Not quite a newbie

[and36y]

Just a quick note to say hello and stuff. i have been messing around with linux/bsd on and off for about 8 years. nothing in detail, just loading various offerings the Uk magazines supply. The downside to doing this, is it is all too easy to install. I now have a dilemma, due to a job shuffle, i am now resposible for a handful of redhat servers. Not a gui to be seen, command line all the way. I feel like i have just been thrown in the deep end, and where I though i could doggy paddle out for a bit, have realised that you can't doggy paddle when you are already at the bottom of the lake...any advise will be welcome... anything !!!!!

[oz]

Not a gui to be seen, command line all the way.

Welcome to the forums!

You can check the following links for some quick lessons regarding the Linux command line:

LinuxCommand.org: Learn the Linux command line. Write shell scripts.

UNIX / Linux Tutorial for Beginners

Hope it all comes together for you quickly.

[rokytnji]

Howdy and Welcome and36y. You can check out the link on my signature for some good reference material. Good luck with the new job.

[Bemk]

This is what got me started:
Debian Tutorial

I know it's for Debian and installing programs will get difficult since you don't have apt, but I think that the basics will work on Red Hat as well. Things like Touch and chmod, chown etc.

Welcome to the forums by the way!

[Freston]

Hi and welcome!

I must say I don't envy you. Learning Linux is one thing, learning Linux in a live environment where one mistake might cause hours of loss of productivity is something else. Although, it is quite a challenge too Should be fun

Some advice...
Backup! Backup all your config files before editing anything. No matter how simple. So, of course, the best you can do is make an alias or write a short script that does this automagically. If you don't know how to do that, learn from any of the excellent links the previous posters gave.

`man` and `apropos` are your true friends. Google comes after that. I know the man pages are difficult to read. They are more quick references for people who already know what they want but doubt about syntax or exact options. Many commands have seemingly endless options. Heheh, if you look in the man page for cdrecord you will find that it lists in the BUGS section "cdrecord has even more options than ls". So don't worry about keeping notes. You should keep notes.

Another thing. Read config files. They tend to be documented, and both distro builder and previous admins may have left explanations therein that makes it easier to understand what is going on. And document your own work as well. Something may seem obvious now, but in three months time you wont remember the exact details of why you put something the way you did.
You know the situation where something is difficult but once you figure it out it all makes sense? Don't assume you are gonna remember what that was in a couple of months.

Learn how to use the `screen` command. It's incredibly useful if you don't have a GUI, but it'll take some practice.

I don't know your overall experience in IT, but I feel it's always a good idea to make some sort of map about what does what and what goes where. Just making the map, to me, is often enough. It just helps to visualize, because a system that appears at first glance as one big entity consists actually of many small parts working together. (That's stating the obvious of course, but you need to start somewhere )

And don't be afraid to ask questions...

you are already at the bottom of the lake

Yeah, that, or you are exploring a brand new world with strange customs and weird creatures. An adventure, if you will. I hope you have fun!

[and36y]

Thanks for your help. My first project is to load bugzilla, are there any easy guides out there ? can anyone advise?

Cheers

andy