White Paper by David Davis, ActualTech Media

Top Ten Basic Linux

Administration Tips
In this Paper Introduction
#1 – Where Do I Get Linux? ........................... 2 For anyone new to Linux, there are a few things that you must-
know in order to get started. For example, you’ll need to know
#2 – How Do I Log In to Linux?...................... 2
how to gain access to Linux, how to login, and how to get
#3 – How Do I Know What around Linux, once logged in.
Type of Linux I Am Using?.............................. 3
In this paper, you’ll learn all of that, and more, as we run down
#4 – Where Do I Find Things? ........................ 4 the top 10 must-knows of basic Linux administration.

#5 – Where Are the Applications,

and How Do I Run Them? ............................. 6
#6 – How Do I Install Applications? ................ 8
#7 – Linux Processes, Programs,
and Services................................................ 10
#8 – Importance of Linux Log Files .............. 12
#9 – Users and Superusers ......................... 13
#10 – Files and Permissions ........................ 14
In Summary ................................................. 15

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 1

 #1 – Where Do I Get Linux?
To get started with Linux, you need to download a Linux distribution, such as RedHat Enterprise Linux,
Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, CentOS, or Cumulus Linux. You want to make sure that you obtain
a Linux distribution that is compatible with your hardware. For example, you might select a 32-bit i386
image or a 64-bit amd64 image.
For example, if you want to start with the Debian distribution, you can download an ISO-formatted
image that you would use to install Debian Linux from https://www.debian.org/distrib/
While some people will want to run Linux directly on a physical server, desktop, or laptop, many people
start learning Linux for the first time by running it inside of a virtual machine. With a VM option, you
can run Linux inside your existing Microsoft Windows or Apple macOS operating system using
virtualization tools such as
VMware Workstation or
CLI vs. GUI
VMware Fusion, both of which
both offer a free, limited-time Linux can be administered through a graphical user interface
evaluation license. You can also (GUI) or command line interface (CLI). Most direct uses of Linux
go with a free product from by consumers/individuals are done with a GUI, as with Android
Oracle called VirtualBox. phone users or Linux desktop users. Most Linux servers are
Another option is to run Linux administered through the CLI, as administrators typically find it
as a VM in the public cloud via a to be more efficient.
provider such as Amazon Web
Services or Microsoft Azure.

#2 – How Do I Log In to Linux?

Because most Linux administration is done using a CLI, you log in to Linux at either the console of the
Linux host machine or by remotely connecting to the Linux server over a network. For a new installation,
you typically log in to the
console to install system
Get an SSH client!
packages and then set up initial
users with passwords and SSH clients are all over the place! If you’re a Windows user, one of
network access. the most popular clients is PuTTY, which is available for download
from www.putty.org. If you’re a Mac user, you can just use the
Most Linux servers are set up to Terminal application that is already built into macOS. If you’re on
allow users to connect via the a mobile device, head to your device’s application store and look
network using the Secure Shell around. You’ll find a multitude of options.
(SSH), an encrypted
communications protocol. SSH
is a secure alternative to the insecure telnet that was used in the past. With SSH, your SSH client connects
to the SSH server running on the Linux host where you log in with a username and password.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 2

 Here’s how establishing a connection might work from a system that already has an SSH client (such as
macOS in this case) connecting to a Linux host (Cumulus Linux in this case) over the network:
macos1:~ david$ ssh [email protected]
[email protected]'s password: ********
Welcome to Cumulus VX (TM)
Cumulus VX (TM) is a community supported virtual appliance designed for
experiencing, testing, and prototyping Cumulus Networks' latest technology.
For any questions or technical support, visit our community site at:
http://community.cumulusnetworks.com
The registered trademark Linux ® is used pursuant to a sublicense from LMI, the
exclusive licensee of

As you can see, with SSH, you connect using the command ssh, followed by the Username, an @
symbol, and then the Hostname or IP Address of the Linux host to which you are trying to connect.
You will be prompted for your password to log in. In the example above, the password is required, but
is not echoed and therefore not shown.

#3 – How Do I Know What Type of Linux I Am

Using?
Because there are so many different types of Linux, you want to be sure you know what distribution and
version you are using (for the sake of searching the right documentation on the Internet, if nothing else).
Keep in mind a couple different commands to identify your Linux version.

