Andrew Hudson - Fedora™ Unleashed, 2008 edition

# rpm -ivh --root /mnt/sysimage ftp://location/package.rpm

The Fedora rescue disc might be inadequate for your system restoration needs; it might lack specific ethernet device support, file system support, or the kind of full utility functionality that you require for a successful recovery operation. An alternative exists in the SuperRescue CD created by H. Peter Anvin.

Essentially, the SuperRescue CD is a reasonably full and robust Red Hat distribution (based on Red Hat 7.2 and the 2.4.20-rc1kernel) that runs completely from a bootable CD. The best thing about the SuperRescue CD is that it comes with build scripts, so it is incredibly easy to add new software (that special driver or application) and create a new CD. The home page is at http://freshmeat.net/projects/superrescue/, but you can grab a copy directly at http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/superrescue/v2/.

The following commands are useful in performing backup, recovery, and restore operations in Fedora:

► amdump — Amanda is a network-based backup system, consisting of 18 separate commands, for use with Linux.

► ark — A KDE desktop GUI archiving utility.

► cp — The copy command.

► scp — The secure shell copy command.

► cpio — A data archive utility.

► dd — A data copy and conversion utility.

► gzip — The GNU compression utility.

► tar — The GNU tape archive utility.

► http://www.tldp.org/LDP/solrhe/Securing-Optimizing-Linux-RH-Edition-v1.3/whywhen.html— A thorough discussion with examples of using dumpand restorefor backups.

► http://en.tldp.org/LDP/solrhe/Securing-Optimizing-Linux-RH-Edition-v1.3/chap29sec306.html— Making automatic backups with tar using cron.

► http://kmself.home.netcom.com/Linux/FAQs/backups.html— The Linux Backups mini FAQ contains some useful, although brief, comments on backup media, compression, encryption, and security.

► http://www.tldp.org/— The Linux Documentation Project offers several useful HOWTO documents that discuss backups and disk recovery.

► http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/html_single/Ext2fs-Undeletion.html— If you need to undelete a file from an ext2/3file system, the Linux Ext2fs Undeletion mini HOWTO is the document for you. You will be more successful if you practice.

► http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/html_single/Ext2fs-Undeletion-Dir-Struct.html— The Ext2fs Undeletion of Directory Structures is a companion HOWTO to the Linux Ext2fs Undeletion mini HOWTO, helping you cope with an errant rm -rf *.

► http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/html_single/Bootdisk-HOWTO.html#AEN1483— Here is a list of LILO boot error codes to help you debug a cranky system that will not boot.

► http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/html_single/Ftape-HOWTO.html— This is a HOWTO for the floppy tape device driver.

► http://www.linux-usb.org/USB-guide/x498.html— The USB Guide for mass storage devices. If you have a USB device and need to know whether it is supported, check here.

► http://www.backupcentral.com/amanda.html— This is the Amanda chapter of Unix Backup and Recovery (written by John R. Jackson and published by O'Reilly and Associates). The chapter is available online and covers every aspect of using Amanda. The site features a handy search tool for the chapter.

► http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Wikilearn/RsyncingALargeFileBeginner— Rsyncing a large file to "repair" a local ISO image that does not pass the md5sumcheck.

► http://www.lycoris.org/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=8— Lycoris ISO rsync mini HOWTO. A step-by-step tutorial on using rsyncto sync files.

► http://www.mikerubel.org/computers/rsync_snapshots/— Automated snapshot-style backups using rsync.

► http://www.mondorescue.org/ — Mondo Rescue is a bare-metal backup/rescue tool independent of Fedora, using CD, DVD, tape, or NFS; it can produce bootable CDs to restore the system.

► http://www.ccp14.ac.uk/ccp14admin/linux-server/mondorescue/dvd_mondo.html— A HOWTO for using MondoRescue to back up on a DVD.

► http://www.linuxorbit.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=222&page=1— A HOWTO using splitand mkisofsto manually back up large archives to CD.

One of the benefits of open source technology in general and Linux in particular is that it is now mature enough to be used effortlessly across several different networking environments as well as the Internet. With strong support for the standard Internet protocol TCP/IP, Linux can also talk to all the UNIX flavors, as well as Mac OS X, Windows (with the help of Samba), NetWare (IPX), and even older protocols such as DECnet and Banyan Vines. Many organizations use Linux as an Internet gateway, allowing many different clients to access the Internet through Linux, as well as communicate via email and instant messaging. This chapter covers network and Internet connectivity because most networks invariably end up connected to the Internet by one means or another. You will learn about how to get the basics right, including configuration and management of network interface cards (NICs) and other network services with Fedora. You will also find out how to manage network services from the command line — again an important lesson in case you are ever confined to a command prompt. We also look at connectivity options, both for inbound and outbound network traffic and the importance of PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) . Also included is an overview of graphical management clients for Fedora, which are becoming more and more popular.

If you add or replace networking hardware after your initial installation, you must configure the new hardware. You can use either the command line or the graphical configuration tools to do so. To configure a network client host using the command line, you can use a combination of

commands or edit specific files under the /etc/sysconfigdirectory. To configure the hardware through a graphical interface, you can use Fedora's graphical tool called system-config-network. This section introduces command-line and graphical software tools you can use to configure a network interface and network settings on your Fedora system. You'll see how to control your NIC and manage how your system interacts with your network.

Using the command-line configuration tools can seem difficult if you are new to Linux. For anyone new to networking, the system-config-networkgraphical tool is the way to go. Both manual and graphical methods require root access to work. If you do not have root access, get it before trying any of these actions. You should not edit any scripts or settings files used by graphical network administration tools on your system. Your changes will be lost the next time the tool, such as system-config-network, is run! Either use a manual approach and write your own network setup script, or stick to using graphical configuration utilities.