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30 <p>Up2date: 20060407 - applies to version grml 0.7/grml-small 0.2</p>
32 <p><a name="toc"></a><strong>Index:</strong></p>
34 <p class="toc"><a href="#general">General:</a></p>
36 <li><a href="#whatis">What is grml?</a></li>
37 <li><a href="#get">Where do I get grml?</a></li>
38 <li><a href="#whatmeans">What does grml mean?</a></li>
39 <li><a href="#pronounce">How do you pronounce grml?</a></li>
40 <li><a href="#releasename">What about the release name?</a></li>
41 <li><a href="#requirements">Requirements for running grml</a></li>
42 <li><a href="#why">Why another Linux distribution?</a></li>
43 <li><a href="#license">What's the license of grml?</a></li>
44 <li><a href="#difference">What's the difference between grml and $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are your main goals?</a></li>
45 <li><a href="#knoppix">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a></li>
46 <li><a href="#accessibility">What does accessibility at grml mean?</a></li>
47 <li><a href="#emulation">Is it possible to run grml with $EMULATOR?</a></li>
48 <li><a href="#usbboot">How do I boot grml from a USB stick?</a></li>
49 <li><a href="#store">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></li>
52 <p class="toc"><a href="#grmlsmall">grml-small:</a></p>
54 <li><a href="#whatissmall">What is grml-small?</a></li>
55 <li><a href="#smallvsnormal">What is the difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?</a></li>
56 <li><a href="#grmlvsdsl">What is the difference between grml-small and DSL?</a></li>
59 <p class="toc"><a href="#system">System</a>:</p>
61 <li><a href="#configure">Which tools exist to configure grml?</a></li>
62 <li><a href="#password">What are the passwords of users on grml?</a></li>
63 <li><a href="#version">How do I find out the version of grml</a></li>
64 <li><a href="#remove_cd">Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?</a></li>
65 <li><a href="#language">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></li>
66 <li><a href="#kde_and_foo">KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR</a></li>
67 <li><a href="#wms">Which window managers can I use?</a></li>
68 <li><a href="#usbmount">How do I mount a USB device / USB stick?</a></li>
69 <li><a href="#booting">Which ways exist to boot grml?</a></li>
70 <li><a href="#bugreport">Bugreport</a></li>
71 <li><a href="#hdinstall">Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?</a></li>
72 <li><a href="#grml2hdhang">grml2hd seems to hang?!</a></li>
73 <li><a href="#hardware">I have problems with my hardware!</a></li>
74 <li><a href="#boot">grml does not boot on my computer!</a></li>
77 <p class="toc"><a href="#kernel">Kernel</a>:</p>
79 <li><a href="#kernelconfig">Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on grml?</a></li>
80 <li><a href="#kernelpatches">Are there any special components/patches in the kernel used on grml?</a></li>
81 <li><a href="#platform">For which platforms is the grml kernel optimized?</a></li>
84 <p class="toc"><a href="#software">Software:</a></p>
86 <li><a href="#sw_general">General</a></li>
87 <li><a href="#sw_version">What version of $PACKAGE is available?</a></li>
88 <li><a href="#init">Init-System</a></li>
89 <li><a href="#zsh">Why is zsh the default shell?</a></li>
90 <li><a href="#zsh_binsh">Wasn't zsh the /bin/sh interpreter?</a></li>
91 <li><a href="#bash">Is a bash available?</a></li>
92 <li><a href="#setuid">setuid/SUID</a></li>
93 <li><a href="#aide">aide</a></li>
94 <li><a href="#bitchx">bitchx</a></li>
95 <li><a href="#ispell">ispell</a></li>
96 <li><a href="#latex">LaTeX</a></li>
97 <li><a href="#slapd">slapd</a></li>
98 <li><a href="#tripwire">tripwire</a></li>
101 <p class="toc"><a href="#release">Release related issues</a>:</p>
103 <li><a href="#known_issues">Are there any known issues with this release?</a></li>
104 <li><a href="#ipw">Using IPW driver with DHCP</a></li>
105 <li><a href="#wpa">Using WPA with >=2.6.13-grml</a></li>
106 <li><a href="#proc_usb">Why isn't /proc/bus/usb mounted anymore?</a></li>
109 <p class="toc"><a href="#xserver">X-Server</a></p>
111 <li><a href="#xstart">How do I start the X server?</a></li>
112 <li><a href="#xproblem">X does not start on my box?!</a></li>
