Product Description
Comprehensive, hands-on guide to Linux system administration provides you with the deeper understanding of the inner workings of Linux and pragmatic techniques you need to become an outstanding Linux system administrator, whether you are a career administrator in a corporate environment or simply administering your home system. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

A real gem for all levels
I've been using Linux off and on for about 8 years now so I am no newby.I bought this book used recently and I have to tell you that I've been impressed with it since day 1.The first chapter or so is a little boring for experienced users, getting Linux installed etc..., but still good information for those getting started.From there on out, there is a nugget for all of us on just about every page.The book is so well written, it contains detailed information about so many tasks but the writer keeps it from being too complex so it's always easy to understand.Even the most difficult tasks are made simple by the author.There is so much usable information in this book it's hard to describe.Don't let the 2001 publishing date scare you off.Things still work the same today as they did then for the most part.My book is a hard cover ex-library book so I have no complaints about the cover or binder.This is definitely a 5 star Linux book and should be on the shelves of every serious Linux user from beginner to guru.

Excellent Beginner Book!!!
I bought this book mostly based on the reviews (...). I wanted a book that was broad, informative,and easy on the beginner and I got it. As a bonus it is also pretty entertaining, as Marcels' writing style is humorous and flavorful rather than the dry/info only style I see a lot in computer texts. It covers a lot of ground. The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars, is I thought it was a little light on many topics. As you can see from browsing through right here, many topics only get a page or two. Onthe other hand, that also means it covers a great many topics and gives enough to provide a basic understanding that will aid you in knowing which direction to go when you are through. Well worth the $$$.

Best Book on Understanding Linux 'behind the curtain'
I looked this book over very carefully at a local bookseller and it strikes me as one the best written books out of the many that exist, for helping linux users understanding the rather esoteric ways that linux works. It has practical hands-on quick explanations to learn the inner workings of linux that will help a linux user understand how to maintain, use, and solve problems with their linux machine. I plan on buying this book ASAP!

Top notch linux book for all!!
Marcel Gagne's Linux System Administration A User's Guide is by far the best book on linux I have read.I have gone through a number of different books regarding linux, but this one I find myself refering back to over and over again.There is something in here for seasoned linux administrators and linux newbies alike.If you are looking for a one stop shop linux book this is it!!In the past I would have to refer to a number of different books to find what I needed, but this book has it all.Easy to read and understand.Top notch job - highly recommended!

Vince Scimeca
Senior IT Manager
Jupitermedia

Great for the 'non-idiot' or 'non-dummy'.
...

Simply put, this book is probably one of the best choices for a new user to Linux who has computer experience, and possibly previous UNIX experience.I'm not sure how it would be as a beginner's book because I wasn't a beginner, but I think it would work well as a second book certainly.Even for a beginner, most of the important parts of Linux are focused on.The emphasis is on the basic areas that are important for the average user, or a small business system's administrator.Topics include the file systems, how to do backups, how to set-up hardware (including my personal bugaboo - printers), how to manage users, some good security information, how to use the various GUIs, how to automate tasks, how to get started with programming, etc.Areas like Apache, sendmail and nameservers are covered enough to get started with them, which is probably enough for the average user.One of the strengths is that the book points out ways to use the command prompt and then at least two other (usually) ways to do the same thing with the two most popular windowing systems Gnome and KDE.Another strength is that the book expects you to try things.A topic is introduced, some basic ways to do things are shown and then usually at least one or two more advanced topics, followed by encouragement to explore.There is no CD included, but numerous http links are given throughout.

This book is the one I open first when I have a question that needs answering and should be in most Linux bookshelves.It's easy to read, with some humor sprinkled throughout. The author assumes you're intelligent, which is greatly appreciated.Most of all, the book teaches ways for the home user or small business user to get the most out of their investment. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

A keeper
I received a copy of this from the publisher, and boy am I glad I did.It's a wonderful book that's an absolute keeper.

I've done quite a bit of systems level programming with POSIX systems and Linux and I wish that I'd had this book earlier primarily because its descriptions of systems-level programming on Linux are incredibly clear and detailed.Critically, the book is well written and never boring.I found it a pleasure to dip into different sections where I did know the subject (e.g. TCP and sockets) and where I did not (e.g. memory mapped files).

I then passed the book around in my office and a couple of days later got feedback from people that it had been very useful and that people thought it was well worth getting an office copy.

I was worried when the back cover claimed that the book was a 'new classic', but I think it's likely to be justified.It's nicely written and fun to read, and covers topics in depth.The most important thing is that the author has achieved the right balance in his descriptions and is able to explain clearly a huge variety of topics.

An outstandingly good book
"Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment" by Richard Stevens (2nd Edition updated by Stephen Rago in 2005) has been THE standard for UNIX system programming since the first edition came out in 1992. It is clear, correct and comprehensive. Another really excellent book is the updated edition of Marc Rochkind's "Advanced UNIX Programming." So it is unexpected that a new UNIX system programming book should come out that stands head and shoulders above the Stevens and Rochkind books, but Michael Kerrisk's "The Linux Programming Interface" does.

Kerrisk's book is more thorough, more comprehensive and just as well written as the Stevens and Rochkind books. It covers over 500 system calls in the SUSv3 and SUSv4 specification in 64 chapters, using 200 example programs, 88 tables, 115 diagrams and 1506 pages. It's a monumental work, and it's really very good. It is now easily THE standard book on Linux/UNIX system programming.

No work, no matter how good, is perfect, and I do have two small niggles, neither of which detract from its 5 star rating. (1) Some chapters have only one exercise. I wish there had been more. But, on the plus side, most chapters have at least one solution to an exercise. And, (2) the only treatment of debugging is a two page appendix on strace(1). I would have like to have had some discussion on the use of systemtap, gdb and other tools in debugging programs that use system calls.

All in all, an outstandingly good book and unreservedly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (9)

Deserves its place on any system admin's bookshelf
Even though the topic of GNU/Linux system administration is a very fast moving target with lots of features being added to Linux environment nearly every few months (and thus rendering many books a little bit outdated), some books are good enough to have a place on the bookshelf of a system administrator. Linux Server Hacks Volume 2, together with Volume 1, is one of those books. Whether you are responsible for a few Linux servers or trying to manage a few thousand servers, the tips and tricks presented in this book will prove to be a valuable asset for your skill set (though, if you're managing a few thousand Linux servers than you'll probably know at least %50 or more of the tips provided in the book).

The book is guaranteed to be a very good and advanced starting point for topics related but not limited to authentication, remote GUI connectivity, storage management, file sharing and synchronizing resources, security / lockdown instructions, log files and monitoring, troubleshooting, system rescue, recovery, and repair. Especially the chapters about heterogeneous network environments in which Linux and Windows machines should work in harmony is a very critical one for many sys. admins. And I'm sure all the geeks and nerds out there will enjoy reading Hack #20 "Hack 20. Quick and Easy DHCP Setup" and Hack #21 "Integrate DHCP and DNS with Dynamic DNS Updates".

Oh so useful
All the little tricks I wish I could keep in my head. The hacks books are a wonderful resource for any sys admin.

Linux Server Hacks, Volume Two: Tips & Tools for Connecting, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting (Hacks)
Excellent Book. Who said an old dog can't learn new tricks. Found several little tid-bits that have trimmed a number of my scripts or changed the way I've implemented services! A great desktop companion for advanced and intermediate admins.

More specialized than Volume 1
This is a very good book. These remarks are for Linux users on the way up. If you are already an über-üser, well, you will probably like this book anyway.

If you don't have the first volume, you might want to start with it. It has some simple but very useful things that apply to just about anyone with their own Linux box and a command line.

This volume is much more advanced, and most of the tricks and techniques deal with much more specialized problem domains, ie. things you might not have run into yet. One advantage of this book over the first is that it is very up to date in its recommendations of existing software to use.

This book totally rocks!
I can't say enough about the work done in Linux Server Hacks vII by the two Bs.Bill and Brian have hit the ball out of the ballpark with this one.

Just the section on LVM (Logical Volume Management) have saved my bacon!

Every single "hack" (read tip) is extremely practical, applicable and relevant to managing and administering Linux systems whether "servers" or not!

