There are two ways to install Java. The simplest is to install the
open source variant from the Fedora repository. It's easy to install,
and most importantly it keeps itself up to date.
The
second way is to install the official Sun Java binaries manually. The
benefit is you'll be working with the official libraries. The downside
is updates are done manually, instead of automatically through the
Fedora repos.
I would highly recommend using the open source Java. Simply install it, and forget it! I've yet to have an issue with it.
Open Source Java
As root,
yum -y install java-1.7.0-openjdk icedtea-web
Official Java Binaries
32-bit Java binaries
As root,
yum -y install wget
wget -O jre-7u06-linux-i586.rpm http://javadl.sun.com/webapps/download/AutoDL?BundleId=67385
yum -y localinstall jre-7u06-linux-i586.rpm
alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/latest/bin/java 20000
alternatives --install /usr/bin/javaws javaws /usr/java/latest/bin/javaws 20000
alternatives --install /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so /usr/java/latest/lib/i386/libnpjp2.so 20000
rm -f jre-7u06-linux-i586.rpm
64-bit Java binaries
As root,
yum -y install wget
wget -O jre-7u06-linux-x86_64.rpm http://javadl.sun.com/webapps/download/AutoDL?BundleId=67387
yum -y localinstall jre-7u06-linux-x86_64.rpm
alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/latest/bin/java 20000
alternatives --install /usr/bin/javaws javaws /usr/java/latest/bin/javaws 20000
alternatives --install /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin.so libjavaplugin.so.x86_64
/usr/java/latest/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so 20000
rm -f jre-7u06-linux-
x86_64.rpm
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Fedora 17 - Adobe Flash
Fedora does not come shipped with the Adobe Flash player. The
following directions install the Adobe software repository, and install
the Flash Player. Please note that the instructions are different for
32 and 64 bit systems.
32-bit systems
As root,
yum -y install --nogpgcheck http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-i386-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
yum -y install flash-plugin
64-bit systems
As root,
yum -y install --nogpgcheck http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-x86_64-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
yum -y install flash-plugin
If you had Firefox open at the time of install, you will need to close Firefox and reopen it in order to use the Flash player
32-bit systems
As root,
yum -y install --nogpgcheck http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-i386-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
yum -y install flash-plugin
64-bit systems
As root,
yum -y install --nogpgcheck http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-x86_64-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
yum -y install flash-plugin
If you had Firefox open at the time of install, you will need to close Firefox and reopen it in order to use the Flash player
Fedora 17 - Multimedia Add-ons
Fedora ships with no closed source or proprietary multimedia codecs.
As such, Fedora is not equipped to play MP3's or many video clips
out-of-the-box. Here's how to install most of what you'll need for a
rich multimedia experience.
What we will be doing is installing the RPM Fusion repository and installing several packages from there. Afterwards, we'll download a codec tarball from Mplayer, and install that as well. Then, the Livna repository will be installed (then disabled by default), and from there libdvdcss will be installed so as to play DVDs.
Upon completion, your Fedora installation will be well equipped for multimedia!
As root:
yum install -y --nogpgcheck http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm
yum -y install xine-ui gstreamer-plugins-bad-extras gstreamer-ffmpeg gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-plugins-bad totem totem-mozplugin totem-nautilus totem-pl-parser totem-xine mozplugger gecko-mediaplayer xmms xmms-faad2 libmad libid3tag libdvdread libdvdnav libquicktime vlc ffmpeg wget xine-lib-extras-freeworld xmms-mp3 lame
wget http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/all-20110131.tar.bz2
tar -jxvf all-20110131.tar.bz2
mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/codecs
cp all-20110131/* /usr/local/lib/codecs
ln -sf /usr/local/lib/codecs /usr/lib/codecs && ln -sf /usr/local/lib/codecs /usr/local/lib/win32 && ln -sf /usr/local/lib/codecs /usr/lib/win32
rm -f all-20100303.tar.bz2
rm -rf all-20100303
yum -y install --nogpgcheck http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release.rpm
sed -i 's/enabled=1/enabled=0/g' /etc/yum.repos.d/livna.repo
yum --enablerepo=livna -y install libdvdcss
Enjoy!
