Subject: Linux Installation HOWTO
From: [email-masked] (Matt Welsh)
Date: 15 Dec 1993 22:08:04 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce,comp.os.linux.help,comp.os.linux.admin,news.answers,comp.answers

Archive-name: linux/howto/installation
Last-modified: 8 Dec 1993

The Linux Installation HOWTO
by Matt Welsh, <[email-masked]>
v1.4 Last Modified 8 Dec 93
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This document describes how to obtain and install the Linux software. 
It is the first document which a new Linux user should read to get
started. 

0. Introduction
	Linux is a freely-distributable implementation of UNIX for 80386 and
	80486 machines. It supports a wide range of software, including
	X Windows, Emacs, TCP/IP networking (including SLIP), the works. 
	This document assumes that you have heard of and know about Linux, 
	and just want to sit down and install it. 

0.1 Other sources of information
	If you have never heard of Linux before, there are several sources
	of basic information about the system. One is the Linux FAQ,
	available from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs. This directory
	contains many other documents about Linux, including the Linux 
	INFO-SHEET and META-FAQ, both of which are good introductory documents
	about Linux. Also take a look at the USENET newsgroups comp.os.linux 
	and comp.os.linux.announce. 

	Another source of online Linux documentation is the Linux HOWTO
	archive, on sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO. The file INDEX
	in that directory explains what Linux HOWTOs are available.

	The Linux Documentation Project is writing a set of manuals and books
	about Linux, all of which are freely distributable on the net. 
	The directory /pub/Linux/docs/LDP on sunsite.unc.edu contains the
	current set of LDP manuals. 

	The book ``Linux Installation and Getting Started'' is a complete
	guide to getting and installing Linux, as well as how to use the 
	system once you've installed it. It contains a complete tutorial
	to using and running the system, and much more information than
	is contained here. This HOWTO is simply a condensation of some of
	the most important information in that book. You can get
	``Linux Installation and Getting Started'' from sunsite.unc.edu in
	/pub/Linux/docs/LDP/install-guide.

0.2 New versions of this document
	New versions of the Linux Installation HOWTO will be periodically
	posted to comp.os.linux.announce, comp.os.linux, and news.answers.
	They will also be uploaded to various Linux FTP sites, including 
	sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.

0.3 Feedback
	If you have questions or comments about this document, please feel
	free to mail the author, Matt Welsh, at [email-masked]. I welcome
	any suggestions, criticism, cheques, or money orders. If you find
	a mistake with this document, please let me know so I can correct it
	in the next version. Thanks.

1. Hardware Requirements
	What kind of system is needed to run Linux? Any ISA, EISA or VESA
	Local Bus 80386 or 80486 system will do. Currently, the MicroChannel
	(MCA) architechture (found on IBM PS/2 machines) is not supported.
	Any CPU from the 386SX to the 486DX2 will work. You do not need a
	math coprocessor, although it is nice to have one.

	You need at least 4 megabytes of memory in your machine. Technically,
	Linux will run with only 2 megs, but most installations and software
	require 4. The more memory you have, the happier you'll be. 

	Of course, you'll need a hard drive and an AT-standard drive 
	controller. All MFM, RLL, and IDE drives and controllers should work. 
	Many SCSI drives and adaptors are supported as well; the Linux FAQ 
	(see above) contains more inforamation on SCSI.

	Linux can actually run on a single 5.25" HD floppy, but that's only 
	useful for installation and maintenance. 

	Free space on your hard drive is needed as well. The amount of
	space needed depends on how much software you plan to install. Most
	installations require somewhere in the ballpark of 40 to 80 megs. 
	This includes space for the software, swap space (used as virtual
	RAM on your machine), and free space for users, and so on.

	It's conceiveable that you could run a minimal Linux system in 10
	megs or less, and it's conceiveable that you could use well over
	100 megs or more for all of your Linux software. The amount varies
	greatly depending on the amount of software you install and how
	much space you require. More about this later. 

