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- Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce,comp.os.linux.help,comp.os.linux.admin,news.answers,comp.answers
- Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!jussieu.fr!univ-lyon1.fr!ghost.dsi.unimi.it!batcomputer!cornell!mdw
- From: mdw@sunsite.unc.edu (Matt Welsh)
- Subject: Linux Installation HOWTO
- Message-ID: <1994Mar17.233334.4167@cs.cornell.edu>
- Followup-To: poster
- Summary: How to obtain and install Linux, the free UNIX implementation for
- Intel 80386/80486 based machines.
- Keywords: Linux, HOWTO, FAQ, installation
- Sender: mdw@cs.cornell.edu (Matt Welsh)
- Organization: Linux. It's not just for breakfast anymore.
- Date: Thu, 17 Mar 1994 23:33:34 GMT
- Approved: linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu (Matt Welsh)
- Lines: 1135
- Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu comp.os.linux.announce:1979 comp.os.linux.help:26451 comp.os.linux.admin:5672 news.answers:16495 comp.answers:4203
-
- Archive-name: linux/howto/installation
- Last-modified: 5 March 1994
-
- This is a new version of the Linux Installation HOWTO, which covers just the
- Slackware distribution of Linux. It is a pre-release, and therefore has
- some rough edges. Please let me know if there are any mistakes!
-
- You can find a nicely-formatted PostScript and .dvi version of this HOWTO
- (as well as others) on sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats.
-
- The Linux Installation HOWTO
- by Matt Welsh, mdw@sunsite.unc.edu
- v2.0, 5 March 1994
-
- This document describes how to obtain and install the Linux software,
- focusing on the popular Slackware distribution. It is the first docu-
- ment which a new Linux user should read to get started.
-
- 1. Introduction
-
- Linux is a freely-distributable implementation of UNIX for 80386 and
- 80486 machines. It supports a wide range of software, including X
- Windows, Emacs, TCP/IP networking (including SLIP), the works. This
- document assumes that you have heard of and know about Linux, and just
- want to sit down and install it.
-
-
-
- 1.1. Other sources of information
-
- If you have never heard of Linux before, there are several sources of
- basic information about the system. One is the Linux FAQ, available
- from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs. This directory contains many
- other documents about Linux, including the Linux INFO-SHEET and META-
- FAQ, both of which are good introductory documents about Linux. Also
- take a look at the USENET newsgroups comp.os.linux.help and
- comp.os.linux.announce.
-
- Another source of online Linux documentation is the Linux HOWTO
- archive, on sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. The file HOWTO-
- INDEX in that directory explains what Linux HOWTOs are available.
-
- The Linux Documentation Project is writing a set of manuals and books
- about Linux, all of which are freely distributable on the net. The
- directory /pub/Linux/docs/LDP on sunsite.unc.edu contains the current
- set of LDP manuals.
-
- The book ``Linux Installation and Getting Started'' is a complete
- guide to getting and installing Linux, as well as how to use the
- system once you've installed it. It contains a complete tutorial to
- using and running the system, and much more information than is
- contained here. This HOWTO is simply a condensation of some of the
- most important information in that book. You can get ``Linux
- Installation and Getting Started'' from sunsite.unc.edu in
- /pub/Linux/docs/LDP/install-guide. The README file there describes
- how you can order a printed copy of the book (about 180 pages).
-
-
-
- 1.2. New versions of this document
-
- New versions of the Linux Installation HOWTO will be periodically
- posted to comp.os.linux.announce, comp.os.linux, and news.answers.
- They will also be uploaded to various Linux FTP sites, including
- sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.
-
-
-
- 1.3. Feedback
-
- If you have questions or comments about this document, please feel
- free to mail Matt Welsh, at mdw@sunsite.unc.edu. I welcome any
- suggestions, criticism, or postcards. If you find a mistake with this
- document, please let me know so I can correct it in the next version.
- Thanks.
-
- 2. Hardware Requirements
-
- What kind of system is needed to run Linux? This is a good question;
- the actual hardware requirements for the system change periodically.
- The Linux Hardware-HOWTO gives a (more or less) complete listing of
- hardware supported by Linux. The Linux INFO-SHEET provides another
- list.
-
- At the very least, a hardware configuration that looks like the
- following is required:
-
- Any ISA, EISA or VESA Local Bus 80386 or 80486 system will do.
- Currently, the MicroChannel (MCA) architecture (found on IBM PS/2
- machines) is not supported. Any CPU from the 386SX to the 486DX2 will
- work. You do not need a math coprocessor, although it is nice to have
- one.
-
- You need at least 4 megabytes of memory in your machine. Technically,
- Linux will run with only 2 megs, but most installations and software
- require 4. The more memory you have, the happier you'll be. I suggest
- 8 or 16 megabytes if you're planning to use X-Windows.
-
- Of course, you'll need a hard drive and an AT-standard drive
- controller. All MFM, RLL, and IDE drives and controllers should work.
- Many SCSI drives and adaptors are supported as well; the Linux SCSI-
- HOWTO contains more information on SCSI.
-
- Linux can actually run on a single 5.25" HD floppy, but that's only
- useful for installation and maintenance.
-
- Free space on your hard drive is needed as well. The amount of space
- needed depends on how much software you plan to install. Most
- installations require somewhere in the ballpark of 40 to 80 megs.
- This includes space for the software, swap space (used as virtual RAM
- on your machine), and free space for users, and so on.
