Automating Linux and Unix System Administration, Second Edition

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 focus on how to make the system administrator’s job easier and more efficient.
• 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.

What you’ll learn

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

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

Who is this book for?

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

About the Authors

NATE CAMPI is a UNIX and Linux system administrator by trade, currently working as a UNIX operations manager in San Francisco. His system administration experience is almost entirely with companies with large-scale web operations based on open source software.

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

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

Kirk graduated from Georgia Tech in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering and is currently pursuing his MBA at Arizona State University.