LPI 101 Ch06 Configuring a Linux System

8/9/2019 LPI 101 Ch06 Configuring a Linux System

1/53

SAIGONLAB 83 Nguyn Th Nh, P9, Q.Tn Bnh, Tp. HCM LPI 102

Chapter 6

Configuring A Linux System


2/53


Objectives

Describe and configure the X Window System

Describe and configurewindowmanagers and

desktop environmentssuch as xdm, KDE, and

GNOME

Describe and use package (software)management

utilitiessuch as Red Hat'srpm, Debian'sdselect,

Slackware'spkgtool

Examine how to add and configure devices


3/53


THE X WINDOW SYSTEM

The X Window Systemis a Graphical User Interface (GUI)

developed at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology

(MIT), runson UNIX and UNIX-like OS

X Windowserver, is a program that draws graphics to thedisplay and relays any keyboard, mouse, orotherinput

eventsbackto programsrunning under X or X clients


4/53


THE X WINDOW SYSTEM

Windowmanagers and desktop environments takecareof

thelook and feelof the desktop

Nearly every Linux distribution comeswith afree X server

programcalled XFree86, was developed and ismaintainedby The XFree86 Project, Inc

There areother X servers that arecommercially available,

including Accelerated-X ( from Xi Graphics) and Metro-X (

from MetroLink). Formoreinformation visit:http://www.xfree86.org


5/53


X Client/Server Model

The X serveris a program that takescontrolof the display

and of theinput devices ( keyboard, mouse, );itsstarted

with thecommand startx

X clients are programs that use the X server forinput andoutput. The desktop and windowmanagers are alsojust client

programs

X clientsmay run on a machineanywhere on the networkand

have their I/O managed by the X serveron a remoteworkstation


6/53


Gathering Information

To properly install the XFree86 windowing system, its

necessary to gatherinformation about yoursystem

hardware : video card, monitor, RAM, mouse and keyboard


7/53


Video Card

If you plan to purchase a new videocard, makesureit is

supported by the XFree86 project. It is always a good idea to

checkthelist ofsupported cards at:

http://www.xfree86.org/4.0/Status.html If yourcard is NOT supported under XFree86 v4.1.0, lookat

XFree86 v3.3.6'slist ofsupported cards. Use theolder version

of XFree86 until they add your driverif necessary:

http://www.xfree86.org/3.3.6/index.html


8/53


Monitor

If using a utility such as XF86Config or Xconfigurator to

configure X, monitorconfiguration may be assimple as

selecting yourexact model from a list.

Howeverifconfiguring Red Hat's /etc/X11/XF86Config filebyhand, orif yourmonitoris not on thelist ofsupported

hardware, you will need toknow therangeofhorizontal and

vertical refresh rates that yourmonitorsupports.


9/53


Installing XFree86

Most Linux distributionsinstall XFree86 by default. It is

also possible toinstall Xfree86 through common package

formatssuch asrpm and deb


10/53


Installing Over an Existing X Installation

If you areinstalling X over an existing installation it is a good

idea tomake a backup of yourcurrent setup in /usr/X11R6

.Do NOT simply rename yourold directory, it willremove X

applications you haveinstalled


11/53


Configuring the X Window System

There are tools available forconfiguring X Window System

torun on yoursystem. These programsmodify XF86Config

file ( residesin /etc/X11 or /usr/X11R6/lib/X11 )

XF86Setup Xconfigurator


12/53


Starting Your X Window System

Morerecent distributionsoffer a choice toenable the X

Window Systemenvironment directly after thesystem

boots. This featurebrings the user to a graphicallogin

screen, and implemented asrun level 5 in inittab

You can start X Window from text consoleby typing startx

command

You can also temporary switch from X Window to text

consoleby Ctrl+Alt+F1 (F1 through F6)


13/53


The xvidtune Utility

This tool help you to aligned desktop on yourmonitor. It

can adjust thesize and position of the desktop

Type xvidtune at the prompt torun it if X isrunning

The xvidtune utility allows forlow-levelreadjustment ofyour video display, so useit carefully


14/53


The .Xresources File

Many applications that run under X can becustomized

using externally configured settingscalled resources.

