Chapter 2 Installation Overview 1. A Net Boot CD is a way to install a new system from a hard disk or over a network. 2. Three considerations for planning an installation are; a. SELinux improves system security by implementing mandatory access control policies in the Fedora kernel b. Install a Graphical desktop environment (GUI) such as GNOME and/or KDE. c. Install additional software and services packages to fit the need of the user. 3. By default Fedora divides the disk into three partitions, including ‘/boot’ and Logical Volume Manager (LVM). 4. Manual partitioning the hard disk has its advantages, such as being able to isolate a filesystem for security or backup needs. 5. The / (root) partition is the main filesystem on the hard disk. Any new created directories will become part of the root filesystem unless a filesystem is created. 6. The swap partition is where Linux temporarily stores programs and data when it does not have enough RAM to hold all the information it is processing. 7. The /boot partition holds the hernel and other data the system needs when it boots. In order for the /boot partition to work properly it must be one of the first partitions on the disk. 8. The /var (variable) partition holds the bulk of system logs, package information, and accounting data. The /var/log partition is commonly used in a separate partition to isolate system logs from other files in the /var directory. 9. The /home partition is ideal for making it a separate filesystem to keep users from filling up the systems directory, with their own filesystem partition. 10. The /usr partition is useful if you plan to export the directory to another system to improve security. Creating /usr/local and /opt to separate partitions will allow for all the additional software to be stored in its own filesystem freeing up the users disk space. 11. To do a network installation you locate the ISO image file from a server using FTP, NFS, or HTTP on the machine installing linux. This installation is very time consuming, but can be done with the installation CD, the Net Boot CD, the install DVD, or a USB flash drive.
Chapter 3 Step-by-Step Installation 12. The software selection is where you can choose to add other software besides Anaconda’s default software. These options include Office and Productivity, Software Development, and Web Server. 13. When installing SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) there is two modes to choose from. The default policy, Enforcing, which prevents any user or program from doing anything that is not permitted by the policy. The other policy choice is Permissive, which issues warnings but does not enforce the policy. 14. The askmethod command line utility that presents a choice for installation sources. 15. Kickstart is a Fedora program that completely or partially automates the same installation and post-installation configuration on one or more machines. 16. The X Window system is where the user decides on what graphical desktop environment will be used. Options for X Windows System include GNOME and/or KDE. 17. Daemon is a program that is not invoked explicitly but lays dormant, waiting for some condition to occur.
Chapter 11 System Administration 18. The telinit utility allows a user to bring the system down, reboot the system, or change between recovery and multiuser modes. 19. The inittab file is for compatibility with the old init daemon that allows the system to boot to a different runlevel. Runlevel’s 0, 1, and 6 will cause the system to shut down. 20. By default, Fedora systems boot to runlevel 5. 21. A rc (run command) script is a. The /ect/rc.d/rcn.d directories contain scripts whose names begin with the letters K and S. Each K (kill) script is executed with an argument of stop and each S (start) script is executed with an argument of start. This arrangement allows the person who sets up these files to control which services are stopped and which are started in what order. 22. The service utility can report on or change the status of any of the systems services. The command /sbin/services –status-all displays the status of all system services. 23. The system-config-services utility displays the Service Configuration window which can turn the system services on and off immediately, and it controls which services are stopped and started when the system enters and leaves runlevels 2-5. 24. The chkconfig utility can add, remove, list startup information, and check the state of the system services, changing the configuration only. The /sbin/chkconfig --list command will show a list of all services. You can check how a specific daemon is configured by adding its name to the command /sbin/chkconfig –list (specific daemon). If you omit the –level, chkconfig defaults to runlevels 2, 3, 4, and 5. When changing chkconfig setting using a service command allows you to instantly reboot the system for faster changes.