The uname command shows the basic type of operating system you are using, like this:
david@debian:~$ uname -a
Linux debian 3.16.0-4-686-pae #1 SMP Debian 3.16.43-2 (2017-04-30) i686 GNU/Linux

And the hostnamectl command shows you the hostname of the Linux server as well as other system
information, like the machine ID, virtualization hypervisor (if used), operating system, and Linux kernel
version. Here’s an example:
david@debian:~$ hostnamectl
Static hostname: debian
Icon name: computer-vm
Chassis: vm
Machine ID: 0eb625ef6e084c9181b9db9c6381d8ff
Boot ID: 8a3ef6ecdfcf4218a6102b613e41f9ee
Virtualization: vmware
Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie)
Kernel: Linux 3.16.0-4-686-pae
Architecture: x86

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 3

 As shown above, this host is running Linux. More specifically, the host is running Debian GNU Linux
version 8 (codename jessie) with a Linux 3.16 version kernel on an x86 CPU architecture. Among other
things, you can also see that this Linux installation is running on a virtual machine with VMware as the
hypervisor. Cool, huh?

#4 – Where Do I Find Things?

An operating system has a file system that, similar to a filing cabinet, allows you to store and retrieve
data. Most file systems use the concept of directories—also called folders—and files that are stored inside
the directories. Everything in Linux—
Where do usernames and passwords come from? even hardware—is represented in this
You may be wondering where these usernames and passwords folder and file structure.
come from. The “superuser” username in Linux is called “root” If you’re new to Linux, you might be
because it is the only user that can modify the root directory. wondering how the Linux file system
During installation, the root user is created, and you are able to compares to something familiar like
select a password. Post-installation, administrators can use the the Microsoft Windows file system. In
root user account and account management commands to Windows, you may be used to drive
create new users (with associated passwords) for normal user letters (like the C: drive) being used as
activities. the highest point of a storage volume.
Linux represents the highest level of
the volume differently. The Linux file system can span multiple physical drives, which are all a part of
the same tree. The highest point of the Linux file system is the “/,” or “root,” with all other directories
branching down the tree from there, as shown in Figure 1.
Interaction with and navigation of the Linux file system is done up and down the tree with commands
such as:

• pwd. Display the directory you’re currently in (short for print working directory)

• ls. List out files that are present in the folder

• cd. Change directory

• rm. Remove files

• mkdir and rmdir. Make and remove folders or directories, respectively

bin dev home mnt root tmp var ….

boot etc lib proc sbin usr lost+found

Figure 1. The typical Linux file

. .. bin lib sbin
system

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 4

 Let’s do a quick exercise. First, by using the pwd command, you can see what directory I’m currently in.
david@debian:~$ pwd
/home/david

Next, to change to the root directory, you can use the cd command.
david@debian:~$ cd /

To get a simple list of files, you can use the ls command. This will display a very concise list of the files
and folders that exist in the current directory.
david@debian:/$ ls
bin boot dev etc home initrd.img lib lost+found media mnt opt proc root
run sbin srv sys tmp usr var vmlinuz

But, in most cases, you probably want more information than just a simple list of files. Linux uses
command line flags or switches to extend what a command can do. For example, to list out all the files
and folders in the current directory, along with full details about each one, you would type ls -la.
This long listing format then shows you each file and directory, as well as the permissions and access
rights for each object, the name of the user that owns the object (root), the name of the group that owns
the object (again, root), the file size, and the data and time that the object was last modified. Here’s what
this output looks like for the root folder on my test system:
david@debian:/$ ls -la
total 88
drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4096 May 15 11:50 .
drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4096 May 15 11:50 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 15 12:11 bin
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 May 15 15:53 boot
drwxr-xr-x 18 root root 3200 Jul 14 01:52 dev
drwxr-xr-x 134 root root 12288 Jul 14 01:55 etc
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 May 15 15:53 home
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 33 May 15 11:50 initrd.img -> /boot/initrd.img-3.16.0-
4-686-pae
drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 4096 May 17 00:41 lib
drwx------ 2 root root 16384 May 15 11:49 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 May 15 11:49 media
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 15 11:49 mnt
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 15 11:49 opt
dr-xr-xr-x 150 root root 0 Jul 14 01:52 proc
drwx------ 2 root root 4096 May 16 14:29 root
drwxr-xr-x 23 root root 880 Jul 14 01:57 run
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 17 00:41 sbin
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 15 11:49 srv
dr-xr-xr-x 13 root root 0 Jul 14 01:52 sys
drwxrwxrwt 13 root root 4096 Jul 14 02:02 tmp

