The problem I'm talking about today is trying to upgrade your Windows 7 installation to SP1 by applying Microsoft's update KB976932, called "Windows 7 Service Pack 1 for x64-based Systems" and getting nothing but a failure every time. The same problem may affect 32-bit systems as well, and I'm not sure what the update number for that would be, but the solution should work for either one.

The update starts just fine, chugs along for 10 minutes or so, then reboots the system and starts performing more operations, when suddenly one of them fails about 10% down the road, reboots, and reverts the whole process. You end up with this message (code 80070490) and a failure for which there are a lot of useless "solutions" on the web that just don't work.

Except for one. I can't take credit for it – all I did was spend a month weeding through the crap, retrying, and getting nowhere, until a genius by the name Ben-IS came up with exactly the right diagnosis and provided exactly the right solution. This solution, in my own interpretation, is below.

Step 1

We are going to use a utility called SFC (System File Checker or Windows Resource Checker), which is part of the Windows installation. It will help diagnose the problem.

Open up a command prompt (cmd) as administrator and run

sfc /scannow

This will run for a while and produce a file called CBS.log which you can find in %WINDIR%\Logs\CBS (usually C:\Windows\Logs\CBS). See this KB929833 for more info on SFC and CBS (Component Based Servicing).

sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

Even though there are no integrity violations, we should have enough info in the log to diagnose the problem.

Step 2

Unfortunately, Windows overwrote my CBS.log, so I'll go by the one Ben-IS provided.

Open up CBS.log and look for something like Failed uninstalling driver updates or 0×80070490 – ERROR_NOT_FOUND.

If you have this line, which you should if you're reading this post, you should also see lines similar to these a few lines above:

2011-04-14 12:02:33, Info CBS Doqe: q-uninstall: Inf: usbvideo.inf, Ranking: 2, Device-Install: 0, Key: 598, Identity: usbvideo.inf, Culture=neutral, Type=driverUpdate, Version=6.1.7600.16543, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, ProcessorArchitecture=amd64, versionScope=NonSxS

2011-04-14 12:02:33, Info CBS Doqe: q-uninstall: Inf: sffdisk.inf, Ranking: 2, Device-Install: 0, Key: 599, Identity: sffdisk.inf, Culture=neutral, Type=driverUpdate, Version=6.1.7600.16438, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, ProcessorArchitecture=amd64, versionScope=NonSxS

2011-04-14 12:02:33, Info CBS Doqe: q-uninstall: Inf: sdbus.inf, Ranking: 2, Device-Install: 0, Key: 600, Identity: sdbus.inf, Culture=neutral, Type=driverUpdate, Version=6.1.7600.16438, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, ProcessorArchitecture=amd64, versionScope=NonSxS

One of these .inf files is the culprit, and we're going to find out which one in the next step.

Step 3

Now open up a different log file located at %WINDIR%\inf\setupapi.dev.log (normally c:\Windows\inf\setupapi.dev.log).

Look for a line that contains Failed to find driver update or FAILURE(0×00000490).

Note the exact path to the .inf file that failed. In my case, it was:

sto: Failed to find driver update 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_usbvideo.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16543_none_8a1a2513d42628c3\usbvideo.inf' in Driver Store. Error = 0×00000490

Step 4

This is the key to the whole operation. Open up the command prompt again (cmd) as administrator and run

pnputil -a INSERT_FILE_NAME_FROM_STEP_3

For example, I ran

pnputil -a C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_usbvideo.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16543_none_8a1a2513d42628c3\usbvideo.inf

You should see the following dialog:

Choose Install this driver software anyway.

The end result should be something like this:

pnputil -a C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_usbvideo.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16543_none_8a1a2513d42628c3\usbvideo.inf
Microsoft PnP Utility

Processing inf :            usbvideo.inf
Driver package added successfully.
Published name :            oem69.inf

Total attempted:              1
Number successfully imported: 1

Repeat this step for any failures found in step 3.

Step 5

Apply the SP1 Windows Update again – it should now install successfully.

