red hat fedora core 6 unleashed

.117 5 First Steps with Fedora 119 Working with the Linux File System.. .845Using the C Programming Project Management Tools Provided with Fedora Core Linux.. His particular area of expe

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ISBN 0-672-32929-8 (pbk w/dvd : alk paper) 1 Linux 2 Operating

systems (Computers) I Hudson, Paul, 1979- II Title

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Introduction .1

Part I Installation and Configuration 1 Introducing Fedora .13

2 Preparing to Install Fedora .27

3 Installing Fedora .53

4 Post-Installation Configuration .83

5 First Steps with Fedora .119

Part II Desktop Fedora 6 The X Window System .165

7 Managing Software .191

8 On the Internet: Surfing the Web, Writing Email, and Reading the News .209

9 Productivity Applications .239

10 Multimedia Applications .261

11 Graphics Manipulation .285

12 Printing with Fedora .299

13 Games .313

Part III System Administration 14 Managing Users .325

15 Automating Tasks .351

16 System Resources .413

17 Backing Up, Restoring, and Recovery .423

18 Network Connectivity .455

19 Remote Access with SSH and Telnet .507

20 Xen .515

Part IV Fedora As a Server 21 Apache Web Server Management .523

22 Administering Database Services .567

23 File and Print .593

27 Managing DNS .701

28 LDAP .741

29 News Servers .751

Part V Programming Linux 30 Using Perl .767

31 Working with Python .789

32 Writing PHP Scripts .809

33 C/C++ Programming Tools for Fedora .843

34 Mono .859

Part VI Fedora Housekeeping 35 Securing Your Machines .873

36 Performance Tuning .885

37 Command Line Masterclass .899

38 Advancedyum .925

39 Managing the File System .935

40 Kernel and Module Management .973

Part VII Appendix A Fedora and Linux Internet Resources .999

Index .1011

Introduction 1

What Is Fedora? .15

Inside Fedora Core .15

Features of the Fedora Install .18

Fedora File System Features .18

Fedora for Business .20

Fedora in Your Home .21

64-Bit Fedora .22

Fedora on the PPC Platform .22

Fedora on Dual-Core Machines .23

Getting the Most from Fedora and Linux Documentation .23

Fedora Developers and Documentation .25

Reference .26

2 Preparing to Install Fedora 27 Planning Your Fedora Deployment .28

Business Considerations .28

System Considerations .30

User Considerations .31

A Predeployment Planning Checklist .32

Planning the Installation .33

Hardware Requirements .33

Meeting the Minimum Fedora Core Hardware Requirements .34

Using Legacy Hardware .34

Planning for Hard Drive Storage for Your Fedora Installation Class .35

Checking Hardware Compatibility .36

Preparing for Potential Hardware Problems .37

Preparing and Using a Hardware Inventory .40

Preparing for the Install Process .43

Preparing to Install from a CD-ROM .45

Hosting Parts of the Linux File System on Separate Partitions .47

Using Fedora’s kickstartInstallation Method .48

Reference .51

3 Installing Fedora 53 Before You Begin the Installation .53

Research Your Hardware Specifications .53

Choose an Installation Type .54

Choose Software Installation Options .54

Planning Partition Strategies .55

The Boot Loader .56

Choosing How to Install Fedora .57

Installing from CD or DVD .57

Installing Using a Network .58

Step-by-Step Installation .59

Starting the Install .60

Partitioning Your Hard Drive .66

Choosing, Configuring, and Installing the Boot Loader .68

Network Configuration .70

Setting the Time Zone .71

Creating a Root Password and User Accounts .73

Software Selection and Installation .74

Finishing the Install .76

firstbootConfiguration .78

Logging In and Shutting Down .81

Reference .82

4 Post-Installation Configuration 83 Troubleshooting Post-Installation Configuration Problems .83

Your Hardware and Kudzu .84

Pointer and Keyboard Configuration .86

Configuring Keyboards with Linux .86

Configuring Pointing Devices in Fedora .90

Configuring Display Graphics .94

Configuring Sound Devices .96

Detecting and Configuring a Modem .97

Configuring a Serial-Port Modem .98

Configuring a Fax Modem .101

Configuringminicomfor Modem Use .101

Configuring Power Management in Fedora .102

Resetting the Date and Time .105

Using the dateCommand .105

Using the hwclockCommand .105

Using the system-config-dateClient .106

Managing PCMCIA .107

Using PCMCIA .107

Controlling PCMCIA Service .109

Configuring and Using CD, DVD, and CD-RW Drives .109

Checking Drive Assignment .110

Initializing FireWire CD Drives .111

Configuring Wireless Networks .114

Reference .117

5 First Steps with Fedora 119 Working with the Linux File System .120

Viewing the Linux File System .121

Use Essential Commands from the /binand/sbinDirectories .123

Store the Booted Kernel and View Stored Devices in the /bootand/devDirectories .124

