Red Hat Linux 7 Bible

Contents

Preface

Part I: Getting Started with Red Hat Linux

Chapter 1: An Overview of Red Hat Linux
Introducing Red Hat Linux
What Is Linux?
Linux's Roots in UNIX
Common Linux Features
Primary Advantages of Linux
What Is Red Hat Linux?
Why Choose Red Hat Linux?
New Features in Red Hat Linux 7
The Culture of Free Software

Chapter 2: Installing Red Hat Linux
Quick Installation
Choosing an installation method
Choosing computer hardware
Beginning the installation
Special Installation Procedures
Installing from other media
Partitionless installation
Kickstart installation
Special Installation Topics
Partitioning your disks
Reclaiming disk space from existing partitions
Creating install floppy disks
Booting your computer with LILO
Reconfiguring the kernel
Troubleshooting Your Installation

Part II: Using Red Hat Linux

Chapter 3: Getting to Know Red Hat Linux
Logging in to Red Hat Linux
The login session
The shell interface
Understanding the Red Hat Linux Shell
Using the Shell in Red Hat Linux
Locating commands
Rerunning commands
Connecting and expanding commands
Using shell environment variables
Managing background and foreground processes
Configuring your shell
Working with the Red Hat Linux File System
Creating files and directories
Using the vi Text Editor
Starting with vi
Moving around the file
Searching for text
Using numbers with commands

Chapter 4: Working with the Desktop
Configuring Your Desktop
Running Xconfigurator
Understanding the XF86Config file
Getting more information
Starting the X Desktop
Starting the GUI at boot-time
Starting the GUI yourself
Starting the GUI at login time
Using the GNOME Desktop Environment
Using the GNOME panel
Using the GNOME File Manager
Changing GNOME preferences
Exiting GNOME
Using the KDE Desktop Environment
Starting with KDE
KDE desktop described
Managing files with the Konqueror File Manager
Configuring Konqueror options
Managing windows
Configuring the desktop
Adding application launchers and MIME types
Changing X Settings
X client command-line options
X resource files
Changing X display resources
X Application resources

Chapter 5: Accessing and Running Applications
Using Red Hat Linux as an Application Platform
Obtaining Red Hat Linux Applications
Finding applications on the Internet
Downloading Linux software
Understanding package names and formats
Installing Red Hat Linux Applications
Installing and managing RPM files
Building and installing from source code
Running X Window Applications
Starting applications from a menu
Starting applications from a Run Program window
Starting applications from a Terminal window
Using X Window utilities
Running remote X applications
Using Emulators to Run Applications from Other Operating Systems
Running DOS applications
Running Windows and Macintosh applications

Chapter 6: Publishing with Red Hat Linux
Choosing Red Hat Linux as Your Publishing Platform
Your document needs a checklist
Attributes of Linux publishing
Creating Documents in Groff or LaTeX
Text processing with Groff
Text processing with TeX/LaTeX
Converting documents
Using Free and Commercial Word Processors
Using Applixware
Using StarOffice
Using Corel WordPerfect
AbiWord
Printing Documents with Red Hat Linux
Printing to the default printer
Printing from the shell
Checking the print queues
Removing print jobs
Checking printer status
Displaying Documents with Ghostscript and Acrobat
Using the ghostscript and gv commands
Using Adobe Acrobat Reader
Working with Graphics
Manipulating photos and images
Taking screen captures
Creating bitmap images
Using Scanners Driven by SANE

Chapter 7: Playing Games with Red Hat Linux
Basic Linux Gaming Information
Where to get information on Linux gaming
Graphical gaming interfaces
3Dfx technology
X Window Games
Gnome games
KDE games
X games you can download
Character-Based Games
The xmame Gaming Emulator
Supported xmame hardware
Getting and installing xmame games
Commercial Linux Games
Civilization: Call to Power
Myth II: Soulblighter
Quake III Arena

Chapter 8: Multimedia in Red Hat Linux
Listening to Audio
Configuring your sound card
Audio file conversion
CD audio players
MP3 audio players
MIDI audio players
Playing Video
Xanim viewer
RealPlayer
Using a Digital Camera with gPhoto
MultiMedia Netscape Plug-ins and Helper Apps
Multimedia Technologies in Waiting
DVD movies
Virtual reality

Chapter 9: Tools for Using the Internet and the Web
Overview of Internet Tools
Browsing the Web
Uniform Resource Locators
Web pages
Netscape Communicator package
Communicating with E-mail
E-mail basics
Netscape Messenger mail
Text-based mail programs
Participating in Newsgroups
Netscape Messenger for newsgroups
The trn newsreader
The tin newsreader
Using Remote Login, Copy, and Execution
Using telnet for remote login
Copying files with FTP
Using the "r" commands: rlogin, rcp, and rsh

