Linux Questions Answered! The ultimate Linux resource guide

[Firewing1]

This howto was designed with new users in mind, which is why there are so many references to Windows

Useful Resources

• Fedora Project
• Fedora News
• Fedora Solved
• Fedora F.A.Q.
• Read This First forum
• Fedora Forum Guidelines
• New Yum Guide
• Paul Sheer's Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition A Great Linux starter's guide!
  My open-source programs

Installing / Partitioning

How do I install Linux? Can I have Windows & Linux at once?
For sure! See Newb's guide to installing and resizing NTFS for how.

What's a partition?
A quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Partitioning makes it possible to create several file systems (either of the same type or different) on a single hard disk.

So what's a filesystem then?
A quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

In computing, a file system (often also written as filesystem) is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. File systems may use a data storage device such as a hard disk or CD-ROM and involve maintaining the physical location of the files, they might provide access to data on a file server by acting as clients for a network protocol (e.g., NFS, SMB, or 9P clients), or they may be virtual and exist only as an access method for virtual data (e.g., procfs).

How should I setup my partitions?
My personal setup preference uses this layout:

• Use Custom Partitioning during the install
• Start off with a swap partition that's double the size of you're RAM. Swap doesn't need a mount point, so you should just be able to set the size and click "OK". Just a note, however, that having more than 1GB of swap is relatively pointless. 1GB is about the upper limit in terms of practicality. If you're wondering what the heck swap space is, it's like the Windows paging file - When you've run out of RAM, the memory required can overflow a little into the swap space.
• Make a ext3 partition with mount point /home with half of your hard drive's remaining free space
• Make a ext3 partition with mount point / the rest of remaining space - In other words, the other half of the free space from step 3

What are ISO images?
It's simply a file containing an exact replica of what goes onto a given storage medium. Therefore, when burning, you must burn it as an image, and not just put the file into a data CD, DVD or USB key as the ISO image file itself isn't very useful - But the files it contains inside are.

From the Fedora download site I see a bunch of things... i386, x86_64, PPC, SRPMS - what do they mean? Which is right for me?
These are all the different architecture builds of Fedora Linux. The processor (also known as the CPU) inside your computer is what does all the thinking. The style in which it does so is comparable to the architecture. Because each style is a little different, there must be builds for each architecture.

• i386 --> 32-bit, compatible with all Intel processors and AMD processors.
• x86_64 --> 64-bit, compatible with the newer Intel line of processors, all AMD Athlon 64, Phenom and X2 series processors. Intel-based Macintosh computers which have the Core 2 Duo processor (or better) are also x86_64 compatible.
• ppc --> 32-bit, compatible with the older non-Intel Macintosh computers and the PlayStation 3.
• ppc64 --> 64-bit, compatible with the later models in Apple's PPC-based Macintosh line.
• sparc --> Used mainly by Sun servers
• SRPMS --> Don't use these... These are provided for developers and are of no use to end users unless you are building your own distribution.

System Managment

Do I need to defragment my Linux system?
No - Linux uses the ext3 filesystem which ext3 handles file fragmentation far better than FAT(32) or NTFS, so in general you should never have the need to.

My disk is getting full. How can I clean up to get some extra space?
Please see this howto

Security

Do I need a virus scanner in Linux?
Not really - Linux has next to no viruses that affect it. If one takes the proper security measures such as a firewall and running as a non-privledged user If you want to be safe, however, one called ClamAV does exist:

su -
yum install clamav clamav-libs clamav-update clamav-data

Installing a Firewall
Run this in a terminal:

su -
chkconfig iptables on
service iptables start

Configuring the firewall
--> First, install the configuration tool if it's not already installed on your system:

su -
yum install system-config-firewall

from now on, you can configure your firewall by running

system-config-firewall

What's SELinux?
SELinux stands for Security Enhanced Linux. It's a security tool that monitors what goes on in your system and block applications from performing actions that are out of line. In other words, it basically severely restricts what havoc hackers can unleash in your system. The only negative thing about it is it's very intrusive - Sometimes applications that you want running will be blocked because it requires explicit permissions & configuration. I personally disable it as I find it too much of a hassle to configure and have had no hackers. The only thing I can say is if you do disable it, run a firewall. This is critical. Also, before reporting problems about servers (see below) not working, try disabling SELinux.

Servers

What's a server?

Originally Posted by Wikipedia for "Server (computing)"

[...] The typical server is a computer system that operates continuously on a network and waits for requests for services from other computers on the network [...]

