Whether you need a network of ten Linux PCs and a server or a datacenter with a few thousand Unix nodes, you need to know how to automate much of the installation, configuration, and standard system administration.

Build your network once using cfengine, and the network build will work, without user intervention, on any hardware you prefer. Automating Linux and Unix System Administration, Second Edition is unique in its focus on how to make the system administrator’s job easier and more efficient: instead of just managing the system administrator’s time, the book explains the technology to automate repetitive tasks and the methodology to automate successfully.

Both new and seasoned professionals will profit from industry–leading insights into the automation process.

System administrators will attain a thorough grasp of cfengine, kickstart, and shell scripting for automation.

After reading all chapters and following all exercises in this book, the reader will be able to set up anything from a Linux datacenter to a small office network.

Kirk Bauer

Kirk Bauer has been involved in computer programming since 1985. He has been using and administering UNIX systems since 1994. Although his personal favorite UNIX variant is Linux, he has administered and developed on everything from FreeBSD to Solaris, AIX, and HP–UX. He is the author of various open source solutions such as Logwatch.

Kirk has been involved with software development and system/network administration since his first year at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has done work for the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and DHL. In 2000, Kirk was one of the founders and the chief technology officer of TogetherWeb, which was purchased in 2003 by Proficient Systems. Kirk is now a systems engineer with F5 Networks.

Kirk graduated from Georgia Tech in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and is currently pursuing his MBA at Arizona State University. He lives in Peoria, Arizona, with his two dogs, and is looking forward to getting married to his lovely fiancé, Rachel.

Nathan Campi

Nathan Campi is a UNIX and Linux system administrator by trade, currently working as a UNIX operations manager in San Francisco. His system administration experience is almost entirely with companies with large–scale web operations based on open source software. In his copious free time, he enjoys jogging, watching spaghetti westerns, experimenting with Linux systems, and spending time with his family.