113 <li><a href="#xresolution">I don't like the resolution of X!</a></li>
116 <p class="toc"><a href="#framebuffer">Framebuffer</a></p>
118 <li><a href="#video">The boot option video does not work as expected anymore</a></li>
119 <li><a href="#fbprobs">I don't see anything when booting grml?!</a></li>
122 <p class="toc"><a href="#stuff">Unanswered stuff</a></p>
124 <li><a href="#questions">Further questions?</a></li>
125 <li><a href="#donate">You like grml? Make a donation to support our work!</a></li>
128 <h2><a name="general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h2>
130 <h3><a name="whatis"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml?</a></h3>
132 <p>grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) once based on <a
133 href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a> and nowadays based on <a
134 href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. grml includes a collection of
135 GNU/Linux software especially for users of texttools and system
136 administrators. grml provides automatic hardware detection. You can use grml
137 as a rescue system, for analyzing systems/networks, or as a working
138 environment. It is not necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Due to
139 on-the-fly decompression grml includes about 2.1 GB of software and
140 documentation on the CD.</p>
142 <h3><a name="get"></a><a href="#toc">Where do I get grml?</a></h3>
144 <p>You can download grml of course: take a look at <a
145 href="/download">grml.org/download/</a>. If you want
146 to get an original grml-CD including <a
147 href="/files/#covers">the grml-cover</a>, need a
148 special amount of CDs or want your own special grml-CD (including
149 your logo, your software and/or special settings) <a
150 href="/contact/">please don't hesitate to contact
151 us</a>! Take a look at <a
152 href="http://solutions.grml.org/">grml-solutions</a> for more
153 information regarding our offers.</p>
155 <h3><a name="whatmeans"></a><a href="#toc">What does grml mean?</a></h3>
157 <p>grml is short for 'grummel' and comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in English. People
158 use this when they want to express their dissatisfaction/discontentedness with software
159 (amongst other things):</p>
162 $ grep -ch grml .centericq/**/history | xargs echo | \
163 sed 's/[0-9]*/& + /g' | sed 's/+ $//g' | bc -l
166 <h3><a name="pronounce"></a><a href="#toc">How do you pronounce grml?</a></h3>
169 % flite -o play -t gremel</pre>
172 $ echo 'ghroummel' | festival \-\-tts
175 <h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
177 <p>Codename of grml 0.7 is Bootenschnitzl. This is derived from the
178 German word putenschnitzel. A putenschnitzel is a turkey hen cutlet.
179 Therefore, a Bootenschnitzl is a bootable cutlet.</p>
181 <p>Codename of grml-small 0.2 is Corry. Corry is the nickname of <a
182 href="/team/">Michael Gebetsroither's</a> girlfriend.</p>
184 <h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running grml</a></h3>
187 <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)</li>
188 <li>at least 64MB of RAM (for stable use with ramdisks for unionfs and udev and running X window system
189 we recommend at least 128MB)</li>
190 <li>grml-small: at least 32MB RAM should be available</li>
191 <li>bootable CD-ROM drive (or a boot floppy and standard CD-ROM [IDE/ATAPI
192 or SCSI]) [or network - see <a href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a>]</li>
195 <h3><a name="why"></a><a href="#toc">Why another Linux distribution?</a></h3>
197 <p>There already exist "<a
198 href="http://www.distrowatch.com/">some</a>" distributions. We decided
199 to base our work on the existing infrastructure of <a
200 href="http://debian.org/">Debian</a> and <a
201 href="http://www.knoppix.net/">Knoppix</a> because we don't want to reinvent
202 the wheel. Some admins already use their own rescue-CD and Knoppix works but
203 does not bring that many important tools for admins and users of texttools
204 out of the box, so we decided to share our work with others.</p>
206 <h3><a name="license"></a><a href="#toc">What's the license of grml?</a></h3>
208 <p>Anything written by the grml team is published under the GPL (<a
209 href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public License</a>).
210 You don't have to pay anything for running grml. <a
211 href="/donations/">Donations</a> and <a href="/contact/">feedback</a> are
212 welcome of course. If you want a special LiveCD or need support, take a
213 look at <a href="http://solutions.grml.org/">grml-solutions</a>.</p>
215 <h3><a name="difference"></a><a href="#toc">What's the difference between grml and
216 $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are your main goals?</a></h3>
218 <p>The main goal of grml is to be a distribution well suited for
219 users of texttools and sysadmins. grml includes many important
220 texttools (of course awk, sed, grep, ... but also zsh, mutt[ng],
221 slrn, vim and many others) and useful programs for admin's
222 daily work. grml uses the existing infrastructure of <a
223 href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. grml was once based on <a
224 href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a> (see '<a
225 href="#knoppix">What's the difference between grml and
226 Knoppix?</a>' for more details). We are also merging
227 useful things from other distributions/live-cds to provide a
228 perfect environment.</p>
230 <h3><a name="knoppix"></a><a href="#toc">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a></h3>
232 <p>grml comes with a vastly different set of software. Missing KDE
233 and OpenOffice provides the opportunity of shipping more than 800
234 packages which Knoppix does not provide on its CD version. grml
235 boots a 2.6.x kernel but no X for faster startup. Knoppix is based
236 on Debian/testing-experimental (using apt-pinning), but grml is
237 basically based on plain Debian/unstable providing more current
238 versions of software and less painfull upgrades. grml was once
239 based on Knoppix but nowadays (except for a similar initial
240 ramdisk) has nothing in common with Knoppix:</p>
244 # find / -iname \*knoppix\*
247 <p>We consider Knoppix as a brand name for live-cds nowadays and
248 provide most of Knoppix' features as well. grml uses (mostly) the
249 same cheatcodes for booting as Knoppix and even provides some extra
250 ones. So if you are used to the basic Knoppix features you might
251 find them on the grml-system as well. Ripping out the Knoppix
252 stuff makes it possible to create a grml system out of a
253 Debian system and vice versa. Running 'apt-get install grml' on a
254 Debian box will be officially supported in an upcoming version of
257 <h3><a name="accessibility"></a><a href="#toc">What does accessibility at grml mean?</a></h3>
259 <p>The grml kernel includes <a href="/kernel/#speakup">support for
260 speakup</a> and provides software like brltty (using bootoption 'grml blind
261 brltty=type,port,tbl'), emacspeak and flite.</p>
263 <h3><a name="emulation"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to run grml with $EMULATOR?</a></h3>
265 <p><a href="http://www.vmware.com/">VMWare</a> should work without any
266 problems. It's also possible to run grml with <a
267 href="http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/">QEMU</a>, an emulator for various
268 CPUs which works on Linux, Windows, FreeBSD and Mac OS X. Running grml with
269 QEMU has been tested successfully on Windows and Linux. Take a look at <a
270 href="/qemu/">the QEMU-grml-webpage</a>.</p>
272 <h3><a name="usbboot"></a><a href="#toc">How do I boot grml from a USB stick?</a></h3>
274 <p>Take a look at the script <a
275 href="http://grml.org/scripts/grml2usb">grml2usb</a>. For more
276 details, take a look at the <a
277 href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb-webpage in the
280 <h3><a name="store"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></h3>
282 <p>Yes. grml provides a powerful config framework. See <a
283 href="/config/">grml.org/config/</a>, <a
284 href="file:///usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html">/usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html</a>
285 and 'man save-config restore-config mkpersistenthome' for more
288 <h2><a name="grmlsmall"></a><a href="#toc">grml-small?</a></h2>
290 <h3><a name="whatissmall"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml-small?</a></h3>
292 <p>Whereas grml provides about 2.1 GB of software on a 700 MB ISO, grml-small
293 is a flavor with online ~55 MB ISO-size (~200 MB uncompressed). It does not
294 provide a lot of software but the essential stuff for being a rescue system