	Linux will co-exist with other operating systems, such as MS-DOS,
	Microsoft Windows, or OS/2, on your hard drive. (In fact you can even
	access MS-DOS files and run some MS-DOS programs from Linux.)
	In other words, when partitioning your drive for Linux, MS-DOS
	or OS/2 live on their own partitions, and Linux exists on its
	own. We'll go into more detail later.

	You do NOT need to be running MS-DOS, OS/2, or any other operating
	system to use Linux. Linux is a completely different, stand-alone
	operating system and does not rely on other OS's for installation
	and use.

	You also need a Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA, or Super VGA video card and 
	monitor.  In general, if your video card and monitor work under MS-DOS
	then it should work under Linux. However, if you wish to run
	X Windows, there are other restrictions on the supported video 
	hardware. The Linux FAQ contains more information about X Windows.

	In all, the suggested setup for Linux is not much more than is
	required for most MS-DOS or MS Windows systems sold today. If you
	have a 386 or 486 with at least 4 megs of RAM, then you'll be 
	happy running Linux. Linux does not require huge amounts of
	diskspace, memory, or processor speed. I run Linux on a crappy
	386/16 MHz (the slowest machine you can get) with 4 megs of RAM, 
	and am quite happy.

2. Getting Linux

2.1 Linux Distributions
	Before you can install Linux, you need to decide on one of the
	"distributions" of Linux which are available. There is no single,
	standard release of the Linux software---there are many such releases.
	Each release has its own documentation and installation instructions.

	Linux distributions are available both via anonymous FTP and
	via mail order on diskette, tape, and CD-ROM. The Linux Distribution
	HOWTO (sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/Distribution-HOWTO)
	includes a list of many Linux distributions available via FTP and mail
	order. 

	The most popular release of Linux is the Softlanding Linux System
	release, or SLS. Most Linux users worldwide use SLS---it is one
	of the most complete and easy-to-install releases available.
	It consists of about 30 disks, divided up into a number of
	disk "series" which contain differnt types of software. For 
	example, the c disk series contains compilers and programming
	utilities, and the x disk series contains the X Windows software.
	You pick and choose which disks and packages you want to install.

	This document focuses on getting and installing the SLS release,
	because it is so popular. Information on other releases can be
	found in the Linux Installation and Getting Started manual from
	the LDP. You can also find other releases of Linux on various
	FTP sites, including sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/distributions.
	See the Distribution-HOWTO (menutioned above) for details.

	Why SLS? I have looked over the many other Linux distributions, 
	and frankly, SLS is the easiest to document. MCC Interim is a bit
	outdated (0.99.pl10) and doesn't include X. Slackware requires you 
	to have a 3.5" floppy drive (not everybody does). Similar problems
	exist with other distributions. I'm no big SLS fan, but, it's a 
	very complete and full-featured system without any unusual hardware
	requirements. It's also quite up-to-date.

	If you would rather install a distribution other than SLS (I
	fully recommend the MCC-Interim distribution), check out 
	sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/distributions. Many other distributions
	can be found there, and they include their own coherent set of 
	instructions. 

	The instructions here should be general enough to be applicable to
	releases other than SLS. I hate to be biased towards a single
	release, but I don't have time to keep up with them all!

2.2 SLS Space Requirements
	The following series of SLS disks are available.

		a1-aN: The minimal base system
		b1-bN: Base system extras, like man pages, emacs etc.
		c1-cN: The compiler(s), gcc/g++/p2c/f2c
		x1-xN: The X-windows distribution (+idraw and doc)
		t1-tN: TeX (document processing)
		s1-sN: Source code for critical system components
		d1-dN: Documentation for various things

	You must get the "a" series diskettes; the rest are optional.
	I suggest at least installing the a, b, and c series, as well
	as the x series if you plan to run X Windows.

