I'm a newbie to "Linux" area and any help is appreciated. I just recieved my new "server" from serverworks. It included and installed the redhat linux release 9 and I am having some difficulty here.

After a boot up, I get the localhost login:

I then type the login I was given.

then I get the password:

I typed in the password I was given.

Then it shows
"last login: (date and time) on tty1"
"You have mail."
"[root@localhost root]#"


Can someone tell me what is this doing and what I need to do next?, Please.

Thanks in advance from a

aparently it emans you have mail
and also means that you need to make a new user acount that you will use, the "root" acount tha it says ur loged on as isent a good acount to use for a server, a normal user is best to use as when a normal users acount is comprimised then they cant do much to hurt the system, if your using the root acount and it gets comprimised, then say goodby to your system

Hmm,

Well, first off the "tty1" means you are logged in to, say, terminal 1. Try pressing ctrl + alt together --> then press F2. Alternativley you can do the same but instead of F2 use F3 and F4 so on and so forth. These are your multi-user sessions. Neat huh?

Next, the terminal is telling you that you have mail and I think it is in the /var/log directory where you will find your mail however this is an area where I am weak so perhaps another LQ member will be more insightful.

lastly, the "[root@localhost root]#" means you're logged-in as root (the most powerful user) and the localhost is the default machine name Redhat has given your server.

You can change all of these and I would recommend not logging in as root. Try creating a normal user account and if need be su -l to root to perform any rootly duties.

Here is a good place to start: http://www.justlinux.com/nhf and is by no means the best or worst but as you use the system more you will find your way around little by little.

Redhat is a good starting Linux Platform but don't forget to try out different distro's to find one you like. I started on RH and then moved over to Slackware and fell in love. To each their own!


Hope this helps and enjoy Linux!

Slappy

Thanks for the help.

I went to redhat site and read the document. I may be reading the wrong thing but I'm starting to wonder if buying a ready made set of cd's is the way to go and re install over the installation I already have.

To get an idea of what I am talking about here is the site. http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/getting-started-guide/ch-starting.html

This looks simple, compared to going thru all the strings...maybe I'm all wrong.

I'm still stuck at why do I have mail and what do I need to do at the prompt? I tried creating a new user name and got stuck with a mixed up password thing. UUURRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!

Bear with me and thanks for understanding.

new2server,

Is this Linux box something you bought to practice on? Did you purchase it with a warranty? If so check and make sure you don't void the warranty by reinstalling you OS.

You can certainly start from scratch and reload the thing with whatever distro you want I guess.

If you want to stick with RH try Fedora Core 1. It has all the bells and whistles and IMHO is the best from starters. You can find it here:

http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pu...re/1/i386/iso/

D/L the (3) i386 iso's and burn them to a cdrom. You do have another computer right and I'm assuming you have internet?

Else, stick with what you have, there is nothing wrong with RH9.

Now to answer you question, I need to ask you a question. What is it you want to do with that computer?

Add a new user in RH? (root# useradd) and follow the prompts...

Or you could switch to GUI (startx) and do it from there from one of the GUI interfaces.

Good References:
http://linux-newbie.sunsite.dk/index.html
http://www.justlinux.com/nhf
http://www.icon.co.za/~psheer/book/index.html.gz

Slappy

If you want to see your mails just type "mail"
Redhat is setup so that some logs gets mailed to the root user automatically.

ok first ...

The OS came with the computer and was installed. I really want to get around those command line but am lost from reading and reading the red hat tutorials. I want to build a personal server. And yes I have other computers. All have windows xp and I think my problems is being mentally stuck in windows mode. I'm trying to learn how to navigate around those command lines and i'm a sitting duck.

Also about gui how the heck am i suppose to get out and get into gui? Also i did a system check on the disk that was downloaded and burnt on a cd and shipped with the computer. Well first 2 tested "failed" while the 3rd passed.

How can i get into the users graphic window like it is on the link I posted earlier?

I guess i could use some step by step.

I'm planning to order admin c panel to install since I'm familiar with c panel. Yeah makes thing easier. and will need to install webalizer so i can manage my traffic.

Thanks guys

P.S. if all goes well, I would like to replace xp for linux, only if i can learn.

ok,

i typed startx at the root# command line and recieved this


bash: startx: command not found



Hmmmm!!!!!

Alright well I'm slowly starting to get there.

I'm in the super-user directory (root) and created a adduser, and typed in adduser linus. Then I logged out and logged in as linus.
It poped asking for a password and i ignored it and clicked "enter" key.
Gee I can't gain access to this new user I created without a password. Is there a default? What would the password be then? I tried using the main root directory's password and got denied.


Now I log back in and tried to create adduser with "linus" again, sheesh i get user already added. Hmmm, how can i fix the password?

Now as I am in the root, I typed "ls" and my files displayed were

anaconda-ks.cfg index.html install.log install.log.syslog

Am I missing something else?

Arggh is that why I dont have the user graphic interface?

new2server,

For adding a user try this link: http://linux-newbie.sunsite.dk/lnag_...html#home_dirs

Take some time to read and practice, remember you're not going to be a pro in 10 minutes.

As for the graphical portion of your question...I could walk you through the process of installing X Server and then choosing a window manager but I really think it would be easier for you to install a distro from scratch. That way you can work your way through disk partitioning and all the things that make Linux cool.

We can work it either way, let me know what you want to do...

Check this thread and you will see where I am falling out in the command lines.

Acording to the Red hat technicain, he believed I had a bad install since the image disk kept failing on a install test.

I gave up with red hat 9.0 and went to get SUSE, Gee it was a breeze to install.

Thanks for the help guys...thumbs up.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...505#post794505