www.it-ebooks.info openSUSE Linux UNLEASHED 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA Michael McCallister www.it-ebooks.info openSUSE Linux Unleashed Copyright © 2008 by Sams Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/). ISBN-13: 978-0-672-32945-6 ISBN-10: 0-672-32945-X Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: McCallister, Michael. OpenSUSE Linux unleashed / Michael McCallister. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-672-32945-6 (pbk. w/dvd) 1. Linux. 2. Operating systems (Computers) I. Title. QA76.76.O63M37486 2007 005.4'32 dc22 2007033555 Printed in the United States on America First Printing October 2007 Trademarks All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Warning and Disclaimer Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possi- ble, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book or from the use of the DVD or programs accompanying it. Bulk Sales Sams Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact U.S. Corporate and Government Sales 1-800-382-3419 corpsales@pearsontechgroup.com For sales outside of the U.S., please contact International Sales international@pearsoned.com Associate Publisher Mark Taber Development Editors Damon Jordon Michael Thurston Managing Editor Patrick Kanouse Project Editor Mandie Frank Copy Editor Jill Batistick Indexer Ken Johnson Proofreader Susan Eldridge Technical Editor Tim Boronczyk Publishing Coordinator Vanessa Evans Multimedia Developer Dan Scherf Designer Gary Adair Composition TnT Design, Inc www.it-ebooks.info Contents at a Glance Introduction 1 Part I: Installation and Configuration 7 1 Welcome to openSUSE 9 2 Preparing to Install openSUSE 23 3 Installing openSUSE 35 4 Further Configuration with YaST and SaX2 49 Part II: Using openSUSE 69 5 Getting Started with openSUSE 71 6 Launching Your Desktop 97 7 Printing with openSUSE 123 8 Shaking Hands with Your Shell 139 9 Being Productive: Office Suites and Other Tools 161 10 Sights, Sounds, and Other Fun Things 187 11 Going Cross-Platform 227 Part III: Using the Internet 245 12 Connecting to the Internet 247 13 Using the Internet: Browsing the Web and Writing Email 265 14 Creating Basic Websites 289 15 Managing Email Servers 311 16 Collaborating with Others 333 17 Secure File Transfer 357 Part IV: Basic System Administration 371 18 Managing Files, Volumes, and Drives 373 19 Managing Users, Managing Security 403 20 Managing Data: Backup, Restoring, and Recovery 419 21 Keeping Your System Current: Package Management 441 www.it-ebooks.info Part V: Advanced System Administration 457 22 Managing the Boot Process and Other Services 459 23 Securing Your Machines 477 24 Kernel and Module Management 493 25 Setting Up Networks and Samba 507 26 Managing Web and FTP Servers 529 27 Managing Domain Names 549 Part VI: Programming 567 28 Programming Tools 569 29 Managing Databases 589 30 Using Perl and Python 611 31 Creating Dynamic Websites 627 32 Performance Tuning 641 33 Command-Line Master Class 651 Index 667 www.it-ebooks.info Table of Contents Introduction 1 Why Use Linux? 2 Who This Book Is For 3 What This Book Contains 3 Conventions Used in This Book 5 Part I Installation and Configuration 7 1 Welcome to openSUSE 9 What Is openSUSE? 9 openSUSE Linux 10 The openSUSE.org Wiki 12 The openSUSE Install Program 13 File Systems in openSUSE 13 64-Bit openSUSE 14 Getting Help: Documentation and Other Sources 14 Printed Documentation and the openSUSE Help Center 14 Searching the Help Center 15 Man and Info Pages 16 openSUSE Online Support 17 The Linux Documentation Project 17 The openSUSE Mailing Lists 18 Filing a Bug in openSUSE’s Bug Tracker 19 Linux User Groups 20 References 21 2 Preparing to Install openSUSE 23 Planning Your openSUSE Installation 24 System Requirements 25 Linux on Laptops 27 openSUSE and Legacy Hardware 27 Avoiding Potential Hardware Problems 28 Dual Booting, Partitioning, and Other Worries 29 Dual Booting with Windows 30 How to Partition Your Drive(s) 31 References 32 www.it-ebooks.info 3 Installing openSUSE 35 Methods of Installing openSUSE 35 Preparing to Install from a CD-ROM or DVD 35 Installing openSUSE with YaST 37 Setting Your Time Zone 38 Selecting a Desktop Environment 38 Initial Installation Settings 38 Partitioning 38 Installing Software Packages 39 Creating the Root User 40 Setting a Hostname and Domain Name 41 Configuring Network and Internet Connections 41 Creating a User 44 Configuring Hardware for the X Window System 45 Logging In and Shutting Down the First Time 46 References 47 4 Further Configuration with YaST and SaX2 49 Troubleshooting