Red Hat Linux 7 Server

Contents

Preface

Part I: Getting Started

Chapter 1: Why Red Hat Linux?
The History of Linux
Other Major Linux Distributions
     Caldera OpenLinux
     Slackware Linux
     Debian GNU/Linux
     SuSE
     Other Linux distributions
Why Red Hat Is the Best
Red Hat Linux as a Server OS
How to Get Red Hat Linux

Chapter 2: Installation and Basic Configuration
Checking Your Hardware Requirements
Preparing to Install Red Hat Linux
     Creating a boot disk under MS Windows 9x/2000
     Creating a boot disk under Linux
Installing Red Hat Linux
     Understanding how the install program works
     Selecting a language, a keyboard, and an installation method
     Choosing an installation type
     Partitioning your disks
     Selecting LILO installation options
     Naming your server
     Selecting mouse type
     Configuring the clock
     Setting a root password
     Creating an optional user account
     Configuring user authentication method
     Selecting software to install
     Skipping X Windows System specifc configuration
     Creating a custom boot disk
     Starting up Red Hat Linux for the first time

Part II: Working as a Superuser

Chapter 3: The Bootup and Shutdown Processes
Configuring init
     The /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit script
     The /etc/rc.d/init.d directory
     The /etc/rc.d/rc script
     The /etc/rc.d/rc[0­6].d directories
     The /etc/rc.d/rc.local script
     The /etc/rc.d/rc.serial script
Booting Up Your System
Shutting Down Your System
     Canceling a shutdown
     Rebooting your server
     Rebooting using Ctrl+Alt+Delete
     Automatic shutdown on power failure
Managing init Files
     Using chkconfig to manage run levels
     Using ntsysv to manage run levels
     Using linuxconf to manage run levels
     Creating a new service for a run level

Chapter 4: Understanding UNIX Files and Devices
Understanding File/Directory Permissions
     Changing ownership of files/directories using chown
     Changing group of files/directories using chgrp
     Understanding access permissions using octal numbers
     Understanding access permissions using access strings
     Changing access privileges of files/directories using chmod
     Special notes on directory permissions
Managing Permissions for Links
     Changing permissions or ownership of a hard link
     Changing permissions or ownership of a soft link
Creating a Permission Policy for a Multiuser Server
     Setting users' configuration file permissions
     Setting default file permissions for users
     Setting executable file permissions
     Setting default file permissions for FTP
Working with Files and Directories
     Viewing files and directories
     Navigating your way into directories
     Determining file type
     Viewing the access statistics of a file or directory
     Copying files and directories
     Moving files and directories
     Deleting Files and Directories
     Finding files
     Overriding the default file permission mask
Using ext2 FileSystem­Specific Permissions

Chapter 5: Everyday Commands
Understanding the UNIX Command Line
     Basics of wildcards
     Basics of regular expressions
How to Use Online man Pages
General File and Directory Commands
     cat
     chmod
     chown
     clear
     cmp
     cp
     cut
     diff
     du
     emacs
     fgrep
     file
     find
     grep
     head
     ln
     locate
     ls
     mkdir
     mv
     pico
     pwd
     rm
     sort
     stat
     strings
     tail
     touch
     umask
     uniq
     vi
     wc
     whatis
     whereis
     which
File Compression and Archive-Specific Commands
     compress
     gunzip
     gzip
     rpm
     tar
     uncompress
     unzip
     uudecode
     uuencode
     zip
File Systems -- Specific Commands
     dd
     df
     edquota
     fdformat
     fdisk
     mkfs
     mkswap
     mount
     quota
     quotaon
     swapoff
     swapon
     umount
DOS-Compatible Commands
     mcopy
     mdel
     mdir
     mformat
     mlabel
System Status -- Specific Commands
     dmesg
     free
     shutdown
     uname
     uptime
User Administration Commands
     chfn
     chsh
     groupadd
     groupmod
     groups
     last
     passwd
     su
     useradd
     userdel
     usermod
     who
     whoami
User Commands for Accessing Network Services
     finger
     ftp
     lynx
     mail
     pine
     rlogin
     talk
     telnet
     wall
Network Administrator's Commands
     host
     hostname
     ifconfig
     netcfg
     netstat
     nslookup
     ping
     route
     tcpdump
     traceroute
Process Management Commands
     bg
     fg
     jobs
     kill
     killall
     ps
     top
Task Automation Commands
     at
     atq
     atrm
     crontab
Productivity Commands
     bc
     cal
     ispell
     mesg
     write
Shell Commands
     alias
     history
     set
     source
     unalias
Printing-Specific Commands
     lpq
     lpr
     lprm

