Installation Guide
Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 for all architectures
Abstract
Chapter 1. Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Architecture | Installation DVD | Boot CD or boot DVD | Boot USB flash drive |
---|---|---|---|
Where variant is the variant of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (for example, server or workstation ) and version is the latest version number (for example, 6.5). | |||
BIOS-based 32-bit x86 | x86 DVD ISO image file | rhel-variant-version-i386-boot.iso | rhel-variant-version-i386-boot.iso |
UEFI-based 32-bit x86 | Not available | ||
BIOS-based AMD64 and Intel 64 | x86_64 DVD ISO image file (to install 64-bit operating system) or x86 DVD ISO image file (to install 32-bit operating system) | rhel-variant-version-x86_64boot.iso orrhel-variant-version-i386-boot.iso | rhel-variant-version-x86_64boot.iso or rhel-variant-version-i386-boot.iso |
UEFI-based AMD64 and Intel 64 | x86_64 DVD ISO image file | rhel-variant-version-x86_64-boot.iso | efidisk.img (from x86_64 DVD ISO image file) |
POWER (64-bit only) | ppc DVD ISO image file | rhel-server-version-ppc64-boot.iso | Not available |
System z | s390 DVD ISO image file | Not available | Not available |
Procedure 1.1. Downloading Red Hat Enterprise Linux ISO Images
- Visit the Customer Portal at https://access.redhat.com/home. If you are not logged in, click LOG IN on the right side of the page. Enter your account credentials when prompted.
- Click DOWNLOADS at the top of the page.
- Click Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Ensure that you select the appropriate Product Variant, Version and Architecture for your installation target. By default,
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
andx86_64
are selected. If you are not sure which variant best suits your needs, see http://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux. - A list of available downloads is displayed; most notably, a minimal Boot ISO image and a full installation Binary DVD ISO image. The Boot ISO is a minimal boot image which only contains the installer and requires a source to install packages from (such as an HTTP or FTP server). The Binary DVD download contains both the installer and necessary packages, and therefore requires less setup.Additional images may be available, such as preconfigured virtual machine images, which are beyond the scope of this document.
- Choose the image file that you want to use. There are several ways to download an ISO image from Red Hat Customer Portal:
- Click its name to begin downloading it to your computer using your web browser.
- Right-click the name and then click curl can, however, be used to resume interrupted download attempts from the Customer Portal, which means that you need not download the whole file again and thus you save your time and bandwidth consumption.or a similar menu item, the exact wording of which depends on the browser that you are using. This action copies the URL of the file to your clipboard, which allows you to use an alternative application to download the file to your computer. This approach is especially useful if your Internet connection is unstable: in that case, you browser may fail to download the whole file, and an attempt to resume the interrupted download process fails because the download link contains an authentication key which is only valid for a short time. Specialized applications such as
Procedure 1.2. Using curl to Download Installation Media
- Make sure the curl package is installed by running the following command as root:
#
yum install curl
If your Linux distribution does not use yum, or if you do not use Linux at all, download the most appropriate software package from the curl website. - Open a terminal window, enter a suitable directory, and type the following command:
$
curl -o filename.iso 'copied_link_location'
Replace filename.iso with the ISO image name as displayed in the Customer Portal, such asrhel-server-6.9-x86_64-dvd.iso
. This is important because the download link in the Customer Portal contains extra characters which curl would otherwise use in the downloaded file name, too. Then, keep the single quotation mark in front of the next parameter, and replace copied_link_location with the link that you have copied from the Customer Portal.Note that in Linux, you can paste the content of the clipboard into the terminal window by middle-clicking anywhere in the window, or by pressing Shift+Insert. Finally, use another single quotation mark after the last parameter, and press Enter to run the command and start transferring the ISO image. The single quotation marks prevent the command line interpreter from misinterpreting any special characters that might be included in the download link.Example 1.1. Downloading an ISO image with curl
The following is an example of a curl command line:$
curl -o rhel-server-6.9-x86_64-dvd.iso 'https://access.cdn.redhat.com//content/origin/files/sha256/85/85a...46c/rhel-server-6.9-x86_64-dvd.iso?_auth_=141...7bf'
Note that the actual download link is much longer because it contains complicated identifiers. - If your Internet connection does drop before the transfer is complete, refresh the download page in the Customer Portal; log in again if necessary. Copy the new download link, use the same basic
curl
command line parameters as earlier but be sure to use the new download link, and add-C -
to instruct curl to automatically determine where it should continue based on the size of the already downloaded file.Example 1.2. Resuming an interrupted download attempt
The following is an example of a curl command line that you use if you have only partially downloaded the ISO image of your choice:$
curl -o rhel-server-6.9-x86_64-dvd.iso 'https://access.cdn.redhat.com//content/origin/files/sha256/85/85a...46c/rhel-server-6.9-x86_64-dvd.iso?_auth_=141...963' -C -
- Optionally, you can use a checksum utility such as sha256sum to verify the integrity of the image file after the download finishes. All downloads on the Download Red Hat Enterprise Linux page are provided with their checksums for reference:
$
sha256sum rhel-server-6.9-x86_64-dvd.iso
85a...46c rhel-server-6.9-x86_64-dvd.iso
Similar tools are available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. You can also use the installation program to verify the media when starting the installation; see Section 28.6.1, “Verifying Boot Media” for details.
- burn it to a physical DVD (refer to Section 2.1, “Making an Installation DVD”).
- use it to prepare minimal boot media (refer to Section 2.2, “Making Minimal Boot Media”).
- place it on a server to prepare for installations over a network (refer to Section 4.1, “Preparing for a Network Installation” for x86 architectures, Section 12.1, “Preparing for a Network Installation” for Power Systems servers or Section 19.1, “Preparing for a Network Installation” for IBM System z).
- place it on a hard drive to prepare for installation to use the hard drive as an installation source (refer to Section 4.2, “Preparing for a Hard Drive Installation” for x86 architectures, Section 12.2, “Preparing for a Hard Drive Installation” for Power Systems servers or Section 19.2, “Preparing for a Hard Drive Installation” for IBM System z).
- place it on a pre-boot execution environment (PXE) server to prepare for installations using PXE boot (refer to Chapter 30, Setting Up an Installation Server).
Chapter 2. Making Media
- an installation DVD
- a minimal boot CD or DVD that can boot the installer
- a USB flash drive to boot the installer
2.1. Making an Installation DVD
2.2. Making Minimal Boot Media
- to boot the system to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux over a network
- to boot the system to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux from a hard drive
- to use a kickstart file during installation (refer to Section 32.9.1, “Creating Kickstart Boot Media”
- to commence a network or hard-drive installation or to use an anaconda update or a kickstart file with a DVD installation.
- Download the ISO image file named
rhel-variant-version-architecture-boot.iso
that is available at the same location as the images of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 installation DVD — refer to Chapter 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux. - Burn the
.iso
file to a blank CD or DVD using the same procedure detailed in Section 2.1, “Making an Installation DVD” for the installation disc.
.iso
file to a USB device with the dd command. As the .iso
file is only around 200 MB in size, you do not need an especially large USB flash drive.
2.2.1. Minimal USB Boot Media for BIOS-based Systems
Warning
- Plug in your USB flash drive.
- Find the flash drive's device name. If the media has a volume name, use it to look up the device name in
/dev/disk/by-label
, or use thefindfs
command:findfs LABEL=MyLabel
If the media does not have a volume name or you do not know it, you can also use thedmesg
command shortly after connecting the media to your computer. After running the command, the device name (such assdb
orsdc
) should appear in several lines towards the end of the output. - Become root:
su -
- Use the
dd
command to transfer the boot ISO image to the USB device:# dd if=path/image_name.iso of=/dev/device
where path/image_name.iso is the boot ISO image file that you downloaded anddevice
is the device name for the USB flash drive. Ensure you specify the device name (such assdc
), not the partition name (such assdc1
). For example:# dd if=~/Downloads/RHEL6.9-Server-x86_64-boot.iso of=/dev/sdc
2.2.2. Minimal USB Boot Media for UEFI-based Systems
Warning
efidisk.img
file in the images/
directory on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 installation DVD:
- Download an ISO image file of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 installation DVD as described in Chapter 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Become root:
su -
- Create a mount point for the ISO image file:
# mkdir /mnt/dvdiso
- Mount the image file:
# mount DVD.iso /mnt/dvdiso -o loop
Where DVD.iso is the name of the ISO image file, for exampleRHEL6.9-Server-x86_64-DVD.iso
. - Transfer
efidisk.img
from the ISO image file to your USB flash drive:# dd if=/mnt/dvdiso/images/efidisk.img of=/dev/device_name
For example:# dd if=/mnt/dvdiso/images/efidisk.img of=/dev/sdc
Note
Use thedd
command to write the image file directly to the device. Usingcp
to copy the file or transferring the file using a file manager will make the device unbootable. - Unmount the ISO image file:
# umount /mnt/dvdiso
2.3. Creating a USGCB-compliant Installation Image
/root/
directory on the installed system.
Note
/usr/share/scap-security-guide/kickstart/ssg-rhel6-usgcb-server-with-gui-ks.cfg
.
- Package repository location - the
url
command. To use a package repository on an HTTP or FTP server, replace the default IP address with an address of a server containing a package repository. Replace this command with one ofnfs
,cdrom
, orharddrive
to install from a NFS server, optical drive, or local hard drive, respectively. - System language, keyboard layout, and time zone - the
lang
,keyboard
andtimezone
commands. - Root password - the
rootpw
command. By default, the root password configured in this Kickstart is "server". Make sure to generate a new checksum and change it. - Boot loader password - the
bootloader --password=
command. The default password is "password". Make sure to generate a new checksum and change it. - Network configuration - the
network
command. Automatic configuration using DHCP is enabled by default - adjust the settings if necessary. - Package selection - modify the
%packages
section of the file to install packages and groups you need.Important
Packages git, aide and openscap-utils must always be installed. They are required for the Kickstart file and post installation OpenSCAP system evaluation to work. - Disk partitioning layout - the
part
,volgroup
andlogvol
commands.The USGCB standard defines concrete requirements for a compliant system's disk layout, which means that the logical volumes defined in the default Kickstart file -/home
,/tmp
,/var
,/var/log
, and/var/log/audit
- must always be created as separate partitions or logical volumes. Additionally, Red Hat Enterprise Linux requires you to create a/boot
physical partition and volumes for/
andswap
. These are all defined in the default Kickstart; you can add additional separate logical volumes or partitions, and you can change the sizes of the default ones.Note
By default, the/var/log/audit
volume only takes up 512 MB of space. Due to the high number of calls being audited, it is highly recommended to increase its size to at least 1024 MB.
Part I. x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 — Installation and Booting
Chapter 3. Planning for Installation on the x86 Architecture
3.1. Upgrade or Install?
- Clean Install
- A clean install is performed by backing up all data from the system, formatting disk partitions, performing an installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 from installation media, and then restoring any user data.
Note
This is the recommended method for upgrading between major versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. - In-Place Upgrade
- An in-place upgrade is a way of upgrading your system without removing the older version first. The procedure requires installing the migration utilities available for your system and running them as any other software. In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Preupgrade Assistant assesses your current system and identifies potential problems you might encounter during and/or after the upgrade. It also performs minor fixes and modifications to the system. The Red Hat Upgrade Tool utility downloads the packages and performs the actual upgrade. An in-place upgrade requires a lot of troubleshooting and planning and should only be done if there is no other choice. For more information on the Preupgrade Assistant, see Chapter 37, Upgrading Your Current System.
Warning
Never perform an in-place upgrade on a production system without first testing it on a cloned backup copy of the system.
3.2. Is Your Hardware Compatible?
https://hardware.redhat.com/
3.3. Hardware Requirements
- Hard drives connected by a standard internal interface, such as SCSI, SATA, or SAS
- BIOS/firmware RAID devices
- Xen block devices on Intel processors in Xen virtual machines.
- VirtIO block devices on Intel processors in KVM virtual machines.
3.4. RAID and Other Disk Devices
Important
/etc/fstab
, /etc/crypttab
or other configuration files which refer to devices by their device node names will not work in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. Before migrating these files, you must therefore edit them to replace device node paths with device UUIDs instead. You can find the UUIDs of devices with the blkid
command.
3.4.1. Hardware RAID
3.4.2. Software RAID
3.4.3. FireWire and USB Disks
Note
3.5. Notes on UEFI Support
3.5.1. Feature Support
- The system must support UEFI Specification 2.0 or later. Earlier revisions are not supported.
- The Secure Boot technology is not supported, and will prevent Red Hat Enterprise Linux from being installed. Systems using UEFI Specification 2.2 or later must have Secure Boot disabled in order to install and run Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9.
3.5.2. Disk Drives with MBR on UEFI Systems
msdos
) label, the disk must be relabeled. This means you can not reuse existing partitions on a MBR-partitioned disk, and all data on the disk will be lost. Make sure to back up all data on the drive before installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Attach the drive to an existing Linux system and use an utility such as
parted
orfdisk
to create a GPT label on the drive. For example, to create a GPT label on disk/dev/sdc
usingparted
, use the following command:#
parted /dev/sdc mklabel gpt
Warning
Make sure you specify the correct drive. Relabeling a disk will destroy all data on it, andparted
will not ask you for a confirmation. - Perform an automated Kickstart installation, and use the
clearpart
andzerombr
commands. If your system uses UEFI firmware, using these commands on the boot drive will relabel it with a GPT. - During a manual installation in the graphical user interface, when you get to the partitioning screen. Select an option other than custom partitioning (for example Use All Space). Make sure to check the Review and modify partitioning layout check box, and click Next.On the following screen, modify the automatically created layout so it suits your needs. After you finish and click Next, Anaconda will use your layout and relabel the drive automatically.
3.6. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
/
and swap
) must be dedicated to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- have enough unpartitioned[1] 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.
