If your network setup supports OpenSLP and your network installation source has been configured to announce itself via SLP (described in Section 2.2, “Setting Up the Server Holding the Installation Sources”), boot the system, press F4 in the boot screen and select SLP from the menu.

The installation program configures the network connection with DHCP and retrieves the location of the network installation source from the OpenSLP server. If the automatic DHCP network configuration fails, you are prompted to enter the appropriate parameters manually. The installation then proceeds as described below with the exception of the network configuration step that is needed prior to adding additional repositories. This step is not needed as the network is already configured and active at this point.

If your network setup does not support OpenSLP for the retrieval of network installation sources, boot the system and press F4 in the boot screen to select the desired network protocol (NFS, HTTP, FTP, or SMB/CIFS). Provide the server's address and the path to the installation media.

The installation program automatically configures the network connection with DHCP. If this configuration fails, you are prompted to enter the appropriate parameters manually. The installation retrieves the installation data from the source specified. The installation then proceeds as described below with the exception of the network configuration step needed prior to adding additional repositories. This step is not needed as the network is already configured and active at this point.

openSUSE 11.4 Installer is a Microsoft Windows application that prepares your computer to directly boot into the openSUSE installation without having to adjust BIOS settings. It is only available on DVD media. To use the installer, insert the openSUSE media under Windows. The openSUSE 11.4 Installer setup automatically starts (if not, run openSUSE11_2_LOCAL.exe from the DVD). Choose a language for the installation and follow the instructions on the screen. The language you choose here is also preconfigured to be used for the openSUSE installation.

On the next reboot, the Microsoft Windows boot loader launches. Choose openSUSE 11.4 Installer to start the openSUSE installation. In order to proceed with the installation, you will be prompted to insert the installation media. The installation proceeds as described below. When Microsoft Windows is booted again, openSUSE 11.4 Installer is automatically uninstalled.

Installing openSUSE alongside Microsoft Windows

openSUSE can easily be installed alongside Microsoft Windows. Carry out the installation as described below—an existing Windows installation will automatically be detected and a dual boot option will be installed. If Windows covers the whole installation disk, the installation routine will make a proposal to shrink an existing Windows partition in order to make room for the openSUSE. Please read Section 1.10.1.1, “Resizing a Windows Partition” prior to the installation for detailed information.

Add-on products can be installed either from a local source (CD, DVD, or directory) or from a network source (HTTP, FTP, NFS, CIFS,...). When installing from a network source, you need to configure the network first (unless you are performing a network installation— in this case the existing network configuration is used). Choose Yes, Run the Network Setup and proceed as described in Section 1.7.1.1, “Network Setup”. If the add-on product is available locally, select No, Skip the Network Setup.

Click Next and specify the product source. Source types available are CD, DVD, Hard Disk, USB Mass Storage, a Local Directory or a Local ISO Image (if no network was configured). If the add-on product is available on removable media, the system automatically mounts the media and reads its contents. If the add-on product is available on hard disk, choose Hard Disk to install from an unmounted hard drive, or Local Directory/Local ISO Image to install from the local file system. Add-on products may be delivered as a repository or as a set of rpm files. In the latter case, check Plain RPM Directory. Whenever a network is available, you can choose from additional remote sources such as HTTP, SLP, FTP, etc. It is also possible to specify a URL directly.

Check Download Repository Description Files to download the files describing the repository now. If unchecked, they will be downloaded once the installation starts. Proceed with Next and insert a CD or DVD if required. Depending on the product's content it may be necessary to accept additional license agreements.

It is also possible to configure add-on products later. Using add-on products on the installed system is described in Chapter 7, Installing Add-On Products.

If your machine contains more than one hard disk and you want to restrict the partitioning proposal to just one disk, choose Create Partition Setup and then select a specific disk from the list. If the chosen hard disk does not contain any partitions yet, the whole hard disk will be used for the proposal. Otherwise, you can choose which existing partition(s) to utilize. To add a separate partition for you personal data check Propose a Separate Home Partition. Instead of the default partition-based proposal, it is possible to Create an LVM Based Proposal. Choose two times Next to proceed to the next step.

