text:
Click this link for Part 1 of this chapter.
On the Red Hat exams, you may be expected to upgrade your kernel by installing the latest Red Hat kernel RPM. You may be able to patch an existing kernel. Whatever you do, you should make a boot disk associated with your new or upgraded kernel with the mkbootdisk command.
Before we begin, it's important to understand the way kernels are numbered.Understanding Kernel Version Numbers
The version number associated with the RHEL 3 kernel may look a little confusing, but it tells you a lot about the history of the kernel. The standard RHEL 3 kernel is version 2.4.21-4.EL, formatted in a majorversion.majorrevision.patch-build format.
The first number (2) is the major version number. These are drastic changes to the kernel. Typically, older version software will notwork in the newer version when this number changes. Kernel major version numbers are reserved for completely new kernel designs.
The second number (4) actually has two meanings. First, it indicates this is the fourth major revision of major version 2 of the kernel. Second, since it is an even number, it indicates that the kernel release is a stable release. If it were an odd number, it would be a developmental kernel, not suitable for production computers.
ON THE JOB! While Linux kernel 2.6 has been officially released, Red Hat has already incorporated a number of associated features in the RHEL 3 kernel. To promote stability, Red Hat has no plans as of this writing to incorporate or offer a version of Linux kernel 2.6 for RHEL 3. This is consistent with the demands of the RHEL 3 customer base; most business customers want to stay away from the "bleeding edge."
The third number (21) is the patch version number for the kernel. These changes are typically small changes, bug fixes, security fixes, and enhancements. Generally, you can use the zcat command to increment one patch at a time. For example, if your current kernel is version 2.4.21, you can use the patch-2.4.22.gz file to upgrade your kernel to version 2.4.22.
The fourth number (-4.EL) is a number added by Red Hat. This is the fourth Red Hat build of Linux kernel 2.4.21, which incorporates features customized for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Some Linux software, such as firewalls, are associated with a specific Linux kernel. The requirements are associated only with the first two major numbers. For example, the older ipchains firewall command works only with version 2.2 and later kernels. In contrast, the iptables firewall commands require version 2.4 and later kernels.Upgrading Kernels
During the lifetime of RHEL 3, you may find a security advisory which strongly suggests that you upgrade your Linux kernel. In this case, a Red Hat kernel RPM will be available through the Red Hat Network.
EXAM WATCH! You won't have access to the Internet during the Red Hat exams, and therefore, you may not be able to get to the Red Hat Network for updates. However, you may still be required to install an upgraded kernel.
Upgrading a kernel from a Red Hat RPM is fairly easy. Basically, all you need to do is install the new kernel with the appropriate rpm command. When properly configured, the RPM automatically upgrades your default boot loader as well. For example, say you've just downloaded the 2.4.21-4.1.EL kernel RPM from one of the FTP servers with Red Hat RPMs to the /tmp directory.
EXAM WATCH! If you're told to upgrade a new kernel, you'll probably use the rpm -i kernel.rpm command, and not rpm -U kernel.rpm. Installing (and not upgrading) newer kernels allows you to use the older kernel, in case the new kernel does not work for you.
Be careful. Install (-i), don't upgrade (-U) your new kernel. Otherwise, if you have a problem, you won't be able to go back to the old working kernel. Installing (-i) a new kernel with a command such as:
# rpm -i /tmp/kernel-2.4.21-4.1.EL.i386.rpm
installs the kernel, initial RAM disk, System.map, and config files automatically in the /boot directory. In addition, the RPM automatically adds a new stanza to your boot loader configuration file. For GRUB, the file is /etc/grub.conf.
EXAM WATCH! The /etc/grub.conf configuration file is linked to the actual GRUB configuration file, /boot/grub /grub.conf. You can open either filename in the text editor of your choice.
Kernel Patches
Sometimes, all you need is a simple patch to a kernel. Patches usually work fairly well if you're upgrading from one patch version to the next higher version, such as from 2.4.21 to 2.4.22.
EXAM WATCH! To change the default boot stanza in GRUB, change the default variable. For example, if default=0, the default kernel loaded is the first stanza in /boot/grub/grub.conf. Similarly, if default=1, the default kernel loaded is the second stanza in /boot/grub /grub.conf.
Kernel patches are easily available from Internet sites such as ftp.kernel.org. For example, if you want to upgrade from kernel version 2.4.21 to kernel version 2.4.22, download the patch-2.4.22.gz file from the Internet. Copy the patch to the /usr/src directory. Move to that directory, and run a command similar to the following to make the upgrade:
# zcat patch-2.4.22.gz | patch -p0
If it doesn't work, you'll see files with a .rej extension somewhere in your kernel source tree. Use a command such as find to check for such files. If you don't find any of these files, you can proceed with the make clean, make menuconfig, and make dep commands as described in the next section.
ON THE JOB! Generally, it may not be advisable to patch a Red Hat built kernel on your Red Hat systems. Different build versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernels often incorporate changes that are part of generic Linux kernel patches.mkbootdisk
The mkbootdisk utility creates a boot disk customized for your configuration. This is basically a rescue disk. After creating this disk, you can use it to simply boot your system, or you can type rescue at the boot prompt. Whenever you upgrade or install a new kernel, you should upgrade your boot disk. It's a simple command; in most cases, all you need to do is specify the version number associated with the desired kernel as follows:
# mkbootdisk 2.4.21-4.1EL
This command automatically takes the kernel with the specified version number from the /boot directory and writes it with appropriate configuration information to the first floppy drive, /dev/fd0. Table 5-2 lists several other options that may come in handy when using mkbootdisk.
Here is another example of the mkbootdisk command:
# mkbootdisk –device /dev/fd1 –verbose –noprompt 2.4.21-4.1.EL
Table 5-2 mkbootdisk Command Switches
|–device device file
|Specifies where to put the image.
|–mkinitrdargs args
|Passes arguments to mkinitrd.
|Won't prompt to insert a disk.
|Normally, mkbootdisk has no output. This option turns the output on.
This command creates a boot disk on the secondfloppy drive. It does not suppress output, nor does it prompt for a disk to be inserted. It uses kernel version 2.4.21-4.1.EL. When you boot Linux with this disk, you can use it as a rescue disk. Just type linux rescue at the boot prompt.
ON THE JOB! By default, the first floppy drive on a PC is associated with /dev/fd0; the second floppy drive is associated with /dev/fd1.
EXAM WATCH! A significant portion of the practical exam tests your ability to recover a system that has failed in some way. While I am prohibited by the Red Hat nondisclosure agreement from providing the exact nature of the problems, I can say that being able to use rescue disks is a very important Linux administration skill.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=Updating Your Boot Loader}
If properly configured, the Red Hat kernel that you install should automatically update your boot loader. But as a RHCT or RHCE, you need to know how to check. If the code described in this chapter has not been added, you'll need to know how.
Whether you're using GRUB or LILO, it is advisable to keep your old kernel in case something goes wrong. So you'll be adding a stanza to either /etc/grub.conf or /etc/lilo.conf. In either case, the changes that you'll make will be as if you're setting up two different operating systems.Updating GRUB
Look at your /etc/grub.conf file. If you have Linux on your system and use GRUB, you should already have a stanza that points to the appropriate locations for your original Linux kernel and Initial RAM disk. For example, here is an excerpt from my RHEL 3 /etc/grub.conf file (which includes a dual-boot configuration with Microsoft Windows):
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES (2.4.21-4.EL)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.21-4.EL ro root=LABEL=/
initrd /initrd-2.4.21-4.EL.img
title DOS
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1
In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the vmlinuz and initrd files are already in the /boot directory. Since you've copied the revised kernels to the same directory, all you need is a second stanza that points to your revised files. When I revised my kernel earlier in this chapter, my EXTRAVERSION variable in /usr/src/linux-2.4/Makefile was -4.ELcustom. The changes are in bold:
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES (2.4.21-4.EL)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.21-4.EL ro root=LABEL=/
initrd /initrd-2.4.21-4.EL.img
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES (2.4.21-4.ELcustom)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.21-4.ELcustom ro root=LABEL=/
initrd /initrd-2.4.21-4.ELcustom.img
title DOS
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1
Since you don't need to load /etc/grub.conf into the MBR, no further action is required. The resulting GRUB menu looks like Figure 5-10. Note how the original kernel is set as the default. If you've watched closely, you'll note that in /etc/grub.conf, the value of default was changed from 0 to 1. If you want to set the default to the new kernel, change the value of default back to 0.
Figure 5-10 GRUB menu with original and recompiled kernels
Updating LILO
Alternatively, if you're using LILO as a boot loader, you'll need to revise /etc/lilo.conf. Add a stanza that points to the new kernel. Take a look at the following excerpt from /etc/lilo.conf:
From this information, you can see that the original kernel is called vmlinuz-2.4.21-4.EL. Assume LILO resides on the MBR and controls the boot process. Now add another stanza for the new kernel.
