RH033 Unit10 Baisc System Configuration Tools

Objectives

Upon completion of this unit, you should be able:

• Configure date, network and printer settings
• Send text to printer
• Set the system’s date and time

TCP/IP Network Configuration

1) Important network settings:

• IP Configuration
• Device Activation
• DNS Configuration
• Default Gateway

Managing Ethernet Connections

1) Network interfaces are named sequentially: eth0, eth1, etc

• Multiple addresses can be assigned to a device with aliases
• Aliases are labeled eth0:1, eth0:2, etc.
• Aliases are treated like spereated interfaces

2) View interface configuration with ifconfig [ethx]

3) Enable interface with ifup ethx

4) Disable interface with ifdown ethx

Graphical Network Configuration system-config-network

1) System �C> Administration �C> Network

• Activate/ Deactivate interfaces
• Assign IP address/ DHCP
• Modify DNS settings
• Modify gateway address

Network Configuration File Ethernet Devices

1) Device configuration is stored in text files

• /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethx
• Complete list of options in  /usr/share/doc/initscripts-*/sysconfig.txt

Network Configuration Files Other Global Network Settings

1) Global settings in /etc/sysconfig/network

• Many may be provided by DHCP
• GATEWAY can be overridden in ifcfg file

Network Configuration Files DNS Configuration

1) Domain Name Service translate hostname to network address

2) Server address is specified by dhcp or in /etc/resolv.conf

    nameserver 192.168.0.254

    nameserver 192.168.1.254

Printing in Linux

1) Printers may be local or networked

2) Print requests are sent to queues

3) Queued jobs are sent to the printer on a first come first served basis

4) Jobs may be canceled before or during printing

system-config-printer

1) System �C> Administration �C> Printing

2) Supported printer connections:

• Local (parallel or usb)
• Unix/Linux print server
• Window print server
• Netware print server
• HP JetDirect

3) Configuration stored in /etc/cups/printers.conf

Printing Commands

1) lpr sends a job to the queue to be printed

• Accepts ASCII, PostScript, PDF, others

2) lpq views the contents of the queue

3) lprm removes a job from the queue

4) System V printing commands such as lp, lpstat and cancel are also supported

Printing Utilities

1) evince views PDF documents

2) lpstat �Ca lists configured printers

3) enscript and a2ps converts text to PostScript

4) ps2pdf converts PostScript to PDF

5) mpage prints multiple page per sheet

Setting the System’s Date and Time

1) GUI: system-config-date

• System �C> Administration �C> Date & Time
• Can set date/time manually or use NTP
• Additional NTP servers can be added
• Can use local time or UTC

2) CLI: date [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]]

• date 01011330
• date 010113302007.05

End of Unit10

1) Quetions and Answers

2) Summary

• system-config-network
• /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/*
• ifup, ifdown
• date configures date/time from CLI
• system-config-date configures date/time from GUI