I'm a noob wanting to learn Linux. A friend gave me a copy of the cd (Redhat Enterprise Linux Server) from his work to install and learn. Once I finished installing the software, it took me to a screen as followed:
Symantec MSS v8.1
localhost login:

He provided me with the user ID and password, and I used that to login. Login successful, but once I'm logged in, I don't know how to access the Internet. I've tried everything blindly that I've googled and nothing seems to work. Besides the Notice To Users, the only line I see after logging in is sadm@localhost ~]$

Please help; thanks in advance.

It sounds like your system is not starting the Graphical User Interface.

Do you just have a command line? (black screen with no icons)

If so, what happens if you type:

Just a command line; here's what the line says:
sadm@localhost ~]$


Thanks for getting back to me. *Hugz*

I would not recommend starting with Red Hat Linux Server.....first, it is a paid distro and you won't get access to updates, etc. Second, it for servers---I'm not sure it even has a GUI interface.

Go to http://distrowatch.com and pick anything in the top 10 on their "hit list"

Diztract:

A server system often is not the best place to get familiar with Gnu/Linux. Linux server edition is usually intended to be used by advanced Gnu/Linux users.

Try the free distros like Ubuntu, Mint, or Fedora. Click the link given by pixellany above.

Goodluck.

RHEL does have the option for a GUI (Gnome/KDE), although I gather that wasn't selected during the install process.

If the OP specifically wants to learn RHEL, then he would be best downloading and installing CentOS (Community Enterprise OS) as this will allow him to have compatibility with RHEL whilst being able to download updates without the need to purchase a support contract.

I have Ubuntu on my other system. I am very comfortable with Ubuntu because of the GUI. The reason I need to learn the Linux server without the GUI is for a potential job. I don't have to become a pro overnight, but at least know the basics. Anyhow, when I installed the RHEL, it did not give me the option to install a GUI. Once installed, I've tried /etc to configure the router (IP, DNS etc) so I can access the Internet but it did not recognize the commands.

Anyhow, I'll continue to try for a few more days to get it going. If I can't get it to work then, I will look at other options to learn. Thank you everyone for responding.

The configuration file that you're looking for is in:

It is most likely called "ifcfg-eth0". You will need to edit the file from the command line. My personal preference is vi, but if you are uncomfortable with text editors, pico is a fairly simple one.

Once you open the file, make sure that it has the following 2 lines:

Additional lines are okay, but it must have those three lines in order to pull a DHCP address from your router. Once you have verified that those are in place, run the following command to reinitialize the network interfaces.

If DHCP is running on the router, and the NIC is working properly in the server, it should pull an address, and get you online.

Well if you want to learn Linux without GUI I suggest trying Linux From Scratch http://www.linuxfromscratch.org. It takes some time, but since each step is explained, it shall really give you good insight.

It expects some basic knowledge of bash command line, but I personally don't think they are mandatory. First you will just blindly follow the guideline and slowly learn, how does Linux work.

Take this only as small hint how to get used to Linux without GUI. There are many other approaches I don't know about, which can be much better.

Ok, I finally was able to boot up and log-in. My next step is to configure the machine so I am able to access the Internet. I used the following...

Linux Network Setup

1. cd /etc/sysconfig

vi network
i -to insert :wq!-to save and exit
o HOSTNAME=localhost.localdomain
o GATEWAY=192.168.1.1, example

2. cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts

vi ifcfg-eth0

o ONBOOT=yes
o IPADDR=192.168.1.10, example
o BOOTPROTO=static
o NETMASK=255.255.255.0, example

3. cd/ etc/

vi resolv.conf

o nameserver 4.2.2.2 *keep lowercase

4. cd /etc

vi hosts

o ipaddress name *for manual dns

*be sure to restart network by: service network restart, or reboot

PROBLEM: For any of the above editing, I was unable to save and quit using the following command: :wq!-to save and exit because it said the file is a read-only file.

I can't set up the networking to be able to access the Internet if I am unable to save the IP address, gateway, and subnet. Please help! Thank you again.

I say go with Ubuntu SE 8.04 or any ubuntu 8.04
very user friendly

Can you please post the output of


Cheers,
Tink

To amend those files you need to be root.

su -

and enter the root passwd. Whoever installed it will know the root passwd.
Here's a good manual for RHEL 5 : http://www.linuxtopia.org/online_boo...ion/index.html
If you install it and tell it to use ipv4 and dhcp, you won't need to set those files, it will 'just work' assuming you have the usual home broadband router arrangement.
I've installed Fedora, RHEL and Centos and never had to manually set those files.

Problem solved! Basically, I wasn't in "root" and all I had to do was su root or login as root and that fixed the problem with the read-only.

Thanks Chris. That was exactly what I did. Also, thank you for the link. I will look into it.