RICHARD BLUM DO WHAT YOU NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE WITH UBUNTU LINUX. Delve into the underlying applications and features of the Ubuntu Linux system

Transcription

1 DO WHAT YOU NEVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE WITH UBUNTU LINUX UBUNTU LINUX Delve into the underlying applications and features of the Ubuntu Linux system Discover how to make the most of workstation and server applications Get helpful tips for modifying your environment and keeping your system running smoothly RICHARD BLUM

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3 Ubuntu Linux Secrets

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5 Ubuntu Linux Secrets Richard Blum

6 Ubuntu Linux Secrets Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN Copyright 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blum, Richard, 1962 Ubuntu Linux secrets / Richard Blum. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN (paper/website) 1. Ubuntu (Electronic resource) 2. Linux. 3. Operating systems (Computers) I. Title. QA76.76.O63B '32 dc No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) , fax (201) , or online at Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation, warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. For general information on our other products and services please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (877) or outside the United States at (317) or fax (317) Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Ubuntu is a registered trademark of Canonical Limited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

7 To my family. By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Proverbs 24:3 4 (NIV)

8 About the Author Richard Blum has worked in the IT industry for over 20 years as both a systems and network administrator. During that time he has administered UNIX, Linux, Novell, and Microsoft servers, as well as helped manage desktop workstations on a 3,500-user network. He has used Linux since the days of loading the system from floppy disks and has utilized Ubuntu workstations and servers in his environment. Rich has a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and a master of science degree in management, specializing in management information systems, from Purdue University. He is the author of several Linux books, including Linux Command Line and Shell Script Bible, Professional Assembly Language Programming, Network Performance Open Source Toolkit, sendmail for Linux, Running qmail, Postfix, and Open Source E mail Security. He s also a coauthor of Professional Linux Programming, and Linux for Dummies, 8th Edition. When he s not being a computer nerd, Rich plays bass guitar for his church worship band and enjoys spending time with his wife, Barbara, and their two daughters, Katie Jane and Jessica.

9 Credits Acquisitions Editor Jenny Watson Senior Development Editor Tom Dinse Technical Editor Warren Wyrostek Production Editor Rebecca Coleman Copy Editor Publication Services, Inc. Editorial Manager Mary Beth Wakefield Production Manager Tim Tate Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher Barry Pruett Associate Publisher Jim Minatel Project Coordinator, Cover Lynsey Stanford Compositor Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama Proofreader Word One Indexer Robert Swanson Cover Designer Ryan Sneed

10 Acknowledgments First, all glory and praise go to God, who through His Son makes all things possible and gives us the gift of eternal life. Many thanks go to the great team of people at Wiley Publishing for their outstanding work on this project. Thanks to Jenny Watson, the acquisitions editor, for offering me the opportunity to work on this book. Also, thanks to Tom Dinse, the development editor, for keeping things on track and making this book more presentable. The technical editor, Warren Wyrostek, did an amazing job of double-checking all the work in this book, plus making suggestions to improve the content. Thanks, Warren, for your hard work and diligence. I would also like to thank Carole McClendon at Waterside Productions, Inc. for arranging this opportunity for me and for helping out in my writing career. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Mike and Joyce Blum, for their dedication and support while raising me, and my wife, Barbara and daughters, Katie Jane and Jessica, for their love, patience, and understanding, especially while I was writing this book.

11 Contents at a Glance Introduction... xxv Part 1: Starting Out with Ubuntu...1 Chapter 1: What is Ubuntu?... 3 Chapter 2: Playing with the LiveCD Chapter 3: Installing Ubuntu...47 Chapter 4: Exploring the Desktop...79 Part 2: Starting Out with Ubuntu Chapter 5: File Management Chapter 6: Working With Text Chapter 7: The OpenOffice Suite Chapter 8: Network Applications Chapter 9: Evolution Chapter 10: Image Manipulation Chapter 11: Using Audio Chapter 12: Using Video PART 3: Managing Your Workstation Chapter 13: Software Installs and Updates Chapter 14: Networking Chapter 15: External Devices Chapter 16: The Display Chapter 17: Users and Groups Chapter 18: Basic Administration Chapter 19: The Ubuntu Command Line PART 4: Using the Ubuntu Server Chapter 20: DNS Server Chapter 21: Web Server Chapter 22: Samba and Print Server Chapter 23: Server Chapter 24: Database Server

