{"id":355,"date":"2020-08-18T19:23:47","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T20:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/?page_id=77"},"modified":"2020-08-22T19:26:18","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T20:26:18","slug":"this-is-the-page-title-toplevel-188","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/?page_id=355","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for the Installation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<notes>\n<\/notes>\n<page pageid=\"201\" pagepath=\"\/Linux_Tutorial\/Installing_and_Upgrading\/Preparing_for_the_Installation\/Preparing_for_the_Installation.html\">\n     <copyright id=\"1\">\n              <licensetype id =\"1\" text=\"modified GNU Free Documentation License (Portions of this material originally published by Prentice Hall, Pearson Education, Inc)\">\n              <owner id=\"1\" text=\"James Mohr\">\n              <date text=\"2002-2004\">\n     <\/copyright>\n     <questions>\n          <question id=\"360\" text=\"Because it is a simpler operating system, if hardware device works under DOS, means that it will under Linux.\" \/>\n          <question id=\"361\" text=\"A device which works with one Linux distribution, may not necessary work with others.\" \/>\n          <question id=\"362\" text=\"An 'unsupported' device typically only means that your particular distribution does not include a driver.\" \/>\n          <question id=\"363\" text=\"Sets of linux packages are typically grouped together for easy installation.\" \/>\n          <question id=\"364\" text=\"Spreading system and user files on different file systems can be safer than a single filesystem.\" \/>\n          <question id=\"365\" text=\"Having twice as much swap as you do ram is a common recommendation.\" \/>\n          <question id=\"366\" text=\"How many swap partitions can you have.\" \/>\n          <question id=\"367\" text=\"PC BIOSs are limited to how many cylinders?\" \/>\n     <\/questions>\n     <concepts>\n          <concept id=\"186\" description=\"A device which works with one Linux distribution, may not necessary work with others. (Although it usually does)\" \/>\n          <concept id=\"187\" description=\"An 'unsupported' device typically only means that your particular distribution does not include a driver.\" \/>\n          <concept id=\"188\" description=\"Spreading system and user files on different file systems can be safer than a single filesystem.\" \/>\n          <concept id=\"189\" description=\"Having twice as much swap as you do ram is a common recommendation.\" \/>\n          <concept id=\"190\" description=\"PC BIOSs are limited to 1024 cylinders.\" \/>\n     <\/concepts>\n     <moreinfos>\n          <moreinfo id=\"23\" description=\"BootPrompt HOWTO\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\/HOWTO\/BootPrompt-HOWTO.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"24\" description=\"Bootdisk HOWTO\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\/HOWTO\/Bootdisk-HOWTO.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"87\" description=\"Installation HOWTO\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\/HOWTO\/Installation-HOWTO.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"285\" description=\"mini\/Install From ZIP\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\/HOWTO\/mini\/Install-From-ZIP.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"186\" description=\"Sound HOWTO\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\/HOWTO\/Sound-HOWTO.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"324\" description=\"mini\/Post Installation Checklist\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\/HOWTO\/mini\/Post-Installation-Checklist.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"325\" description=\"mini\/Pre Installation Checklist\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\/HOWTO\/mini\/Pre-Installation-Checklist.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"373\" description=\"Installation and Getting Linux\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\/LDP\/gs\/gs.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"382\" description=\"Linux.Org\" location=\"\/\/www.linux.org\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"381\" description=\"Linux Knowledge Portal\" location=\"\/\/www.linux-knowledge-portal.org\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"379\" description=\"Unix Guru's Universe\" location=\"\/\/www.ugu.com\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"383\" description=\"Linux Documentation Project\" location=\"\/\/www.tldp.org\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"397\" description=\"Linux Newbie\" location=\"\/\/www.linuxnewbie.org\/\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"398\" description=\"Linux Planet\" location=\"\/\/www.linuxplanet.com\/linuxplanet\/\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"407\" description=\"Linux Links\" location=\"\/\/www.linuxlinks.com\/\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"408\" description=\"Linux