Chapter 10 Study Guide

Printer Administration

• Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) is a printing system used by Linux computers.
• Information that will be sent to a printer is called a print job.
• The lp command is used to specify and print the print job.
• To check the status of a printer(s) the lpstat command is used.
• The cups daemon (cupsd) will assign all print jobs a unique print job

ID and put them in the print queue.

• The print queue is a special temporary directory where the print jobs are

stored before being sent to the printer.

• The path of the queue is usually /var/spool/cups on most Linux systems.
• If the printer is accepting print jobs,the cupsd will put the print job in to the queue.
• This is called spooling or queuing.
• Adding the –t option shows all the printers and there statuses on the system.

kevin@kubuntu1:~$ lpstat -t

scheduler is running

system default destination: Samsung-ML-2152W

device for Samsung-ML-2152W: smb:///192.168.0.195

Samsung-ML-2152W accepting requests since Tue 17 Jan 2012 11:25:40 PM CST

printer Samsung-ML-2152W is idle. enabled since Tue 17 Jan 2012 11:25:40 PM

CST

kevin@kubuntu1:~$

• To manipulate the status of a printer by using the cupsaccept, cupsreject,

cupsenable, or cupsdisable commands.

kevin@kubuntu1:~$ cupsaccept Samsung-ML-2152W

kevin@kubuntu1:~$ cupsdisable Samsung-ML-2152W

kevin@kubuntu1:~$ lpstat -t

scheduler is running

system default destination: Samsung-ML-2152W

device for Samsung-ML-2152W: smb:///192.168.0.195

Samsung-ML-2152W accepting requests since Fri 23 Mar 2012 11:35:18 AM CDT

printer Samsung-ML-2152W disabled since Fri 23 Mar 2012 11:35:18 AM CDT -

Paused

kevin@kubuntu1:~$

• The –r option is used to give a reason why the printer’s status is set as

such.

kevin@kubuntu1:~$ cupsdisable Samsung-ML-2152W -r "OMG the printer is on fire"

Samsung-ML-2152W

kevin@kubuntu1:~$ lpstat -t

scheduler is running

system default destination: Samsung-ML-2152W

device for Samsung-ML-2152W: smb:///192.168.0.195

Samsung-ML-2152W accepting requests since Fri 23 Mar 2012 11:35:18 AM CDT

printer Samsung-ML-2152W disabled since Fri 23 Mar 2012 11:35:18 AM CDT -

OMG the printer is on fire

kevin@kubuntu1:/$

• Use the lp command to print.

kevin@kubuntu1:/$ lp -d Samsung-ML-2152W /home/kevin/Documents/reports

request id is Samsung-ML-2152W-2 (1 file(s))

kevin@kubuntu1:/$

• Other options can be added to the lp command as shown.

Options	Function
−i	Print job ID Specifies a certain print job ID to modify
−d	printername, Specifies the name of the printer to send the print job to
−n	Number Prints a certain number of copies, where number can be any number
−m	Mails you confirmation of print job completion
−o	option Specifies certain printing options. Common printing options include the following:

• cpi=number—Specifies the number of characters per inch, where number is the number of characters.
• landscape—Prints in landscape orientation
• number-up=number—Prints the number of pages on a single
• page, where number is 1, 2, or 4
• sides=string—Sets double-sided printing, where string is

either ”two-sided-short-edge” or ”two-sided-long-edge”

• To print a list of all users logged in, pipe the who command to the lp command.

kevin@kubuntu1:/$ who | lp -d Samsung-ML-2152W

request id is Samsung-ML-2152W-4 (0 file(s))

kevin@kubuntu1:/$

• To remove all print jobs from a specific user, add the '–u <username> before

the cancel command. To remove all print jobs use the –a as shown.

kevin@kubuntu1:/$ cancel -a

kevin@kubuntu1:/$ lpstat

kevin@kubuntu1:/$

• The Line Printer Daemon (LPD) is an alternative to CUPS, that is used by older

Linux systems.

