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31 <p>Up2date: 20060407 - applies to version grml 0.7/grml-small 0.2</p>
33 <p><a name="toc"></a><strong>Index:</strong></p>
35 <p class="toc"><a href="#general">General:</a></p>
37 <li><a href="#whatis">What is grml?</a></li>
38 <li><a href="#get">Where do I get grml?</a></li>
39 <li><a href="#whatmeans">What does grml mean?</a></li>
40 <li><a href="#pronounce">How do you pronounce grml?</a></li>
41 <li><a href="#releasename">What about the release name?</a></li>
42 <li><a href="#requirements">Requirements for running grml</a></li>
43 <li><a href="#why">Why another Linux distribution?</a></li>
44 <li><a href="#license">What's the license of grml?</a></li>
45 <li><a href="#difference">What's the difference between grml and $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are your main goals?</a></li>
46 <li><a href="#knoppix">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a></li>
47 <li><a href="#accessibility">What does accessibility at grml mean?</a></li>
48 <li><a href="#emulation">Is it possible to run grml with $EMULATOR?</a></li>
49 <li><a href="#usbboot">How do I boot grml from a USB stick?</a></li>
50 <li><a href="#store">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></li>
53 <p class="toc"><a href="#grmlsmall">grml-small:</a></p>
55 <li><a href="#whatissmall">What is grml-small?</a></li>
56 <li><a href="#smallvsnormal">What is the difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?</a></li>
57 <li><a href="#grmlvsdsl">What is the difference between grml-small and DSL?</a></li>
60 <p class="toc"><a href="#system">System</a>:</p>
62 <li><a href="#configure">Which tools exist to configure grml?</a></li>
63 <li><a href="#password">What are the passwords of users on grml?</a></li>
64 <li><a href="#version">How do I find out the version of grml</a></li>
65 <li><a href="#remove_cd">Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?</a></li>
66 <li><a href="#language">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></li>
67 <li><a href="#kde_and_foo">KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR</a></li>
68 <li><a href="#wms">Which window managers can I use?</a></li>
69 <li><a href="#usbmount">How do I mount a USB device / USB stick?</a></li>
70 <li><a href="#booting">Which ways exist to boot grml?</a></li>
71 <li><a href="#bugreport">Bugreport</a></li>
72 <li><a href="#hdinstall">Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?</a></li>
73 <li><a href="#grml2hdhang">grml2hd seems to hang?!</a></li>
74 <li><a href="#hardware">I have problems with my hardware!</a></li>
75 <li><a href="#boot">grml does not boot on my computer!</a></li>
78 <p class="toc"><a href="#kernel">Kernel</a>:</p>
80 <li><a href="#kernelconfig">Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on grml?</a></li>
81 <li><a href="#kernelpatches">Are there any special components/patches in the kernel used on grml?</a></li>
82 <li><a href="#platform">For which platforms is the grml kernel optimized?</a></li>
85 <p class="toc"><a href="#software">Software:</a></p>
87 <li><a href="#sw_general">General</a></li>
88 <li><a href="#sw_version">What version of $PACKAGE is available?</a></li>
89 <li><a href="#init">Init-System</a></li>
90 <li><a href="#zsh">Why is zsh the default shell?</a></li>
91 <li><a href="#zsh_binsh">Wasn't zsh the /bin/sh interpreter?</a></li>
92 <li><a href="#bash">Is a bash available?</a></li>
93 <li><a href="#setuid">setuid/SUID</a></li>
94 <li><a href="#aide">aide</a></li>
95 <li><a href="#bitchx">bitchx</a></li>
96 <li><a href="#ispell">ispell</a></li>
97 <li><a href="#latex">LaTeX</a></li>
98 <li><a href="#slapd">slapd</a></li>
99 <li><a href="#tripwire">tripwire</a></li>
102 <p class="toc"><a href="#release">Release related issues</a>:</p>
104 <li><a href="#known_issues">Are there any known issues with this release?</a></li>
105 <li><a href="#ipw">Using IPW driver with DHCP</a></li>
106 <li><a href="#wpa">Using WPA with >=2.6.13-grml</a></li>
107 <li><a href="#proc_usb">Why isn't /proc/bus/usb mounted anymore?</a></li>
110 <p class="toc"><a href="#xserver">X-Server</a></p>
112 <li><a href="#xstart">How do I start the X server?</a></li>
113 <li><a href="#xproblem">X does not start on my box?!</a></li>
114 <li><a href="#xresolution">I don't like the resolution of X!</a></li>
117 <p class="toc"><a href="#framebuffer">Framebuffer</a></p>
119 <li><a href="#video">The boot option video does not work as expected anymore</a></li>
120 <li><a href="#fbprobs">I don't see anything when booting grml?!</a></li>
123 <p class="toc"><a href="#stuff">Unanswered stuff</a></p>
125 <li><a href="#questions">Further questions?</a></li>
126 <li><a href="#donate">You like grml? Make a donation to support our work!</a></li>
129 <h2><a name="general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h2>
131 <h3><a name="whatis"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml?</a></h3>
133 <p>grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) once based on <a
134 href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a> and nowadays based on <a
135 href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. grml includes a collection of
136 GNU/Linux software especially for users of texttools and system
137 administrators. grml provides automatic hardware detection. You can use grml
138 as a rescue system, for analyzing systems/networks, or as a working
139 environment. It is not necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Due to
140 on-the-fly decompression grml includes about 2.1 GB of software and
141 documentation on the CD.</p>
143 <h3><a name="get"></a><a href="#toc">Where do I get grml?</a></h3>
145 <p>You can download grml of course: take a look at <a
146 href="/download">grml.org/download/</a>. If you want
147 to get an original grml-CD including <a
148 href="/files/#covers">the grml-cover</a>, need a
149 special amount of CDs or want your own special grml-CD (including
150 your logo, your software and/or special settings) <a
151 href="/contact/">please don't hesitate to contact
152 us</a>! Take a look at <a
153 href="http://solutions.grml.org/">grml-solutions</a> for more
154 information regarding our offers.</p>
156 <h3><a name="whatmeans"></a><a href="#toc">What does grml mean?</a></h3>
158 <p>grml is short for 'grummel' and comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in English. People
159 use this when they want to express their dissatisfaction/discontentedness with software
160 (amongst other things):</p>
163 $ grep -ch grml .centericq/**/history | xargs echo | \
164 sed 's/[0-9]*/& + /g' | sed 's/+ $//g' | bc -l
167 <h3><a name="pronounce"></a><a href="#toc">How do you pronounce grml?</a></h3>
170 % flite -o play -t gremel</pre>
173 $ echo 'ghroummel' | festival \-\-tts
176 <h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
178 <p>Codename of grml 0.7 is Bootenschnitzl. This is derived from the
179 German word putenschnitzel. A putenschnitzel is a turkey hen cutlet.
180 Therefore, a Bootenschnitzl is a bootable cutlet.</p>
182 <p>Codename of grml-small 0.2 is Corry. Corry is the nickname of <a
183 href="/team/">Michael Gebetsroither's</a> girlfriend.</p>
185 <h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running grml</a></h3>
188 <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)</li>
189 <li>at least 64MB of RAM (for stable use with ramdisks for unionfs and udev and running X window system
190 we recommend at least 128MB)</li>
191 <li>grml-small: at least 32MB RAM should be available</li>
192 <li>bootable CD-ROM drive (or a boot floppy and standard CD-ROM [IDE/ATAPI
193 or SCSI]) [or network - see <a href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a>]</li>
196 <h3><a name="why"></a><a href="#toc">Why another Linux distribution?</a></h3>
198 <p>There already exist "<a
199 href="http://www.distrowatch.com/">some</a>" distributions. We decided
200 to base our work on the existing infrastructure of <a
201 href="http://debian.org/">Debian</a> and <a
202 href="http://www.knoppix.net/">Knoppix</a> because we don't want to reinvent
203 the wheel. Some admins already use their own rescue-CD and Knoppix works but
204 does not bring that many important tools for admins and users of texttools
205 out of the box, so we decided to share our work with others.</p>
207 <h3><a name="license"></a><a href="#toc">What's the license of grml?</a></h3>
209 <p>Anything written by the grml team is published under the GPL (<a
210 href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public License</a>).
