Fedora Core and Red Hat Linux CD Installation

8/2/2019 Fedora Core and Red Hat Linux CD Installation

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Fedora Core and Red HatLinux CD Installation,

Version Upgrade,Configuration and BasicAdministration

This tutorial covers the installation and/or upgrades,configuration and basic administration of Red HatEnterprise Linux 3-5, Fedora Core 1-6, Red Hat 5.0-9.0(legacy) CD-ROM distribution.

Contents:

# Configuration Options # Hardware considerations # Documentation on the installation

CD # MS/Windows Backup and Recovery

Plan - (if something fails in dual bootinstallation)

# Installation # Lilo, Grub and boot loaders # Completing Install # Creating a Linux install boot floppy

for Linux Installation # Post Installation Configuration # NVidia Graphics driver installation # System services # Features and Changes # Pitfalls and Fixes # System Re-Configuration # Basic System Administration # Links # Books and references

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Configuration options:

You have two choices, a single Operating System (OS) or amulti-boot system.

Many desktop users like to run Linux in addition to Windowson an existing PC. An additional hard drive may be used forLinux or an existing drive may be sectioned into two ormore partitions. Linux may also reside as the only operating

system on the computer as is preferred by those creating aserver. Using a separate drive for Linux is the easiest andthe preferred multi-boot configuration because it allows theoriginal Windows drive to remain intact.

Another dual boot system option is to install the Linux bootloader on a floppy or CD. See the YoLinux.com tutorial oncreating a boot floppy The boot process will be controlled bythe MS/Windows boot loader. In order to boot the Linuxdrive, insert the floppy or CD with the Linux boot loader (Liloor Grub) and boot from the floppy or CD. The Linux bootloader can be installed on the MBR of the floppy.

Note: Re-partitioning a drive will destroy all data on thedrive unless a tool such as partition magic or fips is used.The Red Hat CD-ROM includes the repartitioning tool "fips"in the dosutils directory. See /dosutils/fipsdocs. This toolis unsupported. Partition Magic would be a wiser choice forthose pursuing this approach. For dual boot installations,MS/ Windows can be re-installed allowing the Microsoftinstaller to repartition the drive.

For those creating a dual boot system with MicrosoftWindows and versions of Fedora Core or Red Hat Linux(8/9) with the GRUB boot loader, install Windows first andthen let the Linux installation handle the dual bootconfiguration. It's that easy.

Details: When creating a dual boot system with WindowsNT or Windows 2000, the NT loader resides on the Master

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Boot Record (MBR). Upon boot-up, the NT loader isactivated and then it loads lilo or Grub to boot Linux. (Lilo isthe older Linux boot loader. Red Hat 7.2 introduced Grub asthe default boot loader.) In this instance, lilo (or Grub) doesnot reside on the Master Boot Record (MBR) as it would for

a Windows 95 or Linux only installation. Instead lilo (orGrub) will install on the first sector of the root partition.

Upgrades: I have been upgrading versions of Red Hat since5.2. Each release can upgrade to the next. Fedora Core isthe upgrade path to Red Hat 9.0.

Hardware considerations:

The latest releases of the Linux kernel will have the bestchance at supporting newer hardware. Older versions mayrequire downloading drivers separately and introducingthem during install. Thus the latest release of Fedora Corewill have the best chance of supporting the latest graphicscards and SATA chipsets. Other Linux OSs which tend toinclude the latest kernels and thus the latest hardwaresupport, are SuSE and Ubuntu Linux.

Most PC motherboard support two IDE connectors, aprimary and a secondary. Each IDE connector has a ribboncable which can support two devices. A typical PC with onehard drive and one CD-ROM can thus support two more

devices. A jumper on the device will set the device to beeither the master or slave device on that IDE connection.(You can't have both devices configured as master or slaveon one IDE ribbon cable, you may have a maximum of oneof each.)

Also check the hardware compatibility list before you begin.

AMD x86_64: The wonderful thing about this hardware anda release of Linux compiled for this hardware is that it runsall your old i386 32 bit applications. In order to run third

party browser plug-ins for which there is no source(Macromedia Flash, Real Player, ...) do NOT install thex86_64 version of the browser but instead, manually installthe i386 32 bit version after the OS installation. I run FedoraCore 3 x86_64 on an AMD Athelon 64 but installed and runthe i386 Fedora Core 3 RPM for the firefox browser. Thisallows all of the 32 bit plug-ins to integrate with the browser

http://www.redhat.com/support/hardware/intel/62/rh6.2-hcl-i.ld.html

http://www.redhat.com/support/hardware/intel/62/rh6.2-hcl-i.ld.html



and operate successfully. One can also run programscompiled for i686 (/lib/i686/). How's that for compatibility!!The Fedora Core 3 Linux release has /usr/lib64/ as wellas /usr/lib/. You will also find /usr/X11R6/lib64/ and/usr/X11R6/lib/ as well as compatibility libraries for i386

(i.e. /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-redhat-linux/...). Thecompilers gcc/g++ will compile a 64-bit executable. Giventhe option "-m32", the compiler will generate 32-bitexecutables. It's the ultimate developers platform as well!! Ieven have no problem running some old Red HatPowertools 7.1 RPMs. Due to the native and highlyintegrated x86 32 bit processing with new 64 bit extensions,there is no 32 emulation or noticeable loss of speed whenrunning 32 bit apps. The advantage of compiled 64 bitapplications running on this chip is the 64 bit addressability(64 bits can address more memory and larger file systems)

and handling of larger data chunks with a single operation.

This information should also be true for the Intel EM64Tarchitecture.

Documentation on the Installation CD:

Online manuals can be read from the Linux CD-ROM byany operating system. From Windows you can look at yourLinux CD and open the files with a web browser.

Fedora Core 1-6:

Release notes are on the first CD. For documentation seehttp://docs.fedoraproject.org/

RH 8.0, 9.0:

Documentation is contained on a CD separate from the 3installation CD's.

RH 7.2:

Red Hat 7.2 has an identical layout to 7.1. Documentation isheld on a dedicated CD with the same paths and files (Ifyou substitute 7.2 for 7.1).

RH 7.1:

http://docs.fedoraproject.org/

http://docs.fedoraproject.org/



CDROM:\RH-DOCS\rhl-cg-en-7.1\index.html - Red HatConfiguration Guide: RAID, Samba, Printers,Linuxconf, PGP CDROM:\RH-DOCS\rhl-gsg-en-7.1\index.html - GettingStarted Guide: Gnome, KDE, Web, e-mail, Audio, Video,Gimp, ...

CDROM:\RH-DOCS\rhl-ig-x86-en-7.1\index.html - Red HatLinux x86 Installation Guide CDROM:\RH-DOCS\rhl-rg-en-7.1\index.html - Red HatReference Guide: CCVS (Credit Card VerificationSystem),

Kerberos, LDAP, Powertools CDROM:\FAQS\... - Frequently Asked Questions CDROM:\HOWTOS\INDEX.html - How Todocumentation from the "Linux Documentation Project"

The Red Hat 7.1 release put all documents on a separateCD labeled "Documentation CD".

RH 6.2:

CDROM:\doc\gsg\index.htm - Red Hat GettingStarted GuideCDROM:\doc\install-guide\index.htm - RH InstallationGuideCDROM:\doc\ref-guide\index.htm - RH ReferenceGuide

Note: RH 6.2 did NOT include the HOWTO section. See:http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/

All releases contain documentation on DEC/Alphainstallations in:

CDROM:\doc\alpha\

RH 6.1:

CDROM:\doc\rhinst\index.htm - Install GuideCDROM:\doc\rhgsg\index.htm - Getting Started GuideCDROM:\doc\rhref\index.htm - Reference Guide

RH 6.0: introduced the ``Getting Started Guide'' in:

CDROM:\doc\rhgsg\index.htm

RH 5.2/6.0:

CDROM:\doc\rhmanual\manual\index.htm - REDHAT manual.CDROM:\doc\HOWTO\... - RH5.2/6.0/6.1

http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/

http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/



CDROM:\FAQ\HTML\Index.htm - RH 5.2/6.0/6.1

MS/Windows Backup and Recovery Plan: (ifsomething fails in dual boot installation):

For those who will be creating a dual boot computer andwish to maintain a windows partition or drive:

1. Backup important partitions.2. Create a DOS boot floppy to restore a ``Master Boot

Record'' if it gets corrupted.3. Create DOS/Windows recovery disks for

DOS/Windows partitions. (For dual bootconfigurations)

It would be wise to make a backup of anything importantthat may reside on disks or partitions you don't intend on

disturbing. The Linux installation has the option of installingone of the operating system loaders Lilo or GRUB. GRUBwas introduced as the default Linux boot loader in Red Hat7.2. The boot loader allows one to boot one or moreoperating systems and is usually installed on the masterboot record of the hard drive (boot drive). In the case ofWindows NT (or variants), the Microsoft boot loader is usedto launch the Linux boot loader which will then boots Linux.As a precaution, it would be wise to have a rescue plan forthe Master Boot Record.

DOS recovery disk: From DOS create a floppy:

C:\>FORMAT /U A:/SC:\>COPY C:\DOS\FDISK.EXE A:\C:\>COPY C:\DOS\FORMAT.COM A:\C:\>COPY C:\DOS\MSD.EXE A:\

This creates a boot floppy with some rescue tools. Torestore a Master Boot Record, boot the PC from the floppyand enter the following shell command:

DOS/Win9X: A:\>FDISK /MBR C:

Win 2000/NT: (boot from CD and enter "RecoveryConsole")

fixmbr



Win XP: (boot from CD and enter "RecoveryConsole")

bootcfg /rebuild

Explanation of MBR: The Master Boot Record is on asector of your hard drive which cannot be seen from yourfile system. It is separate. Upon booting, the system readsthe MBR first. This points the computer to the portion of thedisk where the operating system resides and the OS isloaded from there. When running a dual boot system, LILO(or Grub) in the MBR can point to more than one operatingsystem from which to boot.

Windows 95 recovery diskette: To create a windows

``start-up'' disk, select ``Start'' + ``Settings'' + ``ControlPanel'' + ``Add/Remove Programs'' then select the ``StartupDisk'' tab. This may require your Windows 95 CD-ROM.

Red Hat re-install on an existing system: Saveconfiguration info

Configuration files are held in the directory /etc/.Save a backup or hard copy of the "conf" files youneed to re-configure your system. The command ls

-lrt will list files in a reverse time ordered fashion.

The newer files are listed last and are the ones mostlikely changed. Backup or print file /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid to

preserve the configuration information for up2date.See pitfall

Installation:

I highly recommend that you choose "Custom Installation"mode and not Server or Workstation . Server andWorkstation installation modes add pre-configured disk

partitions which may wipe out stuff on drives you didnot intend to disturb.A server-class installation does NOTinstall a GUI interface nor does it install X-windows. Toinstall everything choose the "Custom" installation option.You can always turn off or ignore services and software youdon't need.

