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Installation Target

This is a series of connected screens that you use to tell the installer exactly where to put the SOT Linux 2003 system files on your hard drive. You start with four choices (see Figure 1.5):

Figure 1.5: Installation path

• Whole disk This is by far the simplest installation. You devote an entire hard disk solely to the SOT Linux 2003 operating system. Partitions will be created automatically. This option is recommended if you have a free hard drive which will only be used for running SOT Linux. The entire contents of your chosen hard drive will be deleted to make room for SOT Linux, so make sure any files you want to keep are backed up elsewhere!
• Prepared partitions This option will be selected by default if the installer detects any existing GNU/Linux partitions on your hard drive. Choose this option if you want to over-write a previous GNU/Linux installation.
• Custom This option provides you with the most flexibility in choosing where to install SOT Linux on your hard drive. You can examine, create and delete partitions, and specify which will be be used to install SOT Linux and which will remain committed to other operating systems. You do need to understand something about disk partitions to use this option effectively. See page .
• Update existing Linux OS This option allows you to update a previous version of SOT Linux.

Make your choice and click on the corresponding button. You will be taken to a new screen, depending on which button you clicked.

Selecting a hard disk

If you selected the WHOLE DISK option you'll be presented with a list of hard drives connected to your computer (see Figure 1.6).

Figure 1.6: Selecting a Hard disk

Beside each hard drive is its size in MB and a description of the drive's current file system. Click on the drive you want to install SOT Linux to. Remember, this will erase all the data on that drive!

If, like most people, you only have one hard drive in your computer, you'll have very limited choices in this screen. In fact, no choice at all. You'll see one line describing your single drive. Click on it to select it.

If you're sure about overwriting the drive with SOT Linux 2003 (remember all other data on the drive will be lost), click the PREPARE SELECTED DISK FOR LINUX button. The installer will format the chosen hard drive (this may take a few moments). You have finished this installation step! Ignore section 1.8.3, Selecting the Root Partition, as this has been done for you automatically. Move on to the next installation icon!

Tell me more! In GNU/Linux, hard drives are named according to a certain formula. All begin with "/dev", indicating that the hard drive is a device. The rest of the name depends on the type of hard drive, and how it is connected to your computer. Suffice it to say that IDE hard drives continue with "/hda", "/hdb", and so on, while SCSI hard drives are "/sda", "/sdb" etc. So your first IDE hard drive is named "/dev/hda", while your second SCSI drive would be "/dev/sdb". Logical, yes?

Disk Partitions

If you chose the CUSTOM option, you will be presented with the screen in Figure 1.7.

Figure 1.7: Disk partitions

You can use this screen to add, delete and modify the partitions in your hard drives. Take care that you know exactly what you are doing, because a mistake here could mean you accidentally erase large parts of your hard drive.

Drives and their associated partitions are shown in the "Device" column. The "Type" field indicates the filesystem (Linux, DOS, etc.) present on each partition, or `Not used' in the case of blank unformatted partitions. In the next column, partitions making up your GNU/Linux system have their mount points listed. The Size column reveals the capacity of each drive or partition in megabytes. Partitions containing operating systems have an asterisk in the "Bootable" column, while the final column indicates whether the installer will attempt to format the partition.

You should avoid tampering with existing partitions that contain data, unless you are prepared to lose the data.

Tell me more! Disk partitions in GNU/Linux are named by appending the number of the partition to the name of the hard drive (see page  ). So, the second partition of your first IDE hard drive is known as "/dev/hda2"

Root partition

You will need to dedicate a partition to hold your SOT Linux 2003 root filesystem. To do this, you'll need to have spare unpartitioned space on your hard drive or be prepared to convert an existing partition to GNU/Linux. Alternatively, you may choose to shrink an existing Windows partition in order to free some disk space for SOT Linux.

• Use free unpartitioned space

  Choose (click on) a partition described as NOT USED in the System column. Then click on the EDIT box. A dialog box will appear, allowing you to set the properties of the chosen partition. Adjust the size of the partition to an appropriate amount (Your worksheet from page  may be helpful here). You also need to select a filesystem for your new partition. We recommend REISERFS or LINUX EXT2--see the boxed insert below. Choose (/) as the mount point of your root partition.

• Convert an existing partition

  If you don't have any unpartitioned free space, you can convert an existing filesystem to GNU/Linux. Be warned that this will erase all the data on the partition. Don't convert a partition that contains information you want to keep. Select the partition you want to convert and click the EDIT button. Set the filesystem to REISERFS or LINUX EXT2 and the mount point to (/).

• Resize a Windows partition.

  To resize a windows partition, select the partition by clicking on its name. Windows partitions usually appear as DOS FAT in the partition tree. When the partitions appears highlighted, click the RESIZE button. A sliding gadget will appear, letting you reduce the size of this partition. Drag the slide bar to the left, until the partition is the desired size. When you are satisfied with the new size, click OKAY. The partition will be listed in the tree at its reduced size, and the remaining space will be available for making new partitions (refer to ``Use free unpartitioned space'', above).

Tell me more! ReiserFS or ext2? We recommend the newer ReiserFS format for your SOT Linux partitions because of its speed, economical use of disk space and ability to handle large file sizes. Alternatively you may choose to use ext2, a traditional and time-honoured GNU/Linux filesystem.

Mounting other partitions

If you have spare partitions available, you may use them to host further branches of your SOT Linux filesystem. For example, you might reserve an entire partition for users' home directories by assigning it to the /home mount point. This frees up space in the root partition. Follow the directions for the root partition above, choosing alternative mount points for your extra partition(s).

Mounting other partitions is entirely optional. If you only have a single (root) partition available, all your SOT Linux directories will be placed there.

Any Windows partitions you have will be automatically mounted as /mnt/c etc. so you can access them from within SOT Linux.

Swap space

You will also need a partition for the GNU/Linux swap space. This partition can be a lot smaller than your root partition. See page  in Section 1.1.2 for some tips on choosing an appropriate size.

Proceed as above, but set the filesystem for this partition to be LINUX SWAP.

Saving your changes

If you make a mistake, click on the RESET button to remove your changes. Once you are sure you have everything just right, click the WRITE button to save your changes to the disk(s). Once you choose to write your changes, you can no longer use the Reset button, so take care! Any new partitions you have made will be formatted (this may take a few moments). You will then be asked to select the partition to hold the root filesystem.

Selecting the Root partition

If your selected the PREPARED PARTITIONS option, you will need to tell the installer which of your partitions to use as the root partition (Figure 1.8).

Figure 1.8: Selecting the Root partition

The installer will display a list of the GNU/Linux partitions on your hard drive(s) and their size. Choose the partition that you want to install SOT Linux 2003 to, remembering to pick one that is large enough for your installation class (see section 1.9). Click on the name of the chosen partition, and hit the > button. SOT Linux 2003 will be installed on your chosen partition. You can continue with the next stage.

Formatting the partitions

The installer will display a list of the partitions that will be used in your SOT Linux 2003 installation, along with their mount points. The FORMATTING column indicates whether or not the installer will format each partition. Formatting prepares the partition to hold data, and will erase any existing data. Check that this information is correct, to ensure that you are not about to format the wrong partitions!

When you're ready, press the FORMAT CHOSEN PARTITIONS button. Formatting takes a few seconds. When it is complete, press the > button to continue with the installation.

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