Table of Contents
| Introduction | 1 |
| 1 | Installing Red Hat Linux 9 | 13 |
| 2 | Red Hat Linux 9 Basics | 47 |
| 3 | Connecting to the Internet | 97 |
| 4 | Installing Software | 125 |
| 5 | Everyday Applications | 151 |
| 6 | The Shell | 203 |
| 7 | The File System | 241 |
| 8 | Managing Your User Accounts | 287 |
| 9 | Building Networks | 333 |
| 10 | Advanced System Administration | 405 |
| 11 | Managing Your System with Perl | 453 |
| 12 | Security | 499 |
| 13 | Where To Now? | 549 |
| Index | 571 |
| GNU General Public License | 591 |
Read a Sample Chapter
Beginning Red Hat Linux 9
By Sandip Bhattacharya Pancrazio De Mauro Mark Mamone Kapil Sharma Deepak Thomas Simon Whiting Shishir
Gundavaram
John Wiley & Sons
Copyright © 2003
Sandip Bhattacharya, Pancrazio De Mauro, Mark Mamone, Kapil Sharma, Deepak Thomas
Simon Whiting, Shishir Gundavaram
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-7645-4378-4
Chapter One
Installing Red Hat Linux 9
Installing an operating system is often a long, drawn-out process that requires a lot of upfront
planning. Installation of traditional Unix-based operating systems seems to have been
particularly painful in the past, requiring even experienced administrators to fret about
partitions and drivers. Early versions of Linux were no different in this respect. The first
version of Linux, back in 1993, could be booted up only using Minix (another Unix-like
operating system). That version of Linux could support only the Finnish keyboard because the
author of Linux didn't have access to a US keyboard!
However, since then Linux has grown by leaps and bounds. Each of the major distributions has
put a lot of thought and effort into the Linux installation process, and today installing Linux for
desktop use is, in common talk, a no-brainer.
Red Hat, in particular, has caught the attention of the public, breaking away from the standard
traditionof distributing disk images and pioneering the concept of distributing software in the
form of packages. (Right now, the Red Hat Package Manager - RPM - is a standard in
distribution of pre-compiled software packages in the Linux world, and we'll learn more about
the RPM in Chapter 4.)
Red Hat has also been improving Linux usability and features in that most daunting area of any
operating system - installation. The latest version of Red Hat Linux, version 9, is truly the most
user-friendly ever, with extensive inputs from professional usability experts and a ravishing
new look to attract even the most hardened of technophobes.
The Red Hat Linux distribution offers four different configurations, and your choice will
depend on how you plan to use the operating system:
Personal desktop: This configuration is targeted at users who are new to Linux, or those
who like to use Linux for day-to-day applications like office productivity tools and
Internet browsing. This is the option we'll install in this chapter.
Workstation: This configuration is targeted at developers or system administrators. It
provides various tools for software development and system management.
Server: This configuration is mainly intended for systems that will not be used directly,
but are primarily for offering network-based services like e-mail, file sharing, network
connectivity, and web resources.
Custom: This configuration is for experienced users who want more control over exactly
what is installed onto their systems. The user can select which packages are to be installed
and how the hard disks are to be used, and has control over various other configuration
options that are pre-selected in the other three configurations.
In this chapter, we are going to take a look at getting a Personal Desktop installation in place
on a new computer. We are going to look at each step of the installation and the decisions
that you would have to take at various stages of the installation to get a working Red Hat
desktop in place. By the end of the chapter, you will have a desktop up and running that you
will be able to use right away for your daily needs like Internet browsing, e-mail, and office
productivity tools.
Preparing for the Installation
While the installation process is quite straightforward, it is important that you do a little bit of
preparation to ensure that the installation process goes as intended. Of course, you'll need the
necessary installation disks to install the system; but it's also worth looking over your hardware
too. In this section, we'll examine both software and hardware aspects of preparation.
The Software
Of course, to begin you need to have the necessary software for the job. The Red Hat Linux 9
distribution can be obtained from a number of sources. Here are a couple of options:
The Publisher's Edition CD set included with this book. This includes all the CDs
that you need for the installation process itself. In this chapter, we'll look at
installation using the CDs that are included in this pack.
