Table of contents

Jump directly to the chapter of interest:

• The Debian Project
• Presenting the Case Study
• Analysing the Existing Setup and Migrating
• Installation
• Packaging System: Tools and Fundamental Principles
• Maintenance and Updates: The APT Tools
• Solving Problems and Finding Relevant Information
• Basic Configuration: Network, Accounts, Printing...
• Unix Services
• Network Infrastructure
• Network Services: Postfix, Apache, NFS, Samba, Squid, LDAP
• Advanced Administration
• Workstation
• Security
• Creating a Debian Package
• Conclusion: Debian's Future
• Derivative Distributions
• Short Remedial Course

The Debian Project

• What Is Debian?
• A Multi-Platform Operating System
• The Quality of Free Software
• The Legal Framework: A Non-Profit Organization
• The Foundation Documents
• The Commitment towards Users
• The Debian Free Software Guidelines
• The Inner Workings of the Debian Project
• The Debian Developers
• The Active Role of Users
• Teams and Sub-Projects
• Existing Debian Sub-Projects
• Administrative Teams
• Development Teams, Transversal Teams
• The Role of Distributions
• The Installer: debian-installer
• The Software Library
• Lifecycle of a Release
• The Experimental Status
• The Unstable Status
• Migration to Testing
• The Release: Testing Becomes Stable

Presenting the Case Study

• Fast Growing IT Needs
• Long-Term Plans
• Why a GNU/Linux Distribution?
• Why the Debian Distribution?
• Community- and Commercially-Driven Distributions
• Why Debian Squeeze?

Analysing the Existing Setup and Migrating

• Coexistence in Heterogeneous Environments
• Integration with Windows Machines
• Integration with Mac OS Machines
• Integration with Other Linux/Unix Machines
• How To Migrate
• Identifying Services
• Network and Processes
• Backing up the Configuration
• Taking Over an Existing Debian Server
• Installing Debian
• Installing and Configuring the Selected Services

Installation

• Installation Methods
• Installing from a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
• Booting from a USB Key
• Installing through Network Booting
• Other Installation Methods
• Installing, Step by Step
• Booting and Starting the Installer
• Selecting the Language
• Selecting the Country
• Selecting the Keyboard Layout
• Detecting Hardware
• Loading Components
• Detecting Network Hardware
• Configuring the Network
• Configuring the Clock
• Administrator Password
• Creating the First User
• Detecting Disks and Other Devices
• Starting the Partitioning Tool
• Guided Partitioning
• Manual Partitioning
• Configuring Multidisk Devices (Software RAID)
• Configuring the Logical Volume Manager (LVM)
• Setting Up Encrypted Partitions
• Installing the Base System
• Configuring the Package Manager (apt)
• Debian Package Popularity Contest
• Selecting Packages for Installation
• Installing the GRUB Bootloader
• Finishing the Installation and Rebooting
• After the First Boot
• Installing Additional Software
• Upgrading the System

Packaging System: Tools and Fundamental Principles

• Structure of a Binary Package
• Package Meta-Information
• Description: the control File
• Dependencies: the Depends Field
• Conflicts: the Conflicts field
• Incompatibilities: the Breaks Field
• Provided Items: the Provides Field
• Providing a “Service”
• Interchangeability with Another Package
• Current Limitations
• Replacing Files: the Replaces Field
• Configuration Scripts
• Installation and upgrade
• Package Removal
• Checksums, List of Configuration Files
• Structure of a Source Package
• Format
• Usage within Debian
• Manipulating Packages with dpkg
• Installing Packages
• Package Removal
• Other dpkg Features
• dpkg's Log File
• Coexistence with Other Packaging Systems

Maintenance and Updates: The APT Tools

• Filling in the sources.list File
• The Other Official Repositories
• The Stable Updates
• The Backports Repository backports.debian.org
• The Experimental Repository
• Non-Official Resources: apt-get.org and mentors.debian.net
• aptitude and apt-get Commands
• Initialization
• Installing and Removing
• System Upgrade
• Configuration Options
• Managing Package Priorities
• Working with Several Distributions
• The apt-cache Command
• Frontends: aptitude, synaptic
• aptitude
• Tracking Automatically Installed Packages
• Managing Recommendations, Suggestions and Tasks
• Better Solver Algorithms
• synaptic
• Checking Package Authenticity
• Upgrading from One Stable Distribution to the Next
• Recommended Procedure
• Handling Problems after an Upgrade
• Keeping a System Up to Date
• Automatic Upgrades
• Configuring dpkg
• Configuring APT
• Configuring debconf
• Handling Command Line Interactions
• The Miracle Combination
• Searching for Packages

Solving Problems and Finding Relevant Information

• Documentation Sources
• Manual Pages
• info Documents
• Specific Documentation
• Websites
• Tutorials (HOWTO)
• Common Procedures
• Configuring a Program
• Monitoring What Daemons Are Doing
• Asking for Help on a Mailing List
• Reporting a Bug When the Problem Is Too Difficult

Basic Configuration: Network, Accounts, Printing...

