Bodo Bauer, Ršudiger Berlich, Daniel Bischof, Michael Burghart, Roland Dyroff, Christian Egle, Karl Eichwalder, Stefan Fent, Werner Fink, Klaus Franken, Fritz Ganter, Jšurgen Geck, Rolf Haberrecker, Marc Heuse, Carsten Hšoger, Dirk Hohndel, Richard Jelinek, Florian La Roche, Volker Lendecke, Hans Lermen, Hubert Mantel, Arndt Mehlhorn, Jay Migliaccio, Jordi Jaen Pallares, Christoph-Erdmann Pfeiler, Peter Reinhart, Marc Ršuhrschneck, Martin Scherbaum, Adrian Schršoter, Burchard Steinbild, Gabriele Strattner, Jšorg Strebel, Steve Tomlin, Klaus G. Wagner, Thorsten Wandersmann, Udo Weber, Michael Weyrauch, Stefan Wintermeyer, Christian Zoz SuSE Linux 6.4 Installation, Configuration and First Steps Support contact see: page 493 SuSE Inc. 580 2nd Street, #210 Oakland, CA 94607 USA Toll free phone number within the US and Canada: 1-888-UR-LINUX (1-888-875-4689) Phone.: +1-510-628-3380 Fax.: +1-510-628-3381 email: info@suse.com orders@suse.com isupport@suse.com webmaster@suse.com WWW: http://www.suse.com Europe: SuSE Linux Ltd. The Kinetic Centre Theobald Street Borehamwood, WD6 4PJ UK Phone.: +44-20-8387-4088 Fax: +44-20-8387-4010 http://www.suse.co.uk SuSE GmbH Schanzšackerstr. 10 D-90443 Nšurnberg Germany Tel.: +49-911-740 53 31 Fax.: +49-911-741 77 55 e-mail: suse@suse.de WWW: http://www.suse.de Bodo Bauer, Ršudiger Berlich, Daniel Bischof, Michael Burghart, Roland Dyroff, Christian Egle, Karl Eichwalder, Stefan Fent, Werner Fink, Klaus Franken, Fritz Ganter, Jšurgen Geck, Rolf Haberrecker, Marc Heuse, Carsten Hšoger, Dirk Hohndel, Richard Jelinek, Florian La Roche, Volker Lendecke, Hans Lermen, Hubert Mantel, Arndt Mehlhorn, Jay Migliaccio, Jordi Jaen Pallares, Christoph-Erdmann Pfeiler, Peter Reinhart, Marc Ršuhrschneck, Martin Scherbaum, Adrian Schršoter, Burchard Steinbild, Gabriele Strattner, Jšorg Strebel, Steve Tomlin, Klaus G. Wagner, Thorsten Wandersmann, Udo Weber, Michael Weyrauch, Stefan Wintermeyer, Christian Zoz Installation, Configuration and First Steps with SuSE Linux 6.4 17th revised edition 2000 SuSE GmbH Copyright This work is copyrighted by SuSE GmbH. You may copy it in whole or in part as long as the copies retain this copyright statement. Layout: LATEX2 English Translation and Editing: Steve Tomlin Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. XFree86 TM is a registered trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc. MS-DOS, Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark of X/Open Company Limited. Other trademarks and registered trademarks are: Clipper of Computer Associates, dBASE of Borland, Foxbase of Microsoft, Compuserve, T-Online of Deutsche Telekom, SuSE and YaST of SuSE GmbH . Other products mentioned in this manual may be trademarks of the respective manufacturer. Contents 1 Foreword 1 1.1 What Is Linux? . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Purpose of this Book ­ Notes on Usage . . . 2 1.3 Typographical Conventions ­ or What on Earth Does "earth: # ls" Mean? . . . . . . 4 1.4 The Struggle with the Number of Pages . . . 5 1.4.1 Support Database . . . . . . 5 1.4.2 Hypertext Help . . . . . . 5 1.4.3 Texinfo . . . . . . . . 5 1.4.4 Manual Pages . . . . . . . 5 1.4.5 FAQ's, HOWTO's and README's . . . 6 1.4.6 Free Books . . . . . . . 7 1.5 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . 7 I Installing SuSE Linux 11 2 Your first SuSE Linux installation 13 2.1 The Fast Track to Success . . . . . . 13 2.1.1 Getting Ready . . . . . . . 13 2.1.2 Now We Can Begin: the Welcome Screen . 14 2.1.3 YaST2 is Here! . . . . . . 15 2.1.4 Selecting a Language . . . . . 15 2.1.5 Selecting the Mouse . . . . . 16 2.1.6 Defining Your Location: Keyboard and Timezone 16 2.1.7 New Installation or Update? . . . . 17 2.1.8 Preparing the Hard Drive . . . . . 17 2.1.9 Selecting Software . . . . . . 18 2.1.10 LILO ­ Boot Manager for the System Start . 19 2.1.11 User Information . . . . . . 21 i Contents 2.1.12 Determining the `root' Password . . 21 2.1.13 Confirming Settings ­ Starting the Installation . 21 2.1.14 Preparing the Graphic Interface . . . 22 2.1.15 Configuring System Components . . . 23 2.1.16 Logging In for the First Time . . . . 23 2.1.17 Perspectives and Working on the System . . 23 2.2 Installation Using the Text-based YaST (YaST 1) . 24 2.2.1 The Starting Point . . . . . . 24 2.2.2 Now We're Starting: the Welcome Screen . 24 2.2.3 The Basics: linuxrc . . . . . . 25 2.2.4 Starting YaST . . . . . . . 29 2.2.5 Partitioning and Formatting the Hard Drive . 30 2.2.6 Installation of Software Packages . . . 31 2.2.7 Selection of the Base Software . . . 32 2.2.8 Installing System Software and Programs . 32 2.2.9 Selecting a Kernel for the System . . . 33 2.2.10 Base System Configuration with YaST . . 34 2.2.11 Logging in After Your First Installation . . 38 2.3 How Should SuSE Linux Be Started? . . . . 39 2.4 Installation Without a Supported CD-ROM Drive . 41 2.4.1 Installation from a DOS Partition . . . 41 2.4.2 Installation from a Source in the "Net" . . 43 2.5 Installation Using setup and loadlin . . . . 44 2.5.1 Putting Windows 95/98 into DOS mode . . 44 2.5.2 Invoking setup and First Steps with setup . . 45 2.5.3 How Do I Boot the Base-Linux from setup? . 45 2.5.4 Installing loadlin and Loading Base-Linux . 