The official retail box set. This includes all the CDs that you need for the installation
process itself. It also includes other CDs that contain the source code for all the
packaged software, and a CD that contains Red Hat-supplied documentation. Much of
the software on these disks can be freely copied and distributed, but only the customer
who bought the CD is entitled to official technical support from Red Hat. The box set
also includes an array of bonus software packaged by Red Hat, as well as some
proprietary software that may not be freely distributed.
The downloadable CD images. In the true spirit of Open Source
(opensource.org), Red Hat also makes all the installation CDs
downloadable for free public use. While the contents of the downloadable CD images
are identical to those in the official box set, users of these CD images are not entitled to
official technical support from Red Hat.
These CD images can be obtained from any of Red Hat's various mirror web sites. You
can find a list of mirror FTP and HTTP sites at redhat.com/
download/mirror.html. Alternatively, you can obtain the CD images from VA Linux's
extensive Sourceforge download mirror servers, at
download.sourceforge.net/pub/mirrors/redhat.
When you have the CD images, you can write them onto CD recordable disks (be sure
to tell your CD-burning software that you're burning CD images), and then you can use
the CDs for installation.
The Personal Desktop configuration of Red Hat Linux that is downloaded or in the boxed set
requires all three binary installation CD disks during the installation. Moreover, as you begin to
explore some of the many applications supplied with the Red Hat Linux 9 distribution, you'll need
these disks for installing the applications themselves. Therefore, it's worth keeping all the three
binary CD disks in your possession.
The Hardware
Before you start the installation, it's a good idea to make a note of the hardware details of the
machine you plan to use for your Linux installation. These details can help you to get the most
out of the installation process, and even in detecting problems in the hardware configuration
itself - problems that can prevent Red Hat Linux from installing correctly.
Determining Your Hardware
During the process of installation, Red Hat Linux may need some extra help to determine the
exact hardware composition of your computer. To help it out, it is a good idea to make a note of
the details on the following checklist, before you begin the installation:
Keyboard type: The Red Hat Linux installation defaults to a standard US English 105-key
keyboard. Unless you are using a language-specific keyboard like those used in
many European and East Asian countries, you don't have to worry about this detail.
Mouse type: Red Hat Linux supports two-button and three-button mice, as well as
wheel-mice and the cordless variety. It's worth noting the exact make and nature of your
mouse. Red Hat Linux also supports tablets; to verify that your make of tablet is
compatible with Red Hat Linux, check the Hardware Compatibility List.
Hard disk size: Make a note of the size of the hard disk that you'll be installing Red Hat
Linux onto. If the installation process fails to detect the hard disk size correctly, it might
point to an underlying hardware problem. Also note that a Personal Desktop installation
will require around 1.8GB of hard disk space to cater for the programs loaded during
installation. If you plan to install other applications, then you will need more.
Video (graphics) card: Note the chipset of the video card and the amount of RAM.
While the Red Hat X-server configuration program can usually probe and detect the
video card, it sometimes fails. If it does fail, you'll need to tell Red Hat Linux the name
of your video card chipset. Note that the video RAM is sometimes also displayed on
the computer screen during boot up of the machine.
If you can't find the name of your video card chipset in the Hardware Compatability List
(see below), don't worry. Note that this means only that the GUI of Red Hat Linux is
affected. Generally, if you intend to use the computer only as a server system, you're
recommended not to install any GUI - this is for reasons of resource load and security. If
you do want a GUI, you'll still be able to configure your machine to use the VESA
interface for running the X-server. The VESA interface standard is supported by most of
the commonly available video cards.
Monitor: If you have an unusual monitor model, then the configuration of the GUI X
Server software (during the installation process) might not detect it. Therefore, it's
worth noting information regarding your monitor. You'll need the horizontal and
vertical sync rates, which can generally be found either in the monitor manual or at
the monitor manufacturer's web site.
Sound card: While the installation tries to detect the sound card, it sometimes doesn't
succeed. Therefore, it's good to note the name of the sound card chipset in advance.
