Installing NetSec L 2.2

Installing NetSec L 2.2

Written by : gore

Net Sec L is a Slackware based distro with a bit more on the security side and some really nice security apps installed by default. I like it and if you think you might, try it :)

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Put the CD-ROM in your CD or DVD drive, and reboot. Or if you're really fast just pop the thing open after hitting the power button and get it in before it tries booting from that drive.

Once you've booted from the CD, you'll see the screen after some hardware messages go buy while it starts up. Just press enter unless you want to mess around with some of the other options or Kernels.

After you press Enter, you'll see a message about the keyboard map.

Just press Enter here.

After you press enter it asks you to log in as root.

This is because NetSecL is based HEAVILY on Slackware.

type root and hit ENTER.

slackware login: root (ENTER)

Once you hit enter you have a few options.

I previously set up some partitions on this drive so I have Windows XP installed on one partition, and then I made a 902 MB partition for use as Swap, and used the rest of the space as the / partition.

If you haven't made any partitions you'll have to now and also, if you're dual booting, make sure you write down the sizes of the partitions you have in case they are similar in size to another one.

You have the choice of using fdisk or cfdisk.

If you're new to partitioning I'd suggest cfdisk as it's a wee bit easier to use.

After you've made a swap partition and a root "/" partition, you can use the arrow keys to highlight "Write" and hit ENTER

After that you can quit.

Once you've quit cfdisk, you're back at the prompt again. Type "setup"

root@slackware:/# setup (ENTER)

Once you press ENTER you'll see the Blue and teal colored PKGTool menu.

hit the Down arrow key until you have "Addswap" highlighted.

Press Enter on "Addswap" and it will pop up showing you the Swap partition you made as type 82, Linux Swap.

Don't worry about the Hex number 82, as long as it says Linux Swap and it's the partition you made, you're fine.

It asks if you wish to install this as your swap partition, and "Yes" is highlighted by default, so go ahead and press Enter here.

Once you press Enter another screen pops up about mkswap.

Most users really don't need to worry about this and can safely press enter without reading to far into this.

After you press Enter you'll see a message asking if you want to use mkswap on the swap partition.

Just press Enter unless for some reason you're trying to install this on a hand held pac man game with very little RAM ;)

Again, that screen for mkswap auto highlights "Yes" to use mkswap, so just hit ENTER.

Now it's formatting your Swap and checking for bad blocks.

After that finishes up, you'll see it's configured Swap.

Just press ENTER.

Now that you've pressed Enter you'll see the Linux Partition (Type 83) that you made with cfdisk. If you made more than one you'll have to pick which one for the root partition, and since it's easy to get this thing running by just making a swap and root partition, that's what I'm going with for now.

So for this screen there is only ONE partition showing up because I made ONE root file system partition.

So just hit Enter.

Most new HDs probably won't need to check for bad blocks but it doesn't hurt, so for this next screen, decide how much time you have to waste and either hit the down arrow key once to do the slower check for bad blocks option, or just hit Enter and it'll go faster =)

After that screen you'll be at the file system screen.

Which one should you use? Well that depends...

XFS is nice but you probably aren't ever going to use any of the features that people use it for. So hit the UP arrow key once.

Now ReiserFS is highlighted.

ReiserFS is great and has a decent speed to journaling ratio. This is fine for probably anything you'll do, so if you want this one just press Enter.

If you DO NOT want ReiserFS, press the UP arrow key one more time.

Now JFS is highlighted. Again, just like XFS, you won't probably notice a thing unless you know what you're doing anyway, in which case this tutorial would REALLY be wasting your time ;)

So press the UP arrow key again.

Now Ext3 is highlighted. Ext3 is a journaling version of Ext2. Journaling basically means that if you have a power outage or shut down without unmounting file systems or just flip the power switch you won't lose so much data and can recover.

Here is my recommendation:

Pick either ReiserFS or Ext3. There's really no reason not to use a file system like these. If you REALLY want Ext2 go for it, it's stable, but no journaling, so good luck with that =)

After you've chosen a file system and have it highlighted, press enter.

If you chose Ext3, you'll be asked the Inode question that matters really only when you're using small VS larger files.

