The etcsysconfig Directory

The /etc/sysconfig/ Directory

The following information outlines some of the files found in the /etc/sysconfig/ directory, their functions, and their contents. This information is not intended to be complete, as many of these files have a variety of options that are used only in very specific or rare circumstances. The /usr/share/doc/initscripts-version-number/sysconfig.txt file contains a more authoritative listing of the files found in the /etc/sysconfig directory and the configuration options available.

Files in the /etc/sysconfig/ Directory

The following files are normally found in the /etc/sysconfig/ directory:

• amd

• apmd

• arpwatch

• authconfig

• cipe

• clock

• desktop

• dhcpd

• firstboot

• gpm

• harddisks

• hwconf

• i18n

• identd

• init

• ipchains

• iptables

• irda

• keyboard

• kudzu

• mouse

• named

• netdump

• network

• ntpd

• pcmcia

• radvd

• rawdevices

• redhat-config-users

• redhat-logviewer

• samba

• sendmail

• soundcard

• squid

• tux

• ups

• vncservers

• xinetd

It is possible that your system may be missing a few of them if the corresponding program that would need that file is not installed. Next, we will take a look at each one.

/etc/sysconfig/amd

The /etc/sysconfig/amd file contains various parameters used by amd allowing for the automounting and automatic unmounting of file systems.

/etc/sysconfig/apmd

The /etc/sysconfig/apmd file is used by apmd as a configuration for what things to start/stop/change on suspend or resume. It is set up to turn on or off apmd during startup, depending on whether your hardware supports Advanced Power Management (APM) or if you choose not to use it. apm is a monitoring daemon that works with power management code within the Linux kernel. It can alert you to a low battery if you are using Red Hat Linux on a laptop, among other things.

/etc/sysconfig/arpwatch

The /etc/sysconfig/arpwatch file is used to pass arguments to the arpwatch daemon at boot time. The arpwatch daemon maintains a table of Ethernet MAC addresses and their IP address pairings. For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man arpwatch. By default, this file sets the owner of the arpwatch process to the user pcap.

/etc/sysconfig/authconfig

The /etc/sysconfig/authconfig file sets the kind of authorization to be used on the host. It contains one or more of the following lines:

• USEMD5=value, where value is one of the following:

  • yes — MD5 is used for authentication.

  • no — MD5 is not used for authentication.

• USEKERBEROS=value, where value is one of the following:

  • yes — Kerberos is used for authentication.

  • no — Kerberos is not used for authentication.

• USELDAPAUTH=value, where value is one of the following:

  • yes — LDAP is used for authentication.

  • no — LDAP is not used for authentication.

/etc/sysconfig/clock

The /etc/sysconfig/clock file controls the interpretation of values read from the system clock. Earlier releases of Red Hat Linux used the following values (which are deprecated):

• CLOCKMODE=value, where value is one of the following:

  • GMT — Indicates that the clock is set to Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time).

  • ARC — Indicates the ARC console’s 42-year time offset is in effect (for Alpha-based systems only).

Currently, the correct values are:

• UTC=value, where value is one of the following boolean values:

  • true — Indicates that the clock is set to Universal Time.

  • Any other value indicates that it is set to local time.

• ARC=value, where value is the following:

  • true — Indicates the ARC console’s 42-year time offset is in effect.

  • Any other value indicates that the normal UNIX epoch is assumed (for Alpha-based systems only).

• ZONE=filename — Indicates the timezone file under /usr/share/zoneinfo that /etc/localtime is a copy of, such as: ZONE="America/New York". Identifies the timezone file copied into /etc/localtime, such as ZONE="America/New York". Timezone files are stored in /usr/share/zoneinfo.

/etc/sysconfig/desktop

The /etc/sysconfig/desktop file specifies the desktop manager to be run, such as:

DESKTOP="GNOME"

/etc/sysconfig/dhcpd

The /etc/sysconfig/dhcpd file is used to pass arguments to the dhcpd daemon at boot time. The dhcpd daemon implements the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and the Internet Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP). DHCP and BOOTP assign hostnames to machines on the network. For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man dhcpd.

/etc/sysconfig/firstboot

Beginning with Red Hat Linux 8.0, the first time you boot the system, the /sbin/init program calls the etc/rc.d/init.d/firstboot script. This allows the user to install additional applications and documentation before the boot process completes. The /etc/sysconfig/firstboot file tells the firstboot command not to run on subsequent reboots. If you want firstboot to run the next time you boot the system, simply remove /etc/sysconfig/firstboot and execute chkconfig --level 5 firstboot on.

/etc/sysconfig/gpm

The /etc/sysconfig/gpm file is used to pass arguments to the gpm daemon at boot time. The gpm daemon is the mouse server which allows mouse acceleration and middle-click pasting. For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man gpm. By default, it sets the mouse device to /dev/mouse.

/etc/sysconfig/harddisks

The /etc/sysconfig/harddisks file allows you to tune your hard drive(s). You can also use /etc/sysconfig/hardiskhd[a-h], where a-h are the unique identifiers for the desired drive, to configure parameters for specific drives.

Warning

Do not make changes to this file lightly. If you change the default values stored here, you could corrupt all of the data on your hard drive(s).

The /etc/sysconfig/harddisks file may contain the following:

• USE_DMA=1, where setting this to 1 enables DMA. However, with some chipsets and hard-drive combinations, DMA can cause data corruption. Check with your hard-drive documentation or manufacturer before enabling this.

• Multiple_IO=16, where a setting of 16 allows for multiple sectors per I/O interrupt. When enabled, this feature reduces operating system overhead by 30 to 50 percent. Use with caution.

• EIDE_32BIT=3 enables (E)IDE 32-bit I/O support to an interface card.

• LOOKAHEAD=1 enables drive read-lookahead.

• EXTRA_PARAMS= specifies where extra parameters can be added.

/etc/sysconfig/hwconf

The /etc/sysconfig/hwconf file lists all the hardware that kudzu detected on your system, as well as the drivers used, vendor ID, and device ID information. The kudzu program detects and configures new and/or changed hardware on a system. The /etc/sysconfig/hwconf file is not meant to be manually edited. If you do edit it, devices could suddenly show up as being added or removed.

/etc/sysconfig/i18n

The /etc/sysconfig/i18n file sets the default language, such as:

LANG="en_US"

/etc/sysconfig/identd

The /etc/sysconfig/identd file is used to pass arguments to the identd daemon at boot time. The identd daemon returns the username of processes with open TCP/IP connections. Some services on the network, such as FTP and IRC servers, will complain and cause slow responses if identd is not running. But in general, identd is not a required service, so if security is a concern, you should not run it. For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man identd. By default, the file contains no parameters.

/etc/sysconfig/init

The /etc/sysconfig/init file controls how the system will appear and function during the boot process. The following values may be used:

• BOOTUP=value, where value is one of the following:

  • BOOTUP=color means the standard color boot display, where the success or failure of devices and services starting up is shown in different colors.

  • BOOTUP=verbose means an old-style display, which provides more information than purely a message of success or failure.

  • Anything else means a new display, but without ANSI formatting.

• RES_COL=value, where value is the number of the column of the screen to start status labels. Defaults to 60.

• MOVE_TO_COL=value, where value moves the cursor to the value in the RES_COL line. Defaults to ANSI sequences output by echo -e.

• SETCOLOR_SUCCESS=value, where value sets the color to a color indicating success. Defaults to ANSI sequences output by echo -e, setting the color to green.

• SETCOLOR_FAILURE=value, where value sets the color to one indicating failure. Defaults to ANSI sequences output by echo -e, setting the color to red.

• SETCOLOR_WARNING=value, where value sets the color to one indicating warning. Defaults to ANSI sequences output by echo -e, setting the color to yellow.

• SETCOLOR_NORMAL=value, where value sets the color to “normal.” Defaults to ANSI sequences output by echo -e.

• LOGLEVEL=value, where value sets the initial console logging level for the kernel. The default is 7; 8 means everything (including debugging); 1 means nothing except kernel panics. syslogd will override this once it starts.

• PROMPT=value, where value is one of the following boolean values:

  • yes — Enables the key check for interactive mode.

  • no — Disables the key check for interactive mode.

/etc/sysconfig/ipchains

The /etc/sysconfig/ipchains file contains information used by the kernel to set up ipchains packet-filtering rules at boot time or whenever the service is started. This file is modified by typing the command /sbin/service ipchains save when valid ipchains rules are in place. You should not manually edit this file. Instead, use the /sbin/ipchains command to configure the necessary packet filtering rules and then save the rules to this file using /sbin/service ipchains save.

Note

Use of ipchains to set up firewall rules is not recommended as it is deprecated and may disappear from future releases of Red Hat Linux. If you need a firewall, use iptables instead.

/etc/sysconfig/iptables

Like /etc/sysconfig/ipchains, the /etc/sysconfig/iptables file stores information used by the kernel to set up packet-filtering services at boot time or whenever the service is started. You should not modify this file by hand unless you are familiar with how to construct iptables rules. The simplest way to add rules is to use the /usr/sbin/lokkit command or the gnome-lokkit graphical application to create your firewall. Using these applications will automatically edit this file at the end of the process.

