Author: Tian Yi (formyz).
Try UnionTech Linux operating system UOS to see if you can easily control it with your existing Linux experience. So that in some scenarios, there can be one more option. The trial was conducted under the Proxmox VE 8 (PVE 8) platform using the UOS 20 server. The content of the trial includes: operating system installation, differences with major Linux distributions, software installation, etc
InstallationuosOperating system
If you create a VM under PVE 8 and install UOS 20 on the VM, we recommend that you set the CPU type to x86-64-v2-AES, as shown in the following figure.
The Intel-based UOS is available in two versions: 1060A-AMD64 and 1060E-AMD64. The letter "a" stands for the compatible dragon lizard technology route, and the letter "e" is the Jungora technology route. In this trial, version "1060A-AMD64" was used. What are the differences between the two versions is beyond the scope of this discussion.
Mount the good ISO file as a virtual machine CD to the virtual machine (if it is a physical server for installation, you need to burn this ISO file into a bootable U disk or CD), start the virtual machine, and enter the console to install it (as shown in the figure below). The installation is available in both graphic and text forms, which are described below.
Graphical installation
The default positioning of the cursor is to install the operating system graphically, enter, enter the language selection interactive interface, and the default voice is "Chinese Simplified". In the next step, set the two required options "Installation Destination", "Root Password", and "Network Hostname" respectively, as shown in the following figure.
The above steps are exactly the same as those of CentOS and will not be repeated. You must set the required options correctly before you can install it officially (the "Start Installation" button in the lower right corner of the interface will turn from gray to blue), click the "Start Installation" button, and wait for the installation to be automated, as shown in the figure below.
Next, wait for the installation to be carried out automatically, there is a progress bar to display the installation progress in real time (as shown in the figure below), the installation is completed, and the "Restart System" button will turn gray to blue.
Graphically default installation, which can be time-consuming. It is recommended that you select the "Minimum Installation" method when installing the settings. In most scenarios, a desktop environment is not required to remotely operate and manage servers.
Text-based installation
In the UOS system installation boot interface, move the cursor to the second line, and press Enter to enter the text installation mode, as shown in the following figure.
Next, you will be interactively set up by the circled menu items in the image above.
Enter the number "3" on the keyboard and select the installation source. Enter the number "2", select "local ISO file", and enter the character "c" to return to the main interface. Enter the number "5" and select the software you want to install. Enter the number 5 again and select the minimum installation as shown in the image below.
In the above way, set the installation destination, network parameters, and root user "root" password, and enter the character "b" to officially install it, as shown in the following figure.
If everything is set up correctly, the official installation will take place, as shown in the image below.
When selecting the installation source (local ISO file), it may prompt "no mount to local ISO file" file, this may be a bug, ignore it, as long as you go to the last step, enter the character "b" to install.
After the text mode is installed, press the Enter key to restart the system.
and otherslinuxDifferences in operating systems
Here are some of the more notable differences, but not all.
Authorization for initial console login
CentOS or the latest rocky 9, after installation, enter the console to log in, and directly enter the user name and password to enter the system for various operations and management work. The UOS 20 starts the system for the first time, and there is an authorization operation before logging in to the system in the console, and you need to accept the authorization before you can enter the console login interface, as shown in the following figure.
If the network parameters have been set during the installation of UOS 20, then the remote login with the SSH client will not appear in this software authorization process, and you will directly log in to the system.
Password expiration time
The default password expiration time of UOS 20 is 90 days, even if it is not turned on, after 90 days, you need to enter the current password and set a new password before you can enter the system. The setting of the expiration time of the user's password can be found in the real file "etc login."defs", which is located on line 39 of the file (as shown in the image below). Other types of Linux distributions, such as Debian 12, have an expiration time set to 99999 by default
The location of the software repository
The settings for the UOS 20 repository source are also located in the directory "etc yum."repos.d", compared to CentOS or Rocky, there is only one file "uniontechosrepo”。I checked some mainstream mirror sites, and unfortunately, none of the UOS were synchronized.
System updates
Log in to the system as the root account, and enter the command "dnf update" or "yum update" to update the software package if you can connect to the Internet normally, which is exactly the same as CentOS or Rocky, as shown in the following figure.
Commonly used software installation
The following describes three ways to install software on the UOS operating system: package manager, source code, and binary installation package.
Package manager installationphp
The UOS 20 repository repository contains the packages required for PHP installation, which can be confirmed by executing the command "yum list php".
From the output, you can know that the version of the repository can be installed with php 72.24.Run the dnf install php -y command or dnf install php -y to install the actual installation, as shown in the following figure.
After the installation is complete, execute the commands "php -v" and "php -m" to confirm the correct installation.
Source code installationnginx
Use the following command to complete the installation of nginx:
After the installation is complete, run the following command to verify the correctness of the installation:
The output is shown in the figure below.
Binary package installationmysql
Before selecting a MySQL version, you need to query the glibc version of UOS 20 and run the command "rpm -qa|".grep glibc", and the output is "glibc2."28", as shown in the image below.
According to the version number of glibc, it should be **"mysql-80.35-linux-glibc2.28-x86_64.tar.xz”。
Run the following command to complete the installation of MySQL:
Configure MySQL (add an account, grant permissions to the data directory, initialize the database, etc.), start the MySQL database, and connect to it with the client "MySQL" to verify its correctness.
Summary
Through some simple and crude tests above, it can be seen that UOS 20 is not much different from other distributions (especially the CentOS series), and it is easy for technicians with CentOS or other Linux management experience to switch to the UOS 20 operating environment.