Recommended books about FreeBSD

FreeBSD�|the powerful, flexible, and free Unix-like operating system�|is the preferred server for many enterprises. But it can be even trickier to use than either Unix or Linux, and harder still to master.

Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Edition is your complete guide to FreeBSD, written by FreeBSD committer Michael W. Lucas. Lucas considers this completely revised and rewritten second edition of his landmark work to be his best work ever; a true product of his love for FreeBSD and the support of the FreeBSD community. Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Edition covers installation, networking, security, network services, system performance, kernel tweaking, filesystems, SMP, upgrading, crash debugging, and much more, including coverage of how to:

• Use advanced security features like packet filtering, virtual machines, and host-based intrusion detection
• Build custom live FreeBSD CDs and bootable flash
• Manage network services and filesystems
• Use DNS and set up email, IMAP, web, and FTP services for both servers and clients
• Monitor your system with performance-testing and troubleshooting tools
• Run diskless systems
• Manage schedulers, remap shared libraries, and optimize your system for your hardware and your workload
• Build custom network appliances with embedded FreeBSD
• Implement redundant disks, even without special hardware
• Integrate FreeBSD-specific SNMP into your network management system.

Whether you're just getting started with FreeBSD or you've been using it for years, you'll find this book to be the definitive guide to FreeBSD that you've been waiting for.

Now, you read "Building a Server with FreeBSD 7" and you want to do more. This is the book to get.

This is an excellent book, plenty of information and very well written, covering every aspect of a FreeBSD system.

I am a big fan of open source software. I've been a GNU/Linux user for years but I must admit I had never played with BSD before. I bought this book because I wanted to set up a network server at home and I thought it was the perfect occasion to try FreeBSD. I expected one of those thick and boring reference books but, hey! I am very glad I chose "Absolute FreeBSD" because it is the perfect example of how write a clear, informative, nice and accurate technical book. The book is not for the absolute beginner but, in general, it's very easy to read. It should be self-explanatory to anyone with a little experience in networking, UNIX-like systems or, in general, computer science.

The author is a FreeBSD developer himself, so he talks about the inner workings of the FreeBSD community, providing an interesting point of view of the operating system, not only as a regular user but also as one of its "insiders".

The book covers everything a BSD system administrator should know. It covers basic things like how to install the system, how to make backups and recover from data loss, how to configure the network, disk management, etc. It also includes detailed explanations and sysadmin tricks of the usual network services: DNS, SSH, DHCP, FTP, printing server, web Server, mail Server... The author also gets into more advanced topics like, kernel tunning, security, performance analysis and tunning or RAID management. I was particularly interested in using hard disk encryption. I thought getting it was going to be a pain in the neck but the book explains how to do it with 6 simple commands. Nice!

In general the book is well structured. Concepts are explained clearly and with a lot of examples. Some chapters cover so many concepts that my brain couldn't keep up with so much information and I had to take a break for a nice beer ;-) The book is worth it's price: 37 dollars for 700 pages.

Only one advice: Although it has a graphical interface, FreeBSD is normally configured trough the good old command-line. Don't expect this book to tell you how to configure your web server double-clicking on an icon, FreeBSD is not Ubuntu or Win2003. The book may not be suitable for Happy Windows Users, used too the click-next click-next click-next way. This book is for computer geeks, system administrators, people that enjoy using different operating systems, people that need to have a robust system to use as a network server, people that like to tune every detail of their machines, or people that need to learn freeBSD and have no time to google every single configuration detail. For any of those people, I highly recommend this book.

This book is worth every dollar.

Easy to read, you don't need to be already an experienced administrator or user to read this book

'Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD' is another hit in the No Starch collection of books which have their own unique layout and style of writing associated with the authors publishing with them. With around 700 pages of content you will learn the ins and outs of this Unix-like operating system and see how powerful it is and what it can do for you. If you use FREEBSD on the job or are just a tinkerer that plays with non Windows/Mac systems this will enable you do do administration, learn to programmatically script, and get behind the curtain to do more than you thought possible! If you need a FREEBSD book, No Starch makes learning FUN and it's a great addition to your library!

***** RECOMMENDED

OpenBSD's stateful packet filter, PF, offers an amazing feature set and support across the major BSD platforms. Like most firewall software though, unlocking PF's full potential takes a good teacher. Peter N.M. Hansteen's PF website and conference tutorials have helped thousands of users build the networks they need using PF. The Book of PF is the product of Hansteen's knowledge and experience, teaching good practices as well as bare facts and software options. Throughout the book, Hansteen emphasizes the importance of staying in control by having a written network specification, using macros to make rule sets more readable, and performing rigid testing when loading in new rules.

Today's system administrators face increasing challenges in the quest for network quality, and The Book of PF can help by demystifying the tools of modern *BSD network defense. But, perhaps more importantly, because we know you like to tinker, The Book of PF tackles a broad range of topics that will stimulate your mind and pad your resume, including how to:

• Create rule sets for all kinds of network traffic, whether it is crossing a simple home LAN, hiding behind NAT, traversing DMZs, or spanning bridges
• Use PF to create a wireless access point, and lock it down tight with authpf and special access restrictions
• Maximize availability by using redirection rules for load balancing and CARP for failover
• Use tables for proactive defense against would-be attackers and spammers
• Set up queues and traffic shaping with ALTQ, so your network stays responsive
• Master your logs with monitoring and visualization, because you can never be too paranoid

The Book of PF is written for BSD enthusiasts and network admins at any level of expertise. With more and more services placing high demands on bandwidth and increasing hostility coming from the Internet at-large, you can never be too skilled with PF.

If you're looking for information about the OpenBSD packet filter program "pf", you may have noticed a gaping hole on bookstore shelves. Two books that I have read on pf are "Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF, 2nd Edition" by Jacek Artymiak and the No Starch Press title, "The Book of PF", by Peter N.M. Hansteen.

