NOTE: The content of this page may be outdated. Links may not be valid and the steps detailed may no longer work. This page is saved for archival purposes only.
This guide a personal configuration of Fedora 18. This page is to provide some common installation tips that people may find useful. Keep in mind this works for me, so take care in doing proper backups to critical files whenever trying something. This guide is primarily on machines running x86_64 (64-bit) Fedora, however 32-bit Fedora is tested in virtual machine. (The specific system(s) also dual boot with Windows 7).
Fedora 18 is provided as either DVD-ROM's or CD-ROM for installation. The DVD-ROM disk is method of installation this guide uses. Booting the DVD will start the installer which will allow Fedora to be installed on your computer or for you to upgrade an existing Fedora on your machine.
There are also "LiveCD's" which can be booted and will run a basic Fedora in memory while also providing a simpler method of installation (not as complete at the DVD method). The default LiveCD ships with Gnome (ex: Fedora-18-x86_64-Live-Desktop.iso). There is also specific LiveCD that ships with KDE. Both provide an installer however they come with significantly less software than the DVD. Also they require more memory in order to be usable. The LiveCD is useful for demonstration.
Note: To upgrade an existing Fedora installation you cannot use a Live disk.
It is highly recommended you read the Fedora Release Notes and official Installation Guide before installing Fedora. An additional recommendation is to read Common Problems before installing. Fedora 18 has had major changes in the installer since its previous release.
Obtain the Fedora 18 DVD image from a Fedora mirror (or use the torrent, additional formats) and burn to DVD. (For more information on how to download Fedora CD's or DVD, also how to burn ISO images).
Boot from the DVD. If you choose to use a LiveCD please note that the following steps will differ.
NOTE: The Fedora installer is very minimal and most configuration steps will need to be done post-installation. With some minor exceptions most of the default settings are correct. The settings which are most critical is your partitioning and boot loader options.
The Fedora 18 installer has 3 main setup options (with some sub options):
For SOFTWARE, select SOFTWARE SELECTION
On the left you see 'Choose your environment' where you will get an option for what type of Installation of Fedora you would like to setup. NOTE: The Fedora 18 installer only allows ONE desktop environment to be installed at setup (we can add more later). This guide uses 'GNOME Desktop' as that is the default for Fedora. I would recommend either 'Xfce' or 'LXDE' if your computer is slightly older. If you don't have issues with installation from the web, I would recommend selecting a desktop and adding more software later.
On the right you see 'Choose your add-ons' where you can add additional software that is either complements the environment you picked or add other software independent of the desktop. I recommend adding 'Development Tools', but this is not required.
Select [Done] at the top of the screen.
For NETWORK CONFIGURATION unless you have specific network configuration needs, most settings should be correct by default.
For STORAGE this step is incredibly confusing, make sure you read the steps very carefully. I personally never use 'Automatic partitioning'.
On the INSTALLATION DESTINATION screen, select your hard drive where you want to install and then click on [Continue] in the bottom right.
On the INSTALLATION OPTIONS dialog, I set 'Partition type: Standard Partition' for Partition scheme configuration. Then I select: 'Let me customize the partitioning of the disks instead.' Then I click [Continue].
On the MANUAL PARTITIONING screen, I click the '+' (plus sign) on bottom left to add a new mount point. I have at least 3 mount points:
Once you add a Mount point you can customize it (this usually is not necessary). Once done, I click on [Finish Partitioning] on the bottom right.
NOTE: If you are dual-booting with Windows I recommend leaving Windows to boot Fedora. In order to do this you must make sure the 'bootloader' is NOT installed on the MBR (this will typically be the first partition on the hard drive). In the INSTALLATION DESTINATION screen there is a small blue link 'Full disk summary and options...' I made sure I did not overwrite the windows bootloader. PLEASE READ the bootloader notes in the official documentation.
To boot Linux from Windows I use EasyBCD (a freeware download for Windows).
Back on the INSTALLATION SUMMARY screen I click on [Begin Installation] on the bottom right.
As it installs, click on ROOT PASSWORD and set a password. This is for the adminstrative control over the whole machine, and not a personal user password.
For First Boot
Once Fedora is booted for the first time, please follow the instructions.
For Create User make sure you create an account for yourself. If this user account will also be administering the computer, make sure to select "Add to Administrators group".
Fedora, like all other Linux distributions, has a root user and has individual users. The root is the "superuser", somewhat similar to "Administrator" in Windows.
Use the personal account you created at First Boot for daily use. For the account which administers the system you should have selected "Add to Administrators group". This allows this user to run as 'root' using the sudo command.
