TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! Customizing and Upgrading Linux TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! Customizing and Upgrading Linux Second Edition Linda McKinnon Al McKinnon  Gearhead Press Wiley Computer Publishing John Wiley & Sons, Inc. TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! Publisher: Robert Ipsen Editor: Ben Ryan Consulting Editor: Donis Marshall Managing Editor: Angela Smith Text Design & Composition: D&G Limited, LLC Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. In all instances where John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is aware of a claim, the product names appear in initial capital or ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Readers, however, should contact the appropriate companies for more complete information regarding trademarks and registration. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2002 by Linda McKinnon and Al McKinnon. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copy- right Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850- 6008, E-Mail: PERMREQ @ WILEY.COM. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. The Gearhead Press trademark is the exclusive property of Gearhead Group Corporation. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: ISBN: 0-471-20885-X Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! A Note from Gearhead Press Gearhead Press is dedicated to publishing technical books for experienced Information Technology professionals—network engineers, developers, sys- tem administrators, and others—who need to update their skills, learn how to use technology more effectively, or simply want a quality reference to the latest technology. Gearhead Press emerged from my experience with professional trainers of engineers and developers: people who truly understand first-hand the needs of working professionals. Gearhead Press authors are the crème de la crème of industry trainers, working at the companies that define the technology revolu- tion. For this reason, Gearhead Press authors are regularly in the trenches with the developers and engineers who have changed the world through innovative products. Drawing from this experience in IT training, our books deliver supe- rior technical content with a unique perspective that is based on real-world experience. Now, as an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Gearhead Press will continue to bring you, the reader, the level of quality that Wiley has delivered consis- tently for nearly 200 years. Thank you, Donis Marshall Founder, Gearhead Press Consulting Editor, Wiley Computer Publishing TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! Gearhead Press Books in Print (For complete information about current and upcoming titles, go to www .wiley.com/compbooks/) Books in the Gearhead Press Point to Point Series Migrating to Microsoft Exchange 2000 by Stan Reimer ISBN0-471-06116-6 Installing and Configuring Web Servers Using Apache by Melanie Hoag ISBN 0-471-07155-2 VoiceXML: 10 Projects to Voice Enable Your Website by Mark Miller ISBN 0-471-20737-3 Books in the Gearhead Press In the Trenches Series Windows 2000 Automated Deployment by Ted Malone and Rolly Perraux ISBN 0-471-06114-X Robust Linux: Assuring High Availability by Iain Campbell ISBN 0-471-07040-8 Programming Directory Services for Windows 2000 by Donis Marshall ISBN 0-471-15216-1 Programming ADO.NET by Richard Hundhausen and Steven Borg ISBN 0-471-20187-1 Designing .NET Web Services Using ADO.NET and XML by Richard Hundhausen and Steven Borg ISBN 0-471-20186-3 Wireless and Mobile Development for Microsoft .NET Platforms by Steve Juntunen ISBN 0-471-21494-9 TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! Making Win32 Applications Mobile: Porting to Windows CE by Nancy Nicolaisen ISBN 0-471-21618-6 Programming Windows CE Wireless Applications by Barry Shilmover and Derek Ball ISBN 0-471-21469-8 TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine! Contents Acknowledgments xiii About the Authors xv Introduction xvii Chapter 1 Preparing for Installation: Chronicling Your Equipment 1 Do Not Be Afraid; Just Do Your Homework 1 What Type of System Do You Have? 2 Discovering and Chronicling Your System’s Equipment 4 Chapter 2 Hard Disk Partition Planning and Preparation 7 Swap Space Options 7 How Much Swap Space Is Required? 9 Hard Disk Partitioning 11 Master Boot Record and the Partition Table 14 The Boot Process 14 Linux and LILO 16 ix TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine!