The typical way to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on your system is to create a set of CDs with EasyISOs available from RHN or the ISU RHN Proxy Server and install using those CDs. On campus users can also use a tool for creating kickstart configurations, described below.

Do you have a Red Hat Network account?

Before you download and install RHEL, you will need a RHN (Red Hat Network) account. Instructions are on the quickstart page. Once you have your account, you can then proceed to download RHEL.

Which distribution should I choose?

There are three distributions included in the RHEL site subscription: Desktop, Workstation (WS), and Advanced Server (AS). For most users, Desktop provides all of the functionality needed for a useful system, though there is essentially no difference between Desktop and WS. All the packages in Desktop are available in WS. All three distributions use the same kernels. The main difference is the default set of installed packages. It is important to note that Desktop and WS include the most common 'server' components, such as NFS, Samba, Sendmail/Postfix, Apache, and MySQL.

AS should only be used in very specialized environments where networking infrastructure services are required, for example setting up an ISP or a private networking infrastructure where one needs to manage DNS, LDAP, or DHCP. Also, our campus site subscription does not permit AS to be installed on non-University owned systems.

Desktop is limited to single CPU systems with 4GB or less of RAM. Dual-CPU systems or systems with more than 4GB RAM should install WS.

For more information see the RedHat comparison chart.

RHEL 3 or RHEL 4?

RHEL 4 is the latest official release. RHEL 4 uses the 2.6.x kernel along with newer versions of many packages and significant security improvements. RHEL 3 is based on the 2.4.x Linux kernel, and is fairly similar to Red Hat Linux 9. The choice of which version to use may depend a great deal on the hardware supported. Please see the Red Hat Hardware Compatiblity List for more information.

Using the RHEL at ISU Kickstart Utility

For on-campus users, there is a tool called the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Utility that can be used to create a kickstart configuration for building your systems. While it is not as completely flexible as building from CD, it will work well for typical installations. This utility enables you to configure how you want a machine built and save that configuration in a file. The kickstart files are stored on a web server and can be accessed by the RHEL installer. This also gives you a choice of installing the software from CDs, or pulling software directly from the ISU RHN proxy during the build. If you use the RHN proxy as the build source, you only need to create one fairly small boot CD rather than the entire RHEL CD set.

Getting the Easy ISOs

Red Hat provides a set of Easy ISOs that can be burned by you onto a set of CDs. The ISOs can be either downloaded from the RHN or downloaded from our proxy server. The Solution Center, 195 Durham, can also assist in the making of CDs, or will make them for you. To have the Solution Center make you a set of CDs, bring 4 blank CDRs to 195 Durham and allow a one day turnaround.

Installing the System

Instructions for installing the system can be found at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/x8664-multi-install-guide/. Briefly, these can be summarized as follows:

• Verify the integrity of any packages you have downloaded
  
• Obtaining a network address and network configuration for the local system from your network or DNS administrator
• Booting the system from either the Easy ISO CD or an installation boot floppy disk
• Partitioning (dividing the space) and formatting of your hard disk drives
• Installating system and optional software packages

• Configuring sound and video devices

• Performing final clean-up tasks on your first boot.

Note:You will be given the opportunity to register your system with the RHN during the first boot-up of the system following the installation. DO NOT REGISTER your system with RHN during the first boot. When asked just click on the button to skip the registration step. If you do register during the first boot you will not be able to see your system on the RHN and it will be deleted from the RHN.