% Linux Installation and Getting Started    -*- TeX -*-
% postinstall.tex
% Copyright (c) 1992-1994 by Matt Welsh <mdw@sunsite.unc.edu>
%
% This file is freely redistributable, but you must preserve this copyright 
% notice on all copies, and it must be distributed only as part of "Linux 
% Installation and Getting Started". This file's use is covered by the 
% copyright for the entire document, in the file "copyright.tex".

\section{Postinstallation procedures}
\namedlabel{sec-install-postinstall}{Postinstallation procedures}

After you have completed installing the Linux software, there should be
very little left to do before you can begin to use the system. In most
cases, you should be
able to reboot the system, login as {\tt root}, and begin exploring
the system. (Each distribution has a slightly different method for doing 
this.)

At this point it's a good idea to explain how to reboot and shutdown the
system as you're using it. 
You should never reboot or shutdown your Linux system by pressing the
reset switch or with the old ``Vulcan Nerve Pinch''---that is, by 
pressing \key{ctrl-alt-del} in unison.\footnote{On most Linux systems,
however, \key{ctrl-alt-del} will cause the system to shutdown gracefully,
as if you had used the {\tt shutdown} command.}
You shouldn't simply switch off
the power, either. As with most UNIX systems, Linux caches disk 
writes in memory. Therefore, if you suddenly reboot the system without
shutting down ``cleanly'', you can corrupt the data on your drives,
causing untold damage. 

The easiest way to shut down the system is with the {\tt shutdown} command.
As an example, to shutdown and reboot the system immediately, use the
following command as {\tt root}:
\begin{tscreen}
\# {\em shutdown --r now}
\index{shutdown command@{\tt shutdown} command}
\end{tscreen}
This will cleanly reboot your system. The man page for {\tt shutdown}
describes the other command-line arguments that are available.\footnote{Use
the command {\tt man shutdown} to see the manual page for {\tt shutdown}.}

Note, however, that many Linux distributions do not provide the
{\tt shutdown} command on the installation media. This means that
the first time you reboot your system after installation, you may
need to use the \key{ctrl-alt-del} combination after all. Thereafter,
you should always use the {\tt shutdown} command.

After you have a chance to explore and use the system, there are several
configuration chores that you should undertake. The first is to create
a user account for yourself (and, optionally, for any other users that
might have access to the system). Creating user accounts is described in
Section~\ref{sec-manage-users}. Usually, all that you have to do is 
login as {\tt root}, and run the {\tt adduser} (sometimes {\tt useradd})
program. This will lead you through several prompts to create a new
user account.

If you created more than one filesystem for Linux, or if you're using
a swap partition, you may need to edit the file {\tt /etc/fstab} in
order for those filesystems to be available automatically after rebooting.
(For example, if you're using a separate filesystem for {\tt /usr}, and
none of the files that should be in {\tt /usr} appear to be
present, you may simply need to mount that filesystem.) 
Section~\ref{sec-manage-fs} describes this procedure. 
\ifodd\igsslack
Note that the Slackware distribution of Linux automatically configures
your filesystems and swap space at installation time, so this 
usually isn't necessary.
\fi
