Customised Unix Training

Apache Basics

• What is apache?
• Installation on Unix
• How apache listens
• Configuration file(s)
• Key configuration directives
• Serverroot, documentroot
• Serveradmin
• Bindaddress, and port
• Listen
• User and group
• Apache processes
• Logging
• Customizable logging
• Customlog examples
• Example configuration
• Two sites and more ...
• Virtual hosting options
• Name-based hosting
• Block directives
• Directorymatch, et al.
• Access control
• Authorisation files
• Other useful directives
• Exercises
• Solutions

Apache CGI Programming

• Basic CGI
• Enabling CGIs
• Addhandler
• How do CGIs work
• URL-encoding
• CGI language
• A simple CGI
• Using user information
• CGIs and redirection
• What else?
• Useful CGIs
• Basic CGIs - round up
• Exercises

Apache with mod_perl

• What is mod_perl?
• How mod_perl works
• Installing mod_perl
• Make magic
• Turning it on
• Coding for mod_perl
• More gotchas
• Easy way out - perlrun
• Exercises

Apache with mod_ssl

• mod_ssl
• Security and mod_ssl
• Encryption
• Identification
• Building openssl
• Building mod_ssl
• Building apache
• Exercises

Apache other modules

• mod_speling
• Case under mod_speling
• Compiling with mod_speling
• Notes on usage
• mod_rewrite
• Using mod_rewrite
• What's getting rewritten?
• Rewriting proper
• More rewriting
• Rewriting conditionals
• Exercises
• Solutions

Apache use & programming

• Basic CGI
• Get & post
• URL-encoding
• CGI language
• A simple CGI
• CGIs and redirection
• What else?
• Useful CGIs
• Basic CGIs - round up
• What is mod_perl?
• How mod_perl works
• Installing mod_perl
• Coding for mod_perl
• More gotchas
• Easy way out - perlrun
• mod_ssl
• Security and mod_ssl
• Encryption
• Identification
• Building openssl
• Building mod_ssl
• Building apache
• Exercises
• Solutions

Key Unix Configuration Files

• /etc/passwd
• Editing /etc/passwd
• Other changes to /etc/passwd
• /etc/group
• Editing /etc/group
• Important note
• Shadow passwords
• /etc/shadow
• Scheduling jobs (cron)
• /etc/crontab
• run-parts
• logrotate
• Module configuration
• Modules configuration - `options'
• Mounting filesystems
• Runlevels
• Single user mode
• Multi user mode
• Starting up and shutting down
• Changing runlevel
• Initscripts
• rcn.d
• Initscripts - an example
• Restarting services
• Exercises
• Solutions

Concurrent Versions System on Unix

• Introduction to CVS
• Creating a repository
• Setting up your repository
• Checking out a working directory
• Making changes to files
• Merging your changes
• Merging: an example
• Committing changes
• Examining logged changes
• Adding and deleting files
• Example: adding a file to a project
• Deleting files
• Renaming files
• Writing good log entries
• Handling conflicts
• Identifying conflicts:
• Resolving conflicts
• Resolving conflicts
• Understanding conflicts
• Locking

Dial Up and Remote Access

• Dial-in/out
• The basics
• Authentication
• Setting-up dial-out
• One dial-out setup
• Dial-in setup
• Other options
• Preferred installation architectures
• sendmail configuration for non dial-on-demand

Email

• How email works
• Where does an email go?
• Overview
• Email protocols
• Where the protocols go
• Basic installation
• Sendmail behaviour
• Linuxconf & sendmail
• Configuration files (sendmail.cf)
• Configuration files (sendmail.cw and /etc/mail/)
• Monitoring sendmail
• Example of mailq
• Talking smtp
• Talking pop
• Managing users under sendmail
• /etc/aliases
• Aliases - other uses
• Sendmail exercises

