jim@hoptoad.uucp (Jim Joyce) (05/31/86)
Whether you are daunted by *fsck* or just curious to pick up a few new
tricks about system administration, this book is for you. Granted, it
focusses on System V, with occasional mentions of BSD, but the shell
scripts they give to lighten the administrator's chore range from interest-
ing to essential. The writing is quite good, with touches of humor ranging
from the throw-away pun to true wit. The chapter on *fsck* is worth the
price of the book alone, and yes, it really does explain the various mes-
sages! They also show how to use *fsdb* to repair file system problems,
giving appropriate cautions as they talk their way through UNIX's version
of open-heart surgery (as they put it).
One minor glitch occurs in an otherwise excellent chapter on the organiza-
tion of the file system. They advocate removing uucp/LOGFILE and
uucp/SYSLOG rather than the more cautious
cp /usr/spool/uucp/LOGFILE /usr/spool/uucp/oLOGFILE
cp /dev/null /usr/spool/uucp/LOGFILE
cp /usr/spool/uucp/SYSLOG /usr/spool/uucp/oSYSLOG
cp /dev/null /usr/spool/uucp/SYSLOG
that keeps the data in case it is needed. Especially in system administra-
tion I have found that the data that isn't there is the data that is need-
ed. Their chapter on backups is quite thorough, including a comparative
cost analysis chart for backup media.
I mentioned shell scripts in the book earlier, but not that every chapter
has them; and there are even some C programs, such as Steven List's *uroff*
underline filter for printers that the authors acknowledge they took off
USENET.
This is a fabulous book, bringing hard-to-gather information into one place
on a subject where such information has been scattered about on USENET,
written on scraps of paper, or passed as oral tradition.
The Table of Contents with chapter length in parentheses follows:
1 The System Administrator's Overview of UNIX (11)
2 Bringing Up the System (18)
3 Checking the File System (16)
4 Where Everything Is and How to Find It (33)
5 Mounting and Unmounting File Systems (16)
6 Shutting Down the System (9)
7 Adding and Removing Users from the System (11)
8 Backups (28)
9 Security (23)
10 Terminals (15)
11 Printers on the UNIX System (31)
12 Modems and an Even Bigger World (37)
13 Shell Programming (31)
14 Assorted Administration Tips (13)
Appendix A Where to Learn More (3)
Appendix B Talking to the Outside World (9)
Appendix C A Typical UUCP Connection (6)
Bibliography (1)
Index (6)
Addresses--
uucp: hoptoad!jim
Snail: Jim Joyce's UNIX Bookstore, 47 Potomac St, SF, CA 94117
AT&T: (415) 626-7581
USENIX: Atlanta Hilton & Towers: come party at our suite!