295 on a business card CD-ROM or a small USB device. You can use the Debian
296 package management system to install software on the fly (assuming you have
297 network access to a Debian mirror). Take a look at the <a
298 href="/files/">'Debian-Information'-section</a> if you are
299 searching for the package list.</p>
301 <h3><a name="smallvsnormal"></a><a href="#toc">What is the
302 difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?</a></h3>
304 <p>The 700 MB-grml brings more than 2370 packages of software and a <a
305 href="/kernel/">full-featured kernel</a>. grml-small includes
306 about 215 software packages, lacks documentation and manpages on the ISO and
307 has a stripped-down <a href="/kernel/">kernel</a> (but still
308 provides hardware detection of course). <a
309 href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a> is <strong>not</strong>
310 available/supported on grml-small.</p>
312 <h3><a name="grmlvsdsl"></a><a href="#toc">What is the
313 difference between grml-small and DSL?</a></h3>
315 <p>DSL and grml-small have different target audiences. <a
316 href="http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/">Damn Small Linux</a> (DSL) uses kernel
317 version 2.4 whereas grml-small provides a recent version of kernel version
318 2.6. DSL provides the X window system which grml-small does not. grml-small
319 provides the most important packages for sysadmins and ships the original
320 Debian package management which allows you to install packages of the Debian
321 pool with no modifications.</p>
323 <h2><a name="system"></a><a href="#toc">System</a></h2>
325 <h3><a name="configure"></a><a href="#toc">Which tools exist to configure grml?</a></h3>
327 <p>grml provides several scripts and tools which should make life
328 easier. See 'dpkg -L grml-scripts' to get an overview of some main
329 scripts. Run 'grml-config' to get a dialog interface for the most
330 important scripts and tasks.</p>
332 <h3><a name="password"></a><a href="#toc">What are the passwords of users on grml?</a></h3>
334 <p>There are no default passwords. All accounts are locked by
335 default. Even local logins are not possible (unless you set a
336 password or create new user accounts as root). You can create
337 valid passwords using "sudo passwd [username]" from the shell
340 <h3><a name="version"></a><a href="#toc">How do I find out the version of grml</a></h3>
342 <p>Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:</p>
345 $ cat /etc/grml_version</pre>
347 <h3><a name="remove_cd"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?</a></h3>
350 $ sudo umount -l /cdrom
351 $ sudo eject /dev/cdrom # now don't run any new programs ;)
352 $ mount /dev/cdrom # mount it again if needed ;)
355 <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></h3>
357 <p>By default grml uses English settings. But it is possible to
358 change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang,
359 keyboard and xkeyboard or via running grml-lang when grml is
360 already running. Usage examples:</p>
363 grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
364 # German keyboard layout and German $LANG, $LC_ALL,
366 grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
367 # and you will get German keyboard and Austrian
369 $ grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
370 # and $LANG settings in a running grml-system
373 <p>If you are running grml from harddisk (using <a
374 href="#hdinstall">grml2hd</a>) you have several options how to set
375 language options:</p>
379 <li>adjust /etc/environment to configure global language
382 <li>set $LC_ALL, $LANG, $LANGUAGE in your ~/.xinitrc (before the
383 'exec $WINDOWMANAGER line' of course) to configure the
384 language behaviour of programs</li>
386 <li>adjust /etc/sysconfig/keyboard to configure keyboard layout
387 on console, or run 'loadkeys $KEYTABLE' manually</li>
389 <li>add 'setxkbmap $LANGUAGE' to the keybindings section in
390 your ~/.xinitrc to configure keyboard setup in X window system
391 (deactivate the xmodmap lines if necessary)</li>
395 <h3><a name="kde_and_foo"></a><a href="#toc">KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR</a></h3>
397 <p>Why isn't KDE, Gnome, $FOO or $BAR part of grml? grml is a distribution
398 for users of texttools and sysadmins. If you would like to run KDE with
399 Debian use e.g. <a href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a>, <a
400 href="http://www.munjoylinux.org/">Munjoy-Linux</a>, <a