3.7. Selecting an Installation Method
- DVD
- If you have a DVD drive and the Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD you can use this method. Refer to Section 8.3.1, “Installing from a DVD”, for DVD installation instructions.If you booted the installation from a piece of media other than the installation DVD, you can specify the DVD as the installation source with the
linux askmethod
orlinux repo=cdrom:device:/device
boot option, or by selecting on the menu (refer to Section 8.3, “Installation Method”). - Hard Drive
- If you have copied the Red Hat Enterprise Linux ISO images to a local hard drive, you can use this method. You need a boot CD-ROM (use the
linux askmethod
orlinux repo=hd:device:/path
boot option), or by selecting on the menu (refer to Section 8.3, “Installation Method”). Refer to Section 8.3.2, “Installing from a Hard Drive”, for hard drive installation instructions. - NFS
- If you are installing from an NFS server using ISO images or a mirror image of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can use this method. You need a boot CD-ROM (use the
linux askmethod
orlinux repo=nfs:server :options:/path
boot option, or the option on the menu described in Section 8.3, “Installation Method”). Refer to Section 8.3.4, “Installing via NFS” for network installation instructions. Note that NFS installations may also be performed in GUI mode. - URL
- If you are installing directly from an HTTP or HTTPS (Web) server or an FTP server, use this method. You need a boot CD-ROM (use the
linux askmethod
,linux repo=ftp://user:password@host/path
, orlinux repo=http://host/path
boot option, orlinux repo=https://host/path
boot option,or the option on the menu described in Section 8.3, “Installation Method”). Refer to Section 8.3.5, “Installing via FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS”, for FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS installation instructions.
askmethod
, the next stage loads automatically from the DVD. Proceed to Section 8.2, “Language Selection”.
Note
3.8. Choose a Boot Method
Chapter 4. Preparing for Installation
4.1. Preparing for a Network Installation
Note
Note
boot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
Note
/var/www/inst/rhel6.9
on the network server can be accessed as http://network.server.com/inst/rhel6.9
.
/location/of/disk/space
. The directory that will be made publicly available via FTP, NFS, HTTP, or HTTPS will be specified as /publicly_available_directory. For example, /location/of/disk/space
may be a directory you create called /var/isos
. /publicly_available_directory
might be /var/www/html/rhel6.9
, for an HTTP install.
dd if=/dev/dvd of=/path_to_image/name_of_image.iso
4.1.1. Preparing for FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS Installation
Warning
TLSv1
protocol, and disable SSLv2
and SSLv3
. This is due to the POODLE SSL vulnerability (CVE-2014-3566). See https://access.redhat.com/solutions/1232413 for details about securing Apache, and https://access.redhat.com/solutions/1234773 for information about securing tftp.
4.1.2. Preparing for an NFS Installation
install.img
file, and optionally the product.img
file available on the network server via NFS.
- Transfer the ISO image to the NFS exported directory. On a Linux system, run:
mv /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /publicly_available_directory/
where path_to_image is the path to the ISO image file, name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file, and publicly_available_directory is a directory that is available over NFS or that you intend to make available over NFS. - Use a SHA256 checksum program to verify that the ISO image that you copied is intact. Many SHA256 checksum programs are available for various operating systems. On a Linux system, run:
$ sha256sum name_of_image.iso
where name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file. The SHA256 checksum program displays a string of 64 characters called a hash. Compare this hash to the hash displayed for this particular image on the Downloads page in the Red Hat Customer Portal (refer to Chapter 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux). The two hashes should be identical. - Copy the
images/
directory from inside the ISO image to the same directory in which you stored the ISO image file itself. Enter the following commands:mount -t iso9660 /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /mount_point -o loop,ro
cp -pr /mount_point/images /publicly_available_directory/
umount /mount_point
wherepath_to_image
is the path to the ISO image file,name_of_image
is the name of the ISO image file, andmount_point
is a mount point on which to mount the image while you copy files from the image. For example:mount -t iso9660 /var/isos/RHEL6.iso /mnt/tmp -o loop,ro
cp -pr /mnt/tmp/images /var/isos/
umount /mnt/tmp
The ISO image file and animages/
directory are now present, side-by-side, in the same directory. - Verify that the
images/
directory contains at least theinstall.img
file, without which installation cannot proceed. Optionally, theimages/
directory should contain theproduct.img
file, without which only the packages for a Minimal installation will be available during the package group selection stage (refer to Section 9.17, “Package Group Selection”).Important
install.img
andproduct.img
must be the only files in theimages/
directory. - Ensure that an entry for the publicly available directory exists in the
/etc/exports
file on the network server so that the directory is available via NFS.To export a directory read-only to a specific system, use:/publicly_available_directory client.ip.address (ro)
To export a directory read-only to all systems, use:/publicly_available_directory * (ro)
- On the network server, start the NFS daemon (on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system, use
/sbin/service nfs start
). If NFS is already running, reload the configuration file (on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system use/sbin/service nfs reload
). - Be sure to test the NFS share following the directions in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deployment Guide. Refer to your NFS documentation for details on starting and stopping the NFS server.
Note
boot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
4.2. Preparing for a Hard Drive Installation
Note
Important
- an ISO image of the installation DVD. An ISO image is a file that contains an exact copy of the content of a DVD.
- an
install.img
file extracted from the ISO image. - optionally, a
product.img
file extracted from the ISO image.
- Obtain an ISO image of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation DVD (refer to Chapter 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux). Alternatively, if you have the DVD on physical media, you can create an image of it with the following command on a Linux system:
dd if=/dev/dvd of=/path_to_image/name_of_image.iso
where dvd is your DVD drive device, name_of_image is the name you give to the resulting ISO image file, and path_to_image is the path to the location on your system where the resulting ISO image will be stored. - Transfer the ISO image to the hard drive.The ISO image must be located on a hard drive that is either internal to the computer on which you will install Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or on a hard drive that is attached to that computer by USB.
- Use a SHA256 checksum program to verify that the ISO image that you copied is intact. Many SHA256 checksum programs are available for various operating systems. On a Linux system, run:
$ sha256sum name_of_image.iso
where name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file. The SHA256 checksum program displays a string of 64 characters called a hash. Compare this hash to the hash displayed for this particular image on the Downloads page in the Red Hat Customer Portal (refer to Chapter 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux). The two hashes should be identical. - Copy the
images/
directory from inside the ISO image to the same directory in which you stored the ISO image file itself. Enter the following commands:mount -t iso9660 /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /mount_point -o loop,ro
cp -pr /mount_point/images /publicly_available_directory/
umount /mount_point
wherepath_to_image
is the path to the ISO image file,name_of_image
is the name of the ISO image file, andmount_point
is a mount point on which to mount the image while you copy files from the image. For example:mount -t iso9660 /var/isos/RHEL6.iso /mnt/tmp -o loop,ro
cp -pr /mnt/tmp/images /var/isos/
umount /mnt/tmp
The ISO image file and animages/
directory are now present, side-by-side, in the same directory. - Verify that the
images/
directory contains at least theinstall.img
file, without which installation cannot proceed. Optionally, theimages/
directory should contain theproduct.img
file, without which only the packages for a Minimal installation will be available during the package group selection stage (refer to Section 9.17, “Package Group Selection”).Important
install.img
andproduct.img
must be the only files in theimages/
directory.
Note
boot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
Chapter 5. System Specifications List
- If you plan to use a customized partition layout, record:
- The model numbers, sizes, types, and interfaces of the hard drives attached to the system. For example, Seagate ST3320613AS 320 GB on SATA0, Western Digital WD7500AAKS 750 GB on SATA1. This will allow you to identify specific hard drives during the partitioning process.
- If you are installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux as an additional operating system on an existing system, record:
- The mount points of the existing partitions on the system. For example,
/boot
onsda1
,/
onsda2
, and/home
onsdb1
. This will allow you to identify specific partitions during the partitioning process.
- If you plan to install from an image on a local hard drive:
- The hard drive and directory that holds the image.
- If you plan to install from a network location, or install on an iSCSI target:
- The make and model numbers of the network adapters on your system. For example, Netgear GA311. This will allow you to identify adapters when manually configuring the network.
- IP, DHCP, and BOOTP addresses
- Netmask
- Gateway IP address
- One or more name server IP addresses (DNS)
If any of these networking requirements or terms are unfamiliar to you, contact your network administrator for assistance. - If you plan to install from a network location:
- The location of the image on an FTP server, HTTP (web) server, HTTPS (web) server, or NFS server – see Section 8.3.5, “Installing via FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS” and Section 8.3.4, “Installing via NFS” for examples.
- If you plan to install on an iSCSI target:
- The location of the iSCSI target. Depending on your network, you might also need a CHAP username and password, and perhaps a reverse CHAP username and password – see Section 9.6.1.1, “ Advanced Storage Options ”.
- If you are installing using Intel iSCSI Remote Boot:
- All attached iSCSI storage devices must be disabled, otherwise the installation will succeed but the installed system will not boot.
- If your computer is part of a domain:
- You should verify that the domain name will be supplied by the DHCP server. If not, you will need to input the domain name manually during installation.
Chapter 6. Updating Drivers During Installation on Intel and AMD Systems
- place the ISO image file of the driver disc in a location accessible to the installer:
- on a local hard drive
- a USB flash drive
- create a driver disc by extracting the image file onto:
- a CD
- a DVD
Refer to the instructions for making installation discs in Section 2.1, “Making an Installation DVD” for more information on burning ISO image files to CD or DVD.
6.1. Limitations of Driver Updates During Installation
- Devices already in use
- You cannot use a driver update to replace drivers that the installation program has already loaded. Instead, you must complete the installation with the drivers that the installation program loaded and update to the new drivers after installation, or, if you need the new drivers for the installation process, consider performing an initial RAM disk driver update — refer to Section 6.2.3, “Preparing an Initial RAM Disk Update”.
- Devices with an equivalent device available
- Because all devices of the same type are initialized together, you cannot update drivers for a device if the installation program has loaded drivers for a similar device. For example, consider a system that has two different network adapters, one of which has a driver update available. The installation program will initialize both adapters at the same time, and therefore, you will not be able to use this driver update. Again, complete the installation with the drivers loaded by the installation program and update to the new drivers after installation, or use an initial RAM disk driver update.
6.2. Preparing for a Driver Update During Installation
- Methods that use the image file itself
- local hard drive
- USB flash drive
- Methods that use a driver update disk produced from an image file
- CD
- DVD
6.2.1. Preparing to Use a Driver Update Image File
6.2.1.1. Preparing to use an image file on local storage
.iso
. In the following example, the file is named dd.iso
:
Figure 6.1. Content of a USB flash drive holding a driver update image file
OEMDRV
.
dlabel=on
boot option, which is enabled by default. Refer to Section 6.3.1, “Let the Installer Find a Driver Update Disk Automatically”.
6.2.2. Preparing a Driver Disc
6.2.2.1. Creating a driver update disc on CD or DVD
Important
- Use the desktop file manager to locate the ISO image file of the driver disc, supplied to you by Red Hat or your hardware vendor.
Figure 6.2. A typical .iso file displayed in a file manager window
- Right-click on this file and choose. You will see a window similar to the following:
Figure 6.3. CD/DVD Creator's Write to Disc dialog
- Click the CD/DVD Creator will prompt you to insert one.button. If a blank disc is not already in the drive,
rhdd3
and a directory named rpms
:
Figure 6.4. Contents of a typical driver update disc on CD or DVD
.iso
, then you have not created the disc correctly and should try again. Ensure that you choose an option similar to burn from image if you use a Linux desktop other than GNOME or if you use a different operating system.
6.2.3. Preparing an Initial RAM Disk Update
Important
- Place the driver update image file on your installation server. Usually, you would do this by downloading it to the server from a location on the Internet specified by Red Hat or your hardware vendor. Names of driver update image files end in
.iso
. - Copy the driver update image file into the
/tmp/initrd_update
directory. - Rename the driver update image file to
dd.img
. - At the command line, change into the
/tmp/initrd_update
directory, type the following command, and press Enter:find . | cpio --quiet -o -H newc | gzip -9 >/tmp/initrd_update.img
- Copy the file
/tmp/initrd_update.img
into the directory the holds the target that you want to use for installation. This directory is placed under the/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/
directory. For example,/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/rhel6/
might hold the PXE target for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. - Edit the
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg/default
file to include an entry that includes the initial RAM disk update that you just created, in the following format:label target-dd kernel target/vmlinuz append initrd=target/initrd.img,target/dd.img
Where target is the target that you want to use for installation.
Example 6.1. Preparing an initial RAM disk update from a driver update image file
driver_update.iso
is a driver update image file that you downloaded from the Internet to a directory on your PXE server. The target that you want to PXE boot from is located in /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/rhel6/
$ cp driver_update.iso /tmp/initrd_update/dd.img $ cd /tmp/initrd_update $ find . | cpio --quiet -c -o -H newc | gzip -9 >/tmp/initrd_update.img $ cp /tmp/initrd_update.img /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/rhel6/dd.img
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg/default
file and include the following entry:
label rhel6-dd kernel rhel6/vmlinuz append initrd=rhe6/initrd.img,rhel6/dd.img
6.3. Performing a Driver Update During Installation
- let the installer automatically find a driver update disk.
- let the installer prompt you for a driver update.
- use a boot option to specify a driver update disk.
6.3.1. Let the Installer Find a Driver Update Disk Automatically
OEMDRV
before starting the installation process. The installer will automatically examine the device and load any driver updates that it detects and will not prompt you during the process. Refer to Section 6.2.1.1, “Preparing to use an image file on local storage” to prepare a storage device for the installer to find.
6.3.2. Let the Installer Prompt You for a Driver Update
- Begin the installation normally for whatever method you have chosen. If the installer cannot load drivers for a piece of hardware that is essential for the installation process (for example, if it cannot detect any network or storage controllers), it prompts you to insert a driver update disk:
Figure 6.5. The no driver found dialog
- Select Use a driver disk and refer to Section 6.4, “Specifying the Location of a Driver Update Image File or a Driver Update Disk”.
6.3.3. Use a Boot Option to Specify a Driver Update Disk
Important
- Type
linux dd
at the boot prompt at the start of the installation process and press Enter. The installer prompts you to confirm that you have a driver disk:Figure 6.6. The driver disk prompt
- Insert the driver update disk that you created on CD, DVD, or USB flash drive and select. The installer examines the storage devices that it can detect. If there is only one possible location that could hold a driver disk (for example, the installer detects the presence of a DVD drive, but no other storage devices) it will automatically load any driver updates that it finds at this location.If the installer finds more than one location that could hold a driver update, it prompts you to specify the location of the update. See Section 6.4, “Specifying the Location of a Driver Update Image File or a Driver Update Disk”.
