Slackware Linux System

Changes and Additions

April 2000

System setup

Table of Contents

etc/fstab - File System table

This is the setup 
/dev/hda1       swap    swap            defaults        0   0
/dev/hda2       /       ext2            defaults        1   1
/dev/hdc1       /disk2  ext2            defaults        1   1
/dev/sda4       /zip    auto            user,noauto     0   0
/dev/fd0        /a:     auto            user,noauto     0   0
none            /dev/pts        devpts  gid=5,mode=620  0   0
none            /proc    proc           defaults        0   0

etc/inittab system startup processes

These are the changes: 
c1:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty1 linux
c2:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty2 linux
c3:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty3 linux
c4:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty4 linux
c5:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty5 linux
c6:12345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty6 linux
# need at least one agetty at runlevel 4 for X to work okay
c7:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty7 linux
#c8 left out.  This is where X will come up
c9:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty9 linux
cA:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty10 linux
cB:1235:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 tty11 linux
#cC left out.  This is where the syslog will be displayed

Network configuration

the kernel module to load
the network parameters

DNS

copy configuration information to /etc/named/conf ? ? ?

Printing

copy printcap from previous system
check ghost script for printer support and adjust
create directories for spooling
create directories for scripts

e-mail

sendmail
fetchmail
procmail
pine configuration

Security

masquarding
ipforwarding
ssh
what else

User environment

Create symbolic link to the home directories on /dev/hdc1 (/home -> /disk2/home)
Copy passwd, group and shadow from previous system

etc/rc.d/ - System startup & shutdown scripts

clock
setserial
biff n


X configuration

Setting bits per pixel (color depth)

In the XDM directory change the Xserver file by adding -bpp 16. Here is the changed file.

file:/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers
# $XConsortium: Xserv.ws.cpp,v 1.3 93/09/28 14:30:30 gildea Exp $
#
#
# $XFree86: xc/programs/xdm/config/Xserv.ws.cpp,v 1.1.1.1.12.2 1998/10/04 15:23:14 hohndel Exp $
#
# Xservers file, workstation prototype
#
# This file should contain an entry to start the server on the
# local display; if you have more than one display (not screen),
# you can add entries to the list (one per line).  If you also
# have some X terminals connected which do not support XDMCP,
# you can add them here as well.  Each X terminal line should
# look like:
#    XTerminalName:0 foreign
#
:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X -bpp 16

Setting personal window manager

Changing your personal window manager in the .xsession file. It is an executable shell script in your home directory.  Here is an example:
#!/bin/sh
exec fvwm95
Refer to the file /var/X11R6/lib/xdm/Xsession for examples of starting other window managers.

Default window manager

Set the default window manager in this directory /var/X11R6/lib/xinit. Change the symbolic link xinitrc.  Currently it points to xinitrc.kde

/var/X11R6/lib/xinit$ ls
README.Xmodmap  xinitrc.e*      xinitrc.fvwm95*  xinitrc.kde*      xinitrc.twm
xinitrc@        xinitrc.fvwm2*  xinitrc.gnome*   xinitrc.openwin*  xinitrc.wmaker*

xdm wallpaper

Set the background / wallpaper for the xdm logon screen. The xdm setup file is in the /usr/X11/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup_0 file. Add the line xv -quit -root ~alex/public_html/ccn/grey_stone.gif & to the file. Here is the finished file.

#!/bin/sh
# $XConsortium: Xsetup_0,v 1.3 93/09/28 14:30:31 gildea Exp $
#xconsole -geometry 480x130-0-0 -daemon -notify -verbose -fn fixed -exitOnFail

# Fix backspace problem in login box:
sysmodmap=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap
if [ -f $sysmodmap ]; then
xmodmap $sysmodmap
fi

# If the nifty KDE background loader is around, use it:
if [ -x /opt/kde/bin/kdmdesktop ]; then
/opt/kde/bin/kdmdesktop
fi

xv -quit -root ~alex/public_html/ccn/grey_stone.gif &

Starting X from a console session

Use the command startx -- :2 -bpp 16 to start a second X session with a color depth of 16 bits per pixel