-
- It's conceivable that you could run a minimal Linux system in 10 megs
- or less, and it's conceivable that you could use well over 100 megs or
- more for all of your Linux software. The amount varies greatly
- depending on the amount of software you install and how much space you
- require. More about this later.
-
- Linux will co-exist with other operating systems, such as MS-DOS,
- Microsoft Windows, or OS/2, on your hard drive. (In fact you can even
- access MS-DOS files and run some MS-DOS programs from Linux.) In
- other words, when partitioning your drive for Linux, MS-DOS or OS/2
- live on their own partitions, and Linux exists on its own. We'll go
- into more detail later.
-
- You do NOT need to be running MS-DOS, OS/2, or any other operating
- system to use Linux. Linux is a completely different, stand-alone
- operating system and does not rely on other OS's for installation and
- use.
-
- You also need a Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA, or Super VGA video card and
- monitor. In general, if your video card and monitor work under MS-DOS
- then it should work under Linux. However, if you wish to run X
- Windows, there are other restrictions on the supported video hardware.
- The Linux XFree86-HOWTO contains more information about running X and
- its requirements.
-
- In all, the minimal setup for Linux is not much more than is required
- for most MS-DOS or MS Windows systems sold today. If you have a 386 or
- 486 with at least 4 megs of RAM, then you'll be happy running Linux.
- Linux does not require huge amounts of diskspace, memory, or processor
- speed. I (used to) run Linux on a 386/16 MHz (the slowest machine you
- can get) with 4 megs of RAM, and was quite happy. The more you want to
- do, the more memory (and faster processor) you'll need. In my
- experience a 486 with 16 megabytes of RAM running Linux outdoes
- several models of workstation.
-
-
-
- 3. Getting Linux
-
- In this section we'll cover how to obtain the Linux software.
-
-
- 3.1. Linux Distributions
-
- Before you can install Linux, you need to decide on one of the
- ``distributions'' of Linux which are available. There is no single,
- standard release of the Linux software---there are many such releases.
- Each release has its own documentation and installation instructions.
-
- Linux distributions are available both via anonymous FTP and via mail
- order on diskette, tape, and CD-ROM. The Linux Distribution HOWTO (see
- sunsite.unc.edu in the file /pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/Distribution-HOWTO)
- includes a list of many Linux distributions available via FTP and mail
- order.
-
- The release of Linux covered in this HOWTO is the Slackware
- distribution, maintained by Patrick J. Volkerding
- (volkerdi@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu). It is one of the most popular
- distributions available; it is very up-to-date and includes a good
- amount of software including X-Windows, TeX, and others. The
- Slackware distribution consists of a number of ``disk sets'', each one
- containing a particular type of software (for example, the d disk set
- contains development tools such as the gcc compiler, and so forth).
- You can elect to install whatever disk sets you like, and can easily
- install new ones later.
-
- Slackware is also easy to install; it is very self-explanatory. (So
- self-explanatory, in fact, that this HOWTO may not be necessary.)
-
- Information on other releases can be found in the Linux Installation
- and Getting Started manual from the LDP. You can also find other
- releases of Linux on various FTP sites, including
- sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/distributions See the Distribution-HOWTO
- (mentioned above) for details.
-
- The instructions here should be general enough to be applicable to
- releases other than Slackware. I hate to be biased towards a single
- release, but I don't have time to keep up with them all! And Slackware
- appears to have what most Linux users are looking for.
-
-
-
- 3.2. Slackware Space Requirements
-
- Unfortunately, Slackware does not maintain a complete list of
- diskspace requirements for each disk set. You need at least 7
- megabytes to install just the A series of disks; a very rough estimate
- of the required diskspace would be 2 or 2.5 megabytes per disk.
-
- The following disk sets are available:
-
- A The base system. Enough to get up and running and have elvis and
- comm programs available. Based around the 0.99pl15 Linux kernel,
- and the new filesystem standard (FSSTND).
-
- These disks are known to fit on 1.2M disks, although the rest of
- Slackware won't. If you have only a 1.2M floppy, you can still
- install the base system, download other disks you want and
- install them from your hard drive.
-
-
- AP Various applications and add ons, such as the manual pages,
- groff, ispell (GNU and international versions), term, joe, jove,
- ghostscript, sc, bc, and the quota patches.
-
-
- D Program development. GCC/G++/Objective C 2.5.8, make (GNU and
- BSD), byacc and GNU bison, flex, the 4.5.19 C libraries, gdb,
- kernel source for 0.99pl15, SVGAlib, ncurses, clisp, f2c, p2c,
- m4, perl, rcs.
-
-
- E GNU Emacs 19.22.
-
-
- F A collection of FAQs and other documentation.
-
-
- N Networking. TCP/IP, UUCP, mailx, dip, deliver, elm, pine, smail,
- cnews, nn, tin, trn.
-
-
- OOP
- Object Oriented Programming. GNU Smalltalk 1.1.1, and the
- Smalltalk Interface to X. (STIX)
-
-
- TCL
- Tcl, Tk, TclX, blt, itcl.
-
-
- Y Games. The BSD games collection, and Tetris for terminals.
-
-
- X The base XFree86 2.0 system, with libXpm, fvwm 1.20, and xlock
- added.
-
-
- XAP
- X applications: X11 ghostscript, libgr13, seyon, workman, xfile-
- manager, xv 3.00, GNU chess and xboard, xfm 1.2, ghostview, and
- various X games.
-
-
- XD X11 program development. X11 libraries, server linkkit, PEX sup-
- port.
