Ubuntu Linux Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for Power Users

CHRISTOPHER NEGUS has more than 25 years of experience teaching and writing about Linux and UNIX. He has authored dozens of books on Linux, including the best-selling Red Hat Linux Bible, Linux Bible, the Linux Toys series, and the Linux Toolbox series.Awards for Christopher's writing include "Best Linux book of the year" for his Red Hat Linux 8 Bible, as voted by readers of Linux World magazine. For the Linux Journal 2009 Readers' Choice Awards, his Linux Bible was voted one of the top five "Favorite Linux Books of All Time."

• Introduction xix Chapter 1: Starting with Ubuntu Linux 1Ubuntu, Debian, and Linux 2Understanding Ubuntu Releases 3Ubuntu Compared to Other Linux Distributions 3Finding Ubuntu Resources 5Ubuntu Software 7Focusing on Linux Commands 7Finding Commands 9Reference Information in Ubuntu 11Using help Messages 12Using man Pages 12Using info Documents 15Summary 15Chapter 2: Installing Ubuntu and Adding Software 17Obtaining and Installing Ubuntu 17Preparing to Install 18Choosing Installation Options 19Answering Installation Questions 19Working with Debian Software Packages 20Working with Software Packages 22Enabling More Repositories for apt 23Adding Software Collections with tasksel 24Managing Software with APT 25Finding Packages with APT 27Installing Packages with APT 27Upgrading Packages with APT 28Upgrading a Single Package with APT 28Removing Packages with APT 29Cleaning Up Packages with APT 29Downloading Packages with APT 30Managing Software with dpkg 30Installing a Package with dpkg 32Removing a Package with dpkg 32Extracting Files from a .deb File with dpkg 32Querying Information about .deb Packages 33Managing Software with aptitude 35Updating and Upgrading Packages with aptitude 37Querying Information about Packages with aptitude 37Installing Packages with aptitude 38Removing Packages with aptitude 38Cleaning Up Packages with aptitude 39Useful Combinations of Options with aptitude 39Verifying Installed Packages with debsums 41Building deb Packages 44Summary 47Chapter 3: Using the Shell 49Terminal Windows and Shell Access 49Using Terminal Windows 49Using Virtual Consoles 51Using the Shell 52Using Bash History 53Using Command Line Completion 54Redirecting stdin and stdout 54Using alias 57Watching Commands 58Watching Files 58Acquiring Super User Power 58Delegating Power with sudo 59Using the su Command 61Using Environment Variables 62Creating Simple Shell Scripts 64Editing and Running a Script 64Adding Content to Your Script 65Summary 68Chapter 4: Working with Files 69Understanding File Types 69Using Regular Files 69Using Directories 71Using Symbolic and Hard Links 71Using Device Files 72Using Named Pipes and Sockets 73Setting File/Directory Permissions 73Changing Permissions with chmod 74Setting the umask 76Changing Ownership 76Traversing the Filesystem 77Copying Files 79Changing File Attributes 80Searching for Files 82Finding Files with locate 82Locating Files with find 83Using Other Commands to Find Files 85Finding Out More about Files 86Listing Files 86Verifying Files 86Summary 88Chapter 5: Manipulating Text 89Matching Text with Regular Expressions 89Editing Text Files 90Using the JOE Editor 91Using the Pico and nano Editors 92Graphical Text Editors 94Listing, Sorting, and Changing Text 94Listing Text Files 94Paging through Text 95Paginating Text Files with pr 96Searching for Text with grep 97Replacing Text with sed 99Translating or Removing Characters with tr 101Checking Differences between Two Files with diff 101Using awk and cut to Process Columns 104Converting Text Files to Different Formats 105Summary 105Chapter 6: Playing with Multimedia 107Working with Audio 107Playing Music 107Adjusting Audio Levels 109Ripping CD Music 110Encoding Music 111Streaming Music 114Converting Audio Files 116Transforming Images 117Getting Information about Images 117Converting Images 118Converting Images in Batches 119Playing with Video 121Playing Video Files 121Summary 123Chapter 7: Administering Filesystems 125Understanding Filesystem Basics 125Creating and Managing Filesystems 127Partitioning Hard Disks 127Working with Filesystem Labels 131Formatting a Filesystem 132Viewing and Changing Filesystem Attributes 133Creating and Using Swap Partitions 135Mounting and Unmounting Filesystems 136Mounting Filesystems from the fstab File 136Mounting Filesystems with the mount Command 138Unmounting Filesystems with umount 140Checking Filesystems 141Creating Encrypted Filesystems 143Checking RAID Disks 146Finding Out about Filesystem Use 147Logical Volume Manager 149Creating LVM Volumes 149Using LVM Volumes 151Growing the LVM Volume 152Shrinking an LVM Volume 153Removing LVM Logical Volumes and