If you configured sudo at First Boot, you are done. If not you can manually configure sudo. As root run:
echo 'loginname ALL=(ALL) ALL' >> /etc/sudoers Where 'loginname' is your user account. Use 'ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL' if you don't want to be prompted a password. If you are prompted for a password with 'sudo' it is the user password, not root.
Example:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ su Password: <--- Enter root password [root@charon mirandam]# echo 'mirandam ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL' >> /etc/sudoers [root@charon mirandam]# exit exit
The following is an example of how sudo lets you execute root commands:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ du -sh /root du: `/root': Permission denied <--- Fails!!! [mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo du -sh /root 163M /root <--- Works!!!
NOTE: Every command provided on this page will work if you remove sudo from the command. However this requires you must be logged in as 'root' first. An alternative to using sudo is to use su to login as root, before executing a command.
Fedora uses yum to install and update its software. When connected to the internet it will automatically determine application dependencies.
Fedora Repositories
Fedora typically has 2 repositories enabled by default: fedora (the same packages that come on any combination of the CD's or DVD's) and updates (updated packages, newer than fedora repository).
YUM Plugins
While yum has many plugins available. Many users find the fastestmirror plugin useful. This (typically) speeds up downloads by attempting to find faster sources. To install:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install yum-plugin-fastestmirror
Third Party Repositories
For applications that are against Fedora policies (MP3, DVD, MPEG, Binary Drivers, etc), a third party repository should be used. The recommended repository for Fedora is: RPMFusion. For the purpose of this guide, (most) all needs are met by the RPMFusion repository, other requirements are stated.
To set up the RPMFusion repositories:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo rpm -ivh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-18.noarch.rpm [mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo rpm -ivh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-18.noarch.rpm
If you are having problems importing the gpg key:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-rpmfusion-free-fedora-18-primary [mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-rpmfusion-nonfree-fedora-18-primary
This guide installs using the default Gnome 3.6. If this is difficult it is recommended to try an alternative desktop environment. The following are supported by Fedora. Note these are all optional. Use yum to install them if you so wish:
KDE is a full featured desktop like Gnome. However it does things in a different style. This is the most comprehensive desktop next to Gnome (more info). To install:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum groups install "KDE Plasma Workspaces"
LXDE is a lightweight desktop environment. It is very useful for older computers. It takes up much less space than Gnome or KDE. It maybe similar to older version of Windows (more info). To install:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum groups install LXDE
Xfce is lightweight desktop environment similar to LXDE. It also consumes less resources than Gnome and many users will find it similar to much older versions of Gnome (more info). To install:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum groups install XFCE
Note: Xfce is my personal recommendation/choice.
MATE is a desktop environment which is an updated version of Gnome 2, which preceded the current Gnome in Fedora (more info). To install:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum groups install MATE
Cinnamon is desktop environment based off of Gnome 3 but uses a more traditional layout similar to Gnome 2 (more info). To install:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum groups install CINNAMON
For more information on using yum groups.
Fedora ships without any form of MP3 playback. In order to add MP3 playback you must install from a 3rd party. The following requires the use of the RPMFusion repositories.
XMMS: simple, older GUI, minimalistic features (but still popular)
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install xmms xmms-mp3 xmms-faad2 xmms-flac xmms-pulse xmms-skins
Audacious: A basic music player but much more modern than XMMS.
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install audacious audacious-plugins-freeworld* NOTE: There is a '*' at the end.
Rhythmbox/Gstreamer - A simple audio application similar to iTunes layout.
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install rhythmbox gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-plugins-bad gstreamer-ffmpeg gstreamer-plugins-bad-nonfree
Amarok - A modern feature rich media player application.
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install amarok xine-lib-extras-freeworld
Combined command: If you wish to install EVERYTHING above please run the following:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install xmms xmms-mp3 xmms-faad2 xmms-flac xmms-pulse \ xmms-skins audacious audacious-plugins-freeworld* rhythmbox \ gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-plugins-bad gstreamer-ffmpeg \ gstreamer-plugins-bad-nonfree amarok xine-lib-extras-freeworld
(For more information on Music in Fedora 18, see the Musician Guide.)
Fedora ships with a limited set of media player for both audio and video. For audio please read the MP3 player notes. For video and other multimedia (DVD, etc.) we will also be making use of a 3rd party repository: RPMFusion. Make sure to have the RPMFusion repositories configured before executing the following. Note that many "dependancies" in libraries, plugins and codecs are shared between these applications and also the MP3 player applications.
The following is a list of the most popular media players. Each has its own strengths. Install whichever you prefer although at least MPlayer and VLC are recommended.
MPlayer - MPlayer comes in a command line only interface (mplayer) or skinable GUI and it also has a powerful encoding tool MEncoder (also great for ripping or compressing audio/video). Additionally there is a highly functional web plugin allowing for many popular formats in Firefox/Mozilla (WMV, QuickTime, etc.).
