Free Software at Schools

Installing and Maintaining a Debian-Edu Network

Also Known as Skolelinux

Klaus Ade Johnstad


Norway,Oslo, Kampen

klaus@inout.no
klaus@skolelinux.no

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 by Klaus Ade Johnstad

This document is licensed under GNU General Public License

Table of Contents
Preface
1. Where and How to Get Help[id=help]
1.1. Mailing lists Belonging to the Skolelinux/Debian-edu Project[id=maillists]
1.2. IRC Chat Channel Skolelinux/Debian-edu[id=irc]
1.3. Inviting a Skolelinux/Debian-edu Knowledgeable Person into Your Computer [id=sshtunnel]
1.4. Permanent Backdoor into a Skolelinux/Debian-edu Machine with an SSH Tunnel [id=backdoor]
1.5. More In-Depth Linux Documentation[id=linuxdoc]
1.5.1. Documentation and Help Pages Already Installed
1.5.2. Skåne Sjælland Linux User Group, Friheden til at skrive bøger(Freedom to Write Books)[id=localdocu]
1.5.3. The Linux Documentation Project [id=tldp]
1.5.4. Manuals for OpenOffice.org[id=OOdoc]
1.5.5. LTSP, Linux Thin Client Server Project(LTSP)[id=ltspdoc]
2. Getting the "Right" Hardware[id=hardware]
2.1. Firewall/Router[id=coyote]
2.2. Main Server[id=mainserver]
2.3. Thin Client Server[id=ltspserver]
2.4. The Thin Client[id=thinclient]
2.5. Workstation[id=workstation]
2.6. Laptop[id=laptop]
3. Firewall/Router for Skolelinux/Debian-edu
3.1. Hardware[id=coyotehardware]
3.1.1. The Latest Version of Coyote Linux
3.2. Placement of the firewall/router in a Skolelinux/Debian-edu Network[id=coyoteplacement]
3.3. Creation of a Coyote Linux Floppy[id=makefloppy]
3.3.1. Creating a Coyote Linux Floppy on a Windows Machine[id=clwin]
3.4. Upgrading to Newer Versions of Coyote Linux[id=clupgrade]
3.5. Coyote Linux Bootup[id=clboot]
3.6. Coyote Linux Command Line Login[id=cllogin]
3.7. Coyote Linux Web Administrator[id=clgui]
3.8. Login via SSH[id=clssh]
3.9. Useful Commands in Coyote Linux[id=clcommands]
3.10. Coyote Linux as an Ordinary DHCP-Server in a Non-Skolelinux/Debian-edu Network
3.11. Coyote Linux and different ISP[id=clisp]
3.12. Supported network card and Driver Modules Used[id=clmodules]
3.12.1. Supported network card and Driver Modules Used
3.12.2. The Special Case of 3Com 509 ISA network card
3.13. Further Information about Coyote Linux[id=clinfo]
4. Skolelinux/Debian-edu Installation[id=installation]
4.1. Network Architecture[id=architecture]
4.2. Preparing the Machine to Boot from CD-ROM[id=bios]
4.3. A Short Description of the Profiles in Skolelinux/Debian-edu[id=profiles]
5. The First Stage of Skolelinux/Debian-edu Installation
5.1. Where to get the Skolelinux/Debian-edu CD-ROM[id=getcdrom]
5.1.1. Downloading the Skolelinux/Debian-eduCD-ROM[id=downloadcd]
5.2. First Stage[id=firststage]
6. The Second Stage of Skolelinux/Debian-edu Installation[id=secondstage]
6.1. Second Stage
6.1.1. Something Went Wrong...
6.1.2. Turning off, or Rebooting the Machine
7. Something Went Wrong.
7.1. The Video Card Doesn't Function.
8. Fine-tuning[id=finetuning]
8.1. The Famous Command Line[id=cli]
8.1.1. Shell/Terminal[id=shell]
8.2. How to Edit System Configuration Files[id=kedit]
8.3. More or Less[id=moreless]
