Thank you for choosing Yellow Dog Linux!

Yellow Dog Linux 7 provides the functionality and reliability of Enterprise Linux 6 as well as advanced development tools designed to take advantage of the Power7 architecture, all with no licensing cost. With more than 3600 packages available Yellow Dog Linux 7 provides everything you need for an enterprise class computing platform

And what's more, Yellow Dog Linus is 100% open-source, meaning the code to every component is freely available so that if you desire to improve one or more applications, you may do so at your choosing. This contribution back to the open-source community leads to improvement of Linux software worldwide.

It's a system that has worked for more than 15 years, continuing to grow in both quality and users every year. Linux is collectively one of the top operating systems worldwide, and Fixstars is proud to be a part of this with a CentOS, RPM based Yellow Dog Linux.

This Guide to Installation is written specifically for the IBM 7r2 PowerLinux product line. This Guide does not offer instructions specific to other computer (tie: Sony PS3) supported by Yellow Dog Linux. Installation instructions for other computers are available from Fixstars' website.

Refer to us.fixstars.com/support/ for updates, issues specific with unique computer configurations, and engineering notes.

Your 7r2 will use 'yaboot' (yet another bootloader) to boot Yellow Dog Linux following power-on, ,the 'bootloader' passing control from the firmware (BIOS for PowerPC) to the operating system (Yellow Dog Linux). To learn more about the supported systems and any specific hardware issues, visit:

us.fixstars.com/support/hardware/

1. Insert the Yellow Dog Linux Install DVD and reboot your computer.

2. On reboot, when you are presented with the 'yaboot' prompt, type:

   linux [ENTER]

3. Follow the on-screen instructions and this Guide for particular sections.

At this point you will be asked whether you want to verify the contents of the disc. This can take a few moments and is recommended as it ensures that the burning process was successful and that all requires elements are present and intact. If you are confident that the contents of the disc are whole then you can skip this step.

After a successful or skipped disc check the installer will begin loading the elements required for the graphical installer.

Yellow Dog 7 utilizes the graphical installer Anaconda to help streamline the process of configuring your new operating system. During the course of this installation you will get to configure your language, keyboard layout, storage devices, hostname, timezone, root password, partitioning information, and the packages to be included. Just follow the prompts and this guide to begin customizing your Yellow Dog installation.

At this point you will be asked to select which type of storage device the system is using. If it is a typical local storage device, or if you are not sure, then 'Basic Storage Devices' is probably for you. If your system is using an enterprise storage device like a SAN then select 'Specialized Storage Devices'. Click next to continue.

If you're installing Yellow Dog for the first time or you want to have a clean install to work with then you should opt for a fresh installation. If you have an existing Yellow Dog installation that you wish to upgrade, while keeping all of your personal files intact, you can select that here.

Choose a password that is at least 8 characters in length, including both numbers and letters, and is not based on a dictionary word. Passwords are case sensitive so upper and lower case letters are unique. Do not use any kind of personal information such as your birthday, your child's name spelled backward, nor the name of your spouse followed by the year you were married. Only log in as root if you are an experienced user as it is possible to remove files or data which are required for the proper function of your operating system.

Partitioning is the act of dividing a physical hard drive into multiple logical sections to treat one physical disk drive as if if were multiple disks, with each section having a defined purpose. While you may create additional partitions for your own needs, there are a minimum of 3 partitions that must be created. The three essential partitions include a swap partition, which is used to temporarily hold files when your RAM is full, a boot partition, which holds all the files which allows your operating system to boot, and a root partition, which holds all other data. When you have selected a layout click next to continue.

If you are not comfortable with configuring partition then you can just let Yellow Dog take care of that for you! With a built in automatic partitioner you will have your partitions set up and ready to go in no time. Or, for the more technologically savvy, you also have the option to manually configure your own partition layout by selecting 'Create Custom Layout'. From first time users to seasoned Linux gurus, we've got you covered.

The top, and default, option is to use all space on the drives. This will reformat the drives which COMPLETELY DETROYS ALL DATA. This includes any other operating systems that may be installed, and all personal files that are on the disk. Use this is Yellow Dog is going to be the only operating system installed on the system.