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 5

 drwxr-xr-x 10 root root 4096 May 15 11:49 usr
drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4096 May 15 12:12 var
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 29 May 15 11:50 vmlinuz -> boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-4-686-
pae

#5 – Where Are the Applications, and How Do I

Run Them?
One of the most common
questions from new Linux users Fun with the file system
who are at a command line is,
The image shown in Figure 1 also showed you some of
“What are the applications
the most important directories in the Linux file system,
available to me, and how do I
including:
run them?” As mentioned
previously, most user tools are • /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, and /usr/sbin. Where
found in the directories /bin, executable programs are stored.
/usr/bin and system tools are • /dev. Where files representing hardware devices
typically located in /sbin and are stored. For example, if your Linux system
/usr/sbin. For example, tools like had a floppy drive device, there would be a file
cp (to copy a file), ps (for named fd0 in the dev folder (/dev/fd0).
process status), and cat (to
display the contents of a file) are • /etc. Where configuration files are stored.
all found in /bin. The great thing • /home. Where user home directories are stored,
is you don’t need to go into any one for each user.
of these directories to run these
• /var. Where variable-length files, like log files,
types of tools because these
are stored.
directories are included in your
$PATH variable by default. Of course, not all applications play nice, and not all
Linux administrators are consistent. This is just where
The $PATH variable includes all
stuff is supposed to go, but things occasionally end up
the locations that are searched
where they don’t belong. While there may be some
when you run a command in the
differences between Linux distributions when it comes
CLI. Because the /bin directories
to where things are located, in general, the baseline
are in your path, when you
directory structure and usage of it should be the same
execute the name of any of these
because this is defined by the file system Hierarchy
sample tools, they will be found.
Standard (FHS). For more information on the FHS see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 6

 Here’s what your $PATH variable might look like (shown by using the echo command to show the
$PATH variable):
david@debian:~$ echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games

You can execute applications or commands simply by typing the name of the command if application’s
location is in your $PATH. If that application is not in one of the folders listed in your $PATH, you have
to do one of the following:

• Navigate to the folder where the application is found and tell Linux that you want to execute
the application in that folder, like this:
david@debian:~$ cd /opt/app/bin
david@debian:~$ ./myapp

• (the “dot slash” refers to the current folder, with the full command saying “in the current
directory, execute ‘my app’”)

• Specify the full path of the application when you execute it, like this:
david@debian:~$ /opt/app/bin/myapp

A useful command in determining which command will be run and from what directory it will be run
is the which command. Use which with the executable of a command afterward to get a list of the
location of the command that will be executed.
Besides the standard types of Linux tools, there are tens of thousands of applications you can install into
Linux in just a few commands. Linux distributions offer package managers that help you search online
package or application repositories and then download and install just about any application you might
want. Package managers also make it easy to update your packages to get the latest version. Examples of
package managers are apt, dpkg, rpm, and yum. The package manager that is available to you will be
determined by the Linux distribution that you have installed. Linux running on Android mobile devices
also has its own package manager (similar to the Apple “App Store”).

On Debian and Ubuntu systems, you can run apt list --installed and get a list of the packages
that are already installed, like this:
david@debian:~$ apt list --installed
accountsservice/stable,now 0.6.37-3+b1 i386 [installed,automatic]
acl/stable,now 2.2.52-2 i386 [installed]
acpi/stable,now 1.7-1 i386 [installed]
acpi-support-base/stable,now 0.142-6 all [installed]

(Output truncated)

Any apt list command will result in very long output, so you may consider piping it to the “less”
pager tool, like this: apt list | less. This will show you the output page by page and allow you to
press the space bar after each page to see the next page.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 7

 #6 – How Do I Install Applications?
Before you start installing new services, you should typically ensure that you have the list of the most
recent versions of available packages from the update repository. This command doesn’t actually update
any software, but it does make sure you’re looking at a list of currently available package versions. You
can update the list of packages that are available to you with apt update, like this:
david@debian:/opt$ sudo apt update
Ign http://ftp.us.debian.org jessie InRelease
Get:1 http://ftp.us.debian.org jessie-updates InRelease [145 kB]
Get:2 http://security.debian.org jessie/updates InRelease [63.1 kB]
Get:3 http://ftp.us.debian.org jessie Release.gpg [2,373 B]

(output truncated)

Then, install a package with apt install, like this:

david@debian:~$ sudo apt install apache2
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages:
apache2-doc apache2-suexec-pristine apache2-suexec-custom
The following NEW packages will be installed:
apache2
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/208 kB of archives.