Installation Problems 49 Configuring Hardware with YaST 50 Gathering Information About Your Hardware 50 Modifying Disk Controller Settings 50 Configuring Your Sound and Video Cards 51 Configuring a Joystick 54 Adjusting Your Keyboard Layout 54 Configuring Your Mouse 55 Configuring Your Scanner 56 Configuring Your TV or Radio Card 56 Setting Date and Time 57 Using the Network Time Protocol (NTP) to Keep Accurate Time 58 Power Management 61 YaST Power Management 62 Portable PC Issues 64 Power Management for Laptops 64 Working with PCMCIA Cards 64 Configuring Bluetooth Wireless Support 64 Configuring Infrared Interface (IrDA) Mode 65 Configuring CD, DVD, and Rewritable Drives 66 Integrating CD and DVD Drives into Your System 66 References 67 openSUSE Linux Unleashed vi www.it-ebooks.info Part II Using openSUSE 69 5 Getting Started with openSUSE 71 Logging In to openSUSE 72 Logging In from the Shell 72 Logging Out of the Shell 72 Working with the Linux File System 72 Essential File System Commands from the /bin and /sbin Directories 74 Using the /boot and /dev Directories 74 Editing Configuration Files in the /etc Directory 75 Where All the Good Stuff Goes: Your /home Directory 76 Finding Desktop Programs in /opt 76 Where Most of the Programs Go: The /usr Directory 77 Variable Data: The /var Directory 77 Changing User Information and the Finger Program 77 Choosing and Using a Shell 78 Cool Stuff That All Shells Have in Common 78 Running bash 79 Running tcsh 81 Running zsh 82 Managing Files with Midnight Commander 82 ksh and ash 83 Choosing a Shell 84 Editing Text 85 Working with vim and Its Clones 86 Working with emacs and Its Clones 87 Some of the Others 88 Why Can’t I Edit This File? How Permissions Work 89 Changing Permissions 90 Directory Permissions 92 Working as Root 92 Creating and Deleting Users 93 Shutting Down and Rebooting the System 94 References 95 File System 95 Shells 95 Editors 96 Working as Root 96 Contents vii www.it-ebooks.info 6 Launching Your Desktop 97 Understanding the X Window System 98 Configuring X in openSUSE 98 3D Video with Xgl 100 Enabling Xgl 101 Configuring the Compiz Window Manager 102 Choosing a Desktop Environment: KDE and GNOME 102 KDE: The K Desktop Environment 104 GNOME: The GNU Network Object Model Environment 106 Managing Files from Your Desktop 107 Using Konqueror in KDE 108 Using Krusader in KDE 110 Using Nautilus in GNOME 111 Configuring Your Desktop Environment 112 KDE Control Center 112 Customizing GNOME 114 What Is a Window Manager and Why Would I Want to Use It? 116 Why Run a Window Manager? 116 Starting Up with a Window Manager 117 Running FVWM 117 Running WindowMaker 118 Running IceWM 119 References 120 7 Printing with openSUSE 123 Printing: An Overview 123 Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) 124 Configuring Printers with YaST 125 Configuring CUPS and Network Printers with KDEPrint 130 Printing with CUPS 132 Working with the Portable Document Format (PDF) 133 Console Print Control 135 Using Basic Print Commands 135 Avoiding Printing Problems 136 Multifunction (Print/Fax/Scanner) Devices 136 USB and Older Inkjet Printers 136 References 137 8 Shaking Hands with Your Shell 139 What Is the Shell? 140 Using the Shell in openSUSE 141 Getting to the Shell 141 openSUSE Linux Unleashed viii www.it-ebooks.info Creating Scripts 143 Running Scripts 144 The Power of the Command Line 146 Pattern Matching in the Shell 147 Redirecting Input and Output 149 Piping Data 149 Background Processing 150 Basic Shell Programming 150 Displaying Messages 150 Using System Variables 151 Creating User Variables 152 The Backtick 153 Arithmetic 154 Advanced Shell Programming 155 User Input 155 Flow Control 156 References 159 9 Being Productive: Office Suites and Other Tools 161 Comparing Linux Office Suites 161 Running OpenOffice.org 162 Running KOffice 168 Running GNOME Office 171 Running Softmaker Office 172 Other Commercial Suites 172 Connecting with PDAs and Smart Phones 174 Command-Line PDA Software for openSUSE 174 Managing Your Finances 175 More Tools to Make You Productive 178 Voice-over-IP (VoIP) with Skype and Ekiga 178 Desktop Publishing with Scribus 180 Diagramming and Flowcharting with Dia and Kivio 181 Mindmapping with VYM 182 Fax and Scanner Applications 183 References 185 10 Sights, Sounds, and Other Fun Things 187 Playing Music and Listening to the Radio 187 Sound Formats 187 Audio Player Overview 189 Amarok 190 Banshee 194 Contents ix www.it-ebooks.info [...]