The absolute best part of this book is that you get really useful, insightful views into the experiences of seasoned veterans of Unix systems.If you sit in a NOC or if you're the 24x7 guy/gal on a server farm, this book is an occupational requirement!Everyone else will appreciate it if they're running Linux.In my modest network of perhaps 30 Linux systems, I can tell you that I saved hours of effort with just two of the hacks included in this volume.Considering the time savings, buying this book saved my company more than 300% on the cover price. ... Read more

Product Description
Principles of Operating Systems: Design and Applications is an ideal resource for anyone who wants to gain a basic understanding of operating systems in the context of the applications in which they are used. The main focus of this text is to foster an understanding of operating system fundamentals: what types of services they provide, how various applications interface with them, and the restrictions they have on those applications. Making this book unique in its approach is the inclusion of a wide range of example systems and detailed case studies of the Linux and Inferno operating systems. By combining a traditional set of topics with this real-life contextual background, readers will achieve an enriched understanding of the material, which they can immediately apply to the world of operating systems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Inexpensive
Got my item on the second week of classes when it was ordered on the late first week of class. Thank you! ... Read more

Product Description

“As an author, editor, and publisher, I never paid much attention to the competition–except in a few cases. This is one of those cases. The UNIX System Administration Handbook is one of the few books we ever measured ourselves against.”   

–From the Foreword by Tim O’Reilly, founder of O’Reilly Media

 

“This book is fun and functional as a desktop reference. If you use UNIX and Linux systems, you need this book in your short-reach library. It covers a bit of the systems’ history but doesn’t bloviate. It’s just straightfoward information delivered in colorful and memorable fashion.”  

–Jason A. Nunnelley

“This is a comprehensive guide to the care and feeding of UNIX and Linux systems. The authors present the facts along with seasoned advice and real-world examples. Their perspective on the variations among systems is valuable for anyone who runs a heterogeneous computing facility.”  

–Pat Parseghian

The twentieth anniversary edition of the world’s best-selling UNIX system administration book has been made even better by adding coverage of the leading Linux distributions: Ubuntu, openSUSE, and RHEL.  

This book approaches system administration in a practical way and is an invaluable reference for both new administrators and experienced professionals. It details best practices for every facet of system administration, including storage management, network design and administration, email, web hosting, scripting, software configuration management, performance analysis, Windows interoperability, virtualization, DNS, security, management of IT service organizations, and much more. UNIX® and Linux® System Administration Handbook, Fourth Edition, reflects the current versions of these operating systems:

Ubuntu® Linux
openSUSE® Linux
Red Hat® Enterprise Linux®
Oracle America® Solaris™ (formerly Sun Solaris)
HP HP-UX®
IBM AIX®

Customer Reviews (6)

Greatest Unix Book
This book is great compared to other UNIX that I have read. It has a good overview on every topic discussed in this book.

Easy to read and retain
This is one of the best admin books I have.Easy to read -- the knidle edition is well formatted and a lot lighter than the paper book.

Especially recommended for its easy language and candid approaches to common systems issues
The fourth updated edition of Evi Nemeth, et.al.'s UNIX AND LINUX SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION HANDBOOK provides a winning edition of a classic reference, packing in approaches to Unix and Linux systems for new administrators and experienced pros like. 'Best practices' for all system management needs explore different options in configuration, scripting and virtualization, covering security and IT needs alike. From restoring systems after a failure to new options, this is a pick for any computer library, especially recommended for its easy language and candid approaches to common systems issues.

Not your average Linux book.
Also not designed to teach you how to run Linux in your basement (but you can take everything they say and still apply yourself to that if you choose.) I was almost scared off when I read that in the preface, since I didn't have large systems to test on.Fear not however, the book is a masterpiece and even non-pro users will find themselves discovering the power of Unix/Linux, and I mean the full power, they don't leave many stones unturned in this book.

However this book is targeted to larger system deployments and real world large systems.Which is fantastic, everything to get Linux users to the 'next' level is here.IT/IS professionals who have for the most part mastered basic *Nix commands will find this book extraordinary.I have the e-book version of this, but I really needed to get the paper one too.That is how good this is, and I have read just about everything in it at this point.

The book is well laid out, unlike my review it stays focused within each section.So much content is in here I can't even pull out half of the parts I found useful so I won't even try.

If you're a Unix/Linux user (IT/IS pro), buy it.If you're learning how to walk in Linux, you might want to stay away for a little bit, though it does do a reasonable job of refreshing the memory of most users, there is not THAT much introductory level information in this book to get you all the way up to speed.If you're ambitious enough I guess a new user could make use of this book, but I would suggest reading other material before this.

Best Linux book I have purchased ever to date.

It's the Bible for Unix & Linux Admins
The 3rd edition is great, the 4th edition updates that greatness. This book had been out for about a week when I noticed it and I had to get my hands on it!

There is a change I am bummed out about... They removed FreeBSD as one of their example systems but included OpenSolaris ( Oracle killed OpenSolaris after buying Sun). Thankfully FreeBSD has it's own Bible, Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD, 2nd Edition, by Michael W. Lucas ( must have for FreeBSD admins).

Besides the OpenSolaris/FreeBSD change, this is still a solid book worthy of 5 stars. Since this might be the last edition of The Handbook I am glad to see an update. There is more Linux in this edition compared to the 3rd, they added a great introduction to scripting chapter, updated chapters for with the latest technologies, and removed references and chapters on obsolete tech.

If this is their last edition good way to go out. I hope someone else can put together a similar book for the future that can live up to this classic. Again, MUST HAVE!!! ... Read more

Product Description

The job of Linux systems administrator is interrupt-driven and requires constant learning in byte-wise chunks. This book gives solutions to modern problems, even some you might not have heard of, such as scripting LDAP, making Mac clients play nice with Linux servers, and backup, security, and recovery scripts. Author Juliet Kemp takes a broad approach to scripting using Perl and bash, and all scripts work on Debian or Red Hat lineage distributions. Plus she dispenses wisdom about time management, dealing with desperate colleagues, and how to avoid reinventing the wheel!

• Learn how to love LDAP scripting and NFS tuning
• Make Perl serve you: don't be enslaved by Perl
• Learn to change, craft, and feel empowered by recipes that change your life

Customer Reviews (2)

entry level /"hey, check this out!!!" - approach
Typically we treat Apress /No Starch press and especially O'Reilly books (with those black-white animals on cover) as the highest authority in IT. We naturally anticipate that those books are written by hard-core professional that can mentor of all. Well, that's not the case with Juliet Kemp book "Linux system administration recipes" - the whole book has the "unwritten concept" - "Hey, check this out!" . That means that it needs to be considered as a sort of article in Linux magazine that covers some Linux/sysadmin concepts that got Julie Kemp mesmerized, but not the solid reference material.

For example, page. 188

ldapsearch "(uuid=testuser)" | sed '/^#/d' | sed '/^$/d' - well , that works but any decent experienced sysadmin will tell you that it is not cool to pipe sed to sed, Instead you use '-e' command -

ldapsearch "(uuid=testuser)" | sed -e '/^#/d' -e '/^$/d' - that is much nicer. I am not splitting a hair here, but IMHO books like this need to have more elegance.

Also the whole idea of centralization usingLDAP /NFS / puppet is not clearly illustrated in this book - a few Visio / Omnigraph diagrams will be a HUGE help to understand the entire concept and to see whether it can be applied to your network. I am reading between the lines that Juliet Kemp has discovered LDAP /NFS /puppet / bash completion / perl-and she is trying to tell us"See, what I am using... isn't it cool or what?"

We need less "discovery channel", but more analysis here. I am not telling you that the book is useless - it has some nice ideas, but the 2nd edition (if Juliet Kemp cares) need to be seriously revised

Much less number of pages than announced and serious errors
I have recently purchased an electronic version of this book with great expectations (mostly practical, integrated solutions). However, when I received my copy I have seen that it's about 280 pages (from cover to cover) and 70 (or more) pages are missing! It has been announced to have 350 pages on both Amazon and APress web sites.

And maybe worse part: I started reading the book and found two serious errors on the first page, in the first recipe! First part of the first recipe talks about a code (bash settings) listing but the code is obviously incomplete (line 05 is mentioned in text, but it's simply not in the code listing). In the second part of the first recipe a shell command is given to find files under /etc that are changed in the last ten minutes: "find / -fstype local -mtime -10m". But there is not such usage of find! mtime should have been mmin! This was the point I gave up.

It seems this book is not reviewed seriously and even worse the codes are just written blindly in the text without executing them on a real system. (I really cannot understand how an author can make the second error.) I have written to APress about these issues (# of pages and errata) two days ago but have not yet received any response.

Well, there are more problems.. There is no ToC (as metadata) in the PDF. What I see in the ToC is stuff like this:
Kemp000.pdf
Kemp001.pdf
Kemp002
Kemp003.pdf
Kemp004.pdf
Kemp005
...
These are just original file names of each chapter... (Even the format of this list is inconsistent. What a low quality production!)

