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‡ Create and manage user and group accounts

‡ View and set access permissions on files and
directories
‡ Understand how file systems are configured and
accessed
‡ Perform basic file compression and archiving
tasks

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 2

 
 



‡ Must first log in using valid user account name

and password
‡ More user accounts on Linux system
± More work required to keep them running
smoothly

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‡ Preconfigured user accounts

± Root
‡ Administrative account
‡ Also called superuser
‡ Can perform any operation on Linux system
‡ Do not log in as root for normal work
‡ Change temporarily to root user

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‡ su command
± Temporarily changes access rights to those of
another user
± Without any parameters
‡ Change to root account
± Hyphen after su command
‡ Causes command to run login scripts
‡ Places you in login directory of user

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‡ Preconfigured user accounts
± Regular user accounts
‡ Users who log in at keyboard and use Linux system
‡ Commonly associated with named individuals
± Special user account
‡ Used by Linux programs
‡ Created during installation of Linux
‡ Vary depending on services installed

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 7

 


‡ Group
± Collection of user accounts
± Can be collectively granted access to files and
directories
‡ Each user in Linux is assigned to primary group
‡ /etc/group file
± Lists members of each defined group

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 8

 




The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 9

 

 
‡ /etc/passwd
± Stores user account information
± Password information not stored in this file
± Contents include:
‡ User account name
‡ Password
‡ User ID number (UID)
‡ Group ID number (GID)
‡ User¶s real name
‡ Home directory
‡ Default shell

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‡ /etc/group file
± Defines groups on Linux system
± vigr command
‡ Edit this file
± Contents include:
‡ Name of group
‡ Group password
‡ GID number
‡ Members of group

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 !
 

‡ /etc/shadow
± Stores encrypted passwords
± Can only be read by:
‡ Root user
‡ Certain utilities
‡ Shadow password suite
± Collection of password-related programs
± Have been modified to recognize /etc/shadow file

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‡ Can change password of any user account on

system
± When logged in as root
± Use passwd command
‡ Standard procedure
± System administrator assigns initial password to
new account
± User immediately selects new password

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‡ To change user¶s password
± Use passwd without any parameters
± Must enter current password

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‡ Good password characteristics
± At least five characters long
± Include digits or punctuation marks
± Mix uppercase and lowercase letters
± Easy for account owner to remember
± Hard for anyone else to guess
± Not created from simple manipulation of:
‡ Word found in dictionary
‡ Name of person or place

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 15

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c



‡ id command
± Shows effective UID
‡ logname command
± View user name that you used to log in
‡ whoami command
± Shows user name of currently effective UID
‡ groups command
± Lists all groups you are a member of

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 16

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‡ who command
± Lists all regular users on system
± Shows location where they are logged in
‡ w command
± Information from who command, plus:
‡ Time person logged in
‡ Program they are running
‡ Information about system resources user is
consuming

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 17

  !  


‡ Files and directories have

± Owner
± Group
‡ Linux determines who can access file or directory
based on:
± Who owner is
± Which group is assigned to object
‡ File permissions define access granted to file or
directory

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 18

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‡ Access mode
‡ Permissions
± Read permission (r)
± Write permission (w)
± Execute permission (x)
‡ Permissions can be assigned by:
± User permissions
± Group permissions
± Other permissions

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 19

  !  




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r
 
‡ chown command
± Change user and group assigned to file or
directory
± Can only use when logged in as root
± Example: chown jtaylorManagers report.doc
‡ Can use graphical file manager to change owner
of file
‡ chgrp command
± Change group assigned to file or directory
± Example: chgrp managers report.doc

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 21

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 !  


‡ chmod (change mode) command

± Change file permissions
± Regular users can alter permissions assigned to
any file or directory that you own
± Example: chmod o+w reportDoc
± System administrators normally use shortcut
syntax

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 22

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‡ Alternate syntax
± Each of sets of three permissions is represented
by number from 0 to 7
± Example: chmod 640 report.doc
‡ Graphical environment provides easy method of
setting file permissions
± Properties dialog box
± Permissions tab

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 !  





The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 24

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The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 25

 (
 !  


‡ rw-rw-rw-
‡ umask command
± Defines mask to stop certain permissions from
being granted by default when files created
± Executed automatically when you log in to Linux
± Uses same three-digit permission codes as chmod
command

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 26

 "

  

‡ Managing file system is basic task for system

administrators

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 27

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‡ Partition
± Distinct area of hard disk
± Has been prepared to store particular type of data
‡ File system
± Arrangement of information on device such as
hard disk
‡ df command
± See status of all currently accessible file systems

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 !
  


 



‡ Linux typically uses one of two default file system
types:
± ext3
± Reiserfs

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 !
  


 




The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 30

 "



#
‡ inode
± Hold information about files
± Within ext2 or ext3 file system
± Has associated number
± Controls file to which it points
± Does not contain file name
‡ File record contains:
± File name
± Inode number for file

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#


‡ Directory record contains list of files with
corresponding inode numbers
‡ Link allows two or more file records to refer to
same physical data stored in file system
‡ Symbolic link
± File that refers to another file or directory, rather
than containing data itself
± Used when same data must be accessed from two
locations in directory structure
± Takes only a few bytes of hard disk space

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#


‡ ln command
± Create symbolic link
± Use -s option
± Syntax: ln -s <existing file> <symbolic link to be
created>
‡ Hard link
± File record that includes file name and inode
± Just like regular file record
± Refers to inode that already has file record
pointing to it

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#



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#



The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 35

  

‡ Different types of files are used to perform

different functions
‡ Stat command
± Ties together file name with inode
± Shows information about inode

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The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 37

 
$
%

‡ To use any file system
± Must be mounted
‡ Mount command
± Instruct Linux how to access file system
‡ Mount point
± Path in directory structure where you access data
in file system
‡ umount command
± unmount media

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 38

 
$
%




‡ fdformat command
± Format 3.5-inch disk
‡ /dev/fd0
± Device name for 3.5-inch disk drive

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 39

 



‡ find command
± Helps find objects matching exact search criteria
± Doesn¶t use prebuilt index
± Example: find /home -name "report.doc" -print

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 40

 %



  

‡ System administrators often work with files that

include:
± Compressed data
± Multiple files in archival format

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 41

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‡ Compressing files
± Useful way to use less space for rarely accessed
data
± Makes files smaller before transmitting them over
network
‡ gzip command
± Compress any file
‡ gunzip command
± Uncompresses file compressed using gzip

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 42

 



 
 
 
‡ tar archive
± Single file that can contain other files and directory
structure
‡ tar command
± Create tar archive
± Specify files to be included in backup archive on
command line
± Writes data to file name or device

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 43

 



  

 


‡ cpio command
± Copy in and out
± Similar to tar
± Reads from STDIN channel for file names
± Writes data back to STDOUT
‡ tar and cpio
± Help create incremental or multilevel backup

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 44

 


‡ User accounts form basis of file system security

in Linux
‡ Can change user that you are working as
‡ Each user can belong to multiple Linux groups
‡ Encrypted passwords are stored in
/etc/shadow file
‡ Linux file security is controlled by nine
permissions

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 45

 



‡ File systems
± Organized collections of data
± Created within partitions on hard disk
‡ Hard and soft links
± Refer to inode
‡ Removable media must be mounted before it can
be accessed
‡ Linux includes several utilities for compressing
files

The Complete Guide to Linux System Administration 46