  The Linux Installation HOWTO
  by Eric S. Raymond
  v4.23, 26 May 2000

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

  Table of Contents



  1. Introduction

     1.1 Purpose of this document
     1.2 Other sources of information
     1.3 New versions of this document
     1.4 Feedback and Corrections

  2. Recent Changes

  3. The Easiest Option: Buy, Don't Build

  4. Before You Begin

     4.1 Hardware requirements
     4.2 Space requirements and coexistence

  5. Time requirements

     5.1 Choosing a Linux distribution

  6. Installation Overview

     6.1 First Installation Steps: The Easy Way
     6.2 First Installation Steps: The Hard Way
     6.3 Continuing the Installation
     6.4 Basic Parts of an Installation Kit

  7. Installation In Detail

     7.1 Getting prepared for installation
     7.2 Creating the boot and root floppies
     7.3 Repartitioning your DOS/Windows drives
     7.4 Creating partitions for Linux
        7.4.1 Partition basics
        7.4.2 Sizing partitions
     7.5 Booting the installation disk
        7.5.1 Choosing EGA or X installation
        7.5.2 Using
        7.5.3 Post-partition steps
     7.6 Installing software packages
     7.7 After package installations
        7.7.1 LILO, the LInux LOader
        7.7.2 Making a production boot disk (optional)
        7.7.3 Miscellaneous system configuration

  8. Booting Your New System

  9. After Your First Boot

     9.1 Beginning System Administratration
     9.2 Custom LILO Configuration

  10. Administrivia

     10.1 Terms of Use
     10.2 Acknowledgements


  ______________________________________________________________________

  1.  Introduction



  1.1.  Purpose of this document

  Linux is a freely-distributable implementation of Unix for inexpensive
  personal machines (it was developed on 386s, and now supports 486,
  586, Pentium, PowerPC, Sun Sparc, ARM and DEC Alpha hardware, and even
  the IBM System 390 mainframe!). It supports a wide range of software,
  including X Windows, Emacs, TCP/IP networking (including SLIP), and
  many applications.

  This document assumes that you have heard of and know about Linux, and
  now want to get it running.  It focuses on the Intel base version,
  which is the most popular, but much of the advice applies on Power
  PCs, Sparcs and Alphas as well.


  1.2.  Other sources of information

  If you are new to Linux, there are several sources of basic
  information about the system. The best place to find these is at the
  Linux Documentation Project home page at  <http://www.linuxdoc.org>.
  You can find the latest, up-to-date version of this document there, as
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO.html>

  You should probably start by browsing the resources under General
  Linux Information; the Linux INFO-SHEET
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/INFO-SHEET.html> and the Linux META-FAQ
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/META-FAQ.html>.  The `Linux Frequently
  Asked Questions' document contains many common questions (and
  answers!) about Linux---it is a ``must read'' for new users.

  You can find help for common problems on the USENET newsgroups
  comp.os.linux.help and comp.os.linux.announce.

  The Linux Documentation Project is writing a set of manuals and books
  about Linux, all of which are freely distributable on the net and
  available from the LDP home page.

  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.  You can browse it, or download a copy, from the LDP
  home page.

  Finally, there is a rather technical Guide to x86 Bootstrapping
  <http://www.paranoia.com/~vax/boot.html>.  This document is NetBSD-
  rather than Linux-oriented, but contains useful material on disk
  configuration and boot managers for multi-OS setups.

  Please do not email me asking for installation help.  Even if I had
  the time to handle such requests, troubleshooting by mail is much less
  efficient than asking help from your local Linux user's group.  You
  can find worldwide contact information for Linux user groups on the
  LDP site <http://www.linuxdoc.org/>.


  1.3.  New versions of this document

  New versions of the Linux Installation HOWTO will be periodically
  posted to comp.os.linux.help and comp.os.linux.announce and
  news.answers.  They will also be uploaded to various Linux WWW and FTP
  sites, including the LDP home page.

  You can also view the latest version of this on the World Wide Web via
  the URL <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO.html>.

  1.4.  Feedback and Corrections

  If you have questions or comments about this document, please feel
  free to mail Eric S. Raymond, at esr@thyrsus.com. I welcome any
  suggestions or criticisms. If you find a mistake with this document,
  please let me know so I can correct it in the next version. Thanks.

  Please do not mail me questions about how to solve hardware problems
  encountered during installation.  Consult ``Linux Installation and
  Getting Started'', bug your vendor, or consult the Linux newsgroup
  comp.os.linux.setup.  This HOWTO is intended to be rapid, painless
  guide to normal installation -- a separate HOWTO on hardware problems
  and diagnosis is in preparation.


  2.  Recent Changes


  ·  Added the `Buy, Don't Build'.

  ·  Added the material on booting from CD-ROM.


  3.  The Easiest Option: Buy, Don't Build

  Linux has now matured enough that there are now system integrators who
  will assemble a workstation for you, install and configure a Linux,
  and do an intensive burn-in to test it before it's shipped to you.  If
  you have more money than time, or you have stringent reliability or
  performance requirements, these integrators provide a valuable service
  by making sure you won't get hardware that's flaky or dies two days
  out of the box.

  There are several firms of this kind (and I'll list them here as I
  learn more about them).  The only such outfit I know about personally
  is VA Research <http://www.varesearch.com>; in 1998 I became a member
  of VA's Board of Directors.  VA builds high-end, high quality Linux
  workstations with a nifty Tux-the-penguin logo on the front.  They
  have intimate ties to the Linux community; SourceForge, the GNU site,
  and the Debian project all live on a machine in their back room, and
  Linus's personal machine is one of their boxes.

  For those of us without a champagne budget, the rest of this HOWTO is
  about how to install Linux yourself.


  4.  Before You Begin

  Before you can install Linux, you'll need to be sure your machine is
  Linux-capable, and choose a Linux to install.  The Linux Pre-
  installation checklist <http://members.tripod.com/~algolog/lnxchk.htm>
  may help you organize configuration data before you begin.