And finally, although I have not yet completely read it the quality and coverage of the content is much below my expectations. You may take this as subjective but except this point all the problems I mentioned are enough to put this book into the list of the worst books ever produced in the history. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

I Loved it!
I was very suspicious of this book, because I knew it was available online for download. I thought at first, why not just print it and read it. A friend of mine told me this is something completely different. And he was right. It was worth every penny (cent).

The book is a great introduction to Linux networking theory and practices. Although it's lightweight in size, it makes it up with easy to read high quality content. I think even some experienced sysadmins might find a lot of interesting information inside.

The guide is very well written, with nice and self explaining graphics.

Setting up a SHO Linux Network
This is an excellent book to start with if you are considering setting up a Linux network for your home or small office. The intended audience is assumed to have some basic programming skills and understands the priority of network security. If you have never written a make file or know what make is, you might want to start with a more fundamental book; you will struggle understanding the concepts of this book. If you have never used UNIX or Linux, you will be quickly LOST!

It is important to realize that this book is a guide and not a reference. Each chapter covers a major system vital to the Linux operating system. Book(s) are written for each system, yet the author covers enough information to get you started and keep you from being dangerous.

The book also indoctrinates you to the procedures and mindsets of Linux. If a specific tool is not covered in this book, you will know how to search for it, read the configuration man pages, build it, and install it.

My background: Mixed Signal IC Design Engineer (20 years), C/C++, C#, Perl Literate. Converting from Win2K OS to Linux because of corporate directive. I have been a user of UNIX and Windows OS for 25 years, however, I never had to administer a network. I wanted to start up a Linux network at home to act as a Subversion server and a general file server.

Good for Overview and Common Practices
This is a good first book to purchase if you're getting into Linux Administration.It focuses more on common practices rather than configurations and how-to's.If you're looking to get an idea of how to build your environment (or make it better), this is a good book to start with, then purchase the specific manuals once you've decided on a course of action.

Printed Professional Quality Book
This book fits into the space between the general everything there is to know about Linux books (which give limited space to each subject) and highly specialized books that cover only one application such as Apache or sendmail. It's a niche book intended for people aministering a Linux network. It contains what you need to know to set up a network and keep it up.

This is the third printed edition of this book. This has given time for the original work to be expanded and rewritten to satisfy the needs of readers who down through the years have sent in questions on various subjects.

This book is based on the on-line Linux documentation but bound into a convenient book, cleaned up professional illustrations, better indexing. While it costs a bit, it is probably no more than the cost of the ink cartridge it would take to print it out.

good discussion of DNS and sendmail
A good education in how to use the Internet, in the context of a linux network. The authors provide a nice lucid explanation of DNS, as a globally distributed database that underpins the Internet. An entire chapter is allocated to this most crucial of ideas. The sort of thing you should have down pat.

Other network aspects are covered elsewhere in the book. Notably sendmail. The most important configuration ideas and settings are shown.

Though, for an edition printed in February 2005, the book only seems to refer to version 8.12 of sendmail. Whereas 8.13 has already been out for several months, and contains much enhanced Milter capabilities for fighting spam. But perhaps the discussion about 8.12 is simply due to the realities of how long it takes for a book to be published and printed.

A very topical chapter is offered last in the book. On wireless networks. It's a decent synopsis of a hugely popular occurrence. But given the rapid hardware upgrades in this field, and the still evolving wireless standards, you may want to seek out a more extensive text. ... Read more

Product Description

Whether you need a network of ten Linux PCs and a server or a datacenter 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 datacenter to a small office network.

Customer Reviews (6)

Awesome
Having the authors guide you through the process of configuring automated installations and configuration of servers is priceless.

This book is a must for any linux/unix sysadmin out there. I hope there is a 3rd edition with the new Cfengine 3 soon!

This book is not for the beginning linux/unix admin, though. You should have a thorough knowledge of the systems already. Once you have that, using the methods in this book will save you and your bosses countless hours of managing your servers.

I would like to thank the authors for a brilliant piece of work.

Cfengine missing manual
As a CFengine evangelist I find this book very useful to brush up my automation skills, Cfengine peculiarities and even such obscure features as modules and methods in Cfengine. THe only drawback of this book that it needs better visualization - a Cfengine and automation is a complex concept, so few more diagrams would be very helpful.The Cfengine portal([...])already has thisbook present!

Just the reference you were looking for.
If you are the kind of person that doesn't have time to reinvent the wheel and you like solutions that Just Work but are also well though out, then this book is just the thing for you. Linux admins that have to handle a large number of machines in an Enterprise environment where downtime is just not an option will love that this book gives you in depth explanations supported by rock solution solutions to let you manage the configurations of a massive number of machines with a moderate investment of time and almost zero ongoing effort. The authors do an exception job of delving down into the details when necessary and painting a robust "big picture" that an experienced admin will certain appreciate. I predict this book will become a must-have for your administrative reference shelf.

Excellent Content and Coverage
The book fulfills the promise of showing how to setup and manage a properly automated fleet of Debian, RedHat Linux, and Solaris systems. It touches on all the essential points of doing so, from bootstrapping the initial install systems to configuring essential services such as NTP and Nagios. I believe the text is stronger for not considering (the many!) alternative configuration management and monitoring tools available, and not going into detail on LDAP and Kerberos, as these topics are covered elsewhere, and would make this book loose focus.

Inexperienced systems administrators will benefit from the coverage of need-to-know utilities, such as sudo and SSH, along with the appendix of useful Unix tools, as well as learning how to properly setup a site from scratch. As an experienced sysadmin, I enjoyed the book, picking up a variety of good shell tips, and an excellent way of organizing cfengine configuration files.

Great book with a lot of CFEngine
Repetitive tasks not only waste time, but each repitition is prone to error. Automation is the solution to repetition and any serious System Administrator will tell you that automation is a cornerstone of the profession. Automating Linux and UNIX System Administration is a great guide to building this cornerstone.

This book covers a wide variety of topics including: simple shell scripting, remote management with SSH, automated installations, monitoring, and configuration management. The majority of the items are explained with using CFEngine in mind -- so much so that I feel this book should probably advertise its heavy use of CFEngine somewhere in the title or at least on the cover. If you don't use CFEngine and have no plans to do so, a lot of this book becomes irrelevant. However, CFEngine is a popular, robust management system and is worth getting to know.

If you're still managing servers by hand, it's probably time to start thinking about automation. Automating Linux and UNIX System Administration is a solid book that will set you on the right track. ... Read more

Product Description

Today, Linux is included with nearly every embedded platform. Embedded developers can take a more modern route and spend more time tuning Linux and taking advantage of open source code to build more robust, feature-rich applications. While Gene Sally does not neglect porting Linux to new hardware, modern embedded hardware is more sophisticated than ever: most systems include the capabilities found on desktop systems. This book is written from the perspective of a user employing technologies and techniques typically reserved for desktop systems.

• Modern guide for developing embedded Linux systems
• Shows you how to work with existing Linux embedded system, while still teaching how to port Linux
• Explains best practices from somebody who has done it before

What you’ll learn

• The anatomy of an embedded Linux project
• How to create an embedded Linux development environment
• How to configure and build an embedded Linux kernel
• How to configure and build open source projects for embedded systems
• How to minimize resources and boot times
• What resources are available in open source to help you build your project

Who is this book for?

This book is for professional embedded developers who have an understanding of basic software development concepts. You don’t have to be familiar with Linux, but you should be comfortable working from the command-line.

Customer Reviews (3)

Broadest & Most Up-To Date View of Embedded Linux Development
This excellent Developer's Guide to Embedded Linux Systems Development has several features to recommend it, among the sparse other choices for this important topic.It is extremely up to date, takes a broad and pedagogically sound view of the Embedded Linux Environment and takes the extra step to advise on choice of a board and development environment (how to make the choice, a piece of information that won't easily go stale) and in describing the entire Embedded Systems Development Process.It describes hot to select a board and the accompanying development environment, what to do when you get your board and how to make it boot, how to develop a Customized (to your development style and application/hardware environment) Linux Environment (Development Version and Deliverable to the Consumer), how to debug applications,the nature of hard and soft Real-Time requirements, system tuning, and how to handle field updates to the software. A vitally important chapter that should be included in every Embedded Systems development book (not just Linux), but that as far as I know is included in no other book, Chapter 17 on Deploying Applications talks about all of the issues in creating an "Embedded First-Class Final Product". The issues discussed in this vital section include not only a final hardware and software deliverable, but "Systems Integration" with issues of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing design as well as the expected (by Software Professionals) issues of Deployable Boot Loaders and File Systems.