If you're setting this up to be very basic text editing only which is doubtful at best, this might matter. However most people have multiple sized larger things like MP3s and so on that they use.

Here's a little advice:

Linux users use Linux because they want to, and people who haven't installed it but really want to usually don't because they see stuff like this and think "What is THAT?!?!?!?!" and give up.

That's just making Linux harder than it needs to be or should be. Most of this harder to understand stuff won't ever matter to anyone who's just using this to check email, surf the web, or maybe read oline forums. The time this may matter is if your HD is REALLY small, or if you're a developer and want to work on one of these file systems.

So really, just hit ENTER =)

Once you hit Enter it'll format the partition for Linux.

Once that finishes up, you'll see what file system you picked and where it's mounted (/)

Hit Enter.

Now, I'm dual booting my Laptop with XP, so now it shows me that it found a FAT or NTFS file system. That's my windows Partition.

So now I can either tell it no, which is stupid really, I may need things from it.

Or I can just hit ENTER here and it'll add this to fstab for me so I can mount my Windows XP partition in Linux.

Press Enter if you're dual booting. If you're ONLY installing Linux on the drive then this not only doesn't matter to you but probably isn't making any sense either, so ignore this part.

I press Enter since "Yes" is highlighted already and it then takes me to the next screen showing an NTFS partition that it's adding to /etc/fstab.

If you have more than one (like multiple installs of Windows XP or more than one partition for a different version of Windows, like Windows XP and Windows Vista already dual booting) then you'll see them here.

I only have one Windows partition, so I'm just going to hit ENTER. If you have more than one pick which ones you want and they'll be added into the /etc/fstab file so you can read them in Linux.

After hitting Enter it asks me where I would like to mount the Windows XP partition in the file system

Really you can type whatever you want but it's probably a good idea to make it something like this:

/WindowsXP

or even

/NTFS

Or whatever.

This is going to make a /WindowsXP file system in Linux so I can mount it (it does this for you) and read the things on it if I need too.

After I typed /WindowsXP I hit Enter.

Now you'll see a screen saying it's been added, so just hit ENTER.

After you hit Enter it shows you where you can install from.

I'm using the CD, so I just hit Enter here.

Now it asks where the CD is.

Auto is highlighted already to just hit enter.

It scans for a CD or DVD, finds it, and then tells you.

after that you're taken to the package selection area.

Here it's probably a good idea to leave everything selected because the base system is also listed and you need that.

Hit Enter.

Now you're asked what kind of install you'd like.

I'm going to hit the down arrow key one time to highlight Expert and then hit ENTER.

Now you can see what packages this distro comes with.

Use the up and down arrow keys to scroll around and check what it has.

You can leave most of these alone as the first one is the base system. So go ahead and scroll around if you want and then press ENTER.

After hitting ENTER you're taken to another screen showing applications.

Here I'm going to change a few things. You can follow along too:

I'm hitting the down arrow key to highlight "acct" and then I hit SPACEBAR to select that package because I want it installed too.

I continue hitting the down arrow key and using space bar to select more packages I want installed and when I get to the bottom, I'm hitting ENTER.

Now you're at another screen for programming.

If you're not a coder this won't matter AS much, but remember some of these might be needed later for installing apps from source, or recompiling the Kernel.

The packages you'll need to do that are already selected so go ahead and just hit Enter.

The next one only has two options, and it's a good idea to leave those on there as it's documentation. Just hit enter =)

After that you'll see the Kernel source screen.

Hit Enter.

Now you're at the Libraries screen.

Leave these alone too. These are sort of like .DLL files in Windows so you need some, and the ones selected by default should be left alone.

I added a few extra ones by using spacebar to select them.

After you've looked at that and left them alone except maybe adding a few extra ones, Hit ENTER.

Now you'll see the Networking screen.

One thing you'll notice is that there are more security related tools listed than the regular version of Slackware. You'll also see Bluetooth applications and a couple other things.

By Default a lot of them are selected and you can leave these alone.

You'll probably notice Firewalk, fakeconnect, fping, fwbuilder, and driftnet are selected by default and actually come right on the installation CD. Cool isn't it?

