Shell Books

Linux Pocket Guide

Daniel J. Barrett

Amazon Price: $9.95 List Price: $9.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $3.24

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Network Security
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Linux -> Networking & System Administration
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Linux -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not for beginners 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

While this may be an excellent reference for experienced Linux users, it will be of very limited use for beginners or those who use Linux through a graphical interface. It is also specifically directed towards Fedora. It would be helpful if your descriptive blurb on the book revealed these two facts.

Editorial Review:

Linux Pocket Guide gets you up to speed quickly on day-to-day Linux use. It's organized the way you use Linux: by function, not just alphabetically. It's not the 'bible of Linux; it's a practical and concise guide to the options and commands you need most. It starts with general concepts like files and directories, the shell, and X windows, and then presents detailed overviews of the most essential commands, with clear examples. You'll learn each command's purpose, usage, options, location on disk, and even the RPM package that installed it. The Linux Pocket Guide is tailored to Fedora Linux--the latest spin-off of Red Hat Linux--but most of the information applies to any Linux system. Throw in a host of valuable power user tips and a friendly and accessible style, and you'll quickly find this practical, to-the-point book a small but mighty resource for Linux users.

Classic Shell Scripting

Arnold Robbins, Nelson H.F. Beebe

Amazon Price: $23.07 List Price: $34.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $19.54

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> Shell
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> General
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Shell scripting skills never go out of style. It's the shell that unlocks the real potential of Unix. Shell scripting is essential for Unix users and system administrators-a way to quickly harness and customize the full power of any Unix system. With shell scripts, you can combine the fundamental Unix text and file processing commands to crunch data and automate repetitive tasks. But beneath this simple promise lies a treacherous ocean of variations in Unix commands and standards. "Classic Shell Scripting" is written to help you reliably navigate these tricky waters.

Writing shell scripts requires more than just a knowledge of the shell language, it also requires familiarity with the individual Unix programs: why each one is there, how to use them by themselves, and in combination with the other programs. The authors are intimately familiar with the tips and tricks that can be used to create excellent scripts, as well as the traps that can make your best effort a bad shell script. With "Classic Shell Scripting" you'll avoid hours of wasted effort. You'll learn not only write useful shell scripts, but how to do it properly and portably.

The ability to program and customize the shell quickly, reliably, and portably to get the best out of any individual system is an important skill for anyone operating and maintaining Unix or Linux systems. "Classic Shell Scripting" gives you everything you need to master these essential skills.

Linux in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

Ellen Siever, Aaron Weber, Stephen Figgins, Robert Love, Arnold Robbins

Amazon Price: $29.67 List Price: $44.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 64 new & used starting at $16.33

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Computer Science -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Linux -> Programming
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Linux -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Over the last few years, Linux has grown both as an operating system and a tool for personal and business use. Simultaneously becoming more user friendly and more powerful as a back-end system, Linux has achieved new plateaus: the newer filesystems have solidified, new commands and tools have appeared and become standard, and the desktop--including new desktop environments--have proved to be viable, stable, and readily accessible to even those who don't consider themselves computer gurus.

Whether you're using Linux for personal software projects, for a small office or home office (often termed the SOHO environment), to provide services to a small group of colleagues, or to administer a site responsible for millions of email and web connections each day, you need quick access to information on a wide range of tools. This book covers all aspects of administering and making effective use of Linux systems. Among its topics are booting, package management, and revision control. But foremost in "Linux in a Nutshell" are the utilities and commands that make Linux one of the most powerful and flexible systems available.

Now in its fifth edition, "Linux in a Nutshell" brings users up-to-date with the current state of Linux. Considered by many to be the most complete and authoritative command reference for Linux available, the book covers all substantial user, programming, administration, and networking commands for the most common Linux distributions.

Comprehensive but concise, the fifth edition has been updated to cover new features of major Linux distributions. Configuration information for the rapidly growing commercial network services and community update services isone of the subjects covered for the first time.

But that's just the beginning. The book covers editors, shells, and LILO and GRUB boot options. There's also coverage of Apache, Samba, Postfix, sendmail, CVS, Subversion, Emacs, vi, sed, gawk, and much more. Everything that system administrators, developers, and power users need to know about Linux is referenced here, and they will turn to this book again and again.

Learning the bash Shell: Unix Shell Programming (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

Cameron Newham

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> MacOS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> Shell
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

O'Reilly's bestselling book on Linux's bash shell is at it again. Now that Linux is an established player both as a server and on the desktop "Learning the bash Shell" has been updated and refreshed to account for all the latest changes. Indeed, this third edition serves as the most valuable guide yet to the bash shell.

As any good programmer knows, the first thing users of the Linux operating system come face to face with is the shell the UNIX term for a user interface to the system. In other words, it's what lets you communicate with the computer via the keyboard and display. Mastering the bash shell might sound fairly simple but it isn't. In truth, there are many complexities that need careful explanation, which is just what "Learning the bash Shell" provides.