This excellent and friendly guide to building Embedded Linux Architectures will be valuable not only to EE's and Software Professionals but the growing ranks of hobbyist and professionals in other domains who are experimenting and deploying applications with the extremely popular and recently released Beagleboard, Bug Labs and Gumstix Embedded Linux Systems.
A thorough and practical guide to Embedded Linux Systems Development.

--Ira Laefsky MSE/MBA
IT Consultant and Former Senior Member of Technical Staff for Arthur D. Little, Inc. and Digital Equipment Corporation

The natural way to approach your first embedded Linux project
I came to embedded Linux about a year ago. The first books I've got are from Yaghmour and Hallinan.
They are great but it doesn't mean Sally's book is superfluous. What I like in this book is
the project style to master your first embedded Linux project. The sequence and depth of its
chapters are very well done. I find it the natural way to learn these topics.

In the beginning Sally points out in detail the advantage to look for an evaluation board
with a well supported Linux running on it. From there you can explore what needs to be
adapted. Be aware that this makes a big difference and avoids some of the numerous pitfalls
along the way.

Next the different Linux distributions and available toolchains are discussed. The level of
detail is beyond any of the other books. Very helpful in praxis.

The other chapters show you the way to go. These are well done as well. Other books go
into more details sometimes. But you should not limit yourself to select only one book
for this area. They are all worth their money.

A Definite for the Embedded Systems Engineer's Reference Library
Linux may be well known for its use on servers and desktops, but it can't be beaten for sheer numbers in embedded devices, with about 20% of the 2 billion annual embedded device market using Linux.With 18 chapters and 430 pages including an adequate 25 page index, Pro Linux Embedded Systems covers the process of developing and supporting a customised Linux build for an embedded device through the full product life-cycle.While the book is invaluable in providing a guide for those involved in building and configuring Linux for embedded project development, anyone interested in how to develop their own customised Linux build will also find it educational, particularly if their project involves lower powered hardware than the typical modern desktop.Given the advances in Linux embedded development, this recently published book (Dec 2009) is also more up to date than many other books covering this topic.

Coverage of embedded development per chapter is as follows:

1About Embedded Linux
2Configuring the Software Environment
3Target Emulation and Virtual Machines
4Starting Your Project
- includes a very good section on applying patches
5Getting Linux for Your Board
- covers the pros and cons of the different options for obtaining the appropriate Linux source for your embedded system plus licensing issues, in particular, to what extent GPL covers the development compiler and toolchain.Also included is a very good set of questions for your prospective board vendors.
6Creating a Linux Distribution from Scratch
- how Linux boots and the kernel starts up
7Booting the Board
- excellent description of the Linux boot process and how to optimise size and speed for an embedded system.
8Configuring the Application Development Environment
- useful information on suitable development languages for embedded systems and their relative strengths and weaknesses. Profiling tool usage, memory leak detection, static code checking techniques, typical IDEs used.
9Application Development
- development process; host or development system?
10 Debugging Applications
- debugging methods; remote debugging with different IDEs.
11 Kernel Configuration and Development
- very good description of kernel source patching, configuration and development.
12 Real Time
- Excellent discussion on what real time means and how to configure Linux as a soft real time system using the CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT patch, how to avoid real time gotchas and how to use tools to measure and reduce latency.
13 Using Open Source Projects
- How an Open Source Project is structured, understanding licensing and a description of common licensing types.Source control systems including CVS, Subversion, Mercurial and GIT. Use of a cross compiler, configuring, building and installing your project software.
14 BusyBox
- Excellent coverage of how to customise, build, install and extend BusyBox, a utility that implements most of command line executables you are likely to need for your product.
15 System Design
- Very good description of the different file system choices available and the pros and cons for their use in embedded systems.How to design the Root File System, how to create and mount file systems with specific coverage of Flash devices, setting up init and inittab, running the main application, setting ownership and permissions, security options - overviews of SELinux and PAM vs built in security.
16 System Tuning
- The spectrum of embedded systems is divided into 3 or fewer Megabytes, 16 - 32 Megabytes and more than a Gigabyte with the author recommending the appropriate tuning approach for each.Program size and kernel optimisation techniques are covered along with a good section on how to reduce boot time.An excellent table showing whether you really need what you think might be needed in your Root File System is also included.
17 Deploying Applications
- Covers the Embedded Development process; Requirements, Industrial and Mechanical Design, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Software Design and Engineering, Manufacturing. Deployment Strategies and Tactics; Boot Loader Configuration - using expect.Deployment Root File System - when and when not to follow the Linux File System Hierarchy Standard.
18 Handling Field Updates
- Root File System and Kernel upgrades via Forklift, Parallel System or Do it Yourself upgrades.RPM, dpkg, ipkg and apt package management is covered with a very good section of making and installing packages.Finally, what to do when field updates fail.


This book is definitely worth a place on your reference shelf if you are involved in developing an embedded Linux system.It includes well explained example sessions illustrating how to install, configure and cross compile the kernel and development toolchains and how to develop, build, transfer and debug code on the embedded development host.The only real disappointment with this book is the annoying frequency of grammatical errors (e.g. missing or incorrect words, incomplete sentences) which will hopefully disappear in the next edition.
... Read more

Product Description
Tighten holes and maintain security on your Linux system!

From one of the authors of the international best-seller, Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, comes a must-have security handbook for anyone running Linux. This cutting-edge volume shows you how to think like a Linux hacker in order to beat the Linux hacker. You'll get detailed information on Linux-specific hacks, both internal and external, and how to stop them.Amazon.com Review
"Throw up a Linux box," comes the chorus whenever there's a need to provide some network service or other without impinging upon the boss's martini budget. Fair enough, but by doing so are you opening security holes you don't know how to find or fix? The newest edition of Hacking Linux Exposed helps you answer that question and solve many of the security problems you find. To a certain extent this book is a recipe collection in that it describes weaknesses in Linux (calling attention to specific distributions where appropriate). The authors stop short of explicitly showing you how to wage most kinds of attacks, a reasonable thing to do from an ethical point of view even though the instructions can be found easily on the Internet. Rather than do that, they give step-by-step instructions on how to defend against the attacks they catalog. The point is not, "Here's precisely how to bring down a server by means of an ACK storm," but rather, "Here's how to defend against such problems." They do demonstrate plenty of weaknesses, though, as in their coverage of the conversation that goes back and forth between an FTP server and its client.

This book covers pretty much everything you'd want to do with a Linux machine as a network server. Read it and see some of the weaknesses in your system--and do something about them before someone else does. --David Wall

Topics covered: Security best practices, approached from the perspective of what can go wrong and what can be done about the problems. Specific coverage goes to all major services, including user management, FTP, HTTP, and firewalling. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Ding, Ding, We have a winner.
First, this book does _NOT_ have a installation walk through...YES!!!

You will not find another book this comprehensive in the length in HLE has accomplished. i found the book to be on point, and not overdrawn on any specific topic. The authors usage of gender is something of a mystery aswell. For the first 10 chapters or so the cracker is a woman, then in later chapters it becomes a man, then in even later chapters a woman, then back to a man :-).

i found the book to be very well written, it feels like a very good naration. There is only a few plugs of direct humor (1 about using word for the publisher, another about the shortest sentence using all letters) but these few are lightening.

Technically this book is sound. it does very good in keeping the basics of security alive through the book (chattr +i, only use what you need, upgrade, etc...).This is very helpful to a beginer for reinforced learning.The software packages it mentions for firewalls, logging, etc. are very nice and descriptive.

All around great book. BTW, did i mention that is does _NOT_ cover a Linux installation from CD/DVD? That alone should be enough to buy it.

Must-Read Info For Linux Admins
The Hacking Exposed books have set the bar for this genre of security book. Hacking Linux Exposed - 2nd Edition doesn't fail in meeting that bar as well. If you've read Hacking Exposed - 4th Edition and think this book can't tell you anything you don't already know- think again. For those who administer Linux boxes this book provides an in-depth look at specific hacks and vulnerabilities unique to the Linux operating system and the accompanying fixes and workarounds to protect yourself. The book is overflowing with examples and sample commands that users can immediately put to use to better understand the risks and how to mitigate them. Hacking Exposed is a must-read for security- this book is a must-read for Linux security.

(...)

Don't have this book?You're BEGGING for trouble...
When I first starting using Linux systems and putting them online I had NO idea what sort of grief I was in for.The reason for that grief: I had NO clue how to 'harden' a system or what that term even meant.By not knowing that I put upsystems that were quickly exploited by script kiddies and SPAM houses looking for open relays to use for SPAM and for 'zombies' to use in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.I bought this book, read it, and haven't had those problems since.If you are going to do *anything* with Linux on the internet then GET THIS BOOK NOW.Unless, of course, you *want* to have your computers destroyed on a weekly basis...

