It was originally written for some Yahoo groups, back when these groups were far more active than they are now. I leave it up primarily for the netiquette section, most of which is still relevant.
So, be very careful if using any technical information from this FAQ, most of it is probably over 10 years old.
The rest of this is the FAQ--again, keep in mind that it's ancient.
These are the questions that I found myself answering most often. However, remember that as someone once wrote, there is always more than one way to do things in Unix and someone will think that your way is wrong. :) If you think there are any significant lapses, please feel free to drop me a line at scottro11[at]gmail.com. However this faq is almost unmaintained these days, especially as lately, especially on the yahoo lists, it seems to be almost unread by new members, despite being mentioned in the welcome message.
However, if you are new to those lists, please do take the time to read the netiquette section and the articles that it references. You will save yourself a lot of aggravation, and greatly increase the chances of your query getting answered by someone with more knowledge. If you choose to ignore it, that's up to you, but the various lapses in netiquette that are almost the norm on some of these yahoo lists these days, will probably result in the people most likely to be able to help you completely ignoring you. If you take my advice and read some of the articles to which it links, you'll see why.
In many cases, these were problems that I ran into myself when I first began, and, often, as much to remind myself as to help anyone else, I would put up a page. Therefore, in many cases, I'll send you to these pages for reference. Other questions that I'm ignoring are those where I simply don't know the answer.
The faq is somewhat loosely organized--it begins with issues of netiquette and more or less progresses through pre-installation questions, post-installation questions and more advanced questions. It has sometimes been suggested that I organize it still further, for example with a more proper table of contents, which each question grouped within a section. My stock answer is that when two weeks pass without someone either posting a question covered in the faq or violating one of the netiquette rules mentioned, such as cross posting or top posting, I'll do so. It's a fairly safe bet that I'll never have to, which is a good thing, since the real reason I don't is sheer laziness. I have made a few broad topics, but the majority is just lumped together under Post-Installation
In many cases, it refers to RH 7, which is of course, completely obsolete. Yet the answers to many questions remain the same.
My friend Godwin Stewart has made his own FAQ for Windows users, which, although there is a bit of overlap with this FAQ, is aimed more towards the person using Windows who is thinking of taking the plunge into Linux. It is a worthwhile read, and can be found here.
Another friend, Tom Newsom has a page that although Slackware oriented has a whole slew of one line answers to many of the questions covered in this faq. Tom's page can be found here.
Anyway, without further ado...
Q: I have a gmail account. Why am I not seeing my posts to the list?
Q: Why aren't my posts getting to the list?
Q: What is cross-posting and why is it bad?
Q:What's wrong with posting in HTML? Or, I didn't realize I was posting in HTML, how do I turn it off?
Q: Any other netiquette rules that I should know?
Q:Nobody is answering my questions. What's wrong with this list?
Q: What sort of information should I give when posting a question?
Q: I was told to RTFM. What does that mean?
Q: I want to keep Windows and only have one computer. How do I do this?
Q: How do I dual-boot with an MS operating system?
Q: I just downloaded an ISO and burned it to a CD. However, the CD won't boot, what's wrong?
Q: I read the previous question. Now how do I reinstall Grub or Lilo?
Q: I've forgotten my root password. Is there a way to get it back, or boot into the system?
Q: Why should I avoid logging as root? Or, I can't login as root when I connect remotely.
Q: How do I set or change the hostname of my machine?
Q: You often say, "At a commmand prompt" or "type the command". How do I get to this command prompt?
Q: What's the best book for learning about Linux?
Q: I use AOL. Will I be able to use it with Linux?
Q:Since I upgraded to the 2.6 kernel, my mouse doesn't work properly with my KVM switch.
Q:How I do switch between X and console mode?
Q: Is there any way to view more than one window at a time in console mode?
Q: How do you burn CD's in Linux?
Q: I'm trying to edit my inetd.conf file in RedHat 7.x and can't find it. Where is it?
Q: I was told to look at the man pages--however, I'm finding them difficult to understand.
Q: What about firewalls for Linux?
Q: I would like to set up Pine (or Mutt) as my email client, but can't figure out how to configure it.
Q: I downloaded a program with an .rpm (or tar.gz, .tgz, tar.bz2, tbz or tar.Z). How do I install it.
Q: I just installed a program. How do I start it?
Q: How do I access my Windows drive from Linux?
Q: Is NTFS supported by default in RedHat 7.3?
Q: How do I find out what version of the kernel is running on my machine?
Q: How do I recompile a kernel?
Q: I can't get Samba working properly. How do I fix it?
Q: What's the best emailer for Linux?
Q: My modem works in Windows, but not in Linux. How do I fix this?
Q: How do I get the scroll wheel of my mouse working in Linux?
Q: I installed RedHat 7.2 and upgraded to the ext3 filesystem. Then, when I went to recompile my kernel, I ran into problems as there's no option for ext3 in the filesystems section? What do I do? (This question may be removed soon since as of November 9, 2001, the testing 2.4.15-pre2 has experimental ext3 support. Kernel 2.4.16, the current stable release as of December 1st, 2001 has it)
Q: My Network isn't working, how do I fix it?
Q: How do I set (or check) my IP address?
I have a gmail account. Why am I not seeing my posts to the list?
A: According to gmail, it's a feature. According to almost everyone
else, it's a complete pain in the neck. To, as they put it, "avoid
clutter in your inbox" posts that you make to a mailing list will not
appear in your inbox. If someone responds to the post, you will see
that, but you won't see your original posts. There have been, judging
from some googling, many requests for them to change this, but so far,
they have not done so. It is the reason I don't use my gmail account
for any mailing lists, because I consider it a bug, not a feature.
Interestingly enough, some yahoogroups members do get their posts in
their inbox. It seems that yahoo adds so much junk to an email that
gmail doesn't realize it's what you sent. This seems to vary between
lists and individuals.
(back to top)
Why aren't my posts getting to the list?
The RedHat list is moderated. Unfortunately, the list was almost ruined
by people who refuse to follow simple netiquette. Don't top post.
Don't cross post. Trim your messages.
Do a minimal amount of research before posting. Don't
use texting, it isn't a language. We realize that many people don't
have English as their first language.
However, there is no
excuse for laziness. U for you, plz for please, ne1 for anyone--these
aren't English mistakes, they're sheer laziness.
For awhile the moderators gave up on this due to the sheer volume of
people that ignored it. This is no longer the case. If you don't
follow these very basic rules of netiquette, your post will not be
approved.
Refer to Godwin's guide.
There are always exceptions (not for texting, but for top posting and
failure to trim) and the aim isn't to keep people from posting. It is
simply an effort to make the list worthwhile.
(back to top)
What is cross-posting and why is it bad?
A: Cross-posting is where you make the identical post to several
lists. It's very common for beginners to post the same question to,
for example, the Linux, Linux_Newbies and Redhat yahoogroups
mailing lists.
Aside from the minor annoyance of seeing the same message more than
once, and the waste of bandwidth, it is also a time waster for
those most able to help. Say a Linux guru belongs to all three of
those lists, plus another developer's list, etc--he may be getting
over 100 emails a day. Therefore, he might only glance through the
subject lines to see if there's a question he is able to answer. He
then goes to the next list, same thing--looks at the subject
lines--opens up another email, only to find that it's the same
question he answered on another list. If he's having an irritating
day, he might simply decide to stop answering questions
entirely.
Additionally, although more and more people are getting broadband
Internet connections, many are still on dial-up. We in the US, even
those on dial-up connections, usually pay a flat rate, regardless
of how many hours we're on the Internet--however, in other
countries, they pay per minute rates, both for their phone and
Internet access. In some circumstances, for example, a production
environment emergency (or having messed up a child's computer)
cross-posting is probably acceptable. However, show consideration
for those most likely to be able to answer your question and do
something such as CROSS-POSTED to linux, redhat, Linux_Newbies in
the subject line. (It's been suggested that adding CROSS-POSTED to
the subject line and then putting the different lists in the first
line of the message might be better--the reader can decide for
themself. The main point is to let people know that it's been
cross-posted and to where it's been cross-posted.
