Installing SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

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Also like in windows, is it possible to use an “answer file”-like script to automate some parts of the installation.

** DVD/CD installation (this is the most common)
** Network Installation. (where you use a small boot disk or CD with network drivers to read the installation program across a network)
** PXE boot Network Installation. PXE booting is a boot option available on most network cards and BIOS's today. Essentially it is where the computer boots using DHCP and reads a small OS into memory (like a boot floppy) which then kicks off a larger OS or installation program.

* Installation Sources
* Partitioning Plan
* Software Packages

When I create workstations for clients, I am normally creating workstations 10,20 or even 50 workstations at a time. So to streamline everything, I have setup DHCP servers, PXE Boot Servers, Local Repositories and AutoYaST scripts in place. This helps to ensure that every workstation I build is made to exact specifications which greatly helps troubleshooting and help desk support.

However for this example I will should the fully manual process.


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The SuSE installation is broken into two stages. The first stage does little more than create the partitions and install the basic software. The second software boots into the installation and configures all the specifics.


[+The Basics+]
If your new to Linux, SLED10 (SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10) installations are nothing to be scared of. In fact the installation is generally easier than Windows! As with Windows, there are two steps to the install, SuSE calls them stages.
# Stage 1
## Accepting the licenses...
## Select were you want to install Linux from.
## Select the disk where to install the Operating System (OS).
## Figuring out the partitioning (This is probably the hardest part for administrators new to Linux)
## Selecting which software packages you want to install.
## Reboot into your new OS
# Stage 2
## Configure everything you installed above.

The biggest differences are immediately evident in Stage 1.
# Installation Source. Unlike Windows, Linux can be installed from a variety of installation sources.
DVD/CD installation (this is the most common)
Network Installation. (where you use a small boot disk or CD with network drivers to read the installation program across a network)
PXE boot Network Installation. PXE booting is a boot option available on most network cards and BIOS's today. Essentially it is where the computer boots using DHCP and reads a small OS into memory (like a boot floppy) which then kicks off a larger OS or installation program.
We will be using the PXE boot for this demonstration.
# Partitioning. Linux needs and uses what is called a Swap Partition. While there is a great deal of theory that can go into where and how big the swap partition should be, for our purposes, just take what the installation program defaults to.
Also like windows, is it possible to use an “answer file”-like script to automatic some parts of the installation. I have created a couple of scripts that will automatically select the:
Installation Sources
Partitioning Plan
Software Packages
After the script has run, it will pause with a summary screen in Stage 1 and ask the administrator to verify that everything is correct before it starts the actually installation. The benefit of this is that it will insure that all the workstations we create are uniform while allowing for special cases.
Withing Company we will be building our SLED workstations using PXE, a network repository and a AutoYaST install script to make sure that all our SLED workstations are uniform and conform to Company standards.

Most modern BIOS's allow you to boot directly from the network. Normally this is done by pressing F12 while the computer is initially booting.

After you PXE boot, you will see a similar screen. By pressing F2 you will be able to see this screen.

sled10 will launch the installation program with all the defaults. But because Head Office does not have a DHCP server, you will need to specify an IP Address (hostip) and DNS Server (nameserver)
Stage 1

The system will boot the installation program from the network, loading the temporary operating system into a RAM disk in memory.

The installation program will read the AutoYaST install script, using it and YaST's defaults to create an installation proposal.

At this time the program will pause to allow the Administrator to review this proposal. In most cases you should just accept the proposal, but if you need to change some settings, now is the time to do so.

After you click the Accept button, you will be presented with a confirmation screen.

After you press the Install button, the Hard Disk will be partitioned. This means that deleted partitions and data will be gone forever!

You may also be asked to accept some software license agreements.

After pressing the Install button above, the system will start partitioning the Hard Drive.

If you selected sled10 in the initial boot menu, the installation will default to a Linux Only installation, deleting all the partitions and using LVM to manage the partitions.

If you wish to have a Dual Boot system (keeping Windows) then you will need to resize the partitions manually before pressing the Install button above. (This is why you read the instructions before you begin!)

After the installation program has created the disk partitions, it will begin to install the software packages that were selected above. If the AutoYaST scripts were used (i.e. sled10) then it will also include software from other repositories as well.

On the progress bar you can see a number of distinct sections. These sections relate to the different installation sources where the software packages reside.

