[linux] Things to do on RH7.2

My personal logs... will be updated as and when i discover new things in RH
7.2

> ALWAYS USE KDE>> (MUCH MUCH BETTER THAN GNOME)
>
> 07/11/02:
> ************Information for RedHat 7.2*******************
> 1. The first thing that anyone needs to do is register the machine. Do the
> following.
>  Gnome->Programs->System->Red Hat Network
> This will allow you to register your system on the red-hat network. Choose
a
> password and username for logging in.
> Same applies for KDE.. Instead do the following
> K->System->Red Hat Network
>
>
> 2. The next step is to configure the Update Agent. Do the following:
> Gnome-> Programs->System->Update Agent Configuration
> Fill in some important fields.. I had to change the directory in which the
> RPM's are downloaded as /var/spool did not have enough space.
> I have created a seperate account to do this.
> Same for KDE
> K->System->Update Agent Configuration
>
> 3. Then use the update Agent to find out what packages need updating. Do
the
> following:
> Gnome-> Programs->System->Update Agent
> This will contact the web-site and see what packages need updating and
send
> u a list.. Just select the whole list and start the update..
> I have selected the kernel to be updated too.. so now my kernel will be
> updated from 2.4.7 to 2.4.9 hopefully..
> Also I have selected the rpm's downloaded to be automatically installed..
IF
> I choose not to automatically install then i need to use the GnoRPM
below..
> More info can be found on
>
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/getting-started-guid
> e/rhn-webapp.html
> Also use the
> shashank%>up2date -p
> command to synchronize your profile..more info on
>
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/getting-started-guid
> e/synchronize.html
>
> Same applies to KDE
> K->System->Update Agent
>
>
> 4. Use GnoRPM as follows
> Gnome-> Programs->System->GnoRPM
> This is a fronend to the RedHat package manager. The *web find* utility in
> this particular GUI can find out all the packages (with all versions)
> available for download.
> For KDE use
> K->Programs->System->GnoRPM
>
> There is one more *package manager*.. However it crashes very often
>
>
> 5. To start Apache web-service do the following
> Gnome-> Programs->System->Apache Configuration
> There is some confusion as to how to set the user accounts (e.g.
> ~shashank/).. i need to figuer this out.. the rest of the things are just
> trivial.
> After this so the following:
> Gnome-> Programs->System->Services
> and start the *httpd* daemon.
> Different user's can put up their web pages by creating a *public_html*
> directories in their home directory.. thier starting page has to be
> index.html (i have configured this) Thus their pages will be accessed as
> http://mia.ece.uic.edu/~UserName/
> However in order to serve web pages for user's the most important thing to
> keep in mind is that their home directories must have the right
> permissions... Usually when u create a user the home directories have the
> permission of 700, however u need to change the permission to 711 in order
> to serve all web pages..
> use the command "chmod 711 UserName" to do this..
>
> Same applies to KDE.
> K->System->Apache Configuration
>
>
> 6.  to switch desktops u can use either
> >switchdesk
> command from the shell prompt or use theGUI
> Gnome-> Programs->System->Desktop switching tool
> This will automatically switch the desktop from Gnome to KDE or to TDM(i
> think)
> K->System->Desktop switching tool
>
> 7. To shutdown the system use
> >shutdown -h now
> or
> >shutdown -r now
> -h ==> Halt
> -r ==> Reboot
>
> Alternatily u can allso use CNT-ALT-DEL sequence of keys..
>
> 8. Priter sharing: This is a tricky issue. I have a printer named ITCHY
> shared on a machine called Awaz.ece.uic.edu, which is a WIN2K machine. I
> need to share this printer with a linux box. To do this I followed the
> following steps.
> a. At Awaz, I first created a user account for myseld by doing the
following
> Right Click on *My Computer* icon on the desktop and click on Manage.
> This will open a windown called *Computer Management*.. Just go to System
> Tools->Local users and groups-> users
> In this I added a user in my name.
> b. I went to the printer configuration dialog box and set a share on the
> printer. This share was named as *ITCHY* and I added my user name to
access
> this printer.
> c. On the linux box i openened the printer configuration as
> Gnome-> Programs->System->Printer Configuration
> I then added a new *Windows printer* and named the queue as ITCHY. On the
> next screen i entered the following
> Share: ITCHY
> User: (The user name i had created on Awaz)
> Passwd: Passwd for above user ID
> HOST IP: IP address of Awaz
> Workgroup: workgroup of awaz.(MULTIMEDIA)
> I did not check the Translate checkbok.
> Thats it.. I then tested a test page and it came out
>
> 9. File sharing: I have done some changes as given in
> http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.html?i=125
> However it does not seem to work..I will look over this later.
> The above has started working.. I can now share the files in my home
> directory with a WIN2K machine..
> I have done some configuration changes as explained in howto.. and a
sample
> is attached with this mail.
> Also use gnosamba fro configration as it is much easier..for KDE us can
find
> it on
> K->Programs->System->gnosamba
> I had to download and install it in order to use it..
>
>
>
>
> ****************************************************************
> 07/15/02
>
> 10. When Installing Red-Hat Linux 7.2, a stage will come when u are
required
> to configure the mouse.in this case, redhat will default to  3 button Ps/2
> mouse...
> However this is incorrect.. if u have a M$ intelligent mouse with a scroll
> wheel, the wheel will not work if you select this option.
> You will have to select the entry for  *M$ intelligent mouse (PS/2)*. If u
> have not already done this, use */usr/sbin/mouseconfig* command to change
> the mouse driver..Selecting the right driver will enable you to cut and
> paste commands from one terminal window to another.
>
> 11. I have installed vncviwer on this machine. This can be downloaded from
> http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/start.html
> After downloading unxip the files and follow the instrcutions for
> installation.
> Use the command *vncviewer :2* for starting the server.
>
> 12. I have installed the partimage software. This is used to create Disk
> images.. the GUI can be invoked by using
> *partimage* command. I am as yet not sure how this would work and can only
> verify this once i get to restore the system on
> a new linux machine.
>
> 13. Using RPM: Download the required *.rpm package from any of the
official
> mirror sites and use the command
> *rpm -i aa.rpm* after becoming a root.
>
> ****************************************************************
> (07/16/02)
> 14. configuring sendmail was a pain in the neck for RH 7.2.... In RH72,
the
> sendmail is defaulted to listen on port 25 (pport for SMTP) only on the
> loopback interface. As a result of this when i used pine to send messages,
> it was able to send it to outside account, but no mail was received from
> outside account.
> I fouind this out using the command *netstat -ant | grep :25*
> In order to get over this problem i followed the following advice on a new
> group:
> "Properly configure /etc/mail/sendmail.mc and recompile with M4 (the exact
> command is given at the top of sendmail.mc file).  The current Red Hat
> default is to start sendmail to listen only on the loopback interface.
There
> is a line to comment out (you can find this by searching from "127").
> Explained in the file within comments."
>
> Also for relaying I used the following
> check out the has file in /etc/mail/sendmail.mc
> *FEATURE(`access_db',`hash -o /etc/mail/access')dnl*
>
> change /etc/mail/access;
>
> 127.0.0.1                       RELAY
> # Allow 192.168.0 /24 to relay mail
> 192.168.0 RELAY
>
> do the folling:
> $ makemap hash /etc/mail/access < /etc/mail/access
>


