Beginning Ubuntu Server Administration

Transcription

1 Beginning Ubuntu Server Administration From Novice to Professional Sander van Vugt

2 Beginning Ubuntu Server Administration: From Novice to Professional Copyright 2008 by Sander van Vugt All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher. ISBN-13 (pbk): ISBN-10 (pbk): ISBN-13 (electronic): ISBN-10 (electronic): Printed and bound in the United States of America Trademarked names may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Lead Editors: Jason Gilmore, Tom Welsh Technical Reviewer: Curtis Smith Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Ewan Buckingham, Tony Campbell, Gary Cornell, Jonathan Gennick, Jason Gilmore, Kevin Goff, Jonathan Hassell, Matthew Moodie, Joseph Ottinger, Jeffrey Pepper, Ben Renow-Clarke, Dominic Shakeshaft, Matt Wade, Tom Welsh Senior Project Manager: Kylie Johnston Copy Editor: Tom Gillen Associate Production Director: Kari Brooks-Copony Senior Production Editor: Laura Cheu Compositor: Molly Sharp, ContentWorks Proofreader: April Eddy Indexer: Brenda Miller Artist: April Milne Cover Designer: Kurt Krames Manufacturing Director: Tom Debolski Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 233 Spring Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY Phone SPRINGER, fax , orders-ny@springer-sbm.com, or visit For information on translations, please contact Apress directly at 2855 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 600, Berkeley, CA Phone , fax , info@apress.com, or visit The information in this book is distributed on an as is basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author(s) nor Apress shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this work. The source code for this book is available to readers at

3 This book is dedicated to Alex.

4 Contents at a Glance About the Author xv About the Technical Reviewer xvii Introduction xix CHAPTER 1 Installing Ubuntu Server CHAPTER 2 Getting the Most Out of the Command Line CHAPTER 3 Performing Essential System Administration Tasks CHAPTER 4 Performing File System Management Tasks CHAPTER 5 Configuring Your Server for Security CHAPTER 6 Setting the System to Your Hand CHAPTER 7 Running It Anyway You Like CHAPTER 8 Making Connection CHAPTER 9 Configuring Network Infrastructure Services CHAPTER 10 Using Ubuntu Server As a File and Print Server CHAPTER 11 Setting Up Web Services CHAPTER 12 Multiplying Your Server INDEX v

5 Contents About the Author xv About the Technical Reviewer xvii Introduction xix CHAPTER 1 Installing Ubuntu Server Preparing for the Installation Starting the Ubuntu Server Installation Process Configuring the Server s Hard Drive Completing the Installation Summary CHAPTER 2 Getting the Most Out of the Command Line Working As root? Working with the Shell Using Bash to Best Effect Managing Bash with Key Sequences Performing Basic File System Management Tasks Working with Directories Working with Files Viewing the Content of Text Files Finding Files That Contain Specific Text Creating Empty Files Piping and Redirection Piping Redirection Finding Files Working with an Editor Vi Modes Saving and Quitting Cut, Copy, and Paste Deleting Text vii

6 viii CONTENTS Getting Help Using man to Get Help Using the --help Option Getting Information on Installed Packages Summary CHAPTER 3 Performing Essential System Administration Tasks Software Management Software Repositories and Package Databases Package Management Utilities Installing Software from Tarballs Configuring a Graphical User Interface Creating Backups Making File Backups with tar Making Device Backups Using dd Configuring Logging Configuring syslog Logging in Other Ways Rotating Log Files Summary CHAPTER 4 Performing File System Management Tasks Mounting Disks Using the mount Command Unmounting Devices Automating Mounts with /etc/fstab Checking File System Integrity Working with Links Why Use Links? Working with Symbolic Links Working with Hard Links Configuring Storage Comparing File Systems Creating File Systems Working with Logical Volumes Doing Magic on Your File Systems with dd Summary