"The Book of PF" is by far the easier of the two books to digest and will help you get up to speed very quickly. It's a short book, weighing in at 145 pages. The example rule sets are simple to follow and very thoroughly documented.

Hansteen helps you navigate through pf's basic configuration and then takes you through more advanced topics like wireless networks and how to deal with 'bigger or trickier networks'. There is also a treatment of OpenBSD's spamd program, designed to help you combat spam on your network.

You'll find a chapter on Alternate Queuing (ALTQ) and Common Address Redundancy Protocol (CARP). ALTQ provides a way to shape the traffic on your network and was integrated into pf for the OpenBSD 3.3 release. CARP was added to OpenBSD in release 3.5 to address the issue of high availability and uninterrupted service.

A chapter covering Logging, Monitoring, and Statistics helps bring it all together for the network administrator. Hansteen closes out the text with a chapter titled "Getting Your Setup Just Right" that provides a last-minute review of some of the most important configuration options.

If you're interested in "The Book of PF", most likely you're already familiar with OpenBSD - one of the most secure operating systems available today. If you're ready to enhance OpenBSD's default security, pick up a copy of this book and spend some time with the pf program.

This book is great for all types of OpenBSD users. If you just want a to build a home router with better performance and more control, then this book is all you'll need. If you're looking to build an enterprise load balancer, this book is an excellent resource that you'd be hard pressed to live with out.

Mr. Hansteen, Did a rather good job of putting this book together. The chapters flowed well and one led into the next in a very logical manner. I especially found useful the sections on Round-robin and setting up wireless (Chapter 4 and 7).
Although I make a business of building firewalls I will be keeping this book close at hand. Sadly I only gave 3 stars as I felt the editing could have been better I found several errors with the sample scripts and rules and found it lacking with one or two advanced areas for the professionals would have made this a 5 star easy.

My background has and is mainly in Linux. I ordered this book because I had an interest in PF, and I was unable to test most of the examples of this book, due to the lack of an available machine that I could readily install openbsd on.

After reading this book, I would readily give up iptables for PF. I can't count the number of times I've come into a new job where I had to spend several hours deciphering the iptables rules loaded on a particular firewall to ensure I understand what all the rules are intended to do. I do love iptables and the power it provides but I don't believe anyone can claim it's user friendly or even remotely user friendly.

PF is OpenBSD Packet Filter. It differs from essentially every firewall product on the market in that a normal human being with a very rudimentary understanding of networking can come in, and look at the configuration files and be able to understand what is going on.

This particular book is by no means that comprehensive, nor is it a HOWTO, as the author states in the introduction. It does give a very brief introduction into some of the capabilities of PF, which includes: Setting up a firewall, Natting, Wireless networks, Queuing, Logging and Analyzing data traffic as well as a brief few pages on preventing brute force attacks and spam bot attacks.

For a curious audience that would like to learn more about the PF, it is an ideal book. If you expect to learn about the minute details and intricacies of PF, this isn't the book you want to get.

I enjoyed reading this book, and once again have an itch to learn more about OpenBSD, if I can tear myself away from gentoo long enough to see if I can get used to the various differences and intricacies that always tend to drive me up the wall whenever changing distributions and or operating systems. (To avoid flame wars, I am by no means claiming that OpenBSD or any BSD derivative is a linux distro).

Biased review ahead
This review is going to be biased. First of all I love OpenBSD, I love PF and I have meet Peter who is a nice guy to talk to.

But we are getting ahead here. This book is obviously about PF, what is that? PF is the Packet Filter developed for OpenBSD and then ported to several other BSD systems. PF is a modern firewall system which performs great, like many others, but which has a built-in language which makes it very easy to understand the ruleset and create a better firewall.

Note:
To be fair the filtering language of PF was in the first versions very similar to the IP Filter by Darren Reed. Credit goes to him for making IP Filter in the first place, I learnt a lot about firewalls from using it. As explained in the book PF was actually the child of need when IP Filter was removed from OpenBSD.

So PF was invented and at some time Peter Hansteen wrote his famous web page "Firewalling with OpenBSD's PF packet filter". From this source he has then managed with help from No Starch Press to produce an important book about the best firewall for Open Source systems.

Compared to web page version
With this source the first question from a potential reader might be, how does it compare to the web page. Why should I buy this when I can download and print.

The content of the book is arranged similarly to the web page, but better. The layout is better since the people at No Starch knows how to layout pages and the typography which makes reading a pleasure. Peter has also written new paragraphs and introductory sections which are much better and makes the overall reading from cover to cover better.

So to answer the question: the book is way better than the web page and easier to read.

Further the format, a book, as compared to printed paper is much nicer when sitting at home reading or as I did when you bring the book along to read a chapter.

Contents
Since not all have read the web page I will try to summarize what the book is about, and why it does matter as an extension of the current available reference and other information about PF.

The book is about PF, and not only about PF on OpenBSD. Since Peter uses PF on OpenBSD he does remind people that not all features are available on FreeBSD and NetBSD - but this book is not just about OpenBSD - it really is about PF.

The chapters of the book goes from enabling PF with the simplest possible rulesets on OpenBSD, FreeBSD and NetBSD through expected firewall/gateways to advanced networks like: wireless networks, bigger networks with DMZ subnets, bandwidth shaping with ALTQ and even logging and statistics. Judging from the number of pages it should not be possible, the book is only about 150 pages, but the way Peter has organized it makes it possible.

Writing style
Peter has a unique writing style and be warned, I don't think everybody will enjoy it, unless prepared for it. This book is not a HOWTO with complex and magic instructions which you can follow and not learn from. This book is about educating you the reader to become the local PF guru by having a master guide you onto the path and pushing you forward.

What you need to succeed with this book is access to a computer running OpenBSD, FreeBSD or NetBSD. You will need this access to try out the instructions and to learn. Peter is not spoonfeeding you - you will need to make an effort to learn, and learn by doing.