The best hands-on Linux security book just got better
I'm a big fan of the Hacking Exposed style of writing.All offensive theory is backed up by command line examples, followed by defensive countermeasures.Hacking Exposed: Linux, 2nd Ed (HE:L2E) follows this tradition, updating the content of the first edition and adding 200 pages of new content.Although I reviewed the first edition in Sep 01, reading the second edition reminded me of the challenges posed by securely configuring and deploying Linux systems.

The best way to learn while reading HE:L2E is to try the sample commands.I also recommend visiting the links mentioned and installing many of the tools described by the authors.I found programs like raccess, nsat (ch. 3), sslsniff (ch. 7), nstx, and httptunnel (ch. 15) particularly interesting from an attacker's point of view.From a system administration standpoint, coverage of passlogd (ch. 2), lilo and grub (ch. 5), and X (ch. 6) were very helpful.

The authors share many novel ways to abuse Linux systems, but counter those exploits with little-known features or third-party tools.I never knew I could use bash's HISTCONTROL feature to selectively remove entries from shell history files.HE:L2E goes the extra mile to help secure your system, such as including sample C code in ch. 13 to allow one to compile TCP Wrappers support into one's own programs.Other clear, concise defensive measures were introduced in excellent chapters on keeping the kernel and packages current (appendix B) and pro-active security measures (ch. 2).The last appendix gives a short yet powerful description of the damage an intruder can perform, showing how he hid unauthorized programs and how those programs were discovered.

If you use Linux, you'll find HE:L2E indispensable.I even applied many of the tools and techniques to my FreeBSD system, showing that that good security advice can be a cross-platform endeavor.

Great book.
I just finished going through the entire book line by line. I am extreemly new to Linux and security, and this book made it all very clear. I only wish I realized that there was a second edition out when I bought this one. Everything in this original edition was still completely correct and appropriate, three years later. ... Read more

Product Description
Linux Pocket Guide gets you up to speed quickly on day-to-day Linux use. It's organized the way you use Linux: by function, not just alphabetically.It's not the 'bible of Linux; it's a practical and concise guide to the options and commands you need most. It starts with general concepts like files and directories, the shell, and X windows, and then presents detailed overviews of the most essential commands, with clear examples. You'll learn each command's purpose, usage, options, location on disk, and even the RPM package that installed it. The Linux Pocket Guide is tailored to Fedora Linux--the latest spin-off of Red Hat Linux--but most of the information applies to any Linux system.Throw in a host of valuable power user tips and a friendly and accessible style, and you'll quickly find this practical, to-the-point book a small but mighty resource for Linux users. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

I keep reaching for this book,,,
I'm an occasional Linux user, and each time I go back, it seems I need to re-learn things.

This book has been a terrific aid, with my frequently used examples flagged for easy reference.

Bravo!

Awesome reference book
Linux quick reference guide packed with a lots of good information.
Highly recommend!!!
I have found this guide to be extremely useful and well organized.

Great On The Job Reference
I don't think this requires a long explanation. This is an easy to use, quick reference guide that will serve any admin well. No matter how good one is as a Linux Sysop, there are a lot of complexities that are made easier if you have a little something to help you. Well, this is it. Grab it, you won't regret it!

Mike Saxton, Author of "7 Scorpions: Rebellion"

Have not read yet
It is a handy little guide/reference for Red Hat Linux (Fedora Core 1, Nov 2003 specifically) and even some shell programing (scripts).It has chapters to get you started, an index.179 pages + 10 page index.

Keep it with you
This is just the thing to keep to hand, if you want a quick reminder about a command's syntax.Yes, you could search online, but you don't always want yet another browser window/tab, and who knows, you may not have internet access.At about 4in x 7in and just under 200 pages, you can keep it with you all the time.

We (well I) can't remember every command, and I found the grouping by function and a comprehensive index made it easy to find things.Perhaps I'd suggest a few more blank pages at the back so we can add extra notes on other packages commonly used? ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (13)

Good book
Maybe the comparission between bash features and python features are not very good.

When Autor try to demostrate python is better, he give some bad examples.

Seems like Autor doesn't like bash syntax. For various tasks bash is really better, because it was dessign for do it.

Later, the book is improved and give you some very good tips

Got me hooked on Python
I felt this was a much better book for me than two other Oreilly titles for picking up Python.That being said, I do believe having a background in another language (Perl/Bash/etc.) and being a Linux/*nix admin is required to get the most from it.

It gave great examples that made practical sense and covered a ton of topics.

My only knocks would be I wish the iPython chapter was not included and the final chapter "Pragmatic Examples" was extended.

If you have never used Perl, or another language, the intro section may not be enough to get you to follow along - that being said, most admins I'm sure have already been exposed to a language of some sort.

Not a bad book at all, but it didn't inspire me either
I have four Python books on my shelf. I like the language, at least in theory. It is easy to read, clear, and powerful. In practice, I really don't program much. I was hoping that this book might push me over the edge from writing shell and PHP scripts for my simple needs into Python land. So many of my friends love the language.

I read the book this week. There are a lot of great ideas in there that would be useful for a sysadmin. The examples chosen are generally practical and useful. I was a bit disappointed by the occasional typographical or capitalization error, especially in code examples and discussion, which are not uncommon in first edition books, but are generally uncommon from O'Reilly books. I also found the early emphasis on iPython to be a bit excessive.

This is a little shorter than my usual review, mainly because I can't think of much else to say about the text. It isn't bad, but it isn't great. A sysadmin who is motivated to use Python will find it useful as a foundation. A veteran Python programmer who wants to use the language for systems administration will probably find the book filled with stuff they could have figured out anyway. I wanted to love the book, but I didn't. I didn't hate the book, either. I just feel a bit "meh" about it.

A good book with some typos
I recently got my hands on a copy of "Python for Unix and Linux System Administration". After reading it, I felt the time I've invested in reading it was well spent. The author introduced the reader to many different situations where python would help make their lives as system administrators easier, without confusing the reader with some complex forms or statements. My feeling is that this book is aimed at people who want to use Python to solve their problems quickly and efficiently, but only have a limited experience with the language - and the books fits that purpose well with its rather superficial approach that the reader can later extend later on with various available resources. It would only be fair that I too mention some of the shortcomings that I noticed while reading this book.

Pros:
1) The author introduces the reader to ways that Python can be used.
2) Most of the time there will be more than one way to accomplish a task. The author at times presents a scenario and showed the reader how to do the same task with different modules. This places the choice of which to use back where it belongs, with the reader.
3) The book has a website (most do these days) where the code examples can be downloaded. http://py4sa.appspot.com/

Cons:
1) More time was spent on iPython than was really needed.
2) The case of a word is important in Python. For instance "import Sys" and "import sys" are two completely different things. There were quite a few occasions where a module name was used as the first word in the sentence and because of that it was capitalized.
3) There was once instance that I saw where a script example had no indentation at all. Trying to run it would have resulted in complete failure.
4) It would have been nice if the script examples were named instead of leaving it to the reader to figure it out based on the imports used in another example.

When all is said and done I think I would recommend the book to others if I knew that they had at least some background with Python. And I would highly recommend that they check the addendum and errata pages.

Examples aren't working
The example scripts in the PDF don't always work and have errors. Check out this snippet from page 210 of the PDF:

def create_checksum(path):
"""
Reads in file. Creates checksum of file line by line.
Returns complete checksum total for file.
"""
fp = open(path)
checksum = hashlib.md5()
while True:
buffer = fp.read(8192)
if not buffer:break
checksum.update(buffer)
fp.close()
checksum = checksum.digest()
return checksum
Here is an iterative example that uses this function with IPython to compare two files:
In [2]: from checksum import createChecksum

In [3]: if createChecksum("image1") == createChecksum("image2"):
...: print "True"
...:
...:
True
In [5]: if createChecksum("image1") == createChecksum("image_unique"):
print "True"
...:
...:

The first example defines create_checksum and the second calls createChecksum. But that's not all, the indentation is off and there is no main method in the first example. I'm spending more time figuring out why the examples don't work than learning Python. If you like proof reading and troubleshooting syntax, this is the book for you.

The book is supposed to have an image of all the scripts somewhere but there is not link in the PDF. At least not in the first 200 pages. ... Read more

Product Description

Praise for Building Clustered Linux Systems

"The author does an outstanding job of presenting a very complicated subject. I very much commend this work. The author sets the pace and provides vital resources and tips along the way. He also has a very good sense of humor that is crafted in the text in such a way that makes the reading enjoyable just when the subject may demand a break. This book should be a requirement for those that are clustering or considering clustering and especially those considering investing a great deal of financial resource toward that goal."