1.10.1.1. Resizing a Windows Partition¶

If the selected hard disk only contains a Windows FAT or NTFS partition, YaST offers to delete or shrink this partition. If you select Delete Windows Completely, the Windows partition is marked for deletion and the space is used for the installation of openSUSE.

	Deleting Windows
If you delete Windows, all data will be lost beyond recovery as soon as the formatting starts.

To Shrink the Windows Partition, you need to interrupt the installation and boot Windows to prepare the partition before shrinking it. For all Windows file systems, proceed as follows:

1. Deactivate a Virtual Memory file, if there is one.

2. Run scandisk.

3. Run defrag.

After these preparations, restart the openSUSE installation. When you turn to the partitioning setup, proceed as before and select Shrink Windows Partition. After a quick check of the partition, the dialog for resizing the Windows partition opens.

The bar graph shows how much disk space is currently occupied by Windows and how much space is still available. To change the proposed settings use the slider or the input fields to adjust the partition sizing.

Figure 1.7. Resizing the Windows Partition¶

If you leave this dialog by selecting Next, the settings are stored and you are returned to the previous dialog. The actual resizing takes place later, before the hard disk is formatted.

	Writing on NTFS Partitions
By default, the Windows uses the NTFS file system. openSUSE includes read and write access to the NTFS file system, but this feature has a few limitations. This means that you cannot read or write encrypted or compressed files. Furthermore, the Windows file permissions are not honored at the moment. See http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:NTFS for more information.

Set up your own partitioning scheme by selecting Create Partition Setup and then Custom Partitioning. The Expert Partitioner opens, displaying the current partition setup. Expand the Hard Disks in the System View pane by clicking on the +, then click on one of the listed hard disks. Now you can Add, Edit, Resize, or Delete partitions. For more information about custom partitioning and configuring advanced features, refer to Section 3.1, “Using the YaST Partitioner”

Click Change in the Create User dialog to set up network authentication or, if present, import users from a previous installation. Also change the password encryption type in this dialog.

You can also add additional user accounts or change the user authentication method in the installed system. For detailed information about user management, see Chapter 9, Managing Users with YaST.

The default authentication method is Local (/etc/passwd). If a former version of openSUSE or another system using /etc/passwd is detected, you may import local users. To do so, check Read User Data from a Previous Installation and click Choose. In the next dialog, select the users to import and finish with OK.

Access to the following network authentication services can be configured:

Along with user administration via LDAP and NIS, you can use Kerberos authentication. To use it, select Set Up Kerberos Authentication. For more information on Kerberos, refer to Chapter 6, Network Authentication with Kerberos (↑Security Guide).

If you have not chosen Use this Password for the System Administrator in the previous step, you will be prompted to enter a Password for the System Administrator root. Otherwise this configuration step is skipped.

root is the name of the superuser, or the administrator of the system. Unlike regular users (who may or may not have permission to access certain areas or execute certain commands on the system), root has unlimited access to change the system configuration, install programs, and set up new hardware. If users forget their passwords or have other problems with the system, root can help. The root account should only be used for system administration, maintenance, and repair. Logging in as root for daily work is rather risky: a single mistake could lead to irretrievable loss of system files.

For verification purposes, the password for root must be entered twice. Do not forget the root password. Once entered, this password cannot be retrieved.

The root can be changed any time later in the installed system. To do so run YaST and start Security and Users+User and Group Management.

	The root User
The user root has all the permissions needed to make changes to the system. To carry out such tasks, the root password is required. You cannot carry out any administrative tasks without this password.

Review and, if necessary, change the partition setup you configured earlier. Modifying the partition setup opens the Expert Partitioner described in Section 3.1, “Using the YaST Partitioner”.

