Linux Administration Handbook (2nd Edition) Reviews

• Good theory, weak on application and implementation. I have 6 years of UNIX and Linux system administration

  
  By A5UENVNGKB8QV on 2007-02-20
  
  This book is good on theory, but is weak on application and implementation.
  The book reads well, but when I try to apply or implement the described utilities the necessary details are not there.
  
  This book may work for a class where the tests are given as paper exams, but is weak if you are going to set up an actual machine. Wondering about why this book would be this way I looked at the "About the Authors" section and discovered why:
  Evi Nemeth is retired and sailing her sailboat.
  Garth Snyder is now an MD.
  Trent R. Hein is running a company.
  
  I admire their accomplishments and wish them the best of luck.
  However, they have lost touch with Linux. Linux is very dynamic and requires constant attention to keep up with. It appears that they don't have time to stay in touch with Linux. My guess is that they are cutting and pasting from their old books, and maybe have some cheap college students ghost writing for them.
  
  I recommend reading the Linux books by Negus, Sobell, and Jang.
  
  
  

• Nemeth et al shine again!

  
  By ATJE929ETFFNH on 2002-04-19
  I have owned several editions of Nemeth's 'UNIX System Administration Handbook' (USAH) and I have always been highly impressed by the quality of writing and instruction. In that book, Nemeth et al brilliantly (and humorously) packed material into 853 pages where other lesser authors (J. Winsor comes to mind) have needed several (dry) volumes. Most Unix System Administration books merely regurgitate or re-word 'man' pages and are entirely useless.
  So, being as familiar as I am with their past performances, I did not hesitate to buy this their latest work from Amazon. Understand that there are a lot of similarities between Unix and Linux and as such, this book doesn't really differ that much from USAH. There is still the same highly informative prose, the same humorous approach to instructing via the written word. I think this is an attempt by the authors to capitalize on the popularity of the Linux Operating System and in any other author, this would be gauche. Not so with Nemeth and her team of writers. Here, they have again done an extra-ordinary job of instructing both experienced and novice sysadmins in the fine art and science of being that most noble of professions: a Unix/Linux System Administrator.
  Good job!
  
  

• for admins, not your mom

  
  By AOYZUAG8SJVOI on 2002-12-04
  I picked up this book because I have used the 2nd and 3rd editions of UNIX Administration Handbook for years. This book is easy to read and provides some entertainment with the authors' insight into Linux administration. As with it's brother the UAH, this book follows the same format but IS updated to reflect the Linux specifics. I picked it up also because it covers RH 7.2 and the UAH only covered 6.2. This book is a must for people who admin linux servers for large corporations, small businesses, or simply are running their own mail/dns/web server from their DSL connection at home.
  If you are looking for a book that gets you setup on KDE or GNOME, this is not the book. If you want to learn and use the power of a networked Linux server, this is for you.
  I have worked with UNIX for 6 years, Linux for 5 and recommend this book to anyone who will admin it.
  
  

• Buy their Unix book instead

  
  By on 2003-07-10
  The first edition of Unix System Administration was a classic. The updated versions have been split into a linux-only version and the original, pan-Unix treatment (including Linux--just not as many variants of Linux as this book covers). I bought the Linux one, but now I wish I had the updated pan-Unix book. The authors' strength is their knowledge of Unix fundamentals, not the (ever-changing) details of various Linux distros. You're better off learning from them how vendor Unices are different in major ways from each other and from Linux. Finally, the authors don't seem nearly as well informed about Linux as they do about the older Unices. While their older book's advice was bulletproof, in this one they miss some important information. The most serious example is their recommendation to use 'dump' for filesystem backups, when Linux Torvalds has explicitly announced that it's not safe to use. 90% of this book is the same as the Unix book, so it's not a loss either way, but I'd recommend you get your Linux info fresh off the net, or in some other book series that's updated more frequently.
  
  

• Warning -- not for dummies

  
  By on 2002-04-13
  Want to understand how a Linux system works? Want to understand the considerations in the care and feeding of a Linux system? Want to see how it all comes together underneath the covers? Then buy this book.

