Linux system administration is specialized field in itself. In this presentation, I am going to list 7 Linux administration tasks which a programmer should know to be with ease while deploying or planning deployment of applications.

1. 7 things every web
developer should know
about Linux
administration
By Zareef Ahmed @zareefahmed

2. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
1. SSH connections
This is first and foremost requirement of Linux administration, you need to be able to login to remote
system to do any kind of task on it. On windows putty or similar software can be used. On Linux or
Mac OS machines you can directly use ssh command to do this. Telnet was once used for this
purpose but nowadays it is outdated due to security issues. You can also make password less
connection to your servers from your machines to automate many tasks. Read more about how to
setup password less connections.

3. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
2. File Operations
You must be able to create,copy and move files and directories around your file system. Many people
who are used to work on windows CMD prompt or Mac and Linux’s terminal will not face any problem
in this. You just need to careful about using commands while doing operations which impacts files or
directory life. Like using rm with rf option with a small spelling mistake can erase your whole data
without confirming.

4. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
3. Apache or your web server configuration
You must be aware of your web server’s functioning and its common configurations. Like on Apache
you must be aware of virtual host settings and .htaccess file handling. You must be able to
differentiate between “Dos” and “Don’ts”. I can give you a point to ponder about. How using .htaccess
file can slow down your overall file serving or execution via Apache and how you can overcome this?
Try to found out information about it.You can also guide Linux Administrator about disabling modules
which are not needed in your application to minimize memory footprint of the web server to boost
overall performance.

5. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
4. Configurations
You must be able to see how your server is performing and how you can fine tune simple things like
allocating more memory to your web or application server. If running PHP you must be able to handle
common configuration of it as all configuration variables are not configurable through ini_set function
or .htaccess file. Optimizing your database configuration can also be one of the useful thing to do.

6. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
5. Rsync
You must be aware of your web server’s functioning and its common configurations. Like on Apache
you must be aware of virtual host settings and .htaccess file handling. You must be able to
differentiate between “Dos” and “Don’ts”. I can give you a point to ponder about. How using .htaccess
file can slow down your overall file serving or execution via Apache and how you can overcome this?
Try to found out information about it.You can also guide Linux Administrator about disabling modules
which are not needed in your application to minimize memory footprint of the web server to boost
overall performance.

7. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
6. Using SVN, Git from command line.
You must be able to handle common operations related to SVN or Git through command line. This
will help you to integrate your deployment process to your version system.

8. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
7. Using Cron Jobs
You must be able to set the schedules of your cron jobs. Using cron jobs you can handle routine work
like clearing garbage or regenerating cache of specific portion of application.

9. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
Conclusion
I have tried to enlist some common tasks groups which you need to know to be better at linux
administration as web developer. Some very common tasks like creating or editing files in ssh shell
are also necessary in some cases.

10. @ZareefAhmedhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
Connect
Zareef Ahmed
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zareefahmed
https://twitter.com/zareefahmed