X/OS LINUX 4.0 — README — x86_64 VERSION

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The contents of the X/OS Linux CD/DVD-ROM media and ISO9660 image files are Copyright © 1995-2005 X/OS Experts in Open Systems BV and others. Refer to the individual copyright notices in each source package for distribution terms. The distribution terms of the tools copyrighted by X/OS Experts in Open Systems BV are as noted in the file EULA.

X/OS is a registered trademark of X/OS Experts in Open Systems BV.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc.

All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.


DIRECTORY ORGANIZATION

X/OS Linux is available on multiple CD-ROMS or on a single DVD-ROM. Most modern systems allow booting from the first CD/DVD-ROM drive to start the installation (see the installation section below).

The dvd2cd utility is provided to optionally create CD-ROM images from the DVD — to install X/OS Linux on systems with a CD-ROM drive only (see the section about creating CD images below).

The DVD-ROM contains all binary and source packages. The CD-ROM set for the x86_64 version of X/OS Linux consists of 4 binary and 4 source CD-ROMs, respectively containing the binary and source rpm's. For installing X/OS Linux on your system, you only need the CD-ROMs containing the binary packages.

The directory structure on the distribution media is as follows:

   |----> XOS
   |        |----> RPMS         -- binary packages
   |        `----> base         -- information on this release X/OS Linux
   |                               used by the installation process
   |----> SRPMS                 -- source packages
   |----> images                -- boot and driver disk images
   |----> isolinux              -- files used for booting from CD
   |----> dvdutils              -- files used for to create CDs from a DVD
   |----> README                -- this file
   |----> RELEASE-NOTES         -- the latest information about this release
   |----> EULA                  -- the X/OS Linux End User License Agreement
   `----> RPM-GPG-KEY-xoslinux  -- GPG signature for packages from X/OS

This directory structure applies to the DVD-ROM and first CD-ROM, except that the CD does not contain the directories SRPMS and dvdutils. Successive CD-ROMs have a similar directory structure, representing a subset of the above tree.

INSTALLATION

On most computers you can boot directly from the first CD or DVD. Both discs are bootable ISO9660 images, compliant with the widely used El-Torito standard for PCs.

The images directory on the distribution media contains the (small) boot.iso file. When burned onto a CD, it can be used to boot the X/OS Linux installation program as an alternative for using the CD set or DVD. After booting from this CD, you can choose an installation method such as installing from a network server.

Another file in the images directory is the diskboot.img file. This file is provided for use with a USB pen drive or another bootable device. Use the UNIX/Linux dd command to write this image to the device.

Note that as of X/OS Linux 4, booting from a standard floppy drive is not supported anymore. The reason is that the boot kernel no longer fits on a 1.44 MB floppy disk.

CREATE CD IMAGES

The dvd2cd utility in the dvdutils directory on the DVD can be used to create the raw ISO9660 CD images from the DVD file tree. The mkisofs tool (available on most Linux systems) is required to run dvd2cd.

The first parameter of the dvd2cd utility must be the path where the DVD file tree can be found, in most cases the mount point of the DVD. The second and following parameters are interpreted as CD numbers, for which the ISO9660 CD images must be created. For example, the command

/mnt/cdrom/dvdutils/dvd2cd /mnt/cdrom 1 2 3 4

creates the first four CD images from the DVD mounted on /mnt/cdrom. The CD images are created in the directory from which the command is called, so make sure enough space is available.

GETTING HELP

For more information about X/OS Linux, please visit the X/OS Linux home page at http://www.xoslinux.org/.

Supplementary services for X/OS Linux are available via X/OS Experts in Open Systems BV, ranging from commercial support plans, system management solutions and professional services. Please visit the X/OS website at http://www.xos.nl/ for more information.