Part III: Managing Users, Processes, and Networks

Chapter 6: Using Linuxconf
What Is Linuxconf?
Installing Linuxconf
Configuring Linuxconf
     Setting up Web-based remote access for Linuxconf
     Configuring Linuxconf modules
     Defining user privileges
     Using multiple system configuration profiles

Chapter 7: User Administration
Becoming the Superuser
Assigning Privileges to Ordinary Users
Managing Users with Command Line Tools
     Creating a new user account
     Creating a new group
     Modifying an existing user account
     Modifying an existing group
     Deleting or disabling a user account
     Creating default user settings
Managing Users with linuxconf
     Adding a new user account
     Modifying an existing user account
     Deleting or disabling an existing user account
     Adding, modifying, and deleting groups
Using Disk Quotas for Users
     Installing disk quota software
     Configuring your system to support disk quotas
     Assigning disk quotas to users
     Monitoring disk usage

Chapter 8: Process Administration
How Processes Get Started
Controlling and Monitoring Processes
     Using ps to get process status
     Signaling a running process
     Controlling process priority
Monitoring Processes and System Load
     Using top
     Using vmstat
     Using uptime
Logging Processes
     Configuring syslog
     Monitoring logs using tail
Scheduling Processes
     Using at
     Using cron

Chapter 9: Network Administration
Basics of TCP/IP Networking
Classifying IP Networks
     Class A networks
     Class B networks
     Class C networks
Configuring a Network Interface
     Using traditional methods to configure network interface cards
     Using netcfg to configure a network interface card
Why Use a Default Gateway?
Dividing a Network into Subnetworks
     Gateway computer configuration
     Host computer configuration

Part IV: Setting Up Intranet/Internet Services

Chapter 10: DNS Service
How Does DNS Work?
Configuring a DNS Client (Resolver)
Setting Up a DNS Server
     Understanding the basics of DNS configuration
     Master/primary DNS server
     Slave/secondary DNS server
     Reverse DNS server
     Cache-only/slave DNS server
     Controlling the DNS server
Testing Your DNS Server
Managing DNS for Virtual Domains
Balancing Load Using the DNS Server

Chapter 11: E-mail Service
How SMTP Mail Works
Setting Up DNS Mail Service
Setting Up SMTP Mail Service
     Installing sendmail
     Starting and stopping sendmail
     Understanding and configuring /etc/sendmail.cf
     Configuring /etc/mail/* files
Testing Your sendmail Configuration
     Testing sendmail address rewrite rules
     Testing /etc/mail/* database files
     Using sendmail to see the SMTP transaction verbosely
     Using the sendmail debug flag
     Using a test configuration file
Securing sendmail
     Securing your configuration files
     Ensuring a stricter mode of operating and privacy
Taking Antispam Measures
     Dealing with third-party mail relay vulnerability
     Sending spammers to the black hole
Setting Up POP Mail Service
     How does it work?
     Installing a POP3 server
     Configuring POP3 service
Configuring SMTP/POP Mail Clients
Commercial Alternatives
     Sendmail Pro
     qmail

Chapter 12: Web Service
System Requirements for Apache
     The ANSI C compiler
     Sufficient disk space
     Sufficient RAM
     Other requirements
Getting Apache from the Net
Creating a Custom Apache Server
     Configuring Apache source using APACI
     Compiling and installing Apache
     Compiling and installing Apache support tools
     Customizing Apache with optional or third-party modules
Getting Apache Up and Running
     Configuring httpd.conf
     Configuring srm.conf
     Configuring access.conf
     Controlling the Apache server
     Testing the Apache server
Managing Your Apache Server
     Configuring Apache for CGI scripts
     Configuring Apache for server-side includes
     Hosting virtual Web sites
     Using Apache as a proxy server
     Authenticating Web users
     Monitoring server status
     Logging hits and errors
     Enhancing Web server security
     Using SSL for secured transactions

Chapter 13: FTP Service
Using wu-ftpd: the Default FTP Server
     Installing wu-ftpd server
     Configuring FTP service
     Creating an anonymous FTP site
     Creating a guest FTP account
     Creating virtual FTP sites
Using a Commercial FTP Server
Using a Trivial File Transfer Protocol Server

Chapter 14: Internet Relay Chat and News Servers
Setting Up Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Service
     Installing an IRC server
     Configuring an IRC server
     Running an IRC server
     Installing and using an IRC client
Setting Up a Usenet News Service
     Configuring an INN server
     Accessing your INN server

Part V: Setting Up Office Services

Chapter 15: Sharing Files and Printers with Samba
Installing Samba
Configuring Samba
     The [global] configuration
     The [homes] configuration
     The [printers] configuration
Using GUI Configuration Tools
     Testing the /etc/samba/smb.conf configuration
     Starting, stopping, and restarting the Samba service
Practical Uses of Samba
     Using a Linux file server on Windows
     Using a Windows file server on your Linux system
     Sharing printers between Linux and Windows
     Using an interactive Samba client
Securing Your Samba Server

