For Labs 10 and 11, User Account Management and File Systems, you may use Knoppix, a CD-only Linux installation which starts directly from the CD.  It does not require installation, nor does it normally make any changes to the hard drive.  For complete information, please see the Knoppix web site.

You may check out a Knoppix CD for use in the computer lab; ask your instructor if you would like to obtain a CD to take home.  Alternatively, if you have a broadband Internet connection at home, you can download a 700 MB "ISO" CD image file and create a CD with a CD writer; see the Knoppix web site for download locations.  (Make sure you have a broadband connection; by modem, 700 MB would take three days to download!)

Running Knoppix

1. Change your BIOS so that your computer will boot from CD.  If this doesn't work for you, you can start Knoppix from a boot diskette.  In MS Windows, you can create a Knoppix boot diskette by launching the batch program \KNOPPIX\mkfloppy.bat on the CD.  Your instructor may have Knoppix boot diskettes available as well.
   
   
2. Place the Knoppix CD in the CD drive, and if necessary, the Knoppix boot diskette in the diskette drive.  In Windows, the Knoppix CD may automatically open a browser window to the CD's instruction set.
   
   
3. Restart your computer.
   
   
4. Knoppix starts with an opening screen with the prompt "boot:" at the bottom.  You have about 30 seconds to respond before Knoppix automatically starts booting into its X-Windows KDE environment.
   
   
5. If you have at least 90 MB of RAM, either wait 30 seconds, or just hit the Enter key to run the full Knoppix X-Windows environment.  Some computers with less RAM may still run X-Windows, especially if your computer has a Linux swap partition that Knoppix can automatically use.  Otherwise, some applications may not work properly.
   
   
   • However, even without enough RAM for X-Windows, you can still run in text-only runlevel 3, which suffices for the lab exercises.  In that case, enter:
     

     knoppix 3

   • Knoppix runs through its boot sequence, including hardware detection, and finishes with a root shell command prompt, like this:
     

     root@tty1[/]#

6. If you see a message about an invalid video mode, either just wait 30 seconds, or tap the Space bar.
   
   If you see a list of video modes from which to choose, select mode 0 as the most generally reliable.
   
   
7. If you have compatible hardware, Knoppix will proceed through its startup process, auto-detecting your hardware, and end up in the KDE ("Kool Desktop Environment") graphical user interface.  Knoppix automatically logs you in as the restricted user "knoppix" -- not "root"!  Therefore, you cannot perform functions that require root privileges, including many operations in the File Systems and User Account Management lab exercises.  To get a root shell command prompt so you can complete the labs, see "Getting a Root Shell Command Prompt" below.
   
   
8. Remember that all changes or additions you make to the file system will disappear when you shut down or reboot!  Therefore, complete all of your work in one session.  If you have no Internet access as described below, you'll have to take notes so you can answer the lab questions after you reboot back to MS Windows.
   
   
9. When you finish your work, reboot by entering:
   

   shutdown -r now

   or:

   reboot

   Knoppix will eject the CD when it completes its shutdown, and prompt you to remove it before proceeding further.
   

10. Remove the CD and diskette, if present, then press Enter to restart.
    

Getting a Root Shell Command Prompt

1. Getting a root shell command prompt:  If you have booted to the KDE graphical environment, you can switch to a text-mode root shell by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1.  When you see the text screen, press Enter to display a command prompt, as shown above.  To switch back to KDE, press Ctrl+Alt+F5.
   
   • Alternatively, you can launch a terminal window by clicking on the "Konsole" icon on the task bar at the bottom of the screen.  The icon looks like a video screen with a seashell in front of it.
     
   • However, you don't get a root shell with Konsole:  Knoppix's KDE logs you in as the restricted user "knoppix", which cannot access root-only files with normal commands.  To work around this, you can:
     • Prefix every command line with the command "sudo ".  For example, to copy the shadow file to the /tmp directory, you'd enter:
       

       sudo cp shadow /tmp 

     or:

     • Change the root password and then get a root shell in Konsole with the su - command:
       • Switch to a text-mode root shell by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1.
       • Change the root password with the passwd command. Because Knoppix provides only a temporary environment, you can use anything, such as "123".
       • Switch back to KDE by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F5.
       • In a Konsole window, enter:

         su -

       • Enter your new root password.
       • Proceed with your commands as root!
   • See below for directions to copy-and-paste from Konsole to your web answer form.
     
     
2. About Internet Access:  If you have DHCP automatic Internet setup (as in the lab), you can (usually) open web sites using a web browser in the KDE graphical environment, including your instructor's web pages and web-based answer forms.   However, if you connect to the Internet by modem, Knoppix has no automatic setup, and you will have to reboot to MS Windows to open web pages.
   
   If you can open the web-based answer form for your lab, and you use Konsole as described in the previous step, you can copy and paste terminal output from Konsole to the web form:  
   • Just drag the mouse cursor across the text you want to copy; when you let go of the mouse button, Konsole copies the text to the clipboard -- you don't have to activate a separate Copy command. 
   • Then, paste the text into the desired blank on the web form in the usual manner.
     
     
3. To open a second root shell screen, press Ctrl+Alt+F2.  You can switch back to the first root shell screen with Ctrl+Alt+F1.

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   © 2003 Eric Skagerberg Adjunct Instructor, Computer & Information Sciences Department Santa Rosa Junior College, California