Use and Edit Files in the /etcDirectory .124

Protect the Contents of User Directories—/home .129

Use the Contents of the /procDirectory to Interact with the Kernel .129

Work with Shared Data in the /usrDirectory .131

Temporary File Storage in the /tmpDirectory .131

Access Variable Data Files in the /varDirectory .131

Logging In to and Working with Linux .131

Text-Based Console Login .132

Working with Virtual Consoles .132

Using Simple Keyboard and Mouse Techniques in a Linux Console Session .133

Logging Out .135

Logging In and Out from a Remote Computer .135

Changing Your User Information .137

Reading Documentation .138

Using Man Pages .139

Finding and Reading Software Package Documentation .139

Using the Shell .140

Using Environment Variables .142

Managing Files with the Shell .145

Compressing and Decompressing Files Through the Shell .146

Using the Text Editors .147

Working with vi .148

Working with emacs .149

Working with Permissions .151

Assigning Permissions .152

Directory Permissions .153

Understanding Set User ID and Set Group ID Permissions .155

Working As Root .156

Creating Users .157

Deleting Users .158

Shutting Down the System .158

Rebooting the System .159

Reference .160

Part II Desktop Fedora 6 The X Window System 165 Basic X Concepts .166

Using X .167

Elements of the xorg.confFile .168

Configuring X .173

Starting X .177

Using a Display Manager .177

Starting X from the Console by Using startx .180

Selecting and Using Window Managers .181

Using Fedora’s switchdesk .182

The Tab Window Manager .183

The Motif Window Manager .184

AIGLX—Eye Candy for the Masses .185

The GNOME and KDE Desktop Environments .186

GNOME: The GNU Network Object Model Environment .186

KDE: The K Desktop Environment .188

Reference .189

7 Managing Software 191 Using RPM for Software Management .191

Command-Line and Graphical RPM Clients .193

Usingrpmon the Command Line .195

Package Organization with RPM .197

Extracting a Single File from an RPM File .198

Alternatives for Software Management .200

yum .201

pup .202

Compiling Software from Source .203

Buildingrpmsfromsrc.rpmFiles .203

Working with Source RPM Files .204

Compile from Source Tarballs .206

Reference .208

8 On the Internet: Surfing the Web, Writing Email, and Reading the News 209 Choosing a Web Browser .209

Mozilla Firefox .210

The Mozilla Suite .211

Epiphany .212

Konqueror .212

Choosing an Email Client .213

Evolution .215

Mozilla Thunderbird .217

Balsa .217

KMail .219

Mozilla Mail .219

ThemailApplication .220

mutt .222

Other Mail Clients .224

An Overview of Network News .224

Newsgroups .225

Selecting a Newsreader .226

TheslrnNews Client .226

The Pan News Client .226

The KNode News Client .228

The Mozilla News Client .229

The Thunderbird News Client .231

RSS Readers .231

Firefox .231

Blam .231

Collaborating with TWiki .232

Internet Relay Chat .234

Internet Messaging with GAIM .236

Videoconferencing with Ekiga .236

9 Productivity Applications 239

Office Suites for Fedora .240

Working with OpenOffice.org .241

Working with OpenOffice.org Writer .244

Working with OpenOffice.org Calc .247

Working with Gnome Office .252

Working with KOffice .255

Productivity Applications Written for Microsoft Windows .259

Reference .260

10 Multimedia Applications 261 Burning CDs and DVDs in Fedora Core Linux .262

Creating CDs from the Command Line .263

Creating DVDs from the Command Line .265

Creating CDs and DVDs with Fedora’s Graphical Clients .267

Sound and Music .270

Sound Cards .271

Recording Sound .271

Sound Formats .271

Music Players .273

Streaming Audio .274

Viewing TV and Video .275

TV and Video Hardware .275

Video Formats .277

Viewing Video in Linux .278

Viewing Television with Linux .279

Personal Video Recorders .280

DVD and Video Players .281

Reference .283

11 Graphics Manipulation 285 Graphics Manipulation .285

The GNU Image Manipulation Program .285

Using Digital Cameras with Fedora .287

Webcams .287

Handheld Digital Cameras .288

Using F-Spot .290

Using Scanners in Fedora .292

Working with Graphics Formats .293

Capturing Screen Images .296

12 Printing with Fedora 299

Overview of Fedora Printing .299

Configuring and Managing Print Services .301

GUI-Based Printer Configuration Quickstart .302

Console-Based Printer Configuration Quickstart .303

Managing Printing Services .303

Creating and Configuring Local Printers .305

Creating the Print Queue .306

Editing Printer Settings .310

Reference .311

13 Games 313 Linux Gaming .313

Installing Proprietary Video Drivers .314

Installing DOOM 3 .315

Installing Unreal Tournament 2004 .317

Installing Quake 4 .318

Installing Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory .319

Battle of Wesnoth .319

KDEedu .320

Playing Windows Games with Cedega .321

Reference .322

Part III System Administration 14 Managing Users 325 User Accounts .325

User IDs and Group IDs .327

File Permissions .327

Managing Groups .328

Group Management Tools .330

Managing Users .332

User Management Tools .332

Adding New Users .334

Monitoring User Activity on the System .335

Managing Passwords .336

System Password Policy .336

The Password File .336

Shadow Passwords .338

Managing Password Security for Users .340

Granting System Administrator Privileges to Regular Users .341

Temporarily Changing User Identity with the suCommand .341

Granting Root Privileges on Occasion—The sudoCommand .343

Control Via Restricted Shells .346

The User Login Process .346

Disk Quotas .348

Implementing Quotas .348

Manually Configuring Quotas .349

Reference .350

15 Automating Tasks 351 Running Services at Bootup .352

Beginning the Boot Loading Process .352

Loading the Linux Kernel .353

System Services and Runlevels .354

Runlevel Definitions .355

Booting into the Default Runlevel .356

Booting to a Nondefault Runlevel with GRUB .358

UnderstandinginitScripts and the Final Stage of Initialization .359

Controlling Services at Boot with Administrative Tools .360

Running Services Through xinetd .363

Changing Runlevels .364

Troubleshooting Runlevel Problems .365

Starting and Stopping Services Manually .366

Scheduling Tasks .367

Usingatandbatchto Schedule Tasks for Later .367

Usingcronto Run Jobs Repeatedly .369

Basic Shell Control .372

The Shell Command Line .373

Shell Pattern-Matching Support .374

Redirecting Input and Output .375

Piping Data .376

Background Processing .377

Writing and Executing a Shell Script .377

Running the New Shell Program .379

Storing Shell Scripts for Systemwide Access .380

Interpreting Shell Scripts Through Specific Shells .380

Using Variables in Shell Scripts .382

Assigning a Value to a Variable .382

Accessing Variable Values .383

A Simple Example of a Positional Parameter .383

Using Positional Parameters to Access and Retrieve Variables from the Command Line .384

Using a Simple Script to Automate Tasks .384

Built-in Variables .387

Special Characters .387

Use Double Quotes to Resolve Variables in Strings with Embedded Spaces .388

Using Single Quotes to Maintain Unexpanded Variables .389

Using the Backslash As an Escape Character .390

Using the Backtick to Replace a String with Output .390

Comparison of Expressions in pdkshandbash .390

Comparing Expressions with tcsh .396

TheforStatement .400

ThewhileStatement .401

TheuntilStatement .403

TherepeatStatement (tcsh) .404

TheselectStatement (pdksh) .404

TheshiftStatement .405

TheifStatement .405

ThecaseStatement .407

ThebreakandexitStatements .408

Using Functions in Shell Scripts .409

Reference .410

16 System Resources 413 System-Monitoring Tools .413

Console-Based Monitoring .413

Using the killCommand to Control Processes .415

Using Priority Scheduling and Control .416

Displaying Free and Used Memory with free .418

Disk Quotas .418

Graphical Process- and System Management Tools .419

KDE Process- and System-Monitoring Tools .422

Reference .422

17 Backing Up, Restoring, and Recovery 423 Choosing a Backup Strategy .423

Why Data Loss Occurs .424

Assessing Your Backup Needs and Resources .425

Evaluating Backup Strategies .427

Choosing Backup Hardware and Media .430

Removable Storage Media .430

Network Storage .431

Tape Drive Backup .432

Using Backup Software .432

tar:The Most Basic Backup Tool .433

The GNOME File Roller .435

The KDE Archiving Tools (KDE arkandkdat) .435

Using the ddCommand for Archiving .437

Using the Amanda Backup Application .438

Alternative Backup Software .438

Copying Files .439

Copying Files Using tar .439

Compressing, Encrypting, and Sending tarStreams .440

Copying Files Using cp .441

Copying Files Using mc .441

Copying Files Using scp .442

Copying Files Using rsync .444

Undeleting Files .446

Reformatting with the -SOption When Experiencing Unrecoverable File System Errors .446

Undeleting Files Using mc .446

System Rescue .447

The Fedora Rescue Disc .448

Backing Up and Restoring the Master Boot Record .448

Manually Restoring the Partition Table .448

Booting the System from the Rescue Disc .449

Booting the System from a Generic Boot Floppy Disk .450

Using a GRUB Boot Floppy Disk .450

Using the Recovery Facility from the Installation Disc .451

Reference .453

18 Network Connectivity 455 Laying the Foundation: The localhostInterface .455

Checking for the Availability of the Loopback Interface .456

Configuring the Loopback Interface Manually .456

Networking with TCP/IP .457

TCP/IP Addressing .458

Using IP Masquerading in Fedora .460

Ports .461

Network Organization .462

Subnetting .462

Subnet Masks .462

Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast Addressing .463

Hardware Devices for Networking .463

Network Interface Cards .463

Network Cable .466

Hubs and Switches .467

Routers and Bridges .468

Initializing New Network Hardware .468

Using Network Configuration Tools .471

Command-Line Network Interface Configuration .472

Network Configuration Files .476

Using Graphical Configuration Tools .479

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol .481

How DHCP Works .481

Activating DHCP at Installation and Boot Time .482

DHCP Software Installation and Configuration .483

Using DHCP to Configure Network Hosts .484

Other Uses for DHCP .487

Wireless Networking .487

Support for Wireless Networking in Fedora .487

Cellular Networking .488

Advantages of Wireless Networking .489

Choosing from Among Available Wireless Protocols .489

Beyond the Network and onto the Internet .490

Common Configuration Information .491

Configuring Digital Subscriber Line Access .492

Understanding Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet .493

Configuring a PPPoE Connection Manually .493

Configuring Dial-Up Internet Access .495

Configuring a Dial-Up Connection Manually .495

Using the Fedora Internet Configuration Wizard .498

Troubleshooting Connection Problems .501

Configuring a Dial-In PPP Server .502

Using Patches/Upgrades to Keep Your Network Secure .505

Reference .505

General .505

DHCP .505

Wireless .506

19 Remote Access with SSH and Telnet 507

Setting Up a Telnet Server .507

Telnet Versus SSH .508

Setting Up an SSH Server .508

The SSH Tools .509

Usingscpto Copy Individual Files Between Machines .510

Usingsftpto Copy Many Files Between Machines .510

Usingssh-keygento Enable Key-Based Logins .511

Remote X .512

XDMCP .513

VNC .514

Reference .514

20 Xen 515 Why Virtualization Is a Smart Idea .515

Virtualization Versus Paravirtualization .516

How Xen Works .517

Installing Xen .517

Setting Up Guest Operating Systems .518

Runtime Configuration .519

Reference .520

Part IV Fedora As a Server 21 Apache Web Server Management 523 About the Apache Web Server .523

