SUSE LINUX

Administration Guide

AuthorsStefan Behlert, Frank Bodammer, Stefan Dirsch, Olaf Donjak, Roman Drahtmüller, Torsten Duwe, Thorsten Dubiel, Thomas Fehr, Stefan Fent, Werner Fink, Kurt Garloff, Carsten Groß, Joachim Gleißner, Andreas Grünbacher, Franz Hassels, Andreas Jaeger, Klaus Kämpf, Andi Kleen, Hubert Mantel, Lars Marowsky-Bree, Chris Mason, Johannes Meixner, Lars Müller, Matthias Nagorni, Anas Nashif, Siegfried Olschner, Peter Pöml, Thomas Renninger, Heiko Rommel, Marcus Schäfer, Nicolaus Schüler, Klaus Singvogel, Hendrik Vogelsang, Klaus G. Wagner, Rebecca Walter, Christian Zoz
EditorsJörg Arndt, Antje Faber, Berthold Gunreben, Roland Haidl, Jana Jaeger, Edith Parzefall, Ines Pozo, Thomas Rölz, Thomas Schraitle, Rebecca Walter
Legal Notice

Table of Contents

Welcome
1. Changes in the Administration Guide
2. Typographical Conventions
3. Acknowledgment
I. Installation
1. Installation with YaST
1.1. System Start-Up for Installation
1.2. The Boot Screen
1.3. Language Selection
1.4. Installation Mode
1.5. Installation Suggestion
1.6. Finishing the Installation
1.7. Hardware Configuration
1.8. Graphical Login
2. System Configuration with YaST
2.1. The YaST Control Center
2.2. Software
2.3. Hardware
2.4. Network Devices
2.5. Network Services
2.6. Security and Users
2.7. System
2.8. Miscellaneous
2.9. YaST in Text Mode (ncurses)
2.10. Online Update from the Command Line
3. Special Installation Procedures
3.1. Setting Up a Central Installation Server
3.2. linuxrc
3.3. Installation with VNC
3.4. Text-Based Installation with YaST
3.5. Tips and Tricks
3.6. Permanent Device Names for SCSI Devices
3.7. LVM Configuration
3.8. Soft RAID Configuration
4. Updating the System and Package Management
4.1. Updating SUSE LINUX
4.2. Software Changes from Version to Version
4.3. RPM—the Package Manager
5. System Repair
5.1. Automatic Repair
5.2. User-Defined Repair
5.3. Expert Tools
5.4. The SUSE Rescue System
II. System
6. 32-Bit and 64-Bit Applications in a 64-Bit System Environment
6.1. Runtime Support
6.2. Software Development
6.3. Software Compilation on Biarch Platforms
6.4. Kernel Specifications
7. Booting and Configuring a Linux System
7.1. The Linux Boot Process
7.2. The init Program
7.3. Runlevels
7.4. Changing Runlevels
7.5. Init Scripts
7.6. System Services (Runlevel)
7.7. SuSEconfig and /etc/sysconfig
7.8. The YaST sysconfig Editor
8. The Boot Loader
8.1. Boot Management
8.2. Selecting a Boot Loader
8.3. Booting with GRUB
8.4. Configuring the Boot Loader with YaST
8.5. Uninstalling the Linux Boot Loader
8.6. Creating Boot CDs
8.7. The Graphical SUSE Screen
8.8. Troubleshooting
8.9. For More Information
9. The Linux Kernel
9.1. Kernel Update
9.2. Kernel Sources
9.3. Kernel Configuration
9.4. Kernel Modules
9.5. Compiling the Kernel
9.6. Installing the Kernel
9.7. Cleaning Your Hard Disk after Compilation
10. Special Features of SUSE LINUX
10.1. Information about Special Software Packages
10.2. Virtual Consoles
10.3. Keyboard Mapping