Save this file, then run the lilo -v command. The output should resemble the following:
LILO version 21.4-4, Copyright (C) 1992-1998 Werner Almesberger
'lba32' extensions Copyright (C) 1999,2000 John Coffman
Reading boot sector from /dev/hda
Merging with /boot/boot.b
Mapping message file /boot/message
Boot image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.21-4.EL
Mapping RAM disk /boot/initrd-2.4.21-4.EL
Added linux *
Boot image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.21-4.ELcustom
Added newLinux
Backup copy of boot sector in /boot/boot.0300
Writing boot sector.
When you reboot, LILO will wait for you to enter a label, in this case, either linux or newLinux.
EXAM WATCH! Although there are references to both GRUB and LILO in the RHCT and RHCE exam curricula, Red Hat is focusing on GRUB and has "deprecated" LILO. Therefore, I believe you can expect to work with GRUB on the Red Hat exams.
One of the strengths of Linux is the ease with which you can customize your kernel to precisely meet your needs. But before you can start this process, you need the Linux kernel source code.
While references to recompiling the kernel have been removed from the Red Hat exam requirements, you may still need to find kernel modules and configuration files, which I cover in this section.
EXAM WATCH! Fortunately, the Red Hat exams no longer specify requirements to recompile the Linux kernel. Nevertheless, it is a very important skill for any Linux administrator.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
Once installed, you can easily access the kernel source code through the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory. Installation procedures are addressed in the following sections. Once the source code is installed, the /usr/src directory should look similar to the following:
# ls -l /usr/src/
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jan 24 2003 debug
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 Oct 23 16:12 linux-2.4 -> linux-2.4.21-4.EL
drwxr-xr-x 16 root root 4096 Nov 7 15:56 linux-2.4.21-4.EL
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Nov 9 12:13 redhat
In this case, the physical directory is /usr/src/linux-2.4.21-4.EL, and there is a soft link called linux-2.4 that points to this directory.
Periodically, you may wish to upgrade your kernel. If you use Red Hat sources, the new RPM packages should automatically update the symbolic link from /usr/src /linux-2.4 to the real directory with the new kernel's source code (for example, symlink it to linux-2.4.21-4.1.EL). If necessary, you could perform the same action with the following command:
# ln -s linux-2.4.21-4.1.EL linux-2.4
The /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory on my RHEL 3 computer includes the following files and directories: arch, Documentation, configs, drivers, COPYING, fs, COPYING.modules, include, CREDITS, init, crypto, ipc, kernel, README, lib, REPORTING-BUGS, MAINTAINERS, Rules.make, MAKEFILE, scripts, mm, tmp_include_depends net.
Begin your study of the current kernel with the README file. While the instructions in this chapter work with the current configuration of RHEL 3 on my computer, details can change from kernel to kernel. Also, examine the Documentation directory. It contains everything you need, from information on setting up symmetrical multiprocessors to serial consoles.
The other directories mainly contain source code, and you probably won't need to spend time examining those files (unless you reallywant to see how TCP/IP works). There is also a hidden file, .config, that may be present in this directory. I'll describe this file in more detail later in this chapter.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
If you don't see the directories mentioned in the preceding section, then you haven't installed your Linux kernel's source code. There are two ways to install the source code for your RHEL 3 system. You could access the Red Hat RPMs from CD or a network source and install the kernel RPM. Alternatively, you could install the packages through the redhat-config-packages utility. The following example is based on an installation from the appropriate Red Hat Installation CD:
# mount /mnt/cdrom
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/kernel-source-*
Depending on the packages you've specified when you installed RHEL 3, this may be all you need. However, this command may bring up some error messages similar to the following:
error: Failed dependencies:
gcc >= 2.96-98 is needed by kernel-source-2.4.21-4.EL
which suggests that you need to install some other RPM packages, as described in the next section.Required RPMs
In order to build a kernel from the source code, you need to ensure you have all the RPMs necessary, not only for the kernel, but also for the tools needed to build the kernel. You can check your system to ensure you have the RPM packages described in Table 5-3. Many of these packages have a number of other dependencies.
If not, mount the appropriate Red Hat installation CDs or network installation source and install the needed packages with the rpm -Uvh packagename command. If the revision associated with your package and architecture are different, revise the package names accordingly.
The packages shown in Table 5-3 end with an * because version numbers do change frequently. In any case, the objective is to install these packages. For example, in order to install the tk package from a mounted CD, all you need is the rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/tk-* command.
However, you'll also need to install any related dependent packages. For example, the kernel-source-* RPM requires the appropriate GNU C Compiler, which is the gcc-* RPM.
Table 5-3 Kernel Source RPMs
|Kernel source files
|Kernel header files
|Required for C libraries
|C language preprocessor
|Required for menuconfig screen
|Development libraries for ncurses
|Required binary utilities
|C language compiler
|TCL scripting language—required for xconfig screen
|TK X Window widgets—required for xconfig screen
Wildcards such as an * are often also known as globbing.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
It can take time to load all of the RPMs required to compile and customize the Linux kernel. It can be difficult to remember to install every RPM. There is an alternative: the Red Hat Package Management utility. I'll show you how to use this tool to load the kernel source packages in Exercise 5-3.
Exercise 5-3
Loading the Kernel Source Graphically
In this exercise, we'll install the source code and associated files for the Linux kernel using the Red Hat Package Management utility. I'll assume that you're using the same network source that you created in Chapter 2. This exercise assumes that network source is on a remote computer with an IP address of 192.168.30.4. Substitute the IP address (or if you have a DNS server for your LAN, the hostname) for your network source computer. You'll need to start from the Linux GUI.
- If you're not already in the Linux GUI, run the startx command.
- Open a command line interface. Right-click on the desktop, and click New Terminal in the pop-up menu that appears.
- At the command line interface, make a connection to the network source. I'm assuming that you have an active NFS connection, no firewall, and a local /mnt/inst directory. For the given source, run the following command (substitute your IP address or hostname, and preferred mount directory in this command):
# mount -t nfs 192.168.30.4:/mnt/inst /mnt/inst
- Start the Package Management utility. Point to the mounted network source (without the –tree option, the Package Management utility works from the installation CDs):
# redhat-config-packages –tree=/mnt/inst
- Select the Kernel Development package group for installation.
- Click Update. The Package Management utility computes the dependencies, adding RPMs to the list of packages to be installed.
- Once you see the Completed System Preparation window, click Continue.
- The Package Management utility starts installing the packages you need to examine the source code and recompile the Linux kernel.
- When installation is complete, click OK.
- Click Quit to exit from the Package Management utility.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=The Linux Kernel tar File}
Alternatively, you can download the newest kernel from the Linux kernel home page at www.kernel.org. The version numbers are discussed in the next section. Once you have downloaded the kernel source, you will need to properly install it. For our example, we will assume you downloaded linux-2.4.22.tar.gz into the /usr/src/ directory.
# cd /usr/src
# mkdir linux-2.4.22
# rm linux-2.4
# tar xzvf linux-2.4.22.tar.gz
# ln -s linux-2.4.22 linux-2.4
Here we manually created a new directory for the kernel, removed the old link, and then uncompressed the tar.gz file. Then you can link linux-2.4 to the new directory created when you uncompress the tar.gz file.ON THE JOB! Compressed tar files are shown in tar.gz format; they are also known as "tarballs."
Recompiling a Kernel
Fortunately, references to recompiling the Linux kernel have been removed from the Red Hat exam requirements. However, RHCEs in the real world are expected to know how to perform high-level tasks such as optimizing and recompiling the Linux kernel.
In this section, we'll start by looking at the kernel configuration file. Then we'll proceed with the different tools available to edit the kernel configuration. Finally, I'll show you the commands needed to compile your new configuration into the kernel, and show you the files this adds to the /boot directory and the settings it adds to the boot loader.
EXAM WATCH! References to recompiling the Linux kernel have been removed from the Red Hat Exam Prep guide and associated Red Hat prep courses. However, good Linux administrators know how to recompile the Linux kernel.
After you've configured a kernel once, the configuration information is stored in a hidden file, /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config. It is structured as a listing of variables. Here are some entries from the .config file:
# CONFIG_SUNLANCE is not set
As you can see, there are three main types of variables in this file. The first command here compiles in direct support, the second entry compiles support as a module (the "m"), and the third is commented out, and is therefore not compiled into the kernel at all. You should never have to edit this file directly, as there are easier ways to configure your kernel.
Move to the directory with your kernel source files. If you've installed the RHEL 3 kernel-source RPM, you can use the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory. If you've installed the latest kernel from www.kernel.org, it may be in the /usr/src/linux directory. Three tools can help you configure the kernel configuration file: make config, make menuconfig, and make xconfig.Back Up Your Configuration
The default configuration for your current Linux kernel is stored in the /boot directory. For the default RHEL 3 system, it's stored in the config-2.4.21-4.EL file. Back up this file on another location such as a rescue floppy so that you can restore your current kernel configuration if all else fails.