While you tinker with PF you also need access to the internet, not all the time - but when you want to check the state of PF in FreeBSD for example you will need to go to the FreeBSD PF web page. This information could of course have been included, but why? Including information that will soon be outdated is not the style for Peter, rather he has digested and decided to include references where appropriate and not include a lot of copy paste from other sources.

When Peter wrote this book he also makes it clear that he is not just teaching the available features, but the process of developing gateways with PF. His way of expanding simple "block in all" ruleset into a fully working examples with DMZ are fun to read and a beginner will learn not just the syntax of a firewall, but what makes a good firewall. If you need the syntax, which we all do, go to the materials from the extensive Appendix A with links to internet resources.

Having a book with the process is going to last longer than a book listing just the features in the current version. So this book will be worth it for years ahead, even though PF is in rapid development.

He also presents his view of the world, and while I might not agree to everything - I consider greylisting evil - he does make some good arguments about which features to use and why. He doesn't just present a solution, he explains the why in the solution. When you get more experience with PF and firewalls you can always modify his solution to fit your needs.

Target audience
From my viewpoint this book is for everyone who uses PF. Regardless of operating system and skill level this book will teach you something new and interesting. The instructions are precise enough to get the beginner started, while the seasoned PF user will be compelled to update rulesets to include the best current practice for improved readability and performance. I have used PF since it was included in OpenBSD and yet I have something to try out immediately.


Conclusion
This book is a great version of the "Firewalling with OpenBSD's PF packet filter" web page which is a joy to read from cover to cover. The content is presented in a compressed format that will make the interested reader eager to try PF in practice. Combined with the official PF User's guide it will make you proficient in PF.

I can recommend buying this book and at the same time download his online web page.


A big thank you goes to Peter, the OpenBSD project and especially Daniel Hartmeier for giving us PF.

[...]

The Definitive UNIX Resource--Fully Updated

Get cutting-edge coverage of the newest releases of UNIX--including Solaris 10, all Linux distributions, HP-UX, AIX, and FreeBSD--from this thoroughly revised, one-stop resource for users at all experience levels. Written by UNIX experts with many years of experience starting with Bell Laboratories, UNIX: The Complete Reference, Second Edition provides step-by-step instructions on how to use UNIX and take advantage of its powerful tools and utilities.

Get up-and-running on UNIX quickly, use the command shell and desktop, and access the Internet and e-mail. You'll also learn to administer systems and networks, develop applications, and secure your UNIX environment. Up-to-date chapters on UNIX desktops, Samba, Python, Java Apache, and UNIX Web development are included.

• Install, configure, and maintain UNIX on your PC or workstation
• Work with files, directories, commands, and the UNIX shell
• Create and modify text files using powerful text editors
• Use UNIX desktops, including GNOME, CDE, and KDE, as an end user or system administrator
• Use and manage e-mail, TCP/IP networking, and Internet services
• Protect and maintain the security of your UNIX system and network
• Share devices, printers, and files between Windows and UNIX systems
• Use powerful UNIX tools, including awk, sed, and grep
• Develop your own shell, Python, and Perl scripts, and Java, C, and C++ programs under UNIX
• Set up Apache Web servers and develop browser-independent Web sites and applications

0-24666-5 Developing Facebook applications requires a different way of thinking than traditional web site development. This book guides you through the process, covering topics and theory that can be applied immediately. The author begins with a look at the Facebook Platform and explores the basics. Next, the core components of the Facebook Platform are presented along with helpful examples. Youll learn how to extend and enhance the applications youve already built. This book arms you with the tools and know-how to inject new features and content into the Facebook environment. Chassaing/Digital Signal Processing 2e

I've recently stepped into the wading pool of FreeBSD after about 15 years of using Linux. My previous UNIX experience has dealt with a number of BSD variants, but only recently have I installed FreeBSD on a personal system. The book offers decent coverage of most topics. The criticisms I have of the book are:

* The title tagline "1000+ Commands" - so if I type "ls -l" then "ls -a" then "ls -F" and "ls -laF" by this book's tract I just learned four new commands. I don't think having individual options mentioned on separate lines as "learning X number of new commands."

* Title - BSD UNIX Toolbox; if I remember correctly, I didn't get instructions on how to use a ratchet and socket in my toolbox; why does this book walk you through like a "For Dummies..." book.

The title tries to mirror another great series (O'Reilly's In a Nutshell series", but falls short of the advertised "1000+ commands." Buy it and use it until O'Reilly and Associates releases a BSD in a Nutshell book... then burn this copy and buy that one.

BSD Unix Toolbox (BUT) is a straightforward system administration book that could apply to many Unix-like operating systems. The title mentions "BSD" but the BSD-specific material is FreeBSD-oriented. The non-FreeBSD sections (such as using a shell) could apply to any Unix-like OS, so in that sense other BSDs like OpenBSD or NetBSD are "covered." However, sections like Ch 2 (Installing FreeBSD and Adding Software) have no OpenBSD or NetBSD equivalents. Nevertheless, I recommend BUT for anyone looking for a rapid introduction to BSD system administration.

BUT is thorough but fast and dry. Michael Lucas' Absolute FreeBSD is still my favorite FreeBSD book, and you're more likely to find neat aspects of the OS in a book by Dru Lavigne. Bryan Hong's recent book is place to find recipes for installing popular open source applications on FreeBSD. The people who will like BUT the most are those with little to no BSD experience, or those with some Linux experience looking to transition to FreeBSD.

BUT will probably fill a lot of knowledge gaps in the intended audience. I really liked the book's style, whereby it introduces a task and shows command-line examples. Everything uses this approach, which is a winning formula. The vast majority of the book is command line-oriented, with no apologies. If you're using FreeBSD this is probably what you're looking for anyway. I also liked the reference tables, especially in the appendices.

One caution: if you own one or more of the other "Toolbox" books, there's probably a decent amount of overlap. There's only so much to say about using Samba, or checking process listings, or running backups, when the underlying applications are all the same.