Basic Filesystem

• Filesystem overview
• Files
• Directories
• Directory hierarchy
• Pathnames
• Current directory
• Dot (.) and dotdot(..)
• Moving and copying files
• Removing files
• Operations on directories
• Inodes
• Links
• Hard links
• Soft links
• Access control and uid
• Categories of access control
• Access control - example
• Changing access permission: chmod
• Chmod symbolically
• Chmod numerically
• Umask
• Special files - /dev
• Special files - /proc
• Filesystem structure
• /etc/fstab - example
• Mounting additional volumes
• Mounting shared filesystems
• Summary
• Filesystem exercises
• Filesystem solutions

More on the Filesystem

• Inodes in depth
• Links
• Hard links
• Soft links
• Non-native filesystems
• Disk checking and recovery (fsck)
• Check a linux ext2 filesystem (e2fsck)
• Disk free space (df)
• Disk usage (du)
• Disk partitioning concepts
• A partitioned disk
• Making and changing partitions
• How many partitions?
• What size partitions?
• BIOS problems with lilo and partitions
• Disk partitioning tools
• Using fdisk
• The fdisk interface
• Interactive commands in fdisk
• Making linux filesystems (mke2fs)
• Block devices
• Character devices
• More filesystem exercises
• More filesytem solutions

Shared File Systems

• NFS (network file system)
• Exporting file systems
• Viewing exports
• Importing file systems
• Samba installation
• Samba basics
• Access to files and printers
• Testing samba
• Smbclient
• Samba configuration file
• Testing samba
• Exercises
• Solutions

Init Scripts

• Runlevels
• Single user mode
• Multi user mode
• Starting up and shutting down
• Initscripts
• /etc/rc.d/rcn.d
• Initscripts - an example
• Restarting services
• Init script exercises

Job Control Tools

• Introduction
• Background jobs
• Kill
• The nice command
• Hang up (nohup)
• Execute programs at specified times (at)
• Options and commands related to at
• Running commands regularly (crontab)
• Summary
• Job control exercises
• Job control solutions

Linux Kernel and Tracing

• Kernel overview
• Memory management
• Scheduling
• Module principles
• Module commands
• Module loading/unloading
• Module dependencies
• Module dependencies 2
• Autoloading of modules
• Module unloading
• New/updated modules
• Kernel recompiling
• Boot disks
• Getting and configuring a kernel
• Kernel sources
• Applying kernel patches
• Configuration
• Make menuconfig
• Network device selection - an example
• Configuration issues
• Build process
• Building a kernel
• Module building
• Installing a new kernel
• Setting up to boot the new kernel
• Tracing executables
• ltrace
• Exercises

Unix Fundamentals: An Overview

• Generic features of unix
• Unix --- the kernel of a system
• Fundamental characteristics of Unix
• Multiuser multitasking and time-sharing
• Protected memory mode
• Multiple filesystem types
• The many faces of a Unix system
• The filesystem
• Filenames
• Filename extensions and file types
• Hidden filenames
• The shell (bash)
• Key features of the bash shell
• Interacting with a Unix `terminal'
• Software tools: the unix philosophy
• Tasks/processes
• Process communication
• Re-directing I/O to and from files
• Pipes & tools
• Unix as a programming environment
• Networking
• TCP/IP
• Documentation
• Using the man pages (on-line manual)
• Overview exercises
• Overview solutions

Printing Services

• Unix printing
• Printing documents
• Main printing tools
• Using lpr
• Using lpq
• Using lprm
• Samba printing
• Printing to a windows printer via samba

The Red Hat Package Management System (rpm)

• Package management (rpm)
• Distributed rpms
• Binary rpms
• Source rpms
• Building rpms
• Rpm naming conventions
• Creating a .spec file
• Details of a .spec file
• Group hierarchy
• %build
• %install
• %files
• Building a package (rpm -b)
• Pre and post install
• Note on testing

