Table Of ContentAndrew Hudson and
Paul Hudson
Fedora 7
™
U N L E A S H E D
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Fedora™ 7 Unleashed Acquisitions Editor
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Fedora 7 unleashed / Andrew Hudson,Paul Hudson. Brad Herriman
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction.................................................................................. 1
Part I Installation and Configuration
1 Installing Fedora............................................................................. 9
2 Fedora Quick Start......................................................................... 41
3 Working with GNOME................................................................... 53
4 Command Line Quickstart.............................................................. 77
Part II Desktop Fedora
5 On the Internet........................................................................... 111
6 Productivity Applications.............................................................. 129
7 Multimedia................................................................................ 149
8 Printing with Fedora.................................................................... 179
9 Games....................................................................................... 193
Part III System Administration
10 Managing Users.......................................................................... 205
11 Automating Tasks........................................................................ 233
12 System-Monitoring Tools.............................................................. 261
13 Backing Up ................................................................................ 271
14 Networking................................................................................ 297
15 Remote Access with SSH............................................................... 335
16 Xen........................................................................................... 345
Part IV Fedora As a Server
17 Apache Web Server Management................................................... 353
18 Administering Database Services.................................................... 389
19 File and Print.............................................................................. 415
20 Remote File Serving with FTP........................................................ 445
21 Handling Electronic Mail.............................................................. 479
22 Setting Up a Proxy Server ............................................................. 501
23 Managing DNS............................................................................ 511
24 LDAP........................................................................................ 551
iv Fedora 7 Unleashed
Part V Programming Linux
25 Using Perl.................................................................................. 563
26 Working with Python .................................................................. 579
27 Writing PHP Scripts..................................................................... 599
28 C/C++ Programming Tools for Fedora............................................. 629
29 Mono........................................................................................ 641
Part VI Fedora Housekeeping
30 Securing Your Machines............................................................... 655
31 Performance Tuning.................................................................... 669
32 Command Line Masterclass........................................................... 683
33 Writing and Executing a Shell Script............................................... 711
34 Advanced Software Management................................................... 737
35 Managing the File System ............................................................ 757
36 Kernel and Module Management................................................... 787
Part VII Appendices
A The History of Red Hat and Fedora ................................................ 813
B Installation Resources................................................................... 821
C Fedora and Linux Internet Resources ............................................. 847
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Changes from Previous Editions........................................................ 2
Licensing....................................................................................... 2
Who This Book Is For...................................................................... 3
What This Book Contains................................................................ 3
Conventions Used in This Book........................................................ 5
Part I Installation and Configuration
1 Installing Fedora 9
Before You Begin the Installation....................................................... 9
Planning Partition Strategies................................................... 10
Choosing How to Install Fedora...................................................... 14
Installing from CD or DVD..................................................... 14
Installing Using a Network...................................................... 15
Step-by-Step Installation................................................................. 16
Starting the Install................................................................. 17
Partitioning Your Hard Drive................................................... 22
Choosing, Configuring, and Installing the Boot Loader............... 25
Network Configuration.......................................................... 27
Setting the Time Zone............................................................ 28
Creating a Root Password and User Accounts............................. 29
Software Selection and Installation........................................... 30
Finishing the Install............................................................... 32
Firstboot Configuration.......................................................... 34
Logging In and Shutting Down....................................................... 38
Reference..................................................................................... 39
2 Fedora Quick Start 41
The Fedora Desktop....................................................................... 41
Getting Around Fedora.................................................................. 43
The Menu Options................................................................ 43
Window Selector................................................................... 44
The Computer Icon............................................................... 44
The Home Icon..................................................................... 44
Accessing the Command Line................................................. 45
vi Fedora 7 Unleashed
Available Applications.................................................................... 46
Office Suite.......................................................................... 46
Internet Workstation ............................................................. 46
Multimedia.......................................................................... 47
Games................................................................................. 47
Keeping Your Software Up To Date................................................... 47