  Finally, a book on Linux system administration that does not start with explaining command prompts, the vi and emacs editors, and more mind-numbing descriptions of common utilities like ls.

  I wished that there would be a chapter on the setup and administration of X, KDE and GNOME, but alas, the authors did not deem it necessary.

  The "Dummies Unleashed in 21 days" crowd will find this book too full of serious material for their liking. And horror of horrors, they will find that there is no CD at the back of the book with a Linux distribution. For the others, this is a delightful book that treats you like an intelligent person. Worth the money you spend.
  
  

• An Excellent Book for the Professional
  By A21627B25X4757 on 2002-11-14
  This is an excellent book on the subject; it is comprehensive and very well-written. The authors explain not only how things work, but in many cases they include historical background to explain why things work as they do.

  The book is clearly targeted at professional system administrators. There is little discussion of the GUI-based administration tools that come with most Linux distributions, nor are there enough examples to simply use the book as a cookbook.

  The book is primarily concerned with server rather than client administration; it won't tell you how to get your sound card to work or configure your desktop environment.

  For the amateur trying to configure a home Linux system, this may be the wrong book, but for a professional systems administrator, or a developer curious about the mysteries of system administration, this book is a five-star must-have.
  
  

• Should cost more!
  By A1BGFMKKBL2ETL on 2002-06-13
  The Linux Administration Handbook covers everything you could possibly want a handbook, or two, to cover about linux. If you have any desire to become a unix or linux system admin, GET THIS BOOK. Everything from booting to web hosting is covered in a completeness that obviously comes only from sheer experience.

  Note that the handbook does require you to have basic linux knowledge, so I'd pick up an decent intro book (Like UNIX for Dummies), also, it helps if you know a bit about cabling (for the serial port chapter) & c (for kernel programming).

  Some people have bashed the handbook for being a bore to read. Personally, if you want a boring book, check out Beginning Direct3D game programming!!! The jokes the authors tell in this book are actually funny...
  
  

• I don't like it much
  By on 2003-02-09
  I see all nine readers rate this book five stars, may be they are used to books written in such style, or this is similar in structure with other books they are familar with.
  I found it is useful. It is a bit old, as Redhat Linux now is v8.1 rather than 7.2, at least the installation part has much difference. I found other info like the booting sequence, or direct copy of 1st 512B of Linux boot sector to allow Linux bootable from a Win2K boot menu, these info are not in this book.
  When I tried to set up NIS or network in Redhat V8, they can be done much easier than decribed steps in this book - I know many Unix admin may like the console mode or direct editing style anyway.
  The main thing I don't like this book, or many other such books in similar style, is that the useful info are hidden in pages of undirect or less technical statements. At least 50% of the statements are not useful for me. May be the author like to use a chat style of writting, may be mnay of readers like it and feel more relax in reading, but I just want clearly strcutured, easy indexed, technical step by step book.
  
  
• Another excellent book by our friends, Evi, Garth and Trent.
  By A1WKQ3W4P78HH0 on 2002-04-05
  Just got this book and opened it to the security chapter with the purple, Unix System Admin Handbook opened to the same chapter. The new Linux Admin Handbook follows the exact same, time-tested layout as the Unix book. Fans will feel right at home. However, it has lots of new info for Linux users.

  This is a great overview of the useful and important things you need to know.

  If you are new to Linux, I recommend this be your second book. Your first book should teach you how to install Linux and get your system up and running with an overview of all the basics.

  My two favorite things about this book is that it is very easy to read compared to other tech books and it gives you what you need very quickly without diving into a ?rabbit hole? of impractical information.

  Thank you Evi, Garth and Trent.
  
  

• Yes, Virginia, this IS the best sysadmin book ever
  By AGTGI1T4JXMU6 on 2006-11-26
  This is a GREAT book. [2nd edition, pub'd 10/2006]
  
  Like any good sysadmin book, it describes the nuts and bolts details of how to operate and manage various Linux facilities--booting, filesystems, backups, networking, services, mail, logging, security, printing, and many more. There's enough detail to understand the task well, plus plenty of explicit references to materials that treat subjects in more depth. Furthermore, the information seems to be quite current and well-integrated--this is not a second edition produced by adding a "what's new since 2002" appendix.
  
