Last Updated: 11 November 2006
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NOTE: This is not an official form of support. This is not an official service of Red Hat. These things may solve your worst nightmare, or they may eat all of the cheese in your house. I make no guarantees. YMMV.
I've answered many basic questions in the Fedora Basics FAQ. Even if you're not new to Linux, you might find one or two helpful hints in there.
If you think that you have a FAQ that's not answered here, or if you see something that needs a correction/update, feel free to contribute!
This means upgrading your OS every 6 - 8 months. The upgrades are usually very easy, much like Red Hat Linux 8 - Red Hat Linux 9. The easiness is not guaranteed.
If you don't want to upgrade every 6 - 8 months, there is something called the Fedora Legacy Project. They provide security patches for each version of Fedora for an additional 1 1/2 years after the Fedora Project stops their support.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is based on Fedora Core, so if you want to learn a little about RHEL for free, use Fedora Core.
Also, you can (sometimes) actually call Red Hat and get support for RHEL, which you will never be able to do for Fedora.
Fedora is distributed for free, and RHEL costs money.
Fedora is also much more cutting-edge than RHEL is, and Fedora has a larger community of users willing to help out and give free support (like this web page).
Red Hat also has a cool page that answers this question.
(Thanks to many FAQ readers who pointed out a typo in this question!)
(Thanks to Tom Van Vleck for suggesting this question.)
You can read more about them on the official Fedora Extras site.
To install a piece of software from Fedora Extras, just see the question about installing software.
If you don't want to download the CDs, you can buy them from an official vendor. (Thanks to Beartooth for pointing out that not everybody can easily download CDs, and to Jef Spaleta for the vendor link.)
None of these file systems are officially supported by the Fedora Project. (That means that you can use them, but you won't find a lot of official help from the Fedora Project if things go wrong.)
At the installer prompt, type this for ReiserFS:
linux selinux=0 reiserfs
or this for JFS:
linux selinux=0 jfs
or this for XFS:
linux xfs
NOTE: You cannot use SELinux on ReiserFS or JFS. XFS is OK. (If you don't know what SELinux is, you can ignore this warning.)
(Thanks to whiprush [quoting Jesse Keating] for this. Thanks to Kai Thomsen for catching an important typo. Thanks to Colin Charles for the XFS part and the SELinux warning.)
You can also run the normal 32-bit version of Fedora on your 64-bit computer.
(Thanks to David Faustini and John P. Kole for finding typos in this question.)
If you have no CD-ROM drive at all, there is a way to start the Fedora Core installer using several floppies.
If you have a CD-ROM drive, but you can't boot from it, you can use Smart Boot Manager to work around that.
(Thanks to Mohan Embar and many others for the info on the floppy install! Thanks to Charles Curley for reminding me about Smart Boot Manager.)
For an alternate choice, look at RPMForge. There are some packages in RPMForge that aren't in Extras or livna.org. You can see the list of available packages on Dag Wieers's RPMForge package list page.
To search for software in all the major repositories, use the FedoraTracker search engine or rpm.pbone.net.
Here's how to configure your yum:
su -
cd /etc
mv -f yum.conf yum.conf.bak
wget http://www.fedorafaq.org/fc5/samples/yum.conf
rpm -Uvh http://www.fedorafaq.org/fc5/yum http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-5.rpm
NOTE: The yum configuration provided here is updated from time to time, for various reasons.
To use yum, open a terminal, become root, and then you can use the following commands:
yum list available
yum install packagename
yum update packagename
If you leave out "packagename" yum will update all your software.
yum check-update
yum search word
For more info about yum, see the yum project page. (Thanks to Ron Kuris for this tip.)
To get yum through a proxy, see the Fedora documentation about yum and proxies.
To install an RPM file that you downloaded outside of yum, open up a terminal, and as root do:
rpm -Uvh filename.rpm
You can install it with yum:
Now you can access Yum Extender in the Applications menu, under "System Tools."
There is a piece of software like this for Fedora, that comes in the standard Fedora Core installation. It's called yum. It can automatically download and install a program and all of its dependencies, with just one command. I even provide a special configuration that I use for yum on my computer, in the question where I explain how to use yum.
There used to be a version of apt specifically for Fedora. However, there was very little interest in it, so it is no longer provided. Just use yum instead.
Also, there's a new program called "pup" that you can use in the GUI, if you just want a simple program to keep your packages up-to-date. It's called "Software Updater" under the "System Tools" menu.