Years ago the Unix System Administration Handbook was a one-stop shop for comparative system administration commands, with coverage of Red Hat Linux, Solaris, and FreeBSD. Unfortunately no single modern book includes commands for common tasks for all three major operating systems, although the Linux Administration Handbook (3rd Ed) serves that purpose. I commend Wiley for publishing modern books on system administration like this.

The meat of this book, like it's Linux counterparts in the series (I read Ubuntu Linux Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for Ubuntu and Debian Power Users), lies in the useful shell commands that even seasoned administrators may have overlooked or useful combinations that never occurred to them. Personally I've used Linux since 1999 and have three or four years of professional administration on Linux, HP-UX, and Solaris. To my surprise I still found one or two new tricks in the Ubuntu book and quite a few more in the BSD book.

A junior administrator or a intermediate hobbyist will find countless pointers, commands, and insight that takes years of reading man pages, web searching, and chatting with other geeks to figure out. I know Francois Caen, one of the writers in this series, and his goal was to bring together all these "tools" he uses every day to accelerate your learning curve. I think he and Negus met that goal.

While I thought this book was good, it was missing a few things I expected to see. It's clearly focused on Linux users who want to put their toe in the BSD pool. That's pretty good for me, primarily a Linux user, but users not coming from a Linux background may be lead slightly astray. Special attention is paid to setting up a FreeBSD system that can play nicely with Linux systems (reading ext2/3 file systems, for example). I feel that the Linux compatibility received a bit too much coverage, but given the popularity of Linux, many will appreciate it.

The book is applicable to all BSD based systems, and even Linux and commercial Unix variants to a lesser extent, but it focuses on the popular FreeBSD variant. Personally I'm exploring OpenBSD for use as routers/firewalls, and I'd say about 80% of the BSD content in this book is applicable to OpenBSD (in my naive viewpoint). I really wished they would have covered the OpenBSD packet filter (PF) more, but with the focus on FreeBSD, IPF is covered instead. I was quite surprised at the easy to use syntax of IPF compared to IPChains in Linux.

As seems to be the trend with recent technical books, there were a couple typos in some of the examples, but a careful reader can catch the gist of what was meant.

All in all BSD Unix Toolbox is a great book for an intermediate Linux or Unix user interested in exploring the FreeBSD command line. I all but guarantee you will find a few new commands to add to your own toolbox.

This book makes a nice addition to my FreeBSD collection. It contains a comprehensive listing of useful commands collected in a single source. The book is fairly compact so it doesn't take up much room on your desk. The softcover makes it easy to quickly flip through the sections.

For the price, this book was well worth it!

The most difficult part of building a server with FreeBSD, the Unix-like operating system, is arguably software installation and configuration. Finding the software is easy enough; getting everything up and running is another thing entirely. The only option for many people has been to hire a consultant.

Building a Server with FreeBSD 7 is for those of us who prefer to build our own server. If you're a small business owner looking for a reliable email server, a curious Windows administrator, or if you just want to put that old computer in the closet to work, you'll learn how to get things up and running quickly. Then, once you have a working system, you can experiment, extend, and customize as you please.

You'll learn how to install FreeBSD, then how to install popular server applications with the ports collection. Each package is treated as an independent module, so you can dip into the book at any point to install just the packages you need, when you need them. The book s modules cover topics like:

• Running common FreeBSD admin commands and tasks
• Managing the FreeBSD ports collection
• Installing third-party apps like Apache, Courier-IMAP, SpamAssassin, CUPS, Cyrus SASL, MediaWiki, and WordPress
• Setting up MySQL, NTP, ISC DHCP, ISC BIND DNS, PHP, OpenLDAP, OpenSSH, OpenSSL, and OpenVPN

Building a Server with FreeBSD 7 will have you up and running fast, with minimum hassle. (Just be sure to send the money you save to the Unemployed Consultant Foundation.)

Read it, follow it to the word and you have a working system. It is that simple.

This really is a very good book especially if you wish to build a server to provide services to Windows clients. I wish there was coverage for installing Netatalk and Avahi or other such zero configuration networking protocol to serve Mac clients. After all, FreeBSD is a UNIX type OS and Mac OS X is UNIX as well. With the rapid growth of the Mac OS in the last couple of years coverage of services to better work with the Mac would have been appreciated.

A good quick reference, and ties in well with the topics presented in Absolute FreeBSD (2nd ed) by M Lucas. But Lucas has a much better writing style, and gets across his technical info in a better way, by explaining why things work the way they do.

Building a Server with FreeBSD 7 is kind of the quick and dirty, do this, do this, done. And although it has helped me set up FreeBSD on my first try as a competent server, I'm still trying to find out why the book tells you to do certain things and how components work together. With the info from Lucas in his books, you know how things work together and why you're instructed to do certain things.

I was initially very impressed by this book until I ran into a problem with the phpbb3 installation. Like so many other Tech books I'm learning to live with authors who don't actually don't try out the instructions in there own book. Notably you cannot successfully run the application phpBB3 the way it's laid out in the book. I was able to Google a solution to the problem, but then why buy the book? If Mr. Hong doesn't want to go into the details of a what "PHP" is or in this case php5-extensions, I'm ok with that. I like quick and dirty guides... but if Mr. Hong had actually spent the time to try out his own book these problems could have been avoided.

More aggravation came my when I found this book was ripped to the underground E-book market. Great! Another $30 bucks wasted.

So out of 5 stars I rate this a 3, A quick and Dirty guide to getting things done with FreeBSD. But buyers be warned, you must be willing to work your way through the dirt. There's plent of it.

-DML

It may be a hard start, but the ultimate product will be worth it. "Building a Server with FreeBSD7: A Modular Approach" is a complete and comprehensive guide to building a web server with the free operating system known as FreeBSD. A step by step guide sure to educate even the most clueless technophobes, "Building a Server with FreeBSD7" covers simply everything that anyone needs to know to get the service up and running. An essential read for any open source fan who needs a server, and for community library computer collections.