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialRedHatInstallation.html#UP2DATEPITFALL

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialRedHatInstallation.html#UP2DATEPITFALL



[Potential Pitfall]: (RH 7.1) A server-class installationWILL erase all partitions both Linux and Non-Linuxfrom every one of your computer's hard drives. Thismethod will also put Lilo (or Grub) on the MBR. (Not goodfor Windows NT dual boot)

The "Automatic Partitioning" option (RH 7.1 and greater) isused by workstation, server and laptop class pre-configuredinstallations and has the consequences of overwriting theMBR and re-partitioning all your drives. The "Manual"partition option is much more flexible.Two manual partition tools are available:

1. "Disk Druid" - I use this one2. fdisk

The auto option creates two partitions (/boot and /) andrepresents the most simple of installations. It is ideal forsingle user systems. A server or shared system may wantto separate the users from the operating system by placing/home on a separate partition as well as /var and /opt.(More on this later)

Upgrades will be logged to the file /tmp/upgrade.log.

Linux installation is fairly intuitive except managing the diskpartitions. The Linux CD-ROM is a boot disk, thus stick it in

and re-boot your computer and the install menu will appear.If this does not work check your BIOS to see if your CD-ROM is in the list of boot devices. In my BIOS configurationI had to change the boot device default from A,C,SCSI toCDROM,C,A. After the installation was complete I changed itback. If you cannot boot from the CD-ROM, see instructionsin section titled ``Creating a Linux boot floppy for LinuxInstallation'' in this guide. Most hardware is auto-detectedduring installation. The user is queried for the rest.

[Potential Pitfall]: (RH 7.2) RAID disk configuration

requires text mode installation. Graphical GUI does NOTsupport RAID.

[Potential Pitfall]: (RH 6.1 and later) If the installationprogram presents itself as a text based console (DOS like)interface instead of a graphical based interface, chancesare that the install program could not detect your graphics







card and does not have the drivers for it.

Disk Druid: This is the disk partition manager. IDE drivesare referred to as hda for the first drive, hdb for the secondetc ... IDE uses separate ribbon cables for primary and

secondary drives. The partitions on each drive are referrednumerically. The first partition on the first drive is referred toas hda1, the second as hda2, the third as hda3 etc ... SCSIdrives would be identified as sda, sdb ...

Linux IDE naming conventions:

Device Description Configuration

/dev/hda1st (Primary) IDEcontroller

Master

/dev/hdb 1st (Primary) IDEcontroller

Slave

/dev/hdc2nd (Secondary) IDEcontroller

Master

/dev/hdd2nd (Secondary) IDEcontroller

Slave

If the CD-ROM was NOT recognized, restart from the Linuxboot floppy and enter at the ``boot:'' prompt, linuxhdX=cdrom, where X is a,b,c or d as described above.

Partitions: You will add at least three partitions. The first willbe unnamed as a Linux swap partition of a given size i.e.127Mb. (I'm generous and use at least twice the value ofRAM memory on my system.) Add another as /boot of typeext2 Linux native and the third as /, Linux native ext3 (RedHat native journaled file system) or LVM (logical volumemanager: allows growing a file system by adding extradrives. Introduced in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 andFedora Core) and [*] growable. The "growable" option takeswhatever size is given as a minimum and actually allowsthe partition to take up the rest of the drive without actuallyspecifying how much space is left. Use the space bar totoggle your choices between un-selected [ ] and selected[*]. (For RH 6.1 pick the select button.)

MountPoint

Size Growable Type



/boot 23Mb (RH9)75Mb(RHEL4)

[ ] Linux native(ext2)(no need to

journal/boot)

_________ 512 (for 256Mb RAM)(Use RAMmemory * 2)

[ ] Linux swap

/

100

[*] Linux native(ext3 orLVM)

The size of "/" set to 500 min. is arbitrary as the installer willuse whatever is available because "Growable" is selected.

RHEL 4 defaults: boot-75MbRH 5.2/6.0 defaults: boot-16Mb, swap-127Mb

Descriptions:

Swap - used for virtual memory (Use the largervalue: 2 x physical memory or 127Mb. Red Hat 7.1directions recommends at least 254Mb.

/boot - Bootable operating system kernel is placedhere. No need for a journaled file system thus youcan use ext2. (ext3 will also work)

/ - All the rest of the UNIX files are placed under thisdirectory

o /home - User directories. Server configurations oftenmake this a separate partition so that user's diskresources are limited. Another way to limit user diskresources is to use the quota feature. See YoLinux.comquota tutorial

o /opt - Optional software added to the system.(Software which didn't come with the OS. Some user/usr/local.)

o /var - Files with variable or changing state and size(log files, print spool files, etc.) Server configurations

often make this a separate partition so that bloated logfiles, spooled print jobs, etc are limited to the amount ofspace they can consume.

o /tmp - Temporary space used by the system and userservices.

o /sbin - System admin commands

o /bin - Binaries (commands/executables) whicheveryone uses.

o /etc - Configuration files.

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o /usr - User binaries (commands), documentation, ...

o /... - The rest: /dev - devices, /lib - libraries, /mnt -device mount point, /lost+found - repository of corruptbut repaired files, ...

See Compaq ProLiant Server recommendations.

Server installations: It is common practice to create morepartitions to isolate user, system and temporary filedirectories. In this way, a user would not be able to fill up adrive and lock-up the computer, nor would the installation oflarge software packages or the generation of temporaryfiles or log files. Create separate partitions for /home (userspace), /opt (optional, non-standard software packages) or/usr/local, /tmp, /var etc... Making /home and /opt aseparate partition from / also helps Linux upgrades which

can be set to write over and upgrade all partitions except/home and /opt. Separating partitions and placing them onseparate disk drives can also increase performance byreducing the load on a single drive.

My Workstation: If the installation is for your very ownworkstation which no one else is using, you can get awaywith three partitions, "/boot", "/" and swap. It gives ultimatedisk flexibility (all disk space is available for whatever youwant) but no protection from your own stupidity is enforced.

Other partitioning tools: fdisk is another disk partitioningtool.DOS, Linux and other version of fdisk exist. Irecommend Red Hat s Disk Druid .

Note: The placement of /boot is limited by the Disk Druidtool to account for BIOS limitations. Although unlikely, youmay not have these BIOS limitations, in which case, usefdisk to partition the drive and no limitations will be imposed.

Note: The /opt directory is often used to create a separatedirectory structure for commercial and "optional" software

which is not part of the base install. This way it is a separateself-contained environment which is easy to backup andrestore separately from the rest of the system. The directorystructure will often mimic the / directory with /opt/bin,/opt/etc, /opt/lib etc...

Specialized device drivers: If your hardware is on thebleeding edge and does not have support built in with the

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/linux/15ad-0701a-wwen.html#_Toc519573013

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/linux/15ad-0701a-wwen.html#_Toc519573013



Red Hat installation CD, then you must provide the devicedriver during installation. Typically the Red Hat installationsoftware will recognize that it does not have a driver for thehardware detected. For example: Red Hat 8.0 and theAdaptec U320 SCSI driver:

Download the host bus adapter floppy image. Unzip the file: gzip -d aicXX..-i686-rh8.0.img.gz Copy floppy image to floppy: dd if=aicXX..-i686-

rh8.0.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k

The Red Hat installation program will request the missingdriver. Load the floppy when asked: "No drivers found -would you like to select drivers now?". Select "yes". Press"F2" to provide the SCSI driver on a floppy and continuewith the installation.

Other Installation Methods: This tutorial coversinstallation from a CR-ROM. It should be pointed out thatLinux may also be installed from an NFS server, by FTP,SMB (a windows shared drive) and from a local hard drive.

[Potential Pitfall]: If using IDE, note that most BIOS'srequires /boot be installed on a drive attached to thePrimary controller. If using two IDE hard drives it might bebest to place them on the primary controller and place theCD-ROM on the Secondary .

[Potential Pitfall]: When using SCSI devices, the /boot partition must reside on SCSI ID 0 or 1.

[Potential Pitfall RH7.0 and earlier]: NOTE: The /boot partition must be completely placed within the first 1024cylinders of the disk. This drive geometry information ispresented by Disk Druid under the heading Geom. Thesymbols [C / H / S] represent [Cylinders / Heads / Sectors]of the drive. (This is one reason why it may be easiest toinstall Linux on a separate drive and place the /boot

partition at the beginning of the drive.) RH 7.1 introduced anewer version of LILO with LBA32 support which correctsthis limitation. Red Hat 7.2 has even fewer restrictions. Infact RH 7.2 introduces new features which allow flexibility inchoosing location and placement of file systems, bootloaders and kernel on your drive.

[Potential Pitfall]: I had one installation where I selected

http://people.freebsd.org/~gibbs/linux/DUD/

http://people.freebsd.org/~gibbs/linux/DUD/





upgrade. The RH 7.2 EXT3 upgrade will also disableperiodic file system checks as it assumes that file systemintegrity is maintained. (See autofsck) Use tune2fs (-c or -i)to re-enable check. EXT3 is the default file system for afresh Red Hat 7.2 installation. EXT3 may be installed in one

of three modes:

ordered: Default. Crash will result in a valid non-corrupted file system.

journal: slow writeback: Fast but NOT crashproof.

The option is also specified in the file /etc/fstab with thestring 'data=ordered'.

Also note that Red Hat 7.2 does NOT include a

"Powertools" CD. Most of the "Powertools" packages havebeen included as part of the base installation.

Lilo, Grub and boot loaders:

Lilo is the Linux bootstrap loader used by the Red Hatdistribution up to and including version 7.1. Red Hat version7.2 defaults to the use of Grub as the default boot loader.Grub supports a password that controls access to a Grubshell.

Lilo and Grub are the Linux bootstrap loaders that actuallyloads and starts the kernel. Only one bootloader, Lilo orGRUB, is used. The Linux install will ask if you want toplace lilo (or Grub) on the master boot record (MBR). Theanswer of course is YES (Unless you are installingWindows NT/2000. See special install section for dualbooting with these operating systems). If you do not installLilo (or Grub) on the MBR, you can boot Linux from a bootfloppy which can be generated during the install.

Other bootstrap loaders are available. A DOS program

called loadlin can boot Linux from DOS. Loadlin can befound on the Red Hat CD under CDROM:\dosutils\. Bothloadlin.exe and the Linux kernel must be loaded on a DOSpartition. A commercially available software product"System Commander" from V Communications requiresand partially installs in a DOS partition. See: VCOM:System commander product information

http://www.v-com.com/product/System_Commander_Home.html






SCSI and lilo: The choice of selecting "Use Linear Mode"during lilo install is a little complicated. PCs runningMicrosoft operating systems use a SCSI BIOS based LBAmode to access drives of more than 1,024 MB. This is thedefault selection for most PCs. Check your SCSI BIOS if

you are un-sure.RH 5.2: Use the Linux default lilo setting of [*] "Use LinearMode" .RH 6.0: The default was changed to [ ] where Linear modeis un-selected. This is incompatible with most MicrosoftOS's. If you are dual booting with Windows, you willprobably want to set to [*] "Use Linear Mode" .RH 6.2/7.1: The default "Use Linear Mode" is pre-selected.This is compatible with LBA mode. (It implies LBA mode).

