RPM Package manager

RPM is a recursive acronym for RPM Package Manager. It is the default package manager in RedHat as well as RedHat based linux distributions like Mandrake. It is very powerful and can be used to install, deinstall, update softwares, as well as a whole lot of other things in linux. Basically, RPM can be divided into 3 main areas of functionality.

1. Packages – Files that are compressed and contain applications, data and other files.
2. Database – A list of installed packages in a system.
3. Compilation – Bundling a bunch of files into a package suitable for installation on other systems.

Here, I will explain a few important RPM commands that are frequently used by linux users.

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Host websites on your local machine using Apache websever

Apache is a popular web server which has grabbed a major slice of the web server market. What is interesting about Apache is its stability and scalability which makes it possible to serve even very high traffic web sites without any hitch. It also helps that it comes with an unbeatable price (free). It is bundled by default with most Linux distributions. And in cases where it is not included in the CD, it is a simple case of downloading the package and installing it.

Here I will explain how one can set up Apache web server to serve ones web pages from your machine.

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Multi booting 100+ OSes on a single machine

When I wrote an article called Effective Partitioning – The how and why of it, many readers had questioned why I installed over 4 OSes on my machine. Now here is a person who has installed 100+, – I am not pulling your leg – the exact number is 110 OSes on his machine.

Now I can understand someone running 4 OSes on ones machine. But what is the use of running over a 100 different OSes ? Perhaps he is a Linux enthusiast who has undertaken this project for his personal satisfaction. But what ever be the case, reading his experiences throws new insights into partitioning ones hard disk(s) to accommodate multiple OSes.

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Dual Booting Windows XP/2000 and Red Hat Fedora Core 2

There are two ways in which you can dual boot between windowsXP/2000 and Linux.

1. Install the boot loader in the Master Boot Record (MBR)
2. Install the bootloader on the linux partition.

The first method is the easier of the two. But if by any chance, you descide to Hibernate your computer while in WindowsXP for example, then your MBR is overwritten by windowsXP and you will be unable to boot into linux using your bootloader.

Here I will explain how to overcome this setback by using the second method. That is installing the bootloader (LILO or Grub) on the linux partition . Here I am explaining the steps with respect to RedHat Fedora Core 2 distribution. But the steps are equally valid for any linux distribution.

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Configuring the Rockwell chipset based HSF winmodem in Linux

I have an Intel Celeron 333MHz, 98MB RAM @ 100MHz FSB, 12GB HDD computer. I had also brought an internal data/fax/voice modem with the brand name Ace for Indian Rs 750. At that time, I only had Windows 98 loaded on my machine; and the modem came with its own set of drivers for windows 98.

Recently, I decided to install the latest version of Linux. I got hold of Fedora core release 2 CDs having the latest kernel (2.6.5-1.358) and installed Linux on my machine to dual boot with windows 98. The installation went smoothly and within the hour, I was able to boot into the graphical Linux. But Linux was not able to detect my sound card (Aztec 2320 ISA) and my internal modem. I solved the sound card problem and was able to get the sound working smoothly, the details of which you can read here. Next I set out to find if there are any Linux specific drivers for my internal modem.

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Configuring Aztec 2320 chipset ISA sound card using ALSA

I have an old machine celeron 333MHz , 98 MB SDRAM 100MHz FSB, Intel 440LX motherboard and Aztec 2320 chipset ISA soundcard. Recently I installed Fedora core 2 with linux kernel 2.6 on my machine. The installation went quite smoothly other than a minor temporary glich that I couldn’t move the mouse pointer while installing so had to navigate using the keyboard. But when I booted into linux after installation and tried playing a music file, It gave the error that no sound cards were detected. I know that my sound card is an Aztec 2320 based ISA card. So I went about finding out whether this sound card is supported by linux. I googled for the same, posted queries in linux mailing lists and visited comp.os.linux.hardware, alt.os.linux, alt.comp.linux newsgroups.

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SSH – Secure SHell

SSH is a Secure SHell which can be used in the place of telnet to connect to a remote machine. The advantage of using ssh over telnet is that communication and data transfer between the local machine and the remote machine occurs in a secure encrypted tunnel. So no one will be able to snoop on your data.These are a few tips in using this program.
Connect to remotehost and tunnel all X traffic over the encrypted connection.
To see how this works, run the command as follows :

$ ssh -X remotehost

…and then run xeyes when you get your shell prompt on the other machine. Notice how it automatically displays on your own X server.

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Steps to compile a kernel

First download and install the kernel source to your machine. Then move to that directory. In redhat linux the source is usually installed in a directory named linux-2.x.xx.xxx in the /usr/src directory. And a soft link to that directory is created by the name linux-2.4 (Assuming it is the source of the linux 2.4 kernel). So the kernel source is installed in /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory.

Now move to this directory.

# cd /usr/src/linux-2.4

The next step is creating the configuration file (.config). This can be done in three ways.

# make config – brings up a command-line console mode interface.
# make menuconfig – brings up a ncurses based GUI Interface.
# make xconfig – brings up a X GUI based user friendly interface.

You may use any one of the above three commands.

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