You can use your current configuration as a baseline; the Linux kernel configuration tools will start with these settings. To do so with the current kernel, run the following command:
# cp /boot/config-2.4.21-4.EL /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config
Alternatively, there are a number of standard configuration files in the /usr/src/linux-2.4 /configs directory. If you want to start with one of these files, use the config file that corresponds most closely to your hardware. You can set that as the starting point for your configuration by copying it to the /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config file.
ON THE JOB! There is a default kernel configuration file in the /usr/src/linux-2.4/configs directory. It's associated with your CPU hardware; for example, if you have an Athlon CPU, you'll find it in a file named kernel-2.4.21-athlon.config. If your kernel version is different, the number changes accordingly.make config
Once you're in the directory with the kernel source files (/usr/src/linux-2.4), you can call a simple script to configure a new kernel with the following command:
# make config
This script will prompt you through your different options. Figure 5-11 shows an excerpt from the output for this script.
FIGURE 5-11 Questions from the make config utility
Here the kernel variables are listed in parentheses and the possible answers are in brackets. The default answer is in capital letters. If you type in a ?, you will see a help page explaining this option. Since several hundred questions are associated with this script, most administrators use one of the other two scripts to manage their Linux kernels.make menuconfig
A nicer way to create the .config file is to use the make menuconfig command. This requires the ncurses RPM package. This opens a text-based, menu-driven system that classifies and organizes the changes that you can make to a kernel. Figure 5-12 illustrates the main menu associated with this command.
The nice thing about menuconfig is that it works very nicely over a remote text connection from other Linux computers (or perhaps that is dangerous!). Also, options appear at the bottom of the menu to load or save the configuration file from a different location.
Figure 5-12 The make menuconfig configuration menu
make xconfig
The other way to make changes to the kernel is to use the X Window System. You can generate a graphical menu system to configure your kernel by running the make xconfig command. Figure 5-13 shows the xconfig main menu. You can also use xconfig to load or save the configuration from the file of your choice.
While this menu may look slightly different in different Linux distributions, the principles and basic options remain fairly constant. Each of the Kernel Configuration Options discussed on the following pages are presented for completeness. It is important for a Linux administrator to have a detailed understanding of the hows and whys about reconfiguring and recompiling the kernel.
Figure 5-13 The make xconfig configuration menu
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=Understanding Kernel Configuration Options}
To configure a kernel, you need to understand some of the main kernel configuration options. Each of the aforementioned kernel configuration tools includes help menus for just about every available option.
The Basic Kernel Configuration
If you're asked to change a setting such as CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL, you don't have to search through different menus. You can find the governing menu using the information in the /boot/config-2.4.21-4.EL configuration file. As you can see in the file:
# Code maturity level options
The CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL variable can be found under the Code Maturity Level Options menu.The Standard Red Hat Kernel Configuration
The standard RHEL 3 Linux kernel supports a wide variety of hardware and software. Almost every module that could be made is made. This is a big kernel, and numerous modules can be used for it with the standard installation. This is not a problem when you install RHEL 3, but it is highly recommended you streamline the standard kernel and remove unwanted modules.
In the following sections, I describe the different kernel configuration menus, section by section. However, since it appears that recompiling the kernel is no longer a requirement on the Red Hat exams, I do not provide any screenshots of additional menus. If you're interested in this level of detail, follow along on your Red Hat computer.Code Maturity Level Options
The Code Maturity Level options allow you to incorporate experimental code in the kernel. Common examples include drivers for new hardware, esoteric filesystems, and network protocols. Experimental code is often also known as alpha level software. If you have obsolete code that you want to incorporate into your kernel, it also falls in this category, as newer kernels often omit support for older features.
The one option relates to the CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL variable. It's enabled by default in RHEL 3.Loadable Modules Support Options
The Loadable Module Support screen allows you to enable loadable modules. The kernel module loader will automatically load modules for most new hardware, when detected. As discussed earlier, loadable modules allow you to optimize the kernel. If you want to optimize the kernel, keep all of the options on this screen active.
Processor Type and Features
The Processor Type and Features menu in RHEL 3 supports a wide variety of CPUs.
On a network, you want networking support. Most computers have PCI cards, and the defaults give you full PCI support, using BIOS detection, documenting the detected cards in the /proc directory. Various types of hot-pluggable devices are now popular, including PCMCIA cards for laptops and PCI hotplug support for removable drives.
The System V IPC, BSD Process Accounting, and Sysctrl support parameters are all standard for current kernels. While Linux kernels are normally associated with ELF binaries, the other binaries may help with certain programs.Memory Technology Devices
The options shown in the Memory Technology Devices menu allow you to set up Linux for basic "Flash" memory cards, including those that might be installed through a PCMCIA adapter. Unless you're planning to use some of these devices in the future, keep this option disabled.
Parallel Port Support
The options shown in the Parallel Port support menu are based on hardware that may be connected to your computer through a parallel port. This includes everything from printers through parallel port hard drives. Remember that it is normally best to avoid the Experimental options unless you are a developer working on supporting the associated drivers.
Plug and Play Configuration
The options shown under the Plug and Play Configuration menu activate basic plug and play support on your Linux computer. Generally, you should keep the defaults. While Linux plug and play does not handle all ISA and PCI devices, it does help you configure your computer for Linux.
Block Device Options
Under the Block Device Options menu, you can specify your floppy devices and nonstandard hard disks. You can specify support for parallel port ATAPI CD-ROMs, tape drives, and even ATAPI floppy drives. You can also enable loopback support and network block support (which lets you use a physical disk on the network as if it were a local disk). If you have any parallel port devices such as external CD-ROMs or hard drives, you could enable support for those here. You can also set up support for RAM disks under this menu.
Multidevice Support for RAID and LVM
If you're ever going to set up a RAID array of disks to help protect your data, you can enable that option in the Linux kernel under the Multidevice Support for RAID and LVM menu. If you ever want to put together a volume set, where a directory can span more than one partition on more than one physical hard disk, you can enable that option here as well.
ON THE JOB! While there is support for RAID-4 in the Linux kernel, it is not directly supported by RHEL 3 or currently available versions of Red Hat or Fedora Linux.
Networking Options
There are many options for networking in the Linux kernel. The Networking Options menu is extensive. It includes a substantial number of settings for different hardware devices, software settings, and more.
Telephony Support
Telephony support on a computer network uses special network cards to convert voice into the type of data that can be sent over a network. Linux offers some limited telephony support through the kernel as shown under the menu of the same name.
ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL Support
These acronyms all relate to various types of regular PC hard disk and CD drive interfaces. Normally, you shouldn't disable this kernel option unless all hard disk storage on your system is based on a SCSI interface. Even then, the flexibility of being able to install IDE devices is usually worth the extra code this adds to the kernel.
SCSI Support Options and Low-Level Drivers
You can enable SCSI hard disks, tape drivers, and CD-ROM support in this section. If you have a SCSI CD-ROM jukebox, or any other device that requires more than one SCSI Logical Unit Number (LUN), you may have to enable probing of all LUNs.
Near the bottom of the menu, you can configure verbose SCSI error reporting. You can also enable specific low-level SCSI support. Red Hat includes support for high-end hardware RAID-enabled SCSI host adapters, including 64-bit PCI adapters.
Fusion MPT Device Support
This menu supports modules associated with very high speed SCSI adapters, associated with hardware developed by LSI logic.
IEEE 1394 Support
The IEEE 1394 standard is more popularly known as FireWire or iLink. It's basically a very high speed hot plug and play hardware option, with data transfer speeds in the hundreds of Mbps. Linux support for IEEE 1394 standards is far from complete. Kernel support for any IEEE 1394 device is currently officially experimental. However, support for IEEE devices such as external hard drives are readily available, and configured as modules by default in RHEL 3.
I2O Device Support
The I2O specification, also known as Intelligent I/O, supports split drivers which can optimize communication performance between a device and the rest of your computer. Don't enable I2O haphazardly; it requires hardware that supports it.
Network Device Support
Linux supports a wide range of network cards. The Network Device Support menu allows you to enable support for the adapters you may need. Generally, you should enable support for only network devices that you're using now or may use in the future.
Amateur Radio Support
Linux supports connections to various amateur radios. Unless you plan to connect your computer to an amateur radio station in the future, there is no need to enable support for any of these devices.
IrDA Support
Linux supports Infrared connections, mostly for network support. The IrLAN protocol supports wireless access points. The IrNET protocol requires PPP. The IrCOMM protocol sets up port emulation, useful for setting up terminals and printers. For a list of supported infrared-port device drivers, click that button and activate the devices that you need.
ISDN Options
Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) lines are a fairly popular high-speed digital option, especially outside of North America. Adding ISDN support allows you to use an ISDN card for inbound or outbound dialing connections. The ISDN device has a built-in AT-compatible modem emulator, autodial, channel-bundling, callback, and caller authentication without the need for an external daemon to be running. Under the ISDN Options menu, you can enable synchronous Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connections. The supporting isdn4k-utils RPM is installed by default on RHEL 3.
Older CD-ROM Support Options
If you have an older CD-ROM that is not an IDE or SCSI CD-ROM, then you need to enable special support for it in the Linux kernel, as shown when you click the "Old CD-ROM drivers (not SCSI, not IDE)" option. This section has many drivers for Mitsumi, Goldstar, Philips, Sony, Sound Blaster, and other old CD-ROM and disk types.
Input Core Support
The Input Core Support section configures support for various basic input devices: keyboards, mice, and joysticks. These devices are modular by default, which allows Linux to recognize these basic devices using plug and play detection.
Character Device Options
Character devices send their data in byte streams. Typical character devices range from serial ports to virtual consoles. The Character Devices submenu allows you to specify support for a wide variety of devices, including virtual terminals, serial ports, newer AGP video cards, mice, joysticks, non-SCSI tape drives, and more.
Multimedia Devices
The Multimedia Devices options support a wide range of video capture and AM/FM radio devices. Click each option (Video for Linux, Radio Adapters) for a list of drivers which you can enable. As always, it is best to keep what you enable to a minimum.
Filesystem Options
The File Systems subsection is a list of all the different types of filesystems Linux supports. Select the Quota option if you need to support quotas. You can also compile in the kernel Automounter to support remote filesystems.
Because Linux supports so many different hardware platforms, it includes support for a large number of filesystem types. However, because of the proprietary nature of some filesystems, the degree of support is variable. You'll note that support for a lot of filesystems in this menu is experimental; in fact, support for writing to NTFS filesystems may be dangerous!Console Driver Options
Linux supports console drivers, which can set up text on most graphics systems, even when Linux doesn't detect the right cards or monitors. The Frame Buffer Support option supports video adapters that store images in frame buffers.
Sound System Support Options
A wide variety of sound cards are supported by RHEL 3, normally as modules. These cards range from the Ensoniq Audio PCI card to TV card mixers. You can also use these drivers for cards that emulate the appropriate hardware. Check the Sound submenu for the latest list of supported hardware for your kernel. If you have a card not named in the previous list, try to see if it emulates any card on the list. Many proprietary cards do emulate products from Sound Blaster or offer OPL/2 or OPL/3 compatibility.
USB Support
Linux supports a number of USB mass storage devices, input devices, printers, cameras and scanners, and even modems. Linux support for USB networking cards is still officially experimental. Linux support for USB is improving, although some USB drivers that you'll see in the USB support menu are still considered experimental as well. Unfortunately, this includes support for faster USB 2.0 standard drivers.
Additional Device Driver Support
As befits the name, the Additional Device Driver support menu allows you to configure the Linux kernel for a variety of hardware devices. These devices range from Gigabit Ethernet adapters to Storage Area Network devices.
Bluetooth Support
Bluetooth is a radio technology for short-range networks. You can configure a number of Bluetooth devices in the Linux kernel.
Profiling Support
Profiling support allows you to use the OProfile system to characterize the performance of your system. It is described in more detail at oprofile.sourceforge.net.
Kernel Hacking
Kernel hacking allows you to use the drivers you need to debug driver or related Linux kernel issues.
Cryptographic Options
The Cryptographic options support software associated with strong encryption in Linux. It's disabled by default in RHEL 3.
Library Routines
The Library Routines support compression in Linux. Unlike for Red Hat Linux 9, they are enabled by default for RHEL 3.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=Compiling and Installing a Custom Kernel}
After setting up all the options you want from one of the Kernel configuration programs, make sure to save your changes. The changes are saved in the appropriate .config file. Next, you can compile your kernel. Compiling a new kernel can be a long and tedious process. The following is a list of things you should do to successfully compile your kernel—inorder:
- If you haven't already done so, create a custom boot floppy disk with the following command. Test the floppy that's created.
# mkbootdisk `uname -r`
- Run the cd /usr/src/linux-2.4 command to reach the proper directory. You'll need to run your commands to modify and compile the kernel in this directory. This assumes that you've installed the appropriate kernel-source RPM. In RHEL 3, this directory is linked to the directory with the source code, /usr/src/linux-2.4.21-4.EL.
- Open /usr/src/linux-2.4/Makefile in a text editor. In RHEL 3, the EXTRAVERSION variable is already set to identify a custom kernel. If necessary, change the value of this variable to uniquely identify your kernel. Record the value of this variable.
EXTRAVERSION= -4.ELcustom
- Save your current kernel configuration file. It's stored in the /boot directory. For RHEL 3, it's the /boot/config-2.4.21-4.EL file. Have it ready with a rescue floppy in case disaster strikes. Copy it to the /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config file.
- Alternatively, you can start from a standard configuration file in the /usr /src/linux-2.4/configs/ directory. You can also run the make oldconfig command.
- Alternatively, you can start from a standard configuration file in the /usr /src/linux-2.4/configs/ directory. You can also run the make oldconfig command.
- Run the make mrproper command to ensure your source files are in a consistent and clean state.
- Now you can customize your kernel with one of the following three utilities: the make config command runs the text-based configuration script; the make menuconfig command runs a low-level graphical configuration script; and the make xconfig command starts the X Window System configuration tool.
- Make any changes as required by your hardware and/or the RHCE exam. Before you exit from the kernel configuration utility, make sure to save your changes!
- The make dep command will set up all your dependencies correctly. This takes the settings from /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config and pushes them down into the correct source code subdirectory. This will take some time, as there are nearly 1,500 possible kernel settings on a RHEL 3 system!
ON THE JOB! The make dep process took about 20 minutes on my computer with a 1.2GHz CPU.
- Run the make clean command to prepare the source code directories to build your new kernel.
- The make bzImage command compiles the kernel and creates a gzip compressed kernel image file.
ON THE JOB! The make bzImage process took about 20 minutes on my computer with a 1.2GHz CPU.
- Now you need to build your modules (you did include kernel module support, didn't you?). Use make modules to build all your modules.
ON THE JOB! The make modules process took about 50 minutes on my computer with a 1.2GHz CPU.
- Now you need to install your newly made modules, which will install all your loadable modules into a new subdirectory of the /lib/modules/kernelversion directory. The kernelversionshould correspond to the EXTRAVERSION variable in your Makefile. Use make modules_install to install your modules.
- With our kernel now built, we need to move it to /boot before we can boot from it. Run the make install command to copy the new kernel and create a new Initial RAM Disk file (initrd) in the /boot directory. It also updates the default GRUB boot loader.
ON THE JOB! The make install command copies your new kernel from the /usr/src/linux-2.4 /arch/i386/boot to the /boot directory. It also uses the mkinitrd command to create a new Initial RAM disk in the /boot directory.
- Verify the changes to the /boot directory.
Building a kernel is an involved process, but it follows a standard pattern. It is very important that you become familiar with kernel construction procedures and troubleshooting. Refer to the following Scenario & Solution for some common problems encountered and their recommended solutions.
|You looked under /usr/src/ but did not see the Linux kernel source code. What did you do wrong?
|You did not install the kernel source code. Install the kernel source and related RPMs or use the Red Hat Package Management utility to install the Kernel Development package group.
|You configured the kernel as a monolithic kernel but when you run make bzImage, it fails, saying the kernel is too big. What should you do?
|You must reconfigure your kernel to use modules. There are limits on the size of a compressed kernel, so you should always build a modular kernel.
|You can't find your new kernel.
|Did you create an appropriate EXTRAVERSION cariable in your Makefile? Did you use this cariable throughout this process? If not, then you may not be able to correctly locate the kernel or its modules.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=The cron and at Systems}
The cron system is essentially a smart alarm clock. When the alarm sounds, Linux runs the commands of your choice automatically. You can set the alarm clock to run at all sorts of regular time intervals. Alternatively, the at system allows you to run the command of your choice once, at a specified time in the future.
EXAM WATCH! Because cron always checks for changes, you do not have to restart cron every time you make a change.
Red Hat configured the cron daemon, crond. By default, it checks a series of directories for jobs to run, every minute of every hour of every day. The crond checks the /var/spool/cron directory for jobs by user. It also checks for scheduled jobs for the computer under /etc/crontab and in the /etc/cron.d directory.
The behavior of the Linux cron is different from under Unix, where the cron daemon wakes up only when it needs to launch a program.The System crontab and Components
The crontab file is set up in a specific format. Each line can be blank, a comment (which begins with #), a variable, or a command. Blank lines and comments are ignored.
When you run a regular command, the actions of the shell are based on environmental variables. To see your environmental variables, run the env command. Some of the standard variables in Red Hat Enterprise Linux include: HOME as your home directory, SHELL as the default shell, and LOGNAME as the username.
You can set different variables within the crontab file, or you can set environmental variables with the following syntax:
Some variables are already set for you. For example, HOME is your home directory, SHELL is the user's default shell, and PATH is where the shell looks for commands. You can set these variables to different values in your crontab file. For example, the default /etc/crontab file includes the following variables:
Note that the values of PATH, MAILTO, and HOME are different from those for the standard environment variables.
