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| HowTo Linux Zone | Linux Zone Home | E-Mail Me | Configuration HOWTO By Guido Gonzato, guido@ibogeo.df.unibo.it
v1.2.6, 19 January 1999
This HOWTO aims at making the fine--tuning of your newly installed
Linux box quicker and easier. Here you will find a set of configura­
tions for the most common applications, so you can start to work with
a well-usable system.
______________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Why This HOWTO
1.2 What We Will Be Configuring
2. General System Setup
2.1 Keyboard
2.2 Kernel Matters
2.3 Sendmail Lock
2.4 Hard Disk Performance
2.5 Parallel Port Zip Drive
2.6 Device Drivers
2.7 Login Messages
2.8 Hostname
2.9 Mouse
2.10 Mount Points
2.11 lilo(8) and LOADLIN.EXE
2.11.1 Security Tip
2.12 Mail Capabilities
2.13 Printer Configuration
2.14 SVGATextMode
3. Software Configuration
3.1 bash(1)
3.2 ls(1)
3.3 less(1)
3.4 emacs(1)
3.5 joe(1)
3.6 jed(1)
3.7 efax(1)
3.8 TeX and Friends
3.9 Avoid PPProblems!
3.9.1 A Quick Start with eznet
3.10 POP Client
3.11 X Window System (XFree86)
3.11.1 Setting Up the X Server
3.11.2 Keypad
3.11.3 Graphical Login with xdm
3.11.4 Window Manager
3.12 Users' Configurations
3.13 Upgrading
4. Configuration Software
5. The End
5.1 Copyright
5.2 Feedback
5.3 Disclaimer
______________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
1.1. Why This HOWTO
I have installed Linux on many PCs and noted that current
distributions are terrific but, annoyingly, lack some basic
configuration. Most applications will work out of the box, but others
won't. Moreover, I have noted that the same questions crop up on
c.o.l.setup over and over again.
To try and remedy this situation, and to have a memorandum for fresh
installations, I wrote a do--this--and--that list that I later
expanded to this HOWTO. Here you will find a handful of configuration
examples for the most common applications, programs, and services,
which should save you a fair amount of time and work.
A few of the examples outlined in this HOWTO depend somehow on the
distribution. I only have access to Red Hat, Caldera OpenLinux, and
S.u.S.E. installations, so don't take any of my tips as gospel if you
have Slackware, Debian or other distributions. In any case, reading
documentation and the HOWTOs always pays off, so you're advised to do
so anyway. My reference distribution is Red Hat; to avoid repetitions,
``AT2YD'' stands for ``Adapt This to Your Distribution''.
A final note: I hope that this HOWTO becomes obsolete as soon as
possible. The current trend in Linux distributions is to provide
configuration tools rather than leave the sysadm alone with a pile of
docs. Therefore, whenever possible I'll point you to the right tool.
The most recent revision of this document, including some
translations, is available on <http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO>.
1.2. What We Will Be Configuring
There can be endless hardware configurations for a PC, but in my
experience one is quite common: a PC fitted with a large HD split into
three partitions (one for DOS/Windows, one for Linux, one for the
swap), sound card, modem, CD--ROM drive, printer, mouse. A parallel
port Zip Drive is also very common.
This is the hardware I'll assume you want to configure, but it's easy
to adapt the following tips to different configurations. It's
implicitly assumed that you'll be root when editing/fixing/hacking.
And now, lads, sleeves up.
2. General System Setup
2.1. Keyboard
First of all, how to configure the keyboard. If you missed this step
during installation or have changed your keyboard, you'll have to:
· choose a suitable key table from /usr/lib/kbd/keytables/; for
example, it.map selects the Italian keyboard;
· edit the file /etc/sysconfig/keyboard so as it reads:
KEYTABLE="/usr/lib/kbd/keytables/it.map";
· to set up the keyboard repeat rate and delay time, add this line to
/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit (Red Hat) or /etc/rc.d/rc.boot (Caldera) or
/etc/rc.d/boot (S.u.S.E.):
/sbin/kbdrate -s -r 16 -d 500 # or whatever you like
To load the key table, issue /etc/rc.d/init.d/keytable start (AT2YD).
Other special keys will be considered in the following sections.
To enable NumLock on by default, add these lines to
/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit (AT2YD):
for tty in /dev/tty[1-9]*; do
setleds -D +num < $tty
done
2.2. Kernel Matters
IMHO, the first thing to do next is build a kernel that best suits
your system. It's very simple to do but, in any case, refer to the
README file in /usr/src/linux/ or the Kernel HOWTO. Hints:
· consider carefully your needs. Choosing a kernel configuration,
applying the patches, and compiling it once and for all is more
productive than reconfiguring and recompiling each month; this is
especially true if your Linux box is a server. Don't forget to
include support for all the hardware you might likely add in the
future (e.g. SCSI, Zip, network cards, etc);
· if your PC is based on a Cyrix CPU that is not properly recognised
as such by the kernel, apply appropriate patches to improve its
performance. Information on
<http://www.linuxhq.com/patch/20-p0591.html> ;
· notebook users will want to improve their LCD screen legibility. I
used to suggest that a kernel patch should be applied, but
SVGATextMode (see Section ``SVGATextMode'') is probably the best
solution. Anyway, the Big Cursor kernel patch is on
<http://www.linuxhq.com/patch/20-p0239.html> ;
· again for notebook users, if you plan to use a PCMCIA modem/fax
don't compile serial support as a module; compile it in the kernel,
otherwise your PCMCIA modem won't work;
· if you use PCMCIA cards, remember to compile those modules as well;
also, don't forget to edit /etc/pcmcia/network.opts if you use a
PCMCIA network card;
· if you get those pesky messages from modprobe indicating that some
modules can't be located, that means that your /etc/conf.modules
needs mending. For instance, if you don't use the ipx and appletalk
modules, add these lines:
alias net-pf-4 off
alias net-pf-5 off
· to save time the next time you reconfigure and recompile the
kernel, it's a good idea to save your configuration on a file and
keep it in a safe place. Beware: if you upgrade your kernel this
config file is bound to be useless, because it doesn't contain the
features of the new kernel.