Though rootkits have a fairly negative image, they can be used for both good and evil. Designing BSD Rootkits arms you with the knowledge you need to write offensive rootkits, to defend against malicious ones, and to explore the FreeBSD kernel and operating system in the process.

Organized as a tutorial, Designing BSD Rootkits will teach you the fundamentals of programming and developing rootkits under the FreeBSD operating system. Author Joseph Kong's goal is to make you smarter, not to teach you how to write exploits or launch attacks. You'll learn how to maintain root access long after gaining access to a computer and how to hack FreeBSD.

Kongs liberal use of examples assumes no prior kernel-hacking experience but doesn't water down the information. All code is thoroughly described and analyzed, and each chapter contains at least one real-world application.

Included:

The fundamentals of FreeBSD kernel module programming

Using call hooking to subvert the FreeBSD kernel

Directly manipulating the objects the kernel depends upon for its internal record-keeping

Patching kernel code resident in main memory; in other words, altering the kernel's logic while it's still running

How to defend against the attacks described

Hack the FreeBSD kernel for yourself!

Collections strong in web design and programmer's guides know that rootkits have a negative image - but DESIGNING BSD ROOTKITS provides all the information on how to overcome any bad image and problems to develop effective rootkits under the FreeBSD operating system. This instructional is actually a tutorial, so it may also be used in programming classes: it explains how to maintain root access and how to hack Free BSD, using many examples which assume no prior kernel-hacking knowledge. Code is described, analyzed, and linked to real-world scenarios for maximum understanding, making for a perfect programmer's guide.

I loved Designing BSD Rootkits (DBR) by Joseph Kong, and I'm not even a kernel hacker. Rather, I'm an incident responder and FreeBSD administrator. This book is directly on target and does not waste the reader's time. If you understand C and want to learn how to manipulate the FreeBSD kernel, Designing BSD Rootkits is for you. Peer into the depths of a powerful operating system and bend it to your will!

DBR covers much of the same sorts of material found in the earlier Rootkits: Subverting the Windows Kernel by Greg Hoglund and James Butler, except Kong's book is all about FreeBSD. I actually read the Windows text first, but found Kong's more direct language and examples easier than the Hoglund/Butler text. After reading DBR I have a stronger understanding of each of the main chapters' techniques, i.e., kernel modules, hooking, direct kernel object manipulation, kernel object hooking, run-time kernel memory patching, and detection mechanisms. I particularly liked the author showing his sample rootkit's effectiveness against Tripwire, simply to demonstrate his methods.

DBR follows another tenet of great books: it credits previous work. Several times in the text Kong says where he learned a technique or what code he's modifying to do his bidding. This should serve as an example to other technical authors. Kong also does not treat his subject matter as a dark art practiced by people in long black coats at Def Con. He is professional and mentions where certain techniques like run-time kernel memory patching are used by commercial operating systems for "hot patching," as happens with Windows.

I have nothing bad to say about this book, although to get the absolute full learning experience it helps to know C programming, some assembly, and FreeBSD kernel internals. The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System by McKusick and Neville-Neil (another excellent book) is helpful preparatory reading. The fact that Kong provided all of his source code for download is also very much appreciated. Bravo! I look forward to your next book.

--- DISCLAIMER: This is a requested review by No Starch Press, however any opinions expressed within the review are my personal ones. ---


This enjoyable readable book gradually and very systematically evolves around hacking the kernel of a BSD system.

Chapter 1: Loadable Kernel Modules 22p.
Chapter 2: Hooking 13p.
Chapter 3: Direct Kernel Object Manipulation 20p.
Chapter 4: Kernel Object Hooking 4p.
Chapter 5: Run-Time Kernel Memory Patching 27p.
Chapter 6: Putting It All Together 26p.
Chapter 7: Detection 8p.

Its written in a style that allows also non-developers to grasp the main procedures and steps involved for modifying a systems kernel (assuming the attacker got access to a privileged system account).

Chapters 1 to 5 explain the several methods for modifying the kernel.

While the book is divided into 7 chapters, its most value really is the Chapters 6 which has many of those WoW effects included.

All or most technics described of chapters 1-5 will be used in chapter 6 for show casing how to circumvent an HIDS. Here is where all learned technics finally come all together.

So the reader dabbles with the author from an initial "simple" idea of bypassing an HIDS from one issue to the next. First the system call is hooked, so technically its kind of working, but then we realize that in order to make it perfect we need to hide the just created file (which contains the execution redirection routine). So the next obvious step is to hide the file so we dont leave a footprint on the system, just to realize that we need to hide the KLD (Dynamic Kernel Linker). So now everything is hidden but we forgot about the change of the /sbin directories access/ modification and change time, so we have to go after that too...

Its technically very interesting to learn how the author approaches the issues involved in order to avoid being detected by the HIDS or commands the user might use. That the author is technically on top of things is also shown f.e. by some info included in the book which is already referring to FreeBSD 7.

To get the most out of the book you ideally have programming knowledge of C, assembly etc. and debugging software systems. So I think its most valuable to system administrators, developers and security consultants.

I don't do a lot with BSD nowadays.. a lot of software customers want is only for Linux, and although sometimes it could be ported, the customers seem to want Linux. However, I cut my teeth on old SunOS, so bsdisms are familiar and friendly to me.

Working through this book was fun and informative. You can download sources from [....]

The concepts apply equally well to Linux, of course, and I also realized that some of the areas explored come up in ordinary application work and especially in system troubleshooting, so this isn't entirely about subverting systems for evil purpose.

