RHEL5 Now Available
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 was released March 14th, 2007. This is a major release containing several important new features. RHEL 5 is available to the ISU RHEL community now, but there are a several important changes to software channels and the installation process.
Two Base Channels: Desktop and Server
RHEL 5 does not use the same Desktop, WS, ES, or AS base channels that are used in RHEL3 and RHEL4. Instead, RHEL 5 has two primary software channels: Desktop and Server. As the names imply, Desktop is intended to be used on desktop systems while Server is more suited to machines that will act as servers.
Desktop provides a rich set of tools that desktop users need plus a number of commonly used server applications (OpenSSH, Samba, NFS, sendmail, BIND). The base Desktop channel does not include the software development packages, but if you're a software developer, you can add sub-channel called Workstation that contains additional tools used for software developerment. If you're doing software development you will want to install the Desktop base channel and subscribe to the Workstation sub-channel.
The Server channel includes all of the server applications such as Samba, Apache, sendmail, OpenLDAP, MySQL, Postgres, and BIND. It does not include packages typically used on desktop systems such as web browsers, mail clients, office suites, or media applications. On the other hand, Server does include the essential software development tools such as compilers.
What Our Academic Subscription Provides
Server vs. Server Advanced Platform
If you read Red Hat's description of RHEL5 Server, you will see see that there are two types of Server subscriptions available: RHEL5 Server and RHEL5 Server Advanced Platform. Our academic site subscription provides the basic Server option. What this means essentially is that we have access to all Server components except for the GFS file server clustering and the high availability features.
Virtualization Support
Our academic subscription gives us access to RHEL virtualization features though only through the Server base channel. The first four Xen guest systems you install on a server utilize the same RHEL entitlement as the host machine. After four guests are installed, each additional guest consumes another RHEL entitlement.
How do the old channels map to the RHEL5 channels?
According to Red Hat, the RHEL3 and 4 base channels map to the RHEL 5 base channels in the following way:
RHEL 3 and 4 channel names | RHEL 5 channel name |
Desktop | Desktop |
Workstation (WS) | Desktop + Workstation sub-channel |
Advanced Server (AS), Enterprise Server (ES) | Server |
ISU Installation Numbers
One new twist in RHEL 5 is that the installer asks you for an "installation number" at the beginning of the installation process. The main purpose of the installation number is to tell the Anaconda installer what base channel to use for the build process.
NOTE: The Installation Numbers will only be displayed here if you are logged in. To log in, click the Login link at the top of the page. |
It is important to use the installation number that corresponds to the channel you want since different base channels have different sets of packages.
NOTE: The installation number does not register your machine with Red Hat Network. The procedure for registering your machine with RHN is explained below.
Installing RHEL5
There are two basic methods for installing RHEL: 1) Installing entirely from installation CDs or DVDs, or 2) Installing packages from over the network using the on-campus net-install tree. In either case, you'll need to download the appropriate ISO images and burn them to a CD or DVD. On campus users should keep in mind that installing from the net-install tree is much faster than installing from CD or DVD.
Installing Entirely from CD or DVD media
Download the proper installation ISOs. Grab the RHEL5 installation ISOs for your architecture (i386, x86_64) and desired base channel (Desktop or Server). The CD images you need will depend on the software suites you select during the installation. For instance, a typical Desktop build usually requires three CD images:
rhel-5-client-i386-disc1.iso
rhel-5-client-i386-disc2.iso
rhel-5-client-i386-disc3.iso
After you download the images, use a CD burning tool to create the three CDs. Install the first CD and boot from the CDROM drive. The first thing the Anaconda installer will ask you for is the Installation Number. Be sure to use the installation number that matches the base channel install images you're using. The Anaconda installer will guide you through the install process.
Installing Using the On-campus net-install tree
If you're on campus, you can use a modified installer that accesses the packages from over the network. The net-install tree is stored on the campus RHEL5 proxy server. This method is generally much faster than installing from CD or DVD. To do a network install we recommend using the Medusa installation image:
The Medusa installer contains the bare bones installer boot image for a number of RHEL or Fedora versions and i386 or x86_64 architectures. Download the Medusa ISO file and burn it to a CD. Then you can boot from that CD and select the appropriate installation type. To use the network installation images, just select the Network Installation option for the base channel (Desktop or Server) and architecture you want. You will be prompted for the appropriate installation number during the install.
Registering A System With Red Hat Network
Our campus RHEL subscription enables us to use the Red Hat Network (RHN) to manage software packages and updates on systems. ISU also has an RHN Proxy Server that serves as an on-campus cache of softwware updates from Red Hat. In order for you to use RHN you will need to register your system with RHN. There are two registration procedures, depending on whether you are registering a personal system, or whether you're a campus IT staff member who manages a group of RHEL machines.
Registering a Personal System
After you've installed the system and boot it for the first time, the system will enter the firstboot process. Along with some other basic configuration questions, firstboot will ask you if you would like to register with RHN. Enter your personal RHN account name and password which you should have already received from here. After your machine is registered with RHN, you should be able to log in to RHN and manage your system(s).
NOTE: In RHEL 5, it is no longer necessary to use your personal activation key to register a personal system.
Connecting Your Personal System to the ISU Proxy Server
If your personal system is installed off-campus, this procedure is optional. But if your system is on-campus, registering with the ISU Proxy Server will enable much faster access to packages and updates.
- Log in as root and open a shell window.
- Get the bootstrap.sh script:
wget cyclops.iastate.edu/pub/bootstrap.sh
- Run the boostrap.sh script:
/bin/sh bootstrap.sh
(This installs the ISU Proxy server certicates and configures your system to download packages from that server).
Registering a Group System
If you are a campus IT staff member and have received a group activation key, you can use the activation key to register the machine instead of using your personal RHN account. Just decline the RHN registration questions during firstboot. Then, log in as root and download the bootstrap.sh script:
Then do:
/bin/sh bootstrap.sh --register xxxxxxxx
where xxxxxxxx is the RHN group activation key that was sent to you. The activation keys that you used in RHEL3 and RHEL4 are still applicable to RHEL5, though you must be careful that the activation key is subscribed to the same base channel as the installation number you used. Otherwise, things can get really weird.