401 href="http://kanotix.com/">Kanotix</a> or <a
402 href="http://www.kubuntu.org/">Kubuntu</a>. Gnome users might find <a
403 href="http://www.ubuntulinux.org/">Ubuntu</a> useful. If you would like to
404 see a specific (software) package added to grml please <a
405 href="/report/">report it to us</a>!</p>
407 <h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
409 <p>grml is shipped only with window managers which are lightweight and
410 fast - so well suited for a live-CD. At the moment, grml provides these window managers:
411 <a href="http://www.6809.org.uk/evilwm/">evilwm</a>,
412 <a href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">fluxbox</a>,
413 <a href="http://modeemi.cs.tut.fi/~tuomov/ion/">ion3</a>,
414 <a href="http://joewing.net/programs/jwm/index.shtml">jwm</a>,
415 <a href="http://pekwm.org/">pekwm</a>,
416 <a href="http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/">ratpoison</a>,
417 <a href="http://www.plig.org/xwinman/vtwm.html">twm</a>,
418 <a href="http://www.grassouille.org/code/w9wm/README">w9wm</a>,
419 <a href="http://www.nickgravgaard.com/windowlab/">windowlab</a>,
420 <a href="http://wmii.de/">wmi and wmii</a>.</p>
422 <p>If you are new to grml and/or prefer an easy-to-use-desktop run 'grml-x
423 wm-ng' for starting fluxbox with idesk and gkrellm.</p>
425 <h3><a name="usbmount"></a><a href="#toc">How do I mount a USB device / USB stick?</a></h3>
427 <p>Run 'mount /mnt/external1' for example if you want to mount
428 /dev/sda1. udev on grml does multiplexing for USB block devices,
429 /dev/external1 is a symlink to /dev/sda1.</p>
431 <a name="terminalserver"></a>
432 <h3><a name="booting"></a><a href="#toc">Which ways exist to boot grml?</a></h3>
434 <p>The most common way to boot grml is, of course, running from
435 CD-ROM, but grml provides many more ways to boot grml:</p>
437 <p>It is possible to boot grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or harddisk),
438 firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It works out of the
439 box; you don't need to modify anything. If accessing the device
440 fails, use the 'scandelay' cheatcode on bootprompt. So, boot with
441 'grml scandelay'. If the timeout is still not long enough add the
442 time to wait in seconds as parameter: 'grml scandelay=15'. See <a
443 href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb-webpage in the
444 grml-wiki</a> for more details.</p>
446 <p>Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a floppy
447 disk? Take a look at <a
448 href="http://btmgr.webframe.org/">btmgr</a>, <a
449 href="http://ubcd4win.com/faq.htm#floppy">ubcd4win</a> or <a
450 href="http://linux.simple.be/tools/sbm">sbm</a>. They provide
451 support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy disk.</p>
453 <p>grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system
454 via network. If you have a floppy drive, you can even boot your
455 system over network when your network card does not provide
456 PXE-support! For more information, refer to the <a
457 href="/terminalserver/">grml-terminalserver-webpage</a>.</p>
459 <h3><a name="bugreport"></a><a href="#toc">Bugreport</a></h3>
461 <p>Take a look at the <a href="/bugs/">bugs-webpage</a>.</p>
463 <h3><a name="hdinstall"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?</a></h3>
465 <p>Yes. grml provides a tool called grml2hd (see '<a
466 href="/grml2hd/grml2hd.html">man grml2hd</a>'). grml is developed on a box
467 running the grml-system itself, and we - the grml-developers - especially like
468 grml2hd because it gives us a working Linux box within 10 to 30 minutes!
469 grml2hd is perfect for prototyping: test hardware support of Linux, test a
470 specific setup, ... You can even use grml2hd in a fully automatic mode without
471 any further interaction. More information is available on <a
472 href="/grml2hd/">grml.org/grml2hd/</a> and <a
473 href="/grml2hd/grml2hd.html">man grml2hd</a>. Notice: If you are using grml
474 in a production environment and/or use a grml2hd installation, we strongly
475 recommend you subscribe to <a href="/mailinglist/">the grml user
476 mailinglist</a>! Note that grml is based on Debian unstable, so you should
477 be familiar with Debian unstable if you plan to use grml as a harddisk
480 <h3><a name="grml2hdhang"></a><a href="#toc">grml2hd seems to hang?!</a></h3>
482 <p>grml2hd seems to hang? Switch to tty12 and take a look at the syslog output.