7 CONTENTS ix CHAPTER 5 Configuring Your Server for Security Setting Up User Accounts Commands for User Management Managing Passwords Modifying and Deleting User Accounts Behind the Commands: Configuration Files Creating Groups Commands for Group Management Behind the Commands: /etc/group Managing the User s Shell Environment Configuring Permissions Read, Write, and Execute: The Three Basic Linux Permissions Permissions and the Concept of Ownership Working with Advanced Linux Permissions Setting Permissions Using umask to Set Default Permissions Working with Access Control Lists Preparing the File System for ACLs ACL Limitations Applying File Attributes Apply Quota to Allow a Maximum Amount of Files Installing the Quota Software Preparing the File System for Quota Initializing Quota Setting Quota for Users and Groups Understanding Pluggable Authentication Modules Creating a Default Policy for Security Discovering PAM Modules Configuring Administrator Tasks with sudo An Introduction to Setting Up the Netfilter Firewall with iptables Netfilter Building Blocks Using iptables to Create a Firewall Summary CHAPTER 6 Setting the System to Your Hand Process Monitoring and Management Different Kinds of Processes Foreground and Background Managing Processes Other Tools to Monitor System Activity Setting Process Priority

8 x CONTENTS Executing Processes Automatically Configuring cron Executing Once with at Tuning the Boot Procedure Managing the GRUB Boot Loader The GRUB Configuration File Installing GRUB Working with the GRUB Boot Menu Upstart Runlevels Making Service Management Easier Managing Hardware Kernel Management Installing Your Own Custom Kernel Hardware Management with udev Summary CHAPTER 7 Running It Anyway You Like Before You Even Start To Script or Not to Script? What Shell? Basic Elements of a Shell Script Making It Executable Making a Script Interactive Working with Arguments Working with Variables Command Substitution Changing Variables Substitution Operators Pattern-Matching Operators Performing Calculations in Scripts Using Flow Control Using if then else Case Using while Using until Using for Using a Stream Editor Working with Functions A Complex Scripting Example Summary

9 CONTENTS xi CHAPTER 8 Making Connection Configuring the Network Card Using ifup, ifdown, and Related Tools Using ifconfig Using the ip Tool Managing IPv Managing Routes Configuring the DNS Resolver Configuring Network Card Properties with the ethtool Command Troubleshooting Network Connections Testing Connectivity Testing Routability Testing Availability of Services Monitoring the Network Interface Monitoring Network Traffic Connecting Remotely with SSH Working with Public/Private Key Pairs Working with Secure Shell Configuring SSH Using Key-Based Authentication A Short Introduction to Cryptography Using Public/Private Key Based Authentication in an SSH Environment Setting Up SSH for Key-Based Authentication Caching Keys with ssh-agent Tunneling Traffic with SSH X Forwarding Generic TCP Port Forwarding Summary CHAPTER 9 Configuring Network Infrastructure Services Configuring DNS Methods of Name Resolution Structure of the DNS Hierarchy Introducing Forward and Reverse DNS Configuring DNS Configuring Reversed Lookup Testing Your Name Server

10 xii CONTENTS Configuring DHCP Understanding the DHCP Protocol Creating the DHCP Server Configuration The DHCP Process The /etc/dhcpd.conf Configuration File Advanced DHCP Configuration Options The DHCP Relay Agent Configuring NTP How NTP Works Configuring a Stand-Alone NTP Time Server Pulling or Pushing the Time Configuring an NTP Client Checking NTP Synchronization Status Customizing Your NTP Server Applying NTP Security Starting Services with xinetd Setting up xinetd by Hand Tuning Access to Services with TCP Wrapper Summary CHAPTER 10 Using Ubuntu Server As a File and Print Server Setting Up a CUPS Print Server Adding Printers Sharing Printers Managing Printers Accessing CUPS Printers Sharing Files with NFS Using the NFS Server Understanding How the NFS Works Configuring an NFS Server Configuring an NFS Client Monitoring the NFS Server Sharing Files with Samba Samba Server Possibilities and Impossibilities Configuring the Samba Server Integrating CUPS with Samba Setting Up Samba As a Domain Controller Client Access to the Samba Server Summary