And voila – enjoy your SP1!

Microsoft has failed to fix this incredibly cryptic problem, leaving it up to the users to figure out why their SP1 updates are not installing. Thanks to people like Ben-IS, solutions no longer involve head-banging, postal rage, and f7u12.

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The plugin install page provides initial instructions and the location of the plugin to give Eclipse (https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/). This is very standard stuff and I've installed many plugins exactly the same way. However, here's when problems started.

Problem #1: Error while loading manipulator

Eclipse just shows a cryptic Install failed box. Here are the highlights:

• !MESSAGE Error while loading manipulator
• java.lang.IllegalStateException: !fwConfigLocation.equals(fwPersistentDataLocation)

It looks like for whatever reason, Eclipse's fwConfigLocation variable does not match fwPersistentDataLocation. I have no idea where those come from and searching for a solution (such as this crazy Japanese sourceforge and this Eclipse bug), restarting Eclipse, and beating my head against the wall took the majority of my the 2 hours I spent on this.

Here's the full log, which will help people with the same problem find it in search engines:

!ENTRY org.eclipse.equinox.p2.touchpoint.eclipse 4 0 2009-10-15 13:21:11.224
!MESSAGE Error while loading manipulator.
!STACK 0
java.lang.IllegalStateException: !fwConfigLocation.equals(fwPersistentDataLocation)
	!fwConfigLocation=C:\eclipse\configuration
	,fwPersistentDataLocation=C:\eclipse\plugins\configuration
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.frameworkadmin.equinox.EquinoxManipulatorImpl.checkConsistencyOfFwConfigLocAndFwPersistentDataLoc(EquinoxManipulatorImpl.java:65)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.frameworkadmin.equinox.EquinoxManipulatorImpl.loadWithoutFwPersistentData(EquinoxManipulatorImpl.java:360)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.frameworkadmin.equinox.EquinoxManipulatorImpl.load(EquinoxManipulatorImpl.java:331)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.LazyManipulator.loadDelegate(LazyManipulator.java:50)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.LazyManipulator.getConfigData(LazyManipulator.java:108)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.actions.UninstallBundleAction.uninstallBundle(UninstallBundleAction.java:74)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.actions.UninstallBundleAction.execute(UninstallBundleAction.java:29)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.engine.ParameterizedProvisioningAction.execute(ParameterizedProvisioningAction.java:35)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.Phase.mainPerform(Phase.java:129)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.Phase.perform(Phase.java:72)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.PhaseSet.perform(PhaseSet.java:44)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.Engine.perform(Engine.java:54)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.ui.operations.ProvisioningUtil.performProvisioningPlan(ProvisioningUtil.java:389)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.ui.operations.ProfileModificationOperation.doExecute(ProfileModificationOperation.java:61)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.ui.operations.ProvisioningOperation.execute(ProvisioningOperation.java:37)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.ui.ProvisioningOperationRunner$1.run(ProvisioningOperationRunner.java:94)
	at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:55)
 
!ENTRY org.eclipse.equinox.p2.engine 4 4 2009-10-15 13:21:11.240
!MESSAGE An error occurred while uninstalling
!SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.equinox.p2.engine 4 0 2009-10-15 13:21:11.240
!MESSAGE session context was:(profile=epp.package.php, phase=org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.phases.Uninstall, operand=[R]javax.activation 1.1.0.v200905021805 --> [R]javax.activation 1.1.0.v200906290531, action=org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.actions.UninstallBundleAction).
!SUBENTRY 1 org.eclipse.equinox.p2.engine 4 0 2009-10-15 13:21:11.240
!MESSAGE Error while loading manipulator.
!STACK 0
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Error while loading manipulator.
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.LazyManipulator.loadDelegate(LazyManipulator.java:54)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.LazyManipulator.getConfigData(LazyManipulator.java:108)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.actions.UninstallBundleAction.uninstallBundle(UninstallBundleAction.java:74)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.actions.UninstallBundleAction.execute(UninstallBundleAction.java:29)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.engine.ParameterizedProvisioningAction.execute(ParameterizedProvisioningAction.java:35)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.Phase.mainPerform(Phase.java:129)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.Phase.perform(Phase.java:72)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.PhaseSet.perform(PhaseSet.java:44)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.Engine.perform(Engine.java:54)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.ui.operations.ProvisioningUtil.performProvisioningPlan(ProvisioningUtil.java:389)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.ui.operations.ProfileModificationOperation.doExecute(ProfileModificationOperation.java:61)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.ui.operations.ProvisioningOperation.execute(ProvisioningOperation.java:37)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.ui.ProvisioningOperationRunner$1.run(ProvisioningOperationRunner.java:94)
	at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:55)
!SESSION 2009-10-15 13:31:40.853 -----------------------------------------------
eclipse.buildId=I20090611-1540
java.version=1.6.0_16
java.vendor=Sun Microsystems Inc.
BootLoader constants: OS=win32, ARCH=x86, WS=win32, NL=en_US
Command-line arguments:  -os win32 -ws win32 -arch x86

Finally, I found a solution that worked – modify eclipse.ini (the one that sits in elipse's install directory) and add the following:

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-startup
file:/C:/eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.0.200.v20090520.jar
--launcher.library
file:/C:/eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_1.0.200.v20090519

Note that the exact locations may differ for you, so figure out what is installed on your machine and replace accordingly.

Also, it seems that the location of the file HAS to be on a new line – otherwise it is not recognized. What kind of shit is that, Eclipse? Some values in eclipse.ini are specified on the same line separated by space, some separated by '=', and some have to be on a new line? This fun trivia fact wasted about 45 minutes of my time.

And yes, startup has 1 dash and launcher.library has 2. /sigh

Edit: it looks like by default Eclipse does come with these options. I somehow managed to lose them, so this is probably my fault. The error couldn't be more cryptic though.

Problem #2: java.io.IOException: The file "C:\eclipse\features\com.android.ide.eclipse.adt_0.9.3.v200909031112-12945" does not exist

Great. Now what…

After examining the features directory, I indeed found that directory com.android.ide.eclipse.adt_0.9.3.v200909031112-12945 does not exist. What I did find though is com.android.ide.eclipse.adt_0.9.3.v200909031112-12945.jar, which is simply an archive. Why didn't you unpack this archive, Eclipse? Or Android plugin devs? Whoever is responsible for this – argh!

After quickly creating the directories and unpacking the .jar contents into them, Eclipse was finally able to install the Android plugin.

If installing a plugin is this friendly, I can only imagine what awaits me in Android app development. Am I the only one with these problems? You let me know.

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Check this out.

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cpan[1]> install SOAP::Lite
CPAN: Storable loaded ok (v2.18)
Going to read /root/.cpan/Metadata
  Database was generated on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:29:45 GMT
CPAN: YAML loaded ok (v0.66)
Going to read /root/.cpan/build/
............................................................................DONE
Found 149 old builds, restored the state of 109
Warning: Cannot install SOAP::Lite, don't know what it is.
Try the command
 
    i /SOAP::Lite/
 
to find objects with matching identifiers.
CPAN: Time::HiRes loaded ok (v1.9713)

Huh? Okay…

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cpan[2]> i /SOAP::Lite/
Module    ResourcePool::Command::SOAP::Lite::Call (MWS/ResourcePool-Resource-SOAP-Lite-1.0101.tar.gz)
Module    ResourcePool::Factory::SOAP::Lite (MWS/ResourcePool-Resource-SOAP-Lite-1.0101.tar.gz)
Module    ResourcePool::Resource::SOAP::Lite (MWS/ResourcePool-Resource-SOAP-Lite-1.0101.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Deserializer::XMLSchema1999 (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Deserializer::XMLSchema2001 (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Deserializer::XMLSchemaSOAP1_1 (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Deserializer::XMLSchemaSOAP1_2 (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::InstanceExporter (SMEISNER/SOAP-Lite-InstanceExporter-0.02.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Packager   (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Simple     (LLAP/SOAP-Lite-Simple-1.9.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Simple::DotNet (LLAP/SOAP-Lite-Simple-1.4.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Simple::Real (LLAP/SOAP-Lite-Simple-1.4.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Utility    (BRYCE/SOAP-Lite-Utility-0.01.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Utils      (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
14 items found

Wtf? Let's try something else.

