Fedora 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible

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1 Fedora 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible Christopher Negus Wiley Publishing, Inc.

3 Fedora 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible

5 Fedora 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible Christopher Negus Wiley Publishing, Inc.

6 Fedora 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN Copyright 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) , fax (978) Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) , fax (317) , or online at Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) , outside the U.S. at (317) or fax (317) Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. Red Hat and Fedora are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data available upon request. ISBN: Printed in the United States of America

7 About the Author Christopher Negus has been working with UNIX systems, the Internet, and (most recently) Linux systems for more than two decades. During that time, Chris worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories, UNIX System Laboratories, and Novell, helping to develop the UNIX operating system. Features from many of the UNIX projects Chris worked on at AT&T have found their way into Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, and other Linux systems. Chris is the author of all editions of what started out as Red Hat Linux Bible, which because of the name changes of Red Hat s Linux projects has evolved into the book you are holding. Most recently, Chris co-authored three books in the Linux Toolbox series: Fedora Linux Toolbox, Ubuntu Linux Toolbox, and SUSE Linux Toolbox (Wiley Publishing, 2007). Before that, Chris authored Linux Bible 2008 Edition and co-wrote Linux Troubleshooting Bible and Linux Toys II for Wiley Publishing. During the past few years, Chris has written several books on UNIX and the Internet, including Internet Explorer 4 Bible and Netscape Plug-Ins For Dummies for Wiley Publishing. He also co-wrote several books for Que Publishing, including The Complete Idiot s Guide to Networking (second and third editions) and Using UNIX (second edition). At home, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife, Sheree, and his boys, Caleb and Seth. His hobbies include soccer, singing, and exercising with Sheree. As always, I dedicate this book to my wife, Sheree. This book would never have happened without her love and support.

8 Credits Acquisitions Editor Jenny Watson Development Editor Sara Shlaer Technical Editor Tim Boronczyk Copy Editor Nancy Rapoport Production Manager Tim Tate Editorial Manager Mary Beth Wakefield Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher Joseph B. Wikert Project Coordinator Bill Ramsey Indexer Johnna VanHoose Dinse Media Associate Project Manager Laura Atkinson Media Assistant Producer Josh Frank Media Quality Control Kit Malone Anniversary Logo Design Richard Pacifico

9 Preface With the Fedora Linux operating system and the instructions in this book, you can transform your PC into a safe, powerful, and free computer system. Starting with Fedora, you can simply replace (or coexist with) Microsoft Windows on your everyday desktop computer. You can also configure your computer to share your files, printers, Web pages, or directory services to other computers. Then, if you choose, you can transition your skills to manage anything from a small office to a large, corporate Red Hat Enterprise Linux computer installation. This book tells you how and gives you the software to do it. Who Are You? You don t need to be a programmer to use this book. You may be someone who just wants to use Linux (to run programs, access the Internet, and so on). Or you may simply want to know how to administer a Linux system in a workgroup or on a network. I assume that you are somewhat computer literate but have little or no experience with Linux (or UNIX). You may be migrating from Microsoft operating systems to Linux because of its networking and multiuser features. You may be looking to start a career as a computer technician or network administrator and find that spending a few dollars for an entire operating system and book is more economical than taking those technical classes offered on late-night television. Or you might just think a free operating system is cool. In any case, after you peruse this book you should have a good idea of how to run applications, set up a small network, connect to the Internet, and configure a variety of server types (Web servers, print servers, file servers, and so on). This book represents a great first few steps toward your becoming someone who can set up a home network or a small office network and maintain a group of computers. This Book s Learn-Through-Tasks Approach The best way to learn a computer system is to get your hands on it. To help you learn Linux, this book takes a task-oriented approach. Where possible, I step you through the process of working with a feature, such as setting up a network or configuring your desktop. When you are done with a task, you should have a good, basic setup of the feature that it covers. After that, I often provide pointers to further information on tweaking and tuning the feature. Instead of assuming that you already know about cryptic topics such as troff, NFS, and TCP/IP, I ease you into those features with headings such as Publishing with Fedora and RHEL, Setting up a File Server, and Connecting to the Internet. Heck, if you already knew what all those things were and how to get them working, you wouldn t need me, would you?

10 viii Preface When many tools can be used to achieve the same results, I usually present one or two examples. In other words, I don t describe six different Web browsers, twelve different text editors, and three different news servers. I tell you how to get one or two similar tools really working and then note the others that are available. What You Need This book covers two different Linux systems: Fedora 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. Because Fedora is most recently released and is included on the media with this book, examples primarily focus on Fedora. However, because Fedora technology feeds into distributions besides RHEL, such as CentOS ( StartCom ( White Box Enterprise Linux ( and Oracle s Unbreakable Linux ( you can use this book to learn about those distributions as well. To follow along with this book, you can install the complete Fedora 8 software found on the accompanying DVD. If you don t have a DVD drive, you can use the CD that comes with this book to try out Fedora and install a desktop Fedora system to your hard disk. Or you can follow along with your CentOS system (which is free) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 system, (which you can obtain with a subscription from Red Hat, Inc.). To install Fedora 8 with the media that come with this book, you need a PC with the following general configuration: An Intel Pentium or compatible CPU, 200MHz Pentium or better (for text mode); 400MHz Pentium II or better (for GUI mode). Fedora 8 has been optimized for Pentium 4 processors. (Intel 486 computers will not work with Fedora 8.) At least 64MB of RAM (text-based install) or 128MB of RAM (graphical install). To run the GNOME or KDE desktop 192MB are needed, although the Fedora Project recommends 512MB. At least 620MB of hard disk space (you have to select a minimal install). You need 2.3GB of hard disk space for a personal desktop install, 3.0GB for a typical workstation installation, or at least 1.1GB of space for a server installation. A DVD or CD drive. This is recommended for installation (because we give you the installation DVD), although you can install from CD (we provide a live CD that can also be installed to hard disk), over a network, or from a local hard disk instead. For network and hard disk installs, booting installation from a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive is no longer supported. Chapter 2 describes methods of launching installation if you don t have a bootable DVD drive: Once the install is started, you need either an extra hard disk partition or another computer (that can be reached over the network) that has packages or images of the Fedora distribution on it. (I tell you how to do that later, in case you re interested.)

11 Preface ix Not every piece of PC hardware works with Fedora. While there is no official hardware compatibility list as there is for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (available at bugzilla.redhat.com/hwcert/), overall hardware support should be improved in Fedora 8. In fact, wireless LAN cards, FireWire devices, and some other components have seen improved support in Fedora 8. There are versions of Fedora available for other computer architectures as well. If you have a Power PC or X86 64-bit computer, you can download official install and live CDs and DVDs from the Fedora project ( Likewise, you can get X86 and X86 64-bit versions of CentOS from that project s site ( Fedora 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible Improvements Fedora 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Bible represents the continuing development of Red Hat Linux Bible, which I began in About every six months since Red Hat Linux 6.1, I ve followed new versions of Red Hat Linux with updates of this book. Red Hat, Inc. split its Red Hat Linux development efforts into two tracks: the Fedora Project and the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product. This book now covers the latest of those two Linux distributions: Fedora 8 and RHEL 5. By learning the features in Fedora 8, you will also be preparing yourself for future releases of RHEL. The foundation for Fedora, RHEL, and this book rests on the tradition begun with Red Hat Linux. The enhancements included in this edition reflect that foundation, plus some bold new cutting-edge Linux technology. For the theme of this edition, I've focused on enhancements related to the new Fedora slogan, Freedom is a Feature. While freedom does mean, in part, that you don't have to pay for the software the Fedora project distributes, freedom is reflected in other ways as well. With the new Online Desktop feature, you are free to fashion a desktop that combines the personal online services you use most. With tools such as livecd-creator and Pungi, you are free to create your own live CD or Fedora software repository. The following list describes new features of this book over the previous edition: Fedora 8 (Nearly) Everything Install DVD We provide Fedora 8 on DVD with this edition. You get nearly the entire Fedora 8 distribution. Because the Fedora software repository has grown beyond the 8GB size we can fit on a dual-layer DVD, a handful of games packages from that repository did not make it on to the DVD. However, those packages will still appear on your Package Manager window, allowing you to easily install them from the Internet. Fedora 8 Desktop Live/Install CD Before you install Fedora, you can try out a Desktop-oriented live version of Fedora 8 by booting the CD that comes with this book.

