The UK Mirror Service FAQs

This guide answers the most Frequently Asked Questions received by the helpline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before contacting the UK Mirror Service with help queries, please look to see if your question is answered below:

I downloaded a program file for Windows. It has not appeared on my desktop so how can I use it?

This is perfectly normal! Most software archives compress data in order to reduce file size and thus the amount of time taken to download files. Windows utilities and programs most commonly use a 'zip' format to compress files and this is probably what you have downloaded. In order to install the program you must first 'unzip' or decompress this file from where you installed it on your hard drive. This will result in a group of uncompressed files which you must also save to your hard drive. One of these files is likely to have a .exe extension. If you run this file then the software installation should begin.

Firstly, however, you need to install a program which will allow you to decompress the zip file you downloaded. 7-zip is one such program. Another possibility would be the cross-platform Info-Zip tools.

For more information on downloading files, see our full user guide.

How can I install the basic Linux Operating System?

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a "basic Linux OS". Linux comes in many flavours, called "distributions", such as Red Hat, Fedora, Debian, Mandrake, Slackware and many others. They're all a little bit different, but the core parts are the same. Try several and see which you like best.

If you are looking for something that will start you off on Linux, you probably want to try one of the more popular distributions such as Ubuntu.

Before you download any Linux operating system from the UK Mirror Service (or anywhere else for that matter) you should consider whether you mind being online for a while. If online time costs a fortune then you're better off going to a distributor such as Red Hat and ordering a set of CDs from them. This is a more suitable option for users with a modem connection, for whom the download may be lengthy and expensive.

For broadband and LAN users, we recommend doing a network install using FTP, HTTP or rsync: most Linux distributions provide a small boot disk that you can download, which will automatically grab the rest of the distribution over the Internet.

If you're trying Linux for the first time, then you're probably best off with a distribution that will boot from a CD without touching your hard drive at all; this will let you experiment with it without fear of damaging your existing system. Knoppix, Gnoppix and SuSE Live-Eval are Linux distributions of this nature, and all of them are available at the UK Mirror Service.

If you want to keep Windows installed as well as Linux, you will first need to reserve space for Linux by repartitioning your hard drive. This can be complicated, especially if you don't want to have to re-install Windows, and is not recommended for new users. Where possible, commission an old or disused PC (and, preferably, a Linux-using friend who can answer your questions) for your first dabblings with Linux, and don't forget to read the installation instructions carefully first!

Also, don't forget that there are other free Unix-like operating systems out there besides Linux; have a look at FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD too.

I know what I am looking for but I can't seem to find it anywhere within the UK Mirror Service.

If you have followed a link to the UK Mirror Service from a source site, click the "Mirrors" link on the home page, then select the mirror of your choice. Alternatively, just insert http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ before the resource's original URL.

Maybe you do not know where the file originates. In this case, try our search faclility.

If your search term gets too many results, narrow it down by providing more specific key words or by searching for a specific platform. On the other hand, too specific a search may result in few or no results, and if you find this, you should use less specific search terms. More search tips are available on the search page.

If your search is in vain, it could be that even with the millions of files held at the UK Mirror Service, the item does not exist. We always welcome recommendations for new mirrors of interest to further and higher education. Recommend a URL via I Want A Mirror.

What username and password do I need to enter your FTP site?

You can access the UK Mirror Service's FTP site without authentication: use username "anonymous" and enter your email address as the password. The UK Mirror Service's FTP site is available at ftp.mirrorservice.org.

Do I need to be at the University of Kent to use the UK Mirror Service?

No: anyone can access the service. However, the primary aim of the service is to offer content of particular use to students and staff at academic institutions, so our first priority is supporting local and other academic users.

I've found an error on the UK Mirror Service!

Please let us know by completing our bug report form, and we'll do our best to fix it.

Can I make a mirror of your site?

Firstly, you probably don't want a mirror of our entire site — you'd need over 11.9 TiB of disk space to do so! (Our rack of disk drives at Kent is six feet tall.)

If you want to mirror an individual site, then we're generally happy to support this, but you must check with the upstream site (i.e. the people we mirror from) first: we have entered into unique agreements with many of our source sites, and direct reproduction is often not possible. We'd also appreciate it if you'd let us know first, particular if your mirroring activities are going to generate a lot of traffic.

Can you help me, my computer has broken?

Due to limited funding we can only offer help with queries which relate directly to the location and downloading of materials from the UK Mirror Service.

Where can I get my dressing table mirror fixed?

Sorry, we're not that kind of mirror service! Try looking at the "Mirrors" section of the Yellow Pages.

I'd like to apply to your university!

The UK Mirror Service is run by the University of Kent's Computer Science department. For information on the computing courses we offer and how to apply for them, please see the recruitment pages or the the department's web site.

What sort of rsync service do we provide?

The rsync program can operate in two ways: it can either talk to an rsync server using the rsync protocol, or it can use ssh (or rsh or a similar tool) to invoke rsync itself on a remote machine. On the UK Mirror Service, we always use the first type. An rsync server provides a list of modules, equivalent to top-level directories; the Mirror Service rsync server provides one module per site (i.e. mirror). These correspond to directories under /sites on the FTP server. For example, our FTP mirror ftp.gnu.org has an rsync module also called ftp.gnu.org. (We also have a sites module which corresponds to the /sites directory itself, but there are some performance issues with this at present, so it doesn't appear yet in the listing of available modules.)

Like most public rsync servers, and like our FTP server, the Mirror Service rsync server is read-only: it doesn't support people writing to it. There are two ways of specifying an rsync server: the old syntax, host::module/path, and the preferred URL-style syntax, rsync://host/module/path/. Our rsync service is available at rsync://rsync.mirrorservice.org/.

What's different between the standard rsyncd and the Mirror Service's rsync server?

Our rsync server is based on the standard rsyncd, with local modifications to integrate it better into our existing software. From the point of view of the user, it should behave exactly the same as any standard rsyncd.

How To Get Mirrored?

Fill in a I want a mirror form or drop us an email, Please provide as much detail as possible and a email address so if we have any queries we can get back to you! Also please consider giving mirrors some sort of recognition with a banner or logo.

Preferably provide the files you want mirrored via rsync or ftp.

We can do web spidering but its not very reliable.

You haven't answered my question here, what can I do?

Remember that we can only deal with queries relating to the location and downloading of materials from the UK Mirror Service. If your query falls into this category and this FAQ page has not offered a solution for your problem, contact us. We will endeavour to resolve your query as soon as possible.