SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Documentation ▶

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP3

Administration Guide

Publication Date 14 Jun 2013

Copyright © 2006–2013 SUSE LLC and contributors. All rights reserved.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or (at your option) version 1.3; with the Invariant Section being this copyright notice and license. A copy of the license version 1.2 is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License”.

For SUSE and Novell trademarks, see the Novell Trademark and Service Mark list http://www.novell.com/company/legal/trademarks/tmlist.html. All other third party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. A trademark symbol (®, ™ etc.) denotes a SUSE or Novell trademark; an asterisk (*) denotes a third party trademark.

All information found in this book has been compiled with utmost attention to detail. However, this does not guarantee complete accuracy. Neither SUSE LLC, its affiliates, the authors nor the translators shall be held liable for possible errors or the consequences thereof.

Contents

About This Guide
1. Available Documentation
2. Feedback
3. Documentation Conventions
I. Support and Common Tasks
1. YaST Online Update
1.1. The Online Update Dialog
1.2. Installing Patches
1.3. Automatic Online Update
2. Gathering System Information for Support
2.1. Overview
2.2. Collecting Information Using Supportconfig
2.3. Submitting Information to Novell
2.4. For More Information
3. YaST in Text Mode
3.1. Navigation in Modules
3.2. Restriction of Key Combinations
3.3. YaST Command Line Options
4. Snapshots/Rollback with Snapper
4.1. Requirements
4.2. Using Snapper to Undo System Changes
4.3. Manually Creating and Managing Snapshots
4.4. Limitations
4.5. Frequently Asked Questions
4.6. Using Snapper on Thin-Provisioned LVM Volumes
5. Remote Access with VNC
5.1. One-time VNC Sessions
5.2. Persistent VNC Sessions
6. GNOME Configuration for Administrators
6.1. The GConf System
6.2. Customizing Main Menu, Panel, and Application Browser
6.3. Starting Applications Automatically
6.4. Automounting and Managing Media Devices
6.5. Changing Preferred Applications
6.6. Managing Profiles Using Sabayon
6.7. Adding Document Templates
6.8. Desktop Lock Down Features
6.9. For More Information
7. Managing Software with Command Line Tools
7.1. Using Zypper
7.2. RPM—the Package Manager
8. Bash and Bash Scripts
8.1. What is “The Shell”?
8.2. Writing Shell Scripts
8.3. Redirecting Command Events
8.4. Using Aliases
8.5. Using Variables in Bash
8.6. Grouping And Combining Commands
8.7. Working with Common Flow Constructs
8.8. For More Information
II. System
9. 32-Bit and 64-Bit Applications in a 64-Bit System Environment
9.1. Runtime Support
9.2. Software Development
9.3. Software Compilation on Biarch Platforms
9.4. Kernel Specifications
10. Booting and Configuring a Linux System
10.1. The Linux Boot Process
10.2. The init Process
10.3. System Configuration via /etc/sysconfig
11. The Boot Loader GRUB
11.1. Booting with GRUB
11.2. Configuring the Boot Loader with YaST
11.3. Uninstalling the Linux Boot Loader
11.4. Creating Boot CDs
11.5. The Graphical SUSE Screen
11.6. Troubleshooting
11.7. For More Information
12. UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)
12.1. Secure Boot
12.2. For More Information
13. Special System Features
13.1. Information about Special Software Packages
13.2. Virtual Consoles
13.3. Keyboard Mapping
13.4. Language and Country-Specific Settings
14. Printer Operation
14.1. The Workflow of the Printing System
14.2. Methods and Protocols for Connecting Printers