Network card: During installation, Red Hat Linux tries to detect the network interface
card (NIC) and load the appropriate software driver automatically. You should note
the name of the chipset of the NIC in advance of installation, just in case the
installation process fails to determine it.
How do you get hold of this information? Well, if you have the technical specification
documents that were supplied with your computer, then you'll find the information in there. If
not, then the machine's existing operating system will probably offer some way of browsing the
hardware being used. For example:
In Windows 2000, you can find out about existing hardware via Start | Settings | Control
Panel | System (select the Hardware tab, and click the Device Manager button).
In other Linux systems, you can find out about existing hardware through via various
menu options of the GUI. For example, try the options in Programs | Settings or Main
Menu | System Tools, depending on which version of Linux you're using.
The Hardware Compatibility List
Red Hat maintains a list of officially supported hardware, called the Hardware Compatibility
List (HCL). The HCL lists all the hardware components against which the operating system has
been checked extensively for proper functioning. The list is available at hardware
.redhat.com/hcl/.
It's worth checking for your own hardware components in this list before buying new hardware
for your Red Hat desktop; if you find them, it can give you some peace of mind. You shouldn't
panic, however, if your hardware doesn't appear in the HCL; there's still a good chance that it
will work with the Red Hat Linux 9 installation. Many hardware components behave using
standardized interfaces that can be persuaded to work with Linux (although sometimes in a
less efficient way). For example, most modern video cards support the VESA mode of graphic
display, which can be used by Red Hat Linux to present a GUI front-end to the user. While the
VESA mode is not suitable for performance-intensive graphic displays, it is a quick and easy
way to persuade an incompatible video card to work with the GUI software in the Linux
operating system.
It is well worth using the HCL to check out the compatibility of hardware with Red Hat
Linux (or, indeed, any distribution of Linux) before investing your money into it. A
significant proportion of all queries submitted by new users of Red Hat Linux relate to
hardware for which Red Hat has not confirmed official support.
While any new motherboard or processor should safely work with a Linux basic console
mode, the most common problems lie with compatibility of sound and display hardware.
Due to the nature of the Open Source movement, the compatibility of Linux with specific
hardware configurations can take some time to develop. Not all hardware manufacturers
are quick to offer Linux versions of their driver software.
The Boot Disk
The installation process will also offer you the opportunity to create a boot disk. The boot disk
can help you to recover gracefully if you have boot problems. While creation of the boot disk is
optional, it is recommended - you never know when you might need it.
For this, it's a good idea to have a floppy disk ready during the installation process. Make sure
there's nothing important on the disk, because the boot disk creation process will overwrite it!
Network Details
We've already talked about compiling a hardware checklist before installation. If you intend to
use your new Red Hat Linux desktop within an existing network, you should also compile a
checklist of network-related information for use during the installation process. You may need
to ask your network administrator some of these details:
DHCP or Fixed IP: An IP address is essential for any computer to participate in any
networking activity. So, you must ask: Is your desktop assigned an IP address
dynamically (by a DHCP server), or should it be configured with a static IP address?
By default, Red Hat Linux will configure your machine to request an IP address from a
DHCP server, but if you need to, you can change this either during the installation
process itself or after the installation is complete. If your computer is to be configured
to get its IP address dynamically from a DHCP server, you can skip the rest of
these questions:
IP Address: If your machine is to have a fixed IP address, you need to know what
IP address to use. An IP address is always mentioned along with its network
mask, so make a note of both the IP address and network mask.
DNS Host and Domain Names: You also need to note some DNS (domain name
service) details - specifically the machine's host name and domain name. For
example, if your network administrator assigns your machine the DNS name
arwen.acme.com, then your machine host name is arwen and your domain name
is acme.com. The combination of host name and domain name (here
arwen.acme.com) is called the fully qualified domain name (FQDN).
Continues...
Excerpted from Beginning Red Hat Linux 9
by Sandip Bhattacharya Pancrazio De Mauro Mark Mamone Kapil Sharma Deepak Thomas Simon Whiting Shishir
Gundavaram
Copyright © 2003 by Sandip Bhattacharya, Pancrazio De Mauro, Mark Mamone, Kapil Sharma, Deepak Thomas
Simon Whiting, Shishir Gundavaram.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
loading...