configuration of a Debian system

[Oskar Liljeblad <osk@hem.passagen.se>]

I written a short document on how to configure a Debian system
correctly. It has been attached at the end of this letter. The
reason I wrote it is because there are too many ways to configure
simple standard things, especially if you are working in different
unix environments. It would be nice to have them described in a
single document, instead of having to go through lots of /usr/doc-
files and man-pages.

I'd appreciate all suggestions, corrections and additions.
If anyone wants to adopt and maintain it, or integrate it into some
other document, feel free to - there are no restrictions on this
document. It is in the public domain.

Oskar Liljeblad (osk@hem.passagen.se)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Configuring system
******************

This documents describes how to correctly configure the various programs and
services of a Debian system. It is directed towards system administrators and
those emigrating from other Linux distributions and unix systems.

Oskar Liljeblad <osk@hem.passagen.se>, July 1999

Startup
-------

kernel modules loaded on startup
  add modules to /etc/modules (see modules(5))

change services started and rc-scripts run in different runlevels
  use update-rc.d (see update-rc.d(8))

local boot-time initialization scrit (rc.local)
  make a copy of /etc/init.d/skeleton, modify it, and run update-rc.d (see update-rc.d(8))

miscellaneous (time, login etc) settings related to rcS boot scripts
  edit /etc/default/rcS (see rcS(5))

XFree86 xdm on startup
  edit /etc/X11/xdm/Xservers (to remove, comment out line starting with ``:0'')

[STD] filesystem configuration and initially mounted filesystems
  edit /etc/fstab (see fstab(5))

initial networking (interfaces, routes, dhcp, ...)
  add necessary commands to /etc/init.d/network (manual configuration)

initial networking for pcmcia cards
  run /usr/sbin/pcnetconfig or edit /etc/pcmcia/network.opts

samba startup configuration
  run /usr/sbin/sambaconfig or edit /etc/samba/debian_config

Miscellaneous
-------------

confinguration of services run by inetd
  run /usr/sbin/update-inetd or edit /etc/inetd.conf

[?] devpts configuration
  edit /etc/default/devpts

kernel module/modprobe configuration (usually /etc/conf.modules
or /etc/modules.conf)
  make a new file in /etc/modutils/, then run /sbin/update-modules

default XFree86 server, and access for xinit/startx (xserver-common)
  edit /etc/X11/Xserver
  edit /etc/X11/Xsession.options (see Xsession.options(5))

various settings for XFree86 xdm
  edit /etc/X11/xdm/xdm.options (see xdm.options(5))

[STD] settings for the XFree86 server (xserver-common, xserver-*, xf86setup)
  run /usr/sbin/xserver-configure or run XF86Setup or edit /etc/X11/XF86Config

dialup and ppp networking
  add username and password to /etc/pap-secrets or /etc/chap-secrets
  make copy of /etc/ppp/peers/provider in same directory and modify it
  make copy of /etc/chatscripts/provider in same directory and modify it

default console keymap
  run /usr/sbin/kbdconfig or
    copy file from /usr/share/keymaps to /etc/kbd/default.map.gz

default console font
  edit /etc/kbd/config

exim configuration
  run /usr/sbin/eximconfig or edit /etc/exim.conf

gpm configuration
  run /usr/sbin/gpmconfig or edit /etc/gpm.conf

timezone configuration
  run /etc/tzconfig or
    symlink /etc/localtime as file in /usr/share/zoneinfo and
    in /etc/timezone put name of that file.

lilo configuration
  run /usr/sbin/liloconfig or edit /etc/lilo.conf

enable/disable shadow passwords
  run /usr/sbin/shadowconfig

System tasks
------------

[STD] adding new users
  run ``adduser'' (part of package adduser) or useradd (part of package passwd)

[STD] adding an user to a group
  run ``adduser <user> <group>''

[STD] removing users
  run userdel (part of passwd)

[STD] edit /etc/passwd or /etc/group manually
  run vipw (for /etc/passwd) or vigr (for /etc/group)

[STD] verify integrity of /etc/passwd or /etc/group
  run pwck (for /etc/passwd) or grpck (for /etc/group)

*Todo
*----
*
*syslogd-listfiles?
*etc-alternatives?