[Potential Pitfall]: If the system boots to a prompt "LI" and

a blinking cursor and is stuck, you chose the wrong optionfor your SCSI configuration.

Systems using Unixware or older PCs with smaller drivesmay NOT be using LBA and thus Use Linear Mode must beunselected. If this selection is incorrect, your machine willnot boot and the Master Boot Record will have to berestored and lilo will have to be re-installed.

Adaptec SCSI card users: Press ctrl-A on boot up to enterthe SCSI card BIOS set-up. This is where you chose LBA

mode or not. ( > 1 Gb addressing)

[Potential Pitfall]: Adding an extra drive on which to installLinux: If the drive is a pre-formatted drive for MicrosoftWindows, and if you boot Windows after installing the driveyou may experience the following problem. Windows willrecognize and assign a letter to the new drive and may re-assign the letters assigned to your CD-ROM and previousdrives. If installing a new pre-formatted drive, DO NOT bootto Windows. It would be best to boot from the Linux CD-ROM. The Linux install will allow you to assign the new

drive as a Linux drive. Thus when booted to Windows (afterthe Linux install), the system will not recognize the newLinux drive and therefore will not reassign your drive letters.

Pitfall Fix: If you do reboot to Windows and Windows re-assigns your drive letters for your CD-ROM, restore thesettings by:



"Start" + "Settings" + "Control Panel" Select "System" Select the tab "Device Manager" and select the CD-

ROM Set the drive letter to the letter of your choice.

Kernel Boot Options: (see /etc/grub.conf or/etc/lilo.conf)

nosysinfo :Disable NPL thread support. Used for RH9.0 to fix incompatibility of Java version earlier than1.4.1.

root=LABEL=/ :Location of root of filesystem.

GRUB: GRUB allows one to boot one of many operatingsystems installed on the hard drives. GRUB can hide

partitions from operating systems which is important whencohabitating with a Microsoft operating system. You canuse a partition to install an operating system and hide theother partitions from it. (GNU: GRUB home page)

Grub was introduced with Red Hat 7.2 as the default bootloader. It's configuration file is /boot/grub/grub.conf. Whilelilo requires reconfiguration with new information loaded onthe MBR for each new kernel, grub does not. Grub requiresthat the new kernel information be entered in theconfiguration file /boot/grub/grub.conf.

A Red Hat7.2 installation using lilo may be switched to grubusing the command /sbin/grub-install. (i.e. /sbin/grub-install /dev/hda Specify the drive on which the bootloader will be installed on it's MBR.)

GRUB Menu:

1. Select kernel2. Press 'e' to edit entry3. Use arrow keys to navigate to kernel line. i.e. kernel

/vmlinuz-2.4.7-1 ro root=/dev/hda2 4. Add argument 'single' to the end of the line. Then

press return.5. Press 'b' to boot.

The Red Hat 7.3 Installation/Upgrade offers three choices:

1. Update current: Update boot loader currently on the

http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub.html

http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub.html



system.2. Skip update3. New boot loader configuration: Choose this if you

wish to update from Lilo to Grub.

Completing Install:

[Potential Pitfall RH7.2 Upgrade]: After Grub/Lilo optionshave been entered the installation software examines yoursystem for packages to upgrade. Be Patient. It may appearthat the system locked up but it is just working on theupgrade. It takes a while.

Linux System Kernel Note: The default Linux kernelinstalled supports a multitude of devices using loadablemodules. In order to keep the kernel small, maximize devicesupport and minimize memory usage, the appropriatemodule is loaded at run time. The kernel may be optimizedfor performance by compiling in support for the specificdevices needed. Video drivers are not controlled by thekernel but by the X-window application program.

Kernel boot options are set in the config file /etc/grub.conf i.e.: kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10-1.770_FC3 roroot=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet

Remove "quiet" if you would like to see the kernel

boot information. Add "vga=788" to set a larger text console at boot. Disable SeLinux mode, add: "selinux=0" or

(preferred) set in /etc/selinux/config:o Security policy is enforced:

SELINUX=enforcing o Security policy is disabled: SELINUX=disabled o Print warnings instead of enforcing:

SELINUX=permissive Graphical Boot Loader: "rhgb" Remove "hiddenmenu" to see Grub boot menu.

Note: Install output is written to five of the virtual consoles.Note these key bindings are for the installation only.

Console#

Key Output



1Alt-F1

Installation Dialog

2Alt-F2

Shell Prompt

3 Alt-F3

Install Log

4Alt-F4

System Log(from OS kernel)

5Alt-F5

Other Messages

7Alt-F7

X Graphical Display (new to RH9.0)

After installation the X-window system will use ctrl-Alt-F1 asthe system console terminal, ctrl-Alt-F2 to F6 for virtualconsoles and ctrl-Alt-F7 for the X-window display. ctrl-Alt-Backspace will kill the X-Window session.Screen shots of the installer can be made using "Shift" +"Print Screen". Screen shots will be saved to/root/anaconda-screenshots.

Mouse: If your connector at the end of your mouse isround, you have a PS/2 bus mouse. Many UNIX programsrequire three mouse keys. If yours has only two, choose the

three button emulation. In emulation mode, pressing bothmouse buttons at the same time is the same as pressingthe middle button on a three button mouse. The typical X-Window interface uses button 1 to select (i.e. text), button 2to paste and button 3 to pull up optional menus.

Printers: Note that DOS calls your printer port "lpt1". Linuxrefers to your first printer as /dev/lp0. The numbering of allLinux devices starts with 0. (0, 1, 2, 3...) The printer will alsobe assigned a given name. A printer of the name "lp" will beconsidered the default printer. Another printer definition may

be duplicated under this name to make it the default.(Create a default printer of this name "lp" and life getseasier because many applications such as Adobe Acrobatreader rely on this default.)

Upgrade Note: Some really old versions of Linux beganprinter numbering at lpt1. If upgraded, this would have to bechanged to reflect a newer version of Linux.



Unix Time: Most web servers use UTC (UniversalCoordinated Time) and an environment variablerepresenting one's time zone as an offset and whetherDaylight Savings Time is observed. This is used to calculatethe displayed time. UTC is the method used by standard

UNIX to measure time internally. It is the total number ofseconds from January 1, 1970.

Authentication: The basic standard authenticationconfiguration uses the installation defaults:

"Enable MD5 passwords" "Enable Shadow passwords"

The other options are NIS, LDAP and Kerberos. All threerely on the configuration of an authentication server for this

purpose. The MD5/Shadow configuration is a stand alonepassword authentication system residing on the Linuxsystems and is only effective for that system.

NIS is the SUN "yellow pages" authentication serverconfiguration which is most commonly used with theNFS file sharing infrastructure.

LDAP uses an authentication server which holds adatabase of logins and passwords.

Kerberos is MIT's high security network basedauthentication scheme.

Sample Network Configuration:

IP address: 192.168.100.101 netmask: 255.255.255.0 Network address (lowest): 192.168.100.0 Broadcast address (highest): 192.168.100.255

The networking addresses beginning with "192.168." arereserved for private local networks.

Creating a boot floppy for Linux Installation:

This is only necessary if you can not boot from the CD-ROM.

Creating Linux install diskette from a Microsoft OS: Userawrite to load the file boot.img to the diskette from the CD-ROM (D:\ in this example):



C:\> D:D:\> CD \DOSUTILSD:\DOSUTILS> RAWRITE D:\IMAGES\BOOT.IMG A:

RAWRITE does not work with NT/2000. Use winimage.

Creating Linux install diskette on Unix/Linux:

mount -t iso9660 -o ro /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdromcd /cdrom/imagesdd if=boot.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k

The -o ro option mounts the CR-ROM as Read Only.

Post Installation Configuration:

Post Install: (perform these functions as root user)

Login:

Upon boot (if text mode) the loader (LILO) will showthe prompt "boot:". Press Return to take the defaultor type ? or tab to see all possible selections thentype the selection. i.e. type linux to boot Linux or dos (default name given for the Microsoft partition), orwin95" if that is the name you gave for MS/Windows95 upon Linux partitioning and install. The defaults

and configuration of lilo may be altered. See thesection on lilo and /etc/lilo.conf.

At the Login: prompt, enter the user id root and givethe password you chose during install. This will logyou into the system in command console mode. (Ifset to text mode init level 3)

X-Windows:

startx : This command start the graphical userinterface X- windows system.

If X windows fails:o RH8.0: Use the X windows configuration tool

/usr/bin/redhat-config-xfree86. This willedit the configuration file/etc/X11/XF86Config

o RH7.3-: If this fails one can reconfigure Xwindows with the command Xconfigurator.(or you can also use XF86setup or xf86config

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialInitProcess.html




which performs a similar function) Thisproduces the same graphics setup interfaceas the installation. Xconfigurator generatesthe file /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config (Thisis linked to /etc/X11) (See

/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc/README.Config) The /etc/X11/XF86Config file holds X-windows

configuration information about the graphics card,monitor, mouse and keyboard.

For my 17 inch monitor (1280x1024 resolution) Iconfigured X-Windows for a resolution of 1024x768for better readability.

If you find that the text and other details on thescreen are too small, use Xconfigurator to set up aconfiguration file using a lower resolution. You cansave multiple configuration files and rename them to

/etc/X11/XF86Config when needed. To exit out of X-windows and the GNOME interface

gracefully, select the GNOME Start icon (left side oftool bar) and select log out . Changes to theXF86Config configuration file will not be implementedby X-windows until it is halted and restarted. This canbe done by rebooting the system (shutdown -h now)or logout and go to a console terminal (ctrl-alt-F5)and login as root. The command "init 3" (Red Hatsystems) will bring the system out of X-Windowmode. The command "init 5" will bring it back. See

the YoLinux.com tutorial on the Linux init process formore info.

The key sequence <ctrl>-<alt>-<F2> will allow you jump out of a mis-configured X-windows session andgo to a console. If the X-window session isinoperable you can kill the process from this newconsole. The command ps -a will reveal the startxprocess id (PID). Then kill <process id number>.Your initial console upon boot is ctrl-Alt-F1. Use ctrl-Alt-F7 to return to the X-window session. Thesimplest and recommended method to kill the X-

Window session is to use the key sequence ctrl-Alt-Backspace.

Leaving the system: (UNIX text console commands)

exit : This is the command to logoff. This allows oneto re-login as new user





/sbin/shutdown -h now : shutdown the system.(Must beroot) Wait for the message:

o RH 5.2: System halted .o RH 6.0+, FC: Power Down .o Do NOT turn the power off without doing this

first.

Red Hat 9.0: Support dropped for wu-ftpd (use vsftpdinstead), Window Maker and sndconfig.

Red Hat 8.0: Nautilus application and system configurationtool is invoked with the "Start here" icon. RH 8.0 introducesa new default printer manager: cups. See config files/etc/cups/.... Man pages exist for most of these configfiles. (i.e. man printers.conf) The older lpd can still beoptionally installed.

