Gentoo
From LinodeWiki
Contents |
[edit] Installation
Gentoo setup - A step-by-step guide from one user's experience with setting up Gentoo from the given Linode Gentoo base image.
[edit] Portage
Since Gentoo's default USE flags are generally more geared for desktop use, it's typically a good idea to change a few specific ones for use on a Linode. These flags aren't all necessary, but are recommended for use on Linode:
USE="-X -gtk -gtk2 -gnome -alsa -qt -kde -svga -xmms"
Or perhaps:
USE="-acl -alsa -cups -doc -fortran -gnome -gpm -gtk -gtk2 ithreads -java -kde -ldap nptl nptlonly -nls -oss -qt -sdl \
-svga threads -X -xmms"
If your Linode has a low memory profile (this typically applies to 64 and 96 Linodes), you may want to edit /etc/make.conf, uncomment MAKEOPTS, and change it from "-j2" to "-j1". This keeps gcc from spawing one too many processes thrashing in swap space.
[edit] free up portage space
http://gentoo-wiki.com/TIP_Exclude_categories_from_emerge_sync
[edit] Emerge
Be aware that emerging large applications or libraries (glibc) can cause a large strain on the server, so watch your io tokens and run it at an off-peak time.
[edit] Package Notes
Keep an eye out when portage marks the following packages for updating:
- glibc - Commonly, updates to glibc require that you restart a number of services, or even better, the entire system. Otherwise, you may notice services like sshd stop working.
- baselayout - During the very rare updates to the baselayout package in portage, many /etc base configuration files are updated. You must watch what files your merging with etc-update to avoid any conflicts with Linode settings such as console or fstab settings.