14.3. Installing the Software
14.4. Network Printers
14.5. Printing from the Command Line
14.6. Special Features in SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
14.7. Troubleshooting
15. Dynamic Kernel Device Management with udev
15.1. The /dev Directory
15.2. Kernel uevents and udev
15.3. Drivers, Kernel Modules and Devices
15.4. Booting and Initial Device Setup
15.5. Monitoring the Running udev Daemon
15.6. Influencing Kernel Device Event Handling with udev Rules
15.7. Persistent Device Naming
15.8. Files used by udev
15.9. For More Information
16. The X Window System
16.1. Manually Configuring the X Window System
16.2. Installing and Configuring Fonts
16.3. For More Information
17. Accessing File Systems with FUSE
17.1. Configuring FUSE
17.2. Available FUSE Plug-ins
17.3. For More Information
III. Mobile Computers
18. Mobile Computing with Linux
18.1. Laptops
18.2. Mobile Hardware
18.3. Cellular Phones and PDAs
18.4. For More Information
19. Wireless LAN
19.1. WLAN Standards
19.2. Operating Modes
19.3. Authentication
19.4. Encryption
19.5. Configuration with YaST
19.6. Tips and Tricks for Setting Up a WLAN
19.7. Troubleshooting
19.8. For More Information
20. Power Management
20.1. Power Saving Functions
20.2. Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)
20.3. Rest for the Hard Disk
20.4. Troubleshooting
20.5. For More Information
21. Using Tablet PCs
21.1. Installing Tablet PC Packages
21.2. Configuring Your Tablet Device
21.3. Using the Virtual Keyboard
21.4. Rotating Your Display
21.5. Using Gesture Recognition
21.6. Taking Notes and Sketching with the Pen
21.7. Troubleshooting
21.8. For More Information
IV. Services
22. Basic Networking
22.1. IP Addresses and Routing
22.2. IPv6—The Next Generation Internet
22.3. Name Resolution
22.4. Configuring a Network Connection with YaST
22.5. NetworkManager
22.6. Configuring a Network Connection Manually
22.7. Setting Up Bonding Devices
22.8. smpppd as Dial-up Assistant
23. SLP Services in the Network
23.1. Installation
23.2. Activating SLP
23.3. SLP Front-Ends in SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
23.4. Providing Services via SLP
23.5. For More Information
24. Time Synchronization with NTP
24.1. Configuring an NTP Client with YaST
24.2. Manually Configuring NTP in the Network
24.3. Dynamic Time Synchronization at Runtime
24.4. Setting Up a Local Reference Clock
25. Using NetworkManager
25.1. Use Cases for NetworkManager
25.2. Enabling or Disabling NetworkManager
25.3. Configuring Network Connections
25.4. Using KNetworkManager
25.5. Using GNOME NetworkManager Applet
25.6. NetworkManager and VPN
25.7. NetworkManager and Security
25.8. Frequently Asked Questions
25.9. Troubleshooting
25.10. For More Information
26. Samba
26.1. Terminology
26.2. Configuring a Samba Server
26.3. Configuring Clients
26.4. Samba as Login Server
26.5. For More Information
27. Sharing File Systems with NFS
27.1. Terminology
27.2. Installing NFS Server
27.3. Configuring NFS Server
27.4. Configuring Clients
27.5. For More Information
28. File Synchronization
28.1. Available Data Synchronization Software
28.2. Determining Factors for Selecting a Program
28.3. Introduction to CVS
28.4. Introduction to rsync
28.5. For More Information
V. Troubleshooting
29. Help and Documentation
29.1. Documentation Directory
29.2. Man Pages
29.3. Info Pages
29.4. Online Resources
30. Common Problems and Their Solutions
30.1. Finding and Gathering Information
30.2. Installation Problems
30.3. Boot Problems
30.4. Login Problems
30.5. Network Problems
30.6. Data Problems
A. An Example Network
B. GNU Licenses
B.1. GNU Free Documentation License