What we will be doing is installing the RPM Fusion repository and installing several packages from there. Afterwards, we'll download a codec tarball from Mplayer, and install that as well. Then, the Livna repository will be installed (then disabled by default), and from there libdvdcss will be installed so as to play DVDs.
Upon completion, your Fedora installation will be well equipped for multimedia!
As root:
yum install -y --nogpgcheck http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm
yum -y install xine-ui gstreamer-plugins-bad-extras gstreamer-ffmpeg gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-plugins-bad totem totem-mozplugin totem-nautilus totem-pl-parser totem-xine mozplugger gecko-mediaplayer xmms xmms-faad2 libmad libid3tag libdvdread libdvdnav libquicktime vlc ffmpeg wget xine-lib-extras-freeworld xmms-mp3 lame
wget http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/codecs/all-20110131.tar.bz2
tar -jxvf all-20110131.tar.bz2
mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/codecs
cp all-20110131/* /usr/local/lib/codecs
ln -sf /usr/local/lib/codecs /usr/lib/codecs && ln -sf /usr/local/lib/codecs /usr/local/lib/win32 && ln -sf /usr/local/lib/codecs /usr/lib/win32
rm -f all-20100303.tar.bz2
rm -rf all-20100303
yum -y install --nogpgcheck http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release.rpm
sed -i 's/enabled=1/enabled=0/g' /etc/yum.repos.d/livna.repo
yum --enablerepo=livna -y install libdvdcss
Enjoy!
Fedora 17 - Customize Gnome
After installation, there’s a number of things I like to tweak for a
comfortable working environment, as well as modify what software is
installed. Please note that this is Gnome specific.
yum install gnome-tweak-tool
Tweak User Interface with gnome-tweak-tool
gnome-tweak-tool can be used to modify several settings. Before we can use it, we have to install it.
As root,
yum install gnome-tweak-tool
Open gnome-tweak-tool, found in Activities -> Applications -> Advanced Settings, and let’s start changing things!
Desktop
- Turn Have file manager handle the desktop on
- This turns the desktop back on, including Computer, Trash, and other such icons
- Turn Always show location entry, instead of the pathbar on
- In the Nautilus file manager, this allows you to type in the path to display, instead of clicking.
Shell
- Turn Show date in clock on
- This displays the date on the top of the screen, along with the clock
- Change Arrangement of buttons on the titlebar to All
- This brings back the maximize and minimize buttons.
Theme
- Turn Menus Have Icons on
- This shows icons next to menu items. I prefer them.
- Turn Buttons Have Icons on
- This shows icons next to buttons. These two options make the user interface slightly more efficient, in my humble opinion.
- Chage Action on title bar middle click to Toggle shade
- When the title bar of a window is middle clicked, it will shade the window. Shading will remove the contents from view, leaving just the menu bar. Similar to rolling up a window shade to see outside.
Fedora 17 - Customize KDE
After installation, there’s a number of things I like to tweak for a
comfortable working environment, as well as modify what software is
installed. Please note that this is KDE specific.
Tweak User Interface
Kickoff Menu
To show application name instead of application type (ie, display Firefox instead of Web Browser)
Change the single-click-to-open, to double-click-to-open.
Remove Software
kdepim
I do not care for akregator, blogilo, kmail, knode, knotes, kontact, or korganizer. So I pull them out.
As root,
yum remove kdepim
Updating the system is very easy. One single step does the trick.
As root,
yum upgrade or yum -y upgrade
Install Software
Evolution
I install this as a replacement to kdepim. It handles email and contacts just the way I need it.
As root,
yum install evolution
Enjoy!
Tweak User Interface
Kickoff Menu
To show application name instead of application type (ie, display Firefox instead of Web Browser)
- Right click on the blue “F” KDE menu -> Application Launcher Settings
- Ensure “Show application by name” is checked
- Click “OK”
Change the single-click-to-open, to double-click-to-open.
- Click the blue “F” KDE menu -> System Settings
- Select “Input Devices”
- Select “Mouse” on the left side
- Ensure the “Double click to open files and folders” button is selected
- Click “Apply”
- Close as desired
Virtual Desktops
I prefer to have multiple virtual desktops, instead of just one, as shipped.
- Click the blue “F” KDE menu -> System Settings
- Select “Workspace Behavior”
- Change “Number of desktops” as desired
- Click “Apply”
- Close as desired
As an alternative, you can simply right click on the
workspace pager in the task bar (just to the right of the three-dot
activity manager) and select “Add Virtual Desktop”.