–Joe Brazeal, Information Technician III, Southwest Power Pool

Customer Reviews (14)

cluster
very good service on the delivery. The book seems complete and useful for the work I undertake. Many pictures and diagrams to explain concepts.

Not very Helpful with RHEL5
Having built clusters of up to 42 servers with RHEL5, I was hoping this book would help me understand the reasons why certain aspects of the clusters I manage behave the way they do.

This book focuses on topical issues and not much towards details. It might be helpful for someone thinking about a cluster, but there is not enough meat on the subject here.

Not Helpful completely
This book make again one of the 11th book.
Doesn't tells how to build a cluster with linux as a clear chit explanation.

Most probaly only theory no practicals.
Utimately waster

Beginner's Perspective:
I bought this book because I started thinking of building a cluster in my basement just to experiment with parallel programming.Over the past few weeks reading and rereading sections of the book I've developed the confidence to get started.This won't be the only book I'll need. The author is very clear and unapologetic about that.I still need a good book on Linux and programming with MPI.I don't know everything I'll need to know, but I know far more about what I DON'T know and what other work I need to do.

All in all an excellent and very readable overview.

The best book for architecting Linux clusters by far.
This book provides an exhaustive step-by-step examination of all of the elements that need to be considered for architecting a Linux cluster. The coverage is application neutral: High Performance Computing (HPC), Web load-balancing clusters, Enterprise computing centers; no matter. The details common to all clusters are thoroughly discussed.
As a Linux cluster developer of 7 years, I was able to expand and improve my own design processes to better cover all of the issues necessary to architect my designs. I heartily recommended this book to anyone designing a cluster of any size. ... Read more

Product Description
Build Your Computer Career on a Solid Foundation

Whether you're setting out to earn your A+ certification or just want to know more about how a PC works, A+ JumpStart: PC Hardware and Operating Systems Basics is the place to start. Inside, an experienced PC technician and author demystifies every aspect of PC technology, giving you a firm footing from which you can work towards and realize your goals. Coverage includes:
* PC safety and preventive maintenance
* Motherboard selection and setup
* CPU and memory types
* How video cards and monitors work
* Setting up hard drives
* Selecting and configuring expansion boards
* Electricity basics
* Selecting, installing, and troubleshooting printers
* Selecting and setting up network components
* Configuring Windows for network file and printer sharing
* Device resource management in Windows
* Troubleshooting Windows
* Setting up Internet connections ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Very helpful for someone starting out
It's true, this book will not single-handedly make you pass the A+ exams. It's a beginner book, geared for someone who is just starting out studying computer hardware as a career path. It was great for my students (I teach an A+ class) because the big books were more than they could digest right off the bat. It would not be for everyone though. I'd say if you are already a working PC technician, with a good knowledge of hardware, pick a more advanced book. But if you are just curious about repairing computers, or you don't have a whole lot of experience yet and need to ramp up slowly, definitely go with this one.

Someone commented on errors in the book, but I think every book has an error or two in it. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. This book has tons of good information in it, and is at least 99.9% accurate.

Good for beginners....
This book is a good start toward learning the basics of a PC, but this book will not help you pass the A+ test. Now that is out of the way, it does give a good description of what a motherboard looks like, what buses look like and how they work.
The book does give you some good pictures of how to put memory on a motherboard, and it does have some good points in this book. One of them has to do with the new words that most people don't know what they mean, for example, like what TCP/IP does and what it stands for. It also shows you the command lines like what FDISK does, the basic boot process, basic networking, basic troubleshooting, and just about basic problems you will run into a as a technician. The thing I don't like about this book is that it does not deal with the more technicial detail like the Power On Self Test, the FRU, how the IRQ's work, how to troubleshoot advanced problems; hardware and software. The book is short, and it will help you get the basic technicial skills. Not the best since I am a certified PC Technician, but for anyone who wants to learn how a computer works, then get this book. This book is not for the person who has years of experience, and know what they are doing. So to the beginners who want technicial skills, get this book. It will really help you get a good grasp on computers.

Ruined by too many major errors
The A+ jumpstart professes to be an introduction to the basic info you'll need to know for your A+ exam. If you don't know what the A+ exam is, this book will tell you, and even if you arent interested in getting certified ever, you'll learn a lot of basics about PCs. Those who are serious about getting A+ certitified however should beware and take note that this is NOT an all in one guide. For that I would reffer you to the "All in One A+ Certification Exam Guide" By Michael Meyers. So don't expect to learn it all in this one book.

What this book will do is give you a pretty good place to start if you have no idea where to begin on your quest to getting A+ certified. It tries to "jumpstart" you, by giving you the basic run down of many key concepts and facts. Generally it does a pretty good job of this, but in some places it falls short.

Where? Well.. it's tough to write a book at this level. In some places the book tells you stuff that is so basic it's almost common sense, and in other instances the book assumes you already know things that many people may not (such as the fact computers use binary numbers to process and store data). It's a bit akward, and some of the more basic computing concepts are ignored, it's difficult to tell whether they were left out by chance, or were left out because the author considered them "advanced" and unnecessary to begin with.

The book also has a habit of asking you to remember stuff it never talked about. It will say things like "remember when you learned such and such from chapter 2" when in reality chapter 2 only made a passing comment about what it's reffering to. It almost seems at times as if the book is a chopped down version of an all in one, more coprehensive book. But this doesnt detract too much from the over all experience.

I did notice one major typo on page 98... In the paragraph it says "with 16 bit color you get 256 colors"... then in the table right below it, it clearly shows 16 bit color as having 65,536 colors. It's a good thing I already understood color depth enough to notice the mistake and know which was correct (the table). Many introductary tech books dont get enough attention from the editors, and I could just imagine how confusing this may be to someone who didnt already know about color depth. Come on guys, do better editing!

Yet still, the book is a pretty good place to start if you're looing into A+ cert and don't know where to begin and want a quick overview or intro. But I would strongly suggest Mike Meyer's book as a second step or to anyone REALLY serious about A+ Cert.

***
As an update to this review I've come across another MAJOR informational error in this book. The chapter on memory is COMPLETELY WRONG. It claims that to fill a bank of memory the bit width must match that of the CPU's address bus... when this is clearly INCORRECT. In fact, what they mean to say is the EXTERNAL DATA bus (big dif). This isn't a one-time typographical mistake either, but is repeated through the ENTIRE chapter. Why didnt the editor/fact checkers notice this BLATANT error!

This, combined with other smaller errors I noticed is enough to make me completely loose all confidence in any of the facts in this book. Consequently I can no longer reccomend this book as a study tool because you may be learning/studying the WRONG INFORMATION! This is unacceptable for a book that people are going to buy to help them prepare for a professional certification exam. This is no small deal since the test can cost over 300 dollars to take, and learning the wrong information early on can really hurt someone's understanding, especially beginners who will just end up being very confused by conflicting facts when they move on to other books.

What good is a book that is meant to help you learn, when you cant trust any of the facts it gives you? Unless you want to read this book while sitting online so that you can double check every number, figure or definition it gives you... avoid this book. Im very disapointed to be forced to change my rating from 4 stars, to 2 stars based on this experience.

Easy to Understand, learn quickly, Great Pictures.
Studying for the A+ Cert Exam?Start with this book definetely.Everything is well written and easy to understand.Wished more books were written like this.Then from here go to the Michael Myers Book.Good luck!!!

Excellent for the beginner
This is not the only book you'll need to study for the A+ exams, but it's definitely the first book you should read if you don't have much background in PC hardware yet.It lays out the basics for every exam objective in language that anyone can understand. If you would like to get A+ certified but you find those big 1000-page books intimidating and confusing, try this book first. After you read it, the bigger books will make much more sense. ... Read more

Product Description
The operating system is the most fundamental program that runs on your computer. It serves as the basis for how everything else works.

An operating system (OS) is the main program on a computer. It performs a variety of functions, including:

determining what types of software you can install
coordinating the applications running on the computer at any given time
making sure that individual pieces of hardware, such as printers, keyboards, and disk drives, all communicate properly
allowing applications such as word processors, email clients, and web browsers, to perform tasks on the system (e.g., drawing windows on the screen, opening files, communicating on a network) and utilize other system resources (e.g., printers, disk drives)
reporting error messages

The OS also determines how you see information and perform tasks. Some operating systems utilize a graphical user interface (GUI), which presents information through pictures (icons, buttons, dialog boxes, etc.) as well as words. Other operating systems can rely solely on text.

