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,
- Virtualization,
- DNS,
- Security, and the management of IT service organizations.
- Cloud platforms
- DevOps philosophy
- Continuous deployment
- Containerization
- Monitoring
A complete review plus much more is found on Amazon. Have a look here:
4. Linux: The Complete Reference
Richard Petersen, a Linux Expert has once again released this book that gives the reader an in-depth coverage of all Linux features. As a beginner, you will have the advantage of having a thorough coverage of all aspects of Linux distributions ranging from shells, desktops, deployment of servers, management of applications, understanding security and a good grounding of basic network administration.
Linux: The Complete Reference is the ultimate guide where you will have the chance to learn how to:
- Administer any Linux distribution by installing and configuring them
- File and directory administration/manipulation from the BASH, TCSH, and Z shells
- Understand and use various desktop environments such as GNOME and KDE desktops, X Windows, and display managers
- Understand how to install essential applications such as Office, database, connection to the Internet, and manage multimedia applications
- Configure and manage IPv6, DHCPv6, NIS, networking, and remote access
- Have a good coverage of security by learning SELinux, netfilter, SSH, and Kerberos
- Get a good grounding of encryption such as encrypting network transmissions with GPG, LUKS, and IPsec
- Acquire skills in deploying FTP, Web, mail, proxy, print, news, and database servers and many more.
- Administer system resources using HAL, udev, and virtualization (KVM and Xen)
Check it out on Amazon using the link below.
5. How Linux Works: What Every Superuser Should Know
As you may know, Linux is an open-source Operating System/Kernel. What this means is that you have full control of your computer. You can do whatever you like with it. That can be so powerful if you have a nuanced understanding of how its internals work. Like how the system boots, how networking works, and what the kernel actually does.
In this completely revised second edition of the perennial best seller How Linux Works, author Brian Ward makes the concepts behind Linux internals accessible to anyone curious about the inner workings of the operating system. Inside, you’ll find the kind of knowledge that normally comes from years of experience doing things the hard way.
In this book, you will learn:
- How Linux boots, from boot loaders to init implementations (systemd, Upstart, and System V)
- How the kernel manages devices, device drivers, and processes
- How networking, interfaces, firewalls, and servers work
- How development tools work and relate to shared libraries
- How to write effective shell scripts
What is more, you will get to explore the kernel and examine key system tasks inside user space, including system calls, input and output, and file systems. With its combination of background, theory, real-world examples, and patient explanations, How Linux Works will teach you what you need to know to solve pesky problems and take control of your operating system.
To purchase this book, visit the link below:
6. Linux for Beginners
Beginning anything in life is always marred with a myriad of hurdles and unprecedented impediments. When it comes to learning a new skill, the same applies especially when it comes to system administration and Learning Linux from scratch.
Thanks to Jason Cannon for authoring Linux for Beginners which makes absolutely no assumption about the reader’s background. It, therefore, holds the learner’s hand from the very beginning and walks them all the way to a comfortable place of expertise. You will get to learn stuff like:
- What a Linux distribution with the variety there is out there
- Screenshots of how to connect to Linux from Mac and Windows computers
- What SSH is and how to use it, including creating and using SSH keys.
- Basics of remote login technologies such as SSH and how to use it.
- How the Linux File system is designed
- Where to find programs, configurations, and documentation.
- Most used Linux basic commands
- Exactly how permissions work and how to easily decipher the most cryptic Linux permissions.
- What pipes are, why they are useful, and how to use them.
- File and directory manipulation
- Text editing with nano, vi, and emacs editors.
- Permissions of files and directories including how they work.
- How to use the nano, vi, and emacs editors.
- How to compare the contents of files and much much more.
- How to compress files to save space and make transferring data easy.
Check it out on Amazon
7. A Hands-on Guide: Introduction to Linux
It can be daunting and confusing when you have installed a Linux distribution for the first time and you wonder where to go from there. A thorough and simple guide such as this one takes you all the way from the history of Linux to the very basic navigation of Linux distributions.
This guide by Machtelt Garrels has been crafted for the total beginner. With the many scattered resources across the web, this resource takes the responsibility of giving a comprehensive overview of the Linux Operating System.
There are many exercises at the end of each chapter to keep you challenged and motivated. It also serves as an easy-to-use reference for advanced users. This is an excellent foundation builder as you proceed to deeper concepts of Linux and Network administration.