<b>VectorLinux 4.0 Installation Guide</b> SUMMARY 1. System requirements 2. Hard drive partitions ... 2.1 Tools for Windows/D.O.S. ... 2.2 Tools for Linux ... 2.3 Other tools 3. Download integrity check ... 3.1 Integrity check in Windows ... 3.2 Integrity check in Linux 4. Installation ... 4.1 CD Install ... 4.2 Floppy / HD Install 5. Installation process step by step 6. Post install configuration 7. Using the system for the first time 8. Enjoy the fruits of your labor 9. Credits ============================== 1. System Requirements ============================== For VectorLinux 4.0 Download Edition: VL is designed to run well even on older hardware. To run VL 4.0 Download Edition, the minimum hardware recommendations for a pleasant experience are: Pentium Classic 200 MHz 64 MB of RAM. At least 640 MB of hard disc space plus swap space. For VectorLinux 4.0 SOHO Edition (minimum requirements) Pentium 233MMX 128M of RAM Video Card supported by XFree86 4.3 (IGP and nVidia drivers included) 2.5Gig free HD space For VectorLinux 4.0 SOHO Edition (recommended system specs.) Pentium 2 300 256M of RAM Video Card supported by XFree86 4.3 (IGP and nVidia drivers included) 6 Gig free HD space. ============================== 2. Hard drive partitions ============================== Linux requires two partitions, a partition where the system is installed, and a swap partition, used for virtual memory. You have several options on how to set up these partitions: 2.1 Tools for Windows/D.O.S. --------------------------------- Partition Magic is a popular commercial product for non- destructively resizing and formatting partitions. 2.2 Tools for Linux --------------------------------- Fips is a linux application that you could use to partition your hard drive. Using fips is beyond the scope of this document. However, the fips package comes with it's own extensive documentation, so please take the time to read it before attempting to resize or partition your drive with this method. 2.3 Other tools --------------------------------- parted from http://gnu.org. There are also some dos based utilities. Check http://www.download.com. In addition, the VL installation program includes a partitioning utility (parted) that you can use during the install. This may be the easiest way. Otherwise, you might want to set up the partitions ahead of time using Partition Magic, fips, or another tool. Note on partitions: Linux sees partitions in the following way. Assuming an IDE disk, the first partition on the first disk is /dev/hda1,the second partition is /dev/hda2, etc. If you have two hard drives, the first partition on the second disk is /dev/hdb1, the second is /dev/hdb2, etc. SCSI hard disks are seen the same except the notation is 'sd' (scsi disk) i.e. the first partition on a scsi disk would be /dev/sda1. If you already have Windows installed, it's probably installed at /dev/hda1 (c:\). If you're resizing that partition and adding Linux partitions, those partitions may be at /dev/hda2 or at a higher number. This is important to keep in mind when you do the actual install because you need to tell VL which partition you want to use for VL. Important Notes: It is always recommended that before any re-partitioning, you run a scandisc and a defragmentation on the drive. Of course, you should always make a backup of your important files. ============================== 3. Download Integrity Check ============================== If you have downloaded an .ISO file, you should check if it has not been corrupted during the download before burning it to a CD. For that, you need to do an "mdsum check", that means comparing the "fingerprint" of your downloaded file against the fingerprint that you can find in the server with the .iso file. It is always a good practice to do an mdsum check before you burn the CD, so you know if the file was downloaded properly or got corrupted. This will save you a lot of time and some bad burns. You can find more detailed information in the FAQs section of VectorLinux's forum. ------------------------------------------------------ 4. INSTALLATION ------------------------------------------------------ ============================== 4.1 CD Install ============================== This is by far the easiest way to install, so if your computer can boot from the CD, use this method. Just boot from the CD and follow the instructions on the screen. Couldn't be easier! Set your computer to boot from CD Generally, when your computer starts up, press Delete and you'll be taken to a set up screen (1) where you can configure BIOS options. There should be an option for boot order (general options are C drive, A drive, CD, etc). Choose to start up from CD first and save out of the screens and restart the computer. Just remember to change your settings back to booting from the hard drive when you're done installing VL. If you have multiple CD drives, the VL installation CD must be located in the first one of them. Some older computers do not recoqnize the boot routines used to boot the VL cd. If yours is one of those, then simply make the boot and root floppies from the files on your CD as explained in the next section. The "disks" directory in VL's CD contains the root and boot image files that you must use to make the boot floppies. Boot with the floppies and the installer will find the CD with the installation files (2). Notes: (1) Not all systems use the Delete key to enter the BIOS. Some systems use one of the F# keys. You should see which key during POST (ie shortly after turning on your machine). (2)This method is not available for VectorLinux 4.0 SOHO Edition, this is caused by the latest kernels being too big to fit into a single floppy disc. How to transfer the img file to a floppy: ------------------------------------------- - from Windows you can use rawrite. This is available in the "dostools" directory on the CD and in our ftp site. - from Linux, issue the following command to write an image to a floppy: dd if=diskimagename.img of=/dev/fd0 ============================== 4.2 FLOPPY / HD Install ============================== If you do not have a CD Rom drive, you'll need to boot from floppy disks and then place the VL files somewhere on your computer where they can be found during the install process. The "disks" directory in VL's CD contains the root and boot image files that you must use to make the boot floppies. Notes: This