  4.1.  Hardware requirements

  What kind of system is needed to run Linux? This is a good question;
  the actual hardware requirements for the system change periodically.
  The Linux Hardware-HOWTO,  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Hardware-
  HOWTO.html>, gives a (more or less) complete listing of hardware
  supported by Linux. The Linux INFO-SHEET,
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/INFO-SHEET.html>, provides another
  list.

  For the Intel versions, a hardware configuration that looks like the
  following is required:
  Any 80386, 80486, Pentium or Pentium II processor will do.  Non-Intel
  clones of the 80386 and up will generally work. You do not need a math
  coprocessor, although it is nice to have one.

  The ISA, EISA, VESA Local Bus and PCI bus architectures are supported.
  The MCA bus architecture (found on IBM PS/2 machines) has been
  minimally supported since the 2.1.x kernels, but may not be ready for
  prime time yet.

  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. I suggest
  an absolute minimum of 16 megabytes if you're planning to use X-
  Windows; 64 is better.

  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 SCSI-
  HOWTO contains more information on SCSI.  If you are assembling a
  system from scratch to run Linux, the small additional cost of SCSI is
  well worth it for the extra performance and reliability it brings.

  You will need a 3.5" floppy drive.  While 5.25" floppies are supported
  under Linux, they are little-enough used that you should not count on
  disk images necessarily fitting on them.  (A stripped-down Linux can
  actually run on a single floppy, but that's only useful for
  installation and certain troubleshooting tasks.)

  You also need an MDA, 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
  the X window system, there are other restrictions on the supported
  video hardware. The Linux XFree86-HOWTO,
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/XFree86-HOWTO.html>, contains more
  information about running X and its requirements.

  You'll want a CD-ROM drive.  If it's ATAPI, SCSI, or true IDE you
  should have no problem making it work (but watch for cheap drives
  advertising "IDE" interfaces that aren't true IDE).  If your CD-ROM
  uses a proprietary interface card, it's possible the installation
  kernel you're going to boot from floppy won't be able to see it -- and
  an inaccessible CD-ROM is a installation show-stopper.  Also, CD-ROMs
  that attach to your parallel port won't work at all.  If you're in
  doubt, consult the Linux CD-ROM HOWTO,
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/CDROM-HOWTO.html> for a list and
  details of supported hardware.

  So-called "Plug'n'Play" jumperless cards can be a problem.  Support
  for these is under active development, but not there yet in the 2.0.25
  kernel.  Fortunately this is only likely to be a problem with sound or
  Ethernet cards.

  If you're running on a box that uses one of the Motorola 68K
  processors (including Amiga, Atari, or VMEbus machines), see the
  Linux/m68k FAQ at  <http://www.linux-m68k.org/pub/faq/faq.html> for
  information on minimum requirements and the state of the port.  The
  FAQ now says m68k Linux is as stable and usable as the Intel versions.


  4.2.  Space requirements and coexistence

  You'll need free space for Linux on your hard drive. The amount of
  space needed depends on how much software you plan to install. Today
  most installations require somewhere in the ballpark of a gigabyte of
  space.  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 conceivable that you could run a minimal Linux system in 80 megs
  or less (this used to be common when Linux distributions were
  smaller), and it's conceivable that you could use two gigabytes 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 about such ``dual-boot'' systems 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 OSs for installation and
  use.

  In all, the minimal setup for Linux is not much more than is required
  for most MS-DOS or Windows 3.1 systems sold today (and it's a good
  deal less than the minimum for Windows 95!).  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.  Matt Welsh, the originator of this HOWTO, used to run Linux on
  a 386/16 MHz (the slowest machine you can get) with 4 megs of RAM, and
  was quite happy. The more you want to do, the more memory (and faster
  processor) you'll need. In our experience a 486 with 16 megabytes of
  RAM running Linux outdoes several models of expensive workstations.


  5.  Time requirements

  Start to finish, a modern Linux installation from CD-ROM can be
  expected to take from ninety minutes to three hours.


  5.1.  Choosing a Linux distribution

  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,
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Distribution-HOWTO.html>, includes
  descriptions of many Linux distributions available via FTP and mail
  order.

  In the dim and ancient past when this HOWTO was first written
  (1992-93), most people got Linux by tortuous means involving long
  downloads off the Internet or a BBS onto their DOS machines, followed
  by an elaborate procedure which transferred the downloads onto
  multiple floppy disks.  One of these disks would then be booted and
  used to install the other dozen.  With luck (and no media failures)
  you'd finish your installation many hours later with a working Linux.
  Or maybe not.

  While this path is still possible (and you can download any one of
  several distributions from
  <http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/distributions/>), there are now much
  less strenuous ways. The easiest is to buy one of the high-quality
  commercial Linux distributions distributed on CD-ROM, such as Red Hat,
  Debian, Linux Pro, or WGS.  These are typically available for less
  than $50 at your local bookstore or computer shop, and will save you
  many hours of aggravation.

  You can also buy anthology CD-ROMs such as the InfoMagic Linux
  Developer's Resource set. These typically include several Linux
  distributions and a recent dump of major Linux archive sites, such as
  metalab or tsx-11.

  In the remainder of this HOWTO we will focus on the steps needed to
  install from an anthology CD-ROM, or one of the lower-end commercial
  Linuxes that doesn't include a printed installation manual.  If your
  Linux includes a paper manual some of this HOWTO may provide useful
  background, but you should consult the manual for detailed
  installation instructions.


  6.  Installation Overview


  It's wise to collect configuration information on your hardware before
  installing.  Know the vendor and model number of each card in your
  machine; collect the IRQs and DMA channel numbers.  You probably won't
  need this information -- but if it turns out you do, you'll need it
  very badly.

  If you want to run a "dual-boot" system (Linux and DOS or Windows or
  both), rearrange (repartition) your disk to make room for Linux.  If
  you're wise, you'll back up everything first!