	Approximate disk space requirements are:

		Tiny base system:       15 Meg  (Only a)
		Main base system:       45 Meg  (a, b and c)
		Main base system + X11: 70 Meg  (a, b, c and x)
		Full system:            90 Meg  (a, b, c, d, s, t and x)

2.3 Getting the SLS Release from the Internet
	The SLS release of Linux may be found on any number of FTP sites
	worldwide. The Linux META-FAQ lists several of the Linux FTP
	sites; we suggest that you try to find the software on the FTP
	site nearest you, to reduce net traffic. However, two of the major
	Linux FTP sites are sunsite.unc.edu and tsx-11.mit.edu.

	The SLS release may be found on
		sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/SLS
	as well as
		tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/packages/SLS

2.3.1 Downloading the files
	You need to download the following files. Make sure that you use
	binary mode when FTPing these files!

	* READ.ME, RELEASE, and SLS.FAQ. These files are text files giving
	  up-to-date information on the latest release of SLS.

	* a1.3 or a1.5. These are binary images of the SLS "a1" boot disk.
	  If you have a 3.5" boot floppy drive on your system, get a1.3. 
	  If you have a 5.25" boot drive, get a1.5. 

	* rawrite.exe. This is an MS-DOS program used to create the SLS
	  a1 disk from the a1.3 or a1.5 image. On tsx-11.mit.edu, this
	  program is found in 
		/pub/linux/dos_utils/rawrite.exe
	  And on sunsite.unc.edu, it is found in
		/pub/Linux/system/Install/rawrite2.exe

	  (Note that "rawrite2.exe" is a newer version of rawrite which is
	  faster, but doesn't work on all drives. If you have problems with
	  it, try the other version.)

	* The files in the directories a2, a3, and a4. These files will
	  be copied later to MS-DOS disks; they make up the a2, a3, and a4
	  disks in the SLS series. When downloading these files, keep them
	  in separate directories; that is, don't mix the a2 files up with
	  the a3 files, and so on.

	  Make sure that you get the file "diska2", "diska3", and so on on
	  each disk. In FTP, if you use "mget *.*", you will probably
	  miss files without a "." in the filename. Therefore, use "mget *"
	  to get all files.

	* Files in the directories b1, b2, etc., depending on what disk
	  series you are installing. For example, if you are installing the
	  'b' disk series, get the files in the directories b1 through b7.
	  As with a2-a4, above, be sure to keep the files in separate 
	  directories when you download them.

2.3.2 Making the disks
	Once you have the files downloaded, you need to create the install
	disks. The a1 disk needs to be the type of disk that you boot from;
	i.e., either a high-density 3.5" disk or a high-density 5.25"
	disk. The disk must be MS-DOS formatted. Also be sure to use a
	brand-new floppy if possible; bad blocks on the floppy will cause
	you much trouble later.

	You don't need to be running MS-DOS to install SLS. However, 
	having access to an MS-DOS system makes it much easier to create the
	SLS floppies. If you don't run MS-DOS yourself, try to find a 
	friend who runs MS-DOS to create the floppies, as descibed below.

	To create the a1 disk, run the "rawrite" program from MS-DOS. It 
	will prompt you for the file to write to the disk (such as a1.3
	or a1.5) and the disk to write it to (such as A: or B:). 
	After the disk has been written, it will no longer be recognized
	by MS-DOS; it is complete overlaid with the SLS a1 image.

	To create the rest of the SLS disks, simply use the MS-DOS
	"copy" command. All of the rest of the SLS install disks must
	be of the same type (either HD 3.5" or HD 5.25"), but they do not
	need to be the same type as the a1 disk. All of the disks must
	be MS-DOS formatted before you begin.

	For example, to create the a2 disk, simply copy the files from 
	the directory "a2" to the floppy, with the command
		C:\> copy a2\*.* A:

	Do likewise for every disk that you downloaded.