Installing the Apache Server .525

Installing from the RPM .525

Building the Source Yourself .527

Starting and Stopping Apache .530

Starting the Apache Server Manually .530

Using/etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd .531

Controlling Apache with Red Hat’s serviceCommand .533

Controlling Apache with Red Hat’s chkconfigCommand .533

Controlling Apache with Red Hat’s system-config-services Client .534

Runtime Server Configuration Settings .535

Runtime Configuration Directives .535

Editinghttpd.conf .536

Apache Multiprocessing Modules .538

File System Authentication and Access Control .541

Restricting Access with allowanddeny .541

Authentication .542

Final Words on Access Control .545

Apache Modules .545

mod_access .546

mod_alias .546

mod_asis .546

mod_auth .547

mod_auth_anon .547

mod_auth_dbm .547

mod_auth_digest .547

mod_autoindex .548

mod_cgi .548

mod_dirandmod_env .548

mod_expires .548

mod_headers .548

mod_include .549

mod_infoandmod_log_config .549

mod_mimeandmod_mime_magic .549

mod_negotiation .549

mod_proxy .549

mod_rewrite .549

mod_setenvif .550

mod_speling .550

mod_status .550

mod_ssl .550

mod_unique_id .550

mod_userdir .550

mod_usertrack .550

mod_vhost_alias .550

Virtual Hosting .551

Address-Based Virtual Hosts .551

Name-Based Virtual Hosts .552

Logging .553

Dynamic Content .555

CGI .555

SSI .556

Basic SSI Directives .557

Flow Control .561

Graphic Interface Configuration of Apache .561

Configuring Virtual Host Properties .562

Configuring the Server .563

Configuring Apache for Peak Performance .564

Other Web Servers for Use with Fedora .564

Sun Java System Web Server .564

Stronghold .565

Zope .565

Zeus Web Server .565

Reference .566

22 Administering Database Services 567 A Brief Review of Database Basics .568

How Relational Databases Work .569

Understanding SQL Basics .571

Creating Tables .571

Inserting Data into Tables .573

Retrieving Data from a Database .573

Choosing a Database: MySQL Versus PostgreSQL .575

Speed .576

Data Locking .576

ACID Compliance in Transaction Processing to Protect Data Integrity .577

SQL Subqueries .577

Procedural Languages and Triggers .578

Configuring MySQL .578

Setting a Password for the MySQL Root User .579

Creating a Database in MySQL .579

Granting and Revoking Privileges in MySQL .580

Configuring PostgreSQL .581

Initializing the Data Directory in PostgreSQL .582

Creating a Database in PostgreSQL .583

Creating Database Users in PostgreSQL .584

Deleting Database Users in PostgreSQL .584

Granting and Revoking Privileges in PostgreSQL .585

Database Clients .586

SSH Access to a Database .586

Local GUI Client Access to a Database .587

Web Access to a Database .588

The MySQL Command-Line Client .588

The PostgreSQL Command-Line Client .590

Graphical Clients .591

Reference .592

23 File and Print 593 Using the Network File System .593

Installing and Starting or Stopping NFS .594

NFS Server Configuration .594

NFS Client Configuration .596

Putting Samba to Work .597

Manually Configuring Samba with /etc/samba/smb.conf .598

Testing Samba with the testparmCommand .601

Starting the smbdDaemon .601

Mounting Samba Shares .602

Configuring Samba Using SWAT .603

Network and Remote Printing with Fedora .608

Creating Network Printers .608

Enabling Network Printing on a LAN .608

Session Message Block Printing .611

Network-Attached Printer Configuration and Printing .612

Console Print Control .613

Console-Based Printer Configuration .613

Using Basic Print Commands .614

Managing Print Jobs .615

Using the Common UNIX Printing System GUI .616

Creating a CUPS Printer Entry .618

Avoiding Printer Support Problems .621

All-in-One (Print/Fax/Scan) Devices .621

Using USB and Legacy Printers .622

Reference .623

24 Remote File Serving with FTP 625 Using FTP Clients .625

The FTP Client Interface .626

Using the Text-Based FTP Client Interface .626

Using Graphical FTP Clients .633

FTP Servers .636

Choosing an Authenticated or Anonymous Server .637

Fedora FTP Server Packages .637

Other FTP Servers .637

The FTP User .639

xinetdConfiguration for wu-ftpd .641Configuringxinetdfor the wu-ftpServer .641Starting the Very Secure FTP Server (vsftpd) Package .642Configuring the Very Secure FTP Server .643Controlling Anonymous Access .643OthervsftpdServer Configuration Files .644Configuring the wu-ftpdServer .646Using Commands in the ftpaccessFile to Configure wu-ftpd .647Configure Access Control .647Configure User Information .650Configure System Logging .654Configure Permission Control .655Configure Commands Directed Toward the cdpath .657Structure of the shutdownFile .658Configure FTP Server File-Conversion Actions .658Strip Prefix .659Strip Postfix .659Add-On Prefix .659Add-On Postfix .659External Command .660Types .660Options .660Description .660

