Removing Unnecessary Services
Fine tune your server to provide only the services you really want to serve
[Discuss (4) | Link to this hack]

Forgoing the Console Login
All of the access, none of the passwords
[Discuss (4) | Link to this hack]

Common Boot Parameters
Manipulate kernel parameters at boot time
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Creating a Persistent Daemon with init
Make sure that your process stays up, no matter what
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Swap Standard Output and Standard Error
Direct standard out and standard error to wherever you need them to go
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Building Complex Command Lines
Build simple commands into full-fledged paragraphs for complex (but meaningful) reports
[Discuss (4) | Link to this hack]

Working with Tricky Files in xargs
Deal with many files containing spaces or other strange characters
Listing: albumize
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Immutable Files in ext2/ext3
Create files that even root can't manipulate
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Speeding Up Compiles
Make sure you're keeping all processors busy with parallel builds
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

At Home in Your Shell Environment
Make bash more comfortable through environment variables
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Finding and Eliminating setuid/setgid Binaries
Eliminate potential root exploits before they have a chance to happen
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Make sudo Work Harder
Use sudo to let other users do your evil bidding, without giving away the machine
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Using a Makefile to Automate Admin Tasks
Makefiles make everything (not just gcc) faster and easier
Listing: Makefile.mail
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Brute Forcing Your New Domain Name
Find exactly the domain you'd like to register, whatever it turns out to be
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Playing Hunt the Disk Hog
Browse your filesystem for heavy usage quickly with a handy alias
[Discuss (13) | Link to this hack]

Fun with /proc
Directly view the kernel's running process table and system variables
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Manipulating Processes Symbolically with procps
Signal and renice processes by name, terminal, or username (instead of PID)
[Discuss (2) | Link to this hack]

Managing System Resources per Process
Prevent user processes from running away with all system resources
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Cleaning Up after Ex-Users
Make sure you close the door all the way when a user takes their leave
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Eliminating Unnecessary Drivers from the Kernel
Keep your kernel optimized for quick booting and long-term stability
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Using Large Amounts of RAM
Be sure that Linux is using all of your available system RAM
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

hdparm: Fine Tune IDE Drive Parameters
Get the best possible performance from your IDE hardware
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Getting Started with RCS
Let RCS manage your system files, and keep a revision history
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Checking Out a Previous Revision in RCS
Save yourself with RCS revisions
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Tracking Changes with rcs2log
See at a glance who's been editing your files, and why
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Getting Started with CVS
The ins and outs of the Concurrent Versioning System
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Checking Out a Module
How to get a working copy of a CVS Module
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Updating Your Working Copy
Receiving recent changes in your CVS Module
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Using Tags
Tagging a Module revision in CVS
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Making Changes to a Module
Checking in your changes in CVS
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Merging Files
Resolving update conflicts in CVS
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Adding and Removing Files and Directories
Adding and removing files in your Module
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Branching Development
Setting up a development branch in CVS
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Watching and Locking Files
Setting up an email watch on files in CVS
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Keeping CVS Secure
Protecting your users and your code base in CVS
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

CVS: Anonymous Repositories
Create your own read-only anonymous CVS repository
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Backing Up with tar over ssh
Copy arbitrary bits of the filesystem between servers using ssh and tar
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Using rsync over ssh
Keep large directory structures in sync quickly with rsync
[Discuss (7) | Link to this hack]

Archiving with Pax
Make easy, portable archives using pax
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Backing Up Your Boot Sector
Keep a copy of your boot sector packed away for a rainy day
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Keeping Parts of Filesystems in sync with rsync
Use rsync over ssh to mirror exactly what you want, to any number of servers
Listing: Balance-push.sh
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Automated Snapshot-Style Incremental Backups with rsync
Use rsync to create fast, small, and safe snapshots of your filesystem
Listing: make_snapshot.sh
[Discuss (4) | Link to this hack]

Working with ISOs and CDR/CDRWs
The command line makes working with ISOs a snap
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Burning a CD Without Creating an ISO File
Create a CD from another CD, the live filesystem, or even an http download
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Creating a Firewall from the Command Line of any Server
You don't have to have a dedicated firewall to benefit from using iptables
[Discuss (2) | Link to this hack]

Simple IP Masquerading
Set up NAT on your gateway in ten seconds
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

iptables Tips & Tricks
Make your firewall do far more than filter packets with iptables
[Discuss (4) | Link to this hack]

Forwarding TCP Ports to Arbitrary Machines
Make non-local services appear to come from local ports
[Discuss (3) | Link to this hack]

Using Custom Chains in iptables
Keep your firewall rules under control with custom chains
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Tunneling: IPIP Encapsulation
IP tunneling with the Linux IPIP driver
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Tunneling: GRE Encapsulation
IP tunnels with Generic Routing Encapsulation
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Using vtun over ssh to Circumvent NAT
Connect two networks together using vtun and a single ssh connection
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Automatic vtund.conf Generator
Generate a vtund.conf on the fly to match changing network conditions
Listing: vtundconf
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Steering syslog
Make syslog work harder, and spend less time looking through huge log files
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Watching Jobs with watch
Use watch to repeatedly run any command, and show you the results
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