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cpan[8]> i /SOAP.*Lite/
Distribution    BRYCE/SOAP-Lite-Utility-0.01.tar.gz
Distribution    BYRNE/SOAP/SOAP-Lite-0.60a.tar.gz
Distribution    DYACOB/SOAP-Lite-ActiveWorks-0.10.tar.gz
Distribution    DYACOB/SOAP-Lite-SmartProxy-0.11.tar.gz
Distribution    LLAP/SOAP-Lite-Simple-1.4.tar.gz
Distribution    LLAP/SOAP-Lite-Simple-1.9.tar.gz
Distribution    MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz
Distribution    MWS/ResourcePool-Resource-SOAP-Lite-1.0101.tar.gz
Distribution    SMEISNER/SOAP-Lite-InstanceExporter-0.02.tar.gz
Module    Catalyst::Action::SOAP::DocumentLiteral (DRUOSO/Catalyst-Controller-SOAP-0.8.tar.gz)
Module    Catalyst::Action::SOAP::DocumentLiteralWrapped (DRUOSO/Catalyst-Controller-SOAP-0.8.tar.gz)
Module    Catalyst::Action::SOAP::RPCLiteral (DRUOSO/Catalyst-Controller-SOAP-0.8.tar.gz)
Module    Catalyst::Controller::SOAP::DocumentLiteralWrapped (DRUOSO/Catalyst-Controller-SOAP-0.8.tar.gz)
Module    Net::DRI::Transport::HTTP::SOAPLite (PMEVZEK/Net-DRI-0.85.tar.gz)
Module    ResourcePool::Command::SOAP::Lite::Call (MWS/ResourcePool-Resource-SOAP-Lite-1.0101.tar.gz)
Module    ResourcePool::Factory::SOAP::Lite (MWS/ResourcePool-Resource-SOAP-Lite-1.0101.tar.gz)
Module    ResourcePool::Resource::SOAP::Lite (MWS/ResourcePool-Resource-SOAP-Lite-1.0101.tar.gz)
Module  = SOAP::Lite::Deserializer::XMLSchema1999 (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module  = SOAP::Lite::Deserializer::XMLSchema2001 (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module  = SOAP::Lite::Deserializer::XMLSchemaSOAP1_1 (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module  = SOAP::Lite::Deserializer::XMLSchemaSOAP1_2 (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::InstanceExporter (SMEISNER/SOAP-Lite-InstanceExporter-0.02.tar.gz)
Module  = SOAP::Lite::Packager   (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Simple     (LLAP/SOAP-Lite-Simple-1.9.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Simple::DotNet (LLAP/SOAP-Lite-Simple-1.4.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Simple::Real (LLAP/SOAP-Lite-Simple-1.4.tar.gz)
Module    SOAP::Lite::Utility    (BRYCE/SOAP-Lite-Utility-0.01.tar.gz)
Module  = SOAP::Lite::Utils      (MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz)
28 items found

Aha! It's hiding under a Distribution. Tricky, tricky.

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cpan
install MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz

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  CPAN.pm: Going to build M/MK/MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz
 
We are about to install SOAP::Lite and for your convenience will provide
you with list of modules and prerequisites, so you'll be able to choose
only modules you need for your configuration.
 
XMLRPC::Lite, UDDI::Lite, and XML::Parser::Lite are included by default.
Installed transports can be used for both SOAP::Lite and XMLRPC::Lite.
 
Press  to see the detailed list.
 