Entriesin the .Xresources use thissyntax :

program*resource: value program: The nameof theconfigurableclient

resource: Theconfigurablesetting allowed by the

program

value: Thesetting of theresource


15/53


The .Xresources File

The following is an excerpt from.Xresources that configurescolors for an xterm :

xterm*background: Blackxterm*foreground: Wheat

xterm*cursorColor: Orchidxterm*reverseVideo: false .Xdefaultsisloaded when thewindowmanagerisstarted and

.Xresourcesismerged: both are "set" into X servermemoryusing the /usr/X11R6/bin/xrdb utility called from .xinitrcor asystemwide /etc/X11/xinit/xintrc


16/53


Remote X Clients

X boasts the ability to have X displaysrun over a network.You need toset theDISPLAY variable, which has three

parts: :

host : remote host nameon the network, IP addresses, domainname. Thelocalis used if the host is NOT specified

display : specifieswhich display theoutput should be direct

toward. A singlesystemcan managemany displays. Note that

thecolon isstillrequired if the host isomittedscreen : is an optional parameter forcomputerswith more

than onemonitor tosignify which monitor tosend the display

to #export DISPLAY=:0.0


17/53


X Stations and X Terminals

X stations and X terminals arediskless systems (sometimescalled "thin client") that requireonly a monitor and an X

server

They can beconfigured to access a remote host (X Server) torun graphicalclients


18/53


xdmand X Terminals

To use X terminalwith your host


19/53


Installing and Managing Fonts Under X

XFree86 can beconfigured tosupport bitmap, TrueTypeand PostScript fonts

Font servers arebackground process that makeinstalled

fonts available to XFree86

These font serverscan beconfigured tosupply fontsboth to

XFree86 on thelocalmachine and toothermachines

running X on the network


20/53


Understanding the Font Path

Thekey to understanding fonts under X is having a stronggrasp of thefontpath. Themain font path can beconfigured

system-wideby editing the XF86Config file, orby adding

directories to your font path using the xset command

You can specify yourown font path using the FontPathdirectivein theFiles section of/etc/X11/XF86Config. Thesimplesyntax is:

FontPath "path"


21/53



Section "Files"RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/miscFontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/SpeedoFontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpiFontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpiFontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local

EndSection

When XFree86 starts, it parses these font directories andincludes theircontentsin thelist of fonts available during theX session


22/53



On recent distributionsbased on Red Hat you may see alisting like:

Section "Files"

RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgbFontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/localFontPath unix/:-1

EndSection

The aboveis a reference to afontserverthat runsseparatelyfrom XFree86 and hasit'sown configuration file. It is alsopossible to haveboth paths to font directories and referencesto font serversin thesame XF86Config file


23/53


Installing new Fonts

If therewere a font directory on yoursystem at/usr/share/fonts/foo you could add them to your font path

with the xset command :

$ xset fp+/usr/share/fonts/foo

$ xset fp rehash

Fontsin the directory areonly available until userlogsout.

To automate this you can add thesecommands toeither your

.Xsession file, or .xinitrc orin the XF86Config filewithdirective FontPath


24/53


Installing Fonts with XF86Config

After the fonts areinstalled in the new directory, themkfontdir utility isrun tocatalog the new fontsin the new

directory

Newentries are added to theXF86Configfile toinclude the

path for new fonts looklike:

FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/foo"

Restart X serveror font server torecognize the new fonts


25/53


Font Servers

Twomost popular font servers are xfs and xfstt. On RedHat,TurboLinux, Mandrake, xfscomescompiled tosupport

TrueType fontsbut its not on Debian. With Debain system,

you should install xfstt to provide TrueTypesupport.

