Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Installation Guide

Transcription

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Installation Guide
Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 for all architectures
Clayton Spicer
Petr Bokoč
Jon Masters
Rüdiger Landmann
Tomáš Čapek
Hans De Goede
Jack Reed
David Cantrell
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Installation Guide
Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 for all architectures
Clayton Spicer
Red Hat Customer Content Services
cspicer@redhat.com
Rüdiger Landmann
Jack Reed
Petr Bokoč
Tomáš Čapek
David Cantrell
Red Hat Base Operating Systems
VNC installation
Jon Masters
Red Hat Base Operating Systems
Driver updates
Hans De Goede
Red Hat Developer Experience
iSCSI
Legal No tice
Copyright © 2016 Red Hat, Inc. and others.
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Abstract
This manual explains how to boot the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 installation program
(anaconda) and to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 on 32-bit and 64-bit x86
systems, 64-bit Power Systems servers, and IBM System z. It also covers advanced
installation methods such as kickstart installations, PXE installations, and installations
over VNC. Finally, it describes common post-installation tasks and explains how to
troubleshoot installation problems.
T able o f Co nt e nt s
T able o f Co ntents
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⁠2.1. Making an Installation DVD
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⁠2.2. Making Minim al Boot Media
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⁠2.2.1. Minim al USB Boot Media for BIO S-based System s
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⁠2.2.2. Minim al USB Boot Media for UEFI-based System s
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⁠2.3. C reating a USGC B-com pliant Installation Im age
20
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⁠3 .1. Upgrade or Install?
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⁠3 .2. Is Your Hardware C om patible?
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⁠3 .3. Hardware Requirem ents
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⁠3 .4. RAID and O ther Disk Devices
⁠3 .4.1. Hardware RAID
⁠3 .4.2. Software RAID
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⁠ .4.3. FireWire and USB Disks
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⁠3 .5. Notes on UEFI Support
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⁠3 .5.1. Feature Support
⁠3 .5.2. Disk Drives with MBR on UEFI System s
⁠3 .6. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
⁠3 .7. Selecting an Installation Method
⁠3 .8. C hoose a Boot Method
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⁠4 .1. P reparing for a Network Installation
⁠4 .1.1. P reparing for FTP , HTTP , and HTTP S Installation
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⁠4 .1.2. P reparing for an NFS Installation
⁠4 .2. P reparing for a Hard Drive Installation
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⁠6 .1. Lim itations of Driver Updates During Installation
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⁠6 .2. P reparing for a Driver Update During Installation
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⁠6 .2.1. P reparing to Use a Driver Update Im age File
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⁠6 .2.1.1. P reparing to use an im age file on local storage
⁠6 .2.2. P reparing a Driver Disc
⁠6 .2.2.1. C reating a driver update disc on C D or DVD
⁠6 .2.3. P reparing an Initial RAM Disk Update
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⁠6 .3. P erform ing a Driver Update During Installation
⁠6 .3.1. Let the Installer Find a Driver Update Disk Autom atically
⁠6 .3.2. Let the Installer P rom pt You for a Driver Update
⁠6 .3.3. Use a Boot O ption to Specify a Driver Update Disk
⁠6 .3.4. Select a P XE Target that Includes a Driver Update
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⁠6 .4. Specifying the Location of a Driver Update Im age File or a Driver Update Disk
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⁠7.1. Starting the Installation P rogram
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⁠7.1.1. Booting the Installation P rogram on x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 System s
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⁠7.1.2. The Boot Menu
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⁠7.1.3. Additional Boot O ptions
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1
Ins t allat io n Guide
⁠7.1.3. Additional Boot O ptions
⁠7.1.3.1. Kernel O ptions
⁠7.2. Installing from a Different Source
⁠7.3. Booting from the Network Using P XE
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⁠8 .1. The Text Mode Installation P rogram User Interface
⁠8 .1.1. Using the Keyboard to Navigate
⁠8 .2. Language Selection
⁠8 .3. Installation Method
⁠8 .3.1. Installing from a DVD
⁠8 .3.2. Installing from a Hard Drive
⁠8 .3.3. P erform ing a Network Installation
⁠8 .3.4. Installing via NFS
⁠8 .3.5. Installing via FTP , HTTP , or HTTP S
⁠8 .4. Verifying Media
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⁠9 .1. The Text Mode Installation P rogram User Interface
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⁠9 .2. The Graphical Installation P rogram User Interface
⁠9 .2.1. Screenshots During Installation
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⁠ .2.2. A Note About Virtual C onsoles
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⁠9 .3. Welcom e to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
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⁠9 .4. Language Selection
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⁠9 .5. Keyboard C onfiguration
⁠9 .6. Storage Devices
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⁠9 .6.1. The Storage Devices Selection Screen
⁠9 .6.1.1. Advanced Storage O ptions
⁠9 .6.1.1.1. Select and configure a network interface
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⁠9 .6.1.1.2. C onfigure iSC SI param eters
⁠9 .6.1.1.3. C onfigure FC oE P aram eters
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⁠9 .7. Setting the Hostnam e
⁠9 .7.1. Editing Network C onnections
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⁠9 .7.1.1. O ptions com m on to all types of connection
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⁠9 .7.1.2. The Wired tab
⁠9 .7.1.3. The 802.1x Security tab
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⁠9 .7.1.4. The IP v4 Settings tab
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⁠9 .7.1.4.1. Editing IP v4 routes
⁠9 .7.1.5. The IP v6 Settings tab
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⁠9 .7.1.5.1. Editing IP v6 routes
⁠9 .7.1.6. Restart a network device
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⁠9 .8. Tim e Z one C onfiguration
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⁠9 .9. Set the Root P assword
⁠9 .10. Assign Storage Devices
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⁠9 .11. Initializing the Hard Disk
⁠9 .12. Upgrading an Existing System
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⁠9 .12.1. The Upgrade Dialog
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⁠9 .12.2. Upgrading Using the Installer
⁠9 .12.3. Updating the Boot Loader C onfiguration
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⁠9 .13. Disk P artitioning Setup
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⁠9 .14. C hoosing a Disk Encryption P assphrase
⁠9 .15. C reating a C ustom Layout or Modifying the Default Layout
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⁠9 .15.1. C reate Storage
⁠9 .15.2. Adding P artitions
⁠9 .15.2.1. File System Types
2
73
77
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⁠9 .15.2.1. File System Types
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⁠9 .15.3. C reate Software RAID
⁠9 .15.4. C reate LVM Logical Volum e
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⁠9 .15.5. Recom m ended P artitioning Schem e
⁠9 .15.5.1. x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 system s
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⁠9 .15.5.1.1. Advice on P artitions
⁠9 .16. Write C hanges to Disk
⁠9 .17. P ackage Group Selection
⁠9 .17.1. Installing from Additional Repositories
⁠9 .17.2. C ustom izing the Software Selection
⁠9 .17.2.1. C ore Network Services
⁠9 .18. x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 Boot Loader C onfiguration
⁠9 .18.1. Advanced Boot Loader C onfiguration
⁠9 .18.2. Rescue Mode
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⁠9 .18.3. Alternative Boot Loaders
⁠9 .19. Installing P ackages
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⁠9 .20. Installation C om plete
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⁠1 0.1. You Are Unable to Boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux
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⁠1 0.1.1. Are You Unable to Boot With Your RAID C ard?
145
⁠1 0.1.2. Is Your System Displaying Signal 11 Errors?
⁠1 0.1.3. Diagnosing Early Boot P roblem s
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⁠1 0.2. Trouble Beginning the Installation
⁠1 0.2.1. P roblem s with Booting into the Graphical Installation
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⁠1 0.3. Trouble During the Installation
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⁠1 0.3.1. The "No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux" Error Message
⁠1 0.3.2. Saving Traceback Messages
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⁠1 0.3.3. Trouble with P artition Tables
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⁠1 0.3.4. Using Rem aining Space
⁠1 0.3.5. The "drive m ust have a GP T disk label" Error Message
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⁠1 0.3.6. O ther P artitioning P roblem s
⁠1 0.4. P roblem s After Installation
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⁠1 0.4.1. Trouble With the Graphical GRUB Screen on an x86-based System ?
156
⁠1 0.4.2. Booting into a Graphical Environm ent
⁠1 0.4.3. P roblem s with the X Window System (GUI)
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⁠1 0.4.4. P roblem s with the X Server C rashing and Non-Root Users
⁠1 0.4.5. P roblem s When You Try to Log In
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⁠1 0.4.6. Is Your RAM Not Being Recognized?
158
⁠1 0.4.7. Your P rinter Does Not Work
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⁠1 0.4.8. Apache HTTP Server or Sendm ail Stops Responding During Startup
159
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⁠1 1.1. Upgrade or Install?
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⁠1 1.2. Hardware Requirem ents
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⁠1 1.3. Installation Tools
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⁠1 1.4. P reparation for IBM P ower System s servers
162
⁠1 1.5. RAID and O ther Disk Devices
⁠1 1.5.1. Hardware RAID
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⁠1 1.5.2. Software RAID
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⁠1 1.5.3. FireWire and USB Disks
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⁠1 1.6. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
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⁠1 1.7. C hoose a Boot Method
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3
⁠1 1.7. C hoose a Boot Method
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⁠1 2.1. P reparing for a Network Installation
⁠1 2.1.1. P reparing for FTP , HTTP , and HTTP S Installation
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166
⁠1 2.1.2. P reparing for an NFS Installation
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⁠1 2.2. P reparing for a Hard Drive Installation
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⁠1 3.1. Lim itations of Driver Updates During Installation
171 171
⁠1 3.2. P reparing for a Driver Update During Installation
⁠1 3.2.1. P reparing to Use a Driver Update Im age File
⁠1 3.2.1.1. P reparing to use an im age file on local storage
⁠1 3.2.2. P reparing a Driver Disc
⁠1 3.2.2.1. C reating a driver update disc on C D or DVD
⁠ 3.2.3. P reparing an Initial RAM Disk Update
1
⁠1 3.3. P erform ing a Driver Update During Installation
172
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⁠1 3.3.1. Let the Installer Find a Driver Update Disk Autom atically
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⁠1 3.3.2. Let the Installer P rom pt You for a Driver Update
177
⁠1 3.3.3. Use a Boot O ption to Specify a Driver Update Disk
178
⁠ 3.3.4. Select an Installation Server Target That Includes a Driver Update
1
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⁠1 3.4. Specifying the Location of a Driver Update Im age File or a Driver Update Disk
179
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⁠1 4.1. The Boot Menu
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⁠1 4.2. Installing from a Different Source
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⁠1 4.3. Booting from the Network Using a yaboot Installation Server
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⁠1 5.1. The Text Mode Installation P rogram User Interface
⁠1 5.1.1. Using the Keyboard to Navigate
186
188
⁠1 5.2. Language Selection
188
⁠1 5.3. Installation Method
189
⁠1 5.3.1. Beginning Installation
190
⁠ 5.3.1.1. Installing from a DVD
1
⁠1 5.3.2. Installing from a Hard Drive
190
190
⁠1 5.3.3. P erform ing a Network Installation
191
⁠1 5.3.4. Installing via NFS
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⁠1 5.3.5. Installing via FTP , HTTP , or HTTP S
⁠1 5.4. Verifying Media
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196
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⁠1 6.1. The Text Mode Installation P rogram User Interface
⁠1 6.2. The Graphical Installation P rogram User Interface
197
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⁠1 6.3. A Note About Linux Virtual C onsoles
198
⁠1 6.4. Using the HMC vterm
199
⁠1 6.5. Welcom e to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
199
⁠1 6.6. Language Selection
⁠1 6.7. Keyboard C onfiguration
199
200
⁠1 6.8. Storage Devices
201
⁠1 6.8.1. The Storage Devices Selection Screen
⁠1 6.8.1.1. Advanced Storage O ptions
⁠1 6.8.1.1.1. Select and configure a network interface
⁠1 6.8.1.1.2. C onfigure iSC SI param eters
4
202
205
206
207
⁠1 6.8.1.1.2. C onfigure iSC SI param eters
207
⁠1 6.8.1.1.3. C onfigure FC oE P aram eters
213
⁠1 6.9. Setting the Hostnam e
⁠1 6.9.1. Editing Network C onnections
214
215
⁠1 6.9.1.1. O ptions com m on to all types of connection
⁠1 6.9.1.2. The Wired tab
217
217
⁠1 6.9.1.3. The 802.1x Security tab
218
⁠1 6.9.1.4. The IP v4 Settings tab
220
⁠1 6.9.1.4.1. Editing IP v4 routes
222
⁠1 6.9.1.5. The IP v6 Settings tab
⁠1 6.9.1.5.1. Editing IP v6 routes
223
225
⁠1 6.9.1.6. Restart a network device
226
⁠1 6.10. Tim e Z one C onfiguration
227
⁠1 6.11. Set the Root P assword
228
⁠1 6.12. Assign Storage Devices
⁠1 6.13. Initializing the Hard Disk
229
231
⁠1 6.14. Upgrading an Existing System
232
⁠1 6.14.1. The Upgrade Dialog
232
⁠1 6.14.2. Upgrading Using the Installer
233
⁠1 6.15. Disk P artitioning Setup
234
⁠1 6.16. C hoosing a Disk Encryption P assphrase
⁠1 6.17. C reating a C ustom Layout or Modifying the Default Layout
237
238
⁠1 6.17.1. C reate Storage
⁠1 6.17.2. Adding P artitions
⁠1 6.17.2.1. File System Types
240
242
243
⁠1 6.17.3. C reate Software RAID
⁠1 6.17.4. C reate LVM Logical Volum e
245
247
⁠1 6.17.5. Recom m ended P artitioning Schem e
250
⁠1 6.18. Write C hanges to Disk
252
⁠1 6.19. P ackage Group Selection
253
⁠1 6.19.1. Installing from Additional Repositories
⁠1 6.19.2. C ustom izing the Software Selection
⁠1 6.19.2.1. C ore Network Services
255
258
259
⁠1 6.20. Installing P ackages
260
⁠1 6.21. Installation C om plete
261
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. .2. . . . . . . . .
⁠1 7.1. You Are Unable to Boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux
⁠1 7.1.1. Is Your System Displaying Signal 11 Errors?
262
262
⁠1 7.2. Trouble Beginning the Installation
263
⁠1 7.2.1. P roblem s with Booting into the Graphical Installation
⁠1 7.3. Trouble During the Installation
263
263
⁠1 7.3.1. The "No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux" Error Message
⁠1 7.3.2. Saving Traceback Messages
263
264
⁠1 7.3.3. Trouble with P artition Tables
271
⁠1 7.3.4. O ther P artitioning P roblem s for IBM P ower System s Users
271
⁠1 7.4. P roblem s After Installation
271
⁠1 7.4.1. Unable to IP L from *NWSSTG
⁠1 7.4.2. Booting into a Graphical Environm ent
271
272
⁠1 7.4.3. P roblem s with the X Window System (GUI)
273
⁠1 7.4.4. P roblem s with the X Server C rashing and Non-Root Users
273
⁠1 7.4.5. P roblem s When You Try to Log In
273
⁠1 7.4.6. Your P rinter Does Not Work
274
⁠1 7.4.7. Apache HTTP Server or Sendm ail Stops Responding During Startup
274
5
. .ar
⁠P
. t. .III.
. . IBM
. . . .Sys
. . . t.e. m
. .z. Ar
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. hit
. . .e. c. t.ur
. .e. .- .Ins
. . t. allat
. . . . io
. .n. .and
. . . Bo
. . .o.t.ing
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275
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. .hapt
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. . .. Planning
. . . . . . . . .f o
. .r .Ins
. . .t allat
. . . . io
. .n
. .o.n. Sys
. . . .t e
. .m. z
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276
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⁠1 8.1. P re-Installation
276
⁠1 8.2. O verview of the System z Installation P rocedure
276
⁠1 8.2.1. Booting (IP L) the Installer
278
⁠1 8.2.2. Installation P hase 1
279
279
280
⁠1 8.3. Graphical User Interface with X11 or VNC
280
⁠1 8.3.1. Installation using X11 forwarding
281
⁠1 8.3.2. Installation using X11
281
⁠1 8.3.3. Installation using VNC
⁠1 8.3.4. Installation using a VNC listener
281
282
⁠1 8.3.5. Autom ating the Installation with Kickstart
282
⁠1 8.3.5.1. Every Installation P roduces a Kickstart File
282
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. .3. . . . . . . . .
⁠1 9.1. P reparing for a Network Installation
283
⁠1 9.1.1. P reparing for FTP , HTTP , and HTTP S Installation
284
⁠1 9.1.2. P reparing for an NFS Installation
⁠1 9.2. P reparing for a Hard Drive Installation
284
285
⁠1 9.2.1. Accessing Installation P hase 3 and the P ackage Repository on a Hard Drive
⁠1 9.2.1.1. P reparing for Booting the Installer from a Hard Drive
286
288
. .hapt
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. . .. Bo
. . .o.t.ing
. . .(IPL)
. . . . t. he
. . .Ins
. . .t.alle
. . .r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
. .9. . . . . . . . .
⁠20.1. Installing Under z/VM
289
⁠20.1.1. Using the z/VM Reader
⁠20.1.2. Using a P repared DASD
290
291
⁠20.1.3. Using a P repared FC P -attached SC SI Disk
⁠20.1.4. Using an FC P -attached SC SI DVD Drive
⁠20.2. Installing in an LP AR
291
292
292
⁠20.2.1. Using an FTP Server
⁠20.2.2. Using the HMC or SE DVD Drive
293
293
⁠20.2.3. Using a P repared DASD
⁠20.2.4. Using a P repared FC P -attached SC SI Disk
⁠20.2.5. Using an FC P -attached SC SI DVD Drive
293
294
294
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.n
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. . . a. .Ne
. .t.wo
. . r. k. .De
. .vic
. . .e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
. .5. . . . . . . . .
⁠21.1. A Note on Term inals
298
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. . . Ins
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.n
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. . . .e
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. .Co
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. . . Language
. . . . . . . . . and
. . . .Ins
. . .t.allat
. . . .io. n
. .So
. . ur
. . c. e. . . . . . . . . . . .
⁠22.1. Non-interactive Line-Mode Installation
300 30 0
6
⁠22.2. The Text Mode Installation P rogram User Interface
⁠22.2.1. Using the Keyboard to Navigate
⁠22.3. Language Selection
300
302
302
⁠22.4. Installation Method
⁠22.4.1. Installing from a DVD
303
304
⁠22.4.2. Installing from a Hard Drive
⁠22.4.3. P erform ing a Network Installation
⁠22.4.4. Installing via NFS
304
305
305
⁠22.4.5. Installing via FTP , HTTP , or HTTP S
⁠22.5. Verifying Media
306
307
⁠22.6. Retrieving P hase 3 of the Installation P rogram
308
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. . . Ins
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. . . .e
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. .Ins
. . .t alling
. . . . . .Us
. .ing
. . . Anac
. . . . .o.nda
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
. .9. . . . . . . . .
⁠23.1. The Non-interactive Line-Mode Text Installation P rogram O utput
309
⁠23.2. The Text Mode Installation P rogram User Interface
309
⁠23.3. The Graphical Installation P rogram User Interface
⁠23.4. C onfigure the Install Term inal
309
309
⁠23.5. Welcom e to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
⁠23.6. Storage Devices
⁠23.6.1. The Storage Devices Selection Screen
310
311
312
⁠23.6.1.1. DASD low-level form atting
⁠23.6.1.2. Advanced Storage O ptions
315
316
⁠23.6.1.2.1. C onfigure iSC SI param eters
⁠23.6.1.2.2. FC P Devices
⁠ 3.7. Setting the Hostnam e
2
317
323
324
⁠23.7.1. Editing Network C onnections
⁠23.7.1.1. O ptions com m on to all types of connection
325
326
⁠23.7.1.2. The Wired tab
⁠23.7.1.3. The 802.1x Security tab
⁠23.7.1.4. The IP v4 Settings tab
327
327
329
⁠ 3.7.1.4.1. Editing IP v4 routes
2
⁠23.7.1.5. The IP v6 Settings tab
331
332
⁠ 3.7.1.5.1. Editing IP v6 routes
2
⁠23.7.1.6. Restart a network device
⁠ 3.8. Tim e Z one C onfiguration
2
334
335
336
⁠23.9. Set the Root P assword
⁠23.10. Assign Storage Devices
337
338
⁠23.11. Initializing the Hard Disk
⁠23.12. Upgrading an Existing System
339
341
⁠ 3.12.1. Upgrading Using the Installer
2
⁠23.13. Disk P artitioning Setup
⁠23.14. C hoosing a Disk Encryption P assphrase
342
342
345
⁠23.15. C reating a C ustom Layout or Modifying the Default Layout
⁠23.15.1. C reate Storage
346
348
⁠23.15.2. Adding P artitions
⁠23.15.2.1. File System Types
⁠23.15.3. C reate Software RAID
350
351
353
⁠23.15.4. C reate LVM Logical Volum e
⁠23.15.5. Recom m ended P artitioning Schem e
356
359
⁠23.16. Write C hanges to Disk
⁠23.17. P ackage Group Selection
⁠23.17.1. Installing from Additional Repositories
359
360
362
⁠23.17.2. C ustom izing the Software Selection
⁠23.17.2.1. C ore Network Services
365
366
⁠23.18. Installing P ackages
⁠23.19. Installation C om plete
⁠23.19.1. IP L Under z/VM
⁠23.19.2. IP L on an LP AR
⁠23.19.3. C ontinuing After Reboot (re-IP L)
367
367
368
368
368
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. . .. T
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. .IBM
. . . Sys
. . . t. e
.m
. . z. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .370
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⁠24.1. You Are Unable to Boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux
⁠24.1.1. Is Your System Displaying Signal 11 Errors?
⁠24.2. Trouble During the Installation
⁠24.2.1. The "No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux" Error Message
370
370
370
370
7
⁠24.2.1. The "No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux" Error Message
⁠24.2.2. Saving Traceback Messages
⁠24.2.3. O ther P artitioning P roblem s
⁠24.3. P roblem s After Installation
⁠24.3.1. Rem ote Graphical Desktops and XDMC P
370
371
378
378
378
⁠24.3.2. P roblem s When You Try to Log In
⁠24.3.3. Your P rinter Does Not Work
379
379
⁠24.3.4. Apache HTTP Server or Sendm ail Stops Responding During Startup
379
. .hapt
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. . . Co
. . nf
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. . . . ing
. . . an
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. . .t.alle
. . .d. Linux
. . . . . .o.n. Sys
. . . t. e
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. . z. .Ins
. . t. anc
...e
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
. .0. . . . . . . . .
⁠25.1. Adding DASDs
380
⁠25.1.1. Dynam ically Setting DASDs O nline
380
⁠25.1.2. P ersistently setting DASDs online
⁠25.1.2.1. DASDs Which Are P art of the Root File System
381
382
⁠25.1.3. DASDs Which Are Not P art of the Root File System
⁠25.1.4. P reparing a New DASD with Low-level Form atting
⁠25.1.5. Expanding Existing LVM Volum es to New Storage Devices
383
384
385
⁠25.2. Adding FC P -Attached Logical Units (LUNs)
⁠25.2.1. Dynam ically Activating an FC P LUN
⁠25.2.2. P ersistently Activating FC P LUNs
⁠25.2.2.1. FC P LUNs That Are P art of the Root File System
⁠25.2.2.2. FC P LUNs That Are Not P art of the Root File System
⁠25.3. Adding a Network Device
⁠25.3.1. Adding a qeth Device
⁠25.3.1.1. Dynam ically Adding a qeth Device
⁠25.3.1.2. Dynam ically Rem oving a qeth Device
⁠25.3.1.3. P ersistently Adding a qeth Device
387
387
388
388
390
391
391
392
394
395
⁠25.3.2. Adding an LC S Device
⁠25.3.2.1. Dynam ically Adding an LC S Device
397
398
⁠25.3.2.2. P ersistently Adding an LC S Device
⁠25.3.3. Mapping Subchannels and Network Device Nam es
⁠25.3.4. C onfiguring a System z Network Device for Network Root File System
398
399
400
. .hapt
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. . .. Par
. . . ame
. . . .t.e.r. and
. . . .Co
. . nf
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. . . .at
. .io
.n
. .File
. . . s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.0.2. . . . . . . . .
⁠26.1. Required P aram eters
⁠26.2. The z/VM C onfiguration File
402
403
⁠26.3. Installation Network P aram eters
⁠26.4. VNC and X11 P aram eters
⁠26.5. Loader P aram eters
403
407
408
⁠26.6. P aram eters for Kickstart Installations
⁠26.7. Miscellaneous P aram eters
408
409
⁠26.8. Sam ple P aram eter File and C MS C onfiguration File
410
. .hapt
⁠C
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. . . IBM
. . . .Sys
. . .t.e.m
. .z. Re
. . f. e
. r. e
. nc
. . .e.s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.11
..........
⁠27.1. IBM System z P ublications
411
⁠27.2. IBM Redbooks P ublications for System z
⁠27.3. O nline Resources
411
412
. .ar
⁠P
. t. .IV.
. . Advanc
. . . . . . .e.d. .Ins
. . t. allat
. . . . io
. .n. O
. .pt
. .io
. .ns
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.14
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. .hapt
⁠C
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. . .. Bo
. . .o.t.O
. pt
. . io
. . ns
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.15
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⁠28.1. C onfiguring the Installation System at the Boot Menu
415
8
⁠28.1.1. Specifying the Language
⁠28.1.2. C onfiguring the Interface
415
415
⁠28.1.3. Updating anaconda
⁠28.1.4. Specifying the Installation Method
416
416
⁠28.1.4. Specifying the Installation Method
⁠28.1.5. Specifying the Network Settings
⁠ 8.1.5.1. C onfiguring a Bonded Interface
2
⁠28.2. Enabling Rem ote Access to the Installation System
⁠28.2.1. Enabling Rem ote Access with VNC
⁠28.2.2. C onnecting the Installation System to a VNC Listener
⁠28.2.3. Enabling Rem ote Access with ssh
416
417
418
418
419
419
420
⁠ 8.2.4. Enabling Rem ote Access with Telnet
2
⁠28.3. Logging to a Rem ote System During the Installation
420
420
⁠ 8.3.1. C onfiguring a Log Server
2
⁠28.4. Autom ating the Installation with Kickstart
⁠28.5. Enhancing Hardware Support
420
421
423
⁠ 8.5.1. O verriding Autom atic Hardware Detection
2
⁠28.6. Using the Maintenance Boot Modes
423
424
⁠28.6.1. Verifying Boot Media
⁠28.6.2. Booting Your C om puter with the Rescue Mode
⁠28.6.3. Upgrading Your C om puter
424
425
425
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 29
. . .. Ins
. . .t.alling
. . . . . Wit
. . . ho
. . .ut
. .Me
. . .dia
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.26
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⁠29.1. Retrieving Boot Files
⁠29.2. Editing the GRUB C onfiguration
426
426
⁠29.3. Booting to Installation
427
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 30
. . .. Se
. . .t t. ing
. . . .Up
. . an
. . .Ins
. . .t allat
. . . . io
. .n
. .Se
. .r.ve
. .r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.28
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⁠3 0.1. Setting Up the Network Server
428
⁠3 0.2. Network Boot C onfiguration
428
⁠3 0.2.1. C onfiguring P XE Boot for BIO S
⁠3 0.2.2. C onfiguring P XE Boot for EFI
428
430
⁠ 0.2.3. C onfiguring for P ower System s Servers
3
⁠3 0.3. Starting the tftp Server
⁠3 0.4. Adding a C ustom Boot Message
432
433
434
⁠3 0.5. P erform ing the Installation
434
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 31.
. . . Ins
. . .t.alling
. . . . . T. hr
..o
. .ugh
. . . VNC
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.35
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⁠3 1.1. VNC Viewer
435
⁠3 1.2. VNC Modes in Anaconda
⁠3 1.2.1. Direct Mode
⁠3 1.2.2. C onnect Mode
435
436
436
⁠3 1.3. Installation Using VNC
⁠3 1.3.1. Installation Exam ple
437
437
⁠3 1.3.2. Kickstart C onsiderations
⁠3 1.3.3. Firewall C onsiderations
⁠ 1.4. References
3
438
438
438
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 32.
. . . Kic
. . .ks
. .t.ar
. .t .Ins
. . .t allat
. . . . io
. . ns
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.39
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⁠3 2.1. What are Kickstart Installations?
⁠3 2.2. How Do You P erform a Kickstart Installation?
439
439
⁠3 2.3. C reating the Kickstart File
⁠3 2.4. Kickstart O ptions
⁠3 2.4.1. Advanced P artitioning Exam ple
439
440
476
⁠3 2.5. P ackage Selection
⁠3 2.6. P re-installation Script
477
479
⁠ 2.6.1. Exam ple P re-installation Script
3
⁠3 2.7. P ost-installation Script
480
481
⁠3 2.7.1. Exam ples
482
9
⁠3 2.7.1. Exam ples
⁠3 2.7.1.1. Registering and Then Mounting an NFS Share
⁠3 2.7.1.2. Registering a System in RHN C lassic
482
482
483
⁠ 2.7.1.3. Running subscription-m anager as a P ost-Install Script
3
⁠3 2.8. Making the Kickstart File Available
483
483
⁠3 2.8.1. C reating Kickstart Boot Media
⁠3 2.8.2. Making the Kickstart File Available on the Network
⁠3 2.9. Making the Installation Tree Available
483
485
486
⁠3 2.10. Starting a Kickstart Installation
486
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 33.
. . . Kic
. . .ks
. .t.ar
. .t .Co
. . nf
. . igur
. . . .at
. .o.r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.9.6. . . . . . . . .
⁠3 3.1. Basic C onfiguration
496
⁠3 3.2. Installation Method
⁠3 3.3. Boot Loader O ptions
⁠3 3.4. P artition Inform ation
⁠3 3.4.1. C reating P artitions
⁠3 3.4.1.1. C reating Software RAID P artitions
497
498
499
500
501
⁠3 3.5. Network C onfiguration
⁠3 3.6. Authentication
⁠3 3.7. Firewall C onfiguration
503
504
505
⁠ 3.7.1. SELinux C onfiguration
3
⁠3 3.8. Display C onfiguration
505
506
⁠3 3.9. P ackage Selection
⁠3 3.10. P re-Installation Script
⁠3 3.11. P ost-Installation Script
506
507
508
⁠3 3.11.1. C hroot Environm ent
⁠3 3.11.2. Use an Interpreter
⁠3 3.12. Saving the File
510
510
510
. .ar
⁠P
. t. .V.
. .Af
. .t.e.r. Ins
. . .t.allat
. . . .io
.n
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .512
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. .hapt
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. . .. Fir
. . .s.t.bo
. .o.t. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .513
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⁠3 4.1. License Inform ation
513
⁠3 4.2. C onfiguring the Subscription Service
514
⁠3 4.2.1. Set Up Software Updates
⁠3 4.2.2. C hoose Service
514
515
⁠ 4.2.3. Subscription Managem ent Registration
3
⁠3 4.3. C reate User
⁠3 4.3.1. Authentication C onfiguration
516
521
523
⁠3 4.4. Date and Tim e
⁠3 4.5. Kdum p
524
525
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 35.
. . . Yo
. . ur
. . .Ne
. . xt
. . St
..e
. .ps
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .528
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⁠3 5.1. Updating Your System
⁠3 5.1.1. Driver Update rpm P ackages
⁠3 5.2. Finishing an Upgrade
528
528
530
⁠3 5.3. Switching to a Graphical Login
⁠3 5.3.1. Enabling Access to Software Repositories from the C om m and Line
531
532
⁠3 5.3.1.1. Enabling Access to Software Repositories Through the Internet
⁠3 5.3.1.2. Using a Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation DVD as a Software Repository
⁠3 5.4. Installing P ackages With yum
532
533
534
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 36
. . .. Bas
. . . ic
. . Sys
. . . .t e
. .m. Re
. . .c.o.ve
. .r.y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .536
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⁠3 6.1. Rescue Mode
536
⁠3 6.1.1. C om m on P roblem s
10
536
⁠3 6.1.1. C om m on P roblem s
⁠3 6.1.1.1. Unable to Boot into Red Hat Enterprise Linux
536
536
⁠3 6.1.1.2. Hardware/Software P roblem s
⁠3 6.1.1.3. Root P assword
⁠ 6.1.2. Booting into Rescue Mode
3
536
536
536
⁠ 6.1.2.1. Reinstalling the Boot Loader
3
⁠3 6.1.3. Booting into Single-User Mode
539
539
⁠ 6.1.4. Booting into Em ergency Mode
3
⁠3 6.2. Rescue Mode on P ower System s servers
⁠3 6.2.1. Special C onsiderations for Accessing the SC SI Utilities from Rescue Mode
539
540
540
⁠3 6.3. Using Rescue Mode to Fix or Work Around Driver P roblem s
⁠3 6.3.1. Using RP M to Add, Rem ove, or Replace a Driver
541
541
⁠3 6.3.2. Blacklisting a Driver
542
. .hapt
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. . . Upgr
. . . . ading
. . . . . .Yo
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. . .Cur
. . .r.e.nt
. . Sys
. . . t. e. m
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
. .4. . . . . . . . .
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 38
. . .. Unr
...e
. .gis
. . t. e. r. ing
. . . f. r. o. m
. . Re
..d
. .Hat
. . . .Subs
. . . .c.r.ipt
. . io
. .n
. .Manage
. . . . . . .me
. . nt
. . .Se
. .r.vic
. .e
.s
...............
⁠3 8.1. System s Registered with Red Hat Subscription Managem ent
545 54 5
⁠3 8.2. System s Registered with RHN C lassic
545
⁠3 8.3. System s Registered with Satellite
546
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 39
. . .. Re
. . .mo
. . ving
. . . . Re
. . .d. Hat
. . . .Ent
. . .e.r.pr
. .is
.e
. .Linux
. . . . . Fr
. .o. m
. .x8
. .6. -bas
. . . .e. d
. .Sys
. . .t.e.ms
. . . . . . . .54
. .7. . . . . . . . .
⁠3 9.1. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the O nly O perating System on the C om puter
547
⁠3 9.2. Your C om puter Dual-boots Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Another O perating System
548
⁠3 9.2.1. Your C om puter Dual-boots Red Hat Enterprise Linux and a Microsoft Windows
O perating System
548
⁠3 9.2.1.1. Windows 2000, Windows Server 2000, Windows XP , and Windows Server
2003
548
⁠ 9.2.1.2. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
3
551
⁠3 9.2.2. Your com puter dual-boots Red Hat Enterprise Linux and a different Linux
distribution
553
⁠3 9.3. Replacing Red Hat Enterprise Linux with MS-DO S or Legacy Versions of Microsoft
Windows
557
. .hapt
⁠C
. . . .e.r. 4. 0
. . Re
. . .mo
. . ving
. . . . .Re
. .d. Hat
. . . .Ent
. . .e. r.pr
. .is
. .e. Linux
. . . . . f. r.o. m
. .IBM
. . . .Sys
. . .t.e.m
. .z. . . . . . . . . . . .559
...........
⁠4 0.1. Running a Different O perating System on your z/VM Guest or LP AR
559
. .ar
⁠P
. t. .VI.
..T
. .e.c.hnic
. . . .al
. .Appe
. . . . ndic
. . . . e. s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
. .0. . . . . . . . .
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . A.
. . An
. . .Int
. . .r o
. .duc
. . .t.io
.n
. .t.o. Dis
. . .k
. .Par
. . .t.it.io
. .ns
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
. .1. . . . . . . . .
⁠A.1. Hard Disk Basic C oncepts
561
⁠A.1.1. It is Not What You Write, it is How You Write It
561
⁠A.1.2. P artitions: Turning O ne Drive Into Many
⁠A.1.3. P artitions Within P artitions — An O verview of Extended P artitions
⁠A.1.4. GUID P artition Table (GP T)
⁠A.1.5. Making Room For Red Hat Enterprise Linux
⁠A.1.5.1. Using Unpartitioned Free Space
563
565
566
566
567
⁠A.1.5.2. Using Space from an Unused P artition
⁠A.1.5.3. Using Free Space from an Active P artition
⁠A.1.5.3.1. C om press existing data
⁠A.1.5.3.2. Resize the existing partition
⁠A.1.5.3.3. C reate new partition(s)
567
568
569
569
570
⁠A.1.6. P artition Nam ing Schem e
⁠A.1.7. Disk P artitions and O ther O perating System s
⁠A.1.8. Disk P artitions and Mount P oints
⁠A.1.9. How Many P artitions?
571
572
572
572
11
⁠A.1.9. How Many P artitions?
572
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . B.
. . iSCSI
. . . . . Dis
. . . ks
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .574
...........
⁠B.1. iSC SI Disks in anaconda
574
⁠B.2. iSC SI Disks During Start Up
574
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . C.
. . Dis
. . . k. .Enc
. . .r.ypt
. . .io. n
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .576
...........
⁠C .1. What is Block Device Encryption?
576
⁠C .2. Encrypting Block Devices Using dm -crypt/LUKS6tit
576
⁠C .2.1. O verview of LUKS
576
⁠C .2.2. How Will I Access the Encrypted Devices After Installation? (System Startup)
577
⁠C .2.3. C hoosing a Good P assphrase
⁠C .3. C reating Encrypted Block Devices in Anaconda
⁠C .3.1. What Kinds of Block Devices C an Be Encrypted?
⁠C .3.2. Saving P assphrases
⁠C .3.3. C reating and Saving Backup P assphrases
577
577
578
578
578
⁠C .4. C reating Encrypted Block Devices on the Installed System After Installation
⁠C .4.1. C reate the Block Devices
⁠C .4.2. O ptional: Fill the Device with Random Data
⁠C .4.3. Form at the Device as a dm -crypt/LUKS Encrypted Device
⁠C .4.4. C reate a Mapping to Allow Access to the Device's Decrypted C ontents
578
578
578
579
579
⁠C .4.5. C reate File System s on the Mapped Device or C ontinue to Build C om plex Storage
Structures Using the Mapped Device
580
⁠C .4.6. Add the Mapping Inform ation to /etc/crypttab
580
⁠C .4.7. Add an Entry to /etc/fstab
581
⁠ .5. C om m on P ost-Installation Tasks
C
581
⁠C .5.1. Set a Random ly Generated Key as an Additional Way to Access an Encrypted Block
Device
581
⁠C .5.1.1. Generate a Key
581
⁠C .5.1.2. Add the Key to an Available Keyslot on the Encrypted Device
581
⁠C .5.2. Add a New P assphrase to an Existing Device
⁠C .5.3. Rem ove a P assphrase or Key from a Device
582
582
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . D.
. . Unde
. . . . .r.s.t.anding
. . . . . . LVM
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
. .3. . . . . . . . .
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . E.
. . T. he
. . . GRUB
. . . . . Bo
. . .o.t.Lo
. . ade
. . . r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
. .4. . . . . . . . .
⁠E.1. Boot Loaders and System Architecture
584
⁠E.2. GRUB
584
⁠E.2.1. GRUB and the Boot P rocess on BIO S-based x86 System s
584
⁠E.2.2. GRUB and the Boot P rocess on UEFI-based x86 System s
⁠E.2.3. Features of GRUB
⁠E.3. Installing GRUB
⁠E.4. Troubleshooting GRUB
⁠E.5. GRUB Term inology
585
586
586
587
588
⁠E.5.1. Device Nam es
⁠E.5.2. File Nam es and Blocklists
⁠E.5.3. The Root File System and GRUB
⁠E.6. GRUB Interfaces
⁠E.6.1. Interfaces Load O rder
588
589
589
590
591
⁠E.7. GRUB C om m ands
⁠E.8. GRUB Menu C onfiguration File
⁠E.8.1. C onfiguration File Structure
⁠E.8.2. C onfiguration File Directives
⁠E.9. C hanging Runlevels at Boot Tim e
591
593
593
593
595
⁠E.10. Additional Resources
⁠E.10.1. Installed Docum entation
595
596
12
⁠E.10.1. Installed Docum entation
⁠E.10.2. Useful Websites
596
596
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . F.
. . Bo
..o
. .t .Pr
. .o.c.e. s. s. ,. Init
. . . ,. and
. . . .Shut
. . . . do
. . .wn
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
. .7. . . . . . . . .
⁠F.1. The Boot P rocess
597
⁠F.2. A Detailed Look at the Boot P rocess
597
⁠F.2.1. The Firm ware Interface
⁠F.2.1.1. BIO S-based x86 System s
⁠F.2.1.2. UEFI-based x86 System s
⁠F.2.2. The Boot Loader
⁠F.2.2.1. The GRUB boot loader for x86 system s
597
598
598
598
598
⁠ .2.2.2. Boot Loaders for O ther Architectures
F
⁠F.2.3. The Kernel
⁠F.2.4. The /sbin/init P rogram
⁠F.2.5. Job Definitions
⁠ .3. Running Additional P rogram s at Boot Tim e
F
599
599
600
603
603
⁠F.4. SysV Init Runlevels
⁠F.4.1. Runlevels
⁠F.4.2. Runlevel Utilities
⁠F.5. Shutting Down
604
604
605
605
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . G.
. . Alt
. . .e. r.nat
. . .ive
. . .s. t.o. .bus
. . .ybo
. . . x. c
.o
. .mmands
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.0.7. . . . . . . . .
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . H.
..O
. .t.he
. .r. T
. .e.c.hnic
. . . .al. .Do
. .c.ume
. . . .nt
. .at
. .io. n
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.15
..........
. .ppe
⁠A
. . .ndix
. . . . I.
. .Re
. .vis
. . .io. n
. .His
. . .t.o.r.y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.17
..........
⁠I.nde
...x
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6.17
..........
13
Chapt er 1. Obt aining Red Hat Ent erprise Linux
If you have a Re d Hat s ubs cription, you can download ISO image files of the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6 ins tallation DVD from the Software & Download Ce nte r that is part of
the Re d Hat Cus tome r Portal. If you do not alre ady have a s ubs cription, e ithe r purchas e
one or obtain a fre e e valuation s ubs cription from the Software & Download Ce nte r at
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/downloads .
The following table indicate s the type s of boot and ins tallation me dia available for diffe re nt
archite cture s and note s the image file that you ne e d to produce the me dia.
T able 1.1. Bo o t and inst allat io n media
Archit ect ure
Inst allat io n DVD
BIOS-bas e d 32-bit
x86
UEFI-bas e d 32-bit
x86
BIOS-bas e d AMD64
and Inte l 64
x86 DVD ISO image
rhel-variant-vers
file
ion-i386-boot.iso
Not available
rhel-variant-vers
ion-i386-boot.iso
x86_64 DVD ISO
image file (to ins tall
64-bit ope rating
s ys te m) or x86 DVD
ISO image file (to
ins tall 32-bit
ope rating s ys te m)
x86_64 DVD ISO
image file
rhel-variant-vers
ionx86_64boot.iso
orrhel-variant-ve
rsion-i386boot.iso
rhel-variant-vers
ionx86_64boot.iso or
rhel-variant-vers
ion-i386-boot.iso
rhel-variant-vers
ion-x86_64boot.iso
rhelserver-versionppc64-boot.iso
Not available
efidisk.img (from
x86_64 DVD ISO
image file )
Not available
UEFI-bas e d AMD64
and Inte l 64
POWER (64-bit only)
ppc DVD ISO image
file
Sys te m z
s 390 DVD ISO
image file
Bo o t CD o r bo o t
DVD
Bo o t USB f lash
drive
Not available
Where variant is t he variant o f Red Hat Ent erprise Linux (f o r example, server
o r workstation) and version is t he lat est versio n number (f o r example, 6.5).
If you have a s ubs cription or e valuation s ubs cription, follow the s e s te ps to obtain the Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 ISO image file s :
Pro cedure 1.1. Do wnlo ading Red Hat Ent erprise Linux ISO Images
1. Vis it the Cus tome r Portal at https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/home . If you are not logge d
in, click LOG IN on the right s ide of the page . Ente r your account cre de ntials whe n
prompte d.
2. Click DOWNLOADS at the top of the page .
3. Click Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
4. Ens ure that you s e le ct the appropriate Product Variant, Version and
Architecture for your ins tallation targe t. By de fault, Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Server and x86_64 are s e le cte d. If you are not s ure which variant be s t s uits your
ne e ds , s e e http://www.re dhat.com/e n/te chnologie s /linux-platforms /e nte rpris e -linux.
14
⁠C hapt e r 1. O bt aining Re d Hat Ent e r pr is e Linux
5. A lis t of available downloads is dis playe d; mos t notably, a minimal Boot ISO image
and a full ins tallation Binary DVD ISO image . The Boot ISO is a minimal boot image
which only contains the ins talle r and re quire s a s ource to ins tall package s from
(s uch as an HTTP or FTP s e rve r). The Binary DVD download contains both the
ins talle r and ne ce s s ary package s , and the re fore re quire s le s s s e tup.
Additional image s may be available , s uch as pre configure d virtual machine image s ,
which are be yond the s cope of this docume nt.
6. Choos e the image file that you want to us e . The re are s e ve ral ways to download
an ISO image from Re d Hat Cus tome r Portal:
Click its name to be gin downloading it to your compute r us ing your we b brows e r.
Right-click the name and the n click Co py Link Lo cat io n or a s imilar me nu ite m,
the e xact wording of which de pe nds on the brows e r that you are us ing. This
action copie s the URL of the file to your clipboard, which allows you to us e an
alte rnative application to download the file to your compute r. This approach is
e s pe cially us e ful if your Inte rne t conne ction is uns table : in that cas e , you
brows e r may fail to download the whole file , and an atte mpt to re s ume the
inte rrupte d download proce s s fails be caus e the download link contains an
authe ntication ke y which is only valid for a s hort time . Spe cializ e d applications
s uch as curl can, howe ve r, be us e d to re s ume inte rrupte d download atte mpts
from the Cus tome r Portal, which me ans that you ne e d not download the whole
file again and thus you s ave your time and bandwidth cons umption.
Pro cedure 1.2. Using curl t o Do wnlo ad Inst allat io n Media
Make s ure the curl package is ins talle d by running the following command
as root:
# yum install curl
If your Linux dis tribution doe s not us e yum, or if you do not us e Linux at
all, download the mos t appropriate s oftware package from the curl
we bs ite .
Ope n a te rminal window, e nte r a s uitable dire ctory, and type the following
command:
$ curl -o filename.iso 'copied_link_location'
Re place filename.iso with the ISO image name as dis playe d in the
Cus tome r Portal, s uch as rhel-server-6-x86_64-dvd.iso. This is
important be caus e the download link in the Cus tome r Portal contains
e xtra characte rs which curl would othe rwis e us e in the downloade d file
name , too. The n, ke e p the s ingle quotation mark in front of the ne xt
parame te r, and re place copied_link_location with the link that you have
copie d from the Cus tome r Portal.
Note that in Linux, you can pas te the conte nt of the clipboard into the
te rminal window by middle -clicking anywhe re in the window, or by
pre s s ing Shift+Insert. Finally, us e anothe r s ingle quotation mark afte r
the las t parame te r, and pre s s Enter to run the command and s tart
trans fe rring the ISO image . The s ingle quotation marks pre ve nt the
command line inte rpre te r from mis inte rpre ting any s pe cial characte rs
that might be include d in the download link.
15
Example 1.1. Do wnlo ading an ISO image wit h curl
The following is an e xample of a curl command line :
$ curl -o rhel-server-6-x86_64-dvd.iso
'https://access.cdn.redhat.com//content/origin/files/sha
256/85/85a...46c/rhel-server-6-x86_64-dvd.iso?
_auth_=141...7bf'
Note that the actual download link is much longe r be caus e it contains
complicate d ide ntifie rs .
If your Inte rne t conne ction doe s drop be fore the trans fe r is comple te ,
re fre s h the download page in the Cus tome r Portal; log in again if
ne ce s s ary. Copy the ne w download link, us e the s ame bas ic curl
command line parame te rs as e arlie r but be s ure to us e the ne w
download link, and add -C - to ins truct curl to automatically de te rmine
whe re it s hould continue bas e d on the s iz e of the alre ady downloade d
file .
Example 1.2. Resuming an int errupt ed do wnlo ad at t empt
The following is an e xample of a curl command line that you us e if you
have only partially downloade d the ISO image of your choice :
$ curl -o rhel-server-6-x86_64-dvd.iso
'https://access.cdn.redhat.com//content/origin/files/sha
256/85/85a...46c/rhel-server-6-x86_64-dvd.iso?
_auth_=141...963' -C -
7. Optionally, you can us e a che cks um utility s uch as sha256sum to ve rify the
inte grity of the image file afte r the download finis he s . All downloads on the
Download Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux page are provide d with the ir che cks ums for
re fe re nce :
$ sha256sum rhel-server-6-x86_64-dvd.iso
85a...46c rhel-server-6-x86_64-dvd.iso
Similar tools are available for Micros oft Windows and Mac OS X. You can als o us e
the ins tallation program to ve rify the me dia whe n s tarting the ins tallation; s e e
Se ction 28.6.1, “Ve rifying Boot Me dia” for de tails .
Afte r you download an ISO image file of the ins tallation DVD from the Re d Hat Cus tome r
Portal, you can:
burn it to a phys ical DVD (re fe r to Se ction 2.1, “Making an Ins tallation DVD”).
us e it to pre pare minimal boot me dia (re fe r to Se ction 2.2, “Making Minimal Boot
Me dia”).
16
⁠C hapt e r 1. O bt aining Re d Hat Ent e r pr is e Linux
place it on a s e rve r to pre pare for ins tallations ove r a ne twork (re fe r to Se ction 4.1,
“Pre paring for a Ne twork Ins tallation” for x86 archite cture s , Se ction 12.1, “Pre paring for
a Ne twork Ins tallation” for Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs or Se ction 19.1, “Pre paring for a
Ne twork Ins tallation” for IBM Sys te m z ).
place it on a hard drive to pre pare for ins tallation to us e the hard drive as an
ins tallation s ource (re fe r to Se ction 4.2, “Pre paring for a Hard Drive Ins tallation” for x86
archite cture s , Se ction 12.2, “Pre paring for a Hard Drive Ins tallation” for Powe r Sys te ms
s e rve rs or Se ction 19.2, “Pre paring for a Hard Drive Ins tallation” for IBM Sys te m z ).
place it on a pre-boot execution environment (PXE) s e rve r to pre pare for ins tallations
us ing PXE boot (re fe r to Chapte r 30, Setting Up an Installation Server).
17
Chapt er 2. Making Media
Us e the me thods de s cribe d in this s e ction to cre ate the following type s of ins tallation and
boot me dia:
an ins tallation DVD
a minimal boot CD or DVD that can boot the ins talle r
a USB flas h drive to boot the ins talle r
2.1. Making an Inst allat ion DVD
You can make an ins tallation DVD us ing the CD or DVD burning s oftware on your
compute r.
Make s ure that your dis c burning s oftware is capable of burning dis cs from image file s .
Although this is true of mos t dis c burning s oftware , e xce ptions e xis t. In particular, note
that the dis c burning fe ature built into Windows XP and Windows Vis ta cannot burn DVDs ;
and that e arlie r Windows ope rating s ys te ms did not have any dis c burning capability
ins talle d by de fault at all. The re fore , if your compute r has a Windows ope rating s ys te m
prior to Windows 7 ins talle d on it, you ne e d s e parate s oftware for this tas k. Example s of
popular dis c burning s oftware for Windows that you might alre ady have on your compute r
include Nero Burning ROM and Ro xio Creat o r.
Mos t wide ly us e d dis c burning s oftware for Linux, s uch as Brasero and K3b has the builtin ability to burn dis cs from ISO image file s .
The e xact s e rie s of s te ps that produce s a DVD from an ISO image file varie s gre atly from
compute r to compute r, de pe nding on the ope rating s ys te m and dis c burning s oftware
ins talle d. Cons ult your dis c burning s oftware 's docume ntation for de taile d information on
burning DVDs .
2.2. Making Minimal Boot Media
A pie ce of minimal boot media is a CD, DVD, or USB flas h drive that contains the s oftware
to boot the s ys te m and launch the ins tallation program, but which doe s not contain the
s oftware that mus t be trans fe rre d to the s ys te m to cre ate a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ins tallation.
Us e minimal boot me dia:
to boot the s ys te m to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ove r a ne twork
to boot the s ys te m to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from a hard drive
to us e a kicks tart file during ins tallation (re fe r to Se ction 32.8.1, “Cre ating Kicks tart Boot
Me dia”
to comme nce a ne twork or hard-drive ins tallation or to us e an anaco nda update or a
kicks tart file with a DVD ins tallation.
You can us e minimal boot me dia to s tart the ins tallation proce s s on 32-bit x86 s ys te ms ,
AMD64 or Inte l 64 s ys te ms , and Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs . The proce s s by which you
cre ate minimal boot me dia for s ys te ms of the s e various type s is ide ntical e xce pt in the
cas e of AMD64 and Inte l 64 s ys te ms with UEFI firmware inte rface s — re fe r to
18
⁠C hapt e r 2. Making Me dia
Se ction 2.2.2, “Minimal USB Boot Me dia for UEFI-bas e d Sys te ms ”.
To make minimal boot me dia for 32-bit x86 s ys te ms , BIOS-bas e d AMD64 or Inte l 64
s ys te ms , and Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs :
1. Download the ISO image file name d rhel-variant-version-architectureboot.iso that is available at the s ame location as the image s of the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6 ins tallation DVD — re fe r to Chapte r 1, Obtaining Red Hat
Enterprise Linux.
2. Burn the .iso file to a blank CD or DVD us ing the s ame proce dure de taile d in
Se ction 2.1, “Making an Ins tallation DVD” for the ins tallation dis c.
Alte rnative ly, trans fe r the .iso file to a USB de vice with the dd command. As the .iso file
is only around 200 MB in s iz e , you do not ne e d an e s pe cially large USB flas h drive .
2.2.1. Minimal USB Boot Media f or BIOS-based Syst ems
Warning
Whe n you pe rform this proce dure any data on the USB flas h drive is de s troye d with
no warning. Make s ure that you s pe cify the corre ct USB flas h drive , and make s ure
that this flas h drive doe s not contain any data that you want to ke e p.
1. Plug in your USB flas h drive .
2. Find the flas h drive 's de vice name . If the me dia has a volume name , us e it to look
up the de vice name in /dev/disk/by-label, or us e the findfs command:
findfs LABEL=MyLabel
If the me dia doe s not have a volume name or you do not know it, you can als o us e
the dmesg command s hortly afte r conne cting the me dia to your compute r. Afte r
running the command, the de vice name (s uch as sdb or sdc) s hould appe ar in
s e ve ral line s towards the e nd of the output.
3. Be come root:
su 4. Us e the dd command to trans fe r the boot ISO image to the USB de vice :
# dd if=path/image_name.iso of=/dev/device
whe re path/image_name.is o is the boot ISO image file that you downloade d and
device is the de vice name for the USB flas h drive . Ens ure you s pe cify the de vice
name (s uch as sdc), not the partition name (s uch as sdc1). For e xample :
# dd if=~/Downloads/RHEL6-Server-x86_64-boot.iso of=/dev/sdc
2.2.2. Minimal USB Boot Media f or UEFI-based Syst ems
19
Warning
Whe n you pe rform this proce dure any data on the USB flas h drive is de s troye d with
no warning. Make s ure that you s pe cify the corre ct USB flas h drive , and make s ure
that this flas h drive doe s not contain any data that you want to ke e p.
To cre ate r minimal USB boot me dia for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, us e the efidisk.img file
in the images/ dire ctory on the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 ins tallation DVD:
1. Download an ISO image file of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 ins tallation DVD as
de s cribe d in Chapte r 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
2. Be come root:
su 3. Cre ate a mount point for the ISO image file :
# mkdir /mnt/dvdiso
4. Mount the image file :
# mount DVD.iso /mnt/dvdiso -o loop
Whe re DVD.iso is the name of the ISO image file , for e xample RHEL6-Serverx86_64-DVD.iso.
5. Trans fe r efidisk.img from the ISO image file to your USB flas h drive :
# dd if=/mnt/dvdiso/images/efidisk.img of=/dev/device_name
For e xample :
# dd if=/mnt/dvdiso/images/efidisk.img of=/dev/sdc
No te
Us e the dd command to write the image file dire ctly to the de vice . Us ing cp
to copy the file or trans fe rring the file us ing a file manage r will make the
de vice unbootable .
6. Unmount the ISO image file :
# umount /mnt/dvdiso
2.3. Creat ing a USGCB-compliant Inst allat ion Image
20
⁠C hapt e r 2. Making Me dia
The scap-security-guide package in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 contains a s pe cializ e d
Kicks tart file , which can be us e d to ins tall a harde ne d s ys te m conforming to the United
States Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB) s tandard. This is us e ful in cas e s whe re
compliance with this s tandard is re quire d by gove rnme nt re gulations .
This Kicks tart configuration can be us e d with the Se rve r variant of Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux 6. If us e d, the s ys te m will be automatically configure d by OpenSCAP to be USGCB
profile compliant as part of the pos t-ins tallation s cript. Afte r the ins tallation finis he s , you
can re vie w a re port place d in the /root/ dire ctory on the ins talle d s ys te m.
No te
The Kicks tart file provide d by scap-security-guide contains all re quire d commands ,
making the ins tallation comple te ly automatic.
Als o note that the Kicks tart file re quire s acce s s to the inte rne t during the ins tallation
in orde r to download the late s t be nchmark.
For more information about compliance and vulne rability s canning us ing OpenSCAP, s e e
the appropriate chapte r of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 Se curity Guide .
To obtain the Kicks tart file , ins tall the scap-security-guide package on an e xis ting Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6 s ys te m. Once the package is ins talle d, you can find the Kicks tart file at
/usr/share/scap-security-guide/kickstart/ssg-rhel6-usgcb-server-with-guiks.cfg.
Afte r obtaining the file , copy it into your home dire ctory and e dit it us ing a plain te xt e ditor.
Us e Se ction 32.4, “Kicks tart Options ” and comme nts in the file for re fe re nce . Some of the
comme nts me ntion Common Configuration Enumeration (CCE) ide ntifie r numbe rs ; you can
find information about the s e at the CCE Archive .
Notable parts of the Kicks tart file which can be change d are :
Package re pos itory location - the url command. To us e a package re pos itory on an
HTTP or FTP s e rve r, re place the de fault IP addre s s with an addre s s of a s e rve r
containing a package re pos itory. Re place this command with one of nfs, cdrom, or
harddrive to ins tall from a NFS s e rve r, optical drive , or local hard drive , re s pe ctive ly.
Sys te m language , ke yboard layout, and time z one - the lang, keyboard and timezone
commands .
Root pas s word - the rootpw command. By de fault, the root pas s word configure d in this
Kicks tart is "s e rve r". Make s ure to ge ne rate a ne w che cks um and change it.
Boot loade r pas s word - the bootloader --password= command. The de fault pas s word
is "pas s word". Make s ure to ge ne rate a ne w che cks um and change it.
Ne twork configuration - the network command. Automatic configuration us ing DHCP is
e nable d by de fault - adjus t the s e ttings if ne ce s s ary.
Package s e le ction - modify the %packages s e ction of the file to ins tall package s and
groups you ne e d.
21
Impo rtant
Package s git, aide and openscap-utils mus t always be ins talle d. The y are re quire d
for the Kicks tart file and pos t ins tallation OpenSCAP s ys te m e valuation to work.
Dis k partitioning layout - the part, volgroup and logvol commands .
The USGCB s tandard de fine s concre te re quire me nts for a compliant s ys te m's dis k
layout, which me ans that the logical volume s de fine d in the de fault Kicks tart file /home, /tmp, /var, /var/log, and /var/log/audit - mus t always be cre ate d as
s e parate partitions or logical volume s . Additionally, Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux re quire s
you to cre ate a /boot phys ical partition and volume s for / and swap. The s e are all
de fine d in the de fault Kicks tart; you can add additional s e parate logical volume s or
partitions , and you can change the s iz e s of the de fault one s .
No te
By de fault, the /var/log/audit volume only take s up 512 MB of s pace . Due to
the high numbe r of calls be ing audite d, it is highly re comme nde d to incre as e its
s iz e to at le as t 1024 MB.
The re s t of the Kicks tart file can be us e d as -is . Once you finis h modifying the file , proce e d
with Se ction 32.8.1, “Cre ating Kicks tart Boot Me dia” to place it on an ISO image and us e it
to ins tall a ne w s ys te m.
22
⁠P ar t I. x8 6 , AMD6 4 , and Int e l 6 4 — Ins t allat io n and Bo o t ing
⁠P art I. x86, AMD64, and Int el 64 — Inst allat ion and
Boot ing
This part of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for Inte l and AMD 32-bit and 64bit s ys te ms dis cus s e s the ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux and s ome bas ic pos tins tallation trouble s hooting.
For advance d ins tallation options , re fe r to Part IV, “Advance d Ins tallation Options ”.
23
Chapt er 3. Planning for Inst allat ion on t he x86
Archit ect ure
3.1. Upgrade or Inst all?
The re are two proce dure s available for upgrading your curre nt s ys te m to the ne xt major
ve rs ion of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux. To de cide which proce dure is the right one for your
s ys te m, re ad the following de s criptions :
Clean Inst all
A cle an ins tall is pe rforme d by backing up all data from the s ys te m, formatting
dis k partitions , pe rforming an ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 7 from
ins tallation me dia, and the n re s toring any us e r data.
No te
This is the re comme nde d me thod for upgrading be twe e n major ve rs ions of
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
In-Place Upgrade
An in-place upgrade is a way of upgrading your s ys te m without re moving the
olde r ve rs ion firs t. The proce dure re quire s ins talling the migration utilitie s
available for your s ys te m and running the m as any othe r s oftware . In Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux, the Preupgrade Assist ant as s e s s e s your curre nt s ys te m and
ide ntifie s pote ntial proble ms you might e ncounte r during and/or afte r the
upgrade . It als o pe rforms minor fixe s and modifications to the s ys te m. The Red
Hat Upgrade T o o l utility downloads the package s and pe rforms the actual
upgrade . An in-place upgrade re quire s a lot of trouble s hooting and planning and
s hould only be done if the re is no othe r choice . For more information on the
Preupgrade Assist ant , s e e Chapte r 37, Upgrading Your Current System.
Warning
Ne ve r pe rform an in-place upgrade on a production s ys te m without firs t
te s ting it on a clone d backup copy of the s ys te m.
3.2. Is Your Hardware Compat ible?
Hardware compatibility is particularly important if you have an olde r s ys te m or a s ys te m
that you built yours e lf. Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 s hould be compatible with mos t
hardware in s ys te ms that we re factory built within the las t two ye ars .
Howe ve r, hardware s pe cifications change almos t daily, s o it is difficult to guarante e that
your hardware is 100% compatible .
One cons is te nt re quire me nt is your proce s s or. Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 s upports , at
minimum, all 32-bit and 64-bit imple me ntations of Inte l microarchite cture from P6 and
onwards and AMD microarchite cture from Athlon and onwards .
24
⁠C hapt e r 3. Planning f o r Ins t allat io n o n t he x8 6 Ar c hit e c t ur e
The mos t re ce nt lis t of s upporte d hardware can be found at:
https://hardware.redhat.com/
3.3. Hardware Requirement s
For a lis t of minimum hardware re quire me nts of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6, s e e the Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux te chnology capabilitie s and limits page . Als o note that the minimum
me mory re quire me nts lis te d on that page as s ume that you cre ate a s wap s pace bas e d
on the re comme ndations in Se ction 9.15.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”. Sys te ms
with low me mory (1 GB and le s s ) and le s s than the re comme nde d amount of s wap s pace
may have is s ue s ranging from low re s pons ivity up to and including comple te inability to
boot afte r the ins tallation.
For ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on x86, AMD64, and Inte l 64 s ys te ms , Re d Hat
s upports the following ins tallation targe ts :
Hard drive s conne cte d by a s tandard inte rnal inte rface , s uch as SCSI, SATA, or SAS
BIOS/firmware RAID de vice s
Fibre Channe l Hos t Bus Adapte rs and multipath de vice s are als o s upporte d. Ve ndorprovide d drive rs may be re quire d for ce rtain hardware .
Re d Hat doe s not s upport ins tallation to USB drive s or SD me mory cards .
Re d Hat als o s upports ins tallations that us e the following virtualiz ation te chnologie s :
Xe n block de vice s on Inte l proce s s ors in Xe n virtual machine s .
VirtIO block de vice s on Inte l proce s s ors in KVM virtual machine s .
3.4. RAID and Ot her Disk Devices
Impo rtant
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 us e s mdraid ins te ad of dmraid for ins tallation onto Inte l
BIOS RAID s e ts . The s e s e ts are de te cte d automatically, and de vice s with Inte l ISW
me tadata are re cogniz e d as mdraid ins te ad of dmraid. Note that the de vice node
name s of any s uch de vice s unde r mdraid are diffe re nt from the ir de vice node
name s unde r dmraid. The re fore , s pe cial pre cautions are ne ce s s ary whe n you
migrate s ys te ms with Inte l BIOS RAID s e ts .
Local modifications to /etc/fstab, /etc/crypttab or othe r configuration file s which
re fe r to de vice s by the ir de vice node name s will not work in Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux 6. Be fore migrating the s e file s , you mus t the re fore e dit the m to re place
de vice node paths with de vice UUIDs ins te ad. You can find the UUIDs of de vice s with
the blkid command.
3.4.1. Hardware RAID
25
RAID, or Re dundant Array of Inde pe nde nt Dis ks , allows a group, or array, of drive s to act
as a s ingle de vice . Configure any RAID functions provide d by the mainboard of your
compute r, or attache d controlle r cards , be fore you be gin the ins tallation proce s s . Each
active RAID array appe ars as one drive within Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
On s ys te ms with more than one hard drive you may configure Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux to
ope rate s e ve ral of the drive s as a Linux RAID array without re quiring any additional
hardware .
3.4.2. Sof t ware RAID
You can us e the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program to cre ate Linux s oftware
RAID arrays , whe re RAID functions are controlle d by the ope rating s ys te m rathe r than
de dicate d hardware . The s e functions are e xplaine d in de tail in Se ction 9.15, “ Cre ating a
Cus tom Layout or Modifying the De fault Layout ”.
3.4.3. FireWire and USB Disks
Some Fire Wire and USB hard dis ks may not be re cogniz e d by the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux ins tallation s ys te m. If configuration of the s e dis ks at ins tallation time is not vital,
dis conne ct the m to avoid any confus ion.
No te
You can conne ct and configure e xte rnal Fire Wire and USB hard dis ks afte r
ins tallation. Mos t s uch de vice s are automatically re cogniz e d and available for us e
once conne cte d.
3.5. Not es on UEFI Support
3.5.1. Feat ure Support
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 s upports both BIOS and UEFI firmware on AMD64 and Inte l 64
s ys te ms (x86_64). UEFI-bas e d s ys te ms are s upporte d with the following limitations :
The s ys te m mus t s upport UEFI Spe cification 2.0 or late r. Earlie r re vis ions are not
s upporte d.
The Se cure Boot te chnology is not s upporte d, and will pre ve nt Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
from be ing ins talle d. Sys te ms us ing UEFI Spe cification 2.2 or late r mus t have Se cure
Boot dis able d in orde r to ins tall and run Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.
Sys te ms us ing UEFI 2.0 late r with Se cure Boot dis able d (if pre s e nt) can ins tall and boot
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux without is s ue s , although not all fe ature s in the re le vant UEFI
s pe cification are s upporte d.
For more information about UEFI s pe cifications , s e e http://www.ue fi.org/s pe cifications .
3.5.2. Disk Drives wit h MBR on UEFI Syst ems
Sys te ms with UEFI firmware re quire a dis k with a GUID Partition Table (GPT). Whe n
ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on a dis k with a Mas te r Boot Re cord (MBR; s ome time s
26
als o calle d msdos) labe l, the dis k mus t be re labe le d. This me ans you can not re us e
e xis ting partitions on a MBR-partitione d dis k, and all data on the dis k will be los t. Make s ure
to back up all data on the drive be fore ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
A GUID Partition Table is only re quire d on the s ys te m's boot drive - the dis k whe re the
boot loade r is ins talle d. Othe r drive s can be labe le d with a Mas te r Boot Re cord and the ir
partition layout can be re us e d.
The re are s e ve ral ways to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on an UEFI s ys te m and us e a
drive which has a Mas te r Boot Re cord. You can:
Attach the drive to an e xis ting Linux s ys te m and us e an utility s uch as parted or fdisk
to cre ate a GPT labe l on the drive . For e xample , to cre ate a GPT labe l on dis k /dev/sdc
us ing parted, us e the following command:
# parted /dev/sdc mklabel gpt
Warning
Make s ure you s pe cify the corre ct drive . Re labe ling a dis k will de s troy all data on
it, and parted will not as k you for a confirmation.
Pe rform an automate d Kicks tart ins tallation, and us e the clearpart and zerombr
commands . If your s ys te m us e s UEFI firmware , us ing the s e commands on the boot
drive will re labe l it with a GPT.
During a manual ins tallation in the graphical us e r inte rface , whe n you ge t to the
partitioning s cre e n. Se le ct an option other than cus tom partitioning (for e xample Use
All Space). Make s ure to che ck the Review and modify partitioning layout che ck
box, and click Next.
On the following s cre e n, modify the automatically cre ate d layout s o it s uits your ne e ds .
Afte r you finis h and click Next, Anaco nda will us e your layout and re labe l the drive
automatically.
3.6. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
Ne arly e ve ry mode rn-day ope rating s ys te m (OS) us e s disk partitions, and Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux is no e xce ption. Whe n you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, you may have
to work with dis k partitions . If you have not worke d with dis k partitions be fore (or ne e d a
quick re vie w of the bas ic conce pts ), re fe r to Appe ndix A, An Introduction to Disk Partitions
be fore proce e ding.
The dis k s pace us e d by Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux mus t be s e parate from the dis k s pace
us e d by othe r OSe s you may have ins talle d on your s ys te m, s uch as Windows , OS/2, or
e ve n a diffe re nt ve rs ion of Linux. For x86, AMD64, and Inte l 64 s ys te ms , at le as t two
partitions (/ and swap) mus t be de dicate d to Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
Be fore you s tart the ins tallation proce s s , you mus t
have e nough unpartitioned ⁠ [1] dis k s pace for the ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux, or
27
have one or more partitions that may be de le te d, the re by fre e ing up e nough dis k
s pace to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
To gain a be tte r s e ns e of how much s pace you re ally ne e d, re fe r to the re comme nde d
partitioning s iz e s dis cus s e d in Se ction 9.15.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”.
If you are not s ure that you me e t the s e conditions , or if you want to know how to cre ate
fre e dis k s pace for your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation, re fe r to Appe ndix A, An
Introduction to Disk Partitions.
3.7. Select ing an Inst allat ion Met hod
What type of ins tallation me thod do you wis h to us e ? The following ins tallation me thods
are available :
DVD
If you have a DVD drive and the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD you can us e this
me thod. Re fe r to Se ction 8.3.1, “Ins talling from a DVD”, for DVD ins tallation
ins tructions .
If you boote d the ins tallation from a pie ce of me dia othe r than the ins tallation
DVD, you can s pe cify the DVD as the ins tallation s ource with the linux
askmethod or linux repo=cdrom:device:/device boot option, or by s e le cting
Lo cal CD/DVD on the Inst allat io n Met ho d me nu (re fe r to Se ction 8.3,
“Ins tallation Me thod”).
Hard Drive
If you have copie d the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ISO image s to a local hard drive ,
you can us e this me thod. You ne e d a boot CD-ROM (us e the linux askmethod or
linux repo=hd:device:/path boot option), or by s e le cting Hard drive on the
Inst allat io n Met ho d me nu (re fe r to Se ction 8.3, “Ins tallation Me thod”). Re fe r to
Se ction 8.3.2, “Ins talling from a Hard Drive ”, for hard drive ins tallation ins tructions .
NFS
If you are ins talling from an NFS s e rve r us ing ISO image s or a mirror image of
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, you can us e this me thod. You ne e d a boot CD-ROM (us e
the linux askmethod or linux repo=nfs:server :options:/path boot option,
or the NFS direct o ry option on the Inst allat io n Met ho d me nu de s cribe d in
Se ction 8.3, “Ins tallation Me thod”). Re fe r to Se ction 8.3.4, “Ins talling via NFS” for
ne twork ins tallation ins tructions . Note that NFS ins tallations may als o be
pe rforme d in GUI mode .
URL
If you are ins talling dire ctly from an HTTP or HTTPS (We b) s e rve r or an FTP
s e rve r, us e this me thod. You ne e d a boot CD-ROM (us e the linux askmethod,
linux repo=ftp://user:password@host/path, or linux
repo=http://host/path boot option, or linux repo=https://host/path boot
option,or the URL option on the Inst allat io n Met ho d me nu de s cribe d in
Se ction 8.3, “Ins tallation Me thod”). Re fe r to Se ction 8.3.5, “Ins talling via FTP, HTTP,
or HTTPS”, for FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS ins tallation ins tructions .
If you boote d the dis tribution DVD and did not us e the alte rnate ins tallation s ource option
askmethod, the ne xt s tage loads automatically from the DVD. Proce e d to Se ction 8.2,
“Language Se le ction”.
28
No te
If you boot from a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation DVD, the ins tallation program
loads its ne xt s tage from that dis c. This happe ns re gardle s s of which ins tallation
me thod you choos e , unle s s you e je ct the dis c be fore you proce e d. The ins tallation
program s till downloads package data from the s ource you choos e .
3.8. Choose a Boot Met hod
You can us e s e ve ral me thods to boot Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
Ins talling from a DVD re quire s that you have purchas e d a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
product, you have a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 DVD, and you have a DVD drive on a
s ys te m that s upports booting from it. Re fe r to Chapte r 2, Making Media for ins tructions to
make an ins tallation DVD.
Your BIOS may ne e d to be change d to allow booting from your DVD/CD-ROM drive . For
more information about changing your BIOS, re fe r to Se ction 7.1.1, “Booting the Ins tallation
Program on x86, AMD64, and Inte l 64 Sys te ms ”.
Othe r than booting from an ins tallation DVD, you can als o boot the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux ins tallation program from minimal boot media in the form of a bootable CD or USB
flas h drive . Afte r you boot the s ys te m with a pie ce of minimal boot me dia, you comple te
the ins tallation from a diffe re nt ins tallation s ource , s uch as a local hard drive or a location
on a ne twork. Re fe r to Se ction 2.2, “Making Minimal Boot Me dia” for ins tructions on making
boot CDs and USB flas h drive s .
Finally, you can boot the ins talle r ove r the ne twork from a preboot execution environment
(PXE) s e rve r. Re fe r to Chapte r 30, Setting Up an Installation Server. Again, afte r you boot
the s ys te m, you comple te the ins tallation from a diffe re nt ins tallation s ource , s uch as a
local hard drive or a location on a ne twork.
[1] Unpartitioned disk space m eans that available disk space on the hard drives you are
installing to has not been divided into sections for data. When you partition a disk, each
partition behaves like a separate disk drive.
29
Chapt er 4. Preparing for Inst allat ion
4.1. Preparing for a Net work Inst allat ion
No te
Make s ure no ins tallation DVD (or any othe r type of DVD or CD) is in your s ys te m's
CD or DVD drive if you are pe rforming a ne twork-bas e d ins tallation. Having a DVD or
CD in the drive might caus e une xpe cte d e rrors .
Ens ure that you have boot me dia available on CD, DVD, or a USB s torage de vice s uch as
a flas h drive .
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation me dium mus t be available for e ithe r a ne twork
ins tallation (via NFS, FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS) or ins tallation via local s torage . Us e the following
s te ps if you are pe rforming an NFS, FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS ins tallation.
The NFS, FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS s e rve r to be us e d for ins tallation ove r the ne twork mus t be
a s e parate , ne twork-acce s s ible s e rve r. It mus t provide the comple te conte nts of the
ins tallation DVD-ROM.
No te
anaco nda has the ability to te s t the inte grity of the ins tallation me dia. It works with
the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO ins tallation me thods . We re comme nd that you
te s t all ins tallation me dia be fore s tarting the ins tallation proce s s , and be fore
re porting any ins tallation-re late d bugs (many of the bugs re porte d are actually due
to imprope rly-burne d DVDs ). To us e this te s t, type the following command at the
boot: prompt:
linux mediacheck
No te
The public dire ctory us e d to acce s s the ins tallation file s ove r FTP, NFS, HTTP, or
HTTPS is mappe d to local s torage on the ne twork s e rve r. For e xample , the local
dire ctory /var/www/inst/rhel6 on the ne twork s e rve r can be acce s s e d as
http://network.server.com/inst/rhel6.
In the following e xample s , the dire ctory on the ins tallation s taging s e rve r that will
contain the ins tallation file s will be s pe cifie d as /location/of/disk/space. The
dire ctory that will be made publicly available via FTP, NFS, HTTP, or HTTPS will be
s pe cifie d as /publicly_available_directory. For e xample , /location/of/disk/space
may be a dire ctory you cre ate calle d /var/isos. /publicly_available_directory
might be /var/www/html/rhel6, for an HTTP ins tall.
30
⁠C hapt e r 4 . Pr e par ing f o r Ins t allat io n
In the following, you will re quire an ISO image. An ISO image is a file containing an e xact
copy of the conte nt of a DVD. To cre ate an ISO image from a DVD us e the following
command:
dd if=/dev/dvd of=/path_to_image/name_of_image.iso
whe re dvd is your DVD drive de vice , name_of_image is the name you give to the re s ulting
ISO image file , and path_to_image is the path to the location on your s ys te m whe re the
re s ulting ISO image will be s tore d.
To copy the file s from the ins tallation DVD to a Linux ins tance , which acts as an ins tallation
s taging s e rve r, continue with e ithe r Se ction 4.1.1, “Pre paring for FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS
Ins tallation” or Se ction 4.1.2, “Pre paring for an NFS Ins tallation”.
4.1.1. Preparing f or FT P, HT T P, and HT T PS Inst allat ion
Warning
If your Apache we b s e rve r or t f t p FTP s e rve r configuration e nable s SSL s e curity,
make s ure to only e nable the TLSv1 protocol, and dis able SSLv2 and SSLv3. This is
due to the POODLE SSL vulne rability (CVE-2014-3566). Se e
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /1232413 for de tails about s e curing Apache, and
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /1234773 for information about s e curing t f t p.
Extract the file s from the ISO image of the ins tallation DVD and place the m in a dire ctory
that is s hare d ove r FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS.
Ne xt, make s ure that the dire ctory is s hare d via FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS, and ve rify clie nt
acce s s . Te s t to s e e whe the r the dire ctory is acce s s ible from the s e rve r its e lf, and the n
from anothe r machine on the s ame s ubne t to which you will be ins talling.
4.1.2. Preparing f or an NFS Inst allat ion
For NFS ins tallation it is not ne ce s s ary to e xtract all the file s from the ISO image . It is
s ufficie nt to make the ISO image its e lf, the install.img file , and optionally the
product.img file available on the ne twork s e rve r via NFS.
1. Trans fe r the ISO image to the NFS e xporte d dire ctory. On a Linux s ys te m, run:
mv /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /publicly_available_directory/
whe re 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 dire ctory that is available
ove r NFS or that you inte nd to make available ove r NFS.
2. Us e a SHA256 che cks um program to ve rify that the ISO image that you copie d is
intact. Many SHA256 che cks um programs are available for various ope rating
s ys te ms . On a Linux s ys te m, run:
$ sha256sum name_of_image.iso
whe re name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file . The SHA256 che cks um
program dis plays a s tring of 64 characte rs calle d a hash. Compare this has h to the
31
has h dis playe d for this particular image on the Downloads page in the Re d Hat
Cus tome r Portal (re fe r to Chapte r 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux). The two
has he s s hould be ide ntical.
3. Copy the images/ dire ctory from ins ide the ISO image to the s ame dire ctory in
which you s tore d the ISO image file its e lf. Ente r 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
whe re path_to_image is the path to the ISO image file , name_of_image is the
name of the ISO image file , and mount_point is a mount point on which to mount
the image while you copy file s from the image . For e xample :
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 an images/ dire ctory are now pre s e nt, s ide -by-s ide , in the
s ame dire ctory.
4. Ve rify that the images/ dire ctory contains at le as t the install.img file , without
which ins tallation cannot proce e d. Optionally, the images/ dire ctory s hould contain
the product.img file , without which only the package s for a Minimal ins tallation will
be available during the package group s e le ction s tage (re fe r to Se ction 9.17,
“Package Group Se le ction”).
Impo rtant
install.img and product.img mus t be the only file s in the images/
dire ctory.
5. Ens ure that an e ntry for the publicly available dire ctory e xis ts in the /etc/exports
file on the ne twork s e rve r s o that the dire ctory is available via NFS.
To e xport a dire ctory re ad-only to a s pe cific s ys te m, us e :
/publicly_available_directory client.ip.address (ro)
To e xport a dire ctory re ad-only to all s ys te ms , us e :
/publicly_available_directory * (ro)
6. On the ne twork s e rve r, s tart the NFS dae mon (on a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
s ys te m, us e /sbin/service nfs start). If NFS is alre ady running, re load the
configuration file (on a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m us e /sbin/service nfs
reload).
7. Be s ure to te s t the NFS s hare following the dire ctions in the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux De ployme nt Guide . Re fe r to your NFS docume ntation for de tails on s tarting
and s topping the NFS s e rve r.
32
No te
boot: prompt:
linux mediacheck
4.2. Preparing for a Hard Drive Inst allat ion
No te
Hard drive ins tallations only work from e xt2, e xt3, e xt4, or FAT file s ys te ms . You
cannot us e a hard drive s formatte d for any othe r file s ys te m as an ins tallation
s ource for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
To che ck the file s ys te m of a hard drive partition on a Windows ope rating s ys te m,
us e the Disk Management tool. To che ck the file s ys te m of a hard drive partition
on a Linux ope rating s ys te m, us e the f disk tool.
Impo rtant
You cannot us e ISO file s on partitions controlle d by LVM (Logical Volume
Manage me nt).
Us e this option to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on s ys te ms without a DVD drive or
ne twork conne ction.
Hard drive ins tallations us e the following file s :
an ISO image of the ins tallation DVD. An ISO image is a file that contains an e xact copy
of the conte nt of a DVD.
an install.img file e xtracte d from the ISO image .
optionally, a product.img file e xtracte d from the ISO image .
With the s e file s pre s e nt on a hard drive , you can choos e Hard drive as the ins tallation
s ource whe n you boot the ins tallation program (re fe r to Se ction 8.3, “Ins tallation Me thod”).
a flas h drive .
To pre pare a hard drive as an ins tallation s ource , follow the s e s te ps :
1. Obtain an ISO image of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation DVD (re fe r to
33
Chapte r 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux). Alte rnative ly, if you have the DVD on
phys ical me dia, you can cre ate an image of it with the following command on a
Linux s ys te m:
whe re dvd is your DVD drive de vice , name_of_image is the name you give to the
re s ulting ISO image file , and path_to_image is the path to the location on your
s ys te m whe re the re s ulting ISO image will be s tore d.
2. Trans fe r the ISO image to the hard drive .
The ISO image mus t be locate d on a hard drive that is e ithe r inte rnal to the
compute r on which you will ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, or on a hard drive that
is attache d to that compute r by USB.
loop,ro
umount /mount_point
umount /mnt/tmp
s ame dire ctory.
34
Impo rtant
dire ctory.
No te
boot: prompt:
linux mediacheck
35
Chapt er 5. Syst em Specificat ions List
The mos t re ce nt lis t of s upporte d hardware can be found at https ://hardware .re dhat.com/.
The ins tallation program automatically de te cts and ins talls your compute r's hardware .
Although you s hould make s ure that your hardware me e ts the minimum re quire me nts to
ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux (re fe r to Se ction 3.2, “Is Your Hardware Compatible ?”) you
do not us ually ne e d to s upply the ins tallation program with any s pe cific de tails about your
s ys te m.
Howe ve r, whe n pe rforming ce rtain type s of ins tallation, s ome s pe cific de tails might be
us e ful or e ve n e s s e ntial.
If you plan to us e a cus tomiz e d partition layout, re cord:
The mode l numbe rs , s iz e s , type s , and inte rface s of the hard drive s attache d to the
s ys te m. For e xample , Se agate ST3320613AS 320 GB on SATA0, We s te rn Digital
WD7500AAKS 750 GB on SATA1. This will allow you to ide ntify s pe cific hard drive s
during the partitioning proce s s .
If you are ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux as an additional ope rating s ys te m on an
e xis ting s ys te m, re cord:
The mount points of the e xis ting partitions on the s ys te m. For e xample , /boot on
sda1, / on sda2, and /home on sdb1. This will allow you to ide ntify s pe cific partitions
during the partitioning proce s s .
If you plan to ins tall from an image on a local hard drive :
The hard drive and dire ctory that holds the image .
If you plan to ins tall from a ne twork location, or ins tall on an iSCSI targe t:
The make and mode l numbe rs of the ne twork adapte rs on your s ys te m. For
e xample , Ne tge ar GA311. This will allow you to ide ntify adapte rs whe n manually
configuring the ne twork.
IP, DHCP, and BOOTP addre s s e s
Ne tmas k
Gate way IP addre s s
One or more name s e rve r IP addre s s e s (DNS)
If any of the s e ne tworking re quire me nts or te rms are unfamiliar to you, contact your
ne twork adminis trator for as s is tance .
If you plan to ins tall from a ne twork location:
The location of the image on an FTP s e rve r, HTTP (we b) s e rve r, HTTPS (we b) s e rve r,
or NFS s e rve r – s e e Se ction 8.3.5, “Ins talling via FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS” and
Se ction 8.3.4, “Ins talling via NFS” for e xample s .
If you plan to ins tall on an iSCSI targe t:
The location of the iSCSI targe t. De pe nding on your ne twork, you might als o ne e d a
CHAP us e rname and pas s word, and pe rhaps a re ve rs e CHAP us e rname and
pas s word – s e e Se ction 9.6.1.1, “ Advance d Storage Options ”.
36
⁠C hapt e r 5. Sys t e m Spe c if ic at io ns Lis t
If you are ins talling us ing Inte l iSCSI Re mote Boot:
All attache d iSCSI s torage de vice s mus t be dis able d, othe rwis e the ins tallation will
s ucce e d but the ins talle d s ys te m will not boot.
If your compute r is part of a domain:
You s hould ve rify that the domain name will be s upplie d by the DHCP s e rve r. If not,
you will ne e d to input the domain name manually during ins tallation.
37
Chapt er 6. Updat ing Drivers During Inst allat ion on
Int el and AMD Syst ems
In mos t cas e s , Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux alre ady include s drive rs for the de vice s that
make up your s ys te m. Howe ve r, if your s ys te m contains hardware that has be e n
re le as e d ve ry re ce ntly, drive rs for this hardware might not ye t be include d. Some time s , a
drive r update that provide s s upport for a ne w de vice might be available from Re d Hat or
your hardware ve ndor on a driver disc that contains rpm packages. Typically, the drive r
dis c is available for download as an ISO image file.
Ofte n, you do not ne e d the ne w hardware during the ins tallation proce s s . For e xample , if
you us e a DVD to ins tall to a local hard drive , the ins tallation will s ucce e d e ve n if drive rs
for your ne twork card are not available . In s ituations like this , comple te the ins tallation and
add s upport for the pie ce of hardware afte rward — re fe r to Se ction 35.1.1, “Drive r Update
rpm Package s ” for de tails of adding this s upport.
In othe r s ituations , you might want to add drive rs for a de vice during the ins tallation
proce s s to s upport a particular configuration. For e xample , you might want to ins tall drive rs
for a ne twork de vice or a s torage adapte r card to give the ins talle r acce s s to the s torage
de vice s that your s ys te m us e s . You can us e a drive r dis c to add this s upport during
ins tallation in one of two ways :
1. place the ISO image file of the drive r dis c in a location acce s s ible to the ins talle r:
a. on a local hard drive
b. a USB flas h drive
2. cre ate a drive r dis c by e xtracting the image file onto:
a. a CD
b. a DVD
Re fe r to the ins tructions for making ins tallation dis cs in Se ction 2.1, “Making an
Ins tallation DVD” for more information on burning ISO image file s to CD or DVD.
If Re d Hat, your hardware ve ndor, or a trus te d third party told you that you will re quire a
drive r update during the ins tallation proce s s , choos e a me thod to s upply the update from
the me thods de s cribe d in this chapte r and te s t it be fore be ginning the ins tallation.
Conve rs e ly, do not pe rform a drive r update during ins tallation unle s s you are ce rtain that
your s ys te m re quire s it. Although ins talling an unne ce s s ary drive r update will not caus e
harm, the pre s e nce of a drive r on a s ys te m for which it was not inte nde d can complicate
s upport.
6.1. Limit at ions of Driver Updat es During Inst allat ion
Unfortunate ly, s ome s ituations pe rs is t in which you cannot us e a drive r update to provide
drive rs during ins tallation:
Devices already in use
You cannot us e a drive r update to re place drive rs that the ins tallation program
has alre ady loade d. Ins te ad, you mus t comple te the ins tallation with the drive rs
that the ins tallation program loade d and update to the ne w drive rs afte r
ins tallation, or, if you ne e d the ne w drive rs for the ins tallation proce s s , cons ide r
38
⁠C hapt e r 6 . Updat ing Dr ive r s Dur ing Ins t allat io n o n Int e l and AMD Sys t e ms
pe rforming an initial RAM dis k drive r update — re fe r to Se ction 6.2.3, “Pre paring
an Initial RAM Dis k Update ”.
Devices wit h an equivalent device available
Be caus e all de vice s of the s ame type are initializ e d toge the r, you cannot update
drive rs for a de vice if the ins tallation program has loade d drive rs for a s imilar
de vice . For e xample , cons ide r a s ys te m that has two diffe re nt ne twork adapte rs ,
one of which has a drive r update available . The ins tallation program will initializ e
both adapte rs at the s ame time , and the re fore , you will not be able to us e this
drive r update . Again, comple te the ins tallation with the drive rs loade d by the
ins tallation program and update to the ne w drive rs afte r ins tallation, or us e an
initial RAM dis k drive r update .
6.2. Preparing for a Driver Updat e During Inst allat ion
If a drive r update is ne ce s s ary and available for your hardware , Re d Hat or a trus te d third
party s uch as the hardware ve ndor will typically provide it in the form of an image file in
ISO format. Some me thods of pe rforming a drive r update re quire you to make the image
file available to the ins tallation program, while othe rs re quire you to us e the image file to
make a drive r update dis k:
Met ho ds t hat use t he image f ile it self
local hard drive
USB flas h drive
Met ho ds t hat use a driver updat e disk pro duced f ro m an image f ile
CD
DVD
Choos e a me thod to provide the drive r update , and re fe r to Se ction 6.2.1, “Pre paring to
Us e a Drive r Update Image File ”, Se ction 6.2.2, “Pre paring a Drive r Dis c” or Se ction 6.2.3,
“Pre paring an Initial RAM Dis k Update ”. Note that you can us e a USB s torage de vice e ithe r
to provide an image file , or as a drive r update dis k.
6.2.1. Preparing t o Use a Driver Updat e Image File
6.2.1.1. Preparing t o use an image f ile on local st orage
To make the ISO image file available on local s torage , s uch as a hard drive or USB flas h
drive , you mus t firs t de te rmine whe the r you want to ins tall the update s automatically or
s e le ct the m manually.
For manual ins tallations , copy the file onto the s torage de vice . You can re name the file if
you find it he lpful to do s o, but you mus t not change the file name e xte ns ion, which mus t
re main .iso. In the following e xample , the file is name d dd.iso:
39
Figure 6.1. Co nt ent o f a USB f lash drive ho lding a driver updat e image f ile
Note that if you us e this me thod, the s torage de vice will contain only a s ingle file . This
diffe rs from drive r dis cs on formats s uch as CD and DVD, which contain many file s . The
ISO image file contains all of the file s that would normally be on a drive r dis c.
Re fe r to Se ction 6.3.2, “Le t the Ins talle r Prompt You for a Drive r Update ” and Se ction 6.3.3,
“Us e a Boot Option to Spe cify a Drive r Update Dis k” to le arn how to s e le ct the drive r
update manually during ins tallation.
For automatic ins tallations , you will ne e d to e xtract the ISO to the root dire ctory of the
s torage de vice rathe r than copy it. Copying the ISO is only e ffe ctive for manual
ins tallations . You mus t als o change the file s ys te m labe l of the de vice to OEMDRV.
The ins tallation program will the n automatically e xamine the e xtracte d ISO for drive r
update s and load any that it de te cts . This be havior is controlle d by the dlabel=on boot
option, which is e nable d by de fault. Re fe r to Se ction 6.3.1, “Le t the Ins talle r Find a Drive r
Update Dis k Automatically”.
6.2.2. Preparing a Driver Disc
You can cre ate a drive r update dis c on CD or DVD.
6.2.2.1. Creat ing a driver updat e disc on CD or DVD
40
Impo rtant
CD/DVD Creat o r is part of the GNOME de s ktop. If you us e a diffe re nt Linux
de s ktop, or a diffe re nt ope rating s ys te m altoge the r, you will ne e d to us e anothe r
pie ce of s oftware to cre ate the CD or DVD. The s te ps will be ge ne rally s imilar.
Make s ure that the s oftware that you choos e can cre ate CDs or DVDs from image
file s . While this is true of mos t CD and DVD burning s oftware , e xce ptions e xis t. Look
for a button or me nu e ntry labe le d burn from image or s imilar. If your s oftware
lacks this fe ature , or you do not s e le ct it, the re s ulting dis c will hold only the image
file its e lf, ins te ad of the conte nts of the image file .
1. Us e the de s ktop file manage r to locate the ISO image file of the drive r dis c,
s upplie d to you by Re d Hat or your hardware ve ndor.
Figure 6.2. A t ypical .iso f ile displayed in a f ile manager windo w
2. Right-click on this file and choos e Write to disc. You will s e e a window s imilar to
the following:
41
Figure 6.3. CD/DVD Creat o r's Writ e t o Disc dialo g
3. Click the Write button. If a blank dis c is not alre ady in the drive , CD/DVD Creat o r
will prompt you to ins e rt one .
Afte r you burn a drive r update dis c CD or DVD, ve rify that the dis c was cre ate d
s ucce s s fully by ins e rting it into your s ys te m and brows ing to it us ing the file manage r. You
s hould s e e a s ingle file name d rhdd3 and a dire ctory name d rpms:
Figure 6.4. Co nt ent s o f a t ypical driver updat e disc o n CD o r DVD
42
If you s e e only a s ingle file e nding in .iso, the n you have not cre ate d the dis c corre ctly
and s hould try again. Ens ure that you choos e an option s imilar to burn from image if you
us e a Linux de s ktop othe r than GNOME or if you us e a diffe re nt ope rating s ys te m.
Re fe r to Se ction 6.3.2, “Le t the Ins talle r Prompt You for a Drive r Update ” and Se ction 6.3.3,
“Us e a Boot Option to Spe cify a Drive r Update Dis k” to le arn how to us e the drive r update
dis c during ins tallation.
6.2.3. Preparing an Init ial RAM Disk Updat e
Impo rtant
This is an advance d proce dure that you s hould cons ide r only if you cannot pe rform a
drive r update with any othe r me thod.
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program can load update s for its e lf e arly in the
ins tallation proce s s from a RAM disk — an are a of your compute r's me mory that
te mporarily be have s as if it we re a dis k. You can us e this s ame capability to load drive r
update s . To pe rform a drive r update during ins tallation, your compute r mus t be able to
boot from a preboot execution environment (PXE) s e rve r, and you mus t have a PXE s e rve r
available on your ne twork. Re fe r to Chapte r 30, Setting Up an Installation Server for
ins tructions on us ing PXE during ins tallation.
To make the drive r update available on your PXE s e rve r:
1. Place the drive r update image file on your ins tallation s e rve r. Us ually, you would do
this by downloading it to the s e rve r from a location on the Inte rne t s pe cifie d by Re d
Hat or your hardware ve ndor. Name s of drive r update image file s e nd in .iso.
2. Copy the drive r update image file into the /tmp/initrd_update dire ctory.
3. Re name the drive r update image file to dd.img.
4. At the command line , change into the /tmp/initrd_update dire ctory, type the
following command, and pre s s Enter:
find . | cpio --quiet -o -H newc | gzip -9 >/tmp/initrd_update.img
5. Copy the file /tmp/initrd_update.img into the dire ctory the holds the targe t that
you want to us e for ins tallation. This dire ctory is place d unde r the
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/ dire ctory. For e xample ,
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/rhel6/ might hold the PXE targe t for Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6.
6. Edit the /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg/default file to include an
e ntry that include s the initial RAM dis k update that you jus t cre ate d, in the following
format:
label target-dd
kernel target/vmlinuz
append initrd=target/initrd.img,target/dd.img
Whe re target is the targe t that you want to us e for ins tallation.
43
Re fe r to Se ction 6.3.4, “Se le ct a PXE Targe t that Include s a Drive r Update ” to le arn how to
us e an initial RAM dis k update during ins tallation.
Example 6.1. Preparing an init ial RAM disk updat e f ro m a driver updat e image
f ile
In this e xample , driver_update.iso is a drive r update image file that you downloade d
from the Inte rne t to a dire ctory on your PXE s e rve r. The targe t that you want to PXE
boot from is locate d in /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/rhel6/
At the command line , change to the dire ctory that holds the file and e nte r the following
commands :
$ 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
Edit the /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg/default file and include the
following e ntry:
label rhel6-dd
kernel rhel6/vmlinuz
append initrd=rhe6/initrd.img,rhel6/dd.img
6.3. Performing a Driver Updat e During Inst allat ion
You can pe rform a drive r update during ins tallation in the following ways :
le t the ins talle r automatically find a drive r update dis k.
le t the ins talle r prompt you for a drive r update .
us e a boot option to s pe cify a drive r update dis k.
6.3.1. Let t he Inst aller Find a Driver Updat e Disk Aut omat ically
Attach a block de vice with the file s ys te m labe l OEMDRV be fore s tarting the ins tallation
proce s s . The ins talle r will automatically e xamine the de vice and load any drive r update s
that it de te cts and will not prompt you during the proce s s . Re fe r to Se ction 6.2.1.1,
“Pre paring to us e an image file on local s torage ” to pre pare a s torage de vice for the
ins talle r to find.
6.3.2. Let t he Inst aller Prompt You f or a Driver Updat e
1. Be gin the ins tallation normally for whate ve r me thod you have chos e n. If the
ins talle r cannot load drive rs for a pie ce of hardware that is e s s e ntial for the
ins tallation proce s s (for e xample , if it cannot de te ct any ne twork or s torage
controlle rs ), it prompts you to ins e rt a drive r update dis k:
44
Figure 6.5. T he no driver f o und dialo g
2. Se le ct Use a driver disk and re fe r to Se ction 6.4, “Spe cifying the Location of a
Drive r Update Image File or a Drive r Update Dis k”.
6.3.3. Use a Boot Opt ion t o Specif y a Driver Updat e Disk
Impo rtant
This me thod only works to introduce comple te ly ne w drive rs , not to update e xis ting
drive rs .
1. Type linux dd at the boot prompt at the s tart of the ins tallation proce s s and pre s s
Enter. The ins talle r prompts you to confirm that you have a drive r dis k:
Figure 6.6. T he driver disk pro mpt
2. Ins e rt the drive r update dis k that you cre ate d on CD, DVD, or USB flas h drive and
s e le ct Yes. The ins talle r e xamine s the s torage de vice s that it can de te ct. If the re is
only one pos s ible location that could hold a drive r dis k (for e xample , the ins talle r
de te cts the pre s e nce of a DVD drive , but no othe r s torage de vice s ) it will
automatically load any drive r update s that it finds at this location.
45
If the ins talle r finds more than one location that could hold a drive r update , it
prompts you to s pe cify the location of the update . Se e Se ction 6.4, “Spe cifying the
Location of a Drive r Update Image File or a Drive r Update Dis k”.
6.3.4. Select a PXE T arget t hat Includes a Driver Updat e
1. Se le ct network boot in your compute r's BIOS or boot me nu. The proce dure to
s pe cify this option varie s wide ly among diffe re nt compute rs . Cons ult your hardware
docume ntation or the hardware ve ndor for s pe cifics re le vant to your compute r.
2. In the preboot execution environment (PXE), choos e the boot targe t that you
pre pare d on your PXE s e rve r. For e xample , if you labe le d this e nvironme nt rhel6dd in the /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg/default file on your PXE
s e rve r, type rhel6-dd at the prompt and pre s s Enter.