46 2.6 Partitions . . . . . . . . . 47 2.6.1 Creating Space for Linux (Partitioning) . . 47 2.6.2 Booting with CD 2 . . . . . . 50 2.6.3 Creating a Boot Disk In DOS . . . . 50 2.6.4 Creating a Boot Disk with UNIX . . . 51 2.6.5 Does Linux Support My CD-ROM? . . 52 2.7 Problem Description . . . . . . . 52 2.7.1 Files Cannot Be Moved . . . . . 52 2.7.2 No English Keymaps in DOS Mode . . . 53 2.7.3 No CD-ROM Driver in a Windows 95/98 DOS Win- dow . . . . . . . . 53 2.7.4 CD is Damaged . . . . . . 53 2.7.5 ATAPI CD-ROM Hangs While Reading . . 53 ii Contents 2.7.6 Problems with CD-ROM Drives on Parallel Port 54 2.7.7 Problems with "Proprietary" CD-ROM Drives . 55 2.7.8 Thinkpad "Sleeps" While Installing . . . 55 2.7.9 Loadlin Doesn't Have Enough Memory to Load the Kernel . . . . . . . . 55 2.7.10 Loadlin Doesn't Start . . . . . 56 2.7.11 DOS Runs in Protected Mode . . . . 56 2.7.12 Label of CD-ROM Drive Has Changed . . 56 2.7.13 General Hardware Problems . . . . 56 2.8 Partitioning for Novices . . . . . . 58 2.9 Partitioning for Experts . . . . . . 60 2.9.1 Size of Swap Partition . . . . . 61 2.9.2 Computer Used as Standalone Machine . . 61 2.9.3 Optimizations . . . . . . . 62 2.10 Configuring Your Hard Drive Manually . . . 64 2.10.1 Configuring Partitions . . . . . 64 2.10.2 Filesystems and Mount Points . . . . 66 3 YaST ­ Yet another Setup Tool 71 3.1 Basic Usage . . . . . . . . 71 3.2 The YaST Main Menu . . . . . . 71 3.3 Adjustments of Installation . . . . . . 72 3.3.1 Selecting the Language . . . . . 72 3.3.2 Selecting keyboard layout . . . . 73 3.3.3 Installation Medium . . . . . 73 3.3.4 Installation from CD-ROM . . . . 74 3.3.5 Installation from a Hard Drive Partition . . 74 3.3.6 Installation via NFS . . . . . 74 3.3.7 Installation from a Reachable Directory . . 76 3.3.8 Installation via FTP . . . . . . 76 3.3.9 Partitioning Your Hard Drive . . . . 77 3.3.10 Setting Target Partitions/Filesystems . . 79 3.3.11 Configuring the Logical Volume Manager . 82 3.3.12 Installation to a Directory . . . . 82 3.4 Determining the Size of the Installation . . . 83 3.4.1 Load Configuration . . . . . . 83 3.4.2 Save Configuration . . . . . . 84 3.4.3 Changing Your Configuration . . . . 84 3.4.4 What if... . . . . . . . 86 3.4.5 Start Installation . . . . . . 86 iii Contents 3.4.6 Checking Package Dependencies . . . 87 3.4.7 Index of all Series and Packages . . . 87 3.4.8 Searching for Packages . . . . . 87 3.4.9 Installing Packages . . . . . . 88 3.4.10 Deleting Packages . . . . . . 89 3.5 Updating the System . . . . . . . 89 3.6 System Administration . . . . . . 89 3.6.1 Integrating Hardware into the System . . 89 3.6.2 Kernel and Boot Configuration . . . 92 3.6.3 Network Configuration . . . . . 95 3.6.4 Configuring the Live Filesystem CD-ROM . 96 3.6.5 Settings for susewm . . . . . 97 3.6.6 Login Configuration . . . . . 98 3.6.7 User Administration . . . . . 99 3.6.8 Group Administration . . . . . 100 3.6.9 System Security Settings . . . . . 101 3.6.10 Configuring XFree86(TM) . . . . 101 3.6.11 Changing the YaST Configuration File . . 101 3.6.12 Creating Backups . . . . . . 102 4 Booting and Boot Managers 103 4.1 Booting a PC . . . . . . . . 103 4.2 Different Boot Concepts . . . . . . 104 4.3 An Overview of LILO . . . . . . 105 4.4 Configuring LILO . . . . . . . 108 4.4.1 Structure of lilo.conf . . . . 108 4.4.2 Other LILO Configuration Options . . . 111 4.5 Installing and Uninstalling LILO . . . . . 114 4.6 Creating a Linux Boot Disk . . . . . . 116 4.7 Sample Configurations . . . . . . 117 4.7.1 DOS/Windows 95/98 and Linux . . . 117 4.7.2 Windows NT and Linux on One Hard Disk . 118 4.7.3 OS/2 and Linux . . . . . . 119 4.7.4 DOS, OS/2 and Linux . . . . . 120 4.8 LILO Problems . . . . . . . . 121 4.8.1 Diagnosis of Errors: LILO Start Messages . 121 4.8.2 The 1024-Cylinder Limit . . . . 122 4.8.3 Special Boot Problems with Kernels from 2.0 On- wards . . . . . . . . 123 4.9 Starting via loadlin . . . . . . . 125 iv Contents 4.9.1 Necessary Steps for all loadlin Users . . 125 4.9.2 Setting up Boot Menus . . . . . 126 4.9.3 Starting Linux from Within Windows . . 127 4.9.4 The Windows Boot Menu . . . . 128 II Network configuration 131 5 Networking Linux 133 5.1 Configuration Using YaST . . . . . . 136 5.2 Manual Network Configuration-Where Do I Find What? 137 5.2.1 Configuration Files . . . . . . 137 5.2.2 Startup Scripts . . . . . . 142 5.3 Routing Under SuSE Linux . . . . . . 142 5.4 NIS, Yellow Pages on a LAN . . . . . 144 5.4.1 What is NIS? . . . . . . . 144 5.4.2 Installing an NIS Client . . . . . 144 5.4.3 NIS Master and Slave Server . . . . 145 5.5 NFS-Distributed Filesystems . . . . . 145 5.5.1 Importing Filesystems . . . . . 145 5.5.2 Exporting Filesystems . . . . . 146 6 Connecting to the World-and Then What? 149 6.1 PPP . . . . . . . . . . 149 6.1.1 Requirements for Using PPP . . . . 149 6.1.2 Further Information on PPP . . . . 150 6.2 ISDN Configuration . . . . . . . 150 6.2.1 Setting up ISDN - Step by Step . . . 151 6.2.2 Overview . . . . . . . 152 6.2.3 Configuring ISDN Hardware . . . . 153 6.2.4 Configuring ISDN Hardware with YaST . . 154 6.2.5 Setting up an ISDN Internet Connection . . 157 6.2.6 ISDN Messages . . . . . . 161 6.3 Cable Modems . . . . . . . . 161 6.3.1 The Basics . . . . . . . 