Lab 9 Installation and System-Initialization
Goal: Successfully install Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
System Setup: A computer capable of booting from CD.
Warning: If your system cannot boot from the provided boot.iso CD, you might need to change the boot order in the computer's BIOS; however, please do not change BIOS settings without being instructed to do so.
Sequence 1: Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Scenario: A new server was just delivered. Before moving it into production, you plan to perform a test installation.
Deliverable: A basic system with a Volume Group which is mirrored.
Instructions:
1. As root, clear your partition table by executing the following:
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/{s,h}da count=1000
2. Perform an NFS-based install, using the following installation information:
Install: NFS
Network: use DHCP, unselect IPv6
Server: 192.168.0.254
Mount point: /var/ftp/pub
Use DHCP for your own network configuration.
Use only IPv4 networking.
Configure keyboard mapping and language as you prefer.
Skip the installation key.
a. Bootup system using CD
b. Press Enter at the boot: prompt.
c. Choose the appropriate language.
d. Press Enter on the OK prompt.
e. Choose the appropriate keyboard.
f. Press Enter on the OK prompt.
g. Choose NFS image for the installation method
h. Configure TCP/IP. Select Use dynamic IP configuration (BOOTP/DHCP). Deselect Enable IPv6 support.
i. Press Enter on the OK prompt.
j. Enter the appropriate information for an NFS installation
NFS Server Name: 192.168.0.254
Red Hat Enterprise Linux directory: /var/ftp/pub
k. At this point Anaconda (the installer) will retrieve the necessary installation image and will probe the system for its monitor and mouse type and will finally present you with the welcome screen. Click Next.
l. Anaconda then checks if Red Hat Enterprise Linux is already installed on this system. If yes, it will offer an Upgrade instead of a fresh installation. Choose Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux Click Next.
m. Select Skip entering Installation Number. Click Next. Confirm by clicking Skip.
3. Partition the disk according to the following table:
/boot 128 MB
/ 3096 MB
swap 512 MB
2 * RAID 2048 MB
Remember that RAID is a not a mount point; it is a filesystem type.
Note: If your hard disk is empty, you may receive a warning box. If asked to initialize the drive, Click Yes.
a. Select Create custom layout. Click Next.
b. To remove existing partitions, select the partition to delete and the click Delete Partition.
Hint: If you mark an entire disk you can delete multiple partitions at once. You must remove existing LVM volumes or RAID meta devices before deleting partitions.
c. Click New.
d. Enter /boot as Mount Point. Use a fixed size of 128 MB. The filesystem type should be ext3 (default). Click OK.
e. Repeat the same process for a new / partition of 3096 MB.
f. Create the two RAID partitions. Leave the Mount Point empty and select RAID as the filesystem type and again a fixed size of 2048 MB.
g. Create a swap partition. Leave the Mount Point empty and select swap as the filesystem type. Set a fixed size of 512 MB.
4. Combine the two RAID partitions into a RAID 1 device with “phyisical volume” as the filesystem type.
a. Click RAID
b. Select Create a RAID device
c. Set the RAID level to RAID1.
d. Select the filesystem type physical volume (LVM)
5. Create a volume group name “MyGroup” with the following logical volumes:
Name Size Mount Point
lv.home 128 MB /home
lv.srv 512 MB /srv
lv.tmp 256 MB /tmp
a. Click LVM
b. Set the Volume Group name to “MyGroup”
c. Click Add to add a new logical volume
d. Select the Mount Point /home
e. Enter “lv.home” as the Logical Volume Name
f. Set the Size (MB) to 128
g. Click OK and repeat for the other volumes
6. Use the default Bootloader, Network, and Security Settings. Choose “redhat”as the root password.
a. Use the default Boot Loader settings unless the instructor advises otherwise; do not create a Boot Loader password.
b. Choose DHCP for networking and activate on boot
c. Set the time zone as appropriate for your location; implement UTC if the instructor suggests it
d. Set the root password to redhat (it is not a good password, but please use it anyway).