To sum up--the considerate reason to not cross post is that it
aggravates others and can cost them money as they download your
message on several lists. The selfish reason to not cross post is
that you might alienate the very people who are most able to help
you.
(back to top)
Q:What's wrong with posting in HTML? Or, I didn't realize I was posting in HTML, how do I turn it off?
A: There are several reasons to not use HTML. Firstly, HTML can
carry viruses and worms. The kak worm that was so widespread for
awhile never would have gotten off the ground if people didn't use
HTML.
It's also inconsiderate to people who use text based mail readers,
such as mutt or pine. Have you ever tried wading through all those HTML
tags to get the gist of a message in a text based mail reader?
(Actually, newer versions of both can handle HTML fairly well but
it's still a pain.)
It also wastes a lot of bandwidth. An HTML message that might be
90k in text will be as much as 300k in HTML. Not everyone has high
speed connections and in many places people still pay for each
minute they're connected--so you're costing them money, not to
mention the extra unnecesary load on the server.
Somtimes, people don't realize that they are posting in HTML (which
is the default in many email clients, choosing cosmetics over
security and efficiency)
In Outlook Express go to tools/options/send. You'll see that
there's a box saying HTML. Uncheck it and check plain text. Also,
uncheck the box that says reply to messages in the format that they
were sent.
In Outlook it's in Tools/Options/Mail Format. There's a dropdown
textbox that says HTML. Click the little arrow and you'll have the
option to select plain text. I haven't found a way to fix the
default, however, of replying to messages in the format that they
were sent.
In Netscape, the last time I looked, (I haven't used it for
awhile--in Linux I use Konqueror as web browser and Sylpheed as my
email client) it's under Edit/Preferences/Mail &
Newsgroups/Formatting. Move the little dot in front of use HTML
editor to Use Plain Text Editor.
In Eudora it's under Tools/Options/Styled Text. There's an option
to send plain text only.
Sometimes, one does all this and it still comes across as HTML.
This is usually due to default settings on a Microsoft Exchange
Server. If you can, talk to your Network Administrator--or, if
you're the Network Admin, then change it. :)
There's an excellent article about why one should NOT use HTML which can be found here.
Q: Any other netiquette rules I should know?
A: Yes, probably several--but a few to keep in mind. While we
all get lazy and/or careless and break this one, in general, if
replying to a message, begin your answer BELOW the previous
message, as if it were a conversation. (Or below the point in the
previous message that you are answering.) Putting your reply above
the message is known as top posting and is considered a Bad
Thing(TM). If you're answering various points in the previous
email, put your answer inline--that is answer paragraph a below
paragraph a, paragraph b below paragraph b, etc.
Every so often, people get annoyed at this request. However,
consider the following.
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail? |
As this is a Linux list, many people use Pine or Mutt as their
email client. Both are text based, and work better if you keep your
lines at 72 characters or so. Some GUI (Graphic Based) emailers
allow you to set this, others don't, but try to hit the enter key
every 70 or so characters--if you rely upon your emailer to
automatically return some of these text based emailers find it
difficult to read. Again, keep in mind the selfish reason for doing
this--often the most knowledgeable folks are the ones using such
email clients, and they will be less inclined to answer your
question if they have to take extra effort to read it.
Clarity is important of course, but try to keep in only what is
necessary--at time of writing, this list is on Yahoo, and they
include all sorts of ads or other superfluous things at the bottom
of the email---try to delete that from the message to which you are
replying, so we don't have to see it twice.
Don't hijack threads. Thread hijacking is when you want to post a
new subject, simply delete the previous subject line, put in your
new subject, write your email and send it. If you have a totally
new subject, then write a new email--don't just take a previous
post at random, delete its subject, put in your own, and write an
email. Thread hijacking is a nuisance for those who set up Mutt,
for example, to follow threads. If someone is not following thread
x and deletes the entire thread, and you have simply changed the
subject line, that person won't see your question. For an example
see this picture One poster simply
changed the subject line from Hallo to everybody to Is linguistics
OT at all? However, in an email client like mutt, it becomes part
of the same thread.
If you are replying to a previous email, but feel that the subject
line should be changed, then, if you put in your new subject, add
(was old subject.) For instance, if a discussion about distros is
turning into a discussion about burning ISO's you might, in your
subject line put
burning ISO's (Was distro discussion)
Some of the common instant messaging and mobile phone abbreviations
aren't really appropriate on a tech mailing list. Using u instead
of you, coz instead of because and plz instead of please tends to
annoy people. If someone is annoyed, they're not going to bother
answering your question, they may not even read it.
The links in the "Why aren't my questions
getting answered" give excellent guidelines for questions,
subject lines, etc.
You might find these rules restrictive--however, if you gain in
knowledge and wind up on more advanced lists, you'll find them
quite mild. The lists which refer to this faq are all aimed at
newcomers. Other lists, aimed towards the more advanced user,
expect even more from someone who is posting with a question. For
an example of a list aimed at the more advanced user and their
guidelines, see the Tokyo Linux User Group's List
Policy
I have a little survival
guide for the newcomer. It makes an effort to explain why you
might have been flamed.
For those who find all these rules unreasonable, an anarchist
friend has his own list, appropriately called linux-anyway. There,
although newcomers will be informed of things they're doing wrong,
the rule is that they will be told very nicely, and only with the
aim of letting them know about these things in case they join other
lists. For info on that list, please go to their welcome page
(back to top)
Q:Nobody is answering my questions. What's wrong with this list?
A: There are several possible reasons. Firstly, you might want
to read Greg Lehey's excellent How to get the
best results from FreeBSD questions Even though it's for a
different operating system, much of it is applicable to any mailing
list. Another excellent guide to proper posting can be found at
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way.
Did you put in a descriptive subject line? Many of the people most
able to help are on many tech support lists and get hundreds of
emails a day--they glance through the subject line to see if
there's anything interesting and if not delete it without reading.
A subject line of "Help" is one that they often just delete.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you get the list in digest
mode, and hit reply, the subject will show as Digest number xxxx.
That's another thing that makes folks just delete without
reading--change the subject line to read problem with remote login
(was Digest number xxx)
Did you give enough information? This is always a fine line, but to
say, I just installed Linux and X doesn't work gives us little to
work with in helping you. If we have time, someone might send a
reply saying tell us your distro, the error message, what happened,
etc. Or, someone might simply see it, shrug and say, ok, I'll leave
it to someone with time to play 20 questions. (For some tips on
what information might be included, see the the next question.
Remember that people aren't obligated to help you and are doing
it out kindness. No one owes you an answer. To become rude after
not receiving an answer one almost guarantees that no one will help
you in the future as well. It might simply be that no one knows the
answer, or no one who knows the answer saw your post. If you don't
get an answer after a day or two, it's alright to repost, and
perhaps comment, politely, that you posted this before and no one
answered, but you hope that this time someone who knows the answer
or has time to help will see the post.
Is your mail formatted correctly? This is better covered on the
Greg Lehey page referenced above, but also mentioned in the
netiquette section and html sections in this faq.
Was your question phrased clearly? We understand that many list
members don't have English as their first language, however even
some folks that do have English as their first language don't
describe something well. Once, a fellow on Linux_Newbies became
outraged and abusive when no one answered his question correctly.
He felt the fault was the reader's. However, when several people so
obviously misunderstood what he was asking, there was a good chance
that the fault was in his phrasing of his question.
Did you cross-post? Some folks automatically
ignore cross-posted messages.
Did you RTFM? Even newbie friendly groups will
sometimes not answer a question if it's obvious that the person
made no effort to find out the answer on their own.
Are you a help
vampire? Follow the link to get a fuller explanation, but basically,
are you showing that you expect the list to do your work for you?
As Linux, Linx_newbies and RedHat are all newbie friendly groups,
you will usually get these things pointed out--usually politely,
though not always so. The best thing to do, if you don't get an
answer after a day or so is to post again and perhaps ask if
there's a good reason that you didn't get an answer the first
time.
(back to top)
Q: What sort of information should I give when posting a question?
A: The distribution and version you are using. For example,
RedHat 7.3, Gentoo 1.4, etc. If, for example, you're posting a
question that the make command isn't working properly, and tell us
right away that it's RedHat 7.0, we can tell you that make was
broken in that version.
While on the subject--a very common mistake of newcomers is to say,
"I'm running Linux 9.0," when they mean RedHat 9.0, Slackware, etc.
Try to be careful with this. As most of the major distributions are
up around version 9, we can't tell which distribution you have. So,
I repeat--it isn't Linux 9.0 it is RedHat 9.0, etc.
The kernel version. (This can be found by typing uname -a at a
command prompt). Knowing some of the hardware might be helpful--for
example, there is a frequent problem with two lines appearing under
the mouse in X with the SiS chipset. It can't hurt to give
processor speed and type (eg Pentium III, Athlon) amount of memory
and manufacturer of the motherboard. If you're having trouble with
sound, then the make of the sound card, if the trouble is with
video, then the make of the video card, if the trouble is with
networking, the make of the network card.
Also, let us know, did anything change before this trouble began?
That is, did you add a program and suddenly other programs stop
working?
What steps have you taken to solve the problem? If you tell us, I
searched google and deja using these key words, or I looked at the
man page but saw nothing, this saves us from having to play 20
questions. Many of the older man pages were written by engineers
for engineers, and it is alright to say I looked at the man page,
and this part might have something to do with my problem, but I
don't quite understand it. Telling us you searched google stops a
grouchy person from saying, well, look at google and see what you
find. If you're too inexperienced to know what steps to take first,
that's alright too--but tell us. The idea is to save the people who
might help you from having to play 20 questions. To summarize:
Distribution and version
Relevant hardware
Did anything happen that might have caused the problem (that you
know of)
Where have you researched the problem
What steps have you already taken before posting
(back to top)
Q: I was told to RTFM. What does that mean?
Perhaps this is best answered by a quote from my friend Josh
Glover.
Now, the more pressing issue. Are you familiar with the RTFM program? It is a great tool for learning how to use Linux. Here is all you have to do:Josh is being a bit droll, though his method, of linking rtfm to man is one of the cleverer ideas I've heard. RTFM stands for Read The Fine Manual. (Other people believe that rather than the word, "Fine" it refers to another common, albeit vulgar, English adjective beginning with F. The reader can choose for themselves.)
ln -s /usr/bin/man /usr/bin/rtfm
Now, anytime you have a question about a program, say "echo", for example, type:
rtfm echo
into the nearest text (or X, RTFM works under X now!) console.
A: This can be a very fine line, and in general, it is better to
err on the side of caution. If you join one of these lists, and
immediately post about your Linux web page, it is somewhat poor
netiquette and will be considered by many to be acting like a
spammer. However, if you join a list, and the next day someone
posts a question and you reply, "I have a web page which covers
that..." it's probably acceptable. If you've been a member of one
of these lists for awhile, and often post answers (or even
questions) then it's possibly ok to post something about a new web
page you're developing. Yet, again it can be a very fine line. For
example, I'm a co-moderator on linux@yahoogroups.com, yet I asked
permission to post about a new shell-scripting list that I was
starting. This was simple courtesy to the actual owner and other
moderators. Posting about your own mailing list on another mailing
list should almost certainly be cleared with the list owners
first.
If in doubt, ask is probably a good rule. It is definitely a bad
idea to join a group and immediately post about your wonderful
Linux page.
(back to top)
Q: This will be my first time installing Linux. What distribution should I use?
A: You will find that some people have an almost religious dedication to one distribution (commonly known as distro) vs. another. However, for the beginner, I think that the threemost important factors are ease of installation, including hardware recognition, sharing a machine with Microsoft, and ease of use once it's installed.
Distrowatch has a section
with brief comparisons giving the pros and cons of 10 major
distributions. It might be useful and can be viewed here.
Hardware detection has improved tremendously since the early days.
Knoppix raised the bar for live CD's, that is, a distribution that
runs from the CD drive so you can test it out without installing
it. Ubuntu has become the most popular, but in late 2006 their latest
version doesn't support several popular graphic cards, including various
Matrox ones, without some fiddling that might take more knowledge than
the beginner has.
If you look on Distrowatch you will see that most distributions are based on either Debian, RedHat or Slackware. (These days, one can also add Gentoo and ArchLinux.) Knoppix and Ubuntu are somewhat based on Debian, however, these days, you'll see that many distros are based on Ubuntu, which makes them, to my mind, based on Debian.
Many distributions now have LiveCDs, enabling you to try it before installing, to see if it will work with your hardware. There are 371 active distributions with another 177 on the Distrowatch waiting list, so the chances are, you will be able to find one to suit your needs. Browse through their listings--if you go to a distro's page, you will often see reviews, complete with screenshots.
Q: I want to keep Windows and only have one computer. How do I do this?
A: There are a number of ways, and that is one reason that I
recommended looking at the installation guides. Caldera, for
example, comes with a "lite" version of PartitionMagic, that can
non-destructively partition your drives. I have heard from some
people, however, that PartitionMagic doesn't play nicely with
Windows 2000, at least through version 6, although others have had
no problem. Always back up your data before playing with
partitions--in one of my early Linux installs, I managed to wipe
out 5 partitions with some mistypes.
Most distros of Linux also come with FIPS, another tool that I
haven't used. It is supposed to non-destructively shrink your FAT32
partitions, leaving room for your Linux installation.
The better solution is to either have a drive free for Linux, or
already have space. With the size of today's hard drives, this is
less complicated than it used to be. Again, you are urged to check
the distributor's installation guide, since almost all of them deal
with the issue of already having Windows on the hard drive.
A full treatise on drive partitioning is beyond the scope of this
FAQ, but hopefully, the above will get you started. It is covered
in the latest Linux installation howto.
The section on partitioning is here.
(back to top)
Q: How do I dual-boot with an MS operating system?
A: If the MS system is on a FAT32 partition, Lilo will
automatically detect it and include it in the menu. Grub will do
the same, and later versions will do so even if it's on an NTFS
partition.
There are a variety of possible setups--one can boot Linux from NT,
which is a bit of a nuisance to setup, or NT from Linux, which
takes, in modern distros at least, about 2 minutes to get working.
For using grub see my grub page.
For the harder way, booting Linux from Windows (or using lilo)
see my page here which gives step by step details for dual booting
Linux and NT.
(back to top)
Q: I just downloaded an ISO and burned it to a CD. However, the CD won't boot, what's wrong?
A: Many people make the mistake of copying an ISO image directly to a CDROM. If you see one large iso image on your cd, as opposed to files and directories, that's probably what happened. This is not how it should be done. The ISO image is used to create a CDROM--it is not the actual thing that will go on a CDROM. Unfortunately, a few CDROM burning software manufacturers make a demo version available that won't actually do more than copy files to a CD, as opposed to making a bootable image from an ISO.
linuxiso.org has a good faq on this. They also have a good page on burning CDs with various types of software.
Some CD burning software can have confusing terms. They will give the option to burn a bootable CD. This would seem to be what you want, but what you really want, if you've downloaded a distribution's ISO, is something saying burn ISO to disk. (SonicMedia is one of ones with this issue.)To use Linux itself to burn CDs see the burning
CD question for a link to an easy to understand page about
it.
(back to top)
A: Assuming that your Linux partition isn't trashed, then you can possibly fix it with the rescue option. Different distributions have different ways of doing this. In RedHat, one would do it this way.
Boot from the CD, and at the prompt choose linux rescue. It will begin as it were doing an install. It will then tell you that it is going to try to mount your RH partition under sysimage and that if that doesn't work, you can skip the step. The one or two times I've done it, I've skipped the step. Either way, the procedure is similar. In this case, we'll assume that your Linux partition is on the 2nd partition of your first hard drive, i.e. /dev/hda2 If skipping the sysimage step then
mkdir rh
mount /dev/hda2 rh
chroot rh /bin/bash
You are now inside the Linux partition and can do whatever you want. If you don't add the /bin/bash then you're using the sh shell, which has fewer features. Often, it just involves editing your lilo.conf or grub.conf (or menu.lst in distros other than RH).
If using sysimage, where they've mounted the partition for you (although you will have to know which partition it is, especially if you have more than one Linux partition) then it would be
chroot sysimage /bin/bash
(As I said, I haven't used the sysimage method--it might be
chroot /mnt/sysimage or something like that, but there should be
instructions on the screen.)