6.3.4. Select a PXE Target that Includes a Driver Update
- Select
network boot
in your computer's BIOS or boot menu. The procedure to specify this option varies widely among different computers. Consult your hardware documentation or the hardware vendor for specifics relevant to your computer. - In the preboot execution environment (PXE), choose the boot target that you prepared on your PXE server. For example, if you labeled this environment
rhel6-dd
in the/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg/default
file on your PXE server, typerhel6-dd
at the prompt and press Enter.
6.4. Specifying the Location of a Driver Update Image File or a Driver Update Disk
Figure 6.7. Selecting a driver disk source
Figure 6.8. Selecting a driver disk partition
Figure 6.9. Selecting an ISO image
Chapter 7. Booting the Installer
7.1. Starting the Installation Program
Important
Note
7.1.1. Booting the Installation Program on x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 Systems
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD — Your machine supports a bootable DVD drive and you have the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation DVD.
- Boot CD-ROM — Your machine supports a bootable CD-ROM drive and you want to perform network or hard drive installation.
- USB flash drive — Your machine supports booting from a USB device.
- PXE boot via network — Your machine supports booting from the network. This is an advanced installation path. Refer to Chapter 30, Setting Up an Installation Server for additional information on this method.
Important
- Disconnect any external FireWire or USB disks that you do not need for installation. Refer to Section 3.4.3, “FireWire and USB Disks” for more information.
- Power on your computer system.
- Insert the media in your computer.
- Power off your computer with the boot media still inside.
- Power on your computer system.
Press F10 to select boot device
, although the specific wording and the key that you must press varies widely from computer to computer. Consult the documentation for your computer or motherboard, or seek support from the hardware manufacturer or vendor.
boot:
prompt, at which you can enter additional boot options as described in Section 7.1.3, “Additional Boot Options”.
Important
7.1.3. Additional Boot Options
boot:
prompt appears, at which you can use the boot loader options described below.
Note
linux text
linux repo=cdrom:device
linux repo=ftp://username:password@URL
linux repo=http://URL
linux repo=hd:device
linux repo=nfs:options:server:/path
linux repo=nfsiso:options:server:/path
In these examples,cdrom
refers to a CD or DVD drive,ftp
refers to a location accessible by FTP,http
refers to a location accessible by HTTP,hd
refers to an ISO image file accessible on a hard drive partition,nfs
refers to an expanded tree of installation files accessible by NFS, andnfsiso
refers to an ISO image file accessible by NFS.- ISO images have an SHA256 checksum embedded in them. To test the checksum integrity of an ISO image, at the installation boot prompt, type:
linux mediacheck
The installation program prompts you to insert a DVD or select an ISO image to test, and selectto perform the checksum operation. This checksum operation can be performed on any Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD. It is strongly recommended to perform this operation on any Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD that was created from downloaded ISO images. This command works with the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO installation methods. linux console=<device>
For text mode installations, use:linux text console=<device>
In the above command, <device> should be the device you are using (such as ttyS0 or ttyS1). For example,linux text console=ttyS0
.Text mode installations using a serial terminal work best when the terminal supports UTF-8. Under UNIX and Linux, Kermit supports UTF-8. For Windows, Kermit '95 works well. Non-UTF-8 capable terminals works as long as only English is used during the installation process. An enhanced serial display can be used by passing theutf8
command as a boot-time option to the installation program. For example:linux console=ttyS0 utf8
7.1.3.1. Kernel Options
linux updates
linux text updates
rhupdates/
on the server.
7.2. Installing from a Different Source
Boot method | Installation source |
---|---|
Installation DVD | DVD, network, or hard disk |
Installation USB flash drive | Installation DVD, network, or hard disk |
Minimal boot CD or USB, rescue CD | Network or hard disk |
7.3. Booting from the Network Using PXE
Network Boot
or Boot Services
. Once you properly configure PXE booting, the computer can boot the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation system without any other media.
- Ensure that the network cable is attached. The link indicator light on the network socket should be lit, even if the computer is not switched on.
- Switch on the computer.
- A menu screen appears. Press the number key that corresponds to the desired option.
Note
pxelinux.cfg/*
config files:
IPAPPEND 2 APPEND ksdevice=bootif
ksdevice=link
Chapter 8. Configuring Language and Installation Source
8.1. The Text Mode Installation Program User Interface
Important
xdriver=vesa
option – refer to Chapter 28, Boot Options
Note
Figure 8.1. Installation Program Widgets as seen in URL Setup
Figure 8.2. Installation Program Widgets as seen in Choose a Language
- Window — Windows (usually referred to as dialogs in this manual) appear on your screen throughout the installation process. At times, one window may overlay another; in these cases, you can only interact with the window on top. When you are finished in that window, it disappears, allowing you to continue working in the window underneath.
- Checkbox — Checkboxes allow you to select or deselect a feature. The box displays either an asterisk (selected) or a space (unselected). When the cursor is within a checkbox, press Space to select or deselect a feature.
- Text Input — Text input lines are regions where you can enter information required by the installation program. When the cursor rests on a text input line, you may enter and/or edit information on that line.
- Text Widget — Text widgets are regions of the screen for the display of text. At times, text widgets may also contain other widgets, such as checkboxes. If a text widget contains more information than can be displayed in the space reserved for it, a scroll bar appears; if you position the cursor within the text widget, you can then use the Up and Down arrow keys to scroll through all the information available. Your current position is shown on the scroll bar by a # character, which moves up and down the scroll bar as you scroll.
- Scroll Bar — Scroll bars appear on the side or bottom of a window to control which part of a list or document is currently in the window's frame. The scroll bar makes it easy to move to any part of a file.
- Button Widget — Button widgets are the primary method of interacting with the installation program. You progress through the windows of the installation program by navigating these buttons, using the Tab and Enter keys. Buttons can be selected when they are highlighted.
- Cursor — Although not a widget, the cursor is used to select (and interact with) a particular widget. As the cursor is moved from widget to widget, it may cause the widget to change color, or the cursor itself may only appear positioned in or next to the widget. In Figure 8.1, “Installation Program Widgets as seen in URL Setup”, the cursor is positioned on the checkbox. Figure 8.2, “Installation Program Widgets as seen in Choose a Language”, shows the cursor on the button.
8.1.1. Using the Keyboard to Navigate
Warning
8.2. Language Selection
Figure 8.3. Language Selection
8.3. Installation Method
askmethod
boot option, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select an installation method (refer to Figure 8.4, “Installation Method”). With your selected method highlighted, press the Tab key to move to the button and press the Enter key to confirm your choice.
Figure 8.4. Installation Method
8.3.1. Installing from a DVD
Note
8.3.2. Installing from a Hard Drive
repo=hd
boot option, you already specified a partition.
Figure 8.5. Selecting Partition Dialog for Hard Drive Installation
/dev/sd
. Each individual drive has its own letter, for example /dev/sda
. Each partition on a drive is numbered, for example /dev/sda1
.
Partition type | Volume | Original path to files | Directory to use |
---|---|---|---|
VFAT | D:\ | D:\Downloads\RHEL6.9 | /Downloads/RHEL6.9 |
ext2, ext3, ext4 | /home | /home/user1/RHEL6.9 | /user1/RHEL6.9 |
/
. If the ISO images are located in a subdirectory of a mounted partition, enter the name of the directory holding the ISO images within that partition. For example, if the partition on which the ISO images is normally mounted as /home/
, and the images are in /home/new/
, you would enter /new/
.
Important
8.3.3. Performing a Network Installation
askmethod
or repo=
options, you can install Red Hat Enterprise Linux from a network server using FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, or NFS protocols. Anaconda uses the same network connection to consult additional software repositories later in the installation process.
Figure 8.6. Networking Device
Figure 8.7. Identify NIC
IPv4 options
- Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP)
- Anaconda uses DHCP running on the network to supply the network configuration automatically.
- Manual configuration
- Anaconda prompts you to enter the network configuration manually, including the IP address for this system, the netmask, the gateway address, and the DNS address.
IPv6 options
- Automatic
- Anaconda uses router advertisement (RA) and DHCP for automatic configuration, based on the network environment. (Equivalent to the
Automatic
option in NetworkManager) - Automatic, DHCP only
- Anaconda does not use RA, but requests information from DHCPv6 directly to create a stateful configuration. (Equivalent to the
Automatic, DHCP only
option in NetworkManager) - Manual configuration
- Anaconda prompts you to enter the network configuration manually, including the IP address for this system, the netmask, the gateway address, and the DNS address.
Figure 8.8. Configure TCP/IP
Figure 8.9. Manual TCP/IP Configuration
- If you are installing via NFS, proceed to Section 8.3.4, “Installing via NFS”.
- If you are installing via Web or FTP, proceed to Section 8.3.5, “Installing via FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS”.
8.3.4. Installing via NFS
repo=nfs
boot option, you already specified a server and path.
Figure 8.10. NFS Setup Dialog
- Enter the domain name or IP address of your NFS server in the NFS server name field. For example, if you are installing from a host named
eastcoast
in the domainexample.com
, entereastcoast.example.com
. - Enter the name of the exported directory in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 directory field:
- If the NFS server is exporting a mirror of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation tree, enter the directory which contains the root of the installation tree. If everything was specified properly, a message appears indicating that the installation program for Red Hat Enterprise Linux is running.
- If the NFS server is exporting the ISO image of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD, enter the directory which contains the ISO image.
If you followed the setup described in Section 4.1.2, “Preparing for an NFS Installation”, the exported directory is the one that you specified aspublicly_available_directory
. - Specify any NFS mount options that you require in the NFS mount options field. Refer to the man pages for mount and nfs for a comprehensive list of options. If you do not require any mount options, leave the field empty.
- Proceed with Chapter 9, Installing Using Anaconda.
8.3.5. Installing via FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS
Important
http://
or https://
or ftp://
as the protocol.
repo=ftp
or repo=http
boot options, you already specified a server and path.
/images
directory for your architecture. For example:
/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6.9/Server/i386/
https://
as the protocol.
{ftp|http|https}://<user>:<password>@<hostname>[:<port>]/<directory>/
http://install:rhel6.9pw@name.example.com/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6.9/Server/i386/
Figure 8.11. URL Setup Dialog
8.4. Verifying Media
Chapter 9. Installing Using Anaconda
9.1. The Text Mode Installation Program User Interface
Important
- The installation system fails to identify the display hardware on your computer
- You choose the text mode installation from the boot menu
- configuring advanced storage methods such as LVM, RAID, FCoE, zFCP, and iSCSI.
- customizing the partition layout
- customizing the bootloader layout
- selecting packages during installation
- configuring the installed system with firstboot
linux ip
option can be used to configure network settings. Refer to Section 28.1, “Configuring the Installation System at the Boot Menu” for instructions.
9.2. The Graphical Installation Program User Interface
Note
boot:
prompt:
linux text
9.2.1. Screenshots During Installation
/root/anaconda-screenshots
.
autostep --autoscreenshot
option to generate a screenshot of each step of the installation automatically. Refer to Section 32.3, “Creating the Kickstart File” for details of configuring a Kickstart file.
9.2.2. A Note About Virtual Consoles
console | keystrokes | contents |
---|---|---|
1 | ctrl+alt+f1 | graphical display |
2 | ctrl+alt+f2 | shell prompt |
3 | ctrl+alt+f3 | install log (messages from installation program) |
4 | ctrl+alt+f4 | system-related messages |
5 | ctrl+alt+f5 | other messages |
9.3. Welcome to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Figure 9.1. The Welcome screen
9.4. Language Selection
Figure 9.2. Language Configuration
9.5. Keyboard Configuration
Figure 9.3. Keyboard Configuration
latin1
option, which uses dead keys to access certain characters, such as those with diacritical marks. When you press a dead key, nothing will appear on your screen until you press another key to "complete" the character. For example, to type é
on a latin1 keyboard layout, you would press (and release) the ' key, and then press the E
key. By contrast, you access this character on some other keyboards by pressing and holding down a key (such as Alt-Gr) while you press the E
key. Other keyboards might have a dedicated key for this character.
Note
system-config-keyboard
command in a shell prompt to launch the Keyboard Configuration Tool. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root password to continue.
9.6. Storage Devices
Figure 9.4. Storage devices
- Basic Storage Devices
- Selectto install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the following storage devices:
- hard drives or solid-state drives connected directly to the local system.
- Specialized Storage Devices
- Selectto install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the following storage devices:
- Storage area networks (SANs)
- Direct access storage devices (DASDs)
- Firmware RAID devices
- Multipath devices
Use theoption to configure Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) and FCoE (Fiber Channel over Ethernet) connections.
Note
mdeventd
daemon is not performed during installation.
9.6.1. The Storage Devices Selection Screen
Figure 9.5. Select storage devices — Basic devices
Figure 9.6. Select storage devices — Multipath Devices
Figure 9.7. Select storage devices — Other SAN Devices
- Basic Devices
- Basic storage devices directly connected to the local system, such as hard disk drives and solid-state drives.
- Firmware RAID
- Storage devices attached to a firmware RAID controller.
- Multipath Devices
- Storage devices accessible through more than one path, such as through multiple SCSI controllers or Fiber Channel ports on the same system.
Important
The installer only detects multipath storage devices with serial numbers that are 16 or 32 characters in length. - Other SAN Devices
- Any other devices available on a storage area network (SAN).
Figure 9.8. The Storage Devices Search Tab
Figure 9.9. Selecting Columns
/etc/fstab
file.
Important
9.6.1.1. Advanced Storage Options
Figure 9.10. Advanced Storage Options
9.6.1.1.1. Select and configure a network interface
Figure 9.11. Select network interface
- Select an interface from the drop-down menu.
- Click.
Figure 9.12. Network Connections
9.6.1.1.2. Configure iSCSI parameters
Procedure 9.1. iSCSI discovery
Figure 9.13. The iSCSI Discovery Details dialog
- Enter the IP address of the iSCSI target in the Target IP Address field.
- Provide a name in the iSCSI Initiator Name field for the iSCSI initiator in iSCSI qualified name (IQN) format.A valid IQN contains:
- the string
iqn.