YaST proposes a boot configuration for your system. Other operating systems found on your computer, such as Microsoft Windows or other Linux installations, will automatically be detected and added to the boot loader. However, openSUSE will be booted by default. Normally, you can leave these settings unchanged. If you need a custom setup, modify the proposal for your system. For information, see Section 18.2, “Configuring the Boot Loader with YaST”. The boot method should only be changed by experienced users.

openSUSE contains a number of software patterns for various application purposes. Click Software to start the pattern selection and modify the installation scope according to your needs. Select your pattern from the list and see a pattern description in the right part of the window. Each pattern contains a number of software packages needed for specific functions (e.g. Multimedia or Office software). For a more detailed selection based on software packages to install, select Details to switch to the YaST Software Manager.

You can also install additional software packages or remove software packages from your system at any later time with the YaST Software Manager. For more information, refer to Chapter 4, Installing or Removing Software.

Figure 1.10. Software Selection and System Tasks

Here you can change the system Language and Keyboard Layout you defined in the first step of the installation. It is also possible to add additional languages. To adjust the system language settings, select Language. Select a language from the list. The primary language is used as the system language. You can also adapt keyboard layout and time zone to the primary language if the current settings differ. Details lets you modify language settings for the user root, set UTF-8 support, or further specify the language (e.g. select South African English).

Choose secondary languages to be able to switch to one of these languages at any time without having to install additional packages. For more information, see Chapter 10, Changing Language and Country Settings with YaST.

To change the keyboard layout, select Keyboard Layout. By default, the layout corresponds to the language chosen for installation. Select the keyboard layout from the list. Use the Test field at the bottom of the dialog to check if you can enter special characters of that layout correctly. Options to fine-tune various settings are available under Expert Mode. When finished, click Accept to return to the installation summary.

Adjust time zone and clock settings here. Provided a network is configured, you can also set up a Network Time Protocol (NTP) client that automatically synchronizes your computer with a time server. This is the same configuration as shown earlier in Section 1.8, “Clock and Time Zone”.

Change the current User settings and change or set the Root Password here. This is the same configuration as shown earlier in Section 1.11, “Create New User”.

openSUSE can boot to different runlevels. Normally, there should be no need to change anything here, but if necessary set the default runlevel with this dialog. Refer to Section 17.2.3, “Configuring System Services (Runlevel) with YaST” for more information about runlevel configuration.

This dialog presents all the hardware information YaST could obtain about your computer. When called, the hardware detection routine is started. Depending on your system, this may take some time. Select any item in the list and click Details to see detailed information about the selected item. Use Save to File to save a detailed list to either the local file system or a floppy. Advanced users can also change the PCI ID setup and Kernel Settings by choosing Kernel Settings.

Installing from images considerably speeds up the installation. Images contain compressed snapshots of installed systems matching your selection of patterns. Packages not contained in the images deployed will be installed conventionally.

Unless your custom software selection does not match any of the available images, this feature is Enabled by default. In case of problems, Disable it for debugging purposes.

By default SuSEfirewall2 is enabled on all configured network interfaces. To globally disable the firewall for this computer, click on Disable. If the firewall is enabled, you may Open the SSH port in order to allow remote connections via secure shell.

Having rebooted, the system starts the Automatic Configuration. This routine attempts to configure your network and Internet access and sets up your hardware. This process does not need any interaction. You can change the settings made by Automatic Configuration at any time on the installed system with YaST. Continue with Section 1.15, “Graphical Login”.

Having rebooted, the system starts the manual configuration. If the configuration fails at one of the steps of this stage, it restarts and continues from the last successful step.

1.14.2.2. Network Configuration¶

If you are installing openSUSE on a laptop computer, Interfaces Controlled by NetworkManager is enabled. NetworkManager is a tool that enables automatic connection with minimal user intervention. It is ideal for WLAN and mobile computing. If you want to use the traditional method without NetworkManager, click Disable NetworkManager. Find detailed information about NetworkManager in Chapter 35, Using NetworkManager. If you are installing openSUSE on any other type of machine, the traditional method without NetworkManager is selected by default. This configuration step also lets you configure the network devices of your system and make security settings, for example, for a firewall or proxy.

The network can also be configured after the system installation has been completed. If you skip it now, your system is left offline unable to retrieve any available updates. To configure your network connection later, select Skip Configuration and click Next.

