Installing Open SUSE Linux

Begin Installation

Let's start.
Make sure you have everything ready - your PC and the installation disk(s).

• If you are installing SUSE as a virtual machine, make sure your VMware Player or Server are properly configured and that you have the necessary .vmx and .vmdk files.
• If you are installing SUSE for real, make sure that you have dedicated the necessary space on your hard disk for the installation - it can be an existing partition or some free space.

To begin the installation:

1. Place the SUSE installation DVD in the DVD-ROM tray.
2. Start the VMware Player / Server and open the SUSE .vmx file (e.g. named suse.vmx).

With the (virtual) PC booting, hit Esc button to enter the BIOS setup. Select option 3. CD-ROM Drive. Hit Enter to start booting from CD.
Note: Although the boot option refers to CD-ROM, if you have a physical DVD drive with a DVD disk inserted in it, VMware Player / Server will treat it correctly.
After a few seconds, SUSE Linux DVD will boot and present you with several options. Select Installation and press Enter.

The setup will probe your mouse and keyboard. Luckily, you will have a full hardware compatibility. After a few seconds, you will be prompted to choose the language that you want to use. Select the desired Language and click Next.



Next, you will be presented with the License Agreement. After reading through, check mark the Yes, I Agree to the License Agreement button and click Next to continue.



The installer will now conduct a System Analysis. It will probe the remaining hardware for compatibility. You do not need to do anything at this stage.



Following a successful hardware inspection, you will be prompted to start the installation. Theoretically, if you had a previous version of SUSE installed, you might want to choose to Update. However, since our virtual hard disk is empty, this option is grayed out.

Include Add-On Products from Separate Media refers to other programs that you might want to include and are NOT on the installation DVD. At this stage, we will install only our 'basic' DVD. Leave the checkbox unmarked.

Select New Installation and click Next.



You will be prompted to select your Clock and Time Zone. Make your choices and click Next.



Now you need to choose between desktop environments that you want to use. Personally, I prefer KDE. For someone who has never used Linux, I feel KDE would be a better choice for two reasons - it feels more Windows-like and is absolutely dead-sexy. Not to be slighted, GNOME is also very nice and user-friendly, and eventually, it should come to personal taste.

Other desktops might not be included in the package and you might be prompted for extra CD / DVDs. Leave the other options for a next Linux install. In the meanwhile, limit your choice between GNOME and KDE.

Select your desktop and click Next.

Partitioning, boot loader, expert options

Installation Settings is the next stage. It is a very important stage. Please pay special attention now. You need to decide:

1. The layout of partitions to which SUSE will be installed.
2. The packages that you want to install.
3. The operating system language.

The last two options will be rather limited. You will, at this stage, only install the basic DVD and use your preferred language that you have chosen already. However, the partitioning requires a more delicate approach.

Partitioning

This is probably the hardest part of the installation. Nevertheless, although things may sound scary or confusing, everything should work just fine if you carefully handle each step.
To understand Linux better, we should first make notice that Linux uses a different notation than Windows. In Windows, you are used to letters (C:\, E:\, G:\ etc). In Linux, partition names are a bit different.
Here are some examples:

• If you have one IDE hard drive with 2 partitions, the partitions will be marked hda1 and hda2. hd stands for hard drive, a stands for "first" (first letter of the alphabet, first drive) and numbers 1 and 2 indicate the two partitions.
• If you have one SATA hard drive with 3 partitions, the partitions will be marked sda1, sda2 and sda3.
• If you have two IDE hard drives with 1 and 2 partitions, respectively, they will be marked hda1, hdb1 and hdb2.

You should be aware of this when you perform an installation on a computer that is already partially occupied with other operating systems. This will also help you make an easy translation from Windows letters to Linux letters. For instance, if you intend to install SUSE on the G:\ partition, as seen in Windows, being the fourth partition on your first SATA hard drive, in Linux, during the installation, this partition will be marked sda4.

Root and home partitions

SUSE Linux separates the system from the user. The root partition (/) is used to install the system files. The home partition (/home) is used exclusively for user files. This way, if you update your SUSE, your personal files will remain untouched - this is very similar to creating a data partition when you install Windows.

OK, now let's see what the Installer asks us to do at this point.

Overview

A default selection of partitioning has been made for me. SUSE installer wants to create 3 partitions for me:

1. SWAP partition (/swap, a la page file In Windows), which will be used by the system for various operations.
2. Root partition (/) that will be formatted with reiserfs file system and used to install  and boot the operating system.
3. Home partition (/home) that will be used as a sort of data partition, formatted with reiserfs file system, too.

The three partitions will be created and mounted on my one and only IDE hard drive. In my case, since I'm installing SUSE on an empty (virtual) hard disk that was previously unpartitioned, the default choice seems well enough for me. However, it is possible that you might want to change the partitioning.

• If you have a single hard disk with another operating system already installed, you might want to change the default choice and place SUSE on a partition of your choice.
• If you have several hard disk that are empty, partially empty or have other operating systems, you might want to change the choice and place SUSE on a disk and a partition of your own choosing.

Here is an example to make things clearer:

Let's say I have a 100GB SATA hard drive with Windows installed on the primary (first) partition. The Windows partition is 40GB large. Additionally, I have 2 more partitions, lettered D:\ and E:\, 40GB and 20GB large, respectively.

SUSE installer will ask me to repartition sda1 (in other words, shrink the Windows partition) and create the three Linux partitions in the allocated free space. I do not like this choice. I want to install SUSE on my E:\ drive.

When making the manual changes, I should remember the Linux notation - E:\ drive is the third partition on my one and only SATA hard drive - therefore, it will be marked sda3. OK, so this is where I want to install SUSE.

Expert options

Under expert options, you will be able to:

• Repartition and resize your hard drives.
• Decide the type and the location of the boot loader.

Boot loader

SUSE needs to know which partition to boot from. For this reason, SUSE uses the GRUB boot loader. Unlike the Windows boot loader, which always installs into the Master Boot Record (MBR), the 1st sector on the hard drive, GRUB can be installed on any partition.

SUSE installer is smart and will make the right choice of the hard drive where to install the boot loader. I strongly suggest people with little Linux experience to refrain from using the Expert Options, because they might inadvertently mess things up.

Nevertheless, here are some basic concepts that you should be aware of:

Some older BIOSes are limited to reading only the first 1024 sectors of a hard disk. In this case, if you install the boot loader above the 1024th sector (on one of the partitions), you will not be able to boot your Linux. This means that you might have to consider on which partition to place the boot loader (< 1024th sector). Or alternatively, create a small separate boot partition.

Without going into too many technical details, the GRUB boot loader consists of stages. Stage 1 is written to the MBR, appended to the existing information contained there. Stage 2 usually resides on the root partition of the Linux distribution.

This means that the boot loader might be overwritten any time you write new information to the Master Boot Record. If you're using only SUSE on your machine, this will not bother you. However, if you intend to run SUSE in, let's say, a dual-boot configuration with Windows, this might have implications:

• If you use Windows Recovery Console to fix the Master Boot Record for some reason or reinstall Windows, you will destroy the GRUB boot loader.
• If you use imaging backup software capable of reading and writing MBR, when restoring a partition, you might destroy the GRUB boot loader.

Your best choice is to let the installer figure it out. You will be able to move it to another partition later on, once SUSE is installed (inside SUSE control center called YaST). For more information about GRUB, please visit GNU GRUB site and refer to the GNU GRUB Manual 0.97.

Other options

There are other expert options to consider, too - encryption, RAID configuration etc. If you know what these are and how and why to use them, you probably do not need this guide.

To change the default settings, click Change > Partitioning / Software / Language. If you have chosen to change the Partitioning, you will be presented with a number of options. Select Create Custom Partition Setup and click Next.



You will be asked to select the hard drive to partition. Select Custom Partitioning (for experts) and click Next.