Part III: Administering Red Hat Linux

Chapter 10: Understanding System Administration
Using the root Login
Becoming super user (the su command)
Learning About Administrative Commands,
Configuration Files, and Log Files
Administrative commands
Administrative configuration files
Administrative log files
Using other administrative logins
Getting to Know Your System
Hostname and Linux version
Disk partitions and sizes
Users
The kernel
Graphical Administrative Interfaces
Using linuxconf
Reconfiguring Hardware with kudzu
Working with File Systems
Mounting file systems
Using the mkfs command to create a file system
Checking System Space
Displaying system space with df
Checking disk usage with du
Finding disk consumption with find
Monitoring System Performance
Checking system load average with xload
Monitoring CPU usage with top
Checking virtual memory and CPU usage with vmstat

Chapter 11: Setting Up and Supporting Users
Creating User Accounts
Adding a user with useradd
Adding a user with vipw
Setting User Defaults
Supplying initial login scripts
Supplying an initial .bashrc file
Supplying an initial .tcshrc file
Configuring systemwide shell options
Creating Portable Desktops
Providing Support to Users
Creating a technical support mailbox
Resetting a user's password
Modifying accounts
Deleting User Accounts
Checking Disk Quotas
Sending Mail to All Users
Administering Accounts with linuxconf

Chapter 12: Automating System Tasks
Understanding Shell Scripts
Executing shell scripts
Creating user-defined variables in shell scripts
Performing arithmetic evaluation in shell scripts
Using programming constructs in shell scripts
Trying some simple shell scripts
System Initialization
The inittab file
System Start-up and Shutdown
Starting run-level scripts
Understanding run-level scripts
Understanding what startup scripts do
Changing run-level script behavior
Reorganizing or removing run-level scripts
Adding run-level scripts
Managing xinetd services
Manipulating run levels
Scheduling System Tasks
Using at.allow and at.deny
Specifying when jobs are run
Submitting scheduled jobs
Viewing scheduled jobs
Deleting scheduled jobs
Using the batch command
Using the cron facility

Chapter 13: Backing Up and Restoring Files
Selecting a Backup Strategy
Full backup
Incremental backup
Disk mirroring
Network backup
Selecting a Backup Medium
Magnetic tape
Writable CD-ROM drives
Backing Up to a Hard Drive
Getting and installing mirrordir to clone directories
Cloning a directory with mirrordir
Automating mirroring
Backing Up Files with dump
Installing the dump package
Creating a backup with dump
Understanding dump levels
Automating Backups with cron
Restoring Backed Up Files
Restoring an entire file system
Recovering individual files
Backing Up Over the Network
Performing Network Backups with Multiple Computers
Getting and installing the Amanda package
Configuring Amanda for network backups
Performing an Amanda backup
Using the pax Archiving Tool

Chapter 14: Computer Security Issues
Hacker versus Cracker
Password Protection
Choosing good passwords
Changing passwords periodically
Using a shadow password file
Protection from Break-ins
Testing your passwords with Crack
Obtaining the Crack package
Running the Crack command
Showing the progress of a Crack run
Protecting Your Computer by Filtering Network Access
Securing remote shells and logins
Disabling network services
Using TCP wrappers
Protecting Your Network with Firewalls
Using filtering or proxy firewalls
Configuring Red Hat Linux as a filtering firewall
Configuring Red Hat Linux as a proxy firewall
Protection against NFS Vulnerabilities
Running Security Audits with Tiger
Detecting Intrusions from Log Files
The role of syslogd
Redirecting logs to a loghost with syslogd
Understanding the messages logfile
Using Tripwire to Detect Tampered Files
Getting and installing Tripwire
Initializing the Tripwire database
Rebuilding the policy file
Checking file integrity
Updating the database
Protection from Denial-of-Service Attacks
Mailbombing
Spam relaying
Smurfing
Using Encryption Techniques
Symmetric Cryptography
Public-Key Cryptography
Exporting encryption technology
Using the Secure Shell package
Where to Get More Information about Security
CERT
CIAC
AntiOnline
Newsgroups
Other miscellaneous tools and resources
Security-related terminology

Part IV: Red Hat Linux Network and Server Setup

Chapter 15: Setting Up a Local Area Network
Understanding Red Hat Linux and Local Area Networks
Choosing a network topology and equipment
Choosing peer-to-peer vs. client/server models
Setting Up an Ethernet LAN
Choosing an Ethernet card
Adding Ethernet during Red Hat installation
Adding Ethernet after Red Hat is installed
Adding two Ethernet cards
Configuring Host Computers
Understanding IP addresses
Getting IP addresses
Adding host names and IP addresses
Adding other host addresses
Adding Windows 95/98 computers to your LAN
Checking Your Ethernet Connection
Did Linux find your Ethernet driver at boot-time?
Can you reach another computer on the LAN?
Is your Ethernet connection up?