  6.1.  First Installation Steps: The Easy Way

  If you have an EIDE/ATAPI CDROM (normal these days), check your
  machine's BIOS settings to see if it has the capability to boot from
  CD-ROM.  Most machines made after mid-1997 can do this.

  If yours is among them, change the settings so that the CD-ROM is
  checked first.  This is often in a 'BIOS FEATURES' submenu of the BIOS
  configuration menus.

  Then insert the installation CD-ROM.  Reboot.  You're started.

  If you have a SCSI CDROM you can often still boot from it, but it gets
  a little more motherboard/BIOS dependent.  Those who know enough to
  spend the extra dollars on a SCSI CDROM drive probably know enough to
  figure it out.


  6.2.  First Installation Steps: The Hard Way


  1. Make installation floppies.

  2. Boot an installation mini-Linux from the floppies in order to get
     access to the CD-ROM.


  6.3.  Continuing the Installation


  1. Prepare the Linux filesystems.  (If you didn't edit the disk
     partition table earlier, you will at this stage.)

  2. Install a basic production Linux from the CD-ROM.

  3. Boot Linux from the hard drive.

  4. (Optional) Install more packages from CD-ROM.


  6.4.  Basic Parts of an Installation Kit

  Here are the basic parts of an installable distribution:


  ·  The README and FAQ files.  These will usually be located in the
     top-level directory of your CD-ROM and be readable once the CD-ROM
     has been mounted under Linux.  (Depending on how the CD-ROM was
     generated, they may even be visible under DOS/Windows.) It is a
     good idea to read these files as soon as you have access to them,
     to become aware of important updates or changes.

  ·  A number of bootdisk images (often in a subdirectory).  If your CD-
     ROM is not bootable, one of these is the file that you will write
     to a floppy to create the boot disk.  You'll select one of the
     above bootdisk images, depending on the type of hardware that you
     have in your system.

  The issue here is that some hardware drivers conflict with each other
  in strange ways, and instead of attempting to debug hardware problems
  on your system it's easier to use a boot floppy image with only the
  drivers you need enabled.  (This will have the nice side effect of
  making your kernel smaller.)


  ·  A rescue disk image.  This is a disk containing a basic kernel and
     tools for disaster recovery in case something trashes the kernel or
     boot block of your hard disk.

  ·  RAWRITE.EXE. This is an MS-DOS program that will write the contents
     of a file (such as a bootdisk image) directly to a floppy, without
     regard to format.

  You only need RAWRITE.EXE if you plan to create your boot and root
  floppies from an MS-DOS system. If you have access to a UNIX
  workstation with a floppy drive instead, you can create the floppies
  from there, using the `dd' command, or possibly a vendor-provided
  build script.  See the man page for dd(1) and ask your local UNIX
  gurus for assistance.  There's a dd example later in this document.


  ·  The CD-ROM itself.  The purpose of the boot disk is to get your
     machine ready to load the root or installation disks, which in turn
     are just devices for preparing your hard disk and copying portions
     of the CD-ROM to it.  If your CD-ROM is bootable, you can boot it
     and skip right to preparing your disk.


  7.  Installation In Detail

  7.1.  Getting prepared for installation

  Linux makes more effective use of PC hardware than MS-DOS, Windows or
  NT, and is accordingly less tolerant of misconfigured hardware.  There
  are a few things you can do before you start that will lessen your
  chances of being stopped by this kind of problem.

  First, collect any manuals you have on your hardware -- motherboard,
  video card, monitor, modem, etc. -- and put them within easy reach.

  Second, gather detailed information on your hardware configuration.
  One easy way to do this, if you're running MS-DOS 5.0, or up, is to
  print a report from the Microsoft diagnostic utility msd.exe (you can
  leave out the TSR, driver, memory-map, environment-strings and OS-
  version parts).  Among other things, this will guarantee you full and
  correct information on your video card and mouse type, which will be
  helpful in configuring X later on.

  Third, check your machine for configuration problems with supported
  hardware that could cause an un-recoverable lockup during Linux
  installation.


  ·  It is possible for a DOS/Windows system using IDE hard drive(s) and
     CD ROM to be functional even with the master/slave jumpers on the
     drives incorrectly set.  Linux won't fly this way.  If in doubt,
     check your master-slave jumpers!

  ·  Is any of your peripheral hardware designed with neither
     configuration jumpers nor non-volatile configuration memory?  If
     so, it may require boot-time initialization via an MS-DOS utility
     to start up, and may not be easily accessible from Linux.  CD-ROMs,
     sound cards, Ethernet cards and low-end tape drives can have this
     problem.  If so, you may be able to work around this with an
     argument to the boot prompt; see the Linux Boot Prompt HOWTO,
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/BootPrompt-HOWTO.html> for details).

  ·  Some other operating systems will allow a bus mouse to share an IRQ
     with other devices.  Linux doesn't support this; in fact, trying it
     may lock up your machine.  If you are using a bus mouse, see the
     Linux Bus Mouse HOWTO,  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Busmouse-
     HOWTO.html>, for details.

  If possible, get the telephone number of an experienced Linux user you
  can call in case of emergency.  Nine times out of ten you won't need
  it, but it's comforting to have.

  Budget time for installation.  That will be about one hour on a bare
  system or one being converted to all-Linux operation.  Or up to three
  hours for a dual-boot system (they have a much higher incidence of
  false starts and hangups).


  7.2.  Creating the boot and root floppies

  (This step is only needed if you can't boot from a CD-ROM.)

  Your Linux CD-ROM may come with installation aids that will take you
  through the process of building boot, root, and rescue disks with
  interactive prompts.  These may be an MS-DOS installation program
  (such as the Red Hat redhat.exe program) or a Unix script, or both.

  If you have such a program and can use it, you should read the rest of
  this subsection for information only.  Run the program to do actual
  installation -- its authors certainly knew more about the specific
  distribution than I, and you'll avoid many error-prone hand-entry
  steps.