Center\" location=\"\/\/www.portalux.com\/\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"412\" description=\"Linux Headquarters\" location=\"\/\/www.linuxhq.com\/\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"415\" description=\"Everything Linux\" location=\"\/\/everythinglinux.org\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"442\" description=\"Linux Questions\" location=\"\/\/www.linuxquestions.org\/\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"1478\" description=\"Loads of Linux Links\" location=\"\/\/loll.sourceforge.net\/linux\/links\/index.html\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"1489\" description=\"Mad Penguin\" location=\"\/\/www.madpenguin.org\/\" \/>\n          <moreinfo id=\"1490\" description=\"Just Learning Links\" location=\"\/\/www.just-learning-links.com\" \/>\n     <\/moreinfos>\n     <glossaryterms>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"12\" term=\"administrator\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"19\" term=\"application\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"43\" term=\"BIOS\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"48\" term=\"boot\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"67\" term=\"CD-ROM\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"101\" term=\"crash\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"105\" term=\"cylinder\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"131\" term=\"diskette\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"139\" term=\"DOS\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"216\" term=\"home directory\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"218\" term=\"host\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"246\" term=\"kernel\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"291\" term=\"modem\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"310\" term=\"network\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"311\" term=\"NFS\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"317\" term=\"operating system\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"332\" term=\"partition\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"346\" term=\"PPP\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"365\" term=\"RAM\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"433\" term=\"subdirectory\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"441\" term=\"swap\" \/>\n          <glossaryterm id=\"474\" term=\"UNIX\" \/>\n     <\/glossaryterms>\n     <topics>\n          <topic id=\"4\" text=\"Administration\" \/>\n          <topic id=\"12\" text=\"Installation\" \/>\n     <\/topics>\n<exercises>\n<exercise>\n<decription>\nInstall a couple of different Linux distributions. Note how the installation process differs. Before you start make sure to read the installation manual (if one is provided),\nor at the least read <a href=\"\/HOWTO\/Installation-HOWTO\">The Linux Installation HOWTO<\/a>.\n<\/decription>\n<discussion>\n<\/discussion>\n<\/exercise>\n<\/exercises>\n<p>\n<title>Preparing for the Installation<\/title>\n<p>\nI have provided you with an <site id=\"324\">&#8220;installation checklist&#8221;<\/site> that you can\nprint out before you start your installation. Try to refer to it as much as\npossible before you start the installation. Though a lot of the information won&#8217;t\nbe asked for the install, gathering this information can help you identify\nproblems before you start. I suggest you include the complete checklist in your\nnotebook.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nYou will notice that there are some very basic questions like\nkeyboard language and time zone. It may seem almost too basic to include this\ntype of information in your notebook.\nHowever, I speak from experience when I say that the more you write down,\nthe less likely you are to make mistakes &#8211; even if the\ninformation is &#8220;basic&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nFurther, if you write it down you give though to the process.\nI worked for a company Germany that used English on all of its servers to avoid problems with German characters, &#8220;English only&#8221; software and so forth. Typically, with newer employees when they installed servers they &#8220;knew what they were doing&#8221; so they didn&#8217;t follow the instruction guidelines step-by-step and blindly assumed German. When then got done, they had to start all over.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nBefore you start, you need to\ncheck out your system. The very first thing you need to do is check whether\nyour hardware is supported.\nI&#8217;m sure a few of you out there are groaning, thinking this is an attempt to\nblow you off. I talked with many customers while I was in tech support who go\nballistic when I even bring up the question of whether the hardware is\nsupported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nWith Linux, the word &#8220;support&#8221; typically has a completely\ndifferent tone than that for commercial operating systems. Companies that\nproduce a commercial OS usually have a list of supported hardware and platforms.