-
-
- XV Xview 3.2 release 5. XView libraries, and the Open Look virtual
- and non-virtual window managers.
-
-
- IV Interviews libraries, include files, and the doc and idraw apps.
- These run unreasonably slow on my machine, but they might still
- be worth looking at.
-
-
- OI ParcPlace's Object Builder 2.0 and Object Interface Library 4.0,
- generously made available for Linux developers according to the
- terms in the "copying" notice found in these directories.
-
-
- T TeX support. Since many people have asked about TeX, I borrowed
- the 3 TeX disks from SLS and went through them changing the
- filesystem structure somewhat and fixing permissions. You can
- take this as a sign that Slackware TeX support may continue to
- improve.
-
- You must get the ``a'' disk set; the rest are optional. I suggest at
- least installing the a, ap, and d sets, as well as the x set if you
- plan to run X Windows.
-
-
- 3.3. Getting Slackware via Mail Order
-
- Slackware is available for free from the Internet, as well as via mail
- order (if you don't have Internet access, or don't want to take the
- time to download it yourself). The next section describes how to
- download Slackware from the Internet.
-
- The various mail order distributors for Slackware (and other Linux
- distributions) are listed in the Linux Distribution HOWTO, from
- sunsite.unc.edu in the directory pubLinux/docs/HOWTO/.
-
-
- 3.4. Getting Slackware from the Internet
-
- The Slackware release of Linux may be found on any number of FTP sites
- worldwide. The Linux META-FAQ lists several of the Linux FTP sites; we
- suggest that you try to find the software on the FTP site nearest you,
- to reduce net traffic. However, two of the major Linux FTP sites are
- sunsite.unc.edu and tsx-11.mit.edu.
-
- The Slackware release may be found on
- sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/distributions/slackware as well as
- tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/packages/slackware.
-
-
- 3.4.1. Downloading the files
-
- You need to download the following files from the FTP sites listed
- above. Make sure that you use binary mode when FTPing them!
-
-
- o The various README files, as well as SLACKWARE_FAQ. Be sure to
- read these files before attempting to install the software, to get
- any updates or changes to this document.
-
- o A bootdisk image. This is a file that you will write to a floppy to
- create the Slackware boot disk. If you have a 1.44 megabyte boot
- floppy (3.5"), look in the directory bootdisk/1_44meg. If you have
- a 1.2 megabyte boot floppy (5.25"), look in the directory
- bootdisk/1_2meg.
-
- You need one of the following files:
-
- o bareboot.gz. This is the ``trimmed-down'' boot floppy that doesn't
- include SCSI, CD-ROM, or networking support. Use this if you only
- have an IDE hard drive controller and aren't going to be installing
- over the network.
-
- o cd_boot.gz. This is a boot floppy with CD-ROM drivers enabled. Get
- this if you're going to be installing from CD-ROM (only relevant if
- you bought a Slackware CD-ROM of some kind.)
-
- o net_boot.gz. This is a boot floppy with TCP/IP networking enabled.
- Get this if you are going to install over the network using NFS.
-
- o onlyscsi.gz. This is a boot floppy with only SCSI support; no IDE
- or networking support. Get this if you have a SCSI drive controller
- that seems to be conflicting with other drivers on your system.
-
- o scsiboot.gz. This is a boot floppy with everything; IDE, SCSI,
- networking, CD-ROM support, the works. You should probably try this
- one first; use bareboot.gz or one of the other boot floppies if
- this doesn't work for you.
-
- You need only one of the above bootdisk images, depending on the
- type hardware that you have in your system.
-
- The issue here is that some hardware drivers conflict with each
- other in strange ways, and instead of attempting to debug hardware
- problems on your system it's easier to use a boot floppy image with
- only certain drivers enabled. Most users should try scsiboot or
- bareboot.
-
- o A rootdisk image. This is a file that you will write to a floppy to
- create the Slackware installation disk. As with the bootdisk image,
- look in bootdisk/1_44meg or bootdisk/1_2meg depending on the type
- of boot floppy drive that you have.
-
- You need one of the following files:
-
- o color144.gz. The menu-based color installation disk for 1.44 meg
- drives. Most users should use this rootdisk.
-
- o tty144.gz. The terminal-based installation disk for 1.44 meg
- drives. Use this rootdisk if color144.gz doesn't work for you for
- some reason. It is a bit dated and the installation procedure isn't
- exactly like that found on color144.gz, but it should work.
-
- o colorlite.gz. The menu-based color installation disk for 1.2 meg
- drives. Some things have been trimmed off of this disk to make it
- fit on a 1.2 meg floppy, but it should work.
-
- o tty12.gz. The terminal-based installation disk for 1.2 meg drives.
- Use this rootdisk if you have a 1.2 meg boot floppy and
- colorlite.gz doesn't work for you.
-
- Again, you need only one of the above rootdisk images, depending on
- the type of boot floppy drive that you have.
-
- o GZIP.EXE. This is an MS-DOS executable of the gzip compression
- program used to compress the boot and rootdisk files (the .gz
- extension on the filenames indicates this). This can be found in
- the bootdisk directory.
-
- o RAWRITE.EXE. This is an MS-DOS program that will write the contents
- of a file (such as the boot and rootdisk images) directly to a
- floppy, without regard to format. You will use RAWRITE.EXE to
- create the boot and root floppies. This can be found in the top-
- level Slackware directory on the FTP site.