If you are new to shell programming, the book provides an excellent introduction, covering everything from the most basic to the most advanced features. And if you've been writing shell scripts for years, it offers a great way to find out what the new shell offers. "Learning the bash Shell" is also full of practical examples of shell commands and programs that will make everyday use of Linux that much easier. With this book, programmers will learn:

How to install bash as your login shell

The basics of interactive shell use, including UNIX file and directory structures, standard I/O, and background jobs

Command line editing, history substitution, and key bindings

How to customize your shell environment without programming

The nuts and bolts of basic shell programming, flow control structures, command-line options and typed variables

Process handling, from job control to processes, coroutines andsubshells

Debugging techniques, such as trace and verbose modes

Techniques for implementing system-wide shell customization and features related to system security

bash Cookbook: Solutions and Examples for bash Users (Cookbooks (O'Reilly))

Carl Albing, JP Vossen, Cameron Newham

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> Shell
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> General
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The key to mastering any Unix system, especially Linux and Mac OS X, is a thorough knowledge of shell scripting. Scripting is a way to harness and customize the power of any Unix system, and it's an essential skill for any Unix users, including system administrators and professional OS X developers. But beneath this simple promise lies a treacherous ocean of variations in Unix commands and standards.

"bash Cookbook" teaches shell scripting the way Unix masters practice the craft. It presents a variety of recipes and tricks for all levels of shell programmers so that anyone can become a proficient user of the most common Unix shell -- the bash shell -- and cygwin or other popular Unix emulation packages. Packed full of useful scripts, along with examples that explain how to create better scripts, this new cookbook gives professionals and power users everything they need to automate routine tasks and enable them to truly manage their systems -- rather than have their systems manage them.

Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible

Richard Blum

Amazon Price: $31.49 List Price: $49.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $26.46

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Linux -> Programming
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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Linux -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Good book 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I'm a computer science student but I have not previously focused much on shell scripting, but this book has greatly aided me in:
- understanding the history of command line interfaces and exactly what the Linux terminals are emulating
- the basics of the major shells
- administrating a Linux system with shell scripts

I find myself referencing this book more often then the textbook I was assigned for class.

Only up to chapter 6 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I wish this book had been out 4 years ago before I started working in a NOC (Network Operations Center). So far, I've been very impressed with the layout and information contained in this book. The command line switches are very detailed yet, this information would be a great reference for somebody starting out as long as they have a system in front of them to experiment with. Even an old $200 computer would work!

Editorial Review:

There's a lot to be said for going back to basics. Not only does this Bible give you a quick refresher on the structure of open-source Linux software, it also shows you how to bypass the hefty graphical user interface on Linux systems and start interacting the fast and efficient waywith command lines and automated scripts. You'll learn how to manage files on the filesystem, start and stop programs, use databases, even do Web programmingwithout a GUIwith this one-stop resource.

UNIX(R) Shells by Example (4th Edition) (By Example)

Ellie Quigley

Amazon Price: $34.64 List Price: $54.99 By: Prentice Hall PTR Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $34.27

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Unix -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A great intro to UNIX power tools 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Had to learn awk for a work assignment, so the natural choice was the O'Riely book. After struggling with it I had realized that as a novice UNIX power tools programmer, I needed a basic-to-intermediate level text with lots of examples. That's where Quigley's came to the rescue.

Some positives about the text are as follows

1, every concept and programming construct is followed by an example
2, the sample data file (to try the different programming techniques against) are repeated multiple times. This saves time and effort and avoids the hassle of flipping back and forth in the book
3, the material has been covered in just the right depth & breadth

The plan going forward is to use "Unix by example" as the stepping stone to advanced awk, sed, and Korn shell programming texts.
The second phase of the plan is to buy, read, and try every example from Quigley's Perl text before investing in Oreily's counterpart text.

All in all, a great introduction to the Unix power tools

Editorial Review:

Provides a complete, step by step guide to three essential UNIX shells--C, Bourne, and Korn--and three essential UNIX shell programming utilities-Awk, Sed, and Grep. Presents parallel coverage of all three shells, so it's easy to see how they compare--and when to use each. Softcover. CD-ROM included. DLC: UNIX (Computer file).

SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide

Daniel J. Barrett, Richard E. Silverman, Robert G. Byrnes

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Networks, Protocols & APIs -> General
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Networks, Protocols & APIs -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Intranets & Extranets

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Are you serious about network security? Then check out SSH, the Secure Shell, which provides key-based authentication and transparent encryption for your network connections. It's reliable, robust, and reasonably easy to use, and both free and commercial implementations are widely available for most operating systems. While it doesn't solve every privacy and security problem, SSH eliminates several of them very effectively.