... Introduction Welcome to openSUSE Linux Unleashed! This book is going to help you get the most out of your SUSE Linux system, and it includes a fully functional copy of the operating system distribution Since SUSE Linux A.G was acquired by networking pioneer Novell in 2003, more North Americans are becoming familiar with the SUSE Linux distribution that has long been popular in Europe SUSE Linux offers an incredibly... 23 CHAPTER 3 Installing openSUSE 35 CHAPTER 4 Further Configuration with YaST and SaX2 49 www.it-ebooks.info 9 This page intentionally left blank www.it-ebooks.info CHAPTER 1 Welcome to openSUSE And it is a fine place to begin! Whether you are brand new to Linux or moving from another distribution, you will find openSUSE easy to use and powerful to work with openSUSE Linux Unleashed is here to help... NOTE This book includes a copy of openSUSE 10.3, but readers owning earlier versions of SUSE Linux should find nearly all the advice contained here useful You’ll get a little bit of Linux history before jumping into the preparation needed for a successful installation and long-term operation of openSUSE Linux Then you’ll get stepby-step instructions in using the SUSE Linux standby, Yet another Setup... Contains openSUSE Linux Unleashed is organized into six parts, covering installation and configuration, everyday usage, Internet access and usage, basic and advanced system administration, and programming The idea is to work from the very basics of using the OS into more difficult and advanced tasks With the accompanying DVD, you have everything you need to get started www.it-ebooks.info 4 openSUSE Linux Unleashed. .. further in the future You’ll read more about the openSUSE project in Chapter 1 Whether you’re completely new to Linux or coming to openSUSE Linux from another distribution, you’re going to find solid information in a slightly more relaxed style than you’re used to in a computer book SUSE Linux has always been known as a distribution packed with applications, and openSUSE 10.3 is no exception This book, as... relatively inexpensively Linux now offers big player support Although the Linux community is still the best place to go for support when things go wrong, the presence of IBM, Novell, and other big companies in the support space can make even the most uneasy bean counter relax a little Who This Book Is For This book will get you going on openSUSE Linux When Novell began the openSUSE project, this distribution... over the server landscape in the late 1990s, Linux is gaining ground in the desktop arena More Linux developers have become interested in writing software for the masses of ordinary users You’ll learn how to use several open-source office productivity applications, access the Internet, work with digital music and video, and even play a few games openSUSE Linux Unleashed contains everything you need to... developed using openSUSE Linux and open-source tools As you work through this book and learn more about the OS and its tools, always keep in mind the admonition SUSE Linux developers try to remind us of at the end of every installation: “Have a lot of fun!” www.it-ebooks.info PART I Installation and Configuration IN THIS PART CHAPTER 1 Welcome to openSUSE CHAPTER 2 Preparing to Install openSUSE 23 CHAPTER... consultant with Compuware Michael has run a SuSE Linux desktop at home since version 5.3 and knows firsthand how far the distribution has come over the years Besides SUSE Linux 10 Unleashed, he is the author of Computer Certification Handbook, published by Arco Press (2000), and his technology stories have been published in places such as Linux Journal, SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, Java Developer’s Journal, Internet... on openSUSE Linux 10.3, which Novell calls the “community supported” product targeted to home and home-business users This is the version now created by the openSUSE project, which launched in August 2005 The next sections include descriptions of the other versions available All these versions use the openSUSE install program, YaST (Yet another Setup Tool), to install, configure, and update your Linux . www.it-ebooks.info openSUSE Linux UNLEASHED 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA Michael McCallister www.it-ebooks.info openSUSE Linux Unleashed Copyright © 2008 by. into Your System 66 References 67 openSUSE Linux Unleashed vi www.it-ebooks.info Part II Using openSUSE 69 5 Getting Started with openSUSE 71 Logging In to openSUSE 72 Logging In from the Shell . Use Linux? 2 Who This Book Is For 3 What This Book Contains 3 Conventions Used in This Book 5 Part I Installation and Configuration 7 1 Welcome to openSUSE 9 What Is openSUSE? 9 openSUSE Linux