Dealing with system problems--from user login failures to server crashes--is a critical part of a system administrator's job. A down system can cost a business thousands of dollars per minute. But there is little or no information available on how to troubleshoot and correct system problems; in most cases, these skills are learned in an ad-hoc manner, usually in the pressure-cooker environment of a crisis. This is the first book to address this lack of information.

The authors (both experienced Tru64 UNIX support engineer for Compaq) systematically present the techniques and tools needed...