Chapter 16: Using NFS File Servers
Installing NFS Server and Client Software
Configuring an NFS Server
     Granting read-only access to the exported directory
     Granting read and write access to the exported directory
     Disabling access to a specific directory
     Mapping users between the NFS server and the clients
Configuring an NFS Client
Securing Your NFS Server
Distributing Files Using rdist

Chapter 17: SQL Database Services
What Is SQL?
Installing and Configuring a SQL Server: MySQL
     Where to get MySQL
     Installing the MySQL RPM packages
Accessing the SQL Server
     Starting MySQL client for the first time
     Creating a database
Interacting with the SQL Server Using Scripts
     SQL interactions from the UNIX command prompt
     Using a CGI script to access a SQL database via a Web browser

Part VI: Securing and Monitoring

Chapter 18: Security 101
Securing User Access
     Restricting physical access
     Restricting normal user access
     Restricting superuser access
     Restricting all access in an emergency or attack
Securing User Authentication Process
     Using shadow passwords
     Understanding PAM
Securing Services
     Removing unnecessary services during OS installation
     Securing xinetd-run services
Protecting Your Files and File System
     Mounting file systems as read-only
     Taking advantage of ext2 file system
     Using Tripwire for ensuring file integrity
Playing Devil's Advocate
     Cracking your own passwords
     Having COPS around
Back Up and Backtrack Everything
Get the Latest Security News
     CERT
     BUGTRAQ

Chapter 19: Network Security
Understanding the Security Problem
     Ethernet sniffing
     IP spoofing
Designing a Secure Network
     Using nonroutable IP addresses
     Masquerading IP addresses
What Is a Firewall?
     Packet filters
     Using a basic packet-filtering firewall: ipchains
     Using an application-level firewall
Using the Squid Proxy Server
     Getting and installing Squid
     Making Squid work for the first time
     Tweaking Squid to fit your needs
Getting Help from SATAN
     Installing SATAN
     Working with SATAN

Part VII: Tuning for Performance

Chapter 20: Hacking the Kernel
Why Do You Need a Newer Kernel?
What Linux Kernel Do You Have?
Preparing for a Kernel Upgrade
Installing the New Kernel
     Creating the initial ramdisk
     Configuring LILO
     Booting with the new kernel
Customizing the Kernel
     Installing Linux kernel source
     Configuring the kernel the old-fashioned way
     Configuring the kernel using make menuconfig
     Configuring the kernel using make xconfig
     Compiling, installing, and booting the new kernel
Patching a Kernel
Using kernelcfg

Chapter 21: Building a Multiserver Web Network
Requirements for the Web Network
Designing the Web Network
     Considering a round-robin DNS solution
     Considering a hardware load-balancing solution
     Choosing the right load-balancing solution
Allocating IP Addresses
Configuring the Network
     Setting up the network for a name server computer
     Setting up the network interfaces for each Web server
     Setting up network interfaces of the WSD Pro director
     Testing the network configuration
Setting Up the DNS Server
Setting Up the NFS Server
Setting Up the Mail (SMTP/POP3) Server
Setting Up the FTP Server
Setting Up rdist on the Name Server
Setting Up Each Web Server
     Setting up the NFS client configuration
     Setting up sendmail to relay to the smart host
     Setting up rdist for file distribution from ns.aminews-lan.com
Setting Up Web Director
     Creating the Web services farm
     Creating the related network services farm
Managing the Network
     Taking a server out of service
     Prioritizing server selection
     Monitoring server load and statistics
     Adding a new Web server in the Web server farm
Adding Client Web Sites

Chapter 22: Configuring the X Windows System
What Is XFree86?
Preparing for XFree86
     RAM requirements
     Video card requirements
     Monitor requirements
     Disk space requirements
Installing XFree86
Configuring XFree86
     Using Xconfigurator to create an XF86Config file
     Understanding XF86Config file
Using X Windows
     Configuring .xinitrc
     Customizing the look and feel of client applications
     Using xdm, the X Display Manager
Using XFree86 with Windows 9x/2000
     Getting Micro X-Win32

Chapter 23: Using the X Window System
Using the GNOME Desktop Environment
     Choosing a Window Manager
     Configuring Window Manager
     Setting session options for expert mode
Using X Windows for Administration
     Using Gnome RPM
     Using Update Agent
     Using the GNOME System Monitor
     Using Time Machine
     Using netcfg
     Using printtool
     Using the system configuration tool
     Using the kernel configuration tool
     Using the help search tool

Part VIII: Appendixes

Appendix A: Linux Resources

Appendix B: What's on the CD-ROM

Index