Configuring Wireless Networks........................................................ 49
3 Working with GNOME 53
The GNOME Desktop Environment................................................. 54
AIGLX—Eye Candy for the Masses................................................... 56
Basic X Concepts.......................................................................... 57
Using X....................................................................................... 58
Elements of the xorg.confFile................................................ 59
Configuring X...................................................................... 64
Starting X.................................................................................... 67
Using a Display Manager........................................................ 68
Starting X from the Console by Using startx............................ 71
Using Fedora’s switchdeskClient............................................. 72
KDE—The Other Environment........................................................ 73
XFce........................................................................................... 74
Reference..................................................................................... 75
4 Command Line Quickstart 77
Understanding the Command Line.................................................. 77
Navigating Through the File System......................................... 80
Managing Files with the Shell.................................................. 82
Working with Compressed Files............................................... 83
Use Essential Commands from the /binand/sbinDirectories...... 84
Use and Edit Files in the /etcDirectory.................................... 84
Protect the Contents of User Directories—/home......................... 86
Use the Contents of the /procDirectory to Interact
with the Kernel................................................................... 86
Work with Shared Data in the /usrDirectory ............................ 88
Temporary File Storage in the /tmpDirectory............................. 88
Access Variable Data Files in the /varDirectory.......................... 88
Logging In to and Working with Linux............................................. 88
Text-based Console Login....................................................... 89
Logging Out......................................................................... 89
Logging In and Out from a Remote Computer........................... 89
Using Environment Variables.................................................. 90
Contents vii
Using the Text Editors.................................................................... 93
Working with vi................................................................... 94
Working with emacs............................................................... 95
Working with Permissions.............................................................. 96
Assigning Permissions............................................................ 97
Directory Permissions............................................................ 98
Understanding Set User ID and Set Group ID Permissions.......... 100
Working as Root.......................................................................... 102
Creating Users..................................................................... 103
Deleting Users..................................................................... 104
Shutting Down the System.................................................... 104
Rebooting the System........................................................... 105
Reading Documentation............................................................... 105
Using Man Pages................................................................. 106
Reference................................................................................... 107
Part II Desktop Fedora
5 On the Internet 111
Browsing the Internet.................................................................. 111
Mozilla Firefox.................................................................... 112
Konqueror.......................................................................... 113
Choosing an Email Client............................................................. 114
Evolution........................................................................... 114
Mozilla Thunderbird............................................................ 117
KMail................................................................................ 118
Other Mail Clients............................................................... 118
RSS Readers................................................................................ 119
Firefox............................................................................... 119
Liferea............................................................................... 119
Instant Messaging with Pidgin....................................................... 121
Internet Relay Chat..................................................................... 122
Usenet Network Newsgroups......................................................... 124
The Pan News Client Newsreader................................................... 125
Videoconferencing with Ekiga....................................................... 127
Reference................................................................................... 128
6 Productivity Applications 129
What Is in OpenOffice.org?........................................................... 130
Working with OpenOffice.org Writer...................................... 133
Working with OpenOffice.org Calc......................................... 136
viii Fedora 7 Unleashed
Office Suites for Fedora................................................................. 141
Working with Gnome Office................................................. 142
Working with KOffice........................................................... 144
Productivity Applications Written for Microsoft Windows.................. 147
Reference................................................................................... 148
7 Multimedia 149
Listening to Music....................................................................... 149
Streaming Audio.................................................................. 152
Graphics Manipulation................................................................ 152
The GNU Image Manipulation Program.................................. 152
Using Scanners in Fedora...................................................... 153
Working with Graphics Formats............................................. 155
Capturing Screen Images....................................................... 157
Using Digital Cameras with Fedora................................................. 157
Handheld Digital Cameras.................................................... 157
Using F-Spot....................................................................... 159
Burning CDs and DVDs in Fedora.................................................. 161
Creating CDs and DVDs with Fedora’s Graphical Clients............ 162
Creating CDs from the Command Line................................... 164
Creating DVDs from the Command Line................................. 166
Sound and Music........................................................................ 168
Sound Cards....................................................................... 169