method is not available for VectorLinux 4.0 SOHO Edition, this is caused by the latest kernels being too big to fit into a single floppy disc. 4.2.1 How to transfer the img file to a floppy: ------------------------------------------------- - from Windows you can use rawrite. This is available in the "dostools" directory on the CD and in our ftp site. . - from Linux, issue the following command to write an image to a floppy: dd if=diskimagename.img of=/dev/fd0 4.2.2 Where do I place the VL files --------------------------------------- - create a "veclinux" directory at the top/root level of a Windows or Linux partition. The "veclinux" folder should contain the veclinux.bz2 file, xfree43.bz2 (assuming you want to install a graphical interface, which most users will want), and a kernel image (choose one). These files should all be placed in the same "veclinux" directory, not in any subdirectory. So a standard install might have a veclinux directory that looks like this: veclinux/ veclinux.bz2 xfree43.bz2 krnlide.bz2 4.2.3 Which kernel should I choose? ----------------------------------------- krnlide.bz2 - for computers with an ide interface krnlscsi.bz2 - for computers with a SCSI interface 4.2.4 Set your computer to boot from floppy ------------------------------------------------ Generally, when your computer starts up, press "Delete" and you'll be taken to a set up screen where you can configure BIOS options. There should be an option for boot order (general options are C drive, A drive, CD, etc). Choose to start up from floppy first and save out of the screens and restart the computer. Just remember to change your settings back to booting from the hard drive when you're done installing VL. ============================== 5. The Install Process Step by Step ============================== If you boot from a CD, after some initial start up messages, you'll be taken directly to the install screens. If you boot from a floppy, after the boot floppy loads, you'll be asked to insert the root floppy, and then you'll be taken to the install screens. Either way, you'll soon arrive at the install screens. The actual install is a menu-driven process that should be easy to do - just follow the instructions on each screen. 1. Start up - just press enter to start the install process 2. Select keyboard map 3. Choose to edit partition map or install to existing partition note: if you've already set up your partitions using Partition Magic or another tool, you'll want to choose to install to existing partitions. 4. Find install media 5. Select partition where you want to install VectorLinux note: you need to type in the name of the partition. For example, /dev/hda2 6. Choose swap partition note: if you already have a swap partition it should be found automatically. 7. Check files for errors before install 8. Choose file system (ext2, reiserfs, or ext3) note: ext2 is the older, standard Linux file system. Resierfs and ext3 are both newer journaling file systems. If you want to play it safe, go for ext2, otherwise choose ext3 or reiser. 9. Last chance menu - hit ok to format and install 10. Install kernel 11. Install X 12. In SOHO 4.0 you will be asked to provide a password for root and given an opportunity to set up additional users. Do so (it is not wise to run Linux as root). ============================== 6. Post-Install Configuration ============================== Once VL has been installed, a post-install configuration screen is presented. This allows you to configure sound and video, set up your network connection if you have one, etc. This screen can also be accessed later using the command "vasm" as root. Still, DO NOT skip this configuration step at installation time. 6.1 Set up Lilo ------------------------------------ Lilo is the Linux Loader that boots the system. You have the option of simple or expert configuration. Simple works well in most cases. Then you have a choice of where to install lilo: - the root partition (if you installed VL to /dev/hda2, this would install lilo to /dev/hda2) - the MBR (master boot record) for the disk - a floppy drive If you have another boot manager that can point to your Linux partition, then you can install to the root partition where you installed VL. If you want Lilo to take over the boot process entirely, install to the master boot of the entire disk. If you're not sure and you don't want to cause any problems, install to a floppy. Just make sure your computer's BIOS is set to boot from the floppy drive first. This is probably the safest method if you're worried about altering your existing configuration. After you've installed VL, you can change lilo by issuing the command "vasm" as root, which will bring up the configuration screen again, or, as root, you can edit the /etc/lilo.conf file by hand. After editing the file, be sure to issue the following command as root: /sbin/lilo. This will activate the changes you have made to /etc/lilo.conf ============================== 7. Using the system for the first time ============================== If you are using VectorLinux Download Edition, you may have noticed that we haven't set up users or created a password for root yet. So, when you reboot into VL, the first thing you need to do is set a password for the root user. Log in as root. You shouldn't be asked for a password; instead you'll be taken direcrly to a shell prompt. Type "passwd" and choose a password for root. Running Linux as root isn't a good thing, so next you'll need to set up a normal user. The easiest way to do this is with the "adduser" command. Type: adduser and follow the instructions to set up the user. Then you can logout and login again as the new user. To start the X Window system, type "startx" If the system fails to start the GUI interface, you might need to re-configure it. To do that, as root, type "vasm" and choose "XSETUP" to go trough a graphical interface to configure your xserver or choose "XTEXT" to use a text based but menu driven configuration utility. ============================== 8. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. ============================== Please join our message forum as you can get great information and help there to enhance your VectorLinux experience. ============================== 9. Credits ============================== This guide was contributed by UKBill and Johnvan. Based on the VL 1.8 guide made by Jeff McCoy