Feature                       Prerequisites                Install?
----------------------------- ---------------------------- --------
Core Package                  [*] Scalar::Util             always
                              [*] Test::More
                              [*] URI
                              [*] MIME::Base64
                              [*] version
                              [*] XML::Parser (v2.23)
Client HTTP support           [*] LWP::UserAgent           always
Client HTTPS support          [*] Crypt::SSLeay            [ yes ]
Client SMTP/sendmail support  [ ] MIME::Lite               [ no ]
Client FTP support            [*] IO::File                 [ yes ]
                              [*] Net::FTP
Standalone HTTP server        [*] HTTP::Daemon             [ yes ]
Apache/mod_perl server        [ ] Apache                   [ no ]
FastCGI server                [ ] FCGI                     [ no ]
POP3 server                   [*] MIME::Parser             [ yes ]
                              [*] Net::POP3
IO server                     [*] IO::File                 [ yes ]
MQ transport support          [ ] MQSeries                 [ no ]
JABBER transport support      [ ] Net::Jabber              [ no ]
MIME messages                 [*] MIME::Parser             [ yes ]
DIME messages                 [*] IO::Scalar (v2.105)      [ no ]
                              [ ] DIME::Tools (v0.03)
                              [ ] Data::UUID (v0.11)
SSL Support for TCP Transport [ ] IO::Socket::SSL          [ no ]
Compression support for HTTP  [*] Compress::Zlib           [ yes ]
MIME interoperability w/ Axis [ ] MIME::Parser (v6.106)    [ no ]
--- An asterix '[*]' indicates if the module is currently installed.
 
Do you want to proceed with this configuration? [yes]
Checking if your kit is complete...
Looks good
Writing Makefile for SOAP::Lite
cp lib/SOAP/Packager.pm blib/lib/SOAP/Packager.pm
cp lib/XML/Parser/Lite.pm blib/lib/XML/Parser/Lite.pm
...
Writing /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.10.0/i686-linux/auto/SOAP/Lite/.packlist
Appending installation info to /usr/lib/perl5/5.10.0/i686-linux/perllocal.pod
  MKUTTER/SOAP-Lite-0.71.04.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make install  -- OK

The latest version of SOAP::Lite is installed, time to pat yourself on the back and write some code to actually use it.

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• introduce the new Linux section of the site (specifically dedicated to openSUSE).
• provide a very short description of Linux and compare it to other operating systems.
• answer some installation questions.

I'm a Windows user, I admit it. Not because I enjoy frequent reboots, freezes, and other unexplainable quirks. It's mostly because I have so many programs I'm used to, it would be impossible to switch to anything else, and I know ins and outs that allow me to be very comfortable with the Windows. I'm talking 20-30 programs I'm not willing to give up any time soon.

However, I also have deep respect for *nix based systems. I started using them back in college and continued later on when I worked at Intel (Solaris) and other jobs. Stability and abundance of open-source software that just works attracted me to Linux. Finally, being a user just wasn't going to cut it: I had way too many questions about how things work, how the OS boots, what the conventions are, etc, etc, etc. So, finally, a couple of days ago I picked openSUSE 10.2 as my distro (distribution) of choice to play around with. The Linux section here on the site has been empty for a while, so I'm going to fill it up by documenting all my experiences and questions throughout the whole learning process as seen with the eyes of an amateur, which, I think, is what most tutorials are missing. So, let's begin.

OK, so… what are all these distributions? Ubuntu, who hasn't heard that by now? SUSE? Fedora? Why can't Linux be just Linux, just like Windows is just Windows? In short, in my opinion, because nobody but Microsoft has access to the Windows code (technically, after that leak a couple of years ago, everyone had a chance to see kernel source, but nobody can actually modify the OS or release another one based on it). Linux is open source, anybody can contribute to its development. That's the beauty of Linux: collaboration of hundreds thousands of people often working on their own time with passion no employee on payroll can match. Some motivated individuals go even further: they compile a set of Linux components that they think would work best together and release it as a distribution. openSUSE is a fine example of that. A bunch of smart people over at Novell got together and produced openSUSE a while ago, with its main goals being:

• Make openSUSE the easiest Linux distribution for anyone to obtain and the most widely used open source platform.
• Provide an environment for open source collaboration that makes openSUSE the world's best Linux distribution for new and experienced Linux users.
• Dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make openSUSE the platform of choice for Linux hackers and application developers.

