How to setup a headless machine

[James Wilkinson]

Arthur Pemberton wrote:
> One thing about this, how would the first boot work? Would I have a head 
> on it for the first boot to configure the vnc server etc? And would I 
> boot the headless machien to runlevel 3 or 5?

The easiest way is to connect a monitor and keyboard for install
purposes: enough to give it at least a network address. You can do the
rest through SSH, but if you prefer graphical interfaces, then yes, you
might find it easier to boot it far enough to configure VNC.

Hint: if you've got a spare keyboard knocking about, and you envisage
turning this thing off much, you might care to leave a keyboard plugged
in. Sometimes it's easier to reboot it using Ctrl-Alt-Delete.


-- 
James Wilkinson       | "The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode, but the
Exeter    Devon    UK | language is that of Microsoft, which I will not utter
E-mail address: james | here. But this in the Common Tongue is what is said:
@westexe.demon.co.uk  | By this or any other name, You are well and truly..."