Ross Brunson - Comptia Linux+ XK0-004 Cert Guide

This chapter covers the following topics:

Using virtualization

While installation of Linux is not a stated topic in the current version of the Linux+ exam, in order to learn Linux, you must install it. You often need to reinstall it as you make mistakes and learn lessons.

In addition, the Linux+ exam isnt concerned with the exact procedure to install Linux because it varies between Linux distributions and is constantly changing. The exam is more focused on what happens to your Linux systems after they are installed.

Because of this focus, this chapter lacks Do I Know This Already? Quiz and Review Questions sections that begin and end the other chapters in this book.

This chapter is concerned primarily with setting you up for your success studying Linux as an operating system by showing you how to

Pick a virtualization option

Use ISO files as an installation source

Use snapshots

Install a Linux distribution into a virtual machine

Becoming proficient with Linux starts with understanding the hardware that runs the operating system. Linux has had a bumpy history of hardware support because it was originally written with no help from the manufacturers. Over time hardware support has become better, and compatibility information has become easier to find. At one time, it was common to have to spend long nights poring over message boards to find someone else running the same video card. Thankfully, such problems have become increasingly rare.

In general, you can expect excellent compatibility on most server hardware and on recent generations of desktop hardware. If you buy only the newest, most cutting-edge (that is, the most expensive) equipment, you might find that you need to do a bit of extra reading and troubleshooting to get things to work.

We recommend using a virtualization tool such as VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion, VirtualBox, or KVM. If you do, you will have much less to learn about troubleshooting hardware issues because you will be using mainly software on top of the physical laptop or desktop you use as a virtualization system.

Typically, a chapter on Linux installation would discuss a systems hardware and how that hardware is treated and recognized by Linux; it would cover the motherboards various components and how they are connected via internal buses as well as how peripherals are connected to the system via external buses such as USB, SCSI, and others. We dont need to do that in this chapter, though, as Linux makes a fantastic virtualization client, and when you install a Linux distribution into a virtualization environment, you can choose from a set of preconfigured options the components you want Linux to discover and use. For example, most virtualization environments include options for disk drives that include the SCSI interface as well as the IDE interface.

Oracles VirtualBox environment gives you seven different possible disk controller options, the most common being IDE, SCSI and SATA. The choices for storage controllers in Oracles VirtualBox virtualization application are as follows:

Add IDE Controller

Add SATA Controller

Add SCSI Controller

Add SAS Controller

Add Floppy Controller

Add USB Controller

Add NVMe Controller

Many years ago, learning an operating system was an exercise in physical devices, and a big part of it was operating system installation and reinstallation. It typically included a lot of waiting for files to be copied and troubleshooting of errors or misconfigurations. This frustrating process was mainly due to the need to install directly onto a physical system; virtualization environments had not yet become widely available.

The process is much easier today. Now you can download a virtualization environment or helper application, download an ISO file of your selected distribution, and have Linux installed and ready for use in as little as a few minutes.

Ideally, you want an environment that doesnt require a lot of long wait times or troubleshooting issues. This chapter looks at some recommendations for getting started.

The following sections detail the items you need to build a virtualized study environment. Keep in mind that these are simply recommendations, and you can stay with them or go as far in your own direction as you prefer. Most of all, remember that the goal is to get Linux installed and enable snapshots so you will be able to go back when needed. The suggestions in this chapter help you make this process easier on yourself.

You need a computereither a desktop or a laptopwith sufficient specifications to be a reasonable virtualization environment host. We recommend the following specifications as a minimum:

Processor: Use a recent AMD- or Intel-based desktop or laptop (not a Chromebook).

Host operating system: The host OS is typically Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux, though VirtualBox supports Solaris and OpenSolaris as well.

Memory: You need at least 2GB to 4GB of RAM for the main operating system, plus 1GB or more for each of the virtualized instances of Linux.

Hard disk: Virtualization environments are pretty small compared to an entire operating system, so plan to allocate about 10GB to 20GB per virtualized instance of Linux.

Network device: It used to be very important what network card or device you chose, but today, as long as you have a network device that can be assigned an IP address in your virtualized environment, that should be enough.

Guest operating systems: Because this is a book about learning Linux, we dont discuss any virtualization environments that would not host a guest running Linux.

While you can likely still find physical installation CDs or DVDs, its recommended that you download ISO files (an image of a CD or DVD) either from a Linux distribution vendors site or from various trusted sources.

Note

You should download and install at the very least two Linux distributions: one of the RPM package style and one of the DEB package style. This is critical, because the Linux+ exam requires you to know installation/configuration/removal methods for both package formats, and you need to know how to update packages and installations on both package styles.

One of the most trusted sources of Linux distros is the amazing and very active Distrowatch.com (www.distrowatch.com), which has been in business for almost 18 years at the time of this writing, serving countless pages of Linux distribution news, tutorials, and links to the many distributions, large and small, popular and obscure.

Of course, you can go to the website of a commercial Linux vendor and get a copy of the latest offering of its community (no subscription fees) edition. The following are a few examples:

www.opensuse.org

www.centos.org

www.ubuntu.com

In addition, there are literally hundreds and maybe even thousands of possible Linux distributions that you can download, install, and use to study for the Linux+ exam.