Introduction to System Administration

Table of Contents
Introduction i
1. Architecture-specic Information i
2. Document Conventions i
3. Activate Your Subscription iv
3.1. Provide a Red Hat Login . iv
3.2. Provide Your Subscription Number . v
3.3. Connect Your System . v
4. More to Come . v
4.1. Send in Your Feedback v
1. The Philosophy of System Administration . 1
1.1. Automate Everything . 1
1.2. Document Everything 2
1.3. Communicate as Much as Possible 3
1.3.1. Tell Your Users What You Are Going to Do 3
1.3.2. Tell Your Users What You Are Doing 4
1.3.3. Tell Your Users What You Have Done . 4
1.4. Know Your Resources 5
1.5. Know Your Users . 6
1.6. Know Your Business 6
1.7. Security Cannot be an Afterthought 6
1.7.1. The Risks of Social Engineering . 7
1.8. Plan Ahead . 7
1.9. Expect the Unexpected 8
1.10. Red Hat Enterprise Linux-Specic Information 8
1.10.1. Automation . 8
1.10.2. Documentation and Communication 9
1.10.3. Security . 10
1.11. Additional Resources . 10
1.11.1. Installed Documentation . 10
1.11.2. Useful Websites 11
1.11.3. Related Books . 11
2. Resource Monitoring 13
2.1. Basic Concepts . 13
2.2. System Performance Monitoring . 13
2.3. Monitoring System Capacity . 14
2.4. What to Monitor? . 14
2.4.1. Monitoring CPU Power 15
2.4.2. Monitoring Bandwidth 16
2.4.3. Monitoring Memory 16
2.4.4. Monitoring Storage . 17
2.5. Red Hat Enterprise Linux-Specic Information 18
2.5.1. free 18
2.5.2. top 19
2.5.3. vmstat 20
2.5.4. The Sysstat Suite of Resource Monitoring Tools . 22
2.5.5. OProle . 24
2.6. Additional Resources . 28
2.6.1. Installed Documentation . 28
2.6.2. Useful Websites 28
2.6.3. Related Books . 29