System administration is the process of managing a computer system. In general, system administration includes tasks such as installing software, configuring hardware, and managing user accounts.
System administration can be performed by a user with appropriate privileges, such as a root user. However, in practice, system administration is often performed by a dedicated team of administrators.
One of the most common tasks for a system administrator is to install software. This can be done using a package manager such as apt.
Apt is a command-line tool that can be used to install, update, and remove software. It is the default package manager for Debian and Ubuntu.
To install a package using apt, the administrator can use the following command:
sudo apt install {package_name}
Another common task for a system administrator is to configure hardware. This can be done using the hardware management tool, hw-config.
Hw-config is a command-line tool that can be used to configure hardware devices. It can be used to configure devices such as sound cards, network cards, and printer queues.
To configure a device using hw-config, the administrator can use the following command:
sudo hw-config {device_name}
Another common task for a system administrator is to manage user accounts. This can be done using the user management tool, usermod.
Usermod is a command-line tool that can be used to add, modify, and delete user accounts. It can also be used to change the password for a user account.
To add a user using usermod, the administrator can use the following command:
sudo usermod -a -G {group_name} {username}
To change the password for a user using usermod, the administrator can use the following command:
sudo usermod -p {new_password} {username}
For more information on system administration, see the following resources: