Getting Started with Linux: Novells Guide to CompTIAs Linux Course 3060

1
Getting Started with Linux Novells Guide to
CompTIAs Linux (Course 3060)

• Section 1
• Linux Basics and SLES 9 Installation

2
Objectives

• The History of Linux
• Understand the Multiuser Environment
• Identify the Components of SLES 9
• Perform a Simple Installation of SLES 9
• Document Installation, Configuration, and
  Baseline System Performance

3
The History of Linux

• Linux is closely related to the UNIX operating
  system
• To understand the history of Linux, you need to
  know the following
• The Historical Development of UNIX
• The Development of Linux
• Differences Between SUSE Linux and SUSE Linux
  Enterprise Server

4
The Historical Development of UNIX

• At the end of the 1960s, most operating systems
  were only designed for batch operations
• Programs in punch cards or perforated strips
• Debugging was inefficient
• MULTICS allowed you to work in a dialog with the
  computer
• Strongly influenced by the batch operation
• Was difficult to operate
• In 1969, Ken Thompson (MULTICS developer) began
  creating an operating system that aimed to
  provide a high functionality and structural
  simplicity

5
The Historical Development of UNIX (continued)

• First version of UNIX was written in Assembler
• UNIX was rewritten in 1971 in C
• The system spread quickly
• Bell Laboratories provided documentation and the
  source code of UNIX to universities almost at
  cost
• Simple operation
• Almost unlimited availability of the source code
• Relative portability motivated many users and
  companies to become actively engaged in its
  development
• Functionalities were very quickly added to UNIX
  and it reached a very high level of maturity

6
The Historical Development of UNIX (continued)

• A series of commercial UNIX derivatives were
  developed
• BSD UNIX (Berkeley Software Distribution, 1978)
• In 1983, ATT began marketing UNIX SystemV
• They proclaimed SystemV as the UNIX standard
• Licensing changed considerably
• Quarrels between UNIX vendors prevented a
  standardization of the UNIX family
• Modern UNIX operating systems can be separated as
  either more SystemV or more BSD types
• Linux tries to combine the best of both worlds

7
The Development of Linux

• 1991 Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student,
  developed a rudimentary kernel that he passed on
  as a source text to others who were interested
  via the Internet
• Source code was made available with the GPL
• Linux rapidly developed into a project involving
  many people
• The development of the systems core (Linux
  kernel) is still coordinated by Linus Torvalds
• The functions of the kernel include I/O control,
  device control, process management, and file
  management

8
The Development of Linux (continued)

• Other system components are maintained by other
  people or groups
• There are two current versions of development
• A stable version, identified by an even number
  after the first dot
• Developer versions, identified by an odd number
• Linux distributions are based on the
  even-numbered versions
• They often provide current development kernels,
  which, under certain circumstances, are needed
  for the integration of new hardware components

9
The Development of Linux (continued)

• Because Linux is written in C, it is available
  for many different hardware platforms, including
• i386 32 bit
• Intel/AMD 64 bit
• PowerPC (Macintosh, RS/6000)
• SPARC (Sun)
• IBM pSeries
• IBM zSeries (S/390)
• Embedded

10
Differences Between SUSE Linux and SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server

• SLES is based on SUSE Linux Professional
• The Professional distribution is intensely tested
  and security and stability is improved
• SLES contains some features that will be made
  available in future versions of SUSE Professional
• SLES 9 has fewer packages than the Professional
  distribution
• SLES has a guaranteed life cycle of 5 years
• Only the SLES product is certified by independent
  hardware and software vendors

11
Differences Between SUSE Linux and SLES
(continued)
12
Understand the Multiuser Environment

• Unix has
• Multiuser capability
• Multitasking capability (preemptive multitasking)
• Truly simultaneous processing is only possible in
  a multiprocessor system
• Managing resources and granting access to
  processes is a complex task
• Deadlock could occur
• Multithreading is an extension of multitasking
  and helps solve this problem

13
Understand the Multiuser Environment (continued)
14
Understand the Multiuser Environment (continued)

• In multithreading, a number of parts independent
  from one another (threads) can be produced within
  a process
• Increases the level of parallel processes with
  each thread needing to be administered, which
  makes the use of a multiprocessor system more
  valuable
• A program exists only once in the system
• Several processes can perform the same program
• If a number of users are active, both programs
  and processes can be used independently

15
Identify the Components of SLES 9

• SLES 9 has several new and improved features
• Updated Core System with Latest Versions/Features
  of All Packages
• New and Improved YaST Modules
• Next Generation Linux Kernel 2.6.5
• Improved High Availability Support
• Full Enablement and Support of UTF-8
• Inclusion of Red Carpet Enterprise Daemon
• New Type of Installation Source SLP
• POSIX-Compliant, High-Performance Threads Support
  (NPTL)