2.3. Sendmail Lock
On some systems, sendmail hangs the machine for a couple of minutes at
boot time. There are two cases: 1) the machine is not directly
connected to the Internet, 2) the machine is connected, and has a
permanent IP address.
Quick fix for the first case: make sure your /etc/hosts contains a
line that reads
127.0.0.1 localhost
For the second case: the lock is caused by /etc/hosts containing a
line like
127.0.0.1 localhost your_host_name
which you will split this way:
127.0.0.1 localhost
w.x.y.z your_host_name
See also Section ``Hostname''.
2.4. Hard Disk Performance
Your (E)IDE hard disk's performance can be greatly enhanced by
carefully using hdparm(8). If your Linux distribution doesn't include
it, you'll find on <ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/hardware>
; look for a file called hdparm-X.Y.tar.gz.
Since many details depend on your hard disk and HD controller, I can't
give you a general recipe. As you risk to toast your filesystem,
please read the man page carefully before using some of the options.
At its simplest, you could add the following line to
/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit:
/sbin/hdparm -c1 /dev/hda # first IDE drive assumed
which enables (E)IDE 32-bit I/O support. As for the `-m' option, this
is what hdparm author Mark Lord emailed me:
(...) if your system uses components from the past couple of
years [< 1997], it will be fine. Older than that, there
*may* be a problem (unlikely). The really buggy chips were
the CMD0646 and RZ1000 chips, used *extensively* on 486 and
(early) 586 motherboards about 2-3 years ago.
2.5. Parallel Port Zip Drive
To use the parallel port version of the Zip drive you can use the
default driver that comes with recent (2.x.x) kernels. During kernel
configuration, make sure that SCSI support and SCSI disk support are
enabled. Remember, there can be conflicts between the printer and the
Zip drive on the same parallel port, so you will want to use kernel
modules.
Zip disks are sold preformatted on partition /dev/sda4. To enable the
Zip, all you have to do is issue
#~ chmod 666 /dev/sda4 # everyone can access the Zip Drive
#~ insmod ppa
and the Zip can now be mounted as usual (better write the last line in
/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit). You also access the Zip drive via mtools adding
this line to your /etc/mtools.conf:
drive z: file="/dev/sda4" exclusive
There's a better ppa driver than the standard one, though: have a look
at <http://www.torque.net/~campbell> .
2.6. Device Drivers
Devices in /dev (or better, links to the actual device drivers) may be
missing. Check what devices your mouse, modem, and CD--ROM drive
correspond to, then do what follows:
~# cd /dev
/dev# ln -s ttyS0 mouse
/dev# ln -s ttyS1 modem
/dev# ln -s hdb cdrom
Tip: in some notebooks the mouse device is /dev/psaux: take this into
account when configuring X11.
If you want, do chmod 666 to such devices as /dev/cdrom, /dev/floppy,
/dev/modem, etc. to make them fully accessible by every user. Security
problems ahead! Alternatively, create the ``cdrom'' group, make
/dev/cdrom owned by root.cdrom, then add users to this group. A
similar procedure applies to other devices.
2.7. Login Messages
If you want to customise the login messages, check whether your
/etc/rc.d/rc.local overwrites /etc/issue and /etc/motd. (RedHat does.)
If so, get on with your editor.
2.8. Hostname
Issuing the command hostname new_host_name may not be enough. To avoid
the dreaded sendmail lock, follow these steps (only valid for a
stand--alone machine):
· edit /etc/sysconfig/network and change the hostname therein (e.g.
new_host_name.localdomain);
· edit /etc/HOSTNAME appropriately;
· append the new hostname in the line in /etc/hosts:
127.0.0.1 localhost new_host_name.locadomain
2.9. Mouse
gpm mouse services are useful to perform cut and paste in tty mode,
and to use the mouse in some applications. For Red Hat, check that you
have a file called /etc/sysconfig/mouse and that it reads:
MOUSETYPE="Microsoft"
XEMU3=yes
Moreover, you must have a file /etc/rc.d/init.d/gpm, where you'll put
additional command line parameters. Mine reads:
...
daemon gpm -t $MOUSETYPE -d 2 -a 5 -B 132 # two-button mouse
...
Obviously, make sure this configuration is right for your mouse type.
In most notebooks, MOUSETYPE is ``PS/2''.
For Caldera, all you have to do is append this line to
/etc/rc.d/rc.boot:
/usr/bin/gpm
On S.u.S.E., gpm options go in /etc/rc.config; on Debian, you'll edit
/etc/gpm.conf.
If you like to use menus in console with Ctrl-button, then configure
gpm-root. Edit the default menu in /etc/gpm-root.conf , then launch
gpm-root from /etc/rc.d/rc.local (AT2YD).
2.10. Mount Points
It's handy to have mount points for the floppy, other devices and NFS-
exported directories. For example, you can do the following:
~# cd /mnt
/mnt# mkdir floppy; mkdir cdrom; mkdir win; mkdir zip ; mkdir server
This creates mount points for a DOS/Win floppy, an ext2 floppy, the
CD--ROM, the Windows partition, the parallel port Zip drive, and a NFS
directory.
