Unix as a Second Language

Sandra Henry-Stocker has been administering Unix systems for more than 25 years. She describes herself as "USL" (Unix as a second language) but remembers enough English to write books and buy groceries. She currently works for TeleCommunication Systems -- a company that builds innovative technologies to make critical connections happen -- where no one else necessarily shares any of her opinions. This blog offers advice for everyday Unix systems administration and some clever ways to approach more challenging problems. Send comments and suggestions to mailto:bugfarm@gmail.com.

by Sandra Henry-Stocker

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Sandra Henry-Stocker has been administering Unix systems for more than 25 years. She describes herself as "USL" (Unix as a second language) but remembers enough English to write books and buy groceries. She currently works for TeleCommunication Systems -- a company that builds innovative technologies to make critical connections happen -- where no one else necessarily shares any of her opinions. Send comments and suggestions to bugfarm@gmail.com.

13 Things that a Unix sysadmin will never do

Posted Dec 09, 2012 - 07:17 pm

that we Unix admins would never do ... and how that keeps us out of trouble.
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- admin, cautions
8 favorite Unix admin tricks and time-savers

Posted Nov 05, 2012 - 06:55 pm

With the clocks turned back and the Big Vote about to happen, I'm up for a bit of nostalgia. And nothing pleases me more than doting on some of my favorite Unix commands, aliases and "tricks".
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- Unix
On to better booting

Posted Sep 24, 2012 - 10:51 am

More than a few Linux distributions have pulled up their stakes in the decades old System V method of booting and quietly moved to a better way of booting. Better, faster, easier to maintain, and less prone to problems.
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- better, Boot
Poor man's load balancing

Posted Jun 24, 2012 - 07:37 pm
Poor man's load balancing is properly called Round Robin DNS. Using this technique, you set up a series of A records in DNS, each with the same name, but pointing to a different IP address. As an example, say we want to balance web traffic amount five separate servers. We could set up five A records like this:
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- DNS, easy
So you want to be a Unix sysadmin?

Posted Apr 07, 2013 - 10:41 pm

A number of people have asked recently what it takes to be a Unix systems administrator, what “core competencies” are required, and what are the best and worst aspects of the job. Here are some answers that might work once we get beyond “it depends”.
The beauty of hard links

Posted Jan 27, 2013 - 06:08 pm

Hard links are not called "hard" because they're difficult. They're just ... mildly elusive. Read on and find out why one long-time Unix admin thinks hard links are the penguin's meow.
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- hard links, inode
Unix commands and tools you just can't live without

Posted Mar 31, 2013 - 08:42 pm

Are you someone who never met a Unix command you didn't like? OK, maybe not. But are there commands you just can't imagine living without? Let's look at some that have made a big difference on my busiest days and those that people I've worked with over the years have said are their most important essentials.
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- Unix
Unix: Timing your cron jobs

Posted Apr 28, 2013 - 11:11 pm

Cron is not in charge; you are. All you need to do is tell it what you want done and when you want it done.
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- cron, crontab
How to get your Linux feet wet with UNetbootin

Posted Aug 05, 2012 - 08:03 am

The best way to learn Linux is to use it. A good introductory book will help, but you won't really learn Linux or become confident in your skills unless you park yourself in front of a Linux system and start typing (and popping windows open, creating files, find your way around the desktop ...).
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- install, Linux
What is ISO 27001?

Posted Jul 02, 2012 - 05:40 pm

Back in 2005, a new series of ISO standards made an appearance on the international stage of certifications (try to suppress the image of large wads of paper assembled in a Broadway kick line).

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