7. Deselect GNOME Desktop (this will allow this temporary install to complete significantly faster). Install system-config-kickstart in addition to the default set of packages. This package is in Base System/Administration Tools. Do not add support for extra tasks. Add language packages if required. After reboot complete the initial setup, but do not register with Red Hat Network. Check the log files for errors.
a. Select Customize now and click Next.
b. Select the Desktop tab. Deselect GNOME Desktop.
c. Select the Base System tab. Highlight Administration Tools and click Optional packages. Select system-config-kickstart.
d. Add language packages if required and click Next.
e. You should now be at the About to Install screen. Click Next to begin.
f. After the reboot following the installation, complete the initial set up tool. Create a user account of your choice. Do not register the machine with Red Hat Network. Select No, I prefer to register at a later time followed by No thanks, I'll connect later.
g. Choose enable Firewall, Leave SELinux at the default state Active.
h. Once you have completed the installation and the newly-installed system has booted, log in as root and examine the following:
• /var/log/messages
• /var/log/dmesg
Sequence 2: Kickstart Installation
Deliverable: A system that is automatically installed with kickstart.
System Setup: system-config-kickstart reads the list of available packages from RHN or yum repositories. Since the system is not currently connected to Red Hat Network, we must configure to use a yum repository on server1.
Put the following lines in /etc/yum.repos.d/base.repo:
[base]
name=Red Hat Enterprise Linux
baseurl=http://server1.example.com/pub/Server
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
Instructions:
1. Open /root/anaconda-ks.cfg in system-config-kickstart. Make sure that server1:/var/ftp/pub is used as Installation Method.
a. Start system-config-kickstart.
b. Go to File/Open File an open the file /root/anaconda-ks.cfg
c. Select Installation Method and choose NFS as method. Set the NFS Server to server1.example.com and the NFS Directory to /var/ftp/pub.
2. Partition the disk according to the following table:
/boot 128 MB
/ 4096 MB
swap 512 MB
/home 1024 MB
a. Go to Partition Information.
b. Select Remove existing Linux partitions.
c. Click on Add
d. Select /boot as Mount Point. Choose 128 MB as the Size.
e. Make sure that Format partition is selected.
f. Repeat with appropriate changes for the / and /home file systems and for the swap partition.
3. Select Firewall Configuration, and disable the default firewall. Leave SELinux active. Select Display Configuration, and check your color depth and resolution. Select Package Selection, highlight Desktop Environments, and check GNOME Desktop. Save the file and exit system-config-kickstart.
4. Use a text editor to add the line "key --skip" to the top of the kickstart file, just below the URL line, to avoid being prompted for the activation key. you may open /root/ks.cfg in a text editor and manually add the following line to the top of the file:
key --skip
This will limit the set of packages available to kickstart to the base repository for Server, however.
Define a student account with limited sudo access in your %post section. Below the partitioning information, add the following lines:
%post
useradd student
echo password | passwd --stdin student
echo "student ALL=/bin/mount, /bin/umount" >> /etc/sudoers
5. Save the file, and check the contents by running it through ksvalidator to make sure that no syntax errors are in the file.
Run the command:
# ksvalidator /root/ks.cfg
If there is no output produced by the command, the kickstart file has successfully validated. This means the syntax of the file is correct, but kickstart may still fail due to logical problems in the file.
6. Start a web browser and visit the following url:
http://server1.example.com/ksupload.html
Follow the instructions there to upload your kickstart file to server1. When this is done, you will be given a linux ks=... command to use in the next step. Make a note of this command. Visit the url listed (with your web browser) to ensure that your kickstart file was
successfully uploaded.
7. Reboot your system using boot media provided by the instructor. When the boot: prompt appears, use the linux ks=... instruction from the previous step.
Note: append noipv6 to the command to deactivate IPv6 during installation. This will speed up the process of assigning your system an IP address significantly.
If anything is missing from the kickstart file, the installer will raise a dialog allowing you to add in the required information. You will use this installation for the remainder of this course.