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install mplayer mplayer-gui gecko-mediaplayer mencoder
Xine - Xine is similar to MPlayer in many ways however lacking the command line application and encoder. However has fully supported DVD playback with proper navigation.
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install xine xine-lib-extras xine-lib-extras-freeworld
Banshee - Banshee is an iTunes-like media player which support sync'ing to multiple different devices.
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install banshee gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-plugins-bad gstreamer-ffmpeg
Binary Codecs - The MPlayer projects maintains a package full of binary codecs for which no directly open source option exists, some of these files include Windows DLL's. These are shared by both Xine and MPlayer. NOTE: There is significant variation depending on your architecture (i386, x86_64, ppc). This step is really only beneficial to 32bit i386 users, 64bit users may also install the i386.
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/codecs [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo tar -jxvf all-20110131.tar.bz2 --strip-components 1 -C /usr/lib/codecs/
VLC - VLC is a simpler media player with an easy to use interface. It also supports DVD playback. While most needs should be met with Xine and MPlayer some prefer VLC.
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install vlc
DVD Playback - The libdvdcss is required for DVD playback. Due to non-technical reasons, the package does not exist in the RPMFusion repository. For only this package an alternate repository will be used.
[mirandam@charon Download]$ wget https://www.mjmwired.net/resources/files/atrpms.repo [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo cp ./atrpms.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/atrpms.repo [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm --import http://packages.atrpms.net/RPM-GPG-KEY.atrpms
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum --enablerepo=atrpms install libdvdcss2
|
The official source for the package is http://corefonts.sourceforge.net/. You have to build the RPM using the chosen SPEC file. For convenience I have created the RPM (please do not link directly to this file): [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm -ivh msttcorefonts-2.5-1.noarch.rpm Note: Fedora encourages the use of the Liberation Fonts. These are installed by default (and included on the DVD). |
Google's Chrome browser is a rapidly updated well maintained browser. I highly recommend it. One advantage using Chrome is that releases are not as tightly integrated to a specific version of Fedora (like Firefox).
1. Install Google Chrome YUM Repository
[mirandam@charon Download]$ wget https://www.mjmwired.net/resources/files/google-chrome.repo [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo cp ./google-chrome.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/google-chrome.repo [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm --import https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub
2. Install Google Chrome
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo yum install google-chrome-stable
Users who need Chrome's newer unstable or beta releases, can change the above stable to either beta or unstable. This is NOT recommended.
ALTERNATE: Open Source Google Chrome: ChromiumSome users may prefer to use the fully open source version of Chrome: Chromium. Chromium is built specifically for Fedora so it may run faster, use more shared components of the system and be tweaked with improved settings. This version however may not always be the latest. It is not recommended for all users.
Both Chrome and Chromium can coexist on the same system without trouble.
1. Install spot's Chromium YUM Repository
[mirandam@charon Download]$ wget http://repos.fedorapeople.org/repos/spot/chromium-stable/fedora-chromium-stable.repo [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo cp ./fedora-chromium-stable.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-chromium-stable.repo
2. Install Chromium
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo yum install chromium
More information about Chromium is available on the Fedora Wiki. Chromium can coexist with Google Chrome.
The Adobe Flash plugin is available from Adobe's website. Users should use Adobe's YUM repository (recommended).
1. Install Adobe YUM Repository
32-bit
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm -ivh http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-i386-1.0-1.noarch.rpm [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-adobe-linux
64-bit
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm -ivh http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-x86_64-1.0-1.noarch.rpm [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-adobe-linux
2. Install Flash Plugin
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo yum install flash-plugin
Restart Firefox or any Mozilla browsers.
More information is available on the Fedora Wiki.
Fedora should include support for Java via OpenJDK (based on the Oracle Java) and Icedtea web plugin. However if not, they can be installed using YUM:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install java-1.7.0-openjdk icedtea-web
With OpenJDK/Icedtea installed, Java application and Web applets should automatically work. Unfortunately some applets may not run properly and the OpenJDK might have some limitations. Majority of user should find OpenJDK perfect for everyday use.
Using Oracle Java Instead
If you require Oracle Java or if OpenJDK does not work properly, you can download Sun Oracle Java and use it in Fedora.
Download the Java package from:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html.
Under Java Platform, Standard Edition, Select: Download JRE (the JDK is for Java developers)
On the next page, accept the license agreement, then:
For 32-bit users: select "Linux x86"
jre-7u17-linux-i586.rpm
For 64-bit users: select "Linux x64"
jre-7u17-linux-x64.rpm
To install:
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm -ivh jre-7u17-linux-i586.rpm -OR- [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm -ivh jre-7u17-linux-x64.rpm
When running the java command, Fedora will default to using OpenJDK. In order to use Sun Java, use the alternatives command.