If you wish, you can manually create rules using /sbin/iptables and then type /sbin/service iptables save to add the rules to the /etc/sysconfig/iptables file. Once this file exists, any firewall rules saved there will persist through a system reboot or a service restart.

Cross-Reference

For more information on iptables, see Chapter 22.

/etc/sysconfig/irda

The /etc/sysconfig/irda file controls how infrared devices on your system are configured at startup. The following values may be used:

• IRDA=value, where value is one of the following boolean values:

  • yes — irattach will be run, which periodically checks to see if anything is trying to connect to the infrared port, such as another notebook computer attempting to make a network connection. For infrared devices to work on your system, this line must be set to yes.

  • no — irattach will not be run, preventing infrared device communication.

• DEVICE=value, where value is the device (usually a serial port) that handles infrared connections.

• DONGLE=value, where value specifies the type of dongle being used for infrared communication. This setting exists for people who use serial dongles rather than real infrared ports. A dongle is a device that is attached to a traditional serial port to communicate via infrared. This line is commented out by default because notebooks with real infrared ports are far more common than computers with add-on dongles.

• DISCOVERY=value, where value is one of the following boolean values:

  • yes — Starts irattach in discovery mode, meaning it actively checks for other infrared devices. This needs to be turned on in order for the machine to be actively looking for an infrared connection (meaning the peer that does not initiate the connection).

  • no — Does not start irattach in discovery mode.

/etc/sysconfig/keyboard

The /etc/sysconfig/keyboard file controls the behavior of the keyboard. The following values may be used:

• KEYBOARDTYPE=sun|pc, which is used on SPARCs only. sun means a Sun keyboard is attached on /dev/kbd, and pc means a PS/2 keyboard is connected to a PS/2 port.

• KEYTABLE=file, where file is the name of a keytable file. For example: KEYTABLE="us". The files that can be used as keytables start in /usr/lib/kbd/keymaps/i386 and branch into different keyboard layouts from there, all labeled file.kmap.gz. The first file found beneath /usr/lib/kbd/keymaps/i386 that matches the KEYTABLE setting is used.

/etc/sysconfig/kudzu

The /etc/sysconfig/kuzdu allows you to specify a safe probe of your system’s hardware by kudzu at boot time. A safe probe is one that disables serial port probing.

• SAFE=value, where value is one of the following:

  • yes — kuzdu does a safe probe.

  • no — kuzdu does a normal probe.

/etc/sysconfig/mouse

The /etc/sysconfig/mouse file is used to specify information about the available mouse. The following values may be used:

• FULLNAME=value, where value refers to the full name of the kind of mouse being used.

• MOUSETYPE=value, where value is one of the following:

  • microsoft — A Microsoft mouse.

  • mouseman — A MouseMan mouse.

  • mousesystems — A Mouse Systems mouse.

  • ps/2 — A PS/2 mouse.

  • msbm — A Microsoft bus mouse.

  • logibm — A Logitech bus mouse.

  • atibm — An ATI bus mouse.

  • logitech — A Logitech mouse.

  • mmseries — An older MouseMan mouse.

  • mmhittab — An mmhittab mouse.

• XEMU3=value, where value is one of the following boolean values:

  • yes — The mouse has only two buttons, but three mouse buttons should be emulated.

  • no — The mouse already has three buttons.

• XMOUSETYPE=value, where value refers to the kind of mouse used when X is running. The options here are the same as those provided by the MOUSETYPE setting in this same file.

• DEVICE=value, where value is the mouse device. In addition, /dev/mouse is a symbolic link that points to the actual mouse device.

/etc/sysconfig/named

The /etc/sysconfig/named file is used to pass arguments to the named daemon at boot time. The named daemon is a Domain Name System (DNS) server, which implements the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) version 9 distribution. This server maintains a table of which hostnames are associated with IP addresses on the network. Currently, only the following values may be used:

• ROOTDIR=/some/where, where /some/where refers to the full directory path of a configured chroot environment under which named will run. This chroot environment must first be configured. Type info chroot for more information on how to do this.

• OPTIONS="value", where value is any option listed in the man page for named except -t. In place of -t, use the ROOTDIR line above.

For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man named. By default, the file contains no parameters.

Cross-Reference

For detailed information on how to configure a BIND DNS server, see Chapter 16.

