This tutorial explains how to perform RHEL installation on a system to practice RHCSA/RHCE topics. Learn the RHEL Linux installation steps, options, and configuration values.
There are many methods to install RHEL Linux on a system. In this tutorial, we will learn how to install RHEL on a system that we want to use to prepare for RHCSA/RHCE exam. RHEL installation process starts after booting the system from the RHEL installation disk.
On the first screen, you will see the RHEL boot menu. The boot menu provides the following three options.
- Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux [version]
- Test this media & install Red Hat Enterprise Linux [version]
- Troubleshooting
The first option immediately starts the installation process. The second option checks the integrity of the installation media before starting the installation process. The checking process takes a significant amount of time. This is the default option. If you do not select any option, Anaconda automatically selects this option after 60 seconds. Anaconda is the name of RHEL's installer program. The third option provides options to troubleshoot the existing installation. It does not install RHEL.
You can use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate between the options. To select an option, press the Space key.
Select the first option, and press the Enter key.
The next screen shows a list of supported languages you can use during the installation. The default is set to English. Keep the default language and click the Continue button.
The next screen presents a single interface to configure all settings that the installer program needs to install RHEL. Settings are classified into four sections: Localization, Software, System, and User setting. There is no particular sequence to configure these settings.
Compulsory settings are mentioned in red color with an icon. If you do not wish to change optional settings, you can leave them, and the installer program will use their default values.
Let's discuss these settings.
Keyboard
The default keyboard layout is English. If you want to add an additional keyboard layout, you can use this option.
Language support
By default, the installer program supports only the language you have selected on the previous screen. This option allows you to add support for an additional language.
Time and date
This option allows you to localize the time zone, date, and time. Adjust the required settings and click the Done button in the upper left corner to save the changes and return to the Installation Summary screen.
Connect to Red Hat
This setting allows you to download updates during the installation. If you have a Red Hat account and an active subscription to Red Hat's subscription management service, you can use this option. If you configure this option, the installer program will check for updates during the installation. If it will find any updates, it will install them during the installation. To configure this setting, you have to configure the network settings.
Installation source
This option allows you to change the installation media. Generally, this option is used to perform a network installation. To perform a network installation, select this option and specify the protocol, hostname, or IP address of the network server, and the path to the files. To use the default source, leave this setting intact. The default source is the source you used to start the installation.
Software selection
This option allows you to select the base environment and add-on software packages. Base environments are predefined groups of software packages designed for specific usages. Since we will use this system to practice for RHCSA/RHCE exam, we will select the 'Server with GUI' base environment. This environment includes all packages that we need to perform the tasks that need to be performed on the RHCSA/RHCE exam.
Installation destination
This option allows you to specify an available local disk or a remote disk for partitioning and installing RHEL on it. By default, the installer program automatically selects the local disk for automatic partitioning. You only need to approve the action. If you approve the action, the installer program will automatically create all necessary partitions on the selected disk. The installer program will use the entire disk for partitioning. Since we are preparing this system for the practice of the RHCSA/RHCE exam, we need some free space on the disk to practice disk management-related topics. To do this, we have to create necessary partitions manually.
If you have multiple disks, select the disk you want to use for the partitioning. Then, select the Custom option and click the Done button.
If we select the Custom option on the Installation Destination screen, the next screen allows us to specify the manual layout of the disk. To set up the environment that we need to practice, we will use the following disk layout.
| Name | Mount point | Size | Description |
| boot | /boot | 500M | To store the booting files |
| root | / | 10G | To install RHEL |
| swap | swap | 1G | To use as swap memory |
The above layout is based on a 20Gib hard disk. Gib, Mib, and Kib units are different from the GB, MB, and KB. These units are used in the multiple of 1024 instead of 1000. 1000 bytes are equal to 1KB while 1024 bytes are equal to 1Kib.
Click the Add button, select the mount point /boot, specify the size 500M, and click the Add mount point button.
Click the Add button again, select / from the drop-down options of the Mount Point, specify 10G in the Desired Capacity input field, and click the Add mount point button.
Repeat the same process and add the swap partition.
After creating all necessary partitions, click the Done button.
Before creating partitions on the disk, the installation wizard shows a summary of partitions that you have created. If it all looks good, click the Accept changes button to approve the new disk layout.
After getting approval from the user, the wizard writes the changes to the disk.
KDUMP
KDUMP is a service that creates a crash dump when the kernel crash. Due to any reason, if the kernel crash, this service exports a memory image of the kernel to debug and determine the cause of a crash. By default, this service is enabled. You don't need to change this setting.
Network and hostname
This setting allows you to configure a hostname and IP configuration on all detected network interfaces. The default hostname is 'localhost.localdomain'. The default IP configuration is off. On a normal installation, you should configure these settings. But if you are installing RHEL on a virtual machine, I would recommend you to leave these settings. These settings are system-specific settings. It means these settings must be unique to each system on the network.
Virtual machines support the cloning feature that allows us to create a new virtual machine from an existing machine. The new virtual machine will be the exact copy of the existing machine. By using this feature, we can create as many RHEL virtual machines as we need.
If you want to use the cloning feature, leave these settings. If you want to connect the system to the network during the installation, configure these settings.
Security policy
This setting allows you to install RHEL under the several restrictions and recommendations defined by Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). Rules and recommendations are grouped into profiles. In the production environment, you can select a profile that matches your requirements. But in the lab environment, you should keep the default profile.
User settings
The next compulsory setting is the root password. The root user account is used for the system administration. Since the root user account has the highest privilege on the system, the installation wizard forces us to use a complex password. If you want to use a simple password, you have to type and confirm it twice.
User creation
This setting allows you to add a normal user account. If you want to add a normal user account, you can use this option to add it.
That's all settings we need on the installation summary screen. To begin the installation, click the Begin Installation button.
Once you click the Begin Installation button, the installation wizard applies all settings you have made on the Installation Summary screen and install RHEL on the disk.
The installation process can take several minutes. At the end of this process, you will see the following screen. Click the Reboot System button.
After rebooting, you have to complete a couple of additional post-installation tasks. First, you need to accept the license agreement. To do this, click the 'I accept the license agreement' checkbox and click the Done button.
The next screen helps you register the system with Red Hat's subscription management service and create a user account. In the lab environment, we don't need to register the system to Red Hat's network. Leave this item intact. If you haven't created a normal user account, you can create it here.
Click the Finish Configuration button to complete the installation.
If you have installed RHEL on a virtual machine and want to use the cloning feature, use this stage of the machine. At this stage, the machine contains the default installation of RHEL without any system-specific setting.
If you haven't created a normal user account, the next few steps will force you to create a user account to log in. Click the Next button on the Welcome screen.
The next screen has a privacy option for the location service. Click the Off button to turn off this feature.
The next screen allows the user to connect to his online account. Click the Skip button.
On the next screen. you have to enter the name of the user. From the entered name, the wizard automatically generates the username. If you want to use another username, you can change it. After typing the name and username, click the Next button.
On the next screen, set a password for the user account.
The next screen confirms the user creation. Click the Start using Red Hat Enterprise Linux button.
When the user login the first time, Gnome the default desktop of RHEL presents several help videos on the first screen. This screen will not appear the next time.
RHEL installation process has been completed. Now, you can use the system.
Watch the Video Version of this Tutorial
That's all for this tutorial. In this tutorial, we learned how to install RHEL Linux on a system to use the system to practice for RHCSA/RHCE exam.
