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Basics of Linux system administration: Setting up your system and software

Manage disks, configure the boot process, and keep your applications under control

Date:  07 Oct 2011 (Published 21 Jun 2011) |Level: Intermediate |

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1. Before you begin

You need a working Linux system that includes the bash shell, so you can practice the commands and techniques covered in this knowledge path. Our command examples are taken from Ubuntu and Fedora, but they apply to most other Linux distributions as well.

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2. Plan your hard disk layout

A well-organized hard drive is an efficient hard drive, but only if you plan your layout with the system's purpose in mind. Determine your drive's current organization and investigate the considerations for partitioning space.

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3. Choose your boot loader

Dig your spurs in and get to know the boot process and the two most common boot loaders, LILO and GRUB, including how they work, how to configure them, and how to recover from common issues.

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4. Manage shared libraries

Dynamic linking has huge advantages for minimizing the size of executables, but it can also cause headaches if prerequisite libraries aren't there. Here's how to determine which shared libraries your programs depend on and how to load them.

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5. Learn Debian package management

Master the fundamentals of APT, the Advanced Packaging Tool used by Debian, Ubuntu, and other popular distributions. Learn how to find, install, upgrade, remove, and get information about packages.

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6. Learn RPM and YUM package management

Continue your package-management education with a solid backgrounder on Red Hat Package Manager and Yellowdog Updater Modified, both used in Red Hat-based distributions.

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About this knowledge path

Learn the essential elements of hard disk layout, system boot configuration, and application package administration. Ideally suited to serious users of Linux—including Linux system administrators, developers, and power users—this knowledge path also prepares you for the Linux Professional Institute's LPIC-1 certification exam 101 (topic 102).

Activities in this path

  1. Before you begin
  2. Plan your hard disk layout
  3. Choose your boot loader
  4. Manage shared libraries
  5. Learn Debian package management
  6. Learn RPM and YUM package management

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