Introduction

Welcome to the Official Red Hat Linux Administrator’s Guide! From installation to navigation and instructions on performing common tasks, this book is designed to help intermediate and advanced Linux administrators get up and running with Red Hat Linux 8.0.

If you need more basic coverage of Red Hat Linux, see the companion book to this one: the Official Red Hat Linux User’s Guide (Red Hat Press/Wiley, 2003).

Conventions Used in This Book

As you read this book, you will see that certain words are represented in different fonts and styles. These conventions are designed to help you easily navigate the book so that you can find whatever you need fast. The following sections discuss the major typographical conventions used in this book.

Commands and File Names

Linux commands (and other operating system commands, when used) are typed in bold, as in boot: linux console=device. This style indicates that you can type the word or phrase on the command line and press Enter to invoke a command.

File names, directory names, and paths are shown in a monospaced font to visually set them apart from normal text: for example, /test/new/RedHat.

Computer Output

Computer output is displayed by the computer as text on the command line. You will see this output — which includes responses to commands you typed in, error messages, and interactive prompts for your input during scripts or programs — displayed in a monospaced font against a gray background, as follows:

$ ls Desktop axhome logs paulwesterberg.png Mail backupfiles mail reports

User Input

As explained above, text that the user has to type (either on the command line, or into a text box on a GUI screen) is displayed in bold font: for example, “To boot your system into the text-based installation program, type text at the boot prompt.”