"Daniel S. Barclay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I've started upgrading to Debian 1.2 from Slackware Pro 2.1 (yes, very old). > > Given the difference in distributions and other changes in Linux, I feel > quite blind. I don't where everything is and how things work now. Also, > I'm not clear on how to configure and customize things without screwing up > dpkg. > > Can someone point me to (or provide) any of the following information?
> - The recommended way to customize startup scripts. > (For example, on my old system, I put commands to swap the control > and caps-locks keys, to add extra swap space, etc., in rc.local. > Where do things like that go now?) Debian uses the standard SysVinit system to handle booting. As mentioned in the man page, init(8), there is documentation in /etc/init.d/README. Basically what happens is this: When the system boots, it runs all the scripts in /etc/rc.boot. Then it switches to the default runlevel (usually 2). When you switch into a runlevel, the system runs all the scripts in /etc/rc?.d, where ? is the runlevel. First it runs the scripts that start with 'K' (with the argument 'stop'), which are supposed to kill processes; then it runs scripts that start with 'S' (with the argument 'start'), which are supposed to start new processes. Each file has a number in its name, which determines the order they are run in. The directory /etc/rc.boot has no restriction on its filenames, you can put your scriptfile for customizing the keyboard there. Let me give you an example of how to use the /etc/rc?.d directories, though: I installed "qmail", an alternative to sendmail, on my system by hand, because there is no Debian package yet. So I created a script 'qmail' that starts qmail, if you give it the argument 'start' and stops it if you give the argument 'stop'. I placed the script in /etc/init.d. I want qmail to start when I enter runlevel 2, so I had to create a link in /etc/rc2.d to the script 'qmail': ln -s /etc/init.d/qmail /etc/rc2.d/S19qmail The 'S' means start qmail, the 19 makes it run between S18netbase and S20xinetd. I also deleted the link, '/etc/rc2.d/S20sendmail' because I didn't want sendmail to start. (But I still have the script in /etc/init.d, in case I ever want to use it again.) Finally, I created a link ln -s /etc/init.d/qmail /etc/rc6.d/K19qmail so that qmail is killed when I reboot (runlevel 6 is reboot). (All this magic is actually handled by the scripts /etc/init.d/boot and /etc/init.d/rc, which are referenced by /etc/inittab.) > - How I can and should set the video mode to something other than 24 X 80 > when the kernel boots. > (This is probably just a general Linux question on which I'm quite > behind. I used to used vidmode (rdev) on the kernel image on a > kernel boot floppy. That doesn't work any more (at least on the > normal Debian 1.2 installation's custom kernel boot floppy (which > isn't just a kernel anyway)).) > - What I can customize and configure without messing up dpkg. Also, > how to tell dpkg I'm customizing something. > (I saw a --divert option somewhere. When do I need to use it? > For example, for dealing with two ISPs, I have two sets of > some configuration files, and swap around the links to them. > Would I need to tell dpkg not to disturb my link files, or to not > get confused by changes or timestamp changes?) > - How to install or remove modules. (That is, how to add or remove > modules to whatever boot-time script loads them, not necessarily > the actual loading or unloading of modules.) > (The Debian installation sets this up initially, but doesn't point > to how to change it. I would guess that's now a standard Linux > system management operation--but I don't know it.) The module loading is handled by the script /etc/init.d/modules, which just uses the configuration file "/etc/modules" (this is what you want to edit"). My /etc/modules file looks like: # /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time. # # This file should contain the names of kernel modules that are # to be loaded at boot time, one per line. Comments begin with # a `#', and everything on the line after them are ignored. # An entry named `auto' will cause the system to start kerneld immediately. # Kerneld then loads modules on demand. `noauto' disables kerneld completely. auto wd io=0x300 smc-ultra io=0x280 ip_masq_ftp I believe there is a utility with a pretty interface that will write the file for you (you use it when you install), but 'vi' works fine for me. > Generally, does anyone know of good source of information on what's > changed in Linux recently (well, since around kernel 1.2.13 and > Slackware 2.1 and before ELF)? (I mean besides re-reading all the > documentation just to look for changed things.) I'm probably doing a > lot of things some very old ways. > Oh, one more question: If problems are noted in this mailing list, > is someone submitting bug reports to Debian, or should we report all these > recent 1.2 bugs to Debian? You should check the bug tracking system on the Debian home page, to see if the bug has been reported yet, then submit a report. Steve [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
