Wiki releases:3.2.1:usersguide

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:apachephp

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T11:59:37+0200

Apache and PHP (tested for Minix3 version 3.1.4-pre) Using packman Install Apache and PHP via packman. Additional steps Currently, installation doesn't have a php.ini file and httpd.conf is incomplete. Copy file to /usr/local/lib/gcc/php.ini

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:apic

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:28:43+0200

Stale page The contents of this page must be revised to reflect the current state of MINIX3. APIC mode APIC is a successor to the legacy PIC. The main advantage is that together with IO APIC controllers it enables the system to use much more IRQ lines than the 16 legacy (E)ISA IRQs and thus possible much less IRQ sharing. Using local APICs is a requirement for multi-processor systems.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:beagleboneweather

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T12:00:36+0200

BeagleBone The BeagleBone Weather cape is an expansion board for the BeagleBone. It enhances the BeagleBone's capabilities by providing environment sensors (temperature, humidity, pressure, and ambient light level). General Overview weatherstation Minix comes with a demo application for the Weather Cape called weatherstation. It's a web application. A tiny web server is automatically started at boot time whenever the weather cape is attached. To use the demo, you just need to plug in the cap…

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:bootingovernetworkusingpxe

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Introduction It is possible to boot the minix 3 usb image over network using pxelinux and memdisk. This makes use of the PXE protocol supported in some network cards. The network card loads its boot files over network and boot the PC from these files.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:bootmonitor

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T12:02:37+0200

Boot Monitor This page describes the NetBSD boot monitor, as used by MINIX 3. To get a summary of what the it can do, while in it, you can select “Drop to boot prompt” from the menu and type: help Commonly Used Boot Monitor Commands and Options

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:commandlineinterface

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Command Line Interface Introduction A command-line interface (CLI) is a mechanism for interacting with a computer operating system or software by typing commands to perform specific tasks. This text-only interface contrasts with the use of a mouse pointer with a

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:diskpartitions

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T12:05:59+0200

Disk Partitions Introduction to Partitions When the IBM PC was first launched, it came with a simple disk operating system called DOS, provided by Microsoft. For the PC-XT and its hard disk, IBM made a decision that a PC might ultimately have up to four operating systems installed at the same time. Each operating system would have its own portion of the disk, called a

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:doinginstallation

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:41:17+0200

Installing MINIX 3 This page describes the process of installing MINIX. Getting MINIX Download the CD-ROM installer image from the download page. For instructions on installing Minix/arm, see Minix on ARM. Preparation & Booting Please make sure your system meets the Installation Requirements first.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:emailapps

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Email Applications See the guide to Installing Source Packages.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:filetransfer

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

File Transfer There are several programs that can be used to transfer files between machines. Some of them come with MINIX by default: * ftp * rcp * fetch * urlget (download only) Additionally, the following programs can be installed via packman:

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:gnudevelopmenttools

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

GNU Development Tools You can install many of the GNU development tools on MINIX by using pkgin or pkgsrc. They have more packages than mentioned below. GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) GCC is available in both source code (pkgsrc) and ready-to-install (pkgin) forms.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:gnuutilities

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Using the GNU utilities You can install many of the Linux (read GNU) userland utilities on MINIX. Via pkgin, you can install: * BASH shell * GNU coreutils * GNU awk * GNU grep * GNU sed * GNU diffutils * GNU less See the Installing Binary Packages guide for details on installing software.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:hardwarerequirements

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:05:48+0200

MINIX 3 Hardware Requirements CPU Compatibility Architecture Models Notes 32-bit x86 i586 (Pentium) family and later Pentium 4's sometimes have trouble

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:harmlessdiagnostics

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Harmless Diagnostics This page describes various diagnostics produced by the networking and the PCI code that can be safely ignored. dp8390: strange, got SYN_ALARM The dp8390 driver got a message about an expired timer. But the driver does not use any timers. This is probably a small bug in the timer library. The message can be safely ignored (but it is better to fix the library).