161 6.4 T-DSL, T-ISDN-DSL, ADSL. . . . . . . . 162 6.5 Connecting a Modem . . . . . . . 162 6.6 Connecting to the Internet: PPP with wvdial . . 163 6.6.1 Configuration of wvdial . . . . . 163 6.6.2 Using Different Providers with wvdial . . 166 v Contents 6.6.3 ISDN Terminal Adapter . . . . . 166 6.6.4 Configuring PCI Modems . . . . 168 6.6.5 Manual PPP Configuration for Experts . . 169 6.7 Masquerading and Firewalls ­ Friends and "Friends" . 173 6.7.1 The Basics of Masquerading . . . . 174 6.7.2 The Basics of the Firewall . . . . 174 6.7.3 Configurating Masquerading and/or the Firewall 174 6.8 Let's Write-Configuration of e-mail . . . . 176 6.9 News: Brand-New Messages from USENET . . 179 6.9.1 The Leafnode News System . . . . 179 6.10 Faxing with Linux . . . . . . . 181 6.10.1 SuSEFax-a HylaFAX Fax Client . . . 181 6.10.2 Automatic Generation of the Fax Cover . . 189 6.10.3 Fax Spooling on UNIX/Linux . . . . 190 6.10.4 HylaFAX ­ Distributed Faxes . . . . 190 7 Let's Dance the Samba . . . 197 7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . 197 7.2 Installation of the Server . . . . . . 199 7.3 Installation of Clients . . . . . . . 202 7.4 Optimization . . . . . . . . 202 III The X Window System 205 8 The X Window System 207 8.1 Configuration Using SaX . . . . . . 208 8.1.1 Installing for the First Time . . . . 208 8.1.2 Re-configuring . . . . . . 215 8.1.3 Troubleshooting . . . . . . 216 8.1.4 Starting the X Window System . . . 216 8.1.5 Checklist for Installing Graphics Cards . . 216 8.2 Configuration Using xf86config . . . . . 218 8.3 Optimizing the X Window System . . . . 225 9 The Window Manager-Window to Your Machine 229 9.1 Some Theory . . . . . . . . 229 9.1.1 General . . . . . . . . 229 9.1.2 What Does a Window Manager Manage? . . 232 9.1.3 Starting Different Window Managers . . 233 9.2 KDE ­ the K Desktop Environment . . . . 234 vi Contents 9.2.1 Installation Overview . . . . . 235 9.2.2 kdm-a Graphical Login . . . . . 235 9.2.3 So What's So Special About KDE? . . . 237 9.3 The fvwm2 Window Manager . . . . . 239 9.4 Fvwm2 Settings . . . . . . . . 241 9.4.1 Autoraise . . . . . . . 245 9.5 Configuring the Window Manager Using susewm . 246 9.5.1 Adding Entries to the Menu . . . . 247 9.6 Customizing Your Configuration . . . . . 250 IV Linux and Hardware 253 10 Linux and Hardware 255 10.1 Preliminary Notes . . . . . . . 255 10.2 Cards . . . . . . . . . . 255 10.2.1 ISA and PCI Cards . . . . . . 255 10.3 Sound Cards . . . . . . . . 259 10.3.1 OSS / OSSdemo . . . . . . 259 10.3.2 How Are Sound Cards Configured in Linux? . 259 10.4 Ports on a Computer . . . . . . . 266 10.4.1 PS/2 Ports . . . . . . . 267 10.4.2 Serial Ports . . . . . . . 267 10.4.3 Parallel Ports . . . . . . . 267 10.4.4 USB ­ Universal Serial Bus . . . . 269 10.5 Removable Drives . . . . . . . 269 10.5.1 Floppy Disk Drives . . . . . . 269 10.5.2 LS-120 Drives . . . . . . 269 10.5.3 ZIP Drives . . . . . . . 269 10.6 Modems . . . . . . . . . 270 10.6.1 External Modems . . . . . . 270 10.6.2 Internal Modems . . . . . . 271 10.7 Scanners . . . . . . . . . 272 10.8 Tape Drives . . . . . . . . 273 10.9 TV Cards . . . . . . . . . 274 11 Notebooks ­ PCMCIA, APM, IrDA 279 11.1 PCMCIA . . . . . . . . . 279 11.1.1 Hardware . . . . . . . 279 11.1.2 Software . . . . . . . . 280 vii Contents 11.1.3 Configuration . . . . . . . 280 11.1.4 Configurations for Changing ­ "Schemes" . 282 11.1.5 If Things Still Don't Work . . . . 284 11.1.6 Installation via PCMCIA . . . . . 286 11.1.7 Other Help Programs . . . . . 287 11.2 APM ­ Power Management . . . . . . 287 11.2.1 Fundamentals . . . . . . . 288 11.2.2 The Correct Kernel . . . . . . 288 11.2.3 The APM-Daemon . . . . . . 289 11.2.4 More Commands . . . . . . 289 11.2.5 Pause for the Hard Drive . . . . . 289 11.3 IrDA ­ Infra-red Data Association . . . . 290 12 Printers 293 12.1 Overview: Interfaces, Queues and Spooling . . . 293 12.2 Printer Queues: Running and Configuring . . . 294 12.3 Printer Filters ­ the "apsfilter" . . . . . 298 12.4 Network Printers with apsfilter . . . . . 304 12.5 Some Words on Ghostscript . . . . . 305 12.6 List of Supported Printers . . . . . . 307 12.7 Printer Checklist: apsfilter . . . . . . 312 V The Kernel and Its Parameters 315 13 The Kernel 317 13.1 Kernel Sources . . . . . . . . 317 13.2 Kernel Modules . . . . . . . . 318 13.3 Kernel Configuration . . . . . . . 320 13.4 Settings in the Kernel Configuration . . . . 321 13.5 Compiling the Kernel . . . . . . . 321 13.6 Installing the Kernel . . . . . . . 322 13.7 Creating a Boot Disk . . . . . . . 323 13.8 Cleaning Your Hard Drive After Compilation . . 323 14 Kernel Parameters 325 14.1 Drivers in the Kernel . . . . . . . 325 14.2 Some Tips . . . . . . . . . 326 14.3 The Parameters . . . . . . . . 326 14.3.1 Notations and Meanings . . . . . 326 14.3.2 Kernel Parameters at the Boot Prompt . . 327 14.3.3 CD-ROM Drives on Proprietary Controllers . 337 14.3.4 modprobe Parameters . . . . . 339 viii Contents VI SuSE Linux: Updating and Special Features 357 15 Updating the System and Package Management 359 15.1 Updating SuSE Linux . . . . . . . 359 15.1.1 Preparations . . . . . . . 359 15.1.2 Updating with YaST2 . . . . . 360 15.1.3 Updating with YaST1 . . . . . 360 15.1.4 Updating Single Packages . . . . 362 15.2 From Version to Version . . . . . . 362 15.2.1 From 4.x to 5.0 . . . . . . 362 15.2.2 From 5.0 to 5.1 . . . . . . 363 15.2.3 From 5.1 to 5.2 . . . . . . 363 15.2.4 From 5.2 to 5.3 . . . . . . 364 15.2.5 From 5.3 to 6.0 . . . . . . 365 15.2.6 From 6.0 to 6.1 . . . . . . 365 15.2.7 From 6.1 to 6.2 . . . . . . 366 15.2.8 From 6.2 to 6.3 . . . . . . 366 15.2.9 From 6.3 to 6.4 . . . . . . 368 15.3 RPM-the Package Manager . . . . . 370 15.3.1 Managing Packages: Install, Update and Uninstall 370 15.3.2 RPM Queries . . . . . . . 371 15.3.3 Installing and Compiling Source Packages . 373 15.3.4 Other Tools for Working with RPM Archives . 375 16 Special Features of SuSE Linux 377 16.1 Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) and Linux Standard Base (LSB) . . . . . . . . . 377 16.1.1 Example Environments for FTP and HTTP . 377 16.1.2 teTeX ­ TEX in SuSE Linux . . . . 377 16.2 Booting with the "initial ramdisk" . . . . 377 16.2.1 Concept of the Initial Ramdisk . . . 378 16.2.2 The Order of the Booting Process with initrd . 378 16.2.3 Boot Loaders . . . . . . . 379 16.2.4 Using initrd in SuSE . . . . . 380 16.2.5 Possible Difficulties ­ Self-Compiled Kernels . 381 16.2.6 Prospects . . . . . . . 381 16.3 linuxrc . . . . . . . . . 382 16.4 The SuSE Linux Help System . . . . . 386 16.4.1 Standalone and Server Configuration . . 387 16.4.2 Client Configuration . . . . . 388 ix Contents 16.4.3 Using the Help System . . . . . 389 16.5 The SuSE Rescue System . . . . . . 389 16.6 Hints on Special Software Packages . . . . 392 16.6.1 package cron . . . . . . 392 16.6.2 package curses . . . . . . 393 16.6.3 Manpages . . . . . . . 393 16.7 Keyboard Layout . . . . . . . 393 17 The SuSE Linux Boot Concept 395 17.1 The init Program . . . . . . . 395 17.2 Runlevels . . . . . . . . . 396 17.3 Changing Runlevels . . . . . . . 397 17.4 Init Scripts . . . . . . . . . 397 17.5 /etc/rc.config and /sbin/SuSEconfig . . . 399 17.6 The Variables in /etc/rc.config ­ System Configura- tion . . . . . . . . . . 400 VII Security and Getting Started 411 18 Security is a Matter of Trust 413 18.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . 413 18.1.1 Local Security . . . . . . 414 18.1.2 Network Security . . . . . . 417 18.2 Tools . . . . . . . . . . 418 18.2.1 Local Tools . . . . . . . 418 18.2.2 Networking Tools . . . . . . 421 18.3 Security in SuSE Linux . . . . . . 425 18.4 General Rules . . . . . . . . 426 19 First Steps with Linux 427 19.1 Logging in, the User "root", Adding Users . . . 427 19.2 Shutting Down and Booting the System . . . 428 19.3 Commands ­ Entries on the Command Line . . 429 19.4 Virtual Consoles . . . . . . . . 430 19.5 Directories and Filenames . . . . . . 431 19.6 Working with Directories . . . . . . 431 19.7 Working with Files . . . . . . . 432 19.7.1 Information on Files . . . . . 432 19.7.2 Wildcards . . . . . . . 433 19.7.3 Contents of Files . . . . . . 434 x Contents 19.7.4 Hidden Files . . . . . . . 434 19.7.5 Copying, Renaming and Deleting Files . . 435 19.7.6 Searching for Files and for Strings Within Files 435 19.7.7 Symbolic Links . . . . . . 436 19.7.8 Archiving and Saving Data . . . . 436 19.8 Permissions . . . . . . . . 437 19.9 Man Pages . . . . . . . . . 438 19.10System Information . . . . . . . 440 19.10.1 The df Command . . . . . . 440 19.10.2 The free Command . . . . . 440 19.10.3 The Command ulimit . . . . . 440 19.10.4 The w Command . . . . . . 441 19.10.5 The du Command . . . . . . 441 19.10.6 The kill Command . . . . . 441 19.10.7 The ps Command . . . . . . 442 19.10.8 The pstree Command . . . . . 442 19.10.9 The top Command . . . . . 442 19.11 Filesystem Types in Linux ­ mount and umount . 442 19.11.1 Overview . . . . . . . 442 19.11.2 Mounting and Unmounting Filesystems . . 444 19.12DOS Commands in Unix with mtools . . . . 445 19.13Summary of Commands in Unix . . . . . 446 19.14What Next? . . . . . . . . 448 19.15The vi editor . . . . . . . . 449 A Important keys 451 B Glossary 453 C The Directory Tree 467 C.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . 467 C.2 Important Directories . . . . . . . 468 D Important Files 469 D.1 Device Files in the /dev Directory . . . . 469 D.1.1 CD-ROM Drives . . . . . . 469 D.1.2 Tape Drives . . . . . . . 470 D.1.3 Mice (bus and PS/2) . . . . . 470 D.1.4 Modems . . . . . . . . 471 D.1.5 Serial Interfaces . . . . . . 471 D.1.6 Parallel Ports . . . . . . . 471 xi Contents D.1.7 Special Devices . . . . . . 471 D.2 Configuration Files in /etc . . . . . 472 D.3 Hidden Configuration Files in home . . . . 472 E Manual Page of e2fsck 475 F SuSE Linux-FAQ 477 G The GNU General Public License 485 H Support and Services of SuSE GmbH 493 H.1 60-Day Installation Support . . . . . . 493 H.1.1 No Installation Support Unless You Register! . 493 H.1.2 Extent of Our Installation Support . . . 493 H.2 The Fastest Way to Get Help! . . . . . 494 H.2.1 How Can I Reach the SuSE-Support Team? . 496 H.3 SuSE Professional Services . . . . . . 497 H.3.1 Individual Projects and Consulting . . . 498 H.4 Training . . . . . . . . . 498 H.5 Feedback . . . . . . . . . 499 H.6 Further Services . . . . . . . . 