\nIf your system doesn&#8217;t conform, they have the right to &#8220;blow you off.&#8221;\nOn the other hand, &#8220;support&#8221; under Linux means that there is a driver\nfor it. Whether there is a driver in the current <glossary>kernel<\/glossary>\nis almost secondary. Because there is a driver, someone took the time to write it and is anxious to hear about any problems.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nNote that there is a <a href=\"\/HOWTO\/Hardware-HOWTO\">Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO<\/a> that lists hardware that more or less is &#8220;known to work&#8221;. However, this is usually not the same thing as a hardware compatibility list from a commercial OS vendor which more or less &#8220;promises&#8221; the OS will work with that hardware. Also it typically takes longer for drivers to be developed for Linux than for commercial OSes or that the driver is available, but not widely known, so it isn&#8217;t in the list. Note also that commercial Linux vendors like Novell\/SUSE and RedHat do have hardware compatibility lists.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nCommercial distributions of Linux walk the razor&#8217;s\nedge between Linux&#8217;s philosophy and that of other OS vendors. So far, I have had\nnothing but good experiences with Linux vendors. If they don&#8217;t have a driver\nthemselves, they often know where to get one. However, the reaction you get from\nthem will often depend entirely on your attitude.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n&#8220;It works under\nDOS!&#8221; is a common response when people learn that some system component is not\nsupported. However, as I have said many times, all it really means is that\nthe hardware is probably not broken. I say &#8220;probably&#8221; because I have\nseen defective hardware work under <glossary>DOS<\/glossary>,\nbut not on <glossary>UNIX<\/glossary>. Under DOS, a lot of\nhardware is accessed through the system <glossary>BIOS<\/glossary>.\nThe BIOS is often built especially\nfor that machine. It understands the hardware in a way that Linux doesn&#8217;t.\nBecause the Linux device drivers access the hardware directly, the hardware has\nto behave in a standard way. Otherwise, the device drivers don&#8217;t know what to\nexpect.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nUsers have also commented that the driver works under another\nversion of Linux or even another dialect of <glossary>UNIX<\/glossary>.\nIf it works under another dialect of <glossary>UNIX<\/glossary>,\nthe driver for that piece of hardware was probably provided for\nyou. If it works on another version of Linux, maybe that version has that latest\nkernel. When the jump was made from 1.2 to 2.0, a lot of new drivers were available. So, make sure that you have the correct release.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nDoes this mean\nthat your no-name hardware won&#8217;t work? Not at all. I have one machine that is\nrunning a fair bit of &#8220;unsupported&#8221; hardware. Much of it is clones of\nsupported hardware (which causes a lot of grief). However, it works. When I\ntried to install something that wasn&#8217;t supported and it didn&#8217;t work, I wasn&#8217;t\nfrustrated because the unsupported hardware wasn&#8217;t guaranteed to work. (Well, I\nwas a little frustrated, but I knew to expect it.)\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThere is also the\nissue of conflicts. Linux is good about enabling you to install a wide number of\ncards at their default. The common place for conflict is with multiple cards of\nthe same type, such as more than one SCSI <glossary>host adapter<\/glossary>.\nHowever, with the list in front of you, you will be able to confirm this before you try to install and something goes\nwrong.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nOnce you have installed the <glossary>operating system<\/glossary>\nand it works diligently for six months, then the first problems may crop up.\nNow, what was the model of the hard disk? Rather than digging through a box of papers looking for the invoice or opening up the machine, you will have it right in front of you in the checklist. Okay, knowing that you should fill out the installation checklist is easy, but knowing what to put in each entry is the hard part.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nNote that modern drives typically The model number of hard disks can be read\nwith software and is usually shown when the system boots. This information can then\nbe displayed using <command>dmesg<\/command>. On one of my systems, it looks like this:\n<screenoutput>\nhda: Maxtor 6Y080L0, ATA DISK drive\nhdb: Maxtor 7L250R0, ATA DISK drive\nhdc: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4160B, ATAPI CD\/DVD-ROM drive\nhdd: SAMSUNG SP1604N, ATA DISK drive\n<\/screenoutput>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe manufacture of the hard disks is obvious and the size of the drive is easy enough to figure out. Although the manufacture of the CD\/DVD drive isn&#8217;t as obvious.