User:Zulu Foxtrott/GentooOnARM/EasyInstall/SystemConfiguration

Setting a hostname
One of the choices the user has to make is name his/her system. This seems to be quite easy, but lots of users are having difficulties finding the appropriate name for their Linux system. To speed things up, know that the decision is not final - it can be changed afterwards. The example below sets the target system's hostname to tux.

Setting a temporary root password
The root Linux account is an all-powerful account, so pick a strong password. The temporary root password must be changed on first login as soon as the target system successfully booted Gentoo. This will of course be mentioned later on in the instructions again, but better set up a reminder now so no oversight will happen.

To set a temporary root password the file needs to be manipulated. For basic security reasons passwords in are not stored in plaintext, instead only a hash of the password is recorded.

To calculate such a hash for the password of choice the command from the  program can be used. Add the  option to use the relatively secure SHA512 algorithm.

First, will ask for the password, so type it in. While typing in the password of choice there will be no indication that any input is received, as this would allow an onlooker to record the length of the password. Press when done. Second, will ask for verification of the password, so type it in once more (as before there will be no indication that any input is received) and again conclude with pressing. Finally the hash of the password will be displayed as output:

In the example the password "gentoo" was used. It is strongly advised not to use the same.

The calculated hash now has to be placed in the file.

TODO: really?!

To place the calculated hash in the file in a graphical environment simply use the mouse to copy the hash. In case no mouse is available use pen and paper to note the hash down. Now, open :

Modify the line that begins with the string  by pasting the hash directly behind the first colon. With the hash that was calculated for the example password "gentoo" the resulting line would look like this:

Init and boot configuration
Gentoo (at least when using OpenRC) uses to configure the services, startup, and shutdown of a system. Open up and enjoy all the comments in the file. Review the settings and change where needed.

Next, open to handle keyboard configuration. Edit it to configure and select the right keyboard.

Take special care with the keymap variable. If the wrong keymap is selected, then weird results will come up when typing on the keyboard.

Finally, edit to set the clock options. Edit it according to personal preference.

If the hardware clock is not using UTC, then it is necessary to set  in the file. Otherwise the system might show clock skew behavior.

Next
Configuring the bootloader