Samba

• Samba installation
• Samba basics
• Access to files and printers
• Testing samba
• Smbclient
• Samba configuration file
• Testing samba
• Swat -- samba web administration tool
• Installing swat
• Options for swat
• Global settings in swat
• Share settings in swat
• Printer configuration under swat
• Viewing samba status with swat
• View samba configuration in swat
• Samba exercises

Basic Shell

• Introduction
• Getting around the command line
• History
• Plumbing
• Output redirection
• Input redirection
• Combining redirection
• Pipelines
• Background processes
• Background processes and nohup
• Command grouping and sub-shells
• Process management
• Signals
• Background processes: top
• Filename generation
• Quoting mechanisms
• Shell built-in commands
• Basic shell exercises
• Basic shell solutions

Shell Programming

• Introduction
• Writing and running shell scripts
• Subshell or subroutine?
• Processing commands
• Command substitution
• Shell variables and variable substitution
• Shell environment variables
• Set
• Quoting
• .profile file
• Arguments
• Shell parameters
• Blank interpretation
• Comments
• Read
• Shift
• Exit status or return code
• Test
• File status tests
• Relational tests
• For loop
• If
• True and false
• While and until
• Break and continue
• Case
• Simple conditionals
• Here documents
• Use of commands
• Find
• Evaluate expressions (expr)
• Summary
• Shell programming exercises
• Shell programming solutions

Special Topics: Boot Manager, Installing Apps, System Info from /proc

• The linux bootloader (lilo)
• Lilo configuration
• Understanding lilo.conf
• Red hat package management tool (rpm)
• Install, upgrade and uninstall with rpm
• Query options for rpm
• Verify options for rpm
• Output from the rpm verification option
• Building and installing applications
• Autoconf
• Using ./configure
• Options to configure
• Location of install
• Installation requirements
• Compilation roundup
• The /proc filesytem
• Process specific subdirectories
• Process status
• Process memory usage (statm)
• Kernel data
• Interrupts in use
• IDE devices (/proc/ide)
• Networking (/proc/net)
• Networking 2 (/proc/net)
• Scsi info (/proc/scsi)
• Parallel port (/proc/parport)
• Kernel parameters (/proc/sys)
• File system data (/proc/fs)
• Example: increase maximum filehandles
• General kernel parameters (/proc/sys/kernel)
• Virtual memory subsystem (/proc/sys/vm)
• Device specific parameters (/proc/sys/dev)
• Remote procedure calls (/proc/sys/sunrpc)
• Networking (/proc/sys/net)
• Ipv4 settings (/proc/sys/net/ipv4)
• Special topics exercises
• Special topics solutions

Squid Basics

• Squid is
• Squid also supports
• What to cache and for how long?
• Getting and installing squid
• Squid directory structure
• Basic configuration (caching proxy only)
• Running squid
• Basic client (browser) configuration
• Basics access control
• More advanced access control
• Destination address based acls
• Cache hierarchy concepts
• Parents and siblings
• Integration with other software
• Log analysis and stats
• Tools
• Analysis
• Squid exercises

System Daemons

• Daemons
• Stand alone vs on demand
• Stand alone daemons
• On-demand daemons
• Cron jobs
• /etc/crontab
• Run-parts
• Crond
• Details on inetd
• Configuration of inetd
• Tcp wrappers (/usr/sbin/tcpd)
• Tcp wrapper validation
• System logging daemon
• Syslog.conf
• System log rotation
• Sshd
• Ssh principles
• Ssh configuration
• Xntpd
• Time daemon config (/etc/ntp.conf)
• Client/server configuration of xntpd
• Example of /etc/ntp.conf
• Xntpdc
• Name resolution
• /etc/hosts
• /etc/resolv.conf
• Dns
• Dns configuration file (/etc/named.conf)
• Zone files
• Name entries
• Dig
• Dig (other servers)
• Exercises
• Solutions