  However, what makes the book stand head and shoulders above its brethren is that it deals in CONCEPTS and explains WHY you might (or might not) want to use a particular software package, networking facility, backup procedure, package repository, e-mail server, etc. For anyone who has ever pondered "sendmail or postfix", then tried to figure out the answer by reading reference documentation and HOWTOs, it's a godsend. The authors often have clear preferences, and they're very up-front about them, so as not to interfere with presentation of facts about alternatives. In addition to technical topics, there is also a lot of discussion of how to be an effective administrator--both explicitly in the final chapter, and woven through the technical materials.
  
  The writing is witty, gentle, and highly accessible. I found no typos or technical errors. There are extensive and helpful cross-references, so it is easy to start in the middle and learn about a specific topic. I just wish it came in hardcover!
  
  All that said, there are two areas where I think coverage could be better:
  
  1) Many Linux distributions come with GUI tools for routine administration, but the book says very little about them. Although the full Linux administrative interface is through configuration files and commands, those tools can help perform many tasks, and it would have been useful to have at least an identification of the GUI tools and their limitations. Such guidance is particularly important because of the potential for GUI tools to silently override configuration choices made by previous config file edits.
  
  2) A lot of administrative tasks involve setting things up to happen during the boot process or periodically. Although there is are excellent chapters on those topics in general, it would have been helpful in other chapters to have more explicit instructions on precisely how to enable or set up such activities (e.g., which links to create in /etc/rc.X, where to put site-specific initializations, etc.). The book does answer many of those questions, but I think it could be more comprehensive.
  
  Those are minor cavils, though. This is a GREAT book.
  
  
• A Fountain of Linux Knowledge.
  By A1WZRIVQ667RYX on 2002-08-24
  As a System Administrator with over 6 years of UNIX and 3 years of Linux experience I was immediately impressed with the wealth of information and references I was unaware of. These folks are well connected in the Unix/Linux community and point the reader in the right direction to get specialized information reguarding Linux. However most of what you need to administrate Linux is contained right within their book. This is not a dry tomb. I found it to be
  entertaining as well as informative. This is a must have for every Linux SysAdmin.
  
  
• I expected more from this book...
  By ASW0FE0LT3ORH on 2007-02-24
  I was not particularly impressed with this book compared to the third edition of UNIX Administration Handbook (which I hold in higher esteem) and which is much thinner.
  
  Although the LINUX Administration Handbook has 200 pages more, it seems more like an excerpt of the above.
  
  I was amazed that in the 1000 pages(!) of the book, only one page was mentioning SElinux -- although there is a dedicated section about "Linux Security". Many distributions switch on SElinux by default.
  How can the authors have missed writing about SElinux, where this is an integral part of all new kernels, and it's an integral part of securing LINUX?
  
  I was also amazed that the section about LDAP and OpenLDAP is very thin as well.
  The section about "Wireless Networking" is totally inadequate for providing any practical help with setting up clients on laptops.
  
  Looking at the book makes me wonder if the authors get payed by the page, rather than content.
  
  This book seems more like "cut + paste" art, than a complete LINUX reference.
  
  I agree with 'Book Reader "JRR"'s assessment: the authors seem to be out-of-touch with LINUX / UNIX.
  
  
  
• In-depth, concise, interesting.
  By A377RNLQD9F155 on 2002-06-13
  Hands down, the best book I've read on Linux System Administration. Nemeth et al. explain everything you need to understand Linux from the ground up. They don't just tell you things, they explain WHY it is that way and things relating to it. They give a great list of references at the end of each chapter and sometimes RFCs relating to it. Though not for the absolute beginniner, anyone with semi-rudamentary knowledge of Linux (if you know what kernel modules, bash, and init are) you will keep this handy reference and bedtime read by your side at all times.

