Installation guide

2
System Administration Tools and
Methods
This chapter explains the various tool options and administration methods
available to you. Choices may be limited by the hardware, or by a
particular task that you are performing. For example, you cannot use the
graphical tools if you only have a character-cell terminal, or if the system is
at the single-user prompt in standalone mode. Under these circumstances,
you are limited to the command-line and to scripts that have character-cell
interfaces.
Most administrative tasks can be accomplished using individual
commands, by running a character-cell script, or by running a graphical
interface under X windows. However, not all tools may offer all three types
of interface, and there may be slight differences in the options offered by
each interface. For example, a command may have a large number of
options (flags) when used from the command line, but not all these options
are presented in the graphical interface.
Avoid making manual edits to files. Experienced administrators may want
to avoid using an interface or script, but this can often lead to changes to
the format of the file. While these errors might not cause problems when
running the system, they may cause problems during future update
installations, when new information is automatically merged into the
existing files. If you do make changes to individual system files, always use
a command line utility such as rcmgr or sysconfig. If you need to correct
a problem with a file by editing the file in single-user mode (using ed or
vi) ensure that you preserve the format of the file. Section 4 reference
pages document the correct formats of the various system files.
This chapter describes:
• Administration tools available from the Common Desktop Environment
(CDE) graphical user interface. Use of this interface requires a graphics
(windowing) terminal or workstation, and the installation of the CDE
software subsets.
• Remote system administration, using a modem connected to the console
of the remote system
System Administration Tools and Methods 2–1