RED HAT LINUX INSTALLATION

SYSTEM REQUIRMENTS

 Is Your Hardware Compatible?

Hardware compatibility is particularly important if you have an older system or a system that you built yourself. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 should be compatible with most hardware in systems that were factory built within the last two years.However, hardware specifications change almost daily, so it is difficult to
guarantee that your hardware is 100% compatible. The most recent list of supported hardware can be found at:
 http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/

 Do You Have Enough Disk Space?

Nearly every modern-day operating system (OS) uses disk partitions, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux is no exception. When you install Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you may have to work with disk partitions.The disk space used by Red Hat Enterprise Linux must be separate from the disk space used by other OSes you may have installed on your system, such as Windows, OS/2, or even a different version of Linux. For x86, AMD64, and Intel® 64 systems, at least two partitions (/ and swap) must be dedicated to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For Itanium systems, at least three partitions (/, /boot/efi/, and swap) must be dedicated to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.Before you start the installation process, you must  Have enough un partitioned disk space for the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or Have one or more partitions that may be deleted, thereby freeing up enough disk space to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

1.3. Can You Install Using the CD-ROM or DVD?

There are several methods that can be used to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux.Installing from a CD-ROM or DVD requires that you have purchased a Red Hat Enterprise Linux product, you have a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0.0 CD-ROM or DVD, and you have a DVD/CD-ROM drive on a system that supports booting from it. Your BIOS may need to be changed to allow booting from your DVD/CD-ROM drive.

Alternative Boot Methods

Boot DVD/CD-ROM If you can boot using the DVD/CD-ROM drive, you can create your own CDROM
to boot the installation program. This may be useful, for example, if you are performing an installation over a network or from a hard drive.

USB Pen Drive

If you cannot boot from the DVD/CD-ROM drive, but you can boot using a USB device, such as a USB pen drive, the following alternative boot method is available: To boot using a USB pen drive, use the dd command to copy the diskboot.img image file from the /images/ directory on the DVD or CD-ROM #1.
For example:
dd if=diskboot.img of=/dev/sda
Your BIOS must support booting from a USB device in order for this boot method to work.

Making an Installation Boot CD-ROM

isolinux (not available for Itanium systems) is used for booting the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation CD. To create your own CD-ROM to boot the installation program, use the following instructions:Copy the isolinux / directory from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD or CD #1 into a temporary directory (referred to here as <path-to-workspace>) using the following command:
• cp -r <path-to-cd>/isolinux/<path-to-workspace>
Change directories to the <path-to-workspace> directory you have created:
• cd <path-to-workspace>
Make sure the files you have copied have appropriate permissions:
• chmod u+w isolinux/*
Finally, issue the following command to create the ISO image file:
• mkisofs -o file.iso -b isolinux.bin -c boot.cat -no-emul-boot \ -boot-loadsize
 -boot-info-table -R -J -v -T isolinux/
Note
The above command was split into two lines for printing purposes only. When you execute this command, be sure to type it as a single command, all on the same line.Burn the resulting ISO image (named file.iso and located in <path-to-workspace>) to a CD-ROM as you normally would.

Preparing for a Hard Drive Installation

Note
Hard drive installations only work from ext2, ext3, or FAT file systems. If you have a file system other than those listed here, such as reiserfs, you will not be able to perform a hard drive installation.
Hard drive installations require the use of the ISO or DVD/CD-ROM images. An ISO image is a file containing an exact copy of a DVD/CD-ROM image. After placing the required ISO images (the binary Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD/CDROMs) in a directory, choose to install from the hard drive. You can then point the installation program at that directory to perform the installation.To prepare your system for a hard drive installation, you must set the system up in one of the following ways:
• Using a set of CD-ROMs, or a DVD — Create ISO image files from each installation CD-ROM, or from the DVD. For each CD-ROM (once for the DVD), execute the following command on a Linux system:
• dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/tmp/file-name.iso
• Using ISO images — transfer these images to the system to be installed.
Verifying that ISO images are intact before you attempt an installation helps to avoid problems. To verify the ISO images are intact prior to performing an installation, use an md5sum program (many md5sum programs are available for various operating systems). An md5sum program should be available on the same Linux machine as the ISO images.
Note
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program has the ability to test the integrity of the installation media. It works with the CD / DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO installation methods. Red Hat recommends that you test all installation media before starting the installation process, and before reporting any installation-related bugs (many of the bugs reported are actually due to improperly-burned CDs). To use this test, type the following command at the boot: prompt (prepend with elilo for Itanium systems): linux media check

STARTING INSTALLATION 

Click on the Next button to continue.

Language Selection

Using your mouse, select a language to use for the installation .The language you select here will become the default language for the operating system once it is installed.Selecting the appropriate language also helps target your time zoneconfiguration later in the installation. The installation program tries to define the appropriate time zone based on what you specify on this screen.

Once you select the appropriate language, click Next to continue.

