Unix Archive

Standardising UNIX Command-Line Tools

Submitted by IdaAshley 2006-08-22 Unix 3 Comments

"Examine methods for standardizing your interface to simplify movements between different UNIX systems. If you manage multiple UNIX systems, particularly in a heterogeneous environment, then the hardest task can be switching between the different environments and performing the different tasks while having to consider all of the differences between the systems. This article does not cover specific differences, but you'll look at ways that can provide compatible layers, or wrappers, to support a consistent environment."

Give your Fingers a Break with Unix Shell Shortcuts

Eugenia Loli 2006-08-14 Unix 37 Comments

Every skilled trade has its secrets -- those little tricks, techniques, and tools that make light of even the most complex task. Programmers, system administrators, and other UNIX computer professionals have their own kind of specialized tools. Learn how to leverage the many shortcuts that the UNIX shell provides. With a little practice, you'll work smarter, not harder.

Unix: An 800 Pound Gorilla No More?

Eugenia Loli 2006-08-08 Unix 11 Comments

Organizations adopting Linux might not abandon Unix entirely. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for example, has migrated its e-mail system from Sun hardware and Solaris to HP servers and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. But even though the use of Linux on production servers is growing, the practice isn't yet the norm at the laboratory, said Douglas Hughes, a service engineer at JPL Information Services.

Retool Your Linux Skills for Commercial UNIX

Submitted by anonymous 2006-07-31 Unix 12 Comments

Examine how to best migrate your Linux skills to take advantage of AIX and Solaris. Linux is all the rage, but what if you have experience in Linux and need to apply it to a commercial UNIX environment? UNIX and Linux are similar, and many of the same principles exist; there is a shell, root is still all powerful, and many of the tools and applications are the same. This tutorial will show you how to cope and understand the nuances and differences.

Move an Entire File System on a Live Unix System

Eugenia Loli 2006-07-08 Unix 10 Comments

Copying a live file system can be risky, especially if there are open files. You should also be careful to ensure that you don't accidentally overwrite a partition, or existing files, with the files you are trying to copy. With some careful thought, you can effectively migrate files reliably to take advantage of more space, even on a live system.

UNIX Warning System for Disk Space Shortage

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-16 Unix 6 Comments

Monitoring your file systems and ensuring they don't fill up is a vital process in the day-to-day management of your UNIX systems. This article looks at methods for keeping an eye on disk space, discovering which files, users, or applications are using up the most space, and how to make use of quotas and other solutions to find the information you need.

Another Small UNIX Clone Written in c++

Submitted by david 2006-06-12 Unix 37 Comments

"UnixLite is a lightweight UNIX/Linux compatible operating system written in c++; it is open source and released under the GNU General Public License. The complete operating system is made up of a kernel and applications; just like Linux, UnixLite is only the kernel. The kernel itself is written from scratch and the biggest part is written in c++; however, the library used by UnixLite comes from uClibc and applicaitons running on UnixLite come from the GNU project."

HP Readies Unix Push

Thom Holwerda 2006-05-25 Unix 24 Comments

The numbers in the Unix market may be flat, but Hewlett-Packard sees a bright future for its HP-UX operating system. The company this fall will release HP-UX 11i v3 - the first major revamp of the OS in three years - with enhancements in its virtualization and automation capabilities, according to Don Jenkins, vice president of HP's Business Critical Servers unit.

Unix to Linux Porting

Eugenia Loli 2006-05-14 Unix No Comments

This chapter supplements currently available project management materials and books about application porting projects. Topics such as how to use formalized requirements processes, how to better communicate between software developers, and how to practice extreme project management are topics that modern-day project managers are already well informed of. However, because software development is not exactly the same as porting and migrating software, a gap exists in current publications—a gap that this chapter addresses.

Submitted by magick 2006-05-09 Unix 11 Comments

"CUPS 1.2.0 is the first stable feature release in the 1.2.x series and includes over 90 new features and changes since CUPS 1.1.23, including a greatly improved web interface and 'plug-and-print' support for many local and network printers. For a complete list of changes and new features, please consult the 'What's New in CUPS 1.2' document."

Submitted by jamesd 2006-04-28 Unix 25 Comments

Scale-with-rails compares Solaris Express to FreeBSD and then goes on to demonstrate the power of the Sun Niagara based T2000.

Make UNIX Work with Windows XP, Mac OS X

Submitted by anonymous 2006-04-24 Unix 7 Comments

"Learn about using a UNIX system as a primary domain controller and file repository, including an anonymous, read-only shared area accessible by anyone with a Web browser. To be a good citizen on your local network, you need to integrate your favorite UNIX system with the networking features of client systems, generally running Windows XP or Mac OS X. This makes it easier for the users of those workstations to take advantage of the centralized authentication and storage facilities you can provide."

Performance Tuning UNIX Systems

Submitted by anonymous 2006-04-12 Unix 3 Comments

"Be nice to your computers and examine some general guidelines for tuning server performance. A computer is like an employee who does tasks for you - it's a good idea to keep from overburdening them. One way to keep this from happening is to carefully tune the processes that run on it. The UNIX nice command is useful for doing just that."

Solve Application Problems with Tracing

Submitted by anonymous 2006-03-30 Unix 3 Comments

"Peer into the behavior of an application with truss. When an application doesn't work as expected, you typically look at application and system logs as a first recourse. But when logs don't help, UNIX provides a powerful set of tools that you can use to trace the application while it runs. Armed with these traces and a bit of knowledge about UNIX, you can easily solve your application problems."

HP Laughs Off Solaris/HP-UX Merger Offer

Submitted by george 2006-03-23 Unix 11 Comments

During Hewlett-Packard's Business Critical Systems conference in Macau this week, executives described a recent offer by Sun Microsystems' boss Scott McNealy to merge Solaris with HP-UX as "almost laughable".

10 Things I Hate About U(NIX) Revisited: Readers Speak

Eugenia Loli 2006-03-20 Unix 45 Comments

After receiving several comments to his November 2005 article on hating UNIX, David Chisnall offers his responses and further insight on his continuing disdain.

Command the Power of the Command Line

Submitted by anonymous 2006-03-10 Unix 14 Comments

"One of the most novel and differentiating features of a UNIX system is its command line. With just a few keystrokes, including a bit of 'glue', you can use the command line to combine a finite set of UNIX utilities into innumerable, impromptu data transforms."

Standards and Specs: Not by UNIX Alone

Submitted by anonymous 2006-03-08 Unix 20 Comments

"Technology professionals have loosely used the term 'UNIX' since the first person had to explain the difference between the Berkeley and AT&T flavors, so it's not surprising to find as many UNIX standards as there are versions of the operating system. Peter Seebach wades through the wellspring of UNIX standards and sorts them out for you, concluding that the rumors of the death of UNIX are (as usual) greatly exaggerated."

Submitted by Moulinneuf 2006-03-02 Unix 23 Comments

"UNIX and Windows data-center market share remain neck-and-neck, according to most analysts, but many in IT perceive UNIX and Linux innovation as slowing to a crawl. We interviewed representatives from Apple, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Novell, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems who were eager to challenge that perception by highlighting areas in which their UNIX OSs are breaking new ground."

Unix System Admin Tricks of the Trade

Submitted by anonymous 2006-02-28 Unix 8 Comments

"There are key utilities, command line chains, and scripts that are used to simplify different processes. Some of these tools come with the operating system, but a majority of the Unix tricks come through years of experience and a desire to ease the system administrator's life. The focus of this article is on getting the most from the available tools and insight across a range of different UNIX environments."