The font path for xfsis usually controlled by the

/etc/X11/fs/config file. On Red Hat derived systems you can

use thechkfontpath utility toselect a configuration file, and to

add directories to the font path


26/53


WINDOW MANAGERS/ DESKTOP

ENVIRONMENTS

Its a program used to arrange, move, resize, windowson

thescreen. There aremany windowmanager :

KDE ( KDesktop Environment )

GNOME ( GNU NetworkObject ModelEnvironment )

Window Maker


27/53


28/53


Configuring xdm

xdm is distributed as part of XFree86 and isconfigured

by a seriesof fileslocated in /etc/X11/xdm/. These files

include:

Xaccess This filecontrolsinbound requests fromremote hosts

Xresources This fileissimilar to.Xresources.It holdsconfiguration information forsome xdm

resources, including the graphicalloginscreen.

Xservers This file associates the X display names (:0,:1, ...)


29/53


Configuring xdm

Xsession This filecontains thescript xdmlaunchesafterasuccessfullogin. It usually looks for.xsession inthe user's home directory and executes the

commands found there. Ifsuch a file doesn'texist,Xsession starts a default windowmanager(orenvironment) and applications

Xsetup_0 This fileis a script started before the graphicallogin screen

xdm-config This file associates xdmconfiguration resourceswith theother filesin thislist. It usually isn'tnecessary tomakechangesin this file


30/53


Running xdm manually

Tostart xdm, simply enterit asroot

# xdm

Most Linux distributionsenable virtualconsoles. You can

switch among them using thekey combinationsC

trl-Alt-F1,Ctrl-Alt-F2, and soon. Typically, the first six consoles areset

up as text-modescreens, and X launcheson console 7 (Ctrl-

Alt-F7).

If you want tostop xdm, simply stop the xdm process usingkillorkillallcommand from a text console:

# killall xdm


31/53


Running xdm automatically

Thisline at thebottomof/etc/inittab instructsinit tostartxdm forrunlevel 5:

# Run xdmin runlevel 5 x:5:respawn:/usr/X11R6/bin/xdm -

nodaemon

Using thisconfiguration, when thesystementersrunlevel 5,

xdmstarts and presents the graphicallogin


32/53


Modifying Xresources

Thelookof the graphicallogin screen can be altered bymanipulating theresourcesin /etc/X11/xdm/Xresources

!Xresources file

xlogin*borderWidth: 10xlogin*greeting: Welcome to Linux on CLIENTHOST

xlogin*namePrompt: Login:\040

xlogin*fail: Login incorrect - try again! xlogin*failColor:

red

xlogin*Foreground: Yellow

xlogin*Background: MidnightBlue


33/53


34/53


Modifying Xsetup_0

Toinclude additional X programsorsettingson the graphicallogin screen, put themin /etc/X11/xdm/Xsetup_0. In this

example, thebackground colorof the X display isset to a

solid color (in hexadecimal form), and a clockis added at the

lowerrighthand cornerof thescreen:

#!/bin/sh

# Xsetup

/usr/X11R6/bin/xsetroot -solid "#356390"/usr/X11R6/bin/xclock-digital -update 1 -geometry -5-5 &


35/53


Install KDE

KDEisoneof themany desktopsrunson all Linux

distributions

KDE dependson theqt libraries, install these packagesin

order :

qt kdebase kdenetwork

qt-devel kdeutils k demultimedia

kdesupport kdeadmin kdegames

kdelibs k degraphics


36/53


Terminal Emulators

Oneof themost popular terminalemulatorsis xterm

xterm providesDEC VT102 and Tektronix 4014 compatible

terminals for programs that can't use thewindowsystem

directly

Configuration for xtermis found in the /usr/lib/X11/app-

defaults/XTerm file. Thesyntax forentriesin the Xterm fileis

thesame as thoseof .Xdefaultssinceis an Xresource file


37/53


Package Managment

Packages and packagemanagers are designed tosimplify

installation process

Package : collection ofrelated executable programs and

associated data files : .rpm, .deb, .tar, .tar.gz, Packagemanagers : rpm (RedHat), dpkg (Debian),


38/53


39/53


RPM(RedHat Package Manager)

Naming : RPM package (binary)

