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.

SUSE Linux Enterprise can use the DES, MD5, or Blowfish encryption types for passwords. The default encryption type is Blowfish. To change the encryption type, click Expert Options+Encryption Type and select the new type.

The hostname is the computer's name in the network. The domain name is the name of the network. A hostname and domain are proposed by default. If your system is part of a local network or should be accessible from the Internet, the domain name used here must be that expected by the network or Internet. For a system in a local network, the hostname should be unique in the network.

In many networks, the system receives its hostname over DHCP, in which case you should not modify the name. Instead select Change Hostname via DHCP.

To be able to access your system using this hostname, select Write Hostname to /etc/hosts. This assigns the IP address 127.0.0.2 to the name, both with and without the domain.

To change hostname settings at any time after installation, use YaST Network Devices+Network Card. For more information, see Section 30.4.1, “Configuring the Network Card with YaST”.

IBM System z: Network Configuration

For the IBM System z platforms, a working network connection is needed at installation time to connect to the target system, the installation source, and the YaST terminal controlling the process. The steps to set up the network are discussed in the network configuration chapter of the Architecture-Specific Information manual (Chapter Preparing for Installation (↑Architecture-Specific Information)). The IBM System z platforms only support the types of network interfaces mentioned there (OSA Token Ring, OSA Ethernet, OSA Gigabit Ethernet, OSA Express Fast Ethernet, Escon, IUCV, and OSA Express High-Speed Token Ring). The YaST dialog simply displays the interface with its settings as already configured. Just confirm this dialog to continue.

By default, Traditional Method without NetworkManager Applet is enabled. If desired, you can also use NetworkManager to manage all your network devices. However, the traditional method is the preferred option for server solutions. Find detailed information about NetworkManager in Section 30.5, “Managing Network Connections with NetworkManager”.

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. If you skip the network device configuration, your system is left offline and is unable to retrieve any available updates.

As well as device configuration, configure some other network settings in this step:

	Resetting the Network Configuration to the Defaults
Reset the network settings to the original proposed values by clicking Change+Reset to Defaults. This discards any changes made.

After configuring an Internet connection, you can test it. For this purpose, YaST establishes a connection to the SUSE Linux Enterprise server and downloads the latest release notes. 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. 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 release notes, configuring the customer center, and updating online.

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

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. This also skips SUSE Linux Enterprise online update.

In Include for Convenience, select whether to obtain some of the necessary information from your system. This simplifies the registration process. To keep your installation sources valid, select Regularly Synchronize with Customer Center. This option checks your installation sources and adds new available sources or removes obsolete sources. It does not touch manually added sources. Additionally, it resends your hardware information if Hardware Information is activated, which can make new hardware-specific sources available. To see what is required to register your system or what happens with your data, use Details.

	Technical Support
Find more information about the technical support at http://www.novell.com/support/products/linuxenterpriseserver/.

If the Novell Customer Center has not been configured, the next step is the user configuration. See Section 3.11.7, “Users”. For detailed instructions for to perform an online update after the installation, see Section 8.3.5, “YaST Online Update” .

If YaST was able to connect to the SUSE Linux Enterprise 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.

After testing the Internet connection and downloading the first updates, a dialog opens in which to enable and configure two important network services. See Figure 3.6, “Proposed Setup for Network Services”.

Figure 3.6. Proposed Setup for Network Services

If preferred, you can skip this configuration proposal for now. After the installation is finished, configure and start the same services with the help of YaST.

	Resetting the Service Configuration to Defaults
Restore the defaults by clicking Change+Reset to Defaults. This discards any changes made.

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

	Content of the Authentication Menu
If you use the custom package selection and one or more authentication methods are missing from the menu, the required packages probably are not installed.

You can also add additional user accounts or change the user authentication method in the installed system. For detailed information about user management, see Section 8.9.1, “User Management”.

Along with the selected user administration method, you can use Kerberos authentication. This is essential for integrating your SUSE Linux Enterprise to an Active Directory domain, which is described in Section 37.6, “Samba Server in the Network with Active Directory”. To use Kerberos authentication, select Set Up Kerberos Authentication.

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.

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 tested the Internet connection, read the most recent version of the release notes, as fetched from SUSE Linux Enterprise's servers. Use Miscellaneous+Release Notes to view the release notes after installation.

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. Click the individual components to start the hardware configuration. For the most part, YaST detects and configures the devices automatically.

	IBM System z: Hardware Configuration
On the IBM System z, there is no display that would be supported by XFree. Accordingly, you do not find a Graphics Cards entry on these systems.

You can skip any peripheral devices and configure them later, as described in Section 8.4, “Hardware”. To skip the configuration, select Skip Configuration and click Next.

However, you should configure the graphics card right away. Although the display settings as configured 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.

	Resetting Hardware Configuration to Defaults
You can cancel changes by clicking Change+Reset to Defaults. YaST then shows the original proposal again.

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. Cloning is selected by default.

AutoYaST is a system for installing one or more SUSE Linux Enterprise systems automatically without user intervention. AutoYaST installations are performed using a control file with installation and configuration data. For detailed information, refer to Chapter 5, Automated Installation. Finish the installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise with Finish in the final dialog.