---

                                            Linux News / OS Review / Install notes

In this section I will Review different distributions of Linux. This will also host Installation notes on a few of my favorite version of Linux, all in step by step detail. I will also explain Why Use Linux:

                                                                 WHY USE LINUX???

There is a growing population of computer users that are now using Linux.  There are a wide range of free products available to use from Linux and they are all Open Source.  This means that you can potentially change the code to make a program run to your specifications.
Here is a list of the benefits of using Linux:

- You can install it to a thumb drive in most cases.

- You can run from a live CD or DVD.

- Free to try most Distro's available for download online.
More at Linux.org

- Has free word processing utilities, and in most cases you can download
just about any program for your distro. Thanks to open source :)

---

07-02-2009           Installing Linux to a Thumb Drive ^_^ Super Easy.

4 Step Process to Install Backtrack3 to a thumb drive.

There are about 4 Main Steps that it takes to install Backtrack Linux to a thumb drive.

1) start downloading the ISO > Download: Click here

Description: USB Version (Extended)
Name:: bt3final_usb.iso
Size: 784 MB
MD5: 5d27c768e9c2fef61bbc208c78dadf22
SHA1: 3aceedea0e8e70fff2e7f7a7f3039704014e980f

2) Download and Install 7-zip > 7-zip.org

3) Format your thumbdrive ( min 2GB ) Fat32 format.

4) Extract files with 7-zip and copy ( boot, /BT3 ) folders to flash drive.

- Once the ISO is downloaded, and 7-ZIP is installed.

Find the icon of the ISO, Right click under 7-zip > Extract files...  Then just follow the wizard and it should guide you through.

Once the files are extracted you will need to copy the folders labeled boot and BT3 to the thumb drive.

Once fully copied navigate to the boot folder on the thumb drive and double click on install.bat or install.sh It will then ask you if you want to write over the data press any key to continue. 

Your thumb drive should now be boot-able with backtrack.  Note that you might have to tweak some configs to get persistent changes, but just look at like it is a portable live CD :)  -   Pretty handy if you know how to use it.

07-02-2009            Installing Backtrack 3 To Hard Drive

Backtrack 3 Final Install from Live CD to Hard Drive.
( Install Notes: These are the exact steps I took when I installed )

Offensive Security.com Install Notes
- These are what I referenced when installing for the first time.  Could be helpful for you, but I will try to explain as I go.  But if you need help, check out the PDF above. Good to download!!!

How to install Backtrack 3 to HD from live CD.

( *Note* This is not guaranteed to work without errors. These are just the steps that I took when installing.  If you would just like to try out linux I suggest you install to thumb drive. Or run from a live CD / DVD. )

---

Press F12      with CD in as Computer boots.

when you come to a login type screen type: root
                                                Password : toor

if it doesn't complain then type : startx                  - To start the x interface
 

---

- Open a Shell konsole. Yes it is actually spelled KONSOLE :)

A Konsole is like the windows CMD prompt.  It should be added to the task bar default with BT3.

---

You might need root access.

- Type:       su
- Password: toor

This will switch you to the Root user. By default BT3 makes you Root.

Next type: fdisk /dev/sda

This will open the fdisk utility to create new partition, or to delete old ones.
to check what your hard drive name is, open QTParted.

Click the K icon in the corner. Select System, and click on QTParted.
also try:

Alt + F1 to open KDE All Applications menu. then System > QTParted

It will have a column to the left stating the disks installed. It will represent them as  /dev/sda ,/dev/hda ,/dev/hdb  etc...

Make sure when you create partitions that you use this device name.

Next type: fdisk /dev/(yourdevicenamehere)

---

Now we are going to create the Boot partition, sda1 - Boot partition - 50 MB

N      Enter      -To make partition
P      Enter      -Primary Partition
1      Enter       -Partition Number
[enter] (take Default) 1   -First Cylinder Number
+50M    Enter   -Sets last cylinder for that partition.
Now to create 2nd partition.  This will be used for the Linux swap.  The Swap is what linux uses to help process information. I typically like to make my Swap double what memory I have installed. This one I am making is going to be 2 GB.
 
Using the fdisk utility create this partition.
sda2 - swap - 2GB

N [enter]
P  [enter]
2  [enter]

[enter] (take default)

+2048M  [enter]    -  This is to allot 2 GB of Hard drive space.
You can type p [enter] to print the partition table to see if the partition is correct.

---

5) Partition 3 - BT3 Partition - Look at this as you storage..

hda3 - Root - Rest of drive

N [enter]
P [enter]
3 [enter]
[enter]    (take Default)
[enter] To use remaining Disk space.

---

6) Making 1st partition bootable,
and 2nd partition a Swap.

Type:

A  [enter]
1  [enter]
T  [enter]
2  [enter]
82 [enter]

You can type p to print the partition table to see if you created the partition correctly. It should look similar to this:


If everything look similar to this go ahead and write the partition to the Disk.

Type:  W   [hit enter]

This will take anywhere from a minute to ten minutes, so be patient.

---

- Open a new Shell konsole and type:

mkfs.ext3 /dev/hda1                          - It will take about 1 min to run.

mkfs.ext3 /dev/hda3                          - This one will take longer due to the size of the partition.

---

8) Creating Directory's and mounting CD.

Type these in order into a Shell konsole as root:

one line at a time!!!

Note!!! when you get the line with the cp command it will take a while to copy all data to the hard drive, so be patient.  Once it is done the hard drive light should not be flashing, that is an easy indicator.  Or once it is done the shell will also then be able to receive input.

      also make sure to type the commands in exactly as that appear, spaces and all. If you get an error you probably have a typo... :)

---

mkdir /mnt/backtrack

mount /dev/hda3 /mnt/backtrack/

mkdir /mnt/backtrack/boot/

mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/backtrack/boot/

cp --preserve -R /{bin,dev,home,pentest,root,usr,etc,lib,opt,sbin,var} /mnt/backtrack/

mkdir /mnt/backtrack/{mnt,proc,sys,tmp}

mount --bind /dev/ /mnt/backtrack/dev/

mount -t proc proc /mnt/backtrack/proc/

cp /boot/vmlinuz /mnt/backtrack/boot/

---

---

10) Eject live CD and see if the PC boots from the Hard Drive.   ^_^           

               Have fun and enjoy Linux.

                                                         Thank you, -- Cordell Anderson

More to come soon.  Such as installing Suse Linux with Compiz. :)
going to include how to configure so you can use the cube function to access multiple desktops. ( really cool )

Return to IT News Page