Adjusting Volume................................................................ 169
Sound Formats.................................................................... 170
Viewing Video............................................................................ 171
TV and Video Hardware........................................................ 171
Video Formats..................................................................... 174
Viewing Video in Linux........................................................ 175
Personal Video Recorders...................................................... 175
DVD and Video Players......................................................... 176
Reference................................................................................... 177
8 Printing with Fedora 179
Overview of Fedora Printing.......................................................... 179
Configuring and Managing Print Services........................................ 181
GUI-Based Printer Configuration Quickstart............................. 182
Managing Printing Services................................................... 183
Creating and Configuring Local Printers.......................................... 185
Creating the Print Queue...................................................... 185
Editing Printer Settings......................................................... 189
Reference................................................................................... 191
Contents ix
9 Games 193
Linux Gaming............................................................................ 193
Installing Proprietary Video Drivers........................................ 194
Installing Popular Games in Fedora................................................ 195
DOOM 3............................................................................ 195
Unreal Tournament 2004...................................................... 197
Quake 4............................................................................. 198
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory................................................ 199
Battle for Wesnoth............................................................... 199
KDEedu..................................................................................... 200
Playing Windows Games with Cedega............................................ 201
Reference................................................................................... 202
Part III System Administration
10 Managing Users 205
User Accounts............................................................................. 205
Adding New Users............................................................... 207
User IDs and Group IDs........................................................ 209
Managing Groups........................................................................ 210
Group Management Tools..................................................... 211
Managing Users.......................................................................... 212
User Management Tools........................................................ 213
Monitoring User Activity on the System.................................. 214
Managing Permissions.................................................................. 215
Assigning Permissions.......................................................... 216
Directory Permissions........................................................... 217
Understanding Set User ID and Set Group ID Permissions.......... 219
Managing Passwords.................................................................... 220
The Password File................................................................ 221
Shadow Passwords............................................................... 222
Managing Password Security for Users..................................... 224
Changing Passwords in a Batch.............................................. 225
Granting System Administrator Privileges to Regular Users................. 225
Temporarily Changing User Identity with the suCommand....... 225
Granting Root Privileges on Occasion—The sudoCommand....... 227
Disk Quotas................................................................................ 229
Implementing Quotas.......................................................... 230
Manually Configuring Quotas................................................ 230
Reference................................................................................... 232
x Fedora 7 Unleashed
11 Automating Tasks 233
Running Services at Bootup........................................................... 234
Beginning the Boot Loading Process....................................... 234
Loading the Linux Kernel...................................................... 235
System Services and Runlevels............................................... 236
Runlevel Definitions............................................................ 236
Booting into the Default Runlevel.......................................... 237
Booting to a Nondefault Runlevel with GRUB.......................... 240
UnderstandinginitScripts and the Final Stage of Initialization.. 241
Controlling Services at Boot with Administrative Tools.............. 242
Running Services Through xinetd.......................................... 245
Changing Runlevels............................................................. 246
Troubleshooting Runlevel Problems................................................ 247
Starting and Stopping Services Manually......................................... 248
Scheduling Tasks......................................................................... 249
Usingatandbatchto Schedule Tasks for Later......................... 249
Usingcronto Run Jobs Repeatedly......................................... 251
Basic Shell Control...................................................................... 254
The Shell Command Line..................................................... 255
Shell Pattern-Matching Support............................................. 256
Piping Data........................................................................ 257
Background Processing......................................................... 258
Reference................................................................................... 259
12 System-Monitoring Tools 261
Console-Based Monitoring............................................................ 261
Using the killCommand to Control Processes................................ 263
Using Priority Scheduling and Control............................................ 264
Displaying Free and Used Memory with free................................... 266
Disk Quotas........................................................................ 267
Graphical Process and System Management Tools............................. 267
KDE Process- and System-Monitoring Tools...................................... 270
Reference................................................................................... 270
13 Backing Up 271
Choosing a Backup Strategy.......................................................... 271
Why Data Loss Occurs.......................................................... 272
Assessing Your Backup Needs and Resources............................. 273
Evaluating Backup Strategies.................................................. 274
Making the Choice.............................................................. 277