When done I think that if you use the sysimage thing, it will
automatically unmount for you, when you're done. I'm not sure of
that though, so you might want to do it as I would. When done with
everything, and ready to reboot
exit
cd /
umount rh
reboot
In other words, exit the chrooted environment and unmount the
partition that you were working with before rebooting
If you have the boot CD, and know in which partition you have your
installation, this should work with almost all distros. If you have
more than one Linux distribution on a machine, you can also boot
into the working distro, then mount the drive containing the broken
one. For example, if you have RedHat on /dev/hda5 and Slackware on
/dev/hda2 and can boot into Slackware
| mkdir /mnt/rh mount /dev/hda5 /mnt/rh chroot /mnt/rh /bin/bash |
Don't forget to cd back to the Slack install and unmount the partition when you're done.
| exit cd umount /mnt/rh |
Q: I read the previous question. Now how do I reinstall Grub or Lilo?
A: I have a page on Grub that gives the details here. The short answer, once you're in your chroot environment (see the previous question), do the following.
grub |
This will bring you to a grub command prompt, which looks like
this >
For purposes of example, we'll assume the Linux partition is on the
second hard drive, 2nd partition. Grub starts numbering at 0 rather
than 1.
| root (hd1,1) |
If you're not sure of the partition, after doing root (hd1,
you can hit the tab key, and grub will list the different
partitions that it sees. After you enter the partition, it will
give information about that partition, such as its reiserfs or ext3
etc.
| setup (hd0) |
You'll see that it's checking for some files in your /boot/grub partition and then, hopefully, you'll see that setup succeeded. Once you exit your chroot environment and unmount the mounted drive and reboot, you should be back at your Grub prompt. (Don't forget to edit your grub.conf or menu.lst file before rebooting, if necessary).
Note that with some distributions, such as Gentoo and Arch that are using devfs, it might be slightly different. You may have to use devfs syntax. For instance, if in trying to mount /dev/hdb2 you get something like no such device then use
mount /dev/discs/disc1/part2 |
You will also have to mount /dev. So, if I booted from an ArchLinux CD as an example, rather than making a directory, I can just use /mnt. (Note that each distribution does this slightly differently, and you may have to adapt slightly.) So, with ArchLinux, after booting from the install CD--again assuming that my ArchLinux partition, which has grub, is on the 2nd partition of the second hard drive
mount /dev/discs/disc1/part2 /mnt mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev chroot /mnt /bin/bash |
From there, one would continue as has been already explained. With Lilo, it's usually a bit simpler. Get into the chroot environment. Check your /etc/lilo.conf. If you're redoing your Windows partition, it's probably already there, a line like
other=/dev/hda1 label=dos |
If it's there, fine, if not add it. You can label it as WinXP, etc, just be sure that there aren't any spaces. Then, run lilo
/sbin/lilo |
Hopefully, you see something saying it has been successfully updated. If so, you're fine, again exit out of the chroot environment, unmount the Linux partition and reboot. (This is assuming that you've put Lilo in the MBR. If not, change the boot= line to read boot=/dev/hda
Q: I've forgotten my root password. Is there a way to get it back or boot into the system?
A: In many systems, you can recover your root password by booting into single user mode. If you use Grub, when the grub screen appears, select the system you want to fix and hit
| e |
This will enable you to edit the entry. Take the line that looks something like
| kernel /boot/vmlinuz ro root=/dev/hda2 |
Add the world
| single |
to the end of that line. When it boots, in RedHat and many others, you will simply be presented with something like sh #. At that prompt, you can then change the root password by simply typing
| passwd |
If using Lilo rather than Grub, you would, at the lilo prompt, type the name you've given your kernel (that is if you have label=linux, you'd type linunx) and the word single. So, assuming that your lilo.conf has
| label=linux |
you would, at the lilo prompt, type
| linux single |
Again, you'll be presented with a # prompt and be able to change the root password.
Some more secure systems, however, don't allow this. For example, in Gentoo Linux, if you boot into single user mode, you are told to enter the root password for maintainance. If your system is configured this way, then you would have to use the previous questions's method for booting from CD or another installation and doing a chroot to change the password.
Q: Why should I avoid logging as root? Or, I can't login as root when I connect remotely.
A: By default, remote root logins are not permitted. This makes it more difficult for a cracker to invade your machine. You shouldn't change this.
When you log on as root, there are no restrictions upon what you can do to the machine. Therefore, you are always safer and better off logging on as a regular user and either using the su command or the sudo command to do things that require root privilege.
Q: How do I set or change the hostname of my machine?
A: This depends upon the distribution. In RedHat, you will find a file called /etc/sysconfig/network. In there you'll see a line
| HOSTNAME="localhost.localdomain" |
or something similar. Change the localhost.localdomain line to your desired hostname. Other distributions have a file called either /etc/hostname or /etc/HOSTNAME. You may have to create the file if it doesn't exist. Often doing
| man hostname |
will tell you which file is used. In Gentoo, for example, you
manually create a file called /etc/hostname and put your desired
hostname in there.
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Q: You often say, "At a commmand prompt" or "type the command". How do I get to this command prompt?
A: The chances are that if you're asking this question, you're
relatively inexperienced and have, during installation, accepted
the distro's defaults. So, I'm going to assume that you're booting
into a graphical login and are using either Gnome or KDE.
Both of these desktops have an icon (a small picture) on the
taskbar (that bar at the bottom of the screen) that looks a bit
like a computer monitor. Clicking on that will open up what is
called a terminal window. Depending upon your distribution, the
window will have a command prompt looking something like
user@localhost user $
Your window will say something else, but will have either a $ or a
# at the end of the line. (It may, if you have a different shell,
have a % but the chances are that it will have either the $ if
you're logged in as a normal user or a # if you're logged in as
root). That is the command line. At that prompt, you can enter the
various commands mentioned in this faq.
If you chose a non-graphical login, then, as soon as you log in,
you are at the command line, often known as CLI for Command Line
Interface as opposed to a GUI or Graphical User Interface (GUI is
usually pronounced "gooey"). In that case, you can enter any of the
commands there, in the console.
In some recent versions of RedHat, I believe that rather than
seeing a terminal icon, you have to right click anywhere on the
desktop, and are given a menu which includes starting an xterm.
(RedHat 9.x's version of GNOME works this way--you right click on
the desktop and are given the option of a terminal. In their
version of KDE, you have to go to the RedHat icon to open the menu,
then choose system tools => terminal. You can drag the terminal
icon from that menu down to the taskbar, and afterwards, always
open an xterm by clicking on the new icon. You can also do that in
GNOME, that is drag the icon from the system tools menu down to the
the taskbar.)
As some folks have had this question, to clarify, let me say that
any of these commands can be entered either in the terminal while
running X, or in console mode (with no graphical intereface). It
doesn't make a difference.
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Q: What's the best book for learning about Linux?
A: This is also a matter of personal taste. Another problem is
that as I've progressed, it's harder to look at a book through a
complete beginner's eyes. In my own case, I found the three most
helpful things to be The Linux Installation and Getting Started Guide
an online guide to installation, Mark Minasi's, of NT and 2K fame,
book on Linux for the NT System Administrator, which can be found
here, (Mr. Minasi's book assumes knowledge of
WinNT, so doesn't start exactly from scratch) and Visual Quickstart Guide to Unix
The installation part of the Getting Started guide is a bit dated,
however, the rest of it teaches you how to use the command line,
and familiarizes you with the Unix commands used by Linux. Most
distributions also have online guides that are useful, especially
to the novice.
A quick note here--I know that some folks will read this and ask,
"How could you have left out....". I reiterate, this is a matter of
personal taste, and these were the things that I found most
helpful, when I was a newbie. (Not that I'm an expert now, but my
mentors expect more of me.) For example, I've been castigated for
leaving out a link to the Rute book. (If that link doesn't work, try googling for Rute Linux
>book.) I don't consider it a book for the
novice. Mr. Minasi's isn't really a book for the computer novice
either, but it is one for the Linux novice.
