CSCI 257: Fundamental UNIX System Administration

Class Project for Spring 2003

The goal of the class project is to provide students with practical experience to administer Linux installation and administration on a computer shared with Windows.

Laboratory Assignment 3

ASSIGNMENT DUE: 12:00 NOON, February 26, 2003.

Assignment Description:

As a system administrator, you will need to do a number of things.  You will need to manage user and group accounts, be able to monitor and kill processes running on your system and manage the file system.

Goal:

The goal of this assignment is to introduce students to managing user accounts on a Linux System, processes and the file system.

Objectives:

Expected Outcome:

I created this lab using some sections from an Introduction to Linux, and The Linux Cookbook.  Both books are available at no charge through the Linux Documentation Project.  This lab should be pretty easy because I list what book to use as a reference (even the sections and chapters) before each set of questions.  Although I probably screwed up and included a question or two associated with a reference whose answer isn't in that reference (sorry).  If that is the case you should still be able to find the answer somewhere else and it shouldn't cause you too much difficulty.

Introduction to Linux: A Hands on Guide by Machtelt Garrels
read Sections 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 online,  http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/index.html
or download the entire book http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/Intro-Linux.html.tar.gz

The Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use by Michael Stutz
 In Part One read Chapter 3 only, http://www.tldp.org/LDP/linuxcookbook/html/cookbook_4.html#SEC18
or download the entire book http://www.tldp.org/LDP/linuxcookbook/linuxcookbook-1.2.html.tar.gz

Note: Use your user account to do these exercises (don't use root except when you need to).

Generic questions to find out what kind of system you are doing you work on

The Linux Cookbook - Chapter 3 "What Every Linux User Knows"

Introduction to Linux - Chapter 3 "About files and the filesystem"

Unix System Administrators Handbook (the class textbook) - Chapter 6 "Adding New Users"

(You need to be root to add, remove, delete users and groups and in order to view /etc/shadow).

Introduction to Linux - Chapter 4 "Processes"

Survey