12 x Contents at a Glance Part 5: Programming in Ubuntu Chapter 25: Shell Scripts Chapter 26: Perl and Python Chapter 27: C Programming Chapter 28: Java Chapter 29: Ruby Chapter 30: PHP Index...771

13 Contents Introduction... xxv Part 1: Starting Out with Ubuntu...1 Chapter 1: What is Ubuntu?... 3 What Is Linux?... 4 The Linux Kernel... 4 The GNU Utilities The Linux Desktop Environment Linux Distributions...19 Core Linux Distributions Specialized Linux Distributions The Linux LiveCD What Is Ubuntu? Ubuntu Versions Ubuntu Release Schedule Ubuntu Cousins Summary Chapter 2: Playing with the LiveCD...25 The Ubuntu LiveCD Downloading Ubuntu Downloading from the Web Using BitTorrent to Download Verifying the File Creating the LiveCD Burning CDs in Linux Burning CDs in Mac OS X Burning CDs in Windows Booting the LiveCD The Boot Process Using Ubuntu The LiveCD Desktop Storing Files Running Ubuntu in Windows The Wubi Project Installing in Windows Running Ubuntu in Windows Summary... 45

14 xii Contents Chapter 3: Installing Ubuntu Preparing Your PC System Requirements Creating a Place for Ubuntu Installing from the LiveCD Select a Language Select a Time Zone Select a Keyboard Prepare the Disk Space Create a Login ID Migrate Documents and Settings Review Options Installing from the Alternate Install CD Guided Partitions Manual Partitions Server Installation Main Installation Server Programs Upgrading Ubuntu...75 Summary Chapter 4: Exploring the Desktop Desktop Features The Top Panel The Desktop Workspace The Bottom Panel Modifying the Desktop Adding to the Panel Menus Adding Panel Applets Adding Desktop Icons Desktop Appearance The Desktop Theme The Background Fonts Interface Visual Effects Accessibility Features Preferred Applications Keyboard Features Mouse Features Summary Part 2: Starting Out with Ubuntu Chapter 5: File Management The Linux Filesystem Filepaths Filenames

15 Contents xiii Nautilus Nautilus Window Components Browser Versus Spatial Mode Modifying Nautilus Windows Handling Files Creating New Files and Folders Copying and Moving Files Running Programs Deleting Files File Properties Basic Properties Emblems Permissions Open With Notes Summary Chapter 6: Working With Text The gedit Editor Starting gedit Basic gedit Features Setting Preferences The Character Map The vim Editor The Basics of vim Editing Data Copy and Paste Search and Substitute The emacs Editor Using emacs on the Console Using emacs in GNOME The Tomboy Notes Application Starting Tomboy Notes Creating Notes Editing Notes Organizing Notes Changing Preferences Tomboy Add-ins Summary Chapter 7: The OpenOffice Suite The OpenOffice.org Suite Word Processing Writer Features Working with Writer Files Spreadsheets The OpenOffice.org Calc Layout Working with Calc Files

16 xiv Contents Presentations Using the Presentation Wizard Taking a Tour of OpenOffice.org Impress Working with Impress Files Database Getting Help from the Wizard Taking a Tour of Base Working with Tables Drawing Taking a Tour of OpenOffice.org Draw Working with Draw Files Math Starting Math The Math Layout Working with Math Summary Chapter 8: Network Applications The Ubuntu Internet Software Suite Ekiga Firefox Walking Through Firefox Configuring Firefox Working with Add-ons Pidgin Using the Pidgin Instant Messenger Pidgin Preferences Remote Desktop Viewer Terminal Server Client Transmission gftp Summary Chapter 9: Evolution The Evolution Suite Starting Evolution Obtain Client Info Run the Wizard The Evolution Window The Menu Bar The Toolbar The Search Tool The Message List The Sidebar The Switcher The Preview Pane

