Using openSUSE At BU

  • One popular Linux distribution is openSUSE and it’s commercial version SUSE Linux Enterprise. This page contains information on how to configure an openSUSE computer to work with the BU network. The configuration process has been tested on openSUSE version 11.2 and 11.1, but most should work without much, if any, modification on version 11.0 and 10.3. Earlier versions have some major changes to the handling of network drives so this guide may or may not work with them, and earlier versions do not support Network Manager so the VPN instructions will be of limited usefulness. Disclaimer: These Linux distributions aren’t supported by the BU Linux team, and any technical support will be provided on a best-effort basis.

YaST and Software Installation

  • Basics of working with YaST, openSUSE’s system configuration tool. It is necessary for installing software, and most of the configuration tools in the following section are parts of YaST, so this is essential reading if you are not already familiar with the program.

Network Time Protocol

  • Using BU servers to set the system time. This is highly recommended for on-campus systems. There are also instructions for off-campus users to set the system to use a third-party server

Authentication

  • Logging into your openSUSE machine using your BU username, and kerberos password. This is the recommended setup for on-campus computers.

Samba

  • Accessing directories exported by Windows servers at login (openSUSE 11.1 and later).

Pam Mount

  • Accessing directories exported by Windows servers at login (openSUSE 11.0 and earlier).

VPN

  • Connecting your openSUSE machine to BU, from off-campus.

AFS

Accessing AFS shares. BU makes some software packages, like Matlab and Mathmatica, available via AFS.