An Example of Conversions in Action .660Using Commands in the ftphostsFile to Allow or Deny

FTP Server Connection .661Server Administration .662Display Information About Connected Users .662Count the Number of Connections .664Use/usr/sbin/ftpshutto Schedule FTP Server Downtime .664Use/var/log/xferlogto View a Log of Server Transactions .666Reference .667

How Email Is Sent and Received .669The Mail Transport Agent .670Choosing an MTA .672The Mail Delivery Agent .673The Mail User Agent .673

Basic Sendmail Configuration and Operation .674Configuring Masquerading .675Using Smart Hosts .675Setting Message Delivery Intervals .676Building the sendmail.cfFile .676Mail Relaying .677Forwarding Email with Aliases .677Rejecting Email from Specified Sites .678Introducing Postfix .679Making the Switch .679Using Fetchmail to Retrieve Mail .680Installing Fetchmail .681Configuring Fetchmail .681Choosing a Mail Delivery Agent .684Procmail .685Spamassassin .685Squirrelmail .685Virus Scanners .686Special Mail Delivery Agents .686Mail Daemons .686Alternatives to Microsoft Exchange Server .687Microsoft Exchange Server/Outlook Client .687CommuniGate Pro .688Oracle Collaboration Suite .688Open Xchange .688Conclusion .688Reference .689Web Resources .689Books .690

What Is a Proxy Server? .691Installing Squid .692Configuring Clients .692Access Control Lists .693Specifying Client IP Addresses .698Sample Configurations .699Reference .700

27 Managing DNS 701

Configuring DNS for Clients .702Understanding the /etc/host.confFile .703Understanding the /etc/nsswitch.confFile .703Understanding the /etc/hostsFile .704Understanding the /etc/resolv.confFile .705Understanding the Changes Made by DHCP .705Essential DNS Concepts .706How Nameservers Store DNS Structure Information .707How DNS Provides Name Service Information to Users .707Name Resolution in Practice .708Using DNS Tools .708

dig .709

host .710

nslookup .710

whois .710Configuring a Local Caching Nameserver .713Your Own Domain Name and Third-Party DNS .714Providing DNS for a Real Domain with BIND .715

rndc.conf .717

named.conf .717Logging .722Resolver Configuration .723Running the namedNameserver Daemon .724Providing DNS for a Real Domain .725Forward Zone .725Reverse Zone .727Registering the Domain .728Troubleshooting DNS .728Delegation Problems .729Reverse Lookup Problems .729Maintaining Accurate Serial Numbers .730Troubleshooting Problems in Zone Files .730Tools for Troubleshooting .731Using Fedora’s BIND Configuration Tool .731Managing DNS Security .733UNIX Security Considerations .733DNS Security Considerations .734Using DNS Security Extensions .737Using Split DNS .738

28 LDAP 741

Configuring the Server .742Populating Your Directory .744Configuring Clients .747Evolution .747Thunderbird .748Administration .748Reference .749

Types of News Servers .751Full Newsfeed Servers .752Leaf Node Servers .752Local News Servers .753The INN Package and Configuration Files .753Installing the INN Package .755Configuringinnd .755Theinn.confFile .755Theincoming.confFile .757Thestorage.confFile .757Thereaders.confFile .758TheactiveandnewsgroupsFiles .760ThehistoryFiles .761Runninginnd .762Reference .763

Conditional Statements: if/elseandunless .774

if .775

unless .775Looping .776

for .776

foreach .776

while .777

until .777

lastandnext .777

do whileanddo until .778Regular Expressions .778Access to the Shell .779Modules and CPAN .780Code Examples .781Sending Mail .781Purging Logs .783Posting to Usenet .784One-Liners .784Command-Line Processing .785Reference .786Books .786Usenet .787WWW .787Other .788

Python on Linux .789Getting Interactive .790The Basics of Python .791Numbers .791More on Strings .792Lists .795Dictionaries .797Conditionals and Looping .798Functions .800Object Orientation .801Class and Object Variables .802Constructors and Destructors .803Class Inheritance .804Multiple Inheritance .805The Standard Library and the Vaults of Parnassus .806

32 Writing PHP Scripts 809

Introduction to PHP .810Entering and Exiting PHP Mode .810Variables .810Arrays .812Constants .813References .814Comments .815Escape Sequences .815Variable Substitution .816Operators .817Conditional Statements .819Special Operators .821Switching .821Loops .823Including Other Files .826Basic Functions .826Strings .826Arrays .830Files .832Miscellaneous .834Handling HTML Forms .837Databases .838Introduction to PEAR::DB .838Reference .840

Programming in C with Linux .843Programming in C++ .844Getting Started with Linux C/C++ Programming .844The Process of Programming .845Elements of the C/C++ Language .845Using the C Programming Project Management Tools