211 You don't have to pay anything for running grml. <a
212 href="/donations/">Donations</a> and <a href="/contact/">feedback</a> are
213 welcome of course. If you want a special LiveCD or need support, take a
214 look at <a href="http://solutions.grml.org/">grml-solutions</a>.</p>
216 <h3><a name="difference"></a><a href="#toc">What's the difference between grml and
217 $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are your main goals?</a></h3>
219 <p>The main goal of grml is to be a distribution well suited for
220 users of texttools and sysadmins. grml includes many important
221 texttools (of course awk, sed, grep, ... but also zsh, mutt[ng],
222 slrn, vim and many others) and useful programs for admin's
223 daily work. grml uses the existing infrastructure of <a
224 href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. grml was once based on <a
225 href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a> (see '<a
226 href="#knoppix">What's the difference between grml and
227 Knoppix?</a>' for more details). We are also merging
228 useful things from other distributions/live-cds to provide a
229 perfect environment.</p>
231 <h3><a name="knoppix"></a><a href="#toc">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a></h3>
233 <p>grml comes with a vastly different set of software. Missing KDE
234 and OpenOffice provides the opportunity of shipping more than 800
235 packages which Knoppix does not provide on its CD version. grml
236 boots a 2.6.x kernel but no X for faster startup. Knoppix is based
237 on Debian/testing-experimental (using apt-pinning), but grml is
238 basically based on plain Debian/unstable providing more current
239 versions of software and less painfull upgrades. grml was once
240 based on Knoppix but nowadays (except for a similar initial
241 ramdisk) has nothing in common with Knoppix:</p>
245 # find / -iname \*knoppix\*
248 <p>We consider Knoppix as a brand name for live-cds nowadays and
249 provide most of Knoppix' features as well. grml uses (mostly) the
250 same cheatcodes for booting as Knoppix and even provides some extra
251 ones. So if you are used to the basic Knoppix features you might
252 find them on the grml-system as well. Ripping out the Knoppix
253 stuff makes it possible to create a grml system out of a
254 Debian system and vice versa. Running 'apt-get install grml' on a
255 Debian box will be officially supported in an upcoming version of
258 <h3><a name="accessibility"></a><a href="#toc">What does accessibility at grml mean?</a></h3>
260 <p>The grml kernel includes <a href="/kernel/#speakup">support for
261 speakup</a> and provides software like brltty (using bootoption 'grml blind
262 brltty=type,port,tbl'), emacspeak and flite.</p>
264 <h3><a name="emulation"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to run grml with $EMULATOR?</a></h3>
266 <p><a href="http://www.vmware.com/">VMWare</a> should work without any
267 problems. It's also possible to run grml with <a
268 href="http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/">QEMU</a>, an emulator for various
269 CPUs which works on Linux, Windows, FreeBSD and Mac OS X. Running grml with
270 QEMU has been tested successfully on Windows and Linux. Take a look at <a
271 href="/qemu/">the QEMU-grml-webpage</a>.</p>
273 <h3><a name="usbboot"></a><a href="#toc">How do I boot grml from a USB stick?</a></h3>
275 <p>Take a look at the script <a
276 href="http://grml.org/scripts/grml2usb">grml2usb</a>. For more
277 details, take a look at the <a
278 href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb-webpage in the
281 <h3><a name="store"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></h3>
283 <p>Yes. grml provides a powerful config framework. See <a
284 href="/config/">grml.org/config/</a>, <a
285 href="file:///usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html">/usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html</a>
286 and 'man save-config restore-config mkpersistenthome' for more
289 <h2><a name="grmlsmall"></a><a href="#toc">grml-small?</a></h2>
291 <h3><a name="whatissmall"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml-small?</a></h3>
293 <p>Whereas grml provides about 2.1 GB of software on a 700 MB ISO, grml-small
294 is a flavor with online ~55 MB ISO-size (~200 MB uncompressed). It does not
295 provide a lot of software but the essential stuff for being a rescue system
296 on a business card CD-ROM or a small USB device. You can use the Debian
297 package management system to install software on the fly (assuming you have
298 network access to a Debian mirror). Take a look at the <a
299 href="/files/">'Debian-Information'-section</a> if you are
300 searching for the package list.</p>
302 <h3><a name="smallvsnormal"></a><a href="#toc">What is the
303 difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?</a></h3>
305 <p>The 700 MB-grml brings more than 2370 packages of software and a <a
306 href="/kernel/">full-featured kernel</a>. grml-small includes
307 about 215 software packages, lacks documentation and manpages on the ISO and
308 has a stripped-down <a href="/kernel/">kernel</a> (but still
309 provides hardware detection of course). <a
310 href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a> is <strong>not</strong>
311 available/supported on grml-small.</p>
313 <h3><a name="grmlvsdsl"></a><a href="#toc">What is the
314 difference between grml-small and DSL?</a></h3>
316 <p>DSL and grml-small have different target audiences. <a
317 href="http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/">Damn Small Linux</a> (DSL) uses kernel
318 version 2.4 whereas grml-small provides a recent version of kernel version
319 2.6. DSL provides the X window system which grml-small does not. grml-small
320 provides the most important packages for sysadmins and ships the original
321 Debian package management which allows you to install packages of the Debian
322 pool with no modifications.</p>
324 <h2><a name="system"></a><a href="#toc">System</a></h2>
326 <h3><a name="configure"></a><a href="#toc">Which tools exist to configure grml?</a></h3>
328 <p>grml provides several scripts and tools which should make life
329 easier. See 'dpkg -L grml-scripts' to get an overview of some main
330 scripts. Run 'grml-config' to get a dialog interface for the most
331 important scripts and tasks.</p>
333 <h3><a name="password"></a><a href="#toc">What are the passwords of users on grml?</a></h3>
335 <p>There are no default passwords. All accounts are locked by
336 default. Even local logins are not possible (unless you set a
337 password or create new user accounts as root). You can create
338 valid passwords using "sudo passwd [username]" from the shell
341 <h3><a name="version"></a><a href="#toc">How do I find out the version of grml</a></h3>
343 <p>Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:</p>
346 $ cat /etc/grml_version</pre>
348 <h3><a name="remove_cd"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?</a></h3>
351 $ sudo umount -l /cdrom
352 $ sudo eject /dev/cdrom # now don't run any new programs ;)
353 $ mount /dev/cdrom # mount it again if needed ;)
356 <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></h3>
358 <p>By default grml uses English settings. But it is possible to
359 change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang,
360 keyboard and xkeyboard or via running grml-lang when grml is
361 already running. Usage examples:</p>
364 grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
365 # German keyboard layout and German $LANG, $LC_ALL,
367 grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
368 # and you will get German keyboard and Austrian
370 $ grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
371 # and $LANG settings in a running grml-system
374 <p>If you are running grml from harddisk (using <a
375 href="#hdinstall">grml2hd</a>) you have several options how to set
376 language options:</p>
380 <li>adjust /etc/environment to configure global language
383 <li>set $LC_ALL, $LANG, $LANGUAGE in your ~/.xinitrc (before the
384 'exec $WINDOWMANAGER line' of course) to configure the
385 language behaviour of programs</li>
387 <li>adjust /etc/sysconfig/keyboard to configure keyboard layout
388 on console, or run 'loadkeys $KEYTABLE' manually</li>
390 <li>add 'setxkbmap $LANGUAGE' to the keybindings section in
391 your ~/.xinitrc to configure keyboard setup in X window system
392 (deactivate the xmodmap lines if necessary)</li>
396 <h3><a name="kde_and_foo"></a><a href="#toc">KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR</a></h3>
398 <p>Why isn't KDE, Gnome, $FOO or $BAR part of grml? grml is a distribution
399 for users of texttools and sysadmins. If you would like to run KDE with
400 Debian use e.g. <a href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a>, <a
401 href="http://www.munjoylinux.org/">Munjoy-Linux</a>, <a
