Automate Raspberry Pi tasks with crontab
If you need to do a task on a regular schedule, explore how you can use crontab to do the repetitive work for you.
Am I a SysAdmin?
Wikipedia defines a system administrator as “a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems, especially multiuser computers, such as servers.” In my experience, this can include computer and network hardware, software, racks and enclosures, computer rooms or space, and much more.
How to do fast, repeatable Linux installations #2 — Bash scripts + RPM
In Episode 1, How to do fast, repeatable Linux installations #1 -- Bash scripts, I discussed how I used a Bash script after performing a...
How to do fast, repeatable Linux installations #1 — Bash scripts
Image by: Opensource.com Some of my articles and an entire book have been about The Linux Philosophy For SysAdmins and its impact on the daily...
Intro to the Linux useradd command
Adding a user is one of the most fundamental exercises on any computer system; this article focuses on how to do it on a Linux system.
How to configure multiple websites with Apache web server
Here’s how to host two or more websites on Apache, a popular and powerful web server. With name-based virtual hosting, you can use a single IP address for multiple websites. Modern web servers, including Apache, use the hostname portion of the specified URL to determine which virtual web host responds to the page request. This requires only a little more configuration than for a single site.
The Art of Problem Solving
Image by: Opensource.com Although it would be nice to believe that cars, home theater systems, computers, and Linux never break, the reality is that they...
Managing devices in Linux
There are many interesting features of the Linux directory structure. In this article I cover some fascinating aspects of the /dev directory.
Device files are also known as device special files. Device files are employed to provide the operating system and users an interface to the devices that they represent. All Linux device files are located in the /dev directory, which is an integral part of the root (/) filesystem.
Get started with Midnight Commander, a visual shell and file manager for Linux
Midnight Commander (MC) is a text-based Command Line Interface (CLI) program. It is particularly useful when a GUI is not available but can also be used as a primary file manager in a terminal session even when you are using a GUI. Midnight Commander can be used to interact with local and remote Linux computers using the CLI.
The man page for Midnight Commander calls it a visual shell because it’s capabilities are greater than the file manager we usually use it as. This article will provide you with enough information to get started using Midnight Commander as a file manager as well as its other capabilities.
How to build rpm packages
Over the years I have created a number of Bash scripts, some of which have separate configuration files, that I like to install on most of my new computers and virtual machines. It reached the point that it took a great deal of time to install all of these packages, so I decided to automate that process by creating an rpm package that I could copy to the target hosts and install all of these files in their proper locations.
Save time and effort installing files and scripts across multiple hosts.
Regular Expressions #4: Pulling it all together
This series delves into the practical applications of regular expressions within Linux tools such as grep, sed, and awk, demonstrating how to simplify and optimize command-line tasks. The articles guide readers from basic to more complex uses of regex, emphasizing their usefulness in data stream transformation and text manipulation across various tools and programming languages. Through hands-on examples and resource recommendations, the series aims to enhance the reader’s understanding and proficiency with regex in diverse scenarios.
Regular Expressions #3: grep — Data flow and building blocks
In Regular Expressions #1: Introduction, I covered what they are and why they’re useful. In Regular Expressions #2: An example, we looked at a more complex example of the uses of regular expressions.
In this third of four articles you’ll learn how to make tighter matches with your regexes.
Build your own DNS server on Linux
Learn how to use BIND to set up your own server for resolving domain names.
Regular Expressions #2: An example
In the previous article, Regular Expressions #1: Introduction, I covered what they are and why they’re useful.
The example in this article highlights the power and flexibility of the Linux command line, especially regular expressions, for their ability to automate common tasks.
Regular Expressions #1: Introduction
Regular expressions don’t have to invoke anxiety and fear, although they do for many of us. The function of regular expressions is to provide a highly flexible tool for matching strings of characters in a stream of data. When a match is found, the program’s action can be as simple as to pass the line of data in which it’s found on to STDOUT, or as copmplex as replacing that string with another.
How to upgrade your Fedora Linux system to the latest release with DNF system-upgrade
Article updated 05/20/2024.
Upgrading any operating system to a new release version can be time-consuming and fraught with problems. Fedora 40 was released very recently and I used these easy steps to upgrade all twelve of my home systems. It was easy and all went well.