Brief Introduction to Linux

The installation process is fairly simple.... If you can make your way to http://www.fedoraproject.org and download the image of Fedora which is the open-source/non-supported version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The supported version is Red Hat Enterprise Linux and comes in both desktop and server version... Which really is a difference between installing services or client applications instead of services. You can use Fedora linux as a desktop as-is but it still has the ability to promote to a server.

Why use Linux? Why not use Windows?

Over the years, Linux has proven itself to become the most stable, setup-and-go server network operating system. Once it's configured with the services, locked down appropriately, configure user quotas, and configured with a few autonomous(without interaction) scripts that execute on a weekly/daily schedule, you don't ever have to touch it again unless a hardware issue arises or you wish to change some configurations. The box itself never has to be touched, an administration can use Secured Shell(SSH) to remotely connect and perform user maintenance, like adding a user. If an admin is wise, he will create a script to just prompt what information the server needs and automate the user additions by probing simple information such as the user's first name, last name, title, etc, depending on the schema decided by the Administrator.

Why use command line?

Well if the GUI is developed in Linux, it may or may NOT include all of the features and if the features are all there, there is always the chance of having a bug where multiple selections conflict with each other and result in nullifying the script executed behind the scenes.. then you waste time trying to get the correct selections that do not conflict... This is why successful administrators prefer to use the command line to get the jobs done that they need for the infrastructure. This is also why scripting is a requirement for most Linux admin jobs because you can accomplish a series of 20 minute tasks in sequence with a single script... also leads back to that user addition script idea.... Anyway! Quick notes from me.... Steve Kline :)

Deploying/Installing Fedora/Red Hat

Well by now I assume after you read that mouthful, your Fedora/RHEL image is downloading from a mirror of choice. There is something that I must note if you realize that your mouse is acting a bit strange with Fedora, you must modify the mouse drivers in xorg.conf or add them manually if they don't exist and are operating on pnp. Specifically because I like Fedora 9 version, it's been the most stable of them all. I know this particular version like my own hand. I will get to that in a bit...

Installation is fairly easy... you first burn the CD Image onto a disk into the CD ROM and boot from the CD ROM...

You will come to selection of options, you can keep it simple and use the GUI interface by selecting "Install or Upgrade a System" from the boot selection on the CD. You can also select "Install or Upgrade a System(text mode)" which is aproximately the same setup, but without a GUI interface. It is a keyboard only installation for systems that run without a mouse which isn't uncommon for a linux box that is supposed to be trimmed of any additional unecessary expenses.

yet to come... still working on it

Deploying Fedora/Red Hat with PXE Boot

yet to come... still working on it

Deploying Fedora/Red Hat with USB Flash or Floppy

yet to come... still working on it