(note the period) - a date code that specifies the year and month in which your organization's Internet domain or subdomain name was registered, represented as four digits for the year, a dash, and two digits for the month, followed by a period. For example, represent September 2010 as
2010-09.
- your organization's Internet domain or subdomain name, presented in reverse order with the top-level domain first. For example, represent the subdomain
storage.example.com
ascom.example.storage
- a colon followed by a string that uniquely identifies this particular iSCSI initiator within your domain or subdomain. For example,
:diskarrays-sn-a8675309
.
A complete IQN therefore resembles:iqn.2010-09.storage.example.com:diskarrays-sn-a8675309
, and anaconda pre-populates the iSCSI Initiator Name field with a name in this format to help you with the structure.For more information on IQNs, refer to 3.2.6. iSCSI Names in RFC 3720 - Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) available from http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3720#section-3.2.6 and 1. iSCSI Names and Addresses in RFC 3721 - Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) Naming and Discovery available from http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3721#section-1. - Use the drop-down menu to specify the type of authentication to use for iSCSI discovery:
Figure 9.14. iSCSI discovery authentication
- If you selected CHAP Username and CHAP Password fields.as the authentication type, provide the username and password for the iSCSI target in the
Figure 9.15. CHAP pair
- If you selected CHAP Username and CHAP Password field and the username and password for the iSCSI initiator in the Reverse CHAP Username and Reverse CHAP Password fields.as the authentication type, provide the username and password for the iSCSI target in the
Figure 9.16. CHAP pair and a reverse pair
- Click Anaconda attempts to discover an iSCSI target based on the information that you provided. If discovery succeeds, the iSCSI Discovered Nodes dialog presents you with a list of all the iSCSI nodes discovered on the target..
- Each node is presented with a checkbox beside it. Click the checkboxes to select the nodes to use for installation.
Figure 9.17. The iSCSI Discovered Nodes dialog
- Clickto initiate an iSCSI session.
Procedure 9.2. Starting an iSCSI session
Figure 9.18. The iSCSI Nodes Login dialog
- Use the drop-down menu to specify the type of authentication to use for the iSCSI session:
Figure 9.19. iSCSI session authentication
If your environment uses the same type of authentication and same username and password for iSCSI discovery and for the iSCSI session, selectto reuse these credentials. - If you selected CHAP Username and CHAP Password fields.as the authentication type, provide the username and password for the iSCSI target in the
Figure 9.20. CHAP pair
- If you selected CHAP Username and CHAP Password fields and the username and password for the iSCSI initiator in the Reverse CHAP Username and Reverse CHAP Password fields.as the authentication type, provide the username and password for the iSCSI target in the
Figure 9.21. CHAP pair and a reverse pair
- Click Anaconda attempts to log into the nodes on the iSCSI target based on the information that you provided. The iSCSI Login Results dialog presents you with the results..
Figure 9.22. The iSCSI Login Results dialog
- Clickto continue.
9.6.1.1.3. Configure FCoE Parameters
Figure 9.23. Configure FCoE Parameters
9.7. Setting the Hostname
Note
Figure 9.24. Setting the hostname
Note
9.7.1. Editing Network Connections
Important
Note
system-config-network
command in a shell prompt to launch the Network Administration Tool. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root password to continue.
Figure 9.25. Network Connections
9.7.1.1. Options common to all types of connection
9.7.1.2. The Wired tab
Figure 9.26. The Wired tab
9.7.1.3. The 802.1x Security tab
- Authentication
- Choose one of the following methods of authentication:
- TLS for Transport Layer Security
- Tunneled TLS for Tunneled Transport Layer Security, otherwise known as TTLS, or EAP-TTLS
- Protected EAP (PEAP) for Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol
- Identity
- Provide the identity of this server.
- User certificate
- Browse to a personal X.509 certificate file encoded with Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER) or Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM).
- CA certificate
- Browse to a X.509 certificate authority certificate file encoded with Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER) or Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM).
- Private key
- Browse to a private key file encoded with Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER), Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM), or the Personal Information Exchange Syntax Standard (PKCS#12).
- Private key password
- The password for the private key specified in the Private key field. Select Show password to make the password visible as you type it.
Figure 9.27. The 802.1x Security tab
9.7.1.4. The IPv4 Settings tab
- Automatic (DHCP)
- IPv4 parameters are configured by the DHCP service on the network.
- Automatic (DHCP) addresses only
- The IPv4 address, netmask, and gateway address are configured by the DHCP service on the network, but DNS servers and search domains must be configured manually.
- Manual
- IPv4 parameters are configured manually for a static configuration.
- Link-Local Only
- A link-local address in the 169.254/16 range is assigned to the interface.
- Shared to other computers
- The system is configured to provide network access to other computers. The interface is assigned an address in the 10.42.x.1/24 range, a DHCP server and DNS server are started, and the interface is connected to the default network connection on the system with network address translation (NAT).
- Disabled
- IPv4 is disabled for this connection.
Figure 9.28. The IPv4 Settings tab
9.7.1.4.1. Editing IPv4 routes
Figure 9.29. The Editing IPv4 Routes dialog
9.7.1.5. The IPv6 Settings tab
- Ignore
- IPv6 is ignored for this connection.
- Automatic
- NetworkManager uses router advertisement (RA) to create an automatic, stateless configuration.
- Automatic, addresses only
- NetworkManager uses RA to create an automatic, stateless configuration, but DNS servers and search domains are ignored and must be configured manually.
- Automatic, DHCP only
- NetworkManager does not use RA, but requests information from DHCPv6 directly to create a stateful configuration.
- Manual
- IPv6 parameters are configured manually for a static configuration.
- Link-Local Only
- A link-local address with the fe80::/10 prefix is assigned to the interface.
Figure 9.30. The IPv6 Settings tab
9.7.1.5.1. Editing IPv6 routes
Figure 9.31. The Editing IPv6 Routes dialog
9.7.1.6. Restart a network device
ONBOOT=yes
is set. Refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 Deployment Guide available from https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Deployment_Guide/index.html for more information about interface configuration files.
- Press Ctrl+Alt+F2 to switch to virtual terminal
tty2
. - Move the interface configuration file to a temporary location:
mv /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-device_name /tmp
where device_name is the device that you just reconfigured. For example,ifcfg-eth0
is the ifcfg file foreth0
.The device is now disconnected in anaconda. - Open the interface configuration file in the vi editor:
vi /tmp/ifcfg-device_name
- Verify that the interface configuration file contains the line
ONBOOT=yes
. If the file does not already contain the line, add it now and save the file. - Exit the vi editor.
- Move the interface configuration file back to the
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
directory:mv /tmp/ifcfg-device_name /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
The device is now reconnected in anaconda. - Press Ctrl+Alt+F6 to return to anaconda.
9.8. Time Zone Configuration
- 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 on a location to highlight your selection.
Warning
Note
system-config-date
command in a shell prompt to launch the Time and Date Properties Tool. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root password to continue.
9.9. Set the Root Password
Note
Figure 9.32. Root Password
su
command to change to root only when you need to perform tasks that require superuser authorization. These basic rules minimize the chances of a typo or an incorrect command doing damage to your system.
Note
su -
at the shell prompt in a terminal window and then press Enter. Then, enter the root password and press Enter.
Warning
passwd
command as root
. If you forget the root password, see Resolving Problems in System Recovery Modes in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Deployment Guide for instructions on how to set a new one.
9.10. Assign Storage Devices
Figure 9.33. Assign storage devices
Important
9.11. Initializing the Hard Disk
Figure 9.34. Warning screen – initializing hard drive
zerombr
(refer to Chapter 32, Kickstart Installations). This command is required when performing an unattended installation on a system with previously initialized disks.
Warning
9.12. Upgrading an Existing System
Important
9.12.1. The Upgrade Dialog
Figure 9.35. The Upgrade Dialog
Note
9.12.2. Upgrading Using the Installer
Note
/home
partition and perform a fresh installation. For more information on partitions and how to set them up, refer to Section 9.13, “Disk Partitioning Setup”.
rpm -qa --qf '%{NAME} %{VERSION}-%{RELEASE} %{ARCH}\n' > ~/old-pkglist.txt
su -c 'tar czf /tmp/etc-`date +%F`.tar.gz /etc'
su -c 'mv /tmp/etc-*.tar.gz /home'
/home
directory as well as content from services such as an Apache, FTP, or SQL server, or a source code management system. Although upgrades are not destructive, if you perform one improperly there is a small possibility of data loss.
Warning
/home
directory. If your /home
directory is not a separate partition, you should not follow these examples verbatim! Store your backups on another device such as CD or DVD discs or an external hard disk.
9.12.3. Updating the Boot Loader Configuration
Figure 9.36. The Upgrade Boot Loader Dialog
9.13. Disk Partitioning Setup
Warning
Important
Important
/boot/
partition must be created on a partition outside of the RAID array, such as on a separate hard drive. An internal hard drive is necessary to use for partition creation with problematic RAID cards.
/boot/
partition is also necessary for software RAID setups.
/boot/
partition.
Figure 9.37. Disk Partitioning Setup
- Use All Space
- Select this option to remove all partitions on your hard drives (this includes partitions created by other operating systems such as Windows VFAT or NTFS partitions).
Warning
If you select this option, all data on the selected hard drives is removed by the installation program. Do not select this option if you have information that you want to keep on the hard drives where you are installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux.In particular, do not select this option when you configure a system to chain load the Red Hat Enterprise Linux boot loader from another boot loader. - Replace Existing Linux System(s)
- Select this option to remove only partitions created by a previous Linux installation. This does not remove other partitions you may have on your hard drives (such as VFAT or FAT32 partitions).
- Shrink Current System
- Select this option to resize your current data and partitions manually and install a default Red Hat Enterprise Linux layout in the space that is freed.
Warning
If you shrink partitions on which other operating systems are installed, you might not be able to use those operating systems. Although this partitioning option does not destroy data, operating systems typically require some free space in their partitions. Before you resize a partition that holds an operating system that you might want to use again, find out how much space you need to leave free. - Use Free Space
- Select this option to retain your current data and partitions and install Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the unused space available on the storage drives. Ensure that there is sufficient space available on the storage drives before you select this option — refer to Section 3.6, “Do You Have Enough Disk Space?”.
Warning
If your 64-bit x86 system uses UEFI instead of BIOS, you will need to manually create a /boot partition. This partition must have an ext3 file system. If you choose to partition automatically, your system will not boot. - Create Custom Layout
- Select this option to partition storage devices manually and create customized layouts. Refer to Section 9.15, “ Creating a Custom Layout or Modifying the Default Layout ”
/boot
partition. Refer to Appendix C, Disk Encryption for information on encryption.
Important
Important
9.14. Choosing a Disk Encryption Passphrase
Figure 9.38. Enter passphrase for encrypted partition
Warning
9.15. Creating a Custom Layout or Modifying the Default Layout
Warning
Important
/boot/efi
.
Figure 9.39. Partitioning on x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 Systems
/dev/sda
or LogVol00
), its size (in MB), and its model as detected by the installation program.
- Device
- the name of the device, logical volume, or partition
- Size (MB)
- the size of the device, logical volume, or partition (in MB)
- Mount Point/RAID/Volume
- the mount point (location within a file system) on which a partition is to be mounted, or the name of the RAID or logical volume group of which it is a part
- Type
- the type of partition. If the partition is a standard partition, this field displays the type of file system on the partition (for example, ext4). Otherwise, it indicates that the partition is a
physical volume (LVM)
, or part of asoftware RAID
- Format
- A check mark in this column indicates that the partition will be formatted during installation.
- Create
- create a new partition, logical volume, or software RAID
- Edit
- change an existing partition, logical volume, or software RAID. Note that you can only shrink partitions with thebutton, not enlarge partitions.
- Delete
- remove a partition, logical volume, or software RAID
- Reset
- undo all changes made in this screen
9.15.1. Create Storage
Figure 9.40. Creating Storage
Create Partition
- Standard Partition — create a standard disk partition (as described in Appendix A, An Introduction to Disk Partitions) in unallocated space.
Create Software RAID
- RAID Partition — create a partition in unallocated space to form part of a software RAID device. To form a software RAID device, two or more RAID partitions must be available on the system.
- RAID Device — combine two or more RAID partitions into a software RAID device. When you choose this option, you can specify the type of RAID device to create (the RAID level). This option is only available when two or more RAID partitions are available on the system.
Create LVM Logical Volume
- LVM Physical Volume — create a physical volume in unallocated space.
- LVM Volume Group — create a volume group from one or more physical volumes. This option is only available when at least one physical volume is available on the system.
- LVM Logical Volume — create a logical volume on a volume group. This option is only available when at least one volume group is available on the system.
9.15.2. Adding Partitions
Note
Figure 9.41. Creating a New Partition
- 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 toswap
is sufficient. - File System Type: Using the pull-down menu, select the appropriate file system type for this partition. For more information on file system types, refer to Section 9.15.2.1, “File System Types”.
- 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 anaconda place partitions where you need them, or let anaconda decide where partitions should go.
- Size (MB): Enter the size (in megabytes) of the partition. Note, this field starts with 200 MB; unless changed, only a 200 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. Refer to Section A.1.3, “Partitions Within Partitions — An Overview of Extended Partitions”, for more information.
- Encrypt: Choose whether to encrypt the partition so that the data stored on it cannot be accessed without a passphrase, even if the storage device is connected to another system. Refer to Appendix C, Disk Encryption for information on encryption of storage devices. If you select this option, the installer prompts you to provide a passphrase before it writes the partition to the disk.
9.15.2.1. File System Types
Partition types
- standard partition — A standard partition can contain a file system or swap space, or it can provide a container for software RAID or an LVM physical volume.
- swap — 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. Refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deployment Guide for additional information.
- software RAID — Creating two or more software RAID partitions allows you to create a RAID device. For more information regarding RAID, refer to the chapter RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deployment Guide.
- physical volume (LVM) — Creating one or more physical volume (LVM) partitions allows you to create an LVM logical volume. LVM can improve performance when using physical disks. For more information regarding LVM, refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deployment Guide.
File systems
- ext4 — The ext4 file system is based on the ext3 file system and features a number of improvements. These include support for larger file systems and larger files, faster and more efficient allocation of disk space, no limit on the number of subdirectories within a directory, faster file system checking, and more robust journaling. A maximum file system size of 16TB is supported for ext4. The ext4 file system is selected by default and is highly recommended.