12 x Preface While that CD is running, you can use it to prepare your computer to do a permanent installation. The contents of that CD can also be installed directly to your hard disk. Live CD Creator and Pungi Fedora project today offers some of the most solid tools for creating Fedora live CDs (livecd-creator) and Fedora software repositories that include your own software (Pungi). While details of these features are outside the user/administrator focus of this book, I provide some tips and pointers in Chapter 2 to help you get started creating your own live CDs for software repositories. Firstboot Changes A feature called Smolt was recently added to the firstboot procedure, which runs the first time you boot your computer after installation. The Smolt screen that appears during firstboot lets you see all the hardware components on your computer and, optionally, lets you send that information to the Fedora project. NTFS Support The Fedora project recently added support for NTFS file systems to the distribution. This means you can use tools from the live CD, such as GParted, to resize your Windows NTFS partition and make your Windows PC into a dual-boot computer with Fedora. You can also now mount and access those partitions from Fedora. Chapter 2 contains a description of how to use the live CD that comes with this book to resize your NTFS partitions to prepare for a dual-boot computer. Enhanced Fedora Theme The new default theme for Fedora 8 is called Nodoka. This theme offers a unified look to Fedora that is streamlined and also works well with the Echo Icon theme used with Fedora. GNOME Online Desktop The new Online Desktop feature of GNOME is one of the most exciting new features for Fedora 8. Although still experimental, Online Desktop promises to provide a mechanism for you to combine all your personal online services (Mugshot, Flickr, Netflix, Facebook, YouTube, and others), applications, and files into a single easy-to-use interface. Chapter 3 describes how to get started with Online Desktop. Fast User Switch Using a User Switcher icon in the desktop panel, you can log in multiple desktop users at the same time from the same screen. Then you can quickly switch among those user desktops with just a couple of mouse clicks. Fast User Switch is described in Chapter 3. Appearance Preferences Tools for changing different aspects of your desktop lookand-feel (themes, backgrounds, fonts, and interfaces) were combined into a single window for this release of GNOME. The Appearance Preferences window is described in Chapter 3. 3D Desktop Effects (AIGLX) With Fedora 8, you get improved support for 3D desktop effects based on the AIGLX project. The improved 3D accelerated desktop effects are described in Chapter 3. Third-party Repositories Software repositories for Fedora that are outside of Fedora Project control can provide some of the software you need that doesn't meet Fedora s licensing requirements. Learn about repositories such as Livna.org and ATRPMs.net and others in Chapter 5.

13 Preface xi GIMP 2.4 The new release of GIMP (version 2.4) is, in itself, a good reason to move up to Fedora 8. While this book only describes a few enhancements included in GIMP 2.4 (see Chapter 6), you will find that across the board GIMP 2.4 has improved in critical areas such as color management and useability. Video Cards for Gaming The description of video cards for gaming in Linux was revised in Chapter 7 to cover availability of new open source video drivers and improved 3D acceleration support. Rhythmbox Music Player Some nice improvements to Rhythmbox let you connect to free online music services, easily rip CDs, and otherwise improve how you manage your music collection. See Chapter 8. Firewall Configuration A new Firewall Configuration window not only makes it easier to manage a simple firewall (opening or closing a few ports) but also includes features for creating trusted interfaces, IP masquerading, and custom rules. (Refer to Chapter 14.) In addition to new features just described, procedures throughout the book have been tested and corrected to match changes that have occurred to Fedora 8 software in this version. Conventions Used in This Book Throughout the book, special typography indicates code and commands. Commands and code are shown in a monospaced font: This is how code looks. In the event that an example includes both input and output, the monospaced font is still used, but input is presented in bold type to distinguish the two. Here s an example: $ ftp ftp.handsonhistory.com Name (home:jake): jake Password: ****** The following boxes are used to call your attention to points that are particularly important. NOTE: A Note box provides extra information to which you need to pay special attention. TIP: A Tip box shows a special way of performing a particular task. CAUTION: A Caution box alerts you to take special care when executing a procedure, or damage to your computer hardware or software could result.