	NOTE: It is possible to install SLS from the hard drive. If you
	have all of the SLS disk images (a2, a3, a4, and so on) in the
	directory "\install" on the MS-DOS partition on your drive, you 
	can install from there (and you don't need to copy all of the files 
	to floppies). For example, the a2 files need to be in the directory 
	C:\install\a2, the a3 files in C:\install\a3, and so on. However, 
	you do still need to make the a1 disk with rawrite, as explained 
	above.

2.4 Getting the SLS release via mail
	SLS is available from the address below for a $3.50/disk US 
	($4.50/disk Canadian) copying charge.  Add $1.00/disk for 3.5" 
	disks, and $15.00 for shipping and handling. Mail payment, either 
	cheque or money order, in advance, to Softlanding. Visa and 
	Mastercard are now also accepted, Because people keep asking about 
	prices, Softlanding has provided this commonly ordered configurations 
	price sheet:

		NAME #DISKS  SERIES        5 1/4 DISKS   3 1/2 DISKS
		-------------------------------------------------------
		TINY  4      a             US $29.00     US $33.00
		BASE  17     a,b,c,d,s     US $74.50     US $91.50 
		MAIN  24     a,b,c,x       US $99.00     US $123.00 
		FULL  30     a,b,c,x,d,s,t US $120.00    US $150.00 

	When ordering, ensure that you specify the bootdisk type (3.5 or 
	5.25). Softlanding is also now offering support subscriptions for 
	SLS. Individual support, (one user, one machine) is $100.00 per 
	year. Group support, primarily for resellers and corporate sites 
	is $1000.00 per year. CDROM ($99) and QIC-150 tape ($150) also 
	available.

		Softlanding Software 
		910 Lodge Ave. 
		Victoria, B.C., Canada 
		V8X-3A8 

	Quite a few people distribute SLS and other Linux distributions
	via mail for other prices; watch comp.os.linux.announce for
	details.

3. Installing the Software

3.1 Repartitioning 
	Before you can install the Linux software, you need to repartition
	your drive to make space for Linux. On most systems, your drive
	is already dedicated to partitions for MS-DOS, OS/2, and so on.
	You need to resize these partitions in order to make space for
	Linux.

	The problem with resizing partitions is that there is no way to
	do it (easily) without deleting the data on those partitions. 
	Therefore, you will need to make a full backup of your system before
	repartitioning. In order to resize a partition, we simply delete
	the partition(s), and re-create them with smaller sizes. 

	NOTE: There is a non-destructive disk repartitioner available for
	MS-DOS, called FIPS. Look on sunsite.unc.edu in the directory
	/pub/Linux/system/Install. With FIPS, a disk optimizer, and a little 
	bit of luck, you should be able to resize MS-DOS partitions without 
	destroying the data on them.

	If you're not using FIPS, however, the classic way to modify
	partitions is with the program "fdisk". For example, let's say
	that you have an 80 meg hard drive, dedicated to MS-DOS. You'd
	like to split it in half---40 megs for MS-DOS and 40 megs for
	Linux. In order to do this, you need to run "fdisk" under MS-DOS,
	delete the 80 meg MS-DOS partition, and re-create a 40 meg
	MS-DOS partition in its place. You can then format the new partition
	and reinstall your MS-DOS software from backups.

	Use of MS-DOS "fdisk" should be self-explanatory. The mechanism 
	used to repartition for OS/2 and other operating systems is similar.

3.2 Creating partitions for Linux
	After repartitioning your drive, you need to create partitions
	for Linux. Linux will require at least two partitions on your 
	drive: one for the software itself, and one for swap space. 
	
	(You can create multiple filesystems for Linux, each one on its own 
	partition. If you have previous UNIX experience, you will know how
	to creatively partition your drive. However, most users simply use 
	one large root filesystem for all of the Linux software.)

	In order to create these partitions, first boot the SLS a1 disk.
	At the "LILO" prompt, press <ctrl> or <alt> to get a boot menu.
	Follow the instructions there. In mose cases, all you need to
	do is press <return>, unless you want to boot without the ramdisk.

