Hostname and Domain Name

The hostname is the computer's name in the network. The domain name is the name of the network. A hostname and domain are proposed by default. If your system is part of a network, the hostname has to be unique in this network, whereas the domain name has to be common to all hosts on the network.

In many networks, the system receives its name over DHCP. In this case it is not necessary to modify the hostname and domain name. Select Change Hostname via DHCP instead. To be able to access your system using this hostname, even when it is not connected to the network, select Write Hostname to /etc/hosts. If you often change networks without restarting the desktop environment (e.g. when switching between different WLANs), do not enable this option, because the desktop system may get confused when the hostname in /etc/hosts changes.

To change hostname settings at any time after installation, use YaST Network Devices > Network Settings. For more information, see Section 20.4.1, Configuring the Network Card with YaST, (↑ Reference ).

Network Configuration

If you are installing openSUSE on a laptop computer, Interfaces Controlled by NetworkManager is enabled. NetworkManager is a tool that enables automatic connection with minimal user intervention. It is ideal for WLAN and mobile computing. If you want to use the traditional method without NetworkManager, click Disable NetworkManager. Find detailed information about NetworkManager in Section 10.0, Using NetworkManager. If you are installing openSUSE on any other type of machine, the traditional method without NetworkManager is selected by default. This configuration step also lets you configure the network devices of your system and make security settings, for example, for a firewall or proxy.

The network can also be configured after the system installation has been completed. If you skip it now, your system is left offline unable to retrieve any available updates. To configure your network connection later, select Skip Configuration and click Next.

The following network settings can be configured in this step:

General Network Settings

Enable or disable the use of NetworkManager as described above. Also change the IPv6 support here. By default the IPv6 support is enabled. To disable it, click Disable IPv6. For more information about IPv6, see Section 20.2, IPv6—The Next Generation Internet, (↑ Reference ).

Firewall

By default SuSEfirewall2 is enabled on all configured network interfaces. To globally disable the firewall for this computer, click on Disable. If the firewall is enabled, you may Open the SSH port in order to allow remote connections via secure shell. To open the detailed firewall configuration dialog, click on Firewall. See Section 33.4.1, Configuring the Firewall with YaST, (↑ Reference ) for detailed information.

Network Interfaces

All network cards detected by YaST are listed here. If you have already set up a network connection during the installation (as described in Network Setup) the card used for this connection is listed as Configured. A click on Network Interfaces opens the Network Settings dialog, where you can change existing configurations, set up networks cards not configured yet, or add and configure additional cards. See Section 4.2, Internet Connection Via Network for checklists of configuration requirements for the various connection types and Section 20.4.1, Configuring the Network Card with YaST, (↑ Reference ) for configuration details.

DSL Connections, ISDN Adapters, and Modems

If your computer is equipped with an internal DSL modem, an internal ADSL Fritz Card, an ISDN card or a modem, clicking on the respective headline opens the configuration dialog. Refer to Section 4.0, Accessing the Internet for further information.

VNC Remote Administration

To enable remote administration of your machine via VNC, click VNC Remote Administration. Choose Allow Remote Administration in the following dialog and adjust your firewall settings accordingly.

Proxy

If you have a proxy server controlling the Internet access in your network, configure the proxy URLs and authentication details in this dialog.

Registration

To get technical support and product updates, first register and activate your product. If you are offline or want to skip this step, select Configure Later. This also skips openSUSE online update.

In Include for Convenience, select whether to send unsolicited additional information when registering. Click on Details to obtain in-depth information about data privacy and the data collected.

Upon a successful registration, a repository containing official online updates is added to the repository catalog. This repository is used in the following Online Update step to update your system.

Online Update

If the Registration was successful, select whether to perform a YaST online update. If there are any patched packages available on the servers, download and install them now to fix known bugs or security issues. For detailed instructions see Section 5.0, YaST Online Update, (↑ Reference ). Directives on how to perform an online update in the installed system are available at Section 3.3, Keeping the System Up-to-date or Section 5.0, YaST Online Update, (↑ Reference ).

New Local User

In addition to the user created in part one of the installation, you can create an additional user in this dialog. To create more users, manage groups, modify defaults for new users and set up network authentication, launch the User Management. Refer to Section 5.0, Managing Users with YaST for more information about user management. To skip this step, just click Next without entering any data.

Release Notes

After completing the user authentication setup, YaST displays the release notes. Reading them is recommended, because they contain important up-to-date information which was not available when the manuals were printed. If you successfully tested the Internet connection, read the most recent version of the release notes, as fetched from openSUSE's servers. Use Miscellaneous > Release Notes in YaST or start the SUSE Help Center to view the release notes after installation.

Hardware Configuration

At the end of the installation, YaST opens a dialog for the configuration of the graphics card and other hardware components connected to the system, such as printers or sound cards. Click the individual components to start the hardware configuration. For the most part, YaST detects and configures the devices automatically.

You can skip any peripheral devices and configure them later, as described in Section 2.0, Setting Up Hardware Components with YaST. To skip the configuration, select Skip Configuration and click Next.

However, when setting up a desktop system you should configure the graphics card right away. Although the display settings as configured by YaST should be generally acceptable, most users have very strong preferences as far as resolution, color depth, and other graphics features are concerned. To change these settings, select the respective item and set the values as desired.

Installation Completed

After a successful installation, YaST shows the Installation Completed dialog. In this dialog, select whether to clone your newly installed system for AutoYaST. To clone your system, select Clone This System for AutoYaST. The profile of the current system is stored in /root/autoyast.xml.

AutoYaST is a system for installing one or more openSUSE systems automatically without user intervention. AutoYaST installations are performed using a control file with installation and configuration data. Finish the installation of openSUSE with Finish in the final dialog.