16
Updated Core System with Latest Versions/Features
of All Packages

• Updated core system features and versions
• SUSE Linux kernel (version 2.6.5)
• Main C library (glibc 2.3.3)
• GNU compiler collection (GCC 3.3.3)
• XFree X11 graphical user interface (XFree 4.3.99)
• KDE Desktop Environment (3.2.1)
• GNOME Desktop Environment (2.4.2)
• File, print, and other services for Windows
  (Samba 3.0.4)
• Apache Web server version 2.x (Apache 2.0.49)
• Domain name server (BIND 9.2.3)

17
New and Improved YaST Modules

• YaST is the installation and administration tool
  for SLES 9
• Includes the following improvements
• New YaST license (GPL)
• New and improved installation methods (NFS, HTTP,
  FTP, VNC, SSH, and SLP)
• New and improved configuration modules (such as
  DNS)

18
Next Generation Linux Kernel 2.6.5

• Linux kernel 2.6.5 includes several improvements
  over the 2.4.x kernel versions, such as
• Performance
• Improved hyper threading and NUMA support
• Full enablement and support of UTF-8
• Better support of big SMP (symmetric
  multiprocessing) systems
• Fine granular locking to boost parallel execution
• Multiple kernel tuning parameters (I/O scheduler)
• Scalability

19
Next Generation Linux Kernel 2.6.5 (continued)

• Improvements (continued)
• Support for more than 64 CPUs
• Support for thousands of devices and disks
• Improved block I/O layer
• Improved network stack IPv6, IPSEC, Mobile IPv6
• Hotplug support (SCSI, USB, Firewire, PCI, and
  CPU)
• Persistent device names and unified device
  handling
• Class-based kernel resource management (CKRM)
• ACPI improvements (such as suspend to disk/RAM)
• Infiniband support (high-speed serial computer
  bus)

20
Improved High Availability Support

• The following are high availability supported
  features
• Cluster volume manager (EVMS)
• Cluster IP alias
• Lustre cluster file system

21
Full Enablement and Support of UTF-8

• SLES 9 supports Asian characters and fonts with
  UTF-8 support
• Includes translations and commercial fonts

22
Inclusion of Red Carpet Enterprise Daemon

• SLES 9 includes the Red Carpet daemon

23
New Type of Installation Source SLP

• SLES 9 now supports a Service Location Protocol
  (SLP) installation source
• Can send an SLP request for service install.suse
  to the network and prompt you to select an entry
  from the list of returned URLs

24
POSIX-Compliant, High-Performance Threads Support
(NPTL)

• SLES 9 features a new thread implementation
  called NPTL
• Faster and better than the old implementation
  (called linuxthreads)

25
Perform a Simple Installation of SLES 9

• The process of installing the SLES 9 can be
  divided into the following steps
• Pre-Installation Requirements and Guidelines
• Installation Options
• Basic Installation
• Manual Software Selection
• Configuration

26
Pre-Installation Requirements and Guidelines

• Minimum system requirements for operation
• 256 MB RAM
• 500 MB hard disk space for software
• 500 MB hard disk space for user data
• Recommended system requirements
• 512 MB to 3 GB RAM, at least 256 MB per CPU
• 4 GB hard disk space
• Network interface (Ethernet or modem)

27
Pre-Installation Requirements and Guidelines
(continued)

• Before installing SLES 9, you should consider
• Hardware compatibility
• Some laptop HW may not be compatible with SLES 9
• www.novell.com/partnerguide/section/481.html
• File system types
• Choice depends on particular needs and
  requirements
• Partitioning scheme
• Plan for the appropriate partitions and sizes
• Software package selection
• Dual-boot system
• It is often better to install SLES 9 first

28
Installation Options

• Boot your computer from the SLES 9 DVD

29
Installation Options (continued)
30
Installation Options (continued)

• Select the installation option you want to use or
  wait for the installation program to choose one
  automatically (Tab key stops countdown)
• Boot from Hard Disk (default)
• Installation
• Installation - ACPI Disabled
• Installation - Safe Settings
• Manual Installation
• Rescue System
• Memory Test
• Press Enter The installation program YaST starts

31
Basic Installation

• Read and accept the License Agreement
• Select the language (see Figure 1-4) to be used
  during the installation process then select
  Accept
• If Linux is already installed on your computer,
  the dialog box shown in Figure 1-5 appears
• In this dialog box, select one of the options OK
• YaST displays the information shown in Figure 1-6
  and makes suggestions for the installation
• Change a setting (if needed) and then click
  Accept
• Confirm your settings again select Yes, Install