The RH system that i have has sendmail - 8.11. Due to some security problem
by sendmail in the past, the sendmail team has tightened its screws on how
the mail is forwarded. I leant this the hard way after a  days work..
Normally the Home directories have some permissions,.. However i used to
change the permission to 777. If you do this, sendmail will refuse to
forward all emails using the .forward file.
Hence the home directories should have the permissions set to either 755 or
less than that..
Also the .forward file that u create in the home directory should have
permission of 700.. so that no one is able to read it.
Sendmail gives an error message (more detailed) which can be read by *cat
/var/log/maillog*..
Another thing i was trying to configure was *procmail*.
Procmail is a Mail delivery agent and gets called by sendmail (Mail transfer
agent) when u put a specific command in the .forward file of the user (even
this is optional.. Usually RH comes with procmail configured as the default
MDA.. Hence it is  only necessary to create a .procmailrc file in the home
directory..). This command is
"|exec /usr/bin/procmail -f-||exit 75 #papers"

I don't know much abt this command, but sendmail will not execute this
command unless a link to the procmail binary  (modifiable and owned by the
root :755) iis created in /etc/smrsh
The smrsh is a secure shell for sendmail, which allows execution of only
those commands in the .forward which are present in /etc/smrsh
So i added a link *ln -s /usr/bin/procmail" and added the following lines to
$HOME/.procmailrc (just for testing)
:0c:
$HOME/mail.backup

I tested the suystem by sending mail from outside and it works (a backup
copy of the mail is created). This has given me a tremendous boost as  now i
can create more comple procmail configurations for my purpose.

A very good tutorial on getting started with procmail can be obtained on
http://www.ii.com/internet/robots/procmail/qs/
Although this is very verbose... just read the 16 steps that are given and
you will be on-your way.
















>
>
> 15. I am using LPD for printing,.. the command to use is *lpr -PITCHY
> filename*
> This is currently giving problems as pages are either printed seperately
or
> in reverse order.. i need to change the driver..
>
>
> ****************************************************************
>
>