/etc/sysconfig/netdump

The /etc/sysconfig/netdump file is the configuration file for the /etc/init.d/netdump service. The netdump service sends both oops data and memory dumps over the network. In general, netdump is not a required service, so you should run it only if you absolutely need to. For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man netdump.

/etc/sysconfig/network

The /etc/sysconfig/network file is used to specify information about the desired network configuration. The following values may be used:

• NETWORKING=value, where value is one of the following boolean values:

  • yes — Networking should be configured.

  • no — Networking should not be configured.

• HOSTNAME=value, where value should be the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), such as hostname.domain.com, but can be whatever hostname you want.

  Note

  For compatibility with older software that people might install (such as trn), the /etc/HOSTNAME file and the /etc/sysconfig/network file should contain the same value.

• GATEWAY=value, where valueis the IP address of the network’s gateway.

• GATEWAYDEV=value, where value is the gateway device, such as eth0.

• NISDOMAIN=value, where value is the NIS domain name.

/etc/sysconfig/ntpd

The /etc/sysconfig/ntpd file is used to pass arguments to the ntpd daemon at boot time. The ntpd daemon sets and maintains the system clock to synchronize with an Internet standard time server. It implements version 4 of the Network Time Protocol (NTP). For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, point a browser at the following file: /usr/share/doc/ntp-version/ntpd.htm (where version is the version number of ntpd). By default, this file sets the owner of the ntpd process to the user ntp.

/etc/sysconfig/pcmcia

The /etc/sysconfig/pcmcia file is used to specify PCMCIA configuration information. The following values may be used:

• PCMCIA=value, where value is one of the following:

  • yes — PCMCIA support should be enabled.

  • no — PCMCIA support should not be enabled.

• PCIC=value, where value is one of the following:

  • i82365 — The computer has an i82365-style PCMCIA socket chipset.

  • tcic — The computer has a tcic-style PCMCIA socket chipset.

• PCIC_OPTS=value, where value is the socket driver (i82365 or tcic) timing parameters.

• CORE_OPTS=value, where value is the list of pcmcia_core options.

• CARDMGR_OPTS=value, where value is the list of options for the PCMCIA cardmgr (such as -q for quiet mode, -m to look for loadable kernel modules in the specified directory, and so on). Read the cardmgr man page for more information.

/etc/sysconfig/radvd

The /etc/sysconfig/radvd file is used to pass arguments to the radvd daemon at boot time. The radvd daemon listens to for router requests and sends router advertisements for the IP version 6 protocol. This service allows hosts on a network to dynamically change their default routers based on these router advertisements. For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man radvd. By default, this file sets the owner of the radvd process to the user radvd.

/etc/sysconfig/rawdevices

The /etc/sysconfig/rawdevices file is used to configure raw device bindings, such as:

/dev/raw/raw1 /dev/sda1 /dev/raw/raw2 8 5

/etc/sysconfig/redhat-config-users

The /etc/sysconfig/redhat-config-users file is the configuration file for the graphical application User Manager. Under Red Hat Linux 8.0, this file is used to filter out system users such as root, daemon, and lp. This file is edited via the Preferences > Filter system users and groups pull-down menu in the User Manager application and should not be edited manually. For more information on using this application, see Chapter 7.

/etc/sysconfig/redhat-logviewer

The /etc/sysconfig/redhat-logviewer file is the configuration file for the graphical, interactive log viewing application Log Viewer. This file is edited via the Edit > Preferences pull-down menu in the Log Viewer application and should not be edited manually.

/etc/sysconfig/samba

The /etc/sysconfig/samba file is used to pass arguments to the smbd and the nmbd daemons at boot time. The smbd daemon offers file-sharing connectivity for Windows clients on the network. The nmbd daemon offers NetBIOS-over-IP naming services. For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man smbd. By default, this file sets smbd and nmbd to run in daemon mode.

/etc/sysconfig/sendmail

The /etc/sysconfig/sendmail file allows messages to be sent to one or more recipients, routing the message over whatever networks are necessary. The file sets the default values for the Sendmail application to run. Its default values are to run as a background daemon, and to check its queue once an hour in case something has backed up and stalled the process. The following values may be used:

• DAEMON=value, where value is one of the following boolean values:

  • yes — Sendmail should be configured to listen to port 25 for incoming mail. yes implies the use of Sendmail's -bd options.

  • no — Sendmail should not be configured to listen to port 25 for incoming mail.

• QUEUE=1h, which is given to Sendmail as -q$QUEUE. The -q option is not given to Sendmail if /etc/sysconfig/sendmail exists and QUEUE is empty or undefined.