In the next step, under Expert Partitioner, you will be able to fully configure your choices. You will be able to edit, delete or create partitions of any size and format them with any which (available) file system. If you have two hard disks in your computer, you will be able to configure them to boot the operating system simultaneously in a so-called RAID configuration.

You should not that note of your choices will be committed until you click Finish. Furthermore, you will always be able to go back or even start anew (with max. 5-10 min setback). At all times, a small window to the left will display a help guide to explain what each of the options mean. Feel free to explore but keep in mind that you need to understand each of the steps you do. If this is your first time ever installing Linux you should stick with the basic options or at the very least only change the partitions to which you want to install your system.



Sounds like a lot of mess, but it is not. Here are some practical examples:

Hardware	Operating system(s)	What should I choose?
1 hard disk, empty / 1 partition	SUSE only	Default
1 hard disk, 2 + partitions	SUSE & Windows	Install Windows first on primary partition Install SUSE on other partition Install boot loader by default OLD BIOS: Install SUSE root on a partition that begins before the 1024th sector; install boot loader on that partition (or lower)
2 + hard disks, 1 partition each	SUSE only	Default
2 + hard disks, multiple partitions	SUSE & Windows	Install Windows first on primary partition of the FIRST hard disk Install SUSE on any other partition of the FIRST or SECOND hard disk Install boot loader on the FIRST hard disk OLD BIOS: If you install SUSE on the FIRST hard disk, install SUSE root on a partition that begins before the 1024th sector; install boot loader on that partition (or lower) If you install SUSE on the the SECOND hard disk, use defaults - install boot loader on the FIRST hard disk

Note: If you have more than one physical hard disk and install SUSE on the second, third or any other than the first hard disk, you will have two choices regarding the GRUB:

1. Place it on the same hard disk.
2. Place it on the first hard disk.

If you choose option 1, you will have to change the boot order of the hard disks in the BIOS. The second option will allow you to boot natively.

As a general rule, if you have a machine that will dual-boot or multi-boot SUSE alongside other operating systems, always install Windows operating systems first (from older to newer) and then install SUSE. Windows will always write to the Master Boot Record, while SUSE will keep the MBR intact. Furthermore, in case you decide to make your own choice, you should mind these recommendations:

• SWAP partitions should be sufficiently large to allow the system to work quickly; it should be at least equal in size to your RAM or larger; 1.5x and 2x RAM is often recommended.
• Root partition will need around at least 2-3GB to install the entire package. In the future, you will probably want to add extra programs, so it would be wise to leave some extra space.
• Home partition can be of any size.
• Boot partition should be around 100MB.

In my case, I have ONE hard disk that was empty (or at most had ONE - primary - partition). Therefore, I will use the DEFAULT settings chosen for me by the installer. Therefore, under Installation Settings > Overview, I will use the suggested setup and click Accept to proceed.



Now, you will asked to accept the separate license agreements for some third-party software, namely AdobeICCProfiles and Macromedia Flash Player. If you disagree, these packages will not be installed. These packages are not included with the 5 CD set.

Complete installation & copy files

You will be asked once again to confirm that all of the selections you have made are correct and that you want to proceed with the install. Click Install to begin the installation.

The installation with start with the formatting of the partitions.



Next, the package installation will begin. Depending on the computing power of your PC, this may take 10-40 minutes. On a PC with a 64-bit processor and 2GB RAM, this stage of a 64-bit SUSE installation took only about 10 minutes.



If you are interested, click the Details tab to see how the installation progresses.



After some time, the basic installation will complete.

Once the package installation is finished, the system will reboot (the one time during the entire procedure).



The GRUB boot menu will load and present you will boot options. At this stage, we want to boot the first option - SUSE Linux 10.1. Either highlight your choice (using arrow keys) and press Enter or wait for the default counter (8 seconds) to time out.

If you had Windows installed alongside SUSE (or vice versa), you would see Windows as one of the options in the list. Generally, the boot loader will place SUSE topmost and Windows below it.



The operating system will load. For some time, you will see a screen filled with textual input - also called verbose mode. Do not be alarmed. Let the system boot up to the next stage of the installation.