402 href="http://kanotix.com/">Kanotix</a> or <a
403 href="http://www.kubuntu.org/">Kubuntu</a>. Gnome users might find <a
404 href="http://www.ubuntulinux.org/">Ubuntu</a> useful. If you would like to
405 see a specific (software) package added to grml please <a
406 href="/report/">report it to us</a>!</p>
408 <h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
410 <p>grml is shipped only with window managers which are lightweight and
411 fast - so well suited for a live-CD. At the moment, grml provides these window managers:
412 <a href="http://www.6809.org.uk/evilwm/">evilwm</a>,
413 <a href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">fluxbox</a>,
414 <a href="http://modeemi.cs.tut.fi/~tuomov/ion/">ion3</a>,
415 <a href="http://joewing.net/programs/jwm/index.shtml">jwm</a>,
416 <a href="http://pekwm.org/">pekwm</a>,
417 <a href="http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/">ratpoison</a>,
418 <a href="http://www.plig.org/xwinman/vtwm.html">twm</a>,
419 <a href="http://www.grassouille.org/code/w9wm/README">w9wm</a>,
420 <a href="http://www.nickgravgaard.com/windowlab/">windowlab</a>,
421 <a href="http://wmii.de/">wmi and wmii</a>.</p>
423 <p>If you are new to grml and/or prefer an easy-to-use-desktop run 'grml-x
424 wm-ng' for starting fluxbox with idesk and gkrellm.</p>
426 <h3><a name="usbmount"></a><a href="#toc">How do I mount a USB device / USB stick?</a></h3>
428 <p>Run 'mount /mnt/external1' for example if you want to mount
429 /dev/sda1. udev on grml does multiplexing for USB block devices,
430 /dev/external1 is a symlink to /dev/sda1.</p>
432 <a name="terminalserver"></a>
433 <h3><a name="booting"></a><a href="#toc">Which ways exist to boot grml?</a></h3>
435 <p>The most common way to boot grml is, of course, running from
436 CD-ROM, but grml provides many more ways to boot grml:</p>
438 <p>It is possible to boot grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or harddisk),
439 firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It works out of the
440 box; you don't need to modify anything. If accessing the device
441 fails, use the 'scandelay' cheatcode on bootprompt. So, boot with
442 'grml scandelay'. If the timeout is still not long enough add the
443 time to wait in seconds as parameter: 'grml scandelay=15'. See <a
444 href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb-webpage in the
445 grml-wiki</a> for more details.</p>
447 <p>Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a floppy
448 disk? Take a look at <a
449 href="http://btmgr.webframe.org/">btmgr</a>, <a
450 href="http://ubcd4win.com/faq.htm#floppy">ubcd4win</a> or <a
451 href="http://linux.simple.be/tools/sbm">sbm</a>. They provide
452 support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy disk.</p>
454 <p>grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system
455 via network. If you have a floppy drive, you can even boot your
456 system over network when your network card does not provide
457 PXE-support! For more information, refer to the <a
458 href="/terminalserver/">grml-terminalserver-webpage</a>.</p>
460 <h3><a name="bugreport"></a><a href="#toc">Bugreport</a></h3>
462 <p>Take a look at the <a href="/bugs/">bugs-webpage</a>.</p>
464 <h3><a name="hdinstall"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?</a></h3>
466 <p>Yes. grml provides a tool called grml2hd (see '<a
467 href="/grml2hd/grml2hd.html">man grml2hd</a>'). grml is developed on a box
468 running the grml-system itself, and we - the grml-developers - especially like
469 grml2hd because it gives us a working Linux box within 10 to 30 minutes!
470 grml2hd is perfect for prototyping: test hardware support of Linux, test a
471 specific setup, ... You can even use grml2hd in a fully automatic mode without
472 any further interaction. More information is available on <a
473 href="/grml2hd/">grml.org/grml2hd/</a> and <a
474 href="/grml2hd/grml2hd.html">man grml2hd</a>. Notice: If you are using grml
475 in a production environment and/or use a grml2hd installation, we strongly
476 recommend you subscribe to <a href="/mailinglist/">the grml user
477 mailinglist</a>! Note that grml is based on Debian unstable, so you should
478 be familiar with Debian unstable if you plan to use grml as a harddisk
481 <h3><a name="grml2hdhang"></a><a href="#toc">grml2hd seems to hang?!</a></h3>
483 <p>grml2hd seems to hang? Switch to tty12 and take a look at the syslog output.