Now edit the file /etc/fstab and add the following entries:
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy vfat user,noauto 0 1
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom iso9660 ro,user,noauto 0 1
/dev/sda4 /mnt/zip vfat user,noauto,exec 0 1
/dev/hda1 /mnt/win vfat user,noauto 0 1
server:/export /mnt/server nfs defaults
Obviously, you must use the correct device in the first field. Recent
kernels support fat32 partitions natively; for older ones, there's a
kernel patch on <http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/chaffee/fat32.html>
. man mount for further information.
You're strongly advised to install mtools for accessing DOS/Windows
floppies!
2.11. lilo(8) and LOADLIN.EXE
Many users run both Linux and DOS/Windows on their PC, and want to
choose at boot time which os to use; this should be done at install
time, but in case, do what follows. Let's suppose that /dev/hda1
contains DOS/Windows and that /dev/hda2 contains Linux.
~# fdisk
Using /dev/hda as default device!
Command (m for help):a
Partition number (1-4): 2
Command (m for help):w
~#
This makes the Linux partition bootable. Then write this basic
/etc/lilo.conf file:
boot = /dev/hda2
compact
delay = 50
# message = /boot/bootmesg.txt # write your own, if you will
root = current
image = /boot/vmlinuz # boot linux by default as this entry comes first
label = linux
read-only
other = /dev/hda1
table = /dev/hda
label = dos
Now issue /sbin/lilo and you're done. Being lilo a crucial part of
your installation, you're strongly advised to read its documentation
anyway.
To boot Linux from DOS/Windows without resetting, put LOADLIN.EXE in a
directory (in the DOS partition!) included in the DOS path; then copy
your kernel to, say, C:\TEMP\VMLINUZ. The following simple .BAT file
will boot Linux:
rem linux.bat
smartdrv /C
loadlin c:\temp\vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
If you use Windows 9x, set the properties of this .BAT so as it starts
in MS--DOS mode.
2.11.1. Security Tip
Making a backup copy of your MBR before installing Linux is a safe
move. Use restorrb (included in the FIPS package) before
installation, or a Linux rescue floppy to issue this command:
rescue:~# dd if=/dev/hda of=MBR bs=512 count=1
then make at least two copies of the file MBR on floppies. Should
disaster strike, you'll be able to restore your old MBR by issuing:
rescue:~# dd if=/mnt/MBR of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1
assuming that a floppy containing MBR is mounted under /mnt.
Alternatively, use a DOS rescue floppy to issue FDISK /MBR.
2.12. Mail Capabilities
You will want to be able to read mail messages written in HTML or
containing exotic file formats. Make sure you have two files:
/etc/mime.types and /etc/mailcap. The first one lists file types and
related extensions, like:
application/postscript ps eps
image/jpeg jpe jpeg jpg
text/html html
while the second one tells the mail client how to display that file
type.
You may receive mail from people who use Microsoft Outlook, whose
messages are in multi--part MIME format. These two lines, put in
etc/mailcap, should let you read those messages:
text/plain; less %s; needsterminal
text/html; lynx -force_html %s; needsterminal
2.13. Printer Configuration
All distributions I know have a configuration tool for setting up the
printer (printtool, yast, or magicfilter); if you don't have it, this
is a basic manual configuration.
Let's suppose you have a non--PostScript (non ``Windows-only'' too!)
printer you want to use to print raw text (e.g., C source files) and
PostScript files via Ghostscript, which is assumed to be already
installed.
Setting up the printer involves a few steps:
· find out which one the parallel print device is: try
~# echo "hello, world" > /dev/lp0
~# echo "hello, world" > /dev/lp1
and take note which one works.
· make two spool directories:
~# cd /var/spool/lpd
/var/spool/lpd/# mkdir raw ; mkdir postscript
· if your printer exibits the ``staircase effect'' (most inkjets do),
you'll need a filter. Try to print two lines with
~# echo "first line" > /dev/lp1 ; echo "second line" > /dev/lp1
if the output is like this:
first line
second line
then save this script as /var/spool/lpd/raw/filter:
#!/bin/sh
# This filter does away with the "staircase effect"
awk '{print $0, "\r"}'
and make it executable with chmod 755 /var/spool/lpd/raw/filter.
· make a filter for PostScript emulation. Write the following filter
as /var/spool/lpd/postscript/filter:
#!/bin/sh
DEVICE=djet500
RESOLUTION=300x300
PAPERSIZE=a4
SENDEOF=
nenscript -TUS -ZB -p- |
if [ "$DEVICE" = "PostScript" ]; then
cat -
else
gs -q -sDEVICE=$DEVICE \
-r$RESOLUTION \
-sPAPERSIZE=$PAPERSIZE \
-dNOPAUSE \
-dSAFER \
-sOutputFile=- -
fi
if [ "$SENDEOF" != "" ]; then
printf "\004"
fi
(in this example an HP DeskJet printer is assumed. Fix it to suit your
printer).
· finally, add the following entries in /etc/printcap:
# /etc/printcap
lp|ps|PS|PostScript|djps:\
:sd=/var/spool/lpd/postscript:\
:mx#0:\
:lp=/dev/lp1:\
:if=/var/spool/lpd/postscript/filter:\
:sh:
raw:\
:sd=/var/spool/lpd/raw:\
:mx#0:\
:lp=/dev/lp1:\
:if=/var/spool/lpd/raw/filter:\
:sh:
For more complex or exotic printing configurations, the Printing-HOWTO
awaits you.