Once you're more experienced, you'll probably be able to find
several good online books yourself.
tldp.org
has collections of all the howtos and guides online. Many of these
guides are also sold as books, and are quite good. Some are newbie
friendly, some are written for the more advanced user. It's not a
bad place to start. Some, such as the installation howto, are
excellent for the beginner.
One more point--different distributions have different ways of
doing things--a book that might be perfect for learning RedHat
might not be that helpful in learning to use Debian and vice versa.
You might be best off searching for a book about the particular
distribution that you're trying to master
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Q: I use AOL. Will I be able to use it with Linux?
A: Although I haven't used it myself, you can check pengaol.org. (The link
may take you to the page in French--assuming you're not fluent in
the language, there's a link for the English version on the left of
the French page.)
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A: There are a few options in the kernel that have to be there.
Many distros include them by default, and they sometimes get missed
when we recompile.
These are the options I have--I haven't experimented by leaving out
one, then another and recompiling each time, however, at least,
with these two options in, the machine powers down. (Note that this
is for the 2.4 kernel--I really have to update this faq one
day).
All are in the General Setup section
| Power Management Support Advanced Power Management BIOS Support |
James Drabb suggests adding
| Enable PM at boot time |
Q:Since I upgraded to the 2.6 kernel, my mouse doesn't work properly with my KVM switch.
A: This solution is from my friend Jonathan.
The problem in a nutshell is that many KVMs supress some parts
of the data stream from the mouse (a part of faking that there's a
mouse there when it's really on another computer) and that the
psmouse module can't deal with that.
The fix is to explicitly tell it to use the imps protocol
One can add
options psmouse proto=imps |
to /etc/modprobe.d/aliases He commented out alias
char-major-10-1-psmouse which was in modprobed/aliases. (Commenting
it out may or may may not be necessary).
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Q:o I have Gnome as my default desktop, but now I want to use KDE. Or, I like Gnome but my girlfriend wants to use KDE. How do I switch it?
A: RedHat and its clones have a command called switchdesk. Type it in an xterm, and a GUI dialog box comes up--this will enable you to switch the desktop for a particular user. If, however, you use a window manager not included with your distribution, such as blackbox, you'll have to manually create an .xinitrc file (note the period before the file name.) I am using blackbox as an example--to start it, the file should say exec blackbox. (Each window manager has its own syntax--KDE is startkde, etc.) So, using blackbox as an example--in the home directory of the user who wishes to use blackbox, you type the following:
touch .xinitrc
echo "exec blackbox" > .xinitrc
chmod 500 .xinitrc
You have done the following. The touch command creates a file.
The echo command with the less than sign redirects the words exec
blackbox to that file. Lastly, you change the permissions on the
file so that the home user can read and execute it.
(This is also how you'd choose the window manager in any distro
without switchdesk)
You can also, if you like, use a little script that I've written.
In its current state, it gives the choices of Gnome or KDE but it
is easily modified. It can be found here.
Q:My Linux boots up in textmode and I want to change it to graphic mode. (Or vice versa). How do I do this?
A:In Redhat, you edit the /etc/inittab file. If you open the file you will see a part that looks like:
# Default runlevel. The runlevels used by RHS are: # 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this) # 1 - Single user mode # 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking) # 3 - Full multiuser mode # 4 - unused # 5 - X11 # 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this) # id:3:initdefault:
(There will be more things in the file, but this is what we want to change.) Change the id:3:initdefault to id:5:initdefault and RedHat will then boot up in graphical mode. If you are booting in graphical mode and wish to change it to text mode, then reverse the process and change the 5 to a 3. For normal purposes, these are the modes you need--3 is text and 5 graphical.
Slackware uses a different system--it too uses /etc/inittab but the runlevels are different--for Slackware, you would change it to 4, I believe, to boot up in graphics mode However, regardless of which distribution you're using, the file itself should tell you what each mode means.
NOTE: Around March 2008, Ubuntu and Fedora, at least, are now using upstart rather than the standard Sysv init. Therefore, editing /etc/inittab won't work. Other distros might start doing this too.
In Fedora, you will now edit a line in /etc/sysconfig/init. I'm not sure what Ubuntu is doing. So, if editing /etc/inittab doesn't work, check your distribution's forums and release notes and see if they too are changing to upstart. If so, no doubt someone will document what file should be edited and how to change your inital run level. (back to top)
Q:How I do switch between X and console mode?
A: While in X hit Ctl+Alt+F1. This will take you to console
mode. To get back to X hit Ctl+Alt+F7. (In FreeBSD, rather than F7,
use F9)
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Q: Is there any way to view more than one window at a time in console mode?
A: There is a pretty simple program called splitvt available (at
time of writing, August 2002) here. To install it, follow the instructions given in the
question about rpms, tar.gz files, etc.
tar -zxvf, cd into the new directory, ./configure && make
&& make install. Then, in a console (it also works in an
xterm, though of course, if you're in X, you're better off with two
xterms)just type
splitvt
A second window will open below the first. You can toggle between
the two windows with ctrl+w
Another program, screen, is included with many distributions.
Screen is a far more flexible program and used for many purposes
besides splitting a console screen. To use it, at a command prompt,
type
screen
To open a second console window type
ctrl+a
This prepares it to accept a command. Then type shift+S which will
open a second window. To toggle to the second window, once again
type
ctrl+a and then hit the tab key. You'll now be in the second
window, but unable to input anything. So, once again, hit ctrl+a
and then hit c which will bring you to a command prompt.
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Q: I just installed RedHat or Fedora and I can't telnet to the machine. Or, I can't use Apache, or Samba, or SSH, FTP, etc
A: As one of the mainstream distros, RedHat has started becoming more security conscious. Telnet is disabled by default. Rather than explaining how to get it running, I am going to suggest that you use SSH. SSH is actually easier to setup on RH 7.1 than is Telnet. Briefly:
Make sure you have openssh-server installed. Fix the firewall to allow it (at a command prompt type lokkit, which will open the RH firewal configuration tool--if you're editing manually, than allow port 22). For a Windows client to use SSH to get in, you will have to add software to the Windows box---I use Terraterm and TTSH. Lastly, start the sshd daemon
/etc/rc.d/init.d/sshd start
For a fuller description of installing and setting up SSH,
including links to free Windows clients, see my page here.
For Samba, there are a variety of possible problems, so see the
Samba section below. Redhat's default medium
security firewall also blocks FTP and Apache. FTP has its own
security risks, so I'm not going into detail here. Apache, of
course, has its risks too, but at any rate, one reason none of them
is working may be your firewall. Again, use lokkit. One way to see
what ports are open is to type (assuming you are running the
default, ipchains as of time of writing is to type
ipchains -L -n at a command prompt--this will show you what ports
are open.
Note that the above was originally written for RedHat 7.1. Although
there may be some very old legacy machines running ipchains, almost all
now run iptables instead. The lokkit program is RedHat (and probably
Fedora) specific, other distributions will have their own firewall
configuration programs. The command to show your rules with iptables
should be
iptables -Ln
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A: This seems to be a glitch in RH7.x. I've had it happen on
occasion, but not with every install. It's usually fixable by
typing
depmod -ae at a command prompt. (This should be done as root) This
seems to survive a reboot as well
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Q: How do you burn CD's in Linux?
A: There is an excellent guide
here.
The author doesn't cover copying a bootable CD. To do that
you'll need to extract an image of the CD-ROM and burn that to another
CD.
Use:
dd if=/dev/hdc of=cdrom.img |
It'll suck the entire CD off /dev/hdc (or whatever your CD-ROM's device
node
is) and dump it into cdrom.img. Once the process reaches the end of the
CD
it'll fail with an I/O error but by that time the image will be complete
on
your hard disk. Then, all you have to do is burn the image onto a new
CD.
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Q: I'm trying to edit my inetd.conf file in RedHat 7.x and can't find it. Where is it?
A: In RedHat 7.x, inetd has been replaced by xinetd. It allows
more granular control than inetd. Some of the functions that used
to be handled by inetd are handled by allowing or disallowing ports
and protocols in ipchains or iptables, while others are handled by
a combination of ipchains (or iptables) and xinetd. VERY generally
speaking, if you find no indication of the particular service
listed in /etc/xinetd.d then it can probably be handled by allowing
(or ceasing to allow) the port and protocol in ipchains or
iptables.