---architecture>.rpm

Example: bash-2.0.5-8-i.386.rpm

Input of RPM commands : package name orpackage file

name


40/53


RPM Comands

Install :

rpm -ivh gcc-2.96-98.i386.rpm

Upgrade :

rpm -Uvh gcc-2.96-98.i386.rpm

UnInstall :

rpm -e gcc


41/53


RPM Comands

List allinstalled packges :

rpm -qa

Listfiles containedin a specificinstalled package and where

they arelocated:rpm -ql gcc

List information about an installed packges :

rpm qigcc


42/53


RPM Comands

List packgeson which this packagedepends :

rpm -Rgcc-2.96.i386.rpm

Find out what packgesowns a given file:

rpm -qf/usr/bin/gcc

Verify the gcc packge:

rpm -V gcc


43/53


The rpmrc File

Thereisone file that controlsrpm's actions: /etc/rpmrc. Toview thesetting in rpmrc, use the --showrc flag :

rpm --showrc

Theoutput is divided into twosections: Architecture and operating system values

rpmrc values


44/53


45/53


Installing Software from Source

Some distributionsrequire programs tobeinstalled fromsource asopposed tobinaries

Softwaressourcecodeis usual under .tar, .tar.gzor .tgz

formats

Installing fromsource usually requires threesteps after you

haveobtained the program:

unpacking the tarball

executing theconfigurescript

making the program


46/53


Unpacking the tarball (step 1)

With .tar file :

tarxvf foo.tar

With .tar.gzor .tgz file :tarxjvf foo.tgz

tarxzvf foo.tar.gz


47/53


Executing the configure script (step 2)

When thescript isexecuted, it lookson yourmachine tomakesure that it meets therequirements needed tocompile the

program :

#cd

#./configure

If theconfiguration terminatesbecausesomethingis missing,

then it will generate an errorreport


48/53


Making the program (step 3)

Finally, we use themake and makeinstallcommands toactually compile thesoftware. Themakecommand actually

compilesthe source code, whilemakeinstallcopiesthe

compiled filesinto the system directories


49/53


Using Packages Without a Package Manager

If you want toexamine thecontentsof a package file and youdo not have thecorresponding packagemanager, there are

two tools that you can use to doso :

Midnight Commander (MC)is a programwhich can

display the contents of files. If the fileis a package file, it

willlist the filesin all directoriesin the archivecontained

in the package

Therpm2cpio program producesoutput that can be pipedtocpio : #rpm2cpio foo.rpm | cpio -t


50/53


Adding Hard Drives

1. Write down the new drive'sspecifications : the numberof

cylinders, heads, sectors, and totalcapacity for your drive

2. Configure the new drive appropriately for yourbus

3. Install the new drivein yourcomputerchassis, ensuring that

all data and powercables aresecurelyattached

4. Configure your BIOS torecognize the new drive

5. Boot youroperating system and ensure that the new driveis

recognized

6. Createoneormore partitionson your hard disk


51/53


Adding Hard Drives

7. Create the filesystemson partitions : usemkfscommand

8. Create a mount point :

mkdir /mnt/sparedisk

9. Mount the drive

mount -t ext3 /dev/hdb1 /mnt/sparedisk

10. Test the new drive

11. Update /etc/fstab formounting automatically when reboot

by adding a newentry like:

/dev/hdb1 /mnt/sparedisk ext3 defaults 1 1


52/53


Adding NIC

Linux supports a very large percentage of the NetworkInterface Controllers that exist today

If there is no driver available in your current kernel, you will

have to:

Recompiled new kernel

Obtain the current kernel sources

Configure the kernel to use the proper driver

Compile and install the new kernel

Download device driver from Internet and install


53/53

SAIGONLAB 83 N Th Nh P9 Q Tn B h T HCM LPI 102

Summary

Describe and configure the X Window System

Describe and configurewindowmanagers and desktop

environmentssuch as xdm, KDE, and GNOME

Describe and use package (software)management utilities

such as Red Hat'srpm, Debian'sdselect, Slackware'spkgtool,

and alien

Examine how to add and configure devices

Documents

LPI 101 Ch06 Configuring a Linux System