8.4. Installing a Kernel with Support for up to 4GB RAM and Multi-Processors[id=smp]
8.5. Changing the Size of the LVM-Partitions[id=lvmresize]
8.5.1. Resizing the /usr Partition[id=lvm-usr]
8.5.2. Resizing /skole/tjener/home0[id=lvm-home0]
8.5.3. Resizing /skole/backup[id=lvm-backup]
8.5.4. Resizing /var[id=lvm-var]
8.5.5. Resizing /var/opt/ltsp/swapfiles[id=lvm-swapfiles]
8.5.6. Swap[id=lvm-swap]
8.5.7. Resizing /var/spool/squid[id=lvm-squid]
8.5.8. Adding a New Volume(lv)[id=newlv]
8.5.9. Adding a New Disk to LVM in Skolelinux/Debian-edu
8.6. Editing Host Netgroups
8.6.1. The Netgroup Module
8.6.2. Adding Hosts to a Netgroup
8.6.3. Saving Changes
8.6.4. Adding a New Netgroup
8.6.5. Adding a Subgroup
8.6.6. Deleting a Netgroup
8.6.7. Removing Hosts from a Netgroup
8.6.8. Removing a Subgroup
8.7. Thin Client Setup
8.7.1. Assigning a Machine a Static IP address
8.7.2. Creating Etherboot ROM Images for Ordinary (non-PXE) network cards.[id=matic]
8.7.3. Special Floppy Disk with Support for 30 network cards[id=universalboot]
8.7.4. Using the MAC Address to Assign a Fixed IP Number to a Thin Client
8.7.5. Customising Thin Clients
8.8. Do the Network Cards Work?
8.9. Administration of Packages
8.9.1. Updating the Database with Info About Available Packages
8.9.2. Upgrading All Installed Packages to a Newer Version
8.9.3. Overview of Installed Packages
8.9.4. Finding the Name of a Specific Package
8.9.5. Showing Available Information about a Package
8.9.6. Installing a Package
8.9.7. Removing an Installed Package
8.9.8. Installing one Specific Version of a Package
8.9.9. Installing a Package with the Help of dpkg
8.9.10. Searching Through Files that were Installed by a Specific Package
8.9.11. Finding Which Package a File Came From
8.9.12. Making Your Own Local Mirror for Deb-Packages
8.10. The Quota System for Hard Drive Space
8.10.1. Stopping the File .xsession-error From Filling up Your Entire Hard Drive
9. Services Out-of-the-Box in Skolelinux/Debian-edu
10. Thin Clients
10.1. Adding a Printer to a Thin Client
10.2. Making Possible the Use of Diskettes with a Thin Client
10.2.1. Using MToolsFM
10.2.2. .mtoolsrcBoth for Thin Client and Workstation
10.3. Enabling the Use of a USB-Pendrive with a Thin Client
10.3.1. Error Messages of the Type mtools_skip_check=1
10.4. Sound on Thin Clients
11. Special Adaptations for your Users
11.1. Deciding Which Directories the Users Should Have
11.2. Deciding the Appearance of the Program Menu
11.3. Automatic Start of Program at Login
11.4. Message to Everyone who Logs in
11.4.1. Message to a Specific User who Logs in.
11.5. Giving a Message to All Users That are Logged on
11.6. Automatic User Log In
11.6.1. Automatic Input of Username in the Login Window
11.7. Setting up Desktop, Menu bar, etc the Same for Everyone When the User is Created
11.7.1. The Kicker, the Bottom Menu Line
11.7.2. Desktop Icons, Background
12. Daily Operation of Skolelinux/Debian-edu Network with Webmin
12.1. The Webmin Password
12.2. Backup
12.2.1. Comparison of Various Versions of the Same File
12.2.2. Dedicated Backup Server
12.2.3. Slbackup from the Command Line
12.2.4. Slbackup Log Files
12.3. wlus - Webmin Ldap User Simple