Root password, network, users

After the system loads, you will enter the configuration phase of the installation. First, you will need choose the Hostname and Domain names. This is somewhat similar to Windows computer name and workgroup. If you are unsure what to choose, you may use the default. You can also refer to the Help button for more information.

The next stage will be to choose the password for the root (super-user or administrator) account. You should select a very strong password. A very strong password is one that contains both lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols and is not based on dictionary words, for example this is a STRONG password: eD213^krePg9%.

If you like, you may also refer to Expert Options. Under Expert Options, you will be to choose what type of encryption you would like to use to secure your password. If you are unsure what to do, just use the default options.

Do not forget your root password! Engraft it onto your forehead, if needed, but do not lose it. If you forget or lose the root password, you will not be able to retrieve it and your system will be pretty much useless.



After this, your network will be configured. You will have to wait a few moments for each component to be probed.



Again, you will be able to change individual options. During the installation, you may continue with the default settings. You will be able to set each individual component later. You might want to keep the firewall enabled. Furthermore, if you see a list of devices under Network Interfaces, this means your network card has been successfully recognized by the system. Once satisfied with all of the choices, click Next to continue.



The installer will then save your network settings.



You will be able to test your Internet connection now. If you are installing SUSE in VMware Player with NAT enabled or on a PC that connects to the Internet through another computer, a local network or a router, you might want to test the connection. If you have not yet contacted an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or have doubts about the functionality of your network, you can safely skip this step and do it later.

If you have several network cards in your machine, you might want to decide which one to use to establish the Internet connection. Click Change Device to choose the appropriate card. After that, check mark the desired option and click Next to continue.



If you test your connection (with success), you will see the following screen:



Next, you will be asked to configure your online updates. If you do not have a working Internet connection, leave this step for later. If you have tested your connection successfully, you might want to use the Configure Now (Recommended) option. The installer will define the Update Server and configure the Update Service. You will be able to perform a system update at this stage. This can take up to several hours, depending on your connection speed and server load. You will be able to add extra sources for updates (repositories) once SUSE is fully installed.



After the network settings, you will be asked to configure your user name. As a home user, select Local (/etc/passwd); you should not bother with the other three options. Click Next to continue.



Much like in Windows, it is time to choose your user name. You can configure several users at this stage, but you should best leave that for later on. You should enter a Full Name (real or invented), a Username (in small letters) and some sort of Password. You can choose a weaker password that the root.

Suggestion button will create a username suggestion based on your full name. Automatic Login means you will not be prompted to enter your credentials when booting. User Management allows you to add more users. Leave that option for later.

First login

The system configuration will be written now, based on your input.

Once this step is completed, you will be able to read the Release Notes - all about what the new version 10.1 offers.



Once again, the installer will make a thorough examination of your hardware. You will be able to skip this step and configure each component later, but you should let the system commit the changes.

Most likely, you will have a sound card detected. The graphic card and monitor drivers will probably not be installed yet. You will have to do it later. Until then, you will enjoy only the basic VESA adapter at 60Hz refresh rate and no 3D acceleration. Then again, this might be enough for you. Once you accept, the configuration will be committed.



And that's it, basically! You have completed the installation. You have partitioned your hard disks, installed the packages, configured your user name, password, network, and other hardware. The entire procedure should have taken you about 40-50 minutes at most. When you click Finish, you will log in into your desktop.



If you have chosen the super-handsome KDE desktop, it will start loading.



Just before you hit the desktop, you will be able to register your product. If you do not have an Internet connection or wish to do it later, postpone this step for later.



When installing in VMware Player / Server, you might be told that your monitor geometry is not configured properly. You will be prompted to set your screen. This is virtually identical to setting your display in Windows. Since this procedure will be invoked only if you have a graphic card installed, I will not post screenshots to avoid confusion. If you are using a virtualization product, you will most likely have the generic graphic drivers installed. If you are installing for real on physical hardware, you will need to configure your graphic drivers alone - see later in this manual. And that's it! We're in! Welcome to the most handsome Linux ever.