CentOS is just like Red Hat, but without the price tag and with the virtuous license. When belts have to be tightened, we want to read about an OS with all the features of a commercial Linux variety, but without the pain. The Definitive Guide to CentOS is the first definitive reference for CentOS and focuses on CentOS alone, the workhorse Linux distribution, that does the heavy lifting in small and medium-size enterprises without drawing too much attention to itself.

• Provides tutorial and hands-on learning but is also designed to be used as a reference
• Bases all examples on real-world tasks that readers are likely to perform
• Serves up hard-won examples and hints and tips from the author's experiences of CentOS in production

What you’ll learn

• See why CentOS is an ideal platform for deploying services on the same level as Redhat Enterprise Linux without the cost.
• Prepare and install a CentOS server from scratch.
• Install and configure core services.
• Follow best practices for managing and administering the server and its services.
• Integrate enterprise features in CentOS/Red Hat networks.
• And finally, move away from Fedora, which has great features, but is not meant to be a server OS!

Who this book is for

Both beginning and experienced system administrators who want to have an industrial–strength Linux server distribution at their fingertips.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing CentOS
2. Installing CentOS
3. Getting Started with CentOS
4. Using Yum
5. Using Apache
6. Setting Up Mail
7. Understanding DNS
8. Setting Up DHCP
9. Sharing Files with Samba
10. Setting Up Virtual Private Networks
11. Using Core Builds
12. Using High Availability
13. Monitoring Your Network Using Nagios