[2024-feb-29] Sad news: Eric Layton aka Nocturnal Slacker aka vtel57 passed away on Feb 26th, shortly after hospitalization. He was one of our Wiki's most prominent admins. He will be missed.

Welcome to the Slackware Documentation Project

HOWTO articles

An overview of HOWTO articles that may or may not have a relation to Slackware.
Application or hardware HOWTO's are welcome too.

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How-To Category Directories

PageDescription
HOWTO articles - CloudHOWTO articles - Cloud Cloud is the buzz word of these days. We have a series of articles that will help you understand what cloud services are, how they can work in your advantage, and how you can run Slackware in the cloud. Commercial Cloud Services
HOWTO articles - DatabasesHOWTO articles - Databases This section contains how to articles intended to guide users to setup and maintain various database systems on Slackware based systems. Overview of Slackware Administration HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page
HOWTO articles - EmulatorsHOWTO articles - Emulators Linux users often grew up using other computer Operating Systems and playing their games on Consoles. After making the switch to a Linux based desktop, no one is keeping you from enjoying those old environments, because emulator software has been written for a great many of those old platforms. Looking for a way to play your old Commodore games? Or MS DOS? Or Atari, ZX Spectrum, or
HOWTO articles - GamesHOWTO articles - Games A collection of articles about playing games, or hosting game servers on your Linux computer. Overview of Games HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page
HOWTO articles - General AdministrationHOWTO articles - General Administration This section contains How-To articles for system administration tasks that exist in multiple Linux and Unix based distributions Overview of Slackware Administration HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page
HOWTO articles - HardwareHOWTO articles - Hardware This section contains How-To articles for hardware drivers and configurations including virtualization and emulation platforms. Architecture Specific HOWTOS Overview of Hardware HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page
HOWTO articles - MiscellaneousHOWTO articles - Miscellaneous This section contains how to articles which do not fit within any of the other main HOWTO categories. Overview of Slackware Miscellaneous HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page
HOWTO articles - MultimediaHOWTO articles - Multimedia This section contains how to articles intended to guide users to setup and maintain multimedia apps on Slackware based systems. Overview of Slackware Multimedia HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page
HOWTO articles - Network ServicesHOWTO articles - Network Services This section contains how to articles intended to guide users to setup and maintain various network services on Slackware based systems. Overview of Slackware Network Services HOWTOS howtos topic_page
HOWTO articles - SecurityHOWTO articles - Security Securing your computer is an ongoing process. The following guides will help you secure your Slackware installation, be it for server, workstation or laptop needs. Make sure you subscribe to the slackware-security mailing list. All security announcements since 1999 are available on
HOWTO articles - Slackware AdministrationHOWTO articles - Slackware Administration Although Slackware tries to limit distribution specific tools compared to other distributions, there are a few cases where specific tasks are unique to Slackware. This section contains those special cases.
HOWTO articles - SoftwareHOWTO articles - Software This section contains How-To articles for software that does not fit into the following categories: * Slackware Admin * General Admin * Cloud * Databases * Emulators * Multimedia * Network Services * Security * Window Managers Overview of Slackware Administration HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page
HOWTO articles - Window ManagersHOWTO articles - Window Managers This section contains how to articles intended to guide users to setup and maintain window managers on Slackware based systems. Overview of Slackware Administration HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page