  More detailed information on making bootdisks, see the Linux Bootdisk
  HOWTO at  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Bootdisk-HOWTO.html>.

  Your first step will be to select a boot-disk image to fit your
  hardware.  If you must do this by hand, you'll generally find that
  either (a) the bootdisk images on your CD-ROM are named in a way that
  will help you pick a correct one, or (b) there's an index file nearby
  describing each image.

  Next, you must create floppies from the bootdisk image you selected,
  and optionally from the rescue disk images.  This is where the MS-DOS
  program RAWRITE.EXE comes into play.

  Next, you must have two or three high-density MS-DOS formatted
  floppies.  (They must be of the same type; that is, if your boot
  floppy drive is a 3.5" drive, both floppies must be high-density 3.5"
  disks.) You will use RAWRITE.EXE to write the bootdisk images to the
  floppies.

  Invoke it with no arguments, like this:


       C:\> RAWRITE


  Answer the prompts for the name of the file to write and the floppy to
  write it to (such as A:). RAWRITE will copy the file, block-by-block,
  directly to the floppy. Also use RAWRITE for the root disk image (such
  as COLOR144). When you're done, you'll have two floppies: one
  containing the boot disk, the other containing the root disk. Note
  that these two floppies will no longer be readable by MS-DOS (they are
  ``Linux format'' floppies, in some sense).

  You can use the dd(1) commands on a UNIX system to do the same job.
  (For this, you will need a UNIX workstation with a floppy drive, of
  course.)  For example, on a Sun workstation with the floppy drive on
  device /dev/rfd0, you can use the command:



       $ dd if=bare of=/dev/rfd0 obs=18k



  You must provide the appropriate output block size argument (the `obs'
  argument) on some workstations (e.g., Suns) or this will fail. If you
  have problems the man page for dd(1) may be be instructive.

  Be sure that you're using brand-new, error-free floppies. The floppies
  must have no bad blocks on them.

  Note that you do not need to be running Linux or MS-DOS in order to
  install Linux.  However, running Linux or MS-DOS makes it easier to
  create the boot and root floppies from your CD-ROM. If you don't have
  an operating system on your machine, you can use someone else's Linux
  or MS-DOS just to create the floppies, and install from there.


  7.3.  Repartitioning your DOS/Windows drives

  On most used systems, the hard drive is already dedicated to
  partitions for MS-DOS, OS/2, and so on.  You'll need to resize these
  partitions in order to make space for Linux.  If you're going to run a
  dual-boot system, it's strongly recommended that you read one or more
  of the following mini-HOWTOS, which describe different dual-boot
  configurations.


  ·  The DOS-Win95-OS2-Linux mini-HOWTO,
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+DOS+Win95+OS2.html>.

  ·  The Linux+Win95 mini-HOWTO,
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+Win95.html>

  ·  The Linux+NT-Loader mini-HOWTO,
     <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+NT-Loader.html>
  Even if they are not directly applicable to your system, they will
  help you understand the issues involved.

  NOTE: Some Linuxes will install to a directory on your MS-DOS
  partition. (This is different than installing from an MS-DOS
  partition.) Instead, you use the ``UMSDOS filesystem'', which allows
  you to treat a directory of your MS-DOS partition as a Linux
  filesystem. In this way, you don't have to repartition your drive.

  I only suggest using this method if your drive already has four
  partitions (the maximum supported by DOS) and repartitioning would be
  more trouble than it's worth (it slows down your Linux due to filename
  translation overhead).  Or, if you want to try out Linux before
  repartitioning, this is a good way to do so. But in most cases you
  should re-partition, as described here. If you do plan to use UMSDOS,
  you are on your own---it is not documented in detail here. From now
  on, we assume that you are NOT using UMSDOS, and that you will be
  repartitioning.

  A partition is just a section of the hard drive set aside for a
  particular operating system to use. If you only have MS-DOS installed,
  your hard drive probably has just one partition, entirely for MS-DOS.
  To use Linux, however, you'll need to repartition the drive, so that
  you have one partition for MS-DOS, and one (or more) for Linux.

  Partitions come in three flavors: primary, extended, and logical.
  Briefly, primary partitions are one of the four main partitions on
  your drive. However, if you wish to have more than four partitions per
  drive, you need to replace the last primary partition with an extended
  partition, which can contain many logical partitions.  You don't store
  data directly on an extended partition---it is used only as a
  container for logical partitions. Data is stored only on either
  primary or logical partitions.

  To put this another way, most people use only primary partitions.
  However, if you need more than four partitions on a drive, you create
  an extended partition. Logical partitions are then created on top of
  the extended partition, and there you have it---more than four
  partitions per drive.

  Note that you can easily install Linux on the second drive on your
  system (known as D: to MS-DOS). You simply specify the appropriate
  device name when creating Linux partitions. This is described in
  detail below.

  Back to repartitioning your drive. It used to be that there was no way
  to resize partitions without destroying the data on them.  Nowadays
  there are partitioning utilities that can resize non-destructively;
  they know about the structure of file systems, can find the free space
  on a file system, and can move file data around on the partition to
  move free space where it needs to be in order for a resize to work
  properly.  It's still suggested that you make a full backup before
  using one of these, in case of program or human error.

  Under Linux GNU parted <http://www.gnu.org/software/parted> allows you
  to create, destroy, resize and copy partitions.  It supports ext2,
  FAT16, and FAT32 filesystems, Linux swap devices; it also knows about
  MS-DOS disk labels. Parted is useful for creating space for new
  operating systems, reorganising disk usage, copying data between hard
  disks, and disk imaging.  It is relatively new code, but is reported
  to work well and not trash data.

  There is a non-destructive disk repartitioner available for MS-DOS,
  called FIPS. Look at
  <http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/install>. With FIPS, a disk
  optimizer (such as Norton Speed Disk), and a little bit of luck, you
  should be able to resize MS-DOS partitions without destroying the data
  on them.