It is simply a piece of software that will listen to a network (one of which could be the Internet) and respond to requests. These "requests" can be for virtually any purpose - WWW pages (Web servers), remote administration (SSH, VNC, telnet servers), file sharing (SMB/NFS servers), the list goes on.

How can I install one?
See the Every Server Setup Imaginable thread that shows how to configure:
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor, used for making dynamic web pages and for (MySQL) database communication)
MySQL (Database, stores information that can be dynamically)
HTTPD (Web server, serves web pages)
SMB/Samba (Samba or SMB server, for file and printer sharing)
SSH (CLI remote administration)
VNC (Graphical remote administration)
VPN (Virtual Private Networking)

Software

What are these RPM packages everyone's talking about?
RPMs are installer .exe or .msi files of Linux. They are compressed packages of files that will install a certain program on your system, and make an entry in the RPM database. This allows for great package management. You can ask the system to tell you what packages owns a certain file easily install, remove or upgrade packages and much more.

How do I install a program?
See FedoraFAQ's Using Yum.

Are there games for Linux? I miss WoW.
Yes! For commercial support, you can use Cedega to run your Windows games in Linux, or for free you can use
- Wine to run Window binaries, including games. Run:

su  -
yum install wine

to install Wine.
There are also some great
free games readily available for Linux!

[Firewing1]

Drivers

How do I get nVidia or ATi graphics card to work in Linux?
Please DO NOT use the ATi or nVidia site's drivers. See this message for the reasons. Instead, please see instructions for installing drivers for a nVidia card or an ATi card.

How can I get my HP (multifunction) printer to work?
See Using HP's Linux drivers to get your HP Printer flying (HPLIP)

Can I access my Linux drives in Windows?
Yes! You can get read and write access safely by installing Ext2 IFS

Can I access my Windows drives in Linux?
Yes! You also have read and write access safely by installing ntfs-3g:

su -
yum install ntfs-3g

Other

What should I remember when posting here?
Please always follow The Guidelines, and it's a good habit to post your Fedora release (Core 1? 2? 5? We other users can't tell!), your basic hardware stats if you think it could be even remotely hardware related, and what you've tried up to date to solve it. Lastly, but most importantly, use informative titles!. "HELP ME IM STUCK" doesn't tell people much. A post resembling:

Title / Subject:
My network card ( [ brand & model here ] ) is not functioning, reporting tulip errors
Content:
My [ brand & model here ] network card isn't working properly. I have configured it correctly to work with my DSL modem, but it is not connecting and is reporting Tulip errors in my fresh install of Fedora Core 5.
When I did a "$ yum update", and it found updates, but still nothing works. Can you help me?"
Is excellent. It lets us know (a) You're in FC5, (b) You're using [ brand & model here ] NIC card, (c) your system is up to date but it's still not working, (d) It is properly configured for your modem, so right away we can save time by knowing it's not configuration issues.

What, or who, are Super User & root?
Super User and root are the same person. They are the uber-administrators of the computer.
In Linux, you can have a multi-user setup just like in Windows. The only difference is that reg. users can't administrate the computer as they can in Windows. This is a HUGE advantage in terms of security and it's partly why so few viruses exist for Linux. Anything that will change the system will either respond with "Enter root's password to continue:" or "Permissions Denied.". To become root and administrate the computer, a user can execute a certain command:

su -

That's an su, a space and then a dash. Notice the capitals on Super User -- This is how I remember the command: su = super user.
Although it may be tempting to just work as root all the time so you can administrate your system this is NOT a good idea. Stay logged in as root a minimal amount as time possible, as it gives hackers a better chance of compromising your system. In other words, make another user for yourself to work on as usual and then use su - to temporarily gain root access. Type

exit

when you're done to close the session.