Re fe r to Se ction 6.2.3, “Pre paring an Initial RAM Dis k Update ” and Chapte r 30, Setting Up an
Installation Server for ins tructions on us ing PXE to pe rform an update during ins tallation.
Note that this is an advance d proce dure — do not atte mpt it unle s s othe r me thods of
pe rforming a drive r update fail.
6.4. Specifying t he Locat ion of a Driver Updat e Image File or
a Driver Updat e Disk
If the ins talle r de te cts more than one pos s ible de vice that could hold a drive r update , it
prompts you to s e le ct the corre ct de vice . If you are not s ure which option re pre s e nts the
de vice on which the drive r update is s tore d, try the various options in orde r until you find
the corre ct one .
Figure 6.7. Select ing a driver disk so urce
46
If the de vice that you choos e contains no s uitable update me dia, the ins talle r will prompt
you to make anothe r choice .
If you made a drive r update dis k on CD, DVD, or USB flas h drive , the ins talle r now loads
the drive r update . Howe ve r, if the de vice that you s e le cte d is a type of de vice that could
contain more than one partition (whe the r the de vice curre ntly has more than one partition
or not), the ins talle r might prompt you to s e le ct the partition that holds the drive r update .
Figure 6.8. Select ing a driver disk part it io n
The ins talle r prompts you to s pe cify which file contains the drive r update :
47
Figure 6.9. Select ing an ISO image
Expe ct to s e e the s e s cre e ns if you s tore d the drive r update on an inte rnal hard drive or
on a USB s torage de vice . You s hould not s e e the m if the drive r update is on a CD or DVD.
Re gardle s s of whe the r you are providing a drive r update in the form of an image file or
with a drive r update dis k, the ins talle r now copie s the appropriate update file s into a
te mporary s torage are a (locate d in s ys te m RAM and not on dis k). The ins talle r might as k
whe the r you would like to us e additional drive r update s . If you s e le ct Yes, you can load
additional update s in turn. Whe n you have no furthe r drive r update s to load, s e le ct No. If
you s tore d the drive r update on re movable me dia, you can now s afe ly e je ct or dis conne ct
the dis k or de vice . The ins talle r no longe r re quire s the drive r update , and you can re -us e
the me dia for othe r purpos e s .
48
⁠C hapt e r 7. Bo o t ing t he Ins t alle r
Chapt er 7. Boot ing t he Inst aller
7.1. St art ing t he Inst allat ion Program
Impo rtant
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 doe s not s upport UEFI for 32-bit x86 s ys te ms .
On 64-bit s ys te ms , boot configurations of UEFI and BIOS diffe r s ignificantly from e ach
othe r. The re fore , the ins talle d s ys te m mus t boot us ing the s ame firmware that was
us e d during ins tallation. You cannot ins tall the ope rating s ys te m on a s ys te m that
us e s BIOS and the n boot this ins tallation on a s ys te m that us e s UEFI.
To s tart, firs t make s ure that you have all ne ce s s ary re s ource s for the ins tallation. If you
have alre ady re ad through Chapte r 3, Planning for Installation on the x86 Architecture, and
followe d the ins tructions , you s hould be re ady to s tart the ins tallation proce s s . Whe n you
have ve rifie d that you are re ady to be gin, boot the ins tallation program us ing the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux DVD or any boot me dia that you have cre ate d.
No te
Occas ionally, s ome hardware compone nts re quire a driver update during the
ins tallation. A drive r update adds s upport for hardware that is not othe rwis e
s upporte d by the ins tallation program. Re fe r to Chapte r 6, Updating Drivers During
Installation on Intel and AMD Systems for more information.
7.1.1. Boot ing t he Inst allat ion Program on x86, AMD64, and Int el 64
Syst ems
You can boot the ins tallation program us ing any one of the following me dia (de pe nding
upon what your s ys te m can s upport):
Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD — Your machine s upports a bootable DVD drive and you
have the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation DVD.
Boot CD-ROM — Your machine s upports a bootable CD-ROM drive and you want to
pe rform ne twork or hard drive ins tallation.
USB flash drive — Your machine s upports booting from a USB de vice .
PXE boot via network — Your machine s upports booting from the ne twork. This is an
advance d ins tallation path. Re fe r to Chapte r 30, Setting Up an Installation Server for
additional information on this me thod.
49
Impo rtant
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 doe s not s upport UEFI for 32-bit x86 s ys te ms .
On 64-bit s ys te ms , boot configurations of UEFI and BIOS diffe r s ignificantly from e ach
othe r. The re fore , the ins talle d s ys te m mus t boot us ing the s ame firmware that was
us e d during ins tallation. You cannot ins tall the ope rating s ys te m on a s ys te m that
us e s BIOS and the n boot this ins tallation on a s ys te m that us e s UEFI.
To s tart the ins tallation program from a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD or from minimal
boot me dia, follow this proce dure :
1. Dis conne ct any e xte rnal Fire Wire or USB dis ks that you do not ne e d for ins tallation.
Re fe r to Se ction 3.4.3, “Fire Wire and USB Dis ks ” for more information.
2. Powe r on your compute r s ys te m.
3. Ins e rt the me dia in your compute r.
4. Powe r off your compute r with the boot me dia s till ins ide .
5. Powe r on your compute r s ys te m.
To cre ate a boot CD-ROM or to pre pare your USB flas h drive for booting or ins tallation,
re fe r to Se ction 2.2, “Making Minimal Boot Me dia”.
Ins e rt the boot me dia and re boot the s ys te m.
You might ne e d to pre s s a s pe cific ke y or combination of ke ys to boot from the me dia. On
mos t compute rs , a me s s age appe ars brie fly on the s cre e n ve ry s oon afte r you turn on
the compute r. Typically, it is worde d s ome thing like Press F10 to select boot device,
although the s pe cific wording and the ke y that you mus t pre s s varie s wide ly from
compute r to compute r. Cons ult the docume ntation for your compute r or mothe rboard, or
s e e k s upport from the hardware manufacture r or ve ndor.
If your compute r doe s not allow you to s e le ct a boot de vice as it s tarts up, you might ne e d
to configure your s ys te m's Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) to boot from the me dia.
To change your BIOS s e ttings on an x86, AMD64, or Inte l 64 s ys te m, watch the
ins tructions provide d on your dis play whe n your compute r firs t boots . A line of te xt
appe ars , te lling you which ke y to pre s s to e nte r the BIOS s e ttings .
Once you have e nte re d your BIOS s e tup program, find the s e ction whe re you can alte r
your boot s e que nce . The de fault is ofte n C, A or A, C (de pe nding on whe the r you boot
from your hard drive [C] or a dis ke tte drive [A]). Change this s e que nce s o that the DVD is
firs t in your boot orde r and that C or A (whiche ve r is your typical boot de fault) is s e cond.
This ins tructs the compute r to firs t look at the DVD drive for bootable me dia; if it doe s not
find bootable me dia on the DVD drive , it the n che cks your hard drive or dis ke tte drive .
Save your change s be fore e xiting the BIOS. For more information, re fe r to the
docume ntation that came with your s ys te m.
Afte r a s hort de lay, the graphical boot s cre e n appe ars , which contains information on a
varie ty of boot options . Ins tallation program automatically be gins if you take no action
within the firs t minute . For a de s cription of the options available on this s cre e n, re fe r to
Se ction 7.1.2, “The Boot Me nu”.
50
Alte rnative ly, pre s s the Esc ke y to acce s s the boot: prompt, at which you can e nte r
additional boot options as de s cribe d in Se ction 7.1.3, “Additional Boot Options ”.
Impo rtant
Exce s s ive input (e .g. clicking the mous e re pe ate dly) during the boot s e que nce may
caus e the ins talle r to ignore ke yboard input late r in the ins tallation proce s s .
7.1.2. T he Boot Menu
The boot me dia dis plays a graphical boot me nu with s e ve ral options . If no ke y is hit within
60 s e conds , the de fault boot option runs . To choos e the de fault, e ithe r wait for the time r
to run out or hit Enter on the ke yboard. To s e le ct a diffe re nt option than the de fault, us e
the arrow ke ys on your ke yboard, and hit Enter whe n the corre ct option is highlighte d. If
you want to cus tomiz e the boot options for a particular option, pre s s the Tab ke y. To
acce s s the boot: prompt at which you can s pe cify cus tom boot options , pre s s the Esc
ke y and re fe r to Se ction 7.1.3, “Additional Boot Options ”.
Figure 7.1. T he bo o t screen
For a lis ting and e xplanation of common boot options , re fe r to Chapte r 28, Boot Options.
The boot me nu options are :
Inst all o r upgrade an exist ing syst em
This option is the de fault. Choos e this option to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
onto your compute r s ys te m us ing the graphical ins tallation program.
51
Inst all syst em wit h basic video driver
This option allows you to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux in graphical mode e ve n if
the ins tallation program is unable to load the corre ct drive r for your vide o card. If
your s cre e n appe ars dis torte d or goe s blank whe n us ing the Install or
upgrade an existing system option, re s tart your compute r and try this option
ins te ad.
Rescue inst alled syst em
Choos e this option to re pair a proble m with your ins talle d Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux s ys te m that pre ve nts you from booting normally. Although Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux is an e xce ptionally s table computing platform, it is s till pos s ible
for occas ional proble ms to occur that pre ve nt booting. The re s cue e nvironme nt
contains utility programs that allow you fix a wide varie ty of the s e proble ms .
Bo o t f ro m lo cal drive
This option boots the s ys te m from the firs t ins talle d dis k. If you boote d this dis c
accide ntally, us e this option to boot from the hard dis k imme diate ly without
s tarting the ins talle r.
No te
To abort the ins tallation, e ithe r pre s s Ctrl+Alt+Del or powe r off your compute r
with the powe r s witch. You may abort the ins tallation proce s s without cons e que nce
at any time prior to s e le cting Write changes to disk on the Write partitioning
to disk s cre e n. Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux make s no pe rmane nt change s to your
compute r until that point. Ple as e be aware that s topping the ins tallation afte r
partitioning has be gun can le ave your compute r unus able .
7.1.3. Addit ional Boot Opt ions
While it is e as ie s t to boot us ing a DVD and pe rform a graphical ins tallation, s ome time s
the re are ins tallation s ce narios whe re booting in a diffe re nt manne r may be ne e de d. This
s e ction dis cus s e s additional boot options available for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
To pas s options to the boot loade r on an x86, AMD64, or Inte l 64 s ys te m, pre s s the Esc
ke y at boot time . The boot: prompt appe ars , at which you can us e the boot loade r
options de s cribe d be low.
No te
Re fe r to Chapte r 28, Boot Options for additional boot options not cove re d in this
s e ction.
To pe rform a te xt mode ins tallation, at the ins tallation boot prompt, type :
linux text
To s pe cify an ins tallation s ource , us e the linux repo= option. For e xample :
52
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 the s e e xample s , cdrom re fe rs to a CD or DVD drive , ftp re fe rs to a location
acce s s ible by FTP, http re fe rs to a location acce s s ible by HTTP, hd re fe rs to an ISO
image file acce s s ible on a hard drive partition, nfs re fe rs to an e xpande d tre e of
ins tallation file s acce s s ible by NFS, and nfsiso re fe rs to an ISO image file acce s s ible
by NFS.
ISO image s have an SHA256 che cks um e mbe dde d in the m. To te s t the che cks um
inte grity of an ISO image , at the ins tallation boot prompt, type :
linux mediacheck
The ins tallation program prompts you to ins e rt a DVD or s e le ct an ISO image to te s t,
and s e le ct OK to pe rform the che cks um ope ration. This che cks um ope ration can be
pe rforme d on any Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD. It is s trongly re comme nde d to
pe rform this ope ration on any Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD that was cre ate d from
downloade d ISO image s . This command works with the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS
ISO ins tallation me thods .
If you ne e d to pe rform the ins tallation in serial mode, type the following command:
linux console=<device>
For te xt mode ins tallations , us e :
linux text console=<device>
In the above command, <device> s hould be the de vice you are us ing (s uch as ttyS0 or
ttyS1). For e xample , linux text console=ttyS0.
Te xt mode ins tallations us ing a s e rial te rminal work be s t whe n the te rminal s upports
UTF-8. Unde r UNIX and Linux, Ke rmit s upports UTF-8. For Windows , Ke rmit '95 works we ll.
Non-UTF-8 capable te rminals works as long as only Englis h is us e d during the
ins tallation proce s s . An e nhance d s e rial dis play can be us e d by pas s ing the utf8
command as a boot-time option to the ins tallation program. For e xample :
linux console=ttyS0 utf8
7.1.3.1. Kernel Opt ions
53
Options can als o be pas s e d to the ke rne l. For e xample , to apply update s for the anaconda
ins tallation program from a USB s torage de vice e nte r:
linux updates
For te xt mode ins tallations , us e :
linux text updates
This command re s ults in a prompt for the path to the de vice that contains update s for
anaco nda. It is not ne e de d if you are pe rforming a ne twork ins tallation and have alre ady
place d the update s image conte nts in rhupdates/ on the s e rve r.
Afte r e nte ring any options , pre s s Enter to boot us ing thos e options .
If you ne e d to s pe cify boot options to ide ntify your hardware , ple as e write the m down. The
boot options are ne e de d during the boot loade r configuration portion of the ins tallation
(re fe r to Se ction 9.18, “x86, AMD64, and Inte l 64 Boot Loade r Configuration” for more
information).
For more information on ke rne l options re fe r to Chapte r 28, Boot Options.
7.2. Inst alling from a Different Source
You can ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from the ISO image s s tore d on hard dis k, or from
a ne twork us ing NFS, FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS me thods . Expe rie nce d us e rs fre que ntly us e one
of the s e me thods be caus e it is ofte n fas te r to re ad data from a hard dis k or ne twork
s e rve r than from a DVD.
The following table s ummariz e s the diffe re nt boot me thods and re comme nde d ins tallation
me thods to us e with e ach:
T able 7.1. Bo o t met ho ds and inst allat io n so urces
Bo o t met ho d
Inst allat io n so urce
Ins tallation DVD
Ins tallation USB flas h drive
Minimal boot CD or USB, re s cue CD
DVD, ne twork, or hard dis k
Ins tallation DVD, ne twork, or hard dis k
Ne twork or hard dis k
Re fe r to Se ction 3.7, “Se le cting an Ins tallation Me thod” for information about ins talling from
locations othe r than the me dia with which you boote d the s ys te m.
7.3. Boot ing from t he Net work Using PXE
To boot with PXE, you ne e d a prope rly configure d s e rve r, and a ne twork inte rface in your
compute r that s upports PXE. For information on how to configure a PXE s e rve r, re fe r to
Chapte r 30, Setting Up an Installation Server.
Configure the compute r to boot from the ne twork inte rface . This option is in the BIOS, and
may be labe le d Network Boot or Boot Services. Once you prope rly configure PXE
booting, the compute r can boot the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation s ys te m without
any othe r me dia.
To boot a compute r from a PXE s e rve r:
54
1. Ens ure that the ne twork cable is attache d. The link indicator light on the ne twork
s ocke t s hould be lit, e ve n if the compute r is not s witche d on.
2. Switch on the compute r.
3. A me nu s cre e n appe ars . Pre s s the numbe r ke y that corre s ponds to the de s ire d
option.
If your PC doe s not boot from the ne tboot s e rve r, e ns ure that the BIOS is configure d to
boot firs t from the corre ct ne twork inte rface . Some BIOS s ys te ms s pe cify the ne twork
inte rface as a pos s ible boot de vice , but do not s upport the PXE s tandard. Re fe r to your
hardware docume ntation for more information.
No te
Some s e rve rs with multiple ne twork inte rface s might not as s ign e th0 to the firs t
ne twork inte rface as the firmware inte rface knows it, which can caus e the ins talle r
to try to us e a diffe re nt ne twork inte rface from the one that was us e d by PXE. To
change this be havior, us e the following in pxelinux.cfg/* config file s :
IPAPPEND 2
APPEND ksdevice=bootif
The s e configuration options above caus e the ins talle r to us e the s ame ne twork
inte rface the firmware inte rface and PXE us e . You can als o us e the following option:
ksdevice=link
This option caus e s the ins talle r to us e the firs t ne twork de vice it finds that is linke d
to a ne twork s witch.
55
Chapt er 8. Configuring Language and Inst allat ion
Source
Be fore the graphical ins tallation program s tarts , you ne e d to configure the language and
ins tallation s ource .
8.1. T he T ext Mode Inst allat ion Program User Int erface
Impo rtant
We re comme nd that you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux us ing the graphical
inte rface . If you are ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on a s ys te m that lacks a
graphical dis play, cons ide r pe rforming the ins tallation ove r a VNC conne ction – s e e
Chapte r 31, Installing Through VNC. If anaco nda de te cts that you are ins talling in
te xt mode on a s ys te m whe re ins tallation ove r a VNC conne ction might be pos s ible ,
anaco nda as ks you to ve rify your de cis ion to ins tall in te xt mode e ve n though your
options during ins tallation are limite d.
If your s ys te m has a graphical dis play, but graphical ins tallation fails , try booting with
the xdriver=vesa option – re fe r to Chapte r 28, Boot Options
Both the loade r and late r anaco nda us e a s cre e n-bas e d inte rface that include s mos t of
the on-s cre e n widgets commonly found on graphical us e r inte rface s . Figure 8.1,
“Ins tallation Program Widge ts as s e e n in URL Setup”, and Figure 8.2, “Ins tallation Program
Widge ts as s e e n in Choose a Language”, illus trate widge ts that appe ar on s cre e ns during
the ins tallation proce s s .
No te
Not e ve ry language s upporte d in graphical ins tallation mode is als o s upporte d in
te xt mode . Spe cifically, language s writte n with a characte r s e t othe r than the Latin
or Cyrillic alphabe ts are not available in te xt mode . If you choos e a language writte n
with a characte r s e t that is not s upporte d in te xt mode , the ins tallation program will
pre s e nt you with the Englis h ve rs ions of the s cre e ns .
56
⁠C hapt e r 8 . Co nf igur ing Language and Ins t allat io n So ur c e
Figure 8.1. Inst allat io n Pro gram Widget s as seen in URL Setup
Figure 8.2. Inst allat io n Pro gram Widget s as seen in Choose a Language
The widge ts include :
Window — Windows (us ually re fe rre d to as dialogs in this manual) appe ar on your
s cre e n throughout the ins tallation proce s s . At time s , one window may ove rlay anothe r;
in the s e cas e s , you can only inte ract with the window on top. Whe n you are finis he d in
that window, it dis appe ars , allowing you to continue working in the window unde rne ath.
57
Che ckbox — Che ckboxe s allow you to s e le ct or de s e le ct a fe ature . The box dis plays
e ithe r an as te ris k (s e le cte d) or a s pace (uns e le cte d). Whe n the curs or is within a
che ckbox, pre s s Space to s e le ct or de s e le ct a fe ature .
Te xt Input — Te xt input line s are re gions whe re you can e nte r information re quire d by
the ins tallation program. Whe n the curs or re s ts on a te xt input line , you may e nte r
and/or e dit information on that line .
Te xt Widge t — Te xt widge ts are re gions of the s cre e n for the dis play of te xt. At time s ,
te xt widge ts may als o contain othe r widge ts , s uch as che ckboxe s . If a te xt widge t
contains more information than can be dis playe d in the s pace re s e rve d for it, a s croll
bar appe ars ; if you pos ition the curs or within the te xt widge t, you can the n us e the Up
and Down arrow ke ys to s croll through all the information available . Your curre nt pos ition
is s hown on the s croll bar by a # characte r, which move s up and down the s croll bar as
you s croll.
Scroll Bar — Scroll bars appe ar on the s ide or bottom of a window to control which part
of a lis t or docume nt is curre ntly in the window's frame . The s croll bar make s it e as y to
move to any part of a file .
Button Widge t — Button widge ts are the primary me thod of inte racting with the
ins tallation program. You progre s s through the windows of the ins tallation program by
navigating the s e buttons , us ing the Tab and Enter ke ys . Buttons can be s e le cte d whe n
the y are highlighte d.
Curs or — Although not a widge t, the curs or is us e d to s e le ct (and inte ract with) a
particular widge t. As the curs or is move d from widge t to widge t, it may caus e the
widge t to change color, or the curs or its e lf may only appe ar pos itione d in or ne xt to the
widge t. In Figure 8.1, “Ins tallation Program Widge ts as s e e n in URL Setup”, the curs or is
pos itione d on the Enable HTTP proxy che ckbox. Figure 8.2, “Ins tallation Program
Widge ts as s e e n in Choose a Language”, s hows the curs or on the OK button.
8.1.1. Using t he Keyboard t o Navigat e
Navigation through the ins tallation dialogs is pe rforme d through a s imple s e t of
ke ys troke s . To move the curs or, us e the Left, Right, Up, and Down arrow ke ys . Us e Tab,
and Shift-Tab to cycle forward or backward through e ach widge t on the s cre e n. Along the
bottom, mos t s cre e ns dis play a s ummary of available curs or pos itioning ke ys .
To "pre s s " a button, pos ition the curs or ove r the button (us ing Tab, for e xample ) and
pre s s Space or Enter. To s e le ct an ite m from a lis t of ite ms , move the curs or to the ite m
you wis h to s e le ct and pre s s Enter. To s e le ct an ite m with a che ckbox, move the curs or
to the che ckbox and pre s s Space to s e le ct an ite m. To de s e le ct, pre s s Space a s e cond
time .
Pre s s ing F12 acce pts the curre nt value s and proce e ds to the ne xt dialog; it is e quivale nt
to pre s s ing the OK button.
Warning
Unle s s a dialog box is waiting for your input, do not pre s s any ke ys during the
ins tallation proce s s (doing s o may re s ult in unpre dictable be havior).
8.2. Language Select ion
58
Us e the arrow ke ys on your ke yboard to s e le ct a language to us e during the ins tallation
proce s s (re fe r to Figure 8.3, “Language Se le ction”). With your s e le cte d language
highlighte d, pre s s the Tab ke y to move to the OK button and pre s s the Enter ke y to
confirm your choice .
The language you s e le ct he re will be come the de fault language for the ope rating s ys te m
once it is ins talle d. Se le cting the appropriate language als o he lps targe t your time z one
configuration late r in the ins tallation. The ins tallation program trie s to de fine the
appropriate time z one bas e d on what you s pe cify on this s cre e n.
To add s upport for additional language s , cus tomiz e the ins tallation at the package
s e le ction s tage . For more information, re fe r to Se ction 9.17.2, “ Cus tomiz ing the Software
Se le ction ”.
Figure 8.3. Language Select io n
Once you s e le ct the appropriate language , click Next to continue .
8.3. Inst allat ion Met hod
If you boote d the ins tallation from minimal boot me dia or with the askmethod boot option,
us e the arrow ke ys on your ke yboard to s e le ct an ins tallation me thod (re fe r to Figure 8.4,
“Ins tallation Me thod”). With your s e le cte d me thod highlighte d, pre s s the Tab ke y to move
to the OK button and pre s s the Enter ke y to confirm your choice .
59
Figure 8.4. Inst allat io n Met ho d
8.3.1. Inst alling f rom a DVD
To ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from a DVD, place the DVD your DVD drive and boot
your s ys te m from the DVD. Eve n if you boote d from alte rnative me dia, you can s till ins tall
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from DVD me dia.
The ins tallation program the n probe s your s ys te m and atte mpts to ide ntify your DVD
drive . It s tarts by looking for an IDE (als o known as an ATAPI) DVD drive .
No te
To abort the ins tallation proce s s at this time , re boot your machine and the n e je ct
the boot me dia. You can s afe ly cance l the ins tallation at any point be fore the Write
changes to disk s cre e n. Re fe r to Se ction 9.16, “Write Change s to Dis k” for more
information.
If your DVD drive is not de te cte d, and it is a SCSI DVD, the ins tallation program prompts
you to choos e a SCSI drive r. Choos e the drive r that mos t clos e ly re s e mble s your adapte r.
You may s pe cify options for the drive r if ne ce s s ary; howe ve r, mos t drive rs de te ct your
SCSI adapte r automatically.
If the DVD drive is found and the drive r loade d, the ins talle r will pre s e nt you with the
option to pe rform a me dia che ck on the DVD. This will take s ome time , and you may opt to
s kip ove r this s te p. Howe ve r, if you late r e ncounte r proble ms with the ins talle r, you s hould
re boot and pe rform the me dia che ck be fore calling for s upport. From the me dia che ck
dialog, continue to the ne xt s tage of the ins tallation proce s s (re fe r to Se ction 9.3,
“We lcome to Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux”).
8.3.2. Inst alling f rom a Hard Drive
60
The Select Partition s cre e n applie s only if you are ins talling from a dis k partition (that
is , you s e le cte d Hard Drive in the Installation Method dialog). This dialog allows you to
name the dis k partition and dire ctory from which you are ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux. If you us e d the repo=hd boot option, you alre ady s pe cifie d a partition.
Figure 8.5. Select ing Part it io n Dialo g f o r Hard Drive Inst allat io n
Se le ct the partition containing the ISO file s from the lis t of available partitions . Inte rnal IDE,
SATA, SCSI, and USB drive de vice name s be gin with /dev/sd. Each individual drive has its
own le tte r, for e xample /dev/sda. Each partition on a drive is numbe re d, for e xample
/dev/sda1.
Als o s pe cify the Directory holding images. Ente r the full dire ctory path from the drive
that contains the ISO image file s . The following table s hows s ome e xample s of how to
e nte r this information:
T able 8.1. Lo cat io n o f ISO images f o r dif f erent part it io n t ypes
Part it io n t ype
Vo lume
Original pat h t o
f iles
Direct o ry t o use
VFAT
e xt2, e xt3, e xt4
D:\
/home
D:\Downloads \RHEL6
/home /us e r1/RHEL6
/Downloads /RHEL6
/us e r1/RHEL6
If the ISO image s are in the root (top-le ve l) dire ctory of a partition, e nte r a /. If the ISO
image s are locate d in a s ubdire ctory of a mounte d partition, e nte r the name of the
dire ctory holding the ISO image s within that partition. For e xample , if the partition on which
the ISO image s is normally mounte d as /home/, and the image s are in /home/new/, you
would e nte r /new/.
Impo rtant
An e ntry without a le ading s las h may caus e the ins tallation to fail.
61
Se le ct OK to continue . Proce e d with Chapte r 9, Installing Using Anaconda.
8.3.3. Perf orming a Net work Inst allat ion
Whe n you s tart an ins tallation with the askmethod or repo= options , you can ins tall Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux from a ne twork s e rve r us ing FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, or NFS protocols .
Anaco nda us e s the s ame ne twork conne ction to cons ult additional s oftware re pos itorie s
late r in the ins tallation proce s s .
If your s ys te m has more than one ne twork de vice , anaco nda pre s e nts you with a lis t of
all available de vice s and prompts you to s e le ct one to us e during ins tallation. If your
s ys te m only has a s ingle ne twork de vice , anaco nda automatically s e le cts it and doe s not
pre s e nt this dialog.
Figure 8.6. Net wo rking Device
If you are not s ure which de vice in the lis t corre s ponds to which phys ical s ocke t on the
s ys te m, s e le ct a de vice in the lis t the n pre s s the Identify button. The Identify NIC
dialog appe ars .
62
Figure 8.7. Ident if y NIC
The s ocke ts of mos t ne twork de vice s fe ature an activity light (als o calle d a link light) — an
LED that flas he s to indicate that data is flowing through the s ocke t. Anaco nda can flas h
the activity light of the ne twork de vice that you s e le cte d in the Networking Device dialog
for up to 30 s e conds . Ente r the numbe r of s e conds that you re quire , the n pre s s OK. Whe n
anaco nda finis he s flas hing the light, it re turns you to the Networking Device dialog.
Whe n you s e le ct a ne twork de vice , anaco nda prompts you to choos e how to configure
TCP/IP:
IPv4 o pt io ns
Dynamic IP co nf igurat io n (DHCP)
Anaco nda us e s DHCP running on the ne twork to s upply the ne twork configuration
automatically.
Manual co nf igurat io n
Anaco nda prompts you to e nte r the ne twork configuration manually, including the
IP addre s s for this s ys te m, the ne tmas k, the gate way addre s s , and the DNS
addre s s .
IPv6 o pt io ns
Aut o mat ic
Anaco nda us e s router advertisement (RA) and DHCP for automatic configuration,
bas e d on the ne twork e nvironme nt. (Equivale nt to the Automatic option in
Net wo rkManager)
Aut o mat ic, DHCP o nly
Anaco nda doe s not us e RA, but re que s ts information from DHCPv6 dire ctly to
cre ate a s tate ful configuration. (Equivale nt to the Automatic, DHCP only option in
Net wo rkManager)
addre s s .
Anaco nda s upports the IPv4 and IPv6 protocols . Howe ve r, if you configure an inte rface to
us e both IPv4 and IPv6, the IPv4 conne ction mus t s ucce e d or the inte rface will not work,
e ve n if the IPv6 conne ction s ucce e ds .
63
Figure 8.8. Co nf igure T CP/IP
By de fault, anaco nda us e s DHCP to provide ne twork s e ttings automatically for IPv4 and
automatic configuration to provide ne twork s e ttings for IPv6. If you choos e to configure
TCP/IP manually, anaco nda prompts you to provide the de tails in the Manual TCP/IP
Configuration dialog:
Figure 8.9. Manual T CP/IP Co nf igurat io n
The dialog provide s fie lds for IPv4 and IPv6 addre s s e s and pre fixe s , de pe nding on the
protocols that you chos e to configure manually, toge the r with fie lds for the ne twork
gate way and name s e rve r. Ente r the de tails for your ne twork, the n pre s s OK.
Whe n the ins tallation proce s s comple te s , it will trans fe r the s e s e ttings to your s ys te m.
64
If you are ins talling via NFS, proce e d to Se ction 8.3.4, “Ins talling via NFS”.
If you are ins talling via We b or FTP, proce e d to Se ction 8.3.5, “Ins talling via FTP, HTTP, or
HTTPS”.
8.3.4. Inst alling via NFS
The NFS dialog applie s only if you s e le cte d NFS Image in the Installation Method
dialog. If you us e d the repo=nfs boot option, you alre ady s pe cifie d a s e rve r and path.
Figure 8.10 . NFS Set up Dialo g
1. Ente r the domain name or IP addre s s of your NFS s e rve r in the NFS server name
fie ld. For e xample , if you are ins talling from a hos t name d eastcoast in the domain
example.com, e nte r eastcoast.example.com.
2. Ente r the name of the e xporte d dire ctory in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
directory fie ld:
If the NFS s e rve r is e xporting a mirror of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ins tallation tre e , e nte r the dire ctory which contains the root of the ins tallation
tre e . If e ve rything was s pe cifie d prope rly, a me s s age appe ars indicating that
the ins tallation program for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux is running.
If the NFS s e rve r is e xporting the ISO image of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
DVD, e nte r the dire ctory which contains the ISO image .
If you followe d the s e tup de s cribe d in Se ction 4.1.2, “Pre paring for an NFS
Ins tallation”, the e xporte d dire ctory is the one that you s pe cifie d as
publicly_available_directory.
3. Spe cify any NFS mount options that you re quire in the NFS mount options fie ld.
Re fe r to the man page s for mo unt and nf s for a compre he ns ive lis t of options . If
you do not re quire any mount options , le ave the fie ld e mpty.
4. Proce e d with Chapte r 9, Installing Using Anaconda.
8.3.5. Inst alling via FT P, HT T P, or HT T PS
65
Impo rtant
Whe n you provide a URL to an ins tallation s ource , you mus t e xplicitly s pe cify
http:// or https:// or ftp:// as the protocol.
The URL dialog applie s only if you are ins talling from a FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS s e rve r (if you
s e le cte d URL in the Installation Method dialog). This dialog prompts you for information
about the FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS s e rve r from which you are ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux. If you us e d the repo=ftp or repo=http boot options , you alre ady s pe cifie d a s e rve r
and path.
Ente r the name or IP addre s s of the FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS s ite from which you are ins talling,
and the name of the dire ctory that contains the /images dire ctory for your archite cture .
For e xample :
/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6/Server/i386/
To ins tall via a s e cure HTTPS conne ction, s pe cify https:// as the protocol.
Spe cify the addre s s of a proxy s e rve r, and if ne ce s s ary, provide a port numbe r,
us e rname , and pas s word. If e ve rything was s pe cifie d prope rly, a me s s age box appe ars
indicating that file s are be ing re trie ve d from the s e rve r.
If your FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS s e rve r re quire s us e r authe ntication, s pe cify us e r and
pas s word as part of the URL as follows :
{ftp|http|https}://<user>:<password>@<hostname>[:<port>]/<directory>/
For e xample :
http://install:rhel6pw@name.example.com/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6/Server/i386/
Figure 8.11. URL Set up Dialo g
66
Proce e d with Chapte r 9, Installing Using Anaconda.
8.4. Verifying Media
The DVD offe rs an option to ve rify the inte grity of the me dia. Re cording e rrors s ome time s
occur while producing DVD me dia. An e rror in the data for package chos e n in the
ins tallation program can caus e the ins tallation to abort. To minimiz e the chance s of data
e rrors affe cting the ins tallation, ve rify the me dia be fore ins talling.
If the ve rification s ucce e ds , the ins tallation proce s s proce e ds normally. If the proce s s
fails , cre ate a ne w DVD us ing the ISO image you downloade d e arlie r.
67
Chapt er 9. Inst alling Using Anaconda
This chapte r de s cribe s an ins tallation us ing the graphical us e r inte rface of anaco nda.
Impo rtant
Ins talling in te xt mode doe s not pre ve nt you from us ing a graphical inte rface on your
s ys te m once it is ins talle d.
Apart from the graphical ins talle r, anaco nda als o include s a te xt-bas e d ins talle r.
If one of the following s ituations occurs , the ins tallation program us e s te xt mode :
The ins tallation s ys te m fails to ide ntify the dis play hardware on your compute r
You choos e the te xt mode ins tallation from the boot me nu
While te xt mode ins tallations are not e xplicitly docume nte d, thos e us ing the te xt mode
ins tallation program can e as ily follow the GUI ins tallation ins tructions . Howe ve r, be caus e
te xt mode pre s e nts you with a s imple r, more s tre amline d ins tallation proce s s , ce rtain
options that are available in graphical mode are not als o available in te xt mode . The s e
diffe re nce s are note d in the de s cription of the ins tallation proce s s in this guide , and
include :
configuring advance d s torage me thods s uch as LVM, RAID, FCoE, z FCP, and iSCSI.
cus tomiz ing the partition layout
cus tomiz ing the bootloade r layout
s e le cting package s during ins tallation
configuring the ins talle d s ys te m with f irst bo o t
If you choos e to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux in te xt mode , you can s till configure your
s ys te m to us e a graphical inte rface afte r ins tallation. Re fe r to Se ction 35.3, “Switching to a
Graphical Login” for ins tructions .
To configure options not available in te xt mode , cons ide r us ing a boot option. For e xample ,
the linux ip option can be us e d to configure ne twork s e ttings . Re fe r to Se ction 28.1,
“Configuring the Ins tallation Sys te m at the Boot Me nu” for ins tructions .
9.2. T he Graphical Inst allat ion Program User Int erface
If you have us e d a graphical user interface (GUI) be fore , you are alre ady familiar with this
proce s s ; us e your mous e to navigate the s cre e ns , click buttons , or e nte r te xt fie lds .
You can als o navigate through the ins tallation us ing the ke yboard. The Tab ke y allows you
to move around the s cre e n, the Up and Down arrow ke ys to s croll through lis ts , + and ke ys e xpand and collaps e lis ts , while Space and Enter s e le cts or re move s from s e le ction
a highlighte d ite m. You can als o us e the Alt+X ke y command combination as a way of
68
⁠C hapt e r 9 . Ins t alling Us ing Anac o nda
clicking on buttons or making othe r s cre e n s e le ctions , whe re X is re place d with any
unde rline d le tte r appe aring within that s cre e n.
No te
If you are us ing an x86, AMD64, or Inte l 64 s ys te m, and you do not wis h to us e the
GUI ins tallation program, the te xt mode ins tallation program is als o available . To
s tart the te xt mode ins tallation program, us e the following command at the boot:
prompt:
linux text
Re fe r to Se ction 7.1.2, “The Boot Me nu” for a de s cription of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux boot me nu and to Se ction 8.1, “The Te xt Mode Ins tallation Program Us e r
Inte rface ” for a brie f ove rvie w of te xt mode ins tallation ins tructions .
It is highly re comme nde d that ins talls be pe rforme d us ing the GUI ins tallation
program. The GUI ins tallation program offe rs the full functionality of the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program, including LVM configuration which is not
available during a te xt mode ins tallation.
Us e rs who mus t us e the te xt mode ins tallation program can follow the GUI
ins tallation ins tructions and obtain all ne e de d information.
9.2.1. Screenshot s During Inst allat ion
Anaco nda allows you to take s cre e ns hots during the ins tallation proce s s . At any time
during ins tallation, pre s s Shift+Print Screen and anaco nda will s ave a s cre e ns hot to
/root/anaconda-screenshots.
If you are pe rforming a Kicks tart ins tallation, us e the autostep --autoscreenshot option
to ge ne rate a s cre e ns hot of e ach s te p of the ins tallation automatically. Re fe r to
Se ction 32.3, “Cre ating the Kicks tart File ” for de tails of configuring a Kicks tart file .
9.2.2. A Not e About Virt ual Consoles
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program offe rs more than the dialog boxe s of the
ins tallation proce s s . Se ve ral kinds of diagnos tic me s s age s are available to you, as we ll as
a way to e nte r commands from a s he ll prompt. The ins tallation program dis plays the s e
me s s age s on five virtual consoles, among which you can s witch us ing a s ingle ke ys troke
combination.
A virtual cons ole is a s he ll prompt in a non-graphical e nvironme nt, acce s s e d from the
phys ical machine , not re mote ly. Multiple virtual cons ole s can be acce s s e d s imultane ous ly.
The s e virtual cons ole s can be he lpful if you e ncounte r a proble m while ins talling Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux. Me s s age s dis playe d on the ins tallation or s ys te m cons ole s can he lp
pinpoint a proble m. Re fe r to Table 9.1, “Cons ole , Ke ys troke s , and Conte nts ” for a lis ting of
the virtual cons ole s , ke ys troke s us e d to s witch to the m, and the ir conte nts .
Ge ne rally, the re is no re as on to le ave the de fault cons ole (virtual cons ole #6) for
graphical ins tallations unle s s you are atte mpting to diagnos e ins tallation proble ms .
69
T able 9.1. Co nso le, Keyst ro kes, and Co nt ent s
co nso le
keyst ro kes
co nt ent s
1
2
3
ctrl+alt+f1
ctrl+alt+f2
ctrl+alt+f3
4
5
ctrl+alt+f4
ctrl+alt+f5
graphical dis play
s he ll prompt
ins tall log (me s s age s from
ins tallation program)
s ys te m-re late d me s s age s
othe r me s s age s
9.3. Welcome t o Red Hat Ent erprise Linux
The Welcome s cre e n doe s not prompt you for any input.
Figure 9.1. T he Welco me screen
Click on the Next button to continue .
Us ing your mous e , s e le ct the language (for e xample , U.S. Englis h) you would pre fe r to us e
for the ins tallation and as the s ys te m de fault (re fe r to the figure be low).
Once you have made your s e le ction, click Next to continue .
70
Figure 9.2. Language Co nf igurat io n
9.5. Keyboard Configurat ion
Us ing your mous e , s e le ct the corre ct layout type (for e xample , U.S. Englis h) for the
ke yboard you would pre fe r to us e for the ins tallation and as the s ys te m de fault (re fe r to
the figure be low).
71
Figure 9.3. Keybo ard Co nf igurat io n
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux include s s upport for more than one ke yboard layout for many
language s . In particular, mos t Europe an language s include a latin1 option, which us e s
dead keys to acce s s ce rtain characte rs , s uch as thos e with diacritical marks . Whe n you
pre s s a de ad ke y, nothing will appe ar on your s cre e n until you pre s s anothe r ke y to
"comple te " the characte r. For e xample , to type é on a latin1 ke yboard layout, you would
pre s s (and re le as e ) the ' ke y, and the n pre s s the E ke y. By contras t, you acce s s this
characte r on s ome othe r ke yboards by pre s s ing and holding down a ke y (s uch as Alt-Gr)
while you pre s s the E ke y. Othe r ke yboards might have a de dicate d ke y for this characte r.
No te
To change your ke yboard layout type afte r you have comple te d the ins tallation, us e
the Keybo ard Co nf igurat io n T o o l.
Type the system-config-keyboard command in a s he ll prompt to launch the
Keybo ard Co nf igurat io n T o o l. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root
pas s word to continue .
9.6. St orage Devices
You can ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on a large varie ty of s torage de vice s . This s cre e n
allows you to s e le ct e ithe r bas ic or s pe cializ e d s torage de vice s .
Figure 9.4. St o rage devices
Basic St o rage Devices
Se le ct Basic St o rage Devices to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on the
72
following s torage de vice s :
hard drive s or s olid-s tate drive s conne cte d dire ctly to the local s ys te m.
Specialized St o rage Devices
Se le ct Specialized St o rage Devices to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on the
Storage area networks (SANs )
Direct access storage devices (DASDs )
Firmware RAID de vice s
Multipath de vice s
Us e the Specialized St o rage Devices option to configure Internet Small
Computer System Interface (iSCSI) and FCoE (Fibe r Channe l ove r Ethe rne t)
conne ctions .
If you s e le ct Basic St o rage Devices, anaco nda automatically de te cts the local s torage
attache d to the s ys te m and doe s not re quire furthe r input from you. Proce e d to
Se ction 9.7, “Se tting the Hos tname ”.
No te
Monitoring of LVM and s oftware RAID de vice s by the mdeventd dae mon is not
pe rforme d during ins tallation.
9.6.1. T he St orage Devices Select ion Screen
The s torage de vice s s e le ction s cre e n dis plays all s torage de vice s to which anaco nda
has acce s s .
73
Figure 9.5. Select st o rage devices — Basic devices
Figure 9.6. Select st o rage devices — Mult ipat h Devices
74
Figure 9.7. Select st o rage devices — Ot her SAN Devices
De vice s are groupe d unde r the following tabs :
Basic Devices
Bas ic s torage de vice s dire ctly conne cte d to the local s ys te m, s uch as hard dis k
drive s and s olid-s tate drive s .
Firmware RAID
Storage de vice s attache d to a firmware RAID controlle r.
Mult ipat h Devices
Storage de vice s acce s s ible through more than one path, s uch as through multiple
SCSI controlle rs or Fibe r Channe l ports on the s ame s ys te m.
Impo rtant
The ins talle r only de te cts multipath s torage de vice s with s e rial numbe rs
that are 16 or 32 characte rs in le ngth.
Ot her SAN Devices
Any othe r de vice s available on a s torage are a ne twork (SAN).
If you do ne e d to configure iSCSI or FCoE s torage , click Add Advanced Target and re fe r to
Se ction 9.6.1.1, “ Advance d Storage Options ”.
The s torage de vice s s e le ction s cre e n als o contains a Search tab that allows you to filte r
s torage de vice s e ithe r by the ir World Wide Identifier (WWID) or by the port, targe t, or
logical unit number (LUN) at which the y are acce s s e d.
75
Figure 9.8. T he St o rage Devices Search T ab
The tab contains a drop-down me nu to s e le ct s e arching by port, targe t, WWID, or LUN (with
corre s ponding te xt boxe s for the s e value s ). Se arching by WWID or LUN re quire s additional
value s in the corre s ponding te xt box.
Each tab pre s e nts a lis t of de vice s de te cte d by anaco nda, with information about the
de vice to he lp you to ide ntify it. A s mall drop-down me nu marke d with an icon is locate d to
the right of the column he adings . This me nu allows you to s e le ct the type s of data
pre s e nte d on e ach de vice . For e xample , the me nu on the Multipath Devices tab allows
you to s pe cify any of WWID, Capacit y, Vendo r, Int erco nnect , and Pat hs to include
among the de tails pre s e nte d for e ach de vice . Re ducing or e xpanding the amount of
information pre s e nte d might he lp you to ide ntify particular de vice s .
Figure 9.9. Select ing Co lumns
Each de vice is pre s e nte d on a s e parate row, with a che ckbox to its le ft. Click the che ckbox
to make a de vice available during the ins tallation proce s s , or click the radio button at the
le ft of the column he adings to s e le ct or de s e le ct all the de vice s lis te d in a particular
s cre e n. Late r in the ins tallation proce s s , you can choos e to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
onto any of the de vice s s e le cte d he re , and can choos e to automatically mount any of the
othe r de vice s s e le cte d he re as part of the ins talle d s ys te m.
Note that the de vice s that you s e le ct he re are not automatically e ras e d by the ins tallation
proce s s . Se le cting a de vice on this s cre e n doe s not, in its e lf, place data s tore d on the
de vice at ris k. Note als o that any de vice s that you do not s e le ct he re to form part of the
ins talle d s ys te m can be adde d to the s ys te m afte r ins tallation by modifying the
/etc/fstab file .
Impo rtant
Any s torage de vice s that you do not s e le ct on this s cre e n are hidde n from
anaco nda e ntire ly. To chain load the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r from a
diffe re nt boot loade r, s e le ct all the de vice s pre s e nte d in this s cre e n.
whe n you have s e le cte d the s torage de vice s to make available during ins tallation, click
Next and proce e d to Se ction 9.11, “Initializ ing the Hard Dis k”
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9.6.1.1. Advanced St orage Opt ions
From this s cre e n you can configure an iSCSI (SCSI ove r TCP/IP) targe t or FCoE (Fibre
channe l ove r e the rne t) SAN (s torage are a ne twork). Re fe r to Appe ndix B, iSCSI Disks for an
introduction to iSCSI.
Figure 9.10 . Advanced St o rage Opt io ns
Se le ct Add iSCSI target or Add FCoE SAN and click Add drive. If adding an iSCSI targe t,
optionally che ck the box labe le d Bind targets to network interfaces.
9.6.1.1.1. Select and co nf igure a net wo rk int erf ace
The Advanced Storage Options s cre e n lis ts the active ne twork inte rface s anaco nda
has found on your s ys te m. If none are found, anaco nda mus t activate an inte rface
through which to conne ct to the s torage de vice s .
Click Configure Network on the Advanced Storage Options s cre e n to configure and
activate one us ing Net wo rkManager to us e during ins tallation. Alte rnative ly, anaco nda
will prompt you with the Select network interface dialog afte r you click Add drive.
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Figure 9.11. Select net wo rk int erf ace
1. Se le ct an inte rface from the drop-down me nu.
2. Click OK.
Anaco nda the n s tarts Net wo rkManager to allow you to configure the inte rface .
Figure 9.12. Net wo rk Co nnect io ns
For de tails of how to us e Net wo rkManager, re fe r to Se ction 9.7, “Se tting the Hos tname ”
9.6.1.1.2. Co nf igure iSCSI paramet ers
To add an iSCSI targe t, s e le ct Add iSCSI target and click Add drive.
To us e iSCSI s torage de vice s for the ins tallation, anaco nda mus t be able to discover
78
the m as iSCSI targe ts and be able to cre ate an iSCSI session to acce s s the m. Each of
the s e s te ps might re quire a us e rname and pas s word for CHAP (Challe nge Hands hake
Authe ntication Protocol) authe ntication. Additionally, you can configure an iSCSI targe t to
authe nticate the iSCSI initiator on the s ys te m to which the targe t is attache d (reverse
CHAP), both for dis cove ry and for the s e s s ion. Us e d toge the r, CHAP and re ve rs e CHAP are
calle d mutual CHAP or two-way CHAP. Mutual CHAP provide s the gre ate s t le ve l of s e curity
for iSCSI conne ctions , particularly if the us e rname and pas s word are diffe re nt for CHAP
authe ntication and re ve rs e CHAP authe ntication.
Re pe at the iSCSI dis cove ry and iSCSI login s te ps as many time s as ne ce s s ary to add all
re quire d iSCSI s torage . Howe ve r, you cannot change the name of the iSCSI initiator afte r
you atte mpt dis cove ry for the firs t time . To change the iSCSI initiator name , you mus t
re s tart the ins tallation.
Pro cedure 9.1. iSCSI disco very
Us e the iSCSI Discovery Details dialog to provide anaco nda with the information that
it ne e ds to dis cove r the iSCSI targe t.
Figure 9.13. T he iSCSI Disco very Det ails dialo g
1. Ente r the IP addre s s of the iSCSI targe t in the Target IP Address fie ld.
2. Provide a name in the iSCSI Initiator Name fie ld for the iSCSI initiator in iSCSI
qualified name (IQN) format.
A valid IQN contains :
the s tring iqn. (note the pe riod)
a date code that s pe cifie s the ye ar and month in which your organiz ation's
Inte rne t domain or s ubdomain name was re gis te re d, re pre s e nte d as four digits
for the ye ar, a das h, and two digits for the month, followe d by a pe riod. For
e xample , re pre s e nt Se pte mbe r 2010 as 2010-09.
79
your organiz ation's Inte rne t domain or s ubdomain name , pre s e nte d in re ve rs e
orde r with the top-le ve l domain firs t. For e xample , re pre s e nt the s ubdomain
storage.example.com as com.example.storage
a colon followe d by a s tring that unique ly ide ntifie s this particular iSCSI initiator
within your domain or s ubdomain. For e xample , :diskarrays-sn-a8675309.
A comple te IQN the re fore re s e mble s : iqn.201009.storage.example.com:diskarrays-sn-a8675309, and anaco nda pre populate s the iSCSI Initiator Name fie ld with a name in this format to he lp you
with the s tructure .
For more information on IQNs , re fe r to 3.2.6. iSCSI Names in RFC 3720 - Internet
Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) available from
http://tools .ie tf.org/html/rfc3720#s e ction-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 .ie tf.org/html/rfc3721#s e ction-1.
3. Us e the drop-down me nu to s pe cify the type of authe ntication to us e for iSCSI
dis cove ry:
Figure 9.14. iSCSI disco very aut hent icat io n
no credent ials
CHAP pair
CHAP pair and a reverse pair
4. A. If you s e le cte d CHAP pair as the authe ntication type , provide the us e rname
and pas s word for the iSCSI targe t in the CHAP Username and CHAP Password
fie lds .
80
Figure 9.15. CHAP pair
B. If you s e le cte d CHAP pair and a reverse pair as the authe ntication type ,
provide the us e rname and pas s word for the iSCSI targe t in the CHAP Username
and CHAP Password fie ld and the us e rname and pas s word for the iSCSI initiator
in the Reverse CHAP Username and Reverse CHAP Password fie lds .
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Figure 9.16. CHAP pair and a reverse pair
5. Click Start Discovery. Anaco nda atte mpts to dis cove r an iSCSI targe t bas e d on
the information that you provide d. If dis cove ry s ucce e ds , the iSCSI Discovered
Nodes dialog pre s e nts you with a lis t of all the iSCSI node s dis cove re d on the
targe t.
6. Each node is pre s e nte d with a che ckbox be s ide it. Click the che ckboxe s to s e le ct
the node s to us e for ins tallation.
Figure 9.17. T he iSCSI Disco vered No des dialo g
7. Click Login to initiate an iSCSI s e s s ion.
Pro cedure 9.2. St art ing an iSCSI sessio n
Us e the iSCSI Nodes Login dialog to provide anaco nda with the information that it
ne e ds to log into the node s on the iSCSI targe t and s tart an iSCSI s e s s ion.
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Figure 9.18. T he iSCSI No des Lo gin dialo g
1. Us e the drop-down me nu to s pe cify the type of authe ntication to us e for the iSCSI
s e s s ion:
Figure 9.19. iSCSI sessio n aut hent icat io n
no credent ials
CHAP pair
Use t he credent ials f ro m t he disco very st ep
If your e nvironme nt us e s the s ame type of authe ntication and s ame us e rname and
pas s word for iSCSI dis cove ry and for the iSCSI s e s s ion, s e le ct Use t he
credent ials f ro m t he disco very st ep to re us e the s e cre de ntials .
fie lds .
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Figure 9.20 . CHAP pair
and CHAP Password fie lds and the us e rname and pas s word for the iSCSI initiator
3. Click Login. Anaco nda atte mpts to log into the node s on the iSCSI targe t bas e d on
the information that you provide d. The iSCSI Login Results dialog pre s e nts you
with the re s ults .
84
Figure 9.22. T he iSCSI Lo gin Result s dialo g
4. Click OK to continue .
9.6.1.1.3. Co nf igure FCo E Paramet ers
To configure an FCoE SAN, s e le ct Add FCoE SAN and click Add Drive.
In the ne xt dialog box that appe ars afte r you click Add drive, s e le ct the ne twork inte rface
that is conne cte d to your FCoE s witch and click Add FCoE Disk(s).
Figure 9.23. Co nf igure FCo E Paramet ers
Data Center Bridging (DCB) is a s e t of e nhance me nts to the Ethe rne t protocols de s igne d
to incre as e the e fficie ncy of Ethe rne t conne ctions in s torage ne tworks and clus te rs .
Enable or dis able the ins talle r's aware ne s s of DCB with the che ckbox in this dialog. This
s hould only be s e t for ne tworking inte rface s that re quire a hos t-bas e d DCBX clie nt.
Configurations on inte rface s that imple me nt a hardware DCBX clie nt s hould le ave this
che ckbox e mpty.
Auto VLAN indicate s whe the r VLAN dis cove ry s hould be pe rforme d. If this box is che cke d,
the n the FIP VLAN dis cove ry protocol will run on the Ethe rne t inte rface once the link
configuration has be e n validate d. If the y are not alre ady configure d, ne twork inte rface s for
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any dis cove re d FCoE VLANs will be automatically cre ate d and FCoE ins tance s will be
cre ate d on the VLAN inte rface s .
9.7. Set t ing t he Host name
Se tup prompts you to s upply a hos t name for this compute r, e ithe r as a fully-qualified
domain name (FQDN) in the format hostname.domainname or as a short host name in the
format hostname. Many ne tworks have a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
s e rvice that automatically s upplie s conne cte d s ys te ms with a domain name . To allow the
DHCP s e rvice to as s ign the domain name to this machine , s pe cify the s hort hos t name
only.
No te
You may give your s ys te m any name provide d that the full hos tname is unique . The
hos tname may include le tte rs , numbe rs and hyphe ns .
Figure 9.24. Set t ing t he ho st name
If your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m is conne cte d directly to the Inte rne t, you mus t pay
atte ntion to additional cons ide rations to avoid s e rvice inte rruptions or ris k action by your
ups tre am s e rvice provide r. A full dis cus s ion of the s e is s ue s is be yond the s cope of this
docume nt.
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No te
The ins tallation program doe s not configure mode ms . Configure the s e de vice s afte r
ins tallation with the Net wo rk utility. The s e ttings for your mode m are s pe cific to
your particular Inte rne t Se rvice Provide r (ISP).
9.7.1. Edit ing Net work Connect ions
Impo rtant
Whe n a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 ins tallation boots for the firs t time , it activate s
any ne twork inte rface s that you configure d during the ins tallation proce s s . Howe ve r,
the ins talle r doe s not prompt you to configure ne twork inte rface s on s ome common
ins tallation paths , for e xample , whe n you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from a
DVD to a local hard drive .
Whe n you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from a local ins tallation s ource to a local
s torage de vice , be s ure to configure at le as t one ne twork inte rface manually if you
re quire ne twork acce s s whe n the s ys te m boots for the firs t time . You will ne e d to
s e le ct the Connect automatically option manually whe n e diting the conne ction.
No te
To change your ne twork configuration afte r you have comple te d the ins tallation, us e
the Net wo rk Administ rat io n T o o l.
Type the system-config-network command in a s he ll prompt to launch the
Net wo rk Administ rat io n T o o l. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root
The Net wo rk Administ rat io n T o o l is now de pre cate d and will be re place d by
Net wo rkManager during the life time of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.
To configure a ne twork conne ction manually, click the button Configure Network. The
Network Connections dialog appe ars that allows you to configure wire d, wire le s s , mobile
broadband, InfiniBand, VPN, DSL, VLAN, and bonde d conne ctions for the s ys te m us ing the
Net wo rkManager tool. A full de s cription of all configurations pos s ible with
Net wo rkManager is be yond the s cope of this guide . This s e ction only de tails the mos t
typical s ce nario of how to configure wire d conne ctions during ins tallation. Configuration of
othe r type s of ne twork is broadly s imilar, although the s pe cific parame te rs that you mus t
configure are ne ce s s arily diffe re nt.
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To add a ne w conne ction, click Add and s e le ct a conne ction type from the me nu. To modify
an e xis ting conne ction, s e le ct it in the lis t and click Edit. In e ithe r cas e , a dialog box
appe ars with a s e t of tabs that is appropriate to the particular conne ction type , as
de s cribe d be low. To re move a conne ction, s e le ct it in the lis t and click Delete.
Whe n you have finis he d e diting ne twork s e ttings , click Apply to s ave the ne w
configuration. If you re configure d a de vice that was alre ady active during ins tallation, you
mus t re s tart the de vice to us e the ne w configuration — re fe r to Se ction 9.7.1.6, “Re s tart a
ne twork de vice ”.
9.7.1.1. Opt ions common t o all t ypes of connect ion
Ce rtain configuration options are common to all conne ction type s .
Spe cify a name for the conne ction in the Connection name name fie ld.
Se le ct Connect automatically to s tart the conne ction automatically whe n the s ys te m
boots .
Whe n Net wo rkManager runs on an ins talle d s ys te m, the Available to all users
option controls whe the r a ne twork configuration is available s ys te m-wide or not. During
ins tallation, e ns ure that Available to all users re mains s e le cte d for any ne twork
inte rface that you configure .
9.7.1.2. T he Wired t ab
88
Us e the Wired tab to s pe cify or change the media access control (MAC) addre s s for the
ne twork adapte r, and e ithe r s e t the maximum transmission unit (MTU, in byte s ) that can
pas s through the inte rface .
Figure 9.26. T he Wired t ab
9.7.1.3. T he 802.1x Securit y t ab
Us e the 802.1x Security tab to configure 802.1X port-based network access control
(PNAC). Se le ct Use 802.1X security for this connection to e nable acce s s control,
the n s pe cify de tails of your ne twork. The configuration options include :
Authentication
Choos e one of the following me thods of authe ntication:
89
TLS for Transport Layer Security
Tunneled TLS for Tunneled Transport Layer Security, othe rwis e known as TTLS,
or EAP-TTLS
Protected EAP (PEAP) for Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol
Identity
Provide the ide ntity of this s e rve r.
User certificate
Brows e to a pe rs onal X.509 ce rtificate file e ncode d with Distinguished Encoding
Rules (DER) or Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM).
CA certificate
Brows e to a X.509 certificate authority ce rtificate file e ncode d with Distinguished
Encoding Rules (DER) or Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM).
Private key
Brows e to a private key file e ncode d with Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER),
Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM), or the Personal Information Exchange Syntax
Standard (PKCS#12).
Private key password
The pas s word for the private ke y s pe cifie d in the Private key fie ld. Se le ct Show
password to make the pas s word vis ible as you type it.
90
Figure 9.27. T he 80 2.1x Securit y t ab
9.7.1.4. T he IPv4 Set t ings t ab
Us e the IPv4 Settings tab tab to configure the IPv4 parame te rs for the pre vious ly
s e le cte d ne twork conne ction.
Us e the Method drop-down me nu to s pe cify which s e ttings the s ys te m s hould atte mpt to
obtain from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) s e rvice running on the ne twork.
Choos e from the following options :
Automatic (DHCP)
IPv4 parame te rs are configure d by the DHCP s e rvice on the ne twork.
Automatic (DHCP) addresses only
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The IPv4 addre s s , ne tmas k, and gate way addre s s are configure d by the DHCP
s e rvice on the ne twork, but DNS s e rve rs and s e arch domains mus t be configure d
manually.
Manual
IPv4 parame te rs are configure d manually for a s tatic configuration.
Link-Local Only
A link-local addre s s in the 169.254/16 range is as s igne d to the inte rface .
Shared to other computers
The s ys te m is configure d to provide ne twork acce s s to othe r compute rs . The
inte rface is as s igne d an addre s s in the 10.42.x.1/24 range , a DHCP s e rve r and
DNS s e rve r are s tarte d, and the inte rface is conne cte d to the de fault ne twork
conne ction on the s ys te m with network address translation (NAT).
Disabled
IPv4 is dis able d for this conne ction.
If you s e le cte d a me thod that re quire s you to s upply manual parame te rs , e nte r de tails of
the IP addre s s for this inte rface , the ne tmas k, and the gate way in the Addresses fie ld.
Us e the Add and Delete buttons to add or re move addre s s e s . Ente r a comma-s e parate d
lis t of DNS s e rve rs in the DNS servers fie ld, and a comma-s e parate d lis t of domains in
the Search domains fie ld for any domains that you want to include in name s e rve r
lookups .
Optionally, e nte r a name for this ne twork conne ction in the DHCP client ID fie ld. This
name mus t be unique on the s ubne t. Whe n you as s ign a me aningful DHCP clie nt ID to a
conne ction, it is e as y to ide ntify this conne ction whe n trouble s hooting ne twork proble ms .
De s e le ct the Require IPv4 addressing for this connection to complete che ck box
to allow the s ys te m to make this conne ction on an IPv6-e nable d ne twork if IPv4
configuration fails but IPv6 configuration s ucce e ds .
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Figure 9.28. T he IPv4 Set t ings t ab
9.7.1.4.1. Edit ing IPv4 ro ut es
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux configure s a numbe r of route s automatically bas e d on the IP
addre s s e s of a de vice . To e dit additional route s , click the Routes button. The Editing
IPv4 routes dialog appe ars .
93
Figure 9.29. T he Edit ing IPv4 Ro ut es dialo g
Click Add to add the IP addre s s , ne tmas k, gate way addre s s , and me tric for a ne w s tatic
route .
Se le ct Ignore automatically obtained routes to make the inte rface us e only the
route s s pe cifie d for it he re .
Se le ct Use this connection only for resources on its network to re s trict
conne ctions only to the local ne twork.
Ignore
IPv6 is ignore d for this conne ction.
Automatic
Net wo rkManager us e s router advertisement (RA) to cre ate an automatic,
s tate le s s configuration.
Automatic, addresses only
Net wo rkManager us e s RA to cre ate an automatic, s tate le s s configuration, but
DNS s e rve rs and s e arch domains are ignore d and mus t be configure d manually.
Automatic, DHCP only
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Net wo rkManager doe s not us e RA, but re que s ts information from DHCPv6
dire ctly to cre ate a s tate ful configuration.
Manual
Link-Local Only
A link-local addre s s with the fe 80::/10 pre fix is as s igne d to the inte rface .
lookups .
95
Figure 9.30 . T he IPv6 Set t ings t ab
96
route .
9.7.1.6. Rest art a net work device
If you re configure d a ne twork that was alre ady in us e during ins tallation, you mus t
dis conne ct and re conne ct the de vice in anaco nda for the change s to take e ffe ct.
Anaco nda us e s interface configuration (ifcfg) file s to communicate with
Net wo rkManager. A de vice be come s dis conne cte d whe n its ifcfg file is re move d, and
be come s re conne cte d whe n its ifcfg file is re s tore d, as long as ONBOOT=yes is s e t. Re fe r
to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Deployment Guide available from
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s ite /docume ntation/ for more information about inte rface
configuration file s .
1. Pre s s Ctrl+Alt+F2 to s witch to virtual te rminal tty2.
2. Move the inte rface configuration file to a te mporary location:
mv /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-device_name /tmp
whe re device_name is the de vice that you jus t re configure d. For e xample , ifcfgeth0 is the ifcfg file for eth0.
The de vice is now dis conne cte d in anaco nda.
3. Ope n the inte rface configuration file in the vi e ditor:
vi /tmp/ifcfg-device_name
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4. Ve rify that the inte rface configuration file contains the line ONBOOT=yes. If the file
doe s not alre ady contain the line , add it now and s ave the file .
5. Exit the vi e ditor.
6. Move the inte rface configuration file back to the /etc/sysconfig/networkscripts/ dire ctory:
mv /tmp/ifcfg-device_name /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
The de vice is now re conne cte d in anaco nda.
7. Pre s s Ctrl+Alt+F6 to re turn to anaco nda.
9.8. T ime Zone Configurat ion
Se t your time z one by s e le cting the city clos e s t to your compute r's phys ical location. Click
on the map to z oom in to a particular ge ographical re gion of the world.
Spe cify a time z one e ve n if you plan to us e NTP (Ne twork Time Protocol) to maintain the
accuracy of the s ys te m clock.
From he re the re are two ways for you to s e le ct your time z one :
Us ing your mous e , click on the inte ractive map to s e le ct a s pe cific city (re pre s e nte d by
a ye llow dot). A re d X appe ars indicating your s e le ction.
You can als o s croll through the lis t at the bottom of the s cre e n to s e le ct your time
z one . Us ing your mous e , click on a location to highlight your s e le ction.
Figure 9.32. Co nf iguring t he T ime Zo ne
If Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux is the only ope rating s ys te m on your compute r, s e le ct System
clock uses UTC. The s ys te m clock is a pie ce of hardware on your compute r s ys te m. Re d
98
Hat Ente rpris e Linux us e s the time z one s e tting to de te rmine the offs e t be twe e n the local
time and UTC on the s ys te m clock. This be havior is s tandard for s ys te ms that us e UNIX,
Linux, and s imilar ope rating s ys te ms .
Click Next to proce e d.
Warning
Do not e nable the System clock uses UTC option if your machine als o runs
Micros oft Windows . Micros oft ope rating s ys te ms change the BIOS clock to match
local time rathe r than UTC. This may caus e une xpe cte d be havior unde r Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux.
No te
To change your time z one configuration afte r you have comple te d the ins tallation,
us e the T ime and Dat e Pro pert ies T o o l.
Type the system-config-date command in a s he ll prompt to launch the T ime and
Dat e Pro pert ies T o o l. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root pas s word to
continue .
9.9. Set t he Root Password
Se tting up a root account and pas s word is one of the mos t important s te ps during your
ins tallation. The root account is us e d to ins tall package s , upgrade RPMs , and pe rform mos t
s ys te m mainte nance . Logging in as root give s you comple te control ove r your s ys te m.
No te
The root us e r (als o known as the s upe rus e r) has comple te acce s s to the e ntire
s ys te m; for this re as on, logging in as the root us e r is be s t done only to pe rform
s ys te m mainte nance or adminis tration.
99
Figure 9.33. Ro o t Passwo rd
Us e the root account only for s ys te m adminis tration. Cre ate a non-root account for your
ge ne ral us e and us e the su command to change to root only whe n you ne e d to pe rform
tas ks that re quire s upe rus e r authoriz ation. The s e bas ic rule s minimiz e the chance s of a
typo or an incorre ct command doing damage to your s ys te m.
No te
To be come root, type su - at the s he ll prompt in a te rminal window and the n pre s s
Enter. The n, e nte r the root pas s word and pre s s Enter.
The ins tallation program prompts you to s e t a root pas s word ⁠ [2] for your s ys te m. . You
cannot proceed to the next stage of the installation process without entering a root
password.
The root pas s word mus t be at le as t s ix characte rs long; the pas s word you type is not
e choe d to the s cre e n. You mus t e nte r the pas s word twice ; if the two pas s words do not
match, the ins tallation program as ks you to e nte r the m again.
You s hould make the root pas s word s ome thing you can re me mbe r, but not s ome thing that
is e as y for s ome one e ls e to gue s s . Your name , your phone numbe r, qwerty, password,
root, 123456, and anteater are all e xample s of bad pas s words . Good pas s words mix
nume rals with uppe r and lowe r cas e le tte rs and do not contain dictionary words :
Aard387vark or 420BMttNT, for e xample . Re me mbe r that the pas s word is cas e -s e ns itive . If
you write down your pas s word, ke e p it in a s e cure place . Howe ve r, it is re comme nde d
that you do not write down this or any pas s word you cre ate .
100
Warning
Do not us e one of the e xample pas s words offe re d in this manual. Us ing one of
the s e pas s words could be cons ide re d a s e curity ris k.
To change your root pas s word afte r you have comple te d the ins tallation, run the passwd
command as root. If you forge t the root pas s word, s e e Re s olving Proble ms in Sys te m
Re cove ry Mode s in the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 De ployme nt Guide for ins tructions on
how to s e t a ne w one .
9.10. Assign St orage Devices
If you s e le cte d more than one s torage de vice on the s torage de vice s s e le ction s cre e n
(re fe r to Se ction 9.6, “Storage De vice s ”), anaco nda as ks you to s e le ct which of the s e
de vice s s hould be available for ins tallation of the ope rating s ys te m, and which s hould only
be attache d to the file s ys te m for data s torage . If you s e le cte d only one s torage de vice ,
anaco nda doe s not pre s e nt you with this s cre e n.
During ins tallation, the de vice s that you ide ntify he re as be ing for data s torage only are
mounte d as part of the file s ys te m, but are not partitione d or formatte d.
Figure 9.34. Assign st o rage devices
The s cre e n is s plit into two pane s . The le ft pane contains a lis t of de vice s to be us e d for
data s torage only. The right pane contains a lis t of de vice s that are to be available for
ins tallation of the ope rating s ys te m.
Each lis t contains information about the de vice s to he lp you to ide ntify the m. A s mall dropdown me nu marke d with an icon is locate d to the right of the column he adings . This me nu
allows you to s e le ct the type s of data pre s e nte d on e ach de vice . Re ducing or e xpanding
the amount of information pre s e nte d might he lp you to ide ntify particular de vice s .
101
Move a de vice from one lis t to the othe r by clicking on the de vice , the n clicking e ithe r the
button labe le d with a le ft-pointing arrow to move it to the lis t of data s torage de vice s or
the button labe le d with a right-pointing arrow to move it to the lis t of de vice s available for
The lis t of de vice s available as ins tallation targe ts als o include s a radio button be s ide
e ach de vice . Us e this radio button to s pe cify the de vice that you want to us e as the boot
de vice for the s ys te m.
Impo rtant
If any s torage de vice contains a boot loade r that will chain load the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r, include that s torage de vice among the Install
Target Devices. Storage de vice s that you ide ntify as Install Target Devices
re main vis ible to anaco nda during boot loade r configuration.
Storage de vice s that you ide ntify as Install Target Devices on this s cre e n are
not automatically e ras e d by the ins tallation proce s s unle s s you s e le cte d the Use
All Space option on the partitioning s cre e n (re fe r to Se ction 9.13, “Dis k Partitioning
Se tup”).
Whe n you have finis he d ide ntifying de vice s to be us e d for ins tallation, click Next to
continue .
9.11. Init ializing t he Hard Disk
If no re adable partition table s are found on e xis ting hard dis ks , the ins tallation program
as ks to initializ e the hard dis k. This ope ration make s any e xis ting data on the hard dis k
unre adable . If your s ys te m has a brand ne w hard dis k with no ope rating s ys te m ins talle d,
or you have re move d all partitions on the hard dis k, click Re-initialize drive.
The ins tallation program pre s e nts you with a s e parate dialog for e ach dis k on which it
cannot re ad a valid partition table . Click the Ignore all button or Re-initialize all
button to apply the s ame ans we r to all de vice s .
102
Figure 9.35. Warning screen – init ializing hard drive
Ce rtain RAID s ys te ms or othe r nons tandard configurations may be unre adable to the
ins tallation program and the prompt to initializ e the hard dis k may appe ar. The ins tallation
program re s ponds to the phys ical dis k s tructure s it is able to de te ct.
To e nable automatic initializ ing of hard dis ks for which it turns out to be ne ce s s ary, us e
the kicks tart command zerombr (re fe r to Chapte r 32, Kickstart Installations). This command
is re quire d whe n pe rforming an unatte nde d ins tallation on a s ys te m with pre vious ly
initializ e d dis ks .
Warning
If you have a nons tandard dis k configuration that can be de tache d during ins tallation
and de te cte d and configure d afte rward, powe r off the s ys te m, de tach it, and re s tart
the ins tallation.
9.12. Upgrading an Exist ing Syst em
103
Impo rtant
The following s e ctions only apply to upgrading Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux be twe e n
minor ve rs ions , for e xample , upgrading Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.4 to Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6.5 or highe r. This approach is not s upporte d for upgrade s be twe e n
major ve rs ions , for e xample , upgrading Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 to Re d Hat
In-place upgrade s be twe e n major ve rs ions of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux can be done ,
with ce rtain limitations , us ing the Red Hat Upgrade T o o l and Preupgrade
Assist ant tools . Se e Chapte r 37, Upgrading Your Current System for more
information.
The ins tallation s ys te m automatically de te cts any e xis ting ins tallation of Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux. The upgrade proce s s update s the e xis ting s ys te m s oftware with ne w
ve rs ions , but doe s not re move any data from us e rs ' home dire ctorie s . The e xis ting
partition s tructure on your hard drive s doe s not change . Your s ys te m configuration
change s only if a package upgrade de mands it. Mos t package upgrade s do not change
s ys te m configuration, but rathe r ins tall an additional configuration file for you to e xamine
late r.
Note that the ins tallation me dium that you are us ing might not contain all the s oftware
package s that you ne e d to upgrade your compute r.
9.12.1. T he Upgrade Dialog
If your s ys te m contains a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation, a dialog appe ars as king
whe the r you want to upgrade that ins tallation. To pe rform an upgrade of an e xis ting
s ys te m, choos e the appropriate ins tallation from the drop-down lis t and s e le ct Next.
104
Figure 9.36. T he Upgrade Dialo g
No te
Software you have ins talle d manually on your e xis ting Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
s ys te m may be have diffe re ntly afte r an upgrade . You may ne e d to manually
re ins tall or re compile this s oftware afte r an upgrade to e ns ure it pe rforms corre ctly
on the update d s ys te m.
9.12.2. Upgrading Using t he Inst aller
No te
In ge ne ral, Re d Hat re comme nds that you ke e p us e r data on a s e parate /home
partition and pe rform a fre s h ins tallation. For more information on partitions and how
to s e t the m up, re fe r to Se ction 9.13, “Dis k Partitioning Se tup”.
If you choos e to upgrade your s ys te m us ing the ins tallation program, any s oftware not
provide d by Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux that conflicts with Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s oftware
is ove rwritte n. Be fore you be gin an upgrade this way, make a lis t of your s ys te m's curre nt
package s for late r re fe re nce :
rpm -qa --qf '%{NAME} %{VERSION}-%{RELEASE} %{ARCH}\n' > ~/oldpkglist.txt
Afte r ins tallation, cons ult this lis t to dis cove r which package s you may ne e d to re build or
re trie ve from s ource s othe r than Re d Hat.
Ne xt, make a backup of any s ys te m configuration data:
su -c 'tar czf /tmp/etc-`date +%F`.tar.gz /etc'
su -c 'mv /tmp/etc-*.tar.gz /home'
Make a comple te backup of any important data be fore pe rforming an upgrade . Important
data may include the conte nts of your e ntire /home dire ctory as we ll as conte nt from
s e rvice s s uch as an Apache , FTP, or SQL s e rve r, or a s ource code manage me nt s ys te m.
Although upgrade s are not de s tructive , if you pe rform one imprope rly the re is a s mall
pos s ibility of data los s .
Warning
Note that the above e xample s s tore backup mate rials in a /home dire ctory. If your
/home dire ctory is not a s e parate partition, you should not follow these examples
verbatim! Store your backups on anothe r de vice s uch as CD or DVD dis cs or an
e xte rnal hard dis k.
For more information on comple ting the upgrade proce s s late r, re fe r to Se ction 35.2,
“Finis hing an Upgrade ”.
105
9.12.3. Updat ing t he Boot Loader Conf igurat ion
Your comple te d Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation mus t be re gis te re d in the boot loader
to boot prope rly. A boot loade r is s oftware on your machine that locate s and s tarts the
ope rating s ys te m. Re fe r to Appe ndix E, The GRUB Boot Loader for more information about
boot loade rs .
Figure 9.37. T he Upgrade Bo o t Lo ader Dialo g
If the e xis ting boot loade r was ins talle d by a Linux dis tribution, the ins tallation s ys te m can
modify it to load the ne w Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m. To update the e xis ting Linux
boot loade r, s e le ct Update boot loader configuration. This is the de fault be havior
whe n you upgrade an e xis ting Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation.
GRUB is the s tandard boot loade r for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on 32-bit and 64-bit x86
archite cture s . If your machine us e s anothe r boot loade r, s uch as BootMagic, Sys te m
Commande r, or the loade r ins talle d by Micros oft Windows , the n the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux ins tallation s ys te m cannot update it. In this cas e , s e le ct Skip boot loader
updating. Whe n the ins tallation proce s s comple te s , re fe r to the docume ntation for your
product for as s is tance .
Ins tall a ne w boot loade r as part of an upgrade proce s s only if you are ce rtain you want to
re place the e xis ting boot loade r. If you ins tall a ne w boot loade r, you may not be able to
boot othe r ope rating s ys te ms on the s ame machine until you have configure d the ne w
boot loade r. Se le ct Create new boot loader configuration to re move the e xis ting
boot loade r and ins tall GRUB.
Afte r you make your s e le ction, click Next to continue . If you s e le cte d the Create new
boot loader configuration option, re fe r to Se ction 9.18, “x86, AMD64, and Inte l 64 Boot
Loade r Configuration”. If you chos e to update or s kip boot loade r configuration, ins tallation
continue s without furthe r input from you.
9.13. Disk Part it ioning Set up
106
Warning
It is always a good ide a to back up any data that you have on your s ys te ms . For
e xample , if you are upgrading or cre ating a dual-boot s ys te m, you s hould back up
any data you wis h to ke e p on your s torage de vice s . Mis take s do happe n and can
re s ult in the los s of all your data.
Impo rtant
If you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux in te xt mode , you can only us e the de fault
partitioning s che me s de s cribe d in this s e ction. You cannot add or re move partitions
or file s ys te ms be yond thos e that the ins talle r automatically adds or re move s . If
you re quire a cus tomiz e d layout at ins tallation time , you s hould pe rform a graphical
ins tallation ove r a VNC conne ction or a kicks tart ins tallation.
Furthe rmore , advance d options s uch as LVM, e ncrypte d file s ys te ms , and re s iz able
file s ys te ms are available only in graphical mode and kicks tart.
Impo rtant
If you have a RAID card, be aware that s ome BIOS type s do not s upport booting from
the RAID card. In cas e s s uch as the s e , the /boot/ partition mus t be cre ate d on a
partition outs ide of the RAID array, s uch as on a s e parate hard drive . An inte rnal
hard drive is ne ce s s ary to us e for partition cre ation with proble matic RAID cards .
A /boot/ partition is als o ne ce s s ary for s oftware RAID s e tups .
If you have chos e n to automatically partition your s ys te m, you s hould s e le ct Review
and manually e dit your /boot/ partition.
Partitioning allows you to divide your hard drive into is olate d s e ctions , whe re e ach s e ction
be have s as its own hard drive . Partitioning is particularly us e ful if you run multiple
ope rating s ys te ms . If you are not s ure how you want your s ys te m to be partitione d, re ad
Appe ndix A, An Introduction to Disk Partitions for more information.
107
Figure 9.38. Disk Part it io ning Set up
On this s cre e n you can choos e to cre ate the de fault partition layout in one of four diffe re nt
ways , or choos e to partition s torage de vice s manually to cre ate a cus tom layout.
The firs t four options allow you to pe rform an automate d ins tallation without having to
partition your s torage de vice s yours e lf. If you do not fe e l comfortable with partitioning
your s ys te m, choos e one of the s e options and le t the ins tallation program partition the
s torage de vice s for you. De pe nding on the option that you choos e , you can s till control
what data (if any) is re move d from the s ys te m.
Your options are :
Use All Space
Se le ct this option to re move all partitions on your hard drive s (this include s
partitions cre ate d by othe r ope rating s ys te ms s uch as Windows VFAT or NTFS
partitions ).
Warning
If you s e le ct this option, all data on the s e le cte d hard drive s is re move d by
the ins tallation program. Do not s e le ct this option if you have information
that you want to ke e p on the hard drive s whe re you are ins talling Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux.
In particular, do not s e le ct this option whe n you configure a s ys te m to chain
load the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r from anothe r boot loade r.
Replace Exist ing Linux Syst em(s)
108
Se le ct this option to re move only partitions cre ate d by a pre vious Linux
ins tallation. This doe s not re move othe r partitions you may have on your hard
drive s (s uch as VFAT or FAT32 partitions ).
Shrink Current Syst em
Se le ct this option to re s iz e your curre nt data and partitions manually and ins tall a
de fault Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux layout in the s pace that is fre e d.
Warning
If you s hrink partitions on which othe r ope rating s ys te ms are ins talle d, you
might not be able to us e thos e ope rating s ys te ms . Although this partitioning
option doe s not de s troy data, ope rating s ys te ms typically re quire s ome
fre e s pace in the ir partitions . Be fore you re s iz e a partition that holds an
ope rating s ys te m that you might want to us e again, find out how much
s pace you ne e d to le ave fre e .
Use Free Space
Se le ct this option to re tain your curre nt data and partitions and ins tall Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux in the unus e d s pace available on the s torage drive s . Ens ure that
the re is s ufficie nt s pace available on the s torage drive s be fore you s e le ct this
option — re fe r to Se ction 3.6, “Do You Have Enough Dis k Space ?”.
Warning
If your 64-bit x86 s ys te m us e s UEFI ins te ad of BIOS, you will ne e d to
manually cre ate a /boot partition. This partition mus t have an e xt3 file
s ys te m. If you choos e to partition automatically, your s ys te m will not boot.
Creat e Cust o m Layo ut
Se le ct this option to partition s torage de vice s manually and cre ate cus tomiz e d
layouts . Re fe r to Se ction 9.15, “ Cre ating a Cus tom Layout or Modifying the De fault
Layout ”
Choos e your pre fe rre d partitioning me thod by clicking the radio button to the le ft of its
de s cription in the dialog box.
Se le ct Encrypt system to e ncrypt all partitions e xce pt the /boot partition. Re fe r to
Appe ndix C, Disk Encryption for information on e ncryption.
To re vie w and make any ne ce s s ary change s to the partitions cre ate d by automatic
partitioning, s e le ct the Review option. Afte r s e le cting Review and clicking Next to move
forward, the partitions cre ate d for you by anaco nda appe ar. You can make modifications
to the s e partitions if the y do not me e t your ne e ds .
109
Impo rtant
To configure the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r to chain load from a diffe re nt
boot loade r, you mus t s pe cify the boot drive manually. If you chos e any of the
automatic partitioning options , you mus t now s e le ct the Review and modify
partitioning layout option be fore you click Next or you cannot s pe cify the
corre ct boot drive .
Impo rtant
Whe n you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 on a s ys te m with multipath and nonmultipath s torage de vice s , the automatic partitioning layout in the ins talle r might
cre ate volume groups that contain a mix of multipath and non-multipath de vice s . This
de fe ats the purpos e of multipath s torage .
We advis e that you s e le ct only multipath or only non-multipath de vice s on the dis k
s e le ction s cre e n that appe ars afte r s e le cting automatic partitioning. Alte rnative ly,
s e le ct cus tom partitioning.
Click Next once you have made your s e le ctions to proce e d.
9.14. Choosing a Disk Encrypt ion Passphrase
If you s e le cte d the Encrypt System option, the ins talle r prompts you for a pas s phras e
with which to e ncrypt the partitions on the s ys te m.
Partitions are e ncrypte d us ing the Linux Unified Key Setup — re fe r to Appe ndix C, Disk
Encryption for more information.
Figure 9.39. Ent er passphrase f o r encrypt ed part it io n
Choos e a pas s phras e and type it into e ach of the two fie lds in the dialog box. You mus t
provide this pas s phras e e ve ry time that the s ys te m boots .
110
Warning
If you los e this pas s phras e , any e ncrypte d partitions and the data on the m will
be come comple te ly inacce s s ible . The re is no way to re cove r a los t pas s phras e .
Note that if you pe rform a kicks tart ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, you can
s ave e ncryption pas s phras e s and cre ate backup e ncryption pas s phras e s during
ins tallation. Re fe r to Se ction C.3.2, “Saving Pas s phras e s ” and Se ction C.3.3, “Cre ating
and Saving Backup Pas s phras e s ”.
9.15. Creat ing a Cust om Layout or Modifying t he Default
Layout
If you chos e one of the four automatic partitioning options and did not s e le ct Review, s kip
ahe ad to Se ction 9.17, “Package Group Se le ction”.
If you chos e one of the automatic partitioning options and s e le cte d Review, you can e ithe r
acce pt the curre nt partition s e ttings (click Next), or modify the s e tup manually in the
partitioning s cre e n.
If you chos e to cre ate a cus tom layout, you mus t te ll the ins tallation program whe re to
ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux. This is done by de fining mount points for one or more dis k
partitions in which Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux is ins talle d. You may als o ne e d to cre ate
and/or de le te partitions at this time .
Warning
If your 64-bit x86 s ys te m us e s UEFI ins te ad of BIOS, you will ne e d to manually
cre ate a /boot partition. This partition mus t have an e xt3 file s ys te m. If you choos e
to partition automatically, your s ys te m will not boot.
111
Impo rtant
On s ys te ms us ing UEFI firmware , the boot drive (the dis k whe re the boot loade r will
be ins talle d) mus t contain a s pe cial partition (EFI Sys te m Partition) at le as t 50 MB in
s iz e with a mount point of /boot/efi.
The boot drive mus t als o have a GUID Partition Table (GPT) labe l. If you want to
re us e a dis k with e xis ting partitions and a Mas te r Boot Re cord (MBR) labe l, the dis k
mus t be re labe le d. All existing data on the disk will be lost.
To re labe l a dis k to GPT in the graphical ins talle r, firs t go back to Se ction 9.13, “Dis k
Partitioning Se tup”, and choos e an automatic partitioning option s uch as Use All
Space. Che ck the Review and modify partitioning layout che ck box, and click
Next. On the ne xt s cre e n, modify the automatically cre ate d layout as ne e de d.
This workaround is always ne ce s s ary whe n re us ing a MBR-labe le d drive . If you
choos e Create a Custom Layout at the s tart of the partitioning proce s s , the dis k
will not be re labe le d and you will not be able to proce e d.
If you have not ye t planne d how to s e t up your partitions , re fe r to Appe ndix A, An
Introduction to Disk Partitions and Se ction 9.15.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”. At a
bare minimum, you ne e d an appropriate ly-s iz e d root partition, and us ually a s wap partition
appropriate to the amount of RAM you have on the s ys te m.
Anaco nda can handle the partitioning re quire me nts for a typical ins tallation.
Figure 9.40 . Part it io ning o n x86, AMD64, and Int el 64 Syst ems
The partitioning s cre e n contains two pane s . The top pane contains a graphical
re pre s e ntation of the hard drive , logical volume , or RAID de vice s e le cte d in the lowe r
pane .
112
Above the graphical re pre s e ntation of the de vice , you can re vie w the name of the drive
(s uch as /dev/sda or LogVol00), its s iz e (in MB), and its mode l as de te cte d by the
ins tallation program.
Us ing your mous e , click once to highlight a particular fie ld in the graphical dis play. Double click to e dit an e xis ting partition or to cre ate a partition out of e xis ting fre e s pace .
The lowe r pane contains a lis t of all drive s , logical volume s , and RAID de vice s to be us e d
during ins tallation, as s pe cifie d e arlie r in the ins tallation proce s s — re fe r to Se ction 9.10, “
As s ign Storage De vice s ”
De vice s are groupe d by type . Click on the s mall triangle s to the le ft of e ach de vice type
to vie w or hide de vice s of that type .
Anaco nda dis plays s e ve ral de tails for e ach de vice lis te d:
Device
the name of the de vice , logical volume , or partition
Size (MB)
the s iz e of the de vice , logical volume , or partition (in MB)
Mo unt Po int /RAID/Vo lume
the mount point (location within a file s ys te m) on which a partition is to be
mounte d, or the name of the RAID or logical volume group of which it is a part
T ype
the type of partition. If the partition is a s tandard partition, this fie ld dis plays the
type of file s ys te m on the partition (for e xample , e xt4). Othe rwis e , it indicate s
that the partition is a physical volume (LVM), or part of a software RAID
Fo rmat
A che ck mark in this column indicate s that the partition will be formatte d during
ins tallation.
Be ne ath the lowe r pane are four buttons : Create, Edit, Delete, and Reset.
Se le ct a de vice or partition by clicking on it in e ithe r the graphical re pre s e ntation in the
uppe r pane of in the lis t in the lowe r pane , the n click one of the four buttons to carry out
the following actions :
Creat e
cre ate a ne w partition, logical volume , or s oftware RAID
Edit
change an e xis ting partition, logical volume , or s oftware RAID. Note that you can
only s hrink partitions with the Resize button, not e nlarge partitions .
Delet e
re move a partition, logical volume , or s oftware RAID
Reset
113
undo all change s made in this s cre e n
9.15.1. Creat e St orage
The Create Storage dialog allows you to cre ate ne w s torage partitions , logical volume s ,
and s oftware RAIDs . Anaco nda pre s e nts options as available or unavailable de pe nding
on the s torage alre ady pre s e nt on the s ys te m or configure d to trans fe r to the s ys te m.
Figure 9.41. Creat ing St o rage
Options are groupe d unde r Create Partition, Create Software RAID and Create LVM
as follows :
Creat e Part it io n
Re fe r to Se ction 9.15.2, “Adding Partitions ” for de tails of the Add Partition dialog.
Standard Partition — cre ate a s tandard dis k partition (as de s cribe d in Appe ndix A,
An Introduction to Disk Partitions) in unallocate d s pace .
Creat e So f t ware RAID
114
Re fe r to Se ction 9.15.3, “ Cre ate Software RAID ” for more de tail.
RAID Partition — cre ate a partition in unallocate d s pace to form part of a s oftware
RAID de vice . To form a s oftware RAID de vice , two or more RAID partitions mus t be
available on the s ys te m.
RAID Device — combine two or more RAID partitions into a s oftware RAID de vice . Whe n
you choos e this option, you can s pe cify the type of RAID de vice to cre ate (the RAID
level). This option is only available whe n two or more RAID partitions are available on
the s ys te m.
Creat e LVM Lo gical Vo lume
Re fe r to Se ction 9.15.4, “ Cre ate LVM Logical Volume ” for more de tail.
LVM Physical Volume — cre ate a physical volume in unallocate d s pace .
LVM Volume Group — cre ate a volume group from one or more phys ical volume s . This
option is only available whe n at le as t one phys ical volume is available on the s ys te m.
LVM Logical Volume — cre ate a logical volume on a volume group. This option is only
available whe n at le as t one volume group is available on the s ys te m.
9.15.2. Adding Part it ions
To add a ne w partition, s e le ct the Create button. A dialog box appe ars (re fe r to
Figure 9.42, “Cre ating a Ne w Partition”).
No te
You mus t de dicate at le as t one partition for this ins tallation, and optionally more . For
more information, re fe r to Appe ndix A, An Introduction to Disk Partitions.
115
Figure 9.42. Creat ing a New Part it io n
Mount Point: Ente r the partition's mount point. For e xample , if this partition s hould be
the root partition, e nte r /; e nte r /boot for the /boot partition, and s o on. You can als o
us e the pull-down me nu to choos e the corre ct mount point for your partition. For a s wap
partition the mount point s hould not be s e t — s e tting the file s ys te m type to swap is
s ufficie nt.
File System Type: Us ing the pull-down me nu, s e le ct the appropriate file s ys te m type
for this partition. For more information on file s ys te m type s , re fe r to Se ction 9.15.2.1,
“File Sys te m Type s ”.
Allowable Drives: This fie ld contains a lis t of the hard dis ks ins talle d on your s ys te m.
If a hard dis k's box is highlighte d, the n a de s ire d partition can be cre ate d on that hard
dis k. If the box is not che cke d, the n the partition will never be cre ate d on that hard dis k.
By us ing diffe re nt che ckbox s e ttings , you can have anaco nda place partitions whe re
you ne e d the m, or le t anaco nda de cide whe re partitions s hould go.
Size (MB): Ente r the s iz e (in me gabyte s ) of the partition. Note , this fie ld s tarts with
200 MB; unle s s change d, only a 200 MB partition will be cre ate d.
Additional Size Options: Choos e whe the r to ke e p this partition at a fixe d s iz e , to
allow it to "grow" (fill up the available hard drive s pace ) to a ce rtain point, or to allow it
to grow to fill any re maining hard drive s pace available .
If you choos e Fill all space up to (MB), you mus t give s iz e cons traints in the fie ld
to the right of this option. This allows you to ke e p a ce rtain amount of s pace fre e on
your hard drive for future us e .
116
Force to be a primary partition: Se le ct whe the r the partition you are cre ating
s hould be one of the firs t four partitions on the hard drive . If uns e le cte d, the partition is
cre ate d as a logical partition. Re fe r to Se ction A.1.3, “Partitions Within Partitions — An
Ove rvie w of Exte nde d Partitions ”, for more information.
Encrypt: Choos e whe the r to e ncrypt the partition s o that the data s tore d on it cannot
be acce s s e d without a pas s phras e , e ve n if the s torage de vice is conne cte d to anothe r
s ys te m. Re fe r to Appe ndix C, Disk Encryption for information on e ncryption of s torage
de vice s . If you s e le ct this option, the ins talle r prompts you to provide a pas s phras e
be fore it write s the partition to the dis k.
OK: Se le ct OK once you are s atis fie d with the s e ttings and wis h to cre ate the partition.
Cancel: Se le ct Cancel if you do not want to cre ate the partition.
9.15.2.1. File Syst em T ypes
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux allows you to cre ate diffe re nt partition type s and file s ys te ms .
The following is a brie f de s cription of the diffe re nt partition type s and file s ys te ms
available , and how the y can be us e d.
Part it io n t ypes
standard partition — A s tandard partition can contain a file s ys te m or s wap s pace ,
or it can provide a containe r for s oftware RAID or an LVM phys ical volume .
swap — Swap partitions are us e d to s upport virtual me mory. In othe r words , data is
writte n to a s wap partition whe n the re is not e nough RAM to s tore the data your s ys te m
is proce s s ing. Re fe r to the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide for additional
information.
software RAID — Cre ating two or more s oftware RAID partitions allows you to cre ate a
RAID de vice . For more information re garding RAID, re fe r to the chapte r RAID (Redundant
Array of Independent Disks) in the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide .
physical volume (LVM) — Cre ating one or more phys ical volume (LVM) partitions
allows you to cre ate an LVM logical volume . LVM can improve pe rformance whe n us ing
phys ical dis ks . For more information re garding LVM, re fe r to the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux De ployme nt Guide .
File syst ems
ext4 — The e xt4 file s ys te m is bas e d on the e xt3 file s ys te m and fe ature s a numbe r
of improve me nts . The s e include s upport for large r file s ys te ms and large r file s , fas te r
and more e fficie nt allocation of dis k s pace , no limit on the numbe r of s ubdire ctorie s
within a dire ctory, fas te r file s ys te m che cking, and more robus t journaling. A maximum
file s ys te m s iz e of 16TB is s upporte d for e xt4. The e xt4 file s ys te m is s e le cte d by
de fault and is highly re comme nde d.
ext3 — The e xt3 file s ys te m is bas e d on the e xt2 file s ys te m and has one main
advantage — journaling. Us ing a journaling file s ys te m re duce s time s pe nt re cove ring a
file s ys te m afte r a cras h as the re is no ne e d to fsck ⁠ [3] the file s ys te m. A maximum
file s ys te m s iz e of 16TB is s upporte d for e xt3.
ext2 — An e xt2 file s ys te m s upports s tandard Unix file type s (re gular file s , dire ctorie s ,
s ymbolic links , e tc). It provide s the ability to as s ign long file name s , up to 255
characte rs .
117
xfs — XFS is a highly s calable , high-pe rformance file s ys te m that s upports file s ys te ms
up to 16 e xabyte s (approximate ly 16 million te rabyte s ), file s up to 8 e xabyte s
(approximate ly 8 million te rabyte s ) and dire ctory s tructure s containing te ns of millions
of e ntrie s . XFS s upports me tadata journaling, which facilitate s quicke r cras h re cove ry.
The XFS file s ys te m can als o be de fragme nte d and re s iz e d while mounte d and active .
No te
The maximum s iz e of an XFS partition the ins talle r can cre ate is 100 TB.
vfat — The VFAT file s ys te m is a Linux file s ys te m that is compatible with Micros oft
Windows long file name s on the FAT file s ys te m.
Btrfs — Btrfs is unde r de ve lopme nt as a file s ys te m capable of addre s s ing and
managing more file s , large r file s , and large r volume s than the e xt2, e xt3, and e xt4 file
s ys te ms . Btrfs is de s igne d to make the file s ys te m tole rant of e rrors , and to facilitate
the de te ction and re pair of e rrors whe n the y occur. It us e s che cks ums to e ns ure the
validity of data and me tadata, and maintains s naps hots of the file s ys te m that can be
us e d for backup or re pair.
Be caus e Btrfs is s till e xpe rime ntal and unde r de ve lopme nt, the ins tallation program
doe s not offe r it by de fault. If you want to cre ate a Btrfs partition on a drive , you mus t
comme nce the ins tallation proce s s with the boot option btrfs. Re fe r to Chapte r 28,
Boot Options for ins tructions .
Warning
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 include s Btrfs as a te chnology pre vie w to allow you to
e xpe rime nt with this file s ys te m. You s hould not choos e Btrfs for partitions that
will contain valuable data or that are e s s e ntial for the ope ration of important
s ys te ms .
9.15.3. Creat e Sof t ware RAID
Redundant arrays of independent disks (RAIDs ) are cons tructe d from multiple s torage
de vice s that are arrange d to provide incre as e d pe rformance and — in s ome
configurations — gre ate r fault tole rance . Re fe r to the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
De ployme nt Guide for a de s cription of diffe re nt kinds of RAIDs .
To make a RAID de vice , you mus t firs t cre ate s oftware RAID partitions . Once you have
cre ate d two or more s oftware RAID partitions , s e le ct RAID to join the s oftware RAID
partitions into a RAID de vice .
RAID Part it io n
Choos e this option to configure a partition for s oftware RAID. This option is the
only choice available if your dis k contains no s oftware RAID partitions . This is the
s ame dialog that appe ars whe n you add a s tandard partition — re fe r to
Se ction 9.15.2, “Adding Partitions ” for a de s cription of the available options . Note ,
howe ve r, that File System Type mus t be s e t to software RAID
118
Figure 9.43. Creat e a so f t ware RAID part it io n
RAID Device
Choos e this option to cons truct a RAID de vice from two or more e xis ting s oftware
RAID partitions . This option is available if two or more s oftware RAID partitions
have be e n configure d.
119
Figure 9.44. Creat e a RAID device
Se le ct the file s ys te m type as for a s tandard partition.
Anaco nda automatically s ugge s ts a name for the RAID de vice , but you can
manually s e le ct name s from md0 to md15.
Click the che ckboxe s be s ide individual s torage de vice s to include or re move
the m from this RAID.
The RAID Level corre s ponds to a particular type of RAID. Choos e from the
following options :
RAID 0 — dis tribute s data acros s multiple s torage de vice s . Le ve l 0 RAIDs
offe r incre as e d pe rformance ove r s tandard partitions , and can be us e d to pool
the s torage of multiple de vice s into one large virtual de vice . Note that Le ve l 0
RAIDS offe r no re dundancy and that the failure of one de vice in the array
de s troys the e ntire array. RAID 0 re quire s at le as t two RAID partitions .
RAID 1 — mirrors the data on one s torage de vice onto one or more othe r
s torage de vice s . Additional de vice s in the array provide incre as ing le ve ls of
re dundancy. RAID 1 re quire s at le as t two RAID partitions .
RAID 4 — dis tribute s data acros s multiple s torage de vice s , but us e s one
de vice in the array to s tore parity information that s afe guards the array in
cas e any de vice within the array fails . Be caus e all parity information is s tore d
on the one de vice , acce s s to this de vice cre ate s a bottle ne ck in the
pe rformance of the array. RAID 4 re quire s at le as t thre e RAID partitions .
120
RAID 5 — dis tribute s data and parity information acros s multiple s torage
de vice s . Le ve l 5 RAIDs the re fore offe r the pe rformance advantage s of
dis tributing data acros s multiple de vice s , but do not s hare the pe rformance
bottle ne ck of le ve l 4 RAIDs be caus e the parity information is als o dis tribute d
through the array. RAID 5 re quire s at le as t thre e RAID partitions .