After this operation, 361 kB of additional disk space will be used.

Selecting previously unselected package apache2.
(Reading database ... 137657 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../apache2_2.4.10-10+deb8u8_i386.deb ...
Unpacking apache2 (2.4.10-10+deb8u8) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.0.2-5) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (215-17+deb8u7) ...
Setting up apache2 (2.4.10-10+deb8u8) ...

Important!
For commands requiring elevated privileges, we’ll be prepending those commands with the
sudo command. The sudo command allows you to run the command as an administrator.

In the above example, we used apt install to install the Apache web server. To verify that a package
is installed correctly (and that you installed what you think you installed), you can use apt show.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 8

 david@debian:~$ apt show apache2
Package: apache2
Version: 2.4.10-10+deb8u8
Installed-Size: 361 kB
Maintainer: Debian Apache Maintainers <[email protected]>
Replaces: apache2.2-common, libapache2-mod-macro (<< 1:2.4.6-1~)
Provides: httpd, httpd-cgi
Depends: lsb-base, procps, perl, mime-support, apache2-bin (= 2.4.10-10+deb8u8),
apache2-utils (>= 2.4), apache2-data (= 2.4.10-10+deb8u8)
Pre-Depends: dpkg (>= 1.17.14)
Recommends: ssl-cert
Suggests: www-browser, apache2-doc, apache2-suexec-pristine | apache2-suexec-custom
Conflicts: apache2.2-common (<< 2.3~)
Breaks: libapache2-mod-macro (<< 1:2.4.6-1~)
Homepage: http://httpd.apache.org/
Tag: role::metapackage, suite::apache
Section: httpd
Priority: optional
Download-Size: 208 kB
APT-Manual-Installed: yes
APT-Sources: http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main i386 Packages
Description: Apache HTTP Server
The Apache HTTP Server Project's goal is to build a secure, efficient and
extensible HTTP server as standards-compliant open-source software. The
result has long been the number one web server on the Internet.
Installing this package results in a full installation, including the
configuration files, init scripts and support scripts.

You can see that the

What is piping? Apache 2.4.10 web server
You can direct the output of a command to another command. Say you want was installed, and it says
to get a directory listing that doesn’t scroll off the bottom of the screen. You that this package results
can use the less paging tool by piping the output of ls -al to less. In this in a full installation;
case, type ls -al | less at the command prompt and, when the screen fills however, it also suggests
up, you are prompted to hit a key to view the second page of the directory. that we install the
Understanding the pipe character “|” and its usage is important as you begin apache-doc (for
your Linux journey. In fact, as you get deeper into Linux territory, you will documentation) and
find that the ability to pipe command output to other commands is invaluable www-browser (to act as
when it comes to creating scripts to automate certain functionality. our HTTP client/ web
browser) packages.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 9

 #7 – Linux Processes, Programs, and Services
When you start a program, in
Linux, it will run interactively by Getting help
default, which means you can Linux commands can, at times, be confusing and can
interact with it via your terminal become complex. In Linux, help is always available!
session with all input and output
Use the man command (shorthand for “manual”) to
presented to you, the user.
provide detailed documentation for just about every
However, you can also run
Linux command. For example:
programs in the background
david@Debian$ man ls
(often called “services”) so that
NAME
you don’t see their output and
ls - list directory contents
can still use your command
SYNOPSIS
prompt to continue your work
ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...
(and continue running the
DESCRIPTION
service even when you are
List information about the FILEs (the
logged out). This can also be current directory by default). Sort entries
useful if you have a program that alphabetically if none of
will take some time to process; -cftuvSUX nor --sort is specified.
you can just put it in the Mandatory arguments to long options are
background and be alerted mandatory for short options too.