If you use printtool, be aware that the GSDEVICE chosen by Printtool
will work, but not necessarily at its best for your printer. You may
consider fiddling a bit with the file postscript.cfg; for instance, I
changed GSDEVICE from cdj500 to djet500 and now my prints come out
much quicker.
2.14. SVGATextMode
This utility, available on
<ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/sources/sbin> , can be used to change
the console screen resolution, font, and cursor shape. Users whose
language include accented characters will be able to use them in
console applications, while notebook users may change the cursor shape
to make it more visible.
Edit /etc/TextConfig or /etc/TextMode, starting with the default VGA
definition. Europeans should be happy with this ``LoadFont'' section:
Option "LoadFont"
FontProg "/usr/bin/setfont"
FontPath "/usr/lib/kbd/consolefonts"
FontSelect "lat1u-16.psf" 8x16 9x16 8x15 9x15
FontSelect "lat1u-14.psf" 8x14 9x14 8x13 9x13
FontSelect "lat1u-12.psf" 8x12 9x12 8x11 9x11
FontSelect "lat1u-08.psf" 8x8 9x8 8x7 9x7
Once you're done, try your configuration with a command like
~# SVGATextMode "80x34x9"
and if everything appears to be working fine, remove the warnings from
/etc/TextMode and include this line in etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit (AT2YD):
# SVGATextMode
/usr/sbin/SVGATextMode "80x34x9"
Please note that the block cursor only works with some modes; on one
of my machines, "80x32x9".
3. Software Configuration
These are the the configuration files we are going to custimise:
/etc/profile /etc/bashrc .bashrc .bashrc .bash_profile .bash_logout
.inputrc .less .lessrc .xinitrc .fvwmrc .fvwm2rc95 .Xmodmap
.Xmodmap.num .Xdefaults .jedrc .abbrevs.sl .joerc .emacs . Don't add
users until you have completed your system configuration; you'll put
the dot files in /etc/skel.
3.1. bash(1)
Arguably, the most important piece of software after the kernel. To
tailor bash's behaviour, these are the main files to edit:
· /etc/bashrc contains system wide aliases and functions;
· /etc/profile contains system wide environment stuff and startup
programs;
· $HOME/.bashrc contains user aliases and functions;
· $HOME/.bash_profile contains user environment stuff and startup
programs;
· $HOME/.inputrc contains key bindings and other bits.
Examples of these files are shown below. First, the most important:
/etc/profile. It's used to configure a lot of features in your Linux
box, as you will see in the following sections. Please look out for
reverse quotes!
______________________________________________________________________
# /etc/profile
# System wide environment and startup programs
# Functions and aliases go in /etc/bashrc
# This file sets up the following features and programs:
#
# o path
# o prompts
# o a few environment variables
# o colour ls
# o less
# o rxvt
#
# Users can override these settings and/or add others in their
# $HOME/.bash_profile
# set a decent path (including Kde)
PATH="$PATH:/usr/X11R6/bin:/opt/kde/bin:$HOME/bin:."
# notify the user: login or non-login shell. If login, the prompt is
# coloured in blue; otherwise in magenta. Root's prompt is red.
# See the Colour-ls mini HOWTO for an explanation of the escape codes.
USER=`whoami`
if [ $LOGNAME = $USER ] ; then
COLOUR=44 # blue
else
COLOUR=45 # magenta
fi
if [ $USER = 'root' ] ; then
COLOUR=41 # red
PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin"
fi
ESC="\033"
STYLE=';1m' # bold; choose which one to use
# STYLE='m' # plain
PS1="\[$ESC[$COLOUR;37$STYLE\]$USER:\[$ESC[37;40$STYLE\]\w\\$ "
PS2="> "
# no core dumps, please
ulimit -c 0
# set umask
if [ `id -gn` = `id -un` -a `id -u` -gt 14 ]; then
umask 002
else
umask 022
fi
# a few variables
USER=`id -un`
LOGNAME=$USER
MAIL="/var/spool/mail/$USER"
NNTPSERVER=news.iol.it # put your own here
VISUAL=jed
EDITOR=jed
HOSTNAME=`/bin/hostname`
HISTSIZE=1000
HISTFILESIZE=1000
export PATH PS1 PS2 USER LOGNAME MAIL NNTPSERVER
export VISUAL EDITOR HOSTNAME HISTSIZE HISTFILESIZE
# enable colour ls
eval `dircolors /etc/DIR_COLORS -b`
export LS_OPTIONS='-s -F -T 0 --color=yes'
# customize less
LESS='-M-Q'
LESSEDIT="%E ?lt+%lt. %f"
LESSOPEN="| lesspipe.sh %s"
LESSCHARDEF=8bcccbcc13b.4b95.33b. # show colours in ls -l | less
export LESS LESSEDIT LESSOPEN VISUAL LESSCHARDEF
# fix the backspace key in rxvt
if [ "$COLORTERM" != "" ] ; then
stty erase ^H # alternative: ^H
fi
for i in /etc/profile.d/*.sh ; do
if [ -x $i ]; then
. $i
fi
done
# call fortune, if available
if [ -x /usr/games/fortune ] ; then
echo ; /usr/games/fortune ; echo
fi
______________________________________________________________________
This is a sample /etc/bashrc:
______________________________________________________________________
# /etc/bashrc
# System wide functions and aliases
# Environment stuff goes in /etc/profile
# For some unknown reason bash refuses to inherit
# PS1 in some circumstances that I can't figure out.
# Putting PS1 here ensures that it gets loaded every time.
USER=`whoami`
if [ $LOGNAME = $USER ] ; then
COLOUR=44 # blue
else
COLOUR=45 # magenta
fi
if [ $USER = 'root' ] ; then
COLOUR=41 # red
fi
ESC="\033"
STYLE=';1m' # bold
# STYLE='m' # plain
export PS1="\[$ESC[$COLOUR;37$STYLE\]$USER:\[$ESC[37;40$STYLE\]\w\\$ "
export PS2="> "
export CDPATH="$CDPATH:~"
alias which="type -path"
alias ls="ls $LS_OPTIONS"
______________________________________________________________________
This is a sample .bashrc:
______________________________________________________________________
# $HOME/.bashrc
# Source global definitions
if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
. /etc/bashrc
fi
# this is needed to notify the user that they are in non-login shell
if [ "$GET_PS1" = "" ] ; then
COLOUR=45; ESC="\033"; STYLE=';1m'; # STYLE='m'
USER=`whoami`
export PS1="\[$ESC[$COLOUR;37$STYLE\]$USER:\[$ESC[37;40$STYLE\]\w\\$ "
fi
# aliases
alias cp='cp -i'
alias l=less
alias lyx='lyx -width 900 -height 700'
alias mv='mv -i'
alias rm='rm -i'
alias x=startx
# A few useful functions
inst() # Install a .tar.gz archive in the current directory.
{ tar -zxvf $1 }
cz() # List the contents of a .zip archive.
{ unzip -l $* }
ctgz() # List the contents of a .tar.gz archive.
{
for file in $* ; do
tar -ztf ${file}
done
}
tgz() # Create a .tgz archive a la zip.
{
name=$1 ; tar -cvf $1 ; shift
tar -rf ${name} $*
gzip -S .tgz ${name}
}
______________________________________________________________________
This is a sample .bash_profile:
______________________________________________________________________
# $HOME/.bash_profile
# User specific environment and startup programs
# This file contains user-defined settings that override
# those in /etc/profile
# Get user aliases and functions
if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
GET_PS1="NO" # don't change the prompt colour
. ~/.bashrc
fi
# set a few `default' directories
export CDPATH="$CDPATH:$HOME:$HOME/text:$HOME/text/geology"
______________________________________________________________________
This is a sample .inputrc:
______________________________________________________________________
# $HOME/.inputrc
# key bindings
"\e[1~": beginning-of-line
"\e[3~": delete-char
"\e[4~": end-of-line
# (F1 .. F5) are "\e[[A" ... "\e[[E"
"\e[[A": "info \C-m"
set bell-style visible # please don't beep
set meta-flag On # allow 8-bit input (i.e, accented letters)
set convert-meta Off # don't strip 8-bit characters
set output-meta On # display 8-bit characters correctly
set horizontal-scroll-mode On # scroll long command lines
set show-all-if-ambiguous On # after TAB is pressed
______________________________________________________________________
To make the backspace and delete keys work correctly in xterm and
other X11 applications, the following is also needed:
· put this in your .xinitrc:
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
xmodmap $usermodmap
· then your .Xmodmap will contain:
keycode 22 = BackSpace
keycode 107 = Delete
this fixes the console. To fix xterm:
· put this in your .Xdefaults:
xterm*VT100.Translations: #override <Key>BackSpace: string(0x7F)\n\
<Key>Delete: string(0x1b) string("[3~")\n\
<Key>Home: string(0x1b) string("[1~")\n\
<Key>End: string(0x1b) string("[4~")\n\
Ctrl<Key>Prior: string(0x1b) string("[40~")\n\
Ctrl<Key>Next: string(0x1b) string("[41~")
nxterm*VT100.Translations: #override <Key>BackSpace: string(0x7F)\n\
<Key>Delete: string(0x1b) string("[3~")\n\
<Key>Home: string(0x1b) string("[1~")\n\
<Key>End: string(0x1b) string("[4~")\n\
Ctrl<Key>Prior: string(0x1b) string("[40~")\n\
Ctrl<Key>Next: string(0x1b) string("[41~")
rxvt is a wee bit more complicated, as some compile--time options
influence its behaviour. See the above /etc/profile.
More info in bash(1) and readline(3) man pages.
Don't expect every application to work correctly! If you run joe in
xterm, for instance, some keys won't work; the same holds for versions
of rxvt older than 2.4.5.
3.2. ls(1)
ls can display directory listings using colours to highlight different
file types. To enable this feature, you just need a couple of lines in
/etc/profile as seen above. However, this won't work with rxvt older
than v. 2.21; use some flavour of xterm instead. It looks like rxvt
has a bug that prevents it from inheriting the environment correctly
in some circumstances. rxvt 2.4.5 upwards is OK.
Caldera's ls doesn't have colours, but there's an equivalent color-ls.
Add this in /etc/bashrc:
alias ls="color-ls $LS_OPTIONS"
3.3. less(1)
With this excellent pager you can browse not only plain text files,
but also gzip compressed, tar and zip archives, man pages, and what
have you. Its configuration involves a few steps:
· to use it with the movement keys, have this plain ASCII file
.lesskey in your home directory:
^[[A back-line
^[[B forw-line
^[[C right-scroll
^[[D left-scroll
^[OA back-line
^[OB forw-line
^[OC right-scroll
^[OD left-scroll
^[[6~ forw-scroll
^[[5~ back-scroll
^[[1~ goto-line
^[[4~ goto-end
^[[7~ goto-line
^[[8~ goto-end
then run the command lesskey. (These are escape sequences for
vt100-like terminals.) This creates a binary file .less containing the
key bindings.
