Re: Switching to Debian from old Slackware 2.1; orientation?
"Daniel S. Barclay" <daniel@compass-da.com> writes:
> I've started upgrading to Debian 1.2 from Slackware Pro 2.1 (yes, very old).
>
> Given the difference in distributions and other changes in Linux, I feel
> quite blind. I don't where everything is and how things work now. Also,
> I'm not clear on how to configure and customize things without screwing up
> dpkg.
>
> Can someone point me to (or provide) any of the following information?
> - The recommended way to customize startup scripts.
> (For example, on my old system, I put commands to swap the control
> and caps-locks keys, to add extra swap space, etc., in rc.local.
> Where do things like that go now?)
Debian uses the standard SysVinit system to handle booting. As
mentioned in the man page, init(8), there is documentation in
/etc/init.d/README.
Basically what happens is this:
When the system boots, it runs all the scripts in /etc/rc.boot. Then
it switches to the default runlevel (usually 2). When you switch into
a runlevel, the system runs all the scripts in /etc/rc?.d, where ? is
the runlevel. First it runs the scripts that start with 'K' (with the
argument 'stop'), which are supposed to kill processes; then it runs
scripts that start with 'S' (with the argument 'start'), which are
supposed to start new processes. Each file has a number in its name,
which determines the order they are run in.
The directory /etc/rc.boot has no restriction on its filenames, you
can put your scriptfile for customizing the keyboard there.
Let me give you an example of how to use the /etc/rc?.d directories,
though:
I installed "qmail", an alternative to sendmail, on my system by hand,
because there is no Debian package yet. So I created a script 'qmail'
that starts qmail, if you give it the argument 'start' and stops it if
you give the argument 'stop'. I placed the script in /etc/init.d. I
want qmail to start when I enter runlevel 2, so I had to create a link
in /etc/rc2.d to the script 'qmail':
ln -s /etc/init.d/qmail /etc/rc2.d/S19qmail
The 'S' means start qmail, the 19 makes it run between S18netbase and
S20xinetd. I also deleted the link, '/etc/rc2.d/S20sendmail' because
I didn't want sendmail to start. (But I still have the script in
/etc/init.d, in case I ever want to use it again.)
Finally, I created a link
ln -s /etc/init.d/qmail /etc/rc6.d/K19qmail
so that qmail is killed when I reboot (runlevel 6 is reboot).
(All this magic is actually handled by the scripts /etc/init.d/boot
and /etc/init.d/rc, which are referenced by /etc/inittab.)
> - How I can and should set the video mode to something other than 24 X 80
> when the kernel boots.
> (This is probably just a general Linux question on which I'm quite
> behind. I used to used vidmode (rdev) on the kernel image on a
> kernel boot floppy. That doesn't work any more (at least on the
> normal Debian 1.2 installation's custom kernel boot floppy (which
> isn't just a kernel anyway)).)
> - What I can customize and configure without messing up dpkg. Also,
> how to tell dpkg I'm customizing something.
> (I saw a --divert option somewhere. When do I need to use it?
> For example, for dealing with two ISPs, I have two sets of
> some configuration files, and swap around the links to them.
> Would I need to tell dpkg not to disturb my link files, or to not
> get confused by changes or timestamp changes?)
> - How to install or remove modules. (That is, how to add or remove
> modules to whatever boot-time script loads them, not necessarily
> the actual loading or unloading of modules.)
> (The Debian installation sets this up initially, but doesn't point
> to how to change it. I would guess that's now a standard Linux
> system management operation--but I don't know it.)
The module loading is handled by the script /etc/init.d/modules, which
just uses the configuration file "/etc/modules" (this is what you want
to edit"). My /etc/modules file looks like:
# /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time.
#
# This file should contain the names of kernel modules that are
# to be loaded at boot time, one per line. Comments begin with
# a `#', and everything on the line after them are ignored.
# An entry named `auto' will cause the system to start kerneld immediately.
# Kerneld then loads modules on demand. `noauto' disables kerneld completely.
auto
wd io=0x300
smc-ultra io=0x280
ip_masq_ftp
I believe there is a utility with a pretty interface that will write
the file for you (you use it when you install), but 'vi' works fine
for me.
> Generally, does anyone know of good source of information on what's
> changed in Linux recently (well, since around kernel 1.2.13 and
> Slackware 2.1 and before ELF)? (I mean besides re-reading all the
> documentation just to look for changed things.) I'm probably doing a
> lot of things some very old ways.
> Oh, one more question: If problems are noted in this mailing list,
> is someone submitting bug reports to Debian, or should we report all these
> recent 1.2 bugs to Debian?
You should check the bug tracking system on the Debian home page, to
see if the bug has been reported yet, then submit a report.
Steve
dunham@gdl.msu.edu
--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org . Trouble? e-mail to Bruce@Pixar.com
Reply to: