Looking for Unix help...

[johnpalmer]

Okay... I'm out of work, and I need some stuff to study while I have some actual free time.

I've made my first obvious newbie mistake, and loaded Ubuntu server on my old desktop.

(Windows is the OS that has the bells and whistles and security holes baked into its servers; Unix uses minimal servers so that there are fewer security holes. In this case, I'm including "breakable things" as part of security.)

I knew better, really. I remember that there need be no difference between desktop and server Unix.

Anyway: I now have desktop Ubuntu running, and I've actually run a configure/make/make install on MySQL. Soon, I'll even verify that it works.... I'm going to dig into /etc/init* scripts (or directories) and inittab and try to figure my way through fstab and mnt.

I've gotten a tiny bit of right-feeling about the directory structure. I know to look for root-run binaries in /sbin, to look in /bin for certain binaries, and /usr/bin for certain other binaries. I learned /tmp and /var, and more. I successfully assimilated sudo and smirked when I realized I could sudo su; that last bit made me feel like the child-me picking a lock that protected the Oreos.

Next I need SSH and an SSH client so I don't have to use the awful KVM that I'm stuck with.

After that... well, does anyone have any pointers to some basic system and app monitoring and maintenance?

Comments

In the beginning, there was the word, and the word was... root?

[wyang.livejournal.com]

When I look at what my machines do, they generally fall in a fairly small set of activities.

0) General system operation/administration/access

SSH, syslog/syslog-ng, sudo, shell access (I'm a tcsh fan, though bash works in a pinch), and PERL

1) Network support/firewall support/firewall

iptables, tftp, and syslog

2) File/print sharing and domain control

openLDAP, samba, cups

3) Relational databases

mysql, postgres

4) Web server

Apache, Squid (proxy)

5) E-mail

sendmail/qmail/postfix, courier-imap, procmail, spamassassin, clamav

6) Other network services

BIND (for DNS), NTP (for time service)

7) Esoterica for workstations

Xorg-X11, ALSA, mplayer, making a modem work, etc...

Outside of those areas, you're into custom apps or high maintenance/customization required apps.

Re: In the beginning, there was the word, and the word was... root?

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Thanks... I'm learning a bit about that xorg stuff already. SSH is trivial to install, but getting X working over SSH from Windows is clearly a tiny bit less trivial. (Hopefully by tomorrow, it'll be "trivial". Which, I'm sure you know, means "solved". Richard Feynman once stated that we math folks could only solve trivial problems because once a problem was solved, we called it "trivial".)

Re: In the beginning, there was the word, and the word was... root?

[eleccham.livejournal.com]

I'll weigh in with my preferred instances of those things, where I feel I know enough to say so:

4) You might check out Privoxy. I run it instead of Squid now; just removing most of the BS speeds me up enough.

5) Postfix. Unless you're running a large/complex/etc. mail installation, don't bother with Sendmail. And qmail - at the risk of starting a flamewar - is more trouble than it's worth due partly to its supposedly better way of storing mail that's incompatible with three-quarters of the world. (And people I'd trust have explained to me why it's not really better; I just don't remember.)

For virus scanning mail, you might check out Avira as well; they have a virus scanner for Linux that does a great job that's free for non-commercial use. (It's what I run on my Windows boxes too.)

I also use CRM114 for spamfiltering.

Re: In the beginning, there was the word, and the word was... root?

[eleccham.livejournal.com]

Oh... and this:

Re: In the beginning, there was the word, and the word was... root?

[kightp.livejournal.com]

*laugh*

I know *just* enough about the subject at hand to (a) find that funny and (b) wonder whether the persons responsible grew up playing "Simon Says."

Re: In the beginning, there was the word, and the word was... root?

[eleccham.livejournal.com]

Did you see the alt-text? (Hold your mouse over the picture.)

Re: In the beginning, there was the word, and the word was... root?

[kightp.livejournal.com]

*hee* I always forget to do that...

Re: In the beginning, there was the word, and the word was... root?

[eleccham.livejournal.com]

That's sometimes the best part of xkcd.