However, if you want to do things like use Java programs in your web browser, you'll need to follow these instructions to install Java in a way that works well with Fedora:
jdk-1_5_0_09-linux-i586-rpm.bin
su -
cd ~username
Where "username" is your normal username.
sh Desktop/jdk-1_5_0_09-linux-i586-rpm.bin
yum --enablerepo=jpackage-generic-nonfree install java-1.5.0-sun-compat
ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/
Java should now be installed and working properly! You may need to log out and then log in again for some things to work properly.
(Thanks to Kai Thomsen for noting that you only have to login-logout, not reboot. Thanks to Paul D. Brown for getting me the direct link to the correct JDK version!)
su -
yum install flash-plugin
mkdir -p /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fs/
ln -s /etc/X11/fs/config /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fs/config
If you have any questions, see the Flash Plugin FAQ! (Thanks to Warren Togami for that link.)
(Thanks to various IRC folks and vegan_linuxguy for troubleshooting this. Thanks to "m d," David Ball, and others for pointing out an important typo in this question! Thanks to David Jansen for letting me know that you no longer need libstdc++-compat for the new Flash plugin.)
su -
cd ~username/Desktop/
Where "username" is your normal username.
yum localinstall AdobeReader*
rm AdobeReader*
ln -s /usr/local/Adobe/Acrobat7.0/Browser/intellinux/nppdf.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/
yum update selinux-policy libsepol
Now close your web browser, and the next time you start it, you will be able to see PDF files inside your web browser!
(Thanks to Richard Lloyd and many others for letting me know about this! Thanks to John Boyd for pointing out a really important typo. Thanks to Jan Grothkast for pointing out that this still works in FC5.)
su -
yum install mplayerplug-in
Now, you can see movies on web sites!
NOTE: If you install a new version of your web browser you may have to run this process again.
You might also want to install the various Windows movie decoders. Note that there may be some legal issues with these decoders. You can install them by:
su -
yum --enablerepo=atrpms install w32codec
(Thanks to Sindre for writing the original text for this question, and suggesting the w32codec part.)
To start Gaim, click on the Applications menu, go to "Internet," and choose "IM." (Instead of "IM," sometimes it is called "Internet Messenger.")
See the Gaim documentation for information about how to set up gaim with your IM accounts.
(Thanks to Peter Lawler for letting me know that "Gaim" isn't all caps. And Thomas Winwood for letting me know that the first letter is capitalized. Thanks to Joshua Mock for catching a typo.)
Now simply drag & drop your fonts into the "Fonts" window to add them. You may have to log out and log in again to see them actually show up in that folder.
If you have any programs open, you will need to close then and then open them again, to have the new fonts show up in those programs.
By the way, there's also a very easy way to install all of the common Windows fonts on Linux. This can sometimes make web pages display more nicely:
su -
cd ~username/Desktop
(Where username is your normal username, not root.)
yum install rpm-build cabextract
rpmbuild -ba msttcorefonts-1.3-4.spec
rpm -Uvh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/noarch/msttcorefonts-1.3-4.noarch.rpm
(Thanks to David A. Wheeler and others for convincing me to add the MS Core Fonts instructions.)
uname -r
NOTE: You must download and install a new version of your driver every time you install a new kernel.
If you don't find what you need at Dag's site, try Googling for:
Fedora NameOfHardware
or:
Linux NameOfHardware
Where NameOfHardware is the normal name of your hardware. If it has more than one name, keep trying different ones until you get a result.
With that said, the plugins for these things are usually in the rpm.livna.org repository. You install a different package depending on which Fedora MP3 player you want to use. If you're not sure which one to pick, Rhythmbox is the standard. It's in the "Applications" menu, under "Sound & Video" -- it's called "Music Player."
Here's how to install the correct MP3 plugin:
su -
yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly
yum install xmms-mp3
yum install kdemultimedia-extras-nonfree
Now you should be able to play MP3s in your favorite Fedora MP3 player!
(Thanks to Dave Stevens for catching a typo in this question! Thanks to Dawid Gajownik for letting me know that the KDE package changed to nonfree.)
su -
yum install kmod-ntfs
Or, if you have a dual-processor (or dual-core) machine, instead you should type:
yum install kmod-ntfs-smp
Now you can read your NTFS drives! Unfortunately, you cannot write to them, though.
For information on how to use your NTFS drive, you can read the NTFS FAQ.
Now, under "Accessories" in the "Applications" menu, there will be an entry called "Alacarte Menu Editor!"
For KDE users, there is a program called kmenuedit that you can run to edit the menu.
