Contents: Resources About the author Rate this article Subscriptions: dW newsletters dW Subscription (CDs and downloads)

Ian Shields (ishields@us.ibm.com)
Senior programmer, IBM
01 Apr 2002

This article highlights the key requirements and steps for getting Red Hat Linux 7.1 installed and configured on your workstation or laptop. With our suggested installation, you can explore Linux and get comfortable with it. This article is intentionally brief. For detailed information, please refer to the online Red Hat Linux Installation Guide (see the Resources in this article) or to the Red Hat Linux documentation on your installation CD.

The recommended machine configuration is at least a 500 MHz Pentium II® machine with at least 5 GB of available disk space and 512 MB of RAM. To install Linux on a workstation or laptop running Windows, start with step 1. Or to install Linux on a workstation or laptop with no operating system on it, skip to step 2.

1. To install Linux on a machine with another operating system in place, you will need a dual boot environment and approximately 5 GB of free disk space.

   If you have less than 5 GB available, you will need to install an additional drive or carve the space out of your existing drive using a free utility such as FIPS or a commercial product such as PartitionMagic. (The FIPS utility does not work with NTFS-formatted drives.) Repartitioning a drive involves some risk, so be sure to back up your data before repartitioning. For more info on these utilities, as well as tips on partition planning and setting up a dual boot environment, see Resources.

   If you're already familiar with Linux or if you have only a small amount of disk space available, you may wish to customize your installation to install fewer features.

2. Make sure that your machine is capable of booting from a CD. You may have to set startup options in your BIOS to enable booting from the CD drive. If your machine is not capable of booting from CD, please refer to the section on alternative boot methods in the Red Hat Linux Installation Guide (see Resources). You may have to set startup options in your BIOS to enable booting from the CD drive.
   
   
3. Boot your Linux distribution CD. Press Enter to install or upgrade your Linux system in graphical mode. Select your language, keyboard, and mouse type. If you have a scrolling mouse with three buttons, you will probably get best results by choosing Microsoft Intellimouse.
   
   
4. For install type, choose Custom System. We recommend Custom System for Red Hat 7.1 for dual boot environments. If your machine will be dedicated to Linux, then you may choose either Workstation or Laptop instead.
   
   
5. For partitioning, we recommend manual partitioning using Disk Druid, so that you can review the choices that are made. On the Partitions screen, click the Add button to add partitions. Your bootable partition must reside within the first 1024 cylinders of your disk. We suggest you create a Linux native partition of 50 MB at mount point /boot and then create a Linux swap partition of approximately twice the size of your RAM (for example, 1024 MB on a system with 512 MB of RAM), and finally a Linux native partition for most of your files as 4000 MB or more at mount point /. Note that Linux data is stored logically in one large tree even if it is physically on multiple partitions. The root of this tree is always /.
   
   
6. Choose your LILO (Linux Loader) configuration. For a dual boot system we strongly recommend that you do not install a Linux boot loader in the master boot record (MBR). Instead, you should choose to install it in the first sector of your boot partition. You'll be able to create a boot diskette from which to boot a new Linux system. When you are comfortable with Linux and with dual boot systems, you can come back and install a boot loader in the MBR to eliminate the need for booting from diskette. If this is a dedicated Linux system, then you should install LILO in the MBR.
   
   
7. Proceed through network and firewall configuration. If you are already behind an adequate firewall, select "no firewall" to make it easier to configure other services such as file sharing. Otherwise, you will need to remember your firewall when configuring services that communicate outside your system. Select the additional languages you would like to support, and select your time zone.
   
   
8. Choose a root password. We suggest that you create a user account at this time (use the root account only for system administration tasks). Both user names and passwords are case sensitive. It is common in UNIX and Linux systems to use lowercase user names.
   
   
9. For now, you can accept the defaults on the Authentication Configuration panel.
   
   
10. On the Package Groups panel, we suggest that you add the KDE desktop. You may want to add the DOS/Windows Connectivity group if you are in a mixed environment, and the Graphics Manipulation group if you would like to manipulate images or capture screen shots. We'll leave the choice of games and entertainment up to you. If you are experienced, you can choose individual packages at this point. If you do decide to install individual packages, please see the article "Installing prerequisite Linux packages" for additional packages you will need to install. For our purposes, we'll assume you are simply choosing package groups.
    
    
11. Make sure that your graphics and monitor configuration matches what the Linux install has detected, and correct it if necessary.
    
    
12. Choose your monitor type and choose a default desktop, either GNOME or KDE. You will be able to switch later and see which you prefer. We suggest using the graphical login rather than the text login. You should also click the Test Setting button to make sure that your choices work properly. Once you are done, the software installation will commence. Expect this process to take 15 to 30 minutes depending on the speed of your system.
    
    
13. When the package install completes, you'll see an option to create a boot diskette. We strongly recommend that you do this even if you have installed a boot loader in the MBR.
    
    
14. When the installation is complete, the installation process will shut down, eject the CD from the drive, and reboot your system. If you did not install a boot loader in the master boot record, you will need to boot from diskette. The first time you boot Linux, you may see a prompt to verify information about hardware such as sound cards.
    
    
15. At the login prompt, log in using the user account you created in Step 8, and explore your system. If you did not install the additional prerequisite packages in step 10 above, please see the article "Installing prerequisite Linux packages" before installing the IBM trial software.

Congratulations! Red Hat Linux is now installed, configured, and ready for your use. You'll find additional resources for using Red Hat Linux and IBM middleware to develop Linux apps at the Speed-start your Linux app training and tech support page.

Resources

• Participate in the discussion forum on this article. (You can also click Discuss at the top or bottom of the article to access the forum.)
  
  
• Get details on installing Red Hat Linux in the online Red Hat Linux Installation Guide or the Red Hat Linux documentation on your installation CD.
  
  
• For partitioning software, check out FIPS, a free utility, or PartitionMagic, a commercial product.
  
  
• For introductory tips on setting up a dual boot environment, read Operating system flexibility: Setting up a multi-boot machine with Linux and other operating system (developerWorks, December 2000).
  
  
• For advice on partition planning, see Partition planning tips: How to keep things organized on disk (developerWorks, May 2000).
  
  
• To add prerequisite Linux packages that are typically not installed during most standard Linux installations, see "Installing prerequisite Linux packages".
  
  
• For help in doing tasks in Linux, review the "Basic tasks for new Linux developers".
  
  
• To learn how to use the vi editor to edit in Linux, take the tutorial "vi intro -- the cheat sheet method" (developerWorks, December 2000).
  
  
• To develop your proficiency in using the Emacs editor to edit in Linux, take the "Living in Emacs" tutorial (developerWorks, July 2002).
  
  
• Return to Speed-start your Linux app for additional training and tech support resources.
  
  
• Find more Linux articles in the developerWorks Linux zone.
  

Rate this article This content was helpful to me: Strongly disagree (1) Disagree (2) Neutral (3) Agree (4) Strongly agree (5) Send us your comments or click Discuss to share your comments with others.

developerWorks > Linux >