What's in DrakConf

Mandrake Control Center is Mandrake Linux's main configuration tool. It enables the system administrator to configure the hardware and the services used for all users. The tools accessible through the Mandrake Control Center greatly simplify the use of the system, notably by avoiding the use of the “evil” command line.

Figure 14.1. The Control Center Icon

The Control Center Icon

You will find this icon in the “Welcome” screen. Mandrake Control Center is also found in the main menu: Configuration->Configure your computer.

Note

Mandrake Control Center is also available from the command line in text mode by running drakconf.

The following image shows you the window which pops up when you click on the icon shown in Figure 14.1.

Figure 14.2. The Control Center's Main Window

The Control Center's Main Window

We will detail four of the available menu entries:

The tools are sorted into six categories (or more depending on the packages installed) on the left of the window. You can open a category by clicking on the label. Following are all the tools and references to the corresponding manual sections.

Table 14.1. A Fast Review of Mandrake Graphical Tools

Bootthe section called “DrakFloppy: Creating a Boot Disk”
 the section called “DrakBoot: Changing your Boot-Up Configuration”
 the section called “DrakAutoInst: Creating a Boot Disk for a (Semi-)Automated Installation”
Hardwarethe section called “HardDrake: Configuring your Hardware”
 the section called “Configure your monitor”
 the section called “Change your screen resolution”
 the section called “XFDrake: Full-Configuration Video Tool”
 DrakxTV: a tool to configure your TV card.
 the section called “KeyboardDrake: Changing your Keyboard Layout”
 the section called “MouseDrake: Changing Your Mouse”
 the section called “PrinterDrake: Configuring Printers”
 the section called “Installing and Using Scanners”
Mount Pointsthe section called “DiskDrake: Managing your Hard Drive Partitions”
 the section called “Managing Removable Devices”
 the section called “Importing Remote NFS Directories”
 the section called “Importing Remote SMB Directories”
 an experimental utility to mount remote WebDAV directories.
 the section called “Partition Sharing: Allow Users to Share Directories”
Network & Internetthe section called “DrakConnect: Configuring Network and Internet Connections”
 DrakProxy: a simple tool which allows you to configure possible proxies your computer may need to use to access the Internet.
 the section called “DrakGw: Configuring Your Machine as a Gateway”
Securitythe section called “DrakSec: Securing Your Machine”
 the section called “DrakPerm: Control File Permissions”
 the section called “DrakFirewall: Securing your Internet Access”
Systemthe section called “MenuDrake: Customizing your Menus”
 Display manager chooser: DrakeDM enables you to choose the X11 Display Manager to be used in order to let users graphically log onto the machine. All display managers basically offer the same features, it's a question of taste.
 the section called “DrakXServices: Configuring Start-Up Services”
 the section called “DrakFont: Managing The Fonts Available on Your System”
 the section called “Set Date and Time”
 the section called “LogDrake: Searching Through The Log Files”
 the section called “UserDrake: Managing Users and Groups on Your System”
 the section called “DrakBackup: Backup and Restore your System and Personal Files”
Software ManagementChapter 21, RpmDrake: Package Management

Note

This last category (Software management) appears only if the rpmdrake package is installed. An eighth category (Configuration Wizards) appears if the wizdrake package is installed. The documentation for those wizards is available inline or in the Quick-Configuration Server Guide. It contains 13 wizards for the basic configuration of common LAN services, as well as web and FTP servers.