Ubuntu unleashed: covering 9.10 and 10.4

863 Pages·12.655 MB·English

by  Hudson, Andrew;Hudson, Paul;Helmke, Matthew;Troy, Ryan

Andrew Hudson
Paul Hudson
Matthew Helmke
Ryan Troy
Ubuntu
U N L E A S H E D
2010 Edition
Covering 9.10 and 10.4
800 East 96th Street,Indianapolis,Indiana 46240 USA
Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition: Acquisitions Editor
Covering 9.10 and 10.4 Debra Williams
Copyright © 2010 by Sams Publishing Cauley
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced,stored in a retrieval
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ISBN-13: 978-0-67233-109-1
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ISBN-10: 0-67233-109-8
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First Printing December 2009
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction 1
Part I Installation and Configuration
1 Installing Ubuntu..........................................................................................11
2 Post-Installation Configuration....................................................................25
3 Working with Gnome...................................................................................51
4 Command Line Quickstart...........................................................................79
Part II Desktop Ubuntu
5 On the Internet...........................................................................................113
6 Productivity Applications...........................................................................133
7 Multimedia Applications............................................................................153
8 Printing with Ubuntu.................................................................................185
9 Games..........................................................................................................197
Part III System Administration
10 Managing Users...........................................................................................209
11 Automating Tasks........................................................................................233
12 System-Monitoring Tools............................................................................289
13 Backing Up..................................................................................................301
14 Networking..................................................................................................325
15 Remote Access with SSH and Telnet...........................................................371
Part IV Ubuntu as a Server
16 File and Print...............................................................................................381
17 Apache Web Server Management...............................................................407
18 Remote File Serving with FTP.....................................................................439
19 Handling Electronic Mail............................................................................471
20 Proxying and Reverse Proxying..................................................................489
21 Administering Database Services................................................................499
22 LDAP............................................................................................................525
Part V Programming Linux
23 Using Perl....................................................................................................537
24 Working with Python.................................................................................561
25 Writing PHP Scripts.....................................................................................579
26 C/C++ Programming Tools for Ubuntu......................................................613
27 Mono...........................................................................................................625
Part VI Ubuntu Housekeeping
28 Securing Your Machines.............................................................................639
29 Performance Tuning....................................................................................651
30 Command Line Masterclass........................................................................663
31 Managing Software.....................................................................................689
32 Kernel and Module Management...............................................................701
Part VII Appendixes
A Ubuntu Under the Hood............................................................................727
B Installation Resources.................................................................................737
C Ubuntu and Linux Internet Resources.......................................................759
Index...........................................................................................................769
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Part I Installation and Configuration
1 Installing Ubuntu 11
Before You Begin the Installation.................................................................11
Researching Your Hardware Specifications.........................................12
Installation Options.............................................................................12
Planning Partition Strategies...............................................................12
The Boot Loader..................................................................................13
Installing from CD or DVD.................................................................13
Step-by-Step Installation...............................................................................13
Starting the Install...............................................................................14
First Update..........................................................................................20
Wubi—The Easy Installer for Windows..............................................22
Shutting Down....................................................................................24
Reference.......................................................................................................24
2 Post-Installation Configuration 25
Troubleshooting Post-Installation Configuration Problems........................26
The sudo command......................................................................................27
First Update...................................................................................................28
Configuring Software Repositories...............................................................30
Installing Graphics Drivers...........................................................................33
Changing Ubuntu’s Look and Feel...............................................................34
Changing the Desktop Background....................................................34
Changing Colors..................................................................................35
Modifying System Fonts......................................................................36
Changing How Menus Look...............................................................36
Visual Effects........................................................................................37
Preferred Behaviors.......................................................................................37
Preferred Applications.........................................................................37
Removable Drives and Media..............................................................39
Input Devices................................................................................................39
Keyboard Shortcuts..............................................................................40
Keyboard Layout..................................................................................40
Mouse...................................................................................................41
Detecting and Configuring a Modem..........................................................42
Configuring a Serial-Port Modem.......................................................42
Configuring WinModems for Laptops................................................42
vi Ubuntu Unleashed 2008 Edition
Configuring Power Management in Ubuntu...............................................43
Setting the Date and Time............................................................................44
Using the date Command...................................................................45
Using the hwclock Command............................................................45
Changing the Time and Date..............................................................46
Configuring and Using CD, DVD, and CD-RW Drives................................46
Checking Drive Assignment................................................................47
Configuring Wireless Networks....................................................................48
Reference.......................................................................................................49
3 Working with Gnome 51
The Gnome Desktop Environment..............................................................52
Gnome: The GNU Network Object Model Environment...................52
Eye Candy for the Masses.............................................................................54
Basic X Concepts...........................................................................................55
Using X..........................................................................................................56
Elements of the xorg.conf File............................................................57
Configuring X......................................................................................62
Starting X......................................................................................................64
Using a Display Manager.....................................................................65
Changing Window Managers..............................................................73
KDE—The Other Environment.....................................................................77
XFce...............................................................................................................78
Reference.......................................................................................................78
4 Command Line Quickstart 79
What Is the Command Line?.......................................................................79
Navigating Through the File System...................................................83
Managing Files with the Shell.............................................................85
Working with Compressed Files..........................................................86
Use Essential Commands from the /bin and /sbin Directories..........87
Use and Edit Files in the /etc Directory..............................................87
Protect the Contents of User Directories—/home..............................87
Use the Contents of the /proc Directory to Interact