Keyboard Configuration

Using your mouse, select the correct layout type (for example, U.S. English) for the keyboard you would prefer to use for the installation and as the system default (refer to the figure below).Once you have made your selection, click Next to continue.

Disk Partitioning Setup

Partitioning allows you to divide your hard drive into isolated sections, where each section behaves as its own hard drive. Partitioning is particularly useful if you run multiple operating systems. If you are not sure how you want your system to be partitioned.On this screen you can choose to create the default layout or choose to manual partition using the 'Create custom layout' option of Disk Druid. The first three options allow you to perform an automated installation without having to partition your drive(s) yourself. If you do not feel comfortable with partitioning your system, it is recommended that you do not choose to create a

custom layout and instead let the installation program partition for you. You can configure an iSCSI target for installation, or disable a dmraid device from this screen by clicking on the 'Advanced storage configuration' button.

 Partitioning Your System

If you chose one of the automatic partitioning options and selected Review, you can either accept the current partition settings (click Next), or modify the setup using Disk Druid, the manual partitioning tool.

Note

Please note that in the text mode installation it is not possible to work with LVM (Logical Volumes) beyond viewing the existing setup. LVM can only be set up using the graphical Disk Druid program in a graphical installation.If you chose to create a custom layout, you must tell the installation program where to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This is done by defining mount points for one or more disk partitions in which Red Hat Enterprise Linux is installed.You may also need to create and/or delete partitions at this time.

Note

If you have not yet planned how to set up your partitions, At a bare minimum, you need an appropriately-sized root partition, and a swap partition equal to twice the amount of RAM you have on the system. Itanium system users should have a /boot/efi/ partition of approximately 100 MB and of type FAT (VFAT), a swap partition of at least 512 MB, and an appropriately-sized root (/) partition.

The partitioning tool used by the installation program is Disk Druid. With the exception of certain esoteric situations, Disk Druid can handle the partitioning requirements for a typical installation.

Graphical Display of Hard Drive(s)

Disk Druid offers a graphical representation of your hard drive(s). Click once to highlight a particular field in the graphical display. Double-click to edit an existing partition or to create a partition out of existing free space. Above the display, you can review the Drive name (such as /dev/hda), the Geom (which shows the hard disk's geometry and consists of three numbers representing the number of cylinders, heads, and sectors as reported by the hard disk), and the Model of the hard drive as detected by the installation program.

Disk Druid's Buttons

These buttons control Disk Druid's actions. They are used to change the attributes of a partition (for example the file system type and mount point) and also to create RAID devices. Buttons on this screen are also used to accept the Changes you have made, or to exit Disk Druid. For further explanation, take a look at each button in order:

New:

Used to request a new partition, when selected, a dialog box appears containing fields (such as the mount point and size fields) that must be filled in.

Edit:

It’s used to modify attributes of the partition currently selected in the Partitions section. Selecting Edit opens a dialog box. Some or all of the fields can be edited, depending on whether the partition information has already been written to disk. You can also edit free space as represented in the graphical display to

create a new partition within that space. Either highlight the free space and then select the Edit button, or double-click on the free space to edit it. To make a RAID device, you must first create (or reuse existing) software RAID partitions. Once you have created two or more software RAID partitions, select Make RAID to join the software RAID partitions into a RAID device.

Delete:

It’s used to remove the partition currently highlighted in the Current Disk Partitions section. You will be asked to confirm the deletion of any partition.

Reset:

It’s used to restore Disk Druid to its original state. All changes made will be lost if you Reset the partitions.

RAID:

It’s Used to provide redundancy to any or all disk partitions. It should only be used if you have experience using RAID. To read more about RAID, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deployment Guide.To make a RAID device, you must first create software RAID partitions. Once you have created two or more software RAID partitions, select RAID to join the software RAID partitions into a RAID device.

LVM:

It allows you to create an LVM logical volume. The role of LVM (Logical Volume Manager) is to present a simple logical view of underlying physical storage space, such as a hard drive(s). LVM manages individual physical disks — or to be more precise, the individual partitions present on them. It should only be

used if you have experience using LVM. To read more about LVM, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deployment Guide. Note, LVM is only available in the graphical installation program. To create an LVM logical volume, you must first create partitions of type physical volume (LVM). Once you have created one or more physical volume (LVM) partitions, select LVM to create an LVM logical volume.

Partition Fields

Above the partition hierarchy are labels which present information about the partitions you are creating. The labels are defined as follows:

Device:

This field displays the partition's device name.

Mount Point/RAID/Volume:

A mount point is the location within the directory hierarchy at which a volume exists; the volume is "mounted" at this location. This field indicates where the partition is mounted. If a partition exists, but is not set, then you need to define its mount point. Double-click on the partition or click the Edit button.

Type:

This field shows the partition's file system type (for example, ext2, ext3, or vfat).

Format:

This field shows if the partition being created will be formatted.