484 If you see something like:</p>
487 SQUASHFS error: zlib_fs returned unexpected result 0x........
488 SQUASHFS error: Unable to read cache block [.....]
489 SQUASHFS error: Unable to read inode [.....]</pre>
491 <p>your ISO/CD-ROM very probably is not ok. Verify it via booting with
492 grml testcd. Check your CD low-level via running:</p>
495 # readcd -c2scan dev=/dev/cdrom</pre>
497 <p>If the medium really is ok and it still fails try to boot with
498 DMA deactivated via 'grml nodma ide=nodma' at the bootprompt.</p>
500 <h3><a name="hardware"></a><a href="#toc">I have problems with my hardware!</a></h3>
502 <p>Take a look at the script grml-hwinfo. This script generates a
503 file named info.tar.bz2 which contains important information about
504 your hardware. If you think we might help, please run
505 grml-hwinfo and send us the file with additional, relevant
506 information regarding your problem.</p>
508 <h3><a name="boot"></a><a href="#toc">grml does not boot on my computer!</a></h3>
510 <p>Please take a look at <a
511 href="/files/grml-cheatcodes.txt">the available
512 bootparamters and cheatcodes</a> and '<a href="#booting">Which ways
513 exist to boot grml?</a>'. Especially booting with 'acpi=off noapm
514 noapic' might help. Bootparameter 'failsafe' provides minimal
515 hardware detection. You still have problems? Please <a
516 href="/contact/">contact us</a>!</p>
518 <h2><a name="kernel"></a><a href="#toc">Kernel</a></h2>
520 <h3><a name="kernelconfig"></a><a href="#toc">Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on
523 <p>See /boot/config-`uname -r` and on <a href="/kernel/">the kernel-webpage</a>.</p>
525 <h3><a name="kernelpatches"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any special components/patches in the kernel
526 used on grml?</a></h3>
528 <p>grml uses the most current stable vanilla Linux kernel from <a
529 href="http://www.kernel.org/">www.kernel.org</a> with some
530 additional patches. More information and an all-in-one patch is
532 href="/kernel/">kernel-page</a>.</p>
534 <h3><a name="platform"></a><a href="#toc">For which platforms is the grml kernel optimized?</a></h3>
536 <p>Plain i586 compatibility-mode with SMP deactivated (to avoid problems with
537 specific systems and drivers). [Note: grml-small provides a kernel with SMP
540 <h2><a name="software"></a><a href="#toc">Software</a></h2>
542 <h3><a name="sw_general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h3>
544 <p>Want to run a program as root? Just use 'sudo $PROGRAM'. To get a
545 root-shell run 'sudo su'.</p>
547 <p>Problems with a specific package? Please try 'dpkg-reconfigure $foo'.
548 Still encountering difficulties? Please send us a <a
549 href="/bugs/">bugreport</a>!</p>
551 <h3><a name="sw_version"></a><a href="#toc">What version of $PACKAGE is
553 <p>Take a look at the dpkg_... files in the <a
554 href="/files/#debian">Debian-Information section on
555 grml.org/files/</a>. </p>
557 <h3><a name="init"></a><a href="#toc">Init-System</a></h3>
559 <p>Why is grml using runlevel 2 as default? Because runlevel 2 is 'the
560 textonly one' and it's debian's default.</p>
562 <p>Where are all the /etc/rc#.d-directories? grml doesn't use
563 sysv-rc but file-rc. This means you can configure the init system
564 in one single file named /etc/runlevel.conf with your favourite
565 editor. No symlink-hell anymore.</p>
567 <h3><a name="zsh"></a><a href="#toc">Why is zsh the default shell (/bin/sh)?</a></h3>
569 <p>Short answer: because zsh rocks.</p>
571 <p>Longer answer taken from <a href="http://zsh.sunsite.dk/FAQ/zshfaq01.html#l3">ZSH
572 FAQ: 1.2: What is it?</a>:</p>
574 <cite> Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) which of the standard shells most
575 resembles the Korn shell (ksh); its compatibility with the 1988 Korn shell has been
576 gradually increasing. It includes enhancements of many types, notably in the
577 command-line editor, options for customising its behaviour, filename globbing, features
578 to make C-shell (csh) users feel more at home and extra features drawn from tcsh
579 (another `custom' shell).</cite>
581 <p>If you don't know zsh take a look at <a
582 href="http://zsh.sunsite.dk/FAQ/zshfaq02.html#l9">ZSH FAQ: How does zsh
583 differ from ...?</a>, 'man zsh | less -p COMPATIBILITY' and '<a
584 href="/zsh/">man zsh-lovers</a>'.</p>
586 <p>If you are a bash user and don't know zsh yet, don't be afraid. bash is largely a
587 subset of zsh and you don't have to throw away your knowledge about shell stuff.</p>
589 <h3><a name="zsh_binsh"></a><a href="#toc">Wasn't zsh the /bin/sh interpreter?</a></h3>
591 <p>Yes, until grml 0.6 zsh was the intepreter for /bin/sh. Starting
592 with release 0.7 grml uses /bin/bash as /bin/sh. The reason?