  The older method of resizing a partition, if you don't have one of
  these resizing partition editors available, is to delete the
  partition(s), and re-create them with smaller sizes.  If you use this
  method, you absolutely must make a backup in order to save any of your
  data.

  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 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. 40 megabytes of the drive
  is left empty. Later, you create Linux partitions on the unused
  portion of the drive.

  In short, you should do the following to resize MS-DOS partitions with
  FDISK:

  1. Make a full backup of your system.

  2. Create an MS-DOS bootable floppy, using a command such as

       FORMAT /S A:


  3. Copy the files FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM to this floppy, as well as
     any other utilities that you need. (For example, utilities to
     recover your system from backup.)

  4. Boot the MS-DOS system floppy.

  5. Run FDISK, possibly specifying the drive to modify (such as C: or
     D:).

  6. Use the FDISK menu options to delete the partitions which you wish
     to resize. This will destroy all data on the affected partitions.

  7. Use the FDISK menu options to re-create those partitions, with
     smaller sizes.

  8. Exit FDISK and re-format the new partitions with the FORMAT
     command.

  9. Restore the original files from backup.

  Note that MS-DOS FDISK will give you an option to create a ``logical
  DOS drive''. A logical DOS drive is just a logical partition on your
  hard drive. You can install Linux on a logical partition, but you
  don't want to create that logical partition with MS-DOS fdisk. So, if
  you're currently using a logical DOS drive, and want to install Linux
  in its place, you should delete the logical drive with MS-DOS FDISK,
  and (later) create a logical partition for Linux in its place.

  The mechanism used to repartition for OS/2 and other operating systems
  is similar. See the documentation for those operating systems for
  details.


  7.4.  Creating partitions for Linux

  After repartitioning your drive, you need to create partitions for
  Linux. Before describing how to do that, we'll talk about partitions
  and filesystems under Linux.


  7.4.1.  Partition basics

  Linux requires at least one partition, for the root filesystem, which
  will hold the Linux kernel itself.

  You can think of a filesystem as a partition formatted for Linux.
  Filesystems are used to hold files. Every system must have a root
  filesystem, at least. However, many users prefer to use multiple
  filesystems---one for each major part of the directory tree. For
  example, you may wish to create a separate filesystem to hold all
  files under the /usr directory.  (Note that on UNIX systems, forward
  slashes are used to delimit directories, not backslashes as with MS-
  DOS.) In this case you have both a root filesystem, and a /usr
  filesystem.

  Each filesystem requires its own partition. Therefore, if you're using
  both root and /usr filesystems, you'll need to create two Linux
  partitions.

  In addition, most users create a swap partition, which is used for
  virtual RAM. If you have, say, 4 megabytes of memory on your machine,
  and a 10-megabyte swap partition, as far as Linux is concerned you
  have 14 megabytes of virtual memory.

  When using swap space, Linux moves unused pages of memory out to disk,
  allowing you to run more applications at once on your system.
  However, because swapping is often slow, it's no replacement for real
  physical RAM. But applications that require a great deal of memory
  (such as the X window system) often rely on swap space if you don't
  have enough physical RAM.

  Nearly all Linux users employ a swap partition.  If you have 4
  megabytes of RAM or less, a swap partition is required to install the
  software. It is strongly recommended that you have a swap partition
  anyway, unless you have a great amount of physical RAM.

  The size of your swap partition depends on how much virtual memory you
  need. It's often suggested that you have at least 16 megabytes of
  virtual memory total. Therefore, if you have 8 megs of physical RAM,
  you might want to create an 8-megabyte swap partition.  Note that swap
  partitions can be no larger than 128 megabytes in size. Therefore, if
  you need more than 128 megs of swap, you must create multiple swap
  partitions. You may have up to 16 swap partitions in all.

  You can find more on the theory of swap space layout and disk
  partitioning in the Linux Partition mini-HOWTO (
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Partition.html>).

  Note: it is possible, though a bit tricky, to share swap partitions
  between Linux and Windows 95 in a dual-boot system.  For details, see
  the Linux Swap Space Mini-HOWTO,
  <ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/unmaintained/mini/Swap-
  Space>.

  Gotcha #1: If you have an EIDE drive with a partition that goes above
  504MB, your BIOS may not allow you to boot to a Linux installed there.
  So keep your root partition below 504MB. This shouldn't be a problem
  for SCSI drive controllers, which normally have their own drive BIOS
  firmware.  For technical details, see the Large Disk Mini-HOWTO,
  <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Large-Disk.html>.

  Gotcha #2: Are you mixing IDE and SCSI drives?  Then watch out.  Your
  BIOS may not allow you to boot directly to a SCSI drive.
  7.4.2.  Sizing partitions

  Besides your root and swap partitions, you'll want to set up one or
  more partitions to hold your software and home directories.

  While, in theory, you could run everything off a single huge root
  partition, almost nobody does this.  Having multiple partitions has
  several advantages:


  ·  It often cuts down the time required for boot-time file-system
     checks.

  ·  Files can't grow across partition boundaries.  Therefore you can
     use partition boundaries as firebreaks against programs (like
     Usenet news) that want to eat huge amounts of disk, to prevent them
     from crowding out file space needed by your kernel and the rest of
     your applications.

  ·  If you ever develop a bad spot on your disk, formatting and
     restoring a single partition is less painful than having to redo
     everything from scratch.

  On today's large disks, a good basic setup is to have a small root
  partition (less than 80 meg), a medium-sized /usr partition (up to 300
  meg or so) to hold system software, and a /home partition occupying
  the rest of your available space for home directories.

  You can get more elaborate.  If you know you're going to run Usenet
  news, for example, you may want to give it a partition of its own to
  control its maximum possible disk usage.  Or create a /var partition
  for mail, news, and temporary files all together.  But in today's
  regime of very cheap, very large hard disks these complications seem
  less and less necessary for your first Linux installation.  For your
  first time, especially, keep it simple.