What's Holding That Port Open?
Associate a process with the port it is bound to easily with netstat
[Discuss (2) | Link to this hack]

Checking On Open Files and Sockets with lsof
Easily see which files, directories, and sockets your running processes are holding open
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Monitor System Resources with top
Use the top utility to get a better overview of what your system is up to
[Discuss (3) | Link to this hack]

Constant Load Average Display in the Titlebar
Make your title bar work harder, so you don't have to.
Listing: tl
[Discuss (2) | Link to this hack]

Network Monitoring with ngrep
See who's doing what, with a grep for your network interface
Listing: go-ogle
[Discuss (3) | Link to this hack]

Scanning Your Own Machines with nmap
Find out when servers and services come online anywhere on your network
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Disk Age Analysis
Easily identify which parts of your disk change frequently
Listing: diskage
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Cheap IP Takeover
Accomplish IP takeover with ping, bash, and a simple network utility
Listing: takeover
[Discuss (3) | Link to this hack]

Running ntop for Real-Time Network Stats
See who's doing what on your network over time with ntop
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Monitoring Web Traffic in Real Time with httptop
See who's hitting your web server the hardest up to the second with httptop
Listing: httptop
[Discuss (3) | Link to this hack]

Quick Logins with ssh Client Keys
Using ssh keys instead of password authentication to speed up and automate logins
[Discuss (13) | Link to this hack]

Turbo-mode ssh Logins
Even faster logins from the command line
[Discuss (3) | Link to this hack]

Using ssh-Agent Effectively
Use ssh-agent to automatically manage your ssh client keys
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Running the ssh-Agent in a GUI
Running ssh-agent in windowing environments
[Discuss (4) | Link to this hack]

X over ssh
Run remote X11 applications easily and securely with ssh
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Forwarding Ports over ssh
Keep network traffic to arbitrary ports secure with ssh port forwarding
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Get Settled in Quickly with movein.sh
Keep your local environment in sync on all of your servers
Listing: movein.sh
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Global Search and Replace with Perl
Manipulate files and streams with arbitrary Perl substitutions, without a script
[Discuss (5) | Link to this hack]

Mincing Your Data into Arbitrary Chunks (in bash)
Use bash arithmetic and dd to chop large binary files into reasonable chunks
Listing: mince
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Colorized Log Analysis in Your Terminal
View your log files in an xterm window in full, living color
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Running BIND in a chroot Jail
Keep your named isolated from the rest of the system with the judicious use of chroot
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Views in BIND 9
Change the results that your DNS server returns depending on where the requests are coming from
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Setting Up Caching DNS with Authority for Local Domains
Get BIND running quickly with a forwarding, caching server
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Distributing Server Load with Round-Robin DNS
Direct traffic to multiple servers simultaneously with round-robin DNS
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Running Your Own Top-Level Domain
Set up your own TLD in BIND for ease of navigation
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Monitoring MySQL Health with mtop
Display MySQL threads in real time in a format similar to top
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Setting Up Replication in MySQL
Keep live copies of your database running to increase performance and provide redundancy
[Discuss (2) | Link to this hack]

Restoring a Single Table from a Large MySQL Dump
Here is a method for restoring a single mysql table from a huge mysqldump
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

MySQL Server Tuning
Try these practical steps to help make your MySQL server run as efficiently as it can
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Using proftpd with a mysql Authentication Source
Eliminate the need for user accounts for ftp users with proftpd and mysql
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Optimizing glibc, linuxthreads, and the Kernel for a Super MySQL Server
Make sure that your database system's OS is running as efficiently as possible with these tweaks
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Apache Toolbox
Use this great installation script to automatically download, configure, compile, and install Apache (and friends)
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Display the Full Filename in Indexes
Stop truncating the filenames in your auto-indexed directories
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Quick Configuration Changes with IfDefine
Make changes to your running Apache configuration without editing httpd.conf
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Simplistic Ad Referral Tracking
Create simple user tracking in print ads using the QUERY_STRING
Listing: referral-report.pl
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Mimicking FTP Servers with Apache
Set up multiple levels of anonymous access in Apache
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Rotate and compress Apache Server Logs
Use this tiny Perl script to compress all of your Apache logs automatically, even when you add more to your site
Listing: logflume.pl
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]

Generating an SSL cert and Certificate Signing Request
Make an SSL key, CSR, and cert for use with Apache
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Creating Your Own CA
Become your own Certificate Authority, and sign your own (or others') SSL certs
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Distributing Your CA to Client Browsers
Installing your shiny new CA cert to client browsers is just a click away
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Serving multiple sites with the same DocumentRoot
Through creative use of mod_rewrite, several sites can share a DocumentRoot and yet still appear to be independent sites
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Delivering Content Based on the Query String Using mod_rewrite
Control content delivery based on a URL's query string without a CGI script
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Using mod_proxy on Apache for Speed
Offload complex dynamic requests to another apache (or another machine entirely)
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Distributing Load with Apache RewriteMap
Scale to any number of web application servers with RewriteMap
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Ultrahosting: Mass Web Site Hosting with Wildcards, Proxy, and Rewrite
Support thousands of internal web servers without lifting a finger
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]