2. Setting Up

2.1. Introduction

We need to setup our machine properly so that we do not face issues at a later stage.

This chapter is the pre-requisite for the whole document to be completed successfully.

2.2. Steps

  • Download and install Ubuntu Server 16.04.2 LTS on a Virtual Machine.
  • Here are the output of the commands uname -a and cat /etc/lsb-release file.
rishi@rishi-VirtualBox:~$ uname -a
Linux rishi-VirtualBox 4.4.0-24-generic #43-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jun 8 19:27:37 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

rishi@rishi-VirtualBox:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=16.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=xenial
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 16.04 LTS"

2.3. Why a Virtual Machine

  • The machine where you will play should be a virtual machine so that your invalid setting to the kernel or any other configuration should not effect your base host machine. During this whole book you will write code which CAN end up shutting down the system or corrupting the system. Doing all this stuff on a virtual machine will help us in running the code on a different machine, thus saving our machines from the catastrophic failures.
  • The virtual machine should have at least 2 cores and 512 MB of RAM. This will make the kernel compilation fast.
  • Take a snapshot/clone of the machine once you are done with the installation. This will enable you to revert your machine to the original state in case you mess up with it too badly.

2.4. Install Packages

Install the following packages.

vim
gcc
openssh-server
gdb
tree
cscope
ctags

The script below will help you in this.

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#! /usr/bin/bash

PACKAGES="vim gcc openssh-server gdb tree ctags cscope make"

for package in ${PACKAGES}; do
    sudo apt-get install ${package}
done