Provided with Fedora Core Linux .846Building Programs with make .846Using the autoconfUtility to Configure Code .848Managing Software Projects with RCS and CVS .849Debugging Tools .850Using the GNU C Compiler .852

Graphical Development Tools .853Using the KDevelop Client .853Trolltech’s Qt Designer .854The Glade Client for Developing in GNOME .855Additional Resources .857Reference .858

Why Use Mono? .859Mono on the Command Line .860The Structure of a C# Program .862Printing Out the Parameters .863Creating Your Own Variables .863Adding Some Error Checking .864Building on Mono’s Libraries .865Searching with Beagle .865Creating a GUI with Gtk# .868Reference .869Books .870

Understanding Computer Attacks .873Assessing Your Vulnerability .875Protecting Your Machine .876Securing a Wireless Network .876Passwords and Physical Security .877Configuring and Using Tripwire .878Devices .879Viruses .880Configuring Your Firewall .881Forming a Disaster Recovery Plan .882Keeping Up-to-Date on Linux Security Issues .884Reference .884

Hard Disk .885Using the BIOS and Kernel to Tune the Disk Drives .886ThehdparmCommand .886

Themke2fsCommand .888Thetune2fsCommand .889Thee2fsckCommand .889ThebadblocksCommand .889Disabling File Access Time .889Kernel .890Apache .891MySQL .893Measuring Key Buffer Usage .893Using the Query Cache .894Miscellaneous Tweaks .896Query Optimization .896Reference .897

Why Use the Shell? .900Basic Commands .901Printing the Contents of a File with cat .902Changing Directories with cd .903Changing File Access Permissions with chmod .905Copying Files with cp .905Printing Disk Usage with du .906Finding Files by Searching with find .907Searching for a String in Input with grep .909Paging Through Output with less .910Creating Links Between Files with ln .912Finding Files from an Index with locate .914Listing Files in the Current Directory with ls .914Reading Manual Pages with man .916Making Directories with mkdir .916Moving Files with mv .917Listing Processes with ps .917Deleting Files and Directories with rm .918Printing the Last Lines of a File with tail .918Printing Resource Usage with top .919Printing the Location of a Command with which .920Combining Commands .920Multiple Terminals .922Reference .924Books .924

38 Advanced yum 925

Getting Started .926RunningyumNoninteractively .927Usingyumto Remove Packages .928Maintainingyum .928Usingyumto Manage Package Inventory .929Configuringyum .931Creating a Local yumRepository .932Usingcreaterepo .933Reference .934

The Fedora File System Basics .935Physical Structure of the File System on the Disk .936File System Partitions .938Network and Disk File Systems .938Viewing Your System’s File Systems .940Working with the ext3File System .940Understanding the ext3File System Structure .941Journaling Options in ext3 .942Verifying File Integrity in ext3File Systems with

thefsckUtility .943Other File Systems Available to Fedora .944The Reiser File System (reiserfs) .944

JFSandXFSFile Systems .944DOS File Systems .945CD-ROM File Systems .945Creating a File System .945The Disk as a Storage Device .946Creating the Partition Table .947Creating the File System on the Partitioned Disk .950Creating a DOS File System with mkdosfs .952Mounting File Systems .953ThemountCommand .954TheumountCommand .955Mounting Automatically with /etc/fstab .955GUI Tools to Mount File Systems .957Relocating a File System .959Installing the New Drive .959Creating the Partition Table and Formatting the Disk .960Mount the New Partition and Populating It with

Logical Volume Management .961File System Manipulation .962Creating a File System for Testing .962Mounting a Partition as Read-Only on a Running System .964Converting an Existing ext2File System to ext3 .965Examine an initrdImage File .966Managing Files for Character Devices, Block Devices,

and Special Devices .967Naming Conventions Used for Block and Character Devices .969Usingmknodto Create Devices .969Reference .970

The Linux Kernel .974The Linux Source Tree .974Types of Kernels .977Managing Modules .978When to Recompile .980Kernel Versions .981Obtaining the Kernel Sources .982Patching the Kernel .983Compiling the Kernel .984Usingxconfigto Configure the Kernel .989Creating an Initial RAM Disk Image .992When Something Goes Wrong .992Errors During Compile .993Runtime Errors, Boot Loader Problems, and Kernel Oops .994Reference .995

Websites and Search Engines .1000Web Search Tips .1000Google Is Your Friend .1001Fedora Package Listings .1001Certification .1002Commercial Support .1002Documentation .1003Linux Guides .1003

Red Hat Linux .1004Mini-CD Linux Distributions .1004Floppy-Based Linux Distributions .1005Various Intel-Based Linux Distributions .1005PowerPC-Based Linux Distributions .1005Linux on Laptops and PDAs .1006The X Window System .1006Usenet Newsgroups .1006Mailing Lists .1008Fedora Project Mailing Lists .1008Red Hat Mailing Lists .1009Internet Relay Chat .1009

Andrew Hudson is a regular contributor to Linux Format magazine, the UK’s largest Linux

magazine His particular area of expertise is Red Hat–based distributions, including RedHat Enterprise Linux and The Fedora Project, having worked with the original Red HatLinux since version 5 Seemingly obsessed with performance, he spends many an eveningtrying to squeeze more performance out of legacy hardware Andrew lives in Wiltshire,England, with his wife Bernice and son John Andrew does not like Emacs Andrew can becontacted at andy.hudson@gmail.com