Red Hat 7.2 upgrade: After X login, a dialog box asks theuser if they wish to upgrade their file manager to Nautilus.(your choice) Nautilus is a very MS/XP like interface whichprovides a combined file and system manager GUI tool witha web like interface. Nautilus is invoked with the "Start here"icon.

Installing NVidia Graphics card drivers:

The commercially supported proprietary graphics drivers forNVidia graphics cards are not included with the Red Hatdistribution. Only a basic driver is available. (Good enoughfor the 2-D world) The NVidia drivers are libraries andloadable modules which are tightly integrated with thekernel for ultimate OpenGL, 3D and DRI integration andperformance. To install the NVidia graphics drivers, boot thekernel which you wish to use with the NVidia drivers. TheNVidia driver installer will use the running kernel as it'starget. The NVidia installer is a console (non X-Windowgraphics) shell script program which will detect which kernelyou are running and download the appropriate drivers. If

you are running a known kernel (i.e. a prebuilt Red Hatkernel) it will install a prebuilt driver. If you are running acustom kernel you MUST have the appropriate kernelsource available as it will attempt to rebuild the kernel fromsource with the appropriate NVidia kernel modifications andsupport. Installation:



1. Download the NVidia installer script from:o http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.

aspor

o http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux.html.

2. Enter console mode without running W-Windows:ctrl + alt + F1

3. As root bring the system to init level 3 by:o Boot with /etc/inittab entry:

id:3:initdefault:

OR

o Issue the command: init 3

4.

Run the NVidia installer in console mode: sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4496-pkg2.run 5. Bring system to init level 5:

o Reboot with /etc/inittab entry:

id:5:initdefault:

OR

o Issue the command: init 5 6. Edit file /etc/X11/XF86Config to tweak options.

(Sample for NVidia Quadro Pro Dual Monitor)

Using YUM to install nVidia drivers for kernel currentlyrunning:

yum install nvidia-glx kernel-module-nvidia-`(uname -r)`

yum install kernel-module-nvidia-`(rpm -q --queryformat="%{version}-%{release}\n" kernel |tail -n 1)`

[Potential Pitfall]: File /etc/X11/xorg.conf If not updated, change in the "Device" section, from:

Driver "nv"

to:Driver "nvidia"

[Potential Pitfall]: If switching init levels does not work, then

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp




http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux.html

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/src/etc-X11-XF86Config-NVidia-Quadro-Pro-DualMonitor-RH8.0-NVDriver1.0-4363.txt

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialRedHatInstallation.html#YUM

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialRedHatInstallation.html#YUM

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/src/etc-X11-XF86Config-NVidia-Quadro-Pro-DualMonitor-RH8.0-NVDriver1.0-4363.txt

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux.html





changes may be required to udev in which case you needto reboot the system so that the device path is generated:/etc/udev/devices/nvidia* Module loading may be forced by adding the following entryto the end of /etc/rc.local, /sbin/modprobe nvidia

[Potential Pitfall]: NVidia Quadro Pro dual monitor cardsmay produce stretched images in Open Office or AdobeAcrobat reader.See: YoLinux.com: Dual Monitor Configuration - Fix for dualmonitor configuration and pitfalls

Links:

FedoraFaq.org: How to do a custom installation ofthe nVidia drivers

FedoraFaq.org: Enabling Fedora core 3 nVidia 3Dsupport

System Services:

After installation of Linux one should determine whichsystem services one needs. Each available service has astart script in the directory /etc/rc.d.init.d/. See theYoLinux.com init process tutorials. It is easiest to use the Red Hat GUI tool:

Fedora Core 3: /usr/bin/system-config-services Red Hat 8/9, FC 1: /usr/bin/redhat-config-

services

Recommended basic services include: anacron, atd, autofs,cron, gpm, iptables, keytable, kudzu, microcode_ctl,network, random, rawdevices, syslog and xfs.

Features and Changes:

Red Hat Enterprise / CentOS:

Red Hat Enterprise 5:o Includes OpenMPIo Subversion uses Berkeley DB rather than

FSFS defaulto Includes the Red Hat Directory server rather

than OpenLDAPo Global Filesystem GFS2

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxAndDualMonitors.html


http://www.fedorafaq.org/custom_nvidia.html




http://www.fedorafaq.org/#nvidia














o Compiz 3D desktopo Dogtail disability access supporto Apache 2.2 and PHP 5.1o NFS mount/umount now is

/sbin/mount.nfs/umount.nfs

o CUPS web interface http://localhost:631o up2date deprecated in favor of yum

Fedora / Red Hat Legacy:

Fedora Core 6:o Unified kernel supports both SMP and

uniprocessor hardware. Separate kernels nolonger required.

o Interface: Improved desktop look and feel,window manager (Compiz) , improved X-windows, fonts (default font: DejaVu),artwork/graphics.

o Improved printer support (CUPS 1.2),improved YUM, Evolution, Nautilus

o New applications: GnuCash, virt-manager (forXen), SELinux graphical troubleshooting tool,integrated smartcard (Coolkey), clustervolume manager (lvm2-cluster).

o Totem now default media player (not Helix)

o Improved performance: ext3 file system,dynamic linking (DT_GNU_HASH),Fontconfig, NFS (CacheFS), CUPS.

Fedora Core 5:o FC5 includes Mono and Mono applications.o FC5 includes mySQL5, the Geronimo J2EE

server.o FORTRAN 90/95 upgraded from FORTRAN

77o Changes to the SELinux reference policy.o Wireless support for Broadcom 43xx wireless

chipsets. Fedora Core 4:

o Introduces gcc version 4, Eclipse IDE withCDT and valgrind.

o Introduces Evince (and poppler libraries) toreplace gv and xpdf.

o No Mozilla, gv (ghostscript front-end), fvwm2desktop, cdp (CD player, introduces apolos)

http://www.gnome.org/projects/evince/

http://poppler.freedesktop.org/

http://poppler.freedesktop.org/

http://www.gnome.org/projects/evince/



Fedora Core 3: Stable (similar to RHEL4)o Ships with SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux)

which works.o Introduces Firefox browser. Previously Mozilla

only. Fedora Core 2:

o System configuration GUI tools namechanges from redhat-config-xxxx to system-

config-xxxx .o SELinux introduced. Needs work.o Ships with Linux kernel 2.6 and ALSA (sound)o No longer ships with XFree86. Now shipping

with Xorg release of X-Windows. Fedora Core 1:

o Name changes to Fedora Core and confusesthe Linux world.

Red Hat 9.0: Stable (similar to RHEL3)o Introduces vsftpd. Was wu-ftpd.o Introduces Apache 2.0, Subversion CM.o LDAP default configuration changes. May

require database dump and reload.o NPL: Native POSIX Thread Libraryo Networking now uses

/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/route-

interfacename rather than/etc/sysconfig/static-routes.

o CUPS print spooler is default.

Red Hat 8.0: Stableo They stop shipping LDAP admin tool gq.o Ships with OpenOfficeo Apache RPM is now called httpd.o Netscape browser no longer ships with OS.o Introduces UML (User mode Linux)o No longer ships with xmms MP3 plug-ins. Find

and load. Red Hat 7.3: Stable

o Introduces CUPS print spooler. Red Hat 7.2:

o Kernel 2.4 Red Hat 7.1:

o Linux Firewall: Introduces iptables. Earlierversion used ipchains.

o Introduces DNS bind 9. Previous versionsused bind 8.

o Introduces LDAP 2.0. Red Hat 7.0:

http://www.xfree86.org/

http://www.x.org/

http://www.x.org/

http://www.xfree86.org/



o Introduces xinetd. Previously used inetd.o Default web server directory changes from

/home/httpd/html/ to /var/www/html/. Red Hat 6:

o Introduces Gnome desktop.

o Linux Firewall: Introduces ipchains. Earlierversion used ipfwadm.

o Red Hat 6.2 introduces Judzu for devicediscovery and initialization.

Pitfalls and Fixes:

General Pitfalls:o [Pitfall]: Installation locks up and you have no

keyboard or mouse control. I have found thisproblem when using a USB mouse on RHEL4and FC4. Install the OS with a PS2 mouseand plug-in the USB mouse after installationand boot. The USB can even be a hot plug-inwhile the system is running.

o [Pitfall]: Man pages don't display properly.Escape characters are not interpretedproperly. A quick fix is to set the langenvironment variable: export LANG=C

o A service will not start upon system boot. i.e.After an upgrade from RH7.2 to 9.0 my webserver would not start even after using the

command chkconfig --add httpd. I had toforce the entry with chkconfig --level 345

httpd on. This can happen to any service andthis is how to fix it.

Platform x86_64 Pitfalls:o Don't install 64 bit versions of Mozilla or

Firefox. See Mozilla/Firefox x86_64 PlatformPitfalls and Fixes

Video Problems:o If the Installation program does not recognize

your graphics card, the installer defaults to atext console mode rather than use the GUImode. It will also not install a proper videodriver and your system will not boot to thegraphics mode and you will not have agraphical desktop. You can edit the X-windows configuration file and specify a basicVGA graphics driver which can give you

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialMozillaConfiguration.html#X86_64






simple 2-D graphics. The VGA mode issupported by all the graphics cards I haveencountered.Edit file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf

..

...

Section "Device"Identifier "Videocard0"Driver "vesa"VendorName "Videocard vendor"BoardName "Generic"

EndSection

...

..

o

Specify the generic VGA video driver. Sound/Audio Problems:

o Default settings may have sound muted. Run/usr/bin/alsamixer, /usr/bin/kmix (KDEsound/volume mixer), or /usr/bin/gnome-volume-control (GNOME desktopsound/volume mixer) and make sure that theMaster and PCM volume settings are notmuted.

o RH 8.0: Test audio with /usr/bin/redhat-

config-soundcard. Just a testing tool. Does

not alter /etc/modules.conf Also: /sbin/sndconfig. (sndconfig supportdropped in RH 9.0) alters /etc/modules.conf.

o To set all controls to maximum volume: aumix-v100 -w100 -b100 -s100

o Check permissions on devices: /dev/dsp,/dev/sndstat, /dev/mixer

o Check the file /etc/modules.conf to see ifyour system is loading the proper module tosupport your sound card. If edited, re-boot soyour kernel will pick up the changes.

o Test under user id root. If it works whenlogged in as root but not as a regular systemuser, it is a security configuration problem.The user does not have the privaleges toaccess the hardware devices necessary. Seethe YoLinux.com Tutorial on Managing GroupAccess.

o If you can not get your sound card to work try

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialManagingGroups.html






entering your BIOS configuration andremoving "plug-and-play" support.

o [Pitfall] My sound card would not record usingthe microphone after installation. The finalresolution was that it was a conflict with the

motherboard built-in sound card support. TheBIOS allowed me to select an IRQ for the on-board sound device. By selecting a new IRQ,the PCI sound card began working flawlessly.The BIOS option of disabling the motherboarddevice did nothing.