593 Debian does not support zsh as /bin/sh. Take a look at <a
594 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=329288">#329288</a>
596 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=340058">#340058</a>
599 <h3><a name="bash"></a><a href="#toc">Is a bash available?</a></h3>
601 <p>grml uses <a href="#zsh">zsh</a> as the default shell but, of
602 course, a current version of bash (and many other shells as well)
603 is provided by grml.</p>
605 <h3><a name="setuid"></a><a href="#toc">setuid/SUID</a></h3>
607 <p>If you set a programm SUID (setuid/mode 4755), unprivileged users on your system will
608 be able to run it. This <em>could</em> be a potentially security hole, so by default the
609 packages are configured not to install binaries with setuid. If you want to use the
610 binaries with setuid please run 'dpkg-reconfigure $packagename' or 'chmod 4755
611 =programm'. The following packages are well known to have a programm with not set
624 <h3><a name="aide"></a><a href="#toc">aide</a></h3>
626 <p>Before AIDE can be used, you will have to initialize a database. In order to do
627 this, simply run the following command:</p>
630 /usr/sbin/aideinit</pre>
632 <h3><a name="bitchx"></a><a href="#toc">bitchx</a></h3>
634 <p>Why isn't bitchx part of grml? <a
635 href="http://www.google.com/search?q=bitchx+sucks">bitchx
636 sucks</a>. Please use a better alternative like <a
637 href="http://irssi.org/">irssi</a> or <a
638 href="http://weechat.flashtux.org/index.php?lang=en">weechat</a>
639 which are part of grml.</p>
641 <h3><a name="ispell"></a><a href="#toc">ispell</a></h3>
643 <p>You don't want to use the preselected default for ispell? Run
644 'select-default-ispell' for changing it.</p>
646 <h3><a name="latex"></a><a href="#toc">LaTeX</a></h3>
648 <p>auctex and preview-latex are loaded by default in emacs. If you want to load
649 auctex based on your personal settings put the string "(require 'tex-site)" in your
650 ~/.emacs, for preview-latex use the string '(load "preview-latex")'.<br />
651 To change this run 'dpkg-reconfigure auctex' and/or 'dpkg-reconfigure
654 <h3><a name="slapd"></a><a href="#toc">slapd</a></h3>
655 <p>The password for the admin entry in the LDAP directory is 'grml'.</p>
657 <h3><a name="tripwire"></a><a href="#toc">tripwire</a></h3>
659 <p>The site-key pass-phrase and the local key pass-phrase for tripwire are 'grml'.</p>
661 <h2><a name="release"></a><a href="#toc">Release related issues</a></h2>
663 <h3><a name="known_issues"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any known issues with this release?</a></h3>
665 <p>We won't hide anything. Therefore, we do provide all known
666 issues/bugs publicly available:</p>
670 <li><a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml_0.7">issues regarding
671 grml 0.7</a> and</li>
673 <li><a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml-small_0.2">issues
674 regarding grml-small 0.2</a> in <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the
679 <p>If you find another bug, or consider something a problem not yet
680 mentioned <a href="#bugreport">please report it to us</a>!</p>
682 <h3><a name="ipw"></a><a href="#toc">Using IPW driver with DHCP</a></h3>
684 <p>The ipw-drivers in grml already contain special fixes for fixing
685 problems with ipw and kernel >=2.6.13, but you might have to run
686 'iwlist $DEVICE scanning' (adjust $DEVICE with the corresponding
687 network device) to get an associated connection to the access
690 <h3><a name="wpa"></a><a href="#toc">Using WPA with >=2.6.13-grml</a></h3>
692 <p><a href="http://www.kernel.org/">Vanilla kernel</a> include
693 wireless extensions now (starting with 2.6.13: version 18
694 [12.3.05]). The ipw2200 module uses the wireless extensions
695 instead of custom ioctl()s now. As a result you have to use
696 '-Dwext' for wpa_supplicant to use the wireless extensions when
697 wpa_supplicant is running. Adjust $OPTIONS in
698 /etc/default/wpasupplicant, for example using:</p>
701 OPTIONS="-Dwext -i eth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf"</pre>
703 <h3><a name="proc_usb"></a><a href="#toc">Why isn't /proc/bus/usb mounted anymore?</a></h3>
705 <p>Starting with kernel 2.6.14, /dev/bus/usb replaces usbfs.