/etc/sysconfig/soundcard

The /etc/sysconfig/soundcard file is generated by sndconfig and should not be modified. The sole use of this file is to determine what card entry in the menu to pop up by default the next time sndconfig is run. Sound card configuration information is located in the /etc/modules.conf file. It may contain the following:

• CARDTYPE=value, where value is set to, for example, SB16 for a Soundblaster 16 sound card.

/etc/sysconfig/squid

The /etc/sysconfig/squid file is used to pass arguments to the squid daemon at boot time. The squid daemon is a proxy caching server for Web client applications. For more information on configuring a squid proxy server, use a Web browser to open the /usr/share/doc/squid-version/ directory (replace version with the squid version number installed on your system). By default, this file sets squid to start in daemon mode and sets the amount of time before it shuts itself down.

/etc/sysconfig/tux

The /etc/sysconfig/tux file is the configuration file for the Red Hat Content Accelerator (formerly known as TUX), the kernel-based Web server. For more information on configuring the Red Hat Content Accelerator, use a Web browser to open the /usr/share/doc/tux-version/tux/index.html file (replace version with the version number of TUX installed on your system). The parameters available for this file are listed in /usr/share/doc/tux-version/tux/parameters.html.

/etc/sysconfig/ups

The /etc/sysconfig/ups file is used to specify information about any Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) connected to your system. A UPS can be very valuable for a Red Hat Linux system because it gives you time to correctly shut down the system in the case of power interruption. The following values may be used:

• SERVER=value, where value is one of the following:

  • yes — A UPS device is connected to your system.

  • no — A UPS device is not connected to your system.

• MODEL=value, where value must be one of the following or set to NONE if no UPS is connected to the system:

  • apcsmart — For an APC SmartUPSTM or similar device.

  • fentonups — For a Fenton UPSTM.

  • optiups — For an OPTI-UPSTM device.

  • bestups — For a Best PowerTM UPS.

  • genericups — For a generic brand UPS.

  • ups-trust425+625 — For a TrustTM UPS.

• DEVICE=value, where value specifies where the UPS is connected, such as /dev/ttyS0.

• OPTIONS=value, where value is a particular command that needs to be passed to the UPS.

/etc/sysconfig/vncservers

The /etc/sysconfig/vncservers file configures the way the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) server starts up. VNC is a remote display system which allows you to view a desktop environment not only on the machine where it is running but across different networks on a variety of architectures. It may contain the following:

• VNCSERVERS=value, where value is set to something like 1:fred, to indicate that a VNC server should be started for user fred on display :1. User fred must have set a VNC password using vncpasswd before attempting to connect to the remote VNC server.

Note that when you use a VNC server, your communication with it is unencrypted, and so it should not be used on an untrusted network. For specific instructions concerning the use of SSH to secure the VNC communication, see http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/sshvnc.html. To find out more about SSH, see Chapter 24.

/etc/sysconfig/xinetd

The /etc/sysconfig/xinetd file is used to pass arguments to the xinetd daemon at boot time. The xinetd daemon starts programs that provide Internet services when a request to the port for that service is received. For more information about what parameters you can use in this file, type man xinetd. For more information on the xinetd service, see Chapter 21.

Directories in the /etc/sysconfig/ Directory

The following directories are normally found in /etc/sysconfig/.

apm-scripts

This contains the Red Hat APM suspend/resume script. You should not edit this file directly. If you need customization, simply create a file called /etc/sysconfig/apm-scripts/apmcontinue and it will be called at the end of the script. Also, you can control the script by editing /etc/sysconfig/apmd.

cbq

This directory contains the configuration files needed to do Class Based Queuing for bandwidth management on network interfaces.

networking

This directory is used by the Network Administration Tool (redhat-config-network), and its contents should not be edited manually. For more information about configuring network interfaces using the Network Administration Tool, see Chapter 13.

network-scripts

This directory contains the following network-related configuration files:

• Network configuration files for each configured network interface, such as ifcfg-eth0 for the eth0 Ethernet interface.

• Scripts used to bring up and down network interfaces, such as ifup and ifdown.

• Scripts used to bring up and down ISDN interfaces, such as ifup-isdn and ifdown-isdn.

• Various shared network function scripts that should not be edited directly.

  Cross-Reference

  For more information on the network-scripts directory, see Chapter 12.

rhn

This directory contains the configuration files and GPG keys for Red Hat Network. No files in this directory should be edited by hand. For more information on Red Hat Network, see the Red Hat Network website at https://rhn.redhat.com.