This is similar to the first option in that it will erase data, the main difference being that it will only impact Linux partitions. Any other type of partitions, such as a standard windows partition, will be left untouched. This option is useful if you have a Linux/windows dual boot system and you want to replace the existing Linux install with Yellow Dog 7.

This option re-sizes any existing partitions in order to create free space for Yellow Dog 7. This is usually used if you have another operating system installed with partitions taking up all the space. Shrinking the partitions for those systems frees up space for Yellow Dog to use. It is highly recommended you have backups of the data that is in the partition being shrunk as the shrinking procedure can cause some data corruption.

If there is sufficient unpartitioned space left on the device then Yellow Dog 7 can be installed using that without interfering with existing operating systems or files.

You can use this to create your own custom partition layout. This option requires that the user have knowledge of Linux filesystems.

Yellow Dog 7 allows you to encrypt the file system for added security. It is highly recommended that the password for the filesystem should be different than the root password, while still following guidelines for creating a strong password.

Illustration 1: Formatting Options

With the partitioning layout selected it is now time to choose which disc devices you want to be included in the installation. Use the arrows to move the drives you wish to be formatted over to the Install Target Devices windows. A reminder, any drives located in the Install Target Devices window will be formatted, which will cause the data to be erased. Click next when you are ready to continue.

This is the last chance to make any modifications to the partitioning layout. If you are content with the options you have selected then click 'Write changed to disk' to begin formatting. If not then go back and make any required changes. The formatting process will take a few moments.

Yellow Dog 7 can be installed using three predefined collections of packages, or you can create your own unique set of packages that match your needs. When you've selected an installation type (or created your own), click next to begin installing Yellow Dog.

This is the largest installation of Yellow Dog, including a desktop environment and many packages essential for a development system.

Setting up a webserver? Then this is for you. A text-based install with everything you need to get started with Apache, MySQL, and PHP.

The default package for Yellow Dog, a lightweight install with a text-based interface and some basic packages. Perfect for creating a server.

Illustration 2: Installation Type

Yellow Dog Linux7 includes the option to install GCC 4.7 alongside the existing version of GCC without interfering, similar to the way the compat GCC package works. This can be installed during the system install or after using yum. If you have selectec the Development System install option then GCC 4.7 is already included in the Development Tools group. If you want to have GCC4.7 with a LAMP or a Basic install then tick Customize Now and press next. This will bring you to the package selection screen. GCC 4.7 can be found in the Development section, add a tick to the GCC 4.7 box and click next to begin installation.

If you've reached this point then Congratulations! Yellow Dog 7 has been successfully installed. Only a couple of simple steps to go until you can enjoy the improved PowerPC experience. At this point you'll want to remove the installation disc from the CD/DVD tray and then click the reboot button to start the firstboot process.

After rebooting you will be brought to the Welcome screen of the firstboot configuration manager. From here you will be walked through the process of license agreement acceptance, initial user creation, setting your date and time, as well as configuring a handy debugging tool.

At this step you are asked to create a user account. It is possible to only have a root account but this is not recommended. To create a user account all you have to do is enter a user name, a full name that you want the account associated with, and a secure password. If you are in an environment that uses network logins like Kerberos you can configure that here. Want to manually specify the home directory or UID? This can be done by pressing the advanced button.

New to Yellow Dog, Kdump is a crash recovery service. In the event of a software crash Kdump will store information about the state of the system leading up to and during the crash. This information can be invaluable in determining the exact cause of the system failure. Because of this it is strongly recommended to have this feature enabled. To achieve this a portion of system memory is reserved for the core dump information, making that memory inaccessible for use by any other program. The amount of memory used can be adjusted during firstboot by using the up and down arrows or by typing in an amount. If you are unsure of how much to use it is safe to leave it at the default amount of 128 MB.

After completing this guide you should have all of the basics set up and be ready to start using Yellow Dog 7. At this point it is highly reccommended that you configure your connection to YDL.net so that you can use Yum to install packages from the Yellow Dog repository. A guide for accomplishing this is available on the YDL.net website, here