Groups 153Summary 154Chapter 8: Backups and Removable Media 155Backing Up Data to Compressed Archives 155Creating Backup Archives with tar 155Using Compression Tools 157Listing, Joining, and Adding Files to tar Archives 160Deleting Files from tar Archives 160Backing Up over Networks 161Backing Up tar Archives over ssh 161Backing Up Files with rsync 162Backing Up with unison 164Backing Up to Removable Media 165Creating Backup Images with mkisofs 165Burning Backup Images with cdrecord 168Making and Burning DVDs with growisofs 170Summary 170Chapter 9: Checking and Managing Running Processes 171Listing Active Processes 172Viewing Active Processes with ps 172Watching Active Processes with top 177Finding and Controlling Processes 179Using pgrep to Find Processes 179Using fuser to Find Processes 180Changing Running Processes 181Scheduling Realtime Processes 188Summary 189Chapter 10: Managing the System 191Monitoring Resources 191Monitoring Memory Use 192Monitoring CPU Usage 196Monitoring Storage Devices 198Mastering Time 201Changing Time/Date with Graphical Tools 201Displaying and Setting Your System Clock 202Displaying and Setting Your Hardware Clock 203Using Network Time Protocol toSet Date/Time 204Managing the Boot Process 205Understanding the GRUB Boot Loader 205Modifying the GRUB Boot Loader 206Controlling Startup and Run Levels 207Straight to the Kernel 209Poking at the Hardware 211Summary 213Chapter 11: Managing Network Connections 215Configuring Networks from the GUI 215Managing Network Interface Cards 216Managing Network Connections 221Starting and Stopping Ethernet Connections 221Viewing Ethernet Connection Information 223Using Wireless Connections 225Checking Name Resolution 226Troubleshooting Network Problems 228Checking Connectivity to a Host 228Checking Address Resolution Protocol 229Tracing Routes to Hosts 231Displaying netstat Connections and Statistics 233Other Useful Network Tools 234Summary 235Chapter 12: Accessing Network Resources 237Running Commands to Browse the Web 237Transferring Files 239Downloading Files with wget 239Transferring Files with cURL 241Transferring Files with FTP Commands 241Using SSH Tools to Transfer Files 243Using Windows File Transfer Tools 246Sharing Remote Directories 246Sharing Remote Directories with NFS 246Sharing Remote Directories with Samba 248Sharing Remote Directories with SSHFS 251Chatting with Friends in IRC 252Using Text-Based E‑mail Clients 253Managing E‑mail with mail 254Managing E‑mail with mutt 256Summary 257Chapter 13: Doing Remote System Administration 259Doing Remote Login and Tunneling with SSH 259Using Legacy Communications Tools 260Configuring SSH 261Logging in Remotely with ssh 262Using byobu and screen for Remote Shells 267Managing Remote Shells with Screen 268Using byobu to Manage Remote Shells 270Using a Remote Windows Desktop 272Connecting to a Windows Desktop with Remmina 272Connecting to a Windows Desktop with rdesktop 274Using Remote Linux Desktop and Applications 274Sharing Desktops Using VNC 275Setting Up the VNC Server 276Starting Up the VNC Client 277Using VNC on Untrusted Networks with SSH 277Summary 278Chapter 14: Locking Down Security 279Working with Users and Groups 279Managing Users the GUI Way 280Adding User Accounts 280Changing useradd Defaults 281Modifying User Accounts 282Deleting User Accounts 283Managing Passwords 283Adding Groups 286Checking on Users 286Configuring the Built-In Firewall 288Understanding iptables Firewalls 289Listing iptables Rules 291Setting Other Firewall Rules 292Saving and Reloading Firewall Rules 294Using Advanced Security Features 294Summary 295Chapter 15: Setting Up a Virtualization Host and Virtual Machines 297Can Your Computer Support Virtualization? 298Checking for CPU Virtualization Support 298Enabling Virtualization Support in the BIOS 299Is the Host Computer 32- or 64-Bit? 300Checking Available RAM and Disk Space 300Adding Virtualization Software 301Adding Your User Account to libvirtd 302Managing Virtual Machines with virt-manager 302Creating a Virtual Machine in virt-manager 304Starting and Stopping Virtual Machines with virt-manager 305Managing Virtual Machines with Commands 306Creating a Virtual Machine with virt-install 306Starting and Stopping Virtual Machines with virsh 308Summary 309Appendix A: Using vi or Vim Editors 311Starting and Quitting the vi Editor 311Moving Around in vi 313Changing and Deleting Text in vi 314Using Miscellaneous Commands 314Modifying Commands with Numbers 315Using ex Commands 315Working in Visual Mode 316Appendix B: Shell Special Characters and Variables 317Using Special Shell Characters 317Using Shell Variables 318Appendix C: Getting Information from /proc 321Viewing /proc Information 321Changing /proc Information 325Index 327