Fedora Core:o FC-4 uses GCC 4. Compatability library RPMs

allow running older software. Install RPMpackages: compat-gcc-32, compat-libstdc++-33, compat-libstdc++-296

o System won't shut down? UsingHyperthreading? Add "acpi=ht to the line"kernel /boot/... in file /etc/grub.conf

o Nautilus default behavior was changed toopen new windows for each sub directory youenter. VERY ANNOYING!! Make it operatenormally by selecting "Edit" + "Preferences" +select "Behavior tab" and choose option"Always open in browser windows"

o I downloaded and burned ISO CD's. Duringinstall one is offered the choice to verify the

CD. It failed verification but installed ok. I'mnot sure what to make of it.Update: linux mediacheck nocddma

o FC 3: The x86_64 version of gftp crashes andis not functional. Download and install the 32bit version:

rpm -e gftp-2.0.17-3 rpm -ivh gftp-2.0.17-3.i386.rpm

o One of the first things you will notice is thatthe boot screen is now hidden from view by agraphical boot screen. You can revert back tothe text console boot screen by editing/etc/sysconfig/init Change "GRAPHICAL=yes" to "GRAPHICAL=no".

Upgrade/Install: RH 9.0:o [Pitfall] Post install/RPM upgrade. Do not use

rpm -Uvh glibc*, use the command rpm -Fvh

glibc*. This "Freshen" option will upgradeprevious files if they exist. Also see:

http://www.fedorafaq.org/#mediacheck






https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=88456

o [Pitfall] Java version older than 1.4.1 will beincompatible with the kernel NPTL threadslibrary of the Red Hat 9.0 kernel. One can

disable NPTL by the following: Kernel option: nosysinfo

(use in /etc/grub.conf) Set environment variable:

export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.42 export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.25

o [Pitfall] Ximian Gnome RPMs are notcompatible with RH 9.0 Gnome due to versionconflicts. Remove before upgrading or installnew version after upgrade.

o [Pitfall] If upgrading from RH 6.2, all upgradesmust be installed first or upgrade will fail.

o [Pitfall] Installing X-CdRoast may conflict withthe archive CD burning facility within Nautilus.(using folder burn)

o Mozilla browser plug-in problems? Upgradefrom 1.2.1 to 1.31

o Xmms MP3 plug-ins: xmms-1.2.7-rh8-rh9-rpm- Red Hat 8/9 RPMs - Download xmms-mpg123-1.2.7-21. Red Hat 9.0 install willinclude xmms-1.2.7-21, xmms-skins andxmms-devel.

o See fix for Mozilla plug-in "plugger". Upgrade/Install: RH 8.0:

o [Huge Problem Pitfall]: Systems usingAdaptec SCSI chipsets (U320) with aic79xxdrivers beware!!! You may get file corruptionproblems while handling large files (>.4Gb).Red Hat 8.0 ships with the Adaptec driver1.0.0. At this time the latest driver from theAdaptec open source support web site isversion 1.1.0. Use at least version 1.3.0available from the Adaptec Linux driver homepage http://people.freebsd.org/~gibbs/linux/.

Red Hat 9.0 is also a problem. Installationdrivers and Red Hat RPM's are also availablefrom this site. Also seehttp://bugzilla.redhat.com bug #97786

o [Potential Pitfall]: Java based GUI installer forBorland Togethersoft would not work on KDEdesktop (messed up/locked up display) but it




http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialMozillaConfiguration.html#PLUGGERFIX

http://linux.adaptec.com/

http://people.freebsd.org/~gibbs/linux/

http://bugzilla.redhat.com/

http://bugzilla.redhat.com/

http://people.freebsd.org/~gibbs/linux/

http://linux.adaptec.com/

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialMozillaConfiguration.html#PLUGGERFIX





would for Gnome. FYI.o The configuration tools for RH 8.0 are all new.

See System Re-Configuration section below. o [Potential Pitfall]: Desktop application launch

icons located in $HOME/.gnome-desktop/ no

longer allow a command to be prefixed with"cd $HOME;". Only a single command may bereferenced. It is no longer required. (It use tobe required so that applications were notlaunched from the sub directory.)

o Many applications one expects with Red HatLinux were missing but are still available fromprevious 7.x releases or from the applicationweb sites:

xmmx MP3 player mpg123 rpm's - RedHat had MPEG licensing issues

xanim-2.80.1-12.i386.rpm - Videoplayer - last shipped with RH 7.1Powertools

xine-0.9.8-4.i386.rpm - xine-devel-0.9.8-4.i386.rpm - MPEG video player(RH 7.3)Alsa-lib - aalib - libfame - flac - xvidcore- xine-libs - xine -

xpaint-2.6.1-1.i386.rpm - RH 7.1graphics paint program

gq-0.4.0-5.i386.rpm - LDAP admin tool

- last shipped with RH 7.3 kwintv-0.8.5-5.i386.rpm - TV viewer for

Hauppauge TV card - Last shipped withRH 7.1 Powertools

o Many Red Hat clone distributions wererequired to remove trademarked Red Hatlogos and replace them with their own. (i.e.Cheap Bytes calls their Red Hat distribution"Pink Tie".) To restore the installation to a RedHat clone download and install the followingRPMs: (Use command: rpm -ivh --force

name-of-rpm.rpm) redhat-logos-1.1.6-2.noarch.rpm redhat-artwork-0.47-3.i386.rpm redhat-release-8.0-8.noarch.rpm initscripts-6.95-1.i386.rpm

(Provide your own graphics and text tocustomize your system.)


http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/alsa-lib/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/aalib/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/libfame/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/flac/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/xvidcore/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/xine-lib/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/xine/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/xine/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/xine-lib/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/xvidcore/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/flac/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/libfame/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/aalib/

http://ftp.freshrpms.net/pub/freshrpms/redhat/8.0/alsa-lib/




o [Potential Pitfall]: Case study - Dell Precision340 with IDE hard drives, CD and DVD,Adaptec SCSI 29160. The SCSI modulewould not load even though it is listed in the/etc/modules.conf. The SCSI driver module

(aic????) was not listed as loaded when the/sbin/lsmod command was issued. I had toadd an entry to the file: /etc/rc.d/rc.local:insmod aic7xxx

o [Potential Pitfall]: My upgrade corrupted theRPM database. Once that is gone, theinstallation, maintenance and upgrades of rpmpackages is impossible. At this point I re-installed. I believe that my disk approached100% capacity. Make sure you have enoughspace. I had close to 1Gb free but it may not

have been enough. (???)o [Potential Pitfall]: My up2date, configuration no

longer worked after the new installation. Torecover my old configuration I edited the file/etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid and changedthe string values for checksum, system_id,profile_name and username to values frommy backup.

o [Potential Pitfall]: The default installation usesUnicode instead of ASCII representation.(UTF-8 is the ASCII compatible Unicode

encoding.) Some applications do not utilizeUnicode and thus must be directed to useEnglish ASCII.Turn off localization: env LANG=C abiword OR define localization: (ISO 3166, 639) envLANG=en_US abiword The GUI tool redhat-config-language canchange your system language settings. Formore info see "man locale".

o [Potential Pitfall]: The default Red Hat 8.0

behavior for regular expression computation isNOT backwards compliant with UNIX. Toolswhich use regular expression syntax such asgrep, awk, sed,... Red Hat 8.0 will NOT perform as expected for the default localeen_US.UTF-8 LANG assignment. It will behave ina case insensitive fashion. (Usually one usesgrep -i to force case insensitivity.) Example:



File: testRegEx.txt You can also set theenvironment variable LC_ALL=C whichoverrides the LANG environment variable..

XYZ

abcabcXYZ

o Test grep:

[prompt]$ grep [A-Z] testRegEx.txtXYZabcabcXYZ[prompt]$ export LANG=C[prompt]$ grep [A-Z] testRegEx.txtXYZabcXYZ

o The default locale, en_US.UTF-8 will result in"unspecified" behavior while "C" or POSIX willresult in specific and expected (traditional)behavior. Beware of the default!! Red HatBugzilla #76328 (Closed bug. Red Hat ishiding behind the phrase that "unspecifiedbehavior is POSIX compliant.") It should benoted that shell scripts should specify the LANG

environment variable to ensure expectedbehavior.o [Potential Pitfall]: Apache 2.0 is now included

and in not compatible with old modules. Ifusing Tomcat servlets or any module which isApache 1.3 dependent, do NOT upgradeApache (RPM httpd).

o [Pitfall]: The "vi" editor goes into a funkyhighlight mode when editing specialty filessuch as html. This is due to a symbolic link ofvi to /usr/bin/vim. To get non-highlighted old

fashioned "vi" operation use the command:unalias vi. The vi command will nowreference /bin/vi OR See setting default vim color scheme.

o [Pitfall]: Rumor (??) Don't run the GnomeGaleon browser and Mozilla at the samesystem.

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialAdvanced_vi.html#EXRC

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialAdvanced_vi.html#EXRC



Upgrade: RH 7.3:o [Potential Pitfall] Upgrade from Red Hat 7.1 to

7.3 broke the "Photo Album" web cgi I wasusing due to bugs in Image Magick. To fix thisI had to reinstall the old version by performing

the following steps:1. rpm -e ImageMagick ImageMagick-perl

ImageMagick-devel xfig 2. ln -s /usr/lib/libbz2.so.1.0.2

/usr/lib/libbz2.so.1.0 3. rpm -ivh --nodeps ImageMagick-

5.3.7-1.i386.rpm ImageMagick-devel-5.3.7-1.i386.rpm ImageMagick-perl-5.3.7-1.i386.rpm

o [Pitfall] Application xCdRoast fix:My launcher now states: cd $HOME/;xhost+localhost;/usr/bin/xcdroast

The wrapper controlling xCdRoast is like"sudo" in that it executes the application withroot privileges. This of course may conflictwith the application owner of the X-windowingsystem process (unless you are operating asroot to begin with). You must first grant accessto root to access the display with the xhost command. Starting xCdRoast from the menuworked. The only problem was launching bycommand.

o [Pitfall] Some KDE applications did not work

due to overprotective (for a privateworkstation) directory permissions. To fix this:

[ root prompt]# cd /usr/lib[ root prompt]# chmod -R ugo+x

kde2-compat

o [Pitfall] On one desktop machine, all thedesktop icons where duplicated. This isbecause Nautilus and Gnome were bothdisplaying the desktop icons. To fix this, turn

off the rendering of desktop icons by Nautilus.Select the "Start Here" icon on the desktoptool bar or choose the menu "Programs" +"Applications" + "Nautilus" to start the Nautilusmanager. From the Nautilus manager windowtoolbar, select "Preferences" + "EditPreferences...". Select "Window and Desktop"



from the left panel and un-select the option"Use Nautilus to draw the desktop".

o [Pitfall] Some of my desktop icons (launchers"lost" their graphic and one even got renamed.(What is going on??) Each upgrade seems to

lose a few graphics and gain a few new ones.The files to repair are found in$HOME/.gnome-desktop/ (i.e./home/user1/.gnome-desktop/) You can alsoright click the icon select "properties" and usethe gui tool. Icons are located in/usr/share/pixmaps/. Due to all the changes Ihave begun using my own repository/opt/share/pixmaps/.

o [Pitfall] I'm often the type who installseverything and turns on what is needed. I am

starting to re-think this strategy. My upgradeof a system from 7.1 to 7.3 took 3.5 hours!!!!! This is of course dependent on the speed ofyour system. This was a 350MHz, 256Mb, IDEsystem. The more you have loaded or themore packages you choose to install, thelonger it takes to upgrade. The upgradeprompt "Preparing to install..." held for 20minutes. At first I thought the system froze.BEWARE!!!

o [Pitfall] In the beginning of the upgrade, the

system prompts "Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM:".Press "Enter" right away with no delay!!Otherwise it continues to boot from the harddrive with your existing installation rather thanperforming the upgrade. This message ofcourse only applies to systems with an ATAPICD-ROM.

o [Pitfall] After the boot loader configurationscreen appears, the upgrade pauses tosearch for packages to upgrade. Havepatience. The message "Finding packages to

upgrade..." will appear. It took over 10minutes!!! Another penalty of having too muchloaded.

