Chapter 6. Preparing a UEFI HTTP installation source

As an administrator of a server on a local network, you can configure an HTTP server to enable HTTP boot and network installation for other systems on your network.

6.1. Network install overview

A network installation allows you to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux to a system that has access to an installation server. At a minimum, two systems are required for a network installation:

Server: A system running a DHCP server, an HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, or NFS server, and in the PXE boot case, a TFTP server. Although each server can run on a different physical system, the procedures in this section assume a single system is running all servers.
Client: The system to which you are installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Once installation starts, the client queries the DHCP server, receives the boot files from the HTTP or TFTP server, and downloads the installation image from the HTTP, HTTPS, FTP or NFS server. Unlike other installation methods, the client does not require any physical boot media for the installation to start.

To boot a client from the network, enable network boot in the firmware or in a quick boot menu on the client. On some hardware, the option to boot from a network might be disabled, or not available.

The workflow steps to prepare to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux from a network by using HTTP or PXE are as follows:

Procedure

Export the installation ISO image or the installation tree to an NFS, HTTPS, HTTP, or FTP server.
Configure the HTTP or TFTP server and DHCP server, and start the HTTP or TFTP service on the server.
Boot the client and start the installation.

You can choose between the following network boot protocols:

HTTP: Use the HTTP boot if your client UEFI supports it. HTTP boot is usually more reliable.
PXE (TFTP): PXE boot is more widely supported by client systems, but sending the boot files over this protocol might be slow and result in timeout failures.

Additional resources

6.2. Configuring the HTTP server for HTTP boot

You must install and enable the httpd service on your server so that the server can provide HTTP boot resources on your network.

Prerequisites

Find the network addresses of the server.
In the following examples, the server has a network card with the 192.168.124.2 IPv4 address.

Procedure

Install the HTTP server:
```
# dnf install httpd
```
Create the /var/www/html/redhat/ directory:
```
# mkdir -p /var/www/html/redhat/
```
Download the RHEL DVD ISO file. See All Red Hat Enterprise Linux Downloads.
Create a mount point for the ISO file:
```
# mkdir -p /var/www/html/redhat/iso/
```

Mount the ISO file:

# mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 path-to-RHEL-DVD.iso /var/www/html/redhat/iso

Copy the boot loader, kernel, and initramfs from the mounted ISO file into your HTML directory:

# cp -r /var/www/html/redhat/iso/images /var/www/html/redhat/
# cp -r /var/www/html/redhat/iso/EFI /var/www/html/redhat/

Make the boot loader configuration editable:

# chmod 644 /var/www/html/redhat/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg

Edit the /var/www/html/redhat/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg file and replace its content with the following:

set default="1"

function load_video {
  insmod efi_gop
  insmod efi_uga
  insmod video_bochs
  insmod video_cirrus
  insmod all_video
}

load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2

set timeout=60
# END /etc/grub.d/00_header #

search --no-floppy --set=root -l 'RHEL-9-3-0-BaseOS-x86_64'

# BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux #
menuentry 'Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    linuxefi ../../images/pxeboot/vmlinuz inst.repo=http://192.168.124.2/redhat/iso quiet
    initrdefi ../../images/pxeboot/initrd.img
}
menuentry 'Test this media & install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    linuxefi ../../images/pxeboot/vmlinuz inst.repo=http://192.168.124.2/redhat/iso quiet
    initrdefi ../../images/pxeboot/initrd.img
}
submenu 'Troubleshooting -->' {
    menuentry 'Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3 in text mode' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
   	 linuxefi ../../images/pxeboot/vmlinuz inst.repo=http://192.168.124.2/redhat/iso inst.text quiet
   	 initrdefi ../../images/pxeboot/initrd.img
    }
    menuentry 'Rescue a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
   	 linuxefi ../../images/pxeboot/vmlinuz inst.repo=http://192.168.124.2/redhat/iso inst.rescue quiet
   	 initrdefi ../../images/pxeboot/initrd.img
    }
}

In this file, replace the following strings:

RHEL-9-3-0-BaseOS-x86_64 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3: Edit the version number to match the version of RHEL that you downloaded.
192.168.124.2: Replace with the IP address to your server.

Make the EFI boot file executable:

# chmod 755 /var/www/html/redhat/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI

Open ports in the firewall to allow HTTP (80), DHCP (67, 68) and DHCPv6 (546, 547) traffic:
```
# firewall-cmd --zone public \
               --add-port={80/tcp,67/udp,68/udp,546/udp,547/udp}
```
This command enables temporary access until the next server reboot.
Optional: To enable permanent access, add the --permanent option to the command.
Reload firewall rules:
```
# firewall-cmd --reload
```
Start the HTTP server:
```
# systemctl enable --now httpd
```
Make the html directory and its content readable and executable:
```
# chmod -cR u=rwX,g=rX,o=rX /var/www/html
```
Restore the SELinux context of the html directory:
```
# restorecon -FvvR /var/www/html
```

Chapter 6. Preparing a UEFI HTTP installation source

6.1. Network install overview

6.2. Configuring the HTTP server for HTTP boot

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