  One thing that is not included is the X Windowing System. Tough unnessecary for a server configuration, that is one aspect of Linux I would love to have explained with the clarity and voice of this book. Aside from that, this book is great!
  
  

• Updated but unfortunately NOT UP-TO-DATE
  By AOOZR8IN9NYTA on 2007-03-06
  --- DISCLAIMER: This is a requested review by PTR, however any opinions expressed within the review are my personal ones. ---
  
  
  4 Years ago I used the LAH (1st Edition) as an intermediate user on work and was quite impressed with the lots of technical information. Now its almost 5 years after the 1st Edition came out and I have the privilege to review the 2nd Edition.
  
  While I dont have the 1st Edition next to me while writing the review this are the impressions recalled from my memories how the books contents changed towards the 2nd edition.
  
  I think the 1st edition gave the impression of a hands down book filled with many straight-to-use technical advice, while the 2nd edition version is tending to be less technical but rather offering more whole sighted professional overview like explanations (methods).
  
  This comes with its benefits and its downsides.
  
  1) The COVERED topics are explained very nicely and easily understandable, especially for novice users.
  
  2) Many topics can not be covered at all or as depth as advanced readers would like to see them.
  
  f.e. The very first topic I approached was something simple as "Adding a hard disc" (Chapter 7).
  
  I was surprised that the book spends a luxury 40 !! pages on that topic alone.
  
  The explanations are very well written and so I started to read the chapter.
  
  Unfortunately the chapter lacks info f.e. about NAS, SAN, SAS, a Software vs. Hardware raid comparison etc. which I found a bit disappointing after the technology is out there now for years.
  
  Summary:
  
  if I recall that correctly than the books contents shifted from more technical focused contents in the 1st Edition towards technical-educational contents in the 2nd Edition. This is going to be very helpful for teachers and tutors in colleges and high schools and laboratories.
  
  Technicians and engineers might still find it a valuable introduction, which lays the ground if you quickly need to brush up on a topic.
  
  I assume that PTR was trying to focus with the 2nd version on a healthy balance of basic technical issues.
  
  Advanced readers (3+ years usage of Linux) might find that the book doesnt offer enough "meat" for them for their everyday work.
  
  There is a lack of certain topics like f.e NAS, SAN, SAS, SE Linux, grsecurity, ...
  
  Specific topics will need to be read up on the internet or additional books.
  
  Overall it seems like the book got a brush up, but also a whopping extra 100+ pages were added it doesnt seem like to much contents was added. I cant help it but got the feeling that the book is 2-3 years behind - if not all than at least on advanced technical issues.
  
  However there is ONE AREA WHERE THE BOOK REALLY SHINES.
  The current included contents will serve useful for educational teacher or tutors at colleges or SOHO environments.
  
  
• An Excellent book
  By AJN18XELD0JTU on 2002-08-02
  A MUST have for any Linux user and administrator. Everybody and not just administrators, should read this book, which tells you what all you can do with Linux (from installation, dual boot with other stupid OS'es like Windows, networking, back up, disk management, security, firewall and a lot more). I feel the authors have done a great job explaining everything you need to know about Linux use/administration. I really appreciate the humorous touch, which makes reading the book more interesting. Infact, I keep the book by my bedside. I sincerely wish that this book becomes ubiquitous (making it cheaper, ideally FREE) and EVERYBODY has a copy of it.
  
  
• make clean; make index correct
  By A3GBAUU56FCCBG on 2003-10-02
  I frequently refer to this book and have found it very useful and informative on just about every subject that is Linux. I would have given it 5 stars except that the index of the book is broken. I use the index of reference books, like all other admins, to quickly find the page of the subject for that I am looking. The page numbers that are referenced in the index are incorrect. This is VERY frustrating! This book shouldn't be the only Linux book on your shelf, but I do recommend having it.
  
  
• Best single book on linux available
  By on 2003-09-29
  Over the past six months, I have configured three Linux machines for use in my home. While I have worked in Windows for years, these boxes were my first foray into the world of Linux. I had any number of questions, and encountered numerous problems along the way. I relied on various web resources, and purchased a number of books. This is the one resource I continually go back to for answers. If you are looking to buy one book about Linux, this is it.