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nYou can install Linux in\nseveral different ways, depending on the distribution you bought. If the Linux\ndistribution on the <glossary>CD-ROM<\/glossary>\ndoes not have exactly what you need, knowing about\nthe different versions available might help you decide which one is best for\nyou. (Note that the version of the <glossary>kernel<\/glossary>\nthat installs on your system will\n<i>not<\/i> be the latest, 2.0. However, you will find a copy of the 2.0 on the\nCD-ROM, as well as instructions on how to upgrade it.)<\/p>\n<p>\nAn important thing\nto consider for the installation is the installation media. If you want to\ninstall Linux on an older laptop that has neither a <glossary>CD-ROM<\/glossary>\ndrive nor a network connection, then you probably need to think about doing installing\nit from floppies. Many Linux versions will allow you to do a <glossary>network<\/glossary>\ninstall via <glossary>PPP<\/glossary>, so at the very least, you need a <glossary>modem<\/glossary>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<em>Author&#8217;s note: This was originally written at the end of the 1990&#8217;s. Currently (August, 2006) I have not seen a laptop, that does <strong>not<\/strong> have at least a CD-ROM drive, if not a CD-ROM burner or even DVD. I haven&#8217;t done a floppy install in many years, so it is highly unlikely you will have to. Consider you can get a basix CD-ROM drive for very little money, doing a floppy install is probably only necessary for people trying to do wrist exercises.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p>\nNormally, underneath the root directory of the installation media is a <glossary>subdirectory<\/glossary>\n<directory>dosutils<\/directory>, or something similar. Among other things, this subdirectory probably contains the program <command>rawrite.exe<\/command>, a <glossary>DOS<\/glossary>\nprogram used to write disk images onto your floppy.\nAlso underneath the root directory, you will probably find a directory on the\n<glossary>CD-ROM<\/glossary>  called images, which contains the images that are\nused to make the  <glossary>boot<\/glossary>\nand root floppies and floppy sets used to install the rest of the packages.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIn addition, at least one <glossary>subdirectory<\/glossary>\ncontains the disk images for the various\nboot floppies. There is one file for any one of dozens of different hardware\nconfigurations. There is an index that you can use to select what <glossary>boot<\/glossary> disk is\nmost appropriate. However, this is normally not necessary if there is a program\nto create the <glossary>boot<\/glossary>\nfloppies for you. There is also a &#8220;bare&#8221; image that\ncontains very few drivers.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nYou need to consider whether the version you\nhave can install additional products with floppies once the initial installation\nwas complete. I ran into this problem myself. I thought I would install the base\nproduct first and then install other components that I needed later on. However,\nonce the installation was complete, I discovered that the only tool on the\nsystem that could read the package information on the floppies was the initial\ninstallation program. This meant that I had to either be satisfied with what I\nhad or install again. (If the distribution supports rpm, then this is not so\nmuch of a problem.)\n<\/p>\n<p>\nEven if you do have a <glossary>CD-ROM<\/glossary>\ndrive, there are a couple of installation methods. With some products, you can\ninstall directly from the\nCD-ROM. That is, a <glossary>DOS<\/glossary>\nprogram will load the Linux <glossary>kernel<\/glossary>,\nwhich then starts the installation. In this case, you have to be able to <glossary>boot<\/glossary>\nunder <glossary>DOS<\/glossary>\nand not just a DOS window. Others provide a <glossary>DOS<\/glossary>\nor Windows program that creates a <glossary>boot<\/glossary> floppy\nand, if necessary, a root file system floppy. Most distributions provide you with\na <glossary>boot<\/glossary>\ndisk so you don&#8217;t have to make one yourself. (unless you get a free copy in\na magazine or in the mail). Even without a <glossary>diskette<\/glossary>,\nI cannot think of a common Linux that does not come with a bootable CD.\n<p>\n<p>\nDuring the course of the installation, you may have the choice\nof several different installation types, from fully automatic to fully\nconfigurable, depending on the version. For the more advanced system\nadministrators, the fully configurable enables you to control many different\naspects of the install. Fully automatic basically does everything for you, that\nis, it evaluates your system and essentially makes all the decisions itself. I\nrecommend that if you are a novice <glossary>administrator<\/glossary>\n<em>and<\/em> there is nothing\non the hard disk that you want to save, the fully automatic is your best\nchoice.