RAID 6 — le ve l 6 RAIDs are s imilar to le ve l 5 RAIDs , but ins te ad of s toring only
one s e t of parity data, the y s tore two s e ts . RAID 6 re quire s at le as t four RAID
partitions .
RAID 10 — le ve l 10 RAIDs are nested RAIDs or hybrid RAIDs. Le ve l 10 RAIDs
are cons tructe d by dis tributing data ove r mirrore d s e ts of s torage de vice s . For
e xample , a le ve l 10 RAID cons tructe d from four RAID partitions cons is ts of two
pairs of partitions in which one partition mirrors the othe r. Data is the n
dis tribute d acros s both pairs of s torage de vice s , as in a le ve l 0 RAID. RAID 10
re quire s at le as t four RAID partitions .
9.15.4. Creat e LVM Logical Volume
Impo rtant
LVM initial s e t up is not available during te xt-mode ins tallation. If you ne e d to cre ate
an LVM configuration from s cratch, pre s s Alt+F2 to us e a diffe re nt virtual cons ole ,
and run the lvm command. To re turn to the te xt-mode ins tallation, pre s s Alt+F1.
Logical Volume Management (LVM) pre s e nts a s imple logical vie w of unde rlying phys ical
s torage s pace , s uch as a hard drive s or LUNs . Partitions on phys ical s torage are
re pre s e nte d as physical volumes that can be groupe d toge the r into volume groups. Each
volume group can be divide d into multiple logical volumes, e ach of which is analogous to a
s tandard dis k partition. The re fore , LVM logical volume s function as partitions that can s pan
multiple phys ical dis ks .
To re ad more about LVM, re fe r to the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide . Note ,
LVM is only available in the graphical ins tallation program.
LVM Physical Vo lume
Choos e this option to configure a partition or de vice as an LVM phys ical volume .
This option is the only choice available if your s torage doe s not alre ady contain
LVM Volume Groups . This is the s ame dialog that appe ars whe n you add a
s tandard partition — re fe r to Se ction 9.15.2, “Adding Partitions ” for a de s cription of
the available options . Note , howe ve r, that File System Type mus t be s e t to
physical volume (LVM)
121
Figure 9.45. Creat e an LVM Physical Vo lume
Make LVM Volume Group
Choos e this option to cre ate LVM volume groups from the available LVM phys ical
volume s , or to add e xis ting logical volume s to a volume group.
122
Figure 9.46. Make LVM Vo lume Gro up
To as s ign one or more phys ical volume s to a volume group, firs t name the
volume group. The n s e le ct the phys ical volume s to be us e d in the volume group.
Finally, configure logical volume s on any volume groups us ing the Add, Edit and
Delete options .
You may not re move a phys ical volume from a volume group if doing s o would
le ave ins ufficie nt s pace for that group's logical volume s . Take for e xample a
volume group made up of two 5 GB LVM phys ical volume partitions , which contains
an 8 GB logical volume . The ins talle r would not allow you to re move e ithe r of the
compone nt phys ical volume s , s ince that would le ave only 5 GB in the group for an
8 GB logical volume . If you re duce the total s iz e of any logical volume s
appropriate ly, you may the n re move a phys ical volume from the volume group. In
the e xample , re ducing the s iz e of the logical volume to 4 GB would allow you to
re move one of the 5 GB phys ical volume s .
Make Logical Volume
Choos e this option to cre ate an LVM logical volume . Se le ct a mount point, file
s ys te m type , and s iz e (in MB) jus t as if it we re a s tandard dis k partition. You can
als o choos e a name for the logical volume and s pe cify the volume group to which
it will be long.
123
Figure 9.47. Make Lo gical Vo lume
9.15.5. Recommended Part it ioning Scheme
9.15.5.1. x86, AMD64, and Int el 64 syst ems
We recommend that you create the following partitions for x86, AMD64, and Intel 64
systems:
A swap partition
A /boot partition
A / partition
A home partition
A /boot/efi partition (EFI Sys te m Partition) - only on s ys te ms with UEFI firmware
A swap partition (at le as t 256 MB) — Swap partitions s upport virtual me mory: data is
is proce s s ing.
In ye ars pas t, the re comme nde d amount of s wap s pace incre as e d line arly with the
amount of RAM in the s ys te m. Mode rn s ys te ms ofte n include hundre ds of gigabyte s of
RAM, howe ve r. As a cons e que nce , re comme nde d s wap s pace is cons ide re d a function
of s ys te m me mory workload, not s ys te m me mory.
The following table provide s the re comme nde d s iz e of a s wap partition de pe nding on
the amount of RAM in your s ys te m and whe the r you want s ufficie nt me mory for your
s ys te m to hibe rnate . The re comme nde d s wap partition s iz e is e s tablis he d
automatically during ins tallation. To allow for hibe rnation, howe ve r, you will ne e d to e dit
the s wap s pace in the cus tom partitioning s tage .
124
Impo rtant
Re comme ndations in the table be low are e s pe cially important on s ys te ms with
low me mory (1 GB and le s s ). Failure to allocate s ufficie nt s wap s pace on the s e
s ys te ms may caus e is s ue s s uch as ins tability or e ve n re nde r the ins talle d
s ys te m unbootable .
T able 9.2. Reco mmended Syst em Swap Space
Amo unt o f RAM in t he
syst em
Reco mmended swap
space
Reco mmended swap
space if allo wing f o r
hibernat io n
⩽ 2GB
> 2GB – 8GB
> 8GB – 64GB
2 time s the amount of RAM
Equal to the amount of RAM
At le as t 4 GB
> 64GB
At le as t 4 GB
1.5 time s the amount of
RAM
Hibe rnation not
re comme nde d
At the borde r be twe e n e ach range lis te d above (for e xample , a s ys te m with 2GB, 8GB,
or 64GB of s ys te m RAM), dis cre tion can be e xe rcis e d with re gard to chos e n s wap
s pace and hibe rnation s upport. If your s ys te m re s ource s allow for it, incre as ing the
s wap s pace may le ad to be tte r pe rformance .
Note that dis tributing s wap s pace ove r multiple s torage de vice s — particularly on
s ys te ms with fas t drive s , controlle rs and inte rface s — als o improve s s wap s pace
pe rformance .
No te
Swap s pace s iz e re comme ndations is s ue d for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.0, 6.1,
and 6.2 diffe re d from the curre nt re comme ndations , which we re firs t is s ue d with
the re le as e of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.3 in June 2012 and did not account for
hibe rnation s pace . Automatic ins tallations of the s e e arlie r ve rs ions of Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6 s till ge ne rate a s wap s pace in line with the s e s upe rs e de d
re comme ndations . Howe ve r, manually s e le cting a s wap s pace s iz e in line with
the ne we r re comme ndations is s ue d for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.3 is advis able
for optimal pe rformance .
A /boot/ part it io n (250 MB)
The partition mounte d on /boot/ contains the ope rating s ys te m ke rne l (which allows
your s ys te m to boot Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux), along with file s us e d during the
boots trap proce s s . For mos t us e rs , a 250 MB boot partition is s ufficie nt.
125
Impo rtant
The /boot and / (root) partition in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 can only us e the
e xt2, e xt3, and e xt4 (re comme nde d) file s ys te ms . You cannot us e any othe r file
s ys te m for this partition, s uch as Btrfs , XFS, or VFAT. Othe r partitions , s uch as
/home, can us e any s upporte d file s ys te m, including Btrfs and XFS (if available ).
Se e the following article on the Re d Hat Cus tome r Portal for additional
information: https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /667273.
Warning
Note that normally the /boot partition is cre ate d automatically by the ins talle r.
Howe ve r, if the / (root) partition is large r than 2 TB and (U)EFI is us e d for booting,
you ne e d to cre ate a s e parate /boot partition that is s malle r than 2 TB to boot
the machine s ucce s s fully.
No te
If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinde rs (and your s ys te m was
manufacture d more than two ye ars ago), you may ne e d to cre ate a /boot/
partition if you want the / (root) partition to us e all of the re maining s pace on your
hard drive .
No te
If you have a RAID card, be aware that s ome BIOS type s do not s upport booting
from the RAID card. In cas e s s uch as the s e , the /boot/ partition mus t be cre ate d
on a partition outs ide of the RAID array, s uch as on a s e parate hard drive .
A root partition (3.0 GB - 5.0 GB) — this is whe re "/" (the root dire ctory) is locate d. In
this s e tup, all file s (e xce pt thos e s tore d in /boot) are on the root partition.
A 3.0 GB partition allows you to ins tall a minimal ins tallation, while a 5.0 GB root
partition le ts you pe rform a full ins tallation, choos ing all package groups .
Impo rtant
126
Impo rtant
The / (or root) partition is the top of the dire ctory s tructure . The /root dire ctory
(s ome time s pronounce d "s las h-root") is the home dire ctory of the us e r account
for s ys te m adminis tration.
A home part it io n (at least 10 0 MB)
To s tore us e r data s e parate ly from s ys te m data, cre ate a de dicate d partition within a
volume group for the /home dire ctory. This will e nable you to upgrade or re ins tall Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux without e ras ing us e r data file s .
Many s ys te ms have more partitions than the minimum lis te d above . Choos e partitions
bas e d on your particular s ys te m ne e ds . Re fe r to Se ction 9.15.5.1.1, “Advice on Partitions ”
for more information.
If you cre ate many partitions ins te ad of one large / partition, upgrade s be come e as ie r.
Re fe r to the de s cription of the Edit option in Se ction 9.15, “ Cre ating a Cus tom Layout or
Modifying the De fault Layout ” for more information.
The following table s ummariz e s minimum partition s iz e s for the partitions containing the
lis te d dire ctorie s . You do not have to make a s e parate partition for e ach of the s e
dire ctorie s . For ins tance , if the partition containing /foo mus t be at le as t 500 MB, and you
do not make a s e parate /foo partition, the n the / (root) partition mus t be at le as t 500 MB.
T able 9.3. Minimum part it io n sizes
Direct o ry
Minimum size
/
/usr
/tmp
/var
/home
/boot
250 MB
250 MB
50 MB
384 MB
100 MB
250 MB
No te
Le ave Exce s s Capacity Unallocate d, and only as s ign s torage capacity to thos e
partitions you re quire imme diate ly. You may allocate fre e s pace at any time , to
me e t ne e ds as the y occur. To le arn about a more fle xible me thod for s torage
manage me nt, re fe r to Appe ndix D, Understanding LVM.
If you are not s ure how be s t to configure the partitions for your compute r, acce pt the
de fault partition layout.
9.15.5.1.1. Advice o n Part it io ns
Optimal partition s e tup de pe nds on the us age for the Linux s ys te m in que s tion. The
following tips may he lp you de cide how to allocate your dis k s pace .
127
Cons ide r e ncrypting any partitions that might contain s e ns itive data. Encryption
pre ve nts unauthoriz e d pe ople from acce s s ing the data on the partitions , e ve n if the y
have acce s s to the phys ical s torage de vice . In mos t cas e s , you s hould at le as t e ncrypt
the /home partition.
Each ke rne l ins talle d on your s ys te m re quire s approximate ly 10 MB on the /boot
partition. Unle s s you plan to ins tall a gre at many ke rne ls , the de fault partition s iz e of
250 MB for /boot s hould s uffice .
Impo rtant
The /var dire ctory holds conte nt for a numbe r of applications , including the Apache
we b s e rve r. It als o is us e d to s tore downloade d update package s on a te mporary
bas is . Ens ure that the partition containing the /var dire ctory has e nough s pace to
download pe nding update s and hold your othe r conte nt.
Warning
The PackageKit update s oftware downloads update d package s to
/var/cache/yum/ by de fault. If you partition the s ys te m manually, and cre ate a
s e parate /var/ partition, be s ure to cre ate the partition large e nough (3.0 GB or
more ) to download package update s .
The /usr dire ctory holds the majority of s oftware conte nt on a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
s ys te m. For an ins tallation of the de fault s e t of s oftware , allocate at le as t 4 GB of
s pace . If you are a s oftware de ve lope r or plan to us e your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
s ys te m to le arn s oftware de ve lopme nt s kills , you may want to at le as t double this
allocation.
Cons ide r le aving a portion of the s pace in an LVM volume group unallocate d. This
unallocate d s pace give s you fle xibility if your s pace re quire me nts change but you do
not wis h to re move data from othe r partitions to re allocate s torage .
a If you s e parate s ubdire ctorie s into partitions , you can re tain conte nt in thos e
s ubdire ctorie s if you de cide to ins tall a ne w ve rs ion of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ove r
your curre nt s ys te m. For ins tance , if you inte nd to run a MySQL databas ge in
/var/lib/mysql, make a s e parate partition for that dire ctory in cas e you ne e d to
re ins tall late r.
UEFI s ys te ms s hould contain a 50-150MB /boot/efi partition with an EFI Sys te m
Partition file s ys te m.
The following table is a pos s ible partition s e tup for a s ys te m with a s ingle , ne w 80 GB
hard dis k and 1 GB of RAM. Note that approximate ly 10 GB of the volume group is
unallocate d to allow for future growth.
128
No te
This s e tup is an e xample , and is not optimal for all us e cas e s .
Example 9.1. Example part it io n set up
T able 9.4. Example part it io n set up
Part it io n
Size and t ype
/boot
swap
LVM phys ical volume
250 MB ext3 partition
2 GB s wap
Re maining s pace , as one LVM volume
group
The phys ical volume is as s igne d to the de fault volume group and divide d into the
following logical volume s :
T able 9.5. Example part it io n set up: LVM physical vo lume
Part it io n
Size and t ype
/
/var
/home
13 GB e xt4
4 GB e xt4
50 GB e xt4
9.16. Writ e Changes t o Disk
The ins talle r prompts you to confirm the partitioning options that you s e le cte d. Click Write
changes to disk to allow the ins talle r to partition your hard drive and ins tall Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux.
Figure 9.48. Writ ing st o rage co nf igurat io n t o disk
If you are ce rtain that you want to proce e d, click Write changes to disk.
129
Warning
Up to this point in the ins tallation proce s s , the ins talle r has made no las ting change s
to your compute r. Whe n you click Write changes to disk, the ins talle r will allocate
s pace on your hard drive and s tart to trans fe r Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux into this
s pace . De pe nding on the partitioning option that you chos e , this proce s s might
include e ras ing data that alre ady e xis ts on your compute r.
To re vis e any of the choice s that you made up to this point, click Go back. To cance l
ins tallation comple te ly, s witch off your compute r. To s witch off mos t compute rs at
this s tage , pre s s the powe r button and hold it down for a fe w s e conds .
Afte r you click Write changes to disk, allow the ins tallation proce s s to comple te . If
the proce s s is inte rrupte d (for e xample , by you s witching off or re s e tting the
compute r, or by a powe r outage ) you will probably not be able to us e your compute r
until you re s tart and comple te the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation proce s s , or
ins tall a diffe re nt ope rating s ys te m.
9.17. Package Group Select ion
Now that you have made mos t of the choice s for your ins tallation, you are re ady to
confirm the de fault package s e le ction or cus tomiz e package s for your s ys te m.
The Package Installation Defaults s cre e n appe ars and de tails the de fault package
s e t for your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation. This s cre e n varie s de pe nding on the
ve rs ion of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux you are ins talling.
Impo rtant
If you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux in te xt mode , you cannot make package
s e le ctions . The ins talle r automatically s e le cts package s only from the bas e and core
groups . The s e package s are s ufficie nt to e ns ure that the s ys te m is ope rational at
the e nd of the ins tallation proce s s , re ady to ins tall update s and ne w package s . To
change the package s e le ction, comple te the ins tallation, the n us e the Add/Remo ve
So f t ware application to make de s ire d change s .
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Figure 9.49. Package Gro up Select io n
By de fault, the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation proce s s loads a s e le ction of s oftware
that is s uitable for a s ys te m de ploye d as a bas ic s e rve r. Note that this ins tallation doe s
not include a graphical e nvironme nt. To include a s e le ction of s oftware s uitable for othe r
role s , click the radio button that corre s ponds to one of the following options :
Basic Server
This option provide s a bas ic ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux for us e on a
s e rve r.
Dat abase Server
This option provide s the MySQL and Po st greSQL databas e s .
Web server
This option provide s the Apache we b s e rve r.
Ent erprise Ident it y Server Base
This option provide s OpenLDAP and Ent erprise Ident it y Management (IPA) to
cre ate an ide ntity and authe ntication s e rve r.
Virt ual Ho st
This option provide s the KVM and Virt ual Machine Manager tools to cre ate a
hos t for virtual machine s .
Deskt o p
This option provide s the OpenOf f ice.o rg productivity s uite , graphical tools s uch
as the GIMP, and multime dia applications .
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So f t ware Develo pment Wo rkst at io n
This option provide s the ne ce s s ary tools to compile s oftware on your Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m.
Minimal
This option provide s only the package s e s s e ntial to run Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
A minimal ins tallation provide s the bas is for a s ingle -purpos e s e rve r or de s ktop
appliance and maximiz e s pe rformance and s e curity on s uch an ins tallation.
Warning
Minimal ins tallation curre ntly doe s not configure the fire wall
(iptables/ip6tables) by de fault be caus e the authconfig and system-configfirewall-base package s are mis s ing from the s e le ction. To work around this
is s ue , you can us e a Kicks tart file to add the s e package s to your s e le ction.
Se e the Re d Hat Cus tome r Portal for de tails about the workaround, and
Chapte r 32, Kickstart Installations for information about Kicks tart file s .
If you do not us e the workaround, the ins tallation will comple te s ucce s s fully,
but no fire wall will be configure d, pre s e nting a s e curity ris k.
If you choos e to acce pt the curre nt package lis t, s kip ahe ad to Se ction 9.19, “Ins talling
Package s ”.
To s e le ct a compone nt, click on the che ckbox be s ide it (re fe r to Figure 9.49, “Package
Group Se le ction”).
To cus tomiz e your package s e t furthe r, s e le ct the Customize now option on the s cre e n.
Clicking Next take s you to the Package Group Selection s cre e n.
9.17.1. Inst alling f rom Addit ional Reposit ories
You can de fine additional repositories to incre as e the s oftware available to your s ys te m
during ins tallation. A re pos itory is a ne twork location that s tore s s oftware package s along
with metadata that de s cribe s the m. Many of the s oftware package s us e d in Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux re quire othe r s oftware to be ins talle d. The ins talle r us e s the me tadata to
e ns ure that the s e re quire me nts are me t for e ve ry pie ce of s oftware you s e le ct for
ins tallation.
The bas ic options are :
The High Availability re pos itory include s package s for high-availability clus te ring
(als o known as failover clustering) us ing the Re d Hat High-availability Se rvice
Manage me nt compone nt.
The Load Balancer re pos itory include s package s for load-balancing clus te ring us ing
Linux Virtual Server (LVS).
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux re pos itory is automatically s e le cte d for you. It
contains the comple te colle ction of s oftware that was re le as e d as Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux 6, with the various pie ce s of s oftware in the ir ve rs ions that we re curre nt at the
time of re le as e .
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The Resilient Storage re pos itory include s package s for s torage clus te ring us ing the
Re d Hat global file system (GFS).
For more information about clus te ring with Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6, re fe r to the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6 High Availability Add-On Overview, available from
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s ite /docume ntation/Re d_Hat_Ente rpris e _Linux/.
Figure 9.50 . Adding a so f t ware repo sit o ry
To include s oftware from e xtra repositories, s e le ct Add additional software
repositories and provide the location of the re pos itory.
To e dit an e xis ting s oftware re pos itory location, s e le ct the re pos itory in the lis t and the n
s e le ct Modify repository.
If you change the re pos itory information during a non-ne twork ins tallation, s uch as from a
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD, the ins talle r prompts you for ne twork configuration
information.
133
2. Click OK.
For de tails of how to us e Net wo rkManager, re fe r to Se ction 9.7, “Se tting the Hos tname ”
If you s e le ct Add additional software repositories, the Edit repository dialog
appe ars . Provide a Repository name and the Repository URL for its location.
Once you have locate d a mirror, to de te rmine the URL to us e , find the dire ctory on the
mirror that contains a dire ctory name d repodata.
134
Once you provide information for an additional re pos itory, the ins talle r re ads the package
me tadata ove r the ne twork. Software that is s pe cially marke d is the n include d in the
package group s e le ction s ys te m.
Warning
If you choos e Back from the package s e le ction s cre e n, any e xtra re pos itory data
you may have e nte re d is los t. This allows you to e ffe ctive ly cance l e xtra
re pos itorie s . Curre ntly the re is no way to cance l only a s ingle re pos itory once
e nte re d.
9.17.2. Cust omizing t he Sof t ware Select ion
No te
Your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m automatically s upports the language that you
s e le cte d at the s tart of the ins tallation proce s s . To include s upport for additional
language s , s e le ct the package group for thos e language s from the Languages
cate gory.
Se le ct Customize now to s pe cify the s oftware package s for your final s ys te m in more
de tail. This option caus e s the ins tallation proce s s to dis play an additional cus tomiz ation
s cre e n whe n you s e le ct Next.
Figure 9.53. Package Gro up Det ails
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux divide s the include d s oftware into package groups. For e as e of
us e , the package s e le ction s cre e n dis plays the s e groups as cate gorie s .
135
You can s e le ct package groups , which group compone nts toge the r according to function
(for e xample , X Window System and Editors), individual package s , or a combination of the
two.
To vie w the package groups for a cate gory, s e le ct the cate gory from the lis t on the le ft.
The lis t on the right dis plays the package groups for the curre ntly s e le cte d cate gory.
To s pe cify a package group for ins tallation, s e le ct the che ck box ne xt to the group. The
box at the bottom of the s cre e n dis plays the de tails of the package group that is curre ntly
highlighte d. None of the package s from a group will be ins talle d unle s s the che ck box for
that group is s e le cte d.
If you s e le ct a package group, Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux automatically ins talls the bas e and
mandatory package s for that group. To change which optional package s within a s e le cte d
group will be ins talle d, s e le ct the Optional Packages button unde r the de s cription of the
group. The n us e the che ck box ne xt to an individual package name to change its s e le ction.
In the package s e le ction lis t on the right, you can us e the conte xt me nu as a s hortcut to
s e le ct or de -s e le ct bas e and mandatory package s or all optional package s .
Figure 9.54. Package Select io n List Co nt ext Menu
Afte r you choos e the de s ire d package s , s e le ct Next to proce e d. The ins talle r che cks your
s e le ction, and automatically adds any e xtra package s re quire d to us e the s oftware you
s e le cte d. Whe n you have finis he d s e le cting package s , click Close to s ave your optional
package s e le ctions and re turn to the main package s e le ction s cre e n.
The package s that you s e le ct are not pe rmane nt. Afte r you boot your s ys te m, us e the
Add/Remo ve So f t ware tool to e ithe r ins tall ne w s oftware or re move ins talle d package s .
To run this tool, from the main me nu, s e le ct Syst em → Administ rat io n → Add/Remo ve
So f t ware. The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s oftware manage me nt s ys te m downloads the
late s t package s from ne twork s e rve rs , rathe r than us ing thos e on the ins tallation dis cs .
9.17.2.1. Core Net work Services
All Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallations include the following ne twork s e rvice s :
ce ntraliz e d logging through s ys log
e mail through SMTP (Simple Mail Trans fe r Protocol)
ne twork file s haring through NFS (Ne twork File Sys te m)
re mote acce s s through SSH (Se cure SHe ll)
136
re s ource adve rtis ing through mDNS (multicas t DNS)
The de fault ins tallation als o provide s :
ne twork file trans fe r through HTTP (Hype rTe xt Trans fe r Protocol)
printing through CUPS (Common UNIX Printing Sys te m)
re mote de s ktop acce s s through VNC (Virtual Ne twork Computing)
Some automate d proce s s e s on your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m us e the e mail
s e rvice to s e nd re ports and me s s age s to the s ys te m adminis trator. By de fault, the e mail,
logging, and printing s e rvice s do not acce pt conne ctions from othe r s ys te ms . Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux ins talls the NFS s haring, HTTP, and VNC compone nts without e nabling
thos e s e rvice s .
You may configure your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m afte r ins tallation to offe r e mail,
file s haring, logging, printing and re mote de s ktop acce s s s e rvice s . The SSH s e rvice is
e nable d by de fault. You may us e NFS to acce s s file s on othe r s ys te ms without e nabling
the NFS s haring s e rvice .
9.18. x86, AMD64, and Int el 64 Boot Loader Configurat ion
To boot the s ys te m without boot me dia, you us ually ne e d to ins tall a boot loade r. A boot
loade r is the firs t s oftware program that runs whe n a compute r s tarts . It is re s pons ible for
loading and trans fe rring control to the ope rating s ys te m ke rne l s oftware . The ke rne l, in
turn, initializ e s the re s t of the ope rating s ys te m.
Impo rtant
If you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux in te xt mode , the ins talle r configure s the
bootloade r automatically and you cannot cus tomiz e bootloade r s e ttings during the
ins tallation proce s s .
GRUB (GRand Unifie d Bootloade r), which is ins talle d by de fault, is a ve ry powe rful boot
loade r. GRUB can load a varie ty of fre e ope rating s ys te ms , as we ll as proprie tary
ope rating s ys te ms with chain-loading (the me chanis m for loading uns upporte d ope rating
s ys te ms , s uch as Windows , by loading anothe r boot loade r). Note that the ve rs ion of GRUB
in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 is an old and s table ve rs ion now known as "GRUB Le gacy"
s ince ups tre am de ve lopme nt move d to GRUB 2. ⁠ [4] Re d Hat re mains committe d to
maintaining the ve rs ion of GRUB that we s hip with Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6, jus t as we
do with all package s that we s hip.
No te
The GRUB me nu de faults to be ing hidde n, e xce pt on dual-boot s ys te ms . To s how the
GRUB me nu during s ys te m boot, pre s s and hold the Shift ke y be fore the ke rne l is
loade d. (Any othe r ke y works as we ll but the Shift ke y is the s afe s t to us e .)
137
Figure 9.55. Bo o t Lo ader Co nf igurat io n
If the re are no othe r ope rating s ys te ms on your compute r, or you are comple te ly
re moving any othe r ope rating s ys te ms the ins tallation program will ins tall GRUB as your
boot loade r without any inte rve ntion. In that cas e you may continue on to Se ction 9.17,
“Package Group Se le ction”.
You may have a boot loade r ins talle d on your s ys te m alre ady. An ope rating s ys te m may
ins tall its own pre fe rre d boot loade r, or you may have ins talle d a third-party boot loade r.If
your boot loade r doe s not re cogniz e Linux partitions , you may not be able to boot Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux. Us e GRUB as your boot loade r to boot Linux and mos t othe r ope rating
s ys te ms . Follow the dire ctions in this chapte r to ins tall GRUB.
Warning
If you ins tall GRUB, it may ove rwrite your e xis ting boot loade r.
By de fault, the ins tallation program ins talls GRUB in the mas te r boot re cord or MBR, of the
de vice for the root file s ys te m. To de cline ins tallation of a ne w boot loade r, uns e le ct
Install boot loader on /dev/sda.
Warning
If you choos e not to ins tall GRUB for any re as on, you will not be able to boot the
s ys te m dire ctly, and you mus t us e anothe r boot me thod (s uch as a comme rcial boot
loade r application). Us e this option only if you are s ure you have anothe r way of
booting the s ys te m!
138
If you have othe r ope rating s ys te ms alre ady ins talle d, Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux atte mpts
to automatically de te ct and configure GRUB to boot the m. You may manually configure any
additional ope rating s ys te ms if GRUB doe s not de te ct the m.
To add, re move , or change the de te cte d ope rating s ys te m s e ttings , us e the options
provide d.
Add
Se le ct Add to include an additional ope rating s ys te m in GRUB.
Se le ct the dis k partition which contains the bootable ope rating s ys te m from the
drop-down lis t and give the e ntry a labe l. GRUB dis plays this labe l in its boot
me nu.
Edit
To change an e ntry in the GRUB boot me nu, s e le ct the e ntry and the n s e le ct
Edit.
Delete
To re move an e ntry from the GRUB boot me nu, s e le ct the e ntry and the n s e le ct
Delete.
Se le ct Default be s ide the pre fe rre d boot partition to choos e your de fault bootable OS.
You cannot move forward in the ins tallation unle s s you choos e a de fault boot image .
No te
The Label column lis ts what you mus t e nte r at the boot prompt, in non-graphical
boot loade rs , in orde r to boot the de s ire d ope rating s ys te m.
Once you have loade d the GRUB boot s cre e n, us e the arrow ke ys to choos e a boot
labe l or type e for e dit. You are pre s e nte d with a lis t of ite ms in the configuration file
for the boot labe l you have s e le cte d.
Boot loade r pas s words provide a s e curity me chanis m in an e nvironme nt whe re phys ical
acce s s to your s e rve r is available .
If you are ins talling a boot loade r, you s hould cre ate a pas s word to prote ct your s ys te m.
Without a boot loade r pas s word, us e rs with acce s s to your s ys te m can pas s options to the
ke rne l which can compromis e your s ys te m s e curity. With a boot loade r pas s word in place ,
the pas s word mus t firs t be e nte re d be fore s e le cting any non-s tandard boot options .
Howe ve r, it is s till pos s ible for s ome one with phys ical acce s s to the machine to boot from
a dis ke tte , CD-ROM, DVD, or USB me dia if the BIOS s upports it. Se curity plans which
include boot loade r pas s words s hould als o addre s s alte rnate boot me thods .
139
No te
You may not re quire a GRUB pas s word if your s ys te m only has trus te d ope rators ,
or is phys ically s e cure d with controlle d cons ole acce s s . Howe ve r, if an untrus te d
pe rs on can ge t phys ical acce s s to your compute r's ke yboard and monitor, that
pe rs on can re boot the s ys te m and acce s s GRUB. A pas s word is he lpful in this cas e .
If you choos e to us e a boot loade r pas s word to e nhance your s ys te m s e curity, be s ure to
s e le ct the che ckbox labe le d Use a boot loader password.
Once s e le cte d, e nte r a pas s word and confirm it.
GRUB s tore s the pas s word in e ncrypte d form, s o it cannot be re ad or re cove re d. If you
forge t the boot pas s word, boot the s ys te m normally and the n change the pas s word e ntry
in the /boot/grub/grub.conf file . If you cannot boot, you may be able to us e the
"re s cue " mode on the firs t Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation dis c to re s e t the GRUB
pas s word.
If you do ne e d to change the GRUB pas s word, us e the grub-md5-crypt utility. For
information on us ing this utility, us e the command man grub-md5-crypt in a te rminal
window to re ad the manual page s .
Impo rtant
Whe n s e le cting a GRUB pas s word, be aware that GRUB re cogniz e s only the QWERTY
ke yboard layout, re gardle s s of the ke yboard actually attache d to the s ys te m. If you
us e a ke yboard with a s ignificantly diffe re nt layout, it might be more e ffe ctive to
me moriz e a patte rn of ke ys troke s rathe r than the word that the patte rn produce s .
To configure more advance d boot loade r options , s uch as changing the drive orde r or
pas s ing options to the ke rne l, be s ure Configure advanced boot loader options is
s e le cte d be fore clicking Next.
9.18.1. Advanced Boot Loader Conf igurat ion
Now that you have chos e n which boot loade r to ins tall, you can als o de te rmine whe re you
want the boot loade r to be ins talle d. You may ins tall the boot loade r in one of two place s :
The Mas te r Boot Re cord (MBR) — This is the re comme nde d place to ins tall a boot loade r
on s ys te ms with BIOS firmware , unle s s the MBR alre ady s tarts anothe r ope rating
s ys te m loade r, s uch as Sys te m Commande r. The MBR is a s pe cial are a on your hard
drive that is automatically loade d by your compute r's BIOS, and is the e arlie s t point at
which the boot loade r can take control of the boot proce s s . If you ins tall it in the MBR,
whe n your machine boots , GRUB pre s e nts a boot prompt. You can the n boot Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux or any othe r ope rating s ys te m that you have configure d the boot
loade r to boot.
The EFI Sys te m Partition — Sys te ms with UEFI firmware re quire a s pe cial partition for
ins talling the boot loade r. This s hould be a phys ical (non-LVM) partition of the efi type
at le as t 50 MB in s iz e ; the re comme nde d s iz e is 200 MB. The drive containing this
partition mus t be labe le d with a GUID Partition Table (GPT) ins te ad of a Mas te r Boot
Re cord. If you are ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on a drive with a MBR, the drive
mus t be re labe le d; all data on the drive will be los t in the proce s s .
140
The firs t s e ctor of your boot partition — This is re comme nde d if you are alre ady us ing
anothe r boot loade r on your s ys te m. In this cas e , your othe r boot loade r take s control
firs t. You can the n configure that boot loade r to s tart GRUB, which the n boots Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux.
No te
If you ins tall GRUB as a s e condary boot loade r, you mus t re configure your
primary boot loade r whe ne ve r you ins tall and boot from a ne w ke rne l. The ke rne l
of an ope rating s ys te m s uch as Micros oft Windows doe s not boot in the s ame
fas hion. Mos t us e rs the re fore us e GRUB as the primary boot loade r on dual-boot
s ys te ms .
Figure 9.56. Bo o t Lo ader Inst allat io n
No te
the RAID card. In cas e s s uch as the s e , the boot loade r should not be ins talle d on the
MBR of the RAID array. Rathe r, the boot loade r s hould be ins talle d on the MBR of the
s ame drive as the /boot/ partition was cre ate d.
If your s ys te m only us e s Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, you s hould choos e the MBR.
Click the Change Drive Order button if you would like to re arrange the drive orde r or if
your BIOS doe s not re turn the corre ct drive orde r. Changing the drive orde r may be
us e ful if you have multiple SCSI adapte rs , or both SCSI and IDE adapte rs , and you want to
boot from the SCSI de vice .
141
No te
While partitioning your hard drive , ke e p in mind that the BIOS in s ome olde r
s ys te ms cannot acce s s more than the firs t 1024 cylinde rs on a hard drive . If this is
the cas e , le ave e nough room for the /boot Linux partition on the firs t 1024
cylinde rs of your hard drive to boot Linux. The othe r Linux partitions can be afte r
cylinde r 1024.
In parted, 1024 cylinde rs e quals 528MB. For more information, re fe r to:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/bios/sizeMB504-c.html
9.18.2. Rescue Mode
Re s cue mode provide s the ability to boot a s mall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux e nvironme nt
e ntire ly from boot me dia or s ome othe r boot me thod ins te ad of the s ys te m's hard drive .
The re may be time s whe n you are unable to ge t Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux running
comple te ly e nough to acce s s file s on your s ys te m's hard drive . Us ing re s cue mode , you
can acce s s the file s s tore d on your s ys te m's hard drive , e ve n if you cannot actually run
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from that hard drive . If you ne e d to us e re s cue mode , try the
following me thod:
Boot an x86, AMD64, or Inte l 64 s ys te m from any ins tallation me dium, s uch as CD,
DVD, USB, or PXE, and type linux rescue at the ins tallation boot prompt. Re fe r to
Chapte r 36, Basic System Recovery for a more comple te de s cription of re s cue mode .
For additional information, re fe r to the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide .
9.18.3. Alt ernat ive Boot Loaders
GRUB is the de fault bootloade r for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, but is not the only choice . A
varie ty of ope n-s ource and proprie tary alte rnative s to GRUB are available to load Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux, including LILO, SYSLINUX, and Acro nis Disk Direct o r Suit e.
Impo rtant
Re d Hat doe s not provide cus tome r s upport for third-party boot loade rs .
9.19. Inst alling Packages
At this point the re is nothing le ft for you to do until all the package s have be e n ins talle d.
How quickly this happe ns de pe nds on the numbe r of package s you have s e le cte d and
your compute r's s pe e d.
De pe nding on the available re s ource s , you might s e e the following progre s s bar while the
ins talle r re s olve s de pe nde ncie s of the package s you s e le cte d for ins tallation:
142
Figure 9.57. St art ing inst allat io n
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux re ports the ins tallation progre s s on the s cre e n as it write s the
s e le cte d package s to your s ys te m.
Figure 9.58. Packages co mplet ed
For your re fe re nce , a comple te log of your ins tallation can be found in /root/install.log
once you re boot your s ys te m.
Afte r ins tallation comple te s , s e le ct Reboot to re s tart your compute r. Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux e je cts any loade d dis cs be fore the compute r re boots .
9.20. Inst allat ion Complet e
Congratulations ! Your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation is now comple te !
The ins tallation program prompts you to pre pare your s ys te m for re boot. Re me mbe r to
re move any ins tallation me dia if it is not e je cte d automatically upon re boot.
Afte r your compute r's normal powe r-up s e que nce has comple te d, Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux loads and s tarts . By de fault, the s tart proce s s is hidde n be hind a graphical s cre e n
that dis plays a progre s s bar. Eve ntually, a login: prompt or a GUI login s cre e n (if you
ins talle d the X Window Sys te m and chos e to s tart X automatically) appe ars .
The firs t time you s tart your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m in run le ve l 5 (the graphical
run le ve l), the First Bo o t tool appe ars , which guide s you through the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux configuration. Us ing this tool, you can s e t your s ys te m time and date , ins tall
s oftware , re gis te r your machine with Re d Hat Ne twork, and more . First Bo o t le ts you
configure your e nvironme nt at the be ginning, s o that you can ge t s tarte d us ing your Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m quickly.
Chapte r 34, Firstboot will guide you through the configuration proce s s .
143
[2] A root password is the adm inistrative password for your Red Hat Enterprise Linux system .
You should only log in as root when needed for system m aintenance. The root account does
not operate within the restrictions placed on norm al user accounts, so changes m ade as root
can have im plications for your entire system .
[3] The fsck application is used to check the file system for m etadata consistency and
optionally repair one or m ore Linux file system s.
[4] http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub-legacy.htm l
144
⁠C hapt e r 10 . T r o uble s ho o t ing Ins t allat io n o n an Int e l o r AMD Sys t e m
Chapt er 10. Troubleshoot ing Inst allat ion on an Int el or
AMD Syst em
This s e ction dis cus s e s s ome common ins tallation proble ms and the ir s olutions .
For de bugging purpos e s , anaco nda logs ins tallation actions into file s in the /tmp
dire ctory. The s e file s include :
/tmp/anaconda.log
ge ne ral anaco nda me s s age s
/tmp/program.log
all e xte rnal programs run by anaco nda
/tmp/storage.log
e xte ns ive s torage module information
/tmp/yum.log
yum package ins tallation me s s age s
/tmp/syslog
hardware -re late d s ys te m me s s age s
If the ins tallation fails , the me s s age s from the s e file s are cons olidate d into
/tmp/anaconda-tb-identifier, whe re identifier is a random s tring.
All of the file s above re s ide in the ins talle r's ramdis k and are thus volatile . To make a
pe rmane nt copy, copy thos e file s to anothe r s ys te m on the ne twork us ing scp on the
ins tallation image (not the othe r way round).
10.1. You Are Unable t o Boot Red Hat Ent erprise Linux
10.1.1. Are You Unable t o Boot Wit h Your RAID Card?
If you have pe rforme d an ins tallation and cannot boot your s ys te m prope rly, you may
ne e d to re ins tall and cre ate your partitions diffe re ntly.
Some BIOS type s do not s upport booting from RAID cards . At the e nd of an ins tallation, a
te xt-bas e d s cre e n s howing the boot loade r prompt (for e xample , GRUB: ) and a flas hing
curs or may be all that appe ars . If this is the cas e , you mus t re partition your s ys te m.
Whe the r you choos e automatic or manual partitioning, you mus t ins tall your /boot partition
outs ide of the RAID array, s uch as on a s e parate hard drive . An inte rnal hard drive is
ne ce s s ary to us e for partition cre ation with proble matic RAID cards .
You mus t als o ins tall your pre fe rre d boot loade r (GRUB or LILO) on the MBR of a drive that
is outs ide of the RAID array. This s hould be the s ame drive that hos ts the /boot/
partition.
Once the s e change s have be e n made , you s hould be able to finis h your ins tallation and
boot the s ys te m prope rly.
10.1.2. Is Your Syst em Displaying Signal 11 Errors?
145
A s ignal 11 e rror, commonly known as a segmentation fault, me ans that the program
acce s s e d a me mory location that was not as s igne d to it. A s ignal 11 e rror may be due to a
bug in one of the s oftware programs that is ins talle d, or faulty hardware .
If you re ce ive a fatal s ignal 11 e rror during your ins tallation, it is probably due to a
hardware e rror in me mory on your s ys te m's bus . Like othe r ope rating s ys te ms , Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux place s its own de mands on your s ys te m's hardware . Some of this
hardware may not be able to me e t thos e de mands , e ve n if the y work prope rly unde r
anothe r OS.
Ens ure that you have the late s t ins tallation update s and image s . Re vie w the online e rrata
to s e e if ne we r ve rs ions are available . If the late s t image s s till fail, it may be due to a
proble m with your hardware . Commonly, the s e e rrors are in your me mory or CPU-cache . A
pos s ible s olution for this e rror is turning off the CPU-cache in the BIOS, if your s ys te m
s upports this . You could als o try to s wap your me mory around in the mothe rboard s lots to
che ck if the proble m is e ithe r s lot or me mory re late d.
Anothe r option is to pe rform a me dia che ck on your ins tallation DVD. Anaco nda, the
ins tallation program, has the ability to te s t the inte grity of the ins tallation me dia. It works
with the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO ins tallation me thods . Re d Hat re comme nds that
you te s t all ins tallation me dia be fore s tarting the ins tallation proce s s , and be fore re porting
any ins tallation-re late d bugs (many of the bugs re porte d are actually due to imprope rlyburne d DVDs ). To us e this te s t, type the following command at the boot: or yaboot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
For more information conce rning s ignal 11 e rrors , re fe r to:
http://www.bitwizard.nl/sig11/
10.1.3. Diagnosing Early Boot Problems
The boot console may be us e ful in cas e s whe re your s ys te m fails to boot, but doe s
s ucce s s fully dis play the GRUB boot me nu. Me s s age s in the boot cons ole can inform you
of the curre nt ke rne l ve rs ion, command line parame te rs which have be e n pas s e d to the
ke rne l from the boot me nu, e nable d hardware s upport for the curre nt ke rne l, phys ical
me mory map and othe r information which may he lp you find the caus e of your proble ms .
To e nable the boot cons ole , s e le ct an e ntry in the GRUB boot me nu, and pre s s e to e dit
boot options . On the line s tarting with the ke yword kernel (or linux in s ome cas e s ),
appe nd the following:
On a s ys te m with BIOS firmware , appe nd earlyprintk=vga,keep. Boot cons ole
me s s age s s hould the n be dis playe d on the s ys te m dis play.
On a s ys te m with UEFI firmware , appe nd earlyprintk=efi,keep. Boot cons ole
me s s age s s hould the n be dis playe d in the EFI frame buffe r.
You can als o appe nd the quiet option (if not pre s e nt alre ady) to s uppre s s all othe r
me s s age s and only dis play me s s age s from the boot cons ole .
146
No te
The e arlyprintk options for BIOS and UEFI s hould als o be e nable d in the ke rne l's
/boot/config-version file - the CONFIG_EARLY_PRINTK= and
CONFIG_EARLY_PRINTK_EFI= options mus t be s e t to the y value . The y are e nable d
by de fault, but if you dis able d the m, you may ne e d to mount the /boot partition in
re s cue mode and e dit the configuration file to re -e nable the m.
10.2. T rouble Beginning t he Inst allat ion
10.2.1. Problems wit h Boot ing int o t he Graphical Inst allat ion
The re are s ome vide o cards that have trouble booting into the graphical ins tallation
program. If the ins tallation program doe s not run us ing its de fault s e ttings , it trie s to run in
a lowe r re s olution mode . If that s till fails , the ins tallation program atte mpts to run in te xt
mode .
One pos s ible s olution is to us e only a bas ic vide o drive r during ins tallation. You can do this
e ithe r by s e le cting Install system with basic video driver on the boot me nu, or
us ing the xdriver=vesa boot option at the boot prompt. Alte rnative ly, you can force the
ins talle r to us e a s pe cific s cre e n re s olution with the resolution= boot option. This option
may be mos t he lpful for laptop us e rs . Anothe r s olution to try is the driver= option to
s pe cify the drive r that s hould be loade d for your vide o card. If this works , you s hould
re port it as a bug, be caus e the ins talle r faile d to de te ct your vide o card automatically.
Re fe r to Chapte r 28, Boot Options for more information on boot options .
No te
To dis able frame buffe r s upport and allow the ins tallation program to run in te xt
mode , try us ing the nofb boot option. This command may be ne ce s s ary for
acce s s ibility with s ome s cre e n re ading hardware .
10.3. T rouble During t he Inst allat ion
10.3.1. T he "No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux " Error
Message
If you re ce ive an e rror me s s age s tating No devices found to install Red Hat
Enterprise Linux, the re is probably a SCSI controlle r that is not be ing re cogniz e d by the
Che ck your hardware ve ndor's we bs ite to de te rmine if a drive r update is available that
fixe s your proble m. For more ge ne ral information on drive r update s , re fe r to Chapte r 6,
Updating Drivers During Installation on Intel and AMD Systems.
You can als o re fe r to the Red Hat Hardware Compatibility List, available online at:
https ://hardware .re dhat.com/
147
10.3.2. Saving T raceback Messages
If anaco nda e ncounte rs an e rror during the graphical ins tallation proce s s , it pre s e nts you
with a cras h re porting dialog box:
Figure 10 .1. T he Crash Repo rt ing Dialo g Bo x
Det ails
s hows you the de tails of the e rror:
148
Figure 10 .2. Det ails o f t he Crash
Save
s ave s de tails of the e rror locally or re mote ly:
Exit
e xits the ins tallation proce s s .
If you s e le ct Save from the main dialog, you can choos e from the following options :
149
Figure 10 .3. Select repo rt er
Lo gger
s ave s de tails of the e rror as a log file to the local hard drive at a s pe cifie d
location.
Red Hat Cust o mer Suppo rt
s ubmits the cras h re port to Cus tome r Support for as s is tance .
Repo rt uplo ader
uploads a compre s s e d ve rs ion of the cras h re port to Bugz illa or a URL of your
choice .
Be fore s ubmitting the re port, click Preferences to s pe cify a de s tination or provide
authe ntication de tails . Se le ct the re porting me thod you ne e d to configure and click
Configure Event.
150
Figure 10 .4. Co nf igure repo rt er pref erences
Lo gger
Spe cify a path and a file name for the log file . Che ck Append if you are adding to
an e xis ting log file .
Figure 10 .5. Specif y lo cal pat h f o r lo g f ile
151
Ente r your Re d Hat Ne twork us e rname and pas s word s o your re port re ache s
Cus tome r Support and is linke d with your account. The URL is pre fille d and Verify
SSL is che cke d by de fault.
Figure 10 .6. Ent er Red Hat Net wo rk aut hent icat io n det ails
Repo rt uplo ader
Spe cify a URL for uploading a compre s s e d ve rs ion of the cras h re port.
Figure 10 .7. Ent er URL f o r uplo ading crash repo rt
Bugzilla
Ente r your Bugz illa us e rname and pas s word to lodge a bug with Re d Hat's bugtracking s ys te m us ing the cras h re port. The URL is pre fille d and Verify SSL is
che cke d by de fault.
152
Figure 10 .8. Ent er Bugzilla aut hent icat io n det ails
Once you have e nte re d your pre fe re nce s , click OK to re turn to the re port s e le ction dialog.
Se le ct how you would like to re port the proble m and the n click Forward.
Figure 10 .9. Co nf irm repo rt dat a
153
You can now cus tomiz e the re port by che cking and unche cking the is s ue s that will be
include d. Whe n finis he d, click Apply.
Figure 10 .10 . Repo rt in pro gress
This s cre e n dis plays the outcome of the re port, including any e rrors in s e nding or s aving
the log. Click Forward to proce e d.
Figure 10 .11. Repo rt ing do ne
154
Re porting is now comple te . Click Forward to re turn to the re port s e le ction dialog. You can
now make anothe r re port, or click Close to e xit the re porting utility and the n Exit to clos e
10.3.3. T rouble wit h Part it ion T ables
If you re ce ive an e rror afte r the Disk Partitioning Setup (Se ction 9.13, “Dis k
Partitioning Se tup”) phas e of the ins tallation s aying s ome thing s imilar to
The partition table on de vice hda was unre adable . To cre ate ne w partitions it
mus t be initializ e d, caus ing the los s of ALL DATA on this drive .
you may not have a partition table on that drive or the partition table on the drive may not
be re cogniz able by the partitioning s oftware us e d in the ins tallation program.
Us e rs who have us e d programs s uch as EZ-BIOS have e xpe rie nce d s imilar proble ms ,
caus ing data to be los t (as s uming the data was not backe d up be fore the ins tallation
be gan) that could not be re cove re d.
No matte r what type of ins tallation you are pe rforming, backups of the e xis ting data on
your s ys te ms s hould always be made .
10.3.4. Using Remaining Space
You have a swap and a / (root) partition cre ate d, and you have s e le cte d the root partition
to us e the re maining s pace , but it doe s not fill the hard drive .
If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinde rs , you mus t cre ate a /boot partition if you
want the / (root) partition to us e all of the re maining s pace on your hard drive .
10.3.5. T he "drive must have a GPT disk label" Error Message
Whe n ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on a s ys te m with UEFI s ys te m and us ing a dis k
with an e xis ting partitioning layout as the boot drive (the drive whe re the boot loade r is
ins talle d), you may e ncounte r the following e rror me s s age during cus tom partitioning:
sda must have a GPT disk label
This happe ns be caus e the boot drive (in this cas e , sda) has a Mas te r Boot Re cord (MBR)
labe l, but UEFI s ys te ms re quire a GUID Partition Table (GPT) labe l. The re fore you can not
re us e an e xis ting partitioning layout on a MBR-labe le d drive ; the dis k mus t be re labe le d,
which me ans you will have to cre ate a ne w partition layout and los e all e xis ting data.
To work around this proble m, go back to the s cre e n whe re you s e le ct your partitioning
s trate gy. Se le ct an option other than cus tom partitioning (for e xample Use All Space).
Make s ure to che ck the Review and modify partitioning layout che ck box, and click
Next.
On the following s cre e n, modify the automatically cre ate d layout s o it s uits your ne e ds .
Afte r you finis h and click Next, Anaco nda will us e your layout and re labe l the drive
automatically.
You can als o s olve this is s ue by us ing a Kicks tart file or by re labe ling the dis k us ing a
diffe re nt s ys te m be fore you be gin the ins tallation. Se e Se ction 3.5.2, “Dis k Drive s with
MBR on UEFI Sys te ms ” for de tails . Als o s e e Se ction A.1.2, “Partitions : Turning One Drive
Into Many” for additional information about MBR and GPT.
155
10.3.6. Ot her Part it ioning Problems
If you cre ate partitions manually, but cannot move to the ne xt s cre e n, you probably have
not cre ate d all the partitions ne ce s s ary for ins tallation to proce e d.
You mus t have the following partitions as a bare minimum:
A / (root) partition
A <s wap> partition of type s wap
Re fe r to Se ction 9.15.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ” for more information.
No te
Whe n de fining a partition's type as s wap, do not as s ign it a mount point. Anaco nda
automatically as s igns the mount point for you.
10.4. Problems Aft er Inst allat ion
10.4.1. T rouble Wit h t he Graphical GRUB Screen on an x86-based
Syst em?
If you are e xpe rie ncing proble ms with GRUB, you may ne e d to dis able the graphical boot
s cre e n. To do this , be come the root us e r and e dit the /boot/grub/grub.conf file .
Within the grub.conf file , comme nt out the line which be gins with splashimage by
ins e rting the # characte r at the be ginning of the line .
Pre s s Enter to e xit the e diting mode .
Once the boot loade r s cre e n has re turne d, type b to boot the s ys te m.
Once you re boot, the grub.conf file is re re ad and any change s you have made take
e ffe ct.
You may re -e nable the graphical boot s cre e n by uncomme nting (or adding) the above line
back into the grub.conf file .
10.4.2. Boot ing int o a Graphical Environment
If you have ins talle d the X Window Sys te m but are not s e e ing a graphical de s ktop
e nvironme nt once you log into your s ys te m, you can s tart the X Window Sys te m graphical
inte rface us ing the command startx.
Once you e nte r this command and pre s s Enter, the graphical de s ktop e nvironme nt is
dis playe d.
Note , howe ve r, that this is jus t a one -time fix and doe s not change the log in proce s s for
future log ins .
To s e t up your s ys te m s o that you can log in at a graphical login s cre e n, you mus t e dit
one file , /etc/inittab, by changing jus t one numbe r in the runle ve l s e ction. Whe n you
are finis he d, re boot the compute r. The ne xt time you log in, you are pre s e nte d with a
graphical login prompt.
156
Ope n a s he ll prompt. If you are in your us e r account, be come root by typing the su
command.
Now, type the following to e dit the file with gedit .
gedit /etc/inittab
The file /etc/inittab ope ns . Within the firs t s cre e n, a s e ction of the file which looks like
the following appe ars :
# 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:
To change from a cons ole to a graphical login, you s hould change the numbe r in the line
id:3:initdefault: from a 3 to a 5.
Warning
Change only the numbe r of the de fault runle ve l from 3 to 5.
Your change d line s hould look like the following:
id:5:initdefault:
Whe n you are s atis fie d with your change , s ave and e xit the file us ing the Ctrl+Q ke ys . A
window appe ars and as ks if you would like to s ave the change s . Click Save.
The ne xt time you log in afte r re booting your s ys te m, you are pre s e nte d with a graphical
login prompt.
10.4.3. Problems wit h t he X Window Syst em (GUI)
If you are having trouble ge tting X (the X Window Sys te m) to s tart, you may not have
ins talle d it during your ins tallation.
If you want X, you can e ithe r ins tall the package s from the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ins tallation me dia or pe rform an upgrade .
If you e le ct to upgrade , s e le ct the X Window Sys te m package s , and choos e GNOME, KDE,
or both, during the upgrade package s e le ction proce s s .
Re fe r to Se ction 35.3, “Switching to a Graphical Login” for more de tail on ins talling a
de s ktop e nvironme nt.
10.4.4. Problems wit h t he X Server Crashing and Non-Root Users
157
If you are having trouble with the X s e rve r cras hing whe n anyone logs in, you may have a
full file s ys te m (or, a lack of available hard drive s pace ).
To ve rify that this is the proble m you are e xpe rie ncing, run the following command:
df -h
The df command s hould he lp you diagnos e which partition is full. For additional information
about df and an e xplanation of the options available (s uch as the -h option us e d in this
e xample ), re fe r to the df man page by typing man df at a s he ll prompt.
A ke y indicator is 100% full or a pe rce ntage above 90% or 95% on a partition. The /home/
and /tmp/ partitions can s ome time s fill up quickly with us e r file s . You can make s ome
room on that partition by re moving old file s . Afte r you fre e up s ome dis k s pace , try
running X as the us e r that was uns ucce s s ful be fore .
10.4.5. Problems When You T ry t o Log In
If you did not cre ate a us e r account in the f irst bo o t s cre e ns , s witch to a cons ole by
pre s s ing Ctrl+Alt+F2, log in as root and us e the pas s word you as s igne d to root.
If you cannot re me mbe r your root pas s word, boot your s ys te m as linux single.
If you are us ing an x86-bas e d s ys te m and GRUB is your ins talle d boot loade r, type e for
e dit whe n the GRUB boot s cre e n has loade d. You are pre s e nte d with a lis t of ite ms in the
configuration file for the boot labe l you have s e le cte d.
Choos e the line that s tarts with kernel and type e to e dit this boot e ntry.
At the e nd of the kernel line , add:
single
Pre s s Enter to e xit e dit mode .
Once you have boote d into s ingle us e r mode and have acce s s to the # prompt, you mus t
type passwd root, which allows you to e nte r a ne w pas s word for root. At this point you
can type shutdown -r now to re boot the s ys te m with the ne w root pas s word.
If you cannot re me mbe r your us e r account pas s word, you mus t be come root. To be come
root, type su - and e nte r your root pas s word whe n prompte d. The n, type passwd
<username>. This allows you to e nte r a ne w pas s word for the s pe cifie d us e r account.
If the graphical login s cre e n doe s not appe ar, che ck your hardware for compatibility
is s ue s . The Hardware Compatibility List can be found at:
10.4.6. Is Your RAM Not Being Recognized?
Some time s , the ke rne l doe s not re cogniz e all of your me mory (RAM). You can che ck this
with the cat /proc/meminfo command.
158
Ve rify that the dis playe d quantity is the s ame as the known amount of RAM in your
s ys te m. If the y are not e qual, add the following line to the /boot/grub/grub.conf:
mem=xxM
Re place xx with the amount of RAM you have in me gabyte s .
In /boot/grub/grub.conf, the above e xample would look s imilar 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-6d5ab207-002689545705 mem=1024M
initrd /initrd-(2.6.32.130.el6.i686.img
Once you re boot, the change s made to grub.conf are re fle cte d on your s ys te m.
Once you have loade d the GRUB boot s cre e n, type e for e dit. You are pre s e nte d with a lis t
of ite ms in the configuration file for the boot labe l you have s e le cte d.
Choos e the line that s tarts with kernel and type e to e dit this boot e ntry.
At the e nd of the kernel line , add
mem=xxM
whe re xx e quals the amount of RAM in your s ys te m.
Pre s s Enter to e xit e dit mode .
Re me mbe r to re place xx with the amount of RAM in your s ys te m. Pre s s Enter to boot.
10.4.7. Your Print er Does Not Work
If you are not s ure how to s e t up your printe r or are having trouble ge tting it to work
prope rly, try us ing the Print er Co nf igurat io n T o o l.
Type the system-config-printer command at a s he ll prompt to launch the Print er
Co nf igurat io n T o o l. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root pas s word to
continue .
10.4.8. Apache HT T P Server or Sendmail St ops Responding During
St art up
If Apache HT T P Server (ht t pd) or Sendmail s tops re s ponding during s tartup, make
s ure the following line is in the /etc/hosts file :
127.0.0.1
localhost.localdomain
localhost
159
⁠P art II. IBM Power Syst ems — Inst allat ion and Boot ing
This part of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide include s information about
ins tallation and bas ic pos t-ins tallation trouble s hooting for IBM Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs . IBM
Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs include IBM Powe rLinux s e rve rs and POWER7 and POWER6
Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs running Linux.
For advance d ins tallation options , re fe r to Part IV, “Advance d Ins tallation Options ”.
Impo rtant
Pre vious re le as e s of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s upporte d 32-bit and 64-bit
Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs (ppc and ppc64 re s pe ctive ly). Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6
s upports only 64-bit Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs (ppc64).
160
⁠C hapt e r 11. Planning f o r Ins t allat io n o n Po we r Sys t e ms Se r ve r s
Chapt er 11. Planning for Inst allat ion on
Power Syst ems Servers
11.1. Upgrade or Inst all?
While automate d in-place upgrade s are now s upporte d, the s upport is curre ntly limite d to
AMD64 and Inte l 64 s ys te ms . If you have an e xis ting ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux on an IBM Powe r Sys te ms s e rve r, you mus t pe rform a cle an ins tall to migrate to
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 7. A cle an ins tall is pe rforme d by backing up all data from the
s ys te m, formatting dis k partitions , pe rforming an ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 7
from ins tallation me dia, and the n re s toring any us e r data.
11.2. Hardware Requirement s
For ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on IBM Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs , Re d Hat
s upports hard drive s conne cte d by a s tandard inte rnal inte rface , s uch as SCSI, SATA, or
SAS.
Fibre Channe l Hos t Bus Adapte rs and multipath de vice s are s upporte d. Ve ndor-provide d
drive rs may be re quire d for ce rtain hardware .
Virtualiz e d ins tallation on Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs is als o s upporte d whe n us ing Virtual
SCSI (vSCSI) adapte rs in virtual clie nt LPARs .
Note that Re d Hat doe s not s upport ins tallation to USB drive s or SD me mory cards .
11.3. Inst allat ion T ools
IBM Inst allat io n T o o lkit is an optional tool that s pe e ds up the ins tallation of Linux and
is e s pe cially he lpful for thos e unfamiliar with Linux. Us e the IBM Inst allat io n T o o lkit for
the following actions : ⁠ [5]
Ins tall and configure Linux on a non-virtualiz e d Powe r Sys te ms s e rve r.
Ins tall and configure Linux on s e rve rs with pre vious ly-configure d logical partitions
(LPARs , als o known as virtualiz e d s e rve rs ).
Ins tall IBM s e rvice and productivity tools on a ne w or pre vious ly ins talle d Linux s ys te m.
The IBM s e rvice and productivity tools include dynamic logical partition (DLPAR) utilitie s .
Upgrade s ys te m firmware le ve l on Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs .
Pe rform diagnos tics or mainte nance ope rations on pre vious ly ins talle d s ys te ms .
Migrate a LAMP s e rve r (s oftware s tack) and application data from a Sys te m x to a
Sys te m p s ys te m. A LAMP s e rve r is a bundle of ope n s ource s oftware . LAMP is an
acronym for Linux, Apache HT T P Server, MySQL re lational databas e , and PHP (Pe rl or
Python) s cripting language .
Docume ntation for the IBM Inst allat io n T o o lkit for Powe rLinux is available in the Linux
Information Ce nte r at http://pic.dhe .ibm.com/infoce nte r/lnxinfo/v3r0m0/inde x.js p?
topic=%2Fliaan%2Fpowe rpack.htm
161
Powe rLinux s e rvice and productivity tools is an optional s e t of tools that include hardware
s e rvice diagnos tic aids , productivity tools , and ins tallation aids for Linux ope rating s ys te ms
on IBM s e rve rs bas e d on POWER7, POWER6, POWER5, and POWER4 te chnology.
Docume ntation for the s e rvice and productivity tools is available in the Linux Information
Ce nte r at http://pic.dhe .ibm.com/infoce nte r/lnxinfo/v3r0m0/inde x.js p?
topic=%2Fliaau%2Fliaauras kickoff.htm
11.4. Preparat ion for IBM Power Syst ems servers
Impo rtant
Ens ure that the re al-bas e boot parame te r is s e t to c00000, othe rwis e you might s e e
e rrors s uch as :
DEFAULT CATCH!, exception-handler=fff00300
IBM Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs offe r many options for partitioning, virtual or native de vice s ,
and cons ole s .
If you are us ing a non-partitione d s ys te m, you do not ne e d any pre -ins tallation s e tup. For
s ys te ms us ing the HVSI s e rial cons ole , hook up your cons ole to the T2 s e rial port.
If us ing a partitione d s ys te m the s te ps to cre ate the partition and s tart the ins tallation are
large ly the s ame . You s hould cre ate the partition at the HMC and as s ign s ome CPU and
me mory re s ource s , as we ll as SCSI and Ethe rne t re s ource s , which can be e ithe r virtual or
native . The HMC cre ate partition wiz ard s te ps you through the cre ation.
For more information on cre ating the partition, re fe r to the Partitioning for Linux with an
HMC PDF in the IBM Sys te ms Hardware Information Ce nte r at:
http://pic.dhe .ibm.com/infoce nte r/powe rs ys /v3r1m5/topic/iphbi_p5/iphbibook.pdf
If you are us ing virtual SCSI re s ource s , rathe r than native SCSI, you mus t configure a 'link'
to the virtual SCSI s e rving partition, and the n configure the virtual SCSI s e rving partition
its e lf. You cre ate a 'link' be twe e n the virtual SCSI clie nt and s e rve r s lots us ing the HMC.
You can configure a virtual SCSI s e rve r on e ithe r Virtual I/O Se rve r (VIOS) or IBM i,
de pe nding on which mode l and options you have .
If you are ins talling us ing Inte l iSCSI Re mote Boot, all attache d iSCSI s torage de vice s mus t
be dis able d. Othe rwis e , the ins tallation will s ucce e d but the ins talle d s ys te m will not boot.
For more information on us ing virtual de vice s , s e e the IBM Re dbooks publication
Virtualizing an Infrastructure with System p and Linux at: http://publibb.boulde r.ibm.com/abs tracts /s g247499.html
Once you have your s ys te m configure d, you ne e d to Activate from the HMC or powe r it on.
De pe nding on what type of ins tall you are doing, you may ne e d to configure SMS to
corre ctly boot the s ys te m into the ins tallation program.
11.5. RAID and Ot her Disk Devices
162
⁠C hapt e r 11. Planning f o r Ins t allat io n o n Po we r Sys t e ms Se r ve r s
Impo rtant
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 us e s mdraid ins te ad of dmraid for ins tallation onto Inte l
BIOS RAID s e ts . The s e s e ts are de te cte d automatically, and de vice s with Inte l ISW
me tadata are re cogniz e d as mdraid ins te ad of dmraid. Note that the de vice node
name s of any s uch de vice s unde r mdraid are diffe re nt from the ir de vice node
name s unde r dmraid. The re fore , s pe cial pre cautions are ne ce s s ary whe n you
migrate s ys te ms with Inte l BIOS RAID s e ts .
Local modifications to /etc/fstab, /etc/crypttab or othe r configuration file s which
re fe r to de vice s by the ir de vice node name s will not work in Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux 6. Be fore migrating the s e file s , you mus t the re fore e dit the m to re place
de vice node paths with de vice UUIDs ins te ad. You can find the UUIDs of de vice s with
the blkid command.
11.5.1. Hardware RAID
RAID, or Re dundant Array of Inde pe nde nt Dis ks , allows a group, or array, of drive s to act
as a s ingle de vice . Configure any RAID functions provide d by the mainboard of your
compute r, or attache d controlle r cards , be fore you be gin the ins tallation proce s s . Each
active RAID array appe ars as one drive within Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
On s ys te ms with more than one hard drive you may configure Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux to
ope rate s e ve ral of the drive s as a Linux RAID array without re quiring any additional
hardware .
11.5.2. Sof t ware RAID
You can us e the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program to cre ate Linux s oftware
RAID arrays , whe re RAID functions are controlle d by the ope rating s ys te m rathe r than
de dicate d hardware . The s e functions are e xplaine d in de tail in Se ction 16.17, “ Cre ating a
Cus tom Layout or Modifying the De fault Layout ”.
11.5.3. FireWire and USB Disks
Some Fire Wire and USB hard dis ks may not be re cogniz e d by the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux ins tallation s ys te m. If configuration of the s e dis ks at ins tallation time is not vital,
dis conne ct the m to avoid any confus ion.
No te
You can conne ct and configure e xte rnal Fire Wire and USB hard dis ks afte r
ins tallation. Mos t s uch de vice s are automatically re cogniz e d and available for us e
once conne cte d.
11.6. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
Ne arly e ve ry mode rn-day ope rating s ys te m (OS) us e s disk partitions, and Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux is no e xce ption. Whe n you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, you may have
163
to work with dis k partitions . If you have not worke d with dis k partitions be fore (or ne e d a
quick re vie w of the bas ic conce pts ), re fe r to Appe ndix A, An Introduction to Disk Partitions
be fore proce e ding.
The dis k s pace us e d by Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux mus t be s e parate from the dis k s pace
us e d by othe r OSe s you may have ins talle d on your s ys te m.
Be fore you s tart the ins tallation proce s s , you mus t
have e nough unpartitioned ⁠ [6] dis k s pace for the ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux, or
have one or more partitions that may be de le te d, the re by fre e ing up e nough dis k
s pace to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
To gain a be tte r s e ns e of how much s pace you re ally ne e d, re fe r to the re comme nde d
partitioning s iz e s dis cus s e d in Se ction 16.17.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”.
11.7. Choose a Boot Met hod
Ins talling from a DVD re quire s that you have purchas e d a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
product, you have a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 DVD, and you have a DVD drive on a
s ys te m that s upports booting from it. Re fe r to Chapte r 2, Making Media for ins tructions to
make an ins tallation DVD.
Othe r than booting from an ins tallation DVD, you can als o boot the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux ins tallation program from minimal boot media in the form of a bootable CD. Afte r you
boot the s ys te m with boot CD, you comple te the ins tallation from a diffe re nt ins tallation
s ource , s uch as a local hard drive or a location on a ne twork. Re fe r to Se ction 2.2, “Making
Minimal Boot Me dia” for ins tructions on making boot CDs .
[5] P arts of this section were previously published at IBM's Linux information for IBM systems
resource at http://pic.dhe.ibm .com /infocenter/lnxinfo/v3r0m 0/index.jsp?
topic=% 2Fliaay% 2Ftools_overview.htm
[6] Unpartitioned disk space m eans that available disk space on the hard drives you are
installing to has not been divided into sections for data. When you partition a disk, each
partition behaves like a separate disk drive.
164
⁠C hapt e r 12. Pr e par ing f o r Ins t allat io n
Impo rtant
The e HEA module fails to initializ e if 16 GB huge pages are as s igne d to a s ys te m or
partition and the ke rne l command line doe s not contain the huge page parame te rs .
The re fore , whe n you pe rform a ne twork ins tallation through an IBM e HEA e the rne t
adapte r, you cannot as s ign huge page s to the s ys te m or partition during the
ins tallation. Large page s s hould work.
No te
Make s ure no ins tallation DVD (or any othe r type of DVD or CD) is in your s ys te m's
CD or DVD drive if you are pe rforming a ne twork-bas e d ins tallation. Having a DVD or
a flas h drive .
a s e parate , ne twork-acce s s ible s e rve r. It mus t provide the comple te conte nts of the
ins tallation DVD-ROM.
No te
the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO ins tallation me thods . Re d Hat re comme nds
that you te s t all ins tallation me dia be fore s tarting the ins tallation proce s s , and
be fore re porting any ins tallation-re late d bugs (many of the bugs re porte d are
actually due to imprope rly-burne d DVDs ). To us e this te s t, type the following
command at the yaboot: prompt:
linux mediacheck
165
No te
command:
Warning
166
loop,ro
umount /mount_point
umount /mnt/tmp
s ame dire ctory.
Impo rtant
dire ctory.
167
reload).
No te
boot: prompt:
linux mediacheck
No te
Hard drive ins tallations only work from e xt2, e xt3, e xt4, or FAT file s ys te ms . You
cannot us e a hard drive s formatte d for any othe r file s ys te m as an ins tallation
s ource for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
To che ck the file s ys te m of a hard drive partition on a Windows ope rating s ys te m,
us e the Disk Management tool. To che ck the file s ys te m of a hard drive partition
on a Linux ope rating s ys te m, us e the f disk tool.
Impo rtant
You cannot us e ISO file s on partitions controlle d by LVM (Logical Volume
Manage me nt).
168
Us e this option to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on s ys te ms without a DVD drive or
ne twork conne ction.
a flas h drive .
To pre pare a hard drive as an ins tallation s ource , follow the s e s te ps :
Linux s ys te m:
2. Trans fe r the ISO image to the hard drive .
The ISO image mus t be locate d on a hard drive that is e ithe r inte rnal to the
compute r on which you will ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, or on a hard drive that
is attache d to that compute r by USB.
loop,ro
umount /mount_point
169
umount /mnt/tmp
s ame dire ctory.
Impo rtant
dire ctory.
No te
boot: prompt:
linux mediacheck
170
⁠C hapt e r 13. Updat ing Dr ive r s Dur ing Ins t allat io n o n IBM Po we r Sys t e ms Se r ve r s
Chapt er 13. Updat ing Drivers During Inst allat ion on
IBM Power Syst ems Servers
In mos t cas e s , Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux alre ady include s drive rs for the de vice s that
make up your s ys te m. Howe ve r, if your s ys te m contains hardware that has be e n
re le as e d ve ry re ce ntly, drive rs for this hardware might not ye t be include d. Some time s , a
drive r update that provide s s upport for a ne w de vice might be available from Re d Hat or
your hardware ve ndor on a driver disc that contains rpm packages. Typically, the drive r
dis c is available for download as an ISO image file.
Ofte n, you do not ne e d the ne w hardware during the ins tallation proce s s . For e xample , if
you us e a DVD to ins tall to a local hard drive , the ins tallation will s ucce e d e ve n if drive rs
for your ne twork card are not available . In s ituations like this , comple te the ins tallation and
add s upport for the pie ce of hardware afte rward — re fe r to Se ction 35.1.1, “Drive r Update
rpm Package s ” for de tails of adding this s upport.
In othe r s ituations , you might want to add drive rs for a de vice during the ins tallation
proce s s to s upport a particular configuration. For e xample , you might want to ins tall drive rs
for a ne twork de vice or a s torage adapte r card to give the ins talle r acce s s to the s torage
de vice s that your s ys te m us e s . You can us e a drive r dis c to add this s upport during
ins tallation in one of two ways :
1. place the ISO image file of the drive r dis c in a location acce s s ible to the ins talle r:
a. on a local hard drive
b. a USB flas h drive
2. cre ate a drive r dis c by e xtracting the image file onto:
a. a CD
b. a DVD
Re fe r to the ins tructions for making ins tallation dis cs in Se ction 2.1, “Making an
Ins tallation DVD” for more information on burning ISO image file s to CD or DVD.
If Re d Hat, your hardware ve ndor, or a trus te d third party told you that you will re quire a
drive r update during the ins tallation proce s s , choos e a me thod to s upply the update from
the me thods de s cribe d in this chapte r and te s t it be fore be ginning the ins tallation.
Conve rs e ly, do not pe rform a drive r update during ins tallation unle s s you are ce rtain that
your s ys te m re quire s it. Although ins talling an unne ce s s ary drive r update will not caus e
harm, the pre s e nce of a drive r on a s ys te m for which it was not inte nde d can complicate
s upport.
13.1. Limit at ions of Driver Updat es During Inst allat ion
Unfortunate ly, s ome s ituations pe rs is t in which you cannot us e a drive r update to provide
drive rs during ins tallation:
Devices already in use
You cannot us e a drive r update to re place drive rs that the ins tallation program
has alre ady loade d. Ins te ad, you mus t comple te the ins tallation with the drive rs
that the ins tallation program loade d and update to the ne w drive rs afte r
ins tallation, or, if you ne e d the ne w drive rs for the ins tallation proce s s , cons ide r
171
pe rforming an initial RAM dis k drive r update — re fe r to Se ction 13.2.3, “Pre paring
an Initial RAM Dis k Update ”.
Devices wit h an equivalent device available
Be caus e all de vice s of the s ame type are initializ e d toge the r, you cannot update
drive rs for a de vice if the ins tallation program has loade d drive rs for a s imilar
de vice . For e xample , cons ide r a s ys te m that has two diffe re nt ne twork adapte rs ,
one of which has a drive r update available . The ins tallation program will initializ e
both adapte rs at the s ame time , and the re fore , you will not be able to us e this
drive r update . Again, comple te the ins tallation with the drive rs loade d by the
ins tallation program and update to the ne w drive rs afte r ins tallation, or us e an
initial RAM dis k drive r update .
13.2. Preparing for a Driver Updat e During Inst allat ion
If a drive r update is ne ce s s ary and available for your hardware , Re d Hat or a trus te d third
party s uch as the hardware ve ndor will typically provide it in the form of an image file in
ISO format. Some me thods of pe rforming a drive r update re quire you to make the image
file available to the ins tallation program, while othe rs re quire you to us e the image file to
make a drive r update dis k:
Met ho ds t hat use t he image f ile it self
local hard drive
USB flas h drive
Met ho ds t hat use a driver updat e disk pro duced f ro m an image f ile
CD
DVD
Choos e a me thod to provide the drive r update , and re fe r to Se ction 13.2.1, “Pre paring to
Us e a Drive r Update Image File ”, Se ction 13.2.2, “Pre paring a Drive r Dis c”, or
Se ction 13.2.3, “Pre paring an Initial RAM Dis k Update ”. Note that you can us e a USB s torage
de vice e ithe r to provide an image file , or as a drive r update dis k.
13.2.1. Preparing t o Use a Driver Updat e Image File
13.2.1.1. Preparing t o use an image f ile on local st orage
To make the ISO image file available on local s torage , s uch as a hard drive or USB flas h
drive , you mus t firs t de te rmine whe the r you want to ins tall the update s automatically or
s e le ct the m manually.
For manual ins tallations , copy the file onto the s torage de vice . You can re name the file if
you find it he lpful to do s o, but you mus t not change the file name e xte ns ion, which mus t
re main .iso. In the following e xample , the file is name d dd.iso:
172
Figure 13.1. Co nt ent o f a USB f lash drive ho lding a driver updat e image f ile
Note that if you us e this me thod, the s torage de vice will contain only a s ingle file . This
diffe rs from drive r dis cs on formats s uch as CD and DVD, which contain many file s . The
ISO image file contains all of the file s that would normally be on a drive r dis c.
Re fe r to Se ction 13.3.2, “Le t the Ins talle r Prompt You for a Drive r Update ” and
Se ction 13.3.3, “Us e a Boot Option to Spe cify a Drive r Update Dis k” to le arn how to s e le ct
the drive r update manually during ins tallation.
For automatic ins tallations , you will ne e d to e xtract the ISO to the root dire ctory of the
s torage de vice rathe r than s imply copy it. Copying the ISO is only e ffe ctive for manual
ins tallations . You mus t als o change the file s ys te m labe l of the de vice to OEMDRV.
The ins tallation program will the n automatically e xamine it for drive r update s and load any
that it de te cts . This be havior is controlle d by the dlabel=on boot option, which is e nable d
by de fault. Re fe r to Se ction 6.3.1, “Le t the Ins talle r Find a Drive r Update Dis k
Automatically”.
13.2.2. Preparing a Driver Disc
You can cre ate a drive r update dis c on CD or DVD.
13.2.2.1. Creat ing a driver updat e disc on CD or DVD
173
Impo rtant
CD/DVD Creat o r is part of the GNOME de s ktop. If you us e a diffe re nt Linux
de s ktop, or a diffe re nt ope rating s ys te m altoge the r, you will ne e d to us e anothe r
pie ce of s oftware to cre ate the CD or DVD. The s te ps will be ge ne rally s imilar.
Make s ure that the s oftware that you choos e can cre ate CDs or DVDs from image
file s . While this is true of mos t CD and DVD burning s oftware , e xce ptions e xis t. Look
for a button or me nu e ntry labe le d burn from image or s imilar. If your s oftware
lacks this fe ature , or you do not s e le ct it, the re s ulting dis c will hold only the image
file its e lf, ins te ad of the conte nts of the image file .
1. Us e the de s ktop file manage r to locate the ISO image file of the drive r dis c,
s upplie d to you by Re d Hat or your hardware ve ndor.
Figure 13.2. A t ypical .iso f ile displayed in a f ile manager windo w
2. Right-click on this file and choos e Write to disc. You will s e e a window s imilar to
the following:
174
Figure 13.3. CD/DVD Creat o r's Writ e t o Disc dialo g
3. Click the Write button. If a blank dis c is not alre ady in the drive , CD/DVD Creat o r
will prompt you to ins e rt one .
Afte r you burn a drive r update dis c CD or DVD, ve rify that the dis c was cre ate d
s ucce s s fully by ins e rting it into your s ys te m and brows ing to it us ing the file manage r. You
s hould s e e a s ingle file name d rhdd3 and a dire ctory name d rpms:
Figure 13.4. Co nt ent s o f a t ypical driver updat e disc o n CD o r DVD
175
If you s e e only a s ingle file e nding in .iso, the n you have not cre ate d the dis c corre ctly
and s hould try again. Ens ure that you choos e an option s imilar to burn from image if you
us e a Linux de s ktop othe r than GNOME or if you us e a diffe re nt ope rating s ys te m.
Re fe r to Se ction 13.3.2, “Le t the Ins talle r Prompt You for a Drive r Update ” and
Se ction 13.3.3, “Us e a Boot Option to Spe cify a Drive r Update Dis k” to le arn how to us e the
drive r update dis c during ins tallation.
13.2.3. Preparing an Init ial RAM Disk Updat e
Impo rtant
This is an advance d proce dure that you s hould cons ide r only if you cannot pe rform a
drive r update with any othe r me thod.
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program can load update s for its e lf e arly in the
ins tallation proce s s from a RAM disk — an are a of your compute r's me mory that
te mporarily be have s as if it we re a dis k. You can us e this s ame capability to load drive r
update s . To pe rform a drive r update during ins tallation, your compute r mus t be able to
boot from a yabo o t ins tallation s e rve r, and you mus t have one available on your ne twork.
Re fe r to Chapte r 30, Setting Up an Installation Server for ins tructions on us ing a yabo o t
ins tallation s e rve r.
To make the drive r update available on your ins tallation s e rve r:
1. Place the drive r update image file on your ins tallation s e rve r. Us ually, you would do
this by downloading it to the s e rve r from a location on the Inte rne t s pe cifie d by Re d
Hat or your hardware ve ndor. Name s of drive r update image file s e nd in .iso.
2. Copy the drive r update image file into the /tmp/initrd_update dire ctory.
3. Re name the drive r update image file to dd.img.
4. At the command line , change into the /tmp/initrd_update dire ctory, type the
following command, and pre s s Enter:
find . | cpio --quiet -o -H newc | gzip -9 >/tmp/initrd_update.img
5. Copy the file /tmp/initrd_update.img into the dire ctory the holds the targe t that
you want to us e for ins tallation. This dire ctory is place d unde r the
/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/ dire ctory. For e xample ,
/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/rhel6/ might hold the yabo o t ins tallation targe t for
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.
6. Edit the /var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/yaboot.conf file to include an e ntry that
include s the initial RAM dis k update that you jus t cre ate d, in the following format:
image=target/vmlinuz
label=target-dd
initrd=target/initrd.img,target/dd.img
Whe re target is the targe t that you want to us e for ins tallation.
176
Re fe r to Se ction 13.3.4, “Se le ct an Ins tallation Se rve r Targe t That Include s a Drive r
Update ” to le arn how to us e an initial RAM dis k update during ins tallation.
Example 13.1. Preparing an init ial RAM disk updat e f ro m a driver updat e
image f ile
In this e xample , driver_update.iso is a drive r update image file that you downloade d
from the Inte rne t to a dire ctory on your ins tallation s e rve r. The targe t on your
ins tallation s e rve r that you want to boot from is locate d in
/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/rhel6/
At the command line , change to the dire ctory that holds the file and e nte r the following
commands :
$ 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
Edit the /var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/yaboot.conf file and include the following e ntry:
image=rhel6/vmlinuz
label=rhel6-dd
initrd=rhel6/initrd.img,rhel6/dd.img
13.3. Performing a Driver Updat e During Inst allat ion
You can pe rform a drive r update during ins tallation in the following ways :
le t the ins talle r automatically find a drive r update dis k.
le t the ins talle r prompt you for a drive r update .
us e a boot option to s pe cify a drive r update dis k.
13.3.1. Let t he Inst aller Find a Driver Updat e Disk Aut omat ically
Attach a block de vice with the file s ys te m labe l OEMDRV be fore s tarting the ins tallation
proce s s . The ins talle r will automatically e xamine the de vice and load any drive r update s
that it de te cts and will not prompt you during the proce s s . Re fe r to Se ction 13.2.1.1,
“Pre paring to us e an image file on local s torage ” to pre pare a s torage de vice for the
ins talle r to find.
13.3.2. Let t he Inst aller Prompt You f or a Driver Updat e
1. Be gin the ins tallation normally for whate ve r me thod you have chos e n. If the
ins talle r cannot load drive rs for a pie ce of hardware that is e s s e ntial for the
ins tallation proce s s (for e xample , if it cannot de te ct any ne twork or s torage
controlle rs ), it prompts you to ins e rt a drive r update dis k:
177
Figure 13.5. T he no driver f o und dialo g
2. Se le ct Use a driver disk and re fe r to Se ction 13.4, “Spe cifying the Location of a
Drive r Update Image File or a Drive r Update Dis k”.
13.3.3. Use a Boot Opt ion t o Specif y a Driver Updat e Disk
Impo rtant
This me thod only works to introduce comple te ly ne w drive rs , not to update e xis ting
drive rs .
1. Type linux dd at the boot prompt at the s tart of the ins tallation proce s s and pre s s
Enter. The ins talle r prompts you to confirm that you have a drive r dis k:
Figure 13.6. T he driver disk pro mpt
2. Ins e rt the drive r update dis k that you cre ate d on CD, DVD, or USB flas h drive and
s e le ct Yes. The ins talle r e xamine s the s torage de vice s that it can de te ct. If the re is
only one pos s ible location that could hold a drive r dis k (for e xample , the ins talle r
de te cts the pre s e nce of a DVD drive , but no othe r s torage de vice s ) it will
automatically load any drive r update s that it finds at this location.
178
If the ins talle r finds more than one location that could hold a drive r update , it
prompts you to s pe cify the location of the update . Se e Se ction 13.4, “Spe cifying the
Location of a Drive r Update Image File or a Drive r Update Dis k”.
13.3.4. Select an Inst allat ion Server T arget T hat Includes a Driver
Updat e
1. Configure the compute r to boot from the ne twork inte rface by s e le cting Select
Boot Options in the SMS me nu, the n Select Boot/Install Device. Finally,
s e le ct your ne twork de vice from the lis t of available de vice s .
2. In the yabo o t ins tallation s e rve r e nvironme nt, choos e the boot targe t that you
pre pare d on your ins tallation s e rve r. For e xample , if you labe le d this e nvironme nt
rhel6-dd in the /var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/yaboot.conf file on your ins tallation
s e rve r, type rhel6-dd at the prompt and pre s s Enter.
Re fe r to Se ction 13.2.3, “Pre paring an Initial RAM Dis k Update ” and Chapte r 30, Setting Up
an Installation Server for ins tructions on us ing a yabo o t ins tallation s e rve r to pe rform an
update during ins tallation. Note that this is an advance d proce dure — do not atte mpt it
unle s s othe r me thods of pe rforming a drive r update fail.
13.4. Specifying t he Locat ion of a Driver Updat e Image File
or a Driver Updat e Disk
If the ins talle r de te cts more than one pos s ible de vice that could hold a drive r update , it
prompts you to s e le ct the corre ct de vice . If you are not s ure which option re pre s e nts the
de vice on which the drive r update is s tore d, try the various options in orde r until you find
the corre ct one .
Figure 13.7. Select ing a driver disk so urce
179
If the de vice that you choos e contains no s uitable update me dia, the ins talle r will prompt
you to make anothe r choice .
If you made a drive r update dis k on CD, DVD, or USB flas h drive , the ins talle r now loads
the drive r update . Howe ve r, if the de vice that you s e le cte d is a type of de vice that could
contain more than one partition (whe the r the de vice curre ntly has more than one partition
or not), the ins talle r might prompt you to s e le ct the partition that holds the drive r update .
Figure 13.8. Select ing a driver disk part it io n
The ins talle r prompts you to s pe cify which file contains the drive r update :
180
Figure 13.9. Select ing an ISO image
Expe ct to s e e the s e s cre e ns if you s tore d the drive r update on an inte rnal hard drive or
on a USB s torage de vice . You s hould not s e e the m if the drive r update is on a CD or DVD.
Re gardle s s of whe the r you are providing a drive r update in the form of an image file or
with a drive r update dis k, the ins talle r now copie s the appropriate update file s into a
te mporary s torage are a (locate d in s ys te m RAM and not on dis k). The ins talle r might as k
whe the r you would like to us e additional drive r update s . If you s e le ct Yes, you can load
additional update s in turn. Whe n you have no furthe r drive r update s to load, s e le ct No. If
you s tore d the drive r update on re movable me dia, you can now s afe ly e je ct or dis conne ct
the dis k or de vice . The ins talle r no longe r re quire s the drive r update , and you can re -us e
the me dia for othe r purpos e s .
181
Chapt er 14. Boot ing t he Inst aller
Impo rtant
Graphical ins tallation is re comme nde d. Be caus e Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs primarily
us e te xt cons ole s , anaco nda will not automatically s tart a graphical ins tallation.
Howe ve r, the graphical ins talle r offe rs more fe ature s and cus tomiz ation and is
re comme nde d if your s ys te m has a graphical dis play.
To s tart a graphical ins tallation, pas s the vnc boot option (re fe r to Se ction 28.2.1,
“Enabling Re mote Acce s s with VNC”).
Impo rtant
On s ome machine s yabo o t may not boot, re turning the e rror me s s age :
Cannot load initrd.img: Claim failed for initrd memory at 02000000
rc=ffffffff
To work around this is s ue , change real-base to c00000. You can obtain the value of
real-base from the Ope nFirmware prompt with the printenv command and s e t the
value with the setenv command.
To boot an IBM Powe r Sys te ms s e rve r from a DVD, you mus t s pe cify the ins tall boot
de vice in the System Management Services (SMS) me nu.
To e nte r the System Management Services GUI, pre s s the 1 ke y during the boot proce s s
whe n you he ar the chime s ound. This brings up a graphical inte rface s imilar to the one
de s cribe d in this s e ction.
On a te xt cons ole , pre s s 1 whe n the s e lf te s t is dis playing the banne r along with the
te s te d compone nts :
182
⁠C hapt e r 14 . Bo o t ing t he Ins t alle r
Figure 14.1. SMS co nso le
Once in the SMS me nu, s e le ct the option for Select Bo o t Opt io ns. In that me nu, s pe cify
Select Install or Boot a Device. The re , s e le ct CD/DVD, and the n the bus type (in
mos t cas e s SCSI). If you are unce rtain, you can s e le ct to vie w all de vice s . This s cans all
available bus e s for boot de vice s , including ne twork adapte rs and hard drive s .
Finally, s e le ct the de vice containing the ins tallation DVD. Yabo o t is loade d from this
de vice and you are pre s e nte d with a boot: prompt. To be gin a graphical ins tallation, pas s
the vnc boot option now. Othe rwis e . pre s s Enter or wait for the time out to e xpire for the
ins tallation to be gin.
Us e yabo o t with vmlinuz and ramdisk to boot your s ys te m ove r a ne twork. You cannot
us e the ppc64.img to boot ove r a ne twork; the file is too large for TFTP.
14.1. T he Boot Menu
The ins talle r dis plays the boot: prompt. For e xample :
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
183
IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM
IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM IBM
IBM
/
Elapsed time since release of system processors: 276 mins 49 secs
System has 128 Mbytes in RMA
Config file read, 227 bytes
Welcome to the 64-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 installer!
Hit <TAB> for boot options.
Welcome to yaboot version 1.3.14 (Red Hat 1.3.14-35.el6)
Enter "help" to get some basic usage information
boot:
To proce e d with ins tallation, type linux and pre s s Enter.
You can als o s pe cify boot options at this prompt; re fe r to Chapte r 28, Boot Options for
more information. For e xample , to us e the ins talle r to re s cue a pre vious ly ins talle d
s ys te m, type linux rescue and pre s s Enter.
The following e xample s hows the vnc boot option be ing pas s e d to be gin a graphical
ins tallation:
boot:
* linux
boot: linux vnc
Please wait, loading kernel...
14.2. Inst alling from a Different Source
You can ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from the ISO image s s tore d on hard dis k, or from
a ne twork us ing NFS, FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS me thods . Expe rie nce d us e rs fre que ntly us e one
of the s e me thods be caus e it is ofte n fas te r to re ad data from a hard dis k or ne twork
s e rve r than from a DVD.
The following table s ummariz e s the diffe re nt boot me thods and re comme nde d ins tallation
me thods to us e with e ach:
T able 14.1. Bo o t met ho ds and inst allat io n so urces
Bo o t met ho d
Inst allat io n so urce
Ins tallation DVD
Ins tallation USB flas h drive
Minimal boot CD or USB, re s cue CD
DVD, ne twork, or hard dis k
Ins tallation DVD, ne twork, or hard dis k
Ne twork or hard dis k
Re fe r to Se ction 3.7, “Se le cting an Ins tallation Me thod” for information about ins talling from
locations othe r than the me dia with which you boote d the s ys te m.
184
⁠C hapt e r 14 . Bo o t ing t he Ins t alle r
14.3. Boot ing from t he Net work Using a yaboot Inst allat ion
Server
To boot with a yabo o t ins tallation s e rve r, you ne e d a prope rly configure d s e rve r, and a
ne twork inte rface in your compute r that can s upport an ins tallation s e rve r. For information
on how to configure an ins tallation s e rve r, re fe r to Chapte r 30, Setting Up an Installation
Server.
Configure the compute r to boot from the ne twork inte rface by s e le cting Select Boot
Options in the SMS me nu, the n Select Boot/Install Device. Finally, s e le ct your
ne twork de vice from the lis t of available de vice s .
Once you prope rly configure booting from an ins tallation s e rve r, the compute r can boot
the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation s ys te m without any othe r me dia.
To boot a compute r from a yabo o t ins tallation s e rve r:
1. Ens ure that the ne twork cable is attache d. The link indicator light on the ne twork
s ocke t s hould be lit, e ve n if the compute r is not s witche d on.
2. Switch on the compute r.
3. A me nu s cre e n appe ars . Pre s s the numbe r ke y that corre s ponds to the de s ire d
option.
If your PC doe s not boot from the ne twork ins tallation s e rve r, e ns ure that the SMS is
configure d to boot firs t from the corre ct ne twork inte rface . Re fe r to your hardware
docume ntation for more information.
185
Chapt er 15. Configuring Language and Inst allat ion
Source
Impo rtant
We re comme nd that you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux us ing the graphical
inte rface . If you are ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on a s ys te m that lacks a
graphical dis play, cons ide r pe rforming the ins tallation ove r a VNC conne ction – s e e
Chapte r 31, Installing Through VNC. If anaco nda de te cts that you are ins talling in
te xt mode on a s ys te m whe re ins tallation ove r a VNC conne ction might be pos s ible ,
anaco nda as ks you to ve rify your de cis ion to ins tall in te xt mode e ve n though your
options during ins tallation are limite d.
If your s ys te m has a graphical dis play, but graphical ins tallation fails , try booting with
the xdriver=vesa option – re fe r to Chapte r 28, Boot Options
“Ins tallation Program Widge ts as s e e n in URL Setup”, and Figure 15.2, “Ins tallation
Program Widge ts as s e e n in Choose a Language”, illus trate widge ts that appe ar on
s cre e ns during the ins tallation proce s s .
186
⁠C hapt e r 15. Co nf igur ing Language and Ins t allat io n So ur c e
The widge ts include :
you s croll.
187
widge t. In Figure 15.1, “Ins tallation Program Widge ts as s e e n in URL Setup”, the curs or
is pos itione d on the Enable HTTP proxy che ckbox. Figure 8.2, “Ins tallation Program
time .
Warning
confirm your choice .
Se le ction ”.
188
Us e the arrow ke ys on your ke yboard to s e le ct an ins tallation me thod (re fe r to
Figure 15.4, “Ins tallation Me thod”). With your s e le cte d me thod highlighte d, pre s s the Tab
ke y to move to the OK button and pre s s the Enter ke y to confirm your choice .
189
15.3.1. Beginning Inst allat ion
15.3.1.1. Inst alling f rom a DVD
To ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from a DVD, place the DVD your DVD drive and boot
your s ys te m from the DVD. Eve n if you boote d from alte rnative me dia, you can s till ins tall
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from DVD me dia.
The ins tallation program the n probe s your s ys te m and atte mpts to ide ntify your DVD
drive . It s tarts by looking for an IDE (als o known as an ATAPI) DVD drive .
If your DVD drive is not de te cte d, and it is a SCSI DVD, the ins tallation program prompts
you to choos e a SCSI drive r. Choos e the drive r that mos t clos e ly re s e mble s your adapte r.
You may s pe cify options for the drive r if ne ce s s ary; howe ve r, mos t drive rs de te ct your
SCSI adapte r automatically.
If the DVD drive is found and the drive r loade d, the ins talle r will pre s e nt you with the
option to pe rform a me dia che ck on the DVD. This will take s ome time , and you may opt to
s kip ove r this s te p. Howe ve r, if you late r e ncounte r proble ms with the ins talle r, you s hould
190
Se le ct the partition containing the ISO file s from the lis t of available partitions . Inte rnal IDE,
SATA, SCSI, and USB drive de vice name s be gin with /dev/sd. Each individual drive has its
own le tte r, for e xample /dev/sda. Each partition on a drive is numbe re d, for e xample
/dev/sda1.
Part it io n t ype
Vo lume
Original pat h t o
f iles
Direct o ry t o use
VFAT
e xt2, e xt3, e xt4
D:\
/home
D:\Downloads \RHEL6
/Downloads /RHEL6
/us e r1/RHEL6
Impo rtant
Se le ct OK to continue . Proce e d with Chapte r 16, Installing Using Anaconda.
Whe n you s tart an ins tallation with the askmethod or repo= options , you can ins tall Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux from a ne twork s e rve r us ing FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, or NFS protocols .
Anaco nda us e s the s ame ne twork conne ction to cons ult additional s oftware re pos itorie s
late r in the ins tallation proce s s .
If your s ys te m has more than one ne twork de vice , anaco nda pre s e nts you with a lis t of
all available de vice s and prompts you to s e le ct one to us e during ins tallation. If your
s ys te m only has a s ingle ne twork de vice , anaco nda automatically s e le cts it and doe s not
pre s e nt this dialog.
191
Figure 15.6. Net wo rking Device
If you are not s ure which de vice in the lis t corre s ponds to which phys ical s ocke t on the
s ys te m, s e le ct a de vice in the lis t the n pre s s the Identify button. The Identify NIC
dialog appe ars .
Figure 15.7. Ident if y NIC
The s ocke ts of mos t ne twork de vice s fe ature an activity light (als o calle d a link light) — an
LED that flas he s to indicate that data is flowing through the s ocke t. Anaco nda can flas h
the activity light of the ne twork de vice that you s e le cte d in the Networking Device dialog
for up to 30 s e conds . Ente r the numbe r of s e conds that you re quire , the n pre s s OK. Whe n
anaco nda finis he s flas hing the light, it re turns you to the Networking Device dialog.
Whe n you s e le ct a ne twork de vice , anaco nda prompts you to choos e how to configure
TCP/IP:
IPv4 o pt io ns
192
Dynamic IP co nf igurat io n (DHCP)
Anaco nda us e s DHCP running on the ne twork to s upply the ne twork configuration
automatically.
addre s s .
IPv6 o pt io ns
Aut o mat ic
Anaco nda us e s router advertisement (RA) and DHCP for automatic configuration,
bas e d on the ne twork e nvironme nt. (Equivale nt to the Automatic option in
Net wo rkManager)
Aut o mat ic, DHCP o nly
Anaco nda doe s not us e RA, but re que s ts information from DHCPv6 dire ctly to
cre ate a s tate ful configuration. (Equivale nt to the Automatic, DHCP only option in
Net wo rkManager)
addre s s .
Anaco nda s upports the IPv4 and IPv6 protocols . Howe ve r, if you configure an inte rface to
us e both IPv4 and IPv6, the IPv4 conne ction mus t s ucce e d or the inte rface will not work,
e ve n if the IPv6 conne ction s ucce e ds .
Figure 15.8. Co nf igure T CP/IP
193
By de fault, anaco nda us e s DHCP to provide ne twork s e ttings automatically for IPv4 and
automatic configuration to provide ne twork s e ttings for IPv6. If you choos e to configure
TCP/IP manually, anaco nda prompts you to provide the de tails in the Manual TCP/IP
Configuration dialog:
Figure 15.9. Manual T CP/IP Co nf igurat io n
The dialog provide s fie lds for IPv4 and IPv6 addre s s e s and pre fixe s , de pe nding on the
protocols that you chos e to configure manually, toge the r with fie lds for the ne twork
gate way and name s e rve r. Ente r the de tails for your ne twork, the n pre s s OK.
Whe n the ins tallation proce s s comple te s , it will trans fe r the s e s e ttings to your s ys te m.
If you are ins talling via We b or FTP, proce e d to Se ction 15.3.5, “Ins talling via FTP, HTTP,
or HTTPS”.
194
Figure 15.10 . NFS Set up Dialo g
directory fie ld:
4. Proce e d with Chapte r 16, Installing Using Anaconda.
Impo rtant
and path.
For e xample :
/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6/Server/ppc64/
195
For e xample :
http://install:rhel6pw@name.example.com/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6/Server/ppc64/
Proce e d with Chapte r 16, Installing Using Anaconda.
196
Chapt er 16. Inst alling Using Anaconda
include :
If you would like to us e a graphical ins tallation with a s ys te m that doe s not have that
capability, s uch as a partitione d s ys te m, you can us e VNC or dis play forwarding. Both the
VNC and dis play forwarding options re quire an active ne twork during the ins tallation and
the us e of boot time argume nts . For more information on available boot time options , re fe r
to Chapte r 28, Boot Options
197
No te
If you do not wis h to us e the GUI ins tallation program, the te xt mode ins tallation
program is als o available . To s tart the te xt mode ins tallation program, us e the
following command at the yaboot: prompt:
linux text
Re fe r to Se ction 14.1, “The Boot Me nu” for a de s cription of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux boot me nu and to Se ction 15.1, “The Te xt Mode Ins tallation Program Us e r
Inte rface ” for a brie f ove rvie w of te xt mode ins tallation ins tructions .