-
- You only need RAWRITE.EXE and GZIP.EXE if you plan to create the
- boot and root floppies from an MS-DOS system. If you have access to
- a UNIX workstation with a floppy drive instead, you can create the
- floppies from there, using the dd command. See the man page for dd
- and ask your local UNIX gurus for assistance.
-
- o The files in the directories a1, a2, and a3. These files make up
- the ``a'' disk set of the Slackware distribution. They are
- required. Later, you will copy these files to MS-DOS floppies for
- installation (or, you can install from your hard drive). Therefore,
- when you download these files, keep them in separate directories;
- don't mix the a1 files with the a2 files, and so on.
-
- Be sure that you get the files without periods in the filenames as
- well. That is, within FTP, use the command ``mget *'' instead of
- ``mget *.*''.
-
- o The files in the directories ap1, ap2, etc., depending on what disk
- sets you are installing. For example, if you are installing the
- ``x'' disk series, get the files in the directories x1 through x5.
- As with the ``a'' disk set, above, be sure to keep the files in
- separate directories when you download them.
-
-
- 3.4.2. Installation methods
-
- Slackware provides several different means of installing the software.
- The most popular is installing from an MS-DOS partition on your hard
- drive; the other is to install from a set of MS-DOS floppies created
- from the disk sets that you downloaded.
-
- You can also install Slackware from an NFS-mounted filesystem over a
- TCP/IP network. This is somewhat involved, however, and a discussion
- of how to do this is out of the range of this document. If you need
- help, ask your local UNIX gurus how to set up your system to mount an
- NFS filesystem which you can install Slackware from. (For this, you'll
- need another system on the network which has Slackware available on an
- exported filesystem.)
-
- First we'll describe how to create the boot and root floppies, and
- then we'll describe how to set things up for either a hard drive or
- floppy installation.
-
-
- 3.4.2.1. Creating the boot and root floppies
-
- You must create floppies from the bootdisk and rootdisk images that
- you downloaded, no matter what type of installation you will be doing.
- This is where the MS-DOS programs GZIP.EXE and RAWRITE.EXE come into
- play.
-
- First you must uncompress the bootdisk and rootdisk images using
- GZIP.EXE (on an MS-DOS system, of course). For example, if you're
- using the bareboot.gz bootdisk image, issue the MS-DOS command:
-
- C:\> GZIP -D BAREBOOT.GZ
-
-
- which will uncompress bareboot.gz and leave you with the file
- bareboot. You must similarly uncompress the rootdisk image. For
- example, if you are using the rootdisk color144.gz, issue the command:
-
- C:\> GZIP -D COLOR144.GZ
-
-
- which will uncompress the file and leave you with color144.
-
- Next, you must have two high-density MS-DOS formatted floppies. (They
- must be of the same type; that is, if your boot floppy drive is a 3.5"
- drive, both floppies must be high-density 3.5" disks.) You will use
- RAWRITE.EXE to write the boot and rootdisk images to the floppies.
-
- For example, if you're using the bareboot bootdisk, use the command:
-
- C:\> RAWRITE
-
-
- Answer the prompts for the name of the file to write (such as
- BAREBOOT) and the floppy to write it to (such as A:). RAWRITE will
- copy the file, block-by-block, directly to the floppy. Also use
- RAWRITE for the root disk image (such as COLOR144). When you're done,
- you'll have two floppies: one containing the boot disk, the other
- containing the root disk. Note that these two floppies will no longer
- be readable by MS-DOS (they are ``Linux format'' floppies, in some
- sense).
-
- Be sure that you're using brand-new, error-free floppies. The floppies
- must have no bad blocks on them.
-
- Note that you do not need to be running MS-DOS in order to install
- Slackware. However, running MS-DOS makes it easier to create the boot
- and root floppies, and it makes it easier to install the software (as
- you can install directly from an MS-DOS partition on your system). If
- you are not running MS-DOS on your system, you can use someone else's
- MS-DOS system just to create the floppies, and install from there.
-
- It is not necessary to use GZIP.EXE and RAWRITE.EXE under MS-DOS to
- create the boot and root floppies, either. You can use the gzip and dd
- commands on a UNIX system to do the same job. (For this, you will
- need a UNIX workstation with a floppy drive, of course.) For example,
- on a Sun workstation with the floppy drive on device /dev/rfd0, you
- can use the commands:
-
-
- $ gunzip bareboot.gz
- $ dd if=bareboot of=/dev/rfd0 obs=18k
-
-
-
-
- You must provide the appropriate block size argument (the obs
- argument) on some workstations (e.g., Suns) or this will fail. If you
- have problems the man page for dd will be instructive.
-
-
- 3.4.2.2. Preparing for hard drive installation
-
- If you're planning on installing the Slackware software directly from
- the hard drive (which is much faster and more reliable than a floppy
- installation), you will need an MS-DOS partition on the system that
- you're installing Slackware to. (That is, you must already be running
- MS-DOS on the system.)
-
- To prepare for hard drive installation, simply create a directory on
- the hard drive to store the Slackware files. For example,
-
- C:\> MKDIR SLACKWAR
-
-
- will create the directory C:\SLACKWAR to hold the Slackware files.
- Under this directory, you should create the subdirectories A1, A2, and
- so on, for each disk set that you downloaded. All of the files from
- the A1 disk should go into the directory SLACKWAR\A1, and so forth.
-
- Now you're ready to go on and install the software; skip to the
- section ``Installing the Software''.
-
-
- 3.4.2.3. Preparing for floppy installation
-
- If you wish to install Slackware from floppies instead of the hard
- drive, you'll need to have one blank, MS-DOS formatted floppy for each
- Slackware disk that you downloaded. These disks must be high-density
- format.
-
- The A disk set (disks A1 through A3) may be either 3.5" or 5.25"
- floppies. However, the rest of the disk sets must be 3.5" disks.
- Therefore, if you only have a 5.25" floppy drive, you'll need to
- borrow a 3.5" drive from someone in order to install disk sets other
- than A. (Or, you can install from the hard drive, as explained in the
- previous section.)
-
- To make the disks, simply copy the files from each Slackware directory
- onto an MS-DOS formatted floppy, using the MS-DOS COPY command. As so:
-
- C:\> COPY A1\*.* A:
-
-
- will copy the contents of the A1 disk to the floppy in drive A:. You
- should repeat this for each disk that you downloaded.
-
- You do not need to modify or uncompress the files on the disks in any
- way; you merely need to copy them to MS-DOS floppies. The Slackware
- installation procedure takes care of uncompressing the files for you.
-
-
- 4. Installing the Software
-
- In this section we'll describe how to prepare your system for
- installing Slackware, and finally how to go about installing it.
-
-
- 4.1. Repartitioning
-
- On most systems, the hard drive is already dedicated to partitions for
- MS-DOS, OS/2, and so on. You need to resize these partitions in order
- to make space for Linux.
-
- A partition is just a section of the hard drive set aside for a
- particular operating system to use. If you only have MS-DOS installed,
- your hard drive probably has just one partition, entirely for MS-DOS.
- To use Linux, however, you'll need to repartition the drive, so that
- you have one partition for MS-DOS, and one (or more) for Linux.
-
- The problem with resizing partitions is that there is no way to do it
- (easily) without deleting the data on those partitions. Therefore,
- you will need to make a full backup of your system before
- repartitioning. In order to resize a partition, we simply delete the
- partition(s), and re-create them with smaller sizes.
-
- NOTE: There is a non-destructive disk repartitioner available for MS-
- DOS, called FIPS. Look on sunsite.unc.edu in the directory
- /pub/Linux/system/Install. With FIPS, a disk optimizer (such as Norton
- Disk Doctor), and a little bit of luck, you should be able to resize
- MS-DOS partitions without destroying the data on them.
-
- If you're not using FIPS, however, the classic way to modify
- partitions is with the program FDISK. For example, let's say that you
- have an 80 meg hard drive, dedicated to MS-DOS. You'd like to split it
- in half---40 megs for MS-DOS and 40 megs for Linux. In order to do
- this, you need to run FDISK under MS-DOS, delete the 80 meg MS-DOS
- partition, and re-create a 40 meg MS-DOS partition in its place. You
- can then format the new partition and reinstall your MS-DOS software
- from backups.
-
- Use of MS-DOS FDISK should be self-explanatory. You'll need to make a
- full backup of your system, and have a bootable MS-DOS floppy with
- utilities such as FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM installed (the original MS-
- DOS installation disks are the best thing to use for this). Booting
- from the floppy, you run FDISK on your hard drive, and use the menu
- options to delete your current MS-DOS partition, and then re-create it
- with a smaller size. You can then re-install the MS-DOS software from
- backup.
-
- The mechanism used to repartition for OS/2 and other operating systems
- is similar. See the documentation for those operating systems for
- details.
-
-
-
- 4.2. Creating partitions for Linux
-
- After repartitioning your drive, you need to create partitions for
- Linux. Linux requires at least one partition, for the root filesystem,
- which will hold the Linux software itself. You may wish to use
- additional partitions for other filesystems, as discussed below. In
- addition, most users set aside a swap partition, to be used as virtual
- RAM on your machine. If you have 4 megabytes of RAM or less, a swap
- partition is required to install the software. It is strongly
- recommended that you have a swap partition anyway, unless you have 16
- megabytes or more of physical RAM.
-
- In order to create your Linux partitions, first boot the Slackware
- bootdisk. After the system boots, you will see the message:
-
-
- Please remove the boot kernel disk from your floppy drive,
- insert a disk to be loaded into the ramdisk, and press
- [enter] to continue.
-
-
-
-
- At this point you should remove the bootdisk from the drive and insert
- the rootdisk. Then press enter to go on.
-
- The rootdisk will be loaded into memory, and you should be presented
- with a login prompt. Login as ``root''.
-
-
- darkstar login: root
- #
-
-
-
-
- Note to IBM PS/1, ValuePoint, and ThinkPad Users: If you use an IBM
- PS/1, ValuePoint, or ThinkPad machine, the system will not recognize
- your hard drive when you boot the Slackware bootdisk. This is because
- these machines do not store drive geometry information in the CMOS (as
- they should) and you have to specify the geometry by hand when
- booting. (Later you can get around this by installing the LILO
- software, which allows you to boot Linux from the hard drive.)
-
- You must use a bootdisk other than ``bareboot'' for this to work. I
- suggest using scsiboot. While booting the bootdisk, hold down the left
- shift key. You will be presented with a boot menu which will describe
- how to specify your hard drive geometry (that is, the number of
- cylinders, heads, and sectors per track) for your drive using the hd
- boot option. You can get information on your drive geometry from your
- hard drive manual or by running MS-DOS FDISK.