11 CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER 11 Setting Up Web Services Setting Up Apache Apache Components Starting, Stopping, and Testing the Apache Web Server Exploring the Configuration Files The Structure of the Apache Configuration Files Checking the Configuration Working with Virtual Hosts Configuring Virtual Hosts Managing Access to the Web Server Configuring Host-Based Access Restrictions Configuring User-Based Access Restrictions Some Words on Apache Performance Tuning Using PHP Setting Up MySQL Setting the MySQL Root Password Creating a MySQL Database Setting Up FTP Configuring the pure-ftpd Server Summary CHAPTER 12 Multiplying Your Server Understanding Virtualization Virtualization Solutions Approaches to Virtualization Installing Virtual Machines with KVM Setting Up KVM on Ubuntu Server Installing Windows As a Guest Operating System on KVM Installing Ubuntu Server As a Guest Operating System on KVM Setting Up Networking in KVM Virtual Machines Installing Virtual Machines Using Xen Setting Up Xen on Ubuntu Server Installing Windows As a Guest Operating System on Xen Installing Ubuntu Server As a Guest Operating System on Xen Using Xen Management Commands Ubuntu Server in a VMware Environment Summary INDEX

12 About the Author SANDER VAN VUGT is an independent trainer and consultant, living in the Netherlands and working in the extended EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) area. He specializes in Linux High Availability and Storage solutions and has successfully implemented Linux clusters across the globe. Sander has written several books about Linux-related subjects, including The Definitive Guide to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (Apress, 2006). His articles can also be found on several international web sites and in magazines such as Linux Journal and Linux Magazine. Sander works as a volunteer for the Linux Professional Institute (LPI), contributing topics for the different certification levels. Most importantly, Sander is the father of Alex and Franck and the loving husband of Florence. For more information, consult his web site at The author can be reached by at mail@sandervanvugt.com. xv

13 About the Technical Reviewer CURTIS SMITH is a professional systems and network administrator living in Westerville, Ohio. His experience includes designing, building, and maintaining open source and web solutions for an Internet service provider and the Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. He earned his BA from Ohio State, majoring in philosophy. Curtis is the author of Pro Open Source Mail: Building an Enterprise Mail Solution (Apress, 2006). Curtis is active in local community user and volunteer groups, both technical and nontechnical. He also enjoys photography, camping, canoeing, and hiking when not stuck indoors behind the keyboard. xvii

14 Introduction This book provides a complete introduction to Ubuntu Server. I ve written this book for people who are new to Ubuntu Server administration. The target readers are Windows administrators as well as people who are used to managing other flavors of Linux (or UNIX). It was the goal of this book to give a no-nonsense introduction to working with Ubuntu Server, and so this book should provide all the basics that are needed to get you going. It also includes many useful tips that help you in doing your work in a more efficient manner. Many books about Ubuntu are presently available, but you can t do Ubuntu Server justice by covering both the desktop and the server version in one book. The needs of a server administrator are incredibly different from the needs of a desktop administrator. So I ve chosen an approach that makes sense for the server administrator, and all topics are selected and organized to make sense for your day-to-day work as a server administrator. The book starts by describing Ubuntu Server with a special focus on storage configuration, which is an especially important concern when dealing with server environments. After that, you ll find a quick introduction to driving Ubuntu Server from the command line, in case you haven t done this before. The third chapter tackles some of the common generic tasks of a server administrator, including managing software packages and configuring a graphical user interface. Next are chapters about file system management, Ubuntu Server security, managing processes, and the boot procedure. The last chapter dealing with stand-alone server functionality explains Bash shell scripting: in fewer than 30 pages, you ll learn everything you ever needed to know about this complex topic. The second part of the book teaches you all about network services. First, you ll learn how to configure and troubleshoot a network interface. Next, you ll read how to set up infrastructure services such as time services, name services, and DHCP. Following that, you ll find chapters about managing file services, the Apache web server (including performance tuning hints and a section on virtual hosts), and related packages such as MySQL. Finally, the last chapter provides an overview of the approaches to running virtualization on Ubuntu Server. Who This Book Is For This book is written for Linux administrators, whether novice or experienced, who are looking for a quick, thorough, and authoritative introduction to daily Ubuntu Server management. Prerequisites To get the most out of this book, you should have a computer that you can use to install Ubuntu Server. Any Pentium-based system with 128 MB of RAM and a hard disk with at least 2 GB of free space will do fine. You of course also need the Ubuntu Server software, which you xix

15 xx INTRODUCTION can download from Apart from these simple elements, there are no further prerequisites. This book assumes no preliminary knowledge of Linux or Ubuntu. Downloading the Code The source code for this book is available to readers at in the Downloads section of this book s home page. Please feel free to visit the Apress web site and download all the code there. You can also check for errata and find related Apress titles. Contacting the Author The author can be reached via his web site and by mail at mail@sandervanvugt.com.