For over seven years, computer networking and security instructor and consultant, Dru Lavigne, meticulously documented her learning experiences with FreeBSD administration and open source software usage in a series of over 110 articles. Many readers praised and recommended the author's informative tutorials. The Best of FreeBSD Basics book contains most of these articles - updated to reflect the usage on FreeBSD 6.2. The Best of FreeBSD Basics provides practical advice for completing common tasks on FreeBSD and is a great way to get to know FreeBSD - and Unix in general. Darwin, DragonFly, Linux, Mac OS X, NetBSD, and OpenBSD fans will also find a lot of the book invaluable and useful. Covering a huge range of FreeBSD and open source topics, The Best of FreeBSD Basics includes step-by-step directions, things to watch out for, and hints for success. A sampling of the book's topics include installing an X11 server and setting up a desktop environment, comparing common tasks with Linux, playing audio and video files, user administration, system startup, finding and using documentation, managing backups, networking basics, IPsec, setting up several servers, filtering spam, improving security, enabling firewalls, and a lot more.

Anyone who is beginner or more, in wonderful world of BSD I would recommend this great book. Personally I think that this is much more than great book.
Thanks Dru, I'm looking forward for your new book.

In mid-2004 I reviewed Dru Lavigne's book BSD Hacks, which I really enjoyed. 3 1/2 years later I am pleased to say that Dru's latest book, The Best of FreeBSD Basics (TBOFB), is another excellent resource for FreeBSD users. I really wish this book had been available in 2000 when I started using FreeBSD! If you are a beginner to intermediate FreeBSD user, you will find this book invaluable. If you are an advanced user, you may find a helpful tip or two as well.

Along with Michael Lucas, Dru Lavigne is one of the best FreeBSD authors around. She is very clear and methodically explains material with examples. The format of the book also makes it easy to find relevant material. I will admit to not reading every word, but it's not necessary with TBOFB. For example, I did not spend much time reading about Tcpdump basics. Because all of the commands are bolded, however, I was able to quickly locate syntax of interest to me. If I didn't recognize something I started reading the discussion in depth.

I'd like to highlight some of my favorite parts of the book. If you are a Linux administrator, you will find the "FreeBSD for Linux admins" section in Ch 1 to be helpful. I hadn't heard of bzcat (p 134) or showing control character mappings with stty -e (p 120). I didn't know I could specify a ports tree INDEX file via URL when invoking pkg_version (p 169). I was glad to learn about Porteasy (p 335). I think beginning Unix users will find the material on manipulating the shell to be helpful too. Items like these are not earth-shattering, but they make the administrator's life a little easier.

I have some recommendations for a second edition of TBOFB, which if addressed would result in a five star review. First, the layout of the pages makes some of the text difficult to read. The text is just too wide on the page. Readers have to peer into the binding of the book to see the end of text on the left side of the book. Second, the index could be more complete. I couldn't find some tools I read about in the index. Third, it would be helpful to know what OS was used to demonstrate the examples. For example, Michael Lucas' book Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Ed, was written using 7-CURRENT. The back of TBOFB states that "many" of the articles were "updated from FreeBSD 4 and 5 to reflect the usage on FreeBSD 6 and 7." Some of the material is essentially timeless (e.g., shell usage) but other elements tend to be tied closely to FreeBSD version. IPSec configuration is one example; some of the syntax on p 356 is not used in FreeBSD 7.x, and new instructions have been added.

Initially I was skeptical about reading TBOFB. After all, hadn't I read most or all of Dru's articles published at O'Reilly during the last several years? After reading TBOFB, I'm thankful for the review copy and I recommend all beginner and intermediate FreeBSD users read the book. TBOFB is a great complement to Lucas' Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Ed, and I expect the forthcoming Building a Server with FreeBSD 7 by Bryan Hong to fit nicely in this collection.

I own a copy of every FreeBSD book ever written. I can honestly say that Dru Lavigne's new book is simply the best FreeBSD how-to book out there. This book is well written with specific instruction on how to make things work.

Make no mistake about it.....Whether you are a novice or a system administrator, you need this book in your library. Unlike other FreeBSD books out there which basically copy the online handbook, Dru Lavigne compiled literally hundreds of FreeBSD tricks in this new book. You won't be disappointed!

As in earlier Addison-Wesley books on the UNIX-based BSD operating system, Kirk McKusick and George Neville-Neil deliver here the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and authoritative technical information on the internal structure of open source FreeBSD. Readers involved in technical and sales support can learn the capabilities and limitations of the system; applications developers can learn effectively and efficiently how to interface to the system; system administrators can learn how to maintain, tune, and configure the system; and systems programmers can learn how to extend, enhance, and interface to the system. The authors provide a concise overview of FreeBSD's design and implementation. Then, while explaining key design decisions, they detail the concepts, data structures, and algorithms used in implementing the systems facilities. As a result, readers can use this book as both a practical reference and an in-depth study of a contemporary, portable, open source operating system.This book: *Details the many performance improvements in the virtual memory system *Describes the new symmetric multiprocessor support *Includes new sections on threads and their scheduling *Introduces the new jail facility to ease the hosting of multiple domains *Updates information on networking and interprocess communication Already widely used for Internet services and firewalls, high-availability servers, and general timesharing systems, the lean quality of FreeBSD also suits the growing area of embedded systems. Unlike Linux, FreeBSD does not require users to publicize any changes they make to the source code.

A very good book for those who want to learn advanced concepts in OS. Since it is a open source the book is very useful in understanding how they look like. The paper quality is too good, which makes u read non stop. i luv reading this book. Price worth it. A good buy.

Before I encountered this book it was quite a bit of frustration in attempt to learn BSD and UNIX to the point I can really use it. For some reason there so many good books in a subject with one of two inclinations: or the book is too theoretical and very little of the real workflow provided or it is too down to earth and it is difficult to understand what is behind the sophisticated command line zingers.
I found this book to be well balanced, well written and generally providing good, accessible way to get into BSD. I have followed advise in someone's review here and coupled this book with Linux and UNIX for a beginner training suite, 4DVDs + 2CDs includes 4 Unix Academy Certifications ed.2008. To my great surprise I have to say they really have made an outstanding training outfit!
If you really ready for a training and do not expect that UNIX will come to you overnight it is worthy book and deserves your attention.