· write the following file as /usr/local/bin/lesspipe.sh:
___________________________________________________________________
#!/bin/sh
# This is a preprocessor for 'less'. It is used when this environment
# variable is set: LESSOPEN="|lesspipe.sh %s"
lesspipe() {
case "$1" in
*.tar) tar tf $1 2>/dev/null ;; # View contents of .tar and .tgz files
*.tgz|*.tar.gz|*.tar.Z|*.tar.z) tar ztf $1 2>/dev/null ;;
*.Z|*.z|*.gz) gzip -dc $1 2>/dev/null ;; # View compressed files correctly
*.zip) unzip -l $1 2>/dev/null ;; # View archives
*.arj) unarj -l $1 2>/dev/null ;;
*.rpm) rpm -qpil $1 2>/dev/null ;;
*.cpio) cpio --list -F $1 2>/dev/null ;;
*.1|*.2|*.3|*.4|*.5|*.6|*.7|*.8|*.9|*.n|*.man) FILE=`file -L $1`
FILE=`echo $FILE | cut -d ' ' -f 2`
if [ "$FILE" = "troff" ]; then
groff -s -p -t -e -Tascii -mandoc $1
fi ;;
*) file $1 | grep text > /dev/null ;
if [ $? = 1 ] ; then # it's not some kind of text
strings $1
fi ;;
esac
}
lesspipe $1
___________________________________________________________________
then make it executable with chmod 755 lesspipe.sh.
· put the necessary variables in /etc/profile as seen above.
3.4. emacs(1)
I rarely use emacs, so I have only a couple of tips for you. Some
emacs distributions don't come preconfigured for colours and syntax
highlighting. Put this in your .emacs:
(global-font-lock-mode t)
(setq font-lock-maximum-decoration t)
This only works in X11. Moreover, to enable accented characters you'll
add this line:
(standard-display-european 1)
I'll leave it to you to peruse all of emacs' documentation to find out
how to tailor it to your needs---potentially, it can take months of
hacking. The Dotfile generator (Section ``Configuration Software'')
is a good helping hand.
3.5. joe(1)
Some versions of joe don't work with colours in console, and some
special keys don't work either. To my knowledge, no one has found a
solution to these small nags. A quick and dirty (and inelegant)
solution to the former problem is this:
~$ export TERM=vt100
~$ joe myfile
(edit your file)
~$ export TERM=linux
Configure joe editing .joerc, .jstarrc or your favourite emulation;
you can start from the system-wide config files in /usr/lib/joe.
3.6. jed(1)
This is my favourite editor: it does what I need, it's lighter and
easier to configure than emacs, and emulates other editors quite well.
Many users at my university use jed to emulate EDT, VMS' system
editor.
jed's configuration files are .jedrc and /usr/lib/jed/lib/*; the
former can be adapted from jed.rc in the latter directory.
· to make jed use the special keys correctly, write the file
/usr/lib/jed/lib/defaults.sl whose only line reads:
() = evalfile("linux");
· if xjed apparently doesn't recognise the DEL key, add these lines
to your .jedrc:
#ifdef XWINDOWS
x_set_keysym (0xFFFF, 0, "\e[3~");
setkey (``delete_char_cmd'', "\e[3~");
#endif
· edit /usr/lib/jed/lib/linux.sl to specify Info_Directory =
"/usr/info"; and /bin/mail after /UCB_Mailer = "/bin/mail";;
· to make jed emulate EDT (or other editors) all you have to do is
edit a couple of lines in .jedrc. If you want the numeric keypad
`+' to delete words instead of a single character, add this in
.jedrc:
unsetkey("\eOl");
unsetkey("\eOP\eOl");
setkey("edt_wdel", "\eOl");
setkey("edt_uwdel", "\eOP\eOl");
after the line that reads () = evalfile("edt") (or similar);
· to make xjed use the numeric keypad for EDT emulation, insert the
following in .Xmodmap:
keycode 77 = KP_F1
keycode 112 = KP_F2
keycode 63 = KP_F3
keycode 82 = KP_F4
keycode 86 = KP_Separator
· colour customization for xjed is done adding lines like these in
.Xdefaults:
xjed*Geometry: 80x32+150+50
xjed*font: 10x20
xjed*background: midnight blue
# and so on...
· the ``abbreviation'' feature is an invaluable timesaver. Write a
file like the following as $HOME/.abbrevs.sl:
create_abbrev_table ("Global", "0-9A-Za-z");
define_abbrev ("Global", "GG", "Guido Gonzato");
create_abbrev_table ("TeX", "\\A-Za-z0-9");
define_abbrev ("TeX", "\\beq", "\\begin{equation}");
define_abbrev ("TeX", "\\eeq", "\\end{equation}");
% and so on...
and type ESC x abbrev_mode to enable it. To have the abbreviation
enabled by default, add entries like these to your .jedrc:
define text_mode_hook ()
{
set_abbrev_mode (1);
}
%
define fortran_hook ()
{
set_abbrev_mode (1);
use_abbrev_table ("Fortran");
}
% and so on...
3.7. efax(1)
This package is probably the most convenient for simple
sending/receiving of faxes. You'll have to tailor the script
/usr/bin/fax; easy job, but a couple of quirks caused me quite an
headache:
· DIALPREFIX: chances are that simply putting `T' or `P' won't work
in some countries (in Italy, at least). Put `ATDT' or `ATDP'
instead;
· INIT and RESET: these strings contain the initialisers `-i' and
`-k', needed by efax. If you want to add an AT command, add it to
the appropriate string leaving out `AT' and preceding the rest with
either `-i' or `-k'. Example: to add the `ATX3' command to INIT,
you'll append `-iX3'.
