Introduction

Welcome to the Red Hat Linux System Administration Primer.

The Red Hat Linux System Administration Primer contains introductory information for new Red Hat Linux system administrators. It will not teach you how to perform a particular task under Red Hat Linux; rather, it will provide you with the background knowledge that more experienced system administrators have learned over time.

This guide assumes you have a limited amount of experience as a Linux user, but no Linux system administration experience. If you are completely new to Linux in general (and Red Hat Linux in particular), you should start by reading the Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide.

More experienced system administrators should skim the Red Hat Linux System Administration Primer for overall concepts, and then concentrate on using the Red Hat Linux Customization Guide for assistance in performing specific tasks in a Red Hat Linux environment. Administrators requiring more in-depth, factual information should refer to the Red Hat Linux Reference Guide.

HTML and PDF versions of the Official Red Hat Linux manuals are available on the Red Hat Linux Documentation CD and online at http://www.redhat.com/docs/.

NoteNote
 

Although this manual reflects the most current information possible, you should read the Red Hat Linux Release Notes for information that may not have been available prior to our documentation being finalized. They can be found on the Red Hat Linux CD #1 and online at:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux

1. Changes to This Manual

This version of the Red Hat Linux System Administration Primer includes the following changes:

All chapters have been restructured to have three main sections:

By adopting a consistent structure, readers can more easily read the Red Hat Linux System Administration Primer in whatever way they choose. For example, an experienced system administrator with little Red Hat Linux experience could skim only the sections that specifically focus on Red Hat Linux, while a new system adminstrator could start only with the generic overview sections.