	After the system boots, login as "root" (no password). If you login 
	as "install" instead, you will be given an installation menu, 
	which will basically let you execute the steps below. However, for
	this document, we will show you how to run the same commands by
	hand.

3.2.1 Using fdisk
	After logging in as root, run the command
		fdisk <drive>
	where <drive> is the name of the drive that you wish to create
	Linux partitions on. Hard drive device names are:

		/dev/hda    First IDE drive
		/dev/hdb    Second IDE drive
		/dev/sda    First SCSI drive
		/dev/sdb    Second SCSI drive

	...and so on. For example, to create Linux partitions on the
	first SCSI drive in your system, use the command
		fdisk /dev/sda

	If you use "fdisk" without an argument, it will assume /dev/hda.

	Use of fdisk is simple. The command "p" displays your current
	partition table. "n" creates a new partition, and "d" deletes
	a partition. 

	To Linux, partitions are given a name based on the drive which
	they belong to. For example, the first partition on /dev/hda is
	/dev/hda1, the second is /dev/hda2, and so on.

	NOTE: You should not create or delete partitions for operating
	systems other than Linux with Linux fdisk. That is, don't create
	or delete MS-DOS partitions with this version of fdisk; use MS-DOS's
	version of "fdisk" to do that. If you try to create MS-DOS partitions 
	with Linux fdisk, chances are MS-DOS will not boot correctly.
	
	Here's an example of using fdisk. Here, we have a single
	MS-DOS partition using 61693 blocks on the drive, and the
	rest of the drive is free for Linux. We will create two Linux
	partitions; one for swap, and one for the root filesystem.

	First, we use the p command to display the current partition table.
	As you can see, /dev/hda1 (the first partition on /dev/hda) is
	a DOS partition of 61693 blocks. (1 block == 1024 bytes). 

	----------------------------------------------------------------------
	 Command (m for help):   p
	 Disk /dev/hda: 16 heads, 38 sectors, 683 cylinders 
	 Units = cylinders of 608 * 512 bytes

	      Device Boot  Begin   Start     End  Blocks   Id  System
	   /dev/hda1   *       1       1     203   61693    6  DOS 16-bit >=32M

	 Command (m for help):
	----------------------------------------------------------------------

	Next, we use the n command to create a new partition. The root
	partition will be 80 megs in size.

	----------------------------------------------------------------------
	 Command (m for help):  n 
	 Command action 
	    e   extended 
	    p   primary partition (1-4)
         p
	----------------------------------------------------------------------

	A primary partition is simply one of the 4 partitions on your drive.
	An extended partition allows you to create multiple logical partitions 
	within it; this allows you to go over the four-partition limit on 
	the drive. In most cases, you should only use primary partitions 
	unless you need more than 4 partitions on a drive.

	----------------------------------------------------------------------
	 Partition number (1-4): 2
	 First cylinder (204-683):  204
	 Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (204-683): +80M
	----------------------------------------------------------------------

	The first cylinder should be the cylinder AFTER where the last
	partition left off. In this case, /dev/hda1 ended on cylinder 203,
	so we start the new partition at cylinder 204.

	As you can see, if we use the notation "+80M", it specifies a
	partition of 80 megs in size. Likewise, the notation "+80K" would
	specify an 80 kilobyte partition, and "+80" would specify just an
	80 byte partition (not really possible since partitions must be
	at least 1 block in size).

	----------------------------------------------------------------------
	 Warning: Linux cannot currently use 33090 sectors of this partition
	----------------------------------------------------------------------

	If you see this warning, you can ignore it. It is left over from an
	old restriction that Linux filesystems could only be 64 megs in
	size. However, with newer filesystem types, that is no longer the
	case... partitions can now be up to 4 terabytes in size. 

	Next, we create our 10 meg swap partition, /dev/hda3.

