Installation procedure - Linux X-terminals

NOTE: Press TAB key to move between fields during setup (not ENTER)

1. Boot from floppy

2. At boot: prompt, press ENTER

3. Language:
    - Make sure English is selected, then select OK

4. Keyboard:
    - Make sure us is highlighted, then select OK

5. Installation Method:
    - Make sure NFS image is selected, then select OK

6. Configure TCP/IP:
    - Press TAB to move cursor to IP address field
    - Enter one of the IP addresses supplied to you (eg. 142.103.235.233)
    - Netmask: 255.255.255.0
    - Default gateway: 142.103.235.254
    - Primary nameserver: 142.103.236.1 (note: 236, not 235)

7. NFS Setup:
    - NFS server name: linx3.physics.ubc.ca
    - RedHat directory: /mnt/cdrom

8. When welcome screen appears, press OK to continue.

9. Installation Type:
    - select Install Custom System

10. Disk Setup:
    - select Disk Druid
    - if there are any partitions currently defined, delete them.
    Select Add:
        - Mount point: /root
        - Size (Megs): 16
        - Grow to fill disk: [ ] (not selected, no astrix)
        - Type: Linux native
        - Allowable drives: [*] hda
    Select Add:
        - Mount point: (empty)
        - Size (Megs): 128
        - Grow to fill disk: [ ] (not selected, no astrix)
        - Type: Linux swap
        - Allowable drives: [*] hda
    Select Add:
        - Mount point: /
        - Size (Megs): 1
        - Grow to fill disk: [*]
        - Type: Linux native
        - Allowable drives: [*] hda
    Your current disk partitions should look similar to the following. It may not be identical since different computers have different hard disks.
    Mount Point  Device  Requested  Actual  Type
    /            hda1     1M        1074M   Linux native
                 hda5   128M         129M   Linux swap
    /root        hda6    16M          17M   Linux native
    Select OK when you are ready to proceed.
    Answer YES to saving changes to partition table.
    If you get a message about turning on swap space immediately, select YES.

13. Choose partitions to format:
    - make sure all the partitions are selected and also select the Check for bad blocks during format option.
14. LILO configuration:
    - make sure Use linear mode is selected, then select OK
    - install the boot loader to the Master Boot Record (MBR)
    - select OK when asked about other partitions to boot

15. Hostname Configuration:
    - enter the host name supplied to you that corresponds to the IP address you used earlier (eg. p120-31.physics.ubc.ca)

16. Make the appropriate mouse selection. Usually the correct one will be pre-selected for you. If you select a 2-button mouse, make sure the Emulate 3 buttons is selected.

17. Time zone selection:
    - Hardware clock set to GMT should not be selected.
    - scroll to US/Pacific then select OK

18. Root Password:
    - use phyZ.Xterm

19. Add user:
    - do not enter anything here, just select OK

20. Authentication Configuration:
    [*] Use Shadow Passwords
    [*] Enable MD5 Passwords
    [ ] Enable NIS (not enabled)

21. Package Group Selection:
    - select only the components listed below, any others should be de-selected
    [*] X Window System
    [*] Networked Workstation
    [*] Utilities

22. X Probe Results:
    - if all goes well, a video card should be found.
    - make a note of the video card found and the X server used then continue.

23. Installation will now proceed. First filesystems will be formatted and then package
    installation will begin. This is probably a good time to get a coffee.

24. Bootdisk
    - do not create a boot disk.

25. Monitor Setup:
    - select your monitor from the list (eg. NEC MultiSync 3FGe)

26. Probing Video Card:
    - after the probing is finished, you will be presented a default video mode to use. Select Use Default.

27. Starting X:
    - Xconfigurator will start X to test your configuration. Click YES when you are asked if you can see the image. Click YES to automatically start X upon booting.

28. The main installation is now complete. Press OK to reboot after removing the disk from the floppy drive.

29. After system reboots, login as root.

30. Mount the Xterminals-RedHat filesystem from linx3:
    - open an Xterm by clicking the left mouse button on the desktop.

You may expand this window by dragging on one of the corners.
    - create a mount directory, type mkdir /Xterminals
    - to mount the filesystem, type the command:
    mount linx3.physics.ubc.ca:/Xterminals /Xterminals
    - if the mount was successful, you should just see the command line prompt reappear

31. Run the postinstall script:
    - type the following commands:
        cd /Xterminals
        ./postinstall

32. After the postinstall script finishes, reboot the computer and enter the BIOS setup.
    - make sure the boot sequence is set to boot the hard drive first.
    - make sure the BIOS Setup password is set to "lxterm" (without the quotes).

32. After the postinstall script finishes, reboot the computer and do a final check.
 
 

NOTES:

- the run level is set in /etc/inittab
- to boot in single user mode, at the boot: prompt type linux -s
- network configuration (ip address, etc) are in /etc/sysconfig/network and /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
- /etc/rc.d/rc[2,3,4,5].d directories are modified so that only the services which are absolutely necessary are started.
- installed new files:
    /etc/resolv.conf
    /etc/hosts.[allow,deny]
- installed mathematica fonts (X, AFM) into /usr/lib/X11/fonts and then installed new /etc/X11/fs/config which includes the new font paths.
- /etc/X11/XF86Config is modified to uncomment the lines which disable the
    <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort sequence and the
    <Crtl><Alt><KP_+><KP_-> mode switching sequences
- Installed a new /etc/X11/prefdm file which contains the line
    exec X -quiet -query physics
    so that a physics xdm login window comes up by default.
- /etc/lilo.conf is changed to add restricted and password lines to prevent a single user reboot without a password.
- installed openSSL (v0.9.5-1) and openSSH (v1.2.3-1)
- removed a lot of packages that aren't needed.

- "XDM: too many retransmissions". How can I resolve this problem?
    Comment out the line "DisplayManager".requestPort: 0" from file /etc/X11/xdm/xdm-config, then reboot
    Go to /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf and make sure [XDMCP] is enabled (Enable=1).

last modified 11/29/2001

rap@physics.ubc.ca