1.12. Configuration

After the installation of the basic system setup and the installation of all selected software packages, provide a password for the account of the system administrator (the root user). You can then configure your Internet access and network connection. With a working Internet connection, you can perform an update of the system as part of the installation. You can also configure an authentication server for centralized user administration in a local network. Finally, configure the hardware devices connected to the machine.

1.12.1. root Password

root is the name of the superuser, the administrator of the system. Unlike regular users, which may or may not have permission to do certain things on the system, root has unlimited power to do anything: change the system configuration, install programs, and set up new hardware. If users forget their passwords or have other problems with the system, root can help. The root account should only be used for system administration, maintenance, and repair. Logging in as root for daily work is rather risky: a single mistake could lead to irretrievable loss of many system files.

For verification purposes, the password for root must be entered twice. Do not forget the root password. Once entered, this password cannot be retrieved.

[Warning]The root User

The user root has all the permissions needed to make changes to the system. To carry out such tasks, the root password is required. You cannot carry out any administrative tasks without this password.

1.12.2. Hostname

The hostname is the computer's name in the network. The fully qualified domain name, needed here, includes the name of the domain to which the computer belongs. Each server and client in the network should have a unique hostname.

If you are located in a local network, you might receive your hostname over DHCP, in which case you should not modify the name. To receive the hostname over DHCP, select Change Hostname via DHCP.

1.12.3. Network Configuration

You can now choose whether to use NetworkManager or the traditional method to manage all your network devices. NetworkManager is the new tool enabling automatic connection establishment with minimal user intervention. It is ideal for mobile computing. Also configure the network devices of your system and make security settings, for example, for a firewall or proxy. To configure your network hardware at this stage, refer to Chapter 4, Accessing the Internet for a checklist which data you should have available. If you want to configure your network connection later, select Skip Configuration and click Next. Network hardware can also be configured after the system installation has been completed.

[Note]Network Devices and Update

If you skip the network device configuration, your system will be offline and unable to retrieve any available updates or include them in the installation.

As well as device configuration, configure network accessibility–related settings:

Firewall Configuration

When you connect to a network, a firewall is started automatically on the configured interface. The configuration proposal for the firewall is updated automatically every time the configuration of the interfaces or services is modified. To adapt the automatic settings to your own preferences, click Change+Firewall. In the dialog that opens, determine whether the firewall should be started. If you do not want the firewall to be started, select the appropriate option and exit the dialog. To start and configure the firewall, click Next for a series of dialogs similar to those described in Section “Configuring the Firewall with YaST” (Chapter 37, Masquerading and Firewalls, ↑Reference).

VNC Remote Administration

To administer your machine remotely by VNC, click Change+VNC Remote Administration, enable remote administration, and open the port in the firewall. If you have multiple network devices and want to select on which to open the port, click Firewall Details and select the network device. You can also use SSH, a more secure option, for remote administration.

Proxy

If you have a proxy server in your network to control access to the network, enter the server name and all other required information to enable access to the Internet.

1.12.3.1. Internet Connection Test

If you have configured an Internet connection, you can test it now. For this purpose, YaST establishes a connection to the openSUSE server and checks if any product updates are available for your version of openSUSE. If there are such updates, they can be included in the installation. Also, the latest release notes are downloaded. You can read them at the end of the installation.

To start the test, select Yes, Test Connection to the Internet and click Next. In the next dialog, view the progress of the test and the results of the test. If the test fails, click Back to return in the previous dialog and correct the configuration or skip the test. If you need more information about the test process, click View Logs.

If you do not want to test the connection at this point, select No, Skip This Test then Next. This also skips downloading product updates and release notes.

If you have multiple network interfaces in your system, verify that the the right card is used to connect to the Internet. To do so, click Change device.

1.12.4. Online Update

If the test of the connection to the Internet has failed or you skipped it, the next step is the user configuration. See Section 1.12.5, “Users”. For detailed instructions how to perform an online update after the installation, see Section 3.5, “Keeping the System Up-to-date” or Chapter Online Update (↑Reference).

