Summary

In this chapter, you gained the final set of administrative tools and skills needed for you to become a safe and happy longtime Linux user. Specifically, you learned the following:

• How to back up and restore your important data files using removable disk media and simple copying

• How to back up and restore your important data files to magnetic tape or to special backup files using the tar command

• How to try to rescue a system that has experienced a catastrophic failure of some sort and no longer boots correctly

• How to salvage files from a broken system if you are unable to rescue it

• How to recognize other situations in which data salvage and subsequent reinstallation and restoration might be apropos, including situations caused by file system corruption and malicious network activity

Congratulations! You've survived all 35 chapters. You've learned how to install and configure Linux to work on your computer system, you've mastered a basic set of applications and techniques at the Linux command line, you've learned how to make efficient use of Linux desktop applications, and you've learned how to perform most basic administration tasks in Linux.

Although you might not feel like a guru yet, keep working at it and you will eventually become one. Experiment, read manual pages, and consult the documentation at http://www.tldp.org often. In time, you will find that you can make Linux work for you on your terms, efficiently and reliably.

When you are ready to become a guru, consider consulting the Red Hat Linux Unleashed series of books, also by Sams. The information in this series applies to all Red Hat operating systems, including Fedora Core and other members of the Red Hat Linux and Fedora Core family of operating systems.