Install: RH 7.2:o CD-Rom mounting problems: SCSI

subsystem used with IDE drives to supportCD-Rom burning. If module does not installproperly the drive will not mount. To see if



module was loaded use the command lsmod and look for module sr_mod. If it is not listedthen it did not load. One may manually loadthe module by issuing the commands depmod and then modprobe sr_mod. The CD-Rom

should then be mountable.o Desktop/Gnome problems:

Desktop Launcher icon labels: Manybegan to display "application- label .desktop" instead of just theapplication label. Change the contentsof the configuration file $HOME/.gnome-desktop/application-label.desktop From:

[Desktop Entry]

Name[en_US.ISO8859-1]=application-label Exec=cd $HOME;/usr/bin/application Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/application.pngTerminal=falseMultipleArgs=falseType=Application

To:

[Desktop Entry]Name=application-label

- Add this line Name[en_US.ISO8859-1]=application-label Exec=cd $HOME;/usr/bin/application Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/application.pngTerminal=falseMultipleArgs=falseType=Application

o To generate a desktop launcher I created atoolbar launcher and then moved it to thedesktop with a drag and drop. (The menus

have changed)o Interface change: Note that the graphical

symbol "X" to kill the window moved from thetop right to the top left corner of the window.

o [Pitfall]: My start script for xinetd on one of myservers would give the following error:

[: =: unary operator expected



My fix was to edit the script/etc/rc.d/init.d/xinetd. Comment out theline:

[ ${NETWORKING} = "yes" ] || exit 0

by placing a "#" at the beginning of the line.Why is it that one server does not have thisproblem but another does, and the script isidentical on both machines??? Somehow theenvironment variable is messed up on onecausing the environment variable to becomeblank resulting in the "=" operator to onlyoperate on a single operand (thus an error).

o [Pitfall]: After upgrade from 7.1 to 7.2, Gimphung when I attempted to launch it. To fix thisproblem I removed the xsane plug-in: rm/usr/lib/gimp/1.2/plug-ins/xsane

o [Pitfall]: After upgrade from 7.1 to 7.2, thetoolbar application, "panel", would crash upondesktop start-up. (Not sure why but my guessis that the old settings were incompatible) Tofix this, I created a new user and logged in asthis user. The toolbar was displayed correctly.Starting up under my own id then launched

the toolbar correctly. I then changed a bunchof the tool bar properties. This temporarilycleaned up the problem by writing a new andcorrect configuration.Permanent panel fix: Update gnome withGnome 1.4.0.6-1 RPM's. This was requiredeven after using up2date (on Feb 1, 2002) toget all the latest Red Hat fixes. Check yourversion of gnome with the command: rpm -qgnome-core You may also have to copy a newversion of the panel config file to your

directory: cp -p /etc/gnome/panel-config/panel $HOME/.gnome/panel o [Pitfall]: When I upgraded to Red Hat 7.2 from

7.1, both of my TV viewing programs, KwinTVand Zapping, behaved flaky with poor tuning.The only solution I could find was to removethem both (rpm -e kwintv zapping) and thenre-install them.

http://www.gnome.org/~kmaraas/

http://www.gnome.org/~kmaraas/



o [Pitfall]: The "vi" editor goes into a funkyhighlight mode when editing html files. To getnon-highlighted old fashioned "vi" operationuse the command: ex -v file-name Add to the file $HOME/.bashrc: alias vi='ex -

v' o [Pitfall]: Installing on Red Hat Linux on one of

those $250.00 BTC-USA/ VIA Linux computersfrom Fryes? They have a Linux VIA modemdriver which I could not compile because ofincompatible structure definitions in theinclude (.h) header files. Give up and buy aLinux compatible modem. Could not get themicrophone to work either. BTC Support:(510)657-3856 x356

Install: RH 7.1:

o

[Pitfall] Linux now supports more APMfeatures, but that is both good and bad. APM(Advanced Power Management) is good forlaptops but often bad for desktops as thehardware may support it poorly. APM controlsscreen blanking and power saving featuresrequired by laptops. On the desktop it hasbeen a source of many random lock-ups Iexperienced just after or near the end of theboot sequence. I STRONGLY recommendthat you boot and enter your bios and turn off

all APM features. You may just find that bootreliability goes from flaky to flawless.Apm standby: apm -S Apm suspend: apm -s

o [Pitfall] Note on iptables and ipchains support.o [Pitfall] In a fresh install of RH 7.1 I found that

the DNS service "Bind" (named) could not beadded to the init process using the chkconfig

--add named command. Use the commandchkconfig --level 345 named on to forcebind to start upon system boot.

o

[Pitfall] Your mail server no longer works. Seethe configuration changes to the defaultsendmail configuration.

o [Pitfall] While performing an upgrade to RedHat 7.1, the package to manage iptables (thefirewall facility in the new kernel) was notincluded. You must manually include thisfacility by selecting the package. It seems that

http://www.btcusa.com/

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/BTUSA-VIA-ModemDriver.zip


http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialIptablesNetworkGateway.html#CHAINSTABLES

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialMailMTA.html#RH71CHANGE




http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialIptablesNetworkGateway.html#CHAINSTABLES



http://www.btcusa.com/



an upgrade looks at your configuration andupgrades the packages that you haveinstalled on your system. The previousversions of Red Hat used kernel 2.2 whichused ipchains and thus did not support

iptables. Iptables were included for the firsttime in the kernel 2.4 used by Red Hat 7.1.Check your installation by using thecommand: rpm -q iptables ipchains Thus after the upgrade, manually install theRPM: rpm -ivh iptables-XXX.i386.rpm

o [Pitfall] The upgrade created a new/etc/printcap.local file. The old/etc/printcap file was saved to/etc/printcap.save. This is a good thing asall references to printers except lp were

deleted. The configuration tool/usr/bin/printtool is no longer used. Thenew tool is /usr/sbin/printconf-gui. (The7.1 upgrade replaced printtool with a scriptwhich starts printconf-gui.) I'm confused asthis new tool still uses the file /etc/printcap. Istarted the tool /usr/sbin/printconf-gui andthen selected "File" + "Save Changes" to re-generate the /etc/printcap file. The manpage for lpd suggests that the file/etc/printcap is indeed the proper

configuration file for the lpd daemon. This fileis constructed each time the lpd daemon isrun, thus it is useless to edit this file. Use theGUI tool.For more info see RH 7.1 manual: PrinterConfiguration

o [Pitfall] The default upgrade to Gnome hasmysteriously made the autohide feature of thetoolbar useless. The autohide feature isturned on by a right-mouse-button-click on theGnome toolbar + "Properties" + "Hiding policy"

+ "Auto hide". The toolbar will unhide but it isalways displayed below other applications soit can't be seen or used.To fix this stupid behavior:

Start the Gnome Control Center: selectthe toolbox on the toolbar.

Select tree items (LHS) "Desktop" +

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.1-Manual/custom-guide/printconf.html#PRINTCONF-LOCAL-PRINTER






subitem "Panel". Then select tab (RHS) "Miscellaneous" Un-select the button "Keep panel below

windows (GNOME compliant windowmanagers only)"

Complete this action by selecting "Ok".o [Pitfall] Reducing system overhead: While

performing an upgrade, the installation willadd some packages to your init procedureeven if it was not included in the init processpreviously. The installation assumes that if it isinstalled, you want to use it. To clean this upuse the chkconfig command: i.e. chkconfig --del sshd (server daemon which allowsremote login) and chkconfig --del sendmail (mail server). I performed this on my

workstation to disable FreeWnn (Kana-to-Kanji conversion system. That's what I get forinstalling everything!!), pppoe (point to pointover ethernet), medusa, nfslock (I'm notrunning NFS), netfs (mounts NFS and SMB),autofs (NFS) and portmap (RPC's used byNFS). One can also use the GUI tool/usr/sbin/ntsysv.

In the end my workstation runs init scriptscrond, anacron, atd, crond, gpm, keytable,

kudzu, lpd, network, portsentry (my add-on -not typical), random, rawdevices, reconfig,syslog, xfs, iptables, autofs and xinetd uponsystem boot. My server on the other handruns a whole lot more and omits the fontserver xfs. Your choices will be based uponyour requirements.

Tripwire is a great file system monitoring toolfor a server but really un-necessary for a dial-up PPP system or a system which is rarely

connected to the internet. It is used to detectfile changes by hackers. The default is to usecron to run tripwire every day. This behaviorcan be changed to run tripwire weekly ormonthly by moving the script/etc/cron.daily/tripwire-check to the/etc/cron.weekly/ directory.



o [Note and Pitfall] The inetd daemon and theconfiguration file /etc/inetd.conf has beenreplaced by xinetd which uses files located inthe directory /etc/xinetd.d/. Xinetd hasaccess control mechanisms, logging

capabilities, the ability to make servicesavailable based on time, and can place limitson the number of servers that can be started,etc... and thus a worthy upgrade from inetd.For more info on xinetd see the YoLinux.comNetworking Tutorial.

The pitfall: The services are all disabled uponinstall. I found that the wu-ftpd default wasthat the service was turned off.To turn on the FTP service:

Edit the file /etc/xinetd.d/wu-ftpd and change the line:

disable = yes todisable = no Then restart the daemon:/etc/rc.d/init.d/xinetd restart.OR

Use the command: chconfig wu-ftpdon

This command will also restart thexinetd process to pick up the newconfiguration.

The ftp server is now available.

o [Note and Pitfall] The locations of some theapplications have changed with release 7.1. Ifyou have created a launcher icon and hard-coded the full path name, it may not work. Inoticed that xpaint moved from

/usr/X11R6/bin/ to /usr/bin/ and some ofmy network utilities moved from /usr/sbin/ to/usr/bin/.