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Q: I was told to look at the man pages--however, I'm finding them difficult to understand.
A: I believe that I once read that the man pages were originally
written simply as reminders to people who already knew what they
were doing. At first glance, many of the man pages can seem
incomprehensible. However, keep going back to them. Look at them
for commands that you do understand. Gradually, they will become
more helpful to you.
If it makes you feel better, note that to many users of Unix and Unix like
systems, Linux man pages are considered to be the most poorly written of
any system. The BSDs, for example, consider document writing to be
important, and one will often (though not always) find BSD man pages
to be far superior to the Linux version.
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Q: What about firewalls for Linux?
A: There are some out there. As you get a little more
experienced, you'll be able to create your own with iptables or
ipchains. Out of the distributions I listed above, I know that
RedHat 7.1, Mandrake 8.0 and SuSE 7.2 all have easy to configure
firewalls. This is another thing to check on the distributor's
website before installation.
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Q: I would like to set up Pine (or Mutt) as my email client, but can't figure out how to configure it.
A: I have a page with what I feel is a clear explanation
here. and one for Mutt
here. (Both pages deal with
simply setting it up for the single user) In brief, you have to
setup a .fetchmailrc file for Pine and do a bit more with Mutt for
them to work.
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Q: I downloaded a program with an .rpm (or tar.gz, tgz, tar.bz2, tbz or tar.Z). How do I install it.
A: If it's an RPM then
rpm -Uvh packagename
It will then be installed for you.
If it's a tar.gz, or .tgz (which is simply an abbrevation of
tar.gz) then tar -zxvf packagename
You'll see, after untarring it a new file, which is actually a
directory--same name without the tar.gz extension. Change directory
to that directory
cd filename
In there, there will usually be a README file and possibly an
INSTALL file. Read them
less README
(And the same for the INSTALL, just substitute INSTALL for
README)
They will give you installation instructions.
If it's a tar.bz2 file, (or .tbz, an abbreviation of tar.bz2) then,
with RedHat and some others, instead of tar -zxvf use tar -jxvf. If
you get -j unknown option then try tar -yxvf (that one works in
Slackware 8.0 and probably some others that use an older version of
tar. If neither of these work, though one should, then do
bunzip2 filename.tar.bz2 && tar -xvf filename.tar
From there, as in untarring a tar.gz file, you'll now see a
directory of the file name without an extension. Follow the
instructions for tar.gz files giving above, starting with cd'ing to
the new directory
On occasion, you'll come across a file with a .tar.Z extension. In
that case
uncompress filename.tar.Z && tar -xvf filename.tar
From there, once again follow the instructions for tar.gz given
above beginning with the cd'ing to the new directory Once again I
have a page on it for more
detail.
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Q: I just installed a program. How do I start it?
A: Most window managers have their own way to add a program to
their menu. Both KDE and Gnome (I believe--I haven't used either in
so long that I've forgotten) have something from their start menu
where you can add an application to the list of programs.
In other window managers, such as Blackbox or Icewm you have to
edit their menu file--usually, the man page for the window manager
will tell you how to do this.
Note that after installing a program, you sometimes have to do a
hash -r (in bash) to refresh the shell (a poor choice of words, but
I can't think of better at this moment). :)
Meanwhile, for the impatient, you can simply open up an xterm
window and type the name of the program. Putting an & sign
after it makes run as a background program, meaning you can still
use that xterm. For example, if you've just installed Opera, you
can open an xterm and type
opera &
This will open it. If it doesn't open after a reasonable length of
time, then try typing it without the & sign after it--this will
allow you to see any error messages and give you a hint about why
it's not opening.
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Q: How do I access my Windows drive from Linux?
A: If it's on FAT or FAT32 one can simply do the following:
Make a directory in which to mount the drive
mkdir mswin
Mount the drive--let's say it's the first partition on the first
hard drive, which would be, in Linux terminology, /dev/hda1
mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 mswin
(The -t vfat label is if your Windows drive is formatted with
FAT32--if it's in FAT then change the -t vfat to -t fat)
You should now be able to access your Windows drive in the
directory mswin. Keep in mind that there are sometimes
differences--a notepad text file might sometimes look peculiar in
Linux and a vi text file might look odd in MS.
At present, Linux has experimental read and write support for NTFS,
but it doesn't always work perfectly. You will have to recompile your kernel to get it to work. (In the
filesystems section, there is a section for NTFS) Though some
people have had success, I would be leery, especially of writing to
NTFS partitions
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Q: Is NTFS supported by default in RedHat 7.3?
A: Not at this time. You would have to recompile your kernel and add NTFS support under
filesystems. Read support is now pretty good, I haven't tried write
support, which is still experimental, though others have had no
problem with it. (UPDATE: As of early December, 2004, NTFS support
is apparently not enabled by default in Fedora Core 3, either.
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Q: How do I find out what version of the kernel is running on my machine?
A: If you boot up in text mode, (which, by the way, will load
far more quickly than a graphical login) it will be there above the
login prompt, along with what distribution and version of Linux you
have, for example
RedHat Linux release 7.2 (enigma)
Kernel 2.4.16 on an i586
However, if you have a graphical login, you can also type
uname -a
at a command prompt, which will give you the kernel (though not the
distro) version, such as
Linux asa.localdomain 2.4.16 #1 Sun Dec 2 13:37:56 EST 2001 i586
unknown
In this case, the kernel is 2.4.16 and it was built on December
2nd.
(in some cases, the command cat /etc/issue will also give you this
information--it works in RedHat, but not in Slackware)
cat /proc/version
can also give the same or more detailed information.
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Q: How do I recompile a kernel?
A: This is a frequent question, but rather involved. The quick
answer:
Download the source and move the tarred file to /usr/src. Untar it.
Change to the newly created /usr/src/linux directory.
>From there, do make menuconfig or make xconfig. Go through it
and make >your choices. When done for a 2.6 kernel do
make && make modules_install
For a 2.4 kernel do
make dep; make clean; make bzImage.
If that goes without errors, then do
make modules; make modules_install
Now, copy the new bzImage to your boot directory
cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.10
(That would be assuming that you had just compiled the 2.4.10
kernel--obviously, use the name.)
Add the new image to your lilo.conf, grub.conf or menu.lst
depending upon your bootloader. Cross your fingers, reboot and see
if it comes up.
One common error--people miss the processor section--if the boot
hangs at
Ok uncompressing the kernel
you probably chose the wrong processor.
I have two
pages, with links--one for general kernel compilation, here and one specific to RedHat,
which has its own quirks, here. Note, however, that both refer to the 2.4 kernel.
As I use FreeBSD almost exclusively these days, they probably won't
be updated
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Q: I can't get Samba working properly. How do I fix it?
A: The problems that I've encountered, which may or may not be
your problems, are:
Not uncommenting encrypted passwords. If you're running Win2k on
the MS side, that is often necessary.
Sometimes, it starts working if you change security from user to
share. This isn't ideal, but sometimes it fixes the problem. Be
sure that the MS user also has an account on the Linux box with the
same name and password. Also, add the user to the smbpasswd
file.
smbpasswd -a (username). The first time you'll get an error
message about the file not existing, but that can safely be
ignored.
One error you might get is something like couldn't open file
/var/lock/samba/STATUS..LCK. That's the easy error--create the
file. First
ls var
If you have a file /var/lock then do
ls /var/lock
If you don't, then make the directory
mkdir /var/lock
See if you have /var/lock/samba and if not do another mkdir
mkdir /var/lock/samba
Now, create the STATUS..LCK file touch
/var/lock/samba/STATUS..LCK
You might have to do a chmod on it--try 755 and if that doesn't
work, do 777.
Slack is a bit harder--I got various more cryptic error messages. I
fixed it with smbclient -L localhost -N substituting the name of my
machine for localhost.