when it is completed. -a, --all

do not ignore entries starting
But how do you know if it’s still with .
running, and how do you get a -A, --almost-all
list of every process running on do not list implied . and ..
your system? The ps command (output truncated)
displays a list of running
processes in Linux. This Depending on the command, other options to get help are
command is often coupled with to append “-h” or just “help” after the command.
the -ef flag to show every process
in the long list format shown below. You’ll see right at the top that “/sbin/init” is PID (process identifier)
#1, and it’s owned by root (the superuser).
david@debian:~$ ps -ef
UID PID PPID C STIME TTY TIME CMD
root 1 0 0 01:52 ? 00:00:01 /sbin/init
root 2 0 0 01:52 ? 00:00:00 [kthreadd]
root 3 2 0 01:52 ? 00:00:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root 5 2 0 01:52 ? 00:00:00 [kworker/0:0H]

(Output truncated)

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 10

 You may want to pipe the ps -ef command to less, like
ps -ef | less, to see the output page by page.

If you just enter ps by itself, you’ll see only your running processes, like this:
david@debian:~$ ps
PID TTY TIME CMD
1679 pts/1 00:00:00 bash
1784 pts/1 00:00:00 ps

In this case, you can see that this user is running the bash shell, which is providing the command
prompt and the ps command to show what processes are running (also the command that produced
this output).
Linux uses the concept of system services, which are long-running programs that are run in the
background and typically provide some service on behalf of system users. You can start, stop, and check
the status of services with the command systemctl, like this:
david@debian:/opt$ systemctl status
● debian
State: running
Jobs: 0 queued
Failed: 0 units
Since: Tue 2017-08-08 20:49:02 EDT; 1h 37min ago
CGroup: /
├─1 /sbin/init
├─system.slice
│ ├─avahi-daemon.service
│ │ ├─469 avahi-daemon: running [debian.local
david@debian:/opt$

(Output truncated)

Service vs. Systemctl

There is currently a command transition happening, with the service command being phased
out in favor of the new systemctl command. You may see references on websites to the older
service command. Be aware that the new systemctl will soon replace service in all Linux
distributions.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 11

 #8 – Importance of Linux Log Files
To be an effective administrator of any type of Linux system, you need to be able to find and search log
files to determine the status of the system, including finding any system and application errors. Although
applications can put their log file anywhere they like (such as placing them in the application’s
directory), most Linux system log files will be found in /var/log.

If you go over to /var/log (with cd /var/log) and do a ls -l (to list the files in long format), you’ll
find that there are quite a few Linux system log files.
david@debian:~$ cd /var/log
david@debian:/var/log$ ls -l
total 4924
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Jul 14 01:57 alternatives.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 40586 May 15 12:12 alternatives.log.1
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 14 01:57 apt
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 1471 Jul 14 02:17 auth.log
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 24651 Jul 14 01:55 auth.log.1
-rw-rw---- 1 root utmp 0 Jul 14 01:57 btmp
-rw------- 1 root utmp 768 Jul 14 01:53 btmp.1
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 14 01:57 cups

(Output truncated)
The following are the most important system log files:

• syslog. Contains the centralized logging system, called syslog, in which you’ll find messages
related to the kernel, applications, and more. If configured, this could be the centralized log file
for all Linux systems (or even all network devices) in your data center.
• auth.log. Contains authentication failures and successes
• messages. Contains general system messages of all types

A variety of different tools can be used to view and parse log files, such as:

• cat. Display the contents of a file

• less. View a file with pagination and scrolling

• grep. Search for a string in a file where the usage is grep PATTERN [FILE]

• head. See the first lines (head end) of a text file

• tail. View the last lines (tail end) of a text file. A common use case for tail is to watch the status
of a log file in real time with the “-f” flag like tail -f /var/log/syslog

Even if you ignore the rest of the commands in the previous list, learn to use grep.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 12

 #9 – Users and Superusers
Just as you might expect with any multi-user operating system, Linux supports the concept of users with
differing levels of access. By default, you’ll log in as a common user and be able to view most of what’s
happening on the system, although you’re not allowed to view log files as a standard unprivileged user.
To be able to reconfigure the system or view log files, you’ll need administrative rights. In Linux, these
administrative privileges are referred to as superuser privileges and are equivalent to the root user, who
has a user ID of 0 (zero).

Adding, Modifying, and Deleting User Accounts

It’s important to note that Linux user accounts can be added, modified, and deleted with the
commands adduser, moduser, and deluser. To add, modify, or delete users, you must have the
correct privileges (which are usually the privileges of the root user).