I just can't get used to the hierarchy system in Linux. Can someone explain it to me?
Sure! The official one can be found here or
here, but this is how I think of it:
/ = Root directory, similar to C:\
/home = User's homes (their documents and personal preferences)
/lib = Shared libraries, the equivalent of DLL files go here
/root = root user's home, it's special and doesn't go in /home.
*******************
/root is not to be confused with /, which is also called root. / is the "system root", the drive that holds _all_ other directories, and the drive that contains the system layout that I'm describing here. /root is just also root, but it's referring to the directory reserved to the super user's documents and settings.
********************
/bin = Critical system applications (In linux, these are called "executables")
/sbin = Critical system executables only for root, or the super user. Hence, sbin, super user...
/opt = Random stuff. Nothing really goes here, so it's up to you how to use it or not use it. Usually for people wanting to install manually install things like Java will install it under /opt.
/dev = Special block devices. Block devices are special files used for communicating with a hardware device. They represent a device in a file. Whatever you do (send, technically) to this file is done to the device. So basically an executable (let's use this new language!) will send a command to a special block device, and then that will be relayed to the device in a format it can understand via system drivers.
********************
Extra info: (Ignore this if you find it too complicated, it's unimportant but fun to know )
/dev/sda1 = USB, SATA or SCSI device 1 (hence the "a",) and partition 1.
PREFIXES IN /dev/* devices:
'hd' = IDE devices
'sd' = USB, firewire, SCSI or SATA devices
'ram' = RAM
'parport' = Parallel port
'fd' = Floppy disk
The letter after that (suffix) is the order it's in. 'a' = master, 'b' = slave, 'c' = second master, 'd' = second slave, so on.
Then the number after is the partition count. For example, using "/dev/sdb1".[list][*]It's placement in /dev/ tells us it's a special block device.[*]'sd' prefix tells us it's most probably a USB or SATA device.[*]'b' suffix tells us it's the 2nd USB or SATA device plugged in.[*] 1 tells us we want to use (or are using) the 1st partition on this USB or SATA device.
********************
/usr = Another system hierarchy is in this folder, but it is for non-critical system files.
/tmp = Temporary files
/var = Files and/or data that constantly changes. Examples are databases and system logs.
/media = Where Fedora automatically mounts drives & media*
/mnt = Manual mount spot*
* These two make up a "My Computer" like interface. These folders will contain other partitions or filesystems, just like My Computer.
/etc = Configuration files (Like C:\WINDOWS)
/usr/share = Program manuals and shared data
/usr/bin = Non-critical system apps (all other installed ones go here if they aren't completely needed for basic system function. Like 'program files')
/usr/sbin = Same as /usr/bin but, again, only for superuser, aka root. (Like program files but in a more secure way, it prevents regular users from executing the commands that affect the system.)
/usr/lib = Non-critical system libriaries
/boot = Linux boot files and configuration

Can I make movies and DVD's play in Linux?
Yup! See the Media playback in Fedora howto on this site.
You can now use Totem movie player to play your favorite DVDs and movie files just as you did in Windows or Macs.

Fedora's boot time is SLOW! What can I do?
See Speed up your boot time to get things going faster.

Ripping CD's takes forever!
The problem is cdparanoia - aka error checking. While cdparanoia error checking will decrease the chance of a skip when there's a scratch on a CD, but it also slows ripping down like crazy! You can use Grip to disable the error checking and get fast speeds:

su -
yum install grip

Install it, then next just go to the "Config" tab > "Rip" > "Extra" (or "Advanced, I forget...) > Uncheck anything that has to do with cdparanoia and error checking.

************************************************** ***********
*** NOTE: I have permission to link to my own software and documentation for this howto. ***
************************************************** ***********

Enjoy.
Firewing1

[Scytale]

I have a question not sure how newb it is but when I'm running a script\code in a terminal window and it goes into an infinite loop or similar (i.e typing ping without specifying when to stop) I'd love to know how to stop the executution on Windows I'd use Control Break is there a similar command I'm missing.

[Firewing1]

<ctrl + c>
Firewing1

Firewing 1
Thanks for the partition scheme. I have fdc5t3 set up like that on hda and hope to be able to install the final without all the fuss of moving and copying /home. On hdb I have my fdc4 and fdc5t2 which will go away soon and give me space to try the new LVM tool.

[Firewing1]

np.... btw, as far as i know, you don't have to download the FC5 install cd's to get FC5. With test 3, when FC5 comes out, just do a

yum update

and you should be off.
Firewing1

[paperdiesel]

Originally Posted by Firewing1

np.... btw, as far as i know, you don't have to download the FC5 install cd's to get FC5. With test 3, when FC5 comes out, just do a

yum update

and you should be off.
Firewing1

I know it's nitpicking, but I really wish that when you ran yum -y update, it would also update certain pieces of artwork and logos. I mean yes, you'll have the latest fc5 packages, but your system doesn't SAY you're running fc5. I want the new pretty logos! haha.

Thanks, firewing. And I hate you. Every time I think I've got the market cornered on answering people's questions, you swoop in and provide a better solution in language that's easier to understand.

pd

[Firewing1]

lol...
FYI, the -y switch in Yum does nothing more than accept "yes" by default. My command will still get the logos, just it asks before downloading the probably near GB of updates and installing them when FC5 comes out
(Oops, I did it again, didn't I? lol )
Firewing1

[paperdiesel]

Originally Posted by Firewing1

lol...
FYI, the -y switch in Yum does nothing more than accept "yes" by default. My command will still get the logos, just it asks before downloading the probably near GB of updates and installing them when FC5 comes out
(Oops, I did it again, didn't I? lol )
Firewing1

Nah, I knew that. I think the -y is better because you can just 'fire and forget'. Type yum -y update before you go to bed, and when you wake up, presto! New version installed. No waiting for all of the repo headers to be updated, etc.

