Administration

Users and root

Daily work is done as a normal user. Administration needs root: in a terminal, su asks for the root password and opens a root shell until exit. Graphical tools ask for the root password themselves; to run any program as root from the desktop, use tazbox su program. 

$ su
Password:
# spk-up
# exit

sudo is not installed by default. If you prefer it, install it and allow your user with visudo: 

# spk-add sudo
# visudo

Users and groups are managed with trame user (see System settings) or the BusyBox commands adduser, deluser, addgroup user group and passwd.

Boot and services

SliTaz uses a simple BusyBox init with no runlevels: /etc/init.d/rcS prepares the system, runs a few scripts and starts the services, all driven by /etc/rcS.conf:

VariableDefaultMeaning
LOAD_MODULESemptyKernel modules to load at boot
CHECK_FSemptyPartitions to check at boot, e.g. "/dev/sda2"
RUN_SCRIPTSbootopts.sh system.sh network.sh local.shBoot scripts
RUN_DAEMONSfirewallServices started at boot, in order
LOGIN_MANAGERslimGraphical login; empty for a text login

Each service is a script in /etc/init.d/, and its options are in /etc/daemons.conf: 

# /etc/init.d/dropbear start
# /etc/init.d/dropbear stop
# trame service enable dropbear       # adds it to RUN_DAEMONS

Your own commands to run at the end of the boot go in /etc/init.d/local.sh. The boot messages are saved in /var/log/boot.log.

Kernel and firmware

SliTaz 5.1 runs Linux 6.12 LTS, package linux-lts, on both architectures. Its modules are split by use, so a small system only installs what it needs:

PackageModules
linux-lts-netWired network cards
linux-lts-wirelessWi-Fi and Bluetooth
linux-lts-wireless-extraLess common Wi-Fi drivers (Broadcom, Atheros ath10k...)
linux-lts-mediaWebcams, TV and video capture
linux-lts-storageDisk controllers, RAID, memory cards
linux-lts-fsFile systems
linux-lts-soundSound cards
linux-lts-inputKeyboards, mice, touchpads, joysticks
linux-lts-hwACPI, sensors, I2C, GPIO
linux-lts-gpuGraphics (DRM)
linux-lts-virtKVM and virtio
linux-lts-crypto, linux-lts-extraEncryption, and less common hardware
linux-lts-module-headersTo build external modules

The desktop images have the common sets, SliTaz Base only the kernel and linux-lts-net. The exFAT, NTFS and F2FS file systems are in linux-lts-fs, WireGuard in linux-lts-net. trame kernel modules list shows the loaded modules, LOAD_MODULES in /etc/rcS.conf loads more at boot. SliTaz Core Retro runs Linux 3.16, package linux, for very old machines.

Many devices need a firmware file: trame hardware firmware tells which, and the firmware-* packages provide them, see Wi-Fi firmware. The firmware-sof package gives sound to recent Intel laptops.

Before upgrading the kernel, keep a live USB key at hand: the rescue entry of the boot menu starts the same kernel and cannot recover from a kernel that does not boot.

Disks and partitions

$ cat /proc/partitions
# blkid
# fdisk -l
$ df -h

To mount a partition by hand, create a directory and mount it; the file system type is detected: 

# mkdir -p /mnt/data
# mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/data
# umount /mnt/data

Partitions mounted at every boot are listed in /etc/fstab, preferably by UUID as given by blkid: 

UUID=0f3c...  /home/data  ext4  defaults  0  2

USB keys and disks are mounted from the file manager or with trame storage. NTFS and exFAT are supported.

Printing and scanning

Printing uses CUPS. Install it with the drivers of your printer: the service starts at once, and enable also starts it at boot: 

# spk-add cups cups-filters gutenprint
# trame service enable cupsd

Then add the printer in the CUPS web page, Manage Printing in the Dash, or http://localhost:631/ in a browser. Drivers: gutenprint and foomatic-db for most printers, hplip for HP, cnijfilter2 for Canon inkjet.

For a scanner, install sane-backends and the xsane application.

Logs

FileHolds
/var/log/messagesSystem and kernel messages
/var/log/boot.logLast boot (previous boots: .0 to .9)
/var/log/network.logNetwork setup
/var/log/Xorg.0.logX server
/var/log/spk/Package installs and upgrades
/var/log/trame.logChanges made by Trame

dmesg shows the kernel messages, trame log view xorg (or kernel, boot, network...) shows a log by name.

Scheduled tasks

BusyBox crond runs scheduled tasks. Edit your table with crontab -e, then start the service and add crond to RUN_DAEMONS: 

# crontab -e
30 3 * * * /usr/sbin/spk-up --check
# /etc/init.d/crond start
# trame service enable crond

Repair a broken system

Reprise diagnoses and repairs a SliTaz system, without network: packages, libraries, users, desktop, sound, network, Xorg. Run it when something stopped working: 

$ reprise                  # diagnose and explain
# reprise --fix            # propose each repair, one by one
# reprise --undo           # restore what the last repairs changed

Before each upgrade, spk-up takes a snapshot, so a bad upgrade can be undone. When the system does not start a session twice in a row, the boot offers to run reprise. You can also choose SliTaz rescue (reprise) in the boot menu, or add reprise to the boot options. From a live system, repair an installed one mounted on /mnt/sda2 with: 

# reprise --rescue=/mnt/sda2

reprise --check gives a quick summary, reprise --report a full report to attach to a bug report. reprise --update-db downloads the latest known fixes from filature.slitaz.org. Every repair is logged in /var/log/reprise.log and the changed files are saved in /var/lib/reprise/backups/.

Security