Chapter 1 - Basic Linux Installation

In this book, I’ll cover the tools you need to create a File and Print server on a Linux computer. The first chapter helps you figure out what it will take to move your file servers to Linux. It explains file servers and Linux distributions, and illustrates the basic steps you need to set up your computer for Linux. Many Linux distributions are available, but this book focuses on Red Hat Linux.

Chapter 2: Installing Linux as a File Server

When you install any operating system, it’s best to install just the software that you need. You don’t want to waste space that could be used for real necessities. If you install too much software, you might open up security holes that a cracker could use to break into your system. When you’re done with this chapter, you’ll know how to install Linux on your computer, with just the software that you need, available when you need it.

Chapter 3: Setting Up Your Server File System

In Chapter 2, I showed you how to install Samba on your Linux computer. Using Samba, you can make Linux look like a computer on a Microsoft Windows-based network. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to set up Samba on a Linux computer. I’ll show you what you need to configure to make a Linux computer with Samba work as a member server or a Primary Domain Controller (PDC) on a Microsoft Windowsbased network.

Chapter 4: Setting Up Your File Server’s Users

Computer networks revolve around users and groups. Users can log in to computers and networks, and they can access the files and directories that they own. In a Microsoft-based network, administrators usually share additional files and directories with groups. While the Microsoft and Linux user and group databases are different, this chapter shows how to make them work together. When you’re finished with this chapter, you’ll be able to set up users and groups on a Microsoft or a Linux-based PDC.

Chapter 5: Connecting Linux Workstations

The same Red Hat Linux that is making a name as a server can also be configured as a powerful desktop and workstation computer. Naturally, you can connect a Linux computer to a network of Microsoft Windows and Linux computers. In fact, configuring Linux as a workstation is a natural option for Windows users who want to try Linux for the first time.

Chapter 6: Connecting Windows Workstations

Because this is a book about using Linux on a Microsoft Windows-based network, this chapter shows you how to connect various Microsoft Windows workstations to a Linux-based PDC. You’ve already configured a Linux-based PDC and member server in Chapters 3 and 4. In this chapter I’ll show you how to connect Windows 9x/NTstyle workstations to those computers in a Microsoft-style Workgroup or Domain.

Chapter 7: Configuring Printers

Like Bogart and Bacall, Sonny and Cher, or Spike and Buffy, File and Print servers have always gone together in the world of computer networks. Just as you can configure Samba to share directories on a Microsoft Windows-style network, you can also configure Samba and a Linux print server to share printers on that same network.

Chapter 8: Administration and Management

Linux is a sophisticated operating system with the capabilities of Windows 2003 Server and the flexibility of the Microsoft desktop operating systems. If you want to take full advantage of what Linux can do, you need to learn to administer and manage Linux from the command-line interface. While I can’t turn you into an RHCEquality Linux administrator in one chapter, I can provide some of the basic survival skills that you need to manage your Linux systems.

Chapter 9: System Backup

There are a lot of threats to your data. Viruses and attacks by malicious users can overwrite data. Power surges can erase data. Natural and man-made disasters can destroy the computers that store your data. Hard drives are mechanical devices that eventually fail, which also can affect your data. Users can accidentally erase important files such as airplane schematics and financial statements. For these reasons, users count on you as a system administrator to back up their data.

Appendix A: Samba 3.0 Preview

Samba 3.0 was officially released in September of 2003. It is not included with Red Hat Linux 9. You can use it to more tightly integrate your Linux computers in a network with Microsoft Windows computers. The Samba designers have included a number of tools that allow Linux computers to work as Active Directory member servers with other Windows 2000/2003 Servers. You can download this software from www.samba.org and the Fedora Rawhide database currently at ftp.redhat.com.

Appendix B: Sample Samba Configuration Files

This appendix lists a couple of different versions of the main Samba configuration file, /etc/samba/smb.conf. The first file is used on a PDC, the second on a Domain member server. The comments are a mix of those normally included with the standard smb.conf file, and those based on variables that I’ve added in this book. In Red Hat Linux, the standard Samba configuration files are located in the /etc/samba directory.