499 xii Chapter 1 Foreword The Linux story reads like a modern-day fairy-tale: in 1991 the Finnish computer science student, LINUS TORVALDS begins programming his own version of Unix. In the rapidly spreading Internet he published not only the binaries, that is, the runnable programs in machine language, but also the source code belonging to them. And indeed, hundreds of programmers from all around the world took up his invitation to work on the development of Linux ­ without payment and in their spare time. It is not driven by commmercial interest, but by the pleasure of solving problems alone and in a team, and of adding new functions to try and perfect the operating system. The only condition: the work - including the modified source code - must be made available to the general public. The legal basis for this is provided by the GNU General Public License (GPL) found in appendix G. Those who choose Linux have good reasons for doing so: stability, security and performance are usually mentioned first; but its extensive networking capabilities, with whose help Linux is conquering the Internet and the entire server market, make a close second. Linux insiders highly value the free source code and the independence and flexibility which this implies. Because of the free sources, you are no longer helpless, or at the mercy of a software manufacturer, but free to carry out individual customizations and extensions yourself. It should not be forgotten, of course, that Linux has no licensing costs, irrespective of whether the operating system is used at home, for private use, or for any number of staff in the company. Apart from these arguments, however, a huge demand and great interest on the part of Linux users has encouraged many hardware and software manu- facturers to actively support Linux. Siemens, IBM and Compaq ­ to name just a few "big" names, have at last discovered Linux. In addition to countless free applications, commercial software is becoming increasingly available for Linux: both database companies, such as Oracle, Informix, Software AG and Sybase, as well as providers of office solutions, such as Applix, Corel or Stardivision also offering their products for Linux. Linux is good, is getting even better and costs nothing! If you take into consideration the Linux community, with more than 10 million users, and growing rapidly, as well as their enthusiasm, you will realise: Linux possesses the best qualifications and prospects to become an industry standard. But that is not all: with KDE and GNOME, there are not one, but two, free and comfortable graphical desktops available which themselves make the call 1 1. Foreword for "Linux on the desktop" ever louder. 1.1 What Is Linux? The actual "Linux" is the kernel, the "heart" of every UNIX operating system. But the kernel alone does not constitute an entire operating system. Especially in UNIX there is a huge amount of free software available; this means that practically any standard tools in Unix are also available in Linux. It is these programs which make the operating system what it is. Many of these tools are GNU versions ( GNU) of these Unix programs: many of these offer enhanced features over the originals. Of these, the GNU C/C++ compiler, one of the best compilers available, is probably the most famous program. And we should not forget the many tools, small and large, which can be used on the command line, in shell scripts or as fully fledged programs; from the shell, file and text utilities such as sed, awk and perl to editors like vi or complete work-environments like Emacs. What makes Linux complete is XFree86 TM (current version, 3.3.6), the X Window System (currently X11 Release 6.3) for PC-based UNIX systems. This port is part of the official X11 R6.3 distribution of the X Consortium, Inc., and therefore fully compatible with that standard. All these components, together with many other tools, applications and amusements (e. g., games), make up the system known as Linux. There is a large amount of free software available, and there are many ways to put a Linux system together. At this point the Linux distributions come into play, in this case, SuSE Linux. A distribution is a selection from a wide palette of Free software. The end product is, in the case of the SuSE Linux CDs, over 1000 software packages. SuSE Linux includes, in addition to free software ­ software in which the source-code is included on the CD-ROMs ­ software packages that, for different reasons, SuSE can only offer in compiled form. Due to the fact that distributions are offered free on the Internet, updating your system does not necessarily mean buying a new distribution. 1.2 Purpose of this Book ­ Notes on Usage We have conceived this book as an aid to installation. It should not, and cannot, be a replacement for more detailed literature, which should allow an interested user to dig deeper into the fascinating world of high-performance computing ­ for this, refer to the bibliography at the end of the book. For a first-time installation it should be sufficient, initially, to read the practi- cally oriented chapter 2. Under no circumstances, however, should you jump into the adventure as a Linux novice without reading anything at all. The more you read, the more your efficiency will increase, and the more you will avoid frustration ­ so at least browse through chapter 19 before you start . . . The dynamics of Linux and of free software is a big challenge as far as writing a handbook is concerned. It must keep up with the most recent developments, 2 1.2. Purpose of this Book ­ Notes on Usage and, at the same time,remain suited for those new to the Unix world ­ without boring experienced Linux users. The book in front of you attempts to do justice to all these requirements. The aim of this book is to allow Linux beginners an encouraging start on a voyage of discovery through the new system. The book is basically divided into the following sections: Installation This section guides the Linux novice with a documented exam- ple installation (Chapter 2 page 13). It points out possible sources of error and provides concrete help with problems. YaST , the SuSE installation and administration tool, is covered in Chapter 3 page 71, and Chapter 4 page 103 explains how to boot the kernel. Network Configuration As soon as the base system is up and running we move on to the configuration of your network (connection to the Internet). Graphical User Interface Activating and setting up the XFree86 TM is the subject of Chapter 8 page 207 to Chapter 9 page 229. Sound, Scanner, Notebooks, Printing etc. In Chapters 10 page 255 to 12 page 293 the capabilities of your hardware are explained. The Linux Kernel Here we get down to the heart of the matter. The Linux kernel is introduced in Chapter 13 page 317 and Chapter 14 page 325, providing you with a guide on how to compile and install your own kernel. Update, Software Packages, Booting Several update strategies as well as software management are introduced (Chapter 15 page 359), special fea- tures of SuSE Linux are covered and the boot concept is explained (Chap- ter 17 page 395). Security and Getting Started Security concepts (Chapter 18 page 413) and first steps are combined in this section, giving you a first exposure to commands and more in Linux. Technical Appendix In the appendix you can find a list of the most impor- tant configuration files, the most frequently used key combinations, ex- ample files, a licensing agreement, the most frequently asked questions about SuSE Linux (FAQ, Appendix F page 477) and much more. Support The tasks of installation support and the opportunities for more extensive "Professional Services" are described in Appendix H page 493 ­ please read through the details of these before getting in touch with us! Glossary, Bibliography and Index If there is something you still haven't found yet, you should consult the extensive appendix and glossary (Ap- pendix B page 453), either to find the place which explains important con- cepts, or simply to increase your general knowledge about Linux, Unix or computers, with the help of the glossary. 3 1. Foreword 1.3 Typographical Conventions ­ or What on Earth Does "earth: # ls" Mean? The typographical conventions used in this guide are explained in Table 1.1. Text layout Meaning LINUS TORVALDS important persons GNU Emacs (emacs) the program GNU Emacs, is invoked with the command emacs Adabas D the product Adabas D /etc/passwd file or directory name when entering a command, file should be replaced by the actual value; you should not enter the an- gled brackets! the variable with the name file PATH the environment variable with the name PATH 192.168.1.2 value of a variable ls the command ls `news' the user `news' earth: # susehelp `root'-shell in the directory (` ' stands for the "home direc- tory" of the respective user, Home directory), you should enter the com- mand susehelp ­ here earth is an example of the name of a com- puter (hostname). newbie@earth:/tmp > ls in the shell of the user `newbie' in directory /tmp, type the command ls C:\> fdisk at the DOS prompt, type the com- mand fdisk Alt key to press, here the key "Alt" Ctrl + Alt + Del when `+' is "added" all keys are to be pressed at the same time; keys to be pressed sequentially are separated by a space only "Permission denied" system messages `System update' menu entry `System update' Duesentrieb company "Duesentrieb" reference to the glossary in the ap- pendix Table 1.1: Typographical conventions used in the text layout 4 1.4. The Struggle with the Number of Pages 1.4 The Struggle with the Number of Pages There is a limit to the number of pages this book can contain; the amount of software available for Linux, however, is slowly growing to infinity. For this reason, a pointer to the documentation available online is appropriate at this point. However, as well as including a large amount of necessary technical information about the system, we have tried to ensure that the "first steps" of becoming a user of Linux (logging in, copying, editing and deleting files, using CD-ROMs and floppy disks etc.) are clearly described (see Chapter 19 page 427 pp.). 1.4.1 Support Database Many solutions to well-known problems are already available. These are presented in our Support Database at http://www.suse.de/sdb/en/html/ We recommend that you look there first! Besides the online Support Database, the complete Support Database can also be found in package sdb en, series doc on your SuSE Linux CD. Those articles can be read using any WWW browser (e. g., arena, lynx, or netscape). 