Hping is also listed. Yes, it comes right on the CDs. As you can see; So does Hydra!

Ike-Scan is also listed and selected by default.

The amount of security related apps selected by default is quite nice. Sniffers, crackers, and yersnia are all there.

Once you've seen the tools on here and had a chance to look, leave these alone unless you're sure of what you're doing.

Once you've Pressed ENTER you're taken to another screen.

This is for TCL, and you can just press ENTER again.

Once you've hit ENTER you'll see the WIFI packages.

Airsnort is of course listed and selected by default.

Just hit Enter again.

Now you'll see the X series of packages.

Just hit Enter here too.

Now you'll see Xapplications. You'll probably want these on here unless you're not using a GUI and only using a shell.

In other words, if you're reading this, press Enter =)

You may appreciate how ophcrack is also selected by default to crack Windows passwords.

Once you hit Enter you're now at the KDE series.

Just Hit Enter here.

Once you hit Enter you'll see the installation begin for all those packages.

This part takes a little bit so you can go get some Coffee, or Make some, or crack open a Jolt or RedBull if you'd like.

Or you can send me a wad of cash if you really want. I'd like that. I'd like it a lot.

After a while you'll see it's in the configuration stages.

The next screen you'll see is asking which Kernel you'd like to use.

Here I'm just going to press ENTER.

After pressing Enter you'll see the Generic Kernel.

Just press ENTER again.

It copies the Kernel and then takes you to a screen for making boot USB drive.

If you have a spare USB drive and want to make this, go ahead, but since I have back ups and don't mind a 20 minute re-install, I'm just going to press the down arrow key once, and the right arrow key afterwards and hit Enter. If you're setting this machine up to be very important with lots of data on it though that may not be a bad idea with making a USB key.

After hitting Enter it's time for the Modem configuration.

I don't need a Modem because I use a NIC.

So I just press ENTER as "No Modem" is already highlighted.

If you have dial up you'll probably want to look here a bit more =)

After pressing Enter you come to the LILO install.

Most people should be OK just pressing Enter.

Then Press Enter again at the next screen.

The Kernel parameters one probably won't need anything from you either. If you have a CD-Writer, back in the 2.4 Kernel days this was where you would type in something to emulate scsi, but in the 2.6 Kernel you don't have to.

Just press Enter.

Now you'll see where to install LILO.

Now, if you already have something like GRUB, LILO, FreeBSD boot loader, or BootMagic installed, then put it in root.

If you only had Windows on the machine and don't have a boot loader you're using now (In other words, when you turned the computer on, if Windows booted right up and you weren't asked which Os to boot) then press the down arrow key twice to highlight MBR and press Enter.

Most people can really just hit the down arrow key twice to highlight MBR and hit Enter.

After you hit Enter, it installs LILO and you're asked what kind of mouse you have.

A lot of PCs will have PS/2 port mice. If you have a mouse connected from USB like my laptop does, press the down arrow key 7 times to highlight USB and hit Enter.

If you DON'T have a USB connected mouse, then its most likely PS/2 and you can hit Enter on the first option, or the intellimouse option if you have that.

Once you hit Enter from selecting the mouse you'll see the GPM configuration screen. This is to load mouse support without running X. It's nice to have so just press Enter as "Yes" is already highlighted.

After that you'll be asked to configure a network.

Here I press Enter as yes is already highlighted, and I wanted to pop this on my LAN.

If you have a cable connection to the net this is what you need to do usually.

I pressed Enter to configure my network, and now I'm being asked for a host name.

For this, it depends on what you ave set up. If you don't have a network set up this doesn't matter a whole bunch but Linux and UNIX do need loopback at least.

I'm tying in the host name I want to give the machine. This will show up as :

NetSecL.Laptop.MyNetwork

You can put whatever you want or whatever your network is layed out as.

When you're done typing that, press Enter.

Now you're at the screen asking for a Domain Name.

I'm not setting up a server for the internet so the host name on the screen before didn't matter really, and now I'm just going to type "org" on this screen.

You can type org, com, or net if you really want to.

After I typed org I hit ENTER.

The next screen is asking how to get my IP address.

