179 lines
7.2 KiB
HTML
179 lines
7.2 KiB
HTML
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<title>Book Review: Perl for System Administration LG #90</title>
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<A HREF="okopnik.html"><< Prev</A> | <A HREF="index.html">TOC</A> | <A HREF="../index.html">Front Page</A> | <A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/cgi-bin/talkback/all.py?site=LG&article=http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue90/puryear.html">Talkback</A> | <A HREF="../faq/index.html">FAQ</A> | <A HREF="raghu.html">Next >></A>
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<TABLE BORDER><TR><TD WIDTH="200">
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/">
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<IMG ALT="LINUX GAZETTE" SRC="../gx/2002/lglogo_200x41.png"
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WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="41" border="0"></A>
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<BR CLEAR="all">
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<SMALL>...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I></SMALL>
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</TD><TD WIDTH="380">
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<CENTER>
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<BIG><BIG><STRONG><FONT COLOR="maroon">Book Review: Perl for System Administration</FONT></STRONG></BIG></BIG>
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<BR>
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<STRONG>By <A HREF="../authors/puryear.html">Dustin Puryear</A></STRONG>
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<TABLE><TR>
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<TH ALIGN="left">Title:</TH>
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<TD ALIGN="left">Perl for System Administration</TD>
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</TR><TR>
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<TH ALIGN="left">Author:</TH>
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<TD ALIGN="left">David N Blank-Edelman</TD>
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</TR><TR>
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<TH ALIGN="left">Publisher:</TH>
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<TD ALIGN="left">O'Reilly & Associates</TD>
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</TR><TR>
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<TH ALIGN="left">Published:</TH>
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<TD ALIGN="left">July 2000</TD>
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</TR><TR>
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<TH ALIGN="left">Cost:</TH>
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<TD ALIGN="left">$34.95</TD>
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</TR></TABLE>
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<P> Perl is a great programming language. While not the most
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aesthetically pleasing or the most rigorously structured,
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the language is powerful, flexible, and very close to being
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ubiquitous in the networking world. And for system
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administrators Perl fulfills a very important need as a tool
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language: The ability to work, and to work well, under both
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Windows and UNIX.
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<P> There are a lot of useful things that you can do with Perl,
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including managing users, adjusting quotas, and monitoring
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log files and the Event Log. In Windows you can do much of
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this in Windows Scripting Host (WSH), and UNIX users have
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long had other tools to do these jobs. However, Perl is a
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major player these days in managing mid-size to large
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systems, and with Perl there comes a higher level of
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integration in managing disparate systems.
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<P> In 2000 O'Reilly & Associates published "Perl for System
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Administration," by David N Blank-Edelman. This book,
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despite having been published two years ago, is still an
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excellent resource for Windows and UNIX system
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administrators alike. Better yet, if you are managing a
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mixed environment, Blank-Edelman's book is even more valuable
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because of the emphasis on using Perl as a cross-platform
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tool to help manage UNIX, Windows, and even the Mac.
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<P> "Perl for System Administrators," weighing in at 418 pages,
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includes a very wide range of topics. The ten chapters,
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"Introduction," "Filesystems," "User Accounts," "User
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Activity," "TCP/IP Name Services," "Directory Services,"
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"SQL Database Administration," "Electronic Mail," "Log
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Files," and "Security and Network Monitoring," form a solid
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foundation for building solutions across systems.
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<P> Now what is truly interesting about this book is the focus
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on supplying either cross-platform solutions, or if that
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doesn't directly apply, of ensuring that both Windows and
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UNIX needs are addressed in some depth for each given topic.
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For example, when discussing log monitoring in Chapter 9,
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"Log Files," Blank-Edelman discusses how to filter through
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both Windows Event Log and UNIX log entries. Using the
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information presented in this chapter you can begin to
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create a cross-platform log monitoring application for your
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own network.
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<P> Alas, the focus on the cross-platform aspects of Perl may be
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an issue for readers that want either a Windows- or UNIX-
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only focus. However, I would argue that it is this very lack
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of focus on either platform that brings "Perl for System
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Administration" to the next level. (If you are looking to
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learn how to use Perl under Windows then "Learning Perl on
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Win32 Systems," also by O'Reilly, would be a good choice.)
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Essentially, by the end of the book you will have learned to
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consider various administrative tasks at a higher-level so
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that you can address either Windows or UNIX systems with a
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cohesive solution, and in the end this kind of high-level
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design gives you a more robust and scalable solution.
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<P> As far as caveats, "Perl for System Administration" does
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require that you are an intermediate Perl user. The book is
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in no way an introduction to Perl, so be prepared to read an
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introductory text if you are new to Perl before reading this
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book. Also, I did find that some of the Perl modules
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mentioned in the book, and that you must install on your own
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systems, are difficult to find despite the pointers
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presented at the end of each chapter.
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<P> If you are responsible for managing more than a few servers
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or workstations then I suggest you check this book out.
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While you may not use all of the techniques and solutions
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presented in the book-for example, not everyone will have
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SQL servers to manage-there is more than enough information
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presented here to keep you thinking of your own custom Perl
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solutions far into the future.
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<!-- *** BEGIN author bio *** -->
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<P>
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<P>
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<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
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<P>
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<img ALIGN="LEFT" ALT="[BIO]" SRC="../gx/2002/note.png">
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<em>
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Dustin Puryear, a respected authority on Windows
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and UNIX systems, is founder and Principle Consultant of Puryear
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Information Technology. In addition to consulting in the information
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technology industry, Dustin is a conference speaker; has written
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articles about numerous technology issues; and authored "Integrate
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Linux Solutions into Your Windows Network," which focuses on
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integrating Linux-based solutions in Windows environments.
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</em>
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<br CLEAR="all">
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<!-- *** END author bio *** -->
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<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
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<hr>
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<CENTER><SMALL><STRONG>
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Copyright © 2003, Dustin Puryear.
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Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
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Published in Issue 90 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, May 2003
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</STRONG></SMALL></CENTER>
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