  7.5.  Booting the installation disk

  The first step is to boot the bootdisk you generated.  Normally you'll
  be able to boot hands-off; the boot kernel prompt will fill itself in
  after 10 seconds.  This is how you'll normally boot from an IDE disk.

  What's actually happening here is this: the boot disk provides a
  miniature operating system which (because the hard drive isn't
  prepared) uses a portion of your RAM as a virtual disk (called,
  logically enough, a `ramdisk').

  The boot disk loads onto the ramdisk a small set of files and
  installation tools which you'll use to prepare your hard drive and
  install a production Linux on it from your CD-ROM.

  (In times past this was a two-stage-process, involving a second disk
  called a `root disk'; this changed when kernel modules were
  introduced.)

  By giving arguments after the kernel name, you can specify various
  hardware parameters, such as your SCSI controller IRQ and address, or
  drive geometry, before booting the Linux kernel.  This may be
  necessary if Linux does not detect your SCSI controller or hard drive
  geometry, for example.

  In particular, many BIOS-less SCSI controllers require you to specify
  the port address and IRQ at boot time. Likewise, IBM PS/1, ThinkPad,
  and ValuePoint machines do not store drive geometry in the CMOS, and
  you must specify it at boot time.  (Later on, you'll be able to
  configure your production system to supply such parameters itself.)

  Watch the messages as the system boots. They will list and describe
  the hardware your installation Linux detects.  In particular, if you
  have a SCSI controller, you should see a listing of the SCSI hosts
  detected.  If you see the message



       SCSI: 0 hosts



  Then your SCSI controller was not detected, and you will have to
  figure out how to tell the kernel where it is.

  Also, the system will display information on the drive partitions and
  devices detected. If any of this information is incorrect or missing,
  you will have to force hardware detection.

  On the other hand, if all goes well and your hardware seems to be
  detected, you can skip to the following section, ``Loading the root
  disk.''

  To force hardware detection, you must enter the appropriate parameters
  at the boot prompt, using the following syntax:



       linux <parameters...>



  There are a number of such parameters available; we list some of the
  most common below.  Modern Linux boot disks will often give you the
  option to look at help screen describing kernel parameters before you
  boot.


  ·  hd=cylinders,heads,sectors Specify the drive geometry.  Required
     for systems such as the IBM PS/1, ValuePoint, and ThinkPad.  For
     example, if your drive has 683 cylinders, 16 heads, and 32 sectors
     per track, enter



       linux hd=683,16,32



  ·  tmc8xx=memaddr,irq Specify address and IRQ for BIOS-less Future
     Domain TMC-8xx SCSI controller. For example,



       linux tmc8xx=0xca000,5



  Note that the 0x prefix must be used for all values given in hex. This
  is true for all of the following options.

  ·  st0x=memaddr,irq Specify address and IRQ for BIOS-less Seagate ST02
     controller.

  ·  t128=memaddr,irq Specify address and IRQ for BIOS-less Trantor
     T128B controller.

  ·  ncr5380=port,irq,dma Specify port, IRQ, and DMA channel for generic
     NCR5380 controller.

  ·  aha152x=port,irq,scsi_id,1 Specify port, IRQ, and SCSI ID for BIOS-
     less AIC-6260 controllers. This includes Adaptec 1510, 152x, and
     Soundblaster-SCSI controllers.

  If you have questions about these boot-time options, please read the
  Linux SCSI HOWTO, which should be available on any Linux FTP archive
  site (or from wherever you obtained this document).  The SCSI HOWTO
  explains Linux SCSI compatibility in much more detail.


  7.5.1.  Choosing EGA or X installation

  Older Linuxes (including Slackware) gave you a shell at this point and
  required you to enter installation commands by hand in a prescribed
  sequence.  This is still possible, but newer ones start by running a
  screen-oriented installation program which tries to interactively walk
  you through these steps, giving lots of help.

  You will probably get the option to try to configure X right away so
  the installation program can go graphical.  If you choose this route,
  the installation program will quiz you about your mouse and monitor
  type before getting to the installation proper.  Once you get your
  production Linux installed, these settings will be saved for you.  You
  will be able to tune your monitor's performance later, so at this
  stage it makes sense to settle for a basic 640x480 SVGA mode.

  X isn't necessary for installation, but (assuming you can get past the
  mouse and monitor configuration) many people find the graphical
  interface easier to use.  And you're going to want to bring up X
  anyway, so trying it early makes some sense.

  Just follow the prompts in the program.  It will take you through the
  steps necessary to prepare your disk, create initial user accounts,
  and install software packages off the CD-ROM.

  In the following subsections we'll describe some of the tricky areas
  in the installation sequence as if you were doing them by hand.  This
  should help you understand what the installation program is doing, and
  why.


  7.5.2.  Using fdisk  and cfdisk

  Your first installation step once the root-disk Linux is booted will
  be to create or edit the partition tables on your disks.  Even if you
  used FDISK to set up partitions earlier, you'll need to go back to the
  partition table now and insert some Linux-specific information now.

  To create or edit Linux partitions, we'll use the Linux version of the
  fdisk program, or its screen-oriented sibling cfdisk.

  Generally the installation program will look for a preexisting
  partition table and offer to run fdisk or cfdisk on it for you.  Of
  the two, cfdisk is definitely easier to use, but current versions of
  it are also less tolerant of a nonexistent or garbled partition table.
  Therefore you may find (especially if you're installing on virgin
  hardware) that you need to start with fdisk to get to a state that
  cfdisk can deal with.  Try running cfdisk; if it complains, run fdisk.
  (A good way to proceed if you're building an all-Linux system and
  cfdisk complains is to use fdisk to delete all the existing partions
  and then fire up cfdisk to edit the empty table.)

  A few notes apply to both fdisk and cfdisk.  Both take an argument
  which 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

  For example, to create Linux partitions on the first SCSI drive in
  your system, you will use (or your installation program might generate
  from a menu choice) the command:


       cfdisk /dev/sda


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

  To create Linux partitions on the second drive on your system, simply
  specify either /dev/hdb (for IDE drives) or /dev/sdb (for SCSI drives)
  when running fdisk.

  Your Linux partitions don't all have to be on the same drive.  You
  might want to create your root filesystem partition on /dev/hda and
  your swap partition on /dev/hdb, for example. In order to do so just
  run fdisk or cfdisk once for each drive.

  In Linux, partitions are given a name based on the drive which they
  belong to. For example, the first partition on the drive /dev/hda is
  /dev/hda1, the second is /dev/hda2, and so on. If you have any logical
  partitions, they are numbered starting with /dev/hda5, /dev/hda6 and
  so on up.

  NOTE: You should not create or delete partitions for operating systems
  other than Linux with Linux fdisk or cfdisk. That is, don't create or
  delete MS-DOS partitions with this version of fdisk; use MS-DOS's
  version of FDISK instead. If you try to create MS-DOS partitions with
  Linux fdisk, chances are MS-DOS will not recognize the partition and
  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. (Under Linux, one block is 1024 bytes. Therefore,
  61693 blocks is about 61 megabytes.)  We will create just two
  partitions in this tutorial example, swap and root.  You should
  probably extend this to four Linux partitions in line with the
  recommendations above: one for swap, one for the root filesystem, one
  for system software, and a home directory area.

  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.

  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 Linux
  root partition will be 80 megs in size.



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



  Here we're being asked if we want to create an extended or primary
  partition. In most cases you want to use primary partitions, unless
  you need more than four partitions on a drive. See the section
  ``Repartitioning'', above, for more information.



       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.



       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 megabyte 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   83  Linux native
         /dev/hda3         474     474     507   10336   83  Linux native



  Note that the Linux swap partition (here, /dev/hda3) has type ``Linux
  native''. We need to change the type of the swap partition to ``Linux
  swap'' so that the installation program will recognize it as such. 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
  type 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.

  After quitting fdisk, the system may tell you to reboot to make sure
  that the changes took effect. In general there is no reason to reboot
  after using fdisk---modern versions of fdisk and cfdisk are smart
  enough to update the partitions without rebooting.


  7.5.3.  Post-partition steps

  After you've edited the partition tables, your installation program
  should look at them and offer to enable your swap partition for you.
  Tell it yes.

  (This is made a question, rather than done automatically, on the off
  chance that you're running a dual-boot system and one of your non-
  Linux partitions might happen to look like a swap volume.)

  Next the program will ask you to associate Linux filesystem names
  (such as /, /usr, /var, /tmp, /home, /home2, etc.) with each of the
  non-swap partitions you're going to use.

  There is only one hard and fast rule for this.  There must be a root
  filesystem, named /, and it must be bootable.  You can name your other
  Linux partitions anything you like.  But there are some conventions
  about how to name them which will probably simplify your life later
  on.

  Earlier on I recommended a basic three-partition setup including a
  small root, a medium-sized system-software partition, and a large
  home-directory partition.  Traditionally, these would be called /,
  /usr, and /home.  The counterintuitive `/usr' name is a historical
  carryover from the days when (much smaller) Unix systems carried
  system software and user home directories on a single non-root
  partition.  Some software depends on it.

  If you have more than one home-directory area, it's conventional to
  name them /home, /home2, /home3, etc.  This may come up if you have
  two physical disks.  On my personal system, for example, the layout
  currently looks like this:



       Filesystem         1024-blocks  Used Available Capacity Mounted on
       /dev/sda1              30719   22337     6796     77%   /
       /dev/sda3             595663  327608   237284     58%   /usr
       /dev/sda4            1371370    1174  1299336      0%   /home
       /dev/sdb1            1000949  643108   306130     68%   /home2



  The second disk (sdb1) isn't really all /home2; the swap partitions on
  sda and sdb aren't shown in this display.  But you can see that /home
  is the large free area on sda and /home2 is the user area of sdb.

  If you want to create an partition for scratch, spool, temporary,
  mail, and news files, call it /var.  Otherwise you'll probably want to
  create a /usr/var and create a symbolic link named /var that points
  back to it (the installation program may offer to do this for you).


  7.6.  Installing software packages

  Once you've gotten past preparing your partitions, the remainder of
  the installation should be almost automatic.  Your installation
  program (whether EGA or X-based) will guide you through a series of
  menus which allow you to specify the CD-ROM to install from, the
  partitions to use, and so forth.

  Here we're not going to document many of the specifics of this stage
  of installation.  It's one of the parts that varies most between Linux
  distributions (vendors traditionally compete to add value here), but
  also the simplest part.  And the installation programs are pretty much
  self-explanatory, with good on-screen help.


  7.7.  After package installations

  After installation is complete, and if all goes well, the installation
  program will walk you through a few options for configuring your
  system before its first boot from hard drive.
  7.7.1.  LILO, the LInux LOader

  LILO (which stands for LInux LOader) is a program that will allow you
  to boot Linux (as well as other operating systems, such as MS-DOS)
  from your hard drive.

  You may be given the option of installing LILO on your hard drive.
  Unless you're running OS/2, answer `yes'.  OS/2 has special
  requirements; see ``Custom LILO Configuration'' below.

  Installing LILO as your primary loader makes a separate boot diskette
  unnecessary; instead, you can tell LILO at each boot time which OS to
  boot.


  7.7.2.  Making a production boot disk (optional)

  You may also be given the chance to create a ``standard boot disk'',
  which you can use to boot your newly-installed Linux system.  (This is
  an older and slightly less convenient method which assumes that you
  will normally boot DOS, but use the boot disk to start Linux.)

  For this you will need a blank, high-density MS-DOS formatted diskette
  of the type that you boot with on your system. Simply insert the disk
  when prompted and a boot diskette will be created.  (This is not the
  same as an installation bootdisk, and you can't substitute one for the
  other!)


  7.7.3.  Miscellaneous system configuration

  The post-installation procedure may also take you through several menu
  items allowing you to configure your system. This includes specifying
  your modem and mouse device, as well as your time zone.  Follow the
  menu options.

