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Automating Linux and Unix System Administration, Second Edition by Kirk Bauer — book cover
Linux, UNIX

Automating Linux and Unix System Administration, Second Edition

by Kirk Bauer, Nathan Campi
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Overview

Whether you need a network of ten Linux PCs and a server or a data center with a few thousand UNIX nodes, you need to know how to automate much of the installation, configuration, and standard system administration.

Build your network once using cfengine, and the network build will work, without user intervention, on any hardware you prefer. Automating Linux and Unix System Administration, Second Edition is unique in its focus on how to make the system administrator’s job easier and more efficient: instead of just managing the system administrator’s time, the book explains the technology to automate repetitive tasks and the methodology to automate successfully.

  • Both new and seasoned professionals will profit from industry–leading insights into the automation process.
  • System administrators will attain a thorough grasp of cfengine, kickstart, and shell scripting for automation.
  • After reading all chapters and following all exercises in this book, the reader will be able to set up anything from a Linux data center to a small office network.
What you’ll learn

See how to make changes on many UNIX and Linux hosts at once in a reliable and repeatable manner.

  • Learn how to automate things correctly so you only have to do it once, by leveraging the authors’ experience in setting up small, medium, and large networks.
  • Set up a Linux data center or a network correctly.
  • Explore handling real–world environments where not all hosts are configured alike via a case study of a fictional new data center build-out.
  • Examine real–world examples for core infrastructure services (DNS, mail, monitoring, log analysis, security, cfengine, imaging) to build on in your environment.
  • Understand core system administration best practices, which are a key part of how cfengine and automations deployments are outlined in the book.
  • Learn how to make changes reversible, repeatable, and correct the first time through interaction with product/application stakeholders (programmers, product managers, customers, etc.).
Who this book is for

This book is for Linux system administrators who want to learn about the software and methodology to automate repetitive tasks—regardless of network or data center size—in one place. System managers will also find it much easier to think about network technology and automation projects if they read this book. This book is also for anyone who is interested in repeatable and secure infrastructure.

Synopsis

This is the second edition of a title that succeeded before its time—this second edition comes at a timely juncture for Linux administrators and will become a key reference.

If Linux administrators want to build a small or medium-sized network or datacenter, this is the book to show them how to do it by automating the build process. Linux datacenters have multiplied over the last 5 years and literally thousands of Linux system administrators on all 5 continents need this information.

About the Author, Kirk Bauer

Kirk Bauer has been involved in computer programming since 1985. He has been using and administering UNIX systems since 1994. Although his personal favorite UNIX variant is Linux, he has administered and developed on everything from FreeBSD to Solaris, AIX, and HP–UX. He is the author of various open source solutions such as Logwatch.

Kirk has been involved with software development and system/network administration since his first year at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has done work for the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and DHL. In 2000, Kirk was one of the founders and the chief technology officer of TogetherWeb, which was purchased in 2003 by Proficient Systems. Kirk is now a systems engineer with F5 Networks.

Kirk graduated from Georgia Tech in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and is currently pursuing his MBA at Arizona State University. He lives in Peoria, Arizona, with his two dogs, and is looking forward to getting married to his lovely fiancé, Rachel.

Nathan Campi is a UNIX and Linux system administrator by trade, currently working as a UNIX operations manager in San Francisco. His system administration experience is almost entirely with companies with large–scale web operations based on open source software. In his copious free time, he enjoys jogging, watching spaghetti westerns, experimenting with Linux systems, and spending time with his family.

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Book Details

Published
December 1, 2008
Publisher
Apress L. P.
Pages
448
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781430210597

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