17 Contents xv Using Evolution Sending Messages Changing the Configuration Mail Filtering Filtering Messages Filtering Spam Backing Up Evolution Using the Address Book Accessing the Calendar and Tasks Calendar Tasks Summary Chapter 10: Image Manipulation Eye of GNOME Image Viewer Using the Image Viewer Supported File Types The GIMP Image Editor Starting GIMP GIMP Basic Tools Using GIMP F-Spot Photo Manager The F-Spot Layout Using the F-Spot Editor Summary Chapter 11: Using Audio Audio File Basics Controlling Sound in Ubuntu Sound Preferences The Sound Applet Rhythmbox Playing Audio CDs Playing Audio Files Listening to Internet Audio Ripping Audio CDs Brasero Sound Recorder Playing Audio Files from Nautilus Summary Chapter 12: Using Video Video Formats The Totem Movie Player The Totem Interface The Totem Preferences Settings

18 xvi Contents Watching Web Clips Checking Your Plug-ins Adding Plug-ins More Video Support Editing Videos Installing Kino The Kino Interface The Kino Preferences Settings Summary PART 3: Managing Your Workstation Chapter 13: Software Installs and Updates Software Management in Ubuntu Software Packages Software Repositories Configuring Software Repositories Installing Updates The Update Manager Using the Update Manager Applet Installing New Applications The Add/Remove Applications Window Adding a New Application Removing an Application Installing New Packages The Synaptic Layout Installing Packages Removing Packages Command-Line Package Management Setting Repositories Apt-get Commands Summary Chapter 14: Networking Networking Basics Internet Connection Types Ethernet Connections Connecting to the Network GNOME PPP Network Manager Network Tools Devices Ping Netstat Traceroute Port Scan

19 Contents xvii Lookup Finger Whois Firewalls Installing Firestarter Starting Firestarter Using Firestarter Summary Chapter 15: External Devices Printers The Printer Configuration Tool Printer Server Settings Adding a New Printer Modifying Printer Properties Scanners Detecting the Scanner Scanning a Document The Work Area Digital Cameras Portable Music Players Summary Chapter 16: The Display The X Windows System What Is X Windows? Linux X Windows Software The X.Org Configuration Ubuntu Video Configuration The Screen Resolution Utility Setting Compiz Fusion Features Monitor and Video Cards Using 3-D Cards Ubuntu 3-D Support Viewing Restricted Hardware Drivers Summary Chapter 17: Users and Groups The User Administration Tool Adding Users Modifying Users Deleting Users Ubuntu Groups Adding Groups Modifying Groups Deleting Groups User and Group Files The Users File

20 xviii Contents The Groups File Using the Command Line Understanding File Permissions File Properties Changing File Permissions Summary Chapter 18: Basic Administration Monitoring the System System Processes Resources File Systems Log Files Ubuntu Log Files The System Log Viewer Starting Services Starting and Stopping Services Service Properties Sessions Startup Programs Options Disk Usage Analyzer Summary Chapter 19: The Ubuntu Command Line The GNOME Terminal Program Session Tabs The Menu Bar The Command-Line Parameters Command-Line Basics Setting the Command Prompt The bash Manual Traversing Directories File and Directory Listing File Handling Directory Handling Summary PART 4: Using the Ubuntu Server Chapter 20: DNS Server History of Computer Names Domain Names DNS Structure Finding Domains

21 Contents xix DNS Database Records DNS Protocol Ubuntu as a DNS Client Configuring DNS Client Files Ubuntu Client DNS Programs Ubuntu as a DNS Server The named Files Using named as a Local Cache Server Using named as a Master DNS Server Summary Chapter 21: Web Server Ubuntu Web Servers Web Scripting Languages The LAMP Platform The Tomcat Platform The Apache Web Server Apache Configuration Files Apache Modules Creating Virtual Hosts Testing the Apache Server The MySQL Software Accessing the Server Changing the Root Password The phpmyadmin Tool The PHP Software The PHP Configuration Files PHP Extensions Using PHP Tomcat Tomcat Configuration Testing Tomcat Managing Tomcat Summary Chapter 22: Samba and Print Server What Is Samba? The Ubuntu Samba Environment Samba Programs Samba Configuration Files Creating a Samba Server Editing the smb.conf File Defining Samba Passwords Managing Samba The Samba Client The smbclient Program Interacting with a Windows Share Connecting from Windows