Non-Categorized HOWTOS

PageDescriptionTags
Anatomy Of a SlackbuildAnatomy Of a Slackbuild Preamble I guess all Slackware users will have used at sometime a SlackBuild script in order to create a package of software that could be easily and cleanly installed and removed later if needed. My experience was that I ran the SlackBuild script to create a package and never actually looked at the code it contained until one day the source version did not match that stated in the script.
Web Dev primarily HTML and PHPWeb Dev primarily HTML and PHP I'm going to give an overview of web development for users of Slackware.It's going to be from the perspective of approaches for a budding web developer who uses Slackware, the problems you might face due to using Slackware Linux and an eclectic look at what tools are available to help you, starting simplest first.
Biff's Slackware Tips for NoobsBiff's Slackware Tips for Noobs Introduction I was going to call this page 'Slackware for Dummies' however there's a book of the same name on Amazon :-(. I've accumulated a few bits and pieces that I feel are useful for people starting out in Slackware but which are too small to warrant their own HOWTOs. If you feel I should break anything out into its own HOWTO please add comments in the discussion section. Please also be aware that some of this is about opinion, and just one person's opin…, , ,
Checking a Slackware VersionChecking a Slackware Version To check which version of Slackware you are running, we have two means that are widely used and practical, the first is to read the slackware-version file, which is located in the /etc/ directory. For this you can run the, , , ,
How to connect mysql client over SSH tunnel to Mariadb serverHow to connect mysql client over SSH tunnel to Mariadb server For setting up your working Mariadb server, read this howto. You may want to connect clients to the database server over network securely. Instead of using TLS (which is available natively) for this, the same can also be achieved by tunneling over SSH by following the below steps., , , , ,
Devastator, Scroll Lock and I3WM keyboardDevastator, Scroll Lock and I3WM keyboard I recently received a donation from cryptographic friend Ayr, a Devastator CM-STORM keyboard from Cooler Master. A keyboard that is beautiful, soft and enjoyable to use. However I faced a very annoying problem on my I3wm. Because it is a keyboard that has LEDs, its function works through Scroll Lock., , , ,
The Cross Syntax Cheat Sheet: DokuWiki versus AsciiDoc MarkupsThe Cross Syntax Cheat Sheet: DokuWiki versus AsciiDoc Markups Introduction At time of writing, SlackDocs uses a DokuWiki engine to convert the wiki pages (plain text including markup) to xhtml text. Converting the DokuWiki markup to AsciiDoc markup can ease the work of translators of DokuWiki pages, as the application po4a, that allows to produce PO files ready for translation, can handle the AsciiDoc markup but not the DokuWiki markup.
Enabling Sudo on SlackwareEnabling Sudo on Slackware Sudo, substitute user of (Super User) or Super user of (acting as super user) has a big role on UNIX Likes systems, sudo allows ordinary users to temporarily get privileges from another user, widely used for the privileges of the superuser root., , , ,
Get acquainted with SlackwareGet acquainted with Slackware Introduction This document is intended to allow people who have already used another “Unix-like” system to get quickly acquainted with Slackware. We assume that the reader: * knows the main Unix commands and the associated concepts,
How-to translate a document in AsciiDoc formatHow-to translate a document in AsciiDoc format Introduction According to its Home Page: " AsciiDoc is a text document format for writing notes, documentation, articles, books, ebooks, slideshows, web pages, man pages and blogs. AsciiDoc files can be translated to many formats including, ,
Internationalization and localization of shell scriptsInternationalization and localization of shell scripts Presentation Purpose, scope and intended audience This document is intended to help developers, maintainers and translators to write/maintain/translate internationalized then localized shell scripts, using the tools provided by GNU gettext., , , , , , ,
Switching from Lilo to Grub2 (legacy/mode bios mbr)Switching from Lilo to Grub2 (legacy/mode bios mbr) Introduction If you use UEFI and/or GPT, then don't use this. If you still want to use it, you can probably set your UEFI to BIOS legacy mode and deactivate GPT. This is meant to be simple. But the process should be somewhat similar with UEFI/GPT., , ,
Linux HOWTOsLinux HOWTOs The Linux HOWTOs are a collection of documents which cover specific subjects related to GNU/Linux. Most Linux HOWTOs are not tailored to a specific distribution, therefore they are very useful for Slackware Linux users. The linux- howtos package in the “f” software set contains the HOWTO collection. After installing this package the HOWTOs are available from the /usr/doc/Linux-HOWTOs/ directory. Slackware Linux also contains a small collection of Linux-related FAQs (FAQs are docume…,