It is highly re comme nde d that ins talls be pe rforme d us ing the GUI ins tallation
program. The GUI ins tallation program offe rs the full functionality of the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program, including LVM configuration which is not
available during a te xt mode ins tallation.
Us e rs who mus t us e the te xt mode ins tallation program can follow the GUI
ins tallation ins tructions and obtain all ne e de d information.
16.3. A Not e About Linux Virt ual Consoles
This information only applie s to us e rs of non-partitione d Sys te m p s ys te ms us ing a vide o
card as the ir cons ole . Us e rs of partitione d Sys te m p s ys te ms s hould s kip to Se ction 16.4,
“Us ing the HMC vte rm”.
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program offe rs more than the dialog boxe s of the
ins tallation proce s s . Se ve ral kinds of diagnos tic me s s age s are available to you, as we ll as
a way to e nte r commands from a s he ll prompt. The ins tallation program dis plays the s e
me s s age s on five virtual consoles, among which you can s witch us ing a s ingle ke ys troke
combination.
A virtual cons ole is a s he ll prompt in a non-graphical e nvironme nt, acce s s e d from the
phys ical machine , not re mote ly. Multiple virtual cons ole s can be acce s s e d s imultane ous ly.
The s e virtual cons ole s can be he lpful if you e ncounte r a proble m while ins talling Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux. Me s s age s dis playe d on the ins tallation or s ys te m cons ole s can he lp
pinpoint a proble m. Re fe r to Table 16.1, “Cons ole , Ke ys troke s , and Conte nts ” for a lis ting
of the virtual cons ole s , ke ys troke s us e d to s witch to the m, and the ir conte nts .
Ge ne rally, the re is no re as on to le ave the de fault cons ole (virtual cons ole #6) for
graphical ins tallations unle s s you are atte mpting to diagnos e ins tallation proble ms .
T able 16.1. Co nso le, Keyst ro kes, and Co nt ent s
co nso le
keyst ro kes
co nt ent s
1
2
3
ctrl+alt+f1
ctrl+alt+f2
ctrl+alt+f3
4
5
ctrl+alt+f4
ctrl+alt+f5
ins tallation dialog
s he ll prompt
ins tall log (me s s age s from
ins tallation program)
s ys te m-re late d me s s age s
othe r me s s age s
198
co nso le
keyst ro kes
co nt ent s
6
ctrl+alt+f6
x graphical dis play
16.4. Using t he HMC vt erm
The HMC vte rm is the cons ole for any partitione d IBM Sys te m p. This is ope ne d by right
clicking on the partition on the HMC, and the n s e le cting Open Terminal Window. Only a
s ingle vte rm can be conne cte d to the cons ole at one time and the re is no cons ole acce s s
for partitione d s ys te m be s ide s the vte rm. This ofte n is re fe rre d to as a 'virtual cons ole ',
but is diffe re nt from the virtual cons ole s in Se ction 16.3, “A Note About Linux Virtual
Cons ole s ” .
Us ing your mous e , s e le ct the language (for e xample , U.S. Englis h) you would pre fe r to us e
for the ins tallation and as the s ys te m de fault (re fe r to the figure be low).
199
Figure 16.2. Language Co nf igurat io n
16.7. Keyboard Configurat ion
Us ing your mous e , s e le ct the corre ct layout type (for e xample , U.S. Englis h) for the
ke yboard you would pre fe r to us e for the ins tallation and as the s ys te m de fault (re fe r to
Figure 16.3, “Ke yboard Configuration”).
200
Figure 16.3. Keybo ard Co nf igurat io n
No te
To change your ke yboard layout type afte r you have comple te d the ins tallation, us e
the Keybo ard Co nf igurat io n T o o l.
Type the system-config-keyboard command in a s he ll prompt to launch the
Keybo ard Co nf igurat io n T o o l. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root
You can ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on a large varie ty of s torage de vice s . This s cre e n
allows you to s e le ct e ithe r bas ic or s pe cializ e d s torage de vice s .
hard drive s or s olid-s tate drive s conne cte d dire ctly to the local s ys te m.
201
Storage area networks (SANs )
Firmware RAID de vice s
Multipath de vice s
Computer System Interface (iSCSI) and FCoE (Fibe r Channe l ove r Ethe rne t)
conne ctions .
If you s e le ct Basic St o rage Devices, anaco nda automatically de te cts the local s torage
attache d to the s ys te m and doe s not re quire furthe r input from you. Proce e d to
Se ction 16.9, “Se tting the Hos tname ”.
No te
has acce s s .
Figure 16.5. Select st o rage devices — Basic devices
202
Basic Devices
drive s and s olid-s tate drive s .
Firmware RAID
203
Storage de vice s attache d to a firmware RAID controlle r.
Mult ipat h Devices
Impo rtant
Ot her SAN Devices
Any othe r de vice s available on a s torage are a ne twork (SAN).
If you do ne e d to configure iSCSI or FCoE s torage , click Add Advanced Target and re fe r to
Se ction 16.8.1.1, “ Advance d Storage Options ”.
204
/etc/fstab file .
Impo rtant
Any s torage de vice s that you do not s e le ct on this s cre e n are hidde n from
anaco nda e ntire ly. To chain load the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r from a
diffe re nt boot loade r, s e le ct all the de vice s pre s e nte d in this s cre e n.
Next and proce e d to Se ction 16.13, “Initializ ing the Hard Dis k”
From this s cre e n you can configure an iSCSI (SCSI ove r TCP/IP) targe t or FCoE (Fibre
channe l ove r e the rne t) SAN (s torage are a ne twork). Re fe r to Appe ndix B, iSCSI Disks for an
introduction to iSCSI.
205
Figure 16.10 . Advanced St o rage Opt io ns
Se le ct Add iSCSI target or Add FCoE SAN and click Add drive. If adding an iSCSI targe t,
optionally che ck the box labe le d Bind targets to network interfaces.
16.8.1.1.1. Select and co nf igure a net wo rk int erf ace
The Advanced Storage Options s cre e n lis ts the active ne twork inte rface s anaco nda
has found on your s ys te m. If none are found, anaco nda mus t activate an inte rface
through which to conne ct to the s torage de vice s .
Click Configure Network on the Advanced Storage Options s cre e n to configure and
activate one us ing Net wo rkManager to us e during ins tallation. Alte rnative ly, anaco nda
will prompt you with the Select network interface dialog afte r you click Add drive.
2. Click OK.
206
For de tails of how to us e Net wo rkManager, re fe r to Se ction 16.9, “Se tting the
Hos tname ”
To add an iSCSI targe t, s e le ct Add iSCSI target and click Add drive.
207
dis cove ry:
208
no credent ials
CHAP pair
fie lds .
209
targe t.
210
s e s s ion:
211
no credent ials
CHAP pair
fie lds .
Figure 16.20 . CHAP pair
212
16.8.1.1.3. Co nf igure FCo E Paramet ers
To configure an FCoE SAN, s e le ct Add FCoE SAN and click Add Drive.
In the ne xt dialog box that appe ars afte r you click Add drive, s e le ct the ne twork inte rface
that is conne cte d to your FCoE s witch and click Add FCoE Disk(s).
213
Figure 16.23. Co nf igure FCo E Paramet ers
Data Center Bridging (DCB) is a s e t of e nhance me nts to the Ethe rne t protocols de s igne d
to incre as e the e fficie ncy of Ethe rne t conne ctions in s torage ne tworks and clus te rs .
Enable or dis able the ins talle r's aware ne s s of DCB with the che ckbox in this dialog. This
s hould only be s e t for ne tworking inte rface s that re quire a hos t-bas e d DCBX clie nt.
Configurations on inte rface s that imple me nt a hardware DCBX clie nt s hould le ave this
che ckbox e mpty.
Auto VLAN indicate s whe the r VLAN dis cove ry s hould be pe rforme d. If this box is che cke d,
the n the FIP VLAN dis cove ry protocol will run on the Ethe rne t inte rface once the link
configuration has be e n validate d. If the y are not alre ady configure d, ne twork inte rface s for
any dis cove re d FCoE VLANs will be automatically cre ate d and FCoE ins tance s will be
cre ate d on the VLAN inte rface s .
only.
No te
214
If your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m is conne cte d directly to the Inte rne t, you mus t pay
atte ntion to additional cons ide rations to avoid s e rvice inte rruptions or ris k action by your
ups tre am s e rvice provide r. A full dis cus s ion of the s e is s ue s is be yond the s cope of this
docume nt.
No te
The ins tallation program doe s not configure mode ms . Configure the s e de vice s afte r
ins tallation with the Net wo rk utility. The s e ttings for your mode m are s pe cific to
your particular Inte rne t Se rvice Provide r (ISP).
Impo rtant
Whe n a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 ins tallation boots for the firs t time , it activate s
any ne twork inte rface s that you configure d during the ins tallation proce s s . Howe ve r,
the ins talle r doe s not prompt you to configure ne twork inte rface s on s ome common
ins tallation paths , for e xample , whe n you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from a
DVD to a local hard drive .
Whe n you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from a local ins tallation s ource to a local
s torage de vice , be s ure to configure at le as t one ne twork inte rface manually if you
re quire ne twork acce s s whe n the s ys te m boots for the firs t time . You will ne e d to
s e le ct the Connect automatically option manually whe n e diting the conne ction.
215
No te
To configure a ne twork conne ction manually, click the button Configure Network. The
Network Connections dialog appe ars that allows you to configure wire d, wire le s s , mobile
broadband, InfiniBand, VPN, DSL, VLAN, and bonde d conne ctions for the s ys te m us ing the
Net wo rkManager tool. A full de s cription of all configurations pos s ible with
Net wo rkManager is be yond the s cope of this guide . This s e ction only de tails the mos t
typical s ce nario of how to configure wire d conne ctions during ins tallation. Configuration of
othe r type s of ne twork is broadly s imilar, although the s pe cific parame te rs that you mus t
configure are ne ce s s arily diffe re nt.
To add a ne w conne ction, click Add and s e le ct a conne ction type from the me nu. To modify
an e xis ting conne ction, s e le ct it in the lis t and click Edit. In e ithe r cas e , a dialog box
appe ars with a s e t of tabs that is appropriate to the particular conne ction type , as
216
de s cribe d be low. To re move a conne ction, s e le ct it in the lis t and click Delete.
boots .
217
Authentication
or EAP-TTLS
218
Identity
User certificate
CA certificate
Private key
Standard (PKCS#12).
219
Automatic (DHCP)
220
manually.
Manual
Link-Local Only
Disabled
lookups .
221
222
route .
Ignore
Automatic
223
Manual
Link-Local Only
lookups .
224
Figure 16.30 . T he IPv6 Set t ings t ab
225
route .
226
If Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux is the only ope rating s ys te m on your compute r, s e le ct System
clock uses UTC. The s ys te m clock is a pie ce of hardware on your compute r s ys te m. Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux us e s the time z one s e tting to de te rmine the offs e t be twe e n the local
time and UTC on the s ys te m clock. This be havior is s tandard for s ys te ms that us e UNIX,
227
Linux, and s imilar ope rating s ys te ms .
No te
continue .
No te
228
No te
password.
Warning
be attache d to the file s ys te m for data s torage . If you s e le cte d only one s torage de vice ,
anaco nda doe s not pre s e nt you with this s cre e n.
229
e ach de vice . Us e this radio button to s pe cify the de vice that you want to us e as the boot
de vice for the s ys te m.
Impo rtant
If any s torage de vice contains a boot loade r that will chain load the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r, include that s torage de vice among the Install
Target Devices. Storage de vice s that you ide ntify as Install Target Devices
re main vis ible to anaco nda during boot loade r configuration.
Storage de vice s that you ide ntify as Install Target Devices on this s cre e n are
not automatically e ras e d by the ins tallation proce s s unle s s you s e le cte d the Use
All Space option on the partitioning s cre e n (re fe r to Se ction 16.15, “Dis k
Partitioning Se tup”).
230
continue .
Figure 16.35. Warning screen – init ializing hard drive
231
Warning
the ins tallation.
Impo rtant
information.
late r.
16.14.1. T he Upgrade Dialog
If your s ys te m contains a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation, a dialog appe ars as king
whe the r you want to upgrade that ins tallation. To pe rform an upgrade of an e xis ting
s ys te m, choos e the appropriate ins tallation from the drop-down lis t and s e le ct Next.
232
Figure 16.36. T he Upgrade Dialo g
No te
No te
233
Warning
Warning
Impo rtant
234
Impo rtant
the RAID card. In cas e s s uch as the s e , the /boot/ partition mus t be cre ate d on a
partition outs ide of the RAID array, s uch as on a s e parate hard drive . An inte rnal
hard drive is ne ce s s ary to us e for partition cre ation with proble matic RAID cards .
A /boot/ partition is als o ne ce s s ary for s oftware RAID s e tups .
If you have chos e n to automatically partition your s ys te m, you s hould s e le ct Review
and manually e dit your /boot/ partition.
Partitioning allows you to divide your hard drive into is olate d s e ctions , whe re e ach s e ction
be have s as its own hard drive . Partitioning is particularly us e ful if you run multiple
ope rating s ys te ms . If you are not s ure how you want your s ys te m to be partitione d, re ad
Appe ndix A, An Introduction to Disk Partitions for more information.
Your options are :
Use All Space
235
Se le ct this option to re move all partitions on your hard drive s (this include s
partitions cre ate d by othe r ope rating s ys te ms s uch as Windows VFAT or NTFS
partitions ).
Warning
If you s e le ct this option, all data on the s e le cte d hard drive s is re move d by
the ins tallation program. Do not s e le ct this option if you have information
that you want to ke e p on the hard drive s whe re you are ins talling Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux.
In particular, do not s e le ct this option whe n you configure a s ys te m to chain
load the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r from anothe r boot loade r.
Se le ct this option to re move only partitions cre ate d by a pre vious Linux
ins tallation. This doe s not re move othe r partitions you may have on your hard
drive s (s uch as VFAT or FAT32 partitions ).
Warning
Use Free Space
option — re fe r to Se ction 11.6, “Do You Have Enough Dis k Space ?”.
layouts . Re fe r to Se ction 16.17, “ Cre ating a Cus tom Layout or Modifying the
De fault Layout ”
236
Impo rtant
To configure the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r to chain load from a diffe re nt
boot loade r, you mus t s pe cify the boot drive manually. If you chos e any of the
automatic partitioning options , you mus t now s e le ct the Review and modify
partitioning layout option be fore you click Next or you cannot s pe cify the
corre ct boot drive .
Impo rtant
237
Warning
Layout
ahe ad to Se ction 16.18, “Write Change s to Dis k”.
If you chos e one of the automatic partitioning options and s e le cte d Review, you can e ithe r
acce pt the curre nt partition s e ttings (click Next), or modify the s e tup manually in the
partitioning s cre e n.
partitions in which Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux is ins talle d.
Introduction to Disk Partitions and Se ction 16.17.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”. At
a bare minimum, you ne e d an appropriate ly-s iz e d root (/) partition, a /boot/ partition,
PRe P boot partition, and us ually a s wap partition appropriate to the amount of RAM you
have on the s ys te m.
238
Figure 16.39. Part it io ning o n IBM Syst em p
re pre s e ntation of the hard drive , logical volume , or RAID de vice s e le cte d in the lowe r
pane .
Above the graphical re pre s e ntation of the de vice , you can re vie w the name of the drive
(s uch as /dev/sda or LogVol00), its s iz e (in MB), and its mode l as de te cte d by the
The lowe r pane contains a lis t of all drive s , logical volume s , and RAID de vice s to be us e d
during ins tallation, as s pe cifie d e arlie r in the ins tallation proce s s — re fe r to Se ction 16.12,
“ As s ign Storage De vice s ”
Device
Size (MB)
T ype
239
Fo rmat
ins tallation.
Creat e
Edit
Delet e
Reset
240
Figure 16.40 . Creat ing St o rage
as follows :
the s ys te m.
241
No te
Figure 16.41. Creat ing a New Part it io n
242
s ufficie nt.
Part it io n t ypes
information.
243
File syst ems
characte rs .
No te
The maximum s iz e of an XFS partition the ins talle r can cre ate is 100 TB.
244
Warning
s ys te ms .
RAID Part it io n
245
RAID Device
following options :
246
partitions .
Impo rtant
an LVM configuration from s cratch, pre s s Alt+F2 to us e a diffe re nt virtual cons ole ,
and run the lvm command. To re turn to the te xt-mode ins tallation, pre s s Alt+F1.
s tandard partition — re fe r to Se ction 16.17.2, “Adding Partitions ” for a de s cription
of the available options . Note , howe ve r, that File System Type mus t be s e t to
247
248
Delete options .
Make Logical Volume
it will be long.
249
Unle s s you have a re as on for doing othe rwis e , we re comme nd that you cre ate the
following partitions :
A swap partition (at le as t 256 MB) — Swap partitions s upport virtual me mory: data is
is proce s s ing.
In ye ars pas t, the re comme nde d amount of s wap s pace incre as e d line arly with the
amount of RAM in the s ys te m. Mode rn s ys te ms ofte n include hundre ds of gigabyte s of
RAM, howe ve r. As a cons e que nce , re comme nde d s wap s pace is cons ide re d a function
of s ys te m me mory workload, not s ys te m me mory.
The following table provide s the re comme nde d s iz e of a s wap partition de pe nding on
the amount of RAM in your s ys te m and whe the r you want s ufficie nt me mory for your
s ys te m to hibe rnate . The re comme nde d s wap partition s iz e is e s tablis he d
automatically during ins tallation. To allow for hibe rnation, howe ve r, you will ne e d to e dit
the s wap s pace in the cus tom partitioning s tage .
Impo rtant
Re comme ndations in the table be low are e s pe cially important on s ys te ms with
low me mory (1 GB and le s s ). Failure to allocate s ufficie nt s wap s pace on the s e
s ys te ms may caus e is s ue s s uch as ins tability or e ve n re nde r the ins talle d
s ys te m unbootable .
T able 16.2. Reco mmended Syst em Swap Space
250
Amo unt o f RAM in t he
syst em
Reco mmended swap
space
Reco mmended swap
space if allo wing f o r
hibernat io n
⩽ 2GB
> 2GB – 8GB
> 8GB – 64GB
Equal to the amount of RAM
At le as t 4 GB
> 64GB
At le as t 4 GB
1.5 time s the amount of
RAM
Hibe rnation not
re comme nde d
At the borde r be twe e n e ach range lis te d above (for e xample , a s ys te m with 2GB, 8GB,
or 64GB of s ys te m RAM), dis cre tion can be e xe rcis e d with re gard to chos e n s wap
s pace and hibe rnation s upport. If your s ys te m re s ource s allow for it, incre as ing the
s wap s pace may le ad to be tte r pe rformance .
Note that dis tributing s wap s pace ove r multiple s torage de vice s — particularly on
s ys te ms with fas t drive s , controlle rs and inte rface s — als o improve s s wap s pace
pe rformance .
No te
Swap s pace s iz e re comme ndations is s ue d for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.0, 6.1,
and 6.2 diffe re d from the curre nt re comme ndations , which we re firs t is s ue d with
the re le as e of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.3 in June 2012 and did not account for
hibe rnation s pace . Automatic ins tallations of the s e e arlie r ve rs ions of Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6 s till ge ne rate a s wap s pace in line with the s e s upe rs e de d
re comme ndations . Howe ve r, manually s e le cting a s wap s pace s iz e in line with
the ne we r re comme ndations is s ue d for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.3 is advis able
for optimal pe rformance .
A PRe P boot partition on the firs t partition of the hard drive — the PRe P boot partition
contains the Yabo o t boot loade r (which allows othe r Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs to boot
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux). Unle s s you plan to boot from a ne twork s ource , you mus t
have a PRe P boot partition to boot Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
For IBM System p users: The PRe P boot partition s hould be be twe e n 4-8 MB, not to
e xce e d 10 MB.
A /boot/ partition (250 MB) — the partition mounte d on /boot/ contains the ope rating
s ys te m ke rne l (which allows your s ys te m to boot Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux), along with
file s us e d during the boots trap proce s s . Due to the limitations of mos t PC firmware ,
cre ating a s mall partition to hold the s e is a good ide a. For mos t us e rs , a 250 MB boot
partition is s ufficie nt.
Warning
If you have a RAID card, be aware that Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 doe s not
s upport s e tting up hardware RAID on an IPR card. You can boot the s tandalone
diagnos tics CD prior to ins tallation to cre ate a RAID array and the n ins tall to that
RAID array.
251
Impo rtant
A root partition (3.0 GB - 5.0 GB) — this is whe re "/" (the root dire ctory) is locate d. In
this s e tup, all file s (e xce pt thos e s tore d in /boot) are on the root partition.
A 3.0 GB partition allows you to ins tall a minimal ins tallation, while a 5.0 GB root
partition le ts you pe rform a full ins tallation, choos ing all package groups .
Impo rtant
Impo rtant
The / (or root) partition is the top of the dire ctory s tructure . The /root dire ctory
(s ome time s pronounce d "s las h-root") is the home dire ctory of the us e r account
for s ys te m adminis tration.
Warning
The PackageKit update s oftware downloads update d package s to
/var/cache/yum/ by de fault. If you partition the s ys te m manually, and cre ate a
s e parate /var/ partition, be s ure to cre ate the partition large e nough (3.0 GB or
more ) to download package update s .
Ente rpris e Linux.
252
Warning
ins tallation comple te ly, s witch off your compute r.
253
Impo rtant
Basic Server
s e rve r.
Dat abase Server
Web server
254
Virt ual Ho st
Deskt o p
Minimal
Warning
Package s ”.
ins tallation.
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux re pos itory is automatically s e le cte d for you. It contains
the comple te colle ction of s oftware that was re le as e d as Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6, with
255
the various pie ce s of s oftware in the ir ve rs ions that we re curre nt at the time of re le as e .
Figure 16.49. Adding a so f t ware repo sit o ry
information.
256
Figure 16.50 . Select net wo rk int erf ace
2. Click OK.
Hos tname ”
257
Warning
e nte re d.
No te
cate gory.
No te
Us e rs who want s upport for de ve loping or running 64-bit applications are
e ncourage d to s e le ct the Compatibility Arch Support and Compatibility Arch
Development Support package s to ins tall archite cture s pe cific s upport for the ir
s ys te ms .
258
two.
259
During ins tallation of the s e le cte d package s and the ir de pe nde ncie s , you s e e the following
progre s s bar:
260
The ins tallation program prompts you to pre pare your s ys te m for re boot. Re me mbe r to
re move any ins tallation me dia if it is not e je cte d automatically upon re boot.
Afte r your compute r's normal powe r-up s e que nce has comple te d, Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux loads and s tarts . By de fault, the s tart proce s s is hidde n be hind a graphical s cre e n
that dis plays a progre s s bar. Eve ntually, a login: prompt or a GUI login s cre e n (if you
ins talle d the X Window Sys te m and chos e to s tart X automatically) appe ars .
The firs t time you s tart your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m in run le ve l 5 (the graphical
run le ve l), the First Bo o t tool appe ars , which guide s you through the Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux configuration. Us ing this tool, you can s e t your s ys te m time and date , ins tall
s oftware , re gis te r your machine with Re d Hat Ne twork, and more . First Bo o t le ts you
configure your e nvironme nt at the be ginning, s o that you can ge t s tarte d us ing your Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m quickly.
261
Chapt er 17. Troubleshoot ing Inst allat ion on an IBM
Power Syst ems server
/tmp/anaconda.log
/tmp/program.log
/tmp/storage.log
/tmp/yum.log
/tmp/syslog
You may als o find the IBM Online Ale rt Se ction for Sys te m p us e ful. It is locate d at:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/lopdiags/info/LinuxAlert
s.html
If you re ce ive a fatal s ignal 11 e rror during your ins tallation, it is probably due to a
hardware e rror in me mory on your s ys te m's bus . Like othe r ope rating s ys te ms , Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux place s its own de mands on your s ys te m's hardware . Some of this
hardware may not be able to me e t thos e de mands , e ve n if the y work prope rly unde r
anothe r OS.
Ens ure that you have the late s t ins tallation update s and image s . Re vie w the online e rrata
to s e e if ne we r ve rs ions are available . If the late s t image s s till fail, it may be due to a
262
⁠C hapt e r 17. T r o uble s ho o t ing Ins t allat io n o n an IBM Po we r Sys t e ms s e r ve r
proble m with your hardware . Commonly, the s e e rrors are in your me mory or CPU-cache . A
pos s ible s olution for this e rror is turning off the CPU-cache in the BIOS, if your s ys te m
s upports this . You could als o try to s wap your me mory around in the mothe rboard s lots to
che ck if the proble m is e ithe r s lot or me mory re late d.
Anothe r option is to pe rform a me dia che ck on your ins tallation DVD. Anaco nda, the
ins tallation program, has the ability to te s t the inte grity of the ins tallation me dia. It works
with the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO ins tallation me thods . Re d Hat re comme nds that
you te s t all ins tallation me dia be fore s tarting the ins tallation proce s s , and be fore re porting
any ins tallation-re late d bugs (many of the bugs re porte d are actually due to imprope rlyburne d DVDs ). To us e this te s t, type the following command at the boot: or yaboot:
prompt:
linux mediacheck
For more information conce rning s ignal 11 e rrors , re fe r to:
http://www.bitwizard.nl/sig11/
17.2. T rouble Beginning t he Inst allat ion
17.2.1. Problems wit h Boot ing int o t he Graphical Inst allat ion
The re are s ome vide o cards that have trouble booting into the graphical ins tallation
program. If the ins tallation program doe s not run us ing its de fault s e ttings , it trie s to run in
a lowe r re s olution mode . If that s till fails , the ins tallation program atte mpts to run in te xt
mode .
One pos s ible s olution is to try us ing the resolution= boot option. Re fe r to Chapte r 28,
Boot Options for more information.
No te
To dis able frame buffe r s upport and allow the ins tallation program to run in te xt
mode , try us ing the nofb boot option. This command may be ne ce s s ary for
acce s s ibility with s ome s cre e n re ading hardware .
Message
Enterprise Linux, the re is probably a SCSI controlle r that is not be ing re cogniz e d by the
Che ck your hardware ve ndor's we bs ite to de te rmine if a drive r dis k image is available
that fixe s your proble m. For more ge ne ral information on drive r dis ks , re fe r to Chapte r 13,
Updating Drivers During Installation on IBM Power Systems Servers.
You can als o re fe r to the Red Hat Hardware Compatibility List, available online at:
263
https ://hardware .re dhat.com/
Figure 17.1. T he Crash Repo rt ing Dialo g Bo x
Det ails
264
Figure 17.2. Det ails o f t he Crash
Save
Exit
265
Figure 17.3. Select repo rt er
Lo gger
location.
Repo rt uplo ader
choice .
Configure Event.
266
Figure 17.4. Co nf igure repo rt er pref erences
Lo gger
Figure 17.5. Specif y lo cal pat h f o r lo g f ile
267
Figure 17.6. Ent er Red Hat Net wo rk aut hent icat io n det ails
Repo rt uplo ader
Figure 17.7. Ent er URL f o r uplo ading crash repo rt
Bugzilla
268
Figure 17.8. Ent er Bugzilla aut hent icat io n det ails
Figure 17.9. Co nf irm repo rt dat a
269
Figure 17.10 . Repo rt in pro gress
Figure 17.11. Repo rt ing do ne
270
Impo rtant
This information doe s not apply to us e rs of he adle s s IBM Sys te m p s ys te ms .
17.3.3. T rouble wit h Part it ion T ables
If you re ce ive an e rror afte r the Disk Partitioning Setup (Se ction 16.15, “Dis k
Partitioning Se tup”) phas e of the ins tallation s aying s ome thing s imilar to
The partition table on de vice hda was unre adable . To cre ate ne w partitions it
mus t be initializ e d, caus ing the los s of ALL DATA on this drive .
you may not have a partition table on that drive or the partition table on the drive may not
be re cogniz able by the partitioning s oftware us e d in the ins tallation program.
No matte r what type of ins tallation you are pe rforming, backups of the e xis ting data on
your s ys te ms s hould always be made .
17.3.4. Ot her Part it ioning Problems f or IBM Power Syst ems Users
A PRe P Boot partition.
A /boot/ partition.
No te
17.4.1. Unable t o IPL f rom *NWSST G
If you are e xpe rie ncing difficultie s whe n trying to IPL from *NWSSTG, you may not have
cre ate d a PRe P Boot partition s e t as active .
271
17.4.2. Boot ing int o a Graphical Environment
If you have ins talle d the X Window Sys te m but are not s e e ing a graphical de s ktop
e nvironme nt once you log into your s ys te m, you can s tart the X Window Sys te m graphical
inte rface us ing the command startx.
Once you e nte r this command and pre s s Enter, the graphical de s ktop e nvironme nt is
dis playe d.
Note , howe ve r, that this is jus t a one -time fix and doe s not change the log in proce s s for
future log ins .
To s e t up your s ys te m s o that you can log in at a graphical login s cre e n, you mus t e dit
one file , /etc/inittab, by changing jus t one numbe r in the runle ve l s e ction. Whe n you
are finis he d, re boot the compute r. The ne xt time you log in, you are pre s e nte d with a
graphical login prompt.
Ope n a s he ll prompt. If you are in your us e r account, be come root by typing the su
command.
Now, type the following to e dit the file with gedit .
gedit /etc/inittab
The file /etc/inittab ope ns . Within the firs t s cre e n, a s e ction of the file which looks like
the following appe ars :
# 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:
To change from a cons ole to a graphical login, you s hould change the numbe r in the line
id:3:initdefault: from a 3 to a 5.
Warning
Change only the numbe r of the de fault runle ve l from 3 to 5.
Your change d line s hould look like the following:
id:5:initdefault:
Whe n you are s atis fie d with your change , s ave and e xit the file us ing the Ctrl+Q ke ys . A
window appe ars and as ks if you would like to s ave the change s . Click Save.
272
The ne xt time you log in afte r re booting your s ys te m, you are pre s e nte d with a graphical
login prompt.
17.4.3. Problems wit h t he X Window Syst em (GUI)
If you are having trouble ge tting X (the X Window Sys te m) to s tart, you may not have
ins talle d it during your ins tallation.
If you want X, you can e ithe r ins tall the package s from the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ins tallation me dia or pe rform an upgrade .
If you e le ct to upgrade , s e le ct the X Window Sys te m package s , and choos e GNOME, KDE,
or both, during the upgrade package s e le ction proce s s .
Re fe r to Se ction 35.3, “Switching to a Graphical Login” for more de tail on ins talling a
de s ktop e nvironme nt.
If you are having trouble with the X s e rve r cras hing whe n anyone logs in, you may have a
full file s ys te m (or, a lack of available hard drive s pace ).
To ve rify that this is the proble m you are e xpe rie ncing, run the following command:
df -h
The df command s hould he lp you diagnos e which partition is full. For additional information
about df and an e xplanation of the options available (s uch as the -h option us e d in this
e xample ), re fe r to the df man page by typing man df at a s he ll prompt.
A ke y indicator is 100% full or a pe rce ntage above 90% or 95% on a partition. The /home/
and /tmp/ partitions can s ome time s fill up quickly with us e r file s . You can make s ome
room on that partition by re moving old file s . Afte r you fre e up s ome dis k s pace , try
running X as the us e r that was uns ucce s s ful be fore .
If you cannot re me mbe r your root pas s word, boot your s ys te m as linux single.
273
continue .
St art up
127.0.0.1
274
localhost
⁠P ar t III. IBM Sys t e m z Ar c hit e c t ur e - Ins t allat io n and Bo o t ing
⁠P art III. IBM Syst em z Archit ect ure - Inst allat ion and
Boot ing
This part of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide dis cus s e s ins tallation and
booting (or initial program load, IPL) of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on IBM Sys te m z .
275
Chapt er 18. Planning for Inst allat ion on Syst em z
18.1. Pre-Inst allat ion
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 runs on Sys te m z 9 or late r IBM mainframe s ys te ms .
The ins tallation proce s s as s ume s that you are familiar with the IBM Sys te m z and can s e t
up logical partitions (LPARs ) and z /VM gue s t virtual machine s . For additional information on
Sys te m z , re fe r to http://www.ibm.com/s ys te ms /z .
For ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on Sys te m z , Re d Hat s upports DASD and FCP
s torage de vice s .
Be fore you ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, you mus t de cide on the following:
De cide whe the r you want to run the ope rating s ys te m on an LPAR or as a z /VM gue s t
ope rating s ys te m.
De cide if you ne e d s wap s pace and if s o how much. Although it is pos s ible (and
re comme nde d) to as s ign e nough me mory to z /VM gue s t virtual machine and le t z /VM
do the ne ce s s ary s wapping, the re are cas e s whe re the amount of re quire d RAM is
hard to pre dict. Such ins tance s s hould be e xamine d on a cas e -by-cas e bas is . Re fe r to
Se ction 23.15.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”.
De cide on a ne twork configuration. Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 for IBM Sys te m z
s upports the following ne twork de vice s :
Re al and virtual Open Systems Adapter (OSA)
Re al and virtual Hipe rSocke ts
LAN channel station (LCS) for re al OSA
You re quire the following hardware :
Dis k s pace . Calculate how much dis k s pace you ne e d and allocate s ufficie nt dis k s pace
on DASDs ⁠ [9] or SCSI ⁠ [10] dis ks . You re quire at le as t 2 GB for a s e rve r ins tallation,
and 5 GB if you want to ins tall all package s . You als o re quire dis k s pace for any
application data. Afte r the ins tallation, more DASD or SCSI dis k partitions may be adde d
or de le te d as ne ce s s ary.
The dis k s pace us e d by the ne wly ins talle d Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m (the Linux
ins tance ) mus t be s e parate from the dis k s pace us e d by othe r ope rating s ys te ms you
may have ins talle d on your s ys te m.
For more information about dis ks and partition configuration, re fe r to Se ction 23.15.5,
“Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”.
RAM. Acquire 1 GB (re comme nde d) for the Linux ins tance . With s ome tuning, an
ins tance might run with as little as 512 MB RAM.
18.2. Overview of t he Syst em z Inst allat ion Procedure
276
⁠C hapt e r 18 . Planning f o r Ins t allat io n o n Sys t e m z
You can ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on Sys te m z inte ractive ly or in unatte nde d mode .
Ins tallation on Sys te m z diffe rs from ins tallation on othe r archite cture s in that it is typically
pe rforme d ove r a ne twork and not from a local DVD. The ins tallation can be s ummariz e d
as follows :
1. Bo o t ing (IPL) t he inst aller
Conne ct with the mainframe , the n pe rform an initial program load (IPL), or boot, from
the me dium containing the ins tallation program.
2. Inst allat io n Phase 1
Se t up an initial ne twork de vice . This ne twork de vice is the n us e d to conne ct to the
ins tallation s ys te m via SSH or VNC. This ge ts you a full-s cre e n mode te rminal or
graphical dis play to continue ins tallation as on othe r archite cture s .
Spe cify which language to us e , and how and whe re the ins tallation program and the
s oftware package s to be ins talle d from the re pos itory on the Re d Hat ins tallation
me dium can be found.
Us e anaco nda (the main part of the Re d Hat ins tallation program) to pe rform the
re s t of the ins tallation.
277
Figure 18.1. T he Inst allat io n Pro cess
18.2.1. Boot ing (IPL) t he Inst aller
Afte r e s tablis hing a conne ction with the mainframe , you ne e d to pe rform an initial program
load (IPL), or boot, from the me dium containing the ins tallation program. This docume nt
de s cribe s the mos t common me thods of ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 on
Sys te m z . In ge ne ral, you can us e any me thod to boot the Linux ins tallation s ys te m, which
cons is ts of a ke rne l (kernel.img) and initial ramdis k (initrd.img) with at le as t the
parame te rs in generic.prm. The Linux ins tallation s ys te m is als o calle d the installer in
this book.
The control point from whe re you can s tart the IPL proce s s de pe nds on the e nvironme nt
whe re your Linux is to run. If your Linux is to run as a z /VM gue s t ope rating s ys te m, the
control point is the control program (CP) of the hos ting z /VM. If your Linux is to run in LPAR
mode , the control point is the mainframe 's Support Element (SE) or an attache d IBM
Sys te m z Hardware Management Console (HMC).
You can us e the following boot me dia only if Linux is to run as a gue s t ope rating s ys te m
unde r z /VM:
z /VM re ade r — re fe r to Se ction 20.1.1, “Us ing the z /VM Re ade r” for de tails .
278
You can us e the following boot me dia only if Linux is to run in LPAR mode :
SE or HMC through a re mote FTP s e rve r — re fe r to Se ction 20.2.1, “Us ing an FTP
Se rve r” for de tails .
SE or HMC DVD — re fe r to Se ction 20.2.2, “Us ing the HMC or SE DVD Drive ” for de tails
You can us e the following boot me dia for both z /VM and LPAR:
DASD — re fe r to Se ction 20.1.2, “Us ing a Pre pare d DASD” for z /VM or Se ction 20.2.3,
“Us ing a Pre pare d DASD” for LPAR
SCSI de vice that is attache d through an FCP channe l — re fe r to Se ction 20.1.3, “Us ing a
Pre pare d FCP-attache d SCSI Dis k” for z /VM or Se ction 20.2.4, “Us ing a Pre pare d FCPattache d SCSI Dis k” for LPAR
FCP-attache d SCSI DVD — re fe r to Se ction 20.1.4, “ Us ing an FCP-attache d SCSI DVD
Drive ” for z /VM or Se ction 20.2.5, “Us ing an FCP-attache d SCSI DVD Drive ” for LPAR
If you us e DASD and FCP-attache d SCSI de vice s (e xce pt SCSI DVDs ) as boot me dia, you
mus t have a configure d z ipl boot loade r. For more information, s e e the Chapte r on z ipl in
Linux on System z Device Drivers, Features, and Commands on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
18.2.2. Inst allat ion Phase 1
Afte r the ke rne l boot, you will configure one ne twork de vice . This ne twork de vice is
ne e de d to comple te the ins tallation.
The inte rface you will us e in ins tallation phas e 1 is the linuxrc inte rface , which is line mode and te xt-bas e d. (Re fe r to Chapte r 21, Installation Phase 1: Configuring a Network
Device.)
In ins tallation phas e 2, you ne e d to s pe cify what language to us e and whe re phas e 3 of
the ins tallation program and the s oftware package s to be ins talle d from the re pos itory on
the Re d Hat ins tallation me dium can be found. On Sys te m z , the ins tallation s ource s are
us ually trans fe rre d from the DVD to a ne twork s e rve r. Phas e 3 of the ins tallation program
and the re pos itory can be acce s s e d in one of the following ways :
Ove r the ne twork us ing one of the FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, or NFS protocols . A s e parate
ne twork s e rve r (FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, or NFS), which holds all the re quire d ins tallation
s ource s , mus t be s e t up in advance . For de tails on how to s e t up a ne twork s e rve r,
re fe r to Se ction 19.1, “Pre paring for a Ne twork Ins tallation”.
Hard dis k (DASD or a SCSI de vice attache d through an FCP channe l). You ne e d to s e t up
a dis k that holds the re quire d ins tallation s ource s in advance . For de tails , Re fe r to
Se ction 19.2, “Pre paring for a Hard Drive Ins tallation”.
Through an FCP-attache d SCSI DVD. This is handle d automatically if boote d from FCPattache d SCSI DVD.
The inte rface you will us e in ins tallation phas e 2 is the loade r, which provide s a full-s cre e n
te xt-bas e d inte rface with a blue background by de fault. For unatte nde d ins tallations in
cmdline mode , the loade r offe rs line -mode , te xt-bas e d output. (Re fe r to Chapte r 22,
Installation Phase 2: Configuring Language and Installation Source.)
279
In ins tallation phas e 3 you will us e anaco nda in graphical, te xt-bas e d, or cmdline mode :
Graphical mo de
This can be us e d through a VNC clie nt (re comme nde d) or through an X11 s e rve r. You
can us e your mous e and ke yboard to navigate through the s cre e ns , click buttons , and
e nte r te xt in fie lds .
T ext -based mo de
This inte rface doe s not offe r all inte rface e le me nts of the GUI and doe s not s upport all
s e ttings . Us e this for inte ractive ins tallations if you cannot us e a VNC clie nt or X11
s e rve r.
cmdline mo de
This is inte nde d for automate d ins tallations on Sys te m z . (Re fe r to Se ction 26.6,
“Parame te rs for Kicks tart Ins tallations ”)
If you have a s low ne twork conne ction or pre fe r a te xt-bas e d ins tallation, do not us e X11
forwarding whe n logging in ove r the ne twork and do not s e t the display= variable in the
parame te r file (re fe r to Se ction 26.4, “VNC and X11 Parame te rs ” for de tails ). In Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6 the te xt-bas e d ins tallation has be e n re duce d to minimiz e us e r
inte raction. Fe ature s like ins tallation on FCP-attache d SCSI de vice s , changing partition
layout, or package s e le ction are only available with the graphical us e r inte rface
ins tallation. Us e the graphical ins tallation whe ne ve r pos s ible . (Re fe r to Chapte r 23,
Installation Phase 3: Installing Using Anaconda.)
18.3. Graphical User Int erface wit h X11 or VNC
To run anaco nda with the graphical us e r inte rface , us e a works tation that has e ithe r an X
Window Sys te m (X11) s e rve r or VNC clie nt ins talle d.
You can us e X11 forwarding with an SSH clie nt or X11 dire ctly. If the ins talle r on your
works tation fails be caus e the X11 s e rve r doe s not s upport re quire d X11 e xte ns ions you
might have to upgrade the X11 s e rve r or us e VNC.
To us e VNC, dis able X11 forwarding in your SSH clie nt prior to conne cting to the Linux
ins tallation s ys te m on the mainframe or s pe cify the vnc parame te r in your parame te r file .
Us ing VNC is re comme nde d for s low or long-dis tance ne twork conne ctions . Re fe r to
Se ction 28.2, “Enabling Re mote Acce s s to the Ins tallation Sys te m”.
Table 18.1, “Parame te rs and SSH login type s ” s hows how the parame te rs and SSH login
type controls which anaco nda us e r inte rface is us e d.
T able 18.1. Paramet ers and SSH lo gin t ypes
Paramet er
SSH lo gin
User int erf ace
none
vnc
SSH without X11 forwarding
SSH with or without X11
forwarding
SSH with X11 forwarding
VNC or te xt
VNC
none
280
X11
Paramet er
SSH lo gin
User int erf ace
display=IP/hostname:dis
play
SSH without X11 forwarding
X11
18.3.1. Inst allat ion using X11 f orwarding
You can conne ct a works tation to the Linux ins tallation s ys te m on the mainframe and
dis play the graphical ins tallation program us ing SSH with X11 forwarding.
You re quire an SSH clie nt that allows X11 forwarding. To ope n the conne ction, firs t s tart
the X s e rve r on the works tation. The n conne ct to the Linux ins tallation s ys te m. You can
e nable X11 forwarding in your SSH clie nt whe n you conne ct.
For e xample , with Ope nSSH e nte r the following in a te rminal window on your works tation:
ssh -X install@linuxvm.example.com
Re place linuxvm.example.com with the hos tname or IP addre s s of the s ys te m you are
ins talling. The -X option (the capital le tte r X) e nable s X11 forwarding.
18.3.2. Inst allat ion using X11
The dire ct conne ction from the X11 clie nt to an X11 s e rve r on your local works tation
re quire s an IP conne ction from your Sys te m z to your works tation. If the ne twork and
fire walls pre ve nt s uch conne ctions , us e X11 forwarding or VNC ins te ad.
The graphical ins tallation program re quire s the DNS and hos tname to be s e t corre ctly, and
the Linux ins tallation s ys te m mus t be allowe d to ope n applications on your dis play. You
can e ns ure this by s e tting the parame te r display=workstationname:0.0 in the
parame te r file , whe re works tationname is the hos tname of the clie nt works tation
conne cting to the Linux image . Alte rnative ly, you can s e t the display e nvironme nt
variable and run loade r manually afte r having logge d in with SSH as us e r root. By de fault
you log in as us e r install. This s tarts the loade r automatically and doe s not allow
ove rriding the display e nvironme nt variable .
To pe rmit X11 clie nts to ope n applications on the X11 s e rve r on your works tation, us e the
xauth command. To manage X11 authoriz ation cookie s with xaut h, you mus t log in to the
Linux ins tallation s ys te m us ing SSH as us e r root. For de tails on xaut h and how to
manage authoriz ation cookie s , re fe r to the xauth manpage .
In contras t to s e tting up X11 authoriz ations with xaut h, you can us e xho st to pe rmit the
Linux ins tallation s ys te m to conne ct to the X11 s e rve r:
xhost +linuxvm
Re place linuxvm with the hos tname or IP addre s s of the Linux ins tallation s ys te m. This
allows linuxvm to make conne ctions to the X11 s e rve r.
If the graphical ins tallation doe s not be gin automatically, ve rify the display= variable
s e ttings in the parame te r file . If pe rforming an ins tallation unde r z /VM, re run the
ins tallation to load the ne w parame te r file on the re ade r.
18.3.3. Inst allat ion using VNC
Us ing VNC is re comme nde d for s low or long-dis tance ne twork conne ctions . To us e VNC,
281
dis able X11 forwarding in your SSH clie nt prior to conne cting to the te mporary Linux
ins tallation s ys te m. The loade r will the n provide a choice be twe e n te xt-mode and VNC;
choos e VNC he re . Alte rnative ly, provide the vnc variable and optionally the vncpassword
variable in your parame te r file (re fe r to Se ction 26.4, “VNC and X11 Parame te rs ” for
de tails ).
A me s s age on the works tation SSH te rminal prompts you to s tart the VNC clie nt vie we r
and provide s de tails about the VNC dis play s pe cifications . Ente r the s pe cifications from
the SSH te rminal into the VNC clie nt vie we r and conne ct to the te mporary Linux ins tallation
s ys te m to be gin the ins tallation. Re fe r to Chapte r 31, Installing Through VNC for de tails .
18.3.4. Inst allat ion using a VNC list ener
To conne ct from your te mporary Linux ins tallation s ys te m to a VNC clie nt running on your
works tation in lis te ning mode , us e the vncconnect option in your parame te r file , in
addition to the options vnc and optionally vncpassword. The ne twork and fire walls mus t
allow an IP conne ction from your te mporary Linux ins tallation to your works tation.
To have the te mporary Linux ins tallation s ys te m automatically conne ct to a VNC clie nt, firs t
s tart the clie nt in lis te ning mode . On Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te ms , us e the -listen
option to run vncviewer as a lis te ne r. In a te rminal window, e nte r the command:
vncviewer -listen
Re fe r to Chapte r 31, Installing Through VNC for de tails .
18.3.5. Aut omat ing t he Inst allat ion wit h Kickst art
You can allow an ins tallation to run unatte nde d by us ing Kicks tart. A Kickstart file s pe cifie s
s e ttings for an ins tallation. Once the ins tallation s ys te m boots , it can re ad a Kicks tart file
and carry out the ins tallation proce s s without any furthe r input from a us e r.
On Sys te m z , this als o re quire s a parame te r file (optionally an additional configuration file
unde r z /VM). This parame te r file mus t contain the re quire d ne twork options de s cribe d in
Se ction 26.3, “Ins tallation Ne twork Parame te rs ” and s pe cify a kicks tart file us ing the ks=
option. The kicks tart file typically re s ide s on the ne twork. The parame te r file ofte n als o
contains the options cmdline and RUNKS=1 to e xe cute the loade r without having to log in
ove r the ne twork with SSH (Re fe r to Se ction 26.6, “Parame te rs for Kicks tart Ins tallations ”).
For furthe r information and de tails on how to s e t up a kicks tart file , re fe r to Se ction 32.3,
“Cre ating the Kicks tart File ”.
18.3.5.1. Every Inst allat ion Produces a Kickst art File
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation proce s s automatically write s a Kicks tart file that
contains the s e ttings for the ins talle d s ys te m. This file is always s ave d as
/root/anaconda-ks.cfg. You may us e this file to re pe at the ins tallation with ide ntical
s e ttings , or modify copie s to s pe cify s e ttings for othe r s ys te ms .
[9] Direct Access Storage Devices (DASDs) are hard disks that allow a m axim um of three
partitions per device. For exam ple, dasda can have partitions dasda1 , dasda2 , and dasda3 .
[10] Using the SC SI-over-Fibre C hannel device driver (zfcp device driver) and a switch, SC SI
LUNs can be presented to Linux on System z as if they were locally attached SC SI drives.
282
No te
Make s ure no ins tallation DVD (or any othe r type of DVD or CD) is in your hos ting
partition's drive if you are pe rforming a ne twork-bas e d ins tallation. Having a DVD or
Ens ure that you have boot me dia available as de s cribe d in Chapte r 20, Booting (IPL) the
Installer.
a s e parate , ne twork-acce s s ible s e rve r. The s e parate s e rve r can be a virtual machine ,
LPAR, or any othe r s ys te m (s uch as a Linux on Powe r Sys te ms or x86 s ys te m). It mus t
provide the comple te conte nts of the ins tallation DVD-ROM.
No te
command:
283
Warning
loop,ro
umount /mount_point
284
umount /mnt/tmp
s ame dire ctory.
reload).
No te
boot: prompt:
linux mediacheck
Us e this option to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on hardware s ys te ms without a DVD
drive and if you do not want to acce s s ins tallation phas e 3 and the package re pos itory
ove r a ne twork.
19.2.1. Accessing Inst allat ion Phase 3 and t he Package Reposit ory on
285
19.2.1. Accessing Inst allat ion Phase 3 and t he Package Reposit ory on
a Hard Drive
No te
Hard drive ins tallations us ing DASD or FCP-attache d SCSI s torage only work from
native e xt2, e xt3, or e xt4 partitions . If you have a file s ys te m bas e d on de vice s
othe r than native e xt2, e xt3, or e xt4 (particularly a file s ys te m bas e d on RAID or
LVM partitions ) you will not be able to us e it as a s ource to pe rform a hard drive
ins tallation.
Hard drive ins tallations us e an ISO image of the ins tallation DVD (a file that contains an
e xact copy of the conte nt of the DVD), and an install.img file e xtracte d from the ISO
image . With the s e file s pre s e nt on a hard drive , you can choos e Hard drive as the
ins tallation s ource whe n you boot the ins tallation program.
Ens ure that you have boot me dia available as de s cribe d in Chapte r 20, Booting (IPL) the
Installer.
To pre pare a DASD or FCP-attache d de vice as an ins tallation s ource , follow the s e s te ps :
Linux s ys te m:
2. Trans fe r the ISO image s to the DASD or SCSI de vice .
The ISO file s mus t be locate d on a hard drive that is activate d in ins tallation phas e
1 (re fe r to Chapte r 21, Installation Phase 1: Configuring a Network Device) or in
ins tallation phas e 2 (re fe r to Chapte r 22, Installation Phase 2: Configuring Language
and Installation Source). This is automatically pos s ible with DASDs .
For an FCP LUN, you mus t e ithe r boot (IPL) from the s ame FCP LUN or us e the
re s cue s he ll provide d by the ins tallation phas e 1 me nus to manually activate the
FCP LUN holding the ISOs as de s cribe d in Se ction 25.2.1, “Dynamically Activating an
FCP LUN”.
286
loop,ro
umount /mount_point
umount /mnt/tmp
s ame dire ctory.
Impo rtant
dire ctory.
6. Make the DASD or SCSI LUN acce s s ible to the ne w z /VM gue s t virtual machine or
LPAR, and the n proce e d with ins tallation. (Re fe r to Chapte r 20, Booting (IPL) the
Installer) or alte rnative ly with Se ction 19.2.1.1, “Pre paring for Booting the Ins talle r
from a Hard Drive ”.
287
No te
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program can te s t the inte grity of the
ins tallation me dium. It works with the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO ins tallation
me thods . We re comme nd that you te s t all ins tallation me dia be fore s tarting the
ins tallation proce s s , and be fore re porting any ins tallation-re late d bugs . To us e this
te s t, add the mediacheck parame te r to your parame te r file (re fe r to Se ction 26.7,
“Mis ce llane ous Parame te rs ”).
19.2.1.1. Preparing f or Boot ing t he Inst aller f rom a Hard Drive
If you would like to boot (IPL) the ins talle r from a hard drive , in addition to acce s s ing
ins tallation phas e 3 and the package re pos itory, you can optionally ins tall the z ipl boot
loade r on the s ame (or a diffe re nt) dis k. Be aware that z ipl only s upports one boot re cord
pe r dis k. If you have multiple partitions on a dis k, the y all “s hare ” the dis k's one boot
re cord.
In the following, as s ume the hard drive is pre pare d as de s cribe d in Se ction 19.2.1,
“Acce s s ing Ins tallation Phas e 3 and the Package Re pos itory on a Hard Drive ”, mounte d
unde r /mnt, and you do not ne e d to pre s e rve an e xis ting boot re cord.
To pre pare a hard drive to boot the ins talle r, ins tall the z ipl boot loade r on the hard drive
by e nte ring the following command:
zipl -V -t /mnt/ -i /mnt/images/kernel.img -r /mnt/images/initrd.img -p
/mnt/images/generic.prm
For more de tails on z ipl.conf, re fe r to the chapte r on z ipl in Linux on System z Device
Drivers, Features, and Commands on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
Warning
If you have an ope rating s ys te m ins talle d on the dis k, and you s till plan to acce s s it
late r on, re fe r the chapte r on z ipl in Linux on System z Device Drivers, Features, and
Commands on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 for how to add a ne w e ntry in the z ipl boot
loade r (that is , in zipl.conf).
288
⁠C hapt e r 20 . Bo o t ing (IPL) t he Ins t alle r
Chapt er 20. Boot ing (IPL) t he Inst aller
The s te ps to pe rform the initial boot (IPL) of the ins talle r de pe nd on the e nvironme nt
(e ithe r z /VM or LPAR) in which Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux will run. For more information on
booting, s e e the Booting Linux chapte r in Linux on System z Device Drivers, Features, and
Commands on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
20.1. Inst alling Under z/VM
Whe n ins talling unde r z /VM, you can boot from:
the z /VM virtual re ade r
a DASD or an FCP-attache d SCSI de vice pre pare d with the z ipl boot loade r
an FCP-attache d SCSI DVD drive
Log on to the z /VM gue s t virtual machine chos e n for the Linux ins tallation. You can us e
x3270 or c3270 (from the x3270-text package in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux) to log in to
z /VM from othe r Linux s ys te ms . Alte rnative ly, us e the 3270 te rminal e mulator on the IBM
Sys te m z Hardware Manage me nt Cons ole (HMC). If you are working from a machine with a
Windows ope rating s ys te m, Jolly Giant (http://www.jollygiant.com/) offe rs an SSL-e nable d
3270 e mulator. A fre e native Windows port of c3270 calle d wc3270 als o e xis ts .
No te
If your 3270 conne ction is inte rrupte d and you cannot log in again be caus e the
pre vious s e s s ion is s till active , you can re place the old s e s s ion with a ne w one by
e nte ring the following command on the z /VM logon s cre e n:
logon user here
Re place user with the name of the z /VM gue s t virtual machine . De pe nding on
whe the r an e xte rnal s e curity manage r, for e xample RACF, is us e d, the logon
command might vary.
If you are not alre ady running CMS (s ingle us e r ope rating s ys te m s hippe d with z /VM) in
your gue s t, boot it now by e nte ring the command:
#cp ipl cms
Be s ure not to us e CMS dis ks s uch as your A dis k (ofte n de vice numbe r 0191) as
ins tallation targe ts . To find out which dis ks are in us e by CMS us e the following que ry:
query disk
You can us e the following CP (z /VM Control Program, which is the z /VM hype rvis or) que ry
commands to find out about the de vice configuration of your z /VM gue s t virtual machine :
Que ry the available main me mory, which is calle d storage in Sys te m z te rminology.
Your gue s t s hould have at le as t 512 me gabyte s of main me mory.
289
cp query virtual storage
Que ry available ne twork de vice s of type :
osa
OSA (CHPID type OSD, re al or virtual (VSWITCH or Gue s tLAN type QDIO), both
in QDIO mode )
hsi
Hipe rSocke ts (CHPID type IQD, re al or virtual (Gue s tLAN type Hipe rs ))
lcs
LCS (CHPID type OSE)
For e xample , to que ry all of the ne twork de vice type s me ntione d above :
cp query virtual osa
Que ry available DASDs . Only thos e that are flagge d RW for re ad-write mode can be
us e d as ins tallation targe ts :
cp query virtual dasd
Que ry available FCP channe ls :
cp query virtual fcp
20.1.1. Using t he z/VM Reader
Pe rform the following s te ps to boot from the z /VM re ade r:
1. If ne ce s s ary, add the de vice containing the z /VM TCP/IP tools to your CMS dis k lis t.
For e xample :
cp link tcpmaint 592 592
acc 592 fm
Re place fm with any FILEMODE le tte r.
2. Exe cute the command:
ftp host
Whe re host is the hos tname or IP addre s s of the FTP s e rve r that hos ts the boot
image s (kernel.img and initrd.img).
3. Log in and e xe cute the following commands . Us e the (repl option if you are
ove rwriting e xis ting kernel.img, initrd.img, generic.prm, or redhat.exec file s :
cd /location/of/install-tree/images/
ascii
get generic.prm (repl
290
get redhat.exec (repl
locsite fix 80
binary
get kernel.img (repl
get initrd.img (repl
quit
4. Optionally che ck whe the r the file s we re trans fe rre d corre ctly by us ing the CMS
command filelist to s how the re ce ive d file s and the ir format. It is important that
kernel.img and initrd.img have a fixe d re cord le ngth format de note d by F in the
Format column and a re cord le ngth of 80 in the Lrecl column. For e xample :
VMUSER FILELIST A0 V 169 Trunc=169 Size=6 Line=1 Col=1 Alt=0
Cmd Filename Filetype Fm Format Lrecl Records Blocks Date Time
REDHAT EXEC B1 V 22 1 1 4/15/10 9:30:40
GENERIC PRM B1 V 44 1 1 4/15/10 9:30:32
INITRD IMG B1 F 80 118545 2316 4/15/10 9:30:25
KERNEL IMG B1 F 80 74541 912 4/15/10 9:30:17
Pre s s PF3 to quit filelist and re turn to the CMS prompt.
5. Finally e xe cute the REXX s cript redhat.exec to boot (IPL) the ins talle r:
redhat
20.1.2. Using a Prepared DASD
Boot from the pre pare d DASD and s e le ct the z ipl boot me nu e ntry re fe rring to the Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins talle r. Us e a command of the following form:
cp ipl DASD device number loadparm boot_entry_number
Re place DASD device number with the de vice numbe r of the boot de vice , and
boot_entry_number with the z ipl configuration me nu for this de vice . For e xample :
cp ipl eb1c loadparm 0
20.1.3. Using a Prepared FCP-at t ached SCSI Disk
Pe rform the following s te ps to boot from a pre pare d FCP-attache d SCSI dis k:
1. Configure the SCSI boot loade r of z /VM to acce s s the pre pare d SCSI dis k in the FCP
s torage are a ne twork. Se le ct the pre pare d z ipl boot me nu e ntry re fe rring to the
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins talle r. Us e a command of the following form:
cp set loaddev portname WWPN lun LUN bootprog boot_entry_number
Re place WWPN with the WWPN of the s torage s ys te m and LUN with the LUN of the
dis k. The 16-digit he xade cimal numbe rs mus t be s plit into two pairs of e ight digits
e ach. For e xample :
cp set loaddev portname 50050763 050b073d lun 40204011 00000000
bootprog 0
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2. Optionally, confirm your s e ttings with the command:
query loaddev
3. IPL the FCP de vice conne cte d with the s torage s ys te m containing the dis k with the
command:
cp ipl FCP_device
For e xample :
cp ipl fc00
20.1.4. Using an FCP-at t ached SCSI DVD Drive
This re quire s a SCSI DVD drive attache d to an FCP-to-SCSI bridge which is in turn
conne cte d to an FCP adapte r in your Sys te m z . The FCP adapte r mus t be configure d and
available unde r z /VM.
1. Ins e rt your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux for Sys te m z DVD into the DVD drive .
2. Configure the SCSI boot loade r of z /VM to acce s s the DVD drive in the FCP s torage
are a ne twork and s pe cify 1 for the boot e ntry on the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux for
Sys te m z DVD. Us e a command of the following form:
cp set loaddev portname WWPN lun FCP_LUN bootprog 1
Re place WWPN with the WWPN of the FCP-to-SCSI bridge and FCP_LUN with the LUN
of the DVD drive . The 16-digit he xade cimal numbe rs mus t be s plit into two pairs of
e ight characte rs e ach. For e xample :
cp set loaddev portname 20010060 eb1c0103 lun 00010000 00000000
bootprog 1
3. Optionally, confirm your s e ttings with the command:
cp query loaddev
4. IPL on the FCP de vice conne cte d with the FCP-to-SCSI bridge .
cp ipl FCP_device
For e xample :
cp ipl fc00
20.2. Inst alling in an LPAR
Whe n ins talling in a logical partition (LPAR), you can boot from:
an FTP s e rve r
292
the DVD drive of the HMC or SE
a DASD or an FCP-attache d SCSI drive pre pare d with the z ipl boot loade r
an FCP-attache d SCSI DVD drive
Pe rform the s e common s te ps firs t:
1. Log in on the IBM Sys te m z Hardware Management Console (HMC) or the Support
Element (SE) as a us e r with s ufficie nt privile ge s to ins tall a ne w ope rating s ys te m
to an LPAR. The SYSPROG us e r is re comme nde d.
2. Se le ct Images, the n s e le ct the LPAR to which you wis h to ins tall. Us e the arrows in
the frame on the right s ide to navigate to the CPC Reco very me nu.
3. Double -click Operating System Messages to s how the te xt cons ole on which Linux
boot me s s age s will appe ar and pote ntially us e r input will be re quire d. Re fe r to the
chapte r on booting Linux in Linux on System z Device Drivers, Features, and
Commands on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and the Hardware Management Console
Operations Guide, orde r numbe r [SC28-6857], for de tails .
Continue with the proce dure for your ins tallation s ource .
20.2.1. Using an FT P Server
1. Double -click Load from CD-ROM, DVD, or Server.
2. In the dialog box that follows , s e le ct FTP Source, and e nte r the following
information: Hos t Compute r: Hos tname or IP addre s s of the FTP s e rve r you wis h to
ins tall from (for e xample , ftp.re dhat.com) Us e r ID: Your us e r name on the FTP
s e rve r (or anonymous ) Pas s word: Your pas s word (us e your e mail addre s s if you
are logging in as anonymous ) Account (optional): Le ave this fie ld e mpty File location
(optional): Dire ctory on the FTP s e rve r holding Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux for
Sys te m z (for e xample , /rhe l/s 390x/)
3. Click Continue.
4. In the dialog that follows , ke e p the de fault s e le ction of generic.ins and click
Continue.
20.2.2. Using t he HMC or SE DVD Drive
1. Double -click Load from CD-ROM, DVD, or Server.
2. In the dialog box that follows , s e le ct Local CD-ROM / DVD the n click Continue.
3. In the dialog that follows , ke e p the de fault s e le ction of generic.ins the n click
Continue.
20.2.3. Using a Prepared DASD
1. Double -click Load.
2. In the dialog box that follows , s e le ct Normal as the Load type.
3. As Load address fill in the de vice numbe r of the DASD.
293
4. As Load parameter fill in the numbe r corre s ponding the z ipl boot me nu e ntry that
you pre pare d for booting the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins talle r.
5. Click the OK button.
20.2.4. Using a Prepared FCP-at t ached SCSI Disk
2. In the dialog box that follows , s e le ct SCSI as the Load type.
3. As Load address fill in the de vice numbe r of the FCP channe l conne cte d with the
SCSI dis k.
4. As World wide port name fill in the WWPN of the s torage s ys te m containing the
dis k as a 16-digit he xade cimal numbe r.
5. As Logical unit number fill in the LUN of the dis k as a 16-digit he xade cimal
numbe r.
6. As Boot program selector fill in the numbe r corre s ponding the z ipl boot me nu
e ntry that you pre pare d for booting the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins talle r.
7. Le ave the Boot record logical block address as 0 and the Operating system
specific load parameters e mpty.
20.2.5. Using an FCP-at t ached SCSI DVD Drive
This re quire s to have a SCSI DVD drive attache d to an FCP-to-SCSI bridge which is in turn
conne cte d to an FCP adapte r in your Sys te m z machine . The FCP adapte r has to be
configure d and available in your LPAR.
1. Ins e rt your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux for Sys te m z DVD into the DVD drive .
3. In the dialog box that follows , s e le ct SCSI as the Load type.
4. As Load address fill in the de vice numbe r of the FCP channe l conne cte d with the
FCP-to-SCSI bridge .
5. As World wide port name fill in the WWPN of the FCP-to-SCSI bridge as a 16-digit
he xade cimal numbe r.
6. As Logical unit number fill in the LUN of the DVD drive as a 16-digit he xade cimal
numbe r.
7. As Boot program selector fill in the numbe r 1 to s e le ct the boot e ntry on the Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux for Sys te m z DVD.
8. Le ave the Boot record logical block address as 0 and the Operating system
specific load parameters e mpty.
294
⁠C hapt e r 21. Ins t allat io n Phas e 1: Co nf igur ing a Ne t wo r k De vic e
Chapt er 21. Inst allat ion Phase 1: Configuring a
Net work Device
Afte r the ke rne l boot, you will configure one ne twork de vice us ing the linuxrc program.
This ne twork de vice is ne e de d to comple te the ins tallation. If you are ins talling
inte ractive ly (with the de fault parame te r file generic.prm), you will be as ke d que s tions
about your ne twork. It is a good ide a to have your data re ady in the form of a datas he e t or
s imilar. If you want to automate this s te p, s upply the information for e ach option in your
parame te r file or CMS configuration file .
As an e xample , le t us look at how to configure an OSA ne twork adapte r unde r z /VM. Whe n
linuxrc s tarts , you s e e the following me s s age :
Starting the zSeries initrd to configure networking. Version is 1.2
Starting udev...
Ne twork de vice s are s e ns e d and lis te d. The lis t of de vice s de pe nds on the cio_ignore
ke rne l parame te r us e d. If no de vice s are found be caus e of cio_ignore, as in the
e xample be low, you can cle ar the lis t of ignore d de vice s . Note that this might take s ome
time and re s ult in a long lis t whe n the re are many de vice s , s uch as on an LPAR.
Scanning for available network devices...
Autodetection found 0 devices.
Note: There is a device blacklist active! (Clearing might take long)
c) clear blacklist, m) manual config, r) rescan, s) shell:
c
Clearing device blacklist...
Scanning for available network devices...
Autodetection found 14 devices.
NUM CARD CU CHPID TYPE DRIVER IF DEVICES
1 OSA (QDIO) 1731/01 00 OSD qeth eth 0.0.f500,0.0.f501,0.0.f502
2 OSA (QDIO) 1731/01 01 OSD qeth eth 0.0.f503,0.0.f504,0.0.f505
3 OSA (QDIO) 1731/01 02 OSD qeth eth 0.0.1010,0.0.1011,0.0.1012
4 HiperSockets 1731/05 03 IQD qeth hsi 0.0.1013,0.0.1014,0.0.1015
5 OSA (QDIO) 1731/01 04 OSD qeth eth 0.0.1017,0.0.1018,0.0.1019
6 CTC adapter 3088/08 12 ? ctcm ctc 0.0.1000,0.0.1001
7 escon channel 3088/1f 12 ? ctcm ctc 0.0.1002,0.0.1003
8 ficon channel 3088/1e 12 ? ctcm ctc 0.0.1004,0.0.1005
9 OSA (QDIO) 1731/01 76 OSD qeth eth 0.0.f5f0,0.0.f5f1,0.0.f5f2
10 LCS OSA 3088/60 8a OSE lcs eth 0.0.1240,0.0.1241
11 HiperSockets 1731/05 fb IQD qeth hsi 0.0.8024,0.0.8025,0.0.8026
12 HiperSockets 1731/05 fc IQD qeth hsi 0.0.8124,0.0.8125,0.0.8126
13 HiperSockets 1731/05 fd IQD qeth hsi 0.0.8224,0.0.8225,0.0.8226
14 HiperSockets 1731/05 fe IQD qeth hsi 0.0.8324,0.0.8325,0.0.8326
<num>) use config, m) manual config, r) rescan, s) shell:
Ente r the numbe r of the configuration you want to us e , for e xample 9. Se le cting from the
table provide s the ins talle r with information for the type of ne twork de vice and the de vice
addre s s e s for its s ubchanne ls . Alte rnative ly, you can e nte r m and proce e d to e nte r the
ne twork type (qe th), the re ad, write , data channe ls , and the OSA port. Acce pt de faults by
pre s s ing Enter; unde r z /VM you might ne e d to pre s s Enter twice .
295
m
* NOTE: To enter default or empty values press enter twice. *
Network type (qeth, lcs, ctc, ? for help). Default is qeth:
qeth
Read,write,data channel (e.g. 0.0.0300,0.0.0301,0.0.0302 or ? for help).
0.0.f5f0,0.0.f5f1,0.0.f5f2
Portname (1..8 characters, or ? for help). Default is no portname:
Relative port number for OSA (0, 1, or ? for help). Default is 0:
Activating network device...
Detected: OSA card in OSD mode, Gigabit Ethernet
The n que s tions pe rtaining to your Linux ins tance are dis playe d:
Hostname of your new Linux guest (FQDN e.g. s390.redhat.com or ? for
help):
host.subdomain.domain
IPv4 address / IPv6 addr. (e.g. 10.0.0.2 / 2001:0DB8:: or ? for help)
10.0.0.42
IPv4 netmask or CIDR prefix (e.g. 255.255.255.0 or 1..32 or ? for help).
Default is 255.0.0.0:
24
IPv4 address of your default gateway or ? for help:
10.0.0.1
Trying to reach gateway 10.0.0.1...
IPv4 addresses of DNS servers (separated by colons ':' or ? for help):
10.1.2.3:10.3.2.1
Trying to reach DNS servers...
DNS search domains (separated by colons ':' or ? for help):
subdomain.domain:domain
DASD range (e.g. 200-203,205 or ? for help). Default is autoprobing:
eb1c
Activated DASDs:
0.0.eb1c(ECKD) dasda : active, blocksize: 4096, 1803060 blocks, 7043 MB
296
Impo rtant
The ins talle r re quire s the de finition of a DASD. For a SCSI-only ins tallation, e nte r
none. This s atis fie s the re quire me nt for a de fine d DASD parame te r, while re s ulting
in a SCSI-only e nvironme nt.
If you make a mis take , the dialog e ithe r notice s the e rror and as ks you to re -e nte r the
parame te r, or you can go back late r to re s tart the dialog:
Incorrect ... (<OPTION-NAME>):
0) redo this parameter, 1) continue, 2) restart dialog, 3) halt, 4)
shell
Whe n you re s tart the dialog, it re me mbe rs what you e nte re d be fore :
Network type
0) default is previous "qeth", 1) new value, ?) help
At the e nd of the configuration, you s e e the me s s age Initial configuration
completed:
Initial configuration completed.
c) continue, p) parm file/configuration, n) network state, r) restart,
s) shell
You can now che ck your ne twork configuration by e nte ring n:
n
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 02:00:00:AB:C9:81
inet addr:10.0.0.42 Bcast:10.0.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1492 Metric:1
RX packets:64 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:3334 (3.2 KiB) TX bytes:336 (336.0 b)
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
127.0.0.1 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 lo
10.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 10.0.0.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
s) shell
297
If you want to change s ome thing, e nte r r to re s tart the dialog. To s how the parame te rs as
s pe cifie d in a parame te r or configuration file or inte ractive ly e nte r p. You can the n copy
the output from your te rminal and pas te it into an e ditor to s ave it to dis k on your local
works tation. You can us e the copy as a te mplate for a parame te r or configuration file for
future ins tallations :
p
NETTYPE=qeth
IPADDR=10.0.0.42
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
GATEWAY=10.0.0.1
HOSTNAME=host.subdomain.domain
SUBCHANNELS=0.0.f5f0,0.0.f5f1,0.0.f5f2
LAYER2=1
MACADDR=02:00:00:AB:C9:81
PORTNAME=OSAPORT
DNS=10.1.2.3:10.3.2.1
SEARCHDNS=subdomain.domain:domain
DASD=eb1c
s) shell
Again, to change s ome thing, re s tart the dialog with r. Finally, if all is in orde r, e nte r c to
continue :
c
Starting sshd to allow login over the network.
Connect now to 10.0.0.42 and log in as user 'install' to start the
installation.
E.g. using: ssh -x install@10.0.0.42
For VNC or text mode, disable X11 forwarding (recommended) with 'ssh x'.
For X11, enable X11 forwarding with 'ssh -X'.
You may log in as the root user to start an interactive shell.
The pre liminary ne twork s e tup is now comple te and the ins talle r s tarts an SSH dae mon.
You can log into your Linux ins tance ove r SSH. If you are us ing RUNKS=1 with kicks tart and
cmdline mode , linuxrc automatically s tarts the loade r.
21.1. A Not e on T erminals
During the ins tallation, the ins tallation program dis plays me s s age s on a line -mode
te rminal. This is the HMC Operat ing Syst em Messages apple t if you ins tall unde r LPAR,
or a 3270 te rminal if you ins tall unde r z /VM.
Linuxrc provide s a re s cue s he ll on the line -mode te rminal. Pre s s the Enter ke y (twice
unde r z /VM) to s tart the s he ll. You cannot us e full-s cre e n applications s uch as the vi e ditor
on the line -mode te rminal. Switch to line -mode bas e d e ditors s uch as ed, ex, or sed to
e dit te xt file s if ne ce s s ary.
298
Be aware that long-running commands might not be inte rruptible with the e s cape
s e que nce Ctrl+C. Call commands with options that make the m re turn in time voluntarily.
The s he ll on the 3270 te rminal is available throughout the whole ins tallation proce s s until
the point whe re the s ys te m ne e ds to re boot.
Once the s he ll has be e n provide d, you may e xit with an e rror le ve l of z e ro to ge t a ne w
s he ll ins tance re placing the old one , or you may e xit with an e rror le ve l diffe re nt from
z e ro to force a s hutdown of the ins tallation s ys te m.
Conne ct to the ins talle d s ys te m us ing us e r root to ge t a root s he ll without automatically
s tarting the ins talle r. For proble m de te rmination, you might conne ct with many s s h
s e s s ions .
299
Chapt er 22. Inst allat ion Phase 2: Configuring Language
and Inst allat ion Source
By de fault, if you are ins talling inte ractive ly (with the de fault parame te r file generic.prm)
the loade r program to s e le ct language and ins tallation s ource s tarts in te xt mode . In your
ne w s s h s e s s ion, the following me s s age is dis playe d:
Welcome to the anaconda install environment 1.2 for zSeries
22.1. Non-int eract ive Line-Mode Inst allat ion
If the cmdline option was s pe cifie d as boot option in your parame te r file (Se ction 26.6,
“Parame te rs for Kicks tart Ins tallations ”) or in your kicks tart file (re fe r to Se ction 32.3,
“Cre ating the Kicks tart File ”, the loade r s tarts up with line -mode orie nte d te xt output. In
this mode , all ne ce s s ary information mus t be provide d in the kicks tart file . The ins talle r
doe s not allow us e r inte raction and s tops if the re is uns pe cifie d ins tallation information.
“Ins tallation Program Widge ts as s e e n in URL Setup”, and Figure 22.2, “Ins tallation
Program Widge ts as s e e n in Choose a Language”, illus trate widge ts that appe ar on
s cre e ns during the ins tallation proce s s .
300
⁠C hapt e r 22. Ins t allat io n Phas e 2: Co nf igur ing Language and Ins t allat io n So ur c e
He re is a lis t of the mos t important widge ts s hown in Figure 22.1, “Ins tallation Program
Widge ts as s e e n in URL Setup” and Figure 22.2, “Ins tallation Program Widge ts as s e e n in
Choose a Language”:
you s croll.
301
widge t. In Figure 22.1, “Ins tallation Program Widge ts as s e e n in URL Setup”, the curs or
is pos itione d on the Enable HTTP proxy che ckbox. Figure 8.2, “Ins tallation Program
time .
Warning
confirm your choice . You can automate this choice in the parame te r file with the
parame te r lang= (re fe r to Se ction 26.5, “Loade r Parame te rs ”) or with the kicks tart
command lang (re fe r to Se ction 28.4, “Automating the Ins tallation with Kicks tart”).
Se le ction ”.
302
Us e the arrow ke ys on your ke yboard to s e le ct an ins tallation me thod (re fe r to
Figure 22.4, “Ins tallation Me thod”). With your s e le cte d me thod highlighte d, pre s s the Tab
ke y to move to the OK button and pre s s the Enter ke y to confirm your choice .
303
22.4.1. Inst alling f rom a DVD
To ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from a DVD, place the DVD in your DVD drive and boot
your s ys te m from the DVD as de s cribe d in Se ction 20.1.4, “ Us ing an FCP-attache d SCSI
DVD Drive ” for z /VM or Se ction 20.2.5, “Us ing an FCP-attache d SCSI DVD Drive ” for LPAR.
The ins tallation program the n probe s your s ys te m and atte mpts to ide ntify your DVD-ROM
drive . It s tarts by looking for a SCSI DVD-ROM drive .
No te
To abort the ins tallation proce s s at this time , re boot your machine and the n e je ct
the boot me dia. You can s afe ly cance l the ins tallation at any point be fore the Write
changes to disk s cre e n. Re fe r to Se ction 23.16, “Write Change s to Dis k” for more
information.
If the DVD drive is found and the drive r loade d, the ins talle r pre s e nts you with the option
to pe rform a me dia che ck on the DVD. This take s s ome time , and you may opt to s kip
ove r this s te p. Howe ve r, if you late r e ncounte r proble ms with the ins talle r, you s hould
304
Se le ct the partition containing the ISO file s from the lis t of available partitions . DASD
name s be gin with /dev/dasd. Each individual drive has its own le tte r, for e xample
/dev/dasda or /dev/sda. Each partition on a drive is numbe re d, for e xample /dev/dasda1
or /dev/sda1.
For an FCP LUN, you would have to e ithe r boot (IPL) from the s ame FCP LUN or us e the
re s cue s he ll provide d by the linuxrc me nus to manually activate the FCP LUN holding the
ISOs as de s cribe d in Se ction 25.2.1, “Dynamically Activating an FCP LUN”.
File syst em
Mo unt po int
Original pat h t o
f iles
Direct o ry t o use
e xt2, e xt3, e xt4
/home
/us e r1/RHEL6
Impo rtant
Se le ct OK to continue . Proce e d with Chapte r 23, Installation Phase 3: Installing Using
Anaconda.
The ins tallation program is ne twork-aware and can us e ne twork s e ttings for a numbe r of
functions . On Sys te m z , ins tallation phas e s 2 and 3 take ove r the ne twork configuration
value s s pe cifie d pre vious ly e ithe r inte ractive ly or by me ans of a parame te r or
configuration file in ins tallation phas e 1. You can als o ins truct the ins tallation program to
cons ult additional s oftware re pos itorie s late r in the proce s s .
If you are ins talling via We b or FTP, proce e d to Se ction 22.4.5, “Ins talling via FTP, HTTP,
or HTTPS”.
305
Figure 22.6. NFS Set up Dialo g
directory fie ld:
4. Proce e d with Chapte r 23, Installation Phase 3: Installing Using Anaconda.
Impo rtant
and path.
306
For e xample :
/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6/Server/s390x/
For e xample :
http://install:rhel6pw@name.example.com/mirrors/redhat/rhel-6/Server/s390x/
Proce e d with Chapte r 23, Installation Phase 3: Installing Using Anaconda.
307
22.6. Ret rieving Phase 3 of t he Inst allat ion Program
The loade r the n re trie ve s phas e 3 of the ins tallation program from the ne twork into its
RAM dis k. This may take s ome time .
Figure 22.8. Ret rieving phase 3 o f t he inst allat io n pro gram
308
⁠C hapt e r 23. Ins t allat io n Phas e 3: Ins t alling Us ing Anac o nda
Chapt er 23. Inst allat ion Phase 3: Inst alling Using
Anaconda
23.1. T he Non-int eract ive Line-Mode T ext Inst allat ion
Program Out put
If the cmdline option was s pe cifie d as boot option in your parame te r file (Re fe r to
Se ction 26.6, “Parame te rs for Kicks tart Ins tallations ”) or in your kicks tart file (re fe r to
Chapte r 32, Kickstart Installations), anaco nda s tarts with line -mode orie nte d te xt output. In
this mode , all ne ce s s ary information mus t be provide d in the kicks tart file . The ins talle r
will not allow us e r inte raction and s tops if the re is uns pe cifie d ins tallation information.
include :
Inte ractive ly activating FCP LUNs
23.4. Configure t he Inst all T erminal
If you logge d in with s s h and X11 forwarding, anaco nda s tarts imme diate ly with its
graphical us e r inte rface .
309
If you did not s e t the display= variable and do not us e X11 forwarding, anaco nda give s
you the choice of s tarting VNC or te xt mode .
Figure 23.1. Cho o sing VNC o r t ext mo de
If you choos e VNC, you will be as ke d for a pas s word or you can choos e to us e VNC without
a pas s word. If you us e a pas s word, make a note of the pas s word for future re fe re nce .
The VNC s e rve r the n s tarts .
Figure 23.2. T he VNC server st art s
Now ope n a conne ction to the IP addre s s of your z /VM gue s t virtual machine us ing a VNC
clie nt. Authe nticate to the VNC s e rve r with the pre vious ly e nte re d pas s word.
310
You can ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on a large varie ty of s torage de vice s . For
Sys te m z , s e le ct Specialized St o rage Devices
311
This option doe s not apply to Sys te m z .
Multipath de vice s s uch as FCP-attachable SCSI LUN with multiple paths
Storage area networks (SANs ) s uch as FCP-attachable SCSI LUNs with a s ingle
path
Computer System Interface (iSCSI) conne ctions . You cannot us e the FCoE (Fibe r
Channe l ove r Ethe rne t) option on Sys te m z ; this option is graye d out.
No te
has acce s s .
312
Basic Devices
drive s and s olid-s tate drive s . On Sys te m z , this contains activate d DASDs .
Firmware RAID
Storage de vice s attache d to a firmware RAID controlle r. This doe s not apply to
Sys te m z .
Mult ipat h Devices
Impo rtant
Ot her SAN Devices
Any othe r de vice s available on a s torage are a ne twork (SAN) s uch as FCP LUNs
attache d ove r one s ingle path.
Figure 23.5. Select st o rage devices — Basic Devices
313
314
/etc/fstab file .
Next and proce e d to Se ction 23.7, “Se tting the Hos tname ”
23.6.1.1. DASD low-level f ormat t ing
Any DASDs us e d mus t be low-le ve l formatte d. The ins talle r de te cts this and lis ts the
DASDs that ne e d formatting.
If any of the DASDs s pe cifie d inte ractive ly in linuxrc or in a parame te r or configuration
file are not ye t low-le ve l formatte d, the following confirmation dialog appe ars :
315
Figure 23.10 . Unf o rmat t ed DASD Devices Fo und
To automatically allow low-le ve l formatting of unformatte d online DASDs s pe cify the
kicks tart command zerombr. Re fe r to Chapte r 32, Kickstart Installations for more de tails .
From this s cre e n you can configure an iSCSI (SCSI ove r TCP/IP) targe t or FCP LUNs . Re fe r
to Appe ndix B, iSCSI Disks for an introduction to iSCSI.
Figure 23.11. Advanced St o rage Opt io ns
316
317
dis cove ry:
no credent ials
CHAP pair
fie lds .
318
319
targe t.
320
s e s s ion:
no credent ials
CHAP pair
fie lds .
321
Figure 23.20 . CHAP pair and a reverse pair
322
23.6.1.2.2. FCP Devices
FCP de vice s e nable IBM Sys te m z to us e SCSI de vice s rathe r than, or in addition to, DASD
de vice s . FCP de vice s provide a s witche d fabric topology that e nable s Sys te m z s ys te ms
to us e SCSI LUNs as dis k de vice s in addition to traditional DASD de vice s .
IBM Sys te m z re quire s that any FCP de vice be e nte re d manually (e ithe r in the ins tallation
program inte ractive ly, or s pe cifie d as unique parame te r e ntrie s in the parame te r or CMS
configuration file ) for the ins tallation program to activate FCP LUNs . The value s e nte re d
he re are unique to e ach s ite in which the y are s e t up.
No t es
Inte ractive cre ation of an FCP de vice is only pos s ible in graphical mode . It is not
pos s ible to inte ractive ly configure an FCP de vice in a te xt-only ins tall.
Each value e nte re d s hould be ve rifie d as corre ct, as any mis take s made may caus e
the s ys te m not to ope rate prope rly. Us e only lowe r-cas e le tte rs in he x value s .
For more information on the s e value s , re fe r to the hardware docume ntation che ck with
the s ys te m adminis trator who s e t up the ne twork for this s ys te m.
To configure a Fibe r Channe l Protocol SCSI de vice , s e le ct Add ZFCP LUN and click Add
Drive. In the Add FCP device dialog, fill in the de tails for the 16-bit de vice numbe r, 64-bit
World Wide Port Numbe r (WWPN) and 64-bit FCP LUN. Click the Add button to conne ct to the
FCP de vice us ing this information.
323
Figure 23.22. Add FCP Device
The ne wly adde d de vice s hould the n be pre s e nt and us able in the s torage de vice
s e le ction s cre e n on the Multipath Devices tab, if you have activate d more than one
path to the s ame LUN, or on Other SAN Devices, if you have activate d only one path to
the LUN.
Impo rtant
The ins talle r re quire s the de finition of a DASD. For a SCSI-only ins tallation, e nte r
none as the parame te r inte ractive ly during phas e 1 of an inte ractive ins tallation, or
add DASD=none in the parame te r or CMS configuration file . This s atis fie s the
re quire me nt for a de fine d DASD parame te r, while re s ulting in a SCSI-only
e nvironme nt.
only.
324
No te
Change the de fault s e tting localhost.localdomain to a unique hos tname for e ach of your
Linux ins tance s .
No te
Us ually, the ne twork conne ction configure d e arlie r in ins tallation phas e 1 doe s not ne e d to
be modifie d during the re s t of the ins tallation. You cannot add a ne w conne ction on
Sys te m z be caus e the ne twork s ubchanne ls ne e d to be groupe d and s e t online
be fore hand, and this is curre ntly only done in ins tallation phas e 1. To change the e xis ting
325
ne twork conne ction, click the button Configure Network. The Network Connections
dialog appe ars that allows you to configure ne twork conne ctions for the s ys te m, not all of
which are re le vant to Sys te m z .
All ne twork conne ctions on Sys te m z are lis te d in the Wired tab. By de fault this contains
the conne ction configure d e arlie r in ins tallation phas e 1 and is e ithe r eth0 (OSA, LCS), or
hsi0 (Hipe rSocke ts ). Note that on Sys te m z you cannot add a ne w conne ction he re . To
modify an e xis ting conne ction, s e le ct a row in the lis t and click the Edit button. A dialog
box appe ars with a s e t of tabs appropriate to wire d conne ctions , as de s cribe d be low.
The mos t important tabs on Sys te m z are Wired and IPv4 Settings.
boots .
326
327
Authentication
or EAP-TTLS
Identity
User certificate
CA certificate
Private key
Standard (PKCS#12).
328
The addre s s , ne tmas k, gate way, DNS s e rve rs and DNS s e arch s uffix for an IPv4
conne ction we re configure d during ins tallation phas e 1 or re fle ct the following parame te rs
in the parame te r file or configuration file : IPADDR, NETMASK, GATEWAY, DNS, SEARCHDNS
(Re fe r to Se ction 26.3, “Ins tallation Ne twork Parame te rs ”).
Automatic (DHCP)
329
manually.
Manual
Link-Local Only
Disabled
lookups .
330
331
route .
Ignore
Automatic
332
Manual
Link-Local Only
lookups .
333
334
Figure 23.30 . T he Edit ing IPv6 Ro ut es dialo g
route .
335
Spe cify a time z one e ve n if you plan to us e NTP (Ne twork Time Protocol) to maintain the
accuracy of the s ys te m clock.
336
Se le ct System clock uses UTC. The s ys te m clock is a pie ce of hardware on your
compute r s ys te m. Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux us e s the time z one s e tting to de te rmine the
offs e t be twe e n the local time and UTC on the s ys te m clock. This be havior is s tandard for
s ys te ms that us e UNIX, Linux, and s imilar ope rating s ys te ms .
No te
continue .
No te
337
No te
password.
Warning
be attache d to the file s ys te m for data s torage .
338
e ach de vice . On platforms othe r than Sys te m z , this radio button is us e d to s pe cify the
de vice to which you want to ins tall the boot loade r. On Sys te m z this choice doe s not have
any e ffe ct. The zipl boot loade r will be ins talle d on the dis k that contains the /boot
dire ctory, which is de te rmine d late r on during partitioning.
continue .
339
Figure 23.34. Warning screen – init ializing DASD
Figure 23.35. Warning screen – init ializing FCP LUN
340
Warning
the ins tallation.
Impo rtant
information.
late r.
No te
341
No te
Warning
Warning
342
Impo rtant
Partitioning allows you to divide your s torage de vice s into is olate d s e ctions , whe re e ach
s e ction be have s as a s e parate Linux de vice . Partitioning is particularly us e ful if you run
multiple ope rating s ys te ms , or wis h to e nforce a logical or functional dis tinction be twe e n
your s torage partitions (s uch as a /home partition that pe rs is te ntly contains us e r
information).
343
Impo rtant
To e ncrypt partitions , you will ne e d to s e le ct the Creat e Cust o m Layo ut option.
Partitions cre ate d with one of the four automate d options cannot be e ncrypte d.
Your options are :
Use All Space
Se le ct this option to re move all partitions on your s torage drive s (this include s
partitions cre ate d by othe r ope rating s ys te ms s uch as z /VM or z /OS).
Warning
If you s e le ct this option, all data on the s e le cte d DASD and SCSI s torage
de vice s is re move d by the ins tallation program.
Se le ct this option to re move only Linux partitions (partitions cre ate d from a
pre vious Linux ins tallation). This doe s not re move othe r partitions you may have
on your s torage de vice s (s uch as z /VM or z /OS partitions ).
Warning
Use Free Space
option — re fe r to Se ction 18.1, “Pre -Ins tallation”.
layouts . Re fe r to Se ction 23.15, “ Cre ating a Cus tom Layout or Modifying the
De fault Layout ”
344
Impo rtant
345
Warning
Layout
ahe ad to Se ction 23.16, “Write Change s to Dis k”.
partitions in which Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux is ins talle d.
Introduction to Disk Partitions and Se ction 23.15.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”. At
a bare minimum, you ne e d an appropriate ly-s iz e d root partition, and us ually a s wap
partition appropriate to the amount of RAM you have on the s ys te m.
Figure 23.38. Part it io ning o n Syst em z
346
re pre s e ntation of the DASD, FCP LUN, or logical volume s e le cte d in the lowe r pane .
Above the dis play, you can re vie w the Drive name (s uch as /de v/das da), the Geom (which
s hows the hard dis k's ge ome try and cons is ts of thre e numbe rs re pre s e nting the numbe r
of cylinde rs , he ads , and s e ctors as re porte d by the hard dis k), and the Model of the hard
drive as de te cte d by the ins tallation program.
The lowe r pane contains a lis t of all DASDs , FCP LUNs , and logical volume s to be us e d
during ins tallation, as s pe cifie d e arlie r in the ins tallation proce s s — re fe r to Se ction 23.10,
“ As s ign Storage De vice s ”. Note that if you s pe cifie d a CMSDASD in your parame te r file ,
DASD name s be gin at dasdb; dasda was as s igne d to the CMSDASD and this name is no
longe r available at this point in the ins tallation proce s s .
Device
Size (MB)
T ype
Fo rmat
ins tallation.
Creat e
Edit
347
Delet e
Reset
Finally, note which de vice is as s ociate d with /boot. The ke rne l file s and bootloade r s e ctor
will be as s ociate d with this de vice . The firs t DASD or SCSI LUN will be us e d, and the
de vice numbe r will be us e d whe n re -IPLing the pos t-ins talle d s ys te m.
No te
The s cre e ns hots in the following s ubs e ctions of this manual s ome time s s how hard
dis k type s and de vice name s that do not appe ar as s uch on Sys te m z . The s e
s cre e ns hots are only inte nde d to illus trate the ins tallation inte rface its e lf and apply
e qually to DASDs and FCP-attache d SCSI dis ks .
348
Figure 23.39. Creat ing St o rage
as follows :
On Sys te m z , the s torage s ubs ys te m us e s RAID trans pare ntly, and you do not ne e d to s e t
it up.
349
the s ys te m.
No te
350
Figure 23.40 . Creat ing a New Part it io n
s ufficie nt.
Part it io n t ypes
351
information.
File syst ems
characte rs .
Impo rtant
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 doe s not s upport XFS on Sys te m z .
352
Warning
s ys te ms .
No te
On Sys te m z , the s torage s ubs ys te m us e s RAID trans pare ntly. The re is no ne e d to
s e t up a s oftware RAID.
RAID Part it io n
353
RAID Device
354
following options :
355
partitions .
Impo rtant
an LVM configuration from s cratch, e s tablis h anothe r SSH conne ction to the
ins tallation image with the root us e r and run the lvm command.
s tandard partition — re fe r to Se ction 23.15.2, “Adding Partitions ” for a de s cription
of the available options . Note , howe ve r, that File System Type mus t be s e t to
356
357
Delete options .
Make Logical Volume
it will be long.
358
Configuring e fficie nt s wap s pace for Linux on Sys te m z is a comple x tas k. It ve ry much
de pe nds on the s pe cific e nvironme nt and s hould be tune d to the actual s ys te m load.
Re fe r to the following re s ource s for more information and to guide your de cis ion:
'Chapte r 7. Linux Swapping' in the IBM Re dbooks publication Linux on IBM System z:
Performance Measurement and Tuning [IBM Form Numbe r SG24-6926-01], [ISBN
0738485586], available from http://www.re dbooks .ibm.com/abs tracts /s g246926.html
Linux Performance when running under VM, available from
http://www.vm.ibm.com/pe rf/tips /linuxpe r.html
Ente rpris e Linux.
359
Warning
ins tallation comple te ly, s witch off your compute r.
Impo rtant
360
Basic Server
s e rve r.
Dat abase Server
Web server
Virt ual Ho st
Deskt o p
361
Minimal
Warning
Package s ”.
ins tallation.
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux re pos itory is automatically s e le cte d for you. It contains
the comple te colle ction of s oftware that was re le as e d as Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6, with
the various pie ce s of s oftware in the ir ve rs ions that we re curre nt at the time of re le as e .
362
Figure 23.48. Adding a so f t ware repo sit o ry
information.
363
2. Click OK.
Figure 23.50 . Net wo rk Co nnect io ns
Hos tname ”
Warning
e nte re d.
364
No te
cate gory.
No te
Us e rs of IBM Sys te m z who want s upport for de ve loping or running le gacy 31-bit
applications are e ncourage d to s e le ct the Compatibility Arch Support and
Compatibility Arch Development Support package s to ins tall archite cture
s pe cific s upport for the ir s ys te ms .
two.
365
366
During ins tallation of the s e le cte d package s and the ir de pe nde ncie s , you s e e the following
progre s s bar:
367
The ins tallation program prompts you to pre pare your s ys te m for re boot.
The ins tallation program automatically re boots into the ins talle d s ys te m.
Should the ins tallation program not re boot, the ins tallation program s hows information from
which de vice to do an IPL (boot). Acce pt the s hutdown option and afte r s hutdown, IPL from
the DASD or SCSI LUN whe re the /boot partition for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux has be e n
ins talle d.
23.19.1. IPL Under z/VM
To IPL from a DASD, for e xample us ing the DASD de vice 200 on the 3270 cons ole , is s ue
the command:
#cp i 200
In DASD only e nvironme nts whe re automatic partitioning (cle aring data from all partitions )
was us e d, the firs t activate d DASD is whe re the /boot partition is typically locate d.
Us ing /boot on an FCP LUN, you mus t provide the WWPN and LUN for the FCP-attache d
de vice from which to IPL.
To IPL from an FCP-attache d de vice :
1. Provide FCP routing information to an FCP-attache d de vice , for e xample , whe re
0x50050763050B073D is the WWPN, and 0x4020400100000000 is the FCP LUN:
#cp set loaddev portname50050763 050B073D lun 40204001 00000000
2. IPL the FCP adapte r, for e xample FC00:
#cp ipl FC00
No te
To dis conne ct from the 3270 te rminal without s topping the Linux running in your
virtual machine , us e #cp disconnect ins te ad of #cp logoff. Whe n your virtual
machine is re -conne cte d us ing the us ual logon proce dure , it might be place d in CP
cons ole function mode (CP READ). If s o, to re s ume e xe cution on your virtual
machine , e nte r the BEGIN command.
23.19.2. IPL on an LPAR
For LPAR-bas e d ins tallations , on the HMC, is s ue a load command to the LPAR, s pe cifying
the particular DASD, or the FCP adapte r, WWPN, and FCP LUN whe re the /boot partition is
locate d.
23.19.3. Cont inuing Af t er Reboot (re-IPL)
368
Following the automatic re boot or the manual IPL of the ins talle d Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ope rating s ys te m, you can log on to the s ys te m via ssh. Note that the only place from
which you can log in as root is from the 3270 te rminal or from othe r te rminal de vice s
lis te d in /etc/securetty.
The firs t time you s tart your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m in a graphical e nvironme nt,
you can us e First Bo o t to guide you through Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux configuration. Us ing
this tool, you can s e t your s ys te m time and date , ins tall s oftware , re gis te r your machine
with Re d Hat Ne twork, and more . First Bo o t le ts you configure your e nvironme nt at the
be ginning, s o that you can ge t s tarte d us ing your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m quickly.
369
Chapt er 24. Troubleshoot ing Inst allat ion on IBM
Syst em z
/tmp/anaconda.log
/tmp/program.log
/tmp/storage.log
/tmp/yum.log
/tmp/syslog
Ens ure that you have the late s t ins tallation update s and image s from Re d Hat. Re vie w the
online e rrata to s e e if ne we r ve rs ions are available .
Message
Enterprise Linux, the n the re may be an is s ue with your DASD de vice s . If you e ncounte r
this e rror, add the DASD=<disks> parame te r to your parame te r file or CMS configuration
file (whe re disks is the DASD range re s e rve d for ins tallation) and s tart the ins tall again.
370
⁠C hapt e r 24 . T r o uble s ho o t ing Ins t allat io n o n IBM Sys t e m z
Additionally, make s ure you format the DASDs us ing the dasdfmt command within a Linux
root s he ll, ins te ad of formatting the DASDs us ing CMS. Anaco nda automatically de te cts
any DASD de vice s that are not ye t formatte d and as ks you whe the r to format the de vice s .
Figure 24.1. T he Crash Repo rt ing Dialo g Bo x
Det ails
371
Figure 24.2. Det ails o f t he Crash
Save
Exit
372
Figure 24.3. Select repo rt er
Lo gger
location.
Repo rt uplo ader
choice .
Configure Event.
373
Figure 24.4. Co nf igure repo rt er pref erences
Lo gger
Figure 24.5. Specif y lo cal pat h f o r lo g f ile
374
Figure 24.6. Ent er Red Hat Net wo rk aut hent icat io n det ails
Repo rt uplo ader
Figure 24.7. Ent er URL f o r uplo ading crash repo rt
Bugzilla
375
Figure 24.8. Ent er Bugzilla aut hent icat io n det ails
Figure 24.9. Co nf irm repo rt dat a
376
Figure 24.10 . Repo rt in pro gress
Figure 24.11. Repo rt ing do ne
377
24.2.3. Ot her Part it ioning Problems
No te
24.3.1. Remot e Graphical Deskt ops and XDMCP
If you have ins talle d the X Window Sys te m and would like to log in to your Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m us ing a graphical login manage r, e nable the X Display Manager
Control Protocol (XDMCP). This protocol allows us e rs to re mote ly log in to a de s ktop
e nvironme nt from any X Window Sys te m compatible clie nt (s uch as a ne twork-conne cte d
works tation or X11 te rminal).