  You could also consider O'Reilly's 'Running Linux' (more of a beginners guide) and 'Linux in a Nutshell' (a comprehensive reference book of Linux commands).
  
  

• An updated Bestseller........
  By A2HJ7PUT6UARV on 2006-11-05
  Alright folks, this is the update to a book that was already a bestseller. Again, as with the previous edition the authors deal with the nitty gritty of linux administration. I got this book only yesterday and read thru the first 300 pages of it and I must tell you that this book's a gem when it comes to dealing with the specifics of system administration. As the authors rightly claim, this book is not for someone running a linux machine at home OR for someone trying to learn how to login. It is meant for the person that was either a windoze admin before or has some experience with *NIX and is trying to be a LINUX sys admin. If you are that person, then this book is a _must_have_ in my opinion. The authors clearly know what they are talking about. Having this book by your side is like having a linux expert on a dreary sunday afternoon with your linux file-server down at work but you have that confidence that you will have the server back up and be home for sunday night football. I always thought that I knew the mechanics of WHY for most of the common elements in Linux administration but, boy, was I wrong! This book will reveal some mysteries that are only gained after being a sys admin for a long time. Well worth the money!!
  
  P
  
  
• So far it's been a waste of my money...
  By A1HXLTOK8Q6OAF on 2003-02-02
  Purchased this book around Xmas. Month and a half have passed and I have not been able to make one good use out of this book. In my opinion, this is a college text book for students who know knowing about Linux and want to learn Administrative concepts. It is a worthless book for hands-on administrators as well it is worthless for people like me who know enough and need to explore advance topics.
  
  
• An Example of Modern Education Failure
  By A1PMT956VYWSYH on 2003-08-15
  Instead of the attractive title "Lunix Administration Handbook," this book should be renamed as "History of the Computer Industry" becasue so much ink and paper are wasted talking about the history of computer industry and the evolution of the hardware used with Linux.

  To IT professionals, those old storeis have been told thousands of times. They simply do not want to hear the same old stuff again. On-line IT professionals are eager to learn how Linux interfaces are accessed and what commands are used to fulfill what kinds of configurations. They want to know how to cook a quality Fijita quickly, what ingredients and spices are used, and the basic temperature to control the cooking, instead of knowing the histories of Fijita, the history of Fijita cooking ware, and such useless things that cannot help them make a Fijita.

  This book seems to be written by a group of professors according to the style of language level. Now I understand why so MS graduates from Computer Sciences cannot find a job in the realistic world. I like young people to join our IT force. Recently I have interviewed a few of them. Yet none of them can fill up the positions we are offering and I need them urgently and desperately.

  Buy this book if you want to learn about the history of computer industry. Never buy it if you want to operate or network Linux systems. I have finished reading 50% of the book. I do not know if I have enough time to waste with the rest of the pages. The writing style and the sentence structures are beautiful, but I need a book that teaches me the Linux skills, not English skills.
  
  

• Well-Written, Funny, Informative
  By A3EZ48M61IXUED on 2006-12-13
  I love this book. As a computer science major, I constantly have to read terrible textbooks. Why, oh why, can't engineers writer? Well, here's a group that can. It's actually enjoyable to read this book. It's not for learning Linux from scratch, as it does not include details of many commands; however, with my limited unix/linux knowledge, I found it an easy read.
  
  
• Excellent - Exactly what I was after
  By on 2003-02-13
  I found this book extremely easy and interesting to read, I find it hard to sit down and just read cover-cover a techinical book, but not so with this one. This book does not concentrate soley on basic "how to run a program", "how to add a user", but covers a wide range of topics, including details of routing/networking/DNS/etc.

  Every so often I do feel it lacks a little in examples, and could use a bit more in terms of sample of configurations etc. However, it did not resort to pages of code listings as other titles can tend do.

  On the whole, highly recommended.
  