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:installationoptimizations

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Stale page The contents of this page must be revised to reflect the current state of MINIX3. Optimizations This page gives some hints and optimizations you can make to tune your MINIX 3 system to match your requirements. Increase the File System buffer cache

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:installationtroubleshooting

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Installation Troubleshooting Warning: This document has gone stale. In particular, the workaround below uses obsolete command. Using two disks If your computer has two hard disks on the IDE controller and you are installing MINIX 3 to the second one, sometimes there can be a problem booting. This problem occurs if the second disk does not have a correct boot program in the MBR (Master Boot Record). To solve this problem, boot MINIX 3 from the CD-ROM, log in as root, and type:

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:installingbinarypackages

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Installing Binary Packages pkgin pkgin is the binary package manager for MINIX 3. This page describes how to use it. pkgin first appeared in Minix 3.1.8. If you're using an older version of Minix, you'll need to use the packman package manager instead.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:installingsourcepackages

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Installing Source Packages pkgsrc pkgsrc is used to build third-party software. This page describes how to use pkgsrc. Before diving in, you should be aware of a few things: * precompiled binary packages are available for many applications. This can save a lot of time and headaches. See

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:introductiontox

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:18:49+0200

Introduction to X X (also called X11 or, formally, the X Window System) is the standard windowing system for most UNIX systems. It is supported by MINIX 3, but not part of the basic distribution (due to its great size). To use X, you must first fetch and install it. See

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:introtosysadmin

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Introduction to System Administration Congratulations on installing MINIX 3. Now you have to learn how to administer a MINIX 3 system. Fortunately, we have some help for you in the form of documentation. This page contains some things all newbie superusers should know.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:lancefix

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T15:05:14+0200

Lance Driver Fix This fix is only necessary for MINIX versions below 3.1.4. In MINIX 3.1.3, the AMD Lance NIC device driver does not work. There are two reasons for that problem: * The lance driver needs to be loaded within the first 16MiB of memory, for DMA purposes. The servers loaded before the lance driver add up to more than 16MiB, so that the lance driver falls outside that area.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:managinguseraccounts

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:17:36+0200

Managing User Accounts You'll need to be the root user to do any of the following. Adding a New Group To add a new user group to the system, use the group add command. group add wheel Adding a New User To add a new user to the system, run the

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:manpagesforadmins

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T13:22:37+0200

MAN pages for administrators add_route(8) - configure IP routing adduser(8) - add a new user to the system backup(8) - backup files badblocks(8) - put a list of bad blocks in a file boot(8) - from power on to the login prompt checkhier(8) - check the directory hierarchy chown(8) - change owner cleantmp(8) - clean out a tmp dir

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:manualpages

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Manual Pages Documentation comes installed with MINIX. Much helpful information is in MINIX's manual pages (or “manpages”), which can be read with man or online. For example, to learn about the Ash shell, type: man ash Sometimes you'll see manual pages mentioned like this:

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:multipleoperatingsystems

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T13:23:35+0200

Running Multiple Operating Systems Booting MINIX 3 Directly MINIX 3 uses a close derivative of NetBSD boot loader and MBR boot code. Just as with NetBSD, it can coexist on a hard disk with installations of NetBSD, Windows, or Linux; by installing the extended boot code, it is possible to choose one or another partition and then boot the corresponding operating system without disturbing the others.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:networkconfiguration

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:27:03+0200

Network Configuration MINIX supports several Ethernet chips for networking over LAN, ADSL, and cable. These include Intel Pro/100, RealTek 8029 and 8139, AMD LANCE, and several 3Com chips. During setup you will be asked which Ethernet chip you have, if any.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:postinstallation

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Post Installation Set the Root Password You should set a password for the root account. Type: passwd Then enter the new password in the prompts (No characters or *'s will appear as you type your password but it IS being entered). Set the Timezone

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:runningonbochs

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T12:11:52+0200

Running on Bochs This page describes the process of installing MINIX 3 on Bochs. Preliminaries Please install bochs. Bochs binaries can be downloaded from their webpage. If you're running a Linux distribution, you can install Bochs via the package manager.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:runningonparallels

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T13:24:50+0200

Running on Parallels This page describes the process of installing MINIX 3 on Parallels. Preliminaries Please install Parallels. Parallels binaries can be downloaded from their webpage. Virtual Machine Setup Before you install Minix 3, you will need to create a new virtual machine configuration. The VM configuration specifies the parameters of your Virtual machine, e.g., how much memory you want the VM to use, how big you want the virtual hard disk to be, etc.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:runningonqemu

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Running on QEMU and KVM This page describes the process of installing Minix 3 on QEMU and KVM. If you run into problems, see the workarounds section at the bottom of the page for possible solutions. Preliminaries Please install QEMU or KVM. QEMU and KVM sources can be downloaded from their websites. If you're running a Linux distribution, you can install QEMU and KVM via the package manager.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:runningonvirtualbox

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:54:27+0200

Running on VirtualBox This page describes the process of installing MINIX 3 on VirtualBox. Preliminaries First of all you'll need to install VirtualBox. VirtualBox binaries can be downloaded from their webpage. If you're running a Linux distribution, you can install VirtualBox via the package manager.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:runningonvirtualpc

