When logged in as user root, making a
single mistake can damage or destroy a system. Therefore, the
packages in the next two chapters are built as an unprivileged user.
You could use your own user name, but to make it easier to set up a
clean working environment, we will create a new user called
lfs as a member of a new group (also
named lfs) and run commands as
lfs during the installation process.
As root, issue the following commands
to add the new user:
groupadd lfs useradd -s /bin/bash -g lfs -m -k /dev/null lfs
This is what the command line options mean:
-
-s /bin/bash -
This makes bash the default shell for user
lfs. -
-g lfs -
This option adds user
lfsto grouplfs. -
-m -
This creates a home directory for
lfs. -
-k /dev/null -
This parameter prevents possible copying of files from a skeleton directory (the default is
/etc/skel) by changing the input location to the special null device. -
lfs -
This is the name of the new user.
If you want to log in as lfs or
switch to lfs from a non-root user (as opposed to switching to user
lfs when logged in as root, which does not require the lfs user to have a password), you need to set a
password for lfs. Issue the following
command as the root user to set the
password:
passwd lfs
Grant lfs full access to all the
directories under $LFS by making
lfs the owner:
chown -v lfs $LFS/{usr{,/*},lib*,var,etc,bin,sbin,tools}
![[Note]](../images/note.png)
Note
In some host systems, the following su command does not complete
properly and suspends the login for the lfs user to the background. If the prompt
"lfs:~$" does not appear immediately, entering the fg command will fix the issue.
Next, start a shell running as user lfs. This can be done by logging in as
lfs on a virtual console, or with the
following substitute/switch user command:
su - lfs
The “-” instructs su to start a login shell as
opposed to a non-login shell. The difference between these two types
of shells is described in detail in bash(1) and info bash.