Entering Your Initial Password

The next screen, shown in Figure 2.13, asks you to type a root password for your computer. This password is used to log in the administrative account as root. Your first login is as root so that you can set up other accounts and finalize setting up any other system items before bringing the machine into "production."

In choosing a root password (or any password for that matter), you should choose one that is at least 6 characters, not a word found in a dictionary, a set of numbers, or some item that is easily guessable about you (your birthday date). Passwords that are considered to be good are a mix of numerals and case, and usually are acronyms of sentences or combined words. Examples of good passwords (at least until this is published) would be Fraz93Re, SH22puk, Iam99bal. Passwords are case-sensitive and commonly have a limit of only 8 characters (so Fraz93Rent and Fraz93Rex would both be considered the same password.)

Come up with a password for your machine, write it down on a separate piece of paper,and then enter it in the dialog areas. For security reasons, what you type does not show up on the screen. Because of this you need to enter the password twice to confirm that you are typing it the same way. When you have entered it twice, select Ok and press Enter. If the two passwords match each other, you will go onto the next screen. If they don't, you will need to re-enter them.

Remember, the root user has complete access and control over the system, having the

Figure 2.14.
Selecting where you
want to install the
bootloader.Most
people should select
the default Master Boot
Record option.

ability to look into or change any file on the system, which is why this password should be kept secure.

Selecting Boot Options

You have reached the final stretch of the installation. This is the part where you decide how you will boot Linux after the installation.

The screen you are presented with, shown in Figure 2.14, gives you the choice of installing LILO (the bootloader) to two different parts of the system.

• Master Boot Record. This replaces the master boot record of the system, causing a LILO prompt to come up each time you boot the machine. Useful in most cases.
• First sector of the boot partition. This option can be used if you have another boot loader on your system (OS/2, NT, Partition Magic, or System Commander are some examples). These boot loaders are already in the Master Boot Record of the primary drive and you don't want to replace them. With LILO installed to the root partition, you can then configure the other boot system to start that OS.

You also can choose to skip the installation of LILO to the hard drive. This is usually done when you want to use the LOADLIN program or if you installed Linux to an IDE system on the boot floppy. Choose the method you want and either select Ok or Skip.

If you selected either the First Sector of the root partition or the Master Boot Record, you are shown a screen asking for any boot options you need to pass to the machine or if you need to use the linear addressing mode to write to the system. For most systems, you don't have to choose anything going with the default.

Once LILO has been written to the boot record, you see a screen notifying you that the install is done, to remove the floppy disk from the drive, and to press Enter. If you do not get this screen, check the ALT-F3 and ALT-F4 screens to see if an error occurred during the LILO installation. In that case, you may need to skip the LILO installation and then use the alternative methods of booting.

Booting the System

Once LILO or LOADLIN have been installed, you can boot the Linux operating system. If LILO was chosen, you see what is called the LILO prompt:

LILO:

If you don't do anything at this point, the system automatically boots into Linux after a short timeout. If you have set up your system to boot to other operating systems, you can hit the Tab key to see what choices are available, and then just type in your option and press Enter.

linux dos

LILO:

After a few seconds, you see a set of text as the kernel boots up for the first time. After a short while, you should see the following prompt:

Red Hat Linux release 5.0 (Hurricane)

Kernel 2.0.32 on an i586



login:

You are now ready to login into the Red Hat Linux system. To do so, type root and you are prompted for a Password. Type the password you typed during the install, and you should get a # prompt indicating you have successfully logged in.