  It may also prompt you to create user accounts or put a password on
  the root (administration) account.  This is not complicated and you
  can usually just walk through the screen instructions.


  8.  Booting Your New System

  If everything went as planned, you should now be able to boot Linux
  from the hard drive using LILO.  Alternatively, you should be able to
  boot your Linux boot floppy (not the original bootdisk floppy, but the
  floppy created after installing the software).  After booting, login
  as root. Congratulations! You have your very own Linux system.

  If you are booting using LILO, try holding down shift or control
  during boot. This will present you with a boot prompt; press tab to
  see a list of options. In this way you can boot Linux, MS-DOS, or
  whatever directly from LILO.


  9.  After Your First Boot

  You should now be looking at the login prompt of a new Linux, just
  booted from your hard drive.  Congratulations!


  9.1.  Beginning System Administratration

  Depending on how the installation phase went, you may need to create
  accounts, change your hostname, or (re)configure X at this stage.
  There are many more things you could set up and configure, including
  backup devices, SLIP/PPP links to an Internet Service Provider, etc.

  A good book on UNIX systems administration should help. (I suggest
  Essential Systems Administration from O'Reilly and Associates.)  You
  will pick these things up as time goes by. You should read various
  other Linux HOWTOs, such as the NET-3-HOWTO and Printing-HOWTO, for
  information on other configuration tasks.


  9.2.  Custom LILO Configuration

  LILO is a boot loader, which can be used to select either Linux, MS-
  DOS, or some other operating system at boot time.  Chances are your
  distribution automatically configured LILO for you during the
  installation phase (unless you're using OS/2, this is what you should
  have done).  If so, you can skip the rest of this section.

  If you installed LILO as the primary boot loader, it will handle the
  first-stage booting process for all operating systems on your drive.
  This works well if MS-DOS is the only other operating system that you
  have installed. However, you might be running OS/2, which has its own
  Boot Manager. In this case, you want OS/2's Boot Manager to be the
  primary boot loader, and use LILO just to boot Linux (as the secondary
  boot loader).

  An important gotcha for people using EIDE systems: due to a BIOS
  limitation, your boot sectors for any OS have to live on one of the
  first two physical disks.  Otherwise LILO will hang after writing
  "LI", no matter where you run it from.

  If you have to configure LILO manually, this will involve editing the
  file /etc/lilo.conf. Below we present an example of a LILO
  configuration file, where the Linux root partition is on /dev/hda2,
  and MS-DOS is installed on /dev/hdb1 (on the second hard drive).



       # Tell LILO to install itself as the primary boot loader on /dev/hda.
       boot = /dev/hda
       # The boot image to install; you probably shouldn't change this
       install = /boot/boot.b

       # The stanza for booting Linux.
       image = /vmlinuz       # The kernel is in /vmlinuz
         label = linux        # Give it the name "linux"
         root = /dev/hda2     # Use /dev/hda2 as the root filesystem
         vga = ask            # Prompt for VGA mode
         append = "aha152x=0x340,11,7,1"  # Add this to the boot options,
          # for detecting the SCSI controller

       # The stanza for booting MS-DOS
       other = /dev/hdb1      # This is the MS-DOS partition
         label = msdos        # Give it the name "msdos"
         table = /dev/hdb     # The partition table for the second drive



  Once you have edited the /etc/lilo.conf file, run /sbin/lilo as root.
  This will install LILO on your drive. Note that you must rerun
  /sbin/lilo anytime that you recompile your kernel in order to point
  the boot loader at it properly (something that you don't need to worry
  about just now, but keep it in mind).

  Note how we use the append option in /etc/lilo.conf to specify boot
  parameters as we did when booting the bootdisk.
  You can now reboot your system from the hard drive. By default LILO
  will boot the operating system listed first in the configuration file,
  which in this case is Linux. In order to bring up a boot menu, in
  order to select another operating system, hold down shift or ctrl
  while the system boots; you should see a prompt such as

       Boot:


  Here, enter either the name of the operating system to boot (given by
  the label line in the configuration file; in this case, either linux
  or msdos), or press tab to get a list.

  Now let's say that you want to use LILO as the secondary boot loader;
  if you want to boot Linux from OS/2's Boot Manager, for example.  In
  order to boot a Linux partition from OS/2 Boot Manager, unfortunately,
  you must create the partition using OS/2's FDISK (not Linux's), and
  format the partition as FAT or HPFS, so that OS/2 knows about it.
  (That's IBM for you.)

  In order to have LILO boot Linux from OS/2 Boot Manager, you only want
  to install LILO on your Linux root filesystem (in the above example,
  /dev/hda2). In this case, your LILO config file should look something
  like:



       boot = /dev/hda2
       install = /boot/boot.b
       compact

       image = /vmlinuz
         label = linux
         root = /dev/hda2
         vga = ask



  Note the change in the boot line. After running /sbin/lilo you should
  be able to add the Linux partition to Boot Manager. This mechanism
  should work for boot loaders used by other operating systems as well.


  10.  Administrivia


  10.1.  Terms of Use

  This document is copyright 1998 by Eric S. Raymond. You may use,
  disseminate, and reproduce it freely, provided you:


  ·  Do not omit or alter this copyright notice (you may translate it).

  ·  Do not omit or alter or omit the version number and date.

  ·  Do not omit or alter the document's pointer to the current WWW
     version.

  ·  Clearly mark any condensed, altered or versions as such.

  These restrictions are intended to protect potential readers from
  stale or mangled versions.  If you think you have a good case for an
  exception, ask me.

  10.2.  Acknowledgements

  My grateful acknowledgement to Matt D. Welsh, who originated this
  HOWTO.  I removed much of the Slackware-specific content and refocused
  the remainder of the document on CD-ROM installation, but a
  substantial part of the content is still his.

  The 4.1 version was substantially improved by some suggestions from
  David Shao <dshao@best.com>.



