Objectives

In this session, you will learn to:

Plan a Linux deployment
Deploy Linux
Troubleshoot installation

Planning a Linux Deployment

Linux operating system is:
Economical
Manageable
Secure

Before deploying Linux in an organization, you need to:

Analyze the requirements of the organization
Evaluate whether Linux can meet the organizational
requirements

Evaluating Linux to Meet Organizational

Requirements
Some of the IT-related business requirements of an
organization related to an operating system and how Linux
fulfills the requirements are:
Easy to use interface and accessibility features
To meet this requirement, Linux provides easy-to-use graphical
user interfaces (GUIs) and accessibility features for the disabled

Tools to browse and communicate on the Internet

To meet this requirement, Linux provides an optimized Web
browser communication tools

Office applications and other common utilities

To meet this requirement, Linux provides the OpenOffice suite and
other accessories

Prevent unauthorized access and provide security from viruses

To meet this requirement, Linux provides a firewall and access
rights

Evaluating Linux to Meet Organizational Requirements

(Contd.)
Tools to administer the computer efficiently
To meet this requirement, Linux provides tools to administer the
various hardware components and services

Tools to recover from failures

To meet this requirement, Linux has a built-in feature of recovery
from file system failures

Compatibility with any hardware architecture

To meet this requirement, Linux supports all types of architectures

Minimal licensing fee per deployment

To meet this requirement, Linux provides the GNUs

Facility of upgrading the applications installed on it

To meet this requirement, Linux provides a package management
tool through which you can upgrade any component of Linux

Effective documentation and support

To meet this requirement, Linux provides detailed manuals for
operations and management

Selecting a Suitable Linux Distribution

A Linux distribution is a collection of kernel, software, and
installation and configuration utilities.
Most of the Linux distributions are available under GNU
GPL, which has no license fee.
Some Linux distributions have a fully paid or partially paid
license fee to avail the support services provided by the
distribution vendor.
Some of the fully or partially paid licenses of the
distributions are:
Commercial License
Shareware License
Freeware License

Selecting a Suitable Linux Distribution

(Contd.)
Some GNU GPL versions of Linux are:
Fedora Core 4 Linux
OpenSuSE 10 Linux
Ubuntu Linux
Debian Linux

Some commercial versions of Linux are:

RedHat Desktop Linux by RedHat
SUSE 10 Linux by Novell

Just a minute
What type of license does Fedora Core 4 have?

Solution:
Fedora Core 4 has the GNU GPL license.

Planning for Installation

You should plan for the following points before deploying
Linux:
Identify hardware requirements
Identify software applications
Select deployment media
Select deployment mode
Identify disk space allocation
Identify network configuration
Identify user IDs and the authentication method

Just a minute
What is ext3?

Solution:
Ext3 is a Linux file system. It is a journalized form of the
ext2 file system.

Deploying Linux
The Linux deployment includes activities, such as:
Installing Linux
Performing post installation configurations

Performing a Linux Deployment

To deploy Linux, you need to perform the following tasks:
Select the installation mode
Select the installation type
Partition the hard disk
Configure the boot loader
Configure the network parameters
Configure the firewall
Configure the local settings
Set the root password
Select the application packages
Finish the installation

Just a Minute
Which is the default boot loader of Fedora?

Solution:
The default boot loader of Linux is GRUB.

Performing Post-Installation Configuration

The post-installation tasks involve:
Configuring the Linux system settings
Agreeing with the License policy
Installing additional software

Troubleshooting Installation
You can detect and solve the problems related to Linux
installation by using log files and configuration utilities.
You can check the following three log files:
/var/log/dmesg
/var/log/boot.log
/tmp/upgrade.log

Some of the configuration utilities are:

Changing or adding a Mouse: system-config-mouse
Changing a keyboard language: system-config-keyboard
Configuring Network card: system-config-network
Configuring Sound Card: system-config-soundcard
Configuring Display Card: system-config-display

Troubleshooting Installation (Contd.)

Some common installation-related problems and their
solutions are:
Failure of installation because the installation procedure was
unable to detect the video card of the computer.
GUI installation does not detect the mouse.
Failure of a network-based installation.

Just a minute
Which log file stores the messages generated during the
boot process?

Solution:
The boot.log file stores the messages generated during
the boot process.

Summary
In this session, you learned that:
Linux fulfils all the requirements of an organization be it an
enterprise, a SMB, or a SOHO.
Linux is an open source product and developers can modify the
source code.
Linux distribution is a collection of the Linux kernel, software
packages, and installation and configuration utilities.
Ext2 is the default file system of Linux, whereas ext3 is the
journalized form of ext2.
Linux can be installed through the local CD ROM drive or
through the network by using FTP, HTTP, or NFS.
Linux can be installed with four types of settings: Personal
Desktop, Workstation, Server, or Custom.
Linux provides the manual and automatic methods of hard disk
partition.

Summary (Contd.)
Linux has GRUB or LILO, a boot loader program to start itself.
Linux provides the option to configure the network card,
automatically or manually.
Linux has an internal firewall to protect the network
communication.
Linux provides flexibility to select packages to be installed.
Post installation settings need to be performed when Linux
starts for the first time after installation.
Linux provides log files that are created during the installation
to view the installation process.
Log files are helpful in identifying the problems during the
installation.