  Linuxconf 1.16
  Introduction


  1.  What is Linuxconf



  Welcome to Linuxconf, an interactive configuration and activation
  utility.

  This utility allows you to configure the following topics


  o  Networking (client)

     1. Basic TCP/IP setup

     2. Routing

     3. DNS location

     4. NIS client

     5. IPX (Novell) setup

     6. PPP and SLIP dialout

  o  Networking (server)

     1. Boot services: RARP and DHCP

     2. DNS

     3. IP Aliasing

     4. NFS

     5. Mail

     6. Uucp

  o  X11

  o  User account

  o  File systems (partitions)

  o  Boot mode

     1. LILO

     2. Boot run-level

  One key difference between Linuxconf and other configuration utilities
  is that Linuxconf takes care of the activation.

  As an example, if you elect to make some portion of your hard drive
  available to other machines (such as exporting a file system or a
  portion of it) via NFS (Network File System), Linuxconf will not only
  help you enter the configuration information but will start the NFS
  server.

  If you change your mind later and delete the NFS configuration,
  Linuxconf will stop the NFS server.

  2.  Command line usage

  Linuxconf is an interactive utility that can also be run from the
  command line.  It is useful to do scripts.  Furthermore, Linuxconf has
  several aliases allowing you to enter directly into one of its
  functional areas.  These include


  2.1.  domainname

  Print and set the NIS domainname.


  2.2.  dnsconf

  It gets you directly into the main menu of the DNS configure program.


  o  dnsconf --newdomain domain [template-domain]

     Install a domain in the DNS. Optionally, use another domain as a
     template to fill the various field of the domain definition. This
     includes the DNS advertising section, the email advertising and the
     various delays.


  o  dnsconf --set host ip ...

     Install a host definition in the DNS configuration. It will update
     the domain and the reverse mappings.


  o  dnsconf --set host --fromrange range-name


     Install a host definition; note that Linuxconf allocates the IP
     itself. It uses the given range to locate the first available IP.


  o  dnsconf --setcname host real-host

     Install a nickname for a host in the DNS configuration.


  o  dnsconf --setfromip host ip

     Install a host definition in the DNS configuration. It will update
     the domain and the reverse mappings. Unlike the --set option, this
     will delete all other host entries which point to this IP number.
     This functionality is provided as a hook for automatic DNS update
     from a DHCP server.


  o  dnsconf --setmx host/domain mailserver...

     Install one or more MX records for a host or domain in the DNS
     configuration. The order is used to set the preference.


  o  dnsconf --setns host/domain dnsserver...

     Install one or more NS records for a host or domain in the DNS
     configuration.



  o  dnsconf --unset host

     Remove all references to a host (A record and PTR record) from the
     DNS configuration.



  2.3.  fixperm

  fixperm makes sure that the vital files and directories have proper
  ownership and permissions.

  Without argument, it prints its command line options.


  2.4.  fsconf

  It gets you directly into the file-systems configuration menu.


  o  fsconf --check

     Do some sanity check (and correction) in /etc/fstab.



  2.5.  hostname

  Print and set the host name.


  2.6.  linuxconf

  Without argument, it simply gets in linuxconf's main menu.


  o  linuxconf --archive [sub-system ...]

     Archive the configuration files for the current system profile.
     Optionally, you can specify a list of sub-systems to archive.
     Without further argument, Linuxconf will archive all sub-systems.


  o  linuxconf --diff [sub-system ...]

     Compare the current configuration file with the last revision
     stored in the archive for the current system profile.  Optionally,
     you can specify a list of sub-systems to process. Without further
     argument, Linuxconf will process all sub-systems.


  o  linuxconf --extract [sub-system ...]

     Extract the last archived copy of the configuration files for the
     current system profile.  Optionally, you can specify a list of sub-
     systems to extract. Without further argument, Linuxconf will
     extract all sub-systems.

     This effectively overwrites the configuration files with the most
     recent copy from the profile archive: Use with care !!!


  o  linuxconf --history [sub-system ...]

     Show the archive log of the all configuration files for the current
     system profile.  Optionally, you can specify a list of sub-systems
     to process. Without further argument, Linuxconf will process all
     sub-systems.


  o  linuxconf --gui

     Linuxconf will operate in GUI mode even if it is configured
     differently (see the features menu).


  o  linuxconf --guiproto

     This tells Linuxconf that it has been started from a GUI front-end,
     which expects GUI commands. Using this alone on the command line is
     useless. Here are some examples



               remadmin --exec linuxconf --guiproto
               remadmin --exec ssh one_server linuxconf --guiproto






  o  linuxconf --setmod module

     Register a new module. If the module was already registered it has
     no effect. If the module was already registered but disabled, it is
     left this way. This is generally used in the post-install part of a
     module package.


  o  linuxconf --shutdown

     Jump straight into the shutdown dialog. It is Useful to setup as a
     button in your X desktop.


  o  linuxconf --text

     Linuxconf will operate in text mode even under X11.  This may be
     useful for under-powered workstations, where the text mode is
     quicker.


  o  linuxconf --unsetmod module

     Unregister a module. This should be used by the pre-uninstall part
     of a module package.