To e nable re mote login us ing XDMCP, e dit the /etc/gdm/custom.conf file on the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m with a te xt e ditor s uch as vi or nano. In the [xdcmp] s e ction, add
the line Enable=true, s ave the file , and e xit the te xt e ditor.
To e nable this change , you will ne e d to re s tart the X Window Sys te m. Firs t, s witch to
runle ve l 4:
/sbin/init 4
The graphical dis play will clos e , le aving only a te rminal. Whe n you re ach the login:
prompt, e nte r your us e rname and pas s word.
The n, as root in the te rminal, s witch to runle ve l 5 to re turn to the graphical inte rface and
s tart the X11 s e rve r:
/sbin/init 5
From the clie nt machine , s tart a re mote X11 s e s s ion us ing X. For e xample :
X :1 -query s390vm.example.com
378
The command conne cts to the re mote X11 s e rve r via XDMCP (re place
s390vm.example.com with the hos tname of the re mote X11 s e rve r) and dis plays the
re mote graphical login s cre e n on dis play :1 of the X11 s e rve r s ys te m (us ually acce s s ible
by us ing the Ctrl-Alt-F8 ke y combination).
You can als o acce s s re mote de s ktop s e s s ions us ing a nested X11 s e rve r, which ope ns
the re mote de s ktop as a window in your curre nt X11 s e s s ion. Xnest allows us e rs to ope n
a re mote de s ktop ne s te d within the ir local X11 s e s s ion. For e xample , run Xnest us ing the
following command, re placing s390vm.example.com with the hos tname of the re mote X11
s e rve r:
Xnest :1 -query s390vm.example.com
If you cannot re me mbe r your root pas s word, boot your s ys te m into s ingle us e r mode by
appe nding the boot option single to the z ipl boot me nu or by any othe r me ans to appe nd
ke rne l command line options at IPL.
continue .
St art up
127.0.0.1
localhost
379
Chapt er 25. Configuring an Inst alled Linux on Syst em z
Inst ance
For more information about Linux on Sys te m z , s e e the publications lis te d in Chapte r 27,
IBM System z References. Some of the mos t common tas ks are de s cribe d he re .
25.1. Adding DASDs
This s e ction e xplains how to s e t a Direct Access Storage Device (DASD) online , format it,
and how to make s ure it is attache d to the s ys te m pe rs is te ntly, making it automatically
available afte r a re boot.
No te
Make s ure the de vice is attache d or linke d to the Linux s ys te m if running unde r
z /VM.
CP ATTACH EB1C TO *
To link a mini dis k to which you have acce s s , is s ue , for e xample :
CP LINK RHEL6X 4B2E 4B2E MR
DASD 4B2E LINKED R/W
Se e z/VM: CP Commands and Utilities Reference, SC24-6175 for de tails about the s e
commands .
25.1.1. Dynamically Set t ing DASDs Online
The following proce dure de s cribe s bringing a DASD online dynamically (not pe rs is te ntly).
This is the firs t s te p whe n configuring a ne w DASD; late r proce dure s will e xplain how to
make it available pe rs is te ntly.
Pro cedure 25.1. Adding DASD Disks o n IBM Syst em z Using t he VMCP Driver
1. Enable the VMCP drive r:
# modprobe vmcp
2. Us e the cio_ignore command to re move the DASD from the lis t of ignore d
de vice s and make it vis ible to Linux:
# cio_ignore -r DeviceNumber
Re place DeviceNumber with the de vice numbe r of the DASD. For e xample :
# cio_ignore -r 0102
380
⁠C hapt e r 25. Co nf igur ing an Ins t alle d Linux o n Sys t e m z Ins t anc e
3. Link the dis k to the virtual machine :
# vmcp 'link * DeviceNumber DeviceNumber rw'
Re place DeviceNumber with the de vice numbe r of the DASD.
4. Se t the de vice online . Us e a command of the following form:
# # chccwdev -e DeviceNumber
Re place DeviceNumber with the de vice numbe r of the DASD.
5. Ve rify that the dis k is re ady us ing the lsdasd command:
# lsdasd
Bus-ID
Status
Name
Device Type BlkSz Size
Blocks
==================================================================
============
0.0.0100
active
dasda
94:0
ECKD 4096
2347MB
600840
0.0.0301
active
dasdb
94:4
FBA
512
512MB
1048576
0.0.0300
active
dasdc
94:8
FBA
512
256MB
524288
0.0.0101
active
dasdd
94:12
ECKD 4096
2347MB
600840
0.0.0200
active
dasde
94:16
ECKD 4096
781MB
200160
0.0.0102
active
dasdf
94:20
ECKD 4096
2347MB
600840
In the above e xample , de vice 0102 (s hown as 0.0.0102 in the Bus-ID column) is
be ing acce s s e d as /dev/dasdf.
If you followe d the above proce dure , the ne w DASD is attache d for the curre nt s e s s ion
only. This me ans that the DASD will not s till be attache d afte r you re boot the s ys te m. Se e
Se ction 25.1.2, “Pe rs is te ntly s e tting DASDs online ” for information about attaching the
s torage de vice pe rmane ntly.
You can als o find more information in the DASD Chapte r in Linux on System z Device
Drivers, Features, and Commands on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
25.1.2. Persist ent ly set t ing DASDs online
The ins tructions in Se ction 25.1.1, “Dynamically Se tting DASDs Online ” de s cribe d how to
activate DASDs dynamically in a running s ys te m. Such change s are not pe rs is te nt; the
DASDs will not be attache d afte r the s ys te m re boots . Proce dure s de s cribe d in this s e ction
as s ume that you have alre ady attache d the DASD dynamically.
Making change s to the DASD configuration pe rs is te nt in your Linux s ys te m de pe nds on
whe the r the DASDs be long to the root (/) file s ys te m. Thos e DASDs re quire d for the root
file s ys te m ne e d to be activate d e arly during the boot proce s s by the initramfs to be
able to mount the root file s ys te m. The DASDs which are not part of the root file s ys te m
can be activate d late r, s implifying the configuration proce s s .
381
The lis t of ignore d de vice s (cio_ignore) is handle d trans pare ntly for pe rs is te nt de vice
configurations . You do not ne e d to fre e de vice s from the ignore lis t manually.
25.1.2.1. DASDs Which Are Part of t he Root File Syst em
If you are attaching a ne w DASD as part of the root file s ys te m, you will have to e dit the
zipl boot loade r's configuration and the n re ge ne rate the initramfs s o that your change s
will take e ffe ct afte r the ne xt re boot. The following proce dure e xplains the s te ps you ne e d
to take .
Pro cedure 25.2. Permanent ly At t aching DASDs as Ro o t Devices
1. Edit the /etc/dasd.conf configuration file us ing a plain te xt e ditor s uch as Vim,
and appe nd a line to this file with your DASD's configuration. You can us e parts of
the file that de s cribe pre vious ly configure d de vice s for re fe re nce . A valid
configuration line will look s imilar to the following:
0.0.0102 use_diag=0 readonly=0 erplog=0 failfast=0
2. Edit the /etc/zipl.conf configuration file . An e xample zipl.conf file will look
s imilar to the following:
[defaultboot]
default=linux
target=/boot/
[linux]
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19.el6.s390x
ramdisk=/boot/initramfs-2.6.32-19.el6.s390x.img
parameters="root=/dev/mapper/vg_devel1-lv_root
rd_DASD=0.0.0200,use_diag=0,readonly=0,erplog=0,failfast=0
rd_LVM_LV=vg_devel1/lv_root rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM
LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us
cio_ignore=all,!0.0.0009"
Note the multiple rd_DASD= options on the parameters= line . You mus t add the ne w
DASD to this line , us ing the s ame s yntax - the rd_DASD= ke yword, followe d by the
de vice ID and a comma-s e parate d lis t of options . Se e the dasd= parame te r
de s cription in the DASD de vice drive r chapte r in Linux on System z Device Drivers,
Features, and Commands on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 for de tails .
3. The ne xt s te p is to re build the initrd:
# mkinitrd -f /boot/initramfs-2.6.32-71.el6.s390x.img ùname -r`
4. The n, re build the boot loade r configuration us ing the zipl command. You can us e
the -V option for more de taile d output:
# zipl -V
Using config file '/etc/zipl.conf'
Target device information
Device..........................:
Partition.......................:
Device name.....................:
DASD device number..............:
382
5e:00
5e:01
dasda
0201
Type............................: disk partition
Disk layout.....................: ECKD/compatible disk layout
Geometry - heads................: 15
Geometry - sectors..............: 12
Geometry - cylinders............: 3308
Geometry - start................: 24
File system block size..........: 4096
Physical block size.............: 4096
Device size in physical blocks..: 595416
Building bootmap in '/boot/'
Building menu 'rh-automatic-menu'
Adding #1: IPL section 'linux' (default)
kernel image......: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19.el6.s390x
kernel parmline...: 'root=/dev/mapper/vg_devel1-lv_root
rd_LVM_LV=vg_devel1/lv_root rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM
cio_ignore=all,!0.0.0009'
initial ramdisk...: /boot/initramfs-2.6.32-19.el6.s390x.img
component address:
kernel image....: 0x00010000-0x00a70fff
parmline........: 0x00001000-0x00001fff
initial ramdisk.: 0x02000000-0x022d2fff
internal loader.: 0x0000a000-0x0000afff
Preparing boot device: dasda (0201).
Preparing boot menu
Interactive prompt......: enabled
Menu timeout............: 15 seconds
Default configuration...: 'linux'
Syncing disks...
Done.
Afte r comple ting this proce dure , the ne w DASD is pe rs is te ntly attache d and can be us e d
as part of the root file s ys te m. Howe ve r, the root file s ys te m s till ne e ds to be e xpande d
to the ne w DASD. If your s ys te m us e s an LVM logical volume for the root file s ys te m, you
will als o ne e d to e xpand this volume (and the volume group which contains it) to the ne w
DASD. This can be done us ing the built-in pvcreate, vgextend and lvextend commands to
cre ate a phys ical volume for LVM, e xpand the e xis ting volume group and e xpand the root
logical volume , re s pe ctive ly. Se e Se ction 25.1.5, “Expanding Exis ting LVM Volume s to Ne w
Storage De vice s ” for de tails .
25.1.3. DASDs Which Are Not Part of t he Root File Syst em
DASDs that are not part of the root file s ys te m, that is , data disks, are pe rs is te ntly
configure d in the file /etc/dasd.conf. It contains one DASD pe r line . Each line be gins with
the de vice bus ID of a DASD. Optionally, e ach line can continue with options s e parate d by
s pace or tab characte rs . Options cons is t of ke y-value -pairs , whe re the ke y and value are
s e parate d by an e quals s ign.
The ke y corre s ponds to any valid sysfs attribute a DASD may have . The value will be
writte n to the ke y's sysfs attribute . Entrie s in /etc/dasd.conf are activate d and
configure d by ude v whe n a DASD is adde d to the s ys te m. At boot time , all DASDs vis ible
to the s ys te m ge t adde d and trigge r udev.
Example conte nt of /etc/dasd.conf:
383
0.0.0207
0.0.0200 use_diag=1 readonly=1
Modifications of /etc/dasd.conf only be come e ffe ctive afte r a re boot of the s ys te m or
afte r the dynamic addition of a ne w DASD by changing the s ys te m's I/O configuration (that
is , the DASD is attache d unde r z /VM). Alte rnative ly, you can trigge r the activation of a ne w
e ntry in /etc/dasd.conf for a DASD which was pre vious ly not active , by e xe cuting the
following commands :
Pro cedure 25.3. Permanent ly At t aching DASDs as No n-ro o t Devices
Trigge r the activation by writing to the uevent attribute of the de vice :
echo add > /sys/bus/ccw/devices/device.bus,ID/uevent
For e xample :
echo add > /sys/bus/ccw/devices/0.0.021a/uevent
25.1.4. Preparing a New DASD wit h Low-level Format t ing
The ne xt s te p afte r bringing the DASD online is to format it, if you ne e d to do s o. The
following proce dure e xplains the ne ce s s ary s te ps .
Warning
This proce dure will wipe all e xis ting data on the dis k. Make s ure to back up any data
you want to ke e p be fore proce e ding.
Pro cedure 25.4. Fo rmat t ing a DASD
1. Wipe all e xis ting data on the DASD us ing the dasdfmt command. Re place
DeviceNumber with the de vice numbe r of the DASD. Whe n prompte d for
confirmation (as s hown in the e xample be low), type yes to proce e d.
# dasdfmt -b 4096 -d cdl -p /dev/disk/by-path/ccw0.0.DeviceNumber
Drive Geometry: 10017 Cylinders * 15 Heads = 150255 Tracks
I am going to format the device /dev/disk/by-path/ccw-0.0.0102 in
the following way:
Device number of device : 0x4b2e
Labelling device
: yes
Disk label
: VOL1
Disk identifier
: 0X0102
Extent start (trk no)
: 0
Extent end (trk no)
: 150254
Compatible Disk Layout : yes
Blocksize
: 4096
--->> ATTENTION! <<---
384
All data of that device will be lost.
Type "yes" to continue, no will leave the disk untouched: yes
cyl
97 of 3338 |#---------------------------------------------|
2%
Whe n the progre s s bar re ache s the e nd and the format is comple te , dasdfmt
prints the following output:
Rereading the partition table...
Exiting...
Se e the dasdfmt(8) man page for information about the s yntax of the dasdfmt
command.
2. Us e the fdasd command to write a ne w Linux-compatible partition table to the
DASD. Re place DeviceNumber with the de vice numbe r of the DASD.
# fdasd -a /dev/disk/by-path/ccw-DeviceNumber
auto-creating one partition for the whole disk...
writing volume label...
writing VTOC...
checking !
wrote NATIVE!
rereading partition table...
This e xample us e s the -a option to cre ate a s ingle partition s panning the e ntire
dis k. Othe r layouts are pos s ible ; up to thre e partitions can be cre ate d on a s ingle
DASD. For information about the s yntax of the fdasd command and available
options , s e e the fdasd(8) man page .
3. Cre ate a ne w partition with fdisk. Re place DeviceName with the de vice name of
the DASD.
# fdisk /dev/DeviceName
Afte r you e xe cute fdisk, a s e rie s of prompts will appe ar in your te rminal. The s e
prompts can be us e d to manipulate the dis k partition table , cre ating ne w partitions
or e diting e xis ting one . For information about us ing fdisk, s e e the fdisk(8) man
page .
Afte r a (low-le ve l formatte d) DASD is online , it can be us e d like any othe r dis k unde r
Linux. For ins tance , you can cre ate file s ys te ms , LVM phys ical volume s , or s wap s pace on
its partitions , for e xample /dev/disk/by-path/ccw-0.0.4b2e-part1. Ne ve r us e the full
DASD de vice (dev/dasdb) for anything but the commands dasdfmt and fdasd. If you want
to us e the e ntire DASD, cre ate one partition s panning the e ntire drive as in the fdasd
e xample above .
No te
To add additional dis ks late r without bre aking e xis ting dis k e ntrie s in, for e xample ,
/etc/fstab, us e the pe rs is te nt de vice s ymbolic links unde r /dev/disk/by-path/.
25.1.5. Expanding Exist ing LVM Volumes t o New St orage Devices
385
If your s ys te m us e s LVM, you ne e d to e xpand an e xis ting volume group and one or more
logical volume s s o that the y contain the ne w DASD which you attache d by following the
proce dure s de s cribe d e arlie r in this chapte r. Othe rwis e , the DASD will be attache d to the
s ys te m, but you will not be able to us e it.
The following proce dure e xplains how to us e the e ntire capacity of the ne w DASD to
e xpand an e xis ting logical volume . If you want to us e the ne w DASD for multiple logical
volume s , you will ne e d to cre ate multiple LVM phys ical volume s on this partition, and
re pe at this proce dure for e ach logical volume (and volume group) you want to e xpand.
This proce dure as s ume s you followe d the s te ps in Se ction 25.1.1, “Dynamically Se tting
DASDs Online ” to attach the ne w DASD dynamically, the n Se ction 25.1.2.1, “DASDs Which
Are Part of the Root File Sys te m” to attach it pe rs is te ntly and pre pare it to be us e d for the
root volume , and that you formatte d it as de s cribe d in Se ction 25.1.4, “Pre paring a Ne w
DASD with Low-le ve l Formatting” and cre ate d a s ingle partition on it.
Pro cedure 25.5. Expanding Exist ing Lo gical Vo lume t o Use a New DASD
1. Cre ate a ne w phys ical volume for LVM on the DASD us ing the pvcreate command:
# pvcreate /dev/DeviceName
Impo rtant
The de vice name mus t be s pe cifie d as a partition - for e xample ,
/dev/dasdf1. Do not s pe cify the e ntire block de vice .
2. Lis t e xis ting phys ical volume s us ing the pvs command to ve rify that the phys ical
volume has be e n cre ate d:
# pvs
PV
VG
Fmt Attr PSize
PFree
/dev/dasda2
vg_local
lvm2 a-1,29g
0
/dev/dasdd1
vg_local
lvm2 a-2,29g
0
/dev/dasdf1
lvm2 a-2,29g
2,29g
/dev/mapper/mpathb vgextnotshared lvm2 a-- 200,00g 1020,00m
As you can s e e in the above e xample , /dev/dasdf1 now contains an e mpty
phys ical volume which is not as s igne d to any volume group.
3. Us e the vgextend command to e xpand an e xis ting volume group containing the
volume you want to us e the ne w DASD for:
# vgextend VolumeGroup PhysicalVolume
Re place VolumeGroup with the name of the volume group you are e xpanding, and
PhysicalVolume with the name of the phys ical volume (for e xample , /dev/dasdf1).
4. Us e the lvextend command to e xpand a logical volume you want to us e the ne w
DASD for:
# lvextend -L +Size /dev/mapper/VolumeGroup-LogicalVolume
For e xample :
386
# lvextend -L +2G /dev/mapper/vg_local-lv_root
Extending logical volume lv_root to 2,58 GiB
Logical volume lv_root successfully resized
Afte r you comple te the proce dure , an e xis ting logical volume is e xpande d and contains
the ne w DASD in addition to any pre vious ly as s igne d s torage de vice s . You can als o us e
the pvs, vgs, and lvs commands as root to vie w e xis ting LVM phys ical volume s , volume
groups and logical volume s at any point during the proce dure .
25.2. Adding FCP-At t ached Logical Unit s (LUNs)
The following is an e xample of how to add an FCP LUN.
No te
If running unde r z /VM, make s ure the FCP adapte r is attache d to the z /VM gue s t
virtual machine . For multipathing in production e nvironme nts the re would be at le as t
two FCP de vice s on two diffe re nt phys ical adapte rs (CHPIDs ). For e xample :
CP ATTACH FC00 TO *
CP ATTACH FCD0 TO *
25.2.1. Dynamically Act ivat ing an FCP LUN
Follow the s e s te ps to activate a LUN:
1. Us e the cio_ignore command to re move the FCP adapte r from the lis t of ignore d
Re place DeviceNumber with the de vice numbe r of the FCP adapte r. For e xample :
2. To bring the FCP adapte r de vice online , us e the following command:
# chccwdev -e fc00
3. Ve rify that the re quire d WWPN was found by the automatic port s canning of the z fcp
de vice drive r:
# ls -l /sys/bus/ccw/drivers/zfcp/0.0.fc00/
drwxr-xr-x. 3 root root
0 Apr 28 18:19 0x500507630040710b
0 Apr 28 18:19 0x50050763050b073d
0 Apr 28 18:19 0x500507630e060521
0 Apr 28 18:19 0x500507630e860521
-r--r--r--. 1 root root 4096 Apr 28 18:17 availability
-r--r--r--. 1 root root 4096 Apr 28 18:19 card_version
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 4096 Apr 28 18:17 cmb_enable
-r--r--r--. 1 root root 4096 Apr 28 18:17 cutype
-r--r--r--. 1 root root 4096 Apr 28 18:17 devtype
387
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root
0 Apr
../../../../bus/ccw/drivers/zfcp
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 4096 Apr
-r--r--r--. 1 root root 4096 Apr
0 Apr
--w-------. 1 root root 4096 Apr
--w-------. 1 root root 4096 Apr
0 Apr
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root
0 Apr
../../../../bus/ccw
28 18:17 driver ->
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
28
18:17
18:19
18:17
18:17
18:19
18:17
18:17
18:19
18:19
18:19
18:19
18:19
18:19
18:19
18:17
failed
hardware_version
host0
in_recovery
lic_version
modalias
online
peer_d_id
peer_wwnn
peer_wwpn
port_remove
port_rescan
power
status
subsystem ->
28 18:17 uevent
4. Activate the FCP LUN by adding it to the port (WWPN) through which you would like to
acce s s the LUN:
# echo 0x4020400100000000 >
/sys/bus/ccw/drivers/zfcp/0.0.fc00/0x50050763050b073d/unit_add
5. Find out the as s igne d SCSI de vice name :
# lszfcp -DV
/sys/devices/css0/0.0.0015/0.0.fc00/0x50050763050b073d/0x402040010
0000000
/sys/bus/ccw/drivers/zfcp/0.0.fc00/host0/rport-0:021/target0:0:21/0:0:21:1089355792
For more information, re fe r to the chapte r on SCSI-ove r-Fibre Channe l in Linux on System z
Device Drivers, Features, and Commands on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
25.2.2. Persist ent ly Act ivat ing FCP LUNs
The above ins tructions de s cribe d how to activate FCP LUNs dynamically in a running
s ys te m. Howe ve r, s uch change s are not pe rs is te nt and do not s urvive a re boot. How you
make the change s to the FCP configuration pe rs is te nt in your Linux s ys te m de pe nds on
whe the r the FCP LUNs be long to the root file s ys te m. Thos e re quire d for the root file
s ys te m ne e d to be activate d ve ry e arly during the boot proce s s by the initramfs to be
able to mount the root file s ys te m. cio_ignore is handle d trans pare ntly for pe rs is te nt
de vice configurations and you do not ne e d to fre e de vice s from the ignore lis t manually.
25.2.2.1. FCP LUNs T hat Are Part of t he Root File Syst em
The only file you have to modify for adding FCP LUNs that are part of the root file s ys te m
is /etc/zipl.conf followe d by a run of the zipl boot loade r tool. The re is no more ne e d
to re cre ate the initramfs.
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Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux provide s a parame te r to activate FCP LUNs e arly in the boot
proce s s : rd_ZFCP=. The value is a comma-s e parate d lis t containing the de vice bus ID, the
WWPN as 16 digit he xade cimal numbe r pre fixe d with 0x, and the FCP LUN pre fixe d with 0x
and padde d with z e roe s to the right to have 16 he xade cimal digits .
The following e xample zipl.conf is for a s ys te m that us e s phys ical volume s on partitions
of two FCP LUNs for an LVM volume group vg_devel1 that contains a logical volume
lv_root for the root file s ys te m. For s implicity, the e xample s hows a configuration without
multipathing.
[defaultboot]
default=linux
target=/boot/
[linux]
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a000000000
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a100000000
rd_LVM_LV=vg_devel1/lv_root rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF8
SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us cio_ignore=all,!0.0.0009"
To add anothe r phys ical volume on a partition of a third FCP LUN with de vice bus ID
0.0.fc00, WWPN 0x5105074308c212e 9 and FCP LUN 0x401040a300000000, s imply add
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a300000000 to the parame te rs line of
your boot ke rne l in zipl.conf, for e xample :
[defaultboot]
default=linux
target=/boot/
[linux]
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a000000000
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a100000000
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a300000000
rd_LVM_LV=vg_devel1/lv_root rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF8
SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us cio_ignore=all,!0.0.0009"
Run zipl to apply the change s of /etc/zipl.conf for the ne xt IPL:
# zipl -V
Using config file '/etc/zipl.conf'
Target device information
Device..........................: 08:00
Partition.......................: 08:01
Device name.....................: sda
Device driver name..............: sd
Type............................: disk partition
Disk layout.....................: SCSI disk layout
Geometry - start................: 2048
File system block size..........: 4096
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Physical block size.............: 512
Device size in physical blocks..: 10074112
Building bootmap in '/boot/'
Building menu 'rh-automatic-menu'
Adding #1: IPL section 'linux' (default)
kernel image......: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19.el6.s390x
kernel parmline...: 'root=/dev/mapper/vg_devel1-lv_root
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a000000000
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a100000000
rd_ZFCP=0.0.fc00,0x5105074308c212e9,0x401040a300000000
rd_LVM_LV=vg_devel1/lv_root rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us cio_ignore=all,!0.0.0009'
initial ramdisk...: /boot/initramfs-2.6.32-19.el6.s390x.img
component address:
kernel image....: 0x00010000-0x007a21ff
parmline........: 0x00001000-0x000011ff
initial ramdisk.: 0x02000000-0x028f63ff
internal loader.: 0x0000a000-0x0000a3ff
Preparing boot device: sda.
Detected SCSI PCBIOS disk layout.
Writing SCSI master boot record.
Syncing disks...
Done.
25.2.2.2. FCP LUNs T hat Are Not Part of t he Root File Syst em
FCP LUNs that are not part of the root file s ys te m, s uch as data dis ks , are pe rs is te ntly
configure d in the file /etc/zfcp.conf. It contains one FCP LUN pe r line . Each line contains
the de vice bus ID of the FCP adapte r, the WWPN as 16 digit he xade cimal numbe r pre fixe d
with 0x, and the FCP LUN pre fixe d with 0x and padde d with z e roe s to the right to have 16
he xade cimal digits , s e parate d by a s pace or tab. Entrie s in /etc/zfcp.conf are activate d
and configure d by ude v whe n an FCP adapte r is adde d to the s ys te m. At boot time , all FCP
adapte rs vis ible to the s ys te m are adde d and trigge r udev.
Example conte nt of /e tc/z fcp.conf:
0.0.fc00
0.0.fc00
0.0.fc00
0.0.fcd0
0.0.fcd0
0.0.fcd0
0x5105074308c212e9
0x5105074308c212e9
0x5105074308c212e9
0x5105074308c2aee9
0x5105074308c2aee9
0x5105074308c2aee9
0x401040a000000000
0x401040a100000000
0x401040a300000000
0x401040a000000000
0x401040a100000000
0x401040a300000000
Modifications of /etc/zfcp.conf only be come e ffe ctive afte r a re boot of the s ys te m or
afte r the dynamic addition of a ne w FCP channe l by changing the s ys te m's I/O
configuration (for e xample , a channe l is attache d unde r z /VM). Alte rnative ly, you can
trigge r the activation of a ne w e ntry in /etc/zfcp.conf for an FCP adapte r which was
pre vious ly not active , by e xe cuting the following commands :
1. Us e the cio_ignore command to re move the FCP adapte r from the lis t of ignore d
Re place DeviceNumber with the de vice numbe r of the FCP adapte r. For e xample :
390
# cio_ignore -r fcfc
2. To trigge r the ue ve nt that activate s the change , is s ue :
echo add > /sys/bus/ccw/devices/Device.Bus.ID/uevent
For e xample :
echo add > /sys/bus/ccw/devices/0.0.fcfc/uevent
25.3. Adding a Net work Device
Ne twork de vice drive r module s are loade d automatically by udev.
You can add a ne twork inte rface on IBM Sys te m z dynamically or pe rs is te ntly.
Dynamically
Load the de vice drive r
Re move the ne twork de vice s from the lis t of ignore d de vice s .
Cre ate the group de vice .
Configure the de vice .
Se t the de vice online .
Pe rs is te ntly
Cre ate a configuration s cript.
Activate the inte rface .
The following s e ctions provide bas ic information for e ach tas k of e ach IBM Sys te m z
ne twork de vice drive r. Se ction 25.3.1, “Adding a qe th De vice ” de s cribe s how to add a qe th
de vice to an e xis ting ins tance of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux. Se ction 25.3.2, “Adding an LCS
De vice ” de s cribe s how to add an lcs de vice to an e xis ting ins tance of Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux. Se ction 25.3.3, “Mapping Subchanne ls and Ne twork De vice Name s ” de s cribe s how
pe rs is te nt ne twork de vice name s work. Se ction 25.3.4, “Configuring a Sys te m z Ne twork
De vice for Ne twork Root File Sys te m” de s cribe s how to configure a ne twork de vice to us e
with a root file s ys te m that is only acce s s ible through the ne twork.
25.3.1. Adding a qet h Device
The qe th ne twork de vice drive r s upports Sys te m z OSA-Expre s s fe ature s in QDIO mode ,
Hipe rSocke ts , z /VM gue s t LAN, and z /VM VSWITCH.
Bas e d on the type of inte rface be ing adde d, the qe th de vice drive r as s igns one of the
bas e inte rface name s :
hs in for Hipe rSocke ts de vice s
e thn for Ethe rne t fe ature s
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The value n is an inte ge r that unique ly ide ntifie s the de vice . n is 0 for the firs t de vice of
that type , 1 for the s e cond, and s o on.
25.3.1.1. Dynamically Adding a qet h Device
To add a qe th de vice dynamically, follow the s e s te ps :
1. De te rmine whe the r the qe th de vice drive r module s are loade d. The following
e xample s hows loade d qe th module s :
# lsmod | grep qeth
qeth_l3
127056 9
qeth_l2
73008 3
ipv6
492872
155ip6t_REJECT,nf_conntrack_ipv6,qeth_l3
qeth
115808 2 qeth_l3,qeth_l2
qdio
68240 1 qeth
ccwgroup
12112 2 qeth
If the output of the lsmod command s hows that the qe th module s are not loade d,
run the modprobe command to load the m:
# modprobe qeth
2. Us e the cio_ignore command to re move the ne twork channe ls from the lis t of
ignore d de vice s and make the m vis ible to Linux:
# cio_ignore -r
read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id,data_device_bus_id
Re place read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id,data_device_bus_id with the thre e
de vice bus IDs re pre s e nting a ne twork de vice . For e xample , if the
read_device_bus_id is 0.0.f500, the write_device_bus_id is 0.0.f501, and the
data_device_bus_id is 0.0.f502:
# cio_ignore -r 0.0.f500,0.0.f501,0.0.f502
3. Us e the z ne tconf command to s e ns e and lis t candidate configurations for ne twork
de vice s :
# znetconf -u
Scanning for network devices...
Device IDs
Type
Card Type
CHPID Drv.
-----------------------------------------------------------0.0.f500,0.0.f501,0.0.f502 1731/01 OSA (QDIO)
00 qeth
0.0.f503,0.0.f504,0.0.f505 1731/01 OSA (QDIO)
01 qeth
0.0.0400,0.0.0401,0.0.0402 1731/05 HiperSockets
02 qeth
4. Se le ct the configuration you want to work with and us e znet co nf to apply the
configuration and to bring the configure d group de vice online as ne twork de vice .
# znetconf -a f500
Successfully configured device 0.0.f500 (eth1)
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5. Optionally, you can als o pas s argume nts that are configure d on the group de vice
be fore it is s e t online :
# znetconf -a f500 -o portname=myname
Successfully configured device 0.0.f500 (eth1)
Now you can continue to configure the ne twork eth1 inte rface .
Alte rnative ly, you can us e s ys fs attribute s to s e t the de vice online as follows :
1. Cre ate a qe th group de vice :
# echo read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id,data_device_bus_id >
/sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/qeth/group
For e xample :
# echo 0.0.f500,0.0.f501,0.0.f502 >
/sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/qeth/group
2. Ne xt, ve rify that the qe th group de vice was cre ate d prope rly by looking for the
re ad channe l:
# ls /sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/qeth/0.0.f500
You may optionally s e t additional parame te rs and fe ature s , de pe nding on the way
you are s e tting up your s ys te m and the fe ature s you re quire , s uch as :
portno
layer2
portname
For information on additional parame te rs , re fe r to the chapte r on the qe th de vice
drive r in Linux on System z Device Drivers, Features, and Commands on Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6.
3. Bring the de vice online by writing 1 to the online s ys fs attribute :
# echo 1 > /sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/qeth/0.0.f500/online
4. The n ve rify the s tate of the de vice :
# cat /sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/qeth/0.0.f500/online
1
A re turn value of 1 indicate s that the de vice is online , while a re turn value 0
indicate s that the de vice is offline .
5. Find the inte rface name that was as s igne d to the de vice :
393
# cat /sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/qeth/0.0.f500/if_name
eth1
Now you can continue to configure the ne twork eth1 inte rface .
The following command from the s390utils package s hows the mos t important
s e ttings of your qe th de vice :
# lsqeth eth1
Device name
: eth1
--------------------------------------------card_type
: OSD_1000
cdev0
: 0.0.f500
cdev1
: 0.0.f501
cdev2
: 0.0.f502
chpid
: 76
online
: 1
portname
: OSAPORT
portno
: 0
state
: UP (LAN ONLINE)
priority_queueing
: always queue 0
buffer_count
: 16
layer2
: 1
isolation
: none
25.3.1.2. Dynamically Removing a qet h Device
To re move a qe th de vice , us e the z ne tconf tool. For e xample :
1. Us e the znetconf command to s how you all configure d ne twork de vice s :
znetconf -c
Device IDs
Type
Card Type
CHPID Drv. Name
State
------------------------------------------------------------------------------0.0.8036,0.0.8037,0.0.8038 1731/05 HiperSockets
FB qeth hsi1
online
0.0.f5f0,0.0.f5f1,0.0.f5f2 1731/01 OSD_1000
76 qeth eth0
online
0.0.f500,0.0.f501,0.0.f502 1731/01 GuestLAN QDIO
00 qeth eth1
online
2. Se le ct the ne twork de vice to be re move d and trigge r znetconf to s e t the de vice
offline and ungroup the ccw group de vice .
# znetconf -r f500
Remove network device 0.0.f500 (0.0.f500,0.0.f501,0.0.f502)?
Warning: this may affect network connectivity!
Do you want to continue (y/n)?y
Successfully removed device 0.0.f500 (eth1)
3. Ve rify the s ucce s s of the re moval:
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znetconf -c
Device IDs
Type
Card Type
CHPID Drv. Name
State
------------------------------------------------------------------------------0.0.8036,0.0.8037,0.0.8038 1731/05 HiperSockets
FB qeth hsi1
online
0.0.f5f0,0.0.f5f1,0.0.f5f2 1731/01 OSD_1000
76 qeth eth0
online
25.3.1.3. Persist ent ly Adding a qet h Device
To make your ne w qe th de vice pe rs is te nt you ne e d to cre ate the configuration file for
your ne w inte rface . The ne twork inte rface configuration file s are place d in
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/.
The ne twork configuration file s us e the naming conve ntion ifcfg-device, whe re device is
the value found in the if_name file in the qe th group de vice that was cre ate d e arlie r. In
this e xample it is eth1. cio_ignore is handle d trans pare ntly for pe rs is te nt de vice
configurations and you do not ne e d to fre e de vice s from the ignore lis t manually.
If a configuration file for anothe r de vice of the s ame type alre ady e xis ts , the s imple s t
s olution is to copy it to the ne w name .
# cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
# cp ifcfg-eth0 ifcfg-eth1
If you do not have a s imilar de vice de fine d you mus t cre ate one . Us e this e xample of
ifcfg-eth0 as a te mplate :
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
# IBM QETH
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
IPADDR=10.12.20.136
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
ONBOOT=yes
NETTYPE=qeth
SUBCHANNELS=0.0.09a0,0.0.09a1,0.0.09a2
PORTNAME=OSAPORT
OPTIONS='layer2=1 portno=0'
MACADDR=02:00:00:23:65:1a
TYPE=Ethernet
Edit the ne w ifcfg-e th1 file as follows :
1. Modify the DEVICE s tate me nt to re fle ct the conte nts of the if_name file from your
ccwgroup.
2. Modify the IPADDR s tate me nt to re fle ct the IP addre s s of your ne w inte rface .
3. Modify the NETMASK s tate me nt as ne e de d.
4. If the ne w inte rface is to be activate d at boot time , the n make s ure ONBOOT is s e t to
yes.
395
5. Make s ure the SUBCHANNELS s tate me nt matche s the hardware addre s s e s for your
qe th de vice .
6. Modify the PORTNAME s tate me nt or le ave it out if it is not ne ce s s ary in your
e nvironme nt.
7. You may add any valid s ys fs attribute and its value to the OPTIONS parame te r. The
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins talle r curre ntly us e s this to configure the laye r mode
(layer2) and the re lative port numbe r (portno) of qe th de vice s .
The qe th de vice drive r de fault for OSA de vice s is now laye r 2 mode . To continue
us ing old ifcfg de finitions that re ly on the pre vious de fault of laye r 3 mode , add
layer2=0 to the OPTIONS parame te r.
# IBM QETH
DEVICE=eth1
BOOTPROTO=static
IPADDR=192.168.70.87
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
ONBOOT=yes
NETTYPE=qeth
SUBCHANNELS=0.0.0600,0.0.0601,0.0.0602
PORTNAME=OSAPORT
OPTIONS='layer2=1 portno=0'
MACADDR=02:00:00:b3:84:ef
TYPE=Ethernet
Change s to an ifcfg file only be come e ffe ctive afte r re booting the s ys te m or afte r the
dynamic addition of ne w ne twork de vice channe ls by changing the s ys te m's I/O
configuration (for e xample , attaching unde r z /VM). Alte rnative ly, you can trigge r the
activation of a ifcfg file for ne twork channe ls which we re pre vious ly not active ye t, by
e xe cuting the following commands :
# cio_ignore -r
read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id,data_device_bus_id
Re place read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id,data_device_bus_id with the thre e
de vice bus IDs re pre s e nting a ne twork de vice . For e xample , if the
read_device_bus_id is 0.0.0600, the write_device_bus_id is 0.0.0601, and the
data_device_bus_id is 0.0.0602:
# cio_ignore -r 0.0.0600,0.0.0601,0.0.0602
echo add > /sys/bus/ccw/devices/read-channel/uevent
For e xample :
echo add > /sys/bus/ccw/devices/0.0.0600/uevent
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3. Che ck the s tatus of the ne twork de vice :
# lsqeth
4. Now s tart the ne w inte rface :
# ifup eth1
5. Che ck the s tatus of the inte rface :
# ifconfig eth1
eth1
Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 02:00:00:00:00:01
inet addr:192.168.70.87 Bcast:192.168.70.255
Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::ff:fe00:1/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1492 Metric:1
RX bytes:644 (644.0 b) TX bytes:264 (264.0 b)
6. Che ck the routing for the ne w inte rface :
# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination
Gateway
Use Iface
192.168.70.0
*
0 eth1
10.1.20.0
*
0 eth0
default
10.1.20.1
0 eth0
Genmask
Flags Metric Ref
255.255.255.0
U
0
0
255.255.255.0
U
0
0
0.0.0.0
UG
0
0
7. Ve rify your change s by us ing the ping command to ping the gate way or anothe r
hos t on the s ubne t of the ne w de vice :
# ping -c 1 192.168.70.8
PING 192.168.70.8 (192.168.70.8) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.70.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=63 time=8.07 ms
8. If the de fault route information has change d, you mus t als o update
/etc/sysconfig/network accordingly.
25.3.2. Adding an LCS Device
The LAN channel station (LCS) de vice drive r s upports 1000Bas e -T Ethe rne t on the OSAExpre s s 2 and OSA-Expre s s 3 fe ature s .
Bas e d on the type of inte rface be ing adde d, the LCS drive r as s igns one bas e inte rface
name :
e thn for OSA-Expre s s Fas t Ethe rne t and Gigabit Ethe rne t
397
n is 0 for the firs t de vice of that type , 1 for the s e cond, and s o on.
25.3.2.1. Dynamically Adding an LCS Device
1. Load the de vice drive r:
# modprobe lcs
# cio_ignore -r read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id
Re place read_device_bus_id and write_device_bus_id with the two de vice bus IDs
re pre s e nting a ne twork de vice . For e xample :
# cio_ignore -r 0.0.09a0,0.0.09a1
3. Cre ate the group de vice :
# echo read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id >
/sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/lcs/group
4. Configure the de vice . OSA cards can provide up to 16 ports for a s ingle CHPID. By
de fault, the LCS group de vice us e s port 0. To us e a diffe re nt port, is s ue a
command s imilar to the following:
# echo portno > /sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/lcs/device_bus_id/portno
Re place portno with the port numbe r you want to us e . For more information about
configuration of the LCS drive r, re fe r to the chapte r on LCS in Linux on System z
5. Se t the de vice online :
# echo 1 > /sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/lcs/read_device_bus_id/online
6. To find out what ne twork de vice name has be e n as s igne d, e nte r the command:
# ls -l /sys/bus/ccwgroup/drivers/lcs/read_device_bus_ID/net/
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 0 2010-04-22 16:54 eth1
25.3.2.2. Persist ent ly Adding an LCS Device
cio_ignore is handle d trans pare ntly for pe rs is te nt de vice configurations and you do not
ne e d to fre e de vice s from the ignore lis t manually.
To add an LCS de vice pe rs is te ntly, follow the s e s te ps :
1. Cre ate a configuration s cript as file in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ with a
name like ifcfg-ethn whe re n is an inte ge r s tarting with 0. The file s hould look
s imilar to the following:
398
# IBM LCS
DEVICE=eth0
BOOTPROTO=static
IPADDR=10.12.20.136
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
ONBOOT=yes
NETTYPE=lcs
SUBCHANNELS=0.0.09a0,0.0.09a1
PORTNAME=0
OPTIONS=''
TYPE=Ethernet
2. Modify the value of PORTNAME to re fle ct the LCS port numbe r (portno) you would
like to us e . You can add any valid lcs s ys fs attribute and its value to the optional
OPTIONS parame te r. Re fe r to Se ction 25.3.1.3, “Pe rs is te ntly Adding a qe th De vice ”
for the s yntax.
3. Se t the DEVICE parame te r as follows :
DEVICE=ethn
4. Is s ue an ifup command to activate the de vice :
# ifup ethn
Change s to an ifcfg file only be come e ffe ctive afte r re booting the s ys te m. You can
trigge r the activation of a ifcfg file for ne twork channe ls by e xe cuting the following
commands :
1. Us e the cio_ignore command to re move the LCS de vice adapte r from the lis t of
ignore d de vice s and make it vis ible to Linux:
# cio_ignore -r read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id
Re place read_device_bus_id and write_device_bus_id with the de vice bus IDs of the
LCS de vice . For e xample :
# cio_ignore -r 0.0.09a0,0.0.09a1
echo add > /sys/bus/ccw/devices/read-channel/uevent
For e xample :
echo add > /sys/bus/ccw/devices/0.0.09a0/uevent
25.3.3. Mapping Subchannels and Net work Device Names
The DEVICE= option in the ifcfg file doe s not de te rmine the mapping of s ubchanne ls to
ne twork de vice name s . Ins te ad, the ude v rule s file /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistentnet.rules de te rmine s which ne twork de vice channe l ge ts which ne twork de vice name .
399
Whe n configuring a ne w ne twork de vice on Sys te m z , the s ys te m automatically adds a
ne w rule to that file and as s igns the ne xt unus e d de vice name . You can the n e dit the
value s as s igne d to the NAME= variable for e ach de vice .
Example conte nt of /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules:
# This file was automatically generated by the /lib/udev/write_net_rules
# program run by the persistent-net-generator.rules rules file.
#
# You can modify it,as long as you keep each rule on a single line.
# S/390 qeth device at 0.0.f5f0
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="qeth", KERNELS=="0.0.f5f0",
ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth0"
# S/390 ctcm device at 0.0.1000
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="ctcm", KERNELS=="0.0.1000",
ATTR{type}=="256", KERNEL=="ctc*", NAME="ctc0"
# S/390 qeth device at 0.0.8024
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="qeth", KERNELS=="0.0.8024",
ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="hsi*", NAME="hsi0"
# S/390 lcs device at 0.0.1240
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="lcs", KERNELS=="0.0.1240",
25.3.4. Conf iguring a Syst em z Net work Device f or Net work Root File
Syst em
To add a ne twork de vice that is re quire d to acce s s the root file s ys te m, you only have to
change the boot options . The boot options can be in a parame te r file (re fe r to Chapte r 26,
Parameter and Configuration Files) or part of a zipl.conf on a DASD or FCP-attache d SCSI
LUN pre pare d with the zipl boot loade r. The re is no ne e d to re cre ate the initramfs .
Dracut (the mkinit rd s ucce s s or that provide s the functionality in the initramfs that in
turn re place s init rd) provide s a boot parame te r to activate ne twork de vice s on Sys te m z
e arly in the boot proce s s : rd_ZNET=.
As input, this parame te r take s a comma-s e parate d lis t of the NETTYPE (qe th, lcs , ctc), two
(lcs , ctc) or thre e (qe th) de vice bus IDs , and optional additional parame te rs cons is ting of
ke y-value pairs corre s ponding to ne twork de vice s ys fs attribute s . This parame te r
400
configure s and activate s the Sys te m z ne twork hardware . The configuration of IP
addre s s e s and othe r ne twork s pe cifics works the s ame as for othe r platforms . Re fe r to
the dracut docume ntation for more de tails .
cio _igno re for the ne twork channe ls is handle d trans pare ntly on boot.
Example boot options for a root file s ys te m acce s s e d ove r the ne twork through NFS:
root=10.16.105.196:/nfs/nfs_root cio_ignore=all,!0.0.0009
rd_ZNET=qeth,0.0.0a00,0.0.0a01,0.0.0a02,layer2=1,portno=0,portname=OSAPO
RT
ip=10.16.105.197:10.16.105.196:10.16.111.254:255.255.248.0:nfs‑server.su
bdomain.domain:eth0:none rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM
401
Chapt er 26. Paramet er and Configurat ion Files
The IBM Sys te m z archite cture can us e a cus tomiz e d parame te r file to pas s boot
parame te rs to the ke rne l and the ins talle r. This s e ction de s cribe s the conte nts of this
parame te r file .
You ne e d only re ad this s e ction if you inte nd to change the s hippe d parame te r file . You
ne e d to change the parame te r file if you want to:
automate the us e r input for linuxrc or the loade r (re fe r to Chapte r 21, Installation
Phase 1: Configuring a Network Device and Chapte r 22, Installation Phase 2: Configuring
Language and Installation Source).
ins tall unatte nde d with kicks tart.
choos e non-de fault ins tallation s e ttings that are not acce s s ible through the ins talle r"s
inte ractive us e r inte rface , s uch as re s cue mode .
The parame te r file can be us e d to s e t up ne tworking non-inte ractive ly be fore the
ins tallation program (loade r and anaco nda) s tarts .
The ke rne l parame te r file is limite d to 895 characte rs plus an e nd-of-line characte r. The
parame te r file can be variable or fixe d re cord format. Fixe d re cord format incre as e s the
file s iz e by padding e ach line up to the re cord le ngth. Should you e ncounte r proble ms with
the ins talle r not re cogniz ing all s pe cifie d parame te rs in LPAR e nvironme nts , you can try to
put all parame te rs in one s ingle line or s tart and e nd e ach line with a s pace characte r.
For more de tails on ke rne l parame te rs and diffe re nt pos s ibilitie s of s pe cifying the m, s e e
the chapte r on booting Linux and the chapte r on ke rne l parame te rs in Linux on System z
The parame te r file contains ke rne l parame te rs , s uch as root=/dev/ram0 or ro, and
parame te rs for the ins tallation proce s s , s uch as vncpassword=test or vnc.
26.1. Required Paramet ers
The following parame te rs are re quire d and mus t be include d in the parame te r file . The y
are als o provide d in the file generic.prm in dire ctory images/ of the ins tallation DVD:
root=file_system
whe re file_system re pre s e nts the de vice on which the root file s ys te m can be
found. For ins tallation purpos e s , it mus t be s e t to /dev/ram0, which is the ramdis k
containing the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program.
ro
mounts the root file s ys te m, which is a ramdis k, re ad-only.
ip=off
dis able s automatic ne twork configuration.
ramdisk_size=size
modifie s the me mory s iz e re s e rve d for the ramdis k to e ns ure that the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program fits within it. For e xample :
ramdisk_size=40000.
402
⁠C hapt e r 26 . Par ame t e r and Co nf igur at io n File s
The file ge ne ric.prm als o contains the additional parame te r cio_ignore=all,!0.0.0009.
This s e tting s pe e ds up boot and de vice de te ction on s ys te ms with many de vice s . The
ins talle r trans pare ntly handle s the activation of ignore d de vice s .
Impo rtant
To avoid ins tallation proble ms aris ing from cio_ignore s upport not be ing
imple me nte d throughout the e ntire s tack, adapt the cio_ignore= parame te r value
to your s ys te m or re move the parame te r e ntire ly from your parame te r file us e d for
booting (IPL) the ins talle r.
Whe n ins talling from an FCP-attache d DVD drive , and you e ncounte r a proble m with
ignore d de vice s , s e le ct the me nu option clear blacklist in linuxrc (re fe r to
Chapte r 21, Installation Phase 1: Configuring a Network Device) to re move the lis t of
ignore d de vice s .
26.2. T he z/VM Configurat ion File
This applie s only if ins talling unde r z /VM. Unde r z /VM, you can us e a configuration file on a
CMS-formatte d dis k. The purpos e of the CMS configuration file is to s ave s pace in the
parame te r file by moving the parame te rs that configure the initial ne twork s e tup, the
DASD, and the FCP s pe cification out of the parame te r file (re fe r to Se ction 26.3,
“Ins tallation Ne twork Parame te rs ”).
Each line of the CMS configuration file contains a s ingle variable and its as s ociate d value ,
in the following s he ll-s tyle s yntax: variable=value .
You mus t als o add the CMSDASD and CMSCONFFILE parame te rs to the parame te r file .
The s e parame te rs point the ins tallation program to the configuration file :
CMSDASD=cmsdasd_address
Whe re cmsdasd_address is the de vice numbe r of a CMS-formatte d dis k that
contains the configuration file . This is us ually the CMS us e r"s A dis k.
For e xample : CMSDASD=191
CMSCONFFILE=configuration_file
Whe re configuration_file is the name of the configuration file . This value mus t be
s pe cifie d in lowe r cas e . It is s pe cifie d in a Linux file name format:
CMS_file_name.CMS_file_type.
The CMS file REDHAT CONF is s pe cifie d as redhat.conf. The CMS file name and
the file type can e ach be from one to e ight characte rs that follow the CMS
conve ntions .
For e xample : CMSCONFFILE=redhat.conf
26.3. Inst allat ion Net work Paramet ers
403
The following parame te rs can be us e d to s e t up the pre liminary ne twork automatically and
can be de fine d in e ithe r the parame te r file or the CMS configuration file . The parame te rs
in this s e ction are the only parame te rs that can als o be us e d in a CMS configuration file .
All othe r parame te rs in othe r s e ctions mus t be s pe cifie d in the parame te r file .
NETTYPE="type"
Whe re type mus t be one of the following: qeth, lcs, or ctc. The de fault is qeth.
Choos e lcs for:
OSA-2 Ethe rne t/Toke n Ring
OSA-Expre s s Fas t Ethe rne t in non-QDIO mode
OSA-Expre s s High Spe e d Toke n Ring in non-QDIO mode
Gigabit Ethe rne t in non-QDIO mode
Choos e qeth for:
OSA-Expre s s Fas t Ethe rne t
Gigabit Ethe rne t (including 1000Bas e -T)
High Spe e d Toke n Ring
Hipe rSocke ts
ATM (running Ethe rne t LAN e mulation)
SUBCHANNELS="device_bus_IDs"
Whe re bus_IDs is a comma-s e parate d lis t of two or thre e de vice bus IDs .
Provide s re quire d de vice bus IDs for the various ne twork inte rface s :
qeth:
SUBCHANNELS="read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id,data_device_b
us_id"
lcs or ctc: SUBCHANNELS="read_device_bus_id,write_device_bus_id"
For e xample (a s ample qe th SUBCHANNEL s tate me nt):
SUBCHANNELS="0.0.f5f0,0.0.f5f1,0.0.f5f2"
PORTNAME="osa_portname" , PORTNAME="lcs_portnumber"
This variable s upports OSA de vice s ope rating in qdio mode or in non-qdio mode .
Whe n us ing qdio mode (NETTYPE="qeth"), osa_portname is the portname
s pe cifie d on the OSA de vice whe n ope rating in qe th mode .
Whe n us ing non-qdio mode (NETTYPE="lcs"), lcs_portnumber is us e d to pas s the
re lative port numbe r as a de cimal inte ge r in the range of 0 through 15.
PORTNO="portnumber"
You can add e ithe r PORTNO="0" (to us e port 0) or PORTNO="1" (to us e port 1 of
OSA fe ature s with two ports pe r CHPID) to the CMS configuration file to avoid
be ing prompte d for the mode .
404
be ing prompte d for the mode .
LAYER2="value"
Whe re value can be 0 or 1.
Us e LAYER2="0" to ope rate an OSA or Hipe rSocke ts de vice in laye r 3 mode
(NETTYPE="qeth"). Us e LAYER2="1" for laye r 2 mode . For virtual ne twork de vice s
unde r z /VM this s e tting mus t match the de finition of the Gue s tLAN or VSWITCH to
which the de vice is couple d.
To us e ne twork s e rvice s that ope rate on laye r 2 (the Data Link Laye r or its MAC
s ublaye r) s uch as DHCP, laye r 2 mode is a good choice .
The qe th de vice drive r de fault for OSA de vice s is now laye r 2 mode . To continue
us ing the pre vious de fault of laye r 3 mode , s e t LAYER2="0" e xplicitly.
VSWITCH="value"
Whe re value can be 0 or 1.
Spe cify VSWITCH="1" whe n conne cting to a z /VM VSWITCH or Gue s tLAN, or
VSWITCH="0" (or nothing at all) whe n us ing dire ctly attache d re al OSA or dire ctly
attache d re al Hipe rSocke ts .
MACADDR="MAC_address"
If you s pe cify LAYER2="1" and VSWITCH="0", you can optionally us e this
parame te r to s pe cify a MAC addre s s . Linux re quire s s ix colon-s e parate d octe ts
as pairs lowe r cas e he x digits - for e xample , MACADDR=62:a3:18:e7:bc:5f. Note
that this is diffe re nt from the notation us e d by z /VM.
If you s pe cify LAYER2="1" and VSWITCH="1", you mus t not s pe cify the MACADDR,
be caus e z /VM as s igns a unique MAC addre s s to virtual ne twork de vice s in laye r 2
mode .
CTCPROT="value"
Whe re value can be 0, 1, or 3.
Spe cifie s the CTC protocol for NETTYPE="ctc". The de fault is 0.
HOSTNAME="string"
Whe re string is the hos tname of the ne wly-ins talle d Linux ins tance .
IPADDR="IP"
Whe re IP is the IP addre s s of the ne w Linux ins tance .
NETMASK="netmask"
Whe re netmask is the ne tmas k.
The ne tmas k s upports the s yntax of a pre fix inte ge r (from 1 to 32) as s pe cifie d in
IPv4 classless interdomain routing (CIDR). For e xample , you can s pe cify 24 ins te ad
of 255.255.255.0, or 20 ins te ad of 255.255.240.0.
GATEWAY="gw"
Whe re gw is the gate way IP addre s s for this ne twork de vice .
405
MTU="mtu"
Whe re mtu is the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) for this ne twork de vice .
DNS="server1:server2:additional_server_terms:serverN"
Whe re "server1:server2:additional_server_terms:serverN" is a lis t of DNS s e rve rs ,
s e parate d by colons . For e xample :
DNS="10.1.2.3:10.3.2.1"
SEARCHDNS="domain1:domain2:additional_dns_terms:domainN"
Whe re "domain1:domain2:additional_dns_terms:domainN" is a lis t of the s e arch
domains , s e parate d by colons . For e xample :
SEARCHDNS="subdomain.domain:domain"
You only ne e d to s pe cify SEARCHDNS= if you s pe cify the DNS= parame te r.
DASD=
De fine s the DASD or range of DASDs to configure for the ins tallation. For a
de taile d de s cription of the s yntax, re fe r to the dasd_mod de vice drive r module
option de s cribe d in the chapte r on the DASD de vice drive r in Linux on System z
Linuxrc s upports a comma-s e parate d lis t of de vice bus IDs or of range s of
de vice bus IDs with the optional attribute s ro, diag, erplog, and failfast.
Optionally, you can abbre viate de vice bus IDs to de vice numbe rs with le ading
z e ros s trippe d. Any optional attribute s s hould be s e parate d by colons and
e nclos e d in pare nthe s e s . Optional attribute s follow a de vice bus ID or a range of
de vice bus IDs .
The only s upporte d global option is autodetect. This doe s not s upport the
s pe cification of non-e xis te nt DASDs to re s e rve ke rne l de vice name s for late r
addition of DASDs . Us e pe rs is te nt DASD de vice name s (for e xample
/dev/disk/by-path/...) to e nable trans pare nt addition of dis ks late r. Othe r
global options s uch as probeonly, nopav, or nofcx are not s upporte d by linuxrc.
Only s pe cify thos e DASDs that you re ally ne e d to ins tall your s ys te m. All
unformatte d DASDs s pe cifie d he re mus t be formatte d afte r a confirmation late r
on in the ins talle r (re fe r to Se ction 23.6.1.1, “DASD low-le ve l formatting”). Add any
data DASDs that are not ne e de d for the root file s ys te m or the /boot partition
afte r ins tallation as de s cribe d in Se ction 25.1.3, “DASDs Which Are Not Part of the
Root File Sys te m”.
For FCP-only e nvironme nts , s pe cify DASD="none".
For e xample :
DASD="eb1c,0.0.a000-0.0.a003,eb10-eb14(diag),0.0.ab1c(ro:diag)"
FCP_n="device_bus_ID WWPN FCP_LUN"
Whe re :
406
n is typically an inte ge r value (for e xample FCP_1 or FCP_2) but could be any
s tring with alphabe tic or nume ric characte rs or unde rs core s .
device_bus_ID s pe cifie s the de vice bus ID of the FCP de vice re pre s e nting the
host bus adapter (HBA) (for e xample 0.0.fc00 for de vice fc00).
WWPN is the world wide port name us e d for routing (ofte n in conjunction with
multipathing) and is as a 16-digit he x value (for e xample
0x50050763050b073d).
FCP_LUN re fe rs to the s torage logical unit ide ntifie r and is s pe cifie d as a 16digit he xade cimal value padde d with z e roe s to the right (for e xample
0x4020400100000000).
The s e variable s can be us e d on s ys te ms with FCP de vice s to activate FCP LUNs
s uch as SCSI dis ks . Additional FCP LUNs can be activate d during the ins tallation
inte ractive ly or by me ans of a kicks tart file . The re is no inte ractive que s tion for
FCP in linuxrc. An e xample value may look s imilar to the following:
FCP_1="0.0.fc00 0x50050763050b073d 0x4020400100000000"
Impo rtant
Each of the value s us e d in the FCP parame te rs (for e xample FCP_1 or
FCP_2) are s ite -s pe cific and are normally s upplie d by the FCP s torage
adminis trator.
The ins tallation program prompts you for any re quire d parame te rs not s pe cifie d in the
parame te r or configuration file e xce pt for FCP_n.
26.4. VNC and X11 Paramet ers
The following parame te rs can be de fine d in a parame te r file but do not work in a CMS
configuration file . With the s e parame te rs you control what inte rface will be us e d for
anaco nda.
To us e an X11 us e r inte rface without X11 forwarding, s pe cify the following X11 parame te r:
display=IP/hostname:display
Se ts the hos tname or IP addre s s and the X11 dis play whe re the ins talle r s hould
conne ct to and dis play its graphical us e r inte rface .
To us e a VNC s e rve r ins te ad of an X11 us e r inte rface , s pe cify the following VNC
parame te rs :
vnc
Spe cify vnc to us e the VNC graphical us e r inte rface late r in the ins tallation
proce s s .
vncpassword=
407
This parame te r s e ts the pas s word us e d to conne ct to the VNC s e rve r. The
pas s word parame te r is optional. If not us e d, the VNC s e rve r doe s not us e a
pas s word and anybody can conne ct to the VNC s e rve r.
vncconnect=IP/hostname[:port]
Whe n us e d in addition to vnc and vncpassword=, this optional parame te r
s pe cifie s the hos tname or IP addre s s (and optionally, a TCP port) whe re a VNC
clie nt is running in lis te ning mode . The ins talle r conne cts to and dis plays its
graphical us e r inte rface on this VNC clie nt.
26.5. Loader Paramet ers
configuration file .
To automate the loade r s cre e ns , s pe cify the following parame te rs :
lang=language
Se ts the language of the ins talle r us e r inte rface , for e xample , en for Englis h or de
for Ge rman. This automate s the re s pons e to Choose a Language (re fe r to
Se ction 22.3, “Language Se le ction”).
repo=installation_source
Se ts the ins tallation s ource to acce s s s tage 2 as we ll as the re pos itory with the
package s to be ins talle d. This automate s the re s pons e to Installation Method
(re fe r to Se ction 22.4, “Ins tallation Me thod”).
26.6. Paramet ers for Kickst art Inst allat ions
ks=URL
Re fe re nce s a kicks tart file , which us ually re s ide s on the ne twork for Linux
ins tallations on Sys te m z . Re place URL with the full path including the file name of
the kicks tart file . This parame te r activate s automatic ins tallation with kicks tart.
Re fe r to Se ction 28.4, “Automating the Ins tallation with Kicks tart” and
Se ction 32.10, “Starting a Kicks tart Ins tallation” for more de tails .]
RUNKS=value
Whe re value is de fine d as 1 if you want to run the loade r automatically on the
Linux cons ole without having to log in ove r the ne twork with SSH. To us e RUNKS=1,
the cons ole mus t e ithe r s upport full-s cre e n or the cmdline option be low s hould
be us e d. The latte r applie s for the 3270 te rminal unde r z /VM or the ope rating
s ys te m me s s age s cons ole for LPAR. We re comme nd RUNKS=1 for fully automatic
ins tallations with kicks tart. Whe n RUNKS=1 is s e t, linuxrc automatically continue s
in cas e of parame te r e rrors and doe s not inte rrupt unatte nde d ins tallations by
prompting for us e r inte raction.
Le ave out the parame te r or s pe cify RUNKS=0 othe rwis e .
cmdline
408
Whe n cmdline is s pe cifie d, output on line -mode te rminals (s uch as 3270 unde r
z /VM or ope rating s ys te m me s s age s for LPAR) be come s re adable , as the
ins talle r dis able s e s cape te rminal s e que nce s that are only applicable to UNIX-like
cons ole s . This re quire s ins tallation with a kicks tart file that ans we rs all que s tions ,
s ince the ins talle r doe s not s upport inte ractive us e r input in cmdline mode .
Ens ure that your kicks tart file contains all re quire d parame te rs be fore you us e e ithe r the
RUNKS or cmdline options . Re fe r to Chapte r 32, Kickstart Installations for de tails .
26.7. Miscellaneous Paramet ers
askmethod
Do not us e an automatically de te cte d DVD as ins tallation s ource but as k for the
ins tallation me thod to manually s pe cify the ins tallation s ource . This parame te r is
us e ful if you boote d from an FCP-attache d DVD but want to continue with anothe r
ins tallation s ource , for e xample on the ne twork or on a local hard dis k.
mediacheck
Turns on te s ting of an ISO-bas e d ins tallation s ource ; for e xample , whe n boote d
from an FCP-attache d DVD or us ing repo= with an ISO on local hard dis k or
mounte d with NFS.
nompath
Dis able s s upport for multipathing de vice s .
proxy=[protocol://][username[:password]@]host[:port]
Spe cify a proxy to us e with ins tallation ove r HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP.
rescue
Boot into a re s cue s ys te m running from a ramdis k that can be us e d to fix and
re s tore an ins talle d s ys te m.
stage2=URL
Spe cifie s a path to an install.img file ins te ad of to an ins tallation s ource .
Othe rwis e , follows the s ame s yntax as repo=. If stage2 is s pe cifie d, it typically
take s pre ce de nce ove r othe r me thods of finding install.img. Howe ve r, if
anaco nda finds install.img on local me dia, the stage2 URL will be ignore d.
If stage2 is not s pe cifie d and install.img cannot be found locally, anaco nda
looks to the location give n by repo= or method=.
If only stage2= is give n without repo= or method=, anaco nda us e s whate ve r
re pos the ins talle d s ys te m would have e nable d by de fault for ins tallation.
syslog=IP/hostname[:port]
Make s the ins talle r s e nd log me s s age s to a re mote s ys log s e rve r.
409
The boot parame te rs de s cribe d he re are the mos t us e ful for ins tallations and trouble
s hooting on Sys te m z , but only a s ubs e t of thos e that influe nce the ins talle r. Re fe r to
Chapte r 28, Boot Options for a more comple te lis t of ins talle r boot parame te rs .
26.8. Sample Paramet er File and CMS Configurat ion File
To change the parame te r file , be gin by e xte nding the s hippe d generic.prm file .
Example of generic.prm file :
root="/dev/ram0" ro ip="off" ramdisk_size="40000"
cio_ignore="all,!0.0.0009"
CMSDASD="191" CMSCONFFILE="redhat.conf"
vnc
Example of redhat.conf file configuring a QETH ne twork de vice (pointe d to by
CMSCONFFILE in generic.prm):
NETTYPE="qeth"
SUBCHANNELS="0.0.0600,0.0.0601,0.0.0602"
PORTNAME="FOOBAR"
PORTNO="0"
LAYER2="1"
MACADDR="02:00:be:3a:01:f3"
HOSTNAME="foobar.systemz.example.com"
IPADDR="192.168.17.115"
NETMASK="255.255.255.0"
GATEWAY="192.168.17.254"
DNS="192.168.17.1"
SEARCHDNS="systemz.example.com:example.com"
DASD="200-203"
410
⁠C hapt e r 27. IBM Sys t e m z Re f e r e nc e s
Chapt er 27. IBM Syst em z References
27.1. IBM Syst em z Publicat ions
Curre nt ve rs ions of the Linux on Sys te m z publications can be found at
http://www.ibm.com/de ve lope rworks /linux/linux390/docume ntation_re d_hat.html. The y
include :
Linux on System z — Device Drivers, Features, and Commands as available with Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6. IBM . 2010. SC34-2597.
Linux on System z — Using the Dump Tools on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. IBM . 2010. SC342607.
Linux on System z — How to use FC-attached SCSI devices with Linux on System z9 and
zSeries. IBM . 2008. SC33-8413.
How to use Execute-in-Place Technology with Linux on z/VM. IBM . 2008. SC34-2594.
Linux on System z — How to Set up a Terminal Server Environment on z/VM. IBM . 2009.
SC34-2596.
Linux on System z — libica 2.0 Programmer’s Reference. IBM . 2009. SC34-2602.
Linux on System z — How to Improve Performance with PAV. IBM . 2008. SC33-8414.
z/VM — Getting Started with Linux on System z. IBM . 2009. SC24-6194.
27.2. IBM Redbooks Publicat ions for Syst em z
Curre nt ve rs ions of IBM Re dbooks publications can be found at
http://www.re dbooks .ibm.com/. The y include :
Int ro duct o ry publicat io ns
Introduction to the New Mainframe: z/VM Basics. IBM Re dbooks . 2007. SG24-7316.
411
z/VM and Linux on IBM System z The Virtualization Cookbook for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5.2. IBM Re dbooks . 2008. SG24-7492.
Practical Migration to Linux on System z. IBM Re dbooks . 2009. SG24-7727.
Perf o rmance and high availabilit y
Linux on IBM System z: Performance Measurement and Tuning. IBM Re dbooks . 2011. SG246926.
Achieving High Availability on Linux for System z with Linux-HA Release 2. IBM Re dbooks .
2009. SG24-7711.
Securit y
Security for Linux on System z. IBM Re dbooks . 2013. SG24-7728.
Using Cryptographic Adapters for Web Servers with Linux on IBM System z9 and zSeries. IBM
Re dbooks . 2006. REDP-4131.
Net wo rking
IBM System z Connectivity Handbook. IBM Re dbooks . 2013. SG24-5444.
OSA Express Implementation Guide. IBM Re dbooks . 2009. SG24-5948.
HiperSockets Implementation Guide. IBM Re dbooks . 2007. SG24-6816.
Fibre Channel Protocol for Linux and z/VM on IBM System z. IBM Re dbooks . 2007. SG247266.
27.3. Online Resources
For z /VM publications , re fe r to http://www.vm.ibm.com/library/ .
For Sys te m z I/O conne ctivity information, re fe r to
http://www.ibm.com/s ys te ms /z /hardware /conne ctivity/inde x.html .
412
⁠C hapt e r 27. IBM Sys t e m z Re f e r e nc e s
For Sys te m z cryptographic coproce s s or information, re fe r to
http://www.ibm.com/s e curity/cryptocards / .
Sharing and maintaining RHEL 5.3 Linux under z/VM. Brad Hins on and Mike MacIs aac.
http://www.linuxvm.org/Pre s e nt/mis c/ro-root-RH5.pdf .
413
⁠P art IV. Advanced Inst allat ion Opt ions
This part of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide cove rs more advance d or
uncommon me thods of ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, including:
boot options .
ins talling without me dia.
ins talling through VNC.
us ing kickst art to automate the ins tallation proce s s .
414
⁠C hapt e r 28 . Bo o t O pt io ns
Chapt er 28. Boot Opt ions
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation s ys te m include s a range of functions and options
for adminis trators . To us e boot options , e nte r linux option at the boot: prompt.
To acce s s the boot: prompt on a s ys te m that dis plays a graphical boot s cre e n, pre s s
the Esc ke y while the graphical boot s cre e n is dis playe d.
If you s pe cify more than one option, s e parate e ach of the options by a s ingle s pace . For
e xample :
linux option1 option2 option3
No te
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation and rescue discs may e ithe r boot with
rescue mode, or load the ins tallation s ys te m. For more information on re s cue dis cs
and re s cue mode , re fe r to Se ction 28.6.2, “Booting Your Compute r with the Re s cue
Mode ”.
28.1. Configuring t he Inst allat ion Syst em at t he Boot Menu
You can us e the boot me nu to s pe cify a numbe r of s e ttings for the ins tallation s ys te m,
including:
language
dis play re s olution
inte rface type
Ins tallation me thod
ne twork s e ttings
28.1.1. Specif ying t he Language
To s e t the language for both the ins tallation proce s s and the final s ys te m, s pe cify the ISO
code for that language with the lang option. Us e the keymap option to configure the corre ct
ke yboard layout.
For e xample , the ISO code s el_GR and gr ide ntify the Gre e k language and the Gre e k
ke yboard layout:
linux lang=el_GR keymap=gr
28.1.2. Conf iguring t he Int erf ace
To us e a s pe cific dis play re s olution, e nte r resolution=setting as a boot option. For
e xample , to s e t the dis play re s olution to 1024×768, e nte r:
linux resolution=1024x768
415
To run the ins tallation proce s s in text mode , e nte r:
linux text
To e nable s upport for a s e rial cons ole , e nte r serial as an additional option.
Us e display=ip:0 to allow re mote dis play forwarding. In this command, ip s hould be
re place d with the IP addre s s of the s ys te m on which you want the dis play to appe ar.
On the s ys te m you want the dis play to appe ar on, you mus t e xe cute the command xhost
+remotehostname, whe re remotehostname is the name of the hos t from which you are
running the original dis play. Us ing the command xhost +remotehostname limits acce s s to
the re mote dis play te rminal and doe s not allow acce s s from anyone or any s ys te m not
s pe cifically authoriz e d for re mote acce s s .
28.1.3. Updat ing anaconda
You can ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux with a ne we r ve rs ion of the anaco nda ins tallation
program than the one s upplie d on your ins tallation me dia.
The boot option
linux updates
pre s e nts you with a prompt that as ks you for a dis k image containing anaco nda update s .
You do not ne e d to s pe cify this option if you are pe rforming a ne twork ins tallation and
have alre ady place d the update s image conte nts in rhupdates/ on the s e rve r.
Impo rtant
The rhupdates dire ctory s hould only contain anaco nda update s . The ins tallation
may fail if you add othe r file s (s uch as e rrata RPMs ) or if you place too much conte nt
in the dire ctory.
To load the anaco nda update s from a ne twork location ins te ad, us e :
linux updates=
followe d by the URL for the location whe re the update s are s tore d.
28.1.4. Specif ying t he Inst allat ion Met hod
Us e the askmethod option to dis play additional me nus that e nable you to s pe cify the
ins tallation me thod and ne twork s e ttings . You may als o configure the ins tallation me thod
and ne twork s e ttings at the boot: prompt its e lf.
To s pe cify the ins tallation me thod from the boot: prompt, us e the repo option. Re fe r to
Table 28.1, “Ins tallation me thods ” for the s upporte d ins tallation me thods .
T able 28.1. Inst allat io n met ho ds
416
Inst allat io n
met ho d
Opt io n f o rmat
DVD drive
Hard Drive
HTTP Se rve r
HTTPS Se rve r
FTP Se rve r
NFS Se rve r
ISO image s on an
NFS Se rve r
repo=cdrom:device
repo=hd:device/path
repo=http://host/path
repo=https://host/path
repo=ftp://username:password@host/path
repo=nfs:server:/path
repo=nfsiso:server:/path
28.1.5. Specif ying t he Net work Set t ings
Normally, anaco nda prompts you to configure a ne twork inte rface if one is ne e de d during
ins tallation. Howe ve r, you can provide ne twork s e ttings with options at the boot: prompt
as follows :
ip
The s ys te m's IP addre s s .
netmask
The s ys te m's ne tmas k.
gateway
The IP addre s s of the ne twork gate way.
dns
The IP addre s s of the DNS s e rve r.
ksdevice
The ne twork de vice to us e with the s e s e ttings .
ifname
The name you wis h to as s ign to the ne twork de vice , followe d by the de vice 's MAC
addre s s .
Each of the s e s e ttings is re quire d e ve n if you are only configuring a s ingle inte rface .
The following s e ttings are optional:
vlanid
The virtual LAN ID numbe r (802.1q tag) for the s pe cifie d ne twork de vice .
nicdelay
The de lay afte r which the
the s ys te m will wait afte r
is s ucce s s fully pinge d, or
pas s e s . This is us e ful for
ne twork will be cons ide re d active . If you us e this option,
bringing up ne twork inte rface s until e ithe r the gate way
until the amount of s e conds s pe cifie d in this parame te r
s ome NICs which may re port that a link is available
417
be fore it actually is , caus ing any ope rations which re quire ne twork acce s s (s uch
as Kicks tart file downloads ) to fail. Maximum value of this parame te r is 30 as
de fine d by Net wo rkManager; s pe cifying a value highe r than 30 will caus e the
option to be ignore d.
This e xample configure s the ne twork s e ttings for an ins tallation s ys te m that us e s the IP
addre s s 192.168.1.10 for inte rface eth0. The inte rface is name d primary, and the
s ys te m will wait for 5 s e conds or until it can s ucce s s fully ping the gate way be fore
continuing:
linux ip=192.168.1.10 netmask=255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.1.1
dns=192.168.1.3 ksdevice=eth0 ifname=primary:01:23:45:67:89:ab
nicdelay=5
If you s pe cify the ne twork configuration and ne twork de vice at the boot: prompt, the s e
s e ttings are us e d for the ins tallation proce s s and the Networking Devices and
Configure TCP/IP dialogs do not appe ar.
28.1.5.1. Conf iguring a Bonded Int erf ace
To configure a bonde d ne twork inte rface , us e the bond option. Name the bonde d inte rface ,
s pe cify which ne twork conne ctions will be bonde d, and lis t any additional options in the
following format:
linux bond=<bondname>:<bondslaves>:[:<options>]
For e xample :
linux bond=bond0:eth0,eth1:mode=active-backup,primary=eth1
Available optional parame te rs are lis te d in the Working with Kernel Modules chapte r of the
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide .
28.2. Enabling Remot e Access t o t he Inst allat ion Syst em
You may acce s s e ithe r graphical or te xt inte rface s for the ins tallation s ys te m from any
othe r s ys te m. Acce s s to a te xt mode dis play re quire s t elnet , which is ins talle d by de fault
on Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te ms . To re mote ly acce s s the graphical dis play of an
ins tallation s ys te m, us e clie nt s oftware that s upports the VNC (Virtual Ne twork Computing)
dis play protocol.
No te
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux include s the VNC clie nt vncviewer. To obtain vncviewer,
ins tall the tigervnc package .
The ins tallation s ys te m s upports two me thods of e s tablis hing a VNC conne ction. You may
s tart the ins tallation, and manually login to the graphical dis play with a VNC clie nt on
anothe r s ys te m. Alte rnative ly, you may configure the ins tallation s ys te m to automatically
conne ct to a VNC clie nt on the ne twork that is running in listening mode.
418
28.2.1. Enabling Remot e Access wit h VNC
To e nable re mote graphical acce s s to the ins tallation s ys te m, e nte r two options at the
prompt:
linux vnc vncpassword=qwerty
The vnc option e nable s the VNC s e rvice . The vncpassword option s e ts a pas s word for
re mote acce s s . The e xample s hown above s e ts the pas s word as qwerty.
No te
The VNC pas s word mus t be at le as t s ix characte rs long.
Spe cify the language , ke yboard layout and ne twork s e ttings for the ins tallation s ys te m
with the s cre e ns that follow. You may the n acce s s the graphical inte rface through a VNC
clie nt. The ins tallation s ys te m dis plays the corre ct conne ction s e tting for the VNC clie nt:
Starting VNC...
The VNC server is now running.
Please connect to computer.mydomain.com:1 to begin the install...
Starting graphical installation...
Press <enter> for a shell
You may the n login to the ins tallation s ys te m with a VNC clie nt. To run the vncviewer
clie nt on Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, choos e Applicat io ns → Accesso ries → VNC Viewer,
or type the command vncviewer in a te rminal window. Ente r the s e rve r and dis play
numbe r in the VNC Server dialog. For the e xample above , the VNC Server is
computer.mydomain.com:1.
28.2.2. Connect ing t he Inst allat ion Syst em t o a VNC List ener
To have the ins tallation s ys te m automatically conne ct to a VNC clie nt, firs t s tart the clie nt
in lis te ning mode . On Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te ms , us e the -listen option to run
vncviewer as a lis te ne r. In a te rminal window, e nte r the command:
vncviewer -listen
No te
By de fault, vncviewer us e s TCP port 5500 whe n in lis te ning mode . The fire wall
mus t be configure d to pe rmit conne ctions to this port from othe r s ys te ms . Choos e
Syst em → Administ rat io n → Firewall. Se le ct Other ports, and Add. Ente r 5500
in the Port(s) fie ld, and s pe cify tcp as the Protocol.
Once the lis te ning clie nt is active , s tart the ins tallation s ys te m and s e t the VNC options at
the boot: prompt. In addition to vnc and vncpassword options , us e the vncconnect
option to s pe cify the name or IP addre s s of the s ys te m that has the lis te ning clie nt. To
s pe cify the TCP port for the lis te ne r, add a colon and the port numbe r to the name of the
s ys te m.
419
For e xample , to conne ct to a VNC clie nt on the s ys te m desktop.mydomain.com on the port
5500, e nte r the following at the boot: prompt:
linux vnc vncpassword=qwerty vncconnect=desktop.mydomain.com:5500
28.2.3. Enabling Remot e Access wit h ssh
To e nable re mote acce s s to a te xt mode ins tallation, us e the sshd=1 option at the boot:
prompt:
linux sshd=1
You can the n conne ct to the ins tallation s ys te m with the ssh utility. The ssh command
re quire s the name or IP addre s s of the ins tallation s ys te m, and a pas s word if you
s pe cifie d one (for e xample , in a kicks tart file ).
28.2.4. Enabling Remot e Access wit h T elnet
To e nable re mote acce s s to a te xt mode ins tallation, us e the telnet option at the boot:
prompt:
linux text telnet
You may the n conne ct to the ins tallation s ys te m with the telnet utility. The telnet
command re quire s the name or IP addre s s of the ins tallation s ys te m:
telnet computer.mydomain.com
Warning
To e ns ure the s e curity of the ins tallation proce s s , only us e the telnet option to
ins tall s ys te ms on ne tworks with re s tricte d acce s s .
28.3. Logging t o a Remot e Syst em During t he Inst allat ion
By de fault, the ins tallation proce s s s e nds log me s s age s to the cons ole as the y are
ge ne rate d. You may s pe cify that the s e me s s age s go to a re mote s ys te m that runs a
syslog s e rvice .
To configure re mote logging, add the syslog option. Spe cify the IP addre s s of the logging
s ys te m, and the UDP port numbe r of the log s e rvice on that s ys te m. By de fault, s ys log
s e rvice s that acce pt re mote me s s age s lis te n on UDP port 514.
For e xample , to conne ct to a s ys log s e rvice on the s ys te m 192.168.1.20, e nte r the
following at the boot: prompt:
linux syslog=192.168.1.20:514
28.3.1. Conf iguring a Log Server
420
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux us e s rsyslog to provide a s ys log s e rvice . The de fault
configuration of rsyslog re je cts me s s age s from re mote s ys te ms .
Warning
Only e nable re mote s ys log acce s s on s e cure d ne tworks . The rsyslog configuration
de taile d be low doe s not make us e of any of the s e curity me as ure s available in
rsyslog Cracke rs may s low or cras h s ys te ms that pe rmit acce s s to the logging
s e rvice , by s e nding large quantitie s of fals e log me s s age s . In addition, hos tile us e rs
may inte rce pt or fals ify me s s age s s e nt to the logging s e rvice ove r the ne twork.
To configure a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m to acce pt log me s s age s from othe r
s ys te ms on the ne twork, e dit the file /etc/rsyslog.conf. You mus t us e root privile ge s
to e dit the file /etc/rsyslog.conf. Uncomme nt the following line s by re moving the has h
pre ce ding the m:
$ModLoad imudp.so
$UDPServerRun 514
Re s tart the rsyslog s e rvice to apply the change :
su -c '/sbin/service rsyslog restart'
Ente r the root pas s word whe n prompte d.
No te
By de fault, the s ys log s e rvice lis te ns on UDP port 514. The fire wall mus t be
configure d to pe rmit conne ctions to this port from othe r s ys te ms . Choos e Syst em →
Administ rat io n → Firewall. Se le ct Other ports, and Add. Ente r 514 in the
Port(s) fie ld, and s pe cify udp as the Protocol.
28.4. Aut omat ing t he Inst allat ion wit h Kickst art
You can allow an ins tallation to run unatte nde d by us ing Kicks tart. A Kickstart file s pe cifie s
s e ttings for an ins tallation. Once the ins tallation s ys te m boots , it can re ad a Kicks tart file
and carry out the ins tallation proce s s without any furthe r input from a us e r.
No te
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation proce s s automatically write s a Kicks tart file
that contains the s e ttings for the ins talle d s ys te m. This file is always s ave d as
/root/anaconda-ks.cfg. You may us e this file to re pe at the ins tallation with
ide ntical s e ttings , or modify copie s to s pe cify s e ttings for othe r s ys te ms .
421
Impo rtant
First bo o t doe s not run afte r a s ys te m is ins talle d from a Kicks tart file unle s s a
de s ktop and the X Window Sys te m we re include d in the ins tallation and graphical
login was e nable d. Eithe r s pe cify a us e r with the user option in the Kicks tart file
be fore ins talling additional s ys te ms from it (re fe r to Se ction 32.4, “Kicks tart Options ”
for de tails ) or log into the ins talle d s ys te m with a virtual cons ole as root and add
us e rs with the adduser command.
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux include s a graphical application to cre ate and modify Kicks tart
file s by s e le cting the options that you re quire . Us e the package system-configkickstart to ins tall this utility. To load the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux Kicks tart e ditor,
choos e Applicat io ns → Syst em T o o ls → Kickst art .
Kicks tart file s lis t ins tallation s e ttings in plain te xt, with one option pe r line . This format le ts
you modify your Kicks tart file s with any te xt e ditor, and write s cripts or applications that
ge ne rate cus tom Kicks tart file s for your s ys te ms .
To automate the ins tallation proce s s with a Kicks tart file , us e the ks option to s pe cify the
name and location of the file :
linux ks=location/kickstart-file.cfg
You may us e Kicks tart file s that are he ld on e ithe r re movable s torage , a hard drive , or a
ne twork s e rve r. Re fe r to Table 28.2, “Kicks tart s ource s ” for the s upporte d Kicks tart
s ource s .
T able 28.2. Kickst art so urces
Kickst art so urce
Opt io n f o rmat
DVD drive
Hard Drive
Othe r De vice
HTTP Se rve r
HTTPS Se rve r
FTP Se rve r
NFS Se rve r
ks=cdrom:/directory/ks.cfg
ks=hd:/device/directory/ks.cfg
ks=file:/device/directory/ks.cfg
ks=http://server.mydomain.com/directory/ks.cfg
ks=https://server.mydomain.com/directory/ks.cfg
ks=ftp://server.mydomain.com/directory/ks.cfg
ks=nfs:server.mydomain.com:/directory/ks.cfg
422
Impo rtant
You can us e a de vice name s uch as /dev/sdb to ide ntify a hard drive or a USB
drive containing a Kicks tart file . Howe ve r, the re is no guarante e that the de vice
ide ntifie r will re main the s ame on multiple s ys te ms . The re fore , the re comme nde d
me thod for s pe cifying a hard drive or a USB drive in Kicks tart ins tallations is by
UUID. For e xample :
ks=hd:UUID=ede47e6c-8b5f-49ad-9509-774fa7119281:ks.cfg
You can de te rmine a de vice 's UUID by us ing the blkid command as root:
# blkid /dev/sdb1
/dev/sdb1: UUID="2c3a072a-3d0c-4f3a-a4a1-ab5f24f59266" TYPE="ext4"
To obtain a Kicks tart file from a s cript or application on a We b s e rve r, s pe cify the URL of
the application with the ks= option. If you add the option kssendmac, the re que s t als o
s e nds HTTP he ade rs to the We b application. Your application can us e the s e he ade rs to
ide ntify the compute r. This line s e nds a re que s t with he ade rs to the application
http://server.mydomain.com/kickstart.cgi:
linux ks=http://server.mydomain.com/kickstart.cgi kssendmac
28.5. Enhancing Hardware Support
By de fault, Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux atte mpts to automatically de te ct and configure
s upport for all of the compone nts of your compute r. Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s upports the
majority of hardware in common us e with the s oftware drivers that are include d with the
ope rating s ys te m. To s upport othe r de vice s you may s upply additional drive rs during the
ins tallation proce s s , or at a late r time .
28.5.1. Overriding Aut omat ic Hardware Det ect ion
For s ome mode ls of de vice automatic hardware configuration may fail, or caus e ins tability.
In the s e cas e s , you may ne e d to dis able automatic configuration for that type of de vice ,
and take additional s te ps to manually configure the de vice afte r the ins tallation proce s s is
comple te .
No te
Re fe r to the Re le as e Note s for information on known is s ue s with s pe cific de vice s .
To ove rride the automatic hardware de te ction, us e one or more of the following options :
T able 28.3. Hardware Opt io ns
Co mpat ibilit y
Opt io n
Dis able all hardware de te ction
noprobe
423
Co mpat ibilit y
Opt io n
Dis able graphics , ke yboard, and mous e de te ction
Dis able pas s ing ke yboard and mous e information to
s tage 2 of the ins tallation program
Us e bas ic VESA drive r for vide o
Dis able s he ll acce s s on virtual cons ole 2 during
ins tallation
Dis able advance d configuration and powe r inte rface
(ACPI)
Dis able machine che ck e xce ption (MCE) CPU s e lfdiagnos is .
Dis able non-uniform me mory acce s s on the AMD64
archite cture
Force ke rne l to de te ct a s pe cific amount of me mory,
whe re xxx is a value in me gabyte s
Enable DMA only for IDE and SATA drive s
Dis able BIOS-as s is te d RAID
Dis able Fire wire de vice de te ction
Dis able paralle l port de te ction
Dis able PC Card (PCMCIA) de vice de te ction
Dis able all probing of ne twork hardware
headless
nopass
xdriver=vesa
noshell
acpi=off
nomce
numa-off
mem=xxxm
libata.dma=1
nodmraid
nofirewire
noparport
nopcmcia
nonet
No te
The isa option caus e s the s ys te m to dis play an additional te xt s cre e n at the
be ginning of the ins tallation proce s s . Us e this s cre e n to configure the ISA de vice s
on your compute r.
Impo rtant
Othe r ke rne l boot options have no particular me aning for anaco nda and do not
affe ct the ins tallation proce s s . Howe ve r, if you us e the s e options to boot the
ins tallation s ys te m, anaco nda will pre s e rve the m in the bootloade r configuration.
28.6. Using t he Maint enance Boot Modes
28.6.1. Verif ying Boot Media
You can te s t the inte grity of an ISO-bas e d ins tallation s ource be fore us ing it to ins tall Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux. The s e s ource s include DVD, and ISO image s s tore d on a hard drive
or NFS s e rve r. Ve rifying that the ISO image s are intact be fore you atte mpt an ins tallation
he lps to avoid proble ms that are ofte n e ncounte re d during ins tallation.
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux offe rs you two ways to te s t ins tallation ISOs :
s e le ct OK at the prompt to te s t the me dia be fore ins tallation whe n booting from the Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD
424
boot Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux with the option mediacheck option.
28.6.2. Boot ing Your Comput er wit h t he Rescue Mode
You may boot a command-line Linux s ys te m from e ithe r a re s cue dis c or an ins tallation
dis c, without ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on the compute r. This e nable s you to us e
the utilitie s and functions of a running Linux s ys te m to modify or re pair s ys te ms that are
alre ady ins talle d on your compute r.
The re s cue dis c s tarts the re s cue mode s ys te m by de fault. To load the re s cue s ys te m
with the ins tallation dis c, choos e Rescue inst alled syst em from the boot me nu.
Spe cify the language , ke yboard layout and ne twork s e ttings for the re s cue s ys te m with
the s cre e ns that follow. The final s e tup s cre e n configure s acce s s to the e xis ting s ys te m
on your compute r.
By de fault, re s cue mode attache s an e xis ting ope rating s ys te m to the re s cue s ys te m
unde r the dire ctory /mnt/sysimage/.
28.6.3. Upgrading Your Comput er
A pre vious boot option, upgrade, has be e n s upe rce de d by a s tage in the ins tallation
proce s s whe re the ins tallation program prompts you to upgrade or re ins tall e arlie r
ve rs ions of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux that it de te cts on your s ys te m.
Howe ve r, the ins tallation program may not corre ctly de te ct a pre vious ve rs ion of Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux if the conte nts of the /etc/redhat-release file have change d. The boot
option upgradeany re laxe s the te s t that the ins tallation program pe rforms and allows you
to upgrade a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation that the ins tallation program has not
corre ctly ide ntifie d.
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Chapt er 29. Inst alling Wit hout Media
Impo rtant
This proce dure as s ume s you are alre ady us ing Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux or anothe r
re lative ly mode rn Linux dis tribution, and the GRUB boot loade r. It als o as s ume s you
are a s ome what e xpe rie nce d Linux us e r.
This s e ction dis cus s e s how to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on your s ys te m without
making any additional phys ical me dia. Ins te ad, you can us e your e xis ting GRUB boot
loade r to s tart the ins tallation program.
29.1. Ret rieving Boot Files
To pe rform an ins tallation without me dia or a PXE s e rve r, your s ys te m mus t have two file s
s tore d locally, a ke rne l and an initial RAM dis k.
Copy the vmlinuz and initrd.img file s from a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD (or DVD
image ) to the /boot/ dire ctory, re naming the m to vmlinuz-install and initrd.imginstall. You mus t have root privile ge s to write file s into the /boot/ dire ctory.
29.2. Edit ing t he GRUB Configurat ion
The GRUB boot loade r us e s the configuration file /boot/grub/grub.conf. To configure
GRUB to boot from the ne w file s , add a boot s tanz a to /boot/grub/grub.conf that re fe rs
to the m.
A minimal boot s tanz a looks like the following lis ting:
title Installation
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-install
initrd /initrd.img-install
You may wis h to add options to the e nd of the kernel line of the boot s tanz a. The s e
options s e t pre liminary options in Anaco nda which the us e r normally s e ts inte ractive ly.
For a lis t of available ins talle r boot options , re fe r to Chapte r 28, Boot Options.
The following options are ge ne rally us e ful for me diale s s ins tallations :
ip=
repo=
lang=
keymap=
ksdevice= (if ins tallation re quire s an inte rface othe r than e th0)
vnc and vncpassword= for a re mote ins tallation
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⁠C hapt e r 29 . Ins t alling Wit ho ut Me dia
Whe n you are finis he d, change the default option in /boot/grub/grub.conf to point to
the ne w firs t s tanz a you adde d:
default 0
29.3. Boot ing t o Inst allat ion
Re boot the s ys te m. GRUB boots the ins tallation ke rne l and RAM dis k, including any options
you s e t. You may now re fe r to the appropriate chapte r in this guide for the ne xt s te p. If
you chos e to ins tall re mote ly us ing VNC, re fe r to Se ction 28.2, “Enabling Re mote Acce s s to
the Ins tallation Sys te m” for as s is tance in conne cting to the re mote s ys te m.
427
Chapt er 30. Set t ing Up an Inst allat ion Server
The following s te ps mus t be pe rforme d to pre pare for a ne twork ins tallation:
1. Configure the ne twork (NFS, FTP, HTTP, HTTPS) s e rve r to e xport the ins tallation
tre e .
2. Configure the file s on the tftp s e rve r ne ce s s ary for ne twork booting.
3. Configure which hos ts are allowe d to boot from the ne twork configuration.
4. Start the tftp s e rvice .
5. Configure DHCP.
6. Boot the clie nt, and s tart the ins tallation.
30.1. Set t ing Up t he Net work Server
Firs t, configure an NFS, FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS s e rve r to e xport the e ntire ins tallation tre e for
the ve rs ion and variant of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux to be ins talle d. Re fe r to Se ction 4.1,
“Pre paring for a Ne twork Ins tallation” for de taile d ins tructions .
30.2. Net work Boot Configurat ion
The ne xt s te p is to copy the file s ne ce s s ary to s tart the ins tallation to the tftp s e rve r s o
the y can be found whe n the clie nt re que s ts the m. The tftp s e rve r is us ually the s ame
s e rve r as the ne twork s e rve r e xporting the ins tallation tre e .
The PXE boot configuration proce dure diffe rs for BIOS and EFI. A s e parate yabo o t
configuration proce dure is provide d for Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs .
No te
Re d Hat Sate llite has the ability to automate the s e tup of a PXE s e rve r. Se e the
Re d Hat Sate llite Us e r Guide for more information.
30.2.1. Conf iguring PXE Boot f or BIOS
1. If t f t p-server is not ye t ins talle d, run yum install tftp-server.
2. In the t f t p-server config file at /etc/xinetd.d/tftp, change the disabled
parame te r from yes to no.
3. Configure your DHCP s e rve r to us e the boot image s package d with SYSLINUX. (If
you do not have a DHCP s e rve r ins talle d, re fe r to the DHCP Servers chapte r in the
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide .)
A s ample configuration in /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf might look like :
option space pxelinux;
option pxelinux.magic code 208 = string;
option pxelinux.configfile code 209 = text;
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⁠C hapt e r 30 . Se t t ing Up an Ins t allat io n Se r ve r
option pxelinux.pathprefix code 210 = text;
option pxelinux.reboottime code 211 = unsigned integer 32;
subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
option routers 10.0.0.254;
range 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.253;
class "pxeclients" {
match if substring (option vendor-classidentifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
next-server 10.0.0.1;
if option arch =
filename
} else if option
filename
} else {
filename
}
00:06 {
"pxelinux/bootia32.efi";
arch = 00:07 {
"pxelinux/bootx64.efi";
"pxelinux/pxelinux.0";
}
host example-ia32 {
hardware ethernet XX:YY:ZZ:11:22:33;
fixed-address 10.0.0.2;
}
}
4. You now ne e d the pxelinux.0 file from the SYSLINUX package in the ISO image
file . To acce s s it, run the following commands as root:
loop,ro
cp -pr /mount_point/Packages/syslinux-version-architecture.rpm
/publicly_available_directory
umount /mount_point
Extract the package :
rpm2cpio syslinux-version-architecture.rpm | cpio -dimv
5. Cre ate a pxelinux dire ctory within tftpboot and copy pxelinux.0 into it:
mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux
cp publicly_available_directory/usr/share/syslinux/pxelinux.0
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux
6. Cre ate a pxelinux.cfg dire ctory within pxelinux:
mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg
7. Add a config file to this dire ctory. The file s hould e ithe r be name d default or
name d afte r the IP addre s s . For e xample , if your machine 's IP addre s s is 10.0.0.1,
the file name would be 0A000001.
A s ample config file at /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg/default
429
might look like :
default vesamenu.c32
prompt 1
timeout 600
display boot.msg
label linux
menu label Înstall or upgrade an existing system
menu default
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img
label vesa
menu label Install system with ^basic video driver
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img xdriver=vesa nomodeset
label rescue
menu label ^Rescue installed system
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img rescue
label local
menu label Boot from ^local drive
localboot 0xffff
label memtest86
menu label ^Memory test
kernel memtest
append For ins tructions on how to s pe cify the ins tallation s ource , re fe r to Se ction 7.1.3,
“Additional Boot Options ”
8. Copy the s plas h image into your tftp root dire ctory:
cp /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/splash.xpm.gz
9. Copy the boot image s into your tftp root dire ctory:
cp /path/to/x86_64/os/images/pxeboot/{vmlinuz,initrd.img}
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/rhel6/
10. Re boot the s ys te m, and s e le ct the ne twork de vice as your boot de vice whe n
prompte d.
30.2.2. Conf iguring PXE Boot f or EFI
2. In the t f t p-server config file at /etc/xinetd.d/tftp, change the disable
3. Cre ate a dire ctory path within tftpboot for the EFI boot image s , and the n copy
the m from your boot dire ctory:
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mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux
cp /boot/efi/EFI/redhat/grub.efi
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/bootx64.efi
4. Configure your DHCP s e rve r to us e the EFI boot image s package d with GRUB. (If you
do not have a DHCP s e rve r ins talle d, re fe r to the DHCP Servers chapte r in the Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide .)
option
option
option
option
option
option
option
space PXE;
PXE.mtftp-ip
code 1 = ip-address;
PXE.mtftp-cport code 2 = unsigned integer 16;
PXE.mtftp-sport code 3 = unsigned integer 16;
PXE.mtftp-tmout code 4 = unsigned integer 8;
PXE.mtftp-delay code 5 = unsigned integer 8;
arch code 93 = unsigned integer 16; # RFC4578
subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
option routers 10.0.0.254;
range 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.253;
class "pxeclients" {
match if substring (option vendor-classidentifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
next-server 10.0.0.1;
if option arch =
filename
} else if option
filename
} else {
filename
}
00:06 {
"pxelinux/bootia32.efi";
arch = 00:07 {
"pxelinux/bootx64.efi";
"pxelinux/pxelinux.0";
}
host example-ia32 {
hardware ethernet XX:YY:ZZ:11:22:33;
}
}
5. Add a config file to /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux. The file s hould e ithe r be name d
efidefault or name d afte r the IP addre s s . For e xample , if your machine 's IP
addre s s is 10.0.0.1, the file name would be 0A000001.
A s ample config file at /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/efidefault might look like :
default=0
timeout=1
splashimage=(nd)/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
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title RHEL
root (nd)
kernel /rawhide-x86_64/vmlinuz
initrd /rawhide-x86_64/initrd.img
For ins tructions on how to s pe cify the ins tallation s ource , re fe r to Se ction 7.1.3,
6. Copy the s plas h image into your tftp root dire ctory:
cp /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/splash.xpm.gz
7. Copy the boot image s into your tftp root dire ctory:
cp /path/to/x86_64/os/images/pxeboot/{vmlinuz,initrd.img}
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/rhel6/
prompte d.