And I don't know if I believe you about the logos.. all of my stuff (grub, graphical bootup, etc) still look like the old distro. Maybe that's changed since fc4.

pd

[Firewing1]

That's b/c even if the themes are updated you have to change your theme to the new one. Start up your theme manager (in prefs) and choose Bluecurve. Clearlooks is the default, and I agree in FC4 it looks like *crap* with the stock Gnome icons. The FC5 Clearlooks has been redone and looks MUCH better. For now, using Bluecurve.
If you really wanna be sure, type

yum --help
or
man yum

You'll find -y does nothing more than accept the default.
Firewing1

[brunson]

How should I setup my partitions?
My personal setup preference uses this setup formula:
-> Use Custom Partitioning during the install
- Start off with a 100MB ext3 partition, mountpoint /boot
- Next, a swap partition that's double the size of you're RAM. It doesn't need a mountpoint. (Swap is like virtual memory for Linux)
- Next, take a calculator and divide the remaining space on your hard drive in half.
- Make a ext3 partition with mountpoint /home the result of the previous calculation
- Make a ext3 partition with mountpoint / the rest of remaining space -- it should be the other half of the calculation.

I would recommend they accept the default partitioning of the installer. LVM is much more flexible than hard partitioning the disk.

[Firewing1]

It is, but it gave me (and judging by what I've heard around here, many many others too) headaches unless you really know what you're doing.
Even today, I consider myself fairly competent at using Linux by now (4 years of programming, development, testing, CLI use, etc) and I still don't use LVM at all, too much trouble. Same case for SELinux, but that's because I run a gazillion types of servers (all the ones in my server setup howto are actually working at once on my system!)

edit: [brunson's comment...] Okay, looking back on this a year or so later this sounds really cocky and that's not the way I intended it to be. Let me rephrase: I just mean from my 4 years of experience I don't find LVM to be worth it's advantages.

Firewing1

[brunson]

Even today, I consider myself an expert by now (4 years of programming, development, testing, CLI use, etc) and I don't use LVM at all.

So, 4 years of experience and you know better than the Fedora developers?

You're a very bright kid, Firewing, don't get me wrong, I like you a lot. I've seen you help a lot of users here on the boards and I've benefitted from your documentation myself, but I think recommending partitioning your own disk as opposed to using the default layout in a Newbie Guide (your designation, not mine) is poorly advised. Especially when your rationale is that it gave *you* headaches and you've heard that people have had problems with it in the past. I've personally never had a problem with it, but I've been using it under AIX almost as long as you've been alive, and practically rejoiced when it became available (and stable) on linux.

You'll probably like the system-config-lvm in FC5, it's been dramatically improved from the version in FC4. And I'm not saying you're wrong partitioning your own disk, I have my reasons for doing it on my own production machines, I'm just saying that it's wrong to recommend it in a Newbie FAQ.

[paperdiesel]

Originally Posted by Firewing1

If you really wanna be sure, type

yum --help
or
man yum

You'll find -y does nothing more than accept the default.Firewing1

If I really want to be sure of what? Stipulating "-y" doesn't really accept the defaults. It just answers yes, even when yes may not be the default. In this case, I know that yum update is going to prompt me with a yes/no about proceeding after it establishes which packages need to be installed, how much needs to be downloaded, etc. Since I can predict this question and I know what my response will be, I just use the flag to proceed without prompting.

According to the yum manual,

 -y     Assume  yes;  assume that the answer to any question which would
              be asked is yes.
              Configuration Option: assume-yes

That's exactly what I want. If I'm typing "yum update", it means I want it to update my whole system. So don't bug me about a confirmation after you've established what exactly needs to be done. Just do it and wake me up when it's done.

[paperdiesel]

Originally Posted by brunson

I would recommend they accept the default partitioning of the installer. LVM is much more flexible than hard partitioning the disk.

Agreed. A Newbie guide to linux should not require as a prerequisite any knowledge about partitioning your drive in to the respective partitions for a proper set up and install. LVM's defaults work well and more importantly, they don't require anything more than a "next" click to set up and implement.

And I didn't realize that firewing was 15 until you said "bright kid". While I may question how much knowledge an 11 year old can obtain towards being considered an expert in linux, he is still incredibly bright and articulate, and an asset to this community.