Life After Coffee

Last week my book, Oracle Shell Scripting: Linux and UNIX Programming for Oracle got its first review on Amazon.com:

Here’s Mike Bennett’s complete review from Amazon:

I’m a veteran Oracle Database Administrator and most of my work is on Unix systems so I wasn’t sure how much information in this book would be useful to me. I was pleasantly surprised to find what a wide range of scripting tips and techniques this manual provides. I was impressed by the fact that the author didn’t just describe HOW to do something, but also explained WHY a particular approach was taken. I also like the fact that the scripts given aren’t just contrived samples, but are practical and useful as given. This information will definitely help simplify some of my routine tasks and provide me with timely information about the environments and systems I work with. The author also pointed out how to go beyond what was provided in the book by suggesting ways the examples might be modified. I’ve already taken advantage of that with a script I helped one of my clients develop.

Thanks to Mike for the great review! I’m glad he found the book useful and I hope others do as well. If you have my book I welcome your feedback and encourage you to post your own review on Amazon!

For more information like this check out my book Oracle Shell Scripting, only $34.95 from Rampant TechPress.

Buy it now!

With my new book “Oracle Shell Scripting” now on shelves you may be wondering what shell scripting can do for you. Below is an excerpt from the book that touches on when you may want to think about scripting. While the book is geared toward Oracle users much of the content would apply to shell scripting regardless of the use.

When to script

A shell script can be written to do anything you would do at the command line. So when do you want to write a shell script? When is it a bad idea? Well, here are a few guidelines I use.

Shell scripts can yield the biggest return on regular tasks that are performed more-or-less the same way each time. If every day you log into a system and remove some files out of a directory, backup a database or check a log file for a specific string of characters you should automate these tasks. Chances are you can make them run automatically and save yourself the hassle all together.

Shell scripts aren’t just for automation though. In some cases a script saves us time in a different way by allowing us to run a simple command instead of a very complicated one.

One of the most powerful features of the shell and shell scripting is the ability to affect several files and even multiple servers with a single script. Loops and commands like find make shell scripting ideal for managing large numbers of files in a single step.

In general there is little point in writing a shell script to do something once. The exception to this is occasionally something needs to be run at a time when you would rather not have to be around to run it yourself. In this case you may decide to bundle those commands into a shell script and schedule it to run without you involved. Be careful with this type of script and always be thinking “what if something goes wrong?” because sooner or later it will and if you’re not around to fix it you could get in some hot water.

For more information like this check out my book Oracle Shell Scripting, only $34.95 from Rampant TechPress.

Buy it now!

shell script, unix, linux, oracle, bash, scripting

My book Oracle Shell Scripting: Linux and UNIX Programming for Oracle has just become available on Amazon.com!

The book has been out for just a couple weeks and should be in book stores soon, but it can be had online right now! The best price on the book right now can be found at Rampant TechPress who is currently selling the book for $34.95. Amazon is currently selling the book at the cover price of $49.95.

unix, oracle, shell scripting, linux, book, database tuning, database administration, database security

Exactly 15 months after I first posted about it my book Oracle Shell Scripting: Linux and UNIX Programming for Oracle has finally been printed and is available!

The book offers an introduction to shell scripting, an in-depth look at many useful shell commands and tools and a bunch of example scripts to use as-is or as a basis for your own custom scripts. As a long-time database and system administrator I have compiled some of the best tools, tips and tricks I have found for administration, monitoring and automation of DBA tasks.

I know you’re just dying to go out and get it, but it will probably take a couple weeks for it to hit book stores and Amazon. The best way to buy the book is directly from the publisher. They have it in stock and ready to go.

I will be posting more about the book here in the near future. It really covers a lot of what I have learned in my professional career and I’m thrilled at the opportunity to share my experience in this form. If you have questions about the book please feel free to leave a comment. I don’t always get to my comments quickly, but I do read and reply to all of them.

unix, oracle, shell scripting, linux, book, database tuning, database administration, database security

Many popular varieties of Linux use a “feature” which causes the ls command output to show files, directories, links, etc. all in different colors. I guess some people prefer this, but I find it at best annoying, and at worst illegible. Specifically the color-coding of symbolic links tend to show in such a light color that it is often impossible to read.

The color output is accomplished by adding the --color=tty or a similar option to the ls command. This is typically accomplished by creating an alias to ls in either the user’s profile or in one of the system-wide profiles.

alias ls='ls --color=tty'

My personal preference is to remove this line from any system-wide configuration files (such as /etc/profile) and allow users to set it in their own profile if preferred. If you don’t have the desire or ability to make this change universally than a user can easily disable the color output by using the unalias command:

unalias ls

This can either be added to the user’s configuration file (e.g. the .profile or .bash_profile in their home directory), or you can just type unalias ls anytime to disable color ls output for the rest of the current shell session. This can be especially useful to turn off the color output when you’re working on someone else’s system.

Color-coded ls output can cause permissions errors in some circumstances, so in my opinion it is best left off, but if you’re stuck with it then it’s nice to know how it can be disabled when necessary.

ls, sysadmin, system administration, linux, shell, bash, sh, UNIX