Learning Red Hat Linux

Completing the Installation

Once you’ve skipped or completed the printer configuration dialog, you’re ready to complete the installation of Linux. This involves:

• Setting a password for the system administrator

• Configuring your system to boot

Setting root’s Password

The user who administers a Linux system is known as root. To protect your system against mischief and misadventure, you should protect the root user’s login with a password. To help you do so, the install program presents the Root Password dialog box, shown in Figure 3.35. Simply choose a password and type it in each text field. Then, select the Ok button and press Enter. You’ll need to use this password when you log in after booting Linux for the first time.

Figure 3-35. The Root Password dialog box

Next, the installation program shows the Authentication Configuration dialog box, shown in Figure 3.36. Disable the NIS option and enable both the Use Shadow Passwords and MD5 Passwords options. Select Ok and press Enter.

Figure 3-36. The Authentication Configuration dialog box

Creating a Boot Diskette

The install program next gives you the opportunity to create a boot diskette, by presenting the Bootdisk dialog box shown in Figure 3.37. You should take the opportunity, because a boot diskette will let you boot your Linux ...