First of all you should be warned that this is not an introduction to get started with UNIX kernel programming. The Design of the UNIX Operating System by M.J. Bach provides a good general introduction to UNIX kernel programming. The design and implementation of the FreeBSD operating system is an excellent book to deepen knowledge of the UNIX kernel by looking how a current UNIX is implemented in practice. Even if you plan to write code for another kernel, working through the FreeBSD kernel with this book as a guide is a good excercise to become consious of the fundamental problems and solutions in kernel design. FreeBSD (or any of the other BSDs) is a good starting point, because the BSDs have relatively stable kernel subsystems and APIs due to the long cycles in BSD development.

The writing style of the authors is to the point (don't expect a novel) and clear. The troff typesetting of the book gives it a consistent style and simple, but clear diagrams (though I heard that some diagrams were hand-drawn). The book doesn't just drop the reader in a kernel subsystem. The second chapter gives a detailed explanation of the various kernel subsystems, and the relation between the subsystems. The third chapter gives a summary of what is expected from a kernel from the user level. Combined these two chapters give the reader the necessary conception of the FreeBSD kernel to start looking at individual parts of the kernel in detail. Most remaining chapters are logically ordered, in that subsystems are ordered from parts with less dependencies to parts with more dependencies (e.g. memory management and I/O are covered before filesystems).

If you are interested in UNIX programming, you should have this book on your bookshelf (as well as a CVS checkout of the FreeBSD kernel tree to read the implementation).

A BSD Bible. I never could read the Bible. I do Believe ...

650+ pages of truth and gore. I (as a sysadmin and BSD boomer) related most to the History (Ch.1) and Startup/Shutdown (final Ch.14). Memory management and other gore escapes me. GOOD JOB!

For the other side of the story, you may wish to check out the most recent "Inside Microsoft Windows" or "Microsoft Windows Internals" by Mark Russinovich.

In the world of Unix operating systems, the various BSDs come with a long heritage of high-quality software and well-designed solutions, making them a favorite OS of a wide range of users. Among budget-minded users who adopted BSD early on to developers of some of today's largest Internet sites, the popularity of BSD systems continues to grow. If you use the BSD operating system, then you know that the secret of its success is not just in its price tag: practical, reliable, extraordinarily stable and flexible, BSD also offers plenty of fertile ground for creative, time-saving tweaks and tricks, and yes, even the chance to have some fun. "Fun?" you ask. Perhaps "fun" wasn't covered in the manual that taught you to install BSD and administer it effectively. But BSD Hacks, the latest in O'Reilly's popular Hacks series, offers a unique set of practical tips, tricks, tools--and even fun--for administrators and power users of BSD systems. BSD Hacks takes a creative approach to saving time and getting more done, with fewer resources. You'll take advantage of the tools and concepts that make the world's top Unix users more productive. Rather than spending hours with a dry technical document learning what switches go with a command, you'll learn concrete, practical uses for that command. The book begins with hacks to customize the user environment. You'll learn how to be more productive in the command line, timesaving tips for setting user-defaults, how to automate long commands, and save long sessions for later review. Other hacks in the book are grouped in the following areas:

• Customizing the User Environment
• Dealing with Files and Filesystems
• The Boot and Login Environments
• Backing Up
• Networking Hacks
• Securing the System
• Going Beyond the Basics
• Keeping Up-to-Date
• Grokking BSD

If you want more than your average BSD user--you want to explore and experiment, unearth shortcuts, create useful tools, and come up with fun things to try on your own--BSD Hacks is a must-have. This book will turn regular users into power users and system administrators into super system administrators.

Although the name is scary, the ideas inside are simple to understand and implement, yet very powerful.

I especially like their way configuring terminals and backup solutions.

Make this the FreeBSD book you buy after you've got a basic understanding of the operating system. In other words, this is a very useful "sidekick" BSD book. It's full of creative and practical hacks, and the price is right. Highly recommended.

I just thought this book is not really that good. Most were not even hacks, but just basic usage. The only hacks book I really liked was by Rob - Linux Server Hacks. I would really recommend that one, even if you use bsd as it has true hacks with tar/ssh/etc. Try the Absolute OpenBSD book too. That is quite good and has a lot of info.

Whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, you will find this book extremely practical. Dru's solutions make building a BSD server from start to finish a snap. Buy this book as a supplement at the very least. 5 stars!

Originally reviewied for the Lower East Side Mac Unix Users Group:
http://lesmuug.org/reviews.html

OVERVIEW
--
There is a type of information that I consider to be a gem, a kind of information that doesn't really fit anywhere formally. It's too small, or perhaps too esoteric, to fit in most places.
This makes it hard to find- though these info-gems can often can be the source of wild hacking inspiration, or solve my un-solvable problems in some elegant manner.

This kind of information sometimes gets collected and recorded, Some of us at LESMUUG have really enjoyed the Mac OSX Hints book, spawned from macosxhints.com website,

http://lesmuug.org/reviews.html#Anchor-Mac-49575

BUT, after plowing repeatedly it's one UNIX chapter in Mac OS X Hints, I found myself craving more...

A Problem with BSD books:
One of the quietly great things about the BSD family of UNIX Operating Systems, is the terrific documentation. The quality and consistency of the man pages, across every BSD I've ever touched, I painfully appreciate when I use man pages on other non-BSD systems.
The FreeBSD world has the FreeBSD Handbook project, a printed and free online resource which sets the bar for every fat FreeBSD book out there. OpenBSD and NetBSD both have amazing online tutorials and documentation projects as well. Even the fledgling DragonFly BSD project has a full-blown Handbook, modeled after its FreeBSD lineage.
In the OpenDarwin and OSX world we enjoy the legacy of solid man pages and solid HowTo's online from our BSD heritage, and of course free registrations to developer.apple.com to boot.

