Linux Timesaving Techniques For Dummies

515 Pages·2004·15.24 MB·English

by  Susan Douglas, Korry Douglas

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Linux
®
Timesaving
Techniques
™
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
by Susan Douglas and Korry Douglas
01a_571737ffirs.qxd 7/2/04 7:55 PM Page i
01a_571737ffirs.qxd 7/2/04 7:55 PM Page i
Linux
®
Timesaving
Techniques
™
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
by Susan Douglas and Korry Douglas
01a_571737ffirs.qxd 7/2/04 7:55 PM Page ii
Linux®Timesaving Techniques™For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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About the Authors
Susan Douglasis the CEO of Conjectrix, Inc., a software consulting firm specializing in
database- and security-related issues. When she’s not busy at the computer, Susan is
probably throwing pottery, glassblowing, or horseback riding.
Korry Douglasis the Director of Research and Development for Appx Software. When
he’s not working on computers, he’s making elegant sawdust in the woodshop.
Together, they are the coauthors of Red Hat Linux Fedora Desktop For Dummiesand
PostgreSQL.
Susan and Korry enjoy life on a farm in rural Virginia where they raise horses and small
livestock. They both telecommute, so they have more time to spend with their 200 or so
animal friends. If they’re not at home, they’re out riding roller coasters.
Authors’ Acknowledgments
We would like to thank all the staff at Wiley who have supported this project, from start
to finish. Without the help and direction of Terri Varveris, organizing this book would
have been an impossible task. Becky Huehls’s editorial help and guidance have kept this
project rolling along on schedule (fairly painlessly, we might add). We also want to
extend a big thanks to the technical editors who’ve kept us honest throughout the
course of the book.
Thanks go also to all the supporting staff at Wiley that we’ve never met. We know you’re
out there, and we appreciate your efforts and support.
Thank you also to all the programmers and developers that make open-source software
such an interesting, productive, and fun environment to work in.
01a_571737ffirs.qxd 7/2/04 7:55 PM Page iv
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online regis-
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following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development Composition
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Stephanie D. Jumper, Michael Kruzil, Lynsey Osborn,
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Jacque Schneider
Technical Editors:Terry Collings, Corey Hynes
Proofreaders: Laura Albert, Vicki Broyles,
Editorial Manager:Leah Cameron BrianH.Walls
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Cartoons:Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley,Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
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Publishing for Consumer Dummies
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction 1 Part III: Good Housekeeping with Linux 101
Technique16:Red-lining RPM Queries 103
Part I: Making the Desktop Work for You 5
Technique17:Installing Made Easy with RPM 108
Technique1:Finding the Power in
KDE Protocols 7 Technique18:Getting Comfortable with RPM 115
Technique2:Getting GNOME Virtual File Technique19:Keeping Up-to-Date with apt
Systemsto Do the Work for You 13 andSynaptic 119
Technique3:Streamlining Your Work with Technique20:Setting Up Automatic Services 126
FileAssociations 18
Technique21:Making Your Inner System
Technique4:Prompting Yourself with a Administrator Happy (And Productive) 130
CustomPrompt 23
Technique22:Spring Cleaning Essentials 137
Technique5:Getting There Quick with
DynamicShortcuts 30
Part IV: Tweaking the Kernel on
Technique6:Using cd Shortcuts for YourLinuxSystem 149
Rapid Transit 34
Technique23:Taking Good Care of
Technique7:Typing Less and Doing More Your Kernel 151
withHandy Automagic Variables 38
Technique24:Creating a Custom Kernel 157
Technique8:Logging In, Logging Out 45
Technique25:Coping with the SELinux
Technique9:Making History (Work for You) 50 SecuritySystem 164
Technique10:Keeping Your Life Simple with Technique26:Finding Out about Your
Aliases and Functions 55 System with /proc 170
Part II: Getting the Most from Part V: Securing Your Workspace 177
YourFileSystem 63 Technique27:Closing Those Prying Eyes 179
Technique11:Sharing Files and Printers in a
Technique28:Using Encryption for
Windows World 65
Extra Security 184
Technique12:Finding What You Need 73
Technique29:Securing a Large Network