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nMost versions enable you to select the components that you\nwant to install. In many cases, you can select among several\ndifferent &#8220;architectures&#8221; that have a set of predefined packages. If\nyou want, you can choose a custom architecture in which you choose each package\nyourself. The Installation HOW-TO provides a list of the Slackware packages and\nwhat they contain.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nTake notes during the entire\nprocess and include these in a notebook. Write down everything you input and\nwhat the prompt\/question was. These notes will be helpful if things go wrong and\nyou want to try a different approach. You will know what you input the last\ntime; this time, you can try something different.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nTo install Linux (or any other OS for that matter), a hard disk must be\ndivided into partitions. Each operating system may use from one to four\npartitions.\n(DOS logical partitions are actually subdivisions of extended partitions.)\nThe partition table, which tells the number and location of the partitions,\nhas been standard for years and is essentially impossible to escape, so the\nlimit is four <i>primary<\/i> partitions. This means that a physical disk can\nhave only four primary partitions and any operating sysem installed can used\none or more of them.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nLinux, unlike other UNIX\ndialects, can be installed on logical partitions, as well as the primary\npartitions. Therefore, it is possible to have three primary partitions and\none extended partition, which then contains several logical partitions.\nFor experiment&#8217;s sake, I created ten logical partitions once, although I have\nnever had more than 3 or 4 on an active system.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nUnder Linux, file systems take up the entire <glossary>partition<\/glossary>.\nFile systems can be on different partitions or even different hard disks, or you can put all files on a\nsingle file system. Having different file systems can be safer: if one is\ntrashed, the others are often safe; if everything is on one (root), then the\nwhole system is gone.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe more activity there is on a file system, the\ngreater the chance it will become corrupt if the system should <glossary>crash<\/glossary>.\n If your  database <glossary>application<\/glossary>\nand the data are on the root file system, all of your\nactivity is in one place. If the database and the data are on a separate file\nsystem, there is less activity on the root file system. If the system goes down,\nthe root file system may be okay and you can use it to fix the other problems.\nHowever, I don&#8217;t mean to scare you. Disks are much more reliable today than a few\nyears ago.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nOn the other hand, &#8220;small&#8221; hard disks today are on the order of 40 Gb.\nTherefore, you have plenty of space for multiple filesystems. Plus, there\nare several advantages to having multiple filesystems,\nsuch as keeping others safe when one crashes (as already mentioned).\n<\/p>\n<p>\nTraditionally, the way to break it up is to have <directory>\/usr<\/directory> as a separate file\nsystem. Often, even directories under <directory>\/usr<\/directory>, such as home are on\nseparate file systems. This can make your backups even quicker. The root\nfile system contains things that remain fairly constant and you need only\nback it up on occasion (once a week, for example). Daily backups need only\nbe done for the file systems with data on them. Plus, if you have partitions\non multiple disks, performance is increased, because the disks can actually\nbe accessed simultaneously. Also if your system crashes and the filesystem\nneeds to be checked, the check goes alot faster, even if the partitions are on\nthe same physical drive.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIt is also common to have <directory>\/opt<\/directory> on a seperate filesystem. In fact, since this contains &#8220;optional&#8221;\nsoftware, I find that it is more common to have \/opt as a separate filesystem than <directory>\/usr<\/directory>. On very active\nsystems, I often find <directory>\/var<\/directory> to be on a separate filesystem. This is where log and spool files are kept. If\nsomething should go wrong and the log files become flooded with information, only that one filesystem is\neffected, but the system can keep going.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAlso if the data is seperate from the operating system files, it makes upgrading\na lot easier and safer. The filesystem containing the data can be unmount when the\noperating system is upgraded. It is then alot less likely that something will\nbe overwritten.