483 If you see something like:</p>
486 SQUASHFS error: zlib_fs returned unexpected result 0x........
487 SQUASHFS error: Unable to read cache block [.....]
488 SQUASHFS error: Unable to read inode [.....]</pre>
490 <p>your ISO/CD-ROM very probably is not ok. Verify it via booting with
491 grml testcd. Check your CD low-level via running:</p>
494 # readcd -c2scan dev=/dev/cdrom</pre>
496 <p>If the medium really is ok and it still fails try to boot with
497 DMA deactivated via 'grml nodma ide=nodma' at the bootprompt.</p>
499 <h3><a name="hardware"></a><a href="#toc">I have problems with my hardware!</a></h3>
501 <p>Take a look at the script grml-hwinfo. This script generates a
502 file named info.tar.bz2 which contains important information about
503 your hardware. If you think we might help, please run
504 grml-hwinfo and send us the file with additional, relevant
505 information regarding your problem.</p>
507 <h3><a name="boot"></a><a href="#toc">grml does not boot on my computer!</a></h3>
509 <p>Please take a look at <a
510 href="/files/grml-cheatcodes.txt">the available
511 bootparamters and cheatcodes</a> and '<a href="#booting">Which ways
512 exist to boot grml?</a>'. Especially booting with 'acpi=off noapm
513 noapic' might help. Bootparameter 'failsafe' provides minimal
514 hardware detection. You still have problems? Please <a
515 href="/contact/">contact us</a>!</p>
517 <h2><a name="kernel"></a><a href="#toc">Kernel</a></h2>
519 <h3><a name="kernelconfig"></a><a href="#toc">Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on
522 <p>See /boot/config-`uname -r` and on <a href="/kernel/">the kernel-webpage</a>.</p>
524 <h3><a name="kernelpatches"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any special components/patches in the kernel
525 used on grml?</a></h3>
527 <p>grml uses the most current stable vanilla Linux kernel from <a
528 href="http://www.kernel.org/">www.kernel.org</a> with some
529 additional patches. More information and an all-in-one patch is
531 href="/kernel/">kernel-page</a>.</p>
533 <h3><a name="platform"></a><a href="#toc">For which platforms is the grml kernel optimized?</a></h3>
535 <p>Plain i586 compatibility-mode with SMP deactivated (to avoid problems with
536 specific systems and drivers). [Note: grml-small provides a kernel with SMP
539 <h2><a name="software"></a><a href="#toc">Software</a></h2>
541 <h3><a name="sw_general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h3>
543 <p>Want to run a program as root? Just use 'sudo $PROGRAM'. To get a
544 root-shell run 'sudo su'.</p>
546 <p>Problems with a specific package? Please try 'dpkg-reconfigure $foo'.
547 Still encountering difficulties? Please send us a <a
548 href="/bugs/">bugreport</a>!</p>
550 <h3><a name="sw_version"></a><a href="#toc">What version of $PACKAGE is
552 <p>Take a look at the dpkg_... files in the <a
553 href="/files/#debian">Debian-Information section on
554 grml.org/files/</a>. </p>
556 <h3><a name="init"></a><a href="#toc">Init-System</a></h3>
558 <p>Why is grml using runlevel 2 as default? Because runlevel 2 is 'the
559 textonly one' and it's debian's default.</p>
561 <p>Where are all the /etc/rc#.d-directories? grml doesn't use
562 sysv-rc but file-rc. This means you can configure the init system
563 in one single file named /etc/runlevel.conf with your favourite
564 editor. No symlink-hell anymore.</p>
566 <h3><a name="zsh"></a><a href="#toc">Why is zsh the default shell (/bin/sh)?</a></h3>
568 <p>Short answer: because zsh rocks.</p>
570 <p>Longer answer taken from <a href="http://zsh.sunsite.dk/FAQ/zshfaq01.html#l3">ZSH
571 FAQ: 1.2: What is it?</a>:</p>
573 <cite> Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) which of the standard shells most
574 resembles the Korn shell (ksh); its compatibility with the 1988 Korn shell has been
575 gradually increasing. It includes enhancements of many types, notably in the
576 command-line editor, options for customising its behaviour, filename globbing, features
577 to make C-shell (csh) users feel more at home and extra features drawn from tcsh
578 (another `custom' shell).</cite>
580 <p>If you don't know zsh take a look at <a
581 href="http://zsh.sunsite.dk/FAQ/zshfaq02.html#l9">ZSH FAQ: How does zsh
582 differ from ...?</a>, 'man zsh | less -p COMPATIBILITY' and '<a
583 href="/zsh/">man zsh-lovers</a>'.</p>
585 <p>If you are a bash user and don't know zsh yet, don't be afraid. bash is largely a
586 subset of zsh and you don't have to throw away your knowledge about shell stuff.</p>
588 <h3><a name="zsh_binsh"></a><a href="#toc">Wasn't zsh the /bin/sh interpreter?</a></h3>
590 <p>Yes, until grml 0.6 zsh was the intepreter for /bin/sh. Starting
591 with release 0.7 grml uses /bin/bash as /bin/sh. The reason?