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T13:27:00+0200

Running on Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 This page describes the process of installing MINIX 3 on Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. Preliminaries Installation of Microsoft VirtualPC 2007 on a windows machine. Virtual Machine Setup Before you install Minix 3, you will need to create a new virtual machine configuration. The VM configuration specifies the parameters of your Virtual machine, e.g., how much memory you want the VM to use, how big you want the virtual hard disk to be, etc.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:runningonvmware

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T15:03:23+0200

Running on VMware This page describes the process of installing MINIX 3 on VMWare. Preliminaries Please install VMWare. VMWare binaries can be downloaded from their webpage. Virtual Machine Setup Before you install Minix 3, you will need to create a new virtual machine configuration. The VM configuration specifies the parameters of your Virtual machine, e.g., how much memory you want the VM to use, how big you want the virtual hard disk to be, etc.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:sata

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T13:33:48+0200

SATA MINIX can use SATA hard drives in native mode, which is also called AHCI mode. This option is supported from MINIX 3.2.1 prereleases onward. Setup To enable SATA, set the BIOS to use native/AHCI mode for the hard drive. Then, choose this boot option during installation:

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:securing

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Securing MINIX Accounts By default, the main user account on MINIX is the root account. Using the root account risks the security of your computer system. It is safer to use unprivileged user accounts, only to become a “superuser” when necessary. Please see

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:serialconsoles

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:15:29+0200

Serial Consoles Introduction With a little configuration, it's possible to use a dumb terminal connected to a minix host. Alternatively, one could connect a PC to a minix host via a null-modem cable and run a terminal emulator program on the PC to act as a dumb terminal.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:settingrootpasword

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Setting the Root Password By default, Minix 3 does not have a root password. That is an obvious security problem, especially if the system is being used for any serious purpose. So, you should set a root password, as soon as possible, unless you're just experimenting on an isolated machine.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:settingupssh

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:14:10+0200

Setting Up SSH The following steps must be done as root. * Install OpenSSH pkgin install openssh * Customize settings Optionally, edit /usr/pkg/etc/ssh/sshd_config. * Start sshd reboot or sh /usr/pkg/etc/rc.d/sshd start Security keys will be created automatically.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:shutdown

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Shutting Down the System You can shutdown the system by typing: shutdown To power off the machine, you can also enter: poweroff If you wish to reboot the machine, you can enter: shutdown -R now Alternatively: reboot For more information, please see the following manpages:

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:start

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-14T14:01:19+0200

MINIX 3 Users Guide Table of Contents The Users Guide provides information on how to install and configure MINIX 3. If you're new to MINIX 3, you should start here. Part I: Getting Started * Introduction * Welcome to MINIX 3 * Installing MINIX 3 * Hardware Requirements *

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:texteditors

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Text Editors The following text editors come with MINIX: * Line-oriented (1D) editors * ed(1) * ex(1) * Screen-oriented (2D) editors * vi(1) * mined Others, such as GNU Nano, Pico, and Vim, can be installed. See Installing Binary Packages for details.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:usingsharedlibraries

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Shared Libraries State Ending with commit 53f94f8ed431, Minix has full shared libraries support, include runtime loading of shared objects by the runtime linker, ld.elf_so, i.e. dlopen() and friends. By default binaries are not linked dynamically yet, out of caution. This page describes the interaction with the base system and how to get started with building dynamically linked executables. Everyone is invited to test building dynamic binaries and test the resulting system. And also to help ge…

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:webbrowsers

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Web Browsers Currently, only text-mode browsers are supported under MINIX 3. You can install Links or Lynx via Pkgin.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:welcometominix

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Welcome to MINIX 3 MINIX 3 is an open-source operating system designed to be highly reliable, flexible, and secure. It is loosely based on previous versions of MINIX, but it is fundamentally different in many key ways. MINIX 1 and 2 were intended as teaching tools; MINIX 3 adds the new goal of being usable as a serious system on embedded computers and for applications requiring high reliability.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:windowmanagers

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-11T14:52:08+0200

Window Managers in MINIX In MINIX there are three window managers available: Tom's Window Manager, Joe's Window Manager and Equinox Desktop Environment. The first one, twm, is installed by default with the X.org package and the second and the third can be installed through the pkgin (tool to manage pkgsrc binary packages) utility.

releases:3.2.1:usersguide:workingwithstorage

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2014-11-13T14:29:53+0200

Working with Storage To check storage space usage, type: df This utility will show a table explaining how much space has been used in your storage devices and partitions as well as how much is remaining. If you want to know how large a directory is, you can find out with