ON THE JOB! The MAILTO variable can help you administer several Linux systems. The cron daemon sends output by e-mail. Just add a line like email@example.com to route all cron messages associated with that file to that e-mail address.
EXAM WATCH! Note how the PATH variable in a crontab may be different from the PATH variable associated with your shell. In fact, the two variables are independent. Therefore, you'll want to know the exact path of every command in your crontab. Specify the absolute path with the command if it isn't in the crontab PATH.
Here is the format of a line in crontab. Each of these columns is explained in more detail in Table 5-4.
#minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week, command
* * * * * command
If you see an asterisk in any column, cron runs that command for all possible values of that column. For example, an * in the minute field means that the command is run every minute during the specified hour(s). Take another example, as shown here:
1 5 3 4 * ls
This line runs the ls command every April 3, at 5:01 A.M. The asterisk in the day of week column simply means that it does not matter what day of the week it is; crontab still runs the ls command at the specified time.
Table 5-4 Entries in a crontab Command Line
|Based on 24-hour clock; for example, 23 = 11 P.M.
|Day of month
|1-12, or jan, feb, mar, etc.
|Day of week
|0-7; where 0 and 7 are both SUnday, or sun, mon, tue, etc.
|The command you want to run
The crontab file is flexible. For example, a 7-10 entry in the hour field would run the specified command at 7:00 A.M., 8:00 A.M., 9:00 A.M., and 10:00 A.M. A list of entries in the minute field such as: 0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 would run the specified command every five minutes. The cron daemon also recognizes abbreviations for months and the day of the week.
The actual command is the sixth field. You can set up new lines with a percent (%) symbol. This is useful for formatting standard input. The example that follows formats input for an e-mail message. Here is an example cron file:
# crontab -l
# Sample crontab file
# Force /bin/sh to be my shell for all of my scripts. SHELL=/bin/sh
# Run 15 minutes past Midnight every Saturday
1 5 0 * * sat $HOME/scripts/scary.script
# Do routine cleanup on the first of every Month at 4:30 AM
30 4 1 * * /usr/scripts/removecores >> /tmp/core.tmp 2>>&1
# Mail a message at 10:45 AM every Friday
45 10 * * fri mail -s "Project Update employees%Can I have a status update on your project?%%Your Boss.%
# Every other hour check for alert messages
0 */2 * * * /usr/scripts/check.alerts
EXAM WATCH! Take a look at some of the scripts in the /etc/cron.daily directory. Three key scripts include logrotate, for rotating log files; slocate.cron, which updates the locate file database; and tmpwatch, which wipes files from /tmp and /var/tmp after a specific amount of time.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=Setting Up cron for Users}
Each user can use the crontab command to create and manage cron jobs for their own accounts. There are four switches associated with the crontab command:
- -u user Allows the root user to edit the crontab of another specific user.
- -l Lists the current entries in the crontab file.
- -r Removes cron entries.
- -e Edits an existing crontab entry. By default, crontab uses vi.
If you want to set up cron entries on your own account, start with the crontab -e command. It opens the vi editor, where you can add the variables and commands of your choice, similar to what you've seen in /etc/crontab.
Exercise 5-4
Create a cron Job
In this exercise, we will modify the basic Red Hat cron job settings to read a text file at 1:05 P.M. every Monday in the month of January. To do so, you'll need to create a directory for yearly cron jobs. To do this, use the following steps:
- Log in as the root user.
- Create a /etc/cron.yearly directory. Add a file called taxrem, which reads a text file from your home directory. A command such as the following in the taxrem file should suffice:
cat ~/reminder
- Make sure to add appropriate lines to the reminder file in your home directory.
- Add an appropriate command to your /etc/crontab file. Based on the conditions described, it would read as follows:
5 13 * 1 1 root run-parts /etc/cron.yearly
- Save and exit.
Running a Job with the at System
Like cron, the at daemon supports job processing. However, you can set an at job to be run once. Jobs in the cron system must be set to run on a regular basis. The at daemon works in a way similar to the print process; jobs are spooled in the /var/spool/at directory and run at the specified time.
You can use the at daemon to run the command or script of your choice. For the purpose of this section, assume that user michael has created a script named 7e7 in his home directory to process some airplane sales database to another file in the same directory called sales.
From the command line, you can run the at time command to start a job to be run at a specified time. That timecan be now, in a specified number of minutes, hours, or days, or at the time of your choice. I illustrate several examples in Table 5-5.
You can use one of the example commands shown in Table 5-5 to open an at job. It opens a different command line interface, where you can specify the command of your choice. Assume you're about to leave work, and want to start the job in an hour. From the conditions specified above, you'd run the following commands:
$ at now + 1 hour
at> /home/michael/7e7 > /home/michael/sales
at> Ctrl-D
The CTRL-D command exits the at command shell and returns to your original command line interface. To check the status of your jobs, so you can see if it will work, run the following job queue command:
$ atq
1 2004-4-12 17:18 a michael
If there's a problem with the job, you can remove it with the atrm command. For the output shown, you'd remove job number 1 with the following command:
$ atrm 1
Table 5-5 Examples of the at Command
|Time Period
|at now + 10 minutes
|Associated jobs will start in 10 minutes.
|at now + 2 hours
|Associated jobs will start in 2 hours.
|at now + 1 day
|Associated jobs will start in 24 hours.
|at now + 1 week
|Associated jobs will start in 7 days.
|at teatime
|Associated jobs will start at 4:00 P.M.
|at 3:00 6/13/04
|Associated jobs will start on June 13, 2004, at 3:00 A.M.
Securing cron and at
You may not want everyone to be able to run a job in the middle of the night. If there is a security flaw in your system, someone may download important data or worse, and it could be days before you discover the security breach.
As with network firewalls, you can allow or deny users the privilege of using cron. You can set up users in /etc/cron.allow and /etc/cron.deny files. If these files don't exist, cron usage is not restricted. If users are named in /etc/cron.allow file, all other users won't be able to use cron. If there is no /etc/cron.allow file, only users named in /etc/cron.deny can't use cron.
These files are formatted as one line per user; if you have the following entries in /etc/cron.deny and no /etc/cron.allow file, users elizabeth and nancy aren't allowed to set up their own cron commands:
You can secure access to the at system in the same way. The corresponding security configuration files are /etc/at.allow and /etc/at.deny.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
You can have great control over how your Linux installation is set up and configured. You can control almost all aspects of the user environment, as well as the details of your kernel. Any variables or system-wide functions you may need to run can be kept in the /etc/bashrc or /etc/profile script.
You can set up quotas to limit the user's disk usage. You can set up one quota per partition, and set soft and hard limits for users. With grace periods, you can set up a soft limit to give users an appropriate warning.
The easiest way to update a kernel is to install (and not upgrade it) from a Red Hat RPM. When you do, it automatically updates your boot loader files as needed.
Alternatively, the kernel can be optimized for your particular installation and hardware, and you have detailed control over its configuration. To make a modular kernel, you need to run six commands: make mrproper, make config, make dep, make clean, make modules, make modules_install and make install. If you are compiling a monolithic kernel, you will notneed to run the last two module-related commands.
The cron and at daemons allow you to schedule jobs to run at any given time.Two-Minute Drill
Here are some of the key points from the certification objectives in Chapter 5.
Shell Configuration Files
- All system-wide shell configuration files are kept in the /etc directory.
- /etc/profile is the system-wide startup shell script for bash users.
- All users have hidden shell configuration files in their home directories.
Setting Up and Managing Disk Quotas
- Quotas are used to limit a user's or a group of users' ability to consume disk space.
- Quotas are set on specific filesystems mounted to standard Linux formats.
- Quota support must be enabled in the kernel. By default, quotas are enabled in RHEL 3 kernels.
- Quotas have soft limits and hard limits. If both soft and hard limits are set, then a user can exceed his or her soft limit for a modest period of time.
- Users and groups may never exceed their hard limits.
The Basics of the Kernel
- The kernel lies at the heart of the operating system.
- You can recompile Linux kernels to minimize size and maximize efficiency.
- To optimize the Linux kernel, it is a best practice to compile kernels with only needed elements, and configure modules for most hardware.
- Modular kernels, with separate device modules, are more efficient than monolithic kernels, where device drivers are integrated into the kernel.
- If you're going to update your kernel, you should keep a copy of your current working kernel.
- There are a number of RHEL 3 kernels available for different types of CPU and levels of RAM.
- Linux kernels and related files are stored in the /boot directory.
- The /proc directory provides a window to what Linux sees in your computer.
- Changing the values of variables in the /proc directory can change the behavior of your running kernel. For example, setting ip_forward = 1 enables routing.
- Kernel modules are managed by a special kernel thread, kmod. Additional settings can be configured through /etc/modules.conf.
