Minimal Linux Setup

Minimal setup

Use the minimal installation CD ISO image attached to this page.

Instructions below are for a step-by-step install.

I used a Virtual Box to use the CENTOS 5.5 Installation Disk. Installed the most minimal installation I could do on a CompactFlash (CF) that was connected on my machine's disk reader. Since I installed onto a CF, I made sure that there was NO space allocated for SWAP.

After completed, I moved the CF to the VME Controller and booted.

As ROOT:

  • Since I'm on the DAQ Network... add this line to /etc/yum.conf:
proxy=http://jprox:8080
  • Update all packages:
yum update
  • Install package for using X applications remotely:
yum install xorg-x11-xauth
  • Install a few other packages for source code building and other tools:
yum install xorg-x11-xauth emacs xterm compat-libstdc++-33 cpp gcc gdb glib2-devel glibc-devel glibc-headers kernel-devel kernel-headers kernel-PAE kernel-PAE-devel ntp subversion valgrind openmotif22
  • Copy over and install the VME kernel driver and API
  • Turn off a number of services that we do not need:
    • sendmail, syslog, cups, bluetooth
chkconfig --level 2345 <service> off
  • Configure ntp.
    • /etc/ntp.conf:
server ntp1.jlab.org
driftfile /etc/ntp/drift
broadcastdelay 0.008
authenticate no
  • In /etc/sysconfig/ntpd, add -x to OPTIONS
  • Set the max realtime priority all users can set.
    • In /etc/security/limits.conf, add the line:
#<domain>        <type>  <item>         <value>
*                -       rtprio         80