The top 20 sysadmin guides and tutorials

Check out the most popular guides from 2020.

Posted: December 31, 2020 by Jason Hibbets (Red Hat)

2020 written in sparklers — Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

2020 was an amazing year for the Enable Sysadmin community. Site traffic grew to almost 500,000 page views per month, which is amazing. Even more impressively, we generated more than three million page views and two million unique visits for the year from articles published in 2020.

More importantly, we grew our community in 2020 despite the challenges many of us faced—we persevered and provided a gathering place for sysadmins, both new and veteran writers.

We published more than 400 articles from 80 authors.
We have more than 40 authors that are part of our Run Level 3 Club.
We launched the Sudoer program in May 2020 that now boasts more than 20 members.

And the quality of the guides and tutorials is top-notch. Each of the guides listed below has more than 20,000 page views as of this writing. As you consider new challenges for 2021, know that you can join our community of writers, too. Enjoy this year's top 20 from Enable Sysadmin.

Real sysadmins don't sudo

Or do they? This opinion piece from contributor David Both takes a look at when sudo makes sense, and when it does not.

11 Linux commands I can’t live without

Here are 11 Linux commands that one sysadmin cannot live without.

How to clear swap memory in Linux

Got swappiness? Learn how to set appropriate swap settings in Linux, and clear your swap's contents.

3 ways to configure a network interface in Linux

Few things are more important to your machine than a good network connection. Here are three ways to configure the interfaces needed to make this happen.

Running a quick NMAP scan to inventory my network

Use Nmap, the open source network mapper tool, to better understand what's happening in your network.

Mounting and mapping shares between Windows and Linux with Samba

Create an air of interoperability in your network with Samba. Your Windows and Linux systems can work together.

How to use the Linux mtr command

mtr is an essential, real-time network diagnostic tool for your sysadmin toolbox.

Linux tools: How to use the ss command

ss is the Swiss Army Knife of system statistics commands. It's time to say buh-bye to netstat and hello to ss.

A Linux sysadmin's introduction to cgroups

Defining cgroups and how they help with resource management and performance tuning in this first article kicking off a four-part series covering cgroups and resource management.

An introduction to the Linux /etc/fstab file

Explore the Linux file system table and some configuration basics.

7 tips to speed up your Linux command line navigation

The command line doesn't have to be tedious, it can be awesome with these shortcuts.

Getting started with socat, a multipurpose relay tool for Linux

If you need an advanced sysadmin tool for your toolbox, this is the one. Socat allows for bidirectional data transfers from one location to another.

Building a home lab: Sysadmin after dark

Want to set up your own home sysadmin lab? Let's start by looking at the big-picture decisions regarding hardware and software.

Sysadmin tools: 11 ways to use the ls command in Linux

The ls command is a feature-rich command-line utility. Find out eleven different ways to use it.

Yum respositories represented by clay pots of various shapes and sizes

How to add a Yum repository

There are a few different ways to add a Yum repository to your system, depending on what you need from the repository. Let's look at three different options.

How to run a Kubernetes cluster on your laptop

Want containers? Learn how to set up and run a Kubernetes container cluster on your laptop with OKD.

Setting up a Linux cluster with Keepalived: Basic configuration

In this second of three Linux HA cluster articles, you'll explore the fundamentals of Keepalived installation and configuration.

SSHFS: Mounting a remote file system over SSH

Learn how to securely mount a remote file system from another server locally on your machine with SSHFS.

Adding a Linux system to an Active Directory domain - old keys

How to join a Linux system to an Active Directory domain

Do you need to centrally manage Linux systems and user accounts under an Active Directory domain? Here's how to do it.

How to set up PXE boot for UEFI hardware

Setting up a PXE system will streamline new system installs, but the process is lengthy and requires attention to detail. This part one of two articles walks you through the process.

Topics: Year in review Linux

Jason Hibbets

Jason Hibbets is a Principal Program Manager at Red Hat with the Digital Communities team. He works with the Enable Architect, Enable Sysadmin, Enterprisers Project, and Opensource.com community publications. More about me