How do you choose an operating system?
In very simplistic terms, when you choose to buy a computer, you are usually also choosing an operating system. Although you may change it, vendors typically ship computers with a particular operating system. There are multiple operating systems, each with different features and benefits, but the following three are the most common:

Windows - Windows, with versions including Windows Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, is the most common operating system for home users. It is produced by Microsoft and is typically included on machines purchased in electronics stores or from vendors such as Dell or Gateway. The Windows OS uses a GUI, which many users find more appealing and easier to use than text-based interfaces.

Mac OS X - Produced by Apple, Mac OS X is the operating system used on Macintosh computers. With the exception of a different GUI, it is similar to the Windows interface in the way it operates.

Linux and other UNIX-derived operating systems - Linux and other systems derived from the UNIX operating system are frequently utilized for specialized workstations and servers, such as web and email servers. Because they are often more difficult for general users or require specialized knowledge and skills to operate, they are not very popular with home users. However, as they continue to develop and become easier to use, they may become more popular on typical home user systems. ... Read more

Product Description
As more companies are moving to Linux for mission-critical applications, security becomes a major issue. This guide explains the pros and cons of the most the valuable open source security tools and is complete with implementation details. It gives detailed instructions on the implementation, configuration, and use of publicly available tools and features of Linux as they relate to Linux security. Essential background information is provided in the book's introductory chapters. Administrators will learn to: Prepare Linux systems for a production environment; Identify vulnerabilities, and planning for security administration; Configure Linux-based firewalls, authentication, and encryption; Secure filesystems, email, web servers, and other key applications; Protect mixed Linux/Unix and Windows environments. New to this Edition: Updated for Redhat 7.2; One of the first Linux security books to cover Bastille, a hardening program which tightens system security and can even lock down the entire system in cases where the system is seriously compromised; New chapter on network sniffers and port scanners used to detect intruders; Will Cover Open SSH - the new open source version of a popular suite of connectivity tools which allow you to login into remote computers and execute commands on these computers. Open SSH contains encryption capabilities that encrypts all traffic including passwords.Amazon.com Review
The introduction of Linux System Security acknowledges that there's no magic bullet as far as security is concerned. Security-minded system administration is a process of constant revision. It promises, though, that "[i]f you follow the procedures outlined in this book, you will certainly reduce your level of vulnerability." The book delivers on that promise in spades.

Using Red Hat Linux as the demonstration environment, the authors explain how to use a suite of publicly available tools to analyze, protect, and monitor your machines and networks. They approach the subject from a practical standpoint, emphasizing software and its use while referring the reader (using copious bibliographic notes) to more specialized works for detailed information on cryptography, firewall configuration, and other subjects.

Scott Mann and Ellen Mitchell have done excellent work in combining explanations of the "soft" aspects of security management with the particulars of using software. In a typical section, they explain how to acquire, install, and run Crack, a password breaker. First they show how a bad guy would use Crack to get unauthorized access to a machine over a network; then they explore the "white hat" applications of the program as a security tool for preemptively weeding out weak passwords. More detailed coverage goes to tiger and Tripwire, a pair of powerful auditing and monitoring tools. Along with Maximum Linux Security (which covers more offensive and defensive weapons in less detail), this is one of the two best Linux security books you can own. --David Wall

Topics covered: Linux security practices and tools, as demonstrated under Red Hat Linux 5.2 and 6. Software and commands include Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM), OPIE, syslog, sudo, xinetd, Secure Shell (SSH), Crack, tiger, Tripwire, The Cryptographic File System (TCFS), and ipchains. The authors discuss administrative policies and procedures along the way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Non Fiction
Linux System Security: The Administrator's Guide to Open Source Security Tools, Second Edition
by Scott Mann has advice on starting from scratch when you are setting up a machine to make it secure from attack from the outside.

It looks at everything from the filesystem upwards, and will give you a good starting point for looking at this.

I like Linux
Linux is better than Windows.

By far the best book I've read on Linux security
This book is well-written, thorough, and practical rather than academic. I particularly found the chapter on securing network services to be helpful, and was able to identify some potential security problems on the systems I support as a result of information provided in that chapter.

Wow - what a killer book!
This book is incredibly thorough, and up to date.For example, Red Hat Linux 7 has just come out, and does now has xinetd as a replacement for inetd.Well, you guessed it, this book has about 27 pages on xinetd!

Want info on ipchains?This book has at least 50 pages on the subject!

I could go on and on about this book it is so good!

This book is written by experienced people, not just an author who was assigned another book to write.

You will not regret buying this book!

Probably the best book on open source security tools
Actually all tools described are not Linux specific and can be used for any Unix including FreeBSD and Solaris.

The authors seems to know the subject and really used tools that they are writing about. For severalpopular tools the book provides some useful info that is difficult to findelsewhere.Pretty decent typography, although it's a little bit tooacademic and does not use icons on margins that IMHO simplifyreading. 

As for the classic open security tools, the book covers PAM(36pages), Sudo(20 pages), TCP Wrappers(24 pages), SSH(55 pages), Tripwire(24pages), CFS and TCFS (30 pages), and ipchains.

From the first reading itlooks like the chapters are *not* a rehash of existing onlinedocumentation. In addition to the chapters about classic open sourcesecurity tools I like chapters about logs: a chapter on syslog (Ch.8) and achapter on log file management (Ch.17). 

Now about weaknesses. Thechapter on Tiger is rather weak. Moreover regrettably Tiger is a legacytool, but actually information is not completely useless -- it's notdifficult to switch to another tool after one understands how Tiger works.Actually Perl is superior for writing Unix vulnerability scanners incomparison with shell. May be hardening scripts like Bastille would be abetter choice for this chapter in the second edition of the book.

Bookis incomplete in a sense that neither Snort (or any similar intrusiondetection tool), nor open source network scanners (Saint, Sara, etc.) arecovered.

Of course there are some typos, but generally not that many. Butwhat is really bad is that the Prentice Hall book page currently is prettybasic with no errata or additional links. The authors do not provide a WEBsite for the book.

This book can probably be used for studying Unixsecurity at universities along with somewhat outdated Practical Unix andInternet Securityand this combination can somewhat compensatedeficiencies of the latter (non tool oriented descriptive approach). ... Read more

Product Description

Up-to-the-Minute, Complete Guidance for Developing Embedded Solutions with Linux

Linux has emerged as today’s #1 operating system for embedded products. Christopher Hallinan’s Embedded Linux Primer has proven itself as the definitive real-world guide to building efficient, high-value, embedded systems with Linux. Now, Hallinan has thoroughly updated this highly praised book for the newest Linux kernels, capabilities, tools, and hardware support, including advanced multicore processors.

Drawing on more than a decade of embedded Linux experience, Hallinan helps you rapidly climb the learning curve, whether you’re moving from legacy environments or you’re new to embedded programming. Hallinan addresses today’s most important development challenges and demonstrates how to solve the problems you’re most likely to encounter.

You’ll learn how to build a modern, efficient embedded Linux development environment, and then utilize it as productively as possible. Hallinan offers up-to-date guidance on everything from kernel configuration and initialization to bootloaders, device drivers to file systems, and BusyBox utilities to real-time configuration and system analysis. This edition adds entirely new chapters on UDEV, USB, and open source build systems.

• Tour the typical embedded system and development environment and understand its concepts and components.
• Understand the Linux kernel and userspace initialization processes.
• Preview bootloaders, with specific emphasis on U-Boot.
• Configure the Memory Technology Devices (MTD) subsystem to interface with flash (and other) memory devices.
• Make the most of BusyBox and latest open source development tools.
• Learn from expanded and updated coverage of kernel debugging.
• Build and analyze real-time systems with Linux.
• Learn to configure device files and driver loading with UDEV.
• Walk through detailed coverage of the USB subsystem.
• Introduces the latest open source embedded Linux build systems.
• Reference appendices include U-Boot and BusyBox commands.

Customer Reviews (18)

A better way?
This is a great book.This was one of the text books I had for a course at UCI in their embedded linux course.It provides a great overview to building an embedded linux system. I myself am not a C programmer or really heavy into Linux so my own embedded linux experiences have taken a slightly different turn. I've found development in this area can be extremely demanding and not for the faint of heart.My self and a friend developed an Off Site Backup Appliance a while back using an off the shelf Linux Distribution and familiar x86 Hardware using the Intel Atom.We managed to get the OS setup on a small flashrom and rather than the normal C approach which most texts and engineers take we used Ruby on Rails which is a modern object oriented language which was much simpler to work with coming from a background where we develop desktop and web apps in .net it was an easier transition.I've thought about making it into a kit or book as an example for other folks to spring board from who have a great idea but, maybe not the inclination to completely dive into the embedded world.Send me a comment if anyone could use such an item.

Embedded Linux Primer: A Practical Real-World Approach
This is a great book if you are interested to get a good review of how linux works.
It also gives brief but good review of embedded hardware and main processors on the market.
Explanations are going into details but structured very clearly.