Note
Theuser_xattr
andacl
mount options are automatically set on ext4 systems by the installation system. These options enable extended attributes and access control lists, respectively. More information about mount options can be found in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Storage Administration Guide. - ext3 — The ext3 file system is based on the ext2 file system and has one main advantage — journaling. Using a journaling file system reduces time spent recovering a file system after a crash as there is no need to
fsck
[3] the file system. A maximum file system size of 16TB is supported for ext3. - ext2 — An ext2 file system supports standard Unix file types (regular files, directories, symbolic links, etc). It provides the ability to assign long file names, up to 255 characters.
- xfs — XFS is a highly scalable, high-performance file system that supports filesystems up to 16 exabytes (approximately 16 million terabytes), files up to 8 exabytes (approximately 8 million terabytes) and directory structures containing tens of millions of entries. XFS supports metadata journaling, which facilitates quicker crash recovery. The XFS file system can also be defragmented and resized while mounted and active.
Note
The maximum size of an XFS partition the installer can create is 100 TB. - vfat — The VFAT file system is a Linux file system that is compatible with Microsoft Windows long filenames on the FAT file system.
- Btrfs — Btrfs is under development as a file system capable of addressing and managing more files, larger files, and larger volumes than the ext2, ext3, and ext4 file systems. Btrfs is designed to make the file system tolerant of errors, and to facilitate the detection and repair of errors when they occur. It uses checksums to ensure the validity of data and metadata, and maintains snapshots of the file system that can be used for backup or repair.Because Btrfs is still experimental and under development, the installation program does not offer it by default. If you want to create a Btrfs partition on a drive, you must commence the installation process with the boot option
btrfs
. Refer to Chapter 28, Boot Options for instructions.Warning
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 includes Btrfs as a technology preview to allow you to experiment with this file system. You should not choose Btrfs for partitions that will contain valuable data or that are essential for the operation of important systems.
9.15.3. Create Software RAID
- RAID Partition
- Choose this option to configure a partition for software RAID. This option is the only choice available if your disk contains no software RAID partitions. This is the same dialog that appears when you add a standard partition — refer to Section 9.15.2, “Adding Partitions” for a description of the available options. Note, however, that File System Type must be set to
software RAID
Figure 9.42. Create a software RAID partition
- RAID Device
- Choose this option to construct a RAID device from two or more existing software RAID partitions. This option is available if two or more software RAID partitions have been configured.
Figure 9.43. Create a RAID device
Select the file system type as for a standard partition.Anaconda automatically suggests a name for the RAID device, but you can manually select names frommd0
tomd15
.Click the checkboxes beside individual storage devices to include or remove them from this RAID.The RAID Level corresponds to a particular type of RAID. Choose from the following options:- RAID 0 — distributes data across multiple storage devices. Level 0 RAIDs offer increased performance over standard partitions, and can be used to pool the storage of multiple devices into one large virtual device. Note that Level 0 RAIDS offer no redundancy and that the failure of one device in the array destroys the entire array. RAID 0 requires at least two RAID partitions.
- RAID 1 — mirrors the data on one storage device onto one or more other storage devices. Additional devices in the array provide increasing levels of redundancy. RAID 1 requires at least two RAID partitions.
- RAID 4 — distributes data across multiple storage devices, but uses one device in the array to store parity information that safeguards the array in case any device within the array fails. Because all parity information is stored on the one device, access to this device creates a bottleneck in the performance of the array. RAID 4 requires at least three RAID partitions.
- RAID 5 — distributes data and parity information across multiple storage devices. Level 5 RAIDs therefore offer the performance advantages of distributing data across multiple devices, but do not share the performance bottleneck of level 4 RAIDs because the parity information is also distributed through the array. RAID 5 requires at least three RAID partitions.
- RAID 6 — level 6 RAIDs are similar to level 5 RAIDs, but instead of storing only one set of parity data, they store two sets. RAID 6 requires at least four RAID partitions.
- RAID 10 — level 10 RAIDs are nested RAIDs or hybrid RAIDs. Level 10 RAIDs are constructed by distributing data over mirrored sets of storage devices. For example, a level 10 RAID constructed from four RAID partitions consists of two pairs of partitions in which one partition mirrors the other. Data is then distributed across both pairs of storage devices, as in a level 0 RAID. RAID 10 requires at least four RAID partitions.
9.15.4. Create LVM Logical Volume
Important
lvm
command. To return to the text-mode installation, press Alt+F1.
- LVM Physical Volume
- Choose this option to configure a partition or device as an LVM physical volume. This option is the only choice available if your storage does not already contain LVM Volume Groups. This is the same dialog that appears when you add a standard partition — refer to Section 9.15.2, “Adding Partitions” for a description of the available options. Note, however, that File System Type must be set to
physical volume (LVM)
Figure 9.44. Create an LVM Physical Volume
- Make LVM Volume Group
- Choose this option to create LVM volume groups from the available LVM physical volumes, or to add existing logical volumes to a volume group.
Figure 9.45. Make LVM Volume Group
To assign one or more physical volumes to a volume group, first name the volume group. Then select the physical volumes to be used in the volume group. Finally, configure logical volumes on any volume groups using the Add, Edit and Delete options.You may not remove a physical volume from a volume group if doing so would leave insufficient space for that group's logical volumes. Take for example a volume group made up of two 5 GB LVM physical volume partitions, which contains an 8 GB logical volume. The installer would not allow you to remove either of the component physical volumes, since that would leave only 5 GB in the group for an 8 GB logical volume. If you reduce the total size of any logical volumes appropriately, you may then remove a physical volume from the volume group. In the example, reducing the size of the logical volume to 4 GB would allow you to remove one of the 5 GB physical volumes. - Make Logical Volume
- Choose this option to create an LVM logical volume. Select a mount point, file system type, and size (in MB) just as if it were a standard disk partition. You can also choose a name for the logical volume and specify the volume group to which it will belong.
Figure 9.46. Make Logical Volume
9.15.5. Recommended Partitioning Scheme
9.15.5.1. x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 systems
- A
swap
partition - A
/boot
partition - A
/
partition - A
home
partition - A
/boot/efi
partition (EFI System Partition) - only on systems with UEFI firmware
- A
swap
partition (at least 256 MB) — Swap partitions support virtual memory: data is written to a swap partition when there is not enough RAM to store the data your system is processing.In years past, the recommended amount of swap space increased linearly with the amount of RAM in the system. Modern systems often include hundreds of gigabytes of RAM, however. As a consequence, recommended swap space is considered a function of system memory workload, not system memory.The following table provides the recommended size of a swap partition depending on the amount of RAM in your system and whether you want sufficient memory for your system to hibernate. The recommended swap partition size is established automatically during installation. To allow for hibernation, however, you will need to edit the swap space in the custom partitioning stage.Important
Recommendations in the table below are especially important on systems with low memory (1 GB and less). Failure to allocate sufficient swap space on these systems may cause issues such as instability or even render the installed system unbootable.Table 9.2. Recommended System Swap Space Amount of RAM in the system Recommended swap space Recommended swap space if allowing for hibernation ⩽ 2GB 2 times the amount of RAM 3 times the amount of RAM > 2GB – 8GB Equal to the amount of RAM 2 times the amount of RAM > 8GB – 64GB At least 4 GB 1.5 times the amount of RAM > 64GB At least 4 GB Hibernation not recommended At the border between each range listed above (for example, a system with 2GB, 8GB, or 64GB of system RAM), discretion can be exercised with regard to chosen swap space and hibernation support. If your system resources allow for it, increasing the swap space may lead to better performance.Note that distributing swap space over multiple storage devices — particularly on systems with fast drives, controllers and interfaces — also improves swap space performance.Note
Swap space size recommendations issued for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0, 6.1, and 6.2 differed from the current recommendations, which were first issued with the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 in June 2012 and did not account for hibernation space. Automatic installations of these earlier versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 still generate a swap space in line with these superseded recommendations. However, manually selecting a swap space size in line with the newer recommendations issued for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3 is advisable for optimal performance. - A
/boot/
partition (250 MB)The partition mounted on
/boot/
contains the operating system kernel (which allows your system to boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux), along with files used during the bootstrap process. For most users, a 250 MB boot partition is sufficient.Important
The/boot
and/
(root) partition in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 can only use the ext2, ext3, and ext4 (recommended) file systems. You cannot use any other file system for this partition, such as Btrfs, XFS, or VFAT. Other partitions, such as/home
, can use any supported file system, including Btrfs and XFS (if available). See the following article on the Red Hat Customer Portal for additional information: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/667273.Warning
Note that normally the/boot
partition is created automatically by the installer. However, if the/
(root) partition is larger than 2 TB and (U)EFI is used for booting, you need to create a separate/boot
partition that is smaller than 2 TB to boot the machine successfully.Note
If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinders (and your system was manufactured more than two years ago), you may need to create a/boot/
partition if you want the/
(root) partition to use all of the remaining space on your hard drive.Note
If you have a RAID card, be aware that some BIOS types do not support booting from the RAID card. In cases such as these, the/boot/
partition must be created on a partition outside of the RAID array, such as on a separate hard drive. - A
root
partition (3.0 GB - 5.0 GB) — this is where "/
" (the root directory) is located. In this setup, all files (except those stored in/boot
) are on the root partition.A 3.0 GB partition allows you to install a minimal installation, while a 5.0 GB root partition lets you perform a full installation, choosing all package groups.Important
The/boot
and/
(root) partition in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 can only use the ext2, ext3, and ext4 (recommended) file systems. You cannot use any other file system for this partition, such as Btrfs, XFS, or VFAT. Other partitions, such as/home
, can use any supported file system, including Btrfs and XFS (if available). See the following article on the Red Hat Customer Portal for additional information: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/667273.Important
The/
(or root) partition is the top of the directory structure. The/root
directory (sometimes pronounced "slash-root") is the home directory of the user account for system administration. - A
home
partition (at least 100 MB)To store user data separately from system data, create a dedicated partition within a volume group for the
/home
directory. This will enable you to upgrade or reinstall Red Hat Enterprise Linux without erasing user data files.
/
partition, upgrades become easier. Refer to the description of the Edit option in Section 9.15, “ Creating a Custom Layout or Modifying the Default Layout ” for more information.
/foo
must be at least 500 MB, and you do not make a separate /foo
partition, then the /
(root) partition must be at least 500 MB.
Directory | Minimum size |
---|---|
/ | 250 MB |
/usr | 250 MB |
/tmp | 50 MB |
/var | 384 MB |
/home | 100 MB |
/boot | 250 MB |
Note
9.15.5.1.1. Advice on Partitions
- Consider encrypting any partitions that might contain sensitive data. Encryption prevents unauthorized people from accessing the data on the partitions, even if they have access to the physical storage device. In most cases, you should at least encrypt the
/home
partition. - Each kernel installed on your system requires approximately 30 MB on the
/boot
partition. Unless you plan to install a great many kernels, the default partition size of 250 MB for/boot
should suffice.Important
The/boot
and/
(root) partition in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 can only use the ext2, ext3, and ext4 (recommended) file systems. You cannot use any other file system for this partition, such as Btrfs, XFS, or VFAT. Other partitions, such as/home
, can use any supported file system, including Btrfs and XFS (if available). See the following article on the Red Hat Customer Portal for additional information: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/667273. - The
/var
directory holds content for a number of applications, including the Apache web server. It also is used to store downloaded update packages on a temporary basis. Ensure that the partition containing the/var
directory has enough space to download pending updates and hold your other content.Warning
The PackageKit update software downloads updated packages to/var/cache/yum/
by default. If you partition the system manually, and create a separate/var/
partition, be sure to create the partition large enough (3.0 GB or more) to download package updates. - The
/usr
directory holds the majority of software content on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system. For an installation of the default set of software, allocate at least 4 GB of space. If you are a software developer or plan to use your Red Hat Enterprise Linux system to learn software development skills, you may want to at least double this allocation. - Consider leaving a portion of the space in an LVM volume group unallocated. This unallocated space gives you flexibility if your space requirements change but you do not wish to remove data from other partitions to reallocate storage.
- a If you separate subdirectories into partitions, you can retain content in those subdirectories if you decide to install a new version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux over your current system. For instance, if you intend to run a MySQL databasge in
/var/lib/mysql
, make a separate partition for that directory in case you need to reinstall later. - UEFI systems should contain a 50-150MB
/boot/efi
partition with an EFI System Partition filesystem.
Note
Example 9.1. Example partition setup
Partition | Size and type |
---|---|
/boot | 250 MB ext3 partition |
swap | 2 GB swap |
LVM physical volume | Remaining space, as one LVM volume group |
Partition | Size and type |
---|---|
/ | 13 GB ext4 |
/var | 4 GB ext4 |
/home | 50 GB ext4 |
9.16. Write Changes to Disk
Figure 9.47. Writing storage configuration to disk
Warning
9.17. Package Group Selection
Important
Figure 9.48. Package Group Selection
- Basic Server
- This option provides a basic installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux for use on a server.
- Database Server
- This option provides the MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.
- Web server
- This option provides the Apache web server.
- Enterprise Identity Server Base
- This option provides OpenLDAP and Enterprise Identity Management (IPA) to create an identity and authentication server.
- Virtual Host
- This option provides the KVM and Virtual Machine Manager tools to create a host for virtual machines.
- Desktop
- This option provides the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, graphical tools such as the GIMP, and multimedia applications.
- Software Development Workstation
- This option provides the necessary tools to compile software on your Red Hat Enterprise Linux system.
- Minimal
- This option provides only the packages essential to run Red Hat Enterprise Linux. A minimal installation provides the basis for a single-purpose server or desktop appliance and maximizes performance and security on such an installation.
Warning
Minimal installation currently does not configure the firewall (iptables
/ip6tables
) by default because the authconfig and system-config-firewall-base packages are missing from the selection. To work around this issue, you can use a Kickstart file to add these packages to your selection. See the Red Hat Customer Portal for details about the workaround, and Chapter 32, Kickstart Installations for information about Kickstart files.If you do not use the workaround, the installation will complete successfully, but no firewall will be configured, presenting a security risk.
9.17.1. Installing from Additional Repositories
- The High Availability repository includes packages for high-availability clustering (also known as failover clustering) using the Red Hat High-availability Service Management component.
