Slackware Linux Essentials
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3.4 The `setup` Program

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Once you have created your partitions, you are ready to install Slackware. The next -step in the installation process is running the setup(8) -program. To do so, simply type setup at the shell prompt. setup is a menu-driven system for actually installing the Slackware -packages and configuring your system.

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The setup process goes something like this: You step through each option in the setup program, in the order they are listed. (Of course, you are -free to do things in almost any order you choose, but chances are it isn't going to work -out very well.) Menu items are selected using the up and down arrow keys, and the -“Okay” and “Cancel” buttons can be chosen by using the left and -right arrow keys. Alternatively, each option has a corresponding key, which is -highlighted in the option name. Options which are flaggable (those indicated with a [X]) are toggled using the spacebar.

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Of course, all of that is described in the “help” section of setup, but we believe in giving our readers their money's worth.

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3.4.1 HELP

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If this is your first time installing Slackware, you might want to take a look at the -help screen. It will give a description of each part of setup -(much like the one we're writing now, but less involved) and instructions for navigating -the rest of the install.

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3.4.2 KEYMAP

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If you require a keymap other than the United States “qwerty” layout, you -may want to take a look at this section. It offers a number of alternate layouts for your -keyboarding enjoyment.

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3.4.3 ADDSWAP

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If you created a swap partition (back in Section 3.3), this section will allow you to -enable it. It will autodetect and display the swap partitions on your hard drive, -allowing you to select one to format and enable.

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3.4.4 TARGET

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The target section is where your other (non-swap) partitions are formatted and mapped -to filesystem mount points. A list of the partitions on your hard disk will be displayed. -For each partition, you will be given the option of whether to format that partition or -not. Depending on the kernel used, you can choose between reiserfs (the default), ext3, -ext2, jfs, and xfs. Most people use either reiserfs or ext3. In the near future we may -see support for reiserfs4 slip in.

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The first option in the target section is the selection of a partition on which to -install your root (/) filesystem. After that, you will be able -to map other partitions to filesystems as you choose. (For instance, you may want your -third partition, say /dev/hda3, to be your home filesystem. -This is just an example; map the partitions as you see fit.)

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3.4.5 SOURCE

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The source section is where you select the source media from which you are installing -Slackware. Currently there are four sources to choose from. These are CD-ROM, NFS, or a -premounted directory.

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The CD-ROM selection enables a CD-ROM based installation. It will offer the option of -scanning for a CD-ROM drive or displaying a list from which you can pick your drive type. -Make sure you have the Slackware CD in your drive before allowing it to scan.

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The NFS selection prompts for your network information and the network information for -your NFS server. The NFS server must be set up in advance. Also note that you cannot use -hostnames, you must use the IP addresses for both your machine and the NFS server (there -is no name resolver on the setup disk). Naturally you must have used the network.dsk floppy to add support for your network controller.

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The premounted directory offers the most flexibility. You can use this method to -install from things such as Jaz disks, NFS mounts over PLIP, and FAT filesystems. Mount -the filesystem to a location of your choosing before running setup, then specify that -location here.

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3.4.6 SELECT

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The select option allows you to select the software series that you wish to install. -These series are described in Section 3.2.1. -Please note that you must install the A series to have a working base system. All other -series are optional.

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3.4.7 INSTALL

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Assuming that you have gone through the “target”, “source”, -and “select” options, the install option will allow -you to select packages from your chosen software series. If not, it will prompt you to go -back and complete the other sections of the setup program. This option allows you to -select from six different installation methods: full, newbie, menu, expert, custom, and tag path.

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The full option will install every package from all the -software series that you chose in the “select” section. There is no further -prompting. This is the easiest installation method, since you do not need to make any -decisions on the actual packages to install. Of course, this option also takes up the -most hard drive space.

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The next option is newbie. This option installs all of the -required packages in the selected series. For all other packages, it offers a prompt -where you can select “Yes”, “No”, or “Skip”. Yes and -No do the obvious, while Skip will go ahead to the next software series. Additionally, -you will see a description and size requirement for each package to help you decide if -you need it. We recommend this option for new users, as it ensures that you get all the -required packages installed. However, it is a little slow because of the prompting.

