Installation

Installation of cAos 2 is done via the Cinch system installer. Cinch is a basic core file system installer that is used for implemention of a minimal core system. It allows for post install configuration using the system administrators assistant "Sidekick".

Creating the installation media

To install cAos 2 you must obtain the Cinch ISO image from the cAos-2/install/ directory of the mirrors. Download the latest version and save it locally (note: if using a web browser, make sure you save it while holding your shift key, or it will not download as binary).

Once the ISO image has been downloaded, you will need to burn the image to CDROM media. For this example, I will demonstrate using ‘cdrecord’.

note: This assumes the CDROM writer is at /dev/hdc, and that the system is running Linux-2.6.

Starting Cinch

Put the newly created CDROM into the system to be installed, and turn it on. If it does not automatically boot with Cinch, you should adjust the boot order in the BIOS to boot from CDROM sooner.

Once the CDROM boots you will be presented with the Cinch boot screen. This screen will wait for user input. The splash screen will show the options, but if you are unsure, just pressing [ENTER] will assume the defaults which work for most installs.

As Cinch boots, it probes for SCSI and storage devices, and does some basic level configuration, then it goes into the main installation menu.

Option1: Configure local disk(s)

Option2: Install the core file system

Option3: Bootloader installation

Option4: Configure your new system with "Sidekick"

Option5: Drop to shell

Option6: Exit and reboot

At logging in for the first time you are requsted for a root password, this password will be entered with your keyboard in the "US-mode". There after you are requsted to select your type of keybord i.e. US, Dutch, Swedish e.t.c. Keep this in mind the next time you are logging as root as it implies that you may mix up your password with a keycombination. Keyboard Configuration

If you installed X and a window manager on your system, now you should be able to start your x-window manager with the command: startx If this does not work you can create your own config file. X Server Configuration

You can also bootstrap a system using yum. Read the instructions on bootstrapping with yum

From the command line you can reconfigure your system, or install more packages, by logging in as root and giving the "sidekick" command.