1.4.2 Hypertext Help A major part of the documentation is available in hypertext form. To start the hypertext system, run susehelp. Depending on whether X Windows is running, an additional program (a browser) to read the documentation will be started. In the X Window System this is Netscape (Figure 1.1 on the next page), and in the text console, lynx (Figure 16.7 page 387). Additional options to the help system can be displayed by invoking newbie@earth:/home/newbie > susehelp --help You can find the help system in package susehilf, series doc1 (Docu- mentation). 1.4.3 Texinfo Some program packages include documentation in Texinfo format, which is another hypertext variant. These files can be read with Infoviewer (info) or by using the Emacs (emacs) info mode. In X Windows, you can use tkInfo (tkinfo) or the older xinfo. 1.4.4 Manual Pages The usual way to get information about programs or commands is to invoke the command man. newbie@earth:/home/newbie > man displays the manual page1 for the entered command, which usually lists all command options and explains the command's usage. The manual pages Manual Pages ­ often abbreviated to "manpages" ­ can be read via the SuSE help system; see section 1.4.2. 1 hereafter referred to as "manpage" 5 1. Foreword Figure 1.1: Homepage of the help system (Netscape) 1.4.5 FAQ's, HOWTO's and README's The directory /usr/doc contains subdirectories with information about the corresponding packages. There you will often find the missing command option, the name of the configuration file you could not find anywhere else, or the name of the developer's dog. In any case, it is worth looking there before deleting the software. The FAQ on SuSE Linux deserves special mention ­ it can be found in Appendix F page 477 pp. The directory /usr/doc/faq should be pointed out, in which lists of 6 1.5. Acknowledgments frequently asked questions and appropriate answers on a wide variety of problems if the package manyfaqs, series doc is installed. The direc- tory /usr/doc/howto contains "recipes" explaining how to install certain packages or what to do when you encounter problems. In the directory docu on the first CD the latest (at the time of of the CD going to press) versions of the HOWTO files can be found. It might be of interest to look there. In Linux the program less is used to read files. Although the file is compressed (.gz), less is smart enough to handle this. newbie@earth:/home/newbie > cd /usr/doc/howto newbie@earth:/usr/doc/howto > less DOS-to-Linux- HOWTO.gz In the directory docu/howto on the first CD there can be found the most current versions, at the time of the CD going to press, of the most important Howto files. It is certainly worth taking a look in this directory! These files are uncompressed; they can therefore be read comfortably, even before installation (in DOS, for example, with type). Kernel-specific questions and answers can be obtained from /usr/src/linux/Documentation. This is only available if you have installed the kernel source (package linux or package lx suse), which is highly recommended anyway. Furthermore, there are many useful hints in the kernel source subdirectories (such as for sound drivers). And for the brave, even the kernel sources themselves. If you have a question which is not answered in this book, please look at the sources for more information, since the scope of this book is limited. Because the development of Linux continues at such a fast pace, this printed document can only be up-to-date for a very limited time. 1.4.6 Free Books The package books, series doc1 (Documentation) contains some books in PostScript format. You can view these books with the package gsview, series gra1 (Graphics) or package gv, series gra1 (Graphics) ­ if you don't care about trees you can print them as well. Before printing, you should ask yourself whether it might be more economical to buy the book. 1.5 Acknowledgments Besides everyone who has contributed to the large success of Linux, we would like to especially thank FLORIAN LA ROCHE, whose contribution has been invaluable to us. His experience and knowledge helped us to first build a Linux system. Thanks to his long experience with his jurix distribution, he was able to participate in the creation of SuSE Linux. Without his help this distribution certainly would not have been possible in its present form. Also, many thanks to HARALD KOENIG of the XFree86 team, who gave us valuable tips and advice concerning the X Window System, and to EBER- HARD MOENKEBERG, who was very helpful with CD-ROM driver problems. Many thanks go to Hans Lermen, author of the well-known loadlin.exe, which allows Linux to be started from DOS, and the DOS setup.exe of this Linux system. 