The Slide Show tab will show you a slide show, while the Details tab will show you the details of what is being installed. Imagine that! :)

The Slide show is nothing more than a product advertisement, however the details page might be interesting to those new to Linux so they can see what exactly is being installed on the system.

Once the software package installation is complete, the server will reboot. Since there should be no installation media (CD, floppy, USB key) it will boot directly into the newly installed Operating System. This is the end of Stage 1 of the installation.







The very first time SuSE boots, it runs a modified version of YaST which guides the Administrator through the configuration of the newly installed Operating System. SuSE refers to this as Stage 2 of the installation.
Stage 2

After rebooting, YaST will ask you for the root password. Unlike Windows, there can not be multiple users with root permissions. Root is god, all other users are mere mortals!

For our purposes, use the standard workstation administrator password you use in Windows.

DO NOT FORGET the root password!!

Configure the workstation name and domain name.

For the sake of conformity we will be using the conventions:
Hostname = username-sled10
Domain Name = domain.name

Be sure to uncheck the “Change Hostname via DHCP” box.

Linux is a Networked Operating System; therefore, a proper network configuration is of vital importance!

Unless you are setting up a machine with a wireless connection, disable the “Network Manager applet” by clicking on the highlighted hyperlink.

Disable the “Firewall” by clicking on the highlighted hyperlink.

Most of the remote sites have DHCP enabled, however if you are at a site that does not have DHCP enabled, then you will need to click on the “Network Interfaces” hyperlink and manually assign an IP address and all the associated information.

Some wireless card are not detected by YaST or don't have native Linux drivers these card need to be setup after the basic installation.

If you have DHCP then click Next and skip the next page in this document.

Specifying a Manual IP Address during Installation

Click on the network interface you want to assign the IP Address to and press the Edit button.

In nearly every case it will be the only one presented to you.


After pressing the Edit button you will see this property page.

Select the “Static Address Setup” radio button and enter the IP Address and Network Mask.


On the Network Address Setup screen, press the “Hostname and Name Server” button to see this property page.

Verify the Hostname and Domain Name.

Add in the DNS servers.

Add domain.name to the Domain Search box.

On the Network Address Setup screen, press the “Routing” button to see this property page.

Only enter the default gateway here. Every other option is for experts only!

Do not test the internet connect!

The system tests the internet connection by trying to download the most recent release notes from a server on the internet. Since we are behind a non-transparent proxy we would need to jump through a number of hoops to get this to work. So just say No.

We will be setting up users later, so for now just select the Local option and press the Next button.

Leave everything blank and press the Next button.

We left the user information blank on purpose so select YES in the warning dialog box.

We have answered all the questions needed for the configuration of the software. YaST will now run the SuSEconfig utility.

This is a background utility that helps insure that all the systems are configure properly and that any interdependencies are taken care of.

You can read the Release Notes if your very bored. I have read them and there is nothing to worry about, so just press the Next button.

Now we need to configure the Hardware.

Generally the only thing you will need to look at is the “Graphics Cards” section. Make sure that everything looks correct.

Once everything looks right, press the “Test the Configuration” hyperlink.

YaST will run the SAX2 utility which is used to configure the X windows system (the GUI system)

One thing I have noticed is that very often, a Linux system will have the screen positioned too far to the left. Now is the time to reposition the screen using the buttons on the screen.

Press the Save button when everything is satisfactory.

Now that everything is configured, press the Next button to reboot the system.

Log in as root and configure/test the new system.

Congratulations, you have just finished the basic installation of a SLED 10 workstation.

Standard additional tasks to be done after a successful installation

CASA


To enable CASA (the utility that stores user information and passwords) go to

YaST2 | Security and Users | CASA

or alternatively you can use the command

yast2 CASA

Press the Enable Button, it is just that simple!






NTP


To setup the NTP (Network Time Protocol) Client go to

YaST2 | Network Services | NTP Configuration

or alternatively you can use the command

yast2 ntp-client

Be sure to select “During Boot” radio button and use the address ntp.domain.name
Test the configuration before finishing.












VMware Player




Although installed by default, some configuration is necessary before VMPlayer can be used. Run the command

vmware-config.pl

Take all the defaults, however you will need to setup the networking manually.


Sometimes, there is an error during install. I am not sure why yet, but if when running the command above you see the error “Permission Denied” run the following commands to re-install Vmware Player:

rm -r /etc/vmware/

yast2 -i VmwarePlayer

As with all things linux, capatialization is important!

Once done, run the command above again.