22 xx Contents The CUPS Print Server Printing in Linux The CUPS Software CUPS Configuration Managing CUPS Printers Summary Chapter 23: Server How Works Mail Transfer Agent Mail Delivery Agent Mail User Agent Postfix Setup Postfix Core Programs Postfix Message Queues Postfix Utility Programs Postfix Configuration Files Postfix Lookup Tables Installing Postfix Internet Site Internet with SmartHost Satellite System Local Only Configuring Postfix Wizard Windows Modifying Configuration Settings procmail The.procmailrc File Using procmail Summary Chapter 24: Database Server The MySQL Server The MySQL Server Files The mysql Command Using mysql The PostgreSQL Server The PostgreSQL Files The psql Command Using psql Working with Databases Creating a Database Managing Users Building Tables Adding and Viewing Data Summary

23 Contents xxi Part 5: Programming in Ubuntu Chapter 25: Shell Scripts Using Multiple Commands Creating a Script File Displaying Output Using Variables Environment Variables User Variables The Backtick Redirecting Input and Output Output Redirection Input Redirection Pipes Performing Math The expr Command Using Brackets A Floating-Point Solution Exiting the Script Checking the Exit Status The exit Command Structured Commands The if-then-else Statement The test Command Summary Chapter 26: Perl and Python What Is Perl? Working with Perl Command-Line Interpreter Creating a Perl Program Perl Programming Using Variables in Perl Structured Commands Perl Operators Regular Expressions Perl Command-Line Arguments Perl Modules and CPAN What Is Python? Working with Python Programming in Python Python Variables and Data Structures Tuples Variables Indentation in Structured Commands Object-Oriented Programming Python Command-Line Arguments Python Modules Summary

24 xxii Contents Chapter 27: C Programming C Programming in Ubuntu The GNU Compiler The GNU Assembler The GNU Linker The GNU Debugger Program The GNU objdump Program The GNU Profiler Program Writing C Programs C Program Format Sample Program Summary Chapter 28: Java The Java Development Environment Java Programs Platforms Ubuntu Java Environments Using OpenJDK Installing OpenJDK OpenJDK Components Java Development Environments Command-Line Tools NetBeans Eclipse Summary Chapter 29: Ruby What Is Ruby? Ruby on the Web Ruby on Rails Installing Ruby Ruby Components Installing Ruby in Ubuntu Working with Ruby Code Interactive Ruby Scripting with Ruby Embedded Ruby The Ruby Language Variables Structured Commands Object-Oriented Programming Creating Classes Using Objects Adding Methods

25 Contents xxiii Ruby on Rails Creating a Project Testing the Project Summary Chapter 30: PHP What Is PHP? PHP in Ubuntu Core Installation PHP Extensions Working with PHP Defining PHP Code PHP Output The PHP Language PHP Variables Iterating Through Arrays Structured Commands Including External Files Working with MySQL Object-Oriented PHP Creating a Class in PHP Creating Objects Writing OOP Code in PHP Expanding on OOP Class Constructors PECL and PEAR Summary Index...771

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27 Introduction Welcome to Ubuntu Linux Secrets. Like all books in the Secrets series, you can expect to find both hands-on tutorials and real-world practical application information, as well as reference and background information that provides a context for what you are learning. This book is a fairly comprehensive resource on the Ubuntu Linux distribution. By the time you have completed Ubuntu Linux Secrets you will be well-prepared to utilize your Ubuntu workstation or server to its fullest. Who Should Read This Book If you re new to the Linux world, you ll benefit greatly from this book s hands-on approach. The book walks through all of the steps required for setting up an Ubuntu Linux system, guiding you through the pitfalls and offering practical advice for getting your Ubuntu workstation up and running. It then walks through all of the applications you ll find on your new system, showing you how to use the office productivity software; work with images, audio and video clips on your desktop; run CDs and DVDs; and interact with the Internet. If you re an advanced Linux enthusiast, you ll also benefit from Ubuntu Linux Secrets. Nowadays it s easy to get lost in the graphical world of prebuilt desktop packages. Most desktop Linux distributions try their best to hide the Linux system from the typical user. However, there are times when you have to know what s going on under the hood. This book shows you how to use the Ubuntu administration features to manage your system, including monitoring programs, users, and disk space. It shows how to access the Linux command-line prompt and what to do once you get there. It also explains how to use your Ubuntu system as a complete program development platform, discussing how to program using shell, Perl, and Python scripts; the C, Java, and Ruby programming languages; and the PHP web-scripting language. Ubuntu Linux Secrets also walks the seasoned system administrator through how to use the various server software packages included in the Ubuntu server distribution. It discusses how to set up a complete web server using both the LAMP and Tomcat web servers and a database server using the popular MySQL or the feature-rich PostgreSQL database package, how to interact on a Microsoft Windows network using the Samba software, and how to create an server for your home or organization. How This Book Is Organized This book is organized to lead you through the basics of the Ubuntu Linux distribution features, from installing your system to using the installed applications. The book is divided into five parts, each one building on the previous parts. Part 1 starts you out on your Ubuntu Linux journey by helping you get your Ubuntu system running. Chapter 1, What Is Ubuntu? walks through the complicated world of Linux distributions, describing why there are so many distributions and what the Ubuntu