Also, I've sometimes had to add my machine's netbios name to
/etc/hosts. If you look at /etc/hosts you'll see something like
127.0.0.1 localhost
If my machine's netbios name is scottr and it's IP addie on the LAN
is 192.168.0.101 I'd add
192.168.0.101 scottr
(This is one that I've sometimes had to do, and sometimes
haven't)
On RedHat, the default medium security firewall doesn't allow
Samba. You have to add lines to your ipchains (which is what is
running by default) or your iptables (if you've upgraded.) The
default firewall blocks both tcp with syn packets and udp on well
known ports (ports 0-1023). To do this, first do a listing of
ipchains with line numbers
ipchains -L -n --line-numbers. See where the first rejection is, it's usually around line 4 or 5. So, if your network is one of 192.168.1.x and the first line rejecting things is at line 5 you would type at a command prompt:
ipchains -I input 5 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -p udp -d 0/0 137:139 -j ACCEPT
We need tcp with syn packets so add
ipchains -I input 6 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -p tcp -y -d 0/0 137:139
-j ACCEPT
(if you were using iptables instead, the syntax would be:
iptables -I INPUT 5 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -p udp -d 0/0 --dport 137:139
-j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT 6 -s 192.168.1.0/24 -p tcp --syn -d 0/0 --dport
137:139 - ACCEPT
(For further explanation of ipchains, see my ipchains page.)
Lastly, obvious though it is, make sure that the smbd and nmbd
daemons are running. In RH this is easy
/etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start
In Slack you have to uncomment the lines (that is, remove the # in
front of the lines) about netbios in /etc/inetd.conf. Then, to send
a SIGHUP to it
ps ax | grep inetd
You'll get back a pid number. Usually, it's the only number in a
line something like 65 ? S 0:0 /usr/sbin/inetd
kill -1 65
This should restart it.
One quick way to check is, from the MS machine do (if the Samba
machine's IP addie is 192.168.0.101)
nbtstat -a 192.168.1.101
If you get back its netbios name and a few other things, that's a
good sign.
Once again, I've put up a
page on it.
(back to top)
Well, for one thing what's going on is that you're not giving us
the whole story. You logged on as a different user and then su'd to
root, didn't you? How do I know? I'm psychotic--errr psychic.
Seriously, the quick answer is that you can run the su command as
su - or, a better solution in my opinion, type the whole path to
the command, which is usually going to be /sbin/shutdown -h now or
whatever. When you log on as a user, your path, that is the places
that the shell looks for commands, doesn't include some areas that
root's path has. You can tell your current path by typing echo
$PATH at a command prompt. /sbin has many commands that should only
be done by root, therefore, it's not in the typical user's path.
When you do an su, you're still in the previous user's home
directory, and still subject to their path--this is the case even
if you cd to root's home directory.
Doing the su - rather than a simple su also gives you root's path.
Therefore, if you su - you will then be able to execute commands
such as adduser or shutdown. However, it is probably a better habit
to avoid this step and type the full path to the command name. It
helps you learn where commands are located, and probably gives you
more realization of why only root can execute these commands. Doing
su - all the time makes you lazy and careless--trust me on this, I
learned it the hard way. As they say, good judgement is gained by
experience. Experience is gained by bad judgement
(back to top)
Q: RedHat recommends
updating to iptables. However, when I type iptables, I get
an error message saying that I might have to upgrade the kernel.
What is going on here?
(As of version 8.0, RedHat now uses iptables by deafult)
A: Although RH is recommending iptables, their default (as of RH
7.1) runs ipchains. The default firewall that was created during
installation uses ipchains. The two can't run together, so to
enable iptables to run you have to first remove the ipchains
module.
rmmod ipchains
>From there, you can run iptables. Keep in mind, however, that
the default iptables simply allows everything in. Once you've
learned how to make these scripts, if you wish to have iptables,
rather than ipchains, run at start up, then simply type
ntsysv
This opens a tool that will enable you to choose which services run
at startup. Deselect ipchains and select iptables.
I reiterate--don't do this until you have some idea of what you are
doing. My ipchains page
has a very simple example--while I wouldn't trust my machine to it,
it does, at least, duplicate RH's default medium security
firewall.
(back to top)
Q: What's the best emailer for Linux?
A: This is another one that is a matter of personal taste,
however, especially for those used to Outlook Express, I'm going to
recommend Sylpheed. Like OE, it can create filters, easily
create multiple accounts, etc. Although others swear by Kmail, the
last time I used it, it wasn't able to create multiple accounts
with different smtp servers (which has changed, I believe.)
(back to top)
Q: My modem works in Windows, but not in Linux. How do I fix this?
A:The chances are that you have a winmodem. Winmodems are less
expensive to make and rely on software to do what higher quality
modems have hardware do. There is limited Linux support for them at
linmodems.org.
They don't work as well as better modems, even in Windows, and it
is recommended that you purchase a better modem.
A quick aside on this... if your machine has a winmodem, the
chances are that it is running a program called ptsnoop. I've
heard, (though not checked) that all this does is make you able to
hear the modem dial in and connect (which can of course be handy
for trouble shooting). Regardless, if you buy a better modem or
switch to a broadband connection, you definitely want to get rid of
ptsnoop as it is a resource hog. (I reiterate, I haven't checked
what happens if you get rid of it on a machine that only has a
winmodem--you might still be able to get rid of it, I don't know.)
At any rate, the steps for ridding yourself of it are as
follows.
You have to be in Windows. Do a ctrl+alt+delete which will bring up
a list of running applications. Highlight it and click end task.
Then, do a search for it. (You may have to change, in My Computer
the listing of files to show hidden files. There will be two files,
ptsnoop.exe and ptsnoop something, I've forgotten the extension.
Delete them.
Go to start, run and type in regedit. This will bring up the
registry editor. (Always be careful when editing the registry, as
mistakes can make your computer unusable in Windows.) Do ctrl+f to
open up find. Do a search for the registry key for ptsnoop--there's
only one key, when you find it, you can delete it.
Lastly, again go to start, run and type in win.ini. This will bring
up a file and you will see ptsnoop around the 2nd or 3rd line.
Delete it from there as well.
(back to top)
Q: How do I get the scroll wheel of my mouse working in Linux?
A: I found that in RH 7.1 if I chose MS Intellimouse during installation, it worked without problem. Here is my /etc/X11/XF86Config pointer section:
Protocol "IMPS/2"
Device "/dev/psaux"
ZAxisMapping "4 5"
Some folks find that if this doesn't work, even if it's a three
button mouse that adding the line
Buttons "5"
helps, but I haven't found it necessary.
The above was for XFree86 3.x. In 4.x the syntax is a bit
different.
>From a Slackware configuration:
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Protocol "Intellimouse"
Device "/dev/psm0"
ZAxisMapping 4 5
That worked for XFree 3.x. In 4.x, although xf86config chose
Intellimouse, I had trouble until I changed protocol to Auto. My
current mouse section looks like
Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier and driver
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "Auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psm0"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
A: As of kernel release 2.4.16 ext3 support is an option in the
filesystem section. So therefore, make sure that you included it
when you configured your kernel. If you are using an older kernel
then read on.
The following has worked on both Slackware 8.0 (running ext2) and
RedHat 7.2 that was already on an ext3 filesystem.
Assuming you have unpacked the kernel source, go to http://www.zip.com.au/~akpm/linux/ext3/index.html and get
the patch for your kernel. (The example is from their page, and
assumes that you have downloaded the patch into your home
directory).
cd /usr/src/linux
Apply the patch
gunzip < ~/ext3-2.4-0.x.y.patch.gz | patch -p1
(The ~ indicates your home directory--if you have put the patch.gz somewhere else obviously put that path in your command. The x.y. in this case simply represents version number, replace it with the actual patch name)
Now configure your kernel and the option for ext3 will be there in the filesystem section. If you are already using ext3 rebooting into the new kernel is sufficient. If not, then,once the kernel is compiled reboot into it. Now run the following command
tune2fs -j /dev/hdXX
(replace xx with the name of the mounted drive or drives.) Upon reboot, you will be using an ext3 filesystem. You can check this with
dmesg | grep ext3.
Also, if you weren't using ext3 before, be sure to edit
/etc/fstab--you'll see for example, something like
/dev/hda1 / ext2 noauto
A: For C programs:
Write your program. Let's say it's your first one, and you have
saved the source code as hello.c, you are in the same directory as
hello.c and you are going to save the program as hello.
gcc -o hello hello.c
The -o flag tells the compiler what name to give the compiled
program--note that you put the name for the compiled program first,
then put the name of the file that's being compiled. If you don't
use the -o flag, then the program will be saved as a.out.
