I have just installed a virtual appliance from a man who is very good at building VMWare virtual machines. I have one other virtual disk, which is Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit. My main computer is Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit. I am a complete "Newbie" to Linux! I thought I would download a free built appliance that is for Linux to see what I'm missing. I need a complete education in using the commands and the terminal window.

Right now I'm wondering what needs to be done to connect to the internet. I am using a router for all three pc's. I know to check for ip address in Windows, but not Linux. I know I need to clear the IP address with my router in order to connect to the internet, but I don't know where to start.

Show me where I can go to learn how to use the Linux interface.

Try this.

Also, if you use ipconfig in windows, try ifconfig in linux

Can you provide more details? Which linux distro did you download? Ubuntu? Suse? That may help us a bit. In order to use ifconfig you'll need to be superuser. To do that, type su in the terminal, then type in your admin password. Then type ifconfig. We're assuming this is a wired computer and you're not try to use a wireless device to connect to the router.

Thanks for the reply! I can see that the internet address is 127.0.0.1 - but do you also know how to discover the mac address? I need to address in order to program my router.

Do you have any instruction as to what I need to do to set up the internet connection? I am totally lost! I found the Linux Homepage and I am doing some reading and training myself to use this interface.

This is the result of your advice: Again, thank you!

bagside@bagvapp:~$ ifconfig
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:1056 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1056 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:52800 (51.5 KB) TX bytes:52800 (51.5 KB)

Yes, I can provide you with more information.

Version= Ubuntu Studio 8.04.1 with GNOME 2.22.2 DE
Linux filesystem: ext3 Kernel= 2.6.24-21-rt.
RAM= 600 (which means at least 1GB memory is recommended)
Appliance size on HD= 3,5 GB, which will expand to 20 GB if I understand things correctly.
The root commmandline is sudo. The password is bagside

I downloaded this appliance from a man who builds them and places his own decorative art into the interface. He is very good!
Yes this is a not a wireless computer that is connected to a router.

This is what the readme file said that came with the distro.

This appliance has not been built substantially from the original distro however the folllowing has been added and/or upgraded, kernel-headers, automake, autoconf and mplayer + plugin. A total of abt. 100 other updates/upgrades has been made on the 21st of October 2008.
Finally VMwareTools has been upgraded to 6.5.0-118166 and installed/compiled into the running kernel. Minor visual changes has been done mainly to suit me when I created the appliance.

Enjoy this appliance and if you have something good to say please email me at

aakeg@hagan.no


I hope this information is helpful.

Sorry - forgot to post the link earlier Try http://www.linuxcommand.org/index.php

127.0.0.1 is the loopback address. Do you have a NIC attached?


ifconfig will give you the mac address if it finds a NIC.

I wouldn't post my email btw.

What does NIC mean? Thanks for the website for training within the shell of linux.

A NIC is a Network Interface Card (ie ethernet), but since you're using a VM, I guess you need to set up a virtual NIC somehow. Not my field.

NIC = Network Interface Card
ifconfig = Interface configuration
(the command: 'man ifconfig' will tell you how to use the command)
It appears you haven't set up you network card yet. Try: System > Administration > Network.
Also, System > Help and Support, will help you. Ubuntu has good support documentation.
Good luck and have fun.

This is the information that helped me the most. I didn't realize that setting up the internet was as easy as clicking one place - Select DHCP and have it automatically set up this connection.


Step 1 - Place your computer system and DSL router in the area where you want to have them. Plug in your DSL router, and then connect it to your Ubuntu Linux computer.

Step 2 - Go to your Ubuntu menu and click on "Utilities" and then "Networking." Select the "ETH0" option on your home computer and then choose "Properties." Select "DHCP" in the drop down menu. You have now enabled DHCP on your PC.

Step 3 - Read through the set up instructions to get the IP home address provided for your DSL router. If your DSL provider has not included this information, call them and request the IP address.

Step 4 - Launch your web browser. In the address box, type in the IP address and click "Go." Enter your user-name and your password. You will now be able to access the Internet with your Ubuntu Linux system.