• The LPD commands can be used in CUPS.
• LPR command = print documents
• LPC command = view printer status
• LPQ command = see jobs in the queue
• LPRM command =remove job form queue
• You can find the cupsd configuration file in the /etc/cups/cupsd.conf directory.
• The /etc/cups/printers.conf contains settings about the specific printer.
• The command system-config-printer will launch a GUI-based program; the Printer Configuration tool.
• This program lets you add printers with Plug and Play

(PnP) or specify the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). Hewlett-Packard

JetDirect, Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), Line Printer Daemon (LPD or

Windows (SAMBA) allows you to print to a printer across the network. From the

Printer Configuration tool you are also able to give users and groups

• permission to print to specific printers.
• You can use CUPS to administer and remotely administer printes through a web browser.
• To open the CUPS web-based control panel, navigate to http://servername:631.

Log File Administration

• For identifying and troubleshooting problems on a Linux System
• Called log files most Daemons record information and error messages to files stored on the file system.
• Typically stored in the /var/log directory

• Example: /var/log/samba contains log files created by the samba file-sharing daemons

Common Linux log files found in /var/log

logs	description
boot.log	Contains basic information regarding daemon startup obtained during system initialization
cron	Contains information and error messages generated by the cron and at daemons
dmesg	Contains detected hardware information obtained during system startup.
maillog	Contains information and error messages generated by the sendmail daemon.
secure	Contains information and error messages regarding network access generated by daemons such as sshd and xinetd.
wtmp	Contains a history of all login sessions.
rpmpkgs yum.log	Contains a list of packages installed by the Red Hat Package Manager and related error messages.
xferlog	Contains information and error messages generated by the FTP daemon.
Xorg.0.log XFree86	Contains information and error messages generated by X Windows.
lastlog	Contains a list of users and their last login time; must be viewed using the lastlog command.
messages	Contains detailed information regarding daemon startup obtained at system initialization as well as important system messages produced after system initialization

System Log Daemon

• logging of most events is handled centrally in Linux in the System Log Deamon
• When the daemon is started on the system

• Creates a socket /dev/log
• This is for other system processes to write to
• It then reads any information written to this socket and saves it to the appropriate log file according to :::/etc/rsyslog.conf
• To view use cat /etc/rsyslog.conf

• Sample output showing the Facility, Priority and Location of the /etc/rsyslog.conf file

news.=crit /var/log/news/news.crit

Facility: "news."

The area of the system to listen to and log

Priority: "=crit"

The importance of the information being logged

Location: /var/log/news/news.crit

The location and path of the log file

Examples of kernel log facilities with differing priorities

kernel logs	function
kern.warning /var/log/logfile	logs warning messages and those with more serious priorities to the /var/log/logfile
kern.=warning /var/log/logfile	logs just the warning messages to the /var/log/logfile
kern.* /var/log/logfile	logs all error messages to the /var/log/logfile
\*.=warn;kern.none /var/log/logfile	logs all warnings from all facilities except the kernel to the /var/log/logfile

• logs all but the warning priority messages to /var/log/logfile
• \*.=warn;kern.none /var/log/logfile
• logs all warnings from all facilities except the kernel to the /var/log/logfile

Facilities used by the System Daemon Log

Daemon Log	description
auth or security	Specifies messages from the login system, such as the login program, the getty program, and the su command.
authpriv	Specifies messages from the login system when authenticating users across the network or to system databases.
cron	Specifies messages from the cron and at daemons
daemon	Specifies messages from system daemons, such as the FTP daemon
kern	Specifies messages from the Linux kernel.
lpr	Specifies messages from the printing system (lpd)
mail	Specifies messages from the e-mail system (sendmail).
mark	Specifies time stamps used by syslogd; used internally only.
news	Specifies messages from the Inter Network News daemon and other USENET daemons.
syslog	Specifies messages from the syslog daemon.
user	Specifies messages from user processes.
uucp	Specifies messages from the uucp (UNIX to UNIX copy) daemon.
local0-7	Specifies local messages; these are not used by default but can be defined for custom use

Priorities used by the System Daemon Log (listed in ascending order)

Daemon Log	Description
debug	Indicates all information from a certain facility.
info	Indicates normal information messages as a result of system operations
notice	Indicates information that should be noted for future reference, yet does not indicate a problem
warning or warn	Indicates messages that might be the result of an error but are not critical to system operations.
error or err	Indicates all other error messages not described by other priorities.
crit	Indicates system critical errors such as hard disk failure.
alert	Indicates an error that should be rectified immediately, such as a corrupt system database.
emerg or panic	Indicates very serious system conditions that would normally be broadcast to all users

The etc/rsyslog.conf file can also send logging information to another computer

• Facility.priority @hostname:portnumber

• The remote computer

• Must have modules that listen to TCP or UDP protocol uncommented in the /etc/rsyslog.conf

• Commented

1. Provides UDP syslog reception
2. $ModLoad imudp.so
3. $UDPServerRun 514
4. Provides TCP syslog reception
5. $ModLoad imtcp.so
6. $InputTCPServerRun 514

• Un-Commented

Provides UDP syslog reception

$ModLoad imudp.so

$UDPServerRun 514

Provides TCP syslog reception

$ModLoad imtcp.so

$InputTCPServerRun 514

• This allows the system to accept incoming requests from another System Log Daemon on TCP and UDP port 514 (the ::default System Log Daemon port)

Managing Log Files

Log files can contain a lot of important system information so it's a good idea to clear the contents of the log files from time to time.

DO NOT remove the log files, the permissions and ownership will be removed as well!!!

We're just going to clear out the contents of the log file.

To do so the > redirect symbol can be used.

This function can be scheduled as well using the logrotate command to backup and clear logfiles stored in /etc/logrotate.conf file and files stored in /etc/logrotate.d directory

• • The log rotate command renames (rotates) log files on a cyclic basis

• • test.log becomes test.log.YYYYMMDD

• • A new test.log file is created to accept system log info.

• Can be set to keep a certain number of log files

• If configured to keep 2 log files, logrotate will only keep 2 copies. Then when it cycles logrotate will automatically remove the oldest copy.

• Most rotation information within /etc/logrotate.conf is overridden from files stored in the /etc/logrotate.d directory.

On most Linux systems, the logrotate utility is automatically scheduled to run daily via the file /etc/cron.daily/logrotate, however it can be run manually by typing logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf at a command prompt

Over time the logrotate command generates several copies of each logfile /var/log to view this we type Ls /var/log

Administering Users and Groups

• Bash shell prompts for user accounts information this is called authentication.

• User accounts and passwords are located in the /etc/password and /etc/shadow and are encrypted

• /etc/password and a line that contains the encrypted password and

• /etc/shadow is where the expiration information is stored in.

• You can use the dfdffpwunconv command to revert to using an /etc/passwd file only, This is not best

practice for security

• You can use the pwconv command to configure the system again using an /etc/shadow file for

password storage.

• This is the format used in /etc/password file “name:password:UID:GID:GECOS:home directory:shell”

• examples: root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash

• 8bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin

• daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin

UID & /etc/passwd

• The User Identifier (UID) specifies the unique User ID that is assigned to each user.

• The root user always has a UID of zero.

• UIDs that are less than 500 refer to user accounts that are used by daemons when logging in to

the system.

• The root user is usually listed at the top of the /etc/passwd file

• In the /etc/passwd file passwords are replaced with the letter “X” password are actually stored

in the shadow file and are encrypted.

password times are expressed in days.

• You can change the password expiration time in the shadow file. In the shadow file min = time

before user can change password again. max = time that user can use current password.

• warn= the number of days before a user is prompted to change their password

• by default min =0 max=99,999 days and warn= 7days

Groups

• The Group Identifier (GID) is the primary Group ID for the

user.

• primary group ID’s designate file/directory ownership

• Each user can be a member of several groups, but only one

of those groups can be the primary group.

• primary groups are listed in the password file.

• All groups and their members are listed in the /etc/group

Creating User Accounts

• useradd command is used to create commands

Example: useradd bobg

• There is two files that are used to create default account information.
• (UID,shell and home directories)

• The first is /etc/login.defs and sets default locations for email password

expiration minimum password length and the rage of UID and GIDs for

the users.

• The second is /etc/default/useradd file. It controls default primary

groups, locations of home directories, number of days to disable

accounts with expired passwords, date to disable user accounts, and the

skeleton directory.

• A skeleton directory contains files that are copied to new users home

directories when a new user is created.

Creating User Accounts

Typical contents of the default/useradd file

useradd defaults file

GROUP=100

HOME=/home

INACTIVE=-1

EXPIRE=

SHELL=/bin/bash

SKEL=/etc/skel

CREATE_MAIL_SPOOL=yes

[root@server1 ~]# _

• You can alter some of the user creation parameter using the options below.

Options	Function
-e	Specifies a date to disable the account from logging in.
-d	Sets absolute pathname to the users directory.
-c	Adds conscription entry to the GECOS of the /etc/passwd file.
-f	Sets number of days until a users password is disabled.
-k	Specifies the skeleton directory.
-G	Specifies all other group memberships for the user account.
-m	specifies that a home directory should be created for the user.
-g	Specifies the primary group for the user account. by default a group is created with the same name as the user and made the primary group for that user
-s	sets path to the shell used for accounts.
-u	sets the UID of a account.

• To modify user accounts after creation you

may edit the '/etc/passwd' or shadow file, but

it is not best practice because it may cause

topographical errors.

• The recommended method of editing user

accounts is to use the usermod command.

example: usermod -l barbg bobg will change

the the user name from bobg to barbg.

usermod

Options	Function
-f	sets the number of days until an expired password is disabled.
-c	specifies a new description for the user in the GECOS field of /etc/passwd.
-d	Specifies absolute pathname to a new home directory.
-g	Specifies a new primary group for the user account.
-G	specifies all other group memberships for the user accounts.
-l	sets new login name.
-e	Specifies exasperation date.
-s	sets new absolute pathname to a new shell used for a user account.
-u	sets new UID for user account.

• User-mod command can not be used to change password expirations in the

shadow file.

• To unlock an account you can usermod -U or passwd -u commands.

Deleting user accounts

• You can remove user accounts by using the

userdel command. This removes entries from the

/etc/passwd and the /etc/shadow file.

• If you use -r option it will remove the that user's

home directory and its contents.

• if a user is deleted the files are owned by the next

users with the same UID. The new recipient will

have a folder that has the name of the former owner.

Managing Groups

• To you can add Groups by editing /etc group file with a text editor,

or use the groupadd

• If you use -r option it will remove the that user's

home directory and its contents.

• To use the groupadd command you need to use -g option with the GID number and the

group name. Example : groupadd –g 492 group1 command.

• You can also add users to a group by using the usermod command with the -G option

followed by the username. example: usermod –G group1 maryj

• The groupmod command that can be used to modify the group name and GID, there is also
• you can see a list of groups you or a user belongs to by using the groups command. To see

what GID the Groups have use the id command.

• you can use the newgrp command. to change primary groups and change file ownership.
• groups can be managed using a GUI environment in the by navigating to System menu,

select Administration, Users and Groups.

• you can see a list of groups you or a user belongs to by using the groups command. To see

what GID the Groups have use the id command.

• you can use the newgrp command. to change primary groups and change file ownership.

• groups can be managed using a GUI environment in the by navigating to System menu,

select Administration, Users and Groups.