Technique13:Moving Made Easy withCustom Authentication 194
with Archives 82
Technique30:Customizing Authentication
Technique14:Downloading and Uploading with PAM 203
Files in a Snap 88
Technique31:Gaining Privileges 209
Technique15:Building a Playpen with
Technique32:sudo Pseudonyms 213
UserModeLinux 94
Technique33:Securing Your Connections
with SSH 218
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Part VI: Networking Like a Part IX: Backing Up Means Never
Professional 227 Having to Say You’re Sorry 369
Technique34:Protecting Yourself Technique49:Getting Ready to Back Up
with a Firewall 229 Your Data 371
Technique35:Using VNC to Connect to Technique50:Backing Up Your Data 377
RemoteDesktops 239
Technique51:Quick Backup to
Technique36:Streamlining Your Network Remote Storage 386
Surveillance 247
Technique52:Archiving Changes with CVS 391
Technique37:Evaluating Your Network
Securitywith Nessus 255 Part X: Programming Tricks 401
Technique38:Person-to-Person Networking Technique53:Using Open-Source APIs
with IRC 265 toSaveTime 403
Technique54:Timesaving PHP Tricks 414
Part VII: Monitoring Your System 271
Technique55:Using the DDD Graphical
Technique39:Controlling Troublesome
Debuggerwith Perl 422
Processesat the Command Line 273
Technique40:Taking Care of New Part XI: The Scary (Or Fun!) Stuff 429
(And Old) Users 282
Technique56:Burning CD-Rs without
Technique41:Keeping an Eye on GettingBurned 431
Your System 291
Technique57:Search and Destroy
setuid and setgid Programs 437
Part VIII: Serving Up the Internet
Technique58:Quarantining Suspicious
and More 305
Programswith UML 443
Technique42:Keeping an Apache Server
in Top Form 307 Technique59:Troubleshooting Persnickety
Programs 448
Technique43:Keeping an Eye
on Your Servers 317 Technique60:Securing the Fort with Bastille 455
Technique44:Making a MySQL Server Technique61:Creating a Second Line
YourSQLServer 328 ofDefensewith LIDS 467
Technique45:Safeguarding Your Apache Technique62:Getting Graphical
Serverwith SSL Certificates 340 with Shell Scripts 474
Technique46:Retrieving HTTPMail Using
Index 479
hotwayand Evolution 349
Technique47:Stopping Spam with
SpamAssassin 356
Technique48:Using Webmin to Simplify
SendmailConfiguration 364
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Table of Contents Technique3: Streamlining Your Work with
FileAssociations 18
Classifying Data with MIME 18
Introduction 1
Creating KDE File Associations 19
Saving Time with This Book 1
Creating New MIME Types with GNOME 20
Foolish Assumptions 2
Technique4: Prompting Yourself with a
What’s in This Book 2
CustomPrompt 23
Part I: Making the Desktop Work for You 2
Part II: Getting the Most from Your File System 3 Making Basic Prompt Transformations 23
Part III: Good Housekeeping with Linux 3
Adding Dynamically Updated Data
Part IV: Tweaking the Kernel to Your Prompt 24
on Your Linux System 3
Colorizing Your Prompt 26
Part V: Securing Your Workspace 3
Seeing a Red Alert When You Have Superuser
Part VI: Networking Like a Professional 3
Privileges 27
Part VII: Monitoring Your System 3
Saving Your Work 28
Part VIII: Serving Up the Internet and More 3
Part IX: Backing Up Means Never Technique5: Getting There Quick with
Having to Say You’re Sorry 3
DynamicShortcuts 30
Part X: Programming Tricks 4
Part XI: The Scary (Or Fun!) Stuff 4 Completing Names Automatically 30
Icons Used in This Book 4 Using the Escape Key to Your Advantage 31
Customizing Completion for Maximum Speed 32
Part I: Making the Desktop
Technique6: Using cd Shortcuts for
Work for You 5
RapidTransit 34
Technique1: Finding the Power in
Using cd and ls to Navigate through bash 34
KDE Protocols 7
Setting Your CDPATH Variables to Find
Discovering Your Protocols 7 Directories Fast 35
Working with CD Audio Tracks Using audiocd: 8 Remembering Where You’ve Been with pushd
andpopd 36
Managing Snapshots with the camera: Protocol 9
Manipulating Your Stack with dirs 36
Remote File Management with fish: 10
Getting Help with help:, info:, and man: 10 Technique7: Typing Less and Doing More
Viewing Your Local Network with the smb: withHandy Automagic Variables 38
Protocol 11
Show Me the $$: Giving Temporary Files
Other KDE Protocols 11
UniqueNames 39
Technique2: Getting GNOME Virtual File Streamlining Archive Searches 39
Systems to Do the Work for You 13 Turning the Output of a Command into a Variable
with$( ) 40
Using GNOME VFS Modules 13
Using $UID and $EUID in Shell Scripts 41
Stacking VFS Modules 15
Getting Quick Access to Programs with $PATH 42
Working with Packages: rpm and rpms 15
Customizing Variables for Rapid Transit 43
Putting VFS to Work at the Command Line 17
Burning CDs with a VFS 17
Skinning Your Desktop with VFS 17