12.3.1. Changing the User's Password
12.3.2. Changing a User's Password from the Command Line
12.3.3. Changing the LDAP-Admin Password
12.3.4. Direct Editing of Files in the LDAP-Database.
12.3.5. How to Start with a New "Fresh" LDAP Database?
13. Configuration/Use of the Most Used Programs
13.1. Webmin
13.2. OpenOffice.org
13.2.1. Starting OOo the First and Second Time
13.2.2. Personal Configuration of OOo
13.2.3. Using OOo
13.2.4. Exporting Directly to PDF-format
13.3. Kmail
13.3.1. Using KMail
13.3.2. Automatic Start and Checking of Email at Login.
13.4. Konqueror, File Manager
13.5. KSirc
13.6. kpackage
13.7. Gimp
13.8. Opera
13.9. Mozilla
13.9.1. Acrobat Reader as Plugin for Mozilla/Konqueror
13.9.2. Adding a Plugin to view NRK-TV and other film clips on the Internet
13.9.3. Macromedia Flash Player Plugin for Mozilla
13.10. Kstars
13.11. Kgeo
14. Useful Programs that are not Included on the Skolelinux/Debian-edu CD
14.1. Acrobat Reader
14.2. Mplayer
A. Integration of Other Linux Distributions into Skolelinux/Debian-edu with ldap and autofs
B. Seamless Integration of Mac OS X Machines
C. Software RAID in Skolelinux/Debian-edu
D. KDE3.X in Skolelinux/Debian-edu
D.1. KDE3.X in Skolelinux/Debian-edu
D.1.1. KDE3.2 in Skolelinux/Debian-edu
D.2. KDE3.1 on Thin Clients
E. Compiling Your Own Programs
F. Custom Start-up Logon for Thin Clients
G. Extra External Accessory
G.1. Digital Still Camera
G.2. Digital Video Camera
G.3. Scanner
G.4. Reading List
G.5. CD/DVD
G.5.1. CD-burner
G.5.2. CD-burner, method #2
G.5.3. DVD-player
G.6. USB Pendrive
G.6.1.
H. Various "Homemade" Solutions
H.1. Downloading New Verisons of Skolelinux/Debian-edu CD, in a Smart Way with the Help of rsync
H.2. Preventing Users from Logging onto Several Thin Clients Simultaneously
H.2.1. Kicking Out a User
H.3. Ensuring that all Processes/Programs are Really Finished When Logging Out
H.4. Placing Desktop Icons for Several Users Simultaneously
I. Other "Brilliant" Linux Distributions
I.1. Snøfrix id="snofrix"
I.2. Knoppix
I.3. BBC
I.4. SLAX
I.5. Tomsrtbt
I.6. Freeduc, Live CD-ROM of Free Foftware for Schools
J. Various Nice Little Scripts
J.1. Little Scripts
J.1.1. Remove Comment Lines
J.1.2. Making Changes in Several Files Simultaneously
K. Contribute to this document and Skolelinux/Debian-edu[id=contribute]
K.1. Translate
K.2. Test Skolelinux/Debian-edu on your computer with an emulator, qemu
K.3. Screenshots
L. install_without_autopartkit.txt[id=withoutautopartkit]
M. GNU Free Documentation License
M.1. PREAMBLE
M.2. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
M.3. VERBATIM COPYING
M.4. COPYING IN QUANTITY
M.5. MODIFICATIONS
M.6. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
M.7. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
M.8. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
M.9. TRANSLATION
M.10. TERMINATION
M.11. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
M.12. How to use this License for your documents
List of Tables
3-1. The Various Names Used for the network cards in Coyote Linux
List of Figures
1-1. Help Pages in Konqueror
3-1. An Overview of Placement of the firewall/router in Skolelinux/Debian-edu