30.2.3. Conf iguring f or Power Syst ems Servers
2. In the t f t p-server config file at /etc/xinetd.d/tftp, change the disabled
3. Configure your DHCP s e rve r to us e the boot image s package d with yabo o t . (If you
do not have a DHCP s e rve r ins talle d, re fe r to the DHCP Servers chapte r in the Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide .)
host bonn {
filename "yaboot";
next-server
10.32.5.1;
hardware ethernet 00:0e:91:51:6a:26;
}
4. You now ne e d the yaboot binary file from the yaboot package in the ISO image file .
To acce s s it, run the following commands as root:
mkdir /publicly_available_directory/yaboot-unpack
loop,ro
cp -pr /mount_point/Packages/yaboot-version.ppc.rpm
/publicly_available_directory/yaboot-unpack
Extract the package :
cd /publicly_available_directory/yaboot-unpack
rpm2cpio yaboot-version.ppc.rpm | cpio -dimv
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5. Cre ate a yaboot dire ctory within tftpboot and copy the yaboot binary file into it:
mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot
cp publicly_available_directory/yabootunpack/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot /var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot
6. Add a config file name d yaboot.conf to this dire ctory. A s ample config file might
look like :
init-message = "\nWelcome to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
installer!\n\n"
timeout=60
default=rhel6
image=/rhel6/vmlinuz-RHEL6
label=linux
alias=rhel6
initrd=/rhel6/initrd-RHEL6.img
append="repo=http://10.32.5.1/mnt/archive/redhat/released/RHEL6/6.x/Server/ppc64/os/"
read-only
For ins tructions on how to s pe cify the ins tallation s ource , re fe r to Se ction 7.1.3,
7. Copy the boot image s from the e xtracte d ISO into your tftp root dire ctory:
cp /mount_point/images/ppc/ppc64/vmlinuz
/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/rhel6/vmlinuz-RHEL6
cp /mount_point/images/ppc/ppc64/initrd.img
/var/lib/tftpboot/yaboot/rhel6/initrd-RHEL6.img
8. Cle an up by re moving the yaboot-unpack dire ctory and unmounting the ISO:
rm -rf /publicly_available_directory/yaboot-unpack
umount /mount_point
prompte d.
30.3. St art ing t he
tftp
Server
On the DHCP s e rve r, ve rify that the tftp-server package is ins talle d with the command
rpm -q tftp-server.
tftp is an xine td-bas e d s e rvice ; s tart it with the following commands :
/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 xinetd on
/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 tftp on
The s e commands configure the tftp and xinetd s e rvice s to s tart at boot time in
runle ve ls 3, 4, and 5.
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30.4. Adding a Cust om Boot Message
Optionally, modify /var/lib/tftpboot/linux-install/msgs/boot.msg to us e a cus tom
boot me s s age .
30.5. Performing t he Inst allat ion
For ins tructions on how to configure the ne twork inte rface card to boot from the ne twork,
cons ult the docume ntation for the NIC. It varie s s lightly pe r card.
Afte r the s ys te m boots the ins tallation program, re fe r to the Chapte r 9, Installing Using
Anaconda.
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⁠C hapt e r 31. Ins t alling T hr o ugh VNC
Chapt er 31. Inst alling Through VNC
The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins talle r (anaco nda) offe rs you two inte ractive mode s of
ope ration. The original mode is a te xt-bas e d inte rface . The ne we r mode us e s GTK+ and
runs in the X Window e nvironme nt. This chapte r e xplains how you can us e the graphical
ins tallation mode in e nvironme nts whe re the s ys te m lacks a prope r dis play and input
de vice s typically as s ociate d with a works tation. This s ce nario is typical of s ys te ms in
datace nte rs , which are ofte n ins talle d in a rack e nvironme nt and do not have a dis play,
ke yboard, or mous e . Additionally, a lot of the s e s ys te ms e ve n lack the ability to conne ct a
graphical dis play. Give n that e nte rpris e hardware rare ly ne e ds that ability at the phys ical
s ys te m, this hardware configuration is acce ptable .
Eve n in the s e e nvironme nts , howe ve r, the graphical ins talle r re mains the re comme nde d
me thod of ins tallation. The te xt mode e nvironme nt lacks a lot of capabilitie s found in the
graphical mode . Many us e rs s till fe e l that the te xt mode inte rface provide s the m with
additional powe r or configuration ability not found in the graphical ve rs ion. The oppos ite is
true . Much le s s de ve lopme nt e ffort is put in to the te xt-mode e nvironme nt and s pe cific
things (for e xample , LVM configuration, partition layout, package s e le ction, and bootloade r
configuration) are de libe rate ly le ft out of the te xt mode e nvironme nt. The re as ons for this
are :
Le s s s cre e n re al e s tate for cre ating us e r inte rface s s imilar to thos e found in the
graphical mode .
Difficult inte rnationaliz ation s upport.
De s ire to maintain a s ingle inte ractive ins tallation code path.
Anaco nda the re fore include s a Virt ual Net wo rk Co mput ing (VNC) mode that allows
the graphical mode of the ins talle r to run locally, but dis play on a s ys te m conne cte d to the
ne twork. Ins talling in VNC mode provide s you with the full range of ins tallation options ,
e ve n in s ituations whe re the s ys te m lacks a dis play or input de vice s .
31.1. VNC Viewer
Pe rforming a VNC ins tallation re quire s a VNC vie we r running on your works tation or othe r
te rminal compute r. Locations whe re you might want a VNC vie we r ins talle d:
Your works tation
Laptop on a datace nte r cras h cart
VNC is ope n s ource s oftware lice ns e d unde r the GNU Ge ne ral Public Lice ns e .
VNC clie nts are available in the re pos itorie s of mos t Linux dis tributions . Us e your package
manage r to s e arch for a clie nt for your chos e n dis tribution. For e xample , on Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux, ins tall the tigervnc package :
# yum install tigervnc
Once you have ve rifie d you have a VNC vie we r available , it's time to s tart the ins tallation.
31.2. VNC Modes in Anaconda
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Anaconda offe rs two mode s for VNC ins tallation. The mode you s e le ct will de pe nd on the
ne twork configuration in your e nvironme nt.
31.2.1. Direct Mode
Dire ct mode VNC in anaconda is whe n the clie nt initiate s a conne ction to the VNC s e rve r
running in anaconda. Anaconda will te ll you whe n to initiate this conne ction in the VNC
vie we r. Dire ct mode can be activate d by e ithe r of the following commands :
Spe cify vnc as a boot argume nt.
Spe cify the vnc command in the kicks tart file us e d for ins tallation.
Whe n you activate VNC mode , anaconda will comple te the firs t s tage of the ins talle r and
the n s tart VNC to run the graphical ins talle r. The ins talle r will dis play a me s s age on the
cons ole in the following format:
Running anaconda VERSION, the PRODUCT system installer - please wait...
Anaconda will als o te ll you the IP addre s s and dis play numbe r to us e in your VNC vie we r.
At this point, you ne e d to s tart the VNC vie we r and conne ct to the targe t s ys te m to
continue the ins tallation. The VNC vie we r will pre s e nt anaconda to you in graphical mode .
The re are s ome dis advantage s to dire ct mode , including:
Re quire s vis ual acce s s to the s ys te m cons ole to s e e the IP addre s s and port to
conne ct the VNC vie we r to.
Re quire s inte ractive acce s s to the s ys te m cons ole to comple te the firs t s tage of the
ins talle r.
If e ithe r of the s e dis advantage s would pre ve nt you from us ing dire ct mode VNC in
anaconda, the n conne ct mode is probably more s uite d to your e nvironme nt.
31.2.2. Connect Mode
Ce rtain fire wall configurations or ins tance s whe re the targe t s ys te m is configure d to
obtain a dynamic IP addre s s may caus e trouble with the dire ct VNC mode in anaconda. In
addition, if you lack a cons ole on the targe t s ys te m to s e e the me s s age that te lls you the
IP addre s s to conne ct to, the n you will not be able to continue the ins tallation.
The VNC conne ct mode change s how VNC is s tarte d. Rathe r than anaconda s tarting up and
waiting for you to conne ct, the VNC conne ct mode allows anaconda to automatically
conne ct to your vie w. You won't ne e d to know the IP addre s s of the targe t s ys te m in this
cas e .
To activate the VNC conne ct mode , pas s the vncconnect boot parame te r:
boot: linux vncconnect=HOST
Re place HOST with your VNC vie we r's IP addre s s or DNS hos t name . Be fore s tarting the
ins tallation proce s s on the targe t s ys te m, s tart up your VNC vie we r and have it wait for an
incoming conne ction.
Start the ins tallation and whe n your VNC vie we r dis plays the graphical ins talle r, you are
re ady to go.
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⁠C hapt e r 31. Ins t alling T hr o ugh VNC
31.3. Inst allat ion Using VNC
Now that you have ins talle d a VNC vie we r application and s e le cte d a VNC mode for us e in
anaconda, you are re ady to be gin the ins tallation.
31.3.1. Inst allat ion Example
The e as ie s t way to pe rform an ins tallation us ing VNC is to conne ct anothe r compute r
dire ctly to the ne twork port on the targe t s ys te m. The laptop on a datace nte r cras h cart
us ually fills this role . If you are pe rforming your ins tallation this way, make s ure you follow
the s e s te ps :
1. Conne ct the laptop or othe r works tation to the targe t s ys te m us ing a cros s ove r
cable . If you are us ing re gular patch cable s , make s ure you conne ct the two
s ys te ms us ing a s mall hub or s witch. Mos t re ce nt Ethe rne t inte rface s will
automatically de te ct if the y ne e d to be cros s ove r or not, s o it may be pos s ible to
conne ct the two s ys te ms dire ctly us ing a re gular patch cable .
2. Configure the VNC vie we r s ys te m to us e a RFC 1918 addre s s with no gate way. This
private ne twork conne ction will only be us e d for the purpos e of ins tallation.
Configure the VNC vie we r s ys te m to be 192.168.100.1/24. If that addre s s is in us e ,
jus t pick s ome thing e ls e in the RFC 1918 addre s s s pace that is available to you.
3. Start the ins tallation on the targe t s ys te m.
a. Booting the ins tallation DVD.
If booting the ins tallation DVD, make s ure vnc is pas s e d as a boot
parame te r. To add the vnc parame te r, you will ne e d a cons ole attache d to
the targe t s ys te m that allows you to inte ract with the boot proce s s . Ente r the
following at the prompt:
boot: linux vnc
b. Boot ove r the ne twork.
If the targe t s ys te m is configure d with a s tatic IP addre s s , add the vnc
command to the kicks tart file . If the targe t s ys te m is us ing DHCP, add
vncconnect=HOST to the boot argume nts for the targe t s ys te m. HOST is the
IP addre s s or DNS hos t name of the VNC vie we r s ys te m. Ente r the following
at the prompt:
boot: linux vncconnect=HOST
4. Whe n prompte d for the ne twork configuration on the targe t s ys te m, as s ign it an
available RFC 1918 addre s s in the s ame ne twork you us e d for the VNC vie we r
s ys te m. For e xample , 192.168.100.2/24.
No te
This IP addre s s is only us e d during ins tallation. You will have an opportunity to
configure the final ne twork s e ttings , if any, late r in the ins talle r.
437
5. Once the ins talle r indicate s it is s tarting anaconda, you will be ins tructe d to conne ct
to the s ys te m us ing the VNC vie we r. Conne ct to the vie we r and follow the graphical
ins tallation mode ins tructions found in the product docume ntation.
31.3.2. Kickst art Considerat ions
If your targe t s ys te m will be booting ove r the ne twork, VNC is s till available . Jus t add the
vnc command to the kicks tart file for the s ys te m. You will be able to conne ct to the targe t
s ys te m us ing your VNC vie we r and monitor the ins tallation progre s s . The addre s s to us e
is the one the s ys te m is configure d with via the kicks tart file .
If you are us ing DHCP for the targe t s ys te m, the re ve rs e vncconnect me thod may work
be tte r for you. Rathe r than adding the vnc boot parame te r to the kicks tart file , add the
vncconnect=HOST parame te r to the lis t of boot argume nts for the targe t s ys te m. For
HOST, put the IP addre s s or DNS hos t name of the VNC vie we r s ys te m. Se e the ne xt
s e ction for more de tails on us ing the vncconne ct mode .
31.3.3. Firewall Considerat ions
If you are pe rforming the ins tallation whe re the VNC vie we r s ys te m is a works tation on a
diffe re nt s ubne t from the targe t s ys te m, you may run in to ne twork routing proble ms . VNC
works fine s o long as your vie we r s ys te m has a route to the targe t s ys te m and ports
5900 and 5901 are ope n. If your e nvironme nt has a fire wall, make s ure ports 5900 and
5901 are ope n be twe e n your works tation and the targe t s ys te m.
In addition to pas s ing the vnc boot parame te r, you may als o want to pas s the
vncpassword parame te r in the s e s ce narios . While the pas s word is s e nt in plain te xt ove r
the ne twork, it doe s provide an e xtra s te p be fore a vie we r can conne ct to a s ys te m. Once
the vie we r conne cts to the targe t s ys te m ove r VNC, no othe r conne ctions are pe rmitte d.
The s e limitations are us ually s ufficie nt for ins tallation purpos e s .
Impo rtant
Be s ure to us e a te mporary pas s word for the vncpassword option. It s hould not be a
pas s word you us e on any s ys te ms , e s pe cially a re al root pas s word.
If you continue to have trouble , cons ide r us ing the vncconnect parame te r. In this mode of
ope ration, you s tart the vie we r on your s ys te m firs t te lling it to lis te n for an incoming
conne ction. Pas s vncconnect=HOST at the boot prompt and the ins talle r will atte mpt to
conne ct to the s pe cifie d HOST (e ithe r a hos tname or IP addre s s ).
31.4. References
Tige rVNC: http://tige rvnc.s ource forge .ne t/
RFC 1918 - Addre s s Allocation for Private Ne tworks : http://www.ie tf.org/rfc/rfc1918.txt
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⁠C hapt e r 32. Kic ks t ar t Ins t allat io ns
Chapt er 32. Kickst art Inst allat ions
32.1. What are Kickst art Inst allat ions?
Many s ys te m adminis trators would pre fe r to us e an automate d ins tallation me thod to
ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on the ir machine s . To ans we r this ne e d, Re d Hat cre ate d
the kicks tart ins tallation me thod. Us ing kicks tart, a s ys te m adminis trator can cre ate a
s ingle file containing the ans we rs to all the que s tions that would normally be as ke d during
a typical ins tallation.
Kicks tart file s can be ke pt on a s ingle s e rve r s ys te m and re ad by individual compute rs
during the ins tallation. This ins tallation me thod can s upport the us e of a s ingle kicks tart file
to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on multiple machine s , making it ide al for ne twork and
s ys te m adminis trators .
Kicks tart provide s a way for us e rs to automate a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation.
All kicks tart s criptle ts and the log file s of the ir e xe cution are s tore d in the /tmp dire ctory
to as s is t with de bugging ins tallation failure s .
No te
Anaco nda now configure s ne twork inte rface s with Net wo rkManager.
Cons e que ntly, kicks tart us e rs that re fe re nce d the ne twork s e ttings locate d in
/tmp/netinfo in pre vious ve rs ions of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux mus t now s ource
the ifcfg file s in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts.
32.2. How Do You Perform a Kickst art Inst allat ion?
Kicks tart ins tallations can be pe rforme d us ing a local DVD, a local hard drive , or via NFS,
FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS.
To us e kicks tart, you mus t:
1. Cre ate a kicks tart file .
2. Cre ate a boot me dia with the kicks tart file or make the kicks tart file available on the
ne twork.
3. Make the ins tallation tre e available .
4. Start the kicks tart ins tallation.
This chapte r e xplains the s e s te ps in de tail.
32.3. Creat ing t he Kickst art File
The kicks tart file is a s imple te xt file , containing a lis t of ite ms , e ach ide ntifie d by a
ke yword. You can cre ate it by us ing the Kickst art Co nf igurat o r application, or writing it
from s cratch. The Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation program als o cre ate s a s ample
kicks tart file bas e d on the options that you s e le cte d during ins tallation. It is writte n to the
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file /root/anaconda-ks.cfg. You s hould be able to e dit it with any te xt e ditor or word
proce s s or that can s ave file s as ASCII te xt.
Firs t, be aware of the following is s ue s whe n you are cre ating your kicks tart file :
Se ctions mus t be s pe cifie d in order. Ite ms within the s e ctions do not have to be in a
s pe cific orde r unle s s othe rwis e s pe cifie d. The s e ction orde r is :
Command s e ction — Re fe r to Se ction 32.4, “Kicks tart Options ” for a lis t of kicks tart
options . You mus t include the re quire d options .
The %packages s e ction — Re fe r to Se ction 32.5, “Package Se le ction” for de tails .
The %pre and %post s e ctions — The s e two s e ctions can be in any orde r and are not
re quire d. Re fe r to Se ction 32.6, “Pre -ins tallation Script” and Se ction 32.7, “Pos tins tallation Script” for de tails .
No te
Each s e ction s hould e nd with %end to avoid logge d warnings .
Ite ms that are not re quire d can be omitte d.
Omitting any re quire d ite m re s ults in the ins tallation program prompting the us e r for an
ans we r to the re late d ite m, jus t as the us e r would be prompte d during a typical
ins tallation. Once the ans we r is give n, the ins tallation continue s unatte nde d (unle s s it
finds anothe r mis s ing ite m).
Line s s tarting with a pound (als o known as has h) s ign (#) are tre ate d as comme nts and
are ignore d.
For kicks tart upgrades, the following ite ms are re quire d:
Language
Ins tallation me thod
De vice s pe cification (if de vice is ne e de d to pe rform the ins tallation)
Ke yboard s e tup
The upgrade ke yword
Boot loade r configuration
If any othe r ite ms are s pe cifie d for an upgrade , thos e ite ms are ignore d (note that this
include s package s e le ction).
32.4. Kickst art Opt ions
The following options can be place d in a kicks tart file . If you pre fe r to us e a graphical
inte rface for cre ating your kicks tart file , us e the Kickst art Co nf igurat o r application.
Re fe r to Chapte r 33, Kickstart Configurator for de tails .
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No te
If the option is followe d by an e quals mark (=), a value mus t be s pe cifie d afte r it. In
the e xample commands , options in s quare bracke ts ([ ]) are optional argume nts for
the command.
Impo rtant
De vice name s are not guarante e d to be cons is te nt acros s re boots , which can
complicate us age in kicks tart s cripts . Whe n a kicks tart option calls for a de vice node
name (s uch as sda), you can ins te ad us e any ite m from /dev/disk. For e xample ,
ins te ad of:
part / --fstype=ext4 --onpart=sda1
You could us e an e ntry s imilar to one of the following:
part / --fstype=ext4 --onpart=/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:00:05.0scsi-0:0:0:0-part1
part / --fstype=ext4 --onpart=/dev/disk/by-id/ataST3160815AS_6RA0C882-part1
This provide s a cons is te nt way to re fe r to dis ks that is more me aningful than jus t
sda. This is e s pe cially us e ful in large s torage e nvironme nts .
auth o r authconfig (required)
Se ts up the authe ntication options for the s ys te m. It is s imilar to the authconfig
command, which can be run afte r the ins tallation - s e e the authconfig(8) man
page for more information.
Pas s words are s hadowe d by de fault.
Warning
The authconfig command re quire s the authconfig package , which is not
include d whe n us ing the minimal package group. Add authconfig to the
%packages s e ction as de s cribe d in Se ction 32.5, “Package Se le ction”, if you
are us ing the minimal package group and want to us e this command in your
Kicks tart file .
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Warning
Whe n us ing Ope nLDAP with the SSL protocol for s e curity, make s ure that
the SSLv2 and SSLv3 protols are dis able d in the s e rve r configuration. This
is due to the POODLE SSL vulne rability (CVE-2014-3566). Se e
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /1234843 for de tails .
--enablenis — Turns on NIS s upport. By de fault, --enablenis us e s whate ve r
domain it finds on the ne twork. A domain s hould almos t always be s e t by hand
with the --nisdomain= option.
--nisdomain= — NIS domain name to us e for NIS s e rvice s .
--nisserver= — Se rve r to us e for NIS s e rvice s (broadcas ts by de fault).
--useshadow or --enableshadow — Us e s hadow pas s words . This option is
e nable d by de fault.
--enableldap — Turns on LDAP s upport in /etc/nsswitch.conf, allowing your
s ys te m to re trie ve information about us e rs (for e xample , the ir UIDs , home
dire ctorie s , and s he lls ) from an LDAP dire ctory. To us e this option, you mus t
ins tall the nss-pam-ldapd package . You mus t als o s pe cify a s e rve r and a bas e
DN (dis tinguis he d name ) with --ldapserver= and --ldapbasedn=.
--enableldapauth — Us e LDAP as an authe ntication me thod. This e nable s the
pam_ldap module for authe ntication and changing pas s words , us ing an LDAP
dire ctory. To us e this option, you mus t have the nss-pam-ldapd package
ins talle d. You mus t als o s pe cify a s e rve r and a bas e DN with --ldapserver=
and --ldapbasedn=. If your e nvironme nt doe s not us e TLS (Trans port Laye r
Se curity), us e the --disableldaptls s witch to e ns ure that the re s ulting
configuration file works .
--ldapserver= — If you s pe cifie d e ithe r --enableldap or --enableldapauth,
us e this option to s pe cify the name of the LDAP s e rve r to us e . This option is
s e t in the /etc/ldap.conf file .
--ldapbasedn= — If you s pe cifie d e ithe r --enableldap or --enableldapauth,
us e this option to s pe cify the DN in your LDAP dire ctory tre e unde r which us e r
information is s tore d. This option is s e t in the /etc/ldap.conf file .
--enableldaptls — Us e TLS (Trans port Laye r Se curity) lookups . This option
allows LDAP to s e nd e ncrypte d us e rname s and pas s words to an LDAP s e rve r
be fore authe ntication.
--disableldaptls — Do not us e TLS (Trans port Laye r Se curity) lookups in an
e nvironme nt that us e s LDAP for authe ntication.
--enablekrb5 — Us e Ke rbe ros 5 for authe nticating us e rs . Ke rbe ros its e lf
doe s not know about home dire ctorie s , UIDs , or s he lls . If you e nable Ke rbe ros ,
you mus t make us e rs ' accounts known to this works tation by e nabling LDAP,
NIS, or He s iod or by us ing the /usr/sbin/useradd command. If you us e this
option, you mus t have the pam_krb5 package ins talle d.
--krb5realm= — The Ke rbe ros 5 re alm to which your works tation be longs .
--krb5kdc= — The KDC (or KDCs ) that s e rve re que s ts for the re alm. If you
have multiple KDCs in your re alm, s e parate the ir name s with commas (,).
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--krb5adminserver= — The KDC in your re alm that is als o running kadmind.
This s e rve r handle s pas s word changing and othe r adminis trative re que s ts .
This s e rve r mus t be run on the mas te r KDC if you have more than one KDC.
--enablehesiod — Enable He s iod s upport for looking up us e r home
dire ctorie s , UIDs , and s he lls . More information on s e tting up and us ing He s iod
on your ne twork is in /usr/share/doc/glibc-2.x.x/README.hesiod, which is
include d in the glibc package . He s iod is an e xte ns ion of DNS that us e s DNS
re cords to s tore information about us e rs , groups , and various othe r ite ms .
--hesiodlhs and --hesiodrhs — The Hesiod LHS (le ft-hand s ide ) and RHS
(right-hand s ide ) value s , s e t in /etc/hesiod.conf. The Hesiod library us e s
the s e value s to s e arch DNS for a name , s imilar to the way that LDAP us e s a
bas e DN.
To look up us e r information for the us e rname jim, the He s iod library looks up
jim.passwd<LHS><RHS>, which s hould re s olve to a TXT re cord that contains a
s tring ide ntical to an e ntry for that us e r in the passwd file :
jim:*:501:501:Jungle Jim:/home/jim:/bin/bash. To look up groups , the
He s iod library looks up jim.group<LHS><RHS> ins te ad.
To look up us e rs and groups by numbe r, make 501.uid a CNAME for
jim.passwd, and 501.gid a CNAME for jim.group. Note that the library doe s
not place a pe riod (.) in front of the LHS and RHS value s whe n pe rforming a
s e arch. The re fore , if the LHS and RHS value s ne e d to have a pe riod place d in
front of the m, you mus t include the pe riod in the value s you s e t for -hesiodlhs and --hesiodrhs.
--enablesmbauth — Enable s authe ntication of us e rs agains t an SMB s e rve r
(typically a Samba or Windows s e rve r). SMB authe ntication s upport doe s not
know about home dire ctorie s , UIDs , or s he lls . If you e nable SMB, you mus t
make us e rs ' accounts known to the works tation by e nabling LDAP, NIS, or
He s iod or by us ing the /usr/sbin/useradd command.
--smbservers= — The name of the s e rve rs to us e for SMB authe ntication. To
s pe cify more than one s e rve r, s e parate the name s with commas (,).
--smbworkgroup= — The name of the workgroup for the SMB s e rve rs .
--enablecache — Enable s the nscd s e rvice . The nscd s e rvice cache s
information about us e rs , groups , and various othe r type s of information.
Caching is e s pe cially he lpful if you choos e to dis tribute information about us e rs
and groups ove r your ne twork us ing NIS, LDAP, or He s iod.
--passalgo= — s pe cify sha256 to s e t up the SHA-256 has hing algorithm or
sha512 to s e t up the SHA-512 has hing algorithm.
autopart (o pt io nal)
Automatically cre ate s partitions — a root (/) partition (1 GB or bigge r), a s wap
partition, and an appropriate boot partition for the archite cture .
443
No te
Note that the autopart option cannot be us e d toge the r with the
part/partition, raid, logvol, or volgroup options in the s ame kicks tart
file .
--encrypted — Should all de vice s with s upport be e ncrypte d by de fault? This
is e quivale nt to che cking the Encrypt che ckbox on the initial partitioning
s cre e n.
--cipher= — Spe cifie s which type of e ncryption will be us e d if the anaco nda
de fault ae s -xts -plain64 is not s atis factory. You mus t us e this option toge the r
with the --encrypted option; by its e lf it has no e ffe ct. Available type s of
e ncryption are lis te d in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Security Guide, but Re d Hat
s trongly re comme nds us ing e ithe r ae s -xts -plain64 or ae s -cbc-e s s iv:s ha256.
--passphrase= — Provide a de fault s ys te m-wide pas s phras e for all e ncrypte d
de vice s .
--escrowcert=URL_of_X.509_certificate — Store data e ncryption ke ys of
all e ncrypte d volume s as file s in /root, e ncrypte d us ing the X.509 ce rtificate
from the URL s pe cifie d with URL_of_X.509_certificate. The ke ys are s tore d as a
s e parate file for e ach e ncrypte d volume . This option is only me aningful if -encrypted is s pe cifie d.
--backuppassphrase= — Add a randomly-ge ne rate d pas s phras e to e ach
e ncrypte d volume . Store the s e pas s phras e s in s e parate file s in /root,
e ncrypte d us ing the X.509 ce rtificate s pe cifie d with --escrowcert. This option
is only me aningful if --escrowcert is s pe cifie d.
autostep (o pt io nal)
Similar to interactive e xce pt it goe s to the ne xt s cre e n for you. It is us e d
mos tly for de bugging and s hould not be us e d whe n de ploying a s ys te m be caus e
it may dis rupt package ins tallation.
--autoscreenshot — Take a s cre e ns hot at e ve ry s te p during ins tallation and
copy the image s ove r to /root/anaconda-screenshots afte r ins tallation is
comple te . This is mos t us e ful for docume ntation.
bootloader (required)
Spe cifie s how the boot loade r s hould be ins talle d. This option is re quire d for both
ins tallations and upgrade s .
Impo rtant
If you s e le ct te xt mode for a kicks tart ins tallation, make s ure that you
s pe cify choice s for the partitioning, bootloade r, and package s e le ction
options . The s e s te ps are automate d in te xt mode , and anaco nda cannot
prompt you for mis s ing information. If you do not provide choice s for the s e
options , anaco nda will s top the ins tallation proce s s .
444
Impo rtant
It is highly re comme nde d to s e t up a boot loade r pas s word on e ve ry
machine . An unprote cte d boot loade r can allow a pote ntial attacke r to modify
the s ys te m's boot options and gain acce s s to the s ys te m. Se e the chapte r
title d Workstation Security in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Security Guide for
more information on boot loade r pas s words and pas s word s e curity in
ge ne ral.
--append= — Spe cifie s ke rne l parame te rs . To s pe cify multiple parame te rs ,
s e parate the m with s pace s . For e xample :
bootloader --location=mbr --append="hdd=ide-scsi ide=nodma"
--driveorder — Spe cify which drive is firs t in the BIOS boot orde r. For
e xample :
bootloader --driveorder=sda,hda
--disabled — This option is a s tronge r ve rs ion of --location=none. While -location=none s imply dis able s bootloade r ins tallation, --disabled dis able s
bootloade r ins tallation and als o dis able s ins tallation of the bootloade r package ,
thus s aving s pace .
--location= — Spe cifie s whe re the boot re cord is writte n. Valid value s are
the following: mbr (the de fault), partition (ins talls the boot loade r on the firs t
s e ctor of the partition containing the ke rne l — ne ce s s ary for UEFI), or none (do
not ins tall the boot loade r).
Impo rtant
64-bit AMD and Inte l s ys te ms with UEFI firmware re quire the boot loade r
to be ins talle d in an EFI s ys te m partition on a dis k labe le d with a GUID
Partition Table (GPT). Us ing a dis k with a Mas te r Boot Re cord (MBR) labe l
re quire s that the dis k be re labe le d us ing the clearpart and zerombr
commands . Re labe ling a dis k will re nde r all data on that dis k inacce s s ible
and it will re quire cre ating a ne w partition layout.
--password= — If us ing GRUB, s e ts the GRUB boot loade r pas s word to the one
s pe cifie d with this option. This s hould be us e d to re s trict acce s s to the GRUB
s he ll, whe re arbitrary ke rne l options can be pas s e d.
--iscrypted — If us ing GRUB, s hould be include d if the pas s word is alre ady
e ncrypte d. The e ncryption me thod is de te cte d automatically bas e d on the
pas s word.
To cre ate an e ncrypte d pas s word, us e the following command:
python -c 'import crypt; print(crypt.crypt("My Password"))'
This will cre ate a s ha512 crypt of your pas s word.
445
--upgrade — Upgrade the e xis ting boot loade r configuration, pre s e rving the
old e ntrie s . This option is only available for upgrade s .
clearpart (o pt io nal)
Re move s partitions from the s ys te m, prior to cre ation of ne w partitions . By
de fault, no partitions are re move d.
No te
If the clearpart command is us e d, the n the --onpart command cannot be
us e d on a logical partition.
--all — Eras e s all partitions from the s ys te m.
Warning
This option will e ras e all dis ks which can be re ache d by the ins talle r,
including any attache d ne twork s torage . Us e this option with caution.
You can pre ve nt clearpart from wiping s torage you want to pre s e rve
by us ing the --drives= option and s pe cifying only the drive s you want to
cle ar, by attaching ne twork s torage late r (for e xample , in the %post
s e ction of the Kicks tart file ), or by blacklis ting the ke rne l module s us e d to
acce s s ne twork s torage .
Impo rtant
The clearpart cannot cle ar an e xis ting BIOS RAID s e tup. For this , the
command wipefs -a mus t be adde d to your %pre s cript. Note that this
will wipe all me tadata from the RAID.
--drives= — Spe cifie s which drive s to cle ar partitions from. For e xample , the
following cle ars all the partitions on the firs t two drive s on the primary IDE
controlle r:
clearpart --drives=hda,hdb --all
To cle ar a multipath de vice , us e the format disk/by-id/scsi-WWID, whe re
WWID is the world-wide identifier for the de vice . For e xample , to cle ar a dis k
with WWID 58095BEC5510947BE8C0360F604351918, us e :
clearpart --drives=disk/by-id/scsi58095BEC5510947BE8C0360F604351918
This format is pre fe rable for all multipath de vice s , but if e rrors aris e , multipath
de vice s that do not us e logical volume management (LVM) can als o be cle are d
us ing the format disk/by-id/dm-uuid-mpath-WWID, whe re WWID is the worldwide identifier for the de vice . For e xample , to cle ar a dis k with WWID
446
2416CD96995134CA5D787F00A5AA11017, us e :
clearpart --drives=disk/by-id/dm-uuid-mpath2416CD96995134CA5D787F00A5AA11017
Warning
Ne ve r s pe cify multipath de vice s by de vice name s like mpatha. De vice
name s like mpatha are not s pe cific to a particular dis k. The dis k name d
/dev/mpatha during ins tallation might not be the one that you e xpe ct it
to be . The re fore , the clearpart command could targe t the wrong dis k.
--linux — Eras e s all Linux partitions .
--none (de fault) — Do not re move any partitions .
--cdl — Re format all de te cte d LDL (Linux Disk Layout) dis ks to CDL (Compatible
Disk Layout). Only available on IBM Sys te m z .
No te
Us ing the clearpart --all command in a Kicks tart file to re move all
e xis ting partitions during the ins tallation will caus e Anaco nda to paus e and
prompt you for a confirmation. If you ne e d to pe rform the ins tallation
automatically with no inte raction, add the zerombr command to your
Kicks tart file .
Impo rtant
The --initlabel option has be e n de pre cate d. To initializ e dis ks with
invalid partition table s and cle ar the ir conte nts , us e the zerombr command.
cmdline (o pt io nal)
Pe rform the ins tallation in a comple te ly non-inte ractive command line mode . Any
prompts for inte raction halts the ins tall. This mode is us e ful on IBM Sys te m z
s ys te ms with the 3270 te rminal unde r z /VM and ope rating s ys te m me s s age s
apple t on LPAR. The re comme nde d us e is in conjunction with RUNKS=1 and ks=.
Re fe r to Se ction 26.6, “Parame te rs for Kicks tart Ins tallations ”.
device (o pt io nal)
On mos t PCI s ys te ms , the ins tallation program autoprobe s for Ethe rne t and SCSI
cards prope rly. On olde r s ys te ms and s ome PCI s ys te ms , howe ve r, kicks tart
ne e ds a hint to find the prope r de vice s . The device command, which te lls the
ins tallation program to ins tall e xtra module s , is in this format:
device <moduleName> --opts=<options>
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<moduleName> — Re place with the name of the ke rne l module which s hould
be ins talle d.
--opts= — Options to pas s to the ke rne l module . For e xample :
--opts="aic152x=0x340 io=11"
driverdisk (o pt io nal)
Drive r dis ks can be us e d during kicks tart ins tallations . You mus t copy the drive r
dis ks 's conte nts to the root dire ctory of a partition on the s ys te m's hard drive .
The n you mus t us e the driverdisk command to te ll the ins tallation program
whe re to look for the drive r dis k.
driverdisk <partition> --source=<url> --biospart=<biospart> [-type=<fstype>]
Alte rnative ly, a ne twork location can be s pe cifie d for the drive r dis k:
driverdisk --source=ftp://path/to/dd.img
driverdisk --source=http://path/to/dd.img
driverdisk --source=nfs:host:/path/to/img
<partition> — Partition containing the drive r dis k.
<url> — URL for the drive r dis k. NFS locations can be give n in the form
nfs:host:/path/to/img.
<biospart> — BIOS partition containing the drive r dis k (for e xample , 82p2).
--type= — File s ys te m type (for e xample , vfat or e xt2).
fcoe (o pt io nal)
Spe cify which FCoE de vice s s hould be activate d automatically in addition to thos e
dis cove re d by Enhanced Disk Drive Services (EDD).
--nic= (mandatory) — The name of the de vice to be activate d.
--dcb= — Es tablis h Data Center Bridging (DCB) s e ttings .
--autovlan — Dis cove r VLANs automatically.
firewall (o pt io nal)
This option corre s ponds to the Firewall Configuration s cre e n in the ins talle r.
firewall --enabled|--disabled [--trust=] <device> <incoming> [-port=]
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Warning
The firewall command re quire s the system-config-firewall-base package ,
which is not include d whe n us ing the minimal package group. Add systemconfig-firewall-base to the %packages s e ction as de s cribe d in
Se ction 32.5, “Package Se le ction”, if you are us ing the minimal package
group and you want to us e this command in your Kicks tart file .
--enabled or --enable — Re je ct incoming conne ctions that are not in
re s pons e to outbound re que s ts , s uch as DNS re plie s or DHCP re que s ts . If
acce s s to s e rvice s running on this machine is ne e de d, you can choos e to allow
s pe cific s e rvice s through the fire wall.
--disabled or --disable — Do not configure any iptable s rule s .
--trust= — Lis ting a de vice he re , s uch as e th0, allows all traffic coming to and
from that de vice to go through the fire wall. To lis t more than one de vice , us e -trust eth0 --trust eth1. Do NOT us e a comma-s e parate d format s uch as
--trust eth0, eth1.
<incoming> — Re place with one or more of the following to allow the s pe cifie d
s e rvice s through the fire wall.
--ssh
--telnet
--smtp
--http
--ftp
--port= — You can s pe cify that ports be allowe d through the fire wall us ing the
port:protocol format. For e xample , to allow IMAP acce s s through your fire wall,
s pe cify imap:tcp. Nume ric ports can als o be s pe cifie d e xplicitly; for e xample ,
to allow UDP packe ts on port 1234 through, s pe cify 1234:udp. To s pe cify
multiple ports , s e parate the m by commas .
firstboot (o pt io nal)
De te rmine whe the r the f irst bo o t s tarts the firs t time the s ys te m is boote d. If
e nable d, the firstboot package mus t be ins talle d. If not s pe cifie d, this option is
dis able d by de fault.
--enable or --enabled — The Set up Agent is s tarte d the firs t time the
s ys te m boots .
--disable or --disabled — The Set up Agent is not s tarte d the firs t time
the s ys te m boots .
--reconfig — Enable the Set up Agent to s tart at boot time in re configuration
mode . This mode e nable s the language , mous e , ke yboard, root pas s word,
s e curity le ve l, and time z one configuration options in addition to the de fault
one s .
graphical (o pt io nal)
Pe rform the kicks tart ins tallation in graphical mode . This is the de fault.
449
Pe rform the kicks tart ins tallation in graphical mode . This is the de fault.
group (o pt io nal)
Cre ate s a ne w us e r group on the s ys te m. If a group with the give n name or GID
alre ady e xis ts , this command will fail. In addition, the user command can be us e d
to cre ate a ne w group for the ne wly cre ate d us e r.
group --name=name [--gid=gid]
--name= - Provide s the name of the group.
--gid= - The group's GID. If not provide d, de faults to the ne xt available nons ys te m GID.
halt (o pt io nal)
Halt the s ys te m afte r the ins tallation has s ucce s s fully comple te d. This is s imilar
to a manual ins tallation, whe re anaconda dis plays a me s s age and waits for the
us e r to pre s s a ke y be fore re booting. During a kicks tart ins tallation, if no
comple tion me thod is s pe cifie d, this option is us e d as the de fault.
The halt option is e quivale nt to the shutdown -h command.
For othe r comple tion me thods , re fe r to the poweroff, reboot, and shutdown
kicks tart options .
ignoredisk (o pt io nal)
Caus e s the ins talle r to ignore the s pe cifie d dis ks . This is us e ful if you us e
autopartition and want to be s ure that s ome dis ks are ignore d. For e xample ,
without ignoredisk, atte mpting to de ploy on a SAN-clus te r the kicks tart would fail,
as the ins talle r de te cts pas s ive paths to the SAN that re turn no partition table .
The s yntax is :
ignoredisk --drives=drive1,drive2,...
whe re driveN is one of sda, sdb,..., hda,... e tc.
To ignore a multipath de vice that doe s not us e logical volume management (LVM),
us e the format disk/by-id/dm-uuid-mpath-WWID, whe re WWID is the world-wide
identifier for the de vice . For e xample , to ignore a dis k with WWID
2416CD96995134CA5D787F00A5AA11017, us e :
ignoredisk --drives=disk/by-id/dm-uuid-mpath2416CD96995134CA5D787F00A5AA11017
Multipath de vice s that us e LVM are not as s e mble d until afte r anaco nda has
pars e d the kicks tart file . The re fore , you cannot s pe cify the s e de vice s in the
format dm-uuid-mpath. Ins te ad, to ignore a multipath de vice that us e s LVM, us e
the format disk/by-id/scsi-WWID, whe re WWID is the world-wide identifier for
the de vice . For e xample , to ignore a dis k with WWID
58095BEC5510947BE8C0360F604351918, us e :
ignoredisk --drives=disk/by-id/scsi58095BEC5510947BE8C0360F604351918
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Warning
/dev/mpatha during ins tallation might not be the one that you e xpe ct it to
be . The re fore , the clearpart command could targe t the wrong dis k.
--only-use — s pe cifie s a lis t of dis ks for the ins talle r to us e . All othe r dis ks
are ignore d. For e xample , to us e dis k sda during ins tallation and ignore all
othe r dis ks :
ignoredisk --only-use=sda
To include a multipath de vice that doe s not us e LVM:
ignoredisk --only-use=disk/by-id/dm-uuid-mpath2416CD96995134CA5D787F00A5AA11017
To include a multipath de vice that us e s LVM:
ignoredisk --only-use=disk/by-id/scsi58095BEC5510947BE8C0360F604351918
install (o pt io nal)
Te lls the s ys te m to ins tall a fre s h s ys te m rathe r than upgrade an e xis ting
s ys te m. This is the de fault mode . For ins tallation, you mus t s pe cify the type of
ins tallation from cdrom, harddrive, nfs, or url (for FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS
ins tallations ). The install command and the ins tallation me thod command mus t
be on s e parate line s .
cdrom — Ins tall from the firs t optical drive on the s ys te m.
harddrive — Ins tall from a Re d Hat ins tallation tre e on a local drive , which
mus t be e ithe r vfat or e xt2.
--biospart=
BIOS partition to ins tall from (s uch as 82).
--partition=
Partition to ins tall from (s uch as s db2).
--dir=
Dire ctory containing the variant dire ctory of the ins tallation tre e .
For e xample :
harddrive --partition=hdb2 --dir=/tmp/install-tree
nfs — Ins tall from the NFS s e rve r s pe cifie d.
--server=
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Se rve r from which to ins tall (hos tname or IP).
--dir=
Dire ctory containing the variant dire ctory of the ins tallation tre e .
--opts=
Mount options to us e for mounting the NFS e xport. (optional)
For e xample :
nfs --server=nfsserver.example.com --dir=/tmp/install-tree
url — Ins tall from an ins tallation tre e on a re mote s e rve r via FTP, HTTP, or
HTTPS.
For e xample :
url --url http://<server>/<dir>
or:
url --url ftp://<username>:<password>@<server>/<dir>
interactive (o pt io nal)
Pe rform an inte ractive ins tallation, but us e the information in the kicks tart file to
provide de faults . During the ins tallation, anaco nda s till prompts you at e ve ry
s tage . Eithe r acce pt the value s from the kicks tart file by clicking Next or change
the value s and click Next to continue . Re fe r als o to the autostep command.
iscsi (o pt io nal)
iscsi --ipaddr=<ipaddr> [options]
Spe cifie s additional iSCSI s torage to be attache d during ins tallation. If you us e the
iscsi parame te r, you mus t als o as s ign a name to the iSCSI node , us ing the
iscsiname parame te r earlier in the kicks tart file .
We re comme nd that whe re ve r pos s ible you configure iSCSI s torage in the
s ys te m BIOS or firmware (iBFT for Inte l s ys te ms ) rathe r than us e the iscsi
parame te r. Anaco nda automatically de te cts and us e s dis ks configure d in BIOS or
firmware and no s pe cial configuration is ne ce s s ary in the kicks tart file .
If you mus t us e the iscsi parame te r, e ns ure that ne tworking is activate d at the
be ginning of the ins tallation, and that the iscsi parame te r appe ars in the
kicks tart file be fore you re fe r to iSCSI dis ks with parame te rs s uch as clearpart
or ignoredisk.
--port= (mandatory) — the port numbe r (typically, --port=3260)
--user= — the us e rname re quire d to authe nticate with the targe t
--password= — the pas s word that corre s ponds with the us e rname s pe cifie d
for the targe t
--reverse-user= — the us e rname re quire d to authe nticate with the initiator
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from a targe t that us e s re ve rs e CHAP authe ntication
--reverse-password= — the pas s word that corre s ponds with the us e rname
s pe cifie d for the initiator
iscsiname (o pt io nal)
As s igns a name to an iSCSI node s pe cifie d by the is cs i parame te r. If you us e the
iscsi parame te r in your kicks tart file , you mus t s pe cify iscsiname earlier in the
kicks tart file .
keyboard (required)
Se ts the de fault ke yboard type for the s ys te m. The available ke yboard type s are :
be-latin1 — Be lgian
bg_bds-utf8 — Bulgarian
bg_pho-utf8 — Bulgarian (Phone tic)
br-abnt2 — Braz ilian (ABNT2)
cf — Fre nch Canadian
croat — Croatian
cz-us-qwertz — Cz e ch
cz-lat2 — Cz e ch (qwe rty)
de — Ge rman
de-latin1 — Ge rman (latin1)
de-latin1-nodeadkeys — Ge rman (latin1 without de ad ke ys )
dvorak — Dvorak
dk — Danis h
dk-latin1 — Danis h (latin1)
es — Spanis h
et — Es tonian
fi — Finnis h
fi-latin1 — Finnis h (latin1)
fr — Fre nch
fr-latin9 — Fre nch (latin9)
fr-pc — Fre nch (pc)
fr_CH — Swis s Fre nch
fr_CH-latin1 — Swis s Fre nch (latin1)
453
gr — Gre e k
hu — Hungarian
hu101 — Hungarian (101 ke y)
is-latin1 — Ice landic
it — Italian
it-ibm — Italian (IBM)
it2 — Italian (it2)
jp106 — Japane s e
ko — Kore an
la-latin1 — Latin Ame rican
mk-utf — Mace donian
nl — Dutch
no — Norwe gian
pl2 — Polis h
pt-latin1 — Portugue s e
ro — Romanian
ru — Rus s ian
sr-cy — Se rbian
sr-latin — Se rbian (latin)
sv-latin1 — Swe dis h
sg — Swis s Ge rman
sg-latin1 — Swis s Ge rman (latin1)
sk-qwerty — Slovak (qwe rty)
slovene — Slove nian
trq — Turkis h
uk — Unite d Kingdom
ua-utf — Ukrainian
us-acentos — U.S. Inte rnational
us — U.S. Englis h
The file /usr/lib/python2.6/sitepackages/system_config_keyboard/keyboard_models.py on 32-bit s ys te ms or
/usr/lib64/python2.6/sitepackages/system_config_keyboard/keyboard_models.py on 64-bit s ys te ms
454
als o contains this lis t and is part of the system-config-keyboard package .
lang (required)
Se ts the language to us e during ins tallation and the de fault language to us e on
the ins talle d s ys te m. For e xample , to s e t the language to Englis h, the kicks tart file
s hould contain the following line :
lang en_US
The file /usr/share/system-config-language/locale-list provide s a lis t of
the valid language code s in the firs t column of e ach line and is part of the
system-config-language package .
Ce rtain language s (for e xample , Chine s e , Japane s e , Kore an, and Indic language s )
are not s upporte d during te xt-mode ins tallation. If you s pe cify one of the s e
language s with the lang command, the ins tallation proce s s continue s in Englis h,
but the ins talle d s ys te m us e s your s e le ction as its de fault language .
langsupport (deprecat ed)
The langs upport ke yword is de pre cate d and its us e will caus e an e rror me s s age
to be printe d to the s cre e n and ins tallation to halt. Ins te ad of us ing the
langs upport ke yword, you s hould now lis t the s upport package groups for all
language s you want s upporte d in the %packages s e ction of your kicks tart file . For
ins tance , adding s upport for Fre nch me ans you s hould add the following to
%packages:
@french-support
logging (o pt io nal)
This command controls the e rror logging of anaconda during ins tallation. It has no
e ffe ct on the ins talle d s ys te m.
logging [--host=<host>] [--port=<port>] [-level=debug|info|error|critical]
--host= — Se nd logging information to the give n re mote hos t, which mus t be
running a s ys logd proce s s configure d to acce pt re mote logging.
--port= — If the re mote s ys logd proce s s us e s a port othe r than the de fault, it
may be s pe cifie d with this option.
--level= — One of de bug, info, warning, e rror, or critical.
Spe cify the minimum le ve l of me s s age s that appe ar on tty3. All me s s age s will
s till be s e nt to the log file re gardle s s of this le ve l, howe ve r.
logvol (o pt io nal)
Cre ate a logical volume for Logical Volume Manage me nt (LVM) with the s yntax:
logvol <mntpoint> --vgname=<name> --size=<size> --name=<name>
[options]
455
Impo rtant
Do not us e the das h ("-") characte r in logical volume or volume group
name s whe n ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux us ing Kicks tart. If you do,
the ins tallation will finis h normally, but the characte r will be re move d from
all ne wly cre ate d volume and volume group name s . For e xample , if you
cre ate a volume group name d volgrp-01, its name will be change d to
volgrp01.
This limitation only applie s to ne w ins tallations . If you are upgrading or
re ins talling an e xis ting ins tallation and us e the --noformat option
de s cribe d be low, das he s us e d in volume and volume group name s will be
pre s e rve d.
The <mntpoint> is whe re the partition is mounte d and mus t be of one of the
following forms :
/<path>
For e xample , /, /usr, /home
swap
The partition is us e d as s wap s pace .
To de te rmine the s iz e of the s wap partition automatically, us e the -recommended option:
swap --recommended
The s iz e as s igne d will be e ffe ctive but not pre cis e ly calibrate d for your
s ys te m.
To de te rmine the s iz e of the s wap partition automatically but als o allow
e xtra s pace for your s ys te m to hibe rnate , us e the --hibernation option:
swap --hibernation
The s iz e as s igne d will be e quivale nt to the s wap s pace as s igne d by -recommended plus the amount of RAM on your s ys te m.
For the s wap s iz e s as s igne d by the s e commands , re fe r to Se ction 9.15.5,
“Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ” for x86, AMD64, and Inte l 64
Archite cture and Se ction 16.17.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ” for
IBM Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs .
456
Impo rtant
Swap s pace re comme ndations we re update d in Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux 6.3. Pre vious ly, s ys te ms with large amounts of RAM we re
as s igne d huge s wap s pace s . This de laye d the Out-of-Me mory Kille r
(o o m_kill) in addre s s ing critical me mory s hortage s , e ve n if a
proce s s was malfunctioning.
Cons e que ntly, if you are us ing an e arlie r ve rs ion of Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6, swap --recommended will ge ne rate large r s wap
s pace s than thos e de s cribe d in the Re comme nde d Partitioning
Sche me , e ve n on s ys te ms with large amounts of RAM. This may
ne gate the ne e d to allow e xtra s pace for hibe rnation.
Howe ve r, the s e update d s wap s pace value s are none the le s s
re comme nde d for e arlie r ve rs ions of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 and
can be s e t manually us ing the swap --size= option.
The options are as follows :
--noformat — Us e an e xis ting logical volume and do not format it.
--useexisting — Us e an e xis ting logical volume and re format it.
--fstype= — Se ts the file s ys te m type for the logical volume . Valid value s are
xfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, swap, vfat, hfs, and efi.
--fsoptions= — Spe cifie s a fre e form s tring of options to be us e d whe n
mounting the file s ys te m. This s tring will be copie d into the /etc/fstab file of
the ins talle d s ys te m and s hould be e nclos e d in quote s .
--fsprofile — Spe cifie s a usage type to be pas s e d to the program that
make s a file s ys te m on this partition. A us age type de fine s a varie ty of tuning
parame te rs to be us e d whe n making a file s ys te m. For this option to work, the
file s ys te m mus t s upport the conce pt of us age type s and the re mus t be a
configuration file that lis ts valid type s . For e xt2, e xt3, and e xt4, this
configuration file is /etc/mke2fs.conf.
--grow= — Te lls the logical volume to grow to fill available s pace (if any), or up
to the maximum s iz e s e tting.
--maxsize= — The maximum s iz e in me gabyte s whe n the logical volume is
s e t to grow. Spe cify an inte ge r value he re s uch as 500 (do not include the
unit).
--recommended= — De te rmine the s iz e of the logical volume automatically.
--percent= — Spe cify the amount by which to grow the logical volume , as a
pe rce ntage of the fre e s pace in the volume group afte r any s tatically-s iz e d
logical volume s are take n into account. This option mus t be us e d in conjunction
with the --size and --grow options for logvol.
--encrypted — Spe cifie s that this logical volume s hould be e ncrypte d, us ing
the pas s phras e provide d in the --passphrase option. If you do not s pe cify a
pas s phras e , anaco nda us e s the de fault, s ys te m-wide pas s phras e s e t with
the autopart --passphrase command, or s tops the ins tallation and prompts
457
you to provide a pas s phras e if no de fault is s e t.
--passphrase= — Spe cifie s the pas s phras e to us e whe n e ncrypting this
logical volume . You mus t us e this option toge the r with the --encrypted option;
by its e lf it has no e ffe ct.
all e ncrypte d volume s as file s in /root, e ncrypte d us ing the X.509 ce rtificate
s e parate file for e ach e ncrypte d volume . This option is only me aningful if -encrypted is s pe cifie d.
e ncrypte d volume . Store the s e pas s phras e s in s e parate file s in /root,
Cre ate the partition firs t, cre ate the logical volume group, and the n cre ate the
logical volume . For e xample :
part pv.01 --size 3000
volgroup myvg pv.01
logvol / --vgname=myvg --size=2000 --name=rootvol
logical volume to occupy 90% of the re maining s pace in the volume group. For
e xample :
part pv.01 --size 1 --grow
volgroup myvg pv.01
logvol / --vgname=myvg --size=1 --name=rootvol --grow -percent=90
mediacheck (o pt io nal)
If give n, this will force anaconda to run me diache ck on the ins tallation me dia. This
command re quire s that ins talls be atte nde d, s o it is dis able d by de fault.
monitor (o pt io nal)
If the monitor command is not give n, anaconda will us e X to automatically de te ct
your monitor s e ttings . Ple as e try this be fore manually configuring your monitor.
monitor --monitor=<monitorname>|--hsync|vsync=<frequency> [-noprobe]
--hsync= — Spe cifie s the horiz ontal s ync fre que ncy of the monitor.
--monitor= — Us e s pe cifie d monitor; monitor name s hould be from the lis t of
monitors in /us r/s hare /hwdata/Monitors DB from the hwdata package . The lis t of
monitors can als o be found on the X Configuration s cre e n of the Kicks tart
458
Configurator. This is ignore d if --hs ync or --vs ync is provide d. If no monitor
information is provide d, the ins tallation program trie s to probe for it
automatically.
--noprobe= — Do not try to probe the monitor.
--vsync= — Spe cifie s the ve rtical s ync fre que ncy of the monitor.
mouse (deprecat ed)
The mous e ke yword is de pre cate d.
network (o pt io nal)
Configure s ne twork information for the targe t s ys te m and activate s ne twork
de vice s in the ins talle r e nvironme nt. The de vice s pe cifie d in the firs t network
command is activate d automatically if ne twork acce s s is re quire d during
ins tallation, for e xample , during a ne twork ins tallation or ins tallation ove r VNC.
From Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.1 onwards , you can als o e xplicitly re quire de vice
to activate in the ins talle r e nvironme nt with the --activate option.
Impo rtant
If you ne e d to manually s pe cify ne twork s e ttings during an othe rwis e automate d kicks tart ins tallation, do not us e network. Ins te ad, boot the
s ys te m with the asknetwork option (re fe r to Se ction 32.10, “Starting a
Kicks tart Ins tallation”), which will prompt anaco nda to as k you for ne twork
s e ttings rathe r than us e the de fault s e ttings . anaco nda will as k this be fore
fe tching the kicks tart file .
Once the ne twork conne ction is e s tablis he d, you can only re configure
ne twork s e ttings with thos e s pe cifie d in your kicks tart file .
No te
You will only be prompte d for information about your ne twork:
be fore fe tching the kicks tart file if you are us ing the asknetwork boot
option
whe n the ne twork is firs t acce s s e d once the kicks tart file has be e n
fe tche d, if the ne twork was not us e d to fe tch it and you have provide d no
kicks tart ne twork commands
--activate — activate this de vice in the ins talle r e nvironme nt.
If you us e the --activate option on a de vice that has alre ady be e n activate d
(for e xample , an inte rface you configure d with boot options s o that the s ys te m
could re trie ve the kicks tart file ) the de vice is re activate d to us e the de tails
s pe cifie d in the kicks tart file .
Us e the --nodefroute option to pre ve nt the de vice from us ing the de fault
route .
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The activate option is ne w in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.1.
--bootproto= — One of dhcp, bootp, ibft, or static.
The ibft option is ne w in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.1.
The bootproto option de faults to dhcp. bootp and dhcp are tre ate d the s ame .
The DHCP me thod us e s a DHCP s e rve r s ys te m to obtain its ne tworking
configuration. As you might gue s s , the BOOTP me thod is s imilar, re quiring a
BOOTP s e rve r to s upply the ne tworking configuration. To dire ct a s ys te m to
us e DHCP:
network --bootproto=dhcp
To dire ct a machine to us e BOOTP to obtain its ne tworking configuration, us e
the following line in the kicks tart file :
network --bootproto=bootp
To dire ct a machine to us e the configuration s pe cifie d in iBFT, us e :
network --bootproto=ibft
The s tatic me thod re quire s that you s pe cify the IP addre s s , ne tmas k, gate way,
and name s e rve r in the kicks tart file . As the name implie s , this information is
s tatic and is us e d during and afte r the ins tallation.
All s tatic ne tworking configuration information mus t be s pe cifie d on one line ;
you cannot wrap line s us ing a backs las h as you can on a command line . A line
that s pe cifie s s tatic ne tworking in a kicks tart file is the re fore more comple x
than line s that s pe cify DHCP, BOOTP, or iBFT. Note that the e xample s on this
page have line bre aks in the m for pre s e ntation re as ons ; the y would not work
in an actual kicks tart file .
network --bootproto=static --ip=10.0.2.15 -netmask=255.255.255.0
--gateway=10.0.2.254 --nameserver=10.0.2.1
You can als o configure multiple name s e rve rs he re . To do s o, s pe cify the m as
a comma-de limite d lis t in the command line .
network --bootproto=static --ip=10.0.2.15 -netmask=255.255.255.0
--gateway=10.0.2.254 --nameserver 192.168.2.1,192.168.3.1
--device= — s pe cifie s the de vice to be configure d (and e ve ntually activate d)
with the network command. For the firs t network command, --device=
de faults (in orde r of pre fe re nce ) to one of:
the de vice s pe cifie d by the ksdevice boot option
the de vice activate d automatically to fe tch the kicks tart file
the de vice s e le cte d in the Networking Devices dialog
460
The be havior of any s ubs e que nt network command is uns pe cifie d if its -device option is mis s ing. Take care to s pe cify a --device option for any
ne twork command be yond the firs t.
You can s pe cify a de vice in one of five ways :
the de vice name of the inte rface , for e xample , eth0
the MAC addre s s of the inte rface , for e xample , 00:12:34:56:78:9a
the ke yword link, which s pe cifie s the firs t inte rface with its link in the up
s tate
the ke yword bootif, which us e s the MAC addre s s that pxelinux s e t in the
BOOTIF variable . Se t IPAPPEND 2 in your pxelinux.cfg file to have
pxelinux s e t the BOOTIF variable .
the ke yword ibft, which us e s the MAC addre s s of the inte rface s pe cifie d
by iBFT
network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eth0
--ip= — IP addre s s of the de vice .
--ipv6= — IPv6 addre s s of the de vice . Us e auto for automatic configuration,
or dhcp for DHCPv6 only configuration (no route r adve rtis e me nts ).
--gateway= — De fault gate way as a s ingle IPv4 addre s s .
--ipv6gateway= — De fault gate way as a s ingle IPv6 addre s s .
--nameserver= — Primary name s e rve r, as an IP addre s s . Multiple
name s e rve rs mus t e ach be s e parate d by a comma.
--nodefroute — Pre ve nts the inte rface be ing s e t as the de fault route . Us e
this option whe n you activate additional de vice s with the --activate= option,
for e xample , a NIC on a s e parate s ubne t for an iSCSI targe t.
The nodefroute option is ne w in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.1.
--nodns — Do not configure any DNS s e rve r.
--netmask= — Ne twork mas k of the de vice .
--hostname= — Hos tname for the ins talle d s ys te m.
--ethtool= — Spe cifie s additional low-le ve l s e ttings for the ne twork de vice
which will be pas s e d to the e thtool program.
--onboot= — Whe the r or not to e nable the de vice at boot time .
--dhcpclass= — The DHCP clas s .
--mtu= — The MTU of the de vice .
--noipv4 — Dis able configuration of IPv4 on this de vice .
--noipv6 — Dis able configuration of IPv6 on this de vice .
461
No te
The --noipv6 kicks tart option doe s not curre ntly dis able IPv6
configuration of individual de vice s , due to a bug. Howe ve r, dis abling ipv6
s ys te m-wide is pos s ible by us ing the --noipv6 option on e ve ry ne twork
de vice and us ing the noipv6 boot parame te r. Se e Se ction 32.10,
“Starting a Kicks tart Ins tallation” for more information about the noipv6
boot option, and the Knowle dge bas e article at
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /1565723 for more information on
dis abling IPv6 s ys te m-wide .
--vlanid= — Spe cifie s virtual LAN ID numbe r (802.1q tag).
--bondslaves= — Spe cifie s which ne twork inte rface s will be bonde d as a
comma-s e parate d lis t.
--bondopts= — a lis t of optional parame te rs for a bonde d inte rface , which is
s pe cifie d us ing the --bondslaves= and --device= options . Options in this lis t
mus t be s e parate d by commas (",") or s e micolons (";"). If an option its e lf
contains a comma, us e a s e micolon to s e parate the options . For e xample :
network --bondopts=mode=active-backup,balance-rr;primary=eth1
Available optional parame te rs are lis te d in the Working with Kernel Modules
chapte r of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide .
Impo rtant
The --bondopts=mode= parame te r only s upports full mode name s s uch
as balance-rr or broadcast, not the ir nume rical re pre s e ntations s uch
as 0 or 3.
part o r partition (required f o r inst alls, igno red f o r upgrades)
Cre ate s a partition on the s ys te m.
If more than one Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation e xis ts on the s ys te m on
diffe re nt partitions , the ins tallation program prompts the us e r and as ks which
ins tallation to upgrade .
Warning
All partitions cre ate d are formatte d as part of the ins tallation proce s s
unle s s --noformat and --onpart are us e d.
462
Impo rtant
For a de taile d e xample of part in action, re fe r to Se ction 32.4.1, “Advance d
Partitioning Example ”.
part|partition <mntpoint> --name=<name> --device=<device> -rule=<rule> [options]
<mntpoint> — Whe re the partition is mounte d. The value mus t be of one of
the following forms :
/<path>
For e xample , /, /usr, /home
swap
The partition is us e d as s wap s pace .
To de te rmine the s iz e of the s wap partition automatically, us e the -recommended option:
swap --recommended
The s iz e as s igne d will be e ffe ctive but not pre cis e ly calibrate d for your
s ys te m.
To de te rmine the s iz e of the s wap partition automatically but als o allow
e xtra s pace for your s ys te m to hibe rnate , us e the --hibernation option:
swap --hibernation
The s iz e as s igne d will be e quivale nt to the s wap s pace as s igne d by -recommended plus the amount of RAM on your s ys te m.
For the s wap s iz e s as s igne d by the s e commands , re fe r to Se ction 9.15.5,
“Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ” for x86, AMD64, and Inte l 64
Archite cture and Se ction 16.17.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ” for
IBM Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs .
463
Impo rtant
Swap s pace re comme ndations we re update d in Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux 6.3. Pre vious ly, s ys te ms with large amounts of RAM we re
as s igne d huge s wap s pace s . This de laye d the Out-of-Me mory Kille r
(o o m_kill) in addre s s ing critical me mory s hortage s , e ve n if a
proce s s was malfunctioning.
Cons e que ntly, if you are us ing an e arlie r ve rs ion of Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux 6, swap --recommended will ge ne rate large r s wap
s pace s than thos e de s cribe d in the Re comme nde d Partitioning
Sche me , e ve n on s ys te ms with large amounts of RAM. This may
ne gate the ne e d to allow e xtra s pace for hibe rnation.
Howe ve r, the s e update d s wap s pace value s are none the le s s
re comme nde d for e arlie r ve rs ions of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 and
can be s e t manually us ing the swap --size= option.
raid.<id>
The partition is us e d for s oftware RAID (re fe r to raid).
pv.<id>
The partition is us e d for LVM (re fe r to logvol).
--size= — The minimum partition s iz e in me gabyte s . Spe cify an inte ge r value
he re s uch as 500 (do not include the unit).
Impo rtant
If the --size value is too s mall, the ins tallation will fail. Se t the --size
value as the minimum amount of s pace you re quire . For s iz e
re comme ndations , re fe r to Se ction 9.15.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning
Sche me ”.
--grow — Te lls the partition to grow to fill available s pace (if any), or up to the
maximum s iz e s e tting.
No te
If you us e --grow= without s e tting --maxsize= on a s wap partition,
Anaco nda will limit the maximum s iz e of the s wap partition. For
s ys te ms that have le s s than 2GB of phys ical me mory, the impos e d limit
is twice the amount of phys ical me mory. For s ys te ms with more than
2GB, the impos e d limit is the s iz e of phys ical me mory plus 2GB.
--maxsize= — The maximum partition s iz e in me gabyte s whe n the partition is
s e t to grow. Spe cify an inte ge r value he re s uch as 500 (do not include the
unit).
464
--noformat — Spe cifie s that the partition s hould not be formatte d, for us e with
the --onpart command.
--onpart= or --usepart= — Spe cifie s the de vice on which to place the
partition. For e xample :
partition /home --onpart=hda1
puts /home on /dev/hda1.
The s e options can als o add a partition to a logical volume . For e xample :
partition pv.1 --onpart=hda2
The de vice mus t alre ady e xis t on the s ys te m; the --onpart option will not
cre ate it.
--ondisk= or --ondrive= — Force s the partition to be cre ate d on a particular
dis k. For e xample , --ondisk=sdb puts the partition on the s e cond SCSI dis k on
the s ys te m.
To s pe cify a multipath de vice that doe s not us e logical volume management
(LVM), us e the format disk/by-id/dm-uuid-mpath-WWID, whe re WWID is the
world-wide identifier for the de vice . For e xample , to s pe cify a dis k with WWID
2416CD96995134CA5D787F00A5AA11017, us e :
part / --fstype=ext3 --grow --asprimary --size=100 -ondisk=disk/by-id/dm-uuid-mpath2416CD96995134CA5D787F00A5AA11017
Multipath de vice s that us e LVM are not as s e mble d until afte r anaco nda has
pars e d the kicks tart file . The re fore , you cannot s pe cify the s e de vice s in the
format dm-uuid-mpath. Ins te ad, to s pe cify a multipath de vice that us e s LVM,
us e the format disk/by-id/scsi-WWID, whe re WWID is the world-wide
identifier for the de vice . For e xample , to s pe cify a dis k with WWID
58095BEC5510947BE8C0360F604351918, us e :
part / --fstype=ext3 --grow --asprimary --size=100 -ondisk=disk/by-id/scsi-58095BEC5510947BE8C0360F604351918
Warning
/dev/mpatha during ins tallation might not be the one that you e xpe ct it
to be . The re fore , the clearpart command could targe t the wrong dis k.
--asprimary — Force s automatic allocation of the partition as a primary
partition, or the partitioning fails .
--type= (re place d by fstype) — This option is no longe r available . Us e
fstype.
--fsoptions — Spe cifie s a fre e form s tring of options to be us e d whe n
465
mounting the file s ys te m. This s tring will be copie d into the /etc/fstab file of
the ins talle d s ys te m and s hould be e nclos e d in quote s .
--fstype= — Se ts the file s ys te m type for the partition. Valid value s are xfs,
ext2, ext3, ext4, swap, vfat, hfs, and efi.
--recommended — De te rmine the s iz e of the partition automatically.
--onbiosdisk — Force s the partition to be cre ate d on a particular dis k as
dis cove re d by the BIOS.
--encrypted — Spe cifie s that this partition s hould be e ncrypte d, us ing the
pas s phras e provide d in the --passphrase option. If you do not s pe cify a
--passphrase= — Spe cifie s the pas s phras e to us e whe n e ncrypting this
partition. You mus t us e this option toge the r with the --encrypted option; by
its e lf it has no e ffe ct.
all e ncrypte d partitions as file s in /root, e ncrypte d us ing the X.509 ce rtificate
s e parate file for e ach e ncrypte d partition. This option is only me aningful if -encrypted is s pe cifie d.
e ncrypte d partition. Store the s e pas s phras e s in s e parate file s in /root,
--label= — as s ign a labe l to an individual partition.
No te
If partitioning fails for any re as on, diagnos tic me s s age s appe ar on virtual
cons ole 3.
poweroff (o pt io nal)
Shut down and powe r off the s ys te m afte r the ins tallation has s ucce s s fully
comple te d. Normally during a manual ins tallation, anaconda dis plays a me s s age
and waits for the us e r to pre s s a ke y be fore re booting. During a kicks tart
466
ins tallation, if no comple tion me thod is s pe cifie d, the halt option is us e d as
de fault.
The poweroff option is e quivale nt to the shutdown -p command.
No te
The poweroff option is highly de pe nde nt on the s ys te m hardware in us e .
Spe cifically, ce rtain hardware compone nts s uch as the BIOS, APM (advance d
powe r manage me nt), and ACPI (advance d configuration and powe r inte rface )
mus t be able to inte ract with the s ys te m ke rne l. Contact your manufacture r
for more information on you s ys te m's APM/ACPI abilitie s .
For othe r comple tion me thods , re fe r to the halt, reboot, and shutdown kicks tart
options .
raid (o pt io nal)
As s e mble s a s oftware RAID de vice . This command is of the form:
raid <mntpoint> --level=<level> --device=<mddevice> <partitions*>
<mntpoint> — Location whe re the RAID file s ys te m is mounte d. If it is /, the
RAID le ve l mus t be 1 unle s s a boot partition (/boot) is pre s e nt. If a boot
partition is pre s e nt, the /boot partition mus t be le ve l 1 and the root (/)
partition can be any of the available type s . The <partitions*> (which de note s
that multiple partitions can be lis te d) lis ts the RAID ide ntifie rs to add to the
RAID array.
Impo rtant
If a RAID de vice has be e n pre pare d and has not be e n re formatte d during
ins tallation, e ns ure that the RAID me tadata ve rs ion is 0.90 if you inte nd
to put the /boot and PReP partitions on the RAID de vice .
The de fault Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 mdadm me tadata ve rs ion is not
s upporte d for the boot de vice .
--level= — RAID le ve l to us e (0, 1, or 5).
--device= — Name of the RAID de vice to us e (s uch as md0 or md1). RAID
de vice s range from md0 to md15, and e ach may only be us e d once .
--spares= — Spe cifie s the numbe r of s pare drive s allocate d for the RAID
array. Spare drive s are us e d to re build the array in cas e of drive failure .
467
--fstype= — Se ts the file s ys te m type for the RAID array. Valid value s are
xfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, swap, vfat, and hfs.
--fsoptions= — Spe cifie s a fre e form s tring of options to be us e d whe n
mounting the file s ys te m. This s tring will be copie d into the /e tc/fs tab file of the
ins talle d s ys te m and s hould be e nclos e d in quote s .
--noformat — Us e an e xis ting RAID de vice and do not format the RAID array.
--useexisting — Us e an e xis ting RAID de vice and re format it.
--encrypted — Spe cifie s that this RAID de vice s hould be e ncrypte d, us ing the
pas s phras e provide d in the --passphrase option. If you do not s pe cify a
--passphrase= — Spe cifie s the pas s phras e to us e whe n e ncrypting this RAID
de vice . You mus t us e this option toge the r with the --encrypted option; by
its e lf it has no e ffe ct.
--escrowcert=URL_of_X.509_certificate — Store the data e ncryption ke y
for this de vice in a file in /root, e ncrypte d us ing the X.509 ce rtificate from the
URL s pe cifie d with URL_of_X.509_certificate. This option is only me aningful if -encrypted is s pe cifie d.
--backuppassphrase= — Add a randomly-ge ne rate d pas s phras e to this
de vice . Store the pas s phras e in a file in /root, e ncrypte d us ing the X.509
ce rtificate s pe cifie d with --escrowcert. This option is only me aningful if -escrowcert is s pe cifie d.
The following e xample s hows how to cre ate a RAID le ve l 1 partition for /, and a
RAID le ve l 5 for /usr, as s uming the re are thre e SCSI dis ks on the s ys te m. It als o
cre ate s thre e s wap partitions , one on e ach drive .
part raid.01 --size=60 --ondisk=sda
part raid.02 --size=60 --ondisk=sdb
part raid.03 --size=60 --ondisk=sdc
part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sda
part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sdb
part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sdc
part raid.11 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sda
part raid.12 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sdb
part raid.13 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sdc
raid / --level=1 --device=md0 raid.01 raid.02 raid.03
raid /usr --level=5 --device=md1 raid.11 raid.12 raid.13
468
For a de taile d e xample of raid in action, re fe r to Se ction 32.4.1, “Advance d
reboot (o pt io nal)
Re boot afte r the ins tallation is s ucce s s fully comple te d (no argume nts ). Normally,
kicks tart dis plays a me s s age and waits for the us e r to pre s s a ke y be fore
re booting.
The reboot option is e quivale nt to the shutdown -r command.
Spe cify reboot to automate ins tallation fully whe n ins talling in cmdline mode on
Sys te m z .
For othe r comple tion me thods , re fe r to the halt, poweroff, and shutdown
kicks tart options .
The halt option is the de fault comple tion me thod if no othe r me thods are
e xplicitly s pe cifie d in the kicks tart file .
No te
Us e of the reboot option may re s ult in an e ndle s s ins tallation loop,
de pe nding on the ins tallation me dia and me thod.
repo (o pt io nal)
Configure s additional yum re pos itorie s that may be us e d as s ource s for package
ins tallation. Multiple re po line s may be s pe cifie d.
repo --name=<repoid> [--baseurl=<url>| --mirrorlist=<url>]
--name= — The re po id. This option is re quire d.
--baseurl= — The URL for the re pos itory. The variable s that may be us e d in
yum re po config file s are not s upporte d he re . You may us e one of e ithe r this
option or --mirrorlis t, not both.
--mirrorlist= — The URL pointing at a lis t of mirrors for the re pos itory. The
variable s that may be us e d in yum re po config file s are not s upporte d he re .
You may us e one of e ithe r this option or --bas e url, not both.
Impo rtant
Re pos itorie s us e d for ins tallation mus t be s table . The ins tallation may fail if
a re pos itory is modifie d be fore the ins tallation conclude s .
rootpw (required)
Se ts the s ys te m's root pas s word to the <password> argume nt.
rootpw [--iscrypted] <password>
469
--iscrypted — If this is pre s e nt, the pas s word argume nt is as s ume d to
alre ady be e ncrypte d. To cre ate an e ncrypte d pas s word, us e the following
command:
python -c 'import crypt; print(crypt.crypt("My Password"))'
This will cre ate a s ha512 crypt of your pas s word.
selinux (o pt io nal)
Se ts the s tate of SELinux on the ins talle d s ys te m. SELinux de faults to e nforcing in
anaconda.
selinux [--disabled|--enforcing|--permissive]
--enforcing — Enable s SELinux with the de fault targe te d policy be ing
e nforce d.
No te
If the selinux option is not pre s e nt in the kicks tart file , SELinux is
e nable d and s e t to --enforcing by de fault.
--permissive — Outputs warnings bas e d on the SELinux policy, but doe s not
actually e nforce the policy.
--disabled — Dis able s SELinux comple te ly on the s ys te m.
For more information re garding SELinux for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, re fe r to the
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Deployment Guide.
services (o pt io nal)
Modifie s the de fault s e t of s e rvice s that will run unde r the de fault runle ve l. The
lis t of dis able d s e rvice s is proce s s e d be fore the lis t of e nable d s e rvice s .
The re fore , if a s e rvice appe ars on both lis ts , it is e nable d.
--disabled — Dis able the s e rvice s give n in the comma s e parate d lis t.
--enabled — Enable the s e rvice s give n in the comma s e parate d lis t.
Impo rtant
Do not include s pace s in the lis t of s e rvice s . If you do, kicks tart will e nable
or dis able only the s e rvice s up to the firs t s pace . For e xample :
services --disabled auditd, cups,smartd, nfslock
will dis able only the audit d s e rvice . To dis able all four s e rvice s , this e ntry
s hould include no s pace s be twe e n s e rvice s :
services --disabled auditd,cups,smartd,nfslock
470
shutdown (o pt io nal)
Shut down the s ys te m afte r the ins tallation has s ucce s s fully comple te d. During a
kicks tart ins tallation, if no comple tion me thod is s pe cifie d, the halt option is us e d
as de fault.
The shutdown option is e quivale nt to the shutdown command.
For othe r comple tion me thods , re fe r to the halt, poweroff, and reboot kicks tart
options .
skipx (o pt io nal)
If pre s e nt, X is not configure d on the ins talle d s ys te m.
Impo rtant
If you ins tall a dis play manage r among your package s e le ction options , this
package will cre ate an X configuration, and the ins talle d s ys te m will de fault
to run le ve l 5. The e ffe ct of the skipx option will be ove rridde n.
sshpw (o pt io nal)
During ins tallation, you can inte ract with anaco nda and monitor its progre s s ove r
an SSH conne ction. Us e the sshpw command to cre ate te mporary accounts
through which to log on. Each ins tance of the command cre ate s a s e parate
account that e xis ts only in the ins tallation e nvironme nt. The s e accounts are not
trans fe rre d to the ins talle d s ys te m.
sshpw --username=<name> <password> [--iscrypted|--plaintext] [-lock]
--username — Provide s the name of the us e r. This option is re quire d.
--iscrypted — Spe cifie s that the pas s word is alre ady e ncrypte d.
--plaintext — Spe cifie s that the pas s word is in plain te xt and not e ncrypte d.
--lock — If this is pre s e nt, the ne w us e r account is locke d by de fault. That is ,
the us e r will not be able to login from the cons ole .
Impo rtant
By de fault, the ssh s e rve r is not s tarte d during ins tallation. To make ssh
available during ins tallation, boot the s ys te m with the ke rne l boot option
sshd=1. Re fe r to Se ction 28.2.3, “Enabling Re mote Acce s s with s s h” for
de tails of how to s pe cify this ke rne l option at boot time .
471
No te
If you want to dis able root ssh acce s s to your hardware during ins tallation,
run:
sshpw --username=root --lock
text (o pt io nal)
Pe rform the kicks tart ins tallation in te xt mode . Kicks tart ins tallations are
pe rforme d in graphical mode by de fault.
Impo rtant
timezone (required)
Se ts the s ys te m time z one to <timezone> which may be any of the time z one s
lis te d in the /usr/share/zoneinfo dire ctory.
timezone [--utc] <timezone>
--utc — If pre s e nt, the s ys te m as s ume s the hardware clock is s e t to UTC
(Gre e nwich Me an) time .
unsupported_hardware (o pt io nal)
Te lls the ins talle r to s uppre s s the Unsupported Hardware Detected ale rt. If this
command is not include d and uns upporte d hardware is de te cte d, the ins tallation
will s tall at this ale rt.
upgrade (o pt io nal)
Te lls the s ys te m to upgrade an e xis ting s ys te m rathe r than ins tall a fre s h
s ys te m. You mus t s pe cify one of cdrom, harddrive, nfs, or url (for FTP, HTTP,
and HTTPS) as the location of the ins tallation tre e . Re fe r to install for de tails .
user (o pt io nal)
Cre ate s a ne w us e r on the s ys te m.
user --name=<username> [--groups=<list>] [--homedir=<homedir>] [-password=<password>] [--iscrypted] [--shell=<shell>] [-uid=<uid>]
--name= — Provide s the name of the us e r. This option is re quire d.
472
--groups= — In addition to the de fault group, a comma s e parate d lis t of group
name s the us e r s hould be long to. The groups mus t e xis t be fore the us e r
account is cre ate d.
--homedir= — The home dire ctory for the us e r. If not provide d, this de faults to
/home /<username>.
--password= — The ne w us e r's pas s word. If not provide d, the account will be
locke d by de fault.
--iscrypted= — Is the pas s word provide d by --pas s word alre ady e ncrypte d or
not?
--shell= — The us e r's login s he ll. If not provide d, this de faults to the s ys te m
de fault.
--uid= — The us e r's UID. If not provide d, this de faults to the ne xt available
non-s ys te m UID.
vnc (o pt io nal)
Allows the graphical ins tallation to be vie we d re mote ly via VNC. This me thod is
us ually pre fe rre d ove r te xt mode , as the re are s ome s iz e and language
limitations in te xt ins talls . With no options , this command will s tart a VNC s e rve r
on the machine with no pas s word and will print out the command that ne e ds to be
run to conne ct a re mote machine .
vnc [--host=<hostname>] [--port=<port>] [--password=<password>]
--host= — Ins te ad of s tarting a VNC s e rve r on the ins tall machine , conne ct to
the VNC vie we r proce s s lis te ning on the give n hos tname .
--port= — Provide a port that the re mote VNC vie we r proce s s is lis te ning on.
If not provide d, anaconda will us e the VNC de fault.
--password= — Se t a pas s word which mus t be provide d to conne ct to the VNC
s e s s ion. This is optional, but re comme nde d.
volgroup (o pt io nal)
Us e to cre ate a Logical Volume Manage me nt (LVM) group with the s yntax:
volgroup <name> <partition> [options]
473
Impo rtant
Do not us e the das h ("-") characte r in logical volume or volume group
name s whe n ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux us ing Kicks tart. If you do,
the ins tallation will finis h normally, but the characte r will be re move d from
all ne wly cre ate d volume and volume group name s . For e xample , if you
cre ate a volume group name d volgrp-01, its name will be change d to
volgrp01.
This limitation only applie s to ne w ins tallations . If you are upgrading or
re ins talling an e xis ting ins tallation and us e the --noformat option
de s cribe d be low, das he s us e d in volume and volume group name s will be
pre s e rve d.
logical volume . For e xample :
part pv.01 --size 3000
volgroup myvg pv.01
logvol / --vgname=myvg --size=2000 --name=rootvol
For a de taile d e xample of volgroup in action, re fe r to Se ction 32.4.1, “Advance d
The options are as follows :
--noformat — Us e an e xis ting volume group and do not format it.
--useexisting - Us e an e xis ting volume group and re format it. If you us e this
option, do not s pe cify a partition. For e xample :
volgroup rhel00 --useexisting --noformat
--pesize= — Se t the s iz e of the phys ical e xte nts . The de fault s iz e for
Kicks tart ins tallations is 4 MiB.
--reserved-space= — Spe cify an amount of s pace to le ave unus e d in a
volume group, in me gabyte s . Only us able whe n cre ating a ne w volume group.
--reserved-percent= — Spe cify a pe rce ntage of total volume group s pace to
le ave unus e d. Only us able whe n cre ating a ne w volume group.
No te
The --reserved-space= and --reserved-percent= options allow you to
le ave a part of the total volume group s pace unus e d by any volume s . This
allows you to re s e rve s pace for LVM s naps hots , e ve n if the logvol --grow
command is us e d during partitioning.
winbind (o pt io nal)
474
Configure s the s ys te m to conne ct to a Windows Active Dire ctory or a Windows
domain controlle r. Us e r information from the s pe cifie d dire ctory or domain
controlle r can the n be acce s s e d and s e rve r authe ntication options can be
configure d.
--enablewinbind — Enable winbind for us e r account configuration.
--disablewinbind — Dis able winbind for us e r account configuration.
--enablewinbindauth — Enable windbindauth for authe ntication.
--disablewinbindauth — Dis able windbindauth for authe ntication.
--enablewinbindoffline — Configure s winbind to allow offline login.
--disablewinbindoffline — Configure s winbind to pre ve nt offline login.
--enablewinbindusedefaultdomain — Configure s winbind to as s ume that
us e rs with no domain in the ir us e rname s are domain us e rs .
--disablewinbindusedefaultdomain — Configure s winbind to as s ume that
us e rs with no domain in the ir us e rname s are not domain us e rs .
xconfig (o pt io nal)
Configure s the X Windo w Syst em. If you ins tall the X Windo w Syst em with a
kicks tart file that doe s not include the xconfig command, you mus t provide the X
configuration manually during ins tallation.
Do not us e this command in a kicks tart file that doe s not ins tall the X Windo w
Syst em.
--driver — Spe cify the X drive r to us e for the vide o hardware .
--videoram= — Spe cifie s the amount of vide o RAM the vide o card has .
--defaultdesktop= — Spe cify e ithe r GNOME or KDE to s e t the de fault de s ktop
(as s ume s that GNOME De s ktop Environme nt and/or KDE De s ktop Environme nt
has be e n ins talle d through %packages).
--startxonboot — Us e a graphical login on the ins talle d s ys te m.
zerombr (o pt io nal)
If zerombr is s pe cifie d any invalid partition table s found on dis ks are initializ e d.
This de s troys all of the conte nts of dis ks with invalid partition table s . This
command is re quire d whe n pe rforming an unatte nde d ins tallation on a s ys te m
with pre vious ly initializ e d dis ks .
Spe cific to Sys te m z : If zerombr is s pe cifie d, any DASD vis ible to the ins talle r
which is not alre ady low-le ve l formatte d ge ts automatically low-le ve l formatte d
with dasdf mt . The command als o pre ve nts us e r choice during inte ractive
ins tallations . If zerombr is not s pe cifie d and the re is at le as t one unformatte d
DASD vis ible to the ins talle r, a non-inte ractive kicks tart ins tallation will e xit
uns ucce s s fully. If zerombr is not s pe cifie d and the re is at le as t one unformatte d
DASD vis ible to the ins talle r, an inte ractive ins tallation e xits if the us e r doe s not
agre e to format all vis ible and unformatte d DASDs . To circumve nt this , only
activate thos e DASDs that you will us e during ins tallation. You can always add
more DASDs afte r ins tallation is comple te .
475
No te
That this command was pre vious ly s pe cifie d as zerombr yes. This form is
now de pre cate d; you s hould now s imply s pe cify zerombr in your kicks tart
file ins te ad.
zfcp (o pt io nal)
De fine a Fibe r channe l de vice (IBM Sys te m z ).
zfcp [--devnum=<devnum>] [--wwpn=<wwpn>] [--fcplun=<fcplun>]
%include (o pt io nal)
Us e the %include /path/to/file command to include the conte nts of anothe r
file in the kicks tart file as though the conte nts we re at the location of the
%include command in the kicks tart file .
32.4.1. Advanced Part it ioning Example
The following is a s ingle , inte grate d e xample s howing the clearpart, raid, part,
volgroup, and logvol kicks tart options in action:
clearpart --drives=hda,hdc
zerombr
# Raid 1 IDE config
part raid.11
--size 1000
--asprimary
part raid.12
--size 1000
--asprimary
part raid.13
--size 2000
--asprimary
part raid.14
--size 8000
part raid.15
--size 16384 --grow
part raid.21
--size 1000
--asprimary
part raid.22
--size 1000
--asprimary
part raid.23
--size 2000
--asprimary
part raid.24
--size 8000
part raid.25
--size 16384 --grow
--ondrive=hda
--ondrive=hda
--ondrive=hda
--ondrive=hda
--ondrive=hda
--ondrive=hdc
--ondrive=hdc
--ondrive=hdc
--ondrive=hdc
--ondrive=hdc
# You can add --spares=x
raid /
--fstype ext3 --device md0 --level=RAID1 raid.11
raid /safe
raid swap
--fstype swap --device md2 --level=RAID1 raid.13
raid /usr
raid pv.01
raid.21
raid.22
raid.23
raid.24
raid.25
# LVM configuration so that we can resize /var and /usr/local later
volgroup sysvg pv.01
logvol /var
--vgname=sysvg --size=8000
--name=var
logvol /var/freespace
--vgname=sysvg --size=8000
-name=freespacetouse
logvol /usr/local
--vgname=sysvg --size=1 --grow --name=usrlocal
This advance d e xample imple me nts LVM ove r RAID, as we ll as the ability to re s iz e
various dire ctorie s for future growth.
476
32.5. Package Select ion
Warning
You can us e a kicks tart file to ins tall e ve ry available package by s pe cifying * in the
%packages s e ction. Re d Hat doe s not s upport this type of ins tallation.
In pre vious re le as e s of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, this functionality was provide d by
@Everything, but this option is not include d in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.
Us e the %packages command to be gin a kicks tart file s e ction that lis ts the package s you
would like to ins tall (this is for ins tallations only, as package s e le ction during upgrade s is
not s upporte d).
You can s pe cify package s by group or by the ir package name s . The ins tallation program
de fine s s e ve ral groups that contain re late d package s . Re fe r to the
variant/repodata/comps-*.xml file on the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 Ins tallation DVD
for a lis t of groups . Each group has an id, us e r vis ibility value , name , de s cription, and
package lis t. If the group is s e le cte d for ins tallation, the package s marke d mandatory in
the package lis t are always ins talle d, the package s marke d default are ins talle d if the y
are not s pe cifically e xclude d e ls e whe re , and the package s marke d optional mus t be
s pe cifically include d e ls e whe re e ve n whe n the group is s e le cte d.
Spe cify groups , one e ntry to a line , s tarting with an @ s ymbol, a s pace , and the n the full
group name or group id as give n in the comps.xml file . For e xample :
%packages
@X Window System
@Desktop
@Sound and Video
Note that the Core and Base groups are always s e le cte d by de fault, s o it is not ne ce s s ary
to s pe cify the m in the %packages s e ction.
477
Warning
Whe n pe rforming a minimal ins tallation us ing the @Core group, the fire wall
(iptables/ip6tables) will not be configure d on the ins talle d s ys te m. This pre s e nts
a s e curity ris k. To work around this is s ue , add the authconfig and system-configfirewall-base package s to your package s e le ction as de s cribe d be low. The fire wall
will be configure d prope rly if the s e package s are pre s e nt.
A minimal ins tallation's %packages s e ction which will als o configure the fire wall will
look s imilar to the following:
%packages
@Core
authconfig
system-config-firewall-base
Se e the Re d Hat Cus tome r Portal for de tails .
Spe cify individual package s by name , one e ntry to a line . You can us e as te ris ks as
wildcards to glob package name s in e ntrie s . For e xample :
sqlite
curl
aspell
docbook*
The docbook* e ntry include s the package s docbook-dtds, docbook-simple, docbook-slides
and othe rs that match the patte rn re pre s e nte d with the wildcard.
Us e a le ading das h to s pe cify package s or groups to e xclude from the ins tallation. For
e xample :
-@ Graphical Internet
-autofs
-ipa*fonts
Impo rtant
To ins tall a 32-bit package on a 64-bit s ys te m, you will ne e d to appe nd the package
name with the 32-bit archite cture the package was built for. For e xample :
glibc.i686
Us ing a kicks tart file to ins tall e ve ry available package by s pe cifying * will introduce
package and file conflicts onto the ins talle d s ys te m. Package s known to caus e s uch
proble ms are as s igne d to the @Conflicts (variant) group, whe re variant is Client,
ComputeNode, Server or Workstation. If you s pe cify * in a kicks tart file , be s ure to
e xclude @Conflicts (variant) or the ins tallation will fail:
478
*
-@Conflicts (Server)
Note that Re d Hat doe s not s upport the us e of * in a kicks tart file , e ve n if you e xclude
@Conflicts (variant).
The s e ction mus t e nd with the %end command.
The following options are available for the %packages option:
--nobase
Do not ins tall the @Bas e group. Us e this option to pe rform a minimal ins tallation,
for e xample , for a s ingle -purpos e s e rve r or de s ktop appliance .
--nocore
Dis able s ins tallation of the @Core package group which is othe rwis e always
ins talle d by de fault. Dis abling the @Core package group s hould be only us e d for
cre ating lightwe ight containe rs ; ins talling a de s ktop or s e rve r s ys te m with -nocore will re s ult in an unus able s ys te m.
No te
Us ing -@Core to e xclude package s in the @Core package group doe s not
work. The only way to e xclude the @Core package group is with the -nocore option.
--resolvedeps
The --re s olve de ps option has be e n de pre cate d. De pe nde ncie s are now always
re s olve d automatically.
--ignoredeps
The --ignore de ps option has be e n de pre cate d. De pe nde ncie s are re s olve d
automatically e ve ry time now.
--ignoremissing
Ignore the mis s ing package s and groups ins te ad of halting the ins tallation to as k if
the ins tallation s hould be aborte d or continue d. For e xample :
%packages --ignoremissing
32.6. Pre-inst allat ion Script
You can add commands to run on the s ys te m imme diate ly afte r the ks.cfg has be e n
pars e d. This s e ction mus t be place d towards the e nd of the kicks tart file , afte r the
kicks tart commands de s cribe d in Se ction 32.4, “Kicks tart Options ”, and mus t s tart with the
%pre command and e nd with the %end command. If your kicks tart file als o include s a %post
s e ction, the orde r of the %pre and %post s e ctions doe s not matte r.
479
You can acce s s the ne twork in the %pre s e ction; howe ve r, name service has not be e n
configure d at this point, s o only IP addre s s e s work.
Only the mos t commonly us e d commands are available in the pre -ins tallation
e nvironme nt:
arping, awk, basename, bash, bunzip2, bzcat, cat, chattr, chgrp, chmod, chown, chroot,
chvt, clear, cp, cpio, cut, date, dd, df, dirname, dmesg, du, e2fsck, e2label, echo,
egrep, eject, env, expr, false, fdisk, fgrep, find, fsck, fsck.ext2, fsck.ext3, ftp,
grep, gunzip, gzip, hdparm, head, hostname, hwclock, ifconfig, insmod, ip, ipcalc,
kill, killall, less, ln, load_policy, login, losetup, ls, lsattr, lsmod, lvm, md5sum,
mkdir, mke2fs, mkfs.ext2, mkfs.ext3, mknod, mkswap, mktemp, modprobe, more, mount, mt,
mv, nslookup, openvt, pidof, ping, ps, pwd, readlink, rm, rmdir, rmmod, route, rpm, sed,
sh, sha1sum, sleep, sort, swapoff, swapon, sync, tail, tar, tee, telnet, top, touch,
true, tune2fs, umount, uniq, vconfig, vi, wc, wget, wipefs, xargs, zcat.
No te
The pre -ins tall s cript is not run in the change root e nvironme nt.
--interpreter /usr/bin/python
Allows you to s pe cify a diffe re nt s cripting language , s uch as Python. Re place
/usr/bin/python with the s cripting language of your choice .
32.6.1. Example Pre-inst allat ion Script
The following is an e xample %pre s e ction:
%pre
#!/bin/sh
hds=""
mymedia=""
for file in /proc/ide/h* do
mymedia=`cat $file/media`
if [ $mymedia == "disk" ] ; then
hds="$hds `basename $file`"
fi
done
set $hds
numhd=ècho $#`
drive1=ècho $hds | cut -d' ' -f1`
drive2=ècho $hds | cut -d' ' -f2`
#Write out partition scheme based on whether there are 1 or 2 hard
drives
if [ $numhd == "2" ] ; then
#2 drives
echo "#partitioning scheme generated in %pre for 2 drives" > /tmp/partinclude
echo "clearpart --all" >> /tmp/part-include
echo "zerombr" >> /tmp/part-include
echo "part /boot --fstype ext3 --size 75 --ondisk hda" >> /tmp/partinclude
echo "part / --fstype ext3 --size 1 --grow --ondisk hda" >> /tmp/part-
480
include
echo "part swap --recommended --ondisk $drive1" >> /tmp/part-include
echo "part /home --fstype ext3 --size 1 --grow --ondisk hdb" >>
/tmp/part-include
else
#1 drive
echo "#partitioning scheme generated in %pre for 1 drive" > /tmp/partinclude
echo "clearpart --all" >> /tmp/part-include
echo "part /boot --fstype ext3 --size 75" >> /tmp/part-include
echo "part swap --recommended" >> /tmp/part-include
echo "part / --fstype ext3 --size 2048" >> /tmp/part-include
echo "part /home --fstype ext3 --size 2048 --grow" >> /tmp/part-include
fi
%end
This s cript de te rmine s the numbe r of hard drive s in the s ys te m and write s a te xt file with
a diffe re nt partitioning s che me de pe nding on whe the r it has one or two drive s . Ins te ad of
having a s e t of partitioning commands in the kicks tart file , include the following line :
%include /tmp/part-include
The partitioning commands s e le cte d in the s cript are us e d.
No te
The pre -ins tallation s cript s e ction of kicks tart cannot manage multiple ins tall tre e s or
s ource me dia. This information mus t be include d for e ach cre ate d ks .cfg file , as the
pre -ins tallation s cript occurs during the s e cond s tage of the ins tallation proce s s .
32.7. Post -inst allat ion Script
You have the option of adding commands to run on the s ys te m once the ins tallation is
comple te . This s e ction mus t be place d towards the e nd of the kicks tart file , afte r the
kicks tart commands de s cribe d in Se ction 32.4, “Kicks tart Options ”, and mus t s tart with the
%post command and e nd with the %end command. If your kicks tart file als o include s a %pre
s e ction, the orde r of the %pre and %post s e ctions doe s not matte r.
This s e ction is us e ful for functions s uch as ins talling additional s oftware and configuring an
additional name s e rve r.
No te
If you configure d the ne twork with s tatic IP information, including a name s e rve r, you
can acce s s the ne twork and re s olve IP addre s s e s in the %post s e ction. If you
configure d the ne twork for DHCP, the /etc/resolv.conf file has not be e n
comple te d whe n the ins tallation e xe cute s the %post s e ction. You can acce s s the
ne twork, but you can not re s olve IP addre s s e s . Thus , if you are us ing DHCP, you
mus t s pe cify IP addre s s e s in the %post s e ction.
481
No te
The pos t-ins tall s cript is run in a chroot e nvironme nt; the re fore , pe rforming tas ks
s uch as copying s cripts or RPMs from the ins tallation me dia do not work.
--nochroot
Allows you to s pe cify commands that you would like to run outs ide of the chroot
e nvironme nt.
The following e xample copie s the file /etc/resolv.conf to the file s ys te m that
was jus t ins talle d.
%post --nochroot
cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/sysimage/etc/resolv.conf
--interpreter /usr/bin/python
Allows you to s pe cify a diffe re nt s cripting language , s uch as Python. Re place
/usr/bin/python with the s cripting language of your choice .
--log /path/to/logfile
Logs the output of the pos t-ins tall s cript. Note that the path of the log file mus t
take into account whe the r or not you us e the --nochroot option. For e xample ,
without --nochroot:
%post --log=/root/ks-post.log
with --nochroot:
%post --nochroot --log=/mnt/sysimage/root/ks-post.log
32.7.1. Examples
32.7.1.1. Regist ering and T hen Mount ing an NFS Share
Re gis te r the s ys te m to a Re d Hat Subs cription Manage me nt s e rve r (in this e xample , a
local Subs cription As s e t Manage r s e rve r):
/usr/sbin/subscription-manager register --username=admin@example.com -password=secret --serverurl=sam-server.example.com --org="Admin Group" -environment="Dev"
%end
Run a s cript name d runme from an NFS s hare :
mkdir /mnt/temp
mount -o nolock 10.10.0.2:/usr/new-machines /mnt/temp
openvt -s -w -- /mnt/temp/runme
umount /mnt/temp
482
NFS file locking is not s upporte d while in kicks tart mode , the re fore -o nolock is re quire d
whe n mounting an NFS mount.
32.7.1.2. Regist ering a Syst em in RHN Classic
The rhnreg_ks command is a utility for re gis te ring a s ys te m with the Re d Hat Ne twork. It
is de s igne d to be us e d in a non-inte ractive e nvironme nt (a Kicks tart s tyle ins tall, for
e xample ). All the information can be s pe cifie d on the command line or s tandard input
(s tdin). This command s hould be us e d whe n you have cre ate d an activation ke y and you
want to re gis te r a s ys te m us ing a ke y.
For de tails about us ing rhnreg_ks to automatically re gis te r your s ys te m, s e e the
Knowle dge bas e article at https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /876433.
32.7.1.3. Running subscript ion-manager as a Post -Inst all Script
The subscript io n-manager command-line s cript re gis te rs a s ys te m to a Re d Hat
Subs cription Manage me nt s e rve r (Cus tome r Portal Subs cription Manage me nt, Subs cription
As s e t Manage r, or CloudForms Sys te m Engine ). This s cript can als o be us e d to as s ign or
attach s ubs criptions automatically to the s ys te m that be s t-match that s ys te m.
Whe n re gis te ring to the Cus tome r Portal, us e the Re d Hat ne twork login cre de ntials . Whe n
re gis te ring to Subs cription As s e t Manage r or CloudForms Sys te m Engine , us e whate ve r
us e r account was cre ate d by the local adminis trator.
Additional options can be us e d with the re gis tration command to s e t a pre fe rre d s e rvice
le ve l for the s ys te m and to re s trict update s and e rrata to a s pe cific ope rating s ys te m
ve rs ion.
/usr/sbin/subscription-manager register --username=admin@example.com -password=secret --serverurl=sam-server.example.com --org="Admin Group" -environment="Dev" --servicelevel=standard --release="6.6"
%end
For additional information about us ing subscript io n-manager, s e e the Knowle dge bas e
article at https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /748313.
32.8. Making t he Kickst art File Available
A kicks tart file mus t be place d in one of the following locations :
On re movable me dia, s uch as a floppy dis k, optical dis k, or USB flas h drive
On a hard drive
On a ne twork
Normally a kicks tart file is copie d to the re movable me dia or hard drive , or made available
on the ne twork. The ne twork-bas e d approach is mos t commonly us e d, as mos t kicks tart
ins tallations te nd to be pe rforme d on ne tworke d compute rs .
The following s e ction provide s a more in-de pth look at whe re the kicks tart file may be
place d.
32.8.1. Creat ing Kickst art Boot Media
483
If you want to modify boot me dia provide d by Re d Hat to include a Kicks tart file and
automatically load it during boot, follow the proce dure be low. Note that this proce dure will
only work on AMD and Inte l s ys te ms (x86 and x86_64). Additionally, this proce dure
re quire s the genisoimage and isomd5sum package s ; the s e package s are available on Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux, but if you us e a diffe re nt s ys te m, you may ne e d to adjus t the
commands us e d.
No te
Dis ke tte -bas e d booting is no longe r s upporte d in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
Ins tallations mus t us e CD-ROM or flas h me mory products for booting. Howe ve r, the
kicks tart file may s till re s ide on a dis ke tte 's top-le ve l dire ctory, and mus t be name d
ks.cfg. Se parate boot me dia will be re quire d.
Pro cedure 32.1. Including a Kickst art File o n Bo o t Media
Be fore you s tart the proce dure , make s ure you have downloade d a boot ISO image
(boot.is o or binary DVD) as de s cribe d in Chapte r 1, Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and
that you have cre ate d a working Kicks tart file .
1. Mount the ISO image you have downloade d:
# mount /path/to/image.iso /mnt/iso
2. Extract the ISO image into a working dire ctory s ome whe re in your s ys te m:
# cp -pRf /mnt/iso /tmp/workdir
3. Unmount the mounte d image :
# umount /mnt/iso
4. The conte nts of the image is now place d in the iso/ dire ctory in your working
dire ctory. Add your Kicks tart file (ks.cfg) into the iso/ dire ctory:
# cp /path/to/ks.cfg /tmp/workdir/iso
5. Ope n the isolinux/isolinux.cfg configuration file ins ide the iso/ dire ctory. This
file de te rmine s all the me nu options which appe ar in the boot me nu. A s ingle me nu
e ntry is de fine d as the following:
label linux
menu label Înstall or upgrade an existing system
menu default
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img
Add the ks= boot option to the line be ginning with append. The e xact s yntax
de pe nds on how you plan to boot the ISO image ; for e xample , if you plan on booting
from a CD or DVD, us e ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg. A lis t of pos s ible s ource s and the
s yntax us e d to configure the m is available in Se ction 28.4, “Automating the
Ins tallation with Kicks tart”.
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6. Us e genisoimage in the iso/ dire ctory to cre ate a ne w bootable ISO image with
your change s include d:
# genisoimage -U -r -v -T -J -joliet-long -V "RHEL-6" -volset
"RHEL-6" -A "RHEL-6" -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat
-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -eltorito-altboot -e images/efiboot.img -no-emul-boot -o ../NEWISO.iso .
This comand will cre ate a file name d NEWISO.iso in your working dire ctory (one
dire ctory above the iso/ dire ctory).
Impo rtant
If you us e a dis k labe l to re fe r to any de vice in your isolinux.cfg (e .g.
ks=hd:LABEL=RHEL-6/ks.cfg, make s ure that the labe l matche s the labe l of
the ne w ISO you are cre ating. Als o note that in boot loade r configuration,
s pace s in labe ls mus t be re place d with \x20.
7. Implant a md5 che cks um into the ne w ISO image :
# implantisomd5 ../NEWISO.iso
Afte r you finis h the above proce dure , your ne w image is re ady to be turne d into boot
me dia. Re fe r to Chapte r 2, Making Media for ins tructions .
To pe rform a pe n-bas e d flas h me mory kicks tart ins tallation, the kicks tart file mus t be
name d ks.cfg and mus t be locate d in the flas h me mory's top-le ve l dire ctory. The
kicks tart file s hould be on a s e parate flas h me mory drive to the boot me dia.
To s tart the Kicks tart ins tallation, boot the s ys te m us ing the boot me dia you cre ate d, and
us e the ks= boot option to s pe cify which de vice contains the USB drive . Se e Se ction 28.4,
“Automating the Ins tallation with Kicks tart” for de tails about the ks= boot option.
Se e Se ction 2.2, “Making Minimal Boot Me dia” for ins tructions on cre ating boot USB me dia
us ing the rhel-variant-version-architecture-boot.iso image file that you can
download from the Software & Download Ce nte r of the Re d Hat cus tome r portal.
No te
Cre ation of USB flas hdrive s for booting is pos s ible , but is he avily de pe nde nt on
s ys te m hardware BIOS s e ttings . Re fe r to your hardware manufacture r to s e e if your
s ys te m s upports booting to alte rnate de vice s .
32.8.2. Making t he Kickst art File Available on t he Net work
Ne twork ins tallations us ing kicks tart are quite common, be caus e s ys te m adminis trators
can quickly and e as ily automate the ins tallation on many ne tworke d compute rs . In ge ne ral,
the approach mos t commonly us e d is for the adminis trator to have both a BOOTP/DHCP
s e rve r and an NFS s e rve r on the local ne twork. The BOOTP/DHCP s e rve r is us e d to give
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the clie nt s ys te m its ne tworking information, while the actual file s us e d during the
ins tallation are s e rve d by the NFS s e rve r. Ofte n, the s e two s e rve rs run on the s ame
phys ical machine , but the y are not re quire d to.
Include the ks ke rne l boot option in the append line of a targe t in your
pxelinux.cfg/default file to s pe cify the location of a kicks tart file on your ne twork. The
s yntax of the ks option in a pxelinux.cfg/default file is ide ntical to its s yntax whe n
us e d at the boot prompt. Re fe r to Se ction 32.10, “Starting a Kicks tart Ins tallation” for a
de s cription of the s yntax and re fe r to Example 32.1, “Us ing the ks option in the
pxelinux.cfg/default file ” for an e xample of an append line .
If the dhcpd.conf file on the DHCP s e rve r is configure d to point to
/var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.0 on the BOOTP s e rve r (whe the r on the s ame phys ical
machine or not), s ys te ms configure d to boot ove r the ne twork can load the kicks tart file
and comme nce ins tallation.
Example 32.1. Using t he ks o pt io n in t he pxelinux.cfg/default f ile
For e xample , if foo.ks is a kicks tart file available on an NFS s hare at
192.168.0.200:/export/kickstart/, part of your pxelinux.cfg/default file might
include :
label 1
kernel RHEL6/vmlinuz
append initrd=RHEL6/initrd.img ramdisk_size=10000
ks=nfs:192.168.0.200:/export/kickstart/foo.ks
32.9. Making t he Inst allat ion T ree Available
The kicks tart ins tallation mus t acce s s an installation tree. An ins tallation tre e is a copy of
the binary Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD with the s ame dire ctory s tructure .
If you are pe rforming a DVD-bas e d ins tallation, ins e rt the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ins tallation DVD into the compute r be fore s tarting the kicks tart ins tallation.
If you are pe rforming a hard drive ins tallation, make s ure the ISO image s of the binary
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD are on a hard drive in the compute r.
If you are pe rforming a ne twork-bas e d (NFS, FTP or HTTP) ins tallation, you mus t make the
ins tallation tre e or ISO image available ove r the ne twork. Re fe r to Se ction 4.1, “Pre paring
for a Ne twork Ins tallation” for de tails .
32.10. St art ing a Kickst art Inst allat ion
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Impo rtant
First bo o t doe s not run afte r a s ys te m is ins talle d from a Kicks tart file unle s s a
de s ktop and the X Window Sys te m we re include d in the ins tallation and graphical
login was e nable d. Eithe r s pe cify a us e r with the user option in the Kicks tart file
be fore ins talling additional s ys te ms from it (re fe r to Se ction 32.4, “Kicks tart Options ”
for de tails ) or log into the ins talle d s ys te m with a virtual cons ole as root and add
us e rs with the adduser command.
To be gin a kicks tart ins tallation, you mus t boot the s ys te m from boot me dia you have
made or the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD, and e nte r a s pe cial boot command at the boot
prompt. The ins tallation program looks for a kicks tart file if the ks command line argume nt
is pas s e d to the ke rne l.
DVD and lo cal st o rage
The linux ks= command als o works if the ks.cfg file is locate d on a vfat or e xt2
file s ys te m on local s torage and you boot from the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD.
Wit h Driver Disk
If you ne e d to us e a drive r dis k with kicks tart, s pe cify the dd option as we ll. For
e xample , if ins tallation re quire s a kicks tart file on a local hard drive and als o
re quire s a drive r dis k, boot the s ys te m with:
linux ks=hd:partition:/path/ks.cfg dd
Bo o t CD-ROM
If the kicks tart file is on a boot CD-ROM as de s cribe d in Se ction 32.8.1, “Cre ating
Kicks tart Boot Me dia”, ins e rt the CD-ROM into the s ys te m, boot the s ys te m, and
e nte r the following command at the boot: prompt (whe re ks.cfg is the name of
the kicks tart file ):
linux ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg
Othe r options to s tart a kicks tart ins tallation are as follows :
askmethod
Prompt the us e r to s e le ct an ins tallation s ource , e ve n if a Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux ins tallation DVD is de te cte d on the s ys te m.
asknetwork
Prompt for ne twork configuration in the firs t s tage of ins tallation re gardle s s of
ins tallation me thod.
autostep
Make kicks tart non-inte ractive . Us e d for de bugging and to ge ne rate s cre e ns hots .
This option s hould not be us e d whe n de ploying a s ys te m be caus e it may dis rupt
package ins tallation.
debug
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Start up pdb imme diate ly.
dd
Us e a drive r dis k.
dhcpclass=<class>
Se nds a cus tom DHCP ve ndor clas s ide ntifie r. ISC's dhcpcd can ins pe ct this value
us ing "option ve ndor-clas s -ide ntifie r".
dns=<dns>
Comma s e parate d lis t of name s e rve rs to us e for a ne twork ins tallation.
driverdisk
Same as 'dd'.
expert
Turns on s pe cial fe ature s :
allows partitioning of re movable me dia
prompts for a drive r dis k
gateway=<gw>
Gate way to us e for a ne twork ins tallation.
graphical
Force graphical ins tall. Re quire d to have ftp/http us e GUI.
isa
Prompt us e r for ISA de vice s configuration.
ip=<ip>
IP to us e for a ne twork ins tallation, us e 'dhcp' for DHCP.
ipv6=auto, ipv6=dhcp
IPv6 configuration for the de vice . Us e auto for automatic configuration (SLAAC,
SLAAC with DHCPv6), or dhcp for DHCPv6 only configuration (no route r
adve rtis e me nts ).
keymap=<keymap>
Ke yboard layout to us e . Valid layouts include :
be-latin1 — Be lgian
bg_bds-utf8 — Bulgarian
bg_pho-utf8 — Bulgarian (Phone tic)
br-abnt2 — Braz ilian (ABNT2)
cf — Fre nch Canadian
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croat — Croatian
cz-us-qwertz — Cz e ch
cz-lat2 — Cz e ch (qwe rty)
de — Ge rman
de-latin1 — Ge rman (latin1)
de-latin1-nodeadkeys — Ge rman (latin1 without de ad ke ys )
dvorak — Dvorak
dk — Danis h
dk-latin1 — Danis h (latin1)
es — Spanis h
et — Es tonian
fi — Finnis h
fi-latin1 — Finnis h (latin1)
fr — Fre nch
fr-pc — Fre nch (pc)
fr_CH — Swis s Fre nch
fr_CH-latin1 — Swis s Fre nch (latin1)
gr — Gre e k
hu — Hungarian
hu101 — Hungarian (101 ke y)
is-latin1 — Ice landic
it — Italian
it-ibm — Italian (IBM)
it2 — Italian (it2)
jp106 — Japane s e
ko — Kore an
la-latin1 — Latin Ame rican
mk-utf — Mace donian
nl — Dutch
no — Norwe gian
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pl2 — Polis h
pt-latin1 — Portugue s e
ro — Romanian
ru — Rus s ian
sr-cy — Se rbian
sr-latin — Se rbian (latin)
sv-latin1 — Swe dis h
sg — Swis s Ge rman
sg-latin1 — Swis s Ge rman (latin1)
sk-qwerty — Slovak (qwe rty)
slovene — Slove nian
trq — Turkis h
uk — Unite d Kingdom
ua-utf — Ukrainian
us-acentos — U.S. Inte rnational
us — U.S. Englis h
The file /usr/lib/python2.6/sitepackages/system_config_keyboard/keyboard_models.py on 32-bit s ys te ms or
/usr/lib64/python2.6/sitepackages/system_config_keyboard/keyboard_models.py on 64-bit s ys te ms
als o contains this lis t and is part of the system-config-keyboard package .
ks=nfs:<server>:/<path>
The ins tallation program looks for the kicks tart file on the NFS s e rve r <server>,
as file <path>. The ins tallation program us e s DHCP to configure the Ethe rne t
card. For e xample , if your NFS s e rve r is s e rve r.e xample .com and the kicks tart file
is in the NFS s hare /mydir/ks.cfg, the corre ct boot command would be
ks=nfs:server.example.com:/mydir/ks.cfg.
ks={http|https}://<server>/<path>
The ins tallation program looks for the kicks tart file on the HTTP or HTTPS s e rve r
<server>, as file <path>. The ins tallation program us e s DHCP to configure the
Ethe rne t card. For e xample , if your HTTP s e rve r is s e rve r.e xample .com and the
kicks tart file is in the HTTP dire ctory /mydir/ks.cfg, the corre ct boot command
would be ks=http://server.example.com/mydir/ks.cfg.
ks=hd:<device>:/<file>
The ins tallation program mounts the file s ys te m on <device> (which mus t be vfat
or e xt2), and looks for the kicks tart configuration file as <file> in that file s ys te m
(for e xample , ks=hd:sda3:/mydir/ks.cfg).
ks=bd:<biosdev>:/<path>
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The ins tallation program mounts the file s ys te m on the s pe cifie d partition on the
s pe cifie d BIOS de vice <biosdev>, and looks for the kicks tart configuration file
s pe cifie d in <path> (for e xample , ks=bd:80p3:/mydir/ks.cfg). Note this doe s
not work for BIOS RAID s e ts .
ks=file:/<file>
The ins tallation program trie s to re ad the file <file> from the file s ys te m; no
mounts are done . This is normally us e d if the kicks tart file is alre ady on the
initrd image .
ks=cdrom:/<path>
The ins tallation program looks for the kicks tart file on CD-ROM, as file <path>.
ks
If ks is us e d alone , the ins tallation program configure s the Ethe rne t card to us e
DHCP. The kicks tart file is re ad from NFS s e rve r s pe cifie d by DHCP option s e rve rname . The name of the kicks tart file is one of the following:
If DHCP is s pe cifie d and the boot file be gins with a /, the boot file provide d by
DHCP is looke d for on the NFS s e rve r.
If DHCP is s pe cifie d and the boot file be gins with s ome thing othe r than a /, the
boot file provide d by DHCP is looke d for in the /kickstart dire ctory on the
NFS s e rve r.
If DHCP did not s pe cify a boot file , the n the ins tallation program trie s to re ad
the file /kickstart/1.2.3.4-kickstart, whe re 1.2.3.4 is the nume ric IP
addre s s of the machine be ing ins talle d.
ksdevice=<device>
The ins tallation program us e s this ne twork de vice to conne ct to the ne twork. You
can s pe cify the de vice in one of five ways :
the de vice name of the inte rface , for e xample , eth0
the MAC addre s s of the inte rface , for e xample , 00:12:34:56:78:9a
the ke yword link, which s pe cifie s the firs t inte rface with its link in the up s tate
the ke yword bootif, which us e s the MAC addre s s that pxelinux s e t in the
BOOTIF variable . Se t IPAPPEND 2 in your pxelinux.cfg file to have pxelinux
s e t the BOOTIF variable .
the ke yword ibft, which us e s the MAC addre s s of the inte rface s pe cifie d by
iBFT
For e xample , cons ide r a s ys te m conne cte d to an NFS s e rve r through the e th1
de vice . To pe rform a kicks tart ins tallation on this s ys te m us ing a kicks tart file
from the NFS s e rve r, you would us e the command ks=nfs:<server>:/<path>
ksdevice=eth1 at the boot: prompt.
kssendmac
Adds HTTP he ade rs to ks =http:// re que s t that can be he lpful for provis ioning
s ys te ms . Include s MAC addre s s of all nics in CGI e nvironme nt variable s of the
form: "X-RHN-Provis ioning-MAC-0: e th0 01:23:45:67:89:ab".
491
lang=<lang>
Language to us e for the ins tallation. This s hould be a language which is valid to be
us e d with the 'lang' kicks tart command.
loglevel=<level>
Se t the minimum le ve l re quire d for me s s age s to be logge d. Value s for <le ve l>
are de bug, info, warning, e rror, and critical. The de fault value is info.
mediacheck
Activate s loade r code to give us e r option of te s ting inte grity of ins tall s ource (if
an ISO-bas e d me thod).
netmask=<nm>
Ne tmas k to us e for a ne twork ins tallation.
nofallback
If GUI fails , e xit.
nofb
Do not load the VGA16 frame buffe r re quire d for doing te xt-mode ins tallation in
s ome language s .
nofirewire
Do not load s upport for fire wire de vice s .
noipv4
Dis able IPv4 ne tworking on the de vice s pe cifie d by the ksdevice= boot option.
noipv6
Dis able IPv6 ne tworking on all ne twork de vice s on the ins talle d s ys te m, and
during ins tallation.
Impo rtant
During ins tallations from a PXE s e rve r, IPv6 ne tworking might be come
active be fore anaco nda proce s s e s the Kicks tart file . If s o, this option will
have no e ffe ct during ins tallation.
No te
To dis able IPv6 on the ins talle d s ys te m, the --noipv6 kicks tart option mus t
be us e d on e ach ne twork de vice , in addition to the noipv6 boot option. Se e
the Knowle dge bas e article at https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /1565723
for more information about dis abling IPv6 s ys te m-wide .
nomount
492
Don't automatically mount any ins talle d Linux partitions in re s cue mode .
nonet
Do not auto-probe ne twork de vice s .
noparport
Do not atte mpt to load s upport for paralle l ports .
nopass
Do not pas s information about the ke yboard and mous e from anaco nda s tage 1
(the loade r) to s tage 2 (the ins talle r).
nopcmcia
Ignore PCMCIA controlle rs in the s ys te m.
noprobe
Do not automatically probe for hardware ; prompt the us e r to allow anaco nda to
probe for particular cate gorie s of hardware .
noshell
Do not put a s he ll on tty2 during ins tall.
repo=cdrom
Do a DVD bas e d ins tallation.
repo=ftp://<path>
Us e <path> for an FTP ins tallation.
repo=hd:<dev>:<path>
Us e <path> on <de v> for a hard drive ins tallation.
repo=http://<path>
Us e <path> for an HTTP ins tallation.
repo=https://<path>
Us e <path> for an HTTPS ins tallation.
repo=nfs:<path>
Us e <path> for an NFS ins tallation.
rescue
Run re s cue e nvironme nt.
resolution=<mode>
Run ins talle r in mode s pe cifie d, '1024x768' for e xample .
serial
Turns on s e rial cons ole s upport.
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skipddc
Do not probe the Data Display Channel (DDC) of the monitor. This option provide s
a workaround if the DDC probe caus e s the s ys te m to s top re s ponding.
syslog=<host>[:<port>]
Once ins tallation is up and running, s e nd log me s s age s to the s ys log proce s s on
<host>, and optionally, on port <port>. Re quire s the re mote s ys log proce s s to
acce pt conne ctions (the -r option).
text
Force te xt mode ins tall.
Impo rtant
options . The s e s te ps are automate d in the te xt mode , and anaco nda
cannot prompt you for mis s ing information. If you do not provide choice s for
the s e options , anaco nda will s top the ins tallation proce s s .
updates
Prompt for s torage de vice containing update s (bug fixe s ).
updates=ftp://<path>
Image containing update s ove r FTP.
updates=http://<path>
Image containing update s ove r HTTP.
updates=https://<path>
Image containing update s ove r HTTPS.
upgradeany
Offe r to upgrade any Linux ins tallation de te cte d on the s ys te m, re gardle s s of the
conte nts or the e xis te nce of the /etc/redhat-release file .
vnc
Enable vnc-bas e d ins tallation. You will ne e d to conne ct to the machine us ing a vnc
clie nt application.
vncconnect=<host>[:<port>]
Conne ct to the vnc clie nt name d <host>, and optionally us e port <port>.
Re quire s 'vnc' option to be s pe cifie d as we ll.
vncpassword=<password>
Enable a pas s word for the vnc conne ction. This will pre ve nt s ome one from
inadve rte ntly conne cting to the vnc-bas e d ins tallation.
494
Re quire s 'vnc' option to be s pe cifie d as we ll.
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Chapt er 33. Kickst art Configurat or
Kickst art Co nf igurat o r allows you to cre ate or modify a kicks tart file us ing a graphical
us e r inte rface , s o that you do not have to re me mbe r the corre ct s yntax of the file .
Kickst art Co nf igurat o r is not ins talle d by de fault on Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6. Run su
- yum install system-config-kickstart or us e your graphical package manage r to
ins tall the s oftware .
To launch Kickst art Co nf igurat o r, boot your s ys te m into a graphical e nvironme nt, the n
run system-config-kickstart, or click Applicat io ns → Syst em T o o ls → Kickst art on
the GNOME de s ktop or Kickoff Application Launcher+Applicat io ns → Syst em →
Kickst art on the KDE de s ktop.
As you are cre ating a kicks tart file , you can click File → Preview at any time to re vie w
your curre nt s e le ctions .
To s tart with an e xis ting kicks tart file , s e le ct File → Open and s e le ct the e xis ting file .
33.1. Basic Configurat ion
Figure 33.1. Basic Co nf igurat io n
Choos e the language to us e during the ins tallation and as the de fault language to be us e d
afte r ins tallation from the Def ault Language me nu.
Se le ct the s ys te m ke yboard type from the Keybo ard me nu.
From the T ime Zo ne me nu, choos e the time z one to us e for the s ys te m. To configure
the s ys te m to us e UTC, s e le ct Use UTC clock.
Ente r the de s ire d root pas s word for the s ys te m in the Root Password te xt e ntry box.
Type the s ame pas s word in the Confirm Password te xt box. The s e cond fie ld is to make
s ure you do not mis type the pas s word and the n re aliz e you do not know what it is afte r
you have comple te d the ins tallation. To s ave the pas s word as an e ncrypte d pas s word in
496
⁠C hapt e r 33. Kic ks t ar t Co nf igur at o r
the file , s e le ct Encrypt root password. If the e ncryption option is s e le cte d, whe n the file
is s ave d, the plain te xt pas s word that you type d is e ncrypte d and writte n to the kicks tart
file . Do not type an alre ady e ncrypte d pas s word and s e le ct to e ncrypt it. Be caus e a
kicks tart file is a plain te xt file that can be e as ily re ad, it is re comme nde d that an
e ncrypte d pas s word be us e d.
Choos ing Target Architecture s pe cifie s which s pe cific hardware archite cture
dis tribution is us e d during ins tallation.
Choos ing Target Architecture s pe cifie s which s pe cific hardware archite cture
dis tribution is us e d during ins tallation.
Choos ing Reboot system after installation re boots your s ys te m automatically afte r
the ins tallation is finis he d.
Kicks tart ins tallations are pe rforme d in graphical mode by de fault. To ove rride this de fault
and us e te xt mode ins te ad, s e le ct the Perform installation in text mode option.
You can pe rform a kicks tart ins tallation in inte ractive mode . This me ans that the
ins tallation program us e s all the options pre -configure d in the kicks tart file , but it allows
you to pre vie w the options in e ach s cre e n be fore continuing to the ne xt s cre e n. To
continue to the ne xt s cre e n, click the Next button afte r you have approve d the s e ttings or
change the m be fore continuing the ins tallation. To s e le ct this type of ins tallation, s e le ct
the Perform installation in interactive mode option.
The Installation Method s cre e n allows you to choos e whe the r to pe rform a ne w
ins tallation or an upgrade . If you choos e upgrade , the Partition Information and
Package Selection options are dis able d. The y are not s upporte d for kicks tart upgrade s .
Choos e the type of kicks tart ins tallation or upgrade from the following options :
DVD — Choos e this option to ins tall or upgrade from the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD.
497
NFS — Choos e this option to ins tall or upgrade from an NFS s hare d dire ctory. In the te xt
fie ld for the NFS s e rve r, e nte r a fully-qualifie d domain name or IP addre s s . For the NFS
dire ctory, e nte r the name of the NFS dire ctory that contains the variant dire ctory of
the ins tallation tre e . For e xample , if the NFS s e rve r contains the dire ctory
/mirrors/redhat/i386/Server/, e nte r /mirrors/redhat/i386/ for the NFS dire ctory.
FTP — Choos e this option to ins tall or upgrade from an FTP s e rve r. In the FTP s e rve r
te xt fie ld, e nte r a fully-qualifie d domain name or IP addre s s . For the FTP dire ctory,
e nte r the name of the FTP dire ctory that contains the variant dire ctory. For e xample , if
the FTP s e rve r contains the dire ctory /mirrors/redhat/i386/Server/, e nte r
/mirrors/redhat/i386/Server/ for the FTP dire ctory. If the FTP s e rve r re quire s a
us e rname and pas s word, s pe cify the m as we ll.
HTTP — Choos e this option to ins tall or upgrade from an HTTP s e rve r. In the te xt fie ld
for the HTTP s e rve r, e nte r the fully-qualifie d domain name or IP addre s s . For the HTTP
dire ctory, e nte r the name of the HTTP dire ctory that contains the variant dire ctory. For
e xample , if the HTTP s e rve r contains the dire ctory /mirrors/redhat/i386/Server/,
e nte r /mirrors/redhat/i386/Server/ for the HTTP dire ctory.
Hard Drive — Choos e this option to ins tall or upgrade from a hard drive . Hard drive
ins tallations re quire the us e of ISO image s . Be s ure to ve rify that the ISO image s are
intact be fore you s tart the ins tallation. To ve rify the m, us e an md5sum program as we ll
as the linux mediacheck boot option as dis cus s e d in Se ction 28.6.1, “Ve rifying Boot
Me dia”. Ente r the hard drive partition that contains the ISO image s (for e xample ,
/dev/hda1) in the Hard Drive Partition te xt box. Ente r the dire ctory that contains
the ISO image s in the Hard Drive Directory te xt box.
33.3. Boot Loader Opt ions
Figure 33.3. Bo o t Lo ader Opt io ns
Ple as e note that this s cre e n will be dis able d if you have s pe cifie d a targe t archite cture
othe r than x86 / x86_64.
498
GRUB is the de fault boot loade r for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux on x86 / x86_64
archite cture s . If you do not want to ins tall a boot loade r, s e le ct Do not install a boot
loader. If you choos e not to ins tall a boot loade r, make s ure you cre ate a boot dis ke tte or
have anothe r way to boot your s ys te m, s uch as a third-party boot loade r.
You mus t choos e whe re to ins tall the boot loade r (the Mas te r Boot Re cord or the firs t
s e ctor of the /boot partition). Ins tall the boot loade r on the MBR if you plan to us e it as
your boot loade r.
To pas s any s pe cial parame te rs to the ke rne l to be us e d whe n the s ys te m boots , e nte r
the m in the Kernel parameters te xt fie ld. For e xample , if you have an IDE CD-ROM
Write r, you can te ll the ke rne l to us e the SCSI e mulation drive r that mus t be loade d
be fore us ing cdrecord by configuring hdd=ide-scsi as a ke rne l parame te r (whe re hdd is
the CD-ROM de vice ).
You can pas s word prote ct the GRUB boot loade r by configuring a GRUB pas s word. Se le ct
Use GRUB password, and e nte r a pas s word in the Password fie ld. Type the s ame
pas s word in the Confirm Password te xt fie ld. To s ave the pas s word as an e ncrypte d
pas s word in the file , s e le ct Encrypt GRUB password. If the e ncryption option is s e le cte d,
whe n the file is s ave d, the plain te xt pas s word that you type d is e ncrypte d and writte n to
the kicks tart file . If the pas s word you type d was alre ady e ncrypte d, unche ck the
e ncryption option.
Impo rtant
It is highly re comme nde d to s e t up a boot loade r pas s word on e ve ry machine . An
unprote cte d boot loade r can allow a pote ntial attacke r to modify the s ys te m's boot
options and gain acce s s to the s ys te m. Se e the chapte r title d Workstation Security in
the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Security Guide for more information on boot loade r
pas s words and pas s word s e curity in ge ne ral.
If Upgrade an existing installation is s e le cte d on the Installation Method page ,
s e le ct Upgrade existing boot loader to upgrade the e xis ting boot loade r configuration,
while pre s e rving the old e ntrie s .
33.4. Part it ion Informat ion
499
Figure 33.4. Part it io n Inf o rmat io n
Se le ct whe the r or not to cle ar the Mas te r Boot Re cord (MBR). Choos e to re move all
e xis ting partitions , re move all e xis ting Linux partitions , or pre s e rve e xis ting partitions .
To initializ e the dis k labe l to the de fault for the archite cture of the s ys te m (for e xample ,
msdos for x86), s e le ct Initialize the disk label if you are ins talling on a brand ne w
hard drive .
No te
Although anaconda and kickstart s upport Logical Volume Manage me nt (LVM), at
pre s e nt the re is no me chanis m for configuring this us ing the Kickst art
Co nf igurat o r.
33.4.1. Creat ing Part it ions
To cre ate a partition, click the Add button. The Partition Options window s hown in
Figure 33.5, “Cre ating Partitions ” appe ars . Choos e the mount point, file s ys te m type , and
partition s iz e for the ne w partition. Optionally, you can als o choos e from the following:
In the Additional Size Options s e ction, choos e to make the partition a fixe d s iz e , up
to a chos e n s iz e , or fill the re maining s pace on the hard drive . If you s e le cte d s wap as
the file s ys te m type , you can s e le ct to have the ins tallation program cre ate the s wap
partition with the re comme nde d s iz e ins te ad of s pe cifying a s iz e .
Force the partition to be cre ate d as a primary partition.
Cre ate the partition on a s pe cific hard drive . For e xample , to make the partition on the
firs t IDE hard dis k (/dev/hda), s pe cify hda as the drive . Do not include /dev in the drive
name .
Us e an e xis ting partition. For e xample , to make the partition on the firs t partition on the
firs t IDE hard dis k (/dev/hda1), s pe cify hda1 as the partition. Do not include /dev in the
partition name .
500
Format the partition as the chos e n file s ys te m type .
Figure 33.5. Creat ing Part it io ns
To e dit an e xis ting partition, s e le ct the partition from the lis t and click the Edit button. The
s ame Partition Options window appe ars as whe n you chos e to add a partition as
s hown in Figure 33.5, “Cre ating Partitions ”, e xce pt it re fle cts the value s for the s e le cte d
partition. Modify the partition options and click OK.
To de le te an e xis ting partition, s e le ct the partition from the lis t and click the Delete
button.
33.4.1.1. Creat ing Sof t ware RAID Part it ions
To cre ate a s oftware RAID partition, us e the following s te ps :
1. Click the RAID button.
2. Se le ct Create a software RAID partition.
3. Configure the partitions as pre vious ly de s cribe d, e xce pt s e le ct Software RAID as
the file s ys te m type . Als o, you mus t s pe cify a hard drive on which to make the
partition or s pe cify an e xis ting partition to us e .
501
Figure 33.6. Creat ing a So f t ware RAID Part it io n
Re pe at the s e s te ps to cre ate as many partitions as ne e de d for your RAID s e tup. All of
your partitions do not have to be RAID partitions .
Afte r cre ating all the partitions ne e de d to form a RAID de vice , follow the s e s te ps :
1. Click the RAID button.
2. Se le ct Create a RAID device.
3. Se le ct a mount point, file s ys te m type , RAID de vice name , RAID le ve l, RAID
me mbe rs , numbe r of s pare s for the s oftware RAID de vice , and whe the r to format
the RAID de vice .
502
Figure 33.7. Creat ing a So f t ware RAID Device
4. Click OK to add the de vice to the lis t.
33.5. Net work Configurat ion
Figure 33.8. Net wo rk Co nf igurat io n
503
If the s ys te m to be ins talle d via kicks tart doe s not have an Ethe rne t card, do not configure
one on the Network Configuration page .
Ne tworking is only re quire d if you choos e a ne tworking-bas e d ins tallation me thod (NFS,
FTP, or HTTP). Ne tworking can always be configure d afte r ins tallation with the Net wo rk
Administ rat io n T o o l (system-config-network). Re fe r to the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
De ployme nt Guide for de tails .
For e ach Ethe rne t card on the s ys te m, click Add Network Device and s e le ct the ne twork
de vice and ne twork type for the de vice . Se le ct eth0 to configure the firs t Ethe rne t card,
eth1 for the s e cond Ethe rne t card, and s o on.
33.6. Aut hent icat ion
Figure 33.9. Aut hent icat io n
In the Authentication s e ction, s e le ct whe the r to us e s hadow pas s words and MD5
e ncryption for us e r pas s words . The s e options are highly re comme nde d and chos e n by
de fault.
The Authentication Configuration options allow you to configure the following me thods
of authe ntication:
NIS
LDAP
Ke rbe ros 5
He s iod
SMB
Name Switch Cache
504
The s e me thods are not e nable d by de fault. To e nable one or more of the s e me thods ,
click the appropriate tab, click the che ckbox ne xt to Enable, and e nte r the appropriate
information for the authe ntication me thod. Re fe r to the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
De ployme nt Guide for more information about the options .
33.7. Firewall Configurat ion
The Firewall Configuration window allows you to configure fire wall s e ttings for the
ins talle d s ys te m.
Figure 33.10 . Firewall Co nf igurat io n
If Disable firewall is s e le cte d, the s ys te m allows comple te acce s s to any active
s e rvice s and ports . No conne ctions to the s ys te m are re fus e d or de nie d.
Se le cting Enable firewall configure s the s ys te m to re je ct incoming conne ctions that are
not in re s pons e to outbound re que s ts , s uch as DNS re plie s or DHCP re que s ts . If acce s s to
s e rvice s running on this machine is re quire d, you can choos e to allow s pe cific s e rvice s
through the fire wall.
Only de vice s configure d in the Network Configuration s e ction are lis te d as available
Trusted devices. Conne ctions from any de vice s s e le cte d in the lis t are acce pte d by the
s ys te m. For e xample , if eth1 only re ce ive s conne ctions from inte rnal s ys te m, you might
want to allow conne ctions from it.
If a s e rvice is s e le cte d in the Trusted services lis t, conne ctions for the s e rvice are
acce pte d and proce s s e d by the s ys te m.
In the Other ports te xt fie ld, lis t any additional ports that s hould be ope ne d for re mote
acce s s . Us e the following format: port:protocol. For e xample , to allow IMAP acce s s
through the fire wall, s pe cify imap:tcp. Nume ric ports can als o be s pe cifie d e xplicitly; to
allow UDP packe ts on port 1234 through the fire wall, e nte r 1234:udp. To s pe cify multiple
ports , s e parate the m with commas .
33.7.1. SELinux Conf igurat ion
505
Kicks tart can s e t SELinux to enforcing, permissive or disabled mode . Fine r graine d
configuration is not pos s ible at this time .
33.8. Display Configurat ion
If you are ins talling the X Window Sys te m, you can configure it during the kicks tart
ins tallation by che cking the Configure the X Window System option on the Display
Configuration window as s hown in Figure 33.11, “X Configuration”. If this option is not
chos e n, the X configuration options are dis able d and the skipx option is writte n to the
kicks tart file .
Figure 33.11. X Co nf igurat io n
Se le ct whe the r to s tart the Se tup Age nt the firs t time the ins talle d s ys te m boots . The
Se tup Age nt is dis able d by de fault, but the s e tting can be change d to e nable d or e nable d
in re configuration mode . Re configuration mode e nable s the language , mous e , ke yboard,
root pas s word, s e curity le ve l, time z one , and ne tworking configuration options in addition
to the de fault one s .
33.9. Package Select ion
506
Figure 33.12. Package Select io n
The Package Selection window allows you to choos e which package groups to ins tall.
Package re s olution is carrie d out automatically.
Curre ntly, Kickst art Co nf igurat o r doe s not allow you to s e le ct individual package s . To
ins tall individual package s , modify the %packages s e ction of the kicks tart file afte r you
s ave it. Re fe r to Se ction 32.5, “Package Se le ction” for de tails .
33.10. Pre-Inst allat ion Script
Figure 33.13. Pre-Inst allat io n Script
507
You can add commands to run on the s ys te m imme diate ly afte r the kicks tart file has be e n
pars e d and be fore the ins tallation be gins . If you have configure d the ne twork in the
kicks tart file , the ne twork is e nable d be fore this s e ction is proce s s e d. To include a pre ins tallation s cript, type it in the te xt are a.
Impo rtant
The ve rs ion of anaco nda in pre vious re le as e s of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux include d
a ve rs ion of busybo x that provide d s he ll commands in the pre -ins tallation and pos tins tallation e nvironme nts . The ve rs ion of anaco nda in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6
no longe r include s busybo x, and us e s GNU bash commands ins te ad.
Re fe r to Appe ndix G, Alternatives to busybox commands for more information.
To s pe cify a s cripting language to us e to e xe cute the s cript, s e le ct the Use an
interpreter option and e nte r the inte rpre te r in the te xt box be s ide it. For e xample ,
/usr/bin/python2.6 can be s pe cifie d for a Python s cript. This option corre s ponds to
us ing %pre --interpreter /usr/bin/python2.6 in your kicks tart file .
Only the mos t commonly us e d commands are available in the pre -ins tallation
e nvironme nt. Se e Se ction 32.6, “Pre -ins tallation Script” for a comple te lis t.
Impo rtant
Do not include the %pre command. It is adde d for you.
No te
The pre -ins tallation s cript is run afte r the s ource me dia is mounte d and s tage 2 of
the bootloade r has be e n loade d. For this re as on it is not pos s ible to change the
s ource me dia in the pre -ins tallation s cript.
33.11. Post -Inst allat ion Script
508
Figure 33.14. Po st -Inst allat io n Script
You can als o add commands to e xe cute on the s ys te m afte r the ins tallation is comple te d.
If the ne twork is prope rly configure d in the kicks tart file , the ne twork is e nable d, and the
s cript can include commands to acce s s re s ource s on the ne twork. To include a pos tins tallation s cript, type it in the te xt are a.
Impo rtant
The ve rs ion of anaco nda in pre vious re le as e s of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux include d
a ve rs ion of busybo x that provide d s he ll commands in the pre -ins tallation and pos tins tallation e nvironme nts . The ve rs ion of anaco nda in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6
no longe r include s busybo x, and us e s GNU bash commands ins te ad.
Re fe r to Appe ndix G, Alternatives to busybox commands for more information.
Impo rtant
Do not include the %post command. It is adde d for you.
For e xample , to change the me s s age of the day for the ne wly ins talle d s ys te m, add the
following command to the %post s e ction:
echo "Hackers will be punished" > /etc/motd
No te
More e xample s can be found in Se ction 32.7.1, “Example s ”.
509
33.11.1. Chroot Environment
To run the pos t-ins tallation s cript outs ide of the chroot e nvironme nt, click the che ckbox
ne xt to this option on the top of the Post-Installation window. This is e quivale nt to
us ing the --nochroot option in the %post s e ction.
To make change s to the ne wly ins talle d file s ys te m, within the pos t-ins tallation s e ction, but
outs ide of the chroot e nvironme nt, you mus t pre pe nd the dire ctory name with
/mnt/sysimage/.
For e xample , if you s e le ct Run outside of the chroot environment, the pre vious
e xample mus t be change d to the following:
echo "Hackers will be punished" > /mnt/sysimage/etc/motd
33.11.2. Use an Int erpret er
To s pe cify a s cripting language to us e to e xe cute the s cript, s e le ct the Use an
interpreter option and e nte r the inte rpre te r in the te xt box be s ide it. For e xample ,
/usr/bin/python2.2 can be s pe cifie d for a Python s cript. This option corre s ponds to
us ing %post --interpreter /usr/bin/python2.2 in your kicks tart file .
33.12. Saving t he File
To re vie w the conte nts of the kicks tart file afte r you have finis he d choos ing your kicks tart
options , s e le ct File => Preview from the pull-down me nu.
510
Figure 33.15. Preview
To s ave the kicks tart file , click the Save to File button in the pre vie w window. To s ave
the file without pre vie wing it, s e le ct File => Save File or pre s s Ctrl+S . A dialog box
appe ars . Se le ct whe re to s ave the file .
Afte r s aving the file , re fe r to Se ction 32.10, “Starting a Kicks tart Ins tallation” for
information on how to s tart the kicks tart ins tallation.
511
⁠P art V. Aft er Inst allat ion
This part of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide cove rs finaliz ing the ins tallation,
as we ll as s ome ins tallation-re late d tas ks that you might pe rform at s ome time in the
future . The s e include :
us ing a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation dis c to re s cue a damage d s ys te m.
upgrading to a ne w ve rs ion of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
re moving Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from your compute r.
512
⁠C hapt e r 34 . Fir s t bo o t
Chapt er 34. First boot
Impo rtant
First bo o t is only available on s ys te ms afte r a graphical ins tallation or afte r a
kicks tart ins tallation whe re a de s ktop and the X window s ys te m we re ins talle d and
graphical login was e nable d. If you pe rforme d a te xt-mode ins tallation or a kicks tart
ins tallation that did not include a de s ktop and the X window s ys te m, the f irst bo o t
configuration tool doe s not appe ar.
First bo o t launche s the firs t time that you s tart a ne w Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m.
Us e f irst bo o t to configure the s ys te m for us e be fore you log in.
Figure 34.1. First bo o t welco me screen
Click Forward to s tart f irst bo o t .
34.1. License Informat ion
This s cre e n dis plays the ove rall lice ns ing te rms for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
513
Figure 34.2. First bo o t license screen
If you agre e to the te rms of the lice ns e , s e le ct Yes, I agree to the License
Agreement and click Forward.
34.2. Configuring t he Subscript ion Service
The products ins talle d on a s ys te m (including the ope rating s ys te m its e lf) are cove re d by
subscriptions. A s ubs cription s e rvice is us e d to track re gis te re d s ys te ms , the products
ins talle d on thos e s ys te ms , and the s ubs criptions attached to the s ys te m to cove r thos e
products .
The Subscription Management Registration s cre e ns ide ntify which s ubs cription
s e rvice to us e and, by de fault, attach the be s t-matche d s ubs criptions to the s ys te m.
34.2.1. Set Up Sof t ware Updat es
The firs t s te p is to s e le ct whe the r to re gis te r the s ys te m imme diate ly with a s ubs cription
s e rvice . To re gis te r the s ys te m, s e le ct Yes, I'd like to register now, and click
Forward.
514
Figure 34.3. Set Up So f t ware Updat es
No te
Eve n if a s ys te m is not re gis te re d at firs tboot, it can be re gis te re d with any of thos e
thre e s ubs cription s e rvice s late r, us ing the Re d Hat Subs cription Manage r tools
⁠ [13] .
More information about the Re d Hat Subs cription Manage r tools can be found in the
Red Hat Subscription Management Guide.
34.2.2. Choose Service
Us e the Choose Service s cre e n to choos e what kind of s ubs cription s e rvice to re gis te r
the s ys te m with. Click Proxy Setup to configure a proxy s e rve r if ne ce s s ary.
Red Hat Subscript io n Management
Any s ubs cription s e rvice which us e s the prope r X.509 ce rtificate s to ide ntify the
s ys te m, ins talle d products , and attache d s ubs criptions is part of Red Hat
Subscription Management. This include s Cus tome r Portal Subs cription Manage me nt
(hos te d s e rvice s ), Subs cription As s e t Manage r (on-pre mis e s ubs cription s e rvice
515
and proxie d conte nt de live ry), and CloudForms Sys te m Engine (on-pre mis e
s ubs cription and conte nt de live ry s e rvice s ).
This option is the de fault. Re d Hat Subs cription Manage me nt is s trongly
re comme nde d for organiz ations that do not run a local Sate llite s e rve r.
Red Hat Net wo rk (RHN) Classic
Se le ct the Red Hat Network (RHN) Classic option to us e the le gacy s ys te ms manage me nt fe ature s of Re d Hat Ne twork. While RHN Clas s ic can be us e d with
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6.x s ys te ms , it is inte nde d primarily for e xis ting, le gacy
s ys te ms . It is re comme nde d that ne w ins tallations us e Re d Hat Subs cription
Manage me nt.
An RHN Sat ellit e o r RHN Pro xy
Us e this option in e nvironme nts with acce s s to a local mirror of the Re d Hat
Ne twork conte nt.
Figure 34.4. Cho o se Service
34.2.3. Subscript ion Management Regist rat ion
Re d Hat us e s X.509 certificates to ide ntify ins talle d products on a s ys te m, the
s ubs criptions attache d to a s ys te m, and the s ys te m its e lf within the s ubs cription s e rvice
inve ntory. The re are s e ve ral diffe re nt s ubs cription s e rvice s which us e and re cogniz e
ce rtificate -bas e s ubs criptions , and a s ys te m can be re gis te re d with any of the m in
firs tboot:
Cus tome r Portal Subs cription Manage me nt, hos te d s e rvice s from Re d Hat (the de fault)
516
Subs cription As s e t Manage r, an on-pre mis e s ubs cription s e rve r which proxie s conte nt
de live ry back to the Cus tome r Portal's s e rvice s
CloudForms Sys te m Engine , an on-pre mis e s e rvice which handle s both s ubs cription
s e rvice s and conte nt de live ry
The s pe cific type of s ubs cription/conte nt s e rvice doe s not ne e d to be s e le cte d; all thre e
s e rve r type s (Cus tome r Portal Subs cription Manage me nt, Subs cription As s e t Manage r, and
CloudForms Sys te m Engine ) are within Re d Hat Subs cription Manage me nt and us e the
s ame type s of s e rvice APIs . The only thing that ne e ds to be ide ntifie d is the hos tname of
the s e rvice to conne ct to and the n the appropriate us e r cre de ntials for that s e rvice .
1. To ide ntify which s ubs cription s e rve r to us e for re gis tration, e nte r the hos tname of
the s e rvice . The de fault s e rvice is Cus tome r Portal Subs cription Manage me nt, with
the hos tname subscription.rhn.redhat.com. To us e a diffe re nt s ubs cription
s e rvice , s uch as Subs cription As s e t Manage r, e nte r the hos tname of the local
s e rve r.
Figure 34.5. Subscript io n Service Select io n
2. Click Forward.
3. Ente r the us e r cre de ntials f o r t he given subscript io n service to log in.
517
Figure 34.6. Subscript io n Management Regist rat io n
Impo rtant
The us e r cre de ntials to us e de pe nd on the s ubs cription s e rvice . Whe n
re gis te ring with the Cus tome r Portal, us e the Re d Hat Ne twork cre de ntials for
the adminis trator or company account.
Howe ve r, for Subs cription As s e t Manage r or CloudForms Sys te m e ngine , the
us e r account to us e is cre ate d within the on-pre mis e s e rvice and probably is
not the s ame as the Cus tome r Portal us e r account.
If you have los t your login or pas s word for the Cus tome r Portal, re cove r the m from
https ://www.re dhat.com/wapps /s s o/los tPas s word.html. For los t login or pas s word
information for Subs cription As s e t Manage r or CloudForms Sys te m Engine , contact
your local adminis trator.
4. Se t the s ys te m name for the hos t. This is anything which unique ly and cle arly
ide ntifie s the s ys te m within the s ubs cription s e rvice inve ntory. This is us ually the
hos tname or fully-qualifie d domain name of the machine , but it can be any s tring.
5. Optional. Se t whe the r s ubs criptions s hould be s e t manually afte r re gis tration. By
de fault, this che ckbox is unche cke d s o that the be s t-matche d s ubs criptions are
automatically applie d to the s ys te m. Se le cting this che ckbox me ans that
s ubs criptions mus t be adde d to the s ys te m manually afte r firs tboot re gis tration is
comple te . (Eve n if s ubs criptions are auto-attache d, additional s ubs criptions can be
adde d to the s ys te m late r us ing the local Subs cription Manage r tools .)
6. Whe n re gis tration be gins , firs tboot s cans for organiz ations and e nvironme nts (s ubdomains within the organiz ation) to which to re gis te r the s ys te m.
518
Figure 34.7. Organizat io n Scan
IT e nvironme nts that us e Cus tome r Portal Subs cription Manage me nt have only a
s ingle organiz ation, s o no furthe r configuration is ne ce s s ary. IT infras tructure s that
us e a local s ubs cription s e rvice like Subs cription As s e t Manage r might have
multiple organiz ations configure d, and thos e organiz ations may have multiple
e nvironme nts configure d within the m.
If multiple organiz ations are de te cte d, Subs cription Manage r prompts to s e le ct the
one to join.
519
Figure 34.8. Organizat io n Select io n
7. If you de cide d to le t Subs cription Manage r automatically attach s ubs criptions to the
s ys te m (the de fault), the n the s ys te m s cans for the s ubs criptions to attach as part
of the re gis tration proce s s .
Figure 34.9. Aut o -Select ing Subscript io ns
Whe n re gis tration is comple te , the Subs cription Manage r re ports the applie d
s e rvice le ve l for the s ys te m bas e d on the information in the s e le cte d s ubs cription
and the s pe cific s ubs cription that has be e n attache d to the ne w s ys te m. This
s ubs cription s e le ction mus t be confirme d to comple te the re gis tration proce s s .
520
Figure 34.10 . Co nf irm Subscript io n
If you s e le cte d to apply s ubs criptions late r, the n that part of the re gis tration
proce s s is s kippe d, and the Subs cription Manage r s cre e n in firs tboot s imply
ins tructs you to attach s ubs criptions late r.
Figure 34.11. No t e t o Select Subscript io ns Lat er
8. Click Forward to move to the ne xt configuration are a for firs tboot, us e r s e tup.
34.3. Creat e User
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Cre ate a us e r account for yours e lf with this s cre e n. Always us e this account to log in to
your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m, rathe r than us ing the root account.
Figure 34.12. First bo o t creat e user screen
Ente r a us e r name and your full name , and the n e nte r your chos e n pas s word. Type your
pas s word once more in the Confirm Password box to e ns ure that it is corre ct.
To configure Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux to us e ne twork s e rvice s for authe ntication of us e r
information, click Use Network Login. Re fe r to Se ction 34.3.1, “Authe ntication
Configuration” for furthe r de tails .
Impo rtant
If you do not cre ate at le as t one us e r account in this s te p, you will not be able to log
in to the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux graphical e nvironme nt. If you s kippe d this s te p
during ins tallation, re fe r to Se ction 10.4.2, “Booting into a Graphical Environme nt”.
522
No te
To add additional us e r accounts to your s ys te m afte r the ins tallation is comple te ,
choos e Syst em → Administ rat io n → Users & Gro ups.
34.3.1. Aut hent icat ion Conf igurat ion
If you clicke d Use Network Login on the Create User s cre e n, you mus t now s pe cify how
us e rs are to be authe nticate d on the s ys te m. Us e the drop-down me nu to s e le ct from the
following type s of us e r databas e :
Lo cal acco unt s o nly (for us e whe n the us e r databas e on the ne twork is not
acce s s ible )
LDAP (Lightwe ight Dire ctory Acce s s Protocol)
NIS (Ne twork Information Se rvice )
Winbind (for us e with Micros oft Active Dire ctory)
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Figure 34.13. First bo o t Aut hent icat io n Co nf igurat io n screen
Whe n you s e le ct the type of us e r databas e appropriate for your ne twork, you mus t
provide additional de tails re le vant to that databas e type . For e xample , if you s e le ct LDAP,
you mus t s pe cify the base distinguished name for LDAP s e arche s , and the addre s s of the
LDAP s e rve r. You mus t als o s e le ct an Authentication Method re le vant to the type of
us e r databas e that you chos e , for e xample , a Ke rbe ros pas s word, LDAP pas s word, or NIS
pas s word.
The Advanced Options tab le ts you e nable othe r authe ntication me chanis ms , including
finge rprint re ade rs , s mart cards , and local acce s s control in /etc/security/access.conf.
For more information, re fe r to Authentication Configuration in the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
De ployme nt Guide .
Figure 34.14. First bo o t aut hent icat io n Advanced Opt io ns screen
34.4. Dat e and T ime
Us e this s cre e n to adjus t the date and time of the s ys te m clock. To change the s e s e ttings
524
afte r ins tallation, click Syst em → Administ rat io n → Dat e & T ime.
Figure 34.15. First bo o t dat e and t ime screen
Click the Synchronize date and time over the network che ckbox to configure your
s ys te m to us e Network Time Protocol (NTP) s e rve rs to maintain the accuracy of the clock.
NTP provide s time s ynchroniz ation s e rvice to compute rs on the s ame ne twork. Many
public NTP s e rve rs are available on the Inte rne t.
34.5. Kdump
Us e this s cre e n to s e le ct whe the r or not to us e Kdump on this s ys te m. Kdump is a
ke rne l cras h dumping me chanis m. In the e ve nt of a s ys te m cras h, Kdump will capture
information from your s ys te m that can be invaluable in de te rmining the caus e of the
cras h.
Note that if you s e le ct this option, you will ne e d to re s e rve me mory for Kdump and that
this me mory will not be available for any othe r purpos e .
525
Figure 34.16. Kdump screen
If you do not want to us e Kdump on this s ys te m, click Finish. If you want to us e Kdump,
s e le ct the Enable kdump option, the n s e le ct an amount of me mory to re s e rve for Kdump
and click Finish.
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Figure 34.17. Kdump enabled
[13] System s can also be registered with Satellite or RHN C lassic. For Satellite inform ation, see
the Satellite docum entation. For inform ation on using RHN C lassic, see the appendix in the Red
Hat Subscription Management Guide.
527
Chapt er 35. Your Next St eps
35.1. Updat ing Your Syst em
Re d Hat re le as e s update d s oftware package s for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux throughout the
s upport pe riod of e ach ve rs ion. Update d package s add ne w fe ature s , improve re liability,
re s olve bugs , or re move s e curity vulne rabilitie s . To e ns ure the s e curity of your s ys te m,
update re gularly, and as s oon as pos s ible afte r Re d Hat is s ue s a s e curity announce me nt.
35.1.1. Driver Updat e rpm Packages
Occas ionally, whe n a ne w pie ce of hardware is not ye t s upporte d in the ke rne l that you
have ins talle d, Re d Hat or a hardware ve ndor might make a drive r update available .
Although you can ins tall drive r update s during the ins tallation proce s s (re fe r to Chapte r 6,
Updating Drivers During Installation on Intel and AMD Systems for Inte l and AMD s ys te ms
and Chapte r 13, Updating Drivers During Installation on IBM Power Systems Servers for IBM
Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs ) we re comme nd that you do this only for de vice s that are
e s s e ntial to carry out the ins tallation. In all othe r cas e s , comple te the ins tallation firs t, and
the n add s upport for the de vice with a drive r update rpm package as de s cribe d in this
s e ction.
Do not ins tall a drive r update rpm unle s s you are ce rtain that your s ys te m re quire s it.
Ins talling a drive r update on a s ys te m for which it was not inte nde d can caus e s ys te m
difficultie s .
To s e e a lis t of drive r update s alre ady ins talle d on your s ys te m, click Syst em →
Administ rat io n → Add/Remo ve So f t ware on your de s ktop, and e nte r the root
pas s word if prompte d for it. Click the Search tab, e nte r the word kmod- (notice the final -)
and click Search.
Figure 35.1. List ing Inst alled Driver Updat e RPM Packages
Alte rnative ly, you can us e the command line , as follows :
$ rpm -q a | egrep ^kmod-
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⁠C hapt e r 35. Yo ur Ne xt St e ps
Note the - on the e nd of kmod. This will lis t all ins talle d package s that be gin with kmod-,
which s hould include all drive r update s that are curre ntly ins talle d on your s ys te m.
Additional drive rs provide d by third-party update s oftware are not lis te d in this output.
Contact the third-party ve ndor for de tails .
To ins tall a ne w drive r update rpm package :
1. Download the drive r update rpm package from the location s pe cifie d by Re d Hat or
your hardware ve ndor. The package file name will be gin with kmod (s hort for kernel
module) and have a form s imilar to this e xample :
kmod-foo-1 .05-2.el6.i686
In the e xample , the drive r update rpm package s upplie s a drive r update name d
f o o with ve rs ion numbe r 1.05-2 for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6, on i686 s ys te ms .
Drive r update rpm package s are s igne d package s , and like all othe r s oftware
package s , the y are automatically validate d at ins tall time . To pe rform this s te p
manually, type the following at a command line :
$ rpm --c hecksig -v filename.rpm
whe re filename.rpm is the drive r update rpm package file name . This ve rifie s the
package agains t us ing the s tandard Re d Hat GPG package s igning ke y that is
alre ady ins talle d on any Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 s ys te m. If you ne e d this ke y for
ve rification purpos e s on anothe r s ys te m, you can can obtain it from:
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s e curity/te am/ke y/
2. Locate and double -click the file that you downloade d. The s ys te m might prompt you
for the root pas s word, afte r which it will pre s e nt the following Installing
Packages box:
Figure 35.2. T he inst alling packages bo x
Click Apply to comple te the package ins tallation.
Alte rnative ly, you can ins tall a drive r update manually on the command line :
$ rpm -i vh kmod-foo-1 .05-2.el6.i686
3. Whe the r you us e d a graphical ins tall, or a command line ins tall, re boot your s ys te m
to e ns ure your s ys te m is us ing the ne w drive r.
If Re d Hat s hips a ke rne l e rrata update be fore the ne xt re le as e of Re d Hat Ente rpris e
529
Linux, your s ys te m will continue to us e the drive r update s that you have ins talle d. The re
is no ne e d to re -ins tall drive r update s following an e rrata update . Ge ne rally, whe n Re d Hat
re le as e s a ne w ve rs ion of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, all drive r update s for the pre vious
ve rs ion are incorporate d in the ne w ve rs ion. Howe ve r, if it was not pos s ible to include a
particular drive r, you will ne e d to pe rform anothe r drive r update whe n you ins tall the ne w
ve rs ion of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux. In this cas e , Re d Hat or your hardware party ve ndor
will inform you of the location of the update .
35.2. Finishing an Upgrade
Impo rtant
Once you have re boote d your s ys te m afte r pe rforming an upgrade , you s hould als o
pe rform a manual s ys te m update . Cons ult Se ction 35.1, “Updating Your Sys te m” for
more information.
If you chos e to upgrade your s ys te m from a pre vious re le as e rathe r than pe rform a fre s h
ins tallation, you may want to e xamine the diffe re nce s in the package s e t. Se ction 9.12.2, “
Upgrading Us ing the Ins talle r ”, Se ction 16.14.2, “ Upgrading Us ing the Ins talle r ”, or
Se ction 23.12.1, “ Upgrading Us ing the Ins talle r ” (de pe nding on your s ys te m archite cture )
advis e d you to cre ate a package lis ting for your original s ys te m. You can now us e that
lis ting to de te rmine how to bring your ne w s ys te m clos e to the original s ys te m s tate .
Mos t s oftware re pos itory configurations are s tore d in package s that e nd with the te rm
release. Che ck the old package lis t for the re pos itorie s that we re ins talle d:
awk '{print $1}' ~/old-pkglist.txt | grep 'release$'
If ne ce s s ary, re trie ve and ins tall the s e package s from the ir original s ource s on the
Inte rne t. Follow the ins tructions at the originating s ite to ins tall the re pos itory configuration
package s for us e by yum and othe r s oftware manage me nt tools on your Re d Hat
The n run the following commands to make a lis t of othe r mis s ing s oftware package s :
awk '{print $1}' ~/old-pkglist.txt | sort | uniq > ~/old-pkgnames.txt
rpm -qa --qf '%{NAME}\n' | sort | uniq > ~/new-pkgnames.txt
diff -u ~/old-pkgnames.txt ~/new-pkgnames.txt | grep '^-' | sed 's/^-//'
> /tmp/pkgs-to-install.txt
Now us e the file /tmp/pkgs-to-install.txt with the yum command to re s tore mos t or all
of your old s oftware :
su -c 'yum install `cat /tmp/pkgs-to-install.txt`'
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Impo rtant
Due to change s in package comple me nts be twe e n Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
re le as e s , it is pos s ible this me thod may not re s tore all the s oftware on your
s ys te m. You can us e the routine s above to again compare the s oftware on your
s ys te m, and re me dy any proble ms you find.
35.3. Swit ching t o a Graphical Login
Impo rtant
To s witch to a graphical e nvironme nt, you might ne e d to ins tall e xtra s oftware from
a repository. You can acce s s Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux re pos itorie s with your Re d Hat
Ne twork s ubs cription through the Inte rne t or us e a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ins tallation DVD as a re pos itory. Re fe r to Se ction 35.3.1, “Enabling Acce s s to
Software Re pos itorie s from the Command Line ”.
Impo rtant
To us e a graphical us e r inte rface on Sys te m z , us e vncs e rve r ins te ad.
If you ins talle d us ing a te xt login and wis h to s witch to a graphical login, follow this
proce dure .
1. If you are not alre ady root, s witch us e rs to the root account:
su Provide the adminis trator pas s word whe n prompte d.
2. If you have not alre ady done s o, ins tall the X Windo w Syst em and a graphical
de s ktop e nvironme nt. For e xample , to ins tall the GNOME de s ktop e nvironme nt, us e
this command:
yum groupinstall "X Window System" Desktop
To ins tall the KDE de s ktop e nvironme nt, us e :
yum groupinstall "X Window System" "KDE Desktop"
This s te p may take s ome time as your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m downloads
and ins talls additional s oftware . You may be as ke d to provide the ins tallation me dia
de pe nding on your original ins tallation s ource .
3. Run the following command to e dit the /etc/inittab file :
vi /etc/inittab
531
4. Pre s s the I ke y to e nte r insert mode .
5. Find the line that include s the te xt initdefault. Change the nume ral 3 to 5.
6. Type :wq and pre s s the Enter ke y to s ave the file and e xit the vi te xt e ditor.
Re boot the s ys te m us ing the reboot command. Your s ys te m will re s tart and pre s e nt a
graphical login.
If you e ncounte r any proble ms with the graphical login, re fe r to Chapte r 10,
Troubleshooting Installation on an Intel or AMD System.
35.3.1. Enabling Access t o Sof t ware Reposit ories f rom t he Command
Line
The us ual way to ins tall ne w s oftware on a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m is through a
s oftware re pos itory. You can acce s s Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux re pos itorie s through the
Inte rne t with your Re d Hat Ne twork s ubs cription, or us e a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ins tallation DVD as a re pos itory. The s oftware that you acce s s through online re pos itorie s
is more up-to-date than what is available on an ins tallation DVD. Furthe rmore , configuring a
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m to acce s s online re pos itorie s is ge ne rally e as ie r than
configuring the s ys te m to us e an ins tallation DVD as a re pos itory, as long as you have an
e xis ting, wire d ne twork conne ction available .
35.3.1.1. Enabling Access t o Sof t ware Reposit ories T hrough t he Int ernet
If you s upplie d your Re d Hat Ne twork s ubs cription numbe r during the ins tallation proce s s ,
your s ys te m is alre ady configure d to acce s s Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux re pos itorie s
through the Inte rne t. The re fore , all you mus t do is e ns ure that the s ys te m can acce s s the
Inte rne t. If you have an e xis ting, wire d ne twork conne ction available , this proce s s is
s traightforward:
su 2. Ens ure that the s ys te m is plugge d into your ne twork. Note that your ne twork might
be as s mall as two de vice s — a compute r and an e xte rnal mode m/route r.
3. Run system-config-network. The ne twork configuration tool s tarts and dis plays
the Select Action s cre e n.
4. Se le ct Device co nf igurat io n and pre s s Enter. The ne twork configuration tool
dis plays the Select A Device s cre e n with a lis t of ne twork inte rface s pre s e nt on
your s ys te m. The firs t inte rface is name d eth0 by de fault.
5. Se le ct a ne twork inte rface to configure and pre s s Enter. The ne twork configuration
tool take s you to the Network Configuration s cre e n.
6. You can manually configure a s tatic IP, gate way, and DNS s e rve rs on this s cre e n or
le ave the s e fie lds blank to acce pt the de fault value s . Whe n you have chos e n a
configuration, s e le ct OK, and pre s s Enter. The ne twork configuration tool take s you
back to the Select A Device s cre e n.
7. Se le ct Save and pre s s Enter. The ne twork configuration tool take s you back to the
Select Action s cre e n.
532
8. Se le ct Save&Quit and pre s s Enter. The ne twork configuration tool s ave s your
s e ttings and e xits .
9. Run ifup interface, whe re interface is the ne twork inte rface that you configure d
with the ne twork configuration tool. For e xample , run ifup eth0 to s tart eth0.
Configuration of dial-up or wire le s s Inte rne t conne ctions is more complicate d and be yond
the s cope of this guide .
35.3.1.2. Using a Red Hat Ent erprise Linux Inst allat ion DVD as a Sof t ware
Reposit ory
To us e a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation DVD as a s oftware re pos itory, e ithe r in the
form of a phys ical dis c, or in the form of an ISO image file .
1. If you are us ing a phys ical DVD, ins e rt the dis c into your compute r.
su 3. Cre ate a mount point for the re pos itory:
mkdir -p /path/to/repo
whe re /path/to/repo is a location for the re pos itory, for e xample , /mnt/repo
4. Mount the DVD on the mount point that you jus t cre ate d. If you are us ing a phys ical
dis c, you ne e d to know the device name of your DVD drive . You can find the name s
of any CD or DVD drive s on your s ys te m with the command cat
/proc/sys/dev/cdrom/info. The firs t CD or DVD drive on the s ys te m is typically
name d sr0. Whe n you know the de vice name , mount the DVD:
mount -r -t iso9660 /dev/device_name /path/to/repo
For e xample : mount -r -t iso9660 /dev/sr0 /mnt/repo
If you are us ing an ISO image file of a dis c, mount the image file like this :
mount -r -t iso9660 -o loop /path/to/image/file.iso /path/to/repo
For e xample : mount -r -o loop /home/root/Downloads/RHEL6-Server-i386DVD.iso /mnt/repo
Note that you can only mount an image file if the s torage de vice that holds the
image file is its e lf mounte d. For e xample , if the image file is s tore d on a hard drive
that is not mounte d automatically whe n the s ys te m boots , you mus t mount the hard
drive be fore you mount an image file s tore d on that hard drive . Cons ide r a hard
drive name d /dev/sdb that is not automatically mounte d at boot time and which has
an image file s tore d in a dire ctory name d Downloads on its firs t partition:
mkdir /mnt/temp
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/temp
mkdir /mnt/repo
mount -r -t iso9660 -o loop mount -r -o loop
/mnt/temp/Downloads/RHEL6-Server-i386-DVD.iso /mnt/repo
533
If you are not s ure whe the r a s torage de vice is mounte d, run the mount command
to obtain a lis t of curre nt mounts . If you are not s ure of the de vice name or partition
numbe r of a s torage de vice , run fdisk -l and try to ide ntify it in the output.
5. Cre ate a ne w repo file in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ dire ctory. The name of the file is
not important, as long as it e nds in .repo. For e xample , dvd.repo is an obvious
choice .
a. Choos e a name for the re po file and ope n it as a ne w file with the vi te xt
e ditor. For e xample :
vi /etc/yum.repos.d/dvd.repo
b. Pre s s the I ke y to e nte r insert mode .
c. Supply the de tails of the re pos itory. For e xample :
[dvd]
baseurl=file:///mnt/repo/Server
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release
The name of the re pos itory is s pe cifie d in s quare bracke ts — in this
e xample , [dvd]. The name is not important, but you s hould choos e
s ome thing that is me aningful and re cogniz able .
The line that s pe cifie s the baseurl s hould contain the path to the mount
point that you cre ate d pre vious ly, s uffixe d with /Server for a Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux s e rve r ins tallation DVD, or with /Client for a Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux clie nt ins tallation DVD.
d. Pre s s the Esc ke y to e xit insert mode .
e . Type :wq and pre s s the Enter ke y to s ave the file and e xit the vi te xt
e ditor.
f. Afte r ins talling or upgrading s oftware from the DVD, de le te the re po file that
you cre ate d.
35.4. Inst alling Packages Wit h yum
The yum utility allows you to ins tall package s on your s ys te m.
To ins tall a s ingle package and all of its non-ins talle d de pe nde ncie s , e nte r a command in
the following form:
yum install package_name
If you are ins talling package s on a multilib s ys te m, s uch as an AMD64 or Inte l64 machine ,
you can s pe cify the archite cture of the package (as long as it is available in an e nable d
re pos itory) by appe nding .arch to the package name . For e xample , to ins tall the foobar
package for i686, type :
534
~]# yum install foobar.i686
To ins tall package s whe n your s ys te m cannot acce s s a ne twork or the Inte rne t, cons ide r
e nabling the ins tallation DVD or ISO image file as an ins tallation re pos itory (re fe r to
Se ction 35.3.1.2, “Us ing a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux Ins tallation DVD as a Software
Re pos itory”). Choos e the appropriate ins tallation me dia if you inte nd to ins tall package s for
a diffe re nt archite cture . For e xample , to ins tall a 32-bit package on a 64-bit s ys te m, e nable
the 32-bit me dia as an ins tallation re pos itory.
For more information on ins talling package s , re fe r to the Yum chapte r in the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux De ployme nt Guide .
535
Chapt er 36. Basic Syst em Recovery
Whe n things go wrong, the re are ways to fix proble ms . Howe ve r, the s e me thods re quire
that you unde rs tand the s ys te m we ll. This chapte r de s cribe s how to boot into re s cue
mode , s ingle -us e r mode , and e me rge ncy mode , whe re you can us e your own knowle dge
to re pair the s ys te m.
36.1. Rescue Mode
36.1.1. Common Problems
You might ne e d to boot into one of the s e re cove ry mode s for any of the following
re as ons :
You are unable to boot normally into Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux (runle ve l 3 or 5).
You are having hardware or s oftware proble ms , and you want to ge t a fe w important
file s off of your s ys te m's hard drive .
You forgot the root pas s word.
36.1.1.1. Unable t o Boot int o Red Hat Ent erprise Linux
This proble m is ofte n caus e d by the ins tallation of anothe r ope rating s ys te m afte r you
have ins talle d Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux. Some othe r ope rating s ys te ms as s ume that you
have no othe r ope rating s ys te m(s ) on your compute r. The y ove rwrite the Mas te r Boot
Re cord (MBR) that originally containe d the GRUB boot loade r. If the boot loade r is
ove rwritte n in this manne r, you cannot boot Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux unle s s you can ge t
into re s cue mode and re configure the boot loade r.
Anothe r common proble m occurs whe n us ing a partitioning tool to re s iz e a partition or
cre ate a ne w partition from fre e s pace afte r ins tallation, and it change s the orde r of your
partitions . If the partition numbe r of your / partition change s , the boot loade r might not be
able to find it to mount the partition. To fix this proble m, boot in re s cue mode and modify
the /boot/grub/grub.conf file .
For ins tructions on how to re ins tall the GRUB boot loade r from a re s cue e nvironme nt, re fe r
to Se ction 36.1.2.1, “Re ins talling the Boot Loade r”.
36.1.1.2. Hardware/Sof t ware Problems
This cate gory include s a wide varie ty of diffe re nt s ituations . Two e xample s include failing
hard drive s and s pe cifying an invalid root de vice or ke rne l in the boot loade r configuration
file . If e ithe r of the s e occur, you might not be able to re boot into Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
Howe ve r, if you boot into one of the s ys te m re cove ry mode s , you might be able to
re s olve the proble m or at le as t ge t copie s of your mos t important file s .
36.1.1.3. Root Password
What can you do if you forge t your root pas s word? To re s e t it to a diffe re nt pas s word, boot
into re s cue mode or s ingle -us e r mode , and us e the passwd command to re s e t the root
pas s word.
36.1.2. Boot ing int o Rescue Mode
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⁠C hapt e r 36 . Bas ic Sys t e m Re c o ve r y
Re s cue mode provide s the ability to boot a s mall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux e nvironme nt
e ntire ly from CD-ROM, or s ome othe r boot me thod, ins te ad of the s ys te m's hard drive .
As the name implie s , re s cue mode is provide d to re s cue you from s ome thing. During
normal ope ration, your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s ys te m us e s file s locate d on your
s ys te m's hard drive to do e ve rything — run programs , s tore your file s , and more .
Howe ve r, the re may be time s whe n you are unable to ge t Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
running comple te ly e nough to acce s s file s on your s ys te m's hard drive . Us ing re s cue
mode , you can acce s s the file s s tore d on your s ys te m's hard drive , e ve n if you cannot
actually run Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from that hard drive .
To boot into re s cue mode , you mus t be able to boot the s ys te m us ing one of the following
me thods ⁠ [14] :
By booting the s ys te m from a boot CD-ROM or DVD.
By booting the s ys te m from othe r ins tallation boot me dia, s uch as USB flas h de vice s .
By booting the s ys te m from the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation DVD.
Once you have boote d us ing one of the de s cribe d me thods , add the ke yword rescue as a
ke rne l parame te r. For e xample , for an x86 s ys te m, type the following command at the
ins tallation boot prompt:
linux rescue
If your s ys te m re quire s a third-party drive r provide d on a driver disc to boot, load the
drive r with the additional option dd:
linux rescue dd
For more information on us ing a drive r dis c at boot time , re fe r to Se ction 6.3.3, “Us e a
Boot Option to Spe cify a Drive r Update Dis k” for x86 s ys te ms or Se ction 13.3.3, “Us e a
Boot Option to Spe cify a Drive r Update Dis k” for Powe r Sys te ms s e rve rs .
If a drive r that is part of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 dis tribution pre ve nts the s ys te m
from booting, blacklis t that drive r with the rdblacklist option. For e xample , to boot into
re s cue mode without the foobar drive r, run:
linux rescue rdblacklist=foobar
You are prompte d to ans we r a fe w bas ic que s tions , including which language to us e . It als o
prompts you to s e le ct whe re a valid re s cue image is locate d. Se le ct from Local CD-ROM,
Hard Drive, NFS image, FTP, or HTTP. The location s e le cte d mus t contain a valid
ins tallation tre e , and the ins tallation tre e mus t be for the s ame ve rs ion of Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux as the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux dis k from which you boote d. If you us e d a
boot CD-ROM or othe r me dia to s tart re s cue mode , the ins tallation tre e mus t be from the
s ame tre e from which the me dia was cre ate d. For more information about how to s e tup an
ins tallation tre e on a hard drive , NFS s e rve r, FTP s e rve r, or HTTP s e rve r, re fe r to the
e arlie r s e ction of this guide .
If you s e le ct a re s cue image that doe s not re quire a ne twork conne ction, you are as ke d
whe the r or not you want to e s tablis h a ne twork conne ction. A ne twork conne ction is us e ful
if you ne e d to backup file s to a diffe re nt compute r or ins tall s ome RPM package s from a
s hare d ne twork location, for e xample .
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The following me s s age is dis playe d:
The re s cue e nvironme nt will now atte mpt to find your Linux ins tallation and
mount it unde r the dire ctory /mnt/s ys image . You can the n make any change s
re quire d to your s ys te m. If you want to proce e d with this s te p choos e
'Continue '. You can als o choos e to mount your file s ys te ms re ad-only ins te ad
of re ad-write by choos ing 'Re ad-only'. If for s ome re as on this proce s s fails
you can choos e 'Skip' and this s te p will be s kippe d and you will go dire ctly to
a command s he ll.
If you s e le ct Continue, it atte mpts to mount your file s ys te m unde r the dire ctory
/mnt/sysimage/. If it fails to mount a partition, it notifie s you. If you s e le ct Read-Only, it
atte mpts to mount your file s ys te m unde r the dire ctory /mnt/sysimage/, but in re ad-only
mode . If you s e le ct Skip, your file s ys te m is not mounte d. Choos e Skip if you think your
file s ys te m is corrupte d.
Once you have your s ys te m in re s cue mode , a prompt appe ars on VC (virtual cons ole ) 1
and VC 2 (us e the Ctrl-Alt-F1 ke y combination to acce s s VC 1 and Ctrl-Alt-F2 to acce s s
VC 2):
sh-3.00b#
If you s e le cte d Continue to mount your partitions automatically and the y we re mounte d
s ucce s s fully, you are in s ingle -us e r mode .
Eve n if your file s ys te m is mounte d, the de fault root partition while in re s cue mode is a
te mporary root partition, not the root partition of the file s ys te m us e d during normal us e r
mode (runle ve l 3 or 5). If you s e le cte d to mount your file s ys te m and it mounte d
s ucce s s fully, you can change the root partition of the re s cue mode e nvironme nt to the
root partition of your file s ys te m by e xe cuting the following command:
chroot /mnt/sysimage
This is us e ful if you ne e d to run commands s uch as rpm that re quire your root partition to
be mounte d as /. To e xit the chroot e nvironme nt, type exit to re turn to the prompt.
If you s e le cte d Skip, you can s till try to mount a partition or LVM2 logical volume manually
ins ide re s cue mode by cre ating a dire ctory s uch as /foo, and typing the following
command:
mount -t ext4 /dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol02 /foo
In the above command, /foo is a dire ctory that you have cre ate d and
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol02 is the LVM2 logical volume you want to mount. If the
partition is of type ext2 or ext3 re place ext4 with ext2 or ext3 re s pe ctive ly.
If you do not know the name s of all phys ical partitions , us e the following command to lis t
the m:
fdisk -l
If you do not know the name s of all LVM2 phys ical volume s , volume groups , or logical
volume s , us e the pvdisplay, vgdisplay or lvdisplay commands , re s pe ctive ly.
From the prompt, you can run many us e ful commands , s uch as :
538
ssh, scp, and ping if the ne twork is s tarte d
dump and restore for us e rs with tape drive s
parted and fdisk for managing partitions
rpm for ins talling or upgrading s oftware
vi for e diting te xt file s
36.1.2.1. Reinst alling t he Boot Loader
In many cas e s , the GRUB boot loade r can mis take nly be de le te d, corrupte d, or re place d by
othe r ope rating s ys te ms .
The following s te ps de tail the proce s s on how GRUB is re ins talle d on the mas te r boot
re cord:
Boot the s ys te m from an ins tallation boot me dium.
Type linux rescue at the ins tallation boot prompt to e nte r the re s cue e nvironme nt.
Type chroot /mnt/sysimage to mount the root partition.
Type /sbin/grub-install bootpart to re ins tall the GRUB boot loade r, whe re bootpart
is the boot partition (typically, /de v/s da).
Re vie w the /boot/grub/grub.conf file , as additional e ntrie s may be ne e de d for GRUB
to control additional ope rating s ys te ms .
Re boot the s ys te m.
36.1.3. Boot ing int o Single-User Mode
One of the advantage s of s ingle -us e r mode is that you do not ne e d a boot CD-ROM;
howe ve r, it doe s not give you the option to mount the file s ys te ms as re ad-only or not
mount the m at all.
If your s ys te m boots , but doe s not allow you to log in whe n it has comple te d booting, try
s ingle -us e r mode .
In s ingle -us e r mode , your compute r boots to runle ve l 1. Your local file s ys te ms are
mounte d, but your ne twork is not activate d. You have a us able s ys te m mainte nance s he ll.
Unlike re s cue mode , s ingle -us e r mode automatically trie s to mount your file s ys te m. Do
not use single-user mode if your file system cannot be mounted successfully. You cannot
us e s ingle -us e r mode if the runle ve l 1 configuration on your s ys te m is corrupte d.
On an x86 s ys te m us ing GRUB, us e the following s te ps to boot into s ingle -us e r mode :
1. At the GRUB s plas h s cre e n at boot time , pre s s any ke y to e nte r the GRUB
inte ractive me nu.
2. Se le ct Red Hat Enterprise Linux with the ve rs ion of the ke rne l that you wis h to
boot and type a to appe nd the line .
3. Go to the e nd of the line and type single as a s e parate word (pre s s the Spacebar
and the n type single). Pre s s Enter to e xit e dit mode .
36.1.4. Boot ing int o Emergency Mode
539
In e me rge ncy mode , you are boote d into the mos t minimal e nvironme nt pos s ible . The root
file s ys te m is mounte d re ad-only and almos t nothing is s e t up. The main advantage of
e me rge ncy mode ove r s ingle -us e r mode is that the init file s are not loade d. If init is
corrupte d or not working, you can s till mount file s ys te ms to re cove r data that could be
los t during a re -ins tallation.
To boot into e me rge ncy mode , us e the s ame me thod as de s cribe d for s ingle -us e r mode
in Se ction 36.1.3, “Booting into Single -Us e r Mode ” with one e xce ption, re place the ke yword
single with the ke yword emergency.
36.2. Rescue Mode on Power Syst ems servers
You can us e the ins tallation dis ks in re s cue mode , in cas e your s ys te m doe s not boot.
Re s cue mode give s you acce s s to the dis k partitions on your s ys te m s o you can make
any change s ne ce s s ary to re s cue your ins tallation.
Afte r the Language Se le ction s cre e n (Se ction 15.2, “Language Se le ction”), the ins tallation
program atte mpts to mount the dis k partitions on your s ys te m. It the n pre s e nts you with a
s he ll prompt whe re you can make the change s you ne e d. The s e change s may include
s toring the ke rne l and command line into the IPL s ource , as de s cribe d in the Ins tallation
Comple te s e ction (Se ction 16.21, “Ins tallation Comple te ”).
Whe n your change s are comple te , you can e xit the s he ll us ing exit 0. This caus e s a
re boot from the C s ide . To re boot from the A or B s ide or from *NWSSTG, you s hould vary
off the s ys te m ins te ad of e xiting the s he ll.
36.2.1. Special Considerat ions f or Accessing t he SCSI Ut ilit ies f rom
Rescue Mode
If your s ys te m us e s Native DASD dis ks , you may ne e d acce s s to the SCSI utilitie s from
re s cue mode . The s e utilitie s are locate d on the drive r dis c CD. The drive r dis c CD cannot
be mounte d from re s cue mode unle s s s pe cial s te ps are take n. The s e s te ps are
de s cribe d be low.
If you have a s e cond CD-ROM drive as s igne d to your Linux s ys te m, you can mount the
drive r dis c CD in the s e cond drive .
If you have only one CD-ROM drive , you mus t s e t up an NFS boot, us ing the following
s te ps :
1. Boot from the CD-ROM with the linux rescue askmethod command. This allows
you to manually s e le ct NFS as the s ource of your re s cue me dia ins te ad of
de faulting to the CD-ROM drive .
2. Copy the firs t ins tallation dis c onto a file s ys te m of anothe r Linux s ys te m.
3. Make this copy of the ins tallation dis c available through NFS or FTP.
4. Vary off or powe r down the s ys te m you ne e d to re s cue . Se t its IPL parame te rs as
ins tructe d for booting the Ins tallation dis cs in re s cue mode , e xce pt that the IPL
s ource s hould point to the copy of boot.img on your IFS (from s te p 1, above ).
5. Make sure the installation disc is not in your DVD drive.
6. IPL the Linux s ys te m.
540
7. Follow the prompts as de s cribe d in Se ction 36.2, “Re s cue Mode on Powe r Sys te ms
s e rve rs ”. An additional prompt for the ins tallation s ource appe ars . Se le ct NFS or
FTP (as appropriate ) and comple te the following ne twork configuration s cre e n.
8. Whe n the Linux s ys te m has boote d into re s cue mode , the CD-ROM drive is
available for us e and you can mount the drive r me dia to acce s s the SCSI utilitie s .
36.3. Using Rescue Mode t o Fix or Work Around Driver
Problems
A malfunctioning or mis s ing drive r can pre ve nt a s ys te m from booting normally. Re s cue
mode provide s an e nvironme nt in which you can add, re move , or re place a drive r e ve n
whe n the s ys te m fails to boot. Whe re ve r pos s ible , we re comme nd that you us e the RPM
package manage r to re move malfunctioning drive rs or to add update d or mis s ing drive rs .
If you cannot re move a malfunctioning drive r for s ome re as on, you can ins te ad blacklist
the drive r s o that it doe s not load at boot time .
Note that whe n you ins tall a drive r from a drive r dis c, the drive r dis c update s all initramfs
image s on the s ys te m to us e this drive r. If a proble m with a drive r pre ve nts a s ys te m
from booting, you cannot re ly on booting the s ys te m from anothe r initramfs image .
36.3.1. Using RPM t o Add, Remove, or Replace a Driver
In re s cue mode , you can us e RPM to ins tall, re move , or update package s from the
ins talle d s ys te m, e ve n though you did not boot the ins talle d s ys te m. To re move a
malfunctioning drive r:
1. Boot the s ys te m into re s cue mode with the linux rescue command at the boot
prompt, or the linux rescue dd command if you ne e d to load a third-party drive r
from a drive r dis c. Follow the ins tructions in Se ction 36.1.2, “Booting into Re s cue
Mode ” and do not choos e to mount the ins talle d s ys te m as re ad only.
2. Change the root dire ctory to /mnt/sysimage/:
chroot /mnt/sysimage/
3. Us e the rpm -e command to re move the drive r package . For e xample , to re move
the kmod-foobar drive r package , run:
rpm -e kmod-foobar
4. Exit the chroot e nvironme nt:
exit
Ins talling a drive r is a s imilar proce s s , but the RPM package that contains the drive r mus t
be available on the s ys te m.
1. Boot the s ys te m into re s cue mode with the linux rescue command at the boot
prompt, or the linux rescue dd command if you ne e d to load a third-party drive r
from a drive r dis c. Follow the ins tructions in Se ction 36.1.2, “Booting into Re s cue
Mode ” and do not choos e to mount the ins talle d s ys te m as re ad only.
541
2. Make the RPM package that contains the drive r available . For e xample , mount a CD
or USB flas h drive and copy the RPM package to a location of your choice unde r
/mnt/sysimage/, for e xample : /mnt/sysimage/root/drivers/.
3. Change the root dire ctory to /mnt/sysimage/:
chroot /mnt/sysimage/
4. Us e the rpm -ivh command to ins tall the drive r package . For e xample , to ins tall
the kmod-foobar drive r package from /root/drivers/, run:
rpm -i vh /root/drivers/kmod-foobar-1 .2.04 .17.el6.i686
Note that /root/drivers/ in this chroot e nvironme nt is
/mnt/sysimage/root/drivers/ in the original re s cue e nvironme nt.
Whe n you have finis he d re moving and ins talling drive rs , re boot the s ys te m.
36.3.2. Blacklist ing a Driver
As de s cribe d in Se ction 36.1.2, “Booting into Re s cue Mode ”, the rdblacklist ke rne l option
blacklists a drive r at boot time . To continue to blacklis t the drive r on s ubs e que nt boots , add
the rdblacklist option to the line in /boot/grub/grub.conf that de s cribe s your ke rne l.
To blacklis t the drive r whe n the root de vice is mounte d, add a blacklis t e ntry in a file
unde r /etc/modprobe.d/.
1. Boot the s ys te m into re s cue mode with the command linux rescue
rdblacklist=name_of_driver, whe re name_of_driver is the drive r that you ne e d
to blacklis t. Follow the ins tructions in Se ction 36.1.2, “Booting into Re s cue Mode ” and
do not choos e to mount the ins talle d s ys te m as re ad only.
2. Ope n the /mnt/sysimage/boot/grub/grub.conf file with the vi te xt e ditor:
vi /mnt/sysimage/boot/grub/grub.conf
3. Ide ntify the de fault ke rne l us e d to boot the s ys te m. Each ke rne l is s pe cifie d in the
grub.conf file with a group of line s that be gins title. The de fault ke rne l is
s pe cifie d by the default parame te r ne ar the s tart of the file . A value of 0 re fe rs to
the ke rne l de s cribe d in the firs t group of line s , a value of 1 re fe rs to the ke rne l
de s cribe d in the s e cond group, and highe r value s re fe r to s ubs e que nt ke rne ls in
turn.
4. Edit the kernel line of the group to include the option
rdblacklist=name_of_driver, whe re name_of_driver is the drive r that you ne e d
to blacklis t. For e xample , to blacklis t the drive r name d f o o bar:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.32-71.18-2.el6.i686 ro root=/dev/sda1 rhgb
quiet rdblacklist=foobar
5. Save the file and e xit vi.
6. Cre ate a ne w file unde r /etc/modprobe.d/ that contains the command blacklist
name_of_driver. Give the file a de s criptive name that will he lp you find it in future ,
and us e the file name e xte ns ion .conf. For e xample , to continue to blacklis t the
drive r f o o bar whe n the root de vice is mounte d, run:
542
echo "blacklist foobar" >> /mnt/sysimage/etc/modprobe.d/blacklistfoobar.conf
7. Re boot the s ys te m. You no longe r ne e d to s upply rdblacklist manually as a
ke rne l option until you ne xt update the de fault ke rne l. If you update the de fault
ke rne l be fore the proble m with the drive r has be e n fixe d, you mus t e dit grub.conf
again to e ns ure that the faulty drive r is not loade d at boot time .
[14] Refer to the earlier sections of this guide for m ore details.
543
Chapt er 37. Upgrading Your Current Syst em
The proce dure for pe rforming an in-place upgrade on your curre nt s ys te m is handle d by
the following utilitie s :
The Preupgrade Assist ant , which is a diagnos tics utility that as s e s s e s your curre nt
s ys te m and ide ntifie s pote ntial proble ms you might e ncounte r during and/or afte r the
upgrade .
The Red Hat Upgrade T o o l utility, which is us e d to upgrade a s ys te m from Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux to ve rs ion 7.
The curre nt docume ntation for te s ting this proce dure can be found in the following Re d Hat
Knowle dge bas e article : https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s ite /s olutions /637583
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⁠C hapt e r 38 . Unr e gis t e r ing f r o m Re d Hat Subs c r ipt io n Manage me nt Se r vic e s
Chapt er 38. Unregist ering from Red Hat Subscript ion
Management Services
A s ys te m can only be re gis te re d with one s ubs cription s e rvice . If you ne e d to change
which s e rvice your s ys te m is re gis te re d with or ne e d to de le te the re gis tration in
ge ne ral, the n the me thod to unre gis te r de pe nds on which type of s ubs cription s e rvice the
s ys te m was originally re gis te re d with.
38.1. Syst ems Regist ered wit h Red Hat Subscript ion
Management
Se ve ral diffe re nt s ubs cription s e rvice s us e the s ame , ce rtificate -bas e d frame work to
ide ntify s ys te ms , ins talle d products , and attache d s ubs criptions . The s e s e rvice s are
Cus tome r Portal Subs cription Manage me nt (hos te d), Subs cription As s e t Manage r (onpre mis e s ubs cription s e rvice ), and CloudForms Sys te m Engine (on-pre mis e s ubs cription
and conte nt de live ry s e rvice s ). The s e are all part of Red Hat Subscription Management.
For all s e rvice s within Re d Hat Subs cription Manage me nt, the s ys te ms are manage d with
the Re d Hat Subs cription Manage r clie nt tools .
To unre gis te r a s ys te m re gis te re d with a Re d Hat Subs cription Manage me nt s e rve r, us e
the unregister command.
[root@server ~]# subscription-manager unregister --username=name
No te
This command mus t be run as root.
38.2. Syst ems Regist ered wit h RHN Classic
The re is no command to s pe cifically unre gis te r a s ys te m which is re gis te re d with RHN
Clas s ic. To de le te the re gis tration locally, re move the file with the s ys te m ID as s igne d to
the s ys te m whe n it was re gis te re d:
[root@server ~]# rm -rf /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid
No te
If the s ys te m is be ing unre gis te re d in orde r to re gis te r it with Re d Hat Subs cription
Manage me nt (Cus tome r Portal Subs cription Manage me nt, Subs cription As s e t
Manage r, or CloudForms Sys te m Engine ), the n ins te ad of unre gis te ring the s ys te m,
us e the rhn-migrate-classic-to-rhsm s cript to migrate the s ys te m and all its
attache d s ubs criptions to the s pe cifie d Re d Hat Subs cription Manage me nt s e rve r.
Us ing the migration s cripts is cove re d in the Subscription Management Guide.
545
38.3. Syst ems Regist ered wit h Sat ellit e
For a Sate llite re gis tration on the s e rve r, locate the s ys te m in the Systems tab and de le te
the profile .
546
⁠C hapt e r 39 . Re mo ving Re d Hat Ent e r pr is e Linux Fr o m x8 6 -bas e d Sys t e ms
Chapt er 39. Removing Red Hat Ent erprise Linux From
x86-based Syst ems
Warning
If you have data from Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux that you want to ke e p, back it up
be fore you proce e d. Write your data to CD, DVD, e xte rnal hard dis k, or othe r
s torage de vice .
As a pre caution, als o back up data from any othe r ope rating s ys te ms that are
ins talle d on the s ame compute r. Mis take s do happe n and can re s ult in the los s of all
your data.
If you back up data from Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux to be us e d late r in anothe r
ope rating s ys te m, make s ure that the s torage me dium or de vice is re adable by that
othe r ope rating s ys te m. For e xample , without e xtra third-party s oftware , Micros oft
Windows cannot re ad an e xte rnal hard drive that you have formatte d with Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux to us e the e xt2, e xt3, or e xt4 file s ys te m.
To unins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from your x86-bas e d s ys te m, you mus t re move the
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux boot loade r information from your mas te r boot re cord (MBR) and
re move any partitions that contain the ope rating s ys te m. The me thod for re moving Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux from your compute r varie s , de pe nding on whe the r Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux is the only ope rating s ys te m ins talle d on the compute r, or whe the r the compute r is
configure d to dual-boot Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux and anothe r ope rating s ys te m.
The s e ins tructions cannot cove r e ve ry pos s ible compute r configuration. If your compute r
is configure d to boot thre e or more ope rating s ys te ms , or has a highly-cus tomiz e d
partition s che me , us e the following s e ctions as a ge ne ral guide to partition re moval with
the various tools de s cribe d. In the s e s ituations , you will als o ne e d to le arn to configure
your chos e n bootloade r. Se e Appe ndix E, The GRUB Boot Loader for a ge ne ral introduction
to the s ubje ct, but de taile d ins tructions are be yond the s cope of this docume nt.
Impo rtant
Fdisk, the dis k partitioning tool provide d with MS-DOS and Micros oft Windows , is
unable to re move the file s ys te ms us e d by Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux. MS-DOS and
ve rs ions of Windows prior to Windows XP (e xce pt for Windows 2000) have no othe r
me ans of re moving or modifying partitions . Re fe r to Se ction 39.3, “Re placing Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux with MS-DOS or Le gacy Ve rs ions of Micros oft Windows ” for
alte rnative re moval me thods for us e with MS-DOS and the s e ve rs ions of Windows .
39.1. Red Hat Ent erprise Linux is t he Only Operat ing Syst em
on t he Comput er
If Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux is the only ope rating s ys te m on your compute r, us e the
ins tallation me dia for the re place me nt ope rating s ys te m to re move Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux. Example s of ins tallation me dia include the Windows XP ins tallation CD, Windows
Vis ta ins tallation DVD, or the ins tallation CD, CDs , or DVD of anothe r Linux dis tribution.
547
Note that s ome manufacture rs of factory-built compute rs pre -ins talle d with Micros oft
Windows do not s upply the Windows ins tallation CD or DVD with the compute r. The
manufacture r may ins te ad have s upplie d the ir own "s ys te m re s tore dis c", or have
include d s oftware with the compute r that allowe d you to cre ate your own "s ys te m re s tore
dis c" whe n you firs t s tarte d the compute r. In s ome cas e s , the s ys te m re s tore s oftware is
s tore d on a s e parate partition on the s ys te m's hard drive . If you cannot ide ntify the
ins tallation me dia for an ope rating s ys te m that was pre -ins talle d on your compute r,
cons ult the docume ntation s upplie d with the machine , or contact the manufacture r.
Whe n you have locate d the ins tallation me dia for your chos e n ope rating s ys te m:
1. Back up any data that you want to ke e p.
2. Shut down the compute r.
3. Boot your compute r with the ins tallation dis c for the re place me nt ope rating s ys te m.
4. Follow the prompts pre s e nte d during the ins tallation proce s s . Windows , OS X, and
mos t Linux ins tallation dis cs allow you to manually partition your hard drive during
the ins tallation proce s s , or will offe r you the option to re move all partitions and
s tart with a fre s h partition s che me . At this point, re move any e xis ting partitions that
the ins tallation s oftware de te cts or allow the ins talle r to re move the partitions
automatically. "Sys te m re s tore " me dia for compute rs pre -ins talle d with Micros oft
Windows might cre ate a de fault partition layout automatically without input from you.
Warning
If your compute r has s ys te m re s tore s oftware s tore d on a partition on a hard
drive , take care whe n re moving partitions while ins talling an ope rating
s ys te m from othe r me dia. Unde r the s e circums tance s , you could de s troy the
partition holding the s ys te m re s tore s oftware .
39.2. Your Comput er Dual-boot s Red Hat Ent erprise Linux
and Anot her Operat ing Syst em
If your compute r is configure d to dual-boot Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux and anothe r ope rating
s ys te m, re moving Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux without re moving the partitions containing the
othe r ope rating s ys te m and its data is more complicate d. Spe cific ins tructions for a
numbe r of ope rating s ys te ms are s e t out be low. To ke e p ne ithe r Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
nor the othe r ope rating s ys te m, follow the s te ps de s cribe d for a compute r with only Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins talle d: Se ction 39.1, “Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux is the Only
Ope rating Sys te m on the Compute r”
39.2.1. Your Comput er Dual-boot s Red Hat Ent erprise Linux and a
Microsof t Windows Operat ing Syst em
39.2.1.1. Windows 2000, Windows Server 2000, Windows XP, and Windows
Server 2003
548
Warning
Once you comme nce this proce s s , your compute r may be le ft in an unbootable s tate
until you comple te the e ntire s e t of ins tructions . Care fully re ad the s te ps be low
be fore be ginning the re moval proce s s . Cons ide r ope ning the s e ins tructions on
anothe r compute r or printing the m s o that you have acce s s to the m at all time s
during the proce s s .
This proce dure re lie s on the Windo ws Reco very Co nso le that loads from the
Windows ins tallation dis k, s o you will not be able to comple te the proce dure without
acce s s to this dis k. If you s tart this proce dure and do not comple te it, you could
le ave your compute r in a condition whe re you cannot boot it. The "s ys te m re s tore
dis k" s upplie d with s ome factory-built compute rs that are s old with Windows pre ins talle d on the m might not include the Windo ws Reco very Co nso le.
During the proce s s outline d in the s e ins tructions , the Windo ws Reco very Co nso le
will prompt you for the Adminis trator pas s word for your Windows s ys te m. Do not
follow the s e ins tructions unle s s you know the Adminis trator pas s word for your
s ys te m or are ce rtain that an Adminis trator pas s word has ne ve r be e n cre ate d,
e ve n by the compute r manufacture r.
1. Re move the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux partitions
a. Boot your compute r into your Micros oft Windows e nvironme nt.
b. Click Start>Run..., type diskmgmt.msc and pre s s Enter. The Disk
Management tool ope ns .
The tool dis plays a graphical re pre s e ntation of your dis k, with bars
re pre s e nting e ach partition. The firs t partition is us ually labe le d NTFS and
corre s ponds to your C: drive . At le as t two Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
partitions will be vis ible . Windows will not dis play a file s ys te m type for
the s e partitions , but may allocate drive le tte rs to s ome of the m.
c. Right-click on one of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux partitions , the n click Delete
Partition and click Yes to confirm the de le tion. Re pe at this proce s s for the
othe r Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux partitions on your s ys te m. As you de le te
partitions , Windows labe ls the s pace on the hard drive pre vious ly occupie d
by thos e partitions as unallocated.
