Summary

While Ubuntu is generally a very stable and secure platform, it’s important to be prepared for problems occurring and to know how to deal with them. In this chapter, we discussed common troubleshooting we can perform when our servers stop behaving themselves. We started off by evaluating the scope, which gives us an understanding of how many users or servers are affected by the issue. Then, we looked into Ubuntu’s log files, which are a treasure trove of information that we can use to pinpoint issues and narrow down the problem. We also covered several networking issues that can come up, such as issues with DHCP, DNS, and routing. We certainly can’t predict problems before they occur, nor can we be prepared in advance for every type of problem that can possibly happen. However, applying sound logic and common sense to problems will go a long way in helping us figure out the root cause.

In the next chapter, we will take a look at preventing disasters...