SuSE Linux was recently voted "Best System Software" at LinuxWorld in March 1999. It is also the winner of Linux Journal's 1998 Readers' Choice Award for Favorite Linux Distribution. It's easy to see why. This is a well-thought-out product. The installation is easy and painless.
In this section, we will install SuSE Linux release 6.1. This is the most current release (at the time of this writing). Some of the highlighted features of SuSE Linux are Kernel 2.2.5, KDE 1.1 Desktop Environment, GNOME 1.0, XFree86 3.3.3.1, WordPerfect 8, and StarOffice 5.0 Personal Edition. You can see this is a well-rounded package. Not only do you get the Linux operating system, you also get office software. Don't forget, you get everything else you expect from a Linux distribution: image manipulation, programming tools, multimedia, typesetting, networking (workstation and server), editors, and so on and so forth.
In this section, we are going to take a suggestion from the SuSE team and offer a quick install, except that ours will not be as terse as their version. We will make the same assumption that your hard drive has some spare space, an extra partition, or an operating system (currently installed) that you are willing to lose (read: remove). If the answer to these three assumptions is false, then you need to prepare your hard drive before proceeding here.
The fips program, which we have discussed in a previous section, can be used to split a single partition into two. Refer to the previous sections "Multiple Operating Systems on One Machine" and "Hard Disk Partitioning" for more details.
When your machine is partitioned and ready for SuSE Linux, go to the following section "Installing SuSE."
Installing SuSE
Insert the SuSE Bootdisk and start your machine. You will see Loading... messages:
Loading initdisk.gz ...
Loading linux...
The linuxrc program loads up and the first menu to appear is Choose a Language. Use the up and down arrow keys to choose a language, and select OK.
Next, the Kind of Display option pops up. The options are Color or Mono. Choose the appropriate option and select OK. If you choose color, the screen will switch to a color scheme.
The Keyboard Map screen comes into view, allowing you to select a keyboard type. Choose the option that matches your keyboard and select OK.
Next, the Main Menu is shown. The options are as follows:
• Settings
• System Information
• Kernel Modules (hardware drivers)
• Start Installation/System
• End/Reboot
Choose the Start Installation/System option and select OK. The Start Installation/System menu is displayed. The options are as follows:
• Start Installation
• Boot Installed System
• Start Rescue System
• Start Live CD
Choose the Start Installation option and select OK. The Choose Source Media menu will pop up, requesting your attention. Because we assume a CD-ROM installation, pick CD from the options and select OK.
The Loading Data window appears for a moment, then YaST (Yet another Setup Tool) starts. YaST is the menu-driven installation and configuration tool from the SuSE team. This is a very competent tool that eases the installation and configuration process.
The first menu we see is called Type of Installation. Choose the Install Linux from Scratch option.
Next, we get the Select Swap Partition pop-up. If you have set up a swap partition, it will be listed.
A Confirmation window is displayed, asking if the swap should be initialized and checked before activation. Choose Yes to continue; a Please Wait window is shown while the swap is initialized.
The Partitioning Harddrives window pops up. You have two choices here: Do Not Partition and Partition. Your partitions should already be set; if not, continue on to partition the drive. A Status window is displayed.
The Creating Filesystems window is revealed, waiting for you to specify a mount point. Highlight the partition and press the F4 key. The Mount Point window pops up; choose the file system, such as /,
and select Continue. You can also change the inode density.
A Creating Filesystem confirmation window is shown - select Yes to create the filesystem(s). A Please Wait window is revealed while the filesystems are created. Next, a new window, Reading Description Files, is displayed, which gathers package information for the installation.
The YaST menu is displayed. Select Load Configuration; these are predefined configuration types, such as Network, Development, Almost Everything, and so on. You can choose Change/Create to add or remove packages. One thing to mention is the Applix package. This is a demo; if you want it - fine;
otherwise, it takes up more than 200MB.
WARNING
You may see an Information window pop up, informing you that the amount of free space would drop below 5 percent. You don't want your system to drop to this level. You will have to either increase the size of your Linux partition or reduce the number of packages/software to install.
