KateOS III LIVE installation process

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Introduction

KateOS LIVE installation is not difficult. All it requires is an elementary knowledge of logical hard drive partitioning. The installation process has been made as easy as it can be, and the decisions the user will need to make have been limited to only the most important and most basic questions. The LIVE version is meant for desktop and office use and does not contain server applications (for that, use CORE or the Miniiso).

Hardware Requirements

To install KateOS LIVE and be able to use it comfortably, you will need at least an i686 computer (Pentium II or newer) with at least a 600 Mhz clock. For cozy usage, it should have no less than 256 MB of RAM and 4 GB of free hard disk space. Additionally, a CD-ROM drive and VGA-compatible graphics card are required.

Installation

The first step in preparing for installation is to boot KateOS LIVE from the CD. Make sure your BIOS is configured to boot from CDROM (the process is different for every BIOS; see the documentation that came with your computer), insert the CD in the drive, and reboot your computer. If everything is configured correctly, you will be greeted by the KateOS logo and a boot prompt. Most users will only need to press the Enter key to accept the default boot options. If you need special options, use the default boot kernel, and append the options to the boot command, for example:

boot: default acpi=off noapic nolapic

You can press F2 to see a list of common boot options.

Once the system has booted, log in as the user 'kate' (password 'kate'). This will give you a 'live' system, in which you can try out the system (note that the system is significantly slower from CDROM than it is from a hard disk). When you are ready to install KateOS, start the installation program by either clicking the icon on the desktop, or by running installos in a terminal. Installation The first step in the installation is to make hard disk partitions for KateOS to reside in. The LIVE isntaller will give you the opportunity to modify your disk's partitions using the Gparted application. Gparted is an excellent and intuitive tool which will allow you to delete or resize partitions, and create new ones. At the very least, you need one Linux partition and one SWAP partitition. The Linux partition is where KateOS will install system files, and the SWAP partition is used for virtual RAM and for storing information during hibernation. The SWAP partition should be twice the size of your RAM (e.g., if you have 512MB of RAM, you should make a 1GB SWAP partition). The Linux partition must be at least 3GB, but 4GB or more are recommended for comfort. Advanced users can optionally add other partitions for separate mountpoints. Next, you will need to choose the root ('/') partition, which will be used for the main file system. If you are using additional partitions, the installer will give you the opportunity to set their mountpoints here.

If you do not want the installer to format (and thus delete all the data on) a partition, do not set any mountpoints for it! The installer will automatically add all partitions to the fstab so that they will be available in the /mnt directory of your KateOS filesystem. All NTFS and FAT partitions will be mounted read-write. The next decision you will need to make is to choose the filesystem types for the selected partitions. The options are listed below:

• Ext2 is the standard filesystem in Linux. Its structure is based on nodes, blocks and paths. Ext2 is efficient and stable but not as error-resistant as journaling filesystems.
• Ext3 is the journaling version of Ext2. It is slightly slower, but in the case of a power outage, you do not need to worry about the safety of your data.
• ReiserFS is a journaling filesystem which keeps all the files and filenames in a balanced tree structure. ReiserFS is much more efficient then Ext3 with a small stability cost. This is the system recommended by Kate_Team.
• JFS is a filesystem created by IBM, originally used on IBM servers. It is a modern journaling filesystem but is not, however, as feature-rich as the others (e.g. it does not support limiting space usage).
• XFS is a filesystem by SGI, originally a part of the IRIX platform. It is a journaling filesystem based on B+ trees and extents. XFS is perfect for a server.

Next, you will need to choose the partition you will be using for system hibernation from the list of available SWAP partitions. Hibernation causes the computer to save the state of the system to disk before shutting down so that the state can be restored when the system is restarted. The partition used for hibernation should be at least 40% the size of your RAM.

After you have made these choices, the installer will continue to format the chosen partitions and install the system. The installation process does not usually take long, depending on your hardware. During the installation, 2.2 GB of compressed data will be copied to your hard disk, which is quite an effort for your CD-ROM drive. It is a good idea to limit your activity on the computer to non-intensive tasks, such as web browsing or listening to music, for the duration of the installation. Once the installer has placed all the data on the appropriate disks, it will automatically configure the initrd boot image and the GRUB bootloader (responsible for loading system kernel and boot-up). The installer will try to automatically detect all the operating systems present on your computer and add them to the bootloader's menu.

The last step of the installation is to create a user account and choose the default language of the new system.

It is recommended to work on a user's (not root's) account, which makes it more difficult to destroy anything by accident. To create a user, enter the desired username and password (twice to make sure it has been entered correctly). By default, the user is added to the standard desktop groups. The main system password (root's password) should be well-considered. The safety of your data may depend on it. It should be at least eight characters long (five-character passwords are relatively easy to break). Don't use a proper name (e.g., the name of your child, your girlfriend or boyfriend, a football team, a band, or the brand of your car). Choose a password with upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters; such a password will not be broken using the dictionary method. For example: P#z8>lK0&umAa193. User creation is the last step of installation. The demo user 'kate' will not exist on your new system.

The Installation Is Finished!

Restart the computer by choosing the option from the panel menu, and remove the CD from your drive.