592 Debian does not support zsh as /bin/sh. Take a look at <a
593 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=329288">#329288</a>
595 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=340058">#340058</a>
598 <h3><a name="bash"></a><a href="#toc">Is a bash available?</a></h3>
600 <p>grml uses <a href="#zsh">zsh</a> as the default shell but, of
601 course, a current version of bash (and many other shells as well)
602 is provided by grml.</p>
604 <h3><a name="setuid"></a><a href="#toc">setuid/SUID</a></h3>
606 <p>If you set a programm SUID (setuid/mode 4755), unprivileged users on your system will
607 be able to run it. This <em>could</em> be a potentially security hole, so by default the
608 packages are configured not to install binaries with setuid. If you want to use the
609 binaries with setuid please run 'dpkg-reconfigure $packagename' or 'chmod 4755
610 =programm'. The following packages are well known to have a programm with not set
623 <h3><a name="aide"></a><a href="#toc">aide</a></h3>
625 <p>Before AIDE can be used, you will have to initialize a database. In order to do
626 this, simply run the following command:</p>
629 /usr/sbin/aideinit</pre>
631 <h3><a name="bitchx"></a><a href="#toc">bitchx</a></h3>
633 <p>Why isn't bitchx part of grml? <a
634 href="http://www.google.com/search?q=bitchx+sucks">bitchx
635 sucks</a>. Please use a better alternative like <a
636 href="http://irssi.org/">irssi</a> or <a
637 href="http://weechat.flashtux.org/index.php?lang=en">weechat</a>
638 which are part of grml.</p>
640 <h3><a name="ispell"></a><a href="#toc">ispell</a></h3>
642 <p>You don't want to use the preselected default for ispell? Run
643 'select-default-ispell' for changing it.</p>
645 <h3><a name="latex"></a><a href="#toc">LaTeX</a></h3>
647 <p>auctex and preview-latex are loaded by default in emacs. If you want to load
648 auctex based on your personal settings put the string "(require 'tex-site)" in your
649 ~/.emacs, for preview-latex use the string '(load "preview-latex")'.<br />
650 To change this run 'dpkg-reconfigure auctex' and/or 'dpkg-reconfigure
653 <h3><a name="slapd"></a><a href="#toc">slapd</a></h3>
654 <p>The password for the admin entry in the LDAP directory is 'grml'.</p>
656 <h3><a name="tripwire"></a><a href="#toc">tripwire</a></h3>
658 <p>The site-key pass-phrase and the local key pass-phrase for tripwire are 'grml'.</p>
660 <h2><a name="release"></a><a href="#toc">Release related issues</a></h2>
662 <h3><a name="known_issues"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any known issues with this release?</a></h3>
664 <p>We won't hide anything. Therefore, we do provide all known
665 issues/bugs publicly available:</p>
669 <li><a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml_0.7">issues regarding
670 grml 0.7</a> and</li>
672 <li><a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml-small_0.2">issues
673 regarding grml-small 0.2</a> in <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the
678 <p>If you find another bug, or consider something a problem not yet
679 mentioned <a href="#bugreport">please report it to us</a>!</p>
681 <h3><a name="ipw"></a><a href="#toc">Using IPW driver with DHCP</a></h3>
683 <p>The ipw-drivers in grml already contain special fixes for fixing
684 problems with ipw and kernel >=2.6.13, but you might have to run
685 'iwlist $DEVICE scanning' (adjust $DEVICE with the corresponding
686 network device) to get an associated connection to the access
689 <h3><a name="wpa"></a><a href="#toc">Using WPA with >=2.6.13-grml</a></h3>
691 <p><a href="http://www.kernel.org/">Vanilla kernel</a> include
692 wireless extensions now (starting with 2.6.13: version 18
693 [12.3.05]). The ipw2200 module uses the wireless extensions
694 instead of custom ioctl()s now. As a result you have to use
695 '-Dwext' for wpa_supplicant to use the wireless extensions when
696 wpa_supplicant is running. Adjust $OPTIONS in
697 /etc/default/wpasupplicant, for example using:</p>
700 OPTIONS="-Dwext -i eth1 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf"</pre>
702 <h3><a name="proc_usb"></a><a href="#toc">Why isn't /proc/bus/usb mounted anymore?</a></h3>
704 <p>Starting with kernel 2.6.14, /dev/bus/usb replaces usbfs.
