NETW-240 Linux Installation Last Update 2012.08.24 1.3.0 Copyright 2000-2012 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 1

NETW-240Linux

InstallationLast Update 2012.08.24

1.3.0

Copyright 2000-2012 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com

1

Objectives of This Section

• Learn– How to install Linux


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Check the System First

• Although I rarely see any problem, you should check to be sure the hardware to be used is supported by the distribution to be installed from

• Be sure there is enough space on the hard drive

• Again these days that should not be an issue

• Linux requires from 350 Mb to 4 GBCopyright 2000-2012 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.

www.chipps.com3

Installation Source

• The Linux operating system just like any other OS can be loaded from several sources– ISO– CD– Over the network using– A partition on the hard drive– Floppy Disk


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Boot Floppy

• If a floppy disk is required to boot the computer, in other words it will not boot from the CD or you need to access the network, then a bootable floppy disk with Linux on it is required

• The disk is created from the image file• An image file contains an exact copy or

image of a diskette's contents


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Boot Floppy

• This process is much easier to do from a computer with a operating system already installed

• But if you only have one computer, the following will work

• The process depends on the distribution• For example for Red Hat


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Boot Floppy

• If using MS-DOS, boot the computer to DOS– The CD drivers must be loaded using the

config.sys and autoexec.bat files– The exact commands to use depend on the

interface the CD drive is using


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Boot Floppy

– For a standard IDE drive, for example• In config.sys

– DEVICE = C:\BTCCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001» Substitute the CD driver name for BTCCDROM.SYS

• autoexec.bat– C:\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001

• Place the distribution CD in the CD drive


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Boot Floppy

• Then using the rawrite utility on the distribution CD issue the following commands– Assuming your CD drive is d:

• A:\> d:• D:\> cd \dosutils• D:\dosutils> rawrite• Enter disk image source file name


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Boot Floppy

• Such as– \images\boot.img– For installing from the CD– or– \images\bootnet.img– For installation over the network

• Tell it where the floppy disk is, such as– A


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Boot Floppy

• If using Linux, boot the computer to the Linux command line prompt

• Then using the dd Command• After mounting the CD, change directory to

the directory containing the desired image file


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Boot Floppy

• Use the following command• # dd if=boot.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k• The boot images are located in

/mnt/cdrom/images


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Install from ISO


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Install from CD

• To boot from a CD this must be enabled in the BIOS for the machine

• With such a thing– Enter Setup

• Change the boot order to boot from the CD drive first

– Put the CD in the drive– Reboot the computer


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Install Over the Network

• This method loads the files from a server on the network

• The procedure is detailed later


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Install from a Partition

• As Linux does not exist before it is installed to install it from a directory on the hard drive will require an OS already be installed on the same computer which is accessible by Linux

• This is usually a DOS based partition• Recall that a partition is the way OSs are

kept separate


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• In general this partition must contain one of the following file systems– Ext2– Ext3– FAT

• Hard drive installations require the use of the ISO or CD-ROM images rather than copying the entire installation tree

• Select the hard drive install method


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• Then tell the install program to look in that directory

• For example


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Copyright 2000-2012 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. www.chipps.com 19

Run from Floppy Disk

• This has become less and less useful over the years

• Even though Linux itself is still reasonably small, the distributions have become quite large

• In general this method is no longer used


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Installation Program

• Most distribution these days use a text based or GUI installation program to select and load the components

• Such a thing can be done outside of these programs, but is rarely a useful expenditure of time


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• When the distribution’s installation program starts just follow the screens as it progresses through the installation process

• The particular distribution will have the details on this process


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• For example Red Hat as of this writing offers a graphical mode, a text based mode, and an expert mode, and several others for special cases

• In general just take the default mode, which in Red Hat is a GUI look


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• Most of the hardware is probed and identified by the installation process

• The specific steps in the Red Hat 7.2 distribution using the GUI are– Select the language– Select the keyboard type– Select the mouse type


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– Select the type of computer that this will be used as• Workstation• Server• Laptop• Custom

– Partition the drive


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Partitioning

• This is how a disk drive is divided into sections

• Each section can then be used to hold a separate operating system or in the case of Linux a distinct part or function of the operating system

• This use of partitions like this by Linux is different from DOS or Windows based systems


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Partitioning

• In that they put the entire OS on one partition

• Sometimes these OSs use another partition to hold data

• Or some server versions of Windows will use a separate partition as Linux does for a pagefile or swap space


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Partitioning

• This is a topic of constant discussion in the Linux community as to how to divide up the disk

• The use of a partition is in general identified by a number that is written to the disk