See this openSUSE.org about page for more info.

Installing Linux is easier than ever. Back in the day, Linux puzzled average users. Nowadays, for everyday activities Linux is as easy to use as Windows (or Mac if you're into big shiny objects). A short installation guide by Novel is available here and a very nice long guide by HowToForge is available here. If you breeze through the installation steps, you should have a shiny desktop ready to rock and roll in about 30 minutes. While the installation itself is very easy (just burn a CD/DVD from http://download.opensuse.org and reboot the computer), I had a couple of questions about things I wasn't quite sure about. Here they are:

• You're prompted to select your Desktop. The choices are KDE, GNOME, and Other (the Other menu has serveral options, one being no graphical desktop, which you would use if you didn't want a GUI at all, for example for server installs or if you imagined myself as an uber leet hax0r). A graphical desktop is a bit like a skin for the OS. Each also includes different sets of tools, for example KDE's default editor is KEdit while GNOME's is gedit. There are other differences, but for now we have to pick one. The good news is that you can install both later via the software update tool called YaST (actually it's yast2 in SUSE 10.2, yast is just a symlink to /sbin/yast2) and switch between them with ease. For my particular installation, I picked KDE as the desktop manager, which I ended up enjoying quite a lot.

• Correct partitioning of my 110GB hard drive raised the most questions out of all the installation prompts. After consulting with a friendly sysadmin from work, I ended up with
  • 1.0GB swap partition with swap filesystem. I have 2GB RAM, so 1GB swap in case I run out of RAM should suffice.
  • 100MB /boot partition with ext3 filesystem. /boot is where a boot loader like GRUB will reside. We don't want to piss off GRUB, so we'll give it a separate partition.
  • ###MB /tmp partition with ext3 filesystem. /tmp stores temp files for all users. It is better to assign a separate partition to it so that malicious users cannot potentially flood it with useless data and cause the server to run out of space. Don't make this space too small though, so that legitimate users don't run out of temp space.
  • ###MB /var partition with ext3 filesystem. /var can also run the server out of space quickly if a runaway log file fills it up (normally, in /var/log). Assign a few gigs to this dir depending on total space.
  • The rest of the drive I assigned to / with ext3 filesystem. Some people also recommend assigning a separate partition to /home, which is probably a good idea if you're planning on having multiple users on the box. I picked ext3 after reading up online about various filesystem types. ReiserFS was not really an option anymore, since it wasn't too stable yet, and the creator of Reiser was recently arrested for murdering his wife. 2 days after the news broke out, SUSE creators officially announced ext3 as the recommended SUSE filesystem. When ext4 comes out, ext3 partitions will be easily upgradeable to ext4 without the need for repartitioning. The only drawback that I could find for ext3 is the ~32k directory and file limit in a single directory. Oh well, as long as I know about it, I'll be able to craft my applications with that in mind.
  • Update 3/20/2008: I found a great Filesystem Hierarchy Standard document that explains all the dirs in detail here.

• Since I was planning on letting my router (Linksys WRT54G with HyperWRT firmware) handle the firewall duties, I disabled the firewall in the Network part of the installation. It's probably a good idea to leave it on and open ports like SSH (22), FTP (20-21), or HTTP (80) manually. I'm probably going to turn the firewall back on after a couple of weeks once I get the hang of everything.

Well, that should do it for this introduction. In the following articles, I will share my experiences dealing with something something specific, writing as I learn myself. They may be dedicated to software installation and usage, for example, proftpd ftp server. In other articles I may visit Linux concepts, like how to make programs start up at boot time.

• How To Resize/Grow VMware Linux Disks and Partitions
• Ubuntu Laptop Installation
• The Repositories For apt-get In SUSE 10.2
• Beer Planet is Fast Again
• The Most Awesome VPN Tip: How To Make Windows Automatically Use Your Local WiFi/LAN Connection Directly For Requests That Don't Need To Go Through VPN