32
Basic Installation (continued)
33
Basic Installation (continued)
34
Basic Installation (continued)

• System
• Mode
• Keyboard layout
• Mouse
• Partitioning
• Software
• Booting
• Time zone
• Language
• Default Runlevel

35
Basic Installation (continued)
36
Manual Software Selection

• To install software that is not included in the
  default installation, select the Change ?
  Software

37
Manual Software Selection (continued)
38
Manual Software Selection (continued)

• Filter by
• Selections
• Package Groups
• Search
• Installation Summary

39
Manual Software Selection (continued)

• Installation state of each package

40
Manual Software Selection (continued)

• Once your selection is complete, select Accept
• A dialog box might indicate that the dependencies
  between the packages cannot be resolved and that
  some other packages need to be installed, too
• If you are installing SLES from CDs, a warning
  appears if the wrong CD is in the drive

41
Configuration

• During the configuration phase of the
  installation, you configure the following
• Root Password
• Network Devices
• Services
• Users
• Hardware

42
Configuration Root Password
Warnings appear if the selected password is too
simple
43
Configuration Network Devices
44
Configuration Network Devices (continued)
45
Configuration Services
46
Configuration Users
47
Configuration Users (continued)
48
Configuration Users (continued)
For security reasons, option should not be
selected
49
Configuration Hardware
50
Exercise 1-1 Install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
9

• The purpose of this exercise is to guide you
  through an installation of SLES 9
• A working installation of SLES 9 is basic to all
  further exercises
• When choosing a password
• Use an insecure password (such as novell) only
  for the purpose of training
• Choose a more secure password on a live system
• This time skip the updates you should install
  the updates on production systems

51
Document Installation, Configuration, and
Baseline System Performance

• Documentation installation decisions,
  configuration options, and baseline performance
• If there is no company policy to follow you might
  want to keep it in a binder near the machine
  itself
• A copy of it should be kept at another place, so
  that the documentation is not destroyed in a
  disaster
• Documentation makes it easier to add new systems,
  to troubleshoot most problems, and to optimize
  system and network performance

52
Document Installations and Maintenance

• For each computer, you should document
• HW specifications for the computer Linux is
  installed on
• Installation sources
• Installation options you used
• Installed packages
• Services configured during installation
• TCP/IP assignment
• Network settings
• Who performed the installation and when

53
Document Installations and Maintenance (continued)

• Documentation should reflect maintenance
  procedures
• Upgrades to or maintenance of hardware
• Packages that are added, removed, or updated
• Changes made to the configuration of services
• Changes made to TCP/IP assignments
• Changes made to network settings
• The order of steps used in the procedure
• Who performed the maintenance procedure and when
• Tools that were used to facilitate the procedure

54
Document Installations and Maintenance (continued)

• If maintenance is performed in response to a
  complaint, document
• Information about the user or customer
• The date the problem was reported
• A brief description of the problem
• A detailed description of the problem
• Steps taken to resolve the issue (even those that
  did not work)
• Who resolved the issue and when
• Confirmation from the customer that the problem
  is resolved

55
Document Configuration Changes

• Details regarding configuration changes must
  include a history of the following
• Operating system distributions and version
  numbers
• Software configuration changes
• Software version numbers
• Hardware configuration changes
• Hardware brand names and version numbers
• System behavior before the change and system
  behavior after the change

56
Document System Baseline Performance

• Baseline performance is established by
• Regularly analyzing the performance of a healthy
  system during normal operating hours
• Then you can analyze systems performance stats
  and compare them with the baseline stats
• This tells you if the system is performing poorly
  and how far from the baseline it is
• It tells you which specific components of the
  system are having a problem
• Command-line utilities that you can use to
  analyze system performance include top, free and
  vmstat

57
Summary

• Linux is an advanced multiuser and multitasking
  operating system developed by Linus Torvalds
• The Linux source code is protected under GPL it
  can be publicly developed and distributed
• One of the most prominent Linux distributions is
  SUSE Linux
• Before installing SLES 9, you should verify that
  your computer hardware meets minimum installation
  requirements

58
Summary (continued)

• The SLES 9 installation process involves
  selecting a language, verifying hardware
  information, choosing software packages, and
  selecting a hard disk partitioning scheme
• You should document all hardware, software,
  configuration settings, and baseline performance
  of your Linux system immediately following
  installation for use in future troubleshooting
  and maintenance