- The lsmod command lists currently loaded modules; important related commands are insmod, rmmod, and modprobe.
- Basic RHEL 3 modules are stored in the /lib/modules/2.4.21-4.EL directory.
New Kernels, the Easy Way
- Kernel version numbers are organized in major.minor.patchformat. Red Hat adds a build number to the Linux kernels that it builds from source code.
- It's fairly easy to install a Red Hat kernel from RPM, as long as you remember to install and not upgrade. This allows you to return to the current working kernel if you have a problem.
- Sometimes, what you need is a kernel patch, which supports upgrades of one patch version number. Unfortunately, patches are not always compatible with Red Hat built kernels.
- It's important to create a new boot floppy whenever you install a new kernel.
- When you install a Red Hat kernel from RPM, the process should automatically update your boot loader (GRUB or LILO).
Kernel Sources
- The kernel source tree is accessible through /usr/src/linux-2.4, which is normally linked to the actual directory with kernel source files.
- Kernel sources can be loaded from the kernel-source RPM or from a Linux kernel tarball downloaded from a site such as ftp.kernel.org.
Recompiling a Kernel
- Your current kernel configuration is stored in the config-versionnumberfile in the /boot directory.
- You can modify kernel settings from the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory with one of the following commands: make config, make menuconfig,or make xconfig. The last two lead to a long series of menus.
- Once you've made the proper backups and boot disks, set the EXTRAVERSION variable in your Makefile, run the make mrproper command, and placed current settings in /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config, you're ready to modify your kernel.
- Once you've settled on and saved your changes, run the make dep, make clean, make bzImage, make modules, make modules_install, and make install commands, you've compiled your new kernel, and it should be ready for use from the GRUB boot loader.
The cron and at Systems
- The cron system allows any user to schedule jobs so they run at given intervals.
- The at system allows users to configure jobs to run once at a scheduled time.
- The crontab command is used to work with cron files. Use crontab -e to edit, crontab -l to list, or crontab -d to delete cron files.
- The /etc/cron.allow and /etc/cron.deny files are used to control access to the cron job scheduler.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=Self Test}
The following questions will help you measure your understanding of the material presented in this chapter. Read all the choices carefully, as there may be more than one correct answer. Choose all correct answers for each question. This is just to test your understanding of the material; Red Hat no longer includes multiple choice questions on the RHCE or RHCT exams.Shell Configuration Files
1. The system-wide file associated with the bash shell is:
Setting Up and Managing Disk Quotas
A. /etc/shells.conf
B. /etc/startup.sh
C. /etc/profile
D. There is no system-wide shell startup file; all such files reside in individual user directories.
2. You are running an ISP service and provide space for users' Web pages. You want them to use no more than 40MB of space, but you will allow up to 50MB until they can clean up their stuff. How could you use quotas to enforce this policy?
A. Enable grace periods; set the hard limit to 40MB and the soft limit to 50MB.
B. Enable grace periods; set the soft limit to 50MB and the hard limit to 40MB.
C. Enable grace periods; set the soft limit to 40MB, and the hard limit to 50MB.
D. None of the above.
3. If you wanted to configure quotas for everyone on the /home directory, what would you add to the options in /etc/fstab?
The Basics of the Kernel
A. quota
B. usrquota
C. grpquota
D. userquota
4. You are troubleshooting someone else's computer and are not sure what network card is inside it. You have checked the output from the dmesg command, but no network cards are listed, and even though you have a bunch of compiled network modules, none are currently loaded. What could you do to load the unknown network device most quickly?
A. Try loading each module manually.
B. modprobe *
C. Nothing. The kernel will load the module when you try to connect to the network.
D. modprobe -t net
5. You can't find any modules in the /lib/modules/kernel_version/kernel/drivers (or similar) directories. Which of the following actions would set up these modules?
A. Go into the /lib/modules/kernel_versiondirectory and run the make modules command.
B. Go into the /lib/modules/kernel_versiondirectory and run the make modules and make modules_install commands.
C. Go into the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory and run the make modules command.
D. Go into the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory and run the make modules and make modules_ install commands.
New Kernels, the Easy Way
6. When you install an updated kernel from a Red Hat RPM, which of the following steps do you need to take?
A. Add information on the new kernel in a GRUB stanza.
B. Add a new Initial RAM disk to the /boot directory.
C. Reconfigure the /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config file.
D. None of the above.
Kernel Sources
7. You're not sure which kernel source tree is active for your Linux computer. Which of the following directories should be linked to that source tree?
A. /usr/src/linux
B. /usr/src/linux-2.4
C. /usr/src/linux-2.4rh
D. /usr/src
Recompiling a Kernel
8. When compiling a kernel, you've navigated to the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory. Which of the following would not work with the make command to reconfigure your kernel?
A. config
B. menuconfig
C. windowconfig
D. xconfig
9. You have just compiled a new kernel with the make bzImage command. You need to copy the kernel and Initial RAM disk to the /boot directory. What is the most efficient way to make this happen?
A. Copy the image from the /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot directory.
B. Nothing. The make bzImage command automatically installs the kernel to the /boot directory.
C. Install a revised Red Hat kernel RPM.
D. After you've set up modules, run the make install command.
The cron and at Systems
10. You want to schedule a maintenance job to run from your home directory on the first of every month at 4:00 A.M. Which of the following cron entries runs the specified job at the specified time?
A. 0 4 1 * * ~/maintenance.pl
B. 4 1 * * ~/maintenance.pl
C. 0 4 31 * * ~/maintenance.pl
D. 1 4 0 0 ~/maintenance.pl
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=Lab Questions}
If you're pressed for time with these labs, I suggest that you run Lab 3 first. As you've read in the chapter, recompiling the kernel takes a long time. If you have a slower computer, some of the commands required to recompile the kernel take a while to complete. You can use this time to log into a different terminal and run the other labs in this chapter.
Lab 1
In this first lab, we'll look at setting up automatic connections to a shared network directory. While this lab uses files described in Chapter 4, it is focused on shell configuration files. For the purpose of this lab, assume your username is vaclav and you're mounting a shared NFS /mnt/inst directory from a remote computer with an IP address of 192.168.30.4. You're going to mount it in vaclav's home directory, in a blank directory named inst.
- Select the regular user of your choice. That user should have files such as .bashrc and .bash_logout.
- Find a shared directory on a remote computer.
- Set up a local directory for that user as a mount point.
- Configure commands for that user to mount and umount that remote directory. Make sure those commands run only when that user logs into his or her account.
Lab 2
In this lab, we will test the quotas created in this chapter. You'll use the basic quota settings described in this chapter, and then copy files to fill up the home directory of a user who has a quota applied. The steps required for this lab are straightforward.
- Set up quotas on the local computer. Use the criteria described earlier in this chapter. If you don't have a separate /home directory partition, you can set up quotas on the top-level root directory (/).
- Once you've set quotas in your /etc/fstab configuration file, remember to remount the partition where you've created a quota. Alternatively, you could reboot Linux, but that would take time that you may not be able to spare during either of the Red Hat exams.
- Set up a quota for the user of your choice. Remember, when you use the edquota command on a specific user, you can edit the quota file directly using vi editor commands. Configure a hard and a soft limit for that user.
- Log in as the user with the quota. Copy some large files to the home directory of that user.
- Continue the copying process until you see a warning message. When you do, run the quota command. What do you see? Is there anything in the output that gives you warning that you've exceeded the quota?
- Copy some additional files until you see a "Disk quota exceeded" message. Run the quota command again. What do you see?
- Delete some files from that user's home directory—at least enough to get the files under the quota limits.
Lab 3
This lab is more of a detailed kernel-building exercise than a typical lab in this book. The exercise will include concise steps on how to configure, install, and test a new kernel. While the Red Hat Exam Prep guide no longer specifies that you have to know how to recompile the kernel, it is something you will need to do at some point in time as a Linux system administrator. See the Lab Answer section at the end of this chapter for the exercise.
Lab 4
In this fourth lab, you'll be updating your kernel from another source. One proviso—this lab will work only if there is a Red Hat RPM kernel file that is a later version from what is already installed on your computer. If you're running RHEL 3, you can still download and use one of the Fedora development kernel RPMs for the purpose of this exercise. (While there are no guarantees, the Fedora development kernel available as of this writing works fine on my RHEL 3 computer. However, there have been reported issues with various video cards and printer configurations.)
- Check download.fedora.redhat.com or one of the mirrors listed online at fedora.redhat.com /download/mirrors.html.
- Download the new kernel to the /tmp directory.
- Back up your current /etc/grub.conf configuration file, as well as the current files in your boot directory, in case something goes wrong.
- Use the rpm -ivh kernelfile command to install the new kernel.
- Observe the results. Check the files in /boot. Which files look like they're duplicated but with a different version number?
- Check your boot loader file. Assuming it's GRUB, open the /etc/grub.conf file in a text editor. Change the defaultvariable in this file to point to the new kernel. If it's LILO, remember to run lilo to record the change in the MBR.