-
-
-
-
- 4.2.1. Using fdisk
-
- To create partitions, you'll use the Linux fdisk program. After
- logging in as root, run the command
-
- fdisk <drive>
-
-
- where <drive> is the name of the drive that you wish to create Linux
- partitions on. Hard drive device names are:
-
- o /dev/hda First IDE drive
-
- o /dev/hdb Second IDE drive
-
- o /dev/sda First SCSI drive
-
- o /dev/sdb Second SCSI drive
-
- and so on. For example, to create Linux partitions on the first
- SCSI drive in your system, use the command
-
- fdisk /dev/sda
-
-
- If you use fdisk without an argument, it will assume /dev/hda.
-
- Use of fdisk is simple. The command ``p'' displays your current
- partition table. ``n'' creates a new partition, and ``d'' deletes a
- partition.
-
- To Linux, partitions are given a name based on the drive which they
- belong to. For example, the first partition on /dev/hda is /dev/hda1,
- the second is /dev/hda2, and so on.
-
- NOTE: You should not create or delete partitions for operating systems
- other than Linux with Linux fdisk. That is, don't create or delete MS-
- DOS partitions with this version of fdisk; use MS-DOS's version of
- FDISK instead. If you try to create MS-DOS partitions with Linux
- fdisk, chances are MS-DOS will not recognize the partition and not
- boot correctly.
-
- Here's an example of using fdisk. Here, we have a single MS-DOS
- partition using 61693 blocks on the drive, and the rest of the drive
- is free for Linux. (Under Linux, one block is 1024 bytes. Therefore,
- 61693 blocks is about 61 megabytes.) We will create two Linux
- partitions: one for swap, and one for the root filesystem.
-
- First, we use the ``p'' command to display the current partition
- table. As you can see, /dev/hda1 (the first partition on /dev/hda) is
- a DOS partition of 61693 blocks.
-
- ______________________________________________________________________
- Command (m for help): p
- Disk /dev/hda: 16 heads, 38 sectors, 683 cylinders
- Units = cylinders of 608 * 512 bytes
-
- Device Boot Begin Start End Blocks Id System
- /dev/hda1 * 1 1 203 61693 6 DOS 16-bit >=32M
-
- Command (m for help):
- ______________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- Next, we use the ``n'' command to create a new partition. The Linux
- root partition will be 80 megs in size.
-
- ______________________________________________________________________
- Command (m for help): n
- Command action
- e extended
- p primary partition (1-4)
- p
- ______________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
- A primary partition is simply one of the 4 partitions on your drive.
- An extended partition allows you to create multiple logical partitions
- within it; this allows you to go over the four-partition limit on the
- drive. In most cases, you should only use primary partitions unless
- you need more than 4 partitions on a drive.
-
- ______________________________________________________________________
- Partition number (1-4): 2
- First cylinder (204-683): 204
- Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (204-683): +80M
- ______________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
- The first cylinder should be the cylinder AFTER where the last
- partition left off. In this case, /dev/hda1 ended on cylinder 203, so
- we start the new partition at cylinder 204.
-
- As you can see, if we use the notation ``+80M'', it specifies a
- partition of 80 megs in size. Likewise, the notation ``+80K'' would
- specify an 80 kilobyte partition, and ``+80'' would specify just an 80
- byte partition.
-
- ______________________________________________________________________
- Warning: Linux cannot currently use 33090 sectors of this partition
- ______________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
- If you see this warning, you can ignore it. It is left over from an
- old restriction that Linux filesystems could only be 64 megs in size.
- However, with newer filesystem types, that is no longer the case...
- partitions can now be up to 4 terabytes in size.
-
- Next, we create our 10 megabyte swap partition, /dev/hda3.
-
- ______________________________________________________________________
- Command (m for help): n
- Command action
- e extended
- p primary partition (1-4)
- p
-
- Partition number (1-4): 3
- First cylinder (474-683): 474
- Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (474-683): +10M
- ______________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
- Again, we display the contents of the partition table. Be sure to
- write down the information here, especially the size of each partition
- in blocks. You need this information later.
- ______________________________________________________________________
- Command (m for help): p
- Disk /dev/hda: 16 heads, 38 sectors, 683 cylinders
- Units = cylinders of 608 * 512 bytes
-
- Device Boot Begin Start End Blocks Id System
- /dev/hda1 * 1 1 203 61693 6 DOS 16-bit >=32M
- /dev/hda2 204 204 473 82080 83 Linux native
- /dev/hda3 474 474 507 10336 83 Linux native
- ______________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
- Note that the Linux swap partition (here, /dev/hda3) has type ``Linux
- native''. We need to change the type of the swap partition to ``Linux
- swap'' so that the installation program will recognize it as a swap
- partition. In order to do this, use the fdisk ``t'' command:
-
- ______________________________________________________________________
- Command (m for help): t
- Partition number (1-4): 3
- Hex code (type L to list codes): 82
- ______________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
- If you use ``L'' to list the type codes, you'll find that 82 is the
- code corresponding to Linux swap.
-
- To quit fdisk and save the changes to the partition table, use the
- ``w'' command. To quit fdisk WITHOUT saving changes, use the ``q''
- command.
-
- After quitting fdisk, the system may tell you to reboot to make sure
- that the changes too effect. In general there is no reason to reboot
- after using fdisk---the version of fdisk on the Slackware distribution
- is smart enough to update the partitions without rebooting.
-
-
- 4.3. Preparing the swap space
-
- If you have 4 megabytes or RAM or less in your machine, you will need
- to create a swap partition (using fdisk) and format it (using mkswap)
- before you can install the software.