• For Linux these numbers are– Native - 83– Swap - 82– Extended - 85


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Partitioning

• Partitions are also given names• In DOS and Windows these are letters like

C, D• In Linux the naming scheme is file based,

with filenames in the form


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Partitioning

– /dev/xxyn• /dev/

– This is the name of the part that will hold the partition– Since partitions reside on hard disks, and hard disks are

devices, the name begins with the indicator for a device which is

» /dev/


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Partitioning

• xx – The first two letters of the partition name indicate the

type of device on which the partition resides– This is typically either a IDE or SCSI drive

» IDE – hd» SCSI - sd


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Partitioning

• y – This letter indicates which physical device the partition is

on– For example

» /dev/hda would be the first IDE hard disk» or» /dev/sdb would be the second SCSI disk


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Partitioning

• n– The final number denotes the partition on the physical

disk– The first four are numbered 1 through 4– Logical partitions within the extended partition start at 5– So, for example

» /dev/hda3 is the third primary or extended partition on the first IDE hard disk

» and» /dev/sdb6 is the second logical partition on the

second SCSI hard disk


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Mount Points

• Linux is again different from the DOS and Windows method in how it associates partitions with the file system

• In DOS and Windows each partition gets a letter

• This letter then refers to all of the files and directories on its corresponding partition


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Mount Points

• This is entirely different from how Linux deals with partitions and, for that matter, with disk storage in general

• In Linux a partition can be associated with only a single directory rather than having it refer to all of the directories

• This is done by assigning partitions to mount points in the file system’s directory structure


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Mount Points

• Mounting a partition makes its storage available starting at the specified directory or mount point

• For example, if partition /dev/hda5 were mounted on /usr, that would mean that all files and directories under /usr would physically reside on /dev/hda5


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Mount Points

• So the file /usr/share/doc/FAQ/txt/Linux-FAQ would be stored on /dev/hda5, while the file /etc/X11/gdm/Sessions/Gnome would not as it does not start out at the /usr/ directory

• Continuing our example, it is also possible that one or more directories below /usr would be mount points for other partitions


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Partitioning

• For instance, a partition, say /dev/hda7, could be mounted on /usr/local, meaning that /usr/local/man/whatis would then reside on /dev/hda7 rather than /dev/hda5

• Finally back to the argument Linux heads are always having concerning how to partition a hard drive


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Partitioning

• All agree that at least the following are needed– Swap– /boot– / - which is the root partition

• And unless there is a really good reason to do otherwise, just use the above


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Swap Partition

• The swap partition is used to simulate physical memory

• This is easy to size• It should be at least twice the installed

memory• The minimum size is 32MB• The maximum is 2048MB – 2GB


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Boot Partition

• This partition holds the operating system kernel and a few other files required to boot the system

• Due to various poor decisions by hardware system designers over the years it is generally best to create a separate boot partition

• Its size should be 50MB to 100 MB


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Boot Partition

• The boot partition can be part of the root partition

• Usually this works, but sometimes it quits working later as changes are made to the system

• The main problem being that on some systems all of the boot information must be on cylinder 1023 or lower


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Boot Partition

• As always the easy way around this problem is to just throw money at it

• A nice brand new computer with all the latest stuff will not, usually that is, exhibit these limitations


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Root Partition

• The root partition– /

• is where the root directory resides• In this partitioning layout, all files, except

those stored in /boot, reside on the root partition

• So the bigger the better


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• Partition the drive– In Red Hat there are three choices all though

only two of these are really useful– They are

• Use Automatic partitioning• Use Disk Druid• Use fdisk


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• Automatic– This never seems to work for me– It always says it cannot do it for me and

dumps me into Disk Druid– So I usually just select Disk Druid or fdisk to

start with


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• Disk Druid– A nice GUI version of fdisk– Not much easier to use, but looks cute– The only thing to watch out for is that the

swap space is not listed under the mount point, but under the filesystem type as swap space is different in concept from the boot and root partitions


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Installation Programs

• Fdisk– This is the older method of partitioning– It works fine, but is not quite as easy to use as

Disk Druid– Red Hat for example says to not use it, even

though they include it


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Filesystem Types

• ext2– This is the older, but still very widely used

filesystem• ext3

– This new filesystem is basically the ext2 filesystem with journaling added

– Using a journaling filesystem reduces time spent recovering a filesystem after a crash as there is no need to run fsck against the filesystem


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Filesystem Types

– Indeed an ext3 filesystem can be mounted as an ext2 filesystem

– ext3 comes with kernel 2.4.16 and later


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Filesystem Types

• Use whichever you wish• Keep in mind that the swap space is a

separate partition type from those above, ext2 and ext3

• When creating the swap partition, the proper filesystem type must be selected

• That type being swap


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Directories

• Except for certain default directories, which ones to use is something up to the user or administrator

• Default directories include– /

• This is the root directory• Any other directory not mounted as part of another

partition is a subdirectory of the root directory


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Directories

• Common directories are– /boot

• Includes the commands and files required to boot the system

– /bin• Contains basic command line utilities• Must be part of /

– /dev• Lists available device drivers• Must be part of /


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Directories

– /etc• Basic configuration files

– /home• Under this are the home directories of all users

except the root user

– /lib• Contains program libraries• Must be in /


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Directories

– /mnt• The mount point for removable media• Not always used by all distributions

– /opt• Common location for applications

– /proc• A pseudo directory that contains pseudo

directories and files that representing all running processes


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Directories

– /root• The home directory for the root user

– /sbin• Contains many system administration commands• Must be part of /

– /tmp• For temporary files


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Directories

– /usr• For small programs and data used by all users• Usually has many subdirectories

– /var• Holds variable data, such as log filers and print

spool files• Often on its own partition


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Boot Loader

• The next step is to select the boot loader• Choices include

– LILO– GRUB– None at all


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Boot Loader

• Details on boot loaders is in another presentation, but in general

• LILO– The standard, long time boot loader

• GRUB– Its main claim to fame seems to be that it is

cute, in other words it has a GUI screen


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Boot Loader

• Where to put the boot loader– The place to install the boot loader is in the

MBR – Master Boot Record• The MBR is a special area on the hard drive that is

automatically loaded by the computer's BIOS, and is the earliest point at which the boot loader can take control of the boot process

– Another place is the first sector of the root partition • Unless there is a special reason to use this

location, just put it in the MBRCopyright 2000-2012 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.

www.chipps.com61

Boot Loader

• The installation process will ask if there are any options that need to be passed to Linux as it loads

• In general say no• It will also ask if the boot loader should be

used to load other operating systems• Say no, as in this example Linux is the

only OS in use


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Network Configuration

• The choices here are use DHCP or static address assignment


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Select Language Support

• Next the languages to support are selected

• It is up to you


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Time Zone

• Tell the OS what time zone the computer is in


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Root Password

• Enter a root password


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Create Users

• If desired create another user for use rather than the root user


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Enable Security Features

• These are things like using the shadow password file


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Select the Software Packages

• What is selected depends on the use to be made of the computer

• It also depends on whether the computer will be managed from the command line or the GUI


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Select the Video Configuration

• Confirm or select the type of video card


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Install All This Stuff

• Finally the installation program will start to copy everything to disk

• This make take a few minutes or quite a while depending on the packages selected and the speed of the computer’s components


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Create Boot Disk

• Next decide whether or not to make a boot disk

• This will enable the computer to be booted from a floppy disk rather than the hard drive

• It is a safety measure• Do it if you wish


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GUI Configuration

• If X Windows was loaded the system will ask questions about the configuration of the system related to the display of graphics

• The main selection here is the selection of the monitor

• Linux is very picky about monitor selection• This aspect of the setup is a major pain


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GUI Configuration

• Be sure to correctly identify the monitor• The installation program will next ask

about the resolution to display and the default GUI to use

• Select what you wish• It may ask whether to use the GUI or the

text mode boot loader, depending on whether GRUB or LILO was selected


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See If It Works

• That’s it• Reboot and see it all works• If it does not, that’s another topic


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Text Mode Installation

• To use the text mode installation procedure, on the opening screen of the installation process enter test and press enter

• If this is not done the installation program will load the GUI program


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Installation Over The Network

• This is the same as any other installation, just done over a network

• The source at the other end can be any device that can serve as a server


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• The protocol used to make this connection can be– NFS– SMB– FTP– HTTP

• FTP will be used as an example of the network installation procedure


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• To use a source outside of the computer to which Linux is to be installed the computer must be able to boot off of a floppy disk

• This floppy disk must have– Boot files– NIC configuration

• This procedure is detailed above


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• The next step is to setup the Linux installation source files on the server

• This of course depends on the server operating system being used

• With the boot disk in the floppy drive, reboot

• Linux will boot• The installation program will start


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• Proceed through as above until the source for the Linux files selection screen is displayed

• Pick whatever method is being used• The installation program will ask what NIC

driver to try• It only presents a limited set


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• So be sure to have the NIC’s driver disk available, just in case

• Once the NIC is detected, the installation program will ask for the IP configuration for the computer onto which Linux will be installed


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• Such as– IP address– Subnet mask– Default gateway– DNS server

• Then it will ask for the location of the server and the files on the server


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• As in– IP address of the server– Directory where the files are

• Next the installation program logs into the server and starts the installation


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Installation Problems

• To see what might have gone wrong with an installation the first place to look is the dmesg command

• When it is run from the command line it scrolls what was displayed on the screen during installation

• To see all of it, pipe it• As in

– dmesg | lessCopyright 2000-2012 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D.

www.chipps.com85

Documents

NETW-240 Linux Installation Last Update 2012.08.24 1.3.0 Copyright 2000-2012 Kenneth M. Chipps Ph.D. 1