with the Kernel..................................................................................87
Work with Shared Data in the /usr Directory.....................................89
Temporary File Storage in the /tmp Directory....................................89
Access Variable Data Files in the /var Directory.................................89
Logging In to and Working with Linux.......................................................90
Text-based Console Login....................................................................90
Logging Out.........................................................................................90
Contents vii
Logging In and Out from a Remote Computer..................................91
Using Environment Variables..............................................................92
Using the Text Editors..................................................................................95
Working with vi...................................................................................96
Working with emacs............................................................................97
Working with Permissions............................................................................99
Assigning Permissions.......................................................................100
Directory Permissions........................................................................101
Understanding Set User ID and Set Group ID Permissions..............103
Working as Root..........................................................................................104
Creating Users....................................................................................105
Deleting Users....................................................................................106
Shutting Down the System...............................................................106
Rebooting the System........................................................................107
Reading Documentation.............................................................................108
Using Man Pages................................................................................108
Reference.....................................................................................................110
Part II Desktop Ubuntu
5 On the Internet 113
Getting Started with Firefox.......................................................................114
Choosing an Email Client..........................................................................115
Evolution...........................................................................................116
Mozilla Thunderbird..........................................................................118
KMail..................................................................................................120
Other Mail Clients.............................................................................120
RSS Readers..................................................................................................120
Firefox................................................................................................122
Liferea.................................................................................................122
Instant Messaging with Pidgin...................................................................123
Internet Relay Chat.....................................................................................124
Usenet Network Newsgroups......................................................................127
The Pan News Client Newsreader...............................................................128
Videoconferencing with Ekiga....................................................................130
Reference.....................................................................................................132
6 Productivity Applications 133
Introducing OpenOffice.org.......................................................................134
Configuring OpenOffice.org.............................................................136
Working with OpenOffice.org Writer...............................................137
Working with OpenOffice.org Calc...................................................140
viii Ubuntu Unleashed 2008 Edition
Office Suites for Ubuntu.............................................................................144
Working with Gnome Office.............................................................146
Working with KOffice........................................................................149
Productivity Applications Written for Microsoft Windows.......................150
Reference.....................................................................................................152
7 Multimedia Applications 153
Sound and Music........................................................................................153
Sound Cards.......................................................................................154
Adjusting Volume..............................................................................155
Sound Formats...................................................................................156
Listening to Music.............................................................................157
Graphics Manipulation...............................................................................163
The GNU Image Manipulation Program...........................................163
Using Scanners in Ubuntu................................................................164
Working with Graphics Formats.......................................................166
Capturing Screen Images...................................................................168
Using Digital Cameras with Ubuntu..........................................................168
Handheld Digital Cameras................................................................168
Using F-Spot.......................................................................................169
Burning CDs and DVDs in Ubuntu............................................................170
Creating CDs and DVDs with Ubuntu’s Graphical Clients..............172
Creating CDs from the Command Line...........................................174
Creating DVDs from the Command Line.........................................176
Viewing Video.............................................................................................178
TV and Video Hardware....................................................................178
Video Formats....................................................................................180
Viewing Video in Linux.....................................................................181
Personal Video Recorders..................................................................181
DVD and Video Players.....................................................................182
Reference.....................................................................................................182
8 Printing with Ubuntu 185
Overview of Ubuntu Printing.....................................................................185
Configuring and Managing Print Services.................................................187
GUI-Based Printer Configuration Quickstart....................................187
Managing Printing Services...............................................................188
Creating and Configuring Local Printers...................................................189
Creating the Print Queue..................................................................190
Editing Printer Settings......................................................................192
Reference.....................................................................................................195
Contents ix
9 Games 197
Linux Gaming.............................................................................................197
Installing Proprietary Video Drivers..................................................198
Installing Games in Ubuntu.......................................................................199
DOOM 3............................................................................................200
Unreal Tournament 2004..................................................................201
Quake 4..............................................................................................202
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory...........................................................203
Battle for Wesnoth.............................................................................204
Playing Windows Games with Cedega.......................................................204
Reference.....................................................................................................205
Part III System Administration
10 Managing Users 209
User Accounts.............................................................................................209
The Super User/Root User.................................................................210
User IDs and Group IDs....................................................................212
File Permissions.................................................................................212
Managing Groups.......................................................................................213
Group Management Tools.................................................................214
Managing Users...........................................................................................216
User Management Tools....................................................................216
Adding New Users.............................................................................218
Monitoring User Activity on the System..........................................219
Managing Passwords...................................................................................220
System Password Policy.....................................................................220
The Password File..............................................................................220
Shadow Passwords.............................................................................221
Managing Password Security for Users..............................................223
Changing Passwords in a Batch........................................................224
Granting System Administrator Privileges to Regular Users......................224
Temporarily Changing User Identity with the su Command..........225
Granting Root Privileges on Occasion—The sudo Command.........227
Disk Quotas.................................................................................................229
Implementing Quotas.......................................................................230
Manually Configuring Quotas..........................................................230
Reference.....................................................................................................232