  

• Good Book with exceptionally bad index
  By A34VMNBZG923GO on 2004-05-29
  Yes, the book is not bad... But the index at the end is so bad, basically think that the book has no index if you plan to buy it. That's like everything in linux: it seems great but just impossible to use. :-)
  
  
• Linux made easy
  By A26VWS08MMEUN8 on 2004-09-24
  The Linux Administration Handbook (with its sister book Unix System Administration Handbook) is a great book for Linux/UNIX Administrators. I especially like the chapter on installing software. That was very helpful. Also the TCP/IP Networking chapter was helpful in solving a trace route problem. This is a great book for any administrator (even those who live on the dark side as Windows Administrators).
  
  
• Comprehensive coverage and nice drawings.
  By A1PXJK5402BRK1 on 2005-01-03
  This book seems like a very comprehensive book compressed into a manageable number of pages. I haven't delved too deeply into, but have already found it useful in solving a problem I was having getting WinXP/Linux to dual-boot. The edition I bought features tabbed pages, so finding a particular area of interest is easy. The writing style is inviting, although I did find some of the digressions, like the section entitled "System Administrator Syndrome", comical but unnecessary. This book was the most appealing of the books I thumbed through on the shelf at my local Barnes and Noble and I found helpful information in the first 20 pages. The pencil drawings are also very amusing. 5 stars!
  
  
• Jumpstart to linux
  By A1MPZQ55OJWZGZ on 2006-03-23
  this is extremly good book for anyone who is new to moderately experienced in linux. instead of going through all the howto and man pages this book does the job well.
  extremely well written for subject like system administration.
  
  
• Should cost more!
  By A1BGFMKKBL2ETL on 2002-06-13
  The Linux Administration Handbook covers everything you could possibly want a handbook, or two, to cover about linux. If you have any desire to become a unix or linux system admin, GET THIS BOOK. Everything from booting to web hosting is covered in a completeness that obviously comes only from sheer experience.

  Note that the handbook does require you to have basic linux knowledge, so I'd pick up an decent intro book (Like UNIX for Dummies), also, it helps if you know a bit about cabling (for the serial port chapter) & c (for kernel programming).

  Some people have bashed the handbook for being a bore to read. Personally, if you want a boring book, check out Beginning Direct3D game programming!!! The jokes the authors tell in this book are actually funny.

  It's a CRIME that the handbook sells for [that price]. There's so much information in here it's unbelievable. Pick it up now while it's still cheap.
  
  

• simply awesome
  By A3UVYZL19UQGPZ on 2003-07-04
  they've done it again - this book sits on my desk next to the
  'purple bible' (unix system administration handbook, 3rd ed),
  and like it, are excellent resources.
  this is not a linux howto-book for beginners looking to get into
  using linux. this book is meant for admins and power-users. it
  is deep, detailed, and concise. this book will be one of the
  most often used tools in your toolchest.
  written by experts for real-world use, this book is worth twice
  the price.
  
  
• Highly Recommended
  By on 2004-05-07
  For those who need more than simply knowing how to add a new user via the GUI.

  Covers the whole gamut of Linux Admin. A lot of quality work has gone into this book, and the result shows. Everything you could possibly want to do is covered, whether it be syslog daemon config, mail server config, routing, and there are even diagrams on Serial pin-outs!!

  "Well done" to the authors. A must have in any admins library.
  
  

• -covers the highlights and details-
  By A21K2Z57HV55O8 on 2005-05-19
  Authors Nemeth,Snyder and Hein cover the subject matter very well.
  LAH even tells you how to build a kernel. Even mentioned apt-get.
  But, they forgot to tell about the fickle nature of this package
  when updating on certain platforms. Updated a site the other day
  www.linuxfree.net and had all kind of problems with it. In all
  honesty this is a pretty good 890 page reference. Well worth it's
  price.
  
  

• A Practical Guide to Linux(R) Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming
• UNIX System Administration Handbook (3rd Edition)
• Practice of System and Network Administration, The (2nd Edition)
• Linux in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))
• Essential System Administration, Third Edition