Hopefully, it compiles without errors.
Now if you do a ls you'll see that you have a new program named
hello in that directory. You can test it immediately by doing
./hello
If it was a C++ program rather than a C program, you probably saved
it as hello.cpp
g++ -o hello hello.cpp
After it compiles ./hello
(back to top)
Q: My network isn't working, how do I fix it?
A: Unfortunately, the question is often this vague. You've told
me nothing. What network admins hate are descriptions like
that--I've gotten calls from users, who frantically tell me the
network is down to find out that what it meant was that they
weren't able to, while goofing off, log into their aol account from
work.
Now, you might be inexperienced and we understand that. I might
ask, can you ping the localhost and you'll say what's that? That's
fine. However, to help troubleshoot a networking problem, here are
the steps you should take before asking for help. When you post,
give us the results, so we have an idea of where to begin.
Tell us, how is your network configured? In other words, do you
have three computers, sharing an Internet connection through a
Linksys router? Do you have a hub? Is your Internet connection
cable, DSL or dialup?
Was it working previously? Have you made any configuration changes,
for example, upgraded Windows 98 to Windows XP?
Next, network troubleshooting 101.
On a Windows box, start, run, command (or cmd in Win2k and XP).
You'll get a black DOS type window with a command prompt.
ipconfig
This will give you your ethernet information. For example, (if you
were using a Linksys router, which automatically assigns IP
addresses and gives itself the address of 192.168.1.1) you might
see
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Next, first check if the TCP/IP stack is working
ping localhost
Hopefully, you get a response.
Next, ping your local machine's IP address
ping 192.168.1.100
If you get a response then the gateway
ping 192.168.1.1
If you get a response, then you know the trouble is probably
elsewhere.
Ping the other machines on the network--see if you get a
response.
>From here, it changes, depending upon the situation. However
the command
ipconfig /all | more
will show your DNS servers--try to ping them as well. On the Linux
box
ifconfig eth0
If you get no such device, or only get a hardware address
(something like 00:AA:CC:3D:60:8A) you've at least located the
problem. If it's something like "error fetching device information;
device not found" then Linux is not recognizing your ethernet card.
Dealing with that is beyond the scope of this faq, but many distros
have hardware detection and configuration programs that might
work--in RH, for example, type
kudzu
at a command prompt.
If it's showing the card but only showing a hardware address, then
see the question on configuring an ethernet card
>From there, same procedure, ping localhost, (even if your card
isn't configured, you should get a result from that one, showing,
at least that TCP/IP is working on your machine) ping the IP
address, ping the gateway. (ifconfig doesn't show the gateway, for
that type route or netstat -r)
When pinging in Linux it continues until stopped with ctrl+c so
instead of ping, type
ping -c 4 and the address, which will limit it to 4 pings.
Check the connections. Is the cable plugged in securely? Are the
LED lights on in the back of your computer where the cable connects
to the NIC? Are they on in the hub or router? If you have extra
cables, try changing the cable. If a cable is in an uplink port, or
the uplink switch is on, try turning it off and seeing what
happens.
These are all things to do before posting your problem. The results
will help us help you. I don't want to make this into a treatise,
but also, if you're familiar with networking, then see if you can
ping the far side of the router, try pinging www.yahoo.com (if you
can ping it by address, but not by name, then it indicates that
it's a DNS problem). If you're not familiar with networking, you
will still be able to do everything up to this paragraph so do
those things, post the results, and perhaps someone can help
you.
(back to top)
Q: How do I set (or check) my IP address?
A: If you are receiving your address through a DHCP server (many
cable and DSL providers do this) then you should get an address
when the machine boots. You can check this by typing
ifconfig eth0
You should see something like
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:A0:CC:37:9A:7C
inet addr:192.168.1.101 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask
:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MTU:1500 Metric:
1
RX packets:80 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:
0
TX packets:62 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrie
r:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:6298 (6.1 Kb) TX bytes:5287 (5.1 Kb)
Interrupt:11 Base address:0xe800
| ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0 up route add -net 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 eth0 route add default gw 192.168.1.1 eth0 |
There is also the ip command. It's more flexible than ifconfig and can
combine some of the attributes of ifconfig and route. The syntax with
the ip command would be
ip addr add 192.168.1.100/24 dev eth0 ip route add default via 192.168.1.1 |
Note that it uses the /24 notation. If your subnet was 255.255.0.0 it would be /16. If your subnet is 255.0.0.0 then it would be /8. If your subnet is something else, the chances are that you know enough about subnetting to figure it out.
To see your address you'd use
ip addr show dev eth0 |
In FreeBSD it's somewhat different--the naming of the interface is also slightly different, in this case we'll use tx0, an SMC card.
| ifconfig tx0 192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0 route add default 192.168.1.1 |
dhcpcd eth0 |
or
dhclient eth0 |
Well, here's the changelog
Last week of October 2001 (I forget the date)
Added the section on ext3 after compiling a kernel and finding I
didn't have it. Whoops
6 November 2001
Added this changelog--hopefully, there'll be enough additions to
make it worthwhile
8 November 2001
Added the link to the Rute book in the books section. Added the
link to the linux@yahoogroups.com mailing list, as this is going to
be the list faq.
9 November 2001
Added the section on HTML, after someone on one of the Linux lists
asked why it was discouraged. Although our linux@yahoogroups list
covers it in the welcome message, unfortunately, most other groups
don't.
10 November 2001
Added the information that the testing 2.4.15-pre2 has ext3
support. I'll leave the section on it in until they stop marking it
experimental. :)
11 November 2001
Added the section on tar.Z files after someone placed a question
about it on the Linux list
16 November 2001
Added the Visual Quickstart Guide to the books section
19 November 2001
Added to the Samba section
1 December 2001
Added the C and C++ compilation question Added basic network
troubleshooting information
12 December 2001
Added the finding kernel version question
19 December 2001
Added the information that inetd.conf has been replaced by xinetd
in RedHat
21 December 2001
Added the question about being unable to mount /dev/cdrom in RH 7.x
after it happened to me. :) Added FTP, Apache and Samba to the
telnet question, as frequent questions on the various lists
indicate that many people don't realize these are blocked by RH's
default firewall rules. Added the section about doing an su with -
or typing an entire command path, as we're getting many questions
about why this command or that one doesn't work.
27 December 2001
Added the question about what to do if LILO or GRUB is in the MBR
and you can't boot your MS O/S
30 December 2001
Added the ifconfig commands
17 January 2002
Added a line or two to the networking question about the card not
being recognized and corrected a typo which would have really made
it difficult for someone to correctly set their gateway properly.
:)
27 January 2002
Added the question about starting a program once it's installed
4 April 2002
Well, as you can see, I've not done too much with this in awhile,
but added the burning question--get it, burning question?--about
burning CDs.
19 April 2002
Added a bit on netiquette, including top posting, linewrap, etc
11 May 2002
After a flame war, started by a troll who didn't get an answer to
his question, added the section on what to do if your questions
aren't being answered.
27 May 2002
Added the section on actually creating a CD from a downloaded ISO
after it seemed that several folks were making the mistake of just
copying the ISO image over to a CD
22 June 2002
Added the section on using the rescue capabilities of most
installation CDs.
2 August 2002
Added the section on RTFM after Josh gave me the great suggestion
that newcomers should be told to link it to the "man" command.
4 August 2002
Added the question on how to get to a command prompt. As MS makes
poorer and poorer marketing decisions--one begins to think they
hired someone away from Apple--more and more newcomers try Linux,
and for better or worse, how to get a command prompt has become a
frequently asked question
8 August, 2002
Added the section on splitting a console screen using splitvt or
screen
29 September, 2002
Added the hostname and recovering root password questions.
Added the question about what information should be included
9 November, 2002
Added the question about why one shouldn't join a list and
immediately post a link to their own page
Well folks, that's it for now. If you think of questions that should be answered (and please provide the answer if you know it) just drop me a line.