Paul Hudson is a recognized expert in open-source technologies He is a professional

developer and full-time journalist for Future Publishing His articles have appeared in Mac Format, PC Answers, PC Format, PC Plus, and Linux Format Paul is passionate about Free

Software in all its forms and uses a mix of Linux and BSD to power his desktops andservers Paul likes Emacs Paul can be contacted through http://hudzilla.org

To Mum and Dad, for all their love, help, and support—Paul

To my wife Bernice, who grows more beautiful every day—Andrew

Internet

Vanessa Evans is one of the most organized individuals I know, and her ability to answernearly any query relating to the publishing of the book is unbelievable She has beenextremely patient with a Brit trying to navigate through the Web that is the U.S taxsystem and I thank her for all her help and assistance

A little closer to home and I’d like to thank the Computer Services department at FuturePublishing, of which I am a part They gave me access to many different hardware config-urations allowing me to thoroughly test a lot of the material in this book Particularlymentions go to Avi Abadi, Jon Moore, and Derek Smith, all of whom have helped mealong the way

My own family has been incredibly supportive of my writing this book Juggling a bookand being a full-time father and husband is no mean feat, but thankfully I have a lovingwife in Bernice who has allowed me to shut myself away for days at a time to get thisbook completed Our young son John is a constant source of amazement and joy and hekeeps me firmly rooted to the ground

Finally I want to thank God for the many blessings He has given me My life would not

be anything without Him, and I am eternally grateful for His grace

many years of writing, refining, testing, rewriting, exploration, and passion from manypeople I feel lucky to be part of the team and want to thank the others for their enthusi-asm and humor—it makes a huge difference to know that everyone who works on thisbook enjoys the topic!

I’m grateful to the entire team at Pearson for their help and feedback, particularly Damon,Dallas, and Mike—it’s great to work with people who really care about free software andwant to help others along that same journey Of course, Andrew and I both owe a hugedebt to our good friend Hoyt Duff, who we hope is somewhere sunny buffing up a classiccar!

My family’s contribution to this work has been immense Andrew was brave in acceptingthe job of co-writing, but it turns out that we work in tandem very well—he has done amarvelous job, and we are both very proud of this end result My wife, Ildiko, managed

to put up with even more months of me doing no housework, although I think that theminute I am finished with this it is back to the grindstone for me (why do you thinkthese acknowledgements are so long?) My parents have been immensely supportivethroughout, and I love them dearly

Finally, none of this work would have been possible without the grace of God Andrewand I have been blessed to be able to write this book, and I pray it blesses you even more

As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator We valueyour opinion and want to know what we’re doing right, what we could do better, whatareas you’d like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you’re willing topass our way.

You can email or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn’t like about thisbook—as well as what we can do to make our books stronger

Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book, and that due to the high volume of mail I receive, I might not be able to reply to every message.

When you write, please be sure to include this book’s title and authors as well as yourname and phone or email address I will carefully review your comments and share themwith the authors and editors who worked on the book

Visit our website and register this book at www.samspublishing.com/register for

convenient access to any updates, downloads, or errata that might be available for this book

Welcome to Red Hat Fedora 6 Unleashed! This book covers the free Linux distribution

named Fedora Core and includes a fully functional and complete operating systemproduced by the Fedora Project, sponsored by Red Hat

Fedora Core, or more simply Fedora, is directly descended from one of the most popular

Linux distributions ever: Red Hat Linux Those of you who no nothing about Linuxmight have heard of Red Hat; it is enough to know that it is the largest Linux vendor inNorth America Fedora benefits directly from many Red Hat engineers as well as the widercontributions from free software developers across the world

If you are new to Linux, you have made a great decision by choosing this book Sams

Publishing’s Unleashed books offer an in-depth look at their subject, taking in both

begin-ner and advanced users and moving them to a new level in knowledge and expertise.Fedora is a fast-changing distribution that can be updated at least twice a year Thankfully

we have tracked the development of Fedora from very early on to make sure that theinformation contained in this book mirrors closely the development of the distribution Afull copy of Fedora is included on the DVD, making it possible for you to install Linux inless than an hour!

No longer an upstart, Linux now has an enviable position in today’s modern computingworld It can be found on machines as diverse as mobile phones and wristwatches, all theway up to supercomputers—in fact, Linux currently runs on the world’s fastest computer,IBM’s Blue Gene/L Do not let the reputation of Linux put you off, though Most peoplewho have heard of Linux think that it is only found on servers, looking after websites andemails Nothing could be further from the truth because Linux is making huge inroads in

to the desktop market, too Corporations are realizing the benefits of running a stable andpowerful operating system that is easy to maintain and easy to secure Add to that thehundreds of improvements in useability, and it becomes an attractive proposition thattempts many CIOs The best bit is that as large Linux vendors improve Linux, the major-ity of those improvements make it into freely available distributions, allowing you tobenefit from the additions and refinements made You can put Fedora to work today and

be assured of a great user experience

This book provides all the information that you need to get up and running with Fedora

It even tells you how to keep Fedora running in top shape, as well as adapt Fedora tochanges in your needs and requirements Fedora can be used at home, in the workplace,

or, with permission, at your school and college In fact, you might want to poke aroundyour school’s computer rooms: You will probably find that someone has already beatenyou to the punch—Linux is commonly found in academic institutions Feel free to make

as many copies of the software as you want No copyright lawyers are going to pound onyour door because Fedora is freely distributable all over the world

After an introduction to Linux and Fedora, you will find out how to get started withFedora, including installation and initial configuration We will also take you through

installing software, managing users, and other common administrative tasks For themore technically minded, we cover some starting steps in programming across severallanguages—why not pick one and give it a go! Through the book you will also find infor-mation on multimedia applications, digital graphics, and even gaming for after-hourswhen you are finished tinkering After you make it through the book, you will be wellequipped with the knowledge needed to use Linux successfully We do assume that youare at least familiar with an operating system already (even if it is not with Linux), andhave some basic computer knowledge.