28 xxvi Introduction Linux distribution has to offer. After explaining the basics of the Ubuntu system, Part 1 continues with Downloading and working with the Ubuntu LiveCD (Chapter 2) Installing Ubuntu on your PC (Chapter 3) Exploring the features of the GNOME desktop (Chapter 4) In Part 2, the book takes you through the features you ll find in the Ubuntu workstation: Working with files and folders in Ubuntu (Chapter 5) Working with text files using the Ubuntu text editors (Chapter 6) Using the OpenOffice.org office productivity suite (Chapter 7) Becoming familiar with the Ubuntu Network applications (Chapter 8) Accessing your with the Evolution software (Chapter 9) Working with image files (Chapter 10) Playing and ripping CDs (Chapter 11) Playing DVDs and watching video clips from the Internet (Chapter 12) Part 3 shows you how to manage your Ubuntu system: Installing and updating software packages (Chapter 13) Configuring network access (Chapter 14) Installing and using external devices such as printers and scanners (Chapter 15) Configuring your display and setting up multiple monitors (Chapter 16) Adding new users (Chapter 17) Controlling running programs and monitoring the system (Chapter 18) Using the Ubuntu command line (Chapter 19) In Part 4, you ll see how to install and configure the Ubuntu server packages: Creating a domain name server (DNS) (Chapter 20) Maintaining a web server for dynamic web applications (Chapter 21) Using Samba to interact with other devices on a Microsoft Windows network (Chapter 22) Managing a complete server (Chapter 23) Running a full-featured database server using either MySQL or PostgreSQL (Chapter 24) The last section of the book, Part 5, demonstrates how to use your Ubuntu workstation as a complete programming development environment: Writing and running shell scripts from the Ubuntu command line (Chapter 25) Working with Perl and Python scripts to manipulate data (Chapter 26) Using the C programming language to create professional applications (Chapter 27) Installing the Java programming environment to write applications (Chapter 28) Installing Ruby to write local and web applications (Chapter 29) Using PHP on the Ubuntu LAMP server to write dynamic web applications (Chapter 30)

29 Introduction xxvii Conventions and Features There are many different organizational and typographical features throughout this book designed to help you get the most of the information. Secrets When the author wants to provide additional information to help you get the most out of your Ubuntu system, the information will appear in a Secrets sidebar, separate from the main chapter material. The information in the Secrets sidebars is important and is set off in a separate paragraph with a special icon. Secrets provide additional information about things to watch out for, tips on how to better use a feature, or background information that helps in understanding a topic. Minimum Requirements To get the most from the Ubuntu workstation software you must have a PC with at least a 700-MHz processor, 384 MB of system memory (RAM), 8 GB of disk space, and a graphics card capable of at least resolution. It also helps to have a sound card if you plan on working with audio and video, and a network card if you plan on interacting with a local network or the Internet. Where to Go from Here Once you ve completed Ubuntu Linux Secrets you ll be well on your way to being an Ubuntu Linux guru. In the ever-changing world of Linux, it s always a good idea to stay in touch with new developments. The Ubuntu Linux distribution comes out with a new version every 6 months, adding new features and removing some older ones. To keep your knowledge of Ubuntu fresh, it s important to stay well informed. Find a good Linux forum on the web and monitor what s going on in the Linux world. There are many popular sites, such as Slashdot and Distrowatch, that provide up-to-the-minute information about advances in Linux. It s also a good idea to keep an eye on the Ubuntu distribution site itself. Each new release goes through a series of beta releases, which are a great way to be introduced to new features before they re released in the next version.

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