LXC (Linux Containers)LXC (Linux Containers) Introduction Linux Containers, or LXC, is operating system-level method for running multiple separate isolated Linux installations (containers) on a single host. Rather than simulating the computer hardware as in true virtualization, LXC uses the cgroups and namespaces functionalities of the host's Linux kernel to provide strong isolation of the container. It is an intermediate solution between chroots and full virtualization, having a small impact on system resource usa…
Policy based routingPolicy based routing By default networks packets are routed based on their destination address. Linux supports routing policies, and this allows you to have multiple routing tables and make routing decisions based on other variables. IPIPIPIP IP, , ,
How to run OpenXenManager On SlackwareHow to run OpenXenManager On Slackware ( known to work with Slackware64 14.2) 1) Install Python from Slackware packages. 2) Install pygtk from Slackware packages (not needed for -current) 3) Install configobj from Slackbuilds. 4) Install gtk-vnc from Slackbuilds, use version 0.7.0, and get the corresponding slackbuild from git., , , , ,
Proxying Emails to Your Local Mail Relay ServerProxying Emails to Your Local Mail Relay Server There may be times where you may need to send emails from a machine, that can not do so directly nor thought your local SMTP relay and you have no easy way out for mending the causes. Let's examine some scenarios that would allow you to work around the problem., ,
Script with autostart function and output to defined console.Script with autostart function and output to defined console. There is instruction, how to do script output to console 2,3, or another, and autostart them on computer switch on. In that case we cannot put script start in /etc/rc.d/rc.local file, as always, because in that stage agetty, and consoles not activated, and therefore, script at that stage cannot do output to non-existing at that time, console, therefore, we put it in crontab with special preffix:, , , , , ,
Slackware Docker Image OverviewSlackware Docker Image Overview Slackware docker images are available in the docker image registry. They can be found in hub.docker.com/r/vbatts Building the images You can clone the git repository from github.com/vbatts/slackware-docker Currently, using the installer bootstrap, the mkimage-slackware.sh, , ,
Howto install slackware64 -current with full disk encryption, including swap on LinodeHowto install slackware64 -current with full disk encryption, including swap on Linode The task To have a working virtual machine in Linode, running and tracking Slackware64 -current, with full disk encryption, including swap, using LUKS with a custom partitioning schematic using, , , ,
HOWTO articles - MiscellaneousHOWTO articles - Miscellaneous This section contains how to articles which do not fit within any of the other main HOWTO categories. Overview of Slackware Miscellaneous HOWTOS ---------- howtos topic_page,
Variables in bashVariables in bash Understand the concept of a variable and how to do every process to create your own. What is a variable? A variable as its name implies is to store varied content in a memory location / space, instead of using numbers to make your call, we use tags / names! This makes it easier to make the call, isn't it? Shell variables can receive any content! from a simple string / text, numbers, output status of a command and return output., , , ,
Slackware as a VMWare GuestSlackware as a VMWare Guest Introduction These instructions apply to ESXi 5.5. It's highly likely they also apply to other versions of VMWare, unfortunately you have a lot to choose from taking into account Workstation, Fusion and even Player and I can't test them all. These instructions refer to Slackware 64-bit 14.2 as the guest, and assume Fluxbox WM., , ,
Command line Wireless network (wpa2) in a pinch with WPA-supplicantCommand line Wireless network (wpa2) in a pinch with WPA-supplicant Introduction In some cases and situations it might not be possible to get your wireless network up with more advanced tools, and in such cases it is always useful to know how to get wireless networking up and running with the basic networking tools. This method works in all or most distroes, as they generally have these tools by default., , , ,
Configuring Wireless With wpa_cliConfiguring Wireless With wpa_cli This article is for folks who are choosing not to use NetworkManager for their wireless. If you are running FluxBox or some other lightweight window manager, you may find it useful to configure wireless in the manner described below., ,
Slackware as a Xen DomU GuestSlackware as a Xen DomU Guest Introduction This document explains how to create a guest virtual machine for a Xen environment using HVM (with PV drivers) virtualisation mode. Such a VM could be used on AWS (Amazon Web Services) or with an on-premise Xen setup but has the added advantage that it will still boot into Desktop virtualisation software like VirtualBox, KVM, VMWare as it uses a conventional MBR. There is no requirement to use Grub and we can stick with the familiar LILO., , ,

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