List of Figures

1.1. YaST Online Update—Qt Interface
1.2. YaST Online Update—GTK Interface
3.1. Main Window of YaST in Text Mode
3.2. The Software Installation Module
6.1. Sabayon: User Profile Editor
6.2. Sabayon: New Xnest Window
6.3. Sabayon: Selecting Users
10.1. System Services (Runlevel)
10.2. System Configuration Using the sysconfig Editor
11.1. Boot Loader Settings
12.1. UEFI: Secure Boot Process
18.1. Integrating a Mobile Computer in an Existing Environment
19.1. YaST: Configuring the Wireless Network Card
21.1. xvkbd Virtual Keyboard
21.2. Gesture Recognition with CellWriter
21.3. Annotating a PDF with Xournal
21.4. Editing Texts with Dasher
22.1. Simplified Layer Model for TCP/IP
22.2. TCP/IP Ethernet Packet
22.3. Configuring Network Settings
22.4. Modem Configuration
22.5. ISDN Configuration
22.6. ISDN Interface Configuration
22.7. DSL Configuration
24.1. YaST: NTP Server
24.2. Advanced NTP Configuration: Security Settings
25.1. GNOME Network Connections Dialog
25.2. KDE Network Configuration Dialog
25.3. KNetworkManager—Configured and Available Connections
30.1. Checking Media
30.2. Displaying Hardware Information
30.3. US Keyboard Layout
30.4. Automatic Repair Mode

List of Tables

7.1. The Most Important RPM Query Options
7.2. RPM Verify Options
8.1. Bash Configuration Files for Login Shells
8.2. Bash Configuration Files for Non-Login Shells
8.3. Special Files for Bash
8.4. Overview of a Standard Directory Tree
8.5. Useful Environment Variables
10.1. Available Runlevels
10.2. Possible init Script Options
11.1. Screen Resolution and Color Depth Reference
13.1. ulimit: Setting Resources for the User
16.1. Sections in /etc/X11/xorg.conf
16.2. Parameters of fc-list
17.1. Available FUSE Plug-ins
18.1. Use Cases for NetworkManager
19.1. Overview of Various WLAN Standards
22.1. Several Protocols in the TCP/IP Protocol Family
22.2. Specific Addresses
22.3. Private IP Address Domains
22.4. Various IPv6 Prefixes
22.5. Manual Network Configuration Scripts
22.6. Parameters for /etc/host.conf
22.7. Databases Available via /etc/nsswitch.conf
22.8. Configuration Options for NSS “Databases”
22.9. Some Start-Up Scripts for Network Programs
28.1. Features of the File Synchronization Tools: -- = very poor, - = poor or not available, o = medium, + = good, ++ = excellent, x = available
29.1. Man Pages—Categories and Descriptions
30.1. Log Files
30.2. System Information With the /proc File System
30.3. System Information With the /sys File System

List of Examples

4.1. Example time line configuration
7.1. Zypper—List of Known Repositories
7.2. rpm -q -i wget
7.3. Script to Search for Packages
8.1. A Shell Script Printing a Text
10.1. A Minimal INIT INFO Block
13.1. Entry in /etc/crontab
13.2. /etc/crontab: Remove Time Stamp Files
13.3. Example for /etc/logrotate.conf
13.4. ulimit: Settings in ~/.bashrc
14.1. /etc/modprobe.conf: Interrupt Mode for the First Parallel Port
14.2. Error Message from lpd
14.3. Broadcast from the CUPS Network Server
15.1. Example udev Rules
16.1. Screen Section of the File /etc/X11/xorg.conf
22.1. Writing IP Addresses
22.2. Linking IP Addresses to the Netmask
22.3. Sample IPv6 Address
22.4. IPv6 Address Specifying the Prefix Length
22.5. /etc/resolv.conf
22.6. /etc/hosts
22.7. /etc/networks
22.8. /etc/host.conf
22.9. /etc/nsswitch.conf
22.10. Output of the Command ping
22.11. Output of the ifconfig Command
22.12. Output of the route -n Command
26.1. Global Section in smb.conf
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Administration Guide 11 SP3

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Documentation ▶