Task Manager
By
default, the task manager will display tasks from all virtual desktops.
I prefer to show only those tasks on the current desktop.
- Right click in task manager area (open space on bottom panel)
- Select “Task Manager Settings”
- Ensure “Only shows tasks from the current desktop” is checked.
- Click “Apply”
- Close as desired.
kdepim
I do not care for akregator, blogilo, kmail, knode, knotes, kontact, or korganizer. So I pull them out.
As root,
yum remove kdepim
Update System
Updating the system is very easy. One single step does the trick.
As root,
yum upgrade or yum -y upgrade
Evolution
I install this as a replacement to kdepim. It handles email and contacts just the way I need it.
As root,
yum install evolution
Firefox
I much prefer Firefox to Konqueror
As root
yum install firefox
I much prefer Firefox to Konqueror
As root
yum install firefox
Enjoy!
Fedora 17 Installation
Obtaining Media
There are multiple ways of installing Fedora. You can simply go to the main Fedora website, http://fedoraproject.org, click the Download link in the main menu. The main download option will provide you with the full ISO image of the 64 bit, live Gnome desktop. Please note that the 64 bit version may not be suitable for older PC’s. There are other downloads available. If you scroll down that page and look to the right, there are two links of interest to take note of.
All download methods
This provides you with links to a multitude of download options. You can download the media directly, use BitTorrent, or Metalinks.
Media choices include DVD install (also for upgrading from previous versions for Fedora), Live CDs of Gnome and KDE, and network install CDs (requires Internet connection)
Fedora Spins
Spins are Fedora live CDs that contain a different software. The KDE spin uses the KDE desktop instead of Gnome. The XFCE spin uses the lightweight, yet GTK aware XFCE desktop. The Games spin focuses on games, both 2D and 3D.
While spins contain different sets of software, they all contain software that is available in the Fedora software repositories online. You can easily install all the games you want from the KDE spin, or install the XFCE desktop from the main Desktop CD.
Installation
I would highly recommend using one of the Live CD's as installation media for a couple of reasons. First, you can take Fedora (or the specific desktop environment) for a test drive before you choose to install. Secondly, and most importantly, if you run into trouble later, you'll have a disk that boots into a live environment so you can fix any problems that may arise.
After you’ve downloaded and burned your ISO image to disk, it’s time to get started! Insert the disk in your optical drive, boot up from the media.
Before continuing, see the end of this page for any installation caveats that may cause problems.
Step 1 - Boot Options
The first screen you’re greeted with is the GRUB bootloader screen. The basic options provided are to start Fedora, or go a troubleshooting section with other options including “Test this media & start Fedora 17.” This is my preferred choice, particularly when using a CD/DVD for the first time.
Note that pressing “Tab” will provide you a full kernel configuration screen, should you need to pass custom parameters.
This will take a bit of time to boot, depending on the speed of your hardware.
Step 2 - Start the Installer
Here, the Fedora desktop is presented to you. The “Install to Hard Drive” application can be in one of a few different spots, depending on the spin you’ve chosen to install from. The main Gnome spin has it in the quick lauch bar. KDE and XFCE have it on the desktop.
Open the Install to Hard Drive app, and the Anaconda installer will start.
Step 3 - Keyboard Layout
The first screen asks you for your keyboard layout.
Step 4 - Storage devices
This screen asks you what kind of storage devices you’re using. Unless you have something custom, and likely expensive, the Basic Storage Devices option should suffice. An ordinary PC or laptop will fall into this category. Your hard drives will be analyzed after clicking Next.
Step 5 - Hostname
Here you can set your hostname. While default will work just fine, be encouraged to change the hostname to your liking.
Step 6 - Time Zone
Change the time to where you live. The important setting here is whether your system clock is set to UTC. Left unchecked, and it tells Fedora your system clock is set to local time.
Step 7 - Set root password
Set the password for the root user.
Step 8 - Partitioning
This section is highly subjective, and the configuration will be different depending on your specific needs and preferences.
If you’re just taking Fedora for a test drive, I would recommend the “Use All Space option, and uncheck Use LVM. This would be the most simplistic layout.