Basic TCP/IP

• Introduction to ip concepts - components
• History
• Packets
• Addresses
• Transferring data
• Hosts & interfaces
• Routing
• Ports
• Well known ports
• Name resolution
• /etc/hosts
• /etc/resolv.conf
• Dns
• Dns - boot file (/etc/named.boot)
• Zone files
• Dns summary
• Ip-related tools and utilities
• Ping
• Ifconfig
• Traceroute
• Netstat
• Remote login
• Telnet
• Telnet command mode
• Ssh
• File transfer
• Ftp
• Setting up an interface
• Exercises

Fundamentals of TCP/IP

• Fundamentals of TCP/IP networking
• History
• Recap of basic IP concepts - components
• IP versions
• Packets
• Addresses
• Netmasks and subnetting
• Netmasks with /xx
• Transferring data
• Hosts & interfaces
• Routing
• Ports
• Exercises
• Solutions

Practical TCP/IP

• Ping protocols
• Network statistics (netstat) in practice
• Network traffic (tcpdump) in practice
• tcpdump options
• tcpdump examples
• Firewalling
• Basic theory
• ipchains details
• ipchains options
• Options for rules
• ipchains - examples
• Removing rules
• Implementing ipchains
• Save and restore
• ipchains setup script
• Real world ipchains
• Interface configuration and management
• Point-and-click interface administration
• /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
• ifcfg-ethx
• Altering an interface
• Adding an interface
• The `proper' way
• Drivers
• The secure shell in practice (ssh)
• Secure copying in practice (scp)
• Summary
• Exercises
• Solutions

Basic Tools

• Introduction
• Using tools
• The on-line manual (man)
• Finding files the long way (find)
• Locate files (locate)
• View and concatenate files (cat)
• View large files & output (less)
• Viewing parts of files (head and tail)
• Listing file information (ls)
• File classification (file)
• Count words, lines, characters (wc)
• Differences between files (diff)
• Compare binary files (cmp)
• Regular expression searches (grep)
• Grep examples
• Sort and merge files (sort)
• Sort examples
• Display unique lines (uniq)
• Split files (split)
• Splitting files by context (csplit)
• Compression utilities (gzip)
• Store and retrieve archives (tar)
• Translating characters (tr)
• Examples of tr usage
• Execute programs at specified times (at)
• Options and commands related to at
• Running commands regularly (crontab)
• Evaluate expressions (expr)
• Unix printing
• Printing documents
• Main printing tools
• Using lpr
• Using lpq
• Using lprm
• Basic tools exercises
• Basic tools solutions

More Tools

• Introduction
• Displaying system processes (top)
• Options and interactive commands for top
• Reporting process status (ps)
• Options for reporting process status (ps)
• Finding files using specified criteria (find)
• Criteria used in find expressions
• Examples of using (find)
• Reporting virtual memory statistics (vmstat)
• Output from vmstat
• Free
• Ldd
• Uptime
• Xargs
• Options to xargs
• Positioning filenames with xargs
• Cpio
• Gzip
• Unzipping
• Tar
• Raw devices and tar
• Exercises
• Solutions

Introduction To Editing with vi

• Text editors under Unix
• Vi and your terminal
• Vi screen layout
• Opening files with vi
• Vi modes
• Saving, changing file and quitting
• Moving around in command mode
• Numeric prefixes
• Further movement
• Movement by lines - examples
• Inserting text
• Multiple insertion
• Deleting text
• Changing text
• Copy and paste
• Finding your place
• Miscellaneous commands
• Search and replace
• Regular expressions
• Regular expression conventions
• Regular expression examples
• Regular expression replacement
• Vi exercises
• Vi solutions

Basic X-windows

• What x-windows is
• X needs window managers
• Window managers are applications
• Desktop environments
• Starting x
• Stopping x
• Running shells (xterms) under x
• Running applications from an xterm
• Running applications from a window manager
• Configuring x
• Basic x hardware configuration
• Basic x software configuration
• Networked x - the client-server relationship
• Principles of running remote x apps
• How to run remote x apps
• Authentication
• Better authentication
• Basic x exercises