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIt is also common to have temporary storage or &#8220;spool&#8221; directories on seperate\npartitions. The reason is that if your root filesystem fills-up (or one\non which an important application is running), things might come to a\nstand-still if there is no space left on the partition. Therefore, directories\nthat <i>could<\/i> fill up quickly are seperated from the rest of the system.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAlso keep in mind that the larger the filesystem, the longer it takes for it to be checked and cleaned if\nthe system were to crash. If the filesystems are different <i>physical<\/i> drives, the filesystem\nchecker, fsck, can check them in parallel, which obviously makes it faster.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nOn any one system using the <glossary>NFS<\/glossary>\nautomounting  facility, I had all the users on a single machine.\nThe <directory>\/usr\/home<\/directory> directory was\nexported via <glossary>NFS<\/glossary>\nto other machines that mounted it on their \/usr\/home directory.\nThe advantage was that the file system was only mounted when it was needed.\nAlso, there is nothing to prevent statically mounting the <glossary>home directory<\/glossary>.\n No  matter what machine a user logged into, he or she would have the same home\ndirectory. On many systems you might even find the <glossary>home directory<\/glossary>\nmounted under \/.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIn a nutshell here are some the basics of which directories are often mount:\n<p>\n<directory>\/<\/directory> &#8211; A stable filesystem. Few, if any changes (but very important!)<br \/>\n<directory>\/tmp<\/directory> &#8211; Mounting \/tmp protects your system if it should fill up quickly.<br \/>\n<directory>\/usr<\/directory> &#8211; Contains user-related applications and programms. However, this is\ntypically not that large.<br \/>\n<directory>\/usr\/share <\/directory>&#8211; This contains alot of &#8220;shared&#8221; information, like documenation\nand it can grow to several gigabytes.\n<directory>\/var<\/directory> &#8211; Contains mostly logs, spools and variable information. Good choice to\nhave mounted.<br \/>\n<directory>\/var\/spool<\/directory> &#8211; The spool directories. A good choice if you don&#8217;t mount all of \/var.<br \/>\n\/home &#8211; User home directories. Also a good choice to mount, particularly if\nyou do not have user quotas set up.<br \/>\n<directory>\/usr\/local<\/directory> &#8211; Per system or installation local files. Typically not very large.<br \/>\n<directory>\/boot<\/directory>&#8211; Where boot information is kept. The reason it is often on a seperate\nfilesystem comes from the time when LILO had difficulty with large disks.<br \/>\n<directory>\/opt<\/directory> &#8211; Optional software. This is a good choice as this is where most of the\nuser-related software goes on newer Linux distributions and it takes up a fair bit\nof space.\n<\/p>\nConsidering the partitions size, you must also consider the swap space size as well. I&#8217;ve\nseen references that say swap should be\none-and-a-half to two times the amount of <glossary>RAM<\/glossary>.\nPersonally, I think this is too much, unless you have a good reason. The swap\nspace should be considered a safety net, not an integral part of your memory\nsystem. If you are <glossary>swapping<\/glossary>,\nperformance will suffer. If you think you would need the extra swap space,\nconsider buying more <glossary>RAM<\/glossary>.\nThat way, you are less likely to swap in the first place. We go into details\nin the <site id=\"331\">section on the swap space<\/site>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe size of your partitions needs to be based on how much software or data you\n<i>will<\/i> have. You need to consider the growth of your system. If you put\nyour data on a second disks, it would be easier to backup the data, add a larger\ndisk, and then restore the data.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nIf you have a larger disk, you need to be aware of the 1,024 <glossary>cylinder<\/glossary>\nboundary. PC BIOSs are limited to 1,024 cylinders. Until Linux is loaded and has\ncontrol of the system, the <glossary>BIOS<\/glossary>\nis accessed. You can run into problems if any part of your <glossary>kernel<\/glossary>\nis above this boundary. See the <tutorial id=126>section on hard disks<\/tutorial> in the\nhardware chapter for details.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nHow many partitions or filesystems you should have, is best decided before\nthe system is installed. However, because of the way Linux works it is not a\nrequirement. You could install the system and then add hard disks later,\nmoving some of your files to the new hard disk. This is primary because Linux\ndoes not have the concept of drive letters like Windows. When you install\nyour Windows system, all of the system file go on the system &#8220;drive&#8221;, which\nis related to a <b>single<\/b> drive letter. Although it is <i>theorectically<\/i>\npossible to have your system files spread out on multiple drives, it is neither\nrecommended nor supported by Microsoft. With Linux,\nyou can put things anywhere you need to (or simply want to).