- Reboot your computer to test the new kernel.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=Self Test Answers}
Shell Configuration Files
1. C. This is the system-wide shell script executed for all users; A and B are incorrect because there are no such files. While each user does get their own hidden configuration files in their home directories, they apply only to that user. D is incorrect
Setting Up and Managing Disk Quotas
2. C. Enable grace periods; set the soft limit to 40MB, and the hard limit to 50MB. This will warn users they are over their limit after the grace period, but will make sure they do not exceed the 50MB true maximum barrier; A is incorrect because the soft limit must be less than the hard limit. B is incorrect because it is actually the same as A. D is incorrect because C does the job.
3. B and C. The usrquota and grpquota options allow the configuration of quotas on the given filesystem on user and group bases; A and D are not valid options for /etc/fstab.
The Basics of the Kernel
4. D. The modprobe -t net command tries each module from the /lib/modules/kernel_version/kernel/drivers/net directory, until it reaches the end of the list or finds a module that works for a network interface; A, B, and C are incorrect. Linux needs to load the card module before you can connect to the network, so C is incorrect. You might try loading all modules manually, but that is not efficient, so A is incorrect. While the modprobe * would test all options, it is also not efficient, so B is also incorrect.
5. D. These commands together compile your modules and then place them in the appropriate directory trees. Because these are kernel-related commands, they have to be run from the /usr /src/linux-2.4 directory; A, B, and C are incorrect. The make modules command just compiles the modules, so A and C are not correct. The /lib/modules/kernel_versiondirectory is the wrong place to apply these commands, so B is incorrect.
New Kernels, the Easy Way
6. D, None of the above. GRUB is automatically updated when you install a new Red Hat kernel from a Red Hat RPM; however, you may want to change the value of defaultin /etc/ grub.conf. A new Initial RAM disk file, initrd-versionnumber,is also added to the /boot directory. You don't need to change /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config file unless you want to recompile this new kernel; A, B, and C are all not required and are therefore incorrect.
Kernel Sources
7. B. The /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory is normally soft-linked to the actual directory with the active kernel source files; A, C, and D all specify directories that aren't linked to the Linux kernel source tree. (However, the situation was different before Linux kernel version 2.4; answer A was correct for older Linux distributions, such as Red Hat Linux 7.0.)
Recompiling a Kernel
8. C is correct because there is no kernel configuration utility based on the make windowconfig command; A, B, and D are all incorrect. In the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory, the make config, make menuconfig, and make xconfig commands all call kernel configuration utilities.
9. D. The make install command in RHEL 3 automatically loads the files and data related to your recompiled kernel in the /boot directory. It also installs a new Initial RAM disk and revises the GRUB boot loader; A, B, and C are all incorrect. While the recompiled kernel is stored in the directory noted in answer A, this action does not create an Initial RAM disk. B is incorrect as more action is required. C is incorrect as the revised Red Hat kernel RPM probably does not reflect your custom kernel configuration.
The cron and at Systems
10. A. The syntax for cron is minute, hour, day of month, month of year, weekday, and then the command. This answer corresponds to 4:00 A.M. on the first of every month; B executes at 4 minutes after 1 in the morning for every day. However, there are only four time fields, not five, so the entire line would be considered invalid. C is incorrect because it runs the job at 4:00 A.M. on the 31st of the month, and then only if the month has 31 days. D is incorrect because it executes the program at one minute after 4:00 A.M. And there are only four time values in this line, which makes it invalid.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.
{mospagebreak title=Lab Answers}
Lab 1
This lab has two purposes: it is designed to help you understand mounted network directories and the login process. You can substitute the user, the shared network directory, and directories of your choice. But based on the premises in this lab, I would take the following steps:
- Log in as user vaclav. Create the specified directory. For this lab, you would use the mkdir /home/vaclav/inst command.
- Test the network connection. Mount the remote NFS directory on the directory that you just created. For this lab, use the following command:
# mount -t nfs 192.168.30.4:/mnt/inst /home/vaclav/inst
- Run the mount command by itself. If you've successfully mounted to the shared directory, you should see it at the end of the list of mounted directories.
- Unmount the network connection. For this lab, you would use the following command:
# umount /home/vaclav/inst
- Add the commands specified from steps 2 and 4 to the local .bashrc and .bash_logout configuration files. Remember, since these files start with a dot, they are hidden.
- Test the result. Log out and log back in. Check your mounted directories. If the command in .bash_logout does not work, you'll probably see the shared directory mounted multiple times.
Lab 2
The purpose of this lab is to get you some more practice with creating quotas for users. It's quite possible that you'll have to configure quotas on the Red Hat exams. While you may not have to test quotas in the way described in this lab, it will help you become familiar with the error messages that you'll see when you exceed a hard and then a soft quota limit.
Lab 3
Before we can build a new kernel, we have to ensure we have all the correct RPM packages. You could do so by checking a list of RPMs as described. Alternatively, you can start the Package Management utility with the redhat-config-packages command. From this GUI utility, make sure you have the Kernel Development package group installed. As with the rest of this chapter and the Red Hat exams,
this assumes that you have a PC with a 32-bit Intel type CPU. The procedures for other CPUs vary and are not, as of this writing, covered on the Red Hat exams. The following list of RPMs are associated with the source code:
- When you install RHEL 3, you've probably already installed most of these packages. Alternatively, it may be faster to install the Kernel Development package group using the Package Management utility. This utility automatically takes care of any dependencies.
- Navigate to the /usr/src directory with the cd /usr/src command. Run the ls -l command. You should see a link between the linux-2.4 directory and the location of your source code files. In RHEL, that is by default the /usr/src/linux-2.4.21-4.EL directory.
- Navigate to the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory. You'll be running the remaining kernel configuration commands from this directory.
- Set up a unique name for the kernel that you're about to modify. Open the Makefile file in a text editor. Look for the EXTRAVERSION variable. Red Hat adds this variable as a suffix to the recompiled kernel. Modify this variable as desired; save and exit from Makefile.
- Jot down the value of the EXTRAVERSION variable here: ______________
- Determine the correct CPU on your hardware. Use the command
# cat /proc/cpuinfo
- Jot down the CPU model name here: ________________
- Run the ls /usr/src/linux-2.4/configs command. You'll see a list of available default kernel configuration files. Find the file associated with your CPU. If your computer has more than one CPU, use the smp version of the kernel, if available. If your computer has more than 4 GB of RAM, use the hugemem version of the kernel, if available. Save it in the /usr/src/linux-2.4 /.config file.
- Make sure you're in the /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory. Clean up any stray source code from previous kernel reconfigurations with the following command:
# make mrproper
- Wait until the messages are complete. Problems are rare at this stage.
- Next, it is time to configure your kernel, using one of the three major tools:
- make config A line-by-line tool that gives you a choice with all kernel options
- make menuconfig A text-based menu that allows you to select just the changes you want
- make xconfig A GUI interface that works only in the X Window System
- Set the processor type to match your hardware (for example, Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium IV).
- Return to the kernel configuration tool of your choice. Turn off all unneeded devices. Some possible unneeded devices are in the following categories:
- ISDN Subsystem
- Old CD-ROMs
- Amateur Radio
- Telephony Support
- Symmetric Multiprocessing Support
- MTR Memory Support
- Be sure to turn on Kernel Loadable Modules support.
- Save your changes and exit.
- When you save the new configuration, the kernel configuration tool overwrites your /usr/src /linux-2.4/.config file.
- Resolve all kernel dependencies (between sources) with the following command. This will produce a lot of output and may take several minutes.
# make dep
- Prepare the source code directories to create the new kernel with the following command:
# make clean
- Once your dependencies are resolved, it's time to build a new compressed kernel image, with the following command:
# make bzImage
- This is the actual kernel build, which will take some time. You may take this opportunity to log into another terminal and run one of the other labs.
- The easiest way to see if the kernel build worked is to run the following command immediately after the messages from make bzImage command stop:
# echo $? 0
- If you got a 0, everything worked (success). Any other result indicates a failure during the kernel build process. In that case, go back and reconfigure your kernel to make a configuration that works.
- Check for the existence of two new files. Run this command:
# ls -l System.map arch/i386/boot/bzImage
It should show you two files, a relatively small System.map and a much larger bzImage.
- Make the loadable modules that will be used by this kernel:
# make modules
- Install the new custom kernel files into their correct locations and update your boot loader so that it knows about your new kernel. The make install command should perform all of these tasks.
- Check to see that the make install command worked. Based on the EXTRAVERSION variable that you set earlier, check your /boot directory. You should see at least a new initrd, System.map, and vmlinuz file in this directory, with this variable as a suffix. Otherwise, you'll need to copy these files yourself. Also, check your boot loader configuration file (/etc/grub.conf for the default GRUB boot loader).