	----------------------------------------------------------------------
	 Command (m for help): n
	 Command action 
	    e   extended 
	    p   primary partition (1-4) 
	 p

	 Partition number (1-4): 3
	 First cylinder (474-683):  474
	 Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (474-683):  +10M
	----------------------------------------------------------------------

	Again, we display the contents of the partition table. Be
	sure to write down the information here, especially the size of 
	each partition in blocks. You need this information later.

	----------------------------------------------------------------------
	 Command (m for help): p
	 Disk /dev/hda: 16 heads, 38 sectors, 683 cylinders 
	 Units = cylinders of 608 * 512 bytes

	      Device Boot  Begin   Start     End  Blocks   Id  System
	   /dev/hda1   *       1       1     203   61693    6  DOS 16-bit >=32M
	   /dev/hda2         204     204     473   82080   81  Linux/MINIX
	   /dev/hda3         474     474     507   10336   81  Linux/MINIX
	----------------------------------------------------------------------

	Note that the Linux swap partition (here, /dev/hda3) has type 
	"Linux/MINIX". We need to change the type of the swap partition to 
	"Linux swap" so that the installation program will recognize it.
	In order to do this, use the fdisk "t" command:

	----------------------------------------------------------------------
	 Command (m for help): t
	 Partition number (1-4): 3
	 Hex code (type L to list codes): 82
	----------------------------------------------------------------------

	If you use "L" to list the type codes, you'll find that 82 is the
	code corresponding to Linux swap.

	To quit fdisk and save the changes to the partition table, use the
	"w" command. To quit fdisk WITHOUT saving changes, use the "q" 
	command. 

3.2.2 Rebooting the system
	After running fdisk and creating Linux partitions, reboot the system
	(again with the SLS a1 disk), and login as root. It is important to
	reboot after modifying the partition table, because the kernel only
	detects partition sizes at boot time.

3.3 Creating filesystems and swap space
	After rebooting the system, you need to prepare the filesystems and
	swap space on the new partitions.

3.3.1 Using mkswap
	First, the swap space. For this we use the command
		mkswap -c <partition> <size> 
	where <partition> is the partition name, such as /dev/hda3, and
	<size> is the size of the partition in blocks. 

	For example, if you created a swap partition on /dev/hda3 of
	size 10336 blocks, use the command
		mkswap -c /dev/hda3 10336
	The -c option tells mkswap to check for bad blocks on the 
	partition when preparing the swap space. If you see any "read_intr"
	error messages during the mkswap operation, this means that
	bad blocks were found (and flagged). So you can ignore these errors.

	To enable swapping on the new device, use the command
		swapon <partition>
	For example, for our swap space on /dev/hda3, we use
		swapon /dev/hda3

	We should now be swapping with 10 megs of extra virtual RAM on 
	/dev/hda3.

3.3.2 Using mke2fs
	Next, we need to prepare the root filesystem, using the command
	mke2fs. This creates an "ext2fs" type filesystem, which is just one
	of the several types of filesystems available. ext2fs is the most 
	flexible and popular filesystem type to use; it allows filesystems
	of up to 4 terabytes in size and 256-character filenames. 

	Several other filesystem types are still in use, such as the Minix
	filesystem and the extended filesystem. However, because of the
	limitations on these filesystem types, ext2fs is the most popular.

	The syntax of the mke2fs command is
		mke2fs -c <partition> <size>
	For example, if we are creating a filesystem on /dev/hda2 with a
	size of 82080 blocks, we use the command
		mke2fs -c /dev/hda2 82080

	Again, the -c switch tells mke2fs to check for bad blocks on the
	partition.

	If you are using more than one Linux filesystem, you will need to
	use mke2fs for each one.

3.4 Installing the software
	Installing the SLS release is simply a matter of using the 
	doinstall command. Before you begin, make sure that you have
	a blank, high-density MS-DOS formatted diskette on hand. This
	diskette will be used to create an SLS boot disk after the 
	installation procedure is complete; therefore, the diskette
	must be of the type (either 3.5" or 5.25") that you will boot
	from on your system (like the a1 disk).