3-2. Downloading the Source Files for Windows
3-3. Windows Can't Find the Necessary dll
3-4. Coyote Linux Windows Creator Welcome Image
3-5. Local Network Setup
3-6. Setting a Password on the Coyote Linux Floppy
3-7. Syslog Server
3-8. Type of Internet Connection
3-9. Static IP configuration
3-10. Do not enable the Coyote Linux DHCP-server!
3-11. Choosing Driver Modules for Your Network Cards
3-12. Creating the Disk
3-13. Starting up Coyote Linux
3-14. Generating DSS Keys
3-15. Coyote Linux Login
3-16. Coyote Linux Menu
3-17. Changing the Password
3-18. Coyote Linux Web Administrator
3-19. Coyote Linux Main Menu
5-1. Starting up Skolelinux/Debian-edu from the CD
5-2. Choosing Language
5-3. Installation of Udeb-Packages
5-4. Information about the Various "Profiles"
5-5. The Various Profiles in Skolelinux/Debian-edu
5-6. Loading Necessary Driver Modules
5-7. Warning! The contents of all your hard drives will be erased!
5-8. Installation of the Final Packages, the Kernel and the Bootloader GRUB
5-9. Final Preparation for Second Stage Installation
6-1. Starting Skolelinux/Debian-edu from the Hard Drive with GRUB [1]
6-2. Skolelinux/Debian-edu Boot in Progress
6-3. The Root Password
6-4. Password not Visible When you Type it
6-5. Installation of Packages in the Second Stage
6-6. Installation is Complete- the Necessary Reboot
6-7. Installation is Complete- no KDM
6-8. Installation is Complete- KDM
7-1. Text-based Login
8-1. Overview of Netgroups
8-2. Adding Hosts to a Netgroup
8-3. New hosts Added to the Netgroup
8-4. Changes are Saved
8-5. Adding a New Netgroup
8-6. New Group Added
8-7. Adding a Subgroup
8-8. Subgroup Added
10-1. MToolsFM Startup Screenshot
10-2. Possible Choices
11-1. Kschoolmenu, Start
11-2. Kschoolmenu, Add Menu
11-3. Message to Everyone Logged in
11-4. Kicker
12-1. Webmin Servers
12-2. Slbackup, General
12-3. Slbackup, Backup Details
12-4. Slbackup, Backup Details, Backup Clients
12-5. Slbackup, Backup Details, Backup Server
12-6. Slbackup, Restore
12-7. Slbackup, Restored Files
12-8. Slbackup, Maintenance
12-9. Slbackup, SSH Keys
12-10. Mgdiff
12-11. Webmin Login
12-12. Welcome Screen- Webmin LDAP User Simple (WLUS)
12-13. Configuration of WLUS
12-14. New User
12-15. Result of New User
12-16. Importing the File
12-17. File Import
12-18. Importing Users from File
12-19. Result of File Import
12-20. List of Registered Users
12-21.
12-22. Disable Login
12-23. Excluded Users
12-24. Re-enabling Login
12-25. Kdepasswd, Old Password
12-26. Kdepasswd, New Password
12-27. Kdepasswd, Successful
12-28. Kdepasswd, Too Long Password
13-1. OOo, External Address Book
13-2. OOo, Registration
13-3. OOo, Options
13-4. OOo, External Programs
13-5. OOo, Toolbars
13-6. Printing Directly to pdf-Format
13-7. KMail Icon
13-8. KMail Startup Screen
13-9. KMail Identity
13-10. KMail Network
13-11. KMail New Account, Pop3
13-12. KMail New Account, IMAP
13-13. KMail, Confirm Before Send
13-14. KMail, Security Settings
13-15. KMail, Miscellaneous Settings
13-16. KMail, Menu Line
13-17. KMail, New Email
13-18. KMail, Email Toolbar
13-19. KMail, Folder Toolbar
13-20. File Manager, Home Icon
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