- If the make install command didn't put an initial RAM disk (initrd) into the /boot directory, you'll have to create one with the following command (if your version and EXTRAVERSION variables are different, revise this command accordingly):
# mkinitrd /boot/initrd-2.4.21-4.ELcustom1 2.4.21-4.ELcustom1
- Congratulations, you have just installed a custom kernel on your new system. As long as you also have your original kernel in your boot loader menu, test it out!
- Run the reboot command. You should see both kernels in the boot loader menu. Try your custom kernel!
Lab 4
Assuming everything works with the updated Red Hat RPM kernel package, you should not have to update anything, especially if your boot loader is GRUB. The steps described in the lab should help you confirm this through the appropriate configuration files on your RHEL 3 computer.
This is part one from the fifth chapter of Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), fourth edition, by Michael Jang. (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0-07-225365-7). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now.


text:
On this Sunday's show, Russell and Jen will be talking to Dale McGowan from the Foundation Beyond Belief. Dale is the editor and co-author of Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, and author of the newly-released Atheism for Dummies. He teaches nonreligious parenting workshops across North America and is founding executive director of Foundation Beyond Belief, a humanist charitable organization. In 2008, Dale was named Harvard Humanist of the Year.
Edit: Also, consider this your open thread.
Video streaming by Ustream

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hayden Releases the MoFo - Valve Amp Handwired in the UK!
The MoFo by Hayden is an all-valve guitar amp with a whole lot of attitude - and handwired in England! But unlike other mini guitar amp heads, the MoFo is definitely not a one trick pony.
From stunning bell like clean tones with real depth to plexi-esque classic rock crunch, right up to full on metal mayhem, the 30 watt MoFo head does it all.
With four cascaded gain stages and a footswitchable MoFo mode for even more gain, the Hayden MoFo does it all from classic clean tones through plexi-esque classic rock crunch to full metal mayhem.
And the versatility doesn't stop with the sounds.
There's 30 Watts of power, courtesy of 4 x EL84 valves. And with both 8 and 16 Ohm speaker outputs, the MoFo can drive a wide range of cabinets from a boutique 1x12 in the studio right up to a 4x12 on the concert stage.
Separate UK and US-voiced instrument inputs shape the signal for classic British or thinner, higher-gain US tones respectively, and a simple series FX loop allows you connect your favourite stomp boxes.
And when you're rehearsing, you'll love the Stealth switch underneath the amp which lets your MoFo scream, without the neighbours screaming at you.
visit www.haydenamps.com for more info and soundclips of the Mofo in action


text:
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text:
By Dan Merica, CNN
Washington (CNN) – A prominent atheist group is using next month's Democratic National Convention to take aim at the presidential candidates' religion, putting up billboards targeting Mormonism and Christianity in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Our political system is rife with religion and it depends too much on religion and not enough on substance," said David Silverman, president of American Atheists, sponsor of the ads.
"Religion is silly and religion has components that are inherently divisive. … There is no place for any of that in the political system," he said.
The billboards go up Monday in Charlotte and will stay up for a month at a cost of roughly $15,000. The Democratic convention runs September 3-6.
Views: 454
I was going to post it directly to the American Atheists website:
In lieu of anything else, that's there and SOMEONE will hear it.
I thought they had a group on A|N as well?
They do have a group! It is simply called American Atheists. Seems like a logical place to start.
@John Jubinsky. You make an excellent point. Romney is not pushing his religion on anyone (at least in public), and his choice for VP is a Roman Catholic - same religion as the current VP, Biden; the latter who openly admits his belief in that "faith." While the extremist right wing of the GOP claims President Obama is a foreign born Muslim, no one is really bringing up religion at this point. The "hot topic" of this election is the economy and the deficit. Not that I necessarily agree that's our biggest problem, but that is what each side wants to convince their respective supporters they have the "answer" to.
@Loren. You, too, are correct in your assessment in that the content of the billboard is accurate, but in piss poor taste and poorly timed.
I normally agree with the positions and public stance taken by David Silverman, but this time, I think he stepped on his reproductive organ.
Okay ... for good or ill, I just posted the following to atheist.org's "Contact Us" site:
I have misgivings regarding the billboards which American Atheists is considering sponsoring in coordination with the Democratic National Convention. Both of them have the potential of being perceived as confrontational and creating a negative rather than a constructive reaction by believers who will see them. Something built around David Silverman's quote: "Our political system is rife with religion and it depends too much on religion and not enough on substance," might be preferable. It would at least be the basis for opening a dialog, rather than fomenting more rancor and ill will.
I urge you to reconsider the content you wish to promote. Thank you for your consideration.
I would like to think I'm being respectful with my feedback. Let's hope they think so.
I see nothing wrong with the way you've approached them whatsoever, it seems considerate and constructive, one only wishes they'd have used the same consideration when making the decision to speak for us all...
Personally, I see nothing wrong in your message. It disagrees without being disagreeable. You are being respectful, yet letting them know that not all atheists are in agreement with their particular message. Thanks. Going to atheist.org myself to voice my concern.
Sounds good to me. I'm going to see what I can start in the American Atheists group and see if I can get Dave Silverman's e-mail address.
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text:
This T32 grant from the National Cancer Institute (T32 CA165990) is led by Vivek Rangnekar, PhD (contact PI) and B. Mark Evers (Co-PI).
This multi-disciplinary program will focus on training pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows in cancer biology so that they can effectively decipher important research questions associated with human cancer. To accomplish this objective, we have integrated the already established and successful programs in Signal Transduction and Mechanisms of Cancer Cell Survival, Cancer Progression and Metastasis, Tumor Microenvironment, Metabolomics, and Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage with clinical exposure into one cohesive program. The trainees will receive both didactic and non-didactic instruction, laboratory-based basic science research training in cancer research and cutting edge clinical applications, and career development as independent cancer biologists.
The students and fellows will receive ample training to articulate their ideas and communicate them effectively, evaluate biomedical research, and mentor others in scientific excellence, and thus function as important members of the scientific community. This program assembles a cohesive group of basic science and clinical faculty from six different departments at the College of Medicine. In the past ten years our program faculty has trained 88 doctoral students and 104 post-doctoral students, and has the experience and the interdisciplinary focus to guide this group of trainees to function in research teams pursuing multidisciplinary investigations.
We mentor our trainees to be proficient at utilizing hypothesis-driven approaches as well as discovery-oriented research design to address key problems. All trainees are required to complete the foundation courses in graduate level Genetics, Biochemistry, Immunology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biostatistics, Ethics, and the Cancer Biology and Therapy course, which emphasizes cancer in the context of human disease.
Training also involves participation in the Markey Cancer Center Seminar Series and a Cancer Biology Journal Club. A unique feature of this program is the interdisciplinary training opportunity that will emphasize bench to bedside (and vice versa) research topics to provide a bridge between the fundamental biology of cancer and clinical cancer. The ultimate objective is to develop a cadre of future scientists who can become leaders in integrative team approaches to understand the complex issue of cancer as it relates to potential prevention and treatment strategies.
Moreover, to help ensure our commitment to the clinical-translation of basic science discoveries, Markey Cancer Center Associate Director Vivek Rangnekar, PhD, and Director Mark Evers, MD, will be PIs for this team-based training program. The University of Kentucky places a significant emphasis on training of minority students, post-doctoral researchers and physicians, and therefore this program will ensure the inclusion of individuals with under-represented racial and ethnic background to better serve our diverse society. Accordingly, this training program will train the next generation of cancer researchers to better understand and treat cancers using an interdisciplinary team approach.
Mentors included on the T32 Interdisciplinary Research Training in Cancer Biology Program
In addition to the mentors listed below within the four themes, mentees may choose mentors who are not included on the T32 but work on cancer-related themes at the University of Kentucky. To apply for a pre- or post-doctoral position related to this training grant, download the complete application instructions (PDF, 27 KB), which includes submissions instructions and deadlines.
Theme 1: Mechanisms of Cancer Cell Proliferation and Tumorigenesis
- Subbarao Bondada, PhD
- John D'Orazio, MD, PhD
- Mark Evers, MD
- Tianyan Gao, PhD
- Chunming Liu, PhD
- Qing-Bai She, PhD
Theme 2: Mechanisms of Cancer Cell Apoptosis
- Natasha Kyprianou, PhD
- Vivek Rangnekar, PhD
Theme 3: Role of Oxidative Stress in Tumor Progression
- Daret St. Clair, PhD
- Xianglin Shi, PhD
Theme 4: Cancer Microenvironment and Metastasis
- Kathleen O'Connor, PhD
- Rina Plattner, PhD
- Peter Zhou, MD, PhD
Theme 5: Metabolomics
- Teresa Fan, PhD
- Richard Higashi, PhD
- Andrew Lane, PhD


text:
Number crunchers call him an "out maker." But that's not keeping J-Roll from helping the Philadelphia Phillies become an offensive powerhouse.
It's baseball's newest insult, along the lines of being labeled "one-dimensional" or having "warning track power."
The Out Maker.
Baseball followers have grown to the idea that "not making outs" at […]