- The Load Balancer repository includes packages for load-balancing clustering using Linux Virtual Server (LVS).
- The Red Hat Enterprise Linux repository is automatically selected for you. It contains the complete collection of software that was released as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9, with the various pieces of software in their versions that were current at the time of release.
- The Resilient Storage repository includes packages for storage clustering using the Red Hat global file system (GFS).
Figure 9.49. Adding a software repository
Figure 9.50. Select network interface
- Select an interface from the drop-down menu.
- Click.
Figure 9.51. Network Connections
repodata
.
Warning
9.17.2. Customizing the Software Selection
Note
Figure 9.52. Package Group Details
Figure 9.53. Package Selection List Context Menu
9.17.2.1. Core Network Services
- centralized logging through syslog
- email through SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
- network file sharing through NFS (Network File System)
- remote access through SSH (Secure SHell)
- resource advertising through mDNS (multicast DNS)
- network file transfer through HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
- printing through CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System)
- remote desktop access through VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
9.18. x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 Boot Loader Configuration
Important
Note
Figure 9.54. Boot Loader Configuration
Warning
Warning
- Selectto include an additional operating system in GRUB.Select the disk partition which contains the bootable operating system from the drop-down list and give the entry a label. GRUB displays this label in its boot menu.
- To change an entry in the GRUB boot menu, select the entry and then select.
- To remove an entry from the GRUB boot menu, select the entry and then select.
Note
Note
/boot/grub/grub.conf
file. If you cannot boot, you may be able to use the "rescue" mode on the first Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation disc to reset the GRUB password.
grub-md5-crypt
utility. For information on using this utility, use the command man grub-md5-crypt
in a terminal window to read the manual pages.
Important
9.18.1. Advanced Boot Loader Configuration
- The Master Boot Record (MBR) — This is the recommended place to install a boot loader on systems with BIOS firmware, unless the MBR already starts another operating system loader, such as System Commander. The MBR is a special area on your hard drive that is automatically loaded by your computer's BIOS, and is the earliest point at which the boot loader can take control of the boot process. If you install it in the MBR, when your machine boots, GRUB presents a boot prompt. You can then boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux or any other operating system that you have configured the boot loader to boot.
- The EFI System Partition — Systems with UEFI firmware require a special partition for installing the boot loader. This should be a physical (non-LVM) partition of the
efi
type at least 50 MB in size; the recommended size is 200 MB. The drive containing this partition must be labeled with a GUID Partition Table (GPT) instead of a Master Boot Record. If you are installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux on a drive with a MBR, the drive must be relabeled; all data on the drive will be lost in the process. - The first sector of your boot partition — This is recommended if you are already using another boot loader on your system. In this case, your other boot loader takes control first. You can then configure that boot loader to start GRUB, which then boots Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Note
If you install GRUB as a secondary boot loader, you must reconfigure your primary boot loader whenever you install and boot from a new kernel. The kernel of an operating system such as Microsoft Windows does not boot in the same fashion. Most users therefore use GRUB as the primary boot loader on dual-boot systems.
Figure 9.55. Boot Loader Installation
Note
/boot/
partition was created.
Note
/boot
Linux partition on the first 1024 cylinders of your hard drive to boot Linux. The other Linux partitions can be after cylinder 1024.
parted
, 1024 cylinders equals 528MB. For more information, refer to:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/bios/sizeMB504-c.html
9.18.2. Rescue Mode
- Boot an x86, AMD64, or Intel 64 system from any installation medium, such as CD, DVD, USB, or PXE, and type
linux rescue
at the installation boot prompt. Refer to Chapter 36, Basic System Recovery for a more complete description of rescue mode.
9.18.3. Alternative Boot Loaders
Important
9.19. Installing Packages
Figure 9.56. Starting installation
Figure 9.57. Packages completed
/root/install.log
once you reboot your system.
9.20. Installation Complete
login:
prompt or a GUI login screen (if you installed the X Window System and chose to start X automatically) appears.
fsck
application is used to check the file system for metadata consistency and optionally repair one or more Linux file systems.
Chapter 10. Troubleshooting Installation on an Intel or AMD System
/tmp
directory. These files include:
/tmp/anaconda.log
- general anaconda messages
/tmp/program.log
- all external programs run by anaconda
/tmp/storage.log
- extensive storage module information
/tmp/yum.log
- yum package installation messages
/tmp/syslog
- hardware-related system messages
/tmp/anaconda-tb-identifier
, where identifier is a random string.
scp
on the installation image (not the other way round).
10.1. You Are Unable to Boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10.1.1. Are You Unable to Boot With Your RAID Card?
GRUB:
) and a flashing cursor may be all that appears. If this is the case, you must repartition your system.
/boot
partition outside of the RAID array, such as on a separate hard drive. An internal hard drive is necessary to use for partition creation with problematic RAID cards.
/boot/
partition.
10.1.2. Is Your System Displaying Signal 11 Errors?
boot:
or yaboot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
http://www.bitwizard.nl/sig11/
10.1.3. Diagnosing Early Boot Problems
kernel
(or linux
in some cases), append the following:
- On a system with BIOS firmware, append
earlyprintk=vga,keep
. Boot console messages should then be displayed on the system display. - On a system with UEFI firmware, append
earlyprintk=efi,keep
. Boot console messages should then be displayed in the EFI frame buffer.
quiet
option (if not present already) to suppress all other messages and only display messages from the boot console.
Note
/boot/config-version
file - the CONFIG_EARLY_PRINTK=
and CONFIG_EARLY_PRINTK_EFI=
options must be set to the y
value. They are enabled by default, but if you disabled them, you may need to mount the /boot
partition in rescue mode and edit the configuration file to re-enable them.
10.2. Trouble Beginning the Installation
10.2.1. Problems with Booting into the Graphical Installation
xdriver=vesa
boot option at the boot prompt. Alternatively, you can force the installer to use a specific screen resolution with the resolution=
boot option. This option may be most helpful for laptop users. Another solution to try is the driver=
option to specify the driver that should be loaded for your video card. If this works, you should report it as a bug, because the installer failed to detect your video card automatically. Refer to Chapter 28, Boot Options for more information on boot options.
Note
nofb
boot option. This command may be necessary for accessibility with some screen reading hardware.
10.3. Trouble During the Installation
10.3.1. The "No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux
" Error Message
No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux
, there is probably a SCSI controller that is not being recognized by the installation program.
10.3.2. Saving Traceback Messages
Figure 10.1. The Crash Reporting Dialog Box
- Details
- shows you the details of the error:
Figure 10.2. Details of the Crash
- Save
- saves details of the error locally or remotely:
- Exit
- exits the installation process.
Figure 10.3. Select reporter
- Logger
- saves details of the error as a log file to the local hard drive at a specified location.
- Red Hat Customer Support
- submits the crash report to Customer Support for assistance.
- Report uploader
- uploads a compressed version of the crash report to Bugzilla or a URL of your choice.
Figure 10.4. Configure reporter preferences
- Logger
- Specify a path and a filename for the log file. Check Append if you are adding to an existing log file.
Figure 10.5. Specify local path for log file
- Red Hat Customer Support
- Enter your Red Hat Network username and password so your report reaches Customer Support and is linked with your account. The URL is prefilled and Verify SSL is checked by default.
Figure 10.6. Enter Red Hat Network authentication details
- Report uploader
- Specify a URL for uploading a compressed version of the crash report.
Figure 10.7. Enter URL for uploading crash report
- Bugzilla
- Enter your Bugzilla username and password to lodge a bug with Red Hat's bug-tracking system using the crash report. The URL is prefilled andis checked by default.
Figure 10.8. Enter Bugzilla authentication details
Figure 10.9. Confirm report data
Figure 10.10. Report in progress
Figure 10.11. Reporting done
10.3.3. Trouble with Partition Tables
The partition table on device hda was unreadable. To create new partitions it must be initialized, causing the loss of ALL DATA on this drive.
10.3.4. Using Remaining Space
swap
and a /
(root) partition created, and you have selected the root partition to use the remaining space, but it does not fill the hard drive.
/boot
partition if you want the /
(root) partition to use all of the remaining space on your hard drive.
10.3.5. The "drive must have a GPT disk label" Error Message
sda must have a GPT disk label
sda
) has a Master Boot Record (MBR) label, but UEFI systems require a GUID Partition Table (GPT) label. Therefore you can not reuse an existing partitioning layout on a MBR-labeled drive; the disk must be relabeled, which means you will have to create a new partition layout and lose all existing data.
10.3.6. Other Partitioning Problems
- A
/
(root) partition - A <swap> partition of type swap
Note
10.4. Problems After Installation
10.4.1. Trouble With the Graphical GRUB Screen on an x86-based System?
/boot/grub/grub.conf
file.
grub.conf
file, comment out the line which begins with splashimage
by inserting the #
character at the beginning of the line.
b
to boot the system.
grub.conf
file is reread and any changes you have made take effect.
grub.conf
file.
10.4.2. Booting into a Graphical Environment
startx
.
/etc/inittab
, by changing just one number in the runlevel section. When you are finished, reboot the computer. The next time you log in, you are presented with a graphical login prompt.
su
command.
gedit /etc/inittab
/etc/inittab
opens. Within the first screen, a section of the file which looks like the following appears:
# Default runlevel. The runlevels used are:
# 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
# 1 - Single user mode
# 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking)
# 3 - Full multiuser mode
# 4 - unused
# 5 - X11
# 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
#
id:3:initdefault:
id:3:initdefault:
from a 3
to a 5
.
Warning
3
to 5
.
id:5:initdefault:
10.4.3. Problems with the X Window System (GUI)
10.4.4. Problems with the X Server Crashing and Non-Root Users
df -h
df
command should help you diagnose which partition is full. For additional information about df
and an explanation of the options available (such as the -h
option used in this example), refer to the df
man page by typing man df
at a shell prompt.
/home/
and /tmp/
partitions can sometimes fill up quickly with user files. You can make some room on that partition by removing old files. After you free up some disk space, try running X as the user that was unsuccessful before.
10.4.5. Problems When You Try to Log In
linux single
.
e
for edit when the GRUB boot screen has loaded. You are presented with a list of items in the configuration file for the boot label you have selected.
kernel
and type e
to edit this boot entry.
kernel
line, add:
single
b
to boot the system.
#
prompt, you must type passwd root
, which allows you to enter a new password for root. At this point you can type shutdown -r now
to reboot the system with the new root password.
su -
and enter your root password when prompted. Then, type passwd <username>
. This allows you to enter a new password for the specified user account.
https://hardware.redhat.com/
10.4.6. Is Your RAM Not Being Recognized?
cat /proc/meminfo
command.
/boot/grub/grub.conf
:
mem=xxM
/boot/grub/grub.conf
, the above example would look similar to the following:
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that # all kernel paths are relative to /boot/ default=0 timeout=30 splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz title Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (2.6.32.130.el6.i686) root (hd0,1) kernel /vmlinuz-(2.6.32.130.el6.i686 ro root=UUID=04a07c13-e6bf-6d5a-b207-002689545705 mem=1024M initrd /initrd-(2.6.32.130.el6.i686.img
grub.conf
are reflected on your system.
e
for edit. You are presented with a list of items in the configuration file for the boot label you have selected.
kernel
and type e
to edit this boot entry.
kernel
line, add
mem=xxM
b
to boot the system.
10.4.7. Your Printer Does Not Work
system-config-printer
command at a shell prompt to launch the Printer Configuration Tool. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root password to continue.
Part II. IBM Power Systems — Installation and Booting
Important
ppc
and ppc64
respectively). Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 supports only 64-bit Power Systems servers (ppc64
).
Chapter 11. Planning for Installation on Power Systems Servers
11.1. Upgrade or Install?
11.2. Hardware Requirements
11.3. Installation Tools
- Install and configure Linux on a non-virtualized Power Systems server.
- Install and configure Linux on servers with previously-configured logical partitions (LPARs, also known as virtualized servers).
- Install IBM service and productivity tools on a new or previously installed Linux system. The IBM service and productivity tools include dynamic logical partition (DLPAR) utilities.
- Upgrade system firmware level on Power Systems servers.
- Perform diagnostics or maintenance operations on previously installed systems.
- Migrate a LAMP server (software stack) and application data from a System x to a System p system. A LAMP server is a bundle of open source software. LAMP is an acronym for Linux, Apache HTTP Server, MySQL relational database, and PHP (Perl or Python) scripting language.
11.4. Preparation for IBM Power Systems servers
Important
c00000
, otherwise you might see errors such as:
DEFAULT CATCH!, exception-handler=fff00300
11.5. RAID and Other Disk Devices
Important
/etc/fstab
, /etc/crypttab
or other configuration files which refer to devices by their device node names will not work in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. Before migrating these files, you must therefore edit them to replace device node paths with device UUIDs instead. You can find the UUIDs of devices with the blkid
command.
11.5.1. Hardware RAID
11.5.2. Software RAID
11.5.3. FireWire and USB Disks
Note
11.6. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
- have enough unpartitioned[6] 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.
11.7. Choose a Boot Method
Chapter 12. Preparing for Installation
12.1. Preparing for a Network Installation
Important
Note
Note
yaboot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
Note
/var/www/inst/rhel6.9
on the network server can be accessed as http://network.server.com/inst/rhel6.9
.
/location/of/disk/space
. The directory that will be made publicly available via FTP, NFS, HTTP, or HTTPS will be specified as /publicly_available_directory. For example, /location/of/disk/space
may be a directory you create called /var/isos
. /publicly_available_directory
might be /var/www/html/rhel6.9
, for an HTTP install.
dd if=/dev/dvd of=/path_to_image/name_of_image.iso
12.1.1. Preparing for FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS Installation
Warning
TLSv1
protocol, and disable SSLv2
and SSLv3
. This is due to the POODLE SSL vulnerability (CVE-2014-3566). See https://access.redhat.com/solutions/1232413 for details about securing Apache, and https://access.redhat.com/solutions/1234773 for information about securing tftp.
12.1.2. Preparing for an NFS Installation
install.img
file, and optionally the product.img
file available on the network server via NFS.