With all that great documentation, it's really tough to find a BSD book that's really valuable, especially for experienced users, and Dru Lavigne has made a valuable and fun resource with BSD Hacks. The book is an impressive compilation of BSD gems, and as it's written for newbies and hardcore hackers alike.

Dru is a Canadian BSD Rockstar, well known in the BSD world for her articles with O'Reilly online, including the FreeBSD Basics column for ONLamp,

http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/catalog/view/au/73

so who better to write a book that doesn't fit into traditional documentation?! Someone who KNOWS BSD.


ABOUT THIS BOOK
--
The Book is comprised of so many disparate yet complete ideas, It's hard to sum up exactly what's in there. From networking, to gems on system maintenance, and gems about basics that really get lost in man pages. There's information about things like keeping up-to-date, giving a tutorial-level big picture of what can be done to keep your UNIX system running smoothly, boot and Login gems, some good Security Hacks and hacks about system customization and shell tricks. There's even a tutorial for how to create YOUR OWN man pages.

For Mac/Darwin users, the majority of the book applies directly to Darwin UNIX! A section which by its nature is OS-specific, would be the hacks about various port and application-distribution systems. This includes a good how-to for DarwinPorts, right along with the usual ports systems for other platforms. The section on filesystems doesn't have anything on hfs+, but that can be excused, insomuch as many mac-centric texts do it the same injustice.

Check out the TOC online for a full description of the book contents:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/bsdhks/toc.html


CONCLUSION
--
If you are a UNIX user who loves info-gems like I do, or you're a Mac UNIX user who digs macosxhints.com, (and the books published from it), I feel BSD Hacks will provide many weekends, and workdays worth of BSD gems- all written by a great technical author. This book now sits next to my printed FreeBSD Handbook, and since much of these gems are fairly timeless, I believe it will stay with me for a long time to come.

If you're one of the many Unix developers drawn to Mac OS X for its Unix core, you'll find yourself in surprisingly unfamiliar territory. Unix and Mac OS X are kissing cousins, but there are enough pitfalls and minefields in going from one to another that even a Unix guru can stumble, and most guides to Mac OS X are written for Mac aficionados. For a Unix developer, approaching Tiger from the Mac side is a bit like learning Russian by reading the Russian side of a Russian-English dictionary. Fortunately, O'Reilly has been the Unix authority for over 25 years, and in "Mac OS X Tiger for Unix Geeks," that depth of understanding shows.

This is the book for Mac command-line fans. Completely revised and updated to cover Mac OS X Tiger, this new edition helps you quickly and painlessly get acclimated with Tiger's familiar-yet foreign-Unix environment. Topics include:

Using the Terminal and understanding how it differs from an xterm

Using Directory Services, Open Directory (LDAP), and NetInfo

Compiling code with GCC 3

Library linking and porting Unix software

Creating and installing packages with Fink

Using DarwinPorts

Search through metadata with Spotlight's command-line utilities

Building the Darwin kernel

Running X Windows on top of Mac OS X, or better yet, run Mac OS X on a Windows machine with PearPC!

"Mac OS X Tiger for Unix Geeks" is the ideal survival guide for taming the Unix side of Tiger. If you're a Unix geek with an interest in Mac OS X, you'll find this clear, concise book invaluable.

There are many Tigers left in this Leopard world, and you'll want this book if you're going to tame the big striped cat via Unix. Especially valuable for Unix developers and administrators that are new to the Mac OS, "Mac OS X Tiger for Unix Geeks" illuminates Apple's unique approach to Unix and provides a jump-start into using the Mac OS's GUI and command-line tools. Authors Brian Jepson and Ernest E. Rothman lift the hood and point out the function of Tiger's major parts: the startup process, the filesystem, directory services, and the tools to use when configuring these parts. They proceed to detail Tiger's application development framwework, comparing and contrasting it with traditional Unix frameworks. The book finishes with an overview of Tiger as a server OS, replete with notes on major server technologies: administration tools, and databases and scripting languages. Jepson and Rothman share so much knowledge, you'll think they're developers for Apple!

I was a bit worried that the book would be more for beginners, but have been pleasantly surprised. I have been scripting on Linux and Unix machines for years and this is a great book for those who like working under the hood.

This book isn't for the average geek - if you're a geek but not a UNIX geek then don't buy this book. Even if you are a Unix geek the book is of potentially less value than you might expect... so let me adjust your expectations a bit.

Short and simple: it isn't a "Tiger Unix Bible". The majority of topics are just touched on or in many cases merely mentioned.

It also isn't a detailed coverage of Unix topics specific to Tiger. Apple has quite a few technologies of their own that they have woven into this flavor of UNIX. One might think that the book would cover at least those in depth. Nope. Even 10.4 specific topics that would be new to a 10.3 geek are typically "mentioned in depth". Assuming knowledge of Unix is one thing - but this book seems bent on assuming knowledge of the very topics it intends to introduce. That's probably just a fancy way of saying it covers a lot of geeky topics rather lightly.

If you're a true Unix geek you know how to deceipher man pages, hit all the usual blogs and find the information that's missing. And it's a lot easier to do if you know what the topics, commands and keywords are that you need to look at. For pointing me in the right direction I've found this book useful. Just don't expect more.

Excellent. Very helpful. And even if you are a real geek who prefers to look up the man pages, or consult mailing list archives, you shouldn't dismiss this book too quickly. It covers the basics and goes on to less obvious matters. No matter how expert you already are, the chance is high that you shall find a great deal of useful material here.

OS X UNIX is amazingly friendly and accessible. Some people who had never used it before type commands and work with the operating system directly as a "cool guys" in movies! This book is very helpful and well written and it is serves as a very nice reference. I paired this book with that "UNIX Essentials" DVD I found here on Amazon and it is complete UNIX course recorded and this book and a video they contribute one another greatly. The book is very particular about the subjects that related to OS X and because there are some differences between OS X and other UNIXes it is nice to have a book that deals with it.