This installation procedure assumes that the computer that is having Linux
installed on it is an IBM-Compatible desktop computer, rather than a
laptop or a Macintosh of any sort. Full instructions for installation are
available in the Official Red Hat Linux 5.2 Installation Guide
which can be purchased at most bookstores as part of the RedHat boxed set.
Pre-Installation
Obtain a copy of the RedHat Installation CDs and boot disk.
Clean any data that needs to be saved off of the computer
that is to receive the install.
Make certain that all of the hardware requirements are met:
The Hard Drive should
be larger than 750 Megabytes, and if it is larger than 2.1 Gigabytes, how
many cylinders, heads, and tracks it has..
Sufficient time for the installation has been set aside.
Installation
Insert the boot disk into the A: drive and the RedHat CD #1
into the CD-ROM drive, and boot the computer. If you do not have a boot disk, put the CD into the D drive and boot
the computer to DOS. Then type d: cd
dosutils autoboot.bat
At the boot: prompt
If you have a hard drive of 2.1 Gigs or smaller, hit
[Enter]
This information assumes that the Default Gateway and
Primary Nameserver are still at the same IP addresses as they were in May
of 1999. This information should be checked with one of the network
people before installation.
Press [Enter] and continue.
In the "Configure Network" window, fill in the following
information:
Choose "Custom" and press [Enter]. A Server install will
install a fully working Webserver and is simpler, but learning how to
install from scratch was the intention of this independant study.
Two swap partitions, each equal in size to the amount
of RAM in the computer.
One partition named /
that
is at least 100 MB large.
A partition named /usr
that
is between 300 MB and 700 MB in size; the more software you plan to
install, the more space should be in the /usr partition.
A partition named /home
that
is large. This is where all the user files will be placed.
A partition named /tmp
that
is 30 MB to 70 MB large. This is a useful partition for storing temporary
data. Creating it prevents the / directory from filling up too quickly.
A partion named /var that
is
reasonable large. This is the partition logs will be stored in, and if
you anticipate a large amount of mail or web accessing on your computer,
this partition should be of moderate size.
Write down how much space you allocate to each of these
partitions; you may need it for later use.
Initialize all the swap partitions.
Format all partitions to make certain that the disk does not
contain any bad blocks.
Select the components you wish to install on your Linux box.
Note: For webservers that need to run CGI, please read the
documentation about installing the Apache
webserver. Most of the packages you are likely to want are
already selected; if you find a package that you want later on, you can
install the RPM for it after the
installation is complete.
Select a generic mouse that matches your mouse's
configuration. A serial mouse will have a square end plugged into the
computer, a PS/2 mouse will have a round plug.
The installer will launch the Xconfigurator. Locate your
video card and select it.
Finishing Up
Once the computer has rebooted, log in as root and use the root password
you've just created. Then go to the creating accounts page and create an
account for yourself. The root login should be used only when necessary.
Back to the Table of Contents.
Created: May 16, 1999
Last updated: May 17, 1999