Install: RH 7.0:o [Pitfall] Sendmail hangs for a while before

allowing Linux to complete the boot process.This is often due to the fact that you have

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialNetworking.html#INET






given your computer a name but it is unknownto the networking software on your system.Add the computer name to the /etc/hosts file.

127.0.0.1 <put-your-computer-

name-here> localhost

The host name is often assigned during installand can be found in the /etc/HOSTNAME file. Itcan be assigned/re-assigned using thehostname command or by using the GUIadmin tool "/bin/linuxconf". (Note thatlinuxconf is no longer included with Red HatLinux 7.3+)Note that there may be NO blank spaces in

the host name.

Install: RH 6.2, 7.0:o [Pitfall] Apache fails due to an improper

configuration file option. Edit file/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf. Uncommentthe line:

ServerName localhost

by removing the "#" at the beginning of the

line.

Install: RH 6.2:o [Pitfall] Desktop application launching icons

(GMC) may fail due to an update in theirformat.Edit the files in $HOME/.gnome-

desktop/.desktop so that the line:Name=<application>

is changed to:Name[en_US.ISO8859-1]=<application>

Then right click on the desktop and select"Rescan Desktop Directory".

o [Pitfall] For a more robust desktop, change thedefault window manager from "Enlightenment"to "Sawmill". After about three days of heavydesktop use, "Enlightenment" will start to getflaky.Note: Red Hat 7.0 makes Sawfish (the current

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=hostname

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=hostname



version of Sawmill) the default windowmanager. They must have had a similarexperience.

Upgrade: RH 6.1:o [Pitfall] The SAMBA upgrade was incomplete.

The /etc/sb.conf file gets backed up as/etc/smb.conf.rpmsave but a new sambaconfiguration file (smb.conf) was notgenerated. Copy the smb.conf.rpmsave tosmb.conf.

o [Pitfall] Fix for SAMBA if it is not initiated uponboot.chkconfig --level 345 smb on

o [Pitfall] Printing or serial ports ignored: Addthe following line to the file/etc/conf.modules:

alias parport_lowlevel parport_pc This configures the kernel upon system bootto auto-detect and configure system serialports. This may also effect modem use.Note: Newer kernels such as 2.2.17 use/etc/modules.conf.

Upgrade: RH 5.2 to 6.0:o [Pitfall] The RH 6.0 installation/upgrade

manual states the following but will cause X-windows to fail. Don't do it.

The upgrade will not touch your video settings held in /etc/X11/XF86Config. In order to use the new fontserver add the following line:

FontPath tcp/localhost:7100"

Next set the system configuration to run the font serverat boot time: /sbin/chkconfig --add xfs Note: you can add or remove any system services to bestarted (at boot time) in this manner.

o [Pitfall] RH 6.0 upgrade - I added everything

for my upgrade. The news server and serverfor plan calendars were not configured andcaused errors upon boot thus slowing the bootprocess.To remedy the situation: chkconfig --delinnd and chkconfig --del netplan

This removes the background



daemons/services from the system bootprocess.

Release Updates and fixes: After a successful installationor update, it is wise to check the Red Hat web site forupdates to the CD release. See:http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/. You can also directly download update RPM's using FTP:

[root prompt]# ftp updates.redhat.comConnected to updates.redhat.com.220 Red Hat FTP server ready. All transfers arelogged....Name (updates.redhat.com:ipp): anonymous

Password: -Enter your email address 230- THE SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITEIS PROVIDED AND LICENSED230- "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,EITHER EXPRESSED OR230- IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITEDTO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES230- OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR APARTICULAR PURPOSE.230 Login successful. Have fun.Remote system type is UNIX.Using binary mode to transfer files.ftp> cd 7.3/en/os/i386/

250 Directory successfully changed.ftp> prompt ftp> mget apache* -Example: download apache upgrades ftp> bye 221 Goodbye.[root prompt]#

System Re-Configuration: (Must be root)

During the Red Hat installation process, a series ofconfiguration tools were used to configure the mouse,keyboard, video etc. These can be run separately at anytime after the installation. Use the following commands tore-configure the system for new or replaced hardwaredevices or to correct inappropriate settings.

Device Linux Configuration Tool

System /usr/bin/system-config-item-

http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/

http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/



ConfigurationAll: keyboard,mouse, ...

to-configure (FC 2/3) /usr/bin/redhat-config-item- to-configure (RH 8.0/9.0/FC1- see below)

/usr/sbin/setup

Video card,monitor /usr/bin/system-config-display (FC 2/3)redhat-config-xfree86 (RedHat 8.0/9.0)

/usr/bin/X11/Xconfigurator(Red Hat 6.x,7.x)

/usr/X11R6/bin/xf86config(From XFree86.org)

Keyboard /usr/bin/system-config-keyboard (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-keyboard (RH 8.0/9.0/FC1)

/usr/sbin/kdbconfig

Gnome DesktopKeyboard Properties

/usr/bin/gnome-accessibility-keyboard-properties (RH 9.0,FC 2/3)

Gnome DesktopKeybindingProperties

/usr/bin/gnome-keybinding-properties (RH 9.0, FC 2/3)

Mouse /usr/bin/system-config-

mouse (FC 2/3) /usr/bin/redhat-config-mouse(RH 8/9/FC1)

/usr/sbin/mouseconfig(Removed in RH 9.0)Which Red Hat geniusdevised a mouseconfiguration tool whichrequires a mouse!!! Theyreally need to bring back aconsole based mouse

configuration tool.

Date / Time / Timezone

/usr/bin/system-config-data(FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-date(RH 8.0/9.0/FC1)dateconfig (RH 7.2)

/usr/sbin/timeconfig (Pre 7.2)



Sound Card /usr/bin/system-config-soundcard (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-soundcard (RH 8.0/9.0 - testonly)

/usr/sbin/sndconfig (still usedin 8.0)

Network Card /usr/bin/system-config-network (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-network (/usr/bin/neat) (RH7.2+)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-network-tui (text console RH9.0)

/usr/sbin/netconfig (console.First interface only - eth0) /usr/bin/netcfg (GUI) (nolonger available with RH 7.2)

/usr/bin/redhat-control-network (Start/Stop networkinterfaces RH 9.0)redhat-config-network-druid(ConfigureCIPE,Ethernet,modem,tokenRing,Wireless or DSL)

System services(processes startedat boot)

/usr/bin/system-config-services (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-services (RH 8.0/9.0, FC1)serviceconf (RH 7.2)

/usr/sbin/ntsysv /usr/X11R6/bin/tksysv (GUI)

System Start /usr/bin/system-config-kickstart (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-kickstart (RH8.0 only)

Printer /usr/bin/system-config-printer(FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-printer(RH 8.0/9.0, FC1) Configureslpd service. Modifies/etc/printcap file.



/usr/bin/redhat-config-printer-gui (RH 8.0/9.0, FC1) (Exactsame as above)

/usr/bin/printtool (Also theexact same as above)

Red Hat 7.1: /usr/sbin/printconf-gui (Yes,in RH 8.0+ this is also theexact same as above)

/usr/sbin/printconf-gui (Was atext mode tool introducedwith Red Hat 7.2 In RH 8.0+it is the same as above)

/usr/bin/redhat-switch-printer(RH 8.0+) Choose printing

service: lpd or CUPS (Can also set environmentvariable to set default printer:export PRINTER="lpHP")

RH 7.1: Systemsecurity.Choose andconfigure NIS, LDAPor Hesiod forauthentication.

/usr/bin/system-config-authentication (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/authconfig-gtk (RH8.0)

/usr/sbin/authconfig (consoletool)

RH 8.0+: Systemsecurity. Firewallconfiguration.Note this willconfigure yoursystem to useiptables.

/usr/bin/system-config-securitylevel (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-securitylevel

RH 7.1: Systemsecurity. Firewallconfiguration.Note this willconfigure yoursystem to useipchains and NOTiptables.

/usr/sbin/lokkit /usr/sbin/gnome-lokkit

SystemManagement

/bin/linuxconf(No longer included with Red

http://www.cups.org/






Hat 7.3+)

Make anEmergency/Recoverboot floppy

/sbin/mkbootdisk 2.2.16-3 (Enter release of kernel.See directory /boot)

users/groups /usr/bin/system-config-users(FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-users

Set/Change RootPassword

/usr/bin/system-config-rootpassword (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-rootpassword (RH 8.0/9.0,FC1)

System Log FileViewer

Scan, search boot,cron, kernel startlogs, mail, mysql,rpm (current list ofall packagesinstalled), security,system, XFree86,...logs

/usr/bin/redhat-logviewer (RH8.0+)

System Proc Files(Kernel tuningparameters. You

need to know whatyour are doinghere!!)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-proc

(RH 8.0+)

Package Manager -Add/Removeapplication/servicepackages

/usr/bin/system-config-packages (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-packages (RH 8.0/9.0, FC1)

Desktop SwitchingTool

/usr/bin/switchdesk-gnome(RH 8.0+)

/usr/bin/switchdesk (Same

tool as above)Can choose Gnome, KDE,TWM. Choose TWM forsparse lightweight desktop.

Red Hat Linux Server Services Configuration:









Server Service Linux Configuration Tool

httpd Apache WebServer Configuration

/usr/bin/system-config-httpd (FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-httpd

(RH 8.0/9.0, FC1)named DNS Bind /usr/bin/system-config-bind

(FC 2/3) /usr/bin/redhat-config-bind(RH 8.0/9.0, FC1)

nfsd NFS File Server /usr/bin/system-config-nfs(FC 2/3)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-nfs(RH 8.0/9.0, FC1)

SMTP Mail /usr/bin/system-switch-

mail (FC 2/3) /usr/bin/redhat-switch-mail(RH 9.0, FC1)

/usr/bin/redhat-switch-mail-nox

/usr/bin/redhat-config-switchmail (RH 8.0+)

/usr/bin/redhat-config-switchmail-gnome

For GNOME Desktop configuration commands (sound,

keyboard, fonts, properties, ...) see the YoLinux.comTutorial on the GNOME Desktop: Configuration Commands

Adding and Removing Installation Packages:

For adding or removing software packages see theYoLinux.com system administration guide on Red HatPackage Manager (RPM)

To Add or remove packages or entire package groups

offered during installation, use the GUI tool/usr/sbin/system-config-packages:

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/GNOME.html#CONFIGCOMMANDS


http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialSysAdmin.html#RPM








Select the "Details" link to see all the RPM packagesassociated with the group:



Check the box so RPM will install the Linux program.Installing Linux programs is that easy!

