Advice for everyday Unix systems administration and some clever ways to approach more challenging problems.
Unusual things you can do with the vim editor
A song to make Sysadmin Day extra special.
Identifying and generating prime numbers on Unix is easier than you might imagine
Using find commands to display important file system statistics
Preparing for the CCSK exam with a set of classes from intrinsec
Using the join command to avoid quoting arguments
While there are many things you can do to secure the systems you manage, the key to getting a Unix system to pass an ISO 27001 audit is knowing what the auditors are likely to ask and what they will need to see.
There are only two times when you need to dig through piles of data to get your job done: When you know what you're looking for and when you don't. Here are the best tools and techniques for both situations.
Listing group members on Unix systems, including commands and a helpful script
There's more than one kind of swap file -- this kind is is created by your system to help ensure that you don't lose important file content when something goes wrong.
Bryson Payne, no starch press, 2015
Book review: Build an HTML5 Game: A Developer's Guide with CSS and JavaScript Karl Bunyan, no starch press, 2015
If you work with file archives that come in many different "flavors", you might find this little trick to be a handy one.
A waterproof safe dropped into the deepest part of the ocean is not as 'secure' as it is useless.
Using fail2ban to dynamically block attackers
Making use of HTTP status codes to make everyday life run more smoothly
One way to restrict what users can do on your Linux systems is by using rbash -- the restricted Bourne Again shell -- but only if you take some additional steps to ensure that your users can't break out of their cells
Black Hat Python: Python Programming for Hackers and Pentesters Justin Seitz no starch press, 2015
The Unix command line provides numerous ways to make our work easier. Here are 15 "tricks" that I use often to make quick work of various tasks.
2014 drawing to a close presents us all with an opportunity to consider what we might do better in the year to come. And, hint hint, it's not all about working harder.
Building apps for Android or thinking about it? This book on Android Security is a must read.
I've heard that those who can't remember history are condemned to repeat it but for Unix users, repeating history is not only advantageous, it's something of a skill.
Sometimes, the simplest command line challenges can leave you leaning over your keyboard with that "What just happened?" look on your face. There's (almost) always a good explanation, but it might take a little head scratching before ....
If you want to learn one of the most effective modern tools for web site development -- quickly, easily and well -- this book is for you. This crash course will take you from concepts to deploying web applications quickly and securely if you just si....
Unix errors often seem cryptic and sometimes even obtuse, but they're actually well designed and useful. A little insight into the whys and hows of common error messages might help you appreciate not just error messages, but why you're bum....
The name might make you feel a little spaced out, but the tool could provide you with a clear view of the outer reaches of your security domain.
Breaking out of the traditional owner/group/world way of managing file permissions, setfacl and getfacl provide a lot of flexibility and fair share of complexity.
The chage command allows you to easily expire user passwords, but how it works depends in part on how your accounts are set up to begin with.
Log files on Unix systems can easily grow to hundreds of thousands or even millions of lines. Here's a simple way to pluck out every Nth line.
For more than 20 years, a very serious bug in our beloved bash simply went unnoticed. What have we learned?
Log file rotation of Unix systems just sort of happens ... or does it? You may have a lot more options that you've ever imagined.
Tired of the ls command and want to see more interesting information on your files? Try stat!
One of the best ways to write scripts quickly and effectively is to never start from scratch.
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