- Transfer the ISO image to the NFS exported directory. On a Linux system, run:
mv /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /publicly_available_directory/
where path_to_image is the path to the ISO image file, name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file, and publicly_available_directory is a directory that is available over NFS or that you intend to make available over NFS. - Use a SHA256 checksum program to verify that the ISO image that you copied is intact. Many SHA256 checksum programs are available for various operating systems. On a Linux system, run:
$ sha256sum name_of_image.iso
where name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file. The SHA256 checksum program displays a string of 64 characters called a hash. Compare this hash to the hash displayed for this particular image on the Downloads page in the Red Hat Customer Portal (refer to Chapter 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux). The two hashes should be identical. - Copy the
images/
directory from inside the ISO image to the same directory in which you stored the ISO image file itself. Enter the following commands:mount -t iso9660 /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /mount_point -o loop,ro
cp -pr /mount_point/images /publicly_available_directory/
umount /mount_point
wherepath_to_image
is the path to the ISO image file,name_of_image
is the name of the ISO image file, andmount_point
is a mount point on which to mount the image while you copy files from the image. For example:mount -t iso9660 /var/isos/RHEL6.iso /mnt/tmp -o loop,ro
cp -pr /mnt/tmp/images /var/isos/
umount /mnt/tmp
The ISO image file and animages/
directory are now present, side-by-side, in the same directory. - Verify that the
images/
directory contains at least theinstall.img
file, without which installation cannot proceed. Optionally, theimages/
directory should contain theproduct.img
file, without which only the packages for a Minimal installation will be available during the package group selection stage (refer to Section 16.19, “Package Group Selection”).Important
install.img
andproduct.img
must be the only files in theimages/
directory. - Ensure that an entry for the publicly available directory exists in the
/etc/exports
file on the network server so that the directory is available via NFS.To export a directory read-only to a specific system, use:/publicly_available_directory client.ip.address (ro)
To export a directory read-only to all systems, use:/publicly_available_directory * (ro)
- On the network server, start the NFS daemon (on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system, use
/sbin/service nfs start
). If NFS is already running, reload the configuration file (on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system use/sbin/service nfs reload
). - Be sure to test the NFS share following the directions in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Deployment Guide. Refer to your NFS documentation for details on starting and stopping the NFS server.
Note
boot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
12.2. Preparing for a Hard Drive Installation
Note
Important
- an ISO image of the installation DVD. An ISO image is a file that contains an exact copy of the content of a DVD.
- an
install.img
file extracted from the ISO image. - optionally, a
product.img
file extracted from the ISO image.
- Obtain an ISO image of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation DVD (refer to Chapter 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux). Alternatively, if you have the DVD on physical media, you can create an image of it with the following command on a Linux system:
dd if=/dev/dvd of=/path_to_image/name_of_image.iso
where dvd is your DVD drive device, name_of_image is the name you give to the resulting ISO image file, and path_to_image is the path to the location on your system where the resulting ISO image will be stored. - Transfer the ISO image to the hard drive.The ISO image must be located on a hard drive that is either internal to the computer on which you will install Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or on a hard drive that is attached to that computer by USB.
- Use a SHA256 checksum program to verify that the ISO image that you copied is intact. Many SHA256 checksum programs are available for various operating systems. On a Linux system, run:
$ sha256sum name_of_image.iso
where name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file. The SHA256 checksum program displays a string of 64 characters called a hash. Compare this hash to the hash displayed for this particular image on the Downloads page in the Red Hat Customer Portal (refer to Chapter 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux). The two hashes should be identical. - Copy the
images/
directory from inside the ISO image to the same directory in which you stored the ISO image file itself. Enter the following commands:mount -t iso9660 /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /mount_point -o loop,ro
cp -pr /mount_point/images /publicly_available_directory/
umount /mount_point
wherepath_to_image
is the path to the ISO image file,name_of_image
is the name of the ISO image file, andmount_point
is a mount point on which to mount the image while you copy files from the image. For example:mount -t iso9660 /var/isos/RHEL6.iso /mnt/tmp -o loop,ro
cp -pr /mnt/tmp/images /var/isos/
umount /mnt/tmp
The ISO image file and animages/
directory are now present, side-by-side, in the same directory. - Verify that the
images/
directory contains at least theinstall.img
file, without which installation cannot proceed. Optionally, theimages/
directory should contain theproduct.img
file, without which only the packages for a Minimal installation will be available during the package group selection stage (refer to Section 9.17, “Package Group Selection”).Important
install.img
andproduct.img
must be the only files in theimages/
directory.
Note
boot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
Chapter 13. Updating Drivers During Installation on IBM Power Systems Servers
- place the ISO image file of the driver disc in a location accessible to the installer:
- on a local hard drive
- a USB flash drive
- create a driver disc by extracting the image file onto:
- a CD
- a DVD
Refer to the instructions for making installation discs in Section 2.1, “Making an Installation DVD” for more information on burning ISO image files to CD or DVD.
13.1. Limitations of Driver Updates During Installation
- Devices already in use
- You cannot use a driver update to replace drivers that the installation program has already loaded. Instead, you must complete the installation with the drivers that the installation program loaded and update to the new drivers after installation, or, if you need the new drivers for the installation process, consider performing an initial RAM disk driver update — refer to Section 13.2.3, “Preparing an Initial RAM Disk Update”.
- Devices with an equivalent device available
- Because all devices of the same type are initialized together, you cannot update drivers for a device if the installation program has loaded drivers for a similar device. For example, consider a system that has two different network adapters, one of which has a driver update available. The installation program will initialize both adapters at the same time, and therefore, you will not be able to use this driver update. Again, complete the installation with the drivers loaded by the installation program and update to the new drivers after installation, or use an initial RAM disk driver update.
13.2. Preparing for a Driver Update During Installation
- Methods that use the image file itself
- local hard drive
- USB flash drive
- Methods that use a driver update disk produced from an image file
- CD
- DVD
13.2.1. Preparing to Use a Driver Update Image File
13.2.1.1. Preparing to use an image file on local storage
.iso
. In the following example, the file is named dd.iso
:
Figure 13.1. Content of a USB flash drive holding a driver update image file
OEMDRV
.
dlabel=on
boot option, which is enabled by default. Refer to Section 6.3.1, “Let the Installer Find a Driver Update Disk Automatically”.
13.2.2. Preparing a Driver Disc
13.2.2.1. Creating a driver update disc on CD or DVD
Important
- Use the desktop file manager to locate the ISO image file of the driver disc, supplied to you by Red Hat or your hardware vendor.
Figure 13.2. A typical .iso file displayed in a file manager window
- Right-click on this file and choose. You will see a window similar to the following:
Figure 13.3. CD/DVD Creator's Write to Disc dialog
- Click the CD/DVD Creator will prompt you to insert one.button. If a blank disc is not already in the drive,
rhdd3
and a directory named rpms
:
Figure 13.4. Contents of a typical driver update disc on CD or DVD
.iso
, then you have not created the disc correctly and should try again. Ensure that you choose an option similar to burn from image if you use a Linux desktop other than GNOME or if you use a different operating system.
13.2.3. Preparing an Initial RAM Disk Update
Important
- Place the driver update image file on your installation server. Usually, you would do this by downloading it to the server from a location on the Internet specified by Red Hat or your hardware vendor. Names of driver update image files end in
.iso
. - Copy the driver update image file into the
/tmp/initrd_update
directory. - Rename the driver update image file to
dd.img
. - At the command line, change into the
/tmp/initrd_update
directory, type the following command, and press Enter:find . | cpio --quiet -o -H newc | gzip -9 >/tmp/initrd_update.img
- Copy the file
/tmp/initrd_update.img
into the directory the holds the target that you want to use for installation. This directory is placed under the/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/
directory. For example,/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/rhel6/
might hold the yaboot installation target for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. - Edit the
/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/yaboot.conf
file to include an entry that includes the initial RAM disk update that you just created, in the following format:image=target/vmlinuz label=target-dd initrd=target/initrd.img,target/dd.img
Where target is the target that you want to use for installation.
Example 13.1. Preparing an initial RAM disk update from a driver update image file
driver_update.iso
is a driver update image file that you downloaded from the Internet to a directory on your installation server. The target on your installation server that you want to boot from is located in /var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/rhel6/
$ cp driver_update.iso /tmp/initrd_update/dd.img $ cd /tmp/initrd_update $ find . | cpio --quiet -c -o -H newc | gzip -9 >/tmp/initrd_update.img $ cp /tmp/initrd_update.img /tftpboot/yaboot/rhel6/dd.img
/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/yaboot.conf
file and include the following entry:
image=rhel6/vmlinuz label=rhel6-dd initrd=rhel6/initrd.img,rhel6/dd.img
13.3. Performing a Driver Update During Installation
- let the installer automatically find a driver update disk.
- let the installer prompt you for a driver update.
- use a boot option to specify a driver update disk.
13.3.1. Let the Installer Find a Driver Update Disk Automatically
OEMDRV
before starting the installation process. The installer will automatically examine the device and load any driver updates that it detects and will not prompt you during the process. Refer to Section 13.2.1.1, “Preparing to use an image file on local storage” to prepare a storage device for the installer to find.
13.3.2. Let the Installer Prompt You for a Driver Update
- Begin the installation normally for whatever method you have chosen. If the installer cannot load drivers for a piece of hardware that is essential for the installation process (for example, if it cannot detect any network or storage controllers), it prompts you to insert a driver update disk:
Figure 13.5. The no driver found dialog
- Select Use a driver disk and refer to Section 13.4, “Specifying the Location of a Driver Update Image File or a Driver Update Disk”.
13.3.3. Use a Boot Option to Specify a Driver Update Disk
Important
- Type
linux dd
at the boot prompt at the start of the installation process and press Enter. The installer prompts you to confirm that you have a driver disk:Figure 13.6. The driver disk prompt
- Insert the driver update disk that you created on CD, DVD, or USB flash drive and select. The installer examines the storage devices that it can detect. If there is only one possible location that could hold a driver disk (for example, the installer detects the presence of a DVD drive, but no other storage devices) it will automatically load any driver updates that it finds at this location.If the installer finds more than one location that could hold a driver update, it prompts you to specify the location of the update. See Section 13.4, “Specifying the Location of a Driver Update Image File or a Driver Update Disk”.
13.3.4. Select an Installation Server Target That Includes a Driver Update
- Configure the computer to boot from the network interface by selecting
Select Boot Options
in the SMS menu, thenSelect Boot/Install Device
. Finally, select your network device from the list of available devices. - In the yaboot installation server environment, choose the boot target that you prepared on your installation server. For example, if you labeled this environment
rhel6-dd
in the/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/yaboot.conf
file on your installation server, typerhel6-dd
at the prompt and press Enter.
13.4. Specifying the Location of a Driver Update Image File or a Driver Update Disk
Figure 13.7. Selecting a driver disk source
Figure 13.8. Selecting a driver disk partition
Figure 13.9. Selecting an ISO image
Chapter 14. Booting the Installer
Important
vnc
boot option (refer to Section 28.2.1, “Enabling Remote Access with VNC”).
Important
Cannot load initrd.img: Claim failed for initrd memory at 02000000 rc=ffffffff
real-base
to c00000
. You can obtain the value of real-base
from the OpenFirmware prompt with the printenv
command and set the value with the setenv
command.
Figure 14.1. SMS console
boot:
prompt. To begin a graphical installation, pass the vnc
boot option now. Otherwise. press Enter or wait for the timeout to expire for the installation to begin.
vmlinuz
and ramdisk
to boot your system over a network. You cannot use the ppc64.img
to boot over a network; the file is too large for TFTP.
14.2. Installing from a Different Source
Boot method | Installation source |
---|---|
Installation DVD | DVD, network, or hard disk |
Installation USB flash drive | Installation DVD, network, or hard disk |
Minimal boot CD or USB, rescue CD | Network or hard disk |
14.3. Booting from the Network Using a yaboot Installation Server
Select Boot Options
in the SMS menu, then Select Boot/Install Device
. Finally, select your network device from the list of available devices.
- Ensure that the network cable is attached. The link indicator light on the network socket should be lit, even if the computer is not switched on.
- Switch on the computer.
- A menu screen appears. Press the number key that corresponds to the desired option.
Chapter 15. Configuring Language and Installation Source
15.1. The Text Mode Installation Program User Interface
Important
xdriver=vesa
option – refer to Chapter 28, Boot Options
Figure 15.1. Installation Program Widgets as seen in URL Setup
Figure 15.2. Installation Program Widgets as seen in Choose a Language
- Window — Windows (usually referred to as dialogs in this manual) appear on your screen throughout the installation process. At times, one window may overlay another; in these cases, you can only interact with the window on top. When you are finished in that window, it disappears, allowing you to continue working in the window underneath.
- Checkbox — Checkboxes allow you to select or deselect a feature. The box displays either an asterisk (selected) or a space (unselected). When the cursor is within a checkbox, press Space to select or deselect a feature.
- Text Input — Text input lines are regions where you can enter information required by the installation program. When the cursor rests on a text input line, you may enter and/or edit information on that line.
- Text Widget — Text widgets are regions of the screen for the display of text. At times, text widgets may also contain other widgets, such as checkboxes. If a text widget contains more information than can be displayed in the space reserved for it, a scroll bar appears; if you position the cursor within the text widget, you can then use the Up and Down arrow keys to scroll through all the information available. Your current position is shown on the scroll bar by a # character, which moves up and down the scroll bar as you scroll.
- Scroll Bar — Scroll bars appear on the side or bottom of a window to control which part of a list or document is currently in the window's frame. The scroll bar makes it easy to move to any part of a file.
- Button Widget — Button widgets are the primary method of interacting with the installation program. You progress through the windows of the installation program by navigating these buttons, using the Tab and Enter keys. Buttons can be selected when they are highlighted.
- Cursor — Although not a widget, the cursor is used to select (and interact with) a particular widget. As the cursor is moved from widget to widget, it may cause the widget to change color, or the cursor itself may only appear positioned in or next to the widget. In Figure 15.1, “Installation Program Widgets as seen in URL Setup”, the cursor is positioned on the checkbox. Figure 8.2, “Installation Program Widgets as seen in Choose a Language”, shows the cursor on the button.