\n<p>\nAt a very minimum, you must have two partitions: one for your root filesystem\nand one for\n<glossary>swap space<\/glossary>. However, it is common to have seperate\nfilesystem for <directory>\/boot<\/directory>, <directory>\/usr<\/directory>,\n<directory>\/opt<\/directory> and <directory>\/var<\/directory> (Details on what these directory are used\nfor can be found in the <tutorial id=9>Guided Tour section<\/tutorial>).\n<p>\nEven if you do not create separate filesystems for these directories when the\nsystem is installed, you can add them later. This entails booting into single\nuser mode, mounting the new filesystems to different directories and then\ncopying files into the new directory. You then make the necessary\nchanges to <file type=\"fstab\">\/etc\/fstab<\/file> to mount the filesystem automatically when the system\nboots.\n<p>\nRegardless of how many filesystems you want to have, it is a good idea to plan everything on paper\nbefore you start. You could change things once the system is running, such as\nmoving directories to separate filesystems. However, you can avoid some work\nby planning it in advance.\n<p>\nHere are a number of things to consider <strong>before<\/strong> you start installing Linux:\n<ul>\n<li>Will this distribution run on my hardware? If you are not sure check out the <a href=\"\/HOWTO\/Hardware-HOWTO\">Hardware compatibility HOWTO<\/a>.\n<li>Which languages do you want? Linux can be installed to support <strong>multiple<\/strong>\nso you can have more than one.\n<li>What kind of keyboard do you have? Here you need to consider the number of keys, and layout. A good place to check for things to look for is <a href=\"\/HOWTO\/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO\">The Linux keyboard and console HOWTO<\/a>.\n<li>What kind of mouse do you have? Is it serial, parallel or USB? How many buttons does it have? Most newer distributions will be able to <em>automatically<\/em> recognize the kind of mouse. If you have trouble, you might want to take a look at the  <a href=\"\/HOWTO\/3-Button-Mouse\">The 3 Button Serial Mouse mini-HOWTO<\/a>.\n<li>How much memory do you have? (How many megabytes?)\n<li>How much hard disk space do you have? Is it enough for the packages you want to install? Unless you have a very old system, computers today come with hard disks that are large enough to handle mutliple Linux distributions.\n<li>Are you going to install a workstation or server? Do you want to select the packages yourself? Many distributions come with pre-defined sets of packages. For example, a workstation, internet server, development system and so forth. Which packages are installed depend on the type of system you are installing.\n<li>Do you want to install other operating systems on this system, for example Windows or even a different Linux distribution? If so, you need to make sure that you have partitions the disk correctly. In general, Linux with be able to boot most any operating system you install.\n<li>What partitions or filesystems do you want to create?\n<li>Is the computer going to be networked? Will it have a dynamic or static IP address? What is the gateway to use to connect to other machines?\n<li>Will it connect directly to the Internet and, if so, how? (ISDN, DSL, cable modem) Here are a few HOWTOs to look at:\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/HOWTO\/Cable-Modem\">Cable Modem HOWTO<\/a>\n<li><a href=\"\/HOWTO\/Linmodem-HOWTO\">Linmodem-Mini-HOWTO<\/a>\n<li><a href=\"\/HOWTO\/Linux-Modem-Sharing\">Modem sharing mini-HOWTO<\/a>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/HOWTO\/Modem-HOWTO\">Modem HOWTO<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li>What is the IP address of your name server? (assuming you will be networked)\n<li>With this machine be a gateway\/router\/firewall itself?\n<li>Do you want to start the system by default in text mode or use the <glossary>GUI<\/glossary>?\n<\/ul>\n<p>\nMore information can be found in <a href=\"\/HOWTO\/Installation-HOWTO\">The Linux Installation HOWTO<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/content>\n<\/page>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Install a couple of different Linux distributions. Note how the installation process differs. Before you start make sure to read the installation manual (if one is provided), or at the least read The Linux Installation HOWTO. Preparing for the Installation &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/?page_id=355\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-355","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661,"href":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355\/revisions\/661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.linux-tutorial.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}