Step 9 - Choose Boot Loader Location
Unless your layout is custom, the default should be just fine. Clicking next here will begin the installation. Grab yourself a cup of coffee, and check back later.
Step 10 - Reboot
You’ll now be asked to reboot your system. Depending on your configuration, you may need to remove the installation media.
Step 11 - Welcome
Nothing to configure here. Just click next.
Step 12 - License Information
This just explains where you can find the license information regarding Fedora, which contains 100% free and open source software. No proprietary or closed source software binaries reside in this distribution. In case you want to read over the licenses, you can go here http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal/Licenses/LicenseAgreement
Step 13 - Create a User Account
Enter your full name, login name, and password. You may opt to add yourself to the Administrators group for convenience. Network Login is for configuring NIS and other forms of managed user authentication. This can be safely ignored unless you know for sure otherwise.
Advanced will open the user manager, and allow you to create more than one user, as well as provide detailed configuration options for your user account. This can generally be ignored.
Step 14 - Date and Time
Here you can configure your system clock to synchronize over the network or Internet. If you have an ‘always-on’ Internet connection, or a NTP time server configured on your network, I recommend turning this on.
Step 15 - Hardware Profile
This area asks you whether or not to send Fedora developers a detail of your computer hardware. By doing so, you provide developers insight as to what hardware to maintain. You can certainly feel free to not send any info at all.
Step 16 - Login
Now you can login to Fedora, and enjoy your Linux experience!
Gotcha’s
Below is a list of problems you may or may not run into, and a way to correct the problems.
Installing on a Disk Drive Used for Windows 7 (And probably Vista)
I used a hard drive that was used in a Windows 7 RAID 1 array. During Fedora installation, I deleted the partitions and recreated my own structure.
Note, I’m not sure if it was the fact that the disk was used in a Windows RAID array, or the fact that it was formatted by Windows 7. Either way, the below solution worked perfectly.
The Problem
GRUB bootloader failed to install.
The Solution
I zeroed out the entire hard drive with a very simple (and very destructive) command while booted up from the Live CD. I could have simply zeroed out the MBR, and next several blocks.
But, I chose the radical solution instead.
You must know what you’re doing with this command, specifically, which hard drive you need to zero out. This command will cause irreparable data loss. Which is exactly what I needed, targeted at the correct hard drive.
Before using the dd command, you should know what hard drive you need to zero out, ie /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc. You should be able to figure this out from the partitioner in Step 8.
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1
For reference, the dd command is an abbreviation for data definition. However, it’s best to think of it as ‘data destroyer’ every time you invoke that command! Triple check it before pressing Enter. Just my two cents.
As a side note, if you want to wipe out an entire disk, use the following command (targeted at the correct disk, of course!)
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda
There are multiple ways of installing Fedora. You can simply go to the main Fedora website, http://fedoraproject.org, click the Download link in the main menu. The main download option will provide you with the full ISO image of the 64 bit, live Gnome desktop. Please note that the 64 bit version may not be suitable for older PC’s. There are other downloads available. If you scroll down that page and look to the right, there are two links of interest to take note of.
All download methods
This provides you with links to a multitude of download options. You can download the media directly, use BitTorrent, or Metalinks.
Media choices include DVD install (also for upgrading from previous versions for Fedora), Live CDs of Gnome and KDE, and network install CDs (requires Internet connection)
Fedora Spins
Spins are Fedora live CDs that contain a different software. The KDE spin uses the KDE desktop instead of Gnome. The XFCE spin uses the lightweight, yet GTK aware XFCE desktop. The Games spin focuses on games, both 2D and 3D.
While spins contain different sets of software, they all contain software that is available in the Fedora software repositories online. You can easily install all the games you want from the KDE spin, or install the XFCE desktop from the main Desktop CD.
Installation
I would highly recommend using one of the Live CD's as installation media for a couple of reasons. First, you can take Fedora (or the specific desktop environment) for a test drive before you choose to install. Secondly, and most importantly, if you run into trouble later, you'll have a disk that boots into a live environment so you can fix any problems that may arise.
After you’ve downloaded and burned your ISO image to disk, it’s time to get started! Insert the disk in your optical drive, boot up from the media.
Before continuing, see the end of this page for any installation caveats that may cause problems.