System message management

adjust settings
setup cron job
Virtual console 12 for display of messages.


crond setup

Copy changes from old to new


Samba configuration

Do not copy over the existing configuration file.  Apply the changes from old to new.  There may be parameter changes defaults etc


Apache setup

Do not copy over the existing configuration file.  Apply the changes from old to new.  There may be parameter changes defaults etc


Netscape upgrade to 4.71

Netscape supplied with this version of Slackware has a bug in the editing of html documents. It will crash when you create a link. I replaced it with Netscape 4.71 from the previous system. This particular release does not have the problem.

Here are the changes:

    1. Moved supplied netscape symbolic link to netscape.org  (netscape.org -> /usr/lib/netscape/netscape).
    2. The original supplied netscape is in the directory /usr/lib/netscape
    3. Copied/installed  netscape 4.71  to the directory /usr/local/netscape4.71.
    4. Created symbolic link  netscape -> netscape4.71 in usr/local
    5. Created wrapper script in /usr/bin for netscape containing
      6. #!/bin/sh
/usr/local/netscape/netscape "$@"

    Go to netscape downloadfor the latest version.

    Subsequently upgraded to 4.72. This release has the same bug. It is documented at the netscape site as a known problem.

    May 16/2000 When using netscape 4.72 and KDE occasionally netscape would go into a paging (swap) frenzy for an hour or so before ending. Alex reported similar problems in Fredericton. I have moved back to netscape 4.71. Considering using Mozilla in the future.


    Zip Disk

    Uncomment the line /sbin/modprobe ppa in /etc/rc.d/rc.modules. This change will load the device driver for the (old - ours) parallel zip disk. The printer cable is plugged into the zip drive.


    motd -- message of the day



    Bootp setup

    Copy the /etc/bootptab from previous system. Here is the relevant portion of the file.

    allhost:hd=/tmp:bf=null:\
       :ds=192.168.0.1:\
       :sm=255.255.255.0:\
       :gw=192.168.0.1:\
       :to=-14400:\
       :dn=localnet:
# Define all individual entries.
#hostname:ht=1:ha=ether_addr_in_hex:ip=ip_addr_in_dec:tc=allhost:
door:hn:ht=1:ha=00a0246cd264:ip=192.168.0.2:tc=allhost:
basement:hn:ht=1:ha=00A0246CAB62:ip=192.168.0.4:tc=allhost:

    Insure that the bootp daemon is started by the system startup script /etc/rc.d/rc.inet2. Add this segment after the starting of named.

    # Start the BOOTP server.
if [ -f ${NET}/bootpd ]; then
  echo -n " bootpd"
  ${NET}/bootpd
fi

    Restart the bootpd daemon, if it is active.


    tftpboot

    Copy the boot images from the previous system to this system.

    • /tftpboot/192.168.0.2 (Door)
    • /tftpboot/192.168.0.4 (Basement)

    Create symbolic link from /tftpboot/192.168.0.4 to basement.

    Refer to the Linux mini HOWTO Remote-Boot for more information


    NFS

    Identify the file systems to be exported in the file /etc/exports. Here is the sample.

    # See exports(5) for a description.
# This file contains a list of all directories exported to other computers.
# It is used by rpc.nfsd and rpc.mountd.
/tftpboot/192.168.0.2 192.168.0.2(rw,no_root_squash)
/tftpboot/basement basement(rw,no_root_squash)
/tftpboot/192.168.0.4 192.168.0.4(rw,no_root_squash)
/disk2 *.localnet (rw,no_root_squash)
/home/class *.localnet (rw,no_root_squash)

    Restart nfsd and mountd daemons if they are active.

    Refer to the HOW-TO NFS and the mini HOW-TO NFS-Root and NFS-Root-Client for more information.


    Joe backups

    global and local


    BS & Del key mapping

    link to how-to and an alternate approach.
    identify all changes in place