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Menu is a faster and more advanced version of the newbie -option. For each series, a menu is displayed, from which you can select all the -non-required packages you want to install. Required packages are not displayed on this -menu.

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For the more advanced user, install offers the expert -option. This allows you complete control over what packages get installed. You can -deselect packages that are absolutely required, resulting in a broken system. On the -other hand, you can control exactly what goes onto your system. Simply select the -packages from each series that you want installed. This is not recommended for the new -user, as it is quite easy to shoot yourself in the foot.

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The custom and tag path options -are also for advanced users. These options allow you to install based upon custom tag -files that you created in the distribution tree. This is useful for installing to large -numbers of machines fairly quickly. For more information on using tag files, see Section 18.4.

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After selecting your installation method, one of a few things will happen. If you -selected full or menu, a menu screen will appear, allowing you to select the packages to -be installed. If you selected full, packages will immediately start getting installed to -the target. If you selected newbie, packages will be installed until an optional package -is reached.

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Note that it is possible to run out of space while installing. If you selected too -many packages for the amount of free space on the target device, you will have problems. -The safest thing to do is to select some software and add more later, if you need it. -This can easily be done using Slackware's package management tools. For this information, -see Chapter 18.

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3.4.8 CONFIGURE

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The configure section allows you to do some basic system configuration, now that the -packages have been installed. What you see here depends in large part upon which software -you have installed. You will, however, always see the following:

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3.4.8.1 Kernel selection

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Here you will be asked to select a kernel to install. You can install the kernel from -the boot disk you used to install, the Slackware CD-ROM, or from another floppy which you -(always thinking ahead) have prepared. Or you can elect to skip, in which case the -default kernel will be installed and play will continue to the dealer's left.

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3.4.8.2 Make a boot disk

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Making a boot disk for future use is probably a good idea. You will have the option of -formatting a floppy and then creating one of two types of boot disk. The first type, simple, simply (go figure) writes a kernel to the floppy. A more -flexible (and highly recommended) option is lilo, which will of -course create a lilo boot disk. See LILO in Section -7.1 for more information. Of course, you may also choose to simply continue, in which case no boot disk will be made.

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3.4.8.3 Modem

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You will be prompted for modem information. More specifically, you will be asked -whether you have a modem, and if so, what serial port it is on.

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These next configuration subsections may or may not appear, depending on whether or -not you installed their corresponding packages.

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3.4.8.4 Timezone

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This one's pretty straightforward: you will be asked what time zone you are in. If you -operate on Zulu time, we are very sorry; the (extremely long) list is alphabetically -ordered, and you're at the bottom.

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3.4.8.5 Mouse

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This subsection simply asks what kind of mouse you have, and whether you want gpm(8) console mouse support enabled on bootup.

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3.4.8.6 Hardware clock

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This subsection asks if your computer's hardware clock is set to Coordinated Universal -Time (UTC or GMT). Most PCs are not, so you should probably say no.

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3.4.8.7 Font

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The font subsection allows you to choose from a list of custom console fonts.

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3.4.8.8 LILO

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Here you are prompted for installation of LILO (the LInux LOader; see Section 7.1 for more information).

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If Slackware is to be the only operating system on your computer, simple should work just fine for you. If you are dual-booting, the -expert option is a better choice. See Section 7.3 for more information on dual-booting. The third -option, do not install, is not recommended unless you know what -you're doing and have a very good reason for not installing LILO. If you are performing -an expert install, you will be given a choice as to where LILO will be put. You may place -LILO in the MBR (Master Boot Record) of your hard drive, in the superblock of your root -Linux partition, or on a floppy disk.

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3.4.8.9 Network

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The network configuration subsection is actually netconfig. -See Section 5.1 -for more information.

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3.4.8.10 X Window Manager

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This subsection will allow you to choose a default window manager for X. See Chapter 6 for more details on X and window managers.

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No matter which packages you installed, the last thing configure will do is ask you -whether you want to go ahead and set a root password. For -security reasons, this is probably a good idea; however, like almost everything else in -Slackware, this is your call.

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