We need to create the /etc/nsswitch.conf file. Although glibc should provide defaults when this file is missing or corrupt, its defaults don't work well with networking. That is dealt with in a later chapter. Also, our timezone needs to be set up. Create a new file /etc/nsswitch.conf by running the following: cat > /etc/nsswitch.conf << "EOF" # Begin /etc/nsswitch.conf passwd: files group: files shadow: files publickey: files hosts: files dns networks: files protocols: db files services: db files ethers: db files rpc: db files netgroup: db files # End /etc/nsswitch.conf EOF The tzselect script has to be run and the questions regarding your timezone have to be answered. When you're done, the script will give the location of the needed timezone file. Create the /etc/localtime symlink by running: ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/<tzselect's output> /etc/localtime tzselect's output can be something like EST5EDT or Canada/Eastern. The symlink you'd create with that information would be: ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/EST5EDT /etc/localtime Or: ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/Canada/Eastern /etc/localtime   By default, the dynamic loader (/lib/ld-linux.so.2) searches through /lib and /usr/lib for dynamic libraries that are needed by programs when you run them. However, if there are libraries in directories other than /lib and /usr/lib, you need to add them to the /etc/ld.so.conf file for the dynamic loader to find them. Two directories that are commonly known to contain additional libraries are /usr/local/lib and /opt/lib, so we add those directories to the dynamic loader's search path. Create a new file /etc/ld.so.conf by running the following: cat > /etc/ld.so.conf << "EOF" # Begin /etc/ld.so.conf /usr/local/lib /opt/lib # End /etc/ld.so.conf EOF