705 Current versions of libusb check for /dev/bus/usb's existence and
706 /proc/bus/usb is not necessary anymore (see <a
707 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=336596">#336596</a>).
708 Of course 'mount /proc/bus/usb' still works; it is just not mounted
709 by default anymore. If you see any problems please <a
710 href="#bugreport">report them</a>.</p>
712 <h2><a name="xserver"></a><a href="#toc">X-Server</a></h2>
714 <h3><a name="xstart"></a><a href="#toc">How do I start the X server?</a></h3>
716 <p>Please use 'grml-x' as user grml for starting X. It generates
717 the config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf and lets you start commands on
718 startup (see ~/.xinitrc). Use it, for example, via switching to TTY4
719 (press Alt+F4) and run the following command to start window
725 <h3><a name="xproblem"></a><a href="#toc">X does not start on my box?!</a></h3>
727 <p>grml-x supports several options. If you want to set some special options
728 please take a look at the grml-x manpage (man grml-x)! Some usage examples:</p>
731 grml-x -display 8 fluxbox # start fluxbox on display 8
732 grml-x -force -nostart # force creation of xconfig file and don't start X server
733 grml-x -hsync 60 fluxbox # set horizontal frequency and start fluxbox
734 grml-x -hsync 60 -vsync 40 fluxbox # set horizontal and vertical sync frequencies and start fluxbox
735 grml-x -mode '800x600' fluxbox # set resolution to 800x600 and start fluxbox
736 grml-x -module vesa fluxbox # start fluxbox and use vesa module
739 <h3><a name="xresolution"></a><a href="#toc">I don't like the resolution of X!</a></h3>
741 <p>Just run xrandr to switch the resolution. For example: 'xrandr -s
744 <h2><a name="framebuffer"></a><a href="#toc">Framebuffer</a></h2>
746 <h3><a name="video"></a><a href="#toc">The boot option video does not work as
747 expected anymore</a></h3>
749 <p>grml versions 0.4 and 0.5 provided <a
750 href="/kernel/#vesafbtng">vesafb-tng</a> instead of
751 normal vesafb. Starting with grml 0.6 and grml-small 0.2 vesafb-tng
752 is not part of the grml-kernel anymore because it caused too many
753 problems. Therefore, you can use the 'normal' vga=... option
756 <h3><a name="fbprobs"></a><a href="#toc">I don't see anything when booting grml?!</a></h3>
758 <p>Likely, this is a problem with vesafb framebuffer. Try to boot
759 with bootoption 'nofb' or 'grml vga=normal'.</p>
761 <h2><a name="question"></a><a href="#toc">Further questions</a></h2>
763 <p>Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or in
764 the provided <a href="/docs/">documentation</a>
765 (also run 'grml-info' on your grml-system)? Run 'grml-tips
766 $KEYWORD' on your grml-system. Take a look at <a
767 href="/">the grml-website</a> and <a
768 href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the grml-wiki</a>. Please don't
769 hesitate to <a href="/contact/">contact us</a>, a
770 good place to start is the <a
771 href="/mailinglist/">grml mailinglist</a>.</p>
773 <h3><a name="donate"></a><a href="#toc">You like grml? Make a donation
774 to support our work!</a></h3>
776 <p>grml is, as every other Open-Source project, driven by the many
777 contributions made by many developers. The grml-team spends a great
778 deal of their time and money toward this project.</p>
780 <p>If you have been using grml you will come to remember how much money you
781 or your company saves by using it and how you have been supported via
782 the project mailing list, personal mail or irc.</p>
784 <p>Now you can contribute by donating to grml. Your donation could either
785 be money or hardware that one of the developers or the project as a whole
786 needs. A donation would enable us to either support a specific
787 hardware/software either at all or simply better.</p>
789 <p>See <a href="http://grml.org/donations/">grml.org/donations/</a> for
790 details. Thank you for helping us to work on grml!</p>
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