3.8. TeX and Friends
I'll assume you have the teTeX distribution. Just a couple of things
here:
· to configure the hyphenation pattern for your language, edit the
file /usr/lib/texmf/texmf/tex/generic/config/language.dat, then do:
~# texconfig init ; texconfig hyphen
· if you add a LaTeX package, after adding the files under
/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/tex/latex/ run the command texhash so that
teTeX recognises the new package;
· to tailor dvips, the file to edit is
/usr/lib/texmf/texmf/dvips/config/config.ps. Be aware that the
fields regarding the default resolution also affect xdvi's
behaviour; if you experience annoying attempts to create fonts each
time you run it, put the line
XDvi*mfmode:
in .Xdefault. This should help.
3.9. Avoid PPProblems!
I'll take it for granted that your kernel has PPP + TCP/IP support
compiled in, that loopback is enabled, and that you already have the
pppd package correctly installed and, if you will, suid root.
Obviously, your ISP must support PPP.
There are now two ways to get PPP to work: a) manual configuration,
and b) a configuration program that automagically sees to it.
Whichever option you choose, have the following information on hand:
· your ISP's telephone number;
· your ISP's name, mail and news server address;
· your ISP's domain;
· your username and password.
Manual configuration is a drudgery. It's about editing files and
writing scripts; not too much work, but it's easy to make mistakes and
newcomers are often intimidated. The PPP HOWTO is there for you.
Alternatively, there are tools that ask for the information above and
do all the work.
You'll be surely better off if get hold of one of the following nice
tools:
· an X11--based tool is EzPPP, whose home page is
<http://www.serv.net/~cameron/ezppp/index.html> . Very easy to
use, almost self--explanatory, but requires you to write the
connection script;
· for tty--based connections, theere are tools available on
<ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/serial/ppp>. One
of the finest is pppsetup-X.XX.tar.gz. Script required here;
· the simplest configuration tools to date are surely wvdial and
eznet. You feed them your ISP's phone number, your username, your
password, and you're in business. Their home pages are at
<http://www.worldvisions.ca/wvdial> and
<http://www.hwaci.com/sw/eznet>. My preference goes to the latter.
3.9.1. A Quick Start with eznet
First of all, create an /etc/resolv.conf like this:
nameserver w.x.y.z
where you'll insert the address of your ISP's nameserver. To create an
account with eznet, issue the following command:
#~ eznet add service=YOUR_ISP user=NAME password=PASSWORD phone=PHONE
then try to dial your ISP with eznet up YOUR_ISP. If the modem waits
for the dial tone and won't connect, then try this command:
#~ eznet change YOUR_ISP init0=atx3
To hang up, the command is eznet down. That's all!
3.10. POP Client
To retrieve your mail from a POP server, you use a POP client like
fetchpop or fetchmail. The latter is more advanced, and is probably
the only option if your ISP's PPP server can't deal with the command
LAST. They're available on
<ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/mail/pop>.
To configure these clients:
· fetchpop: the first time you run it, you'll be prompted for some
information. Answer the questions and you're set.
· fetchmail: adapt this sample .fetchmailrc:
# $HOME/.fetchmailrc
poll mbox.myisp.com with protocol pop3;
user john there with password _Loo%ny is john here
One user reported that adding ``smtphost localhost'' to the second
line improved performance dramatically.
You must set the permissions to this file with the command chmod 600
.fetchmailrc, otherwise fetchmail will rightly refuse to start. This
example is very basic and assumes that you have a running sendmail;
there are endless possibilities of configuration. Check out on .
3.11. X Window System (XFree86)
3.11.1. Setting Up the X Server
Come on, it's not difficult as it used to be... All major
distributions include a tool for setting up X11 (e.g. XConfigurator,
sax, XF86Setup, or at least xf86config). X configuration is virtually
automatic these days, but a few video cards may refuse to work. Each
time I experience problems setting up X on a system, I resort to a
simple method that has always worked:
· make sure that the plain VGA server is installed;
· go to <ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current/binaries> , cd
to the proper Linux subdirectory, and download the archives
X_version_bin.tgz, X_version_set.tgz, and all the servers. Amongst
other programs, the first one contains the most up-to-date
SuperProbe;
· unpack X_version_bin.tgz to a temporary directory, cd to it, and
run ./SuperProbe. If your video card is recognised, chances are
that you'll be able to set it up. Otherwise, hard luck;
· install the servers and X_version_set.tgz from /usr/X11R6/, then
run XF86Setup.
This has always worked for me, but your mileage may vary. Please note
that most times X11 won't configure because the specs you choose for
your monitor are too low! Start with conservative settings, i.e.
800x600 and 256 colours, then pump it up. Warning: these operations
are dangerous and your monitor might be damaged!
3.11.2. Keypad
We have seen above how to make a few special keys work. The sample
file .Xmodmap works well if you want to use Xjed, but it makes the
keypad unusable. You'll then need another config file, which we'll
call .Xmodmap.num:
! Definitions can be found in <X11/keysymdef.h>
keycode 77 = Num_Lock
keycode 112 = KP_Divide
keycode 63 = KP_Multiply
keycode 82 = KP_Subtract
keycode 86 = KP_Add
keycode 79 = KP_7
keycode 80 = KP_8
keycode 81 = KP_9
keycode 83 = KP_4
keycode 84 = KP_5
keycode 85 = KP_6
keycode 87 = KP_1
keycode 88 = KP_2
keycode 89 = KP_3
keycode 90 = KP_0
keycode 91 = KP_Decimal
Make sure that your /etc/X11/XF86Config does not contain these three
lines:
ServerNumLock
Xleds
XkbDisable
and in case, comment them out. To re-enable the keypad, you'll issue
the command xmodmap .Xmodmap.num.