  2.7.  passwd

  Allows you to change your password, or the password of other users if
  you have root access.

  "passwd -h" shows the options


  2.8.  netconf

  Without argument, this will get you into the networking sub-menu of
  Linuxconf. Here are the command line options:
  o  netconf --connect pppsetup [--fore]

     Establish a PPP connection using the pppsetup specification.  It is
     possible to keep it in the foreground using the --fore option.

     netconf will terminate (when not using --fore) only when the link
     is up or the connection has failed.  A useful code is return. This
     allows simple scripts like this



                               #!/bin/sh
                               if netconf --connect config
                               then
                                       you can use the network right away
                               else
                                       the connection has failed
                               fi






  o  netconf --dialctl

     This presents the list of all PPP/Slip dialout configurations and
     shows for each one their status (connected or not). When selecting
     a configuration that is not connected, Linuxconf asks if you wish
     to establish the connection. You need proper privilege or the root
     password to do that.

     If the connection is established, it asks if you wish to
     disconnect. Again proper privileges are needed.

     This command line option points to the same function as the
     "Activate/terminate PPP links" menu entry of the control panel.
     This command is suitable for inclusion in the users's desktop menu.


  o  netconf --disconnect pppsetup

     Terminate a PPP connection.


  o  netconf --resetfw

     Turn off packet filtering (Firewall) completely.  This is normally
     used as an emergency trick to bring a network back to life after
     applying a fire-walling rule that is too drastic.


  o  netconf --update

     Will reactivate fire-walling rules.


  o  netconf --runlevel local | client | server

     Switch the workstation to a different operation mode.


  o  netconf --status

     Check what has to be done to bring the workstation in sync with its
     configuration.
  o  netconf --update

     Make the configuration file effective (make what netconf --status
     tells you that has to be done.



  2.9.  userconf

  It gets you directly into the user configuration menu.  Here are the
  command line options:


  o  userconf --adduser userid group username shell

     This creates a user account and updates (if available) the various
     disk quota records from the defaults. There is no default for the
     --adduser option. The HOME directory (utilizing the default base)
     is created with proper /etc/skel handling.

     You may use the passwd command with the -P to set the password for
     the new account.


  o  userconf --deluser userid

     This deletes an account.




  3.  The WWW interface

  Linuxconf may be operated from a Web browser. To access Linuxconf on
  your machine, point your browser to

  http://<your_machine>:98/

  The menu structure is the same across all three interfaces.  The
  advantage to the Web interface is that you can set bookmarks to permit
  rapid movement to specific configuration screens.


  3.1.  Specific entries to the WWW interface

  Users may change their own password through the browser using
  Linuxconf.

  We suggest that you encode this URL in one of your corporate HTML
  pages (change your own password, click here). The URL is

  http://<your_machine>:98/htmlmod:userpass:


  4.  General information

  Linuxconf has been written at Solucorp by Jacques Gelinas
  (jacques@solucorp.qc.ca).

  Comments and bug reports are accepted via email.


  4.1.  Key bindings

  Most screens do have a help button. You can access this buttons using
  the TAB key or directly using the F1 function key.
  Some fields have a companion pop-up selection list. These fields are
  identified with a down pointing arrow at their right end. You can
  depress the cntl-X key (Control and X at the same time) to activate
  the pop-up.  You can make a selection and either confirm the it with
  the ENTER key or TAB your way to the Quit button.

  Press the function key F3 to escape from any dialog.


  4.2.  Other key bindings

  Here are other key bindings used in Linuxconf, but useful elsewhere
  notably when using the shell. Note that the normal "PC modern" keypad
  is supported (Home, End, PgDp, PgDn. Del, BkSp).


  o  ctrl-A : Go to the beginning of the line.

  o  ctrl-B : Page up.

  o  ctrl-D : Delete the current character by sliding the end of the
     line over it.

  o  ctrl-E : Go to the end of the line.

  o  ctrl-F : Page down.

  o  ctrl-K : Delete text up to the end of the line.




  5.  Official web site and Mailing list

  The official web site for Linuxconf is
  http://www.solucorp.qc.ca/linuxconf .  There are two mailing lists for
  linuxconf. They are linuxconf@xc.org and linuxconf-announce@xc.org.
  You can find information about those mailing list (and archives) at
  http://www.solucorp.qc.ca/linuxconf/mailinglist.html .



