7 1. Foreword Thanks also to all those who sacrificed their spare time for making Linux available to a vast number of international users by helping translating YaST and linuxrc texts: Gunay Arslan, Zbigniew Baniewski, SŽandor BŽarŽany, Olaf Borkner-Delcarlo, Michael Bravo, Michael Burghart, Franca Delcarlo, Jochen Depner, Benedek Hermann, IbŽan JosŽe GarcŽia Castillo, Dora Geor- garou (with Romy the barking dog), Pablo Iranzo GŽomez, Krzysztof Hotiuk, Milan Hromada, Arthur Kerkmeester, Ralf A. Lanz, Francžoise Lermen, ZoltŽan LevŽardy, Nuno Lima, Tomas Morkus, Carmen MarŽin PŽerez, Matts Nordman, Aleksey Novodvorsky, Razvan Cristian Oprea, Gerco Oudhof, George Papamichelakis, Alexey Pavlov, ŽAkos RŽatkai, Voula Sanida, Aleksey Smirnov, Steve Varadi, P. Vlachodimitropoulos, Joao Teles, Nuno Vieira, January Weiner and I Made Wiryana. And many thanks, of course, to the dauntless beta testers who risked their running systems: Andreas Koegel, Christian Hšuttermann, Dirk Ulbrich, Eber- hard Mšonkeberg, Frank Hofmann, Georg C. F. Greve, Harald Kšonig, Har- ald Wieland, Karlo Gross, Jens Frank, Lutz Pressler, Martin Hehl, Mar- tin Konold, Martin Schulze, Michael Kleinhenz, Norbert Eicker, Oliver Zen- del, Ralf Geschke, Stefan Bliesener, Thomas Wšorner, Ulrich Goebel, Ul- rich Windl, Volker Lendecke, Wolfgang Barth, and the KDE Team. A big thanks to those who helped proofread the English: Chris Mahmoud, James Samuel, Edith Parzefall, and especially Roger Whittaker, and to Ken Wimer for additional translations. Good tips ­ and text material ­ have been given by the following: Hol- ger Achtziger, Harald Bertram, Thomas Biege, Peter Findeisen, Matthias Fršuhauf, Kurt Garloff, LenZ Grimmer, Carsten Groß, Berthold Gunreben, Bernhard Hšolcker, Kevin Ivory, Klaus Kšampf, Karsten Keil, Wolfgang Kern, Thorsten Kukuk, Johannes Meixner, Petr Pavlik, Bjšorn Pfeiffer, Jšurgen Schei- derer, and Robert Adrian Walczak. The first line of technical production support is Holger Dyroff, Christian Egle, Frank Sundermeyer and Claudio Taulli. Thanks and keep up the good work! And the many important people without who, this would never have been possible: Adrian, Agathe, Alexander, Alexander, Alexander, Alexandra, Ali, Anas, Andrea, Andreas, Andreas, Andreas, Andreas, Anita, Anita, Antje, Arnd, Barbara, Beate, Bernd, Bernd, Bernhard, Bernhard, Berthold, Bet- tina, Birgit, Brigitte, Burchard, Carlos, Carsten, Carsten, Carsten, Carsten, Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian, Christoph-Erdmann, Claudia, Claudio, Costin, Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, David, Dieter, Dieter, Dirk, Dirk, Dirk, Dragan, Edith, Edith, Erich, Erich, Evelyn, Florian, Francisca, Francoise, Francoise, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Friedrich, Gabriele, Gema, Georg, Gerlinde, Ghayss, Gregor, Harald, Harald, Hardo, Hartmut, Heidi, Heiko, Helene, Helmut, Hendrik, Holger, Holger, Hubert, Hubert, Ines, Ingo, Ingo, Jan, Jan-Hendrik, Jens, Jens, Jesko, Joachim, Jochen, Johannes, Jordi, Jšorg, Jšorg, Jšorg, Jšorg, Jšorg, Jšorg, Jšorg, Jšorg-Gerald, Jšorg-Olaf, Jšurgen, Jšurgen, Jšurgen, Kadriye, Kai, Karin, Karin, Karin, Karine, Karl, Karl-Heinz, Katrin, Kenneth, Klaas, Klaus, Klaus, Klaus, Konrad, Kurt, Kyung Ae, Lars, Lenz, Manfred, Manuela, Marc, Marco, Marco, Marco, Marcus, Marcus, Mario, Marius, Mark, Mark, Markus, Martin, Martin, Martin, Martin, Martina, Martina, 8 1.5. Acknowledgments Martina, Matthias, Matthias, Matthias, Matthias, Matthias, Meike, Melanie, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michael, Michaela, Michaela, Milisav, Miriam, Nadin, Nessim, Nicolas, Nicolaus, Nicole, Nina, Norbert, Olaf, Oliver, Oliver, Oliver, Patricia, Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, Petra, Philipp, Pia, Ralf, Reinhard, Reinhard, Remo, Renate, Roland, Rolf, Ršudiger, Ršudiger, Ršudiger, Sabina, Sabine, Sabine, Sebastian, Silke, Silvia, Simon, Stefan, Stefan, Stefan, Stefan, Stefan, Stefan, Stefan, Stefan, Stefanie, Steffen, Stephan, Stephan, Stephan, Stephen, Sven, Sylvia, Tanja, Tatjana, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, Thorsten, Thorsten, Tilman, Timo, Ulrich, Ulrich, Uwe, Uwe, Uwe, Uwe, Volker, Waldo, Walter, Waltraud, Werner, Werner, Wittawat, Wolfgang, Wolfgang, Wolfgang und Wolfgang ­ an all a big, big THANK YOU! Further thanks go to STEFAN ENDRASS, who computed the cover picture of the CD. For the mathematically interested, here a few words of explanation: The Barth Decic Consider the equation 8 x2 - 4y2 y2 - 4z2 z2 - 4x2 x4 + y4 + z4 - 2 x2y2 + y2z2 + z2x2 +(3 + 5 ) x2 + y2 + z2 - 1 2 x2 + y2 + z2 - (2 - ) 2 = 0, where = (1+ 5)/2 denotes the golden ratio. It defines a degree 10 surface (decic) found by W. Barth (Erlangen) in 1994. This surface is remarkable be- cause it has 345 double points, which is a world record. Due to a complicated theorem of the japanese mathematician Y. Miyaoka any degree 10 surface can have at most 360 double points. But nobody has ever seen more than 345. The above equation is made up from so called icosahedral invariants, which were already known to E. Goursat (1858-1936) two centuries ago. Therefore the Barth-decic admits the symmetries of the icosahedron. * * * * The global team of Linux developers is still working intensively on Linux ­ most of them on a voluntary basis. We want to thank them for their efforts ­ this CD distribution would not exist without them. Our work aims at making their work accessible to a large number of interested users. Last but not least, special thanks to PATRICK VOLKERDING for supporting our work and, of course, many thanks to LINUS TORVALDS! And last, but not least: Frank Zappa and Pawar! Nuremberg, 11th March 2000 Have a lot of fun! Your SuSE Team 9 1. Foreword 10