Topic 17 – Booting and configuration Flashcards
this linux directory is used to hold various log files
describe the linux directory
/var/log
describe the linux file
/var/log/auth.log
contains system authorisation information
describe the linux file
/etc/adduser.conf
this holds configuration information for any new users that are added using the adduser command.
One such setting is the shell that the user should use
the process for this is:
- firmware is ran - BIOS or UEFI locates, loads and executes the operating system bootloader
- kernel loaded - The bootloader locates the linux kernel image and passes control to the kernel
- Decompress the kernel - the kernel image (file named vmlinuz) contains a compressed kernel as well as utilities that can decompress and initialize the kernel. If applicable a RAM disk will be loaded into memory as well and decompressed so that the linux kernel has a temporary file system
-
Initialisation - the kernel now takes control of setting up the system:
- Check system hardware
- Load modules for device drivers
- Mount the proper root file system in place of the RAM disk
-
First user space program ran - linux will load a program named init or systemmd which will be the first process to run on the system and the last. All other processes are child processes of init or systemmd. init or systemd are in charge of:
- starting daemons
- loading the UI
- logging in the user.
describe the
linux boot process
this holds the message of the day banner that can be seen when a remote login is made to the OS
describe the linux file
/etc/motd
describe the linux file
/etc/group
this file holds a list of all groups on the system
this includes:
- was used from the mid 1970s onwards
- was originally stored on read only memory (ROM) but later moved to flash memory so that it could be updated
describe some
history of Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
name 3 advantages of
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)
advantgaes of this include:
- This usually uses the GPT partitioning scheme in place of MBR and because of this it can support disk that are over 2TiB
- More powerfull pre operating system environment such as basic networking capabilities
- secure boot
name 3
essential services that firmware will provide
this will:
- it runs a power-on self-test (POST) program to check for hardware problems
- it provides basic operation of some I/O devices, in particular the keyboard, screen and disk drives
- it starts a program to load the operating system from a disk.
some history of this includes:
- 1998 - intell develops an early version of this called EFI
- 2005 - Other vendors saw the value in EFI and came together to form UEFI as a result on this year the first release of UEFI was released.
for the following dates describe the
history of Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)
- 1998
- 2005
contains system authorisation information
describe the linux file
/var/log/auth.log
describe the process that
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)
takes to load an operating system
the process for this is:
- this firmware will reference its ‘boot manager’
- the boot manager contains a reference of the location of the ESP (EFI system partition)
- within the ESP will be the bootlader necessary to load and execute the operating system
contains information logged by various background daemons.
describe the linux file
/var/log/daemon.log
these are two types of firmware that are able to boot a system and locate a bootloader that will load an operating system
breifly describe
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
and
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)
describe the linux file
/var/log/boot.log
contains information that is logged when the system boots up
this holds configuration information for any new users that are added using the adduser command.
One such setting is the shell that the user should use
describe the linux file
/etc/adduser.conf
this process is:
- locate the bootsector
- if the disk is not partitioned then this will be stored in the first sectort with the MBR
- if the disk is partitioned then this firmware will reference the MBR to find out which partition should be booted (NOTE: each partition will have its own boot sector at the begginning of the partition)
- once the bootsector has been found the bootloader within it is loaded and ran and control is passed to the bootloader
- the bootloader loads and executes the OS and then passes control to the OS
describe the process that
basic input output system (BIOS)
takes to load an operating system
this is software that is stored on non volatile chips and is the first software to run when a system is powered up. This in some sense can be thought of as the boundary between hardware and software
describe
firmware
describe the linux file
/etc/shadow
this file holds the encrypted passwords for each user on the system
describe the linux directory
/var/log
this linux directory is used to hold various log files
this holds file system information such as which file systems should be mounted on boot
describe the linux file
/etc/fstab
what happens once the operating system has been loaded and executed by the bootloader
when this occurs:
- full control is given to the operating system
- any device drivers that were implemented by the firmware (i.e BIOS or UEFI) will be switched with the device drivers that have been configured within the operating system
this is typically stored inside the bootsector which is located on the first sector of the disk so that it is always accessible
however if there are multiple partitions then the bootsector is stored at the start of every partition and the master boot record is referenced in order to find out which partition is bootable
where is the
bootloader stored
describe the linux file
/etc/motd
this holds the message of the day banner that can be seen when a remote login is made to the OS