• Configuring the System for Another Language
• Setting the Default Language
• Configuring the Keyboard
• Migrating to UTF-8
• Configuring the Network
• Ethernet Interface
• Connecting with PPP through a PSTN Modem
• Connecting through an ADSL Modem
• Modems Supporting PPPOE
• Modems Supporting PPTP
• Modems Supporting DHCP
• Automatic Network Configuration for Roaming Users
• Setting the Hostname and Configuring the Name Service
• Name Resolution
• Configuring DNS Servers
• /etc/hosts File
• User and Group Databases
• User List: /etc/passwd
• The Hidden and Encrypted Password File: /etc/shadow
• Modifying an Existing Account or Password
• Disabling an Account
• Group List: /etc/group
• Creating Accounts
• Environment of Shells
• Configuring Printing
• Configuring the Bootloader
• Identifying the Disks
• Configuring LILO
• Configuration de GRUB 2
• Configuration de GRUB Legacy
• For Macintosh Computers (PowerPC): Configuring Yaboot
• More to configure: time synchronization, logs, shares...
• Timezone
• Time Synchronization
• For Workstations
• For Servers
• Rotating Log Files
• Sharing Administrator Rights
• Liste of Mount Points
• locate and updatedb
• Compiling a Kernel
• Introduction and prerequisites
• Getting the Sources
• Configuring the Kernel
• Compiling and building the package
• Compiling External Modules
• Applying a Kernel Patch
• Installing a Kernel
• Features of a Debian Kernel Package
• Installing with dpkg

Unix Services

• System Boot
• Remote Login
• Remote Login: telnet
• Secure Remote Login: SSH
• Key-Based Authentication
• Using Remote X11 Applications
• Creating Encrypted Tunnels with Port Forwarding
• Using Remote Graphical Desktops
• Managing Rights
• Administration Interfaces
• Administrating On a Web Interface: webmin
• Configuring Packages: debconf
• syslog System Events
• Principle and Mechanism
• The Configuration File
• Syntax of the Selector
• Syntax of Actions
• The inetd Super-Server
• Task Scheduling: cron and atd
• Format of a crontab File
• Using the at Command
• Asynchronous Scheduling: anacron
• Quotas
• Backing Up
• Backing Up with rsync
• Restoring Machines without Backups
• Hot Plugging: hotplug
• Introduction
• The Naming Problem
• How udev works
• Example
• Power Management
• Advanced Power Management (APM)
• Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)
• Laptop Extension Cards: PCMCIA

Network Infrastructure

• Gateway
• Virtual Private Network
• OpenVPN
• Public Key Infrastructure: easy-rsa
• Configuring the OpenVPN Server
• Configuring the OpenVPN Client
• Virtual Private Network with SSH
• IPsec
• PPTP
• Configuring the Client
• Configuring the Server
• Quality of Service
• Principle and Mechanism
• Configuring and Implementing
• Reducing Latencies: wondershaper
• Standard Configuration
• Dynamic Routing
• IPv6
• Domain Name Servers (DNS)
• Principle and Mechanism
• Configuring
• DHCP
• Presentation
• Configuring
• DHCP and DNS
• Network Diagnosis Tools
• Local Diagnosis: netstat
• Remote Diagnosis: nmap
• Sniffers: tcpdump and wireshark

Network Services: Postfix, Apache, NFS, Samba, Squid, LDAP

• Mail Server
• Installing Postfix
• Configuring Virtual Domains
• Virtual Alias Domains
• Virtual Mailbox Domains
• Restrictions for receiving and sending
• IP-Based Access Restrictions
• Checking the Validity of the EHLO or HELO Commands
• Accepting or Refusing Based on the Announced Sender
• Accepting or Refusing Based on the Recipient
• Restrictions Associated with the DATA Command
• Applying Restrictions
• Filtering Based on the Message Contents
• Setting Up greylisting
• Customizing Filters Based On the Recipient
• Integrating an Antivirus
• Authenticated SMTP
• Web Server (HTTP)
• Installing Apache
• Configuring Virtual Hosts
• Common Directives
• Requesting an Authentication
• Restricting Access
• Log Analyzers
• FTP File Server
• NFS File Server
• Securing NFS
• NFS Server
• NFS Client
• Setting Up Windows Shares with Samba
• Samba Server
• Configuring with debconf
• Configuring Manually
• Changes to smb.conf
• Adding Users
• Switching to Domain Controller
• Samba Client
• The smbclient Program
• Mounting a Windows Share
• Printing on a Shared Printer
• HTTP/FTP Proxy
• Installing
• Configuring a Cache
• Configuring a Filter
• LDAP Directory
• Installing
• Filling in the Directory
• Managing Accounts with LDAP
• Configuring NSS
• Configuring PAM
• Securing LDAP Data Exchanges
• Configuring the Server
• Configuring the Client

