Press releases

Automating System Administration with Perl--New from O'Reilly: Tools to Make You More Efficient

Press release: June 4, 2009

Sebastopol, CA—If you do systems administration work of any kind, you have to deal with the growing complexity of your environment and increasing demands on your time. Automating System Administration with Perl, Second Edition (O'Reilly, $39.99 USD) not only offers you the right tools for your job, but also suggests the best way to approach specific problems and to securely automate recurring tasks.

"System administration is a craft," says author David N. Blank-Edelman. "Good system administration is hardly ever rote, especially in multiplatform environments where the challenges come fast and furious. As in any other craft, there are better and worse ways to meet these challenges. Whether you're a full-time system administrator or a part-time tinkerer, this book will help you along that path."

Updated and expanded to cover the latest operating systems, technologies, and Perl modules, this second edition of the "Otter Book" will help you:

  • Manage user accounts
  • Monitor filesystems and processes
  • Work with configuration files in important formats such as XML and YAML
  • Administer databases, including MySQL, MS-SQL, and Oracle with DBI
  • Work with directory services like LDAP and Active Directory
  • Script email protocols and spam control
  • Effectively create, handle, and analyze log files
  • Administer network name and configuration services, including NIS, DNS and DHCP
  • Maintain, monitor, and map network services, using technologies and tools such as SNMP, nmap, libpcap, GraphViz and RRDtool
  • Improve filesystem, process, and network security

This edition includes additional appendixes to get you up to speed on technologies such as XML/XPath, LDAP, SNMP, and SQL. With this book in hand and Perl in your toolbox, you can do more with less--fewer resources, less effort, and far less hassle.

Advance Praise
"There are so many system administration tasks that could be--and should be--automated, but aren't. At least not until administrators read this book. Perl is a powerful tool, and David shows how to use it to decrease system administrators' efforts and increase their control of their systems."
--Peter Baer Galvin, CTO, IT Architecture, Corporate Technologies, Inc.

For a review copy or more information please email maryr@oreilly.com. Please include your delivery address and contact information.

David N. Blank-Edelman has spent the last 24+ years as a system/network administrator in large multi- platform environments, including Brandeis University, Cambridge Technology Group, and the MIT Media Laboratory. He is currently the Director of Technology at the Northeastern University College of Computer and Information Science.

Additional Resources:
For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bios, and cover graphic, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596006396

Automating System Administration with Perl, Second Edition
David N. Blank-Edelman
ISBN: 9780596006396, 666 pages,
Book Price: $39.99 USD, £30.99 GBP
Ebook Price: $31.99 USD

order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000


About O’Reilly

O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

Email a link to this press release