Using and Administering Linux: Volume 1: Zero to SysAdmin: Getting Started

Learn to be a Linux SysAdmin and an expert user of the Linux operating system, even with no previous Linux experience.

 This third edition of the popular and highly rated Linux self-study training course has been fully updated to Fedora Linux 43 with expanded and revised content, figures, and experiments. This course will prepare you to manage complex systems with ease and equip you for a new career.

In this first volume of the training course series, you will learn about operating systems in general and Linux in particular, and explore the Linux philosophy for SysAdmins in preparation for the rest of the course.You'll begin by creating a virtual network and installing the most recent instance of Fedora – a popular and powerful Linux distribution – on a VirtualBox VM that can be used for all of the experiments on an existing Windows or Linux computer. You’ll move on to the basics of using the Xfce GUI desktop and the many tools Linux provides for working on the command line including virtual consoles, various terminal emulators, Bash, and other shells.

You’ll explore data streams and the Linux tools used to manipulate them, and learn about the Vim text editor, which is indispensable to advanced Linux users and system administrators and be introduced to some other text editors. You’ll also see how to install software updates and new software, learn additional terminal emulators, and some advanced shell skills. Examine the sequence of events that take place as the computer boots and Linux starts up, configure your shell to personalize it in ways that can seriously enhance your command line efficiency, and delve into files and filesystems.

This volume finishes with an in-depth look at files, directories, and Linux filesystems, logical volume management, file managers, why everything is a file, and how that can be used to do amazing things.

You Will Learn:

• Install Fedora Linux and basic configuration of the Xfce desktop
• Elevate privilege to root, and the care that must be taken when working as root
• Use the Xfce desktop and the Linux core utilities.
• Use Bash and other shells in the Linux virtual consoles and terminal emulators
• Create and modify system configuration files with the Vim text editor
• Configure the boot and startup sequences
• Use and manage files and directories
   
  This Book Is For
  Anyone who wants to learn Linux as an advanced user and system administrator at the command line while using the GUI desktop to leverage productivity.

David is the author of The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins (Apress, 2018), systemd for Linux SysAdmins (Apress, 2025) and co-author of Linux for Small Business Owners (Apress, 2022).