David Both - Using and Administering Linux: Volume 2: Zero to SysAdmin: Advanced Topics

Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the author in this book is available to readers on GitHub via the books product page, located at www.apress.com/9781484254547 . For more detailed information, please visit http://www.apress.com/source-code .

First, thank you for purchasingUsing and Administering Linux: Volume 2 Zero to SysAdmin: Advanced Topics. The Linux training course upon which you have embarked is significantly different from other training that you could purchase to learn about Linux.

This Linux training course,Using and Administering Linux Zero to SysAdmin, consists of three volumes. Each of these three volumes is closely connected and they build upon each other. For those new to Linux, its best to start here with Volume 1, where youll be guided through the creation of a virtual laboratory a virtual network and a virtual machine that will be used and modified by many of the experiments in all three volumes. More experienced Linux users can begin with later volumes and download the script that will set up the VM for the start of Volumes 2 and 3. Instructions provided with the script will provide specifications for configuration of the virtual network and the virtual machine.

Refer to the following volume overviews to select the volume of this course most appropriate for your current skill level.

This Linux training course differs from others because it is a complete self-study course. Newcomers should start at the beginning of Volume 1 and read the text, perform all of the experiments, and complete all of the chapter exercises through to the end of Volume 3. If you do this, even if you are starting from zero knowledge about Linux, you can learn the tasks necessary to becoming a Linux system administrator, a SysAdmin.

Another difference this course has over others is that all of the experiments are performed on one or more virtual machines (VMs) in a virtual network. Using the free software, VirtualBox, you will create this virtual environment on any reasonably sized host, whether Linux or Windows. In this virtual environment, you are free to experiment on your own, make mistakes that could damage the Linux installation of a hardware host, and still be able to recover completely by restoring the Linux VM host from any one of multiple snapshots. This flexibility to take risks and yet recover easily makes it possible to learn more than would otherwise be possible.

I have always found that I learn more from my mistakes than I ever have when things work as they are supposed to. For this reason I suggest that rather than immediately reverting to an earlier snapshot when you run into trouble, you try to figure out how the problem was created and how best to recover from it. If, after a reasonable period of time, you have not resolved the problem, that would be the point at which reverting to a snapshot would make sense.

Inside, each chapter has specific learning objectives, interactive experiments, and review exercises that include both hands-on experiments and some review questions. I learned this format when I worked as a course developer for IBM from 1978 through 1981. It is a tried and true format that works well for self-study.

These course materials can also be used as reference materials. I have used my previous course materials for reference for many years and they have been very useful in that role. I have kept this as one of my goals in this set of materials.