Advanced Administration

• RAID and LVM
• Software RAID
• Different RAID Levels
• Setting Up RAID
• Backing up the Configuration
• LVM
• LVM Concepts
• Setting Up LVM
• LVM Over Time
• RAID or LVM?
• Virtualization
• Xen
• LXC
• Preliminaries
• Network Configuration
• Setting Up the System
• Starting the Container
• Virtualization with KVM
• Preliminaries
• Network Configuration
• Installation with virt-install
• Managing Machines With virsh
• Automated Installation
• Fully Automatic Installer (FAI)
• Preseeding Debian-Installer
• Using a Preseed File
• Creating a Preseed File
• Creating a Customized Boot Media
• Booting From the Network
• Preparing a Bootable USB Key
• Creating a CD-Rom Image
• Simple-CDD: The All-In-One Solution
• Creating Profiles
• Configuring and Using build-simple-cdd
• Generating an ISO Image
• Supervision
• Setting Up Munin
• Configuring Hosts To Monitor
• Configuring the Grapher
• Setting Up Nagios
• Installing
• Configuring

Workstation

• Configuring the X11 Server
• Customizing the Graphical Interface
• Choosing a Display Manager
• Choosing a Window Manager
• Menu Management
• Graphical Desktops
• GNOME
• KDE
• Xfce and Others
• Tools
• Email
• Evolution
• KMail
• Thunderbird and Icedove
• Web Browsers
• Development
• Tools for GTK+ on GNOME
• Tools for Qt on KDE
• Collaborative Work
• Working in Groups: groupware
• Instant Messaging Systems
• Configuring the Server
• Jabber Clients
• Collaborative Work With FusionForge
• Office Suites
• Emulating Windows: Wine

Security

• Defining a Security Policy
• Firewall or Packet Filtering
• Behavior of Netfilter
• Syntax of iptables and ip6tables
• Commands
• Rules
• Creating Rules
• Installing the Rules at Each Boot
• Supervision: prevention, detection, dissuasion
• Monitoring Logs with logcheck
• Monitoring Activity
• In Real Time
• History
• Detecting Changes
• Auditing Packages: debsums and its Limits
• Monitoring Files: AIDE
• Detecting Intrusion (IDS/NIDS)
• Introduction to SELinux
• Principles
• Setting Up SELinux
• Managing an SELinux System
• Managing SELinux Modules
• Managing Identities
• Managing File Contexts, Ports and Booleans
• Adapting the Rules
• Writing a .fc File
• Writing a .if File
• Writing a .te File
• Compiling the Files
• Other Security Related Considerations
• Inherent Risks of Web Applications
• Knowing What To Expect
• Choosing the Software Wisely
• Managing a Machine as a Whole
• Users Are Players
• Physical Security
• Legal Liability
• Dealing with a Compromised Machine
• Detecting and Seeing the Cracker's Intrusion
• Putting the Server Off-Line
• Keeping Everything that Could Be Used as Evidence
• Re-installing
• Forensic Analysis
• Reconstituting the Attack Scenario

Creating a Debian Package

• Rebuilding a Package from its Sources
• Getting the Sources
• Making Changes
• Starting the Rebuild
• Building your First Package
• Meta-Packages or Fake Packages
• Simple File Archive
• Creating a Package Repository for APT
• Becoming a Package Maintainer
• Learning to Make Packages
• Rules
• Procedures
• Tools
• The lintian Program
• devscripts
• debhelper and dh-make
• dupload and dput
• Acceptance Process
• Prerequisites
• Registration
• Accepting the Principles
• Checking Skills
• Final Approval

Conclusion: Debian's Future

• Upcoming Developments
• Debian's Future
• Future of this Book

Derivative Distributions

• Census and Cooperation
• Ubuntu Linux
• Knoppix
• Linux Mint
• SimplyMEPIS
• Aptosid (formerly Sidux)
• Damn Small Linux
• And Much More

Short Remedial Course

• Shell and Basic Commands
• Browsing the Directory Tree and Managing Files
• Displaying and Modifying Text Files
• Searching for Files and within Files
• Managing Processes
• System Information: Memory, Disk Space, Identity
• Organization of the Filesystem Hierarchy
• The Root Directory
• The User's Home Directory
• Inner Workings of a Computer: The Different Layers Involved
• The Deepest Layer: the Hardware
• The Starter: the BIOS
• The Kernel
• The User Space
• Some Tasks Handled by the Kernel
• Driving the Hardware
• Filesystems
• Shared Functions
• Managing Processes
• Rights Management
• The User Space
• Process
• Daemons
• Inter-Process Communications
• Libraries