Everything you want to know about SSH is in our second edition of "SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide," This updated book thoroughly covers the latest SSH-2 protocol for system administrators and end users interested in using this increasingly popular TCP/IP-based solution.

How does it work? Whenever data is sent to the network, SSH automatically encrypts it. When data reaches its intended recipient, SSH decrypts it. The result is "transparent" encryption-users can work normally, unaware that their communications are already encrypted. SSH supports secure file transfer between computers, secure remote logins, and a unique "tunneling" capability that adds encryption to otherwise insecure network applications. With SSH, users can freely navigate the Internet, and system administrators can secure their networks or perform remote administration.

Written for a wide, technical audience, "SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide" covers several implementations of SSH for different operating systems and computing environments. Whether you're an individual running Linux machines at home, a corporate network administrator with thousands of users, or a PC/Mac owner who just wants a secure way to telnet or transfer files between machines, ourindispensable guide has you covered. It starts with simple installation and use of SSH, and works its way to in-depth case studies on large, sensitive computer networks.

No matter where or how you're shipping information, "SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide" will show you how to do it securely.

Unix Power Tools, Third Edition

Shelley Powers, Tim O'Reilly

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Apple -> Mac OS X
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Apple -> Mac OS X UNIX
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Computer Science -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 67 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

True to the Unix philosophy 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Here is a quote taken from _Unix_Power_Tools_ which demonstrates the
attitude, shared by the authors, that unix allows you to make things
easier. "''Ugh!', you say, 'that's just what I hate about UNIX. All
these long filenames and options I can't remember. Who wants to type
all that stuff!' Precisely. That's why UNIX makes it so easy to
create custom commands, in the form of aliases and shell scripts."

Unix Power Tools is true to the spirit and philosophy of unix in
focusing on the command line environment with its rich abundance of
command interpreters, shell languages, system utilities, commands, and
the like. This is the realm of real power.

The book is aimed squarely at the user who wants to learn what's under
the hood of the unix (and Linux) system. It's not about how to change
your wallpaper or install the latest media player, or configure your
desktop, although this new edition may touch on these topics, too.
It's really about using unix to greatest advantage, about tapping its
real power, the power of its simplicity, of its flexibility, of
tapping into I/O streams, and using the tool-box approach to solving
real problems. It's about using 'pipes', 'redirection', and
'filters', to automate the big jobs.

My copy of this book is tattered from all the use it's had over the
last ten years. I'm always hunting it down, as my associates at work
are constantly borrowing it to help them solve a problem. That's
okay, though. I am ordering another copy, just for me. I'm curious
to see this new edition, which I understand has broader coverage of
the various unix flavors, including Linux, which I run
at home.

I would recommend this book to those who find unix intimidating, as
well as to the unix enthusiast. For anyone who ever wondered what the
fuss over unix was about, this book will certainly bring on an
epiphany. For between these covers is the greatest accumulation of
unix wisdom and know-how to be found in any book. The shear volume is
enough to elicit awe. But that's only part of its value, because such
an enormous accumulation of material might normally overwhelm the
reader, leaving him frustrated and unenlightened. Happily, this book
is so well organized, and the material so pleasingly presented, that
anyone will find it a pleasure to browse through and to mine
repeatedly for those precious tips, tricks, and methods that make
using unix so rewarding.

This is admittedly a pound heavy volume, and might be expected to
contain a lot of chaff with the grain. I have not found it so. The
authors have chosen the material well, and know their subject so
intimately and thoroughly, that I am left with a feeling of profound
respect. This is, in short, a book that is worthy of its subject; a
truly great book for a great OS.

I read another reviewer who avers this is the one book he would take
with him to a deserted island. I concur. It has taught me more than
any other unix book, and has made my work more efficient, and most
importantly, more interesting. I paid full retail for my copy of
Power Tools, and at the time, I thought it was a lot, but it has
repaid me many times over. It's the most indispensable unix book on
my shelf; a real gem.

Editorial Review:

Very occasionally a book is written about or for Unix System Administration, or Unix in general. If the author or publishers get the mix right it receives acclaim. Very, very occasionally one of those books achieves legendary status, by finding its way onto 98% of all Unix Sysadmins book shelves. This book is one of those legendary tomes. Just about every Unix Sysadmin I know has a copy of this sitting alongside books like Evi Nemeth's "Unix Sys Admin Handbook". OK so it has a lot of information that isn't new to most sysadmins, but that's not where the beauty of the book lies. The real treasure is found in the countless nuggets of Unix info that have been long since forgotten, or yet to be learned. In my humble opinion, a true Unix Classic! If like me, you earn a living from Unix, then think of this book as a carpenter would his set of chisels. You don't use them for every job, but when needed, can prove invaluable.