When asked about setting up networking, be sure to bridge every wired ethernet adapter. (VMware is not capable of bridging wireless adapters)

A NAT connection will also need to be setup. This is a Virtual LAN which will allow the VM access to the network. It comes complete with it's own DHCP server!

(Note: when in the network editor, use “Q” to exit)

Use a subnet of 172.254.254.0/24

We are not useing Host-only networking, but if you do set it up use the subnet 172.254.253.0/24.







Running a Dual Boot Windows Workstation inside VMPlayer
If your using a dualboot machine and want to run the windows workstation inside VMPlayer, then there some addition steps you need to take to configure that windows workstation. Even though you only have one machine in front of you, using a Virtual Machine is like have another one you need to setup. Depending on the state of the workstation before you started to install Linux there are a few steps you will need to take.

You will need to configure the VM's configuration files and create a custom Master Boot Record (MBR).

Luckily I have created a script that will find the first partition which might contain a Windows installation and ask the user for verification. Once the user approves, it will create a custom MBR for you, modify the VM's VMDK file, and create custom icons in the application launcher. Just run the command

vmware-dualboot.sh

If the workstation did NOT previously have a windows partition on it, then you will need to install windows manually or ghost an image to the correct partition (usually the first partition)

Luckly, Ghost can be run from within VMPlayer very happily

I have created a Ghost image designed specifically to be run on Dualboot / VMPlayer workstations.
If the workstation did previously have a windows installation, then you will need to configure the windows installation manually for dualboot:
1.Boot physical workstation into windows
2.Configure Hardware profiles
1.Rename the default profile to Physical
2.Create a new profile called Virtual
3.Move the Virtual profile to be default
3.Reboot physical workstation into linux
4.Running VMPlayer, launch windows selecting the Virtual Hardware Profile
5.Install Vmware Tools
6.Configure the new hardware. (i.e. NIC, Video, Mouse...)Be sure to select the NAT network connection and keep DHCP selected.
XGL (The pretty eye candy that kicks Vista's butt)
XGL is not to be rolled out to the gereral end-user. While XGL is a stable system, it is still technically in Beta and is actively being developed. Therefore it is not offically supported and might break stuff. Also, installations are very specific to the hardware on the individual workstation, making it nearly impossible to implement a mass rollout.

The biggest problem with XGL is making sure you have OpenGL drivers for the video card. Only Intel video cards come with open-sourced OpenGL drivers, however both ATI and nVidia have proprietary drivers that you can install.

I have created ATI RPMs which are located in the Company repository. nVidia on the other hand, requires you to download an install script from their website.
ATI Graphics Card driver installation

Install the ATI drivers from the http://repository.domain.name/Custom repository using the command
machine:~ # yast2 -i fglrx_6_9_0_SLED10

Bring up a TTY screen using the key combination ALT-CTRL-F1.
Type in the commands:
machine:~ # init 3
machine:~ # ldconfig
machine:~ # aticonfig --initial –input/etc/X11/xorg.conf
machine:~ # sax2 -r -m 0=fglrx
machine:~ # init 5
nVidia Graphic Card driver installation

Download the driver from the nVidia website http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/100.14.11/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-100.14.11-pkg1.run

Bring up a TTY screen using the key combination ALT-CTRL-F1.
Type in the commands:
machine:~ # init 3
machine:~ # sh /path/to/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-100.14.11-pkg1.run
machine:~ # sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia
machine:~ # init 5

Go to Control Panel | Desktop Effects and enable XGL.

Alternatively you can use the command

gnome-xgl-switch --enable-xgl









There are a number of tasks which need to be completed once the final end-user is know (or if the workstation is given to another end-user)
Host Name

As with windows workstations, when the workstation changes hands, it is nice to change the host name to reflect this.

To change the workstations Host Name go to

YaST2 | Network Services | DNS and Hostname

or alternatively you can use the command

yast2 dns

Change the hostname to conform to the Company standard.
Enabled eDirectory Users (LUM)
LUM allows eDirectory users to log into the SLED workstation as if they were installed on the local workstation. A workstation object is created is created in eDirectory controling access to the workstation.

There is a YaST module that is suppose to do this with a nice GUI, but for some reason it doesn't work. So I created a custom script that will perform all the heavy lifting for you.

To start the process, type in the command

setupnam

Enter in the requested information and select the context of the user.

After the script runs successfully, a new object will be created in the eDirectory tree in the context you specified above.

