UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

the best way to learn hp-ux is to learn hp-ux! all unix derivates are a little different from each other. so the question is: "why learn hp-ux and not solaris (which is available for x86 systems and can be run fine inside a virtual mashine)?"

Perfect! That's the stuff I need to know. I work in a SAP shop that runs on HP-UX and I'm sick and tired of people talking about it and me not knowing anything. Plus our true sys-admin left for other opportunities and I'm ready to learn this stuff. I'll for sure do the book route, but I need a close system to work on.

So download OpenSolaris or some other distro??

HP-UX is a pecular mix of HP source, AT&T System III & System V and BSD.

OpenSolaris is a good starting point.

Might also see if your company has an old HP-UX box laying around that they don't use. They might let you use it while you are learning. Also sometimes you can find good buys on eBay - people are always getting rid of their old HP servers. Pricey, but maybe you can find a deal or convince a refurbishing company to give you a good price (Google: refurb HP-UX).

I know that at an HP-UX training class once, the instructors were offering some old servers to people really cheap. So there's that option.

comp.sys.hp.hpux FAQ is the HP-UX FAQ.

And the HP-UX message board here is awesome.

I haven't found a Linux distro that is really close to HP-UX...it is really its own beast. But learning shell scripting, etc. on these Linux distros (like OpenSolaris, OpenSUSE, CentOS [which is RedHat but free]) is something you'll eventually need to learn. More questions let us know!

There used to be an HP hosted site called testdrive which has been retired recently...but if your co. has a support contract with HP then check out PVP which is offered as a newer alt. to testdrive. In fact it is mentioned on the testdrive site.

Sadly, they shut down the testdrive thing. I thought it was pretty good if you needed to get familiar with HP-UX.