Linux Installation

SW Distributions

There are many vendors distributed Linux with easy to use installation tools. Typically there are 2 CD image reguired. There is a one single CD version of Linux named Knoppix. I've used the following CD-ROMs for installation: Linux has also been ported to other languages besides English such as Chinese RedFlag Linux with unicode.

Pre-installation

It is a good idea to know the system configuration before installation. Generally, the Linux installation program will run auto-probing task to check the system HW. There are cases that certain devices are too new or too old to be recognized by the installation program. That is where the obstacles may arise. One should boot up your MS-Windows and gather the following information via control panel -> system -> devices (XP and W2k are different), if possible: (this is for older version of Linux. New one is pretty good at probing HW thesedays.)

Installation Steps

Background

Most of the systems have been loaded with different operating systems with one single partition. As a result, there is no additional partitions available for installing Linux. To repartition the disk without destroying what you have, there are commercial, and freeware available Linux provides a mechanism to run different OS. This provides muti-boot capabilities. There are certain versions of Linux runs under MS-Windows such as vmware which allows switching between Linux and MS-Windows.

The installation steps are varied slightly among different distributions of Linux. All Linux distribution provide Graphics User Interface (GUI - X window system) and CLI installation tools, All versions require at least 16 MB (mega bytes - for very old PCs like 486 and even 386) of RAM and 500 MB hard disk (it is hard to locate a 1GB disk these days :-). StarOffice, OpenOffice, and other goodies require more disk space, of course. But one should get a hard driver at least with 1GB (it is hard to locate a 1GB disk these days :-). Linux can be installed via network if the system connected to a network where Linux distributions can be fetched. Typically Linux is installed from local CD-ROM. For older systems, it requires to boot from a floppy. Newer system can boot from the CD-ROM directly. Basically the installation procedures are self explanatory, except if you like to customize it. This is a prefer method, if are doing multiboot. Be extremely cautious to whcih disk drive/partition can be overriden with Linux.

The following steps are for RedHat linux: (Note: Refer to this link for installing OpenLinux.)

  1. Power on the system while inserting Linux bootable floppy and system CD-ROM.

  2. Press Enter or type in text for GUI installation or text mode respectively.
    Text mode might be needed when GUI mode fails (older PCs like 386). Under text mode, use tab for moving cursor to different buttons; arrows for moving cursor in a menu; space bar for selection, and enter to proceed.

  3. Wait until a screen with a Next or OK button shows up. Keep clicking on Next or hit OK button until the Automatic Partitioning screen comes up.
    Basically the installation program will select the default software packages such as Gnome (default) or KDE which are X window system (which is similar to MS-Windows) desktop. OpenLinux only comes with KDE.

  4. Select Manual Partition and click on Next button.

    Although, one can install Linux into one single partition like MS-Windows. Multiple partitions are recommended for easy maintenance. Typically, one should select the designated hard drive and partition the disk as follows: (Note: this example is for a one GB disk and the mount points are required. The mount points are / and /usr.)

  5. /: this is root partition (80 MG - which has to be within 1025'th cylinder)
  6. swap: swap partition is used as secondary memory. The rule of thumb is to set it about 2 to 3 times of the system's RAM.
  7. /usr: this is for commands, utilities and X window system (800 MG or more if you have plenty of disk space)
  8. Commands for disk partition are:

  9. Add: specify mount point (lower case), size, and partition type which is Linux native or swap. Remember to click on grow to fill disk for the last partition.
  10. Edit: allow you to make changes if any of the above item is incorrect.
  11. Delete: for partition deletion
  12. The GUI disk partition tool may not show the correct partitions layout on RedHat 6.1. You may have to switch to text mode or use OpenLinux's installation program (i.e. Lizard) to partition the disk then reboot to switch back to RedHat installation. fdisk is reliable for partitioning a disk. It is recommended when installing RedHat 6.0. Some of the commands under fdisk are:

  13. m: help
  14. p: print out the partitions table
  15. n: create new partition (Primary and Logical)
  16. d: delete existing partition table
  17. t: set partition type (swap partition should be set to type 82)
  18. w: write down the partition table into disk
  19. Note: Be sure to save the partition table when prompted for confirmation under text mode.

  20. Choose partition to format: click on Next to proceed for making new file systems.

  21. Time Zone: select Eastern time zone (or wherever you like to be :-)

  22. Hostname: pick a short string that you prefer. All Linux systems have their host names.

  23. Account Configuration: this is for creating root and user's accounts.
  24. Enter root password twice (at least 6 characters).
  25. Create a new user with password
  26. X Configuration: this step selects video card and monitor resolution. Click on test only button for GUI mode, then click on Next until Installing Packages screen comes up. If testing fail, then click on Skip X Configuration. For text mode, simply select OK and hit Enter to proceed.

  27. Installing Packages:

    This step install the selected packages including kernel, utilities and applications. Kernel will be installed under /boot. Utilities and applications will be installed under /etc, /lib, /dev, /bin and /usr. You may sit back, and read on. The lights of CD-ROM drive and disk drive will blink. If it stops blinking for a long time say 5 minutes, something is wrong and the installation has to be restarted from step one.

Configuration

Login

So you are anxious to login and have some fun. On RedHat, you may see a fancy login dialog box like OpenLinux or NT, provided that you selected "graphics login" during installation. Typically you will see a plain regular Unix login which is easier and preferred method for experts to troubleshoot. Because it is faster and you don't need to mess around X. You may proceed to login as root and invoke a command named startx, if you choose non-graphics during installation. This feature can be modified, of course. (See Admin Guide.) To shutdown the system under plain Unix login session, enter shutdown -r 0 (or press those 3 famous keys simultaneously) Note: OpenLinux configures the system with a dialog box for login. The dialog box is running kdm/xdm which is a display manager (an X-client). To shutdown the system, you may use GUI tools similar to Win9[58].
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