3.11.3. Graphical Login with xdm
To be greeted by a graphical login, edit the file /etc/inittab, which
should include a line like this:
x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/X11/xdm -nodaemon
where 5 is the runlevel corresponding to X11 (S.u.S.E. uses 4). Modify
the line that defines the default runlevel (usually 2 or 3), changing
it as above:
id:5:initdefault:
The number of colours is specified in /etc/X11/xdm/Xserver (AT2YD):
:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X -bpp 16 # 65k colours
If you already have .xinitrc, copy it to .xsession and make the latter
executable with chmod +x .xsession. Now issue the command telinit 5
and you're in business.
3.11.4. Window Manager
Once you've managed to make X work, there are endless possibilities of
configuration; it depends on the window manager you use - there are
tens to choose from. Mostly, it's all down to editing one or more
ASCII files in your home directory; in other cases you don't have to
edit a thing, and use an applet or even a menu.
Some examples:
· the fvwm family: copy /etc/X11/fvwm/system.fvwmrc (or similar) to
your home using the appropriate name, browse it and start
experimenting. You may waste a lot of time before you get the
precise look and feel you like;
· WindowMaker: it has several config files that live under
$HOME/GNUstep, and a cool configuration applet;
· KDE: nothing to edit manually here: everything can be done via the
menu.
In short: if you don't mind editing config file, choose something like
icewm, fvwm*, blackbox etc; if you do mind, the choice is currently
restricted to KDE and WindowMaker.
It's important to have a good .xinitrc. An example:
#!/bin/sh
# $HOME/.xinitrc
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
xmodmap $usermodmap
xset s noblank # turn off the screen saver
xset s 300 2 # screen saver start after 5 min
xset m 10 5 # set mouse acceleration
rxvt -cr green -ls -bg black -fg white -fn 7x14 \
-geometry 80x30+57+0 &
if [ "$1" = "" ] ; then # default
WINMGR=wmaker
else
WINMGR=$1
fi
$WINMGR
Although it doesn't appear to be strictly required, make it executable
with chmod +x .xinitrc.
This .xinitrc lets you choose the window manager: try
$ startx startkde # or other w.m.
(it doesn't work with some S.u.S.E. versions, though).
3.12. Users' Configurations
When you're done editing the dot files, copy them to /etc/skel as seen
in Section ``Software Configuration''. Note that .pinerc can't be
fully tailored; make sure that at least the fields user-domain, smtp-
server, and nntp-server are properly set up.
3.13. Upgrading
If you upgrade your machine, do your backup as usual and remember to
save a few additional files. Some could be /etc/X11/XF86Config,
/usr/bin/fax, all the stuff in /usr/local, the kernel configuration,
the whole /etc, and all the mail in /var/spool/mail.
4. Configuration Software
There are several programs that make Linux easy to setup and
configure. Some are becoming sort of standard: Red Hat, Caldera and
other distributions ship with apps like printtool, netcfg, usertool,
etc, while S.u.S.E. ships with a comprehensive configuration program
called YAST. Other useful programs are:
· The Dotfile Generator: fine X app with modules to configure
packages like emacs, bash, procmail and more. Its page is on
<http://www.imada.ou.dk/~blackie/dotfile> ;
· Linuxconf: the ultimate configuration tool. It can do everything,
both in console and under X. Go to
<http://www.solucorp.qc.ca/linuxconf> at once.
5. The End
5.1. Copyright
Unless otherwise stated, Linux HOWTO documents are copyrighted by
their respective authors. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and
distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic,
as long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial
redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would
like to be notified of any such distributions.
All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating
any Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice.
That is, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose
additional restrictions on its distribution. Exceptions to these rules
may be granted under certain conditions; please contact the Linux
HOWTO coordinator at the address given below.
In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through
as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright
on the HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to
redistribute the HOWTOs.
If you have questions, please contact Tim Bynum, the Linux HOWTO
coordinator, at tjbynum@sunsite.unc.edu via email.
5.2. Feedback
Perhaps even more than other HOWTOs, this one needs and welcomes your
suggestions, criticisms, and contributions. Not only is feedback
welcome: it's necessary. If you think something is missing or wrong,
please email me. If you have a distribution other than Red Hat or
Caldera and your config files are different or placed in other
directories, please tell me and I'll include your tips. My aim is
making life with Linux as easy as possible.
Linux has a huge number of packages, so it's impossible to include
directions for all of them. Please keep your requests/suggestions
pertinent to the ``most reasonable'' programs---I'll leave it to your
common sense.
5.3. Disclaimer
``Configuration HOWTO'' was written by Guido Gonzato,
guido@ibogeo.df.unibo.it. Many thanks to all other HOWTO authors and
man pages writers/maintainers, whose work I've shamelessly pilfered;
and to all people who provided me with feedback.
This document is provided ``as is''. I put great effort into writing
it as accurately as I could, but you use the information contained in
it at your own risk. In no event shall I be liable for any damages
resulting from the use of this work.
I hope you'll find this work useful, though. Whenever I install a new
Linux box, I actually do...
Enjoy,
Guido =8-)
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