Includes index.

Chapter 1--Introducing the Basics of AutomationChapter 2-- Using SSH to Securely Automate System AdministrationChapter 3--Creating Login Scripts and Shell Scripts Chapter 4--Pre-Installation: Network Preparation and ManagementChapter 5--Automating and Customizing Installation Chapter 6--Automatic System Configuration Chapter 7--Sharing Data Between SystemsChapter 8--Packages and PatchesChapter 9--System Maintenance and ChangesChapter--10 System MonitoringChapter 11--Improving System Security Chapter 12--Backing Up and Restoring Data Chapter 13--User Interfaces Appendix A Introduction to Basic ToolsAppendix B Customizing and Automating Red Hat Linux InstallationAppendix C Building Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) Packages

Wouldn't you like to automate the tedious daily tasks of system administration? Automating UNIX and Linux Administration will show you how, by exploring existing tools and offering real-world examples. Although some of the book is Linux-specific, most of the information applies to any UNIX system, including material on automating tasks across multiple variants of UNIX. Author Kirk Bauer briefly overviews tools and technologies--and assumes preliminary knowledge about editing a configuration file or mounting a file system. The techniques, methods, and tools in this book will help you manage a single system--but will prove especially powerful across multiple systems. No matter if the systems are desktops, servers, or Beowulf clusters--all of them will benefit from this automation. And managing five to five thousand systems will become a simpler task!