Size (MB):

This field shows the partition's size (in MB).

Start:

This field shows the cylinder on your hard drive where the partition begins.

End:

This field shows the cylinder on your hard drive where the partition ends. Hide RAID device/LVM Volume Group members: Select this option if you do not want to view any RAID device or LVM Volume Group members that have been created.

Recommended Partitioning Scheme

Unless you have a reason for doing otherwise, we recommend that you create the following partitions for Itanium systems: A /boot/efi/ partition (100 MB minimum) — the partition mounted on /boot/efi/

contains all the installed kernels, the initrd images, and ELILO configuration files.

A swap partition (at least 256 MB) — swap partitions are used to support virtual memory. In other words, data is written to a swap partition when there is not enough RAM to store the data your system is processing. If you are unsure about what size swap partition to create, make it twice the amount of RAM on your machine. It must be of type swap.

Adding Partitions

To add a new partition, select the new button. A dialog box appears.

Note

You must dedicate at least one partition for this installation, and optionally more.

Mount Point:

Enter the partition's mount point. For example, if this partition should be the root partition, enter /; enter /boot for the /boot partition, and so on. You can also use the pull-down menu to choose the correct mount point for your partition. For a swap partition the mount point should not be set - setting the filesystem type to swap is sufficient.

File System Type:

Using the pull-down menu, select the appropriate file system type for this partition.

Allowable Drives:

This field contains a list of the hard disks installed on your system. If a hard disk's box is highlighted, then a desired partition can be created on that hard disk.If the box is not checked, then the partition will never be created on that hard disk. By using different checkbox settings, you can have Disk Druid place partitions where you need them, or let Disk Druid decide where partitions should go.

Size (MB):

Enter the size (in megabytes) of the partition. Note, this field starts with 100 MB;

unless changed; only a 100 MB partition will be created.

Additional Size Options:

Choose whether to keep this partition at a fixed size, to allow it to "grow" (fill up the available hard drive space) to a certain point, or to allow it to grow to fill any remaining hard drive space available.If you choose fill all space up to (MB), you must give size constraints in the field to the right of this option. This allows you to keep a certain amount of space free on your hard drive for future use. Force to be a primary partition: Select whether the partition you are creating should be one of the first four partitions on the hard

drive. If unselected, the partition is created as a logical partition.

OK:

Select OK once you are satisfied with the settings and wish to create the partition.

Cancel:

Select cancel if you do not want to create the partition.

Time Zone Configuration

Set your time zone by selecting the city closest to your computer's physical location. Click on the map to zoom in to a particular geographical region of the world. From here there are two ways for you to select your time zone: Using your mouse, click on the interactive map to select a specific city (represented by a yellow dot). A red X appears indicating your selection.You can also scroll through the list at the bottom of the screen to select your time zone. Using your mouse, click

Set Root Password

Setting up a root account and password is one of the most important steps during your installation. Your root account is similar to the administrator account used on Windows NT machines. The root account is used to install packages, upgrade RPMs, and perform most system maintenance. Logging in as root gives you

complete control over your system.

Use the root account only for system administration. Create a non-root account for your general use and su - to root when you need to fix something quickly.These basic rules minimize the chances of a typo or an incorrect command doing damage to your system.

Package Group Selection

Now that you have made most of the choices for your installation, you are ready to confirm the default package selection or customize packages for your system.The Package Installation Defaults screen appears and details the default package set for your Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation. This screen varies depending on the version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux you are installing. If you choose to accept the current package list. To customize your package set further, select the Customize now option on the screen.Clicking Next takes you to the Package Group Selection screen. You can select package groups, which group

components together according to function (for example, X Window System and Editors), individual Packages, or a combination of the two.

Preparing to Install

A screen preparing you for the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux now appears. For your reference, a complete log of your installation can be found in /root/install.log once you reboot your system.

Installation Complete

Congratulations! Your Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation is now complete! The installation program prompts you to prepare your system for reboot. Remember to remove any installation media if it is not ejected automatically upon reboot. After your computer's normal power-up sequence has completed,

the graphical boot loader prompt appears at which you can do any of the following things:

Press Enter — causes the default boot entry to be booted.

Select a boot label, followed by Enter — causes the boot loader to boot the operating system corresponding to the boot label.

Do nothing — after the boot loader's timeout period, (by default, five seconds) the boot loader automatically boots the default boot entry.

Do whatever is appropriate to boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux. One or more screens of messages should scroll by. Eventually, a login: prompt or a GUI login screen (if you installed the X Window System and chose to start X automatically) appears. The first time you start your Red Hat Enterprise Linux system in run

level 5 (the graphical run level), the Setup Agent is presented, which guides you through the Red Hat Enterprise Linux configuration. Using this tool, you can set your system time and date, install software, register your machine with Red Hat Network, and more. The Setup Agent lets you configure your environment at the beginning, so that you can get started using your Red Hat Enterprise Linux system quickly.