Next: 4.1 About RootHats, Up: Linux Installation and Getting Previous: 3.14 So You Want

# 4 System Administration

This chapter is an overview to Linux system administration, including a number of advanced features which aren't necessarily for system administrators only. Just as every dog has its day, every system has its administrator, and running the system is a very important and sometimes time-consuming job, even if you're the only user on your system.

We have tried to cover here the most important things about system administration you need to know when you use Linux, in sufficient detail to get you comfortably started. In order to keep it short and sweet, we have only covered the very basics, and have skipped many an important detail. You should read the Linux System Administrator's Guide if you are serious about running Linux. It will help you understand better how things work, and how they hang together. At least skim through it so that you know what it contains and know what kind of help you can expect from it.

- 4.1 About Root, Hats, and the Feeling of Power
  - 4.1.1 The root account
  - 4.1.2 Abusing the system
  - 4.1.3 Dealing with users
  - 4.1.4 Setting the rules
  - 4.1.5 What it all means
- 4.2 Booting the System
  - 4.2.1 Using a boot floppy
  - 4.2.2 Using LILO
- 4.3 Shutting Down
- 4.4 Managing Users
  - 4.4.1 User management concepts
  - 4.4.2 Adding users
  - 4.4.3 Deleting users
  - 4.4.4 Setting user attributes
  - 4.4.5 Groups
- 4.5 Archiving and Compressing Files
  - 4.5.1 Using tar
  - 4.5.2 gzip and compress
  - 4.5.3 Putting them together
- 4.6 Using Floppies and Making Backups
  - 4.6.1 Using floppies for backups
  - 4.6.2 Using floppies as filesystems
- 4.7 Upgrading and Installing New Software
  - 4.7.1 Upgrading the kernel
  - 4.7.2 Upgrading the libraries
  - 4.7.3 Upgrading gcc
  - 4.7.4 Upgrading other software
- 4.8 Managing Filesystems
  - 4.8.1 Mounting filesystems
  - 4.8.2 Checking filesystems
- 4.9 Using a swap file
- 4.10 Miscellaneous Tasks
  - 4.10.1 System startup files
  - 4.10.2 Setting the hostname
- 4.11 What To Do In An Emergency
  - 4.11.1 Recovering using a maintenance diskette
  - 4.11.2 Fixing the root password
  - 4.11.3 Fixing trashed filesystems
  - 4.11.4 Recovering lost files
  - 4.11.5 Fixing trashed libraries

Next: 4.1 About RootHats, Up: Linux Installation and Getting Previous: 3.14 So You Want