Take a look at this command sequence:

david@debian:/$ id
uid=1000(david) gid=1000(david)
groups=1000(david),24(cdrom),25(floppy),27(sudo),29(audio),30(dip),44(video),46(plu
gdev),108(netdev),110(lpadmin),113(scanner),117(bluetooth)
david@debian:/$ whoami
david
david@debian:/$ sudo id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)
david@debian:/$
david@debian:/$ sudo whoami
root

Notice in the dialog above how the id command was used to see that we were “uid” (user ID) 1000, and
how the whoami command was used to see that I am a user called “david.” From there, I used the sudo
id command to make sure I was the root user, and the sudo whoami command verified that I had
become root. You’ll note that the id command proves that I have the uid of 0 (zero).
Here’s a real-world example. Suppose you’d like to view the latest system logs from the Linux syslog file.
Doing so isn’t possible with a regular user account. To view the syslog file (using the tail command, in
this case), you must use the sudo command:
david@debian:~$ tail /var/log/syslog
tail: cannot open ‘/var/log/syslog’ for reading: Permission denied
david@debian:~$ sudo tail /var/log/syslog
May 15 10:00:08 debian systemd[1]: Reached target Network is Online.
May 15 10:00:08 debian systemd[1]: Started ACPI event daemon.
May 15 10:00:08 debian systemd[1]: Listening on ACPID Listen Socket.
May 15 10:00:08 debian systemd[1]: Started LSB: RPC portmapper replacement.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 13

 May 15 10:00:08 debian systemd[1]: Reached target RPC Port Mapper.
May 15 10:00:08 debian systemd[1]: Activated swap /dev/disk/by-uuid/4a28e383-9cad-
4d88-997e-62cfb508d606.
May 15 10:00:08 debian systemd[1]: Activated swap /dev/sda5.
May 15 10:00:08 debian systemd[1]: Activated swap /dev/disk/by-path/pci-
0000:03:00.0-scsi-0:0:0:0-part5.
May 15 10:06:19 debian systemd[1]: Starting Session 106 of user david.
May 15 10:06:19 debian systemd[1]: Started Session 106 of user david.

In the above command sequence, you can see that first there was a permission denied error when trying
to view the syslog file, but when the sudo command was used (which typically prompts you for the root
password, since no other user was specified), the last 10 lines of the log file were shown. Many systems
prevent you from becoming the root user with su and instead require you to use the sudo command.
The privileges for who can run what are determined by the /etc/sudoers file, and that file should be
edited using the visudo command to ensure safe access to a critically important configuration file. For
more information on sudo, just use man sudo to view the manual page.

#10 – Files and Permissions

The reason that the user “david” was denied access to the file /var/log/syslog in the previous example is
that the user “david” doesn’t have permission to access to the file. You can see this if you execute ls -l
/var/log/syslog:
david@debian:~$ ls -l /var/log/syslog
-rw-r----- 1 root adm 9074 May 15 10:17 /var/log/syslog

The file is owned by the user “root” and the group “adm”. The file permissions are “rw” (shorthand for
read/write) for the owner and “r” (shorthand for “read”) for the group with no permissions for anyone
else. Figure 2 shows how file permissions work in Linux.

drwxr-xr-x 1 cumulus cumulus 154 May 16 09:15 cumulus

d – directory

drwxr-xr-x
r – read
w – write
x - execute
Type User Group Other Figure 2. Linux file permissions

In the file permissions graphic (Figure 2), a “d” on the left tells you whether you are looking at a directory
(or folder). Then the three sets of permissions “rwx, r-x, r-x” say whether you can read, write, and execute
(or start the application) at the user level, the group level, and the “everyone else” level (others). The type
indicator shown in Figure 2 identifies the selected object as a directory, hence the “d” as the type. The
two most important types of objects in the Linux file system are directories (“d”) and files (“-”). There
are other possible types as well, but for my purposes here, we’ll stick with directories and files.

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 14

 In Summary
You’ve learned where to download Linux, how to login, and how to get around Linux, once logged in.
Additionally, you learned about Linux applications, man pages, processes, files, and permissions. With
these tips in mind, you’re ready to jump into Linux! Thanks for reading the top 10 must-knows of basic
Linux administration!

Last updated: December 2017

Copyright 2017 ActualTech Media; not responsible for errors or omissions

Top Ten Basic Linux Administration Tips 15