(Thanks to Conor O'Neill for telling me about SMEG/Alacarte! Thanks to Dawid Gajownik for letting me know that it is now in Extras.)
(Thanks to Stewart Adam for letting me know Wine was in Extras.
su -
echo -e "remove totem\n install totem-xine libdvdcss libdvdnav\n run\n quit" | yum -y shell
And now you can play DVDs! You can find Totem in the "Applications" menu, under "Sound and Video." It's just called "Movie Player."
By the way, this is also a great way to watch movies that Totem normally can't play. The totem-xine package can play almost any movie file in existence!
If you'd like to resolve it, do the following command to get the correct key for the site you're downloading from:
You must be root to do any of this.
rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY*
rpm --import http://rpm.livna.org/RPM-LIVNA-GPG-KEY
rpm --import http://freshrpms.net/RPM-GPG-KEY-freshrpms
rpm --import http://dag.wieers.com/packages/RPM-GPG-KEY.dag.txt
rpm --import http://atrpms.net/RPM-GPG-KEY.atrpms
rpm --import http://newrpms.sunsite.dk/gpg-pubkey-newrpms.txt
rpm --import http://apt.sw.be/dries/RPM-GPG-KEY.dries.txt
rpm --import http://www.jpackage.org/jpackage.asc
rpm --import http://kde-redhat.sourceforge.net/gpg-pubkey-ff6382fa-3e1ab2ca
(Thanks to Kai Thomsen for the original location of the ATrpms key, and thanks to Tom Householder for the new location! Thanks to Pim Rupert for the location of the Dries key. Thanks to Anduin Withers for a good idea about how to reorganize this question. Thanks to Dieter Komendera for the new location of the FreshRPMs key.)
NOTE: If you have nVidia drivers installed, you must un-install them before installing these ATI drivers. (Thanks to Ajay for telling me this!)
Here's how to install them:
su -
yum install kmod-fglrx
Or, if you have a dual-processor (or dual-core) machine, instead you should type:
yum install kmod-fglrx-smp
setsebool -P allow_execmod=1
init 3
ati-fglrx-config-display enable
init 5
If you have an Intel motherboard, you will have to modify your xorg.conf file after installing the drivers:
su -
gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Driver "fglrx"
Option "UseInternalAGPGART" "no"
(Thanks to Anton Andreev for telling me about that Intel thing.)
If you have any trouble with the livna.org RPMs, please report a bug to the Livna.org Bugzilla.
If you encounter a bug in the ATI driver, please report it using the ATI Feedback Form!
(Thanks to everybody who reminded me and encouraged me to update the FAQ with this information! Thanks to Peter Lawler for a lot of help with this question. Thanks to Sindre for writing the original instructions.)
su -
yum install kmod-nvidia
Or, if you have a dual-processor (or dual-core) machine, instead you should type:
yum install kmod-nvidia-smp
setsebool -P allow_execmod=1
init 3
nvidia-config-display enable
init 5
And now you should have working 3D with your nVidia card!
If you need support for the nVidia drivers, check out the nV News "NVIDIA Linux Forum". (Thanks to Exile in Paradise for this tip.)
linux mediacheck ide=nodma
Note that sometimes mediacheck will report that only some CDs are bad, but this will still fix that problem. (Thanks to Tony Nelson for reminding me of that!)
Also, the Fedora Project provides a detailed installation guide if you'd like any other help while installing.
If the Release Notes and Installation Guide don't have a solution for your problem, try booting the installer with one of the following commands:
linux ide=nodma
linux acpi=off
linux i8042.nomux
linux acpi=off apm=off
linux nofb
The "i8042.nomux" is especially helpful if you have keyboard or mouse problems, and the "nofb" is helpful if you have video problems.
If any of those commands fixes your problem, please file a bug in Red Hat's Bugzilla.
(Thanks to Alan Cox for most of this information, and to Nilanjan Lahiri for the nofb one.)
(Thanks to Eugéne Roux for this method of doing it! And thanks to Raivis Dejus for a better phrasing of the question.)
mount -t cifs //computername/share /mnt/somedirectory
For more information about this, in a terminal you can do:
man mount.cifs
Now numlock will be on every time you start X.
If you want numlock on by default you're in text mode:
su -
yum install kbd
nano /etc/rc.local
touch /var/lock/subsys/local
Right below that line, put these lines:
LEDTTY=/dev/tty[1-8]
for tty in $LEDTTY; do
setleds -D +num < $tty
done