Upgrading to Scientific Linux 7.0 from 6.5 and 5.5

random notes

SL7 is only available as x86-64: 64 bit CPUs . . . Laptops T7x00 x=[246] socket M, [135] ball grid array
dd if=SL-7everything.iso of=/dev/sdb to USB drive
how much RAM can Thinkpad + x86-64 access - still looks like 3 GB even with 4 GB of RAM
- new machine has 4 - can be changed to 3, I have 2x1 in a plastic package
manual disk partition ? add notes
USE MATE INSTEAD OF GNOME
- yum clean all
- yum update
- yum update epel-release
- yum install mate-desktop
- yum install mate-backgrounds mate-calc
- yum install mate-dialogs mate-disk-usage-analyzer mate-icon-theme mate-icon-theme-faenza mate-media mate-screensaver mate-screenshot mate-search-tool mate-utils mate-themes mate-system-log mate-system-monitor mate-terminal mate-settings-daemon mate-power-manager caja caja-open-terminal caja-sendto firefox gedit firewall-config network-manager-applet system-config-language system-config-users dconf-editor
- yum install caja caja-open-terminal caja-sendto
  - desktop, replaces nautilus
- Keyboard / Layout / Options ... key sequence to kill the X server
gqview: pbone rpm (CENTOS 6) 2.0.4, software install works fine
gqview-2.0.4 rpm for fedora 13 works
Where is about firefox? drop down box, question mark at bottom
- Version 31.3.0 ESR
- ? restore home button
- Replace Google with DuckDuckGo
sudo yum erase nepomuk core gets rid of a lot of useless KDE crap
- also gets rid of K3B, use Brasero
/usr/local/bin/gstart - customize per machine
- needs wmctrl, the version for RHEL6 works fine
okular instead of adobe reader, sudo yum install okular
- Acroread9.png icon in ~keithl/.icons
gqview-2.0.4 rpm for fedora 13 works
wifi passwords entered or retrieved manually
- Click ethernet or wifi symbol in toolbar
- Edit Connections ... at bottom of menu
- Add button, then Choose a Connection Type ---> Wi-Fi [ Create Button ]
- General Wi-Fi page, 1) enter SSID, for example fredsburgers 2) enter Connection Name at top, Auto fredsburgers
- Wi-Fi Security Page select key type, etc ...
- IpV6 Settings method select Ignore
usermod -G [groupname] [user]

set up xterms

get gstart from wherever
get wmctrl from pbone rpm, software installer

Text boot, memtest

Add memtest86:

yum install memtest86+ (version 4.2)
/usr/sbin/memtest-setup
config grub as below

I want to see debuggable text, not pretty pictures. SL7 uses grub2, and we need to remake /boot/grub2/grub.cfg. As root:

cd /etc/default
cp -a grub grub.orig
vi grub . . . . . # remove "rhgb quiet" from GRUB_CMDLINE
cd /boot/grub
cp -a grub.cfg grub.cfg.orig
grub2-mkconfig > grub.cfg
- or grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

Set up keyed ssh, sshd

on new machine, as client user
- user> ssh-keygen etc.
- user> ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub remoteuser@server.domain.com

Dual screen control

MoreLater
How to force slaved screens when only one screen may be connected?
Video refresh problem on shiny ... HDMI (primary) screen goes to random pixels sometimes. How to force a periodic refresh?
- May be this:

> abrt-cli list --since 1425848344
id d4f0c97a240ba61dcf38f9e25185960ee399ce3d
Directory:      /var/tmp/abrt/ccpp-2015-02-22-18:47:06-3080
count:          2
executable:     /usr/bin/mate-display-properties
package:        mate-control-center-1.8.3-1.el7
time:           Sun 22 Feb 2015 06:47:06 PM PST
uid:            1000

reason: gdm-simple-slave killed by SIGTRAP

VirtualBox / Win7 / Quickbooks

Can I use WINE instead? [ https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=120 | not yet, "garbage" ]
Video speed no, 2D 3D drivers are experimental and crash
Shared Folder set up, winlin
Mount USB
Networking seems to be autoconnected, can we filter that?
- what IP address? Connect to local network?
Test Qbooks OK, but ask shara
Remote Access
Restore viva files from white
Set up citrix and test
New Kernel: sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup
How can two users share a VM? - not simultaneously?

There are non-intuitive aspects of the SL/RHEL install. The first is the response to a non-64 bit CPU - the install hangs with the "atom" image but does not emit an error message.

Two more aspects are manual partitioning, and setting up networking. Both are on the "INITIALIZATION SUMMARY" page. You must click the right selection under "SYSTEM": "NETWORK & HOSTNAME" and then set up the machine with the particulars of your network. Otherwise, the install does not set up and test networking - which is good default behavior, connecting to networks should be intentional and informed in this dangerous world.

AFTER setting up networking, you can set "DATE & TIME" and your NTP server, select additional software (again, a minimum install is the safe default), and make other tweaks.

The SL7-With-Everything install image is 4.2 GB, and won't fit on an ordinary DVD. Even with that huge imag3, install draws some packages from the server, and updates after boot.

I install off a USB flash drive; 8 GB Lexar drives on sale $4.99 at Office Depot. You create the drive with "dd if=SL-7-mumble.iso of=/dev/sdb" (or whatever, be careful to pick the correct flash drive!). Flash drives are much faster, and boot with most computers, though you want a drive with an activity light so you know that it is still working.

Now I am making GNOME 3 look like GNOME 2. I hate tablet computer UI's. Start by clicking the gear symbol on the login page, and select Gnome Classic. I'm still figuring out how to make my new desktop look like my old desktop, and a lot of old features are moved or missing. I'm slowly making notes at http://wiki.keithl.com/SL7

BTW, my download from Fermilab to my Frontier FIOS home was capped at 4 mbps, even though I pay for 15 mbps service. 2 hour distro download. I get full bandwidth from most other sources. My offsite server can download the distro at 800 mbps, about 45 seconds. I presume one of the peering connections is throttling the download to provide high QOS for video. I hate TV over IP.