I highly recommend this book.

Useful only to a Manager (not to engineers)
This book does not lie when it says *primer*. It get's 5 stars in its ability to barely skim all the major aspects of embedded linux, and I mean SKIM. The only people who could possibly get any use out of this would be the project manager who needs to briefly get the 5000 foot view of an embedded linux system. Even then, the incomplete code examples only serve as frustration, and the generalizations take too much liberty.

NOTE1: This book will *not* help you get your embedded Linux system working. But if you're married to a person whose trying to do this, and you want to be able to some-what understand what they're working on, then this is the book for you.

NOTE2: It says PRIMER, and it means PRIMER.

It's a very good book.
It's a very good book, and very easy to read. The author explains very good all concepts. I love this book. I recomended it.

Great
I am an embedded developer and a linux user/programmer/admin.
When I started joining the "embedded"+"linux" words (and worlds), I found out that I had a lot to learn from this book in both fields.
It's the best on the subject I've read up to now, really professional. The "Primer" in the title does not mean that it's for beginners: it's an advanced guide, and you need to have a background in both "Linux" and "Embedded".
I bought and read it some years ago, but sometimes I like to re-read some parts because I find it always useful and enjoyable.

Moreover, it's well written, fun and easy to read.
There are also a lot of useful references for further readings (I followed many of them!) and web documentations. ... Read more

Product Description

A new edition of this title is available, ISBN-10: 0137142951 ISBN-13: 9780137142958

“Since I’m in an educational environment, I found the content of Sobell’s book to be right on target and very helpful for anyone managing Linux in the enterprise. His style of writing is very clear. He builds up to the chapter exercises, which I find to be relevant to real-world scenarios a user or admin would encounter. An IT/IS student would find this book a valuable complement to their education. The vast amount of information is extremely well balanced and Sobell manages to present the content without complicated asides and meandering prose. This is a ‘must have’ for anyone managing Linux systems in a networked environment or anyone running a Linux server. I would also highly recommend it to an experienced computer user who is moving to the Linux platform.”
—Mary Norbury, IT Director, Barbara Davis Center/University of Colorado at Denver, from a review posted on slashdot.org

“I had the chance to use your UNIX books when I when was in college years ago at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CA. I have to say that your books are among the best! They’re quality books that teach the theoretical aspects and applications of the operating system.”
—Benton Chan, IS Engineer

“The book has more than lived up to my expectations from the many reviews I read, even though it targets FC2. I have found something very rare with your book: It doesn’t read like the standard a technical text, it reads more like a story. It’s a pleasure to read and hard to put down. Did I say that?! :-)”
—David Hopkins, Business Process Architect

“Thanks for your work and for the book you wrote. There are really few books that can help people to become more efficient administrators of different workstations. We hope (in Russia) that you will continue bringing us a new level of understanding of Linux/UNIX systems.”
—Anton Petukhov

“Mark Sobell has written a book as approachable as it is authoritative.”
—Jeffrey Bianchine, Advocate, Author, Journalist

“Excellent reference book, well suited for the sysadmin of a Linux cluster, or the owner of a PC contemplating installing a recent stable Linux. Don’t be put off by the daunting heft of the book. Sobell has striven to be as inclusive as possible, in trying to anticipate your system administration needs.”
—Wes Boudville, Inventor

“A Practical Guide to Red Hat^® Linux^® is a brilliant book. Thank you Mark Sobell.”
—C. Pozrikidis, University of California at San Diego

“This book presents the best overview of the Linux operating system that I have found. . . . It should be very helpful and understandable no matter what the reader’s background is: traditional UNIX user, new Linux devotee, or even Windows user. Each topic is presented in a clear, complete fashion and very few assumptions are made about what the reader knows. . . . The book is extremely useful as a reference, as it contains a 70-page glossary of terms and is very well indexed. It is organized in such a way that the reader can focus on simple tasks without having to wade through more advanced topics until they are ready.”
—Cam Marshall, Marshall Information Service LLC, Member of Front Range UNIX Users Group FRUUG, Boulder, Colorado

“Conclusively, this is THE book to get if you are a new Linux user and you just got into RH/Fedora world. There’s no other book that discusses so many different topics and in such depth.”
—Eugenia Loli-Queru, Editor in Chief, OSNews.com

Customer Reviews (16)

Bad experience
This seller really disappointed me.I ordered a book from this seller on the 1st of January and have not received the book yet!I have written e-mails to the seller and I have not heard anything from the seller yet! This is a totally bad experience!

Chose it for my class
I teach a class on Linux and chose this book for several reasons
1. price - Linux 'textbooks' run around $150
2. more than enough good material to fill a semester
3. Sobell's books are consistently the most readable I have seen - topics are explained well in a style that is interesting - a rarity in tech books

Too Much Entry Level Information
This book is not for would be admins. The writer wasted a lot of time in explaining mundane stuff. I don't understand why all those reviewers gave so much praise for this merely entry level book.

Must Have This Book!
To keep it simple...THIS IS THE BOOK!!!
You'll only need one. Learn everything in this book!
Easy to read and lots of examples.
You won't be disappointed!

Excellent resource for beginning and intermediate Linux users
I purchased this book to keep as a reference for my Linux users. I have found that is easy to use with a plethora of good practical information. It is well written and fairly comprehensive. It takes the mystery out of a lot of the more intricate Linux tasks. It explains things very well and the "How To"s are easy to follow. This is a great book for beginning to intermediate Linux users and a great reference for those that are more experienced. ... Read more

Product Description
Focuses on two different aspects of filesystems for Linux. First local filesystems which use journaling, including SGI's XFS, IBM's EFS, Red Hat's extfs3, and Reiser. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Book, though needs an update
This book was grea, though it talks about an old kernel version.I neede to know about journaling filesystems, and this boom\k not only told me what I needed, but told me what to avoid.

Great book - updated version is needed
Great book, but shows it's age - things are changing fast in Linux world (it's based on 2.4.9 kernel and so
most of those filesystems weren't integrated).
Benchmarking info is very interesting but was collected
on very low-end hardware (1-2 Celeron500 with 1 IDE drive).
I wish that updated 2nd edition (2.6 kernel and benchmarks
on modern hardware - like 2CPU and at least 8-10 hd) will be published soon.

Informative and Useful
I'd been looking for a book on journaling and networked file systems for Linux for a while, and was happy to find this one. There is one other book on Linux file systems, but this one is the one to get. It discusses the EXT3, JFS, XFS and Reiser journaling file systems, and also the NFS and OpenAFS networked file systems. It provides plenty of background information about basic concepts, but also provides real explanations of how to build kernels that support these file systems and how to configure, administer, and use them. I was really impressed. The book also talks about interoperating with Macintosh, Windows and Novell systems - it was handy to find all of that in one book. It is well written and the author has a sense of humor that I enjoyed. The section on the Distributed Computing Environment's distributed file system was especially funny (and from what I hear, true). ... Read more

Product Description
* This highly visual two-color guide demonstrates step by step how to accomplish more than 100 key Red Hat Linux tasks, from installation to security
* Covers the Linux shell, file system, text editor, the X Window System, window manager, and xterm
* Explains how to use the Mozilla Web browser and instant messaging, how to administer auto-mounting file systems, and how to burn CDs and configure CD writers
* Features more than 500 fully annotated screenshots, expanded introductions, and tips with real-life examples
Combining clear, step-by-step screen shots with minimal text, our five Visual series are the ultimate resources for visual learners, who represent up to forty percent of your customers.
Teach Yourself VISUALLY guides help computer users get up to speed on a wide range of office productivity, graphics, and Web design software. Offering significantly more coverage than our Simplified series, these books provide real-world tips and illustrate basic and intermediate level techniques using crisp full-color screen shots.
Visual Blueprints apply the proven Visual formula to professional-level programming, Web development, and networking tips. Each two-color guide includes self-contained two-page lessons, covering more than 100 key topics, accompanied by practical tips and code samples as well as examples and bonus software on CD-ROM. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

for new linux sysadmins
Whitehead's book is well suited for a new linux sysadmin, who wants an easy introduction to her main tasks on the machine. The text is straightforward and accompanied by well chosen illustrations. The book centres on using KDE as the desktop UI, instead of Gnome. Perhaps it could also have given more equal coverage to the latter?

If you are perhaps coming from a Microsoft computer background, then the types of tasks should be familiar. Like setting up the machine with an IP address on a network. Or getting the linux OpenOffice running. {It's the analog of the Microsoft Office suite.)

However, experienced linux sysadmins should avoid this book. For you, it will be redundant. ... Read more