Cloning The Drive To Duplicating TheInstallation:

Symantec (Norton) Ghost (commercial) g4u - Harddisk Image Cloning for PCs (open source)

Basic System Administration:

Editing files:

http://www.symantec.com/product/

http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/

http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/

http://www.symantec.com/product/





than wait a week for it to execute automatically.Issue the command (as root):/etc/cron.weekly/makewhatis.cron

/etc/cron.daily/updatedb.cron : Sets up index forlocate command. (Creates data file

/var/lib/locatedb)

Security and permissions:

UNIX controls file, directory and device access byuser id and group membership. File, directory anddevice permissions may be granted or denied forreading (r), writing (w) and executing (x). Thesepermissions may be granted to a specific user (u),group (g) or all other users (o). Directory listings canshow this with letters representing permissions. For

example: -rw-r--r-- which shows that the owner (user)has read and write privileges while the groupmembers and all other users have read onlyprivileges. The symbols display access privileges inthe order of owner, group and other. Users are listedin the file /etc/passwd. Groups and group membersare listed in the file /etc/group.

See man pages:

chmod - Change/modify file access

permissions. group ls - list files

Note on root id: The login id root is all powerful andshould be used for system administration only. Forregular user operation of the system, it is best tocreate a new user.

All users are a member of a group. New users will beadded to a group of the same name as the user

(each user had his own group). Membership in othergroups may be added. This is often done to give agroup of users access to a file or device which isaccessible to all group members. See the tutorial onmanaging groups.

For a complete tutorial on protecting your systemwhile connected to the internet, see the YoLinux.com

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=chmod

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=group

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=ls







http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=ls

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=group

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=chmod



Internet Security Tutorial.

Device access:

Devices such as diskettes and CR-ROMs are often

used by desktop users. It is common to have thesedevices owned by the groups floppy and cdromrespectively. The device permissions are set suchthat the device is accessible only by group members.To grant access to a device, add a user to therespective group. Unlike desktop systems, useraccess to these devices in a server environment isoften not a good idea. See the YoLinux.com tutorialManaging Group Access.

Mounting a Windows partition:

Use the command: mount -t vfat /dev/hda1/mnt/C Mount MS/windows partition with long filenames soLinux can look at it if Win95 is on your 1st partitionon the first drive. Use option "-t umsdos" forDOS/Win 3.1partition. (i.e. On my SCSI basedsystem: mount -t umsdos /dev/sda3 /mnt/C) Thisrequires that one create the directory mount pointfirst (mkdir /mnt/C ) This mount can be madepermanent by making the following entry to the

/etc/fstab file:

/dev/hda1 /C vfat defaults 0 0

For more information see the man pages for mount, umount, fstab and dump.

Note: The "umount" command is NOT "unmount".Notice the difference in spelling.

umount /mnt/C How to mount NTFS drives used for MS/Windows

NT, 2000 (not ME) and XP.

Support for other file systems:

Partial list:

Filesystem Filesystem Description



http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=mount

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=umount

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=fstab

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=dump

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialMicrosoftWindowsNetworkIntegration.html#MOUNTNTFS




http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=dump

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=fstab

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=umount

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=mount





ext2 Linux

msdos Basic Microsoft DOS

umsdosDOS with ling file names and Linuxextensions

vfat Windows 95

iso9660CD: Auto detects "High Sierra" and"Rock Ridge"

hpfs OS/2 (Read only)

sysv Commercial System V Unix

nfs Network File System (remote mounts)

smbWindows for workgroups, NT and LANmanager

ncpfs Novel Netware NCP file systemAlso see: fs man page.

Windows upgrade on a Dual Boot system:

Create a Linux boot disk. Re-write the DOS boot loader onto the hard

drive: fdisk /mbr Upgrade Windows. Boot system with Linux boot disk.

Run /sbin/lilo -v to re-install Linux bootloader onto hard drive.or/sbin/grub-install (Grub was introduced inRed Hat 7.2)

Setting graphical Login screen as default:

This may be configured during installation but can bechanged. Do this only after X-windows is properlyconfigured to the proper resolution. Init level 3 will

boot the system to a console mode. Edit file/etc/inittab and change the following entryid:3:initdefault: to id:5:initdefault: . This willstart X-windows upon boot-up by default withouthaving to initiate it manually with the startx command.

Desktop choices:

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=fs



http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=fs



The basic choices are GNOME (default), KDE andFVWM2 (default for RH 5.2 and earlier. Also calledAnother Level). You may choose a different desktopby selecting from the Start or selection menu,"System" + "Desktop Switching Tool" . Other desktop

GUIs available on the system include AfterStep(clone of the NextStep interface), WindowMaker,FVWM95 (also a clone of the Windows 95/NT 4.0interface) and MWM (Motif Window Manager basedon Open Source Lesstif).

Tip: Gnome toolbar help on Red Hat 7.1 - right-mouse-click within the toolbar + "Panel" + "Panelmanual".

[Potential Pitfall]: RH 6.1 has a slight bug in that it

allows you to select the Win 95 interface (FVWM2)but you cant get back. The selection process iscontrolled by your $HOME/.Xclients script which calls.Xclient-$HOSTNAME:0 or .Xclients-default file.Use one of the following entries in your .Xclients-default file to restore your configuration:

exec gnome-session exec startkde

FVWM2 uses a script rather than a single line

command.

Minimal desktop graphics for limited resources:

If your system is slow and limited you can still run agraphical desktop, just not Gnome or KDE. Boot toinit level 3 (console only not init level 5 with graphics)and issue the following commands:

Start X-Windows: xinit Start a very lean window manager: mwm

Use the right mouse button to bring up a menu.

Soft Paws:

Left Handed users might want to use the mouse onthe opposite side. To revers the mouse button order,



issue the command:gpm -B 321

CD player:

Red Hat 8.0:/usr/bin/gnome-cd Red Hat 6.x, 7.x:/usr/bin/gtcd: "Start" + "Programs" + "Multimedia"+ "CD Player"

To use a free CDDB internet database set the serverto: freedb.freedb.org port 8880

X-Window scripts:

The X-Window initialization script is/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc. The user script is~/.xinit. Programs you wish to autostart should beplaced in your xinit script. The desktop system youchoose will probably also have a script as well. ForKDE see ~/.kde/Autostart.

See X-Window User HOWTO for more information.

Adding an application to the start menus:

"Gnome start button" + "Settings" + "Menu Editor".You will have to be root to add to system menus.User menus unique to the login account are held in$HOME/.gnome/apps/<application> .desktop

Apache Web server (httpd):

Fedora Core 1/2/3 and Red Hat 7.x/8.0/9.0 filelocations:

/var/www/html/ - Web pages go here. Home page isindex.html

icons/ - Graphical icons used by the

server cgi-bin/ - Location for CGI programs

/var/log/httpd/access_log - Server log files error_log

Red Hat 6.x and earlier file locations:

/home/httpd/html/ - Web pages go here. Home pageis index.html

icons/ - Graphical icons used by the

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/XWindow-User-HOWTO.html#s5

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/XWindow-User-HOWTO.html#s5



server cgi-bin/ - Location for CGI programs

/var/log/httpd/access_log - Server log files error_log

See httpd man page.

See Apache online manualYoLinux.com Web site configuration tutorial

RPM - Red Hat Package Manager:

The rpm command is used to manage softwareapplications and system modules. See theYoLinux.com Admin Tutorial - rpm

Linux devices:

If you are missing a device: (i.e. /dev/radio)cd /dev./MAKEDEV radio

Something Cool:

Slide Show:

1. Put a bunch of JPEG files in a directory (i.e.develop photos and get the "Kodak PictureCD")

2. Start photo viewer application:o RH 8.0: Start GQview -

(/usr/bin/gqview) or GUI desktopselect the "start icon" + "Graphics" +"GQview".)

Open the folder/directory wherethe photos reside.

Select "Edit Options" Tab "General": Select

"Repeat" and choosedelay in seconds.

Tab "Image": Select "Fitimage to window" and"Expand images for zoomto fit"

Select "View" + "Toggle SlideShow"

Select "View" + "Full Screen"

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=httpd

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialWebSiteConfig.html




http://httpd.apache.org/docs/

http://man.yolinux.com/cgi-bin/man2html?cgi_command=httpd



OR

o RH 7.x: Start Gtk-See(/usr/bin/gtksee or select "The

paw/start icon" + "Programs" +"Graphics" + "Gtk-See".)

Open the folder/directory wherethe photos reside.

Select "Tools" + "Slide Show" orctrl-S

Select the "Full Screen" icon.3. Use the right mouse button to bring up a

menu.4. Enjoy!

Admin Tutorials:

YoLinux.com Tutorials:

Init process tutorial - Tutorial on how toadd/remove background processes/serviceswhich start on system boot-up.

Managing Group Access - Granting andadministering file and device access.

System Administration File System Quotas - Limiting a user's disk

usage. Netscape Configuration and plug-ins Networking Set up Linux as an internet gateway for home

or office Internet Web Server and Domain

Configuration Configuring a Linux workstation for

interoperability with the MS/Windowsenvironment

List of all YoLinux.com tutorials

Links:

Configuration HOWTO - Guido Gonzato Bash Prompt HOWTO - Giles Orr Linux Printing HOWTO - Grant Taylor Text-Terminal-HOWTO - David S. Lawyer



http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialSysAdmin.html


http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialNetscapeNavigator.html










http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialMicrosoftWindowsNetworkIntegration.html





http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/index.html

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/Config-HOWTO.html

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.html

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/Printing-HOWTO.html

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/Text-Terminal-HOWTO.html

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/Text-Terminal-HOWTO.html

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/Printing-HOWTO.html

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO.html

http://tldp.yolinux.com/HOWTO/Config-HOWTO.html

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/index.html









http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialNetscapeNavigator.html


http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialSysAdmin.html







Ubuntu Debian GNU:

o Installation Guideo Installation Instructions for all hardware

platforms and all languages

o Debian FAQ Mandriva: (was named Mandrake)

o FreeOS.com: Mandrake 7.2 install Guide Slackware:

o Installation Help S.u.S.E.:

o S.u.S.E. Support Data Base

Books: "Fedora 14DesktopHandbook"by RichardPetersenSurfing TurtlePress, ISBN#1936280167(Nov 30, 2010)

"Fedora 14Administrationand Security"by RichardPetersenSurfing TurtlePress, ISBN#1936280221(Jan 6, 2011)

"Fedora 14

Networkingand Servers"by RichardPetersenSurfing TurtlePress, ISBN#1936280191

http://www.ubuntu.com/

http://www.debian.org/

http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual

http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/#new-inst




http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/

http://www.mandriva.com/

http://www.freeos.com/articles/3265/

http://slackware.com/

http://slackware.com/install/

http://www.novell.com/linux/

http://sdb.suse.de/sdb/en/html/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1936280191/&tag=yolinux-20





















http://sdb.suse.de/sdb/en/html/

http://www.novell.com/linux/

http://slackware.com/install/

http://slackware.com/

http://www.freeos.com/articles/3265/

http://www.mandriva.com/

http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/



http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual

http://www.debian.org/

http://www.ubuntu.com/



(Dec 26, 2010)

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"Red HatFedora 6 andEnterpriseLinux Bible"by Christopher

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"Fedora 7 &Red HatEnterpriseLinux: TheCompleteReference"

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I have the RedHat 6 versionand I havefound it to bevery helpful. Ihave found itto be waymore completethan the otherLinux books. Itis the most

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