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 1. The Control Center Icon

The Control Center Icon

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 desktop's Mandrake Control Center icon (Figure 1).

Figure 2. The Control Center's Main Window

The Control Center's Main Window

Among the few menu entries available, we will detail four of them:

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 1. A Fast Review of Mandrake Graphical Tools

BootSection , “DrakFloppy: Creating a Boot Disk”
 Section , “DrakBoot: Changing your Boot-Up Configuration”
 Section , “DrakAutoInst: Creating a Boot Disk for a (Semi-) Automated Installation”
HardwareSection , “HardDrake: Configuring your Hardware”
 Section , “Configure your monitor”
 Section , “Change your screen resolution”
 Section , “XFDrake: Full-Configuration Video Tool”
 drakxtv: a tool to configure your TV Card.
 Display manager chooser: DrakeDM enables you to choose the X11 Display Manager to be used in order to let users graphically log into the machine. All display managers basically offer the same features, it's a question of taste.
 Section , “KeyboardDrake: Changing your Keyboard Layout”
 Section , “MouseDrake: Changing Your Mouse”
 Section , “PrinterDrake: Configuring Printers”
Mount PointsSection , “DiskDrake: Managing your Hard Drive Partitions”
 Section , “Managing Removable Devices”
 Section , “Importing Remote NFS Directories”
 Section , “Importing Remote SMB Directories”
 an experimental utility to mount remote WebDAV directories.
 Section , “Partition Sharing: Allow Users to Share Directories”
Network & InternetSection , “DrakConnect: Configuring Internet Connections”
 DrakProxy: a simple dialog box which allows you to configure possible proxies your computer may need to use to access the Internet.
 Section , “DrakGw: Configuring Your Machine as a Gateway”
SecuritySection , “DrakSec: Securing your Machine”
 Section , “DrakFirewall: Securing your Internet Access”
SystemSection , “MenuDrake: Customizing Your Menus”
 Section , “DrakXServices: Configuring Start-Up Services”
 Section , “DrakFont: Managing The Fonts Available on Your System”
 Section , “Set Date and Time”
 Section , “LogDrake: Searching Through The Log Files”
 Section , “Access to The Console”
 Section , “UserDrake: Managing Users on Your System”
 Section , “DrakBackup: Back up your System and Personal Files”
Software ManagementChapter 7, 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. This category contains 13 wizards for the basic configuration of common LAN services, as well as web and FTP servers.