Step 1 - Boot Options
The first screen you’re greeted with is the GRUB bootloader screen. The basic options provided are to start Fedora, or go a troubleshooting section with other options including “Test this media & start Fedora 17.” This is my preferred choice, particularly when using a CD/DVD for the first time.
Note that pressing “Tab” will provide you a full kernel configuration screen, should you need to pass custom parameters.
This will take a bit of time to boot, depending on the speed of your hardware.
Step 2 - Start the Installer
Here, the Fedora desktop is presented to you. The “Install to Hard Drive” application can be in one of a few different spots, depending on the spin you’ve chosen to install from. The main Gnome spin has it in the quick lauch bar. KDE and XFCE have it on the desktop.
Open the Install to Hard Drive app, and the Anaconda installer will start.
Step 3 - Keyboard Layout
The first screen asks you for your keyboard layout.
Step 4 - Storage devices
This screen asks you what kind of storage devices you’re using. Unless you have something custom, and likely expensive, the Basic Storage Devices option should suffice. An ordinary PC or laptop will fall into this category. Your hard drives will be analyzed after clicking Next.
Step 5 - Hostname
Here you can set your hostname. While default will work just fine, be encouraged to change the hostname to your liking.
Step 6 - Time Zone
Change the time to where you live. The important setting here is whether your system clock is set to UTC. Left unchecked, and it tells Fedora your system clock is set to local time.
Step 7 - Set root password
Set the password for the root user.
Step 8 - Partitioning
This section is highly subjective, and the configuration will be different depending on your specific needs and preferences.
If you’re just taking Fedora for a test drive, I would recommend the “Use All Space option, and uncheck Use LVM. This would be the most simplistic layout.
Step 9 - Choose Boot Loader Location
Unless your layout is custom, the default should be just fine. Clicking next here will begin the installation. Grab yourself a cup of coffee, and check back later.
Step 10 - Reboot
You’ll now be asked to reboot your system. Depending on your configuration, you may need to remove the installation media.
Step 11 - Welcome
Nothing to configure here. Just click next.
Step 12 - License Information
This just explains where you can find the license information regarding Fedora, which contains 100% free and open source software. No proprietary or closed source software binaries reside in this distribution. In case you want to read over the licenses, you can go here http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal/Licenses/LicenseAgreement
Step 13 - Create a User Account
Enter your full name, login name, and password. You may opt to add yourself to the Administrators group for convenience. Network Login is for configuring NIS and other forms of managed user authentication. This can be safely ignored unless you know for sure otherwise.
Advanced will open the user manager, and allow you to create more than one user, as well as provide detailed configuration options for your user account. This can generally be ignored.
Step 14 - Date and Time
Here you can configure your system clock to synchronize over the network or Internet. If you have an ‘always-on’ Internet connection, or a NTP time server configured on your network, I recommend turning this on.
Step 15 - Hardware Profile
This area asks you whether or not to send Fedora developers a detail of your computer hardware. By doing so, you provide developers insight as to what hardware to maintain. You can certainly feel free to not send any info at all.
Step 16 - Login
Now you can login to Fedora, and enjoy your Linux experience!
Gotcha’s
Below is a list of problems you may or may not run into, and a way to correct the problems.
Installing on a Disk Drive Used for Windows 7 (And probably Vista)
I used a hard drive that was used in a Windows 7 RAID 1 array. During Fedora installation, I deleted the partitions and recreated my own structure.
Note, I’m not sure if it was the fact that the disk was used in a Windows RAID array, or the fact that it was formatted by Windows 7. Either way, the below solution worked perfectly.
The Problem
GRUB bootloader failed to install.
The Solution
I zeroed out the entire hard drive with a very simple (and very destructive) command while booted up from the Live CD. I could have simply zeroed out the MBR, and next several blocks.
But, I chose the radical solution instead.
You must know what you’re doing with this command, specifically, which hard drive you need to zero out. This command will cause irreparable data loss. Which is exactly what I needed, targeted at the correct hard drive.
Before using the dd command, you should know what hard drive you need to zero out, ie /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc. You should be able to figure this out from the partitioner in Step 8.
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1
For reference, the dd command is an abbreviation for data definition. However, it’s best to think of it as ‘data destroyer’ every time you invoke that command! Triple check it before pressing Enter. Just my two cents.
As a side note, if you want to wipe out an entire disk, use the following command (targeted at the correct disk, of course!)
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda
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