10.4. Language and Country-Specific Settings
11. The X Window System
11.1. X11 Setup with SaX2
11.2. Optimizing the X Configuration
11.3. Installing and Configuring Fonts
11.4. OpenGL—3D Configuration
12. Printer Operation
12.1. Preparation and Other Considerations
12.2. Workflow of the Printing System
12.3. Methods and Protocols for Connecting Printers
12.4. Installing the Software
12.5. Configuring the Printer
12.6. Configuration for Applications
12.7. Special Features in SUSE LINUX
12.8. Troubleshooting
13. Mobile Computing with Linux
13.1. Laptops
13.2. Mobile Hardware
13.3. Cellular Phones and PDAs
13.4. For More Information
14. PCMCIA
14.1. Hardware
14.2. Software
14.3. Configuration
14.4. Utilities
14.5. Troubleshooting
14.6. For More Information
15. System Configuration Profile Management
15.1. Terminology
15.2. Configuring SCPM Using the Command Line
15.3. The YaST Profile Manager
15.4. Troubleshooting
15.5. Selecting a Profile When Booting the System
15.6. For More Information
16. Power Management
16.1. Power Saving Functions
16.2. APM
16.3. ACPI
16.4. Rest for the Hard Disk
16.5. The powersave Package
16.6. The YaST Power Management Module
17. Wireless Communication
17.1. Wireless LAN
17.2. Bluetooth
17.3. Infrared Data Transmission
18. The Hotplug System
18.1. Devices and Interfaces
18.2. Hotplug Events
18.3. Hotplug Agents
18.4. Automatic Module Loading
18.5. Hotplug with PCI
18.6. The Boot Script Coldplug
18.7. Error Analysis
19. Dynamic Device Nodes with udev
19.1. Creating Rules
19.2. Automation with NAME and SYMLINK
19.3. Regular Expressions in Keys
19.4. Key Selection
19.5. Persistent Names for Mass Storage Devices
20. File Systems in Linux
20.1. Terminology
20.2. Major File Systems in Linux
20.3. Some Other Supported File Systems
20.4. Large File Support in Linux
20.5. For More Information
21. Authentication with PAM
21.1. Structure of a PAM Configuration File
21.2. The PAM Configuration of sshd
21.3. Configuration of PAM Modules
21.4. For More Information
III. Services
22. Basic Networking
22.1. IP Addresses and Routing
22.2. IPv6—The Next Generation Internet
22.3. Name Resolution
22.4. Configuring a Network Connection with YaST
22.5. Configuring a Network Connection Manually
22.6. smpppd as Dial-up Assistant
23. SLP Services in the Network
23.1. Registering Your Own Services
23.2. SLP Front-Ends in SUSE LINUX
23.3. Activating SLP
23.4. For More Information
24. The Domain Name System
24.1. Configuration with YaST
24.2. Starting the Name Server BIND
24.3. The Configuration File /etc/named.conf
24.4. Zone Files
24.5. Dynamic Update of Zone Data
24.6. Secure Transactions
24.7. DNS Security
24.8. For More Information
25. Using NIS
25.1. Configuring NIS Servers
25.2. Configuring NIS Clients
26. Sharing File Systems with NFS
26.1. Importing File Systems with YaST
26.2. Importing File Systems Manually
26.3. Exporting File Systems with YaST
26.4. Exporting File Systems Manually
27. DHCP
27.1. Configuring a DHCP Server with YaST
27.2. DHCP Software Packages
