected in the third edition of this book, as it now focuses only on Solaris, HP-UX, FreeBSD, and RedHat Linux. While this is a good cross-section of all *nixes, users of SunOS, OSF/1, or IRIX looking for platform-specific examples should probably stick with the second edition (and it comes with a CD).

Other significant changes to the book include expanded coverage of networking (for example, TCP/IP and Routing are now two separate chapters) and a new chapter on "hosting the satanic banquet" of a mixed Windows/Unix environment (which I find invaluable). Also, topics of diminishing importance (such as Usenet) no longer have their own chapters, but are still covered in appropriate detail.

I can not praise this book highly enough, and Linus Torvalds agrees with me. What more convincing do you need? ;-)

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

› See all 98 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars UNIX
This book is good for the UNIX people. I received it in a very good condition.

Published 8 months ago by Prajwal Bajracharya

5.0 out of 5 stars Doubleplus good!
For me, the greatness of this book resides in the cross platform explanations of how various system tasks differ from one OS architecture to another. Beyond BSD vs. Read more

Published 23 months ago by Thatcher Dryden Jr.

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed
I got the book for help in administering to AIX systems. I discovered after I bought the book that the authors did not even cover AIX but preferred SUN, HP, and Linux. Read more

Published on July 5, 2007 by David Larimer

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have Unix admin book
Great book, has been since the first edition.

Published on June 14, 2007 by S. Kosloske

5.0 out of 5 stars I hate to give 5 stars to any book - but it's deserved!
This book is fun and functional as a desktop reference. If you use Unix systems, you need this book in your short reach library. Read more

Published on April 23, 2006 by Jason A. Nunnelley

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy for Novice to Understand
I just started a new Sys Admin job and have to learn UNIX System Administration for the first time. I find this book to be very easy to follow.

Published on October 15, 2005 by UNIX CSA

5.0 out of 5 stars Used to be "The Red Book"--a must for the sys admin bookshelf.
When asked about what book a junior unix sys admin should purchase first to begin building their technical library, I would always tell them to "get the red book. Read more

Published on September 10, 2005 by Suzanne Widup

5.0 out of 5 stars It is my Bible
It is one of the best books on the subject. It is very nice overview of UNIX from system administrator's prospective. Read more

Published on July 19, 2005 by Alex Vox

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for any Unix admin or curious user
This is the best Unix book I have ever read. As soon as I opened the cover, I could not put it down. This book is very in depth. Read more

Published on June 18, 2004 by krazj73

5.0 out of 5 stars This Will Be Your System Administration BIBLE!
Buying this book new is a bit pricey. I bought a used copy and it was worth every penny. If you can't find it used, then spend the full price to buy it new. Read more

Published on February 7, 2004 by R. Sandridge

› See all 98 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }