Foreword

Several months ago, we received a post to the ubuntu-server mailing list from Sander van Vugt. Sander explained that he was writing an advanced book on Ubuntu Server administration, as well as a second edition of his Beginning Ubuntu Server Administration. Sander solicited ideas and asked for feedback. Though several books have been published on Ubuntu Server Edition, this is the first time, to my knowledge, that feedback has been sought from the Ubuntu Server community. We are grateful for the chance to help, and some of the suggestions made by Ubuntu Server Edition's developers and users appear in the pages of this book.

This book covers Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server Edition, sometimes referred to by its codename "Hardy Heron." Ubuntu releases an LTS (Long Term Support) edition about every two years. The LTS designation indicates that this release will be maintained and supported for five years by Canonical Ltd., the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu. By focusing on the LTS edition, Sander ensures that this book will be a useful addition to your library.

I am thankful to Sander for writing a book targeted at professional administrators. I think that it comes at a perfect time for Ubuntu Server Edition. We worked hard to make Ubuntu 8.04 our most enterprise-ready version yet, and this book is targeted at the enterprise administrators who need to know about Ubuntu Server's advanced features. Among the new and updated features are the following:

  • Integrated host firewalling to protect Internet-facing servers
  • Added AppArmor policies and increased kernel hardening
  • Increased range of storage capabilities, including iSCSI and DRBD
  • Sun's OpenJDK, new to Ubuntu Server in the Ubuntu 8.04 distribution
  • Active Directory integration, provided by Likewise Open
  • Added KVM virtualization support

I think the fact that this book is focused on the enterprise users, that it covers the LTS edition, and that Sander asked for Ubuntu Server community feedback all add up to making this a good book. I hope that it is useful to you, and helps you in your adoption of Ubuntu Server Edition.

One last word about the Ubuntu Server community. Though Ubuntu has a corporate sponsor, a large portion of the work is done by the community. Who is the community? Anyone who submits a bug report, helps package applications, writes documentation, answers questions from other users on the mailing list or IRC, or helps testing. We would love for you to get involved and help us make Ubuntu Server even better than it is now. I encourage you to visit https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam/ for more information.

Rick Clark

Engineering Manager, Ubuntu Server Edition

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