15.1.1. Using the Keyboard to Navigate
Warning
15.2. Language Selection
Figure 15.3. Language Selection
15.3. Installation Method
Figure 15.4. Installation Method
15.3.1. Beginning Installation
15.3.1.1. Installing from a DVD
15.3.2. Installing from a Hard Drive
repo=hd
boot option, you already specified a partition.
Figure 15.5. Selecting Partition Dialog for Hard Drive Installation
/dev/sd
. Each individual drive has its own letter, for example /dev/sda
. Each partition on a drive is numbered, for example /dev/sda1
.
Partition type | Volume | Original path to files | Directory to use |
---|---|---|---|
VFAT | D:\ | D:\Downloads\RHEL6.9 | /Downloads/RHEL6.9 |
ext2, ext3, ext4 | /home | /home/user1/RHEL6.9 | /user1/RHEL6.9 |
/
. If the ISO images are located in a subdirectory of a mounted partition, enter the name of the directory holding the ISO images within that partition. For example, if the partition on which the ISO images is normally mounted as /home/
, and the images are in /home/new/
, you would enter /new/
.
Important
15.3.3. Performing a Network Installation
askmethod
or repo=
options, you can install Red Hat Enterprise Linux from a network server using FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, or NFS protocols. Anaconda uses the same network connection to consult additional software repositories later in the installation process.
Figure 15.6. Networking Device
Figure 15.7. Identify NIC
IPv4 options
- Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP)
- Anaconda uses DHCP running on the network to supply the network configuration automatically.
- Manual configuration
- Anaconda prompts you to enter the network configuration manually, including the IP address for this system, the netmask, the gateway address, and the DNS address.
IPv6 options
- Automatic
- Anaconda uses router advertisement (RA) and DHCP for automatic configuration, based on the network environment. (Equivalent to the
Automatic
option in NetworkManager) - Automatic, DHCP only
- Anaconda does not use RA, but requests information from DHCPv6 directly to create a stateful configuration. (Equivalent to the
Automatic, DHCP only
option in NetworkManager) - Manual configuration
- Anaconda prompts you to enter the network configuration manually, including the IP address for this system, the netmask, the gateway address, and the DNS address.
Figure 15.8. Configure TCP/IP
Figure 15.9. Manual TCP/IP Configuration
- If you are installing via NFS, proceed to Section 15.3.4, “Installing via NFS”.
- If you are installing via Web or FTP, proceed to Section 15.3.5, “Installing via FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS”.
15.3.4. Installing via NFS
repo=nfs
boot option, you already specified a server and path.
Figure 15.10. NFS Setup Dialog
- Enter the domain name or IP address of your NFS server in the NFS server name field. For example, if you are installing from a host named
eastcoast
in the domainexample.com
, entereastcoast.example.com
. - Enter the name of the exported directory in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 directory field:
- If the NFS server is exporting a mirror of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation tree, enter the directory which contains the root of the installation tree. If everything was specified properly, a message appears indicating that the installation program for Red Hat Enterprise Linux is running.
- If the NFS server is exporting the ISO image of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD, enter the directory which contains the ISO image.
If you followed the setup described in Section 12.1.2, “Preparing for an NFS Installation”, the exported directory is the one that you specified aspublicly_available_directory
. - Specify any NFS mount options that you require in the NFS mount options field. Refer to the man pages for mount and nfs for a comprehensive list of options. If you do not require any mount options, leave the field empty.
- Proceed with Chapter 16, Installing Using Anaconda.
15.3.5. Installing via FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS
Important
http://
or https://
or ftp://
as the protocol.
repo=ftp
or repo=http
boot options, you already specified a server and path.
/images
directory for your architecture. For example:
/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6.9/Server/ppc64/
https://
as the protocol.
{ftp|http|https}://<user>:<password>@<hostname>[:<port>]/<directory>/
http://install:rhel6.9pw@name.example.com/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6.9/Server/ppc64/
Figure 15.11. URL Setup Dialog
15.4. Verifying Media
Chapter 16. Installing Using Anaconda
16.1. The Text Mode Installation Program User Interface
- configuring advanced storage methods such as LVM, RAID, FCoE, zFCP, and iSCSI.
- customizing the partition layout
- customizing the bootloader layout
- selecting packages during installation
- configuring the installed system with firstboot
16.2. The Graphical Installation Program User Interface
Note
yaboot:
prompt:
linux text
16.3. A Note About Linux Virtual Consoles
console | keystrokes | contents |
---|---|---|
1 | ctrl+alt+f1 | installation dialog |
2 | ctrl+alt+f2 | shell prompt |
3 | ctrl+alt+f3 | install log (messages from installation program) |
4 | ctrl+alt+f4 | system-related messages |
5 | ctrl+alt+f5 | other messages |
6 | ctrl+alt+f6 | x graphical display |
16.4. Using the HMC vterm
16.5. Welcome to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Figure 16.1. The Welcome screen
16.6. Language Selection
Figure 16.2. Language Configuration
16.7. Keyboard Configuration
Figure 16.3. Keyboard Configuration
Note
system-config-keyboard
command in a shell prompt to launch the Keyboard Configuration Tool. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root password to continue.
16.8. Storage Devices
Figure 16.4. Storage devices
- Basic Storage Devices
- Selectto install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the following storage devices:
- hard drives or solid-state drives connected directly to the local system.
- Specialized Storage Devices
- Selectto install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the following storage devices:
- Storage area networks (SANs)
- Direct access storage devices (DASDs)
- Firmware RAID devices
- Multipath devices
Use theoption to configure Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) and FCoE (Fiber Channel over Ethernet) connections.
Note
mdeventd
daemon is not performed during installation.
16.8.1. The Storage Devices Selection Screen
Figure 16.5. Select storage devices — Basic devices
Figure 16.6. Select storage devices — Multipath Devices
Figure 16.7. Select storage devices — Other SAN Devices
- Basic Devices
- Basic storage devices directly connected to the local system, such as hard disk drives and solid-state drives.
- Firmware RAID
- Storage devices attached to a firmware RAID controller.
- Multipath Devices
- Storage devices accessible through more than one path, such as through multiple SCSI controllers or Fiber Channel ports on the same system.
Important
The installer only detects multipath storage devices with serial numbers that are 16 or 32 characters in length. - Other SAN Devices
- Any other devices available on a storage area network (SAN).
Figure 16.8. The Storage Devices Search Tab
Figure 16.9. Selecting Columns
/etc/fstab
file.
Important
16.8.1.1. Advanced Storage Options
Figure 16.10. Advanced Storage Options
16.8.1.1.1. Select and configure a network interface
Figure 16.11. Select network interface
- Select an interface from the drop-down menu.
- Click.
Figure 16.12. Network Connections
16.8.1.1.2. Configure iSCSI parameters
Procedure 16.1. iSCSI discovery
Figure 16.13. The iSCSI Discovery Details dialog
- Enter the IP address of the iSCSI target in the Target IP Address field.
- Provide a name in the iSCSI Initiator Name field for the iSCSI initiator in iSCSI qualified name (IQN) format.A valid IQN contains:
- the string
iqn.
(note the period) - a date code that specifies the year and month in which your organization's Internet domain or subdomain name was registered, represented as four digits for the year, a dash, and two digits for the month, followed by a period. For example, represent September 2010 as
2010-09.
- your organization's Internet domain or subdomain name, presented in reverse order with the top-level domain first. For example, represent the subdomain
storage.example.com
ascom.example.storage
- a colon followed by a string that uniquely identifies this particular iSCSI initiator within your domain or subdomain. For example,
:diskarrays-sn-a8675309
.
A complete IQN therefore resembles:iqn.2010-09.storage.example.com:diskarrays-sn-a8675309
, and anaconda pre-populates the iSCSI Initiator Name field with a name in this format to help you with the structure.For more information on IQNs, refer to 3.2.6. iSCSI Names in RFC 3720 - Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) available from http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3720#section-3.2.6 and 1. iSCSI Names and Addresses in RFC 3721 - Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) Naming and Discovery available from http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3721#section-1. - Use the drop-down menu to specify the type of authentication to use for iSCSI discovery:
Figure 16.14. iSCSI discovery authentication
- If you selected CHAP Username and CHAP Password fields.as the authentication type, provide the username and password for the iSCSI target in the
Figure 16.15. CHAP pair
- If you selected CHAP Username and CHAP Password field and the username and password for the iSCSI initiator in the Reverse CHAP Username and Reverse CHAP Password fields.as the authentication type, provide the username and password for the iSCSI target in the
Figure 16.16. CHAP pair and a reverse pair
- Click Anaconda attempts to discover an iSCSI target based on the information that you provided. If discovery succeeds, the iSCSI Discovered Nodes dialog presents you with a list of all the iSCSI nodes discovered on the target..
- Each node is presented with a checkbox beside it. Click the checkboxes to select the nodes to use for installation.
Figure 16.17. The iSCSI Discovered Nodes dialog
- Clickto initiate an iSCSI session.
Procedure 16.2. Starting an iSCSI session
Figure 16.18. The iSCSI Nodes Login dialog
- Use the drop-down menu to specify the type of authentication to use for the iSCSI session:
Figure 16.19. iSCSI session authentication
If your environment uses the same type of authentication and same username and password for iSCSI discovery and for the iSCSI session, selectto reuse these credentials. - If you selected CHAP Username and CHAP Password fields.as the authentication type, provide the username and password for the iSCSI target in the
Figure 16.20. CHAP pair
- If you selected CHAP Username and CHAP Password fields and the username and password for the iSCSI initiator in the Reverse CHAP Username and Reverse CHAP Password fields.as the authentication type, provide the username and password for the iSCSI target in the
Figure 16.21. CHAP pair and a reverse pair
- Click Anaconda attempts to log into the nodes on the iSCSI target based on the information that you provided. The iSCSI Login Results dialog presents you with the results..
Figure 16.22. The iSCSI Login Results dialog
- Clickto continue.
16.8.1.1.3. Configure FCoE Parameters
Figure 16.23. Configure FCoE Parameters
16.9. Setting the Hostname
Note
Figure 16.24. Setting the hostname
Note
16.9.1. Editing Network Connections
Important
Note
system-config-network
command in a shell prompt to launch the Network Administration Tool. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root password to continue.
Figure 16.25. Network Connections
16.9.1.1. Options common to all types of connection
16.9.1.2. The Wired tab
Figure 16.26. The Wired tab
16.9.1.3. The 802.1x Security tab
- Authentication
- Choose one of the following methods of authentication:
- TLS for Transport Layer Security
- Tunneled TLS for Tunneled Transport Layer Security, otherwise known as TTLS, or EAP-TTLS
- Protected EAP (PEAP) for Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol
- Identity
- Provide the identity of this server.
- User certificate
- Browse to a personal X.509 certificate file encoded with Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER) or Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM).
- CA certificate
- Browse to a X.509 certificate authority certificate file encoded with Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER) or Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM).
- Private key
- Browse to a private key file encoded with Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER), Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM), or the Personal Information Exchange Syntax Standard (PKCS#12).
- Private key password
- The password for the private key specified in the Private key field. Select Show password to make the password visible as you type it.
Figure 16.27. The 802.1x Security tab
16.9.1.4. The IPv4 Settings tab
- Automatic (DHCP)
- IPv4 parameters are configured by the DHCP service on the network.
- Automatic (DHCP) addresses only
- The IPv4 address, netmask, and gateway address are configured by the DHCP service on the network, but DNS servers and search domains must be configured manually.
- Manual
- IPv4 parameters are configured manually for a static configuration.
- Link-Local Only
- A link-local address in the 169.254/16 range is assigned to the interface.
- Shared to other computers
- The system is configured to provide network access to other computers. The interface is assigned an address in the 10.42.x.1/24 range, a DHCP server and DNS server are started, and the interface is connected to the default network connection on the system with network address translation (NAT).
- Disabled
- IPv4 is disabled for this connection.
Figure 16.28. The IPv4 Settings tab
16.9.1.4.1. Editing IPv4 routes
Figure 16.29. The Editing IPv4 Routes dialog
16.9.1.5. The IPv6 Settings tab
- Ignore
- IPv6 is ignored for this connection.
- Automatic
- NetworkManager uses router advertisement (RA) to create an automatic, stateless configuration.
- Automatic, addresses only
- NetworkManager uses RA to create an automatic, stateless configuration, but DNS servers and search domains are ignored and must be configured manually.
- Automatic, DHCP only
- NetworkManager does not use RA, but requests information from DHCPv6 directly to create a stateful configuration.
- Manual
- IPv6 parameters are configured manually for a static configuration.
- Link-Local Only
- A link-local address with the fe80::/10 prefix is assigned to the interface.
Figure 16.30. The IPv6 Settings tab
16.9.1.5.1. Editing IPv6 routes
Figure 16.31. The Editing IPv6 Routes dialog
16.9.1.6. Restart a network device
ONBOOT=yes
is set. Refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 Deployment Guide available from https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Deployment_Guide/index.html for more information about interface configuration files.
- Press Ctrl+Alt+F2 to switch to virtual terminal
tty2
. - Move the interface configuration file to a temporary location:
mv /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-device_name /tmp
where device_name is the device that you just reconfigured. For example,ifcfg-eth0
is the ifcfg file foreth0
.The device is now disconnected in anaconda. - Open the interface configuration file in the vi editor:
vi /tmp/ifcfg-device_name
- Verify that the interface configuration file contains the line
ONBOOT=yes
. If the file does not already contain the line, add it now and save the file. - Exit the vi editor.
- Move the interface configuration file back to the
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
directory:mv /tmp/ifcfg-device_name /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
The device is now reconnected in anaconda. - Press Ctrl+Alt+F6 to return to anaconda.
16.10. Time Zone Configuration
- 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 on a location to highlight your selection.
Note
system-config-date
command in a shell prompt to launch the Time and Date Properties Tool. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root password to continue.
16.11. Set the Root Password
Note
Figure 16.32. Root Password
su
command to change to root only when you need to perform tasks that require superuser authorization. These basic rules minimize the chances of a typo or an incorrect command doing damage to your system.
Note
su -
at the shell prompt in a terminal window and then press Enter. Then, enter the root password and press Enter.
Warning
passwd
command as root
. If you forget the root password, see Resolving Problems in System Recovery Modes in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Deployment Guide for instructions on how to set a new one.
16.12. Assign Storage Devices
Figure 16.33. Assign storage devices
Important