What Is Linux?

Linux is the core, or kernel, of a free operating system first developed and released to the

world by Linus Benedict Torvalds in 1991 Torvalds, then a graduate student at theUniversity of Helsinki, Finland, is now a Fellow at the Open Source Development Lab(http://www.osdl.org/) He is an engineer and previously worked for the CPU designand fabrication company Transmeta, Inc Fortunately for all Linux users, Torvalds chose

to distribute Linux under a free software license named the GNU General Public

License (GPL)

NOTE

The free online resource Wikipedia has a great biography of Linus Torvalds that examines hislife and notable achievements It can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Torvalds

Or you can head on over to http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/msg/

b813d52cbc5a044b?hl=en to read a copy of Linus’s first post about Linux to the world

The GNU GPL is the brainchild of Richard M Stallman, the founder of the Free SoftwareFoundation Stallman, the famous author of the Emacs editing environment and GCCcompiler system, crafted the GPL to ensure that software that used the GPL for licensingwould always be free and available in source code form The GPL is the guiding documentfor Linux and its ownership, distribution, and copyright Torvalds holds the rights to theLinux trademark, but thanks to a combination of his generosity, the Internet, thousands

of programmers around the world, GNU software, and the GNU GPL, Linux will remainforever free and unencumbered by licensing or royalty issues See the “Licensing” sectionlater in this Introduction to learn more about the GNU GPL and other software licenses.Linux, pronounced “lih-nucks,” is free software Combining the Linux kernel with GNUsoftware tools—drivers, utilities, user interfaces, and other software such as The X.OrgFoundation’s X Window System—creates a Linux distribution There are many differentLinux distributions from different vendors, but many are derived from or closely mimicRed Hat’s distribution of Linux: Red Hat Linux

NOTE

To see just how many distributions are based on Red Hat Linux, go to http://www.linux.org/,click Distributions, and search for “Red Hat-based.” At the time of writing, 36 distributions owetheir existence to Red Hat Linux and 11 are based directly on Fedora

What Is Fedora?

Fedora is an operating system based on the Linux kernel, created, improved, refined, anddistributed by the Fedora Project at http://fedora.redhat.com/ The Fedora Project, spon-sored by Red Hat, is an open source project supported by a worldwide community ofsoftware developers Although Fedora is not supported by Red Hat, it incorporates

improvements made to the Linux kernel and helps contribute to Red Hat’s commercialLinux distributions and software At the same time, Fedora also benefits from improve-ments made by Red Hat software engineers to Red Hat’s products Despite this symbioticrelationship, Fedora is a free operating system, built entirely from free software, and isguided by a process open to all free software developers

Roots of Red Hat and Fedora

In 1994, Marc Ewing and Bob Young combined forces to create Red Hat (named after aCornell University lacrosse team hat) to develop, release, and market an easily installed,easily managed, and easy-to-use Linux distribution Five years later, Durham, NorthCarolina–based Red Hat would have one of the most successful initial public offerings(IPOs) on the stock market In 2001, Red Hat introduced a line of products aimed at thecorporate and enterprise markets and created versions of its Red Hat Linux distributionsand associated software in a product line known as Red Hat Enterprise Linux Additionalsoftware, services, and distributions were added to the product over the next several years,such as the Advanced Server (with support for seven CPU architectures), ES (for small- tomid-range enterprise use), and WorkStation (WS) releases

Following the release of Red Hat Linux 9 in mid-2003, Red Hat announced that it wasdiscontinuing the sale of consumer-based Linux distributions Previously, the distributionshad been available in boxed sets with manuals on store shelves or in CD-ROM imageformat for free download over the Internet Red Hat then created the Fedora Project andformally opened its doors on October 22, 2003

Today, the company has grown from a handful of employees to more than 1100 in 51locations around the world

Red Hat was one of the first companies to adopt, promote, and use open source as a ness model for supporting development, technical service, support, and sales of free soft-ware to the computer industry Its business practices have spawned a shift in paradigm ofproprietary attitudes prevalent in the monopolistic software industry, and the company is

busi-a role model busi-and business lebusi-ader in the open source movement You lebusi-arn more busi-aboutRed Hat and Fedora in Chapter 1, “Introducing Fedora.”

CAUTION

The Fedora DVD included with this book is not supported by Red Hat If you want technicalsupport when using a Red Hat release, purchase a copy of Red Hat Enterprise Linux from RedHat at http://www.redhat.com/

You can also call to order In the United States, call 1-866-273-3428, extension 4555

Elsewhere in the world, check http://www.redhat.com/about/corporate/wwoffices/ for a list oflocal offices