The following network settings can be configured in this step:

General Network Settings

Enable or disable the use of NetworkManager as described above. Also change the IPv6 support here. By default the IPv6 support is enabled. To disable it, click Disable IPv6. For more information about IPv6, see Section 23.2, “IPv6—The Next Generation Internet”.

Firewall

By default SuSEfirewall2 is enabled on all configured network interfaces. To globally disable the firewall for this computer, click on Disable. If the firewall is enabled, you may Open the SSH port in order to allow remote connections via secure shell. To open the detailed firewall configuration dialog, click on Firewall. See Section “Configuring the Firewall with YaST” (Chapter 14, Masquerading and Firewalls, ↑Security Guide) for detailed information.

Network Interfaces

All network cards detected by YaST are listed here. If you have already set up a network connection during the installation (as described in Section 1.7.1.1, “Network Setup”) the card used for this connection is listed as Configured. A click on Network Interfaces opens the Network Settings dialog, where you can change existing configurations, set up networks cards not configured yet, or add and configure additional cards.

DSL Connections, ISDN Adapters, and Modems

If your computer is equipped with an internal DSL modem, an internal ADSL Fritz Card, an ISDN card or a modem, clicking on the respective headline opens the configuration dialog.

VNC Remote Administration

To enable remote administration of your machine via VNC, click VNC Remote Administration. Choose Allow Remote Administration in the following dialog and adjust your firewall settings accordingly.

Proxy

If you have a proxy server controlling the Internet access in your network, configure the proxy URLs and authentication details in this dialog.

	Resetting the Network Configuration to the Default Values
Reset the network settings to the original proposed values by clicking Change+Reset to Defaults. This discards any changes made.

1.14.2.2.1. Test Internet Connection¶

After having configured a network connection, you can test it. For this purpose, YaST establishes a connection to the openSUSE server and downloads the latest release notes. Read them at the end of the installation process. A successful test is also a prerequisite for the automatic addition of the default repositories and for updating online.

If you have multiple network interfaces, verify that the desired card is used to connect to the Internet. If not, click Change Device.

To start the test, select Yes, Test Connection to the Internet and click Next. In the following dialog, view the progress of the test and the results. Detailed information about the test process is available via View Logs. If the test fails, click Back to return to the network configuration to correct your entries.

Proceed with Next. If the test was successful, the official software repositories for openSUSE and the update repository will be configured. Downloading the repository data for the first time may take some time.

If you do not want to test the connection at this point, select No, Skip This Test then Next. This also skips downloading the release notes, and updating online. These steps can be performed any time after the system has been initially configured.

1.14.2.3. Online Update¶

If an Internet connection has been established, and updates are available, select whether to perform a YaST online update. If there are any patched packages available on the servers, download and install them now to fix known bugs or security issues. For detailed instructions see Chapter 5, YaST Online Update. Directives on how to perform an online update in the installed system are available at Section 4.5, “Keeping the System Up-to-date” or Chapter 5, YaST Online Update. This step is skipped if no updates are available or no Internet connection has been established. Patches fixing security issues and recommended patches applying to your installation are automatically preselected. Click Accept to install them and Next to proceed with the system configuration.

	Downloading Software Updates
The download of updates might take quite some time, depending on the bandwidth of the Internet connection and the size of the update files. In case the patch system itself is updated, the online update will restart and download more patches after the restart. If the kernel was updated, the system will reboot before completing the configuration.

1.14.2.6. Hardware Configuration¶

At the end of the installation, YaST opens a dialog for the configuration of a printer, the sound system and TV cards. Click the individual components to start the hardware configuration. For the most part, YaST detects and configures the devices automatically.

You can skip any peripheral devices and configure them later, as described in Chapter 12, Setting Up Hardware Components with YaST. To skip the configuration, select Skip Configuration and click Next.

	Resetting Hardware Configuration to the Default Values
You can cancel any changes to the hardware configuration by clicking Change+Reset to Defaults. YaST then shows the original proposal again.