I have a router set up and a switch to hand out this on my network at home, so I use DHCP. If you have a cable connection to the internet you'll probably want to use DHCP as well.

DHCP is selected by default so I just press ENTER.

If you have a STATIC IP, select that instead. A static IP is probably not what you have though unless you asked for it from your ISP.

Most seem to use DHCP these days though so pressing Enter for DHCP should work fine.

Now you'll be at the screen asking about DHCP hostname. If you have to use special info from your ISP for a cable connection you may want to put that in =)

I don't so I just press ENTER.

Now you'll see an overview of the info you typed in.

If you made a mistake in the screens before this you can change it now using the arrow keys and enter. If your info looks good, just hit ENTER.

Now you'll see the screen showing what services will run.

Now, unless you're setting up a server, you don't need many of these.

this is what I'm going to do and it's pretty good advice for most people installing:

Use the down arrow key to scroll down the list. I hit SPACEBAR to select HALD, and then the down arrow key 5 more times to highlight PCMCIA. If you installed this on a laptop like I am, leave that checked. If you're on a Desktop, it's probably a safe bet you don't need it, and can hit SPACEBAR to un-select it.

Continue to press the down arrow key to see other services you can enable at boot time. You should leave syslog alone, it's checked and you should leave it that way.

The other option after that is SSH. If you would like to log into the machine over the internet or over your LAN, then go ahead and check that one too. If you don't like the idea of people being able to log into your machine or having an open port, then leave it un-checked.

Just remember; To log in they DO need an account and password on the machine.

Once you've looked at all the services, and you're Happy with the ones selected, press ENTER.

The next screen asks if you want customer screen fonts.

I don't.

But if you do go ahead and check some out. I'm Happy with the default one usually.

If you WANT to look at them, go ahead by pressing the left arrow key and enter. You can look through them all you'd like and pick one.

As I said, I don't really want to, so I'm just pressing ENTER as "No" is highlighted by default.

After you press Enter, you'll see the system click configuration.

If you read what it says, you'll see it's a good idea to probably just press Enter unless you're sure it's set to UTC.

I'm pressing Enter.

After you press Enter, it asks where you are.

I'm in Michigan, so I hit the down arrow key and highlight "US/Michigan" and then press Enter.

After you press Enter, you'll see the screen for setting up which Window Manager loads by default.

You can pick whichever one you want and you can change that whenever you want as well, so it really doesn't matter.

I'm just pressing Enter to accept XFCE.

Now you'll be at the screen telling you to set a root password.

Press Enter here as "Yes" is already highlighted by default.

Once you press Enter it asks you for a new root password.

PICK A GOOD PASSWORD! Here's how!

Root is the admin account. Root can, will, and will again, break every part of a system if you aren't careful, or do something stupid, like using it for day to day tasks. Pick a GOOD password. Most people say to use random garbage for a password for root. That's stupid too unless you're good at remembering random garbage because then you can't update the system.

Pick a password like this if it's easier:

Think of your favorite song. Look up the lyrics, and use every 1st, second, or third letter of the chorus. That way if you forget, you can make a reminder saying "favorite song chorus" or something, and make a decent password you'll actually remember.

Adding numbers helps too. So adding in the track number and year it was released it another way to add to it.

Once you've typed a root password, hit Enter.

You're asked to type it again so you can be sure you got it right.

after you type it in again, Hit Enter again.

If you typed it wrong, you'll be able to do it again. If you typed it right, you'll now see "Press Enter to continue".

Press Enter =)

Now you'll see "Setup Complete".

Press Enter and you'll see the first screen you started with when you had typed setup when the installation started.

Press the down arrow key 8 times to highlight exit, and press Enter.

After you press Enter, the CD pops out. Grab that and store it.

Now hold down ALT and CTRL, and hit the DELETE key (ALT+CTRL+DEL)

You're machine reboots, and then you'll see LILO.

Windows and Linux show up on my screen and I just select whichever one I want to boot and hit Enter.

Once you boot into Linux and log in as root at the shell, type adduser to make an account for yourself that isn't root so you can use your machine for work or games or web surfing.

Enjoy!

-gore