2. Enable Windows to us e the s pace on your hard drive vacate d by Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux (optional)
No te
This s te p is not re quire d to re move Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux from your
compute r. Howe ve r, if you s kip this s te p, you will le ave part of your hard
drive 's s torage capacity unus able by Windows . De pe nding on your
configuration, this might be a s ignificant portion of the s torage capacity of the
drive .
549
De cide whe the r to e xte nd an e xis ting Windows partition to us e the e xtra s pace , or
cre ate a ne w Windows partition in that s pace . If you cre ate ne w a Windows partition,
Windows will allocate a ne w drive le tte r to it and will inte ract with it as if it is a
s e parate hard drive .
Ext ending an Exist ing Windo ws Part it io n
No te
The diskpart tool us e d in this s te p is ins talle d as part of the Windows XP
and Windows 2003 ope rating s ys te ms . If you are pe rforming this s te p on a
compute r running Windows 2000 or Windows Se rve r 2000, you can download
a ve rs ion of diskpart for your ope rating s ys te m from the Micros oft we bs ite .
a. Click Start>Run..., type diskpart and pre s s Enter. A command window
appe ars .
b. Type list volume and pre s s Enter. Diskpart dis plays a lis t of the
partitions on your s ys te m with a volume numbe r, its drive le tte r, volume
labe l, file s ys te m type , and s iz e . Ide ntify the Windows partition that you would
like to us e to occupy the s pace vacate d on your hard drive by Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux and take note of its volume numbe r (for e xample , your
Windows C: drive might be "Volume 0").
c. Type select volume N (whe re N is the volume numbe r for the Windows
partition that you want to e xte nd) and pre s s Enter. Now type extend and
pre s s Enter. Diskpart now e xte nds your chos e n partition to fill the
re maining s pace on your hard drive . It will notify you whe n the ope ration is
comple te .
Adding a New Windo ws Part it io n
a. In the Disk Management window, right-click on dis k s pace that Windows
labe ls as unallocated and s e le ct New Partition from the me nu. The New
Part it io n Wizard s tarts .
b. Follow the prompts pre s e nte d by the New Part it io n Wizard. If you acce pt
the de fault options , the tool will cre ate a ne w partition that fills all available
s pace on the hard drive , as s igns it the ne xt available drive le tte r, and
formats it with the NTFS file s ys te m.
3. Re s tore the Windows bootloade r
a. Ins e rt the Windows ins tallation dis k and re s tart your compute r. As your
compute r s tarts , the following me s s age will appe ar on the s cre e n for a fe w
s e conds :
Press any key to boot from CD
Pre s s any ke y while the me s s age is s till s howing and the Windows
ins tallation s oftware will load.
b. Whe n the Welcome to Setup s cre e n appe ars , you can s tart the Windo ws
Reco very Co nso le. The proce dure is s lightly diffe re nt on diffe re nt ve rs ions
of Windows :
550
On Windows 2000 and Windows Se rve r 2000, pre s s the R ke y, the n the C
ke y.
On Windows XP and Windows Se rve r 2003, pre s s the R ke y.
c. The Windo ws Reco very Co nso le s cans your hard drive s for Windows
ins tallations , and as s igns a numbe r to e ach one . It dis plays a lis t of Windows
ins tallations and prompts you to s e le ct one . Type the numbe r corre s ponding
to the Windows ins tallation that you want to re s tore .
d. The Windo ws Reco very Co nso le prompts you for the Adminis trator
pas s word for your Windows ins tallation. Type the Adminis trator pas s word
and pre s s the Enter ke y. If the re is no adminis trator pas s word for this
s ys te m, pre s s only the Enter ke y.
e . At the prompt, type the command fixmbr and pre s s the Enter. The f ixmbr
tool now re s tore s the Mas te r Boot Re cord for the s ys te m.
f. Whe n the prompt re appe ars , type exit and pre s s the Enter ke y.
g. Your compute r will re s tart and boot your Windows ope rating s ys te m.
39.2.1.2. Windows Vist a and Windows Server 2008
Warning
Once you comme nce this proce s s , your compute r may be le ft in an unbootable s tate
until you comple te the e ntire s e t of ins tructions . Care fully re ad the s te ps be low
be fore be ginning the re moval proce s s . Cons ide r ope ning the s e ins tructions on
anothe r compute r or printing the m s o that you have acce s s to the m at all time s
during the proce s s .
This proce dure re lie s on the Windo ws Reco very Enviro nment that loads from the
Windows ins tallation dis k and you will not be able to comple te the proce dure without
acce s s to this dis k. If you s tart this proce dure and do not comple te it, you could
le ave your compute r in a condition whe re you cannot boot it. The "s ys te m re s tore
dis k" s upplie d with s ome factory-built compute rs that are s old with Windows pre ins talle d on the m might not include the Windo ws Reco very Enviro nment .
1. Re move the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux partitions
a. Boot your compute r into your Micros oft Windows e nvironme nt.
b. Click Start the n type diskmgmt.msc into the Start Search box and pre s s
Enter. The Disk Management tool ope ns .
The tool dis plays a graphical re pre s e ntation of your dis k, with bars
re pre s e nting e ach partition. The firs t partition is us ually labe le d NTFS and
corre s ponds to your C: drive . At le as t two Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
partitions will be vis ible . Windows will not dis play a file s ys te m type for
the s e partitions , but may allocate drive le tte rs to s ome of the m.
c. Right-click on one of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux partitions , the n click Delete
Partition and click Yes to confirm the de le tion. Re pe at this proce s s for the
othe r Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux partitions on your s ys te m. As you de le te
551
partitions , Windows labe ls the s pace on the hard drive pre vious ly occupie d
by thos e partitions as unallocated.
2. Enable Windows to us e the s pace on your hard drive vacate d by Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux (optional)
No te
drive 's s torage capacity unus able by Windows . De pe nding on your
configuration, this might be a s ignificant portion of the s torage capacity of the
drive .
De cide whe the r to e xte nd an e xis ting Windows partition to us e the e xtra s pace , or
cre ate a ne w Windows partition in that s pace . If you cre ate ne w a Windows partition,
Windows will allocate a ne w drive le tte r to it and will inte ract with it as if it is a
s e parate hard drive .
Ext ending an Exist ing Windo ws Part it io n
a. In the Disk Management window, right-click on the Windows partition that
you want to e xte nd and s e le ct Extend Volume from the me nu. The Ext end
Vo lume Wizard ope ns .
b. Follow the prompts pre s e nte d by the Ext end Vo lume Wizard. If you acce pt
the de faults that it offe rs you, the tool will e xte nd the s e le cte d volume to fill
all available s pace on the hard drive .
Adding a New Windo ws Part it io n
a. In the Disk Management window, right-click on dis k s pace that Windows
labe ls as unallocated and s e le ct New Simple Volume from the me nu. The
New Simple Vo lume Wizard s tarts .
b. Follow the prompts pre s e nte d by the New Simple Vo lume Wizard. If you
acce pt the de fault options , the tool will cre ate a ne w partition that fills all
available s pace on the hard drive , as s igns it the ne xt available drive le tte r,
and formats it with the NTFS file s ys te m.
3. Re s tore the Windows bootloade r
a. Ins e rt the Windows ins tallation dis k and re s tart your compute r. As your
compute r s tarts , the following me s s age will appe ar on the s cre e n for a fe w
s e conds :
Press any key to boot from CD or DVD
Pre s s any ke y while the me s s age is s till s howing and the Windows
ins tallation s oftware will load.
b. In the Install Windows dialog, s e le ct a language , time and curre ncy format,
and ke yboard type . Click Next
c. Click Repair your computer.
552
d. The Windo ws Reco very Enviro nment (WRE) s hows you the Windows
ins tallations that it can de te ct on your s ys te m. Se le ct the ins tallation that you
want to re s tore , the n click Next.
e . Click Command prompt. A command window will ope n.
f. Type bootrec /fixmbr and pre s s Enter.
g. Whe n the prompt re appe ars , clos e the command window, the n click Restart.
h. Your compute r will re s tart and boot your Windows ope rating s ys te m.
39.2.2. Your comput er dual-boot s Red Hat Ent erprise Linux and a
dif f erent Linux dist ribut ion
Be caus e of the diffe re nce s be twe e n the many diffe re nt Linux dis tributions , the s e
ins tructions are a ge ne ral guide only. Spe cific de tails vary according to the configuration of
your particular s ys te m and the Linux dis tribution that dual-boots with Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux.
1. Remo ve Red Hat Ent erprise Linux part it io ns
a. Boot your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation.
b. As root or with sudo , run mo unt . Note the partitions that are mounte d. In
particular, note the partition that is mounte d as the root of the file s ys te m.
The output of mount on a s ys te m whe re the root of the file s ys te m is on a
s tandard partition s uch as /dev/sda2 might re s e mble :
/dev/sda2 on / type ext4 (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs
(rw,rootcontext="system_u:object_r:tmpfs_t:s0")
/dev/sda1 on /boot type ext4 (rw)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
sunrpc on /var/lib/nfs/rpc_pipefs type rpc_pipefs (rw)
The output of mount on a s ys te m whe re the root of the file s ys te m is on a
logical volume might re s e mble :
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 on / type ext4 (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs
(rw,rootcontext="system_u:object_r:tmpfs_t:s0")
/dev/sda1 on /boot type ext4 (rw)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
sunrpc on /var/lib/nfs/rpc_pipefs type rpc_pipefs (rw)
c. Ens ure that any data on this s ys te m that you s till re quire is backe d up to
anothe r s ys te m or s torage location.
553
d. Shut down the s ys te m and boot the Linux dis tribution that you want to ke e p
on the s ys te m.
e . As root or with sudo , run mo unt . If any of the partitions that you pre vious ly
note d as us e d for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux are mounte d, re vie w the
conte nts of the s e partitions . If you no longe r re quire the conte nts of the s e
partitions , unmount the m with the umount command.
f. Re move any unwante d and unne ce s s ary partitions , for e xample , with f disk
for s tandard partitions , or lvremo ve and vgremo ve to re move logical
volume s and volume groups .
2. Remo ve Red Hat Ent erprise Linux ent ries f ro m yo ur bo o t lo ader
Impo rtant
The s e ins tructions as s ume that your s ys te m us e s the GRUB bootloade r. If
you us e a diffe re nt bootloade r (s uch as LILO) cons ult the docume ntation for
that s oftware to ide ntify and re move Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux e ntrie s from
its lis t of boot targe ts and to e ns ure that your de fault ope rating s ys te m is
corre ctly s pe cifie d.
a. At the command line , type su - and pre s s Enter. Whe n the s ys te m prompts
you for the root pas s word, type the pas s word and pre s s Enter.
b. Type gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf and pre s s Enter. This ope ns the
grub.conf file in the gedit te xt e ditor.
c. A typical Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux e ntry in the grub.conf file cons is ts of
four line s :
Example 39.1. Example Red Hat Ent erprise Linux ent ry in
grub.conf
title Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux (2.6.32.130.e l6.i686)
root (hd0,1)
ke rne l /vmlinuz -2.6.32.130.e l6.i686 ro root=UUID=04a07c13-e 6bf-6d5ab207-002689545705 rhgb quie t
initrd /initrd-2.6.32.130.e l6.i686.img
De pe nding on the configuration of your s ys te m, the re may be multiple Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux e ntrie s in grub.conf, e ach corre s ponding to a diffe re nt
ve rs ion of the Linux ke rne l. De le te e ach of the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
e ntrie s from the file .
d. Grub.conf contains a line that s pe cifie s the de fault ope rating s ys te m to
boot, in the format default=N whe re N is a numbe r e qual to or gre ate r than
0. If N is s e t to 0, GRUB will boot the firs t ope rating s ys te m in the lis t. If N is
s e t to 1, it will boot the s e cond ope rating s ys te m, and s o forth.
Ide ntify the e ntry for the ope rating s ys te m that you want GRUB to boot by
de fault and note its place in the orde r within the lis t.
554
Make s ure that the default= line contains the numbe r one below the
numbe r of your chos e n de fault ope rating s ys te m in the lis t.
Save the update d grub.conf file and clos e gedit
3. Make space available t o yo ur o perat ing syst em
No te
drive 's s torage capacity unus able by your othe r Linux ope rating s ys te m.
De pe nding on your configuration, this might be a s ignificant portion of the
s torage capacity of the drive .
No te
To carry out this s te p, you re quire live me dia for a Linux dis tribution, for
e xample , the Fe dora Live CD or the Knoppix DVD.
The me thod to make the s pace fre e d by re moving the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
partitions available to your othe r Linux ope rating s ys te m diffe rs , de pe nding on
whe the r your chos e n ope rating s ys te m is ins talle d on dis k partitions configure d to
us e Logical Volume Manage me nt (LVM) or not.
If yo u do no t use LVM
Boot your compute r from Linux live me dia, and ins tall part ed if it is not
alre ady pre s e nt.
As root or with sudo , run part ed disk, whe re disk is the de vice name of
the dis k that contains a partition that you want to re s iz e , for e xample ,
/dev/sda.
At the (parted) prompt, e nte r print. The part ed tool dis plays
information about the partitions on your s ys te m, including the ir partition
numbe rs , the ir s iz e s , and the ir pos itions on the dis k.
At the (parted) prompt, e nte r resize number start end, whe re
number is the partition numbe r, start is the location on the dis k at which
the partition be gins , and end is the location on the dis k at which you want
the partition to e nd. Us e the s tart pos ition that you pre vious ly obtaine d
with the print command, and re fe r to the part ed docume ntation for
diffe re nt ways to s pe cify the e nd parame te r.
Whe n part ed finis he s re s iz ing the partition, e nte r quit at the (parted)
prompt.
Run e2fsck partition, whe re partition is the partition that you jus t
re s iz e d. For e xample , if you jus t re s iz e d /dev/sda3, e nte r
e2fsck /dev/sda3.
Linux now che cks the file s ys te m of the ne wly-re s iz e d partition.
555
Whe n the file s ys te m che ck finis he s , type resize2fs partition at a
command line and pre s s Enter, whe re partition is the partition that you
jus t re s iz e d. For e xample , if you jus t re s iz e d /dev/sda3, type
resize2fs /dev/sda3.
Linux now re s iz e s your file s ys te m to fill the ne wly-re s iz e d partition.
Re s tart your compute r. The e xtra s pace is now available to your Linux
ins tallation.
If yo u use LVM
Boot your compute r from Linux live me dia and ins tall f disk and lvm2 if
the y are not alre ady pre s e nt.
Creat e a new part it io n in t he f ree space o n t he disk
As root or with sudo , run f disk disk, whe re disk is the de vice
name of the dis k whe re you want to cre ate ne w s pace , for
e xample , /dev/sda.
At the prompt Command (m for help): , e nte r n to cre ate a ne w
partition. Re fe r to the f disk docume ntation for options .
Change t he part it io n t ype ident if ier
At the prompt Command (m for help): , e nte r t to change a
partition type .
At the prompt Partition number (1-4): , type the numbe r of the
partition that you jus t cre ate d. For e xample , if you jus t cre ate d
partition /dev/sda3, type the numbe r 3 and pre s s Enter. This
ide ntifie s the partition whos e type f disk will change .
At the prompt Hex code (type L to list codes): , e nte r 8e to
cre ate a Linux LVM partition.
At the prompt Command (m for help): , e nte r w to write the
change s to dis k and e xit f disk.
Expand t he vo lume gro up
At the command prompt, type lvm and pre s s Enter to s tart the
lvm2 tool.
At the lvm> prompt, type pvcreate partition and pre s s Enter,
whe re partition is the partition that you re ce ntly cre ate d. For
e xample , pvcreate /dev/sda3. This cre ate s /dev/sda3 as a
phys ical volume in LVM.
At the lvm> prompt, type vgextend VolumeGroup partition and
pre s s Enter, whe re VolumeGroup is the LVM volume group on
which Linux is ins talle d and partition is the partition that you
re ce ntly cre ate d. For e xample , if Linux is ins talle d on
/dev/VolumeGroup00, you would type vgextend
/dev/VolumeGroup00 /dev/sda3 to e xte nd that volume group to
include the phys ical volume at /dev/sda3.
556
At the lvm> prompt, type lvextend -l +100%FREE LogVol and
pre s s Enter, whe re LogVol is the logical volume that contains your
Linux file s ys te m. For e xample , to e xte nd LogVol00 to fill the
ne wly-available s pace in its volume group, VolGroup00, type
lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00.
At the lvm> prompt, type exit and pre s s Enter to e xit lvm2
Type e2fsck LogVol at the command line and pre s s Enter, whe re
LogVol is the logical volume that you jus t re s iz e d. For e xample , if you jus t
re s iz e d /dev/VolumeGroup00/LogVol00, you would type
e2fsck /dev/VolumeGroup00/LogVol00.
Linux now che cks the file s ys te m of the ne wly-re s iz e d logical volume .
Whe n the file s ys te m che ck finis he s , type resize2fs LogVol at a
command line and pre s s Enter, whe re LogVol is the partition that you jus t
re s iz e d. For e xample , if you jus t re s iz e d /dev/VolumeGroup00/LogVol00,
you would type resize2fs /dev/VolumeGroup00/LogVol00.
Linux now re s iz e s your file s ys te m to fill the ne wly-re s iz e d logical
volume .
Re s tart your compute r. The e xtra s pace is now available to your Linux
ins tallation.
39.3. Replacing Red Hat Ent erprise Linux wit h MS-DOS or
Legacy Versions of Microsoft Windows
In DOS and Windows , us e the Windows fdisk utility to cre ate a ne w MBR with the
undocumented flag /mbr. This ONLY re write s the MBR to boot the primary DOS partition.
The command s hould look like the following:
fdisk /mbr
If you ne e d to re move Linux from a hard drive and have atte mpte d to do this with the
de fault DOS (Windows ) fdisk, you will e xpe rie nce the Partitions exist but they do not exist
proble m. The be s t way to re move non-DOS partitions is with a tool that unde rs tands
partitions othe r than DOS.
To be gin, ins e rt the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux DVD and boot your s ys te m. Whe n the boot
prompt appe ars , type : linux rescue. This s tarts the re s cue mode program.
You are prompte d for your ke yboard and language re quire me nts . Ente r the s e value s as
you would during the ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
Ne xt, a s cre e n appe ars te lling you that the program atte mpts to find a Re d Hat Ente rpris e
Linux ins tall to re s cue . Se le ct Skip on this s cre e n.
Afte r s e le cting Skip, you are give n a command prompt whe re you can acce s s the
partitions you would like to re move .
Firs t, type the command list-harddrives. This command lis ts all hard drive s on your
s ys te m that are re cogniz able by the ins tallation program, as we ll as the ir s iz e s in
me gabyte s .
557
Warning
Be care ful to re move only the ne ce s s ary Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux partitions .
Re moving othe r partitions could re s ult in data los s or a corrupte d s ys te m
e nvironme nt.
To re move partitions , us e the partitioning utility parted. Start parted, whe re /dev/hda is
the de vice on which to re move the partition:
parted /dev/hda
Us ing the print command, vie w the curre nt partition table to de te rmine the minor numbe r
of the partition to re move :
print
The print command als o dis plays the partition's type (s uch as linux-s wap, e xt2, e xt3,
e xt4 and s o on). Knowing the type of the partition he lps you in de te rmining whe the r to
re move the partition.
Re move the partition with the command rm. For e xample , to re move the partition with
minor numbe r 3:
rm 3
Impo rtant
The change s s tart taking place as s oon as you pre s s [Ente r], s o re vie w the
command be fore committing to it.
Afte r re moving the partition, us e the print command to confirm that it is re move d from
the partition table .
Once you have re move d the Linux partitions and made all of the change s you ne e d to
make , type quit to quit parted.
Afte r quitting parted, type exit at the boot prompt to e xit re s cue mode and re boot your
s ys te m, ins te ad of continuing with the ins tallation. The s ys te m s hould re boot automatically.
If it doe s not, you can re boot your compute r us ing Control+Alt+Delete .
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⁠C hapt e r 4 0 . Re mo ving Re d Hat Ent e r pr is e Linux f r o m IBM Sys t e m z
Chapt er 40. Removing Red Hat Ent erprise Linux from
IBM Syst em z
If you want to de le te the e xis ting ope rating s ys te m data, firs t, if any Linux dis ks contain
s e ns itive data, e ns ure that you de s troy the data according to your s e curity policy. To
proce e d you can cons ide r the s e options :
Ove rwrite the dis ks with a ne w ins tallation.
Start a ne w ins tallation and us e the partitioning dialog (re fe r to Se ction 23.13, “Dis k
Partitioning Se tup”) to format the partitions whe re Linux was ins talle d. Afte r the Write
changes to disk dialog de s cribe d in Se ction 23.16, “Write Change s to Dis k”, e xit the
ins talle r.
Make the DASD or SCSI dis k whe re Linux was ins talle d vis ible from anothe r s ys te m,
the n de le te the data. Howe ve r, this might re quire s pe cial privile ge s . As k your s ys te m
adminis trator for advice . You can us e Linux commands s uch as dasdfmt (DASD only),
parted, mke2fs or dd. For more de tails about the commands , re fe r to the re s pe ctive
man page s .
40.1. Running a Different Operat ing Syst em on your z/VM
Guest or LPAR
If you want to boot from a DASD or SCSI dis k diffe re nt from whe re the curre ntly ins talle d
s ys te m re s ide s unde r a z /VM gue s t virtual machine or an LPAR, s hut down the Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux ins talle d and us e the de s ire d dis k, whe re anothe r Linux ins tance is
ins talle d, to boot from. This le ave s the conte nts of the ins talle d s ys te m unchange d.
559
⁠P art VI. Technical Appendices
The appe ndice s in this s e ction do not contain ins tructions that te ll you how to ins tall Re d
Hat Ente rpris e Linux. Ins te ad, the y provide te chnical background that you might find he lpful
to unde rs tand the options that Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux offe rs you at various points in the
ins tallation proce s s .
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⁠A ppe ndix A. An Int r o duc t io n t o Dis k Par t it io ns
Appendix A. An Int roduct ion t o Disk Part it ions
No te
This appe ndix is not ne ce s s arily applicable to non-x86-bas e d archite cture s .
Howe ve r, the ge ne ral conce pts me ntione d he re may apply.
This appe ndix is not ne ce s s arily applicable to non-x86-bas e d archite cture s . Howe ve r, the
ge ne ral conce pts me ntione d he re may apply.
If you are re as onably comfortable with dis k partitions , you could s kip ahe ad to
Se ction A.1.5, “Making Room For Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux”, for more information on the
proce s s of fre e ing up dis k s pace to pre pare for a Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux ins tallation.
This s e ction als o dis cus s e s the partition naming s che me us e d by Linux s ys te ms , s haring
dis k s pace with othe r ope rating s ys te ms , and re late d topics .
A.1. Hard Disk Basic Concept s
Hard dis ks pe rform a ve ry s imple function — the y s tore data and re liably re trie ve it on
command.
Whe n dis cus s ing is s ue s s uch as dis k partitioning, it is important to know a bit about the
unde rlying hardware . Unfortunate ly, it is e as y to be come bogge d down in de tails .
The re fore , this appe ndix us e s a s implifie d diagram of a dis k drive to he lp e xplain what is
re ally happe ning whe n a dis k drive is partitione d. Figure A.1, “An Unus e d Dis k Drive ”,
s hows a brand-ne w, unus e d dis k drive .
Figure A.1. An Unused Disk Drive
Not much to look at, is it? But if we are talking about dis k drive s on a bas ic le ve l, it is
ade quate . Say that we would like to s tore s ome data on this drive . As things s tand now, it
will not work. The re is s ome thing we ne e d to do firs t.
A.1.1. It is Not What You Writ e, it is How You Writ e It
Expe rie nce d compute r us e rs probably got this one on the firs t try. We ne e d to format the
drive . Formatting (us ually known as "making a file system") write s information to the drive ,
cre ating orde r out of the e mpty s pace in an unformatte d drive .
561
Figure A.2. Disk Drive wit h a File Syst em
As Figure A.2, “Dis k Drive with a File Sys te m”, implie s , the orde r impos e d by a file s ys te m
involve s s ome trade -offs :
A s mall pe rce ntage of the drive 's available s pace is us e d to s tore file s ys te m-re late d
data and can be cons ide re d as ove rhe ad.
A file s ys te m s plits the re maining s pace into s mall, cons is te ntly-s iz e d s e gme nts . For
Linux, the s e s e gme nts are known as blocks. ⁠ [15]
Give n that file s ys te ms make things like dire ctorie s and file s pos s ible , the s e trade -offs
are us ually s e e n as a s mall price to pay.
It is als o worth noting that the re is no s ingle , unive rs al file s ys te m. As Figure A.3, “Dis k
Drive with a Diffe re nt File Sys te m”, s hows , a dis k drive may have one of many diffe re nt
file s ys te ms writte n on it. As you might gue s s , diffe re nt file s ys te ms te nd to be
incompatible ; that is , an ope rating s ys te m that s upports one file s ys te m (or a handful of
re late d file s ys te m type s ) may not s upport anothe r. This las t s tate me nt is not a hard-andfas t rule , howe ve r. For e xample , Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux s upports a wide varie ty of file
s ys te ms (including many commonly us e d by othe r ope rating s ys te ms ), making data
inte rchange be twe e n diffe re nt file s ys te ms e as y.
Figure A.3. Disk Drive wit h a Dif f erent File Syst em
Of cours e , writing a file s ys te m to dis k is only the be ginning. The goal of this proce s s is to
actually store and retrieve data. Le t us take a look at our drive afte r s ome file s have be e n
writte n to it.
Figure A.4. Disk Drive wit h Dat a Writ t en t o It
As Figure A.4, “Dis k Drive with Data Writte n to It”, s hows , s ome of the pre vious ly-e mpty
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blocks are now holding data. Howe ve r, by jus t looking at this picture , we cannot de te rmine
e xactly how many file s re s ide on this drive . The re may only be one file or many, as all
file s us e at le as t one block and s ome file s us e multiple blocks . Anothe r important point to
note is that the us e d blocks do not have to form a contiguous re gion; us e d and unus e d
blocks may be inte rs pe rs e d. This is known as fragmentation. Fragme ntation can play a part
whe n atte mpting to re s iz e an e xis ting partition.
As with mos t compute r-re late d te chnologie s , dis k drive s change d ove r time afte r the ir
introduction. In particular, the y got bigge r. Not large r in phys ical s iz e , but bigge r in the ir
capacity to s tore information. And, this additional capacity drove a fundame ntal change in
the way dis k drive s we re us e d.
A.1.2. Part it ions: T urning One Drive Int o Many
Dis k drive s can be divide d into partitions. Each partition can be acce s s e d as if it was a
s e parate dis k. This is done through the addition of a partition table.
The re are s e ve ral re as ons for allocating dis k s pace into s e parate dis k partitions , for
e xample :
Logical s e paration of the ope rating s ys te m data from the us e r data
Ability to us e diffe re nt file s ys te ms
Ability to run multiple ope rating s ys te ms on one machine
The re are curre ntly two partitioning layout s tandards for phys ical hard dis ks : Mas te r Boot
Re cord (MBR) and GUID Partition Table (GPT). MBR is an olde r me thod of dis k partitioning
us e d with BIOS-bas e d compute rs . GPT is a ne we r partitioning layout that is a part of the
Unifie d Exte ns ible Firmware Inte rface (UEFI). This s e ction and Se ction A.1.3, “Partitions
Within Partitions — An Ove rvie w of Exte nde d Partitions ” mainly de s cribe the Master Boot
Record (MBR) dis k partitioning s che me . For information about the GUID Partition Table (GPT)
partitioning layout, s e e Se ction A.1.4, “GUID Partition Table (GPT)”.
No te
While the diagrams in this chapte r s how the partition table as be ing s e parate from
the actual dis k drive , this is not e ntire ly accurate . In re ality, the partition table is
s tore d at the ve ry s tart of the dis k, be fore any file s ys te m or us e r data. But for
clarity, the y are s e parate in our diagrams .
Figure A.5. Disk Drive wit h Part it io n T able
As Figure A.5, “Dis k Drive with Partition Table ” s hows , the partition table is divide d into
four s e ctions or four primary partitions . A primary partition is a partition on a hard drive
that can contain only one logical drive (or s e ction). Each s e ction can hold the information
ne ce s s ary to de fine a s ingle partition, me aning that the partition table can de fine no more
563
than four partitions .
Each partition table e ntry contains s e ve ral important characte ris tics of the partition:
The points on the dis k whe re the partition s tarts and e nds
Whe the r the partition is "active "
The partition's type
Le t us take a clos e r look at e ach of the s e characte ris tics . The s tarting and e nding points
actually de fine the partition's s iz e and location on the dis k. The "active " flag is us e d by
s ome ope rating s ys te ms ' boot loade rs . In othe r words , the ope rating s ys te m in the
partition that is marke d "active " is boote d.
The partition's type can be a bit confus ing. The type is a numbe r that ide ntifie s the
partition's anticipate d us age . If that s tate me nt s ounds a bit vague , that is be caus e the
me aning of the partition type is a bit vague . Some ope rating s ys te ms us e the partition
type to de note a s pe cific file s ys te m type , to flag the partition as be ing as s ociate d with a
particular ope rating s ys te m, to indicate that the partition contains a bootable ope rating
s ys te m, or s ome combination of the thre e .
By this point, you might be wonde ring how all this additional comple xity is normally us e d.
Re fe r to Figure A.6, “Dis k Drive With Single Partition”, for an e xample .
Figure A.6. Disk Drive Wit h Single Part it io n
In many cas e s , the re is only a s ingle partition s panning the e ntire dis k, e s s e ntially
duplicating the me thod us e d be fore partitions . The partition table has only one e ntry us e d,
and it points to the s tart of the partition.
We have labe le d this partition as be ing of the "DOS" type . Although it is only one of
s e ve ral pos s ible partition type s lis te d in Table A.1, “Partition Type s ”, it is ade quate for the
purpos e s of this dis cus s ion.
Table A.1, “Partition Type s ”, contains a lis ting of s ome popular (and obs cure ) partition
type s , along with the ir he xade cimal nume ric value s .
T able A.1. Part it io n T ypes
Part it io n T ype
Value
Part it io n T ype
Value
Empty
DOS 12-bit FAT
XENIX root
XENIX us r
DOS 16-bit <=32M
Exte nde d
DOS 16-bit >=32
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
Nove ll Ne tware 386
PIC/IX
Old MINIX
Linux/MINUX
Linux s wap
Linux native
Linux e xte nde d
65
75
80
81
82
83
85
564
Part it io n T ype
Value
Part it io n T ype
Value
OS/2 HPFS
AIX
AIX bootable
OS/2 Boot Manage r
Win95 FAT32
Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
Win95 FAT16 (LBA)
Win95 Exte nde d (LBA)
Ve nix 80286
Nove ll
PRe P Boot
GNU HURD
Nove ll Ne tware 286
07
08
09
0a
0b
0c
0e
0f
40
51
41
63
64
Amoe ba
Amoe ba BBT
BSD/386
Ope nBSD
NEXTSTEP
BSDI fs
BSDI s wap
Syrinx
CP/M
DOS acce s s
DOS R/O
DOS s e condary
BBT
93
94
a5
a6
a7
b7
b8
c7
db
e1
e3
f2
ff
A.1.3. Part it ions Wit hin Part it ions — An Overview of Ext ended
Part it ions
Of cours e , ove r time it be came obvious that four partitions would not be e nough. As dis k
drive s continue d to grow, it be came more and more like ly that a pe rs on could configure
four re as onably-s iz e d partitions and s till have dis k s pace le ft ove r. The re ne e de d to be
s ome way of cre ating more partitions .
Ente r the e xte nde d partition. As you may have notice d in Table A.1, “Partition Type s ”,
the re is an "Exte nde d" partition type . It is this partition type that is at the he art of
e xte nde d partitions .
Whe n a partition is cre ate d and its type is s e t to "Exte nde d," an e xte nde d partition table is
cre ate d. In e s s e nce , the e xte nde d partition is like a dis k drive in its own right — it has a
partition table that points to one or more partitions (now calle d logical partitions, as
oppos e d to the four primary partitions) containe d e ntire ly within the e xte nde d partition
its e lf. Figure A.7, “Dis k Drive With Exte nde d Partition”, s hows a dis k drive with one primary
partition and one e xte nde d partition containing two logical partitions (along with s ome
unpartitione d fre e s pace ).
Figure A.7. Disk Drive Wit h Ext ended Part it io n
As this figure implie s , the re is a diffe re nce be twe e n primary and logical partitions — the re
can only be four primary partitions , but the re is no fixe d limit to the numbe r of logical
partitions that can e xis t. Howe ve r, due to the way in which partitions are acce s s e d in
Linux, you s hould avoid de fining more than 12 logical partitions on a s ingle dis k drive .
Now that we have dis cus s e d partitions in ge ne ral, le t us re vie w how to us e this knowle dge
to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
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A.1.4. GUID Part it ion T able (GPT )
GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a ne we r partitioning s che me bas e d on us ing Globally Unique
Ide ntifie rs (GUID). GPT was de ve lope d to cope with limitations of the MBR partition table ,
e s pe cially with the limite d maximum addre s s able s torage s pace of a dis k. Unlike MBR,
which is unable to addre s s s torage s pace large r than 2.2 te rabyte s , GPT can be us e d with
hard dis ks large r than this ; the maximum addre s s able dis k s iz e is 2.2 z e ttabyte s . In
addition, GPT by de fault s upports cre ating up to 128 primary partitions . This numbe r could
be e xte nde d by allocating more s pace to the partition table .
GPT dis ks us e logical block addre s s ing (LBA) and the partition layout is as follows :
To pre s e rve backward compatibility with MBR dis ks , the firs t s e ctor (LBA 0) of GPT is
re s e rve d for MBR data and it is calle d “prote ctive MBR”.
The primary GPT header be gins on the s e cond logical block (LBA 1) of the de vice . The
he ade r contains the dis k GUID, the location of the primary partition table , the location of
the s e condary GPT he ade r, and CRC32 che cks ums of its e lf and the primary partition
table . It als o s pe cifie s the numbe r of partition e ntrie s of the table .
The primary GPT table include s , by de fault, 128 partition e ntrie s , e ach with an e ntry
s iz e 128 byte s , its partition type GUID and unique partition GUID.
The secondary GPT table is ide ntical to the primary GPT table . It is us e d mainly as a
backup table for re cove ry in cas e the primary partition table is corrupte d.
The secondary GPT header is locate d on the las t logical s e ctor of the dis k and it can be
us e d to re cove r GPT information in cas e the primary he ade r is corrupte d. It contains
the dis k GUID, the location of the s e condary partition table and the primary GPT he ade r,
CRC32 che cks ums of its e lf and the s e condary partition table , and the numbe r of
pos s ible partition e ntrie s .
Impo rtant
The re mus t be a BIOS boot partition for the boot loade r to be ins talle d s ucce s s fully
onto a dis k that contains a GPT (GUID Partition Table ). This include s dis ks initializ e d
by Anaco nda. If the dis k alre ady contains a BIOS boot partition, it can be re us e d.
A.1.5. Making Room For Red Hat Ent erprise Linux
The following lis t pre s e nts s ome pos s ible s ce narios you may face whe n atte mpting to
re partition your hard dis k:
Unpartitione d fre e s pace is available
An unus e d partition is available
Fre e s pace in an active ly us e d partition is available
Le t us look at e ach s ce nario in orde r.
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No te
Ke e p in mind that the following illus trations are s implifie d in the inte re s t of clarity
and do not re fle ct the e xact partition layout that you e ncounte r whe n actually
ins talling Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux.
A.1.5.1. Using Unpart it ioned Free Space
In this s ituation, the partitions alre ady de fine d do not s pan the e ntire hard dis k, le aving
unallocate d s pace that is not part of any de fine d partition. Figure A.8, “Dis k Drive with
Unpartitione d Fre e Space ”, s hows what this might look like .
Figure A.8. Disk Drive wit h Unpart it io ned Free Space
In Figure A.8, “Dis k Drive with Unpartitione d Fre e Space ”, 1 re pre s e nts an unde fine d
partition with unallocate d s pace and 2 re pre s e nts a de fine d partition with allocate d s pace .
If you think about it, an unus e d hard dis k als o falls into this cate gory. The only diffe re nce is
that all the s pace is not part of any de fine d partition.
In any cas e , you can cre ate the ne ce s s ary partitions from the unus e d s pace .
Unfortunate ly, this s ce nario, although ve ry s imple , is not ve ry like ly (unle s s you have jus t
purchas e d a ne w dis k jus t for Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux). Mos t pre -ins talle d ope rating
s ys te ms are configure d to take up all available s pace on a dis k drive (re fe r to
Se ction A.1.5.3, “Us ing Fre e Space from an Active Partition”).
Ne xt, we will dis cus s a s lightly more common s ituation.
A.1.5.2. Using Space f rom an Unused Part it ion
In this cas e , maybe you have one or more partitions that you do not us e any longe r.
Pe rhaps you have dabble d with anothe r ope rating s ys te m in the pas t, and the partition(s )
you de dicate d to it ne ve r s e e m to be us e d anymore . Figure A.9, “Dis k Drive With an
Unus e d Partition”, illus trate s s uch a s ituation.
Figure A.9. Disk Drive Wit h an Unused Part it io n
567
In Figure A.9, “Dis k Drive With an Unus e d Partition”, 1 re pre s e nts an unus e d partition and
2 re pre s e nts re allocating an unus e d partition for Linux.
If you find yours e lf in this s ituation, you can us e the s pace allocate d to the unus e d
partition. You firs t mus t de le te the partition and the n cre ate the appropriate Linux
partition(s ) in its place . You can de le te the unus e d partition and manually cre ate ne w
partitions during the ins tallation proce s s .
A.1.5.3. Using Free Space f rom an Act ive Part it ion
This is the mos t common s ituation. It is als o, unfortunate ly, the harde s t to handle . The
main proble m is that, e ve n if you have e nough fre e s pace , it is pre s e ntly allocate d to a
partition that is alre ady in us e . If you purchas e d a compute r with pre -ins talle d s oftware ,
the hard dis k mos t like ly has one mas s ive partition holding the ope rating s ys te m and data.
As ide from adding a ne w hard drive to your s ys te m, you have two choice s :
Destructive Repartitioning
Bas ically, you de le te the s ingle large partition and cre ate s e ve ral s malle r one s .
As you might imagine , any data you had in the original partition is de s troye d. This
me ans that making a comple te backup is ne ce s s ary. For your own s ake , make two
backups , us e ve rification (if available in your backup s oftware ), and try to re ad
data from your backup before you de le te the partition.
Warning
If the re was an ope rating s ys te m of s ome type ins talle d on that partition, it
ne e ds to be re ins talle d as we ll. Be aware that s ome compute rs s old with
pre -ins talle d ope rating s ys te ms may not include the CD-ROM me dia to
re ins tall the original ope rating s ys te m. The be s t time to notice if this
applie s to your s ys te m is before you de s troy your original partition and its
ope rating s ys te m ins tallation.
Afte r cre ating a s malle r partition for your e xis ting ope rating s ys te m, you can
re ins tall any s oftware , re s tore your data, and s tart your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux
ins tallation. Figure A.10, “Dis k Drive Be ing De s tructive ly Re partitione d” s hows this
be ing done .
Figure A.10 . Disk Drive Being Dest ruct ively Repart it io ned
In Figure A.10, “Dis k Drive Be ing De s tructive ly Re partitione d”, 1 re pre s e nts
be fore and 2 re pre s e nts afte r.
568
Warning
As Figure A.10, “Dis k Drive Be ing De s tructive ly Re partitione d”, s hows , any
data pre s e nt in the original partition is los t without prope r backup!
Non-Destructive Repartitioning
He re , you run a program that doe s the s e e mingly impos s ible : it make s a big
partition s malle r without los ing any of the file s s tore d in that partition. Many
pe ople have found this me thod to be re liable and trouble -fre e . What s oftware
s hould you us e to pe rform this fe at? The re are s e ve ral dis k manage me nt
s oftware products on the marke t. Do s ome re s e arch to find the one that is be s t
for your s ituation.
While the proce s s of non-de s tructive re partitioning is rathe r s traightforward,
the re are a numbe r of s te ps involve d:
Compre s s and backup e xis ting data
Re s iz e the e xis ting partition
Cre ate ne w partition(s )
Ne xt we will look at e ach s te p in a bit more de tail.
A.1.5.3.1. Co mpress exist ing dat a
As Figure A.11, “Dis k Drive Be ing Compre s s e d”, s hows , the firs t s te p is to compre s s the
data in your e xis ting partition. The re as on for doing this is to re arrange the data s uch that
it maximiz e s the available fre e s pace at the "e nd" of the partition.
Figure A.11. Disk Drive Being Co mpressed
In Figure A.11, “Dis k Drive Be ing Compre s s e d”, 1 re pre s e nts be fore and 2 re pre s e nts
afte r.
This s te p is crucial. Without it, the location of your data could pre ve nt the partition from
be ing re s iz e d to the e xte nt de s ire d. Note als o that, for one re as on or anothe r, s ome data
cannot be move d. If this is the cas e (and it s e ve re ly re s tricts the s iz e of your ne w
partition(s )), you may be force d to de s tructive ly re partition your dis k.
A.1.5.3.2. Resize t he exist ing part it io n
Figure A.12, “Dis k Drive with Partition Re s iz e d”, s hows the actual re s iz ing proce s s . While
the actual re s ult of the re s iz ing ope ration varie s de pe nding on the s oftware us e d, in mos t
cas e s the ne wly fre e d s pace is us e d to cre ate an unformatte d partition of the s ame type
as the original partition.
569
Figure A.12. Disk Drive wit h Part it io n Resized
In Figure A.12, “Dis k Drive with Partition Re s iz e d”, 1 re pre s e nts be fore and 2 re pre s e nts
afte r.
It is important to unde rs tand what the re s iz ing s oftware you us e doe s with the ne wly
fre e d s pace , s o that you can take the appropriate s te ps . In the cas e we have illus trate d, it
would be be s t to de le te the ne w DOS partition and cre ate the appropriate Linux
partition(s ).
A.1.5.3.3. Creat e new part it io n(s)
As the pre vious s te p implie d, it may or may not be ne ce s s ary to cre ate ne w partitions .
Howe ve r, unle s s your re s iz ing s oftware is Linux-aware , it is like ly that you mus t de le te
the partition that was cre ate d during the re s iz ing proce s s . Figure A.13, “Dis k Drive with
Final Partition Configuration”, s hows this be ing done .
Figure A.13. Disk Drive wit h Final Part it io n Co nf igurat io n
In Figure A.13, “Dis k Drive with Final Partition Configuration”, 1 re pre s e nts be fore and 2
re pre s e nts afte r.
No te
The following information is s pe cific to x86-bas e d compute rs only.
As a conve nie nce to our cus tome rs , we provide the parted utility. This is a fre e ly
available program that can re s iz e partitions .
If you de cide to re partition your hard drive with parted, it is important that you be familiar
with dis k s torage and that you pe rform a backup of your compute r data. You s hould make
two copie s of all the important data on your compute r. The s e copie s s hould be to
re movable me dia (s uch as tape , CD-ROM, or dis ke tte s ), and you s hould make s ure the y
are re adable be fore proce e ding.
Should you de cide to us e parted, be aware that afte r parted runs you are le ft with two
570
partitions : the one you re s iz e d, and the one parted cre ate d out of the ne wly fre e d s pace .
If your goal is to us e that s pace to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, you s hould de le te the
ne wly cre ate d partition, e ithe r by us ing the partitioning utility unde r your curre nt ope rating
s ys te m or while s e tting up partitions during ins tallation.
A.1.6. Part it ion Naming Scheme
Linux re fe rs to dis k partitions us ing a combination of le tte rs and numbe rs which may be
confus ing, particularly if you are us e d to the "C drive " way of re fe rring to hard dis ks and
the ir partitions . In the DOS/Windows world, partitions are name d us ing the following
me thod:
Each partition's type is che cke d to de te rmine if it can be re ad by DOS/Windows .
If the partition's type is compatible , it is as s igne d a "drive le tte r." The drive le tte rs
s tart with a "C" and move on to the following le tte rs , de pe nding on the numbe r of
partitions to be labe le d.
The drive le tte r can the n be us e d to re fe r to that partition as we ll as the file s ys te m
containe d on that partition.
Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux us e s a naming s che me that is more fle xible and conve ys more
information than the approach us e d by othe r ope rating s ys te ms . The naming s che me is
file -bas e d, with file name s in the form of /dev/xxyN.
He re is how to de ciphe r the partition naming s che me :
/dev/
This is the name of the dire ctory in which all de vice file s re s ide . Since partitions
re s ide on hard dis ks , and hard dis ks are de vice s , the file s re pre s e nting all
pos s ible partitions re s ide in /dev/.
xx
The firs t two le tte rs of the partition name indicate the type of de vice on which the
partition re s ide s , us ually e ithe r hd (for IDE dis ks ) or sd (for SCSI dis ks ).
y
This le tte r indicate s which de vice the partition is on. For e xample , /dev/hda (the
firs t IDE hard dis k) or /dev/sdb (the s e cond SCSI dis k).
N
The final numbe r de note s the partition. The firs t four (primary or e xte nde d)
partitions are numbe re d 1 through 4. Logical partitions s tart at 5. So, for e xample ,
/dev/hda3 is the third primary or e xte nde d partition on the firs t IDE hard dis k,
and /dev/sdb6 is the s e cond logical partition on the s e cond SCSI hard dis k.
571
No te
The re is no part of this naming conve ntion that is bas e d on partition type ; unlike
DOS/Windows , all partitions can be ide ntifie d unde r Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux. Of
cours e , this doe s not me an that Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux can acce s s data on e ve ry
type of partition, but in many cas e s it is pos s ible to acce s s data on a partition
de dicate d to anothe r ope rating s ys te m.
Ke e p this information in mind; it make s things e as ie r to unde rs tand whe n you are s e tting
up the partitions Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux re quire s .
A.1.7. Disk Part it ions and Ot her Operat ing Syst ems
If your Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux partitions are s haring a hard dis k with partitions us e d by
othe r ope rating s ys te ms , mos t of the time you will have no proble ms . Howe ve r, the re are
ce rtain combinations of Linux and othe r ope rating s ys te ms that re quire e xtra care .
A.1.8. Disk Part it ions and Mount Point s
One are a that many pe ople ne w to Linux find confus ing is the matte r of how partitions are
us e d and acce s s e d by the Linux ope rating s ys te m. In DOS/Windows , it is re lative ly s imple :
Each partition ge ts a "drive le tte r." You the n us e the corre ct drive le tte r to re fe r to file s
and dire ctorie s on its corre s ponding partition.
This is e ntire ly diffe re nt from how Linux de als with partitions and, for that matte r, with dis k
s torage in ge ne ral. The main diffe re nce is that e ach partition is us e d to form part of the
s torage ne ce s s ary to s upport a s ingle s e t of file s and dire ctorie s . This is done by
as s ociating a partition with a dire ctory through a proce s s known as mounting. Mounting a
partition make s its s torage available s tarting at the s pe cifie d dire ctory (known as a mount
point).
For e xample , if partition /dev/hda5 is mounte d on /usr/, that would me an that all file s and
dire ctorie s unde r /usr/ phys ically re s ide on /dev/hda5. So the file
/usr/share/doc/FAQ/txt/Linux-FAQ would be s tore d on /dev/hda5, while the file
/etc/gdm/custom.conf would not.
Continuing our e xample , it is als o pos s ible that one or more dire ctorie s be low /usr/ would
be mount points for othe r partitions . For ins tance , a partition (s ay, /dev/hda7) could be
mounte d on /usr/local/, me aning that /usr/local/man/whatis would the n re s ide on
/dev/hda7 rathe r than /dev/hda5.
A.1.9. How Many Part it ions?
At this point in the proce s s of pre paring to ins tall Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, you mus t give
s ome cons ide ration to the numbe r and s iz e of the partitions to be us e d by your ne w
ope rating s ys te m. The que s tion of "how many partitions " continue s to s park de bate within
the Linux community and, without any e nd to the de bate in s ight, it is s afe to s ay that
the re are probably as many partition layouts as the re are pe ople de bating the is s ue .
Ke e ping this in mind, we re comme nd that, unle s s you have a re as on for doing othe rwis e ,
you s hould at le as t cre ate the following partitions : swap, /boot/, and / (root).
For more information, re fe r to Se ction 9.15.5, “Re comme nde d Partitioning Sche me ”.
572
[15] Blocks really are consistently sized, unlike our illustrations. Keep in m ind, also, that an
average disk drive contains thousands of blocks. But for the purposes of this discussion, please
ignore these m inor discrepancies.
573
Appendix B. iSCSI Disks
Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) is a protocol that allows compute rs to
communicate with s torage de vice s by SCSI re que s ts and re s pons e s carrie d ove r TCP/IP.
Be caus e iSCSI is bas e d on the s tandard SCSI protocols , it us e s s ome te rminology from
SCSI. The de vice on the SCSI bus to which re que s ts ge t s e nt (and which ans we rs the s e
re que s ts ) is known as the target and the de vice is s uing re que s ts is known as the initiator.
In othe r words , an iSCSI dis k is a targe t and the iSCSI s oftware e quivale nt of a SCSI
controlle r or SCSI Hos t Bus Adapte r (HBA) is calle d an initiator. This appe ndix only cove rs
Linux as an iSCSI initiator: how Linux us e s iSCSI dis ks , but not how Linux hos ts iSCSI dis ks .
Linux has a s oftware iSCSI initiator in the ke rne l that take s the place and form of a SCSI
HBA drive r and the re fore allows Linux to us e iSCSI dis ks . Howe ve r, as iSCSI is a fully
ne twork-bas e d protocol, iSCSI initiator s upport ne e ds more than jus t the ability to s e nd
SCSI packe ts ove r the ne twork. Be fore Linux can us e an iSCSI targe t, Linux mus t find the
targe t on the ne twork and make a conne ction to it. In s ome cas e s , Linux mus t s e nd
authe ntication information to gain acce s s to the targe t. Linux mus t als o de te ct any failure
of the ne twork conne ction and mus t e s tablis h a ne w conne ction, including logging in again
if ne ce s s ary.
The dis cove ry, conne ction, and logging in is handle d in us e rs pace by the iscsiadm utility,
and the e rror handling is als o handle d in us e rs pace by iscsid.
Both iscsiadm and iscsid are part of the iscsi-init iat o r-ut ils package unde r Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux.
B.1. iSCSI Disks in anaconda
Anaco nda can dis cove r (and the n log in to) iSCSI dis ks in two ways :
1. Whe n anaconda s tarts , it che cks if the BIOS or add-on boot ROMs of the s ys te m
s upport iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT), a BIOS e xte ns ion for s ys te ms which can
boot from iSCSI. If the BIOS s upports iBFT, anaco nda will re ad the iSCSI targe t
information for the configure d boot dis k from the BIOS and log in to this targe t,
making it available as an ins tallation targe t.
2. If you s e le ct the Specialized Storage Devices option during ins tallation, the
s torage de vice s e le ction s cre e n pre s e nts you with an Add Advanced Target
button. If you click this button, you can add iSCSI targe t information like the
dis cove ry IP addre s s . Anaco nda probe s the give n IP addre s s and logs in to any
targe ts that it finds . Se e Se ction 9.6.1.1, “ Advance d Storage Options ” for the
de tails that you can s pe cify for iSCSI targe ts .
While anaco nda us e s iscsiadm to find and log into iSCSI targe ts , iscsiadm automatically
s tore s any information about the s e targe ts in the is cs iadm iSCSI databas e . Anaco nda
the n copie s this databas e to the ins talle d s ys te m and marks any iSCSI targe ts not us e d
for / s o that the s ys te m will automatically log in to the m whe n it s tarts . If / is place d on an
iSCSI targe t, init rd will log into this targe t and anaco nda doe s not include this targe t in
s tart up s cripts to avoid multiple atte mpts to log into the s ame targe t.
If / is place d on an iSCSI targe t, anaco nda s e ts Net wo rkManager to ignore any
ne twork inte rface s that we re active during the ins tallation proce s s . The s e inte rface s will
als o be configure d by init rd whe n the s ys te m s tarts . If Net wo rkManager we re to
re configure the s e inte rface s , the s ys te m would los e its conne ction to /.
B.2. iSCSI Disks During St art Up
574
⁠A ppe ndix B. iSCSI Dis ks
B.2. iSCSI Disks During St art Up
ISCSI-re late d e ve nts might occur at a numbe r of points while the s ys te m s tarts :
1. The init s cript in the init rd will log in to iSCSI targe ts us e d for / (if any). This is
done us ing the iscsist art utility (which can do this without re quiring iscsid to run).
2. Whe n the root file s ys te m has be e n mounte d and the various s e rvice inits cripts ge t
run, the iscsid inits cript will ge t calle d. This s cript will the n s tart iscsid if any iSCSI
targe ts are us e d for /, or if any targe ts in the iSCSI databas e are marke d to be
logge d in to automatically.
3. Afte r the clas s ic ne twork s e rvice s cript has be e n run (or would have be e n run if
e nable d) the is cs i inits cript will run. If the ne twork is acce s s ible , this will log in to
any targe ts in the iSCSI databas e which are marke d to be logge d in to
automatically. If the ne twork is not acce s s ible , this s cript will e xit quie tly.
4. Whe n us ing Net wo rkManager to acce s s the ne twork (ins te ad of the clas s ic
ne twork s e rvice s cript), Net wo rkManager will call the is cs i inits cript. Se e :
/etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d/04-iscsi
Impo rtant
Be caus e Net wo rkManager is ins talle d in /usr, you cannot us e it to
configure ne twork acce s s if /usr is on ne twork-attache d s torage s uch as an
iSCSI targe t.
If iscsid is not ne e de d as the s ys te m s tarts , it will not s tart automatically. If you s tart
iscsiadm, iscsiadm will s tart iscsid in turn.
575
Appendix C. Disk Encrypt ion
C.1. What is Block Device Encrypt ion?
Block de vice e ncryption prote cts the data on a block de vice by e ncrypting it. To acce s s the
de vice 's de crypte d conte nts , a us e r mus t provide a pas s phras e or ke y as authe ntication.
This provide s additional s e curity be yond e xis ting OS s e curity me chanis ms in that it
prote cts the de vice 's conte nts e ve n if it has be e n phys ically re move d from the s ys te m.
C.2. Encrypt ing Block Devices Using dm-crypt /LUKS6t it
Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) is a s pe cification for block de vice e ncryption. It e s tablis he s
an on-dis k format for the data, as we ll as a pas s phras e /ke y manage me nt policy.
LUKS us e s the ke rne l de vice mappe r s ubs ys te m via the dm-crypt module . This
arrange me nt provide s a low-le ve l mapping that handle s e ncryption and de cryption of the
de vice 's data. Us e r-le ve l ope rations , s uch as cre ating and acce s s ing e ncrypte d de vice s ,
are accomplis he d through the us e of the cryptsetup utility.
C.2.1. Overview of LUKS
What LUKS doe s :
LUKS e ncrypts e ntire block de vice s
LUKS is the re by we ll-s uite d for prote cting the conte nts of mobile de vice s s uch as :
Re movable s torage me dia
Laptop dis k drive s
The unde rlying conte nts of the e ncrypte d block de vice are arbitrary.
This make s it us e ful for e ncrypting swap de vice s .
This can als o be us e ful with ce rtain databas e s that us e s pe cially formatte d block
de vice s for data s torage .
LUKS us e s the e xis ting de vice mappe r ke rne l s ubs ys te m.
This is the s ame s ubs ys te m us e d by LVM, s o it is we ll te s te d.
LUKS provide s pas s phras e s tre ngthe ning.
This prote cts agains t dictionary attacks .
LUKS de vice s contain multiple ke y s lots .
This allows us e rs to add backup ke ys /pas s phras e s .
What LUKS doe s not do:
LUKS is not we ll-s uite d for applications re quiring many (more than e ight) us e rs to
have dis tinct acce s s ke ys to the s ame de vice .
LUKS is not we ll-s uite d for applications re quiring file -le ve l e ncryption.
576
⁠A ppe ndix C. Dis k Enc r ypt io n
More de taile d information about LUKS is available from the proje ct we bs ite at
http://code .google .com/p/crypts e tup/.
C.2.2. How Will I Access t he Encrypt ed Devices Af t er Inst allat ion?
(Syst em St art up)
During s ys te m s tartup you will be pre s e nte d with a pas s phras e prompt. Afte r the corre ct
pas s phras e has be e n provide d the s ys te m will continue to boot normally. If you us e d
diffe re nt pas s phras e s for multiple e ncrypte d de vice s you may ne e d to e nte r more than
one pas s phras e during the s tartup.
No te
Cons ide r us ing the s ame pas s phras e for all e ncrypte d block de vice s in a give n
s ys te m. This will s implify s ys te m s tartup and you will have fe we r pas s phras e s to
re me mbe r. Jus t make s ure you choos e a good pas s phras e !
C.2.3. Choosing a Good Passphrase
While dm-crypt/LUKS s upports both ke ys and pas s phras e s , the anaconda ins talle r only
s upports the us e of pas s phras e s for cre ating and acce s s ing e ncrypte d block de vice s
during ins tallation.
LUKS doe s provide pas s phras e s tre ngthe ning but it is s till a good ide a to choos e a good
(me aning "difficult to gue s s ") pas s phras e . Note the us e of the te rm "pas s phras e ", as
oppos e d to the te rm "pas s word". This is inte ntional. Providing a phras e containing multiple
words to incre as e the s e curity of your data is important.
C.3. Creat ing Encrypt ed Block Devices in Anaconda
You can cre ate e ncrypte d de vice s during s ys te m ins tallation. This allows you to e as ily
configure a s ys te m with e ncrypte d partitions .
To e nable block de vice e ncryption, che ck the "Encrypt Sys te m" che ckbox whe n s e le cting
automatic partitioning or the "Encrypt" che ckbox whe n cre ating an individual partition,
s oftware RAID array, or logical volume . Afte r you finis h partitioning, you will be prompte d
for an e ncryption pas s phras e . This pas s phras e will be re quire d to acce s s the e ncrypte d
de vice s . If you have pre -e xis ting LUKS de vice s and provide d corre ct pas s phras e s for
the m e arlie r in the ins tall proce s s the pas s phras e e ntry dialog will als o contain a
che ckbox. Che cking this che ckbox indicate s that you would like the ne w pas s phras e to be
adde d to an available s lot in e ach of the pre -e xis ting e ncrypte d block de vice s .
No te
Che cking the "Encrypt Sys te m" che ckbox on the "Automatic Partitioning" s cre e n and
the n choos ing "Cre ate cus tom layout" doe s not caus e any block de vice s to be
e ncrypte d automatically.
577
No te
You can us e kickstart to s e t a s e parate pas s phras e for e ach ne w e ncrypte d block
de vice .
C.3.1. What Kinds of Block Devices Can Be Encrypt ed?
Mos t type s of block de vice s can be e ncrypte d us ing LUKS. From anaconda you can e ncrypt
partitions , LVM phys ical volume s , LVM logical volume s , and s oftware RAID arrays .
C.3.2. Saving Passphrases
If you us e a kicks tart file during ins tallation, you can automatically s ave the pas s phras e s
us e d during ins tallation to an e ncrypte d file (an escrow packet) on the local file s ys te m. To
us e this fe ature , you mus t have an X.509 ce rtificate available at a location that anaco nda
can acce s s . To s pe cify the URL of this ce rtificate , add the --escrowcert parame te r to any
of the autopart, logvol, part or raid commands . During ins tallation, the e ncryption ke ys
for the s pe cifie d de vice s are s ave d in file s in /root, e ncrypte d with the ce rtificate .
You can s ave e s crow packe ts during ins tallation only with the us e of a kicks tart file —
re fe r to Chapte r 32, Kickstart Installations for more de tail. You cannot s ave an e s crow
packe t during an inte ractive ins tallation, although you can cre ate one on an ins talle d
s ys te m with the vo lume_key tool. The vo lume_key tool als o allows you to us e the
information s tore d in an e s crow packe t to re s tore acce s s to an e ncrypte d volume . Re fe r
to the vo lume_key manpage for more information.
C.3.3. Creat ing and Saving Backup Passphrases
If you us e a kicks tart file during ins tallation, anaco nda can add a randomly ge ne rate d
backup pas s phras e to e ach block de vice on the s ys te m and s ave e ach pas s phras e to an
e ncrypte d file on the local file s ys te m. Spe cify the URL of this ce rtificate with the -escrowcert parame te r as de s cribe d in Se ction C.3.2, “Saving Pas s phras e s ”, followe d by
the --backuppassphrase parame te r for e ach of the kicks tart commands that re late to the
de vice s for which you want to cre ate backup pas s phras e s .
Note that this fe ature is available only while pe rforming a kicks tart ins tallation. Re fe r to
Chapte r 32, Kickstart Installations for more de tail.
C.4. Creat ing Encrypt ed Block Devices on t he Inst alled
Syst em Aft er Inst allat ion
Encrypte d block de vice s can be cre ate d and configure d afte r ins tallation.
C.4.1. Creat e t he Block Devices
Cre ate the block de vice s you want to e ncrypt by us ing parted, pvcreate, lvcreate and
mdadm.
C.4.2. Opt ional: Fill t he Device wit h Random Dat a
578
Filling <de vice > (e g: /dev/sda3) with random data be fore e ncrypting it gre atly incre as e s
the s tre ngth of the e ncryption. The downs ide is that it can take a ve ry long time .
Warning
The commands be low will de s troy any e xis ting data on the de vice .
The be s t way, which provide s high quality random data but take s a long time (s e ve ral
minute s pe r gigabyte on mos t s ys te ms ):
dd if=/dev/urandom of=<device>
Fas te s t way, which provide s lowe r quality random data:
badblocks -c 10240 -s -w -t random -v <device>
C.4.3. Format t he Device as a dm-crypt /LUKS Encrypt ed Device
Warning
The command be low will de s troy any e xis ting data on the de vice .
cryptsetup luksFormat <device>
No te
For more information, re ad the cryptsetup(8) man page .
Afte r s upplying the pas s phras e twice the de vice will be formatte d for us e . To ve rify, us e
the following command:
cryptsetup isLuks <device> && echo Success
To s e e a s ummary of the e ncryption information for the de vice , us e the following
command:
cryptsetup luksDump <device>
C.4.4. Creat e a Mapping t o Allow Access t o t he Device's Decrypt ed
Cont ent s
To acce s s the de vice 's de crypte d conte nts , a mapping mus t be e s tablis he d us ing the
ke rne l device-mapper.
579
It is us e ful to choos e a me aningful name for this mapping. LUKS provide s a UUID
(Unive rs ally Unique Ide ntifie r) for e ach de vice . This , unlike the de vice name (e g:
/dev/sda3), is guarante e d to re main cons tant as long as the LUKS he ade r re mains intact.
To find a LUKS de vice 's UUID, run the following command:
cryptsetup luksUUID <device>
An e xample of a re liable , informative and unique mapping name would be luks-<uuid>,
whe re <uuid> is re place d with the de vice 's LUKS UUID (e g: luks-50ec957a-5b5a-47ee85e6-f8085bbc97a8). This naming conve ntion might s e e m unwie ldy but is it not ne ce s s ary
to type it ofte n.
cryptsetup luksOpen <device> <name>
The re s hould now be a de vice node , /dev/mapper/<name>, which re pre s e nts the
de crypte d de vice . This block de vice can be re ad from and writte n to like any othe r
une ncrypte d block de vice .
To s e e s ome information about the mappe d de vice , us e the following command:
dmsetup info <name>
No te
For more information, re ad the dmsetup(8) man page .
C.4.5. Creat e File Syst ems on t he Mapped Device or Cont inue t o Build
Complex St orage St ruct ures Using t he Mapped Device
Us e the mappe d de vice node (/dev/mapper/<name>) as any othe r block de vice . To cre ate
an ext2 file s ys te m on the mappe d de vice , us e the following command:
mke2fs /dev/mapper/<name>
To mount this file s ys te m on /mnt/test, us e the following command:
Impo rtant
The dire ctory /mnt/test mus t e xis t be fore e xe cuting this command.
mount /dev/mapper/<name> /mnt/test
C.4.6. Add t he Mapping Inf ormat ion t o /etc/crypttab
In orde r for the s ys te m to s e t up a mapping for the de vice , an e ntry mus t be pre s e nt in
the /etc/crypttab file . If the file doe s n't e xis t, cre ate it and change the owne r and group
to root (root:root) and change the mode to 0744. Add a line to the file with the following
format:
580
<name>
<device>
none
The <de vice > fie ld s hould be give n in the form "UUID=<luks _uuid>", whe re <luks _uuid>
is the LUKS uuid as give n by the command cryptsetup luksUUID <device>. This
e ns ure s the corre ct de vice will be ide ntifie d and us e d e ve n if the de vice node (e g:
/dev/sda5) change s .
No te
For de tails on the format of the /etc/crypttab file , re ad the crypttab(5) man
page .
C.4.7. Add an Ent ry t o /etc/fstab
Add an e ntry to /e tc/fs tab. This is only ne ce s s ary if you want to e s tablis h a pe rs is te nt
as s ociation be twe e n the de vice and a mountpoint. Us e the de crypte d de vice ,
/dev/mapper/<name> in the /etc/fstab file .
In many cas e s it is de s irable to lis t de vice s in /etc/fstab by UUID or by a file s ys te m
labe l. The main purpos e of this is to provide a cons tant ide ntifie r in the e ve nt that the
de vice name (e g: /dev/sda4) change s . LUKS de vice name s in the form of
/dev/mapper/luks-<luks_uuid> are bas e d only on the de vice 's LUKS UUID, and are
the re fore guarante e d to re main cons tant. This fact make s the m s uitable for us e in
/etc/fstab.
No te
For de tails on the format of the /etc/fstab file , re ad the fstab(5) man page .
C.5. Common Post -Inst allat ion T asks
The following s e ctions are about common pos t-ins tallation tas ks .
C.5.1. Set a Randomly Generat ed Key as an Addit ional Way t o Access
an Encrypt ed Block Device
The following s e ctions are about ge ne rating ke ys and adding ke ys .
C.5.1.1. Generat e a Key
This will ge ne rate a 256-bit ke y in the file $HOME/keyfile.
dd if=/dev/urandom of=$HOME/keyfile bs=32 count=1
chmod 600 $HOME/keyfile
C.5.1.2. Add t he Key t o an Available Keyslot on t he Encrypt ed Device
cryptsetup luksAddKey <device> ~/keyfile
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C.5.2. Add a New Passphrase t o an Exist ing Device
cryptsetup luksAddKey <device>
Afte r be ing prompte d for any one of the e xis ting pas s phras e s for authe ntication, you will
be prompte d to e nte r the ne w pas s phras e .
C.5.3. Remove a Passphrase or Key f rom a Device
cryptsetup luksRemoveKey <device>
You will be prompte d for the pas s phras e you wis h to re move and the n for any one of the
re maining pas s phras e s for authe ntication.
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⁠A ppe ndix D. Unde r s t anding LVM
Appendix D. Underst anding LVM
LVM (Logical Volume Manage me nt) partitions provide a numbe r of advantage s ove r
s tandard partitions . LVM partitions are formatte d as physical volumes. One or more
phys ical volume s are combine d to form a volume group. Each volume group's total s torage
is the n divide d into one or more logical volumes. The logical volume s function much like
s tandard partitions . The y have a file s ys te m type , s uch as ext4, and a mount point.
No te
On mos t archite cture s , the boot loade r cannot re ad LVM volume s . You mus t make a
s tandard, non-LVM dis k partition for your /boot partition.
Howe ve r, on Sys te m z , the zipl boot loade r s upports /boot on LVM logical volume s
with line ar mapping.
To unde rs tand LVM be tte r, imagine the phys ical volume as a pile of blocks. A block is
s imply a s torage unit us e d to s tore data. Se ve ral pile s of blocks can be combine d to make
a much large r pile , jus t as phys ical volume s are combine d to make a volume group. The
re s ulting pile can be s ubdivide d into s e ve ral s malle r pile s of arbitrary s iz e , jus t as a
volume group is allocate d to s e ve ral logical volume s .
An adminis trator may grow or s hrink logical volume s without de s troying data, unlike
s tandard dis k partitions . If the phys ical volume s in a volume group are on s e parate drive s
or RAID arrays the n adminis trators may als o s pre ad a logical volume acros s the s torage
de vice s .
You may los e data if you s hrink a logical volume to a s malle r capacity than the data on the
volume re quire s . To e ns ure maximum fle xibility, cre ate logical volume s to me e t your
curre nt ne e ds , and le ave e xce s s s torage capacity unallocate d. You may s afe ly grow
logical volume s to us e unallocate d s pace , as your ne e ds dictate .
No te
By de fault, the ins tallation proce s s cre ate s / and s wap partitions within LVM
volume s , with a s e parate /boot partition.
583
Appendix E. The GRUB Boot Loader
Whe n a compute r running Linux is turne d on, the ope rating s ys te m is loade d into me mory
by a s pe cial program calle d a boot loader. A boot loade r us ually e xis ts on the s ys te m's
primary hard drive (or othe r me dia de vice ) and has the s ole re s pons ibility of loading the
Linux ke rne l with its re quire d file s or (in s ome cas e s ) othe r ope rating s ys te ms into
me mory.
E.1. Boot Loaders and Syst em Archit ect ure
Each archite cture capable of running Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux us e s a diffe re nt boot loade r.
The following table lis ts the boot loade rs available for e ach archite cture :
T able E.1. Bo o t Lo aders by Archit ect ure
Archit ect ure
Bo o t Lo aders
AMD AMD64
IBM Powe r Sys te ms
IBM Sys te m z
x86
GRUB
yaboot
z /IPL
GRUB
This appe ndix dis cus s e s commands and configuration options for the GRUB boot loade r
include d with Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux for the x86 archite cture .
Impo rtant
The /boot and / (root) partition in Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 can only us e the e xt2,
e xt3, and e xt4 (re comme nde d) file s ys te ms . You cannot us e any othe r file s ys te m
for this partition, s uch as Btrfs , XFS, or VFAT. Othe r partitions , s uch as /home, can
us e any s upporte d file s ys te m, including Btrfs and XFS (if available ). Se e the
following article on the Re d Hat Cus tome r Portal for additional information:
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s olutions /667273.
E.2. GRUB
The GNU GRand Unified Boot loader (GRUB) is a program which e nable s the s e le ction of
the ins talle d ope rating s ys te m or ke rne l to be loade d at s ys te m boot time . It als o allows
the us e r to pas s argume nts to the ke rne l.
E.2.1. GRUB and t he Boot Process on BIOS-based x86 Syst ems
This s e ction de s cribe s the s pe cific role GRUB plays whe n booting a BIOS-bas e d x86
s ys te m. For a look at the ove rall boot proce s s , re fe r to Se ction F.2, “A De taile d Look at the
Boot Proce s s ”.
GRUB loads its e lf into me mory in the following s tage s :
1. The Stage 1 or primary boot loader is read into memory by the BIOS from the MBR
⁠ [16] . The primary boot loade r e xis ts on le s s than 512 byte s of dis k s pace within
the MBR and is capable of loading e ithe r the Stage 1.5 or Stage 2 boot loade r.
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⁠A ppe ndix E. T he GRUB Bo o t Lo ade r
BIOS cannot re ad partition table s or file s ys te ms . It initializ e s the hardware , re ads
the MBR, the n de pe nds e ntire ly on the s tage 1 bootloade r to continue the boot
proce s s .
2. The Stage 1.5 boot loader is read into memory by the Stage 1 boot loader, if
necessary. Some hardware re quire s an inte rme diate s te p to ge t to the Stage 2
boot loade r. This is s ome time s true whe n the /boot/ partition is above the 1024
cylinde r he ad of the hard drive or whe n us ing LBA mode . The Stage 1.5 boot loade r
is found e ithe r on the /boot/ partition or on a s mall part of the MBR and the /boot/
partition.
3. The Stage 2 or secondary boot loader is read into memory. The s e condary boot
loade r dis plays the GRUB me nu and command e nvironme nt. This inte rface allows
the us e r to s e le ct which ke rne l or ope rating s ys te m to boot, pas s argume nts to the
ke rne l, or look at s ys te m parame te rs .
4. The secondary boot loader reads the operating system or kernel as well as the
contents of /boot/sysroot/ into memory. Once GRUB de te rmine s which ope rating
s ys te m or ke rne l to s tart, it loads it into me mory and trans fe rs control of the
machine to that ope rating s ys te m.
The me thod us e d to boot Linux is calle d direct loading be caus e the boot loade r loads the
ope rating s ys te m dire ctly. The re is no inte rme diary be twe e n the boot loade r and the
ke rne l.
The boot proce s s us e d by othe r ope rating s ys te ms may diffe r. For e xample , the Micros oft
Windows ope rating s ys te m, as we ll as othe r ope rating s ys te ms , are loade d us ing chain
loading. Unde r this me thod, the MBR points to the firs t s e ctor of the partition holding the
ope rating s ys te m, whe re it finds the file s ne ce s s ary to actually boot that ope rating
s ys te m.
GRUB s upports both dire ct and chain loading boot me thods , allowing it to boot almos t any
ope rating s ys te m.
Warning
During ins tallation, Micros oft's DOS and Windows ins tallation programs comple te ly
ove rwrite the MBR, de s troying any e xis ting boot loade rs . If cre ating a dual-boot
s ys te m, it is be s t to ins tall the Micros oft ope rating s ys te m firs t.
E.2.2. GRUB and t he Boot Process on UEFI-based x86 Syst ems
This s e ction de s cribe s the s pe cific role GRUB plays whe n booting a UEFI-bas e d x86
s ys te m. For a look at the ove rall boot proce s s , re fe r to Se ction F.2, “A De taile d Look at the
Boot Proce s s ”.
GRUB loads its e lf into me mory in the following s tage s :
1. The UEFI-bas e d platform re ads the partition table on the s ys te m s torage and
mounts the EFI System Partition (ESP), a VFAT partition labe le d with a particular
globally unique identifier (GUID). The ESP contains EFI applications s uch as
bootloade rs and utility s oftware , s tore d in dire ctorie s s pe cific to s oftware ve ndors .
Vie we d from within the Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux 6 file s ys te m, the ESP is
/boot/efi/, and EFI s oftware provide d by Re d Hat is s tore d in
/boot/efi/EFI/redhat/.
585
2. The /boot/efi/EFI/redhat/ dire ctory contains grub.ef i, a ve rs ion of GRUB
compile d for the EFI firmware archite cture as an EFI application. In the s imple s t
cas e , the EFI boot manage r s e le cts grub.efi as the de fault bootloade r and re ads it
into me mory.
If the ESP contains othe r EFI applications , the EFI boot manage r might prompt you to
s e le ct an application to run, rathe r than load grub.ef i automatically.
3. GRUB de te rmine s which ope rating s ys te m or ke rne l to s tart, loads it into me mory,
and trans fe rs control of the machine to that ope rating s ys te m.
Be caus e e ach ve ndor maintains its own dire ctory of applications in the ESP, chain loading
is not normally ne ce s s ary on UEFI-bas e d s ys te ms . The EFI boot manage r can load any of
the ope rating s ys te m bootloade rs that are pre s e nt in the ESP.
E.2.3. Feat ures of GRUB
GRUB contains s e ve ral fe ature s that make it pre fe rable to othe r boot loade rs available for
the x86 archite cture . Be low is a partial lis t of s ome of the more important fe ature s :
GRUB provides a true command-based, pre-OS environment on x86 machines. This
fe ature affords the us e r maximum fle xibility in loading ope rating s ys te ms with
s pe cifie d options or gathe ring information about the s ys te m. For ye ars , many non-x86
archite cture s have e mploye d pre -OS e nvironme nts that allow s ys te m booting from a
command line .
GRUB supports Logical Block Addressing (LBA) mode. LBA place s the addre s s ing
conve rs ion us e d to find file s in the hard drive 's firmware , and is us e d on many IDE and
all SCSI hard de vice s . Be fore LBA, boot loade rs could e ncounte r the 1024-cylinde r BIOS
limitation, whe re the BIOS could not find a file afte r the 1024 cylinde r he ad of the dis k.
LBA s upport allows GRUB to boot ope rating s ys te ms from partitions be yond the 1024cylinde r limit, s o long as the s ys te m BIOS s upports LBA mode . Mos t mode rn BIOS
re vis ions s upport LBA mode .
GRUB can read ext2 partitions. This functionality allows GRUB to acce s s its configuration
file , /boot/grub/grub.conf, e ve ry time the s ys te m boots , e liminating the ne e d for the
us e r to write a ne w ve rs ion of the firs t s tage boot loade r to the MBR whe n configuration
change s are made . The only time a us e r ne e ds to re ins tall GRUB on the MBR is if the
phys ical location of the /boot/ partition is move d on the dis k.
E.3. Inst alling GRUB
In a vas t majority of cas e s , GRUB is ins talle d and configure d by de fault during the
ins tallation of Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux. Howe ve r, if for s ome re as on GRUB is not
ins talle d, or if you ne e d to ins tall it again, you can us e the grub-install s cript (part of the
grub package ) to ins tall it. For e xample :
# grub-install disk
Re place disk with the de vice name of your s ys te m's boot drive s uch as /dev/sda.
On s ys te ms with UEFI firmware , you mus t als o us e efibootmgr to write the boot loade r
firs t s tage into your s ys te m's EFI Sys te m Partition. For e xample :
# efibootmgr -c -d disk -p partition_number -l /EFI/redhat/grubx64.efi
-L "grub_uefi"
586
Re place disk with the name of the de vice containing the EFI Sys te m Partition (s uch as
/dev/sda) and partition_number with the partition numbe r of your EFI Sys te m Partition.
For additional information about ins talling GRUB, s e e the GNU GRUB Manual and the grubinstall(8) man page . For information about the EFI Sys te m Partition, s e e Se ction 9.18.1,
“Advance d Boot Loade r Configuration”. For information about the efibootmgr tool, s e e the
efibootmgr(8) man page .
E.4. T roubleshoot ing GRUB
In mos t cas e s , GRUB will be ins talle d and configure d during the initial ins tallation proce s s ,
unle s s you us e d a Kicks tart file and s pe cifically dis able d this be havior. The ins talle d
s ys te m s hould the re fore be pre pare d to boot into your de s ktop e nvironme nt or a
command line , de pe nding on your package s e le ction. Howe ve r, in ce rtain cas e s it is
pos s ible that the s ys te m's GRUB configuration be come s corrupte d and the s ys te m will no
longe r be able to boot. This s e ction de s cribe s how to fix s uch proble ms .
Impo rtant
GRUB cannot cons truct a s oftware RAID. The re fore , the /boot dire ctory mus t re s ide
on a s ingle , s pe cific dis k partition. The /boot dire ctory cannot be s tripe d acros s
multiple dis ks , as in a le ve l 0 RAID. To us e a le ve l 0 RAID on your s ys te m, place
/boot on a s e parate partition outs ide the RAID.
Similarly, be caus e the /boot dire ctory mus t re s ide on a s ingle , s pe cific dis k
partition, GRUB cannot boot the s ys te m if the dis k holding that partition fails or is
re move d from the s ys te m. This is true e ve n if the dis k is mirrore d in a le ve l 1 RAID.
The following Re d Hat Knowle dge bas e article de s cribe s how to make the s ys te m
bootable from anothe r dis k in the mirrore d s e t:
https ://acce s s .re dhat.com/s ite /article s /7094
Note that the s e is s ue s apply only to RAID that is imple me nte d in s oftware , whe re
the individual dis ks that make up the array are s till vis ible as individual dis ks on the
s ys te m. The s e is s ue s do not apply to hardware RAID whe re multiple dis ks are
re pre s e nte d as a s ingle de vice .
The e xact s te ps to fix a broke n GRUB configuration will vary de pe nding on what kind of
proble m the re is . The GNU GRUB Manual offe rs a lis t of all pos s ible e rror me s s age s
dis playe d by GRUB in diffe re nt s tage s and the ir unde rlying caus e s . Us e the manual for
re fe re nce .
Once you have de te rmine d the caus e of the e rror, you can s tart fixing it. If you are
e ncounte ring an e rror which only appe ars afte r you s e le ct an e ntry from the GRUB me nu,
the n you can us e the me nu to fix the e rror te mporarily, boot the s ys te m, and the n fix the
e rror pe rmane ntly by running the grub-install command to re ins tall the boot loade r, or
by e diting the /boot/grub/grub.conf or /boot/efi/EFI/redhat/grub.conf with a plain
te xt e ditor. For information about the configuration file s tructure , s e e Se ction E.8, “GRUB
Me nu Configuration File ”.
587
No te
The re are two ide ntical file s in the GRUB configuration dire ctory: grub.conf and
menu.lst. The grub.conf configuration file is loade d firs t; the re fore you s hould
make your change s the re . The s e cond file , menu.lst, will only be loade d if
grub.conf is not found.
E.5. GRUB T erminology
One of the mos t important things to unde rs tand be fore us ing GRUB is how the program
re fe rs to de vice s , s uch as hard drive s and partitions . This information is particularly
important whe n configuring GRUB to boot multiple ope rating s ys te ms .
E.5.1. Device Names
Whe n re fe rring to a s pe cific de vice with GRUB, do s o us ing the following format (note that
the pare nthe s e s and comma are ve ry important s yntactically):
(<type-of-device><bios-device-number>,<partition-number>)
The <type-of-device> s pe cifie s the type of de vice from which GRUB boots . The two mos t
common options are hd for a hard dis k or fd for a 3.5 dis ke tte . A le s s e r us e d de vice type
is als o available calle d nd for a ne twork dis k. Ins tructions on configuring GRUB to boot ove r
the ne twork are available online at http://www.gnu.org/s oftware /grub/manual/.
The <bios-device-number> is the BIOS de vice numbe r. The primary IDE hard drive is
numbe re d 0 and a s e condary IDE hard drive is numbe re d 1. This s yntax is roughly
e quivale nt to that us e d for de vice s by the ke rne l. For e xample , the a in hda for the ke rne l
is analogous to the 0 in hd0 for GRUB, the b in hdb is analogous to the 1 in hd1, and s o on.
The <partition-number> s pe cifie s the numbe r of a partition on a de vice . Like the <biosdevice-number>, mos t type s of partitions are numbe re d s tarting at 0. Howe ve r, BSD
partitions are s pe cifie d us ing le tte rs , with a corre s ponding to 0, b corre s ponding to 1, and
s o on.
No te
The numbe ring s ys te m for de vice s unde r GRUB always be gins with 0, not 1. Failing
to make this dis tinction is one of the mos t common mis take s made by ne w us e rs .
To give an e xample , if a s ys te m has more than one hard drive , GRUB re fe rs to the firs t
hard drive as (hd0) and the s e cond as (hd1). Like wis e , GRUB re fe rs to the firs t partition
on the firs t drive as (hd0,0) and the third partition on the s e cond hard drive as (hd1,2).
In ge ne ral the following rule s apply whe n naming de vice s and partitions unde r GRUB:
It doe s not matte r if s ys te m hard drive s are IDE or SCSI, all hard drive s be gin with the
le tte rs hd. The le tte rs fd are us e d to s pe cify 3.5 dis ke tte s .
588
To s pe cify an e ntire de vice without re s pe ct to partitions , le ave off the comma and the
partition numbe r. This is important whe n te lling GRUB to configure the MBR for a
particular dis k. For e xample , (hd0) s pe cifie s the MBR on the firs t de vice and (hd3)
s pe cifie s the MBR on the fourth de vice .
If a s ys te m has multiple drive de vice s , it is ve ry important to know how the drive boot
orde r is s e t in the BIOS. This is a s imple tas k if a s ys te m has only IDE or SCSI drive s ,
but if the re is a mix of de vice s , it be come s critical that the type of drive with the boot
partition be acce s s e d firs t.
E.5.2. File Names and Blocklist s
Whe n typing commands to GRUB that re fe re nce a file , s uch as a me nu lis t, it is ne ce s s ary
to s pe cify an abs olute file path imme diate ly afte r the de vice and partition numbe rs .
The following illus trate s the s tructure of s uch a command:
(<device-type><device-number>,<partition-number>)</path/to/file>
In this e xample , re place <device-type> with hd, fd, or nd. Re place <device-number> with
the inte ge r for the de vice . Re place </path/to/file> with an abs olute path re lative to the
top-le ve l of the de vice .
It is als o pos s ible to s pe cify file s to GRUB that do not actually appe ar in the file s ys te m,
s uch as a chain loade r that appe ars in the firs t fe w blocks of a partition. To load s uch file s ,
provide a blocklist that s pe cifie s block by block whe re the file is locate d in the partition.
Since a file is ofte n compris e d of s e ve ral diffe re nt s e ts of blocks , blocklis ts us e a s pe cial
s yntax. Each block containing the file is s pe cifie d by an offs e t numbe r of blocks , followe d
by the numbe r of blocks from that offs e t point. Block offs e ts are lis te d s e que ntially in a
comma-de limite d lis t.
The following is a s ample blocklis t:
0+50,100+25,200+1
This s ample blocklis t s pe cifie s a file that s tarts at the firs t block on the partition and us e s
blocks 0 through 49, 100 through 124, and 200.
Knowing how to write blocklis ts is us e ful whe n us ing GRUB to load ope rating s ys te ms
which re quire chain loading. It is pos s ible to le ave off the offs e t numbe r of blocks if
s tarting at block 0. As an e xample , the chain loading file in the firs t partition of the firs t
hard drive would have the following name :
(hd0,0)+1
The following s hows the chainloader command with a s imilar blocklis t de s ignation at the
GRUB command line afte r s e tting the corre ct de vice and partition as root:
chainloader +1
E.5.3. T he Root File Syst em and GRUB
The us e of the te rm root file system has a diffe re nt me aning in re gard to GRUB. It is
important to re me mbe r that GRUB's root file s ys te m has nothing to do with the Linux root
file s ys te m.
589
The GRUB root file s ys te m is the top le ve l of the s pe cifie d de vice . For e xample , the image
file (hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz is locate d within the /grub/ dire ctory at the top-le ve l
(or root) of the (hd0,0) partition (which is actually the /boot/ partition for the s ys te m).
Ne xt, the kernel command is e xe cute d with the location of the ke rne l file as an option.
Once the Linux ke rne l boots , it s e ts up the root file s ys te m that Linux us e rs are familiar
with. The original GRUB root file s ys te m and its mounts are forgotte n; the y only e xis te d to
boot the ke rne l file .
Re fe r to the root and kernel commands in Se ction E.7, “GRUB Commands ” for more
information.
E.6. GRUB Int erfaces
GRUB fe ature s thre e inte rface s which provide diffe re nt le ve ls of functionality. Each of
the s e inte rface s allows us e rs to boot the Linux ke rne l or anothe r ope rating s ys te m.
The inte rface s are as follows :
No te
The following GRUB inte rface s can only be acce s s e d by pre s s ing any ke y within the
thre e s e conds of the GRUB me nu bypas s s cre e n.
Menu Interface
This is the de fault inte rface s hown whe n GRUB is configure d by the ins tallation
program. A me nu of ope rating s ys te ms or pre configure d ke rne ls are dis playe d as
a lis t, orde re d by name . Us e the arrow ke ys to s e le ct an ope rating s ys te m or
ke rne l ve rs ion and pre s s the Enter ke y to boot it. If you do nothing on this
s cre e n, the n afte r the time out pe riod e xpire s GRUB will load the de fault option.
Pre s s the e ke y to e nte r the e ntry e ditor inte rface or the c ke y to load a
command line inte rface .
Re fe r to Se ction E.8, “GRUB Me nu Configuration File ” for more information on
configuring this inte rface .
Menu Entry Editor Interface
To acce s s the me nu e ntry e ditor, pre s s the e ke y from the boot loade r
The GRUB commands for that e ntry are dis playe d he re , and us e rs may
the s e command line s be fore booting the ope rating s ys te m by adding a
line (o ins e rts a ne w line afte r the curre nt line and O ins e rts a ne w line
e diting one (e), or de le ting one (d).
me nu.
alte r
command
be fore it),
Afte r all change s are made , the b ke y e xe cute s the commands and boots the
ope rating s ys te m. The Esc ke y dis cards any change s and re loads the s tandard
me nu inte rface . The c ke y loads the command line inte rface .
590
No te
For information about changing runle ve ls us ing the GRUB me nu e ntry e ditor,
re fe r to Se ction E.9, “Changing Runle ve ls at Boot Time ”.
Command Line Interface
The command line inte rface is the mos t bas ic GRUB inte rface , but it is als o the
one that grants the mos t control. The command line make s it pos s ible to type any
re le vant GRUB commands followe d by the Enter ke y to e xe cute the m. This
inte rface fe ature s s ome advance d s he ll-like fe ature s , including Tab ke y
comple tion bas e d on conte xt, and Ctrl ke y combinations whe n typing commands ,
s uch as Ctrl+a to move to the be ginning of a line and Ctrl+e to move to the
e nd of a line . In addition, the arrow, Home, End, and Delete ke ys work as the y do
in the bash s he ll.
Re fe r to Se ction E.7, “GRUB Commands ” for a lis t of common commands .
E.6.1. Int erf aces Load Order
Whe n GRUB loads its s e cond s tage boot loade r, it firs t s e arche s for its configuration file .
Once found, the me nu inte rface bypas s s cre e n is dis playe d. If a ke y is pre s s e d within
thre e s e conds , GRUB builds a me nu lis t and dis plays the me nu inte rface . If no ke y is
pre s s e d, the de fault ke rne l e ntry in the GRUB me nu is us e d.
If the configuration file cannot be found, or if the configuration file is unre adable , GRUB
loads the command line inte rface , allowing the us e r to type commands to comple te the
boot proce s s .
If the configuration file is not valid, GRUB prints out the e rror and as ks for input. This he lps
the us e r s e e pre cis e ly whe re the proble m occurre d. Pre s s ing any ke y re loads the me nu
inte rface , whe re it is the n pos s ible to e dit the me nu option and corre ct the proble m bas e d
on the e rror re porte d by GRUB. If the corre ction fails , GRUB re ports an e rror and re loads
the me nu inte rface .
E.7. GRUB Commands
GRUB allows a numbe r of us e ful commands in its command line inte rface . Some of the
commands acce pt options afte r the ir name ; the s e options s hould be s e parate d from the
command and othe r options on that line by s pace characte rs .
The following is a lis t of us e ful commands :
boot — Boots the ope rating s ys te m or chain loade r that was las t loade d.
chainloader </path/to/file> — Loads the s pe cifie d file as a chain loade r. If the file
is locate d on the firs t s e ctor of the s pe cifie d partition, us e the blocklis t notation, +1,
ins te ad of the file name .
The following is an e xample chainloader command:
chainloader +1
591
displaymem — Dis plays the curre nt us e of me mory, bas e d on information from the
BIOS. This is us e ful to de te rmine how much RAM a s ys te m has prior to booting it.
initrd </path/to/initrd> — Enable s us e rs to s pe cify an initial RAM dis k to us e
whe n booting. An initrd is ne ce s s ary whe n the ke rne l ne e ds ce rtain module s in orde r
to boot prope rly, s uch as whe n the root partition is formatte d with the e xt3 or e xt4 file
s ys te m.
The following is an e xample initrd command:
initrd /initrd-2.6.8-1.523.img
install <stage-1> <install-disk> <stage-2> p config-file — Ins talls GRUB to
the s ys te m MBR.
<stage-1> — Signifie s a de vice , partition, and file whe re the firs t boot loade r image
can be found, s uch as (hd0,0)/grub/stage1.
<install-disk> — Spe cifie s the dis k whe re the s tage 1 boot loade r s hould be
ins talle d, s uch as (hd0).
<stage-2> — Pas s e s the s tage 2 boot loade r location to the s tage 1 boot loade r,
s uch as (hd0,0)/grub/stage2.
p <config-file> — This option te lls the install command to look for the me nu
configuration file s pe cifie d by <config-file>, s uch as (hd0,0)/grub/grub.conf.
Warning
The install command ove rwrite s any information alre ady locate d on the MBR.
kernel </path/to/kernel> <option-1> <option-N> ... — Spe cifie s the ke rne l file to
load whe n booting the ope rating s ys te m. Re place </path/to/kernel> with an abs olute
path from the partition s pe cifie d by the root command. Re place <option-1> with options
for the Linux ke rne l, s uch as root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00 to s pe cify the de vice
on which the root partition for the s ys te m is locate d. Multiple options can be pas s e d to
the ke rne l in a s pace s e parate d lis t.
The following is an e xample kernel command:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.8-1.523 ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
The option in the pre vious e xample s pe cifie s that the root file s ys te m for Linux is
locate d on the hda5 partition.
root (<device-type><device-number>,<partition>) — Configure s the root partition
for GRUB, s uch as (hd0,0), and mounts the partition.
The following is an e xample root command:
root (hd0,0)
rootnoverify (<device-type><device-number>,<partition>) — Configure s the
root partition for GRUB, jus t like the root command, but doe s not mount the partition.
592
Othe r commands are als o available ; type help --all for a full lis t of commands . For a
de s cription of all GRUB commands , re fe r to the docume ntation available online at
http://www.gnu.org/s oftware /grub/manual/.
E.8. GRUB Menu Configurat ion File
The configuration file (/boot/grub/grub.conf on BIOS s ys te ms and
/boot/efi/EFI/redhat/grub.conf on UEFI s ys te ms ), which is us e d to cre ate the lis t of
ope rating s ys te ms to boot in GRUB's me nu inte rface , e s s e ntially allows the us e r to s e le ct
a pre -s e t group of commands to e xe cute . The commands give n in Se ction E.7, “GRUB
Commands ” can be us e d, as we ll as s ome s pe cial commands that are only available in
the configuration file .
E.8.1. Conf igurat ion File St ruct ure
The commands to s e t the global pre fe re nce s for the me nu inte rface are place d at the top
of the GRUB configuration file , followe d by s tanz as for e ach ope rating ke rne l or ope rating
s ys te m lis te d in the me nu.
The following is a ve ry bas ic GRUB me nu configuration file de s igne d to boot e ithe r Re d Hat
Ente rpris e Linux or Micros oft Windows :
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (2.6.32.130.el6.i686)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32.130.el6.i686 ro root=LABEL=/1 rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.32.130.el6.i686.img
# section to load Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
This file configure s GRUB to build a me nu with Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux as the de fault
ope rating s ys te m and s e ts it to autoboot afte r 10 s e conds . Two s e ctions are give n, one
for e ach ope rating s ys te m e ntry, with commands s pe cific to the s ys te m dis k partition
table .
No te
Note that the de fault is s pe cifie d as an inte ge r. This re fe rs to the firs t title line in
the GRUB configuration file . For the Windows s e ction to be s e t as the de fault in the
pre vious e xample , change the default=0 to default=1.
Configuring a GRUB me nu configuration file to boot multiple ope rating s ys te ms is be yond
the s cope of this chapte r. Cons ult Se ction E.10, “Additional Re s ource s ” for a lis t of
additional re s ource s .
E.8.2. Conf igurat ion File Direct ives
593
The following are dire ctive s commonly us e d in the GRUB me nu configuration file :
chainloader </path/to/file> — Loads the s pe cifie d file as a chain loade r. Re place
</path/to/file> with the abs olute path to the chain loade r. If the file is locate d on the
firs t s e ctor of the s pe cifie d partition, us e the blocklis t notation, +1.
color <normal-color> <selected-color> — Allows s pe cific colors to be us e d in the
me nu, whe re two colors are configure d as the fore ground and background. Us e s imple
color name s s uch as red/black. For e xample :
color red/black green/blue
default=<integer> — Re place <integer> with the de fault e ntry title numbe r to be
loade d if the me nu inte rface time s out.
fallback=<integer> — Re place <integer> with the e ntry title numbe r to try if the firs t
atte mpt fails .
hiddenmenu — Pre ve nts the GRUB me nu inte rface from be ing dis playe d, loading the
default e ntry whe n the timeout pe riod e xpire s . The us e r can s e e the s tandard GRUB
me nu by pre s s ing the Esc ke y.
initrd </path/to/initrd> — Enable s us e rs to s pe cify an initial RAM dis k to us e
whe n booting. Re place </path/to/initrd> with the abs olute path to the initial RAM dis k.
kernel </path/to/kernel> <option-1> <option-N> — Spe cifie s the ke rne l file to
load whe n booting the ope rating s ys te m. Re place </path/to/kernel> with an abs olute
path from the partition s pe cifie d by the root dire ctive . Multiple options can be pas s e d to
the ke rne l whe n it is loade d.
The s e options include :
rhgb (Red Hat graphical boot) — dis plays an animation during the boot proce s s ,
rathe r than line s of te xt.
quiet — s uppre s s e s all but the mos t important me s s age s in the part of the boot
s e que nce be fore the Re d Hat graphical boot animation be gins .
password=<password> — Pre ve nts a us e r who doe s not know the pas s word from
e diting the e ntrie s for this me nu option.
Optionally, it is pos s ible to s pe cify an alte rnate me nu configuration file afte r the
password=<password> dire ctive . In this cas e , GRUB re s tarts the s e cond s tage boot
loade r and us e s the s pe cifie d alte rnate configuration file to build the me nu. If an
alte rnate me nu configuration file is le ft out of the command, a us e r who knows the
pas s word is allowe d to e dit the curre nt configuration file .
Impo rtant
It is highly re comme nde d to s e t up a boot loade r pas s word on e ve ry machine . An
unprote cte d boot loade r can allow a pote ntial attacke r to modify the s ys te m's
boot options and gain acce s s to the s ys te m. Se e the chapte r title d Workstation
Security in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Security Guide for more information on
boot loade r pas s words and pas s word s e curity in ge ne ral.
map — Swaps the numbe rs as s igne d to two hard drive s . For e xample :
594
map (hd0) (hd3)
map (hd3) (hd0)
as s igns the numbe r 0 to the fourth hard drive , and the numbe r 3 to the firs t hard drive .
This option is e s pe cially us e ful if you configure your s ys te m with an option to boot a
Windows ope rating s ys te m, be caus e the Windows boot loade r mus t find the Windows
ins tallation on the firs t hard drive .
For e xample , if your Windows ins tallation is on the fourth hard drive , the following e ntry
in grub.conf will allow the Windows boot loade r to load Windows corre ctly:
title Windows
map (hd0) (hd3)
map (hd3) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd3,0)
chainloader +1
root (<device-type><device-number>,<partition>) — Configure s the root partition
for GRUB, s uch as (hd0,0), and mounts the partition. To s pe cify the boot drive s e le cte d
by the EFI boot manage r, the s yntax is <device-type>,<partition>, s uch as (bd,1).
rootnoverify (<device-type><device-number>,<partition>) — Configure s the
root partition for GRUB, jus t like the root command, but doe s not mount the partition.
timeout=<integer> — Spe cifie s the inte rval, in s e conds , that GRUB waits be fore
loading the e ntry de s ignate d in the default command.
splashimage=<path-to-image> — Spe cifie s the location of the s plas h s cre e n image to
be us e d whe n GRUB boots .
title group-title — Spe cifie s a title to be us e d with a particular group of commands
us e d to load a ke rne l or ope rating s ys te m.
To add human-re adable comme nts to the me nu configuration file , be gin the line with the
has h mark characte r (#).
E.9. Changing Runlevels at Boot T ime
Unde r Re d Hat Ente rpris e Linux, it is pos s ible to change the de fault runle ve l at boot time .
To change the runle ve l of a s ingle boot s e s s ion, us e the following ins tructions :
Whe n the GRUB me nu bypas s s cre e n appe ars at boot time , pre s s any ke y to e nte r the
GRUB me nu (within the firs t thre e s e conds ).
Pre s s the a ke y to appe nd to the kernel command.
Add <space><runlevel> at the e nd of the boot options line to boot to the de s ire d
runle ve l. For e xample , the following e ntry would initiate a boot proce s s into runle ve l 3:
grub append> ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00 rhgb quiet 3
E.10. Addit ional Resources
595
This chapte r is only inte nde d as an introduction to GRUB. Cons ult the following re s ource s
to dis cove r more about how GRUB works .
E.10.1. Inst alled Document at ion
/usr/share/doc/grub-<version-number>/ — This dire ctory contains good information
about us ing and configuring GRUB, whe re <version-number> corre s ponds to the ve rs ion
of the GRUB package ins talle d.
info grub — The GRUB info page contains a tutorial, a us e r re fe re nce manual, a
programme r re fe re nce manual, and a FAQ docume nt about GRUB and its us age .
E.10.2. Usef ul Websit es
http://www.gnu.org/s oftware /grub/ — The home page

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Installation Guide

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