	To install the software, use the command
		doinstall <partition>
	where <partition> is the name of the Linux root partition.
	For example, if your root partition is /dev/hda2, use the command
		doinstall /dev/hda2

	doinstall will prompt you for the install media (such as floppy,
	or hard drive), and other information (such as what packages you
	wish to install). The rest should be self-explanatory.

	If you are using more than one filesystem for Linux, you need
	to specify extra parameters to doinstall. For example, if your
	root filesystem is on /dev/hda2, and your /usr filesystem is
	on /dev/hda4, use the command
		doinstall /dev/hda2 /dev/hda4 /usr

3.5 After installation
	During installation, you will be given the option of either
	creating a "boot floppy" (which you can use to boot Linux),
	or to install LILO on your hard drive. LILO (which stands for
	``Linux Loader'') is a boot loader program capable of booting
	Linux and other operating systems on your hard drive. You select
	the default operating system when installing LILO and can override
	the default at boot time. More on this later.

	If you created a boot floppy, you should be able to boot from it 
	and you will be running your very own Linux system. Login as
	"root", and off you go. 

	If you installed LILO, you should have been prompted with a 
	number of options to define the operating systems that you wish
	to boot from LILO. With LILO installed on your hard drive, you
	should be able to boot from the hard drive and the default 
	operating system will start up. To override the default OS at 
	boot time, hold down <shift> or <ctrl> (or press <caps lock>)
	while the system is booting; you will be presented with a boot
	menu. At this menu, type "tab" to see a list of choices; just 
	type the name of the operating system that you wish to boot.

	If you have a strange configuration (i.e., you're running OS/2's
	Boot Manager, or something along those lines) then you may not 
	wish to install LILO at first (this automated installation procedure 
	has to make certain assumptions about your system, which may not be
	correct if you have something like OS/2's Boot Manager). Instead,
	you can modify the LILO configuration scripts yourself to suit
	your needs; the main file is /etc/lilo/config. The LILO FAQ on
	sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/faqs should explain some of the
	rudiments of editing this file; the lilo(8) man pages should also 
	help. LILO is not very difficult to configure. 

	After booting your system and logging in as root, one of the
	first things you should do is create an account for yourself.
	The "adduser" or "useradd" commands may be used for this 
	purpose, and should be fairly self-explanatory. After that, the
	system is all yours... have fun!

4. Miscellaneous
	I don't like to be biased towards the SLS release, however, in 
	order to document multiple releases of Linux, this file would be
	much, much longer. It is simpler and more coherent to cover the
	specific instructions for a single release of Linux. The book
	``Linux Installation and Getting Started'' will in the future
	cover releases other than SLS. However, because the installation
	procedures are so varied, covering them all would be very confusing
	both to myself and to the reader.

	However, the basic concepts in this document still hold, no matter
	what release of Linux you choose. For example, all releases require
	you to run fdisk, mkswap, and mke2fs. The only real difference is
	the method used to create the installation disks (if needed) and
	the analogue to the "doinstall" command. If you choose to use a
	release of Linux other than SLS, the READMEs and installation
	instructions that come with that release should be easy to understand
	in the context of the material presented here.

	Some distributions of Linux have an automated installation program
	which takes care of most of these details for you!

	If you would like a more complete discussion of Linux installation
	(instead of the "quick" examples given here), read the book
	``Linux Installation and Getting Started", from sunsite.unc.edu
	in /pub/Linux/docs/LDP. This document is intended only to get
	new users started with Linux without a great deal of background.
	The book, on the other hand, contains a complete discussion of
	Linux, from start to finish, including tutorials on how to use the
	system once you have installed it.

	Please mail me ([email-masked]) if any part of this document
	is confusing or incorrect. I am open to any suggestions and comments.
	I also like to help answer questions about Linux installation, if you
	have any.

	Best of luck with your new Linux system!

	Cheers,
	mdw