27.3. The DHCP Server dhcpd
27.4. For More Information
28. Time Synchronization with xntp
28.1. Configuring xntp in the Network
28.2. Setting Up a Local Reference Clock
28.3. Configuring an NTP Client with YaST
29. LDAP—A Directory Service
29.1. LDAP versus NIS
29.2. Structure of an LDAP Directory Tree
29.3. Server Configuration with slapd.conf
29.4. Data Handling in the LDAP Directory
29.5. The YaST LDAP Client
29.6. For More Information
30. The Apache Web Server
30.1. Basics
30.2. Setting Up the HTTP Server with YaST
30.3. Apache Modules
30.4. Threads
30.5. Installation
30.6. Configuration
30.7. Using Apache
30.8. Active Contents
30.9. Virtual Hosts
30.10. Security
30.11. Troubleshooting
30.12. For More Information
31. File Synchronization
31.1. Available Data Synchronization Software
31.2. Determining Factors for Selecting a Program
31.3. Introduction to Unison
31.4. Introduction to CVS
31.5. Introduction to Subversion
31.6. Introduction to rsync
31.7. Introduction to mailsync
32. Samba
32.1. Configuring the Server
32.2. Samba as Login Server
32.3. Configuring a Samba Server with YaST
32.4. Configuring Clients
32.5. Optimization
33. The Proxy Server Squid
33.1. Some Facts about Proxy Caches
33.2. System Requirements
33.3. Starting Squid
33.4. The Configuration File /etc/squid/squid.conf
33.5. Configuring a Transparent Proxy
33.6. cachemgr.cgi
33.7. squidGuard
33.8. Cache Report Generation with Calamaris
33.9. For More Information
IV. Administration
34. Security in Linux
34.1. Masquerading and Firewalls
34.2. SSH: Secure Network Operations
34.3. Encrypting Partitions and Files
34.4. Security and Confidentiality
35. Access Control Lists in Linux
35.1. Advantages of ACLs
35.2. Definitions
35.3. Handling ACLs
35.4. ACL Support in Applications
35.5. For More Information
36. System Monitoring Utilities
36.1. List of Open Files: lsof
36.2. User Accessing Files: fuser
36.3. File Properties: stat
36.4. USB Devices: lsusb
36.5. Information about a SCSI Device: scsiinfo
36.6. Processes: top
36.7. Process List: ps
36.8. Process Tree: pstree
36.9. Who Is Doing What: w
36.10. Memory Usage: free
36.11. Kernel Ring Buffer: dmesg
36.12. File Systems and Their Usage: mount, df, and du
36.13. The /proc File System
36.14. vmstat, iostat, and mpstat
36.15. procinfo
36.16. PCI Resources: lspci
36.17. System Calls of a Program Run: strace
36.18. Library Calls of a Program Run: ltrace
36.19. Specifying the Required Library: ldd
36.20. Additional Information about ELF Binaries
36.21. Interprocess Communication: ipcs
36.22. Time Measurement with time
V. Appendix
A. Information Sources and Documentation
A.1. SUSE Documentation
A.2. The Linux Documentation Project (LDP)
A.3. Man Pages and Info Pages
A.4. Standards and Specifications
B. File System Checking
B.1. Manual Page of reiserfsck
B.2. Manual Page of e2fsck
B.3. Manual Page of xfs_check
B.4. Manual Page of jfs_fsck
C. The GNU General Public License
C.1. GNU General Public License
C.2. GNU General, Public License
Glossary
Index