14 xii Preface CROSS-REFERENCE: A Cross-Reference box refers you to further information on a subject that you can find outside the current chapter. How This Book Is Organized The book is organized into four parts. Part I: Getting Started in Fedora and RHEL Part I consists of Chapters 1 through 4. Chapters 1 and 2 contain brief descriptions of the Linux technology and tell you what you need to get the operating system installed. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the Linux OS and to Fedora in particular. I also pay special attention to the division Red Hat, Inc., makes between the Fedora Project and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Chapter 2 discusses what you need to install Fedora and how to make the decisions you ll be faced with during installation. It includes procedures for installing from DVD, CD-ROM, hard disk, or network connection (NFS, FTP, or HTTP servers). In Chapter 3, you learn about the GNOME desktop environment, the KDE desktop environment, and the X Window system. These GUIs provide graphical means of using Fedora and RHEL. Chapter 4 describes ways of exploring and understanding Fedora and RHEL, primarily from the Linux shell command interpreter. You learn how to use the bash shell, the vi text editor, and the commands for moving around the Linux file system. Part II: Using Fedora and RHEL Part II consists of Chapters 5 through 9, which include information for the average user who wants to use Linux to run applications and access the Internet. Chapter 5 contains information on obtaining, installing, and running Linux applications. It also helps you run applications from other operating systems in Linux. Chapter 6 describes both old-time publishing tools and new, graphical word processors that are available with Fedora and RHEL. Old tools include the troff and TeX text processing tools, whereas newer publishing software includes OpenOffice.org utilities (included on the DVD) and StarOffice (commercially available). GNOME and KDE games that run in Fedora and RHEL are described in Chapter 7. This chapter also describes how to run commercial Windows games using Cedega, and commercial Linux games, such as Civilization: Call to Power and Myth II, some of which have demo versions available. Chapter 8 describes how to use audio and video players, as well as how to configure sound cards and CD burners. Chapter 9 describes tools for browsing the Web (such as the Firefox browser) and related tools (such as clients and newsreaders).

15 Preface xiii Part III: Administering Fedora and RHEL Part III consists of Chapters 10 through 14, which cover general setup and system maintenance tasks, including how to set up user accounts, automate system tasks, and back up your data. Chapter 10, in which you learn what you need to know about basic system administration, describes the root login, administrative commands, configuration files, SELinux, and log files. Chapter 11 describes how to set up and provide support for multiple users on your Fedora or RHEL system. In Chapter 12 you learn to create shell scripts and to use the cron facility to automate a variety of tasks on your Fedora and RHEL system. Techniques for backing up your system and restoring files from backup are described in Chapter 13. Chapter 14 describes issues related to securing your computing assets in Fedora and RHEL. Part IV: Fedora and RHEL Network and Server Setup Part IV consists of Chapters 15 through 26, which describe step-by-step procedures for setting up a variety of server types. Simple configurations for what might otherwise be complex tasks are contained in each chapter. Learn to arrange, address, and connect your Linux computers to a local area network (LAN) in Chapter 15. Chapter 16 describes techniques for connecting your Linux computer and LAN to the Internet, using features such as Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), IP forwarding, IP masquerading, routing, and proxy servers. Chapter 17 describes how to set up different types of print server interfaces, including Samba (to share with Windows systems) and native Linux CUPS printing. Chapter 18 describes file servers, such as Network File System (NFS) servers and Samba file servers. Chapter 19 describes how to configure sendmail or postfix servers. Chapter 20 describes how to configure and secure an FTP server, as well as how to access the server using FTP client programs. Chapter 21 teaches you how to set up Fedora or RHEL as a Web server, focusing on the popular Apache server software. Chapter 22 explains how to use LDAP to create a shared address book. Chapter 23 describes how to set up a DHCP server to distribute information to client workstations on the network. Chapter 24 describes how to set up and use a MySQL database server in Linux. Chapter 25 takes you through the process of making the servers you configured in the other chapters available on the Internet. Setting up a Domain Name System (DNS) server is also described in Chapter 25. Chapter 26 describes how to set up Fedora or RHEL to be a Macintosh file and printer server. It also describes how to install Fedora on a new Intel-based Mac, so you can dual boot between Mac OS X and Fedora. Appendixes This book contains three appendixes. Appendix A describes the contents of the companion media. Appendix B provides an overview of setting up and running network services. Appendix C covers features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Linux. The book you need to succeed! Boot up to Ubuntu, Fedora, KNOPPIX, Debian, opensuse, and 13 Other Distributions Edition.

Linux. The book you need to succeed! Boot up to Ubuntu, Fedora, KNOPPIX, Debian, opensuse, and 13 Other Distributions Edition. DVD and CD-ROM Included Run or install 18 different Linux distributions from the multi-boot DVD and CD-ROM! Christopher Negus Linux 2009 Edition Boot up to Ubuntu, Fedora, KNOPPIX, Debian, opensuse, and