-
- If you have more than 4 megabytes of RAM, you should only create a
- swap partition (if you want to use one)---the Slackware installation
- procedure will take care of formatting and enabling the swap
- partition. So, if you have more than 4 megs of RAM, you can skip this
- section and go on to the section ``Installing the Software''.
-
- If you get any ``out of memory'' errors during the installation
- procedure you should create a swap partition and enable it as
- described here.
-
- To prepare the swap space for use, we use the mkswap command. It
- takes the form:
-
- mkswap -c <partition> <size>
-
-
- where <partition> is the partition name, such as /dev/hda3, and <size>
- is the size of the partition in blocks.
-
- For example, if you created a swap partition on /dev/hda3 of size
- 10336 blocks, use the command
- mkswap -c /dev/hda3 10336
-
-
- The -c option tells mkswap to check for bad blocks on the partition
- when preparing the swap space. If you see any ``read_intr'' error
- messages during the mkswap operation, this means that bad blocks were
- found (and flagged). So you can ignore these errors.
-
- To enable swapping on the new device, use the command
-
- swapon <partition>
-
-
- For example, for our swap space on /dev/hda3, we use
-
- swapon /dev/hda3
-
-
- We're now swapping with about 10 megabytes more virtual memory.
-
- You should execute mkswap and swapon for each swap partition that you
- created (if you decided to create more than one).
-
-
- 4.4. Installing the software
-
- Installing the Slackware release is very simple; it's almost
- automatic. You use the setup command, which guides you through a
- series of menus which allow you to specify the means of installation,
- the partitions to use, and so forth. Almost everything is automatic.
-
- Here, we're not going to document many of the specifics of using
- setup, because it changes from time to time. setup is very self-
- explanatory; it contains its own documentation. Just to give you an
- idea of what it's like, however, we'll describe what most
- installations are like using setup.
-
- Before you begin, be sure that you have a high-density MS-DOS
- formatted floppy on hand. You will use this floppy to create a Linux
- boot diskette.
-
- After running fdisk (and, perhaps, mkswap and swapon if you have 4
- megs of RAM or less), issue the command
-
- # setup
-
-
- This will present you with a colourful menu with various options such
- as ``Addswap'' (to set up your swap space), ``Source'' (to specify the
- source of the software to install, such as floppy or hard drive),
- ``Target'' (to specify where to install the software), and so on.
-
- In general, you should go through the menu commands in the following
- order:
-
- 1. Addswap. If you created a swap partition (using fdisk), use the
- addswap menu option to tell the system about it. This option will
- present you with a list of possible swap partitions; just type in
- the name of the swap partition(s) that you wish to use (such as
- /dev/hda3). The system will then ask you if you want to format the
- swap partition, which you should do unless you already ran mkswap
- and swapon on it. That is, you should format the swap partition
- unless you already formatted and enabled it by hand as described in
- the previous section.
-
-
- 2. Source. This menu option lets you specify the source for the
- software to install. You can select several means of installation,
- such as from floppy or from hard drive. If you are installing from
- floppies, the system will ask you which floppy drive to use. If you
- are installing from hard drive, the system will ask you what
- partition the files are stored on, and what directory they are in.
-
- For example, if you are installing from an MS-DOS partition on your
- hard drive, and the Slackware files are under the directory
- C:\SLACKWAR, you should enter the name of the MS-DOS partition
- (such as /dev/hda1) and the name of the directory (such as
- /slackwar). Note that you should use forward slashes (/), not
- backslashes (\), in the directory name.
-
- There are other means of installation, such as CD-ROM. These should
- be self-explanatory as well.
-
- 3. Target. This menu item lets you specify what partition(s) to
- install the software on. The system will display a list of possible
- partitions. First you will be asked to enter the name of the root
- partition, such as /dev/hda2. You will be asked if you want to
- format the partition; unless you are installing on a partition
- previously formatted for Linux you should do so. You should use the
- Second Extended Filesystem (ext2fs) type for the partition.
-
- You will also be given a chance to use additional partitions for
- different parts of the directory tree. For example, if you created
- a separate partition for the /usr filesystem, you should enter the
- name of that partition and the directory that it corresponds to
- (/usr) when asked.
-
- 4. Disksets. This option allows you to specify the disksets you wish
- to install. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the list; pressing
- the spacebar selects or deselects a set. Press return when you're
- done selecting disk sets.
-
- You may wish to only install a minimal system at this time. That's
- fine. Only the A diskset is required. After you have installed the
- software you may run setup to install other disksets.
-
- 5. Install. After setting up all of the parameters above, you're ready
- to install the software. First the system will ask you what type of
- prompting to use; you should use the ``normal'' prompting method
- (unless you're an expert and have modified the installation
- tagfiles in some way).
-
- The system will simply go through each disk set and install the
- software. For each software package, a dialog box will be displayed
- describing the software. Software packages that are required will
- be installed automatically. For optional software packages you will
- be given the option of either installing or not installing the
- package. (If you don't wish to install a certain package now, you
- can always use setup on your system to install it later).
-
- While the software is installing, watch out for error messages that
- may be displayed. The most common error that you're likely to run
- into is ``device full'', which means that you have run out of space
- on your Linux partitions. Unfortunately, the Slackware installation
- procedure is not quite smart enough to detect this, and will
- attempt to continue installing the software regardless. If you get
- any kind of error messages during the installation procedure, you
- may wish to break out of the installation program (using Ctrl-C) to
- record them. The only solution for the ``device full'' problem is
- to re-create your Linux partitions with different sizes, or attempt
- to reinstall the software without several of the optional software
- packages.
