root is the name of the superuser, the administrator of the system. Unlike regular users, who may or may not have permission to do certain things on the system, root has unlimited power to do anything: change the system configuration, install programs, and set up new hardware. If users forget their passwords or have other problems with the system, root can help. The root account should only be used for system administration, maintenance, and repair. Logging in as root for daily work is rather risky: a single mistake could lead to irretrievable loss of system files.

For verification purposes, the password for root must be entered twice. Do not forget the root password. Once entered, this password cannot be retrieved.

When typing passwords, the characters are replaced by dots, so you do not see the string you are typing. If you are unsure whether you typed the correct string, use the Test Keyboard Layout field for testing purposes.

openSUSE can use the DES, MD5, or Blowfish encryption algorithms for passwords. The default encryption type is Blowfish. To change the encryption type, click Expert Options+Encryption Type and select the new type.

The root can be changed any time later in the installed system. To do so run YaST and start Security and Users+User Management.

	The root User
The user root has all the permissions needed to make changes to the system. To carry out such tasks, the root password is required. You cannot carry out any administrative tasks without this password.

The hostname is the computer's name in the network. The domain name is the name of the network. A hostname and domain are proposed by default. If your system is part of a network, the hostname has to be unique in this network whereas the domain name has to be common to all hosts on the network.

In many networks, the system receives its name over DHCP. In this case it is not necessary to modify the hostname and domain name. Select Change Hostname via DHCP instead. To be able to access your system using this hostname, even when it is not connected to the network, select Write Hostname to /etc/hosts. If you often change networks without restarting the desktop environment (e.g. when switching between different WLANs), do not enable this option, because the desktop system may get confused when the hostname in /etc/hosts changes.

To change hostname settings at any time after installation, use YaST Network Devices+Network Card. For more information, see Section “Configuring the Network Card with YaST” (Chapter 20, Basic Networking, ↑Reference).

If you are installing openSUSE on a laptop computer, Interfaces controlled by NetworkManager is enabled. NetworkManager is a tool that enables automatic connection with minimal user intervention. It is ideal for WLAN and mobile computing. If you want to use the traditional method without NetworkManager, click Disable NetworkManager. Find detailed information about NetworkManager in Chapter 10, Managing Network Connections with NetworkManager. If you are installing openSUSE on any other type of machine, the traditional method without NetworkManager is selected by default. This configuration step also lets you configure the network devices of your system and make security settings, for example, for a firewall or proxy.

The network can also be configured after the system installation has been completed. If you skip it now, your system is left offline unable to retrieve any available updates. To configure your network connection later, select Skip Configuration and click Next.

The following network settings can be configured in this step:

	Resetting the Network Configuration to the Default Values
Reset the network settings to the original proposed values by clicking Change+Reset to Defaults. This discards any changes made.

To get technical support and product updates, first register and activate your product. If you are offline or want to skip this step, select Configure Later. This also skips openSUSE online update.

In Include for Convenience, select whether to send unsolicited additional information when registering. Click on Details to obtain in-depth information about data privacy and the data collected.

	Support for openSUSE
Free installation support is only available for customers of the openSUSE retail box. Make sure to specify your Registration Code in order to become entitled for support. Find more information about the free installation support at http://www.novell.com/support/products/opensuse/. Refer to Section 13.7, “Support for openSUSE” for more information on all support options available for openSUSE.

Upon a successful registration, a repository containing official online updates is added to the repository catalog. This repository is used in the following Online Update step to update your system.

If the Registration was successful, select whether to perform a YaST online update. If there are any patched packages available on the servers, download and install them now to fix known bugs or security issues. For detailed instructions see Section “YaST Online Update” (Chapter 3, Online Update, ↑Reference). Directives on how to perform an online update in the installed system are available at Section 3.7, “Keeping the System Up-to-date” or Chapter Online Update (↑Reference).

	Downloading Software Updates
The download of updates might take quite some time, depending on the bandwidth of the Internet connection and the size of the update files. In case the patch system itself is updated, the online update will restart and download more patches after the restart. If the kernel was updated, the system will reboot before completing the configuration.

If network access was configured successfully during the previous steps of the installation, you can now choose from several user management options. If a network connection has not been configured, create local user accounts. For detailed information about user management, see Chapter 5, Managing Users with YaST.

You can also add additional user accounts or change the user authentication method in the installed system. For detailed information about user management, see Chapter 5, Managing Users with YaST .

Along with the selected user administration method, you can use Kerberos authentication. To use Kerberos authentication, select Set Up Kerberos Authentication. For more information on Kerberos, refer to Chapter Network Authentication—Kerberos (↑Reference).

	Content of the Authentication Menu
If you have chosen a custom package selection for installation, not all mentioned authentication methods may be displayed, because the required packages are not installed.

After completing the user authentication setup, YaST displays the release notes. Reading them is recommended, because they contain important up-to-date information which was not available when the manuals were printed. If you successfully tested the Internet connection, read the most recent version of the release notes, as fetched from openSUSE's servers. Use Miscellaneous+Release Notes or start the SUSE Help Center to view the release notes after installation.

At the end of the installation, YaST opens a dialog for the configuration of the graphics card and other hardware components connected to the system, such as printers or sound cards. Click the individual components to start the hardware configuration. For the most part, YaST detects and configures the devices automatically.

You can skip any peripheral devices and configure them later, as described in Chapter 2, Setting Up Hardware Components with YaST . To skip the configuration, select Skip Configuration and click Next.

However, you should configure the graphics card right away. Although the display settings as configured by YaST should be generally acceptable, most users have very strong preferences as far as resolution, color depth, and other graphics features are concerned. To change these settings, select the respective item and set the values as desired.

	Resetting Hardware Configuration to the Default Values
You can cancel any changes to the hardware configuration by clicking Change+Reset to Defaults. YaST then shows the original proposal again.

After a successful installation, YaST shows the Installation Completed dialog. In this dialog, select whether to clone your newly installed system for AutoYaST. To clone your system, select Clone This System for AutoYaST. The profile of the current system is stored in /root/autoyast.xml.

AutoYaST is a system for installing one or more openSUSE systems automatically without user intervention. AutoYaST installations are performed using a control file with installation and configuration data. Finish the installation of openSUSE with Finish in the final dialog.