Ubuntu Study
Using the Standard Preseed Configuration File
Let's start the analysis with the standard Preseed configuration file, available in the Ubuntu Linux installation CD DVDs. Mount the drive. If you're in the GUI, the drive should be mounted automatically otherwise, on the command line, mount the CD DVD with the following command This assumes the CD DVD is inserted in the first available drive. (Some trial and error may be required if you have multiple CD DVD drives.) Next, copy the example-preseed.txt.gz file to the current user's home...
The Gnome Print Manager
The GNOME Print Manager tool is started from a GUI-based command-line interface with the gnome-cups-manager command. It's a fairly simple tool the options are available from the menus shown in Figure 7-4. Yes, the window is labeled Printers, but it is the GNOME Printers tool. One weakness of this tool is that it does not support the configuration of a print class. The Global Settings menu refers to two commands if the Detect LAN Printers option is checked, the value of Browsing in etc cups...
The Ubuntu Linux GUI Tool
Starting with Ubuntu Linux Gutsy Gibbon, Ubuntu has incorporated one more GUI print management tool. Those of you familiar with Red Hat and Fedora Linux should recognize the new tool. Courtesy of the GPL, Ubuntu has adapted the same basic tool as a comprehensive alternative to the web-based tool for the distribution. It's available from the system-config-printer package. Once installed, it can be started from a GUI-based command line with the system-config-printer command. Before running this...
Update and Manage Clients
Now that you know more about Ubuntu Linux repositories, you're ready to manage and update clients. Local repositories are stored in the etc apt sources.list configuration file. You may not want to accept all security updates some study of the Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) are in order for the informed Linux administrator. Know how to update management from the command line, as and manage the repository list using the well as with the Update Manager and the etc apt sources.list file, as well as...
The CUPS Configuration Files
The CUPS packages install several configuration files in the etc cups directory. Most of the detail in these files is beyond the scope of the UCP exam. But first, standard options are configured in the etc default cupsys configuration file. The default version of this file adds the parallel port print driver module. And yes, some computers (including two of mine) still have parallel ports. A summary of each of the other CUPS files in the etc cups directory is listed in Table 7-2. This reflects...
Smart Hard Disk Monitoring
Current versions of Ubuntu Linux include a hardware hard-disk monitor, based on the smartmontools package. At this time, it is focused on monitoring the health of local hard disks, based on the Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) system built into SATA, SCSI, and later-model IDE hard drives. While monitoring is configurable in the etc default smartmontools file, Ubuntu's default version of this file just contains default settings. The key command is smarted. It's a rich...
Reading ACPI Event Files
There are a large number of ACPI event files, courtesy of the acpi-support package. The detailed configuration files, as shown in Figure 3-2, are listed in the etc acpi events directory, and are usually manufacturer-specific. The event filenames are somewhat descriptive we describe some basic categories of events in Table 3-2. Each event file on the left column is in the etc acpi events directory each script in the right column is in the etc acpi directory. Regulates basic hardware, including...
Post Script Printer Definitions PPD Files
The PostScript Printer Definition (PPD) language was developed for graphics, and adapted for the first Apple LaserWriter printers. Many developers give this hardware software combination credit for starting the desktop publishing revolution in the 1980s. Without getting into the details of PPD, such drivers are available for many printers, and can be installed on Linux and Microsoft Windows operating systems. There are a variety of packages of PPD print drivers available. The following command...
OEM Installation
As noted in Chapter 1, Ubuntu's bug number 1 is associated with Microsoft's majority market share. One of the barriers to entry associated with that bug is that Microsoft Windows is preinstalled on PCs when they are sold to consumers. The OEM Installation option is intended to help manufacturers customize an installation for sale to consumers. To start the OEM installation process from the Desktop or Alternate installation CD, select the OEM Install (For Manufacturers) option. The basic steps...
Installing More Languages
To start the Ubuntu Linux Language Support tool, you could click System Administration Language support in the GNOME desktop. But the UCP curriculum explicitly cites the gnome-language-selector command. As language configuration requires administrative privileges, start the tool in a GUI command line with the following command The first time I ran the Language Support tool, I got a warning, suggesting that language support wasn't completely installed. In my case, the warning also displayed the...
GNOME Display Manager Configuration File
The GNOME display manager configuration file is etc gdm gdm.conf. While changes should be made to the etc gdm gdm.conf-custom file, the main file is well commented and is discussed here. As there are over 700 lines in this file, I only describe a few active directives that are most frequently customized and a couple of others of interest. You'll see many more directives in the etc gdm gdm.conf file on the local system. This configuration file is divided into several stanzas, as described in...
GNOME Display Manager Configuration Files
The primary GNOME display manager configuration file is etc gdm gdm.conf. The first comment at the top of this file is a warning that this file should not be updated by hand. Any configuration changes should be made to the etc gdm gdm.conf-custom file. In the Gutsy Gibbon release, there was even a backup of etc gdm gdm.conf in the etc gdm factory-gdm.conf file. For more information on the files in the etc gdm directory, see Table 12-1. Yes, there are directories in this table, but remember, in...
The Current Language Configuration
The current language is set in etc default locale detailed configuration is set in a series of variables, shown with the locale command. My etc default locale includes the following line You might realize this is the same value as shown in the etc environment configuration file. In any case, LANG is an environment variable. The en_US specifies a language and national dialect, U.S. English in this case. The UTF-8 specifies a character map, associated with the Unicode Transformation Format, which...