Before eDirectory users can login, they need to be associated with this workstation. How this is done is beyond the purpose of this document, but once a user is associated with a workstation, they will be able to login using their eDirectory username and password.

To test that it is working, use the command
id username (i.e. id brandtb)
Novell Client
The Novell Client configuration is shared with all users, but once the user is know, the default context should be set accordingly.

To configure the Novell Client go to

YaST2 | Network Services | Novell Client

or alternatively you can use the command

yast2 novell-client

To begin press the “Start Wizard” button.

For the most part, the defaults will work perfectly, but there are a couple screens where you will need to input some data.


On the Login Settings screen, enter the tree name and the users context.

On the SLP Settings screen, enter the SLP Scope

Company-SCOPE

and the Directory Agent

slp.domain.name







Citrix ICA Client for Linux

The Linux Citrix Client stores all of its details in the users home directory, therefore it is not possible to setup the Citrix Client until the user is logged in.

The Citrix client for Linux is a little different than the Windows client. The Linux client is a little less polished. Unlike the Windows client, the Linux client will not create icons on the desktop instead the user must select the application manually from the list (once populated).

On the main dialog box, select the Tools | Settings option. This will open the dialog box on the left.

Select the Server Location tab
Change the Network Protocol to TCP/IP
In each of the Server Groups, add the ica.domain.name address.

Select the Windows tab
Change the Default Windows Colors to 256
Change the Default Windows Size to 75%
(this is because seamless windows does work 100% in Linux)

While in the Settings option, we also need to configure the Drive Mappings for the client.

It might be best to login into Netware before doing this, but it is not necessary.

We need to share out the users F and G drive mappings under their local home directory to F: anf G: respectively.

We also need to map the /media/ folder to M:
(the reason for this is that CDs and PenDrives automount underneath this folder)

On the main dialog box, select the Connections | New option (or the New button on the toolbar). This will open the dialog box on the left.

By selecting “Published Application” and the browse button you will be presented with the list of applications available in the Citrix server farm.
Since the Linux client is simpler than the Windows client, you will need to manually add each application the user might need

The next task is a little manual. We all now that printing underneath citrix is a pain in the best of situations, but when working with Linux it is nearly impossible.

To get printing to work, we need to enable a Default Printer Driver for all printers. So we need to edit the ~/ICAClient/wfclient.ini file to add the following line underneath the [WFClient] section.

DefaultPrinterDriver = HP LaserJet 4

The parent directory is hidden so it might help to use the command:

gedit ~/.ICAClient/wfclient.ini



Once done, when the user launches the Citrix client, the user will be presented with a list of applications that they can run.








Installing a Wireless Card

Wireless is one of Linux worst feature. This is not because linux is not capable of wireless networking, infact when it is working, it works better than windows. But rather that the wireless card providors do not supply linux drivers or even share information that would allow developers to create the drivers.
If the wireless card is not detected by YaST, then most likely it does not have native linux drivers, the solution to this is using a program called NDISWrapper.
NDISWrapper is (as the name implies) a wrapper for Windows NDIS network drivers., allowing linux to use window's drivers.
There is some manual configuration necessary, but I have created a script to do the heavy lifting and a few RPM's to deliver the correct Windows Drivers to the workstation.

The first step is to retrieve the windows drivers. If for example you are trying to install a Netgear WG311v3 card, you would install the netgearWG311v3 package from YaST or use the command:

yast2 -i netgearWG311v3

All the wireless cards used in Company are stored in the Company repository.

This package will install the windows drivers in a shared location and download the install script as well.


Once the drivers have been downloaded, you can run the configuration script.

installwifi

This script will run the necessary ndiswrapper commands to install the driver and tell system to use ndiswrapper as an installed module.

The step is to install the card using YaST or use the command:

yast2 lan

Select the hardware as Wireless and the module name as ndiswrapper. That's it!


You should have already specified that you wanted to use the NetworkManager applet to control the network (if you did not, just go back into YaST and select it)



You should be able to test and see if you can see the wireless networks around by clicking on the NetworkManager applet in the system tray near the clock.

(:title Installing SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10:)

Linux has come a long since in a short time! Back in the day installing Linux was like pulling teeth, but now installing linux (SuSE at least) is as easy as Windoze (easier than Vista!).

The SuSE installation is broken into two stages. The first stage does little more than create the partitions and install the basic software. The second software boots into the installation and configures all the specifics.