Chapter 16: Connecting to the Internet
Understanding How the Internet Is Structured
Internet domains
Hostnames and IP addresses
Routing
Proxies
Using Dial-up Connections to the Internet
Getting information
Setting up dial-up PPP
Launching your PPP connection
Checking your PPP connection
Connecting Your LAN to the Internet
Setting Up Red Hat Linux As a Router
Configuring the Red Hat Linux router
Configuring network clients
Configuring Windows 95 network clients
Configuring IP masquerading and ipchains firewalls
Setting Up Red Hat Linux As a Proxy Server
Starting the squid daemon
Using a simple squid.conf file
Modifying the Squid configuration file
Debugging Squid
Setting Up Proxy Clients
Configuring Netscape to use a proxy
Configuring Internet Explorer to use a proxy
Configuring Mosaic and Lynx browsers to use a proxy

Chapter 17: Setting Up a Print Server
Printing in Red Hat Linux
Understanding the /etc/printcap file
Understanding the lpd print daemon
Installing a local printer from the desktop
Configuring a remote printer from the desktop
Choosing a Printer
Managing Document Printing in Red Hat Linux
Using lpr to print
Removing print jobs with lprm
Controlling printers with lpc
Configuring Print Servers
Configuring a shared Linux printer in lpd.perms
Configuring a shared NetWare printer
Configuring a shared Samba printer

Chapter 18: Setting Up a File Server
Goals of Setting Up a File Server
Setting Up an NFS File Server in Red Hat Linux
Sharing NFS file systems
Using NFS file systems
Unmounting NFS file systems
Other cool things to do with NFS
Setting Up a Samba File Server in Red Hat Linux
Getting and installing Samba
Creating the Samba server configuration with SWAT
Setting up Samba clients for Windows systems
Setting Up a NetWare File Server in Red Hat Linux
Creating the NetWare file server
Using NetWare client commands

Chapter 19: Setting Up a Mail Server
Sendmail options
Message precedences
Trusted users
Format of headers
Rewriting rules
Mailer definitions
Using the m4 macro preprocessor
The .forward file
The aliases file
Administering a Mailing List
Installing majordomo
Configuring majordomo
Running majordomo

Chapter 20: Setting Up an FTP Server
Understanding FTP Servers
Attributes of FTP servers
FTP user types
Running the FTP Server
Creating FTP Users
The anonymous FTP user
Real users
Guest users
Setting Up FTP Directories, Message Files, and Greetings
Creating the FTP directory structure
Adding helpful information
Changing FTP login greetings
Controlling FTP access
Creating user classes
Allowing uploading of incoming files
Limiting the number of concurrent users
Limiting uploading and downloading
Denying access from hosts and users
Shutting Down and Restarting the FTP Server
Shutting down FTP
Restarting FTP
Monitoring the FTP Server
Logging connections
Logging file transfers
Getting More Information About FTP Servers
Trying Out Your FTP Server

Chapter 21: Setting Up a Web Server
Introduction to Web Servers
Quick Starting the Apache Web Server
Configuring the Server
Configuring httpd.conf
Starting and Stopping the Server
Monitoring Server Activities
Displaying server information
Displaying server status
Further security of server-info and server-status
Logging errors
Logging transfers

Chapter 22: Setting Up a News Server
Understanding News Transports
Planning Your News Server
Do you need a news server?
Which newsgroups should you offer?
How should articles be stored?
How long are articles stored?
How are servers to provide your news feeds located?
What are your newsgroup policies?
Configuring an INN News Server
Starting with INN
Configuring the INN server
Setting Up News Feeds
Configuring hosts to feed you
Configuring hosts that you feed
Getting a list of active newsgroups
Choosing How Articles Are Stored
Activating different storage methods
Using the timehash storage method
Using the cnfs storage method
Setting Up Expiration Times
Allowing User Access to Your Server

Chapter 23: Setting Up NIS
Understanding Network Information Service
Setting Up Red Hat Linux As an NIS Client
Defining an NIS domain name
Setting up the /etc/yp.conf file
Configuring NIS client daemons
Setting Up Red Hat Linux As an NIS Master Server
Creating NIS maps
Configuring NIS server daemons
Setting Up Red Hat Linux As an NIS Slave Server

Appendix A: What's On the CD-ROM
Appendix B: Red Hat Linux RPMs
Index