706 Current versions of libusb check for /dev/bus/usb's existence and
707 /proc/bus/usb is not necessary anymore (see <a
708 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=336596">#336596</a>).
709 Of course 'mount /proc/bus/usb' still works; it is just not mounted
710 by default anymore. If you see any problems please <a
711 href="#bugreport">report them</a>.</p>
713 <h2><a name="xserver"></a><a href="#toc">X-Server</a></h2>
715 <h3><a name="xstart"></a><a href="#toc">How do I start the X server?</a></h3>
717 <p>Please use 'grml-x' as user grml for starting X. It generates
718 the config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf and lets you start commands on
719 startup (see ~/.xinitrc). Use it, for example, via switching to TTY4
720 (press Alt+F4) and run the following command to start window
726 <h3><a name="xproblem"></a><a href="#toc">X does not start on my box?!</a></h3>
728 <p>grml-x supports several options. If you want to set some special options
729 please take a look at the grml-x manpage (man grml-x)! Some usage examples:</p>
732 grml-x -display 8 fluxbox # start fluxbox on display 8
733 grml-x -force -nostart # force creation of xconfig file and don't start X server
734 grml-x -hsync 60 fluxbox # set horizontal frequency and start fluxbox
735 grml-x -hsync 60 -vsync 40 fluxbox # set horizontal and vertical sync frequencies and start fluxbox
736 grml-x -mode '800x600' fluxbox # set resolution to 800x600 and start fluxbox
737 grml-x -module vesa fluxbox # start fluxbox and use vesa module
740 <h3><a name="xresolution"></a><a href="#toc">I don't like the resolution of X!</a></h3>
742 <p>Just run xrandr to switch the resolution. For example: 'xrandr -s
745 <h2><a name="framebuffer"></a><a href="#toc">Framebuffer</a></h2>
747 <h3><a name="video"></a><a href="#toc">The boot option video does not work as
748 expected anymore</a></h3>
750 <p>grml versions 0.4 and 0.5 provided <a
751 href="/kernel/#vesafbtng">vesafb-tng</a> instead of
752 normal vesafb. Starting with grml 0.6 and grml-small 0.2 vesafb-tng
753 is not part of the grml-kernel anymore because it caused too many
754 problems. Therefore, you can use the 'normal' vga=... option
757 <h3><a name="fbprobs"></a><a href="#toc">I don't see anything when booting grml?!</a></h3>
759 <p>Likely, this is a problem with vesafb framebuffer. Try to boot
760 with bootoption 'nofb' or 'grml vga=normal'.</p>
762 <h2><a name="question"></a><a href="#toc">Further questions</a></h2>
764 <p>Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or in
765 the provided <a href="/docs/">documentation</a>
766 (also run 'grml-info' on your grml-system)? Run 'grml-tips
767 $KEYWORD' on your grml-system. Take a look at <a
768 href="/">the grml-website</a> and <a
769 href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the grml-wiki</a>. Please don't
770 hesitate to <a href="/contact/">contact us</a>, a
771 good place to start is the <a
772 href="/mailinglist/">grml mailinglist</a>.</p>
774 <h3><a name="donate"></a><a href="#toc">You like grml? Make a donation
775 to support our work!</a></h3>
777 <p>grml is, as every other Open-Source project, driven by the many
778 contributions made by many developers. The grml-team spends a great
779 deal of their time and money toward this project.</p>
781 <p>If you have been using grml you will come to remember how much money you
782 or your company saves by using it and how you have been supported via
783 the project mailing list, personal mail or irc.</p>
785 <p>Now you can contribute by donating to grml. Your donation could either
786 be money or hardware that one of the developers or the project as a whole
787 needs. A donation would enable us to either support a specific
788 hardware/software either at all or simply better.</p>
790 <p>See <a href="http://grml.org/donations/">grml.org/donations/</a> for
791 details. Thank you for helping us to work on grml!</p>
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