Introduction
Every system Administrator remembers the allure, the frustration and the fun that came with those early days of grappling, messing and rebuilding their Linux Boxes when the interest arrested them. That exploratory journey of pits and falls enhanced their learning and made them who they are today. For the ones who have that similar calling and irresistible urge to know what goes on in the world of Linux and Administration in general, this article tries to shed some light by exposing some Top Linux Books for Beginners that will really be of help to you. Welcome to the sect.
“From what we get in life, we make a living. From what we give, we make a life.”
– Arthur Ashe
The following are top books that you can check out as you venture into sharpening your skills through the acquisition of knowledge.
1. The Linux Command Line
The Linux Command Line takes you from your very first terminal keystrokes to writing full programs in Bash, the most popular Linux shell (or command line). Along the way, you’ll learn the timeless skills handed down by generations of experience, mouse-shunning gurus: file navigation, environment configuration, command chaining, pattern matching with regular expressions, and more.
In addition to that practical knowledge, author William Shotts reveals the philosophy behind these tools and the rich heritage that your desktop Linux machine has inherited from Unix supercomputers of yore.
As you make your way through the book’s short, easily-digestible chapters, you’ll learn how to:
- Create and delete files, directories, and symlinks
- Administer your system, including networking, package installation, and process management
- Use standard input and output, redirection, and pipelines
- Edit files with Vi, the world’s most popular text editor
- Write shell scripts to automate common or boring tasks
- Slice and dice text files with cut, paste, grep, patch, and sed
Buy it now on Amazon:
2. Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible
This book by Richard Blum serves as a basic and very essential Linux resource that will guide you with plenty of examples. Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible immediately goes into the fundamentals of the command line, introduces you to bash scripting which will be very important in your day-to-day Linux administration and goes the extra mile by providing detailed examples. The third edition is the latest release, it has new updated content and examples aligned with the latest Linux features.
What is attractive about this resource is how the author has gone out of the way to provide sound tutorials that you can easily follow through and actually understand. The examples are apt and relevant. With patience and hard work, this can serve your curious appetite with bliss.
The latest edition includes brand-new content covering:
- Understanding the Shell
- Writing Simple Script Utilities
- Producing Database, Web & Email Scripts
- Creating Fun Little Shell Scripts
Check it out on Amazon:
3. UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook
UNIX® and Linux® System Administration Handbook, Fifth Edition, is today’s definitive guide to installing, configuring, and maintaining any UNIX or Linux system, including systems that supply core Internet and cloud infrastructure.
Updated for new distributions and cloud environments, this comprehensive guide covers best practices for every facet of system administration, including:
- Storage management,
- Network design and administration,
- Security, web hosting, automation,
- Configuration management,
- Performance analysis,