Select the Start Installation menu choice; the Installing Package status window will pop up. Each package is identified as it is being installed. You are also shown the number of packages installed and the remaining count. Don't walk away thinking you can come back later and the installation will be done. With SuSE, you will most likely be prompted to insert CD 2, CD 3, and CD 4. This depends on the packages chosen, but you should still be prepared for CD swapping. You will then proceed to YaST's menu. You will need to select Main Menu and insert CD 1. At the next selection window, Select Kernel, choose 2.2.5 and select Continue.
The Kernel Options menu is shown; select EISE or SCSI, whichever is appropriate for your hardware.
For you MicroChannel fans, SuSE is kind enough to supply you with the option MicroChannel Kernel.
The Create a Bootkdisk window is shown. It is always a good practice to create a bootdisk, in case a problem occurs in booting the system in the future.
Next, it's time to configure LILO. Appropriately enough, the Do You Want to Configure LILO window is displayed - select Yes. Press the F4 key to create a new configuration. Enter a configuration name, select Boot Linux, specify the partition to boot, and select Continue. When the LILO installation is accessible, supply any hardware parameters required. At the Where to Install LILO prompt, choose the root partition. You can set a delay; the default delay is 10 seconds. When you are ready, select Continue.
NOTE
If you are using a boot manager application, YaST asks if the root partition should be activated. Select No, and at the Confirmation window, select Continue.
NOTE
If you are using a boot manager application, you may get a Confirmation window, asking if LILO should be installed to the logical or the extended partition. If you are using a boot manager such as OS/2 Boot Manager or System Commander, choose Logical. Next, select Don't Activate Root Partition.
A number of windows are displayed, each requesting that you supply configuration information. First, the Time Zone Configuration must be addressed; select your time zone and Continue. At the next window, you should select Local for the Adjustment of Hardware Clock window, unless you are synched with GMT.
Now, you will need to specify a Hostname and Domain Name. If you are on a network, you may need to speak to your system administrator for these values; otherwise, you can choose any names you like.
At the Configure Loopback window, specify Yes if you are not on a network. For example, if you only dial the Internet, select Yes. If you are on a network, select No. If you do not configure loopback, you will need to enter a number of IP addresses. Check with your system administrator for details.
Next, at the Sendmail Configuration window, specify Single-user Machine and select Continue. The Output of SuSE Configuration window is displayed; select Continue.
The System Must Restart window is displayed. This does not mean that the machine will reboot, but that Linux will restart with the installed kernel and configuration.
You are now solicited for a root password. Then YaST starts again. You are prompted to choose whether you want to Create an Example User. If you want to, choose Yes.
The Setup Modem window is displayed. If you have a modem, choose Yes, and the Modem Configuration menu is shown. Choose the appropriate port and select Continue.
Mouse configuration comes next. Select your mouse type. The Use GPM? window is shown. GPM enables you to cut and paste text from one part of the screen to another or to a virtual screen. If you choose to install GPM, you will need to test it and select the Keep option.
The All Installed Packages Are Initialized window is displayed, awaiting confirmation. Select Continue. If you intend to run the X Windows system, be sure to run Sax, which is used to configure X.
YaST will terminate and services are started. You can now log in and begin working with Linux! It's time to get to know Linux. You can go to Chapter 3, which provides a good foundation of knowledge to maneuver within Linux.
Summary
We covered a lot of important information in this chapter. We began the chapter with an overview of Linux installation.
We went over the hardware requirements of most Linux systems. A System Planning Worksheet is included for your use, providing you with a preplanning checklist. Some of the items covered are CPU, memory, video, and bus architecture. In addition, hard disk partitioning was discussed.
The last section of the chapter covered distribution-specific installations, including Red Hat 6.0, Caldera OpenLinux 2.2, Slackware 4.0, and SuSE 6.1.
Chapter 3. Using Linux
HAKUNA MATATA! It means "No worries," for those of you who missed the movie The Lion King. If you are a seasoned Linux user, you know what I mean. If you are new to Linux, the intent of the phrase is, "Do not worry - play with the system. Experiment, explore, and above all, don't worry!"
Linux is designed to protect specific parts of its system. You cannot do much damage, unless you log in as root. Be sure to refer to the later section "The Root Account" for details. Even if you do move or delete some special files by mistake, don't worry. The worst that can happen is that you will have to reinstall the system. And that's okay, it will give you more practice with Linux.