- 4.5. After installation
-
- After installation is complete, and if all goes well, you will be
- given the option of creating a ``standard boot disk'', which you can
- use to boot your newly-installed Linux system. For this you will need
- a blank, high-density MS-DOS formatted diskette of the type that you
- boot with on your system. Simply insert the disk when prompted and a
- boot diskette will be created.
-
- You will also be given the chance to install LILO on your hard drive.
- LILO (which stands for LInux LOader) is a program that will allow you
- to boot Linux (as well as other operating systems, such as MS-DOS)
- from your hard drive. If you wish to do this, just select the
- appropriate menu option and follow the prompts.
-
- If you are using OS/2's Boot Manager, the menu will include an option
- for configuring LILO for use with the Boot Manager, so that you can
- boot Linux from it.
-
- Note that this automated LILO installation procedure is not foolproof;
- there are situations in which is can fail. Be sure that you have a way
- to boot MS-DOS, Linux, and other operating systems from floppy before
- you attempt to install LILO. If the LILO installation fails you will
- be able to boot your system from floppy and correct the problem.
-
- The postinstallation procedure will also take you through several menu
- items allowing you to configure your system. This includes specifying
- your modem and mouse device, as well as your time zone. Just follow
- the menu options.
-
-
- 4.6. Booting your new system
-
- If everything went as planned, you should be able to boot your Linux
- boot floppy (not the Slackware installation floppy, but the floppy
- created after installing the software). Or, if you installed LILO, you
- should be able to boot from the hard drive. After booting, login as
- root. Congratulations! You have your very own Linux system.
-
- If you are booting using LILO, try holding down shift or control
- during boot. This will present you with a boot prompt; press tab to
- see a list of options. In this way you can boot Linux, MS-DOS, or
- whatever directly from LILO.
-
- After booting your system and logging in as root, one of the first
- things you should do is create an account for yourself. The adduser
- command may be used for this purpose. For example,
-
-
- # adduser
- Login to add (^C to quit): ebersol
- Full Name: Norbert Ebersol
- GID [100]: 100
- UID [501]: 501
- Home Directory [/home/ebersol]: /home/ebersol
- Shell [/bin/bash]: /bin/bash
- Password [ebersol]: new.password
-
- Information for new user [ebersol]:
- Home directory: [/home/ebersol] Shell: [/bin/bash]
- Password: [new.password] UID: [502] GID:[100]
- Is this correct? [y/n]: y
-
-
-
-
- adduser will prompt you for various parameters, such as the username,
- full name, GID (group ID), UID (user ID), and so on. For the most part
- you can use the defaults. If you're unfamiliar with creating users on
- a UNIX system, I strongly suggest getting a book on UNIX systems
- administration. It will help you greatly in setting up and using your
- new system.
-
- You can now login as the new user. You can use the keys Alt-F1 through
- Alt-F8 to switch between virtual consoles, which will allow you to
- login multiple times from the console. The passwd command can be used
- to set the passwords on your new accounts; you should set a password
- for root and any new users that you create.
-
- Also, the hostname of your machine is set at boot time in the file
- /etc/rc.d/rc.M. You should edit this file (as root) to change the
- hostname of the machine. You should edit the lines in this file which
- run the commands hostname or hostname_notcp. (The default hostname is
- darkstar.) You may also wish to edit the domainname commands in this
- file, if you are on a TCP/IP network.
-
- Obviously, there are many more things to setup and configure. A good
- book on UNIX systems administration should help. (I suggest Essential
- Systems Administration from O'Reilly and Associates.) You will pick
- these things up as time goes by. You should read various other Linux
- HOWTOs, such as the NET-2-HOWTO and Printing-HOWTO, for information on
- other configuration tasks.
-
- After that, the system is all yours... have fun!
-
-
-
- 5. Miscellaneous
-
- I don't like to be biased towards the Slackware release, however, in
- order to document multiple releases of Linux, this file would be much,
- much longer. It is simpler and more coherent to cover the specific
- instructions for a single release of Linux. The book Linux
- Installation and Getting Started currently includes general
- installation instructions which should be applicable to ``any''
- distribution of Linux. However, because the installation procedures
- are so varied, covering them all would be very confusing both to
- myself and to the reader.
-
- The basic concepts in this document still hold, no matter what release
- of Linux you choose. For example, all releases require you to run
- fdisk, and all of them (to my knowledge) include some kind of
- installation menu similar to the setup program. If you choose to use
- a release of Linux other than Slackware, the READMEs and installation
- instructions that come with that release should be easy to understand
- in the context of the material presented here.
-
- If you would like a more complete discussion of Linux installation
- (instead of the "quick" examples given here), read the book Linux
- Installation and Getting Started, from sunsite.unc.edu in
- /pub/Linux/docs/LDP. This book includes a complete discussion of how
- to obtain and install Linux, as well as a basic UNIX and systems
- administration tutorial for new users.
-
- Please mail me at mdw@sunsite.unc.edu if any part of this document is
- confusing or incorrect. I depend on feedback from readers in order to
- maintain this document! I also like to help answer questions about
- Linux installation, if you have any.
-
- I'd like to thank Patrick Volkerding for his work on the Slackware
- distribution and assistance in preparing this document.
-
- Best of luck with your new Linux system!
-
- Cheers, mdw
-