1.12.4.1. Customer Center

To get technical support and product updates, first register and activate your product. Novell Customer Center Configuration provides assistance for doing so. If you are offline or want to skip this step, select Configure Later.

In Include for Convenience, select whether to obtain some of the necessary information from your system. This simplifies the registration process. If you want to see what is required to register your system or what happens with your data, use Details.

1.12.4.2. Performing an Online Update

If YaST was able to connect to the openSUSE servers, select whether to perform a YaST online update. If there are any patched packages available on the servers, download and install them now to fix known bugs or security issues.

[Important]Downloading Software Updates

The download of updates might take quite some time, depending on the bandwidth of the Internet connection and the size of the update files.

1.12.4.3. Additional Installation Sources

Installation media have limited space. In order to install more or different software, you can add additional installation sources for openSUSE. To add an additional source, select the source from the list and click Yes. You can select multiple sources at once.

Additional installation sources added during installation are disabled by default after installation. To enable an additional installation source, run YaST and select Software+Installation Source module, described in Section 3.3, “Adding Installation Source”. To install the additional software, use the YaST software management tool. For more information about installing or removing software, refer to Chapter 3, Installing or Removing Software.

[Note]Additional Sources after Installation

This dialog is available during installation only. If you want to add additional sources after the installation, visit http://en.opensuse.org/Installation_Sources.

1.12.5. Users

If network access was configured successfully during the previous steps of the installation, you now have the following possibilities to manage user accounts on your system:

Local (/etc/passwd)

Users are administered locally on the installed host. This is a suitable option for stand-alone workstations. User data is managed by the local file /etc/passwd. All users who are entered in this file can log in to the system even if no network is available.

If YaST found a former version of openSUSE or of another system using /etc/passwd, it offers the possibility to import local users. To do so, check Read User Data from a Previous Installation and click Choose. In the next dialog, select the users to import and click OK.

LDAP

Users are administered centrally on an LDAP server for all systems in the network.

NIS

Users are administered centrally on a NIS server for all systems in the network.

Windows Domain

SMB authentication is often used in mixed Linux and Windows networks.

[Note]Content of the Authentication Menu

If you use the custom package selection and one or more authentication methods are missing from the menu, you probably did not select the packages required for it.

If all requirements are met, YaST opens a dialog in which to select the user administration method. If you do not have an existing network connection, create local user accounts. When needed, you can also add additional user accounts or change the user authentication method at any time later. For detailed information about user management, see Chapter 5, Managing Users with YaST.

1.12.6. Cleanup

This step does not require any user interaction. The installation program launches the SuSEconfig script to write the system configuration. Depending on the CPU and the amount of memory, this process can take some time.

1.12.7. Release Notes

After completing the user authentication setup, YaST displays the release notes. Reading them is advised because they contain important up-to-date information that was not available when the manuals were printed. If you have installed update packages, read the most recent version of the release notes, as fetched from openSUSE's servers. Use Miscellaneous+Release Notes to view the release notes after installation.

1.12.8. Hardware Configuration

At the end of the installation, YaST opens a dialog for the configuration of the graphics card and other hardware components connected to the system, such as printers or sound cards. Click the individual components to start the hardware configuration. For the most part, YaST detects and configures the devices automatically.

You can skip any peripheral devices and configure them later, as described in Chapter 2, Setting Up Hardware Components with YaST. To skip the configuration, select Skip Configuration and click Next.

However, you should configure the graphics card right away. Although the display settings as autoconfigured by YaST should be generally acceptable, most users have very strong preferences as far as resolution, color depth, and other graphics features are concerned. To change these settings, select the respective item and set the values as desired. To test your new configuration, click Test the Configuration.

1.12.9. Completing Installation

After a successful installation, YaST shows the Installation Completed dialog. In this dialog, select whether to clone your newly installed system for AutoYaST. To clone your system, select Clone This System for AutoYaST. The profile of the current system is stored in /root/autoyast.xml.

AutoYaST is a system for installing one or more openSUSE systems automatically without user intervention. AutoYaST installations are performed using a control file with installation and configuration data.

Finish the installation of openSUSE with Finish in the final dialog.