To setup the Java runtime, perform the following (applies to both 32-bit and 64-bit users):
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/default/bin/java 20000
Setup the Mozilla/Firefox browser plugin.
For 32-bit users:
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so \ libjavaplugin.so /usr/java/default/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so 20000
For 64-bit users:
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so \ libjavaplugin.so.x86_64 /usr/java/default/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000
You may need to restart Firefox to see the plugin take effect.
Note: If you wish to switch back to OpenJDK/Icedtea you can run the following commands one by one to switch between the OpenJDK and Oracle Java:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --config java [mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --config libjavaplugin.so (or for 64-bit) [mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo /usr/sbin/alternatives --config libjavaplugin.so.x86_64
To Update: If you wish update the JRE package, simply download the newest RPM package and install it as above. You will NOT need to reset alternatives, as those settings should remain intact. The following is all that should be needed (64-bit example):
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm -ivh jre-7u18-linux-x64.rpm
More Information: Install Documentation for Linux.
To view PDF files, Fedora recommends using either evince or okular. The following is for users requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader:
For yum users:
Install the Adobe YUM repository, and install through yum:
[mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm -ivh http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-i386-1.0-1.noarch.rpm [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-adobe-linux [mirandam@charon Download]$ sudo yum install AdobeReader_enu
NOTE: The above uses the English version: enu. To see which languages are supported by Adobe's YUM repository, run the following command:
[mirandam@charon Download]$ yum list AdobeReader\*
Other languages are installed similar to english for example: AdobeReader_fra, if you are unsure which package is correct, run:
yum info AdobeReader_fra for more information. Otherwise install manually as described below. (Note: 64-bit users are recommended to use yum to resolve all the 32-bit i386 dependancies.)
The version of Adobe Acrobat Reader currently is 9.X for English and the version and download size may vary depending on your language. Not all languages are supported under Linux or may not have updated versions.
If you have other Windows computers on your LAN and want to share files from Linux with them, you must setup Samba.
To setup Samba you must (1) install samba, (2) add you 'shares', (3) add users, (4) start Samba service and (5) manage security options (Firewall and SELinux).
1. Install Samba
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo yum install samba samba-client cifs-utils
Note: The cifs-utils package is not required. However it is very small and provides some useful utilities.
2. Add Shares
You must edit /etc/samba/smb.conf as root: (use nano instead of gedit if you do not have a GUI)
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf
Set your Windows Workgroup name in [global] section.
Added shares at the end of the file. Example:
[c_drive] path = /media/c_drive public = yes writable = no [netshare] path = /data/ public = yes writable = yes
If 'writable' the location must be writable in Linux first. Additionally permissions must match (for example: drwxrw-rw-).
If home data (all personal files under /home/username) is to be accessible, then set 'browseable = yes' under [homes] (~line 279). This configuration file is very descriptive, read through it to get more ideas or information.
3. Add Users
To access shares, you must be a valid user. Add valid users AND passwords using the smbpasswd command.
This login name WILL be the login name and password you use from Windows to access your Linux computer. The password does NOT need to match your Linux password.
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo smbpasswd -a username New SMB password: Retype new SMB password: Added user username.
(Note: 'username' MUST be a valid account on the Fedora machine)
4. Start Samba Service
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo systemctl start smb.service nmb.service
To make sure to run Samba each time Fedora boots:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo systemctl enable smb.service nmb.service
Restart Samba for every change to users/passwords or 'smb.conf'
[mirandam@charon ~]$ sudo systemctl restart smb.service
5. Managing Security for Samba
Firewall
The Firewall will by default block Samba, to allow access run:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ firewall-config
To allow Samba access to work through the firewall you must set 'Samba' as a 'Trusted service'. To do this, change your 'Current View:' to 'Persistent Configuration' and make sure you are in the 'Zone' you use your computer (typically 'public'). In the 'Services' tab select 'samba'.
SELinux
SELinux has significant control over restricting different parts of Samba. Run system-config-selinux. Please read lines #20 - #59 in /etc/samba/smb.conf for a better explanation. Alternatively, you can run:
[mirandam@charon ~]$ system-config-selinux
Go to Boolean and type 'samba' in the Filter (without quotes).
If you get the following error:
bash: system-config-selinux: command not found...
then first run:
sudo yum install policycoreutils-gui
For any changes made above to the SELinux settings or smb.conf, it is recommended to restart Samba.
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Copyright © 2003-2013 by Mauriat Miranda (mjmwired.net).