List of Figures

1.1. The Boot Screen
1.2. Selecting the Language
1.3. Selecting the Installation Mode
1.4. Suggestion Window
1.5. Selecting the Mouse Type
1.6. Editing the Partitioning Setup
1.7. Selecting the Hard Disk
1.8. Possible Options for Windows Partitions
1.9. Resizing the Windows Partition
1.10. Installing and Removing Software with the YaST Package Manager
1.11. Selecting the Time Zone
1.12. Setting the root Password
1.13. Configuring the Network Devices
1.14. Testing the Internet Connection
1.15. User Authentication
1.16. NIS Client Configuration
1.17. Entering the Username and Password
1.18. Configuring the System Components
1.19. The Login Screen of KDM
2.1. The YaST Control Center
2.2. YaST Package Manager
2.3. Conflict Management of the Package Manager
2.4. Changing the Installation Source
2.5. YaST Online Update
2.6. Displaying Hardware Information
2.7. User Administration
2.8. Group Administration
2.9. Security Settings
2.10. Start Window of the Restore Module
2.11. Creating Boot and Rescue Disks
2.12. The YaST Expert Partitioner
2.13. Submitting a Support Request
2.14. Main Window of YaST in Text Mode
2.15. The Software Installation Module
3.1. YaST Installation Server: Selecting the Server Type
3.2. YaST Installation Server: Overview of Installation Sources
3.3. Physical Partitioning versus LVM
3.4. Creating a Volume Group
3.5. Physical Volume Setup
3.6. Logical Volume Management
3.7. Creating Logical Volumes
3.8. RAID Partitions
3.9. File System Settings
5.1. Automatic Repair Mode
7.1. System Services (Runlevel)
7.2. System Configuration Using the sysconfig Editor
8.1. Configuring the Boot Loader with YaST
11.1. The Main Window of SaX2
11.2. Monitor Selection
11.3. Selecting the Graphics Card
11.4. Configuring the Resolution
11.5. Configuring the Virtual Resolution
11.6. Adjusting the Image Geometry
12.1. Selecting the Printer Model
13.1. Integrating a Laptop in a Network
13.2. Monitoring the Battery State with KSysguard
15.1. YaST SCPM Options
15.2. Resource Group Configuration
15.3. Special Profile Settings
16.1. Scheme Selection
16.2. Overview of Existing Schemes
16.3. Adding a Scheme
16.4. Battery Charge Level
16.5. ACPI Settings
17.1. YaST: Configuring the Wireless Network Card
17.2. YaST Bluetooth Configuration
22.1. Simplified Layer Model for TCP/IP
22.2. TCP/IP Ethernet Packet
22.3. Configuration of the Network Card
22.4. Modem Configuration
22.5. ISDN Configuration
22.6. ISDN Interface Configuration
22.7. DSL Configuration
24.1. DNS Server Installation: Forwarder Settings
24.2. DNS Server Installation: DNS Zones
24.3. DNS Server Installation: Finish Wizard
24.4. DNS Server: Logging
24.5. DNS Server: Slave Zone Editor
24.6. DNS Server: Zone Editor (NS Records)
24.7. DNS Server: Zone Editor (MX Records)
24.8. DNS Server: Zone Editor (SOA)
25.1. NIS Server Configuration Tool
25.2. Changing the Directory and Synchronizing Files for a NIS Server
25.3. Setting Request Permissions for a NIS Server
25.4. Setting Domain and Address of NIS Server
26.1. NFS Client Configuration with YaST
26.2. NFS Server Configuration Tool
26.3. Configuring an NFS Server with YaST
27.1. DHCP Server: Selecting the Network Interface
27.2. DHCP Server: Global Settings
27.3. DHCP Server: Dynamic DHCP
27.4. DHCP Server: Start-Up
28.1. YaST: Configuring an NTP Client
28.2. YaST: Complex NTP Client Configuration
29.1. Structure of an LDAP Directory
29.2. YaST: Configuration of the LDAP Client
29.3. YaST: Advanced Configuration
29.4. YaST: Module Configuration
29.5. YaST: Configuration of an Object Template
29.6. YaST: Additional LDAP Settings
32.1. Samba Configuration—Start Up
32.2. Samba Configuration—Shares
32.3. Samba Configuration—Identity
34.1. iptables: A Packet's Possible Paths
34.2. The YaST Firewall Configuration
35.1. Minimum ACL: ACL Entries Compared to Permission Bits
35.2. Extended ACL: ACL Entries Compared to Permission Bits

List of Tables

1.1. Boot Options
4.1. Comparison POSIX 1992 vs. POSIX 2001
4.2. Ports Used by Important Services
4.3. Commands
4.4. Log Files in /var/log
4.5. Split Configuration Files in /etc/sysconfig/powersave
4.6. Wrapper
4.7. Backup Files
4.8. The Most Important RPM Query Options
4.9. RPM Verify Options
7.1. Available Runlevels
7.2. Possible init Script Options
10.1. ulimit: Setting Resources for the User
11.1. AccessX—Operating the Mouse with the Numeric Keypad
11.2. Sections in /etc/X11/xorg.conf
11.3. Parameters of fc-list
11.4. Supported 3D Hardware
17.1. Overview of Various WLAN Standards
20.1. File System Types in Linux
20.2. Maximum Sizes of File Systems (On-Disk Format)
22.1. Several Protocols in the TCP/IP Protocol Family
22.2. Specific Addresses
22.3. Private IP Address Domains
22.4. Various IPv6 Prefixes
22.5. Manual Network Configuration Scripts
22.6. Parameters for /etc/host.conf
22.7. Databases Available via /etc/nsswitch.conf
22.8. Configuration Options for NSS “Databases
22.9. Some Start-Up Scripts for Network Programs
26.1. Permissions for Exported File System
29.1. Commonly Used Object Classes and Attributes
29.2. User Groups and Their Access Grants
29.3. Types of Access
31.1. Features of the File Synchronization Tools: -- = very poor, - = poor or not available, o = medium, + = good, ++ = excellent, x = available
35.1. ACL Entry Types
35.2. Masking Access Permissions

List of Examples

2.1. /etc/fstab: Partition Data
4.1. List with df -h
4.2. rpm -q -i wget
4.3. Script to Search for Packages
5.1. Example /etc/fstab
7.1. A Minimal INIT INFO Block
10.1. Example of an Entry in /etc/crontab
10.2. Example for /etc/logrotate.conf
10.3. ulimit: Settings in ~/.bashrc
11.1. Screen Section of the File /etc/X11/xorg.conf
12.1. /etc/modprobe.conf: Interrupt Mode for the First Parallel Port
12.2. Error Message from the lpd
12.3. Broadcast from the CUPS Network Server
17.1. Output of irdadump
21.1. PAM Configuration for sshd
21.2. Default Configuration for the auth Section
21.3. Default Configuration for the account Section
21.4. Default Configuration for the password Section
21.5. Default Configuration for the session Section
21.6. pam_unix2.conf
21.7. pam_env.conf
21.8. pam_pwcheck.conf
22.1. Writing IP Addresses
22.2. Linking IP Addresses to the Netmask
22.3. Sample IPv6 Address
22.4. IPv6 Address Specifying the Prefix Length
22.5. /etc/resolv.conf
22.6. /etc/hosts
22.7. /etc/networks
22.8. /etc/host.conf
22.9. /etc/nsswitch.conf
24.1. Forwarding Options in named.conf
24.2. A Basic /etc/named.conf
24.3. Entry to Disable Logging
24.4. Zone Entry for my-domain.de
24.5. Zone Entry for other-domain.de
24.6. File /var/lib/named/world.zone
24.7. Reverse Lookup
26.1. /etc/exports
27.1. The Configuration File /etc/dhcpd.conf
27.2. Additions to the Configuration File
29.1. Excerpt from schema.core (line numbering for explanatory reasons)
29.2. slapd.conf: Include Directive for Schemes
29.3. slapd.conf: pidfile and argsfile
29.4. slapd.conf: Access Control
29.5. slapd.conf: Example for Access Control
29.6. slapd.conf: Database-Specific Directives
29.7. Example for an LDIF File
29.8. ldapadd with example.ldif
29.9. LDIF Data for Tux
29.10. Modified LDIF File tux.ldif
29.11. pam_unix2.conf Adapted to LDAP
29.12. Adaptations in nsswitch.conf
31.1. The file ~/.unison/example.prefs
32.1. A CD-ROM Share
32.2. homes Share
32.3. Global Section in smb.conf
32.4. Setting Up a Machine Account
32.5. Automated Setup of a Machine Account
33.1. Firewall Configuration: Option 15
33.2. Access Rules
33.3. Access Rules

SUSE LINUX Administration Guide 9.3