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[Rule-list] Installation instructions, second draft
|
From: |
Martin Stricker |
|
Subject: |
[Rule-list] Installation instructions, second draft |
|
Date: |
Wed, 27 Feb 2002 17:42:15 +0100 |
With the invaluable help from Benoit Mortier I was now able to add a
step-by-step instruction on how to install Red Hat Linux 7.2 with the
RULE installer, see the attachment and
http://www.martin-stricker.de/INSTALL . I just made it more verbose and
added the early swap hack, the real work was done by Benoit. Thank you a
*lot*!
Suggestions, corrections, enhancements, ideas?
Best regards,
Martin Stricker
--
Homepage: http://www.martin-stricker.de/
Red Hat Linux for low memory: http://www.freesoftware.fsf.org/rule/
Registered Linux user #210635: http://counter.li.org/
##############################################################################################
# The RULE project: Run Up2date Linux Everywhere
http://www.freesoftware.fsf.org/rule/ #
# File: INSTALL
#
# RULE installer version: 0.7.1
#
#
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# This file describes the options of how to install Red Hat Linux using the
RULE installer. #
#
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Author: Martin Stricker http://www.martin-stricker.de/ address@hidden
#
#
#
# Copyright ©2002 Martin Stricker http://www.martin-stricker.de/ address@hidden
#
# This is free software. It is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind!
#
# This software may be used and redistributed under the terms of the GNU
General Public #
# License version 2 or, at your decision, any later version.
#
##############################################################################################
# History of changes
#
# Date | Version | Author | Description of change
#
#
-----------|-----------|--------------------|---------------------------------------------
#
# 25.02.2002 | 0.0.1 | Martin Stricker | initial version, quite
uncomplete #
# 26.02.2002 | 0.1.0 | Martin Stricker | initial version, now complete
#
# 27.02.2002 | 0.2.0 | Benoit Mortier | Installing Red Hat Linux 7.2
step by step #
# | | Martin Stricker | instructions from Benoit
Mortier added #
##############################################################################################
WARNING! The RULE installer is still beta software and may or may not work! Do
not use it on
important or production machines and backup all data beforehand!
The RULE installer enables you to install a very minimal Red Hat Linux 7.2
system on your
hard disk without the need of at least 32 MB (or 21 MB for text install).
Currently it seems to work with as low as 12 MB of RAM. With some special
cheating some
testers could install with 8 MB of RAM, but for others it failed. You are on
your own risk!
INSTALLING step by step
1) Download the boot floppy image and the updates.tar from the RULE download
area at
http://freesoftware.fsf.org/download/rule/ . For version 0.7.1 of the RULE
installer you
need the version 0.7.0 boot image for your type of install. There was no
change in the
boot images between versions 0.7.0 and 0.7.1. For a normal install you need
boot.img, if
you want to boot from a laptop with a PCMCIA CD-ROM drive you need both the
pcmcia.img as
boot floppy and pcmciadd as driver disk.
Also you need the updates-v0.7.1.tar file.
And you need the original Red Hat Linux 7.2 installation CDs 1 and 2, of
course. Buy a
boxed set or download them at ftp://ftp.redhat.com/ or a mirror.
2) Create the floppies
The disk images (download files ending with .img) need to be written in raw
mode onto a
msdos-formatted, empty floppy. To accomplish this, you can use:
on Linux: Type at the command line:
dd if=filename of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k
(replace filename with the relative or absolute path to the floppy image
file you
downloaded)
on Windows: Copy the file X:\dosutils\rawrite.exe (X: is your CD-ROM drive
letter) into
the directory where your downloaded the floppy images. Doubleclick
rawrite.exe and follow
the instructions on the screen to create the floppies you need.
To create the updates floppy you need a Linux machine available.
If you don't have a Linux system available you can boot from the boot
floppy made from
boot.img (pcmcia.img might not work!). If you need to use the boot floppy
type this at
the boot prompt:
linux updates
The booting will continue. When it asks you for the updated floppy, press
[Alt][F2]
simultanously to get to VT2. Take the boot floppy out of your floppy drive
and replace it
with the floppy you want to use as updates floppy.
Now at the Linux command line type these commands (wait until each has
finished before
typing the next one)
mke2fs -c -m0 /dev/fd0
mount /dev/fd0
If this gives an error create a directory to mount it
mkdir floppymount
mount /dev/fd0 floppymount
Continue with uncompressing the tar file
cd /mount/floppy
or where the floppy was mounted
tar -xvf /path/to/updates-v0.7.0.tar
If you use the boot floppy as Linux system you have a problem here. I'm
trying to
solve it.
cd ~
umount /dev/fd0
The updates floppy is now ready to use. Take it out of the floppy drive and
reboot the
computer using the reset button.
3) Install it!
Insert the boot floppy into the floppy drive and boot your computer. If it
doesn't boot
from floppy you need to set the BIOS to do so. See the handbook of you
computer's
motherboard for more information (sorry, I cannot cover every BIOS version
here).
Once the floppy boots, it shows the welcome screen for the RULE installer.
At the
boot: prompt type:
linux updates
If you need to boot from the pcmcia.img floppy type instead:
linux dd updates
If you want to restrict the installer to less RAM than you computer has for
testing
purposes add mem=xxM, where xx is the amount of RAM in MB you want to
restrict the
installer to. Proven to work in most cases is mem=12M:
linux updates mem=12M
linux dd updates mem=12M
Then follow the installer through the usual Red Hat installation process.
In the end you
will have a minimal Red Hat Linux 7.2 system installed.
Installing Red Hat Linux 7.2 with the RULE installer step by step (initial
version by
Benoit Mortier, Martin Stricker expanded it to provide more information for
newbees and to
include the early swap hack)
0) General instructions
To go from one field to the next just hit [Tab]. To go back either go round
or use
[Shift][Tab].
To select/deselect a choice hit the [Space] bar.
To confirm a screen and accept all it's settings move to [OK] with [Tab]
and hit [Enter].
1) First of all, this is beta software and may or may not work. If it does not
work, your
system might be unusable afterwards and all data lost! Therefore do not use
this installer
on any important or production machine! Backup all data and have a install
disk of an OS
at hand that is proven to install on this machine!
That said, if you still want to install with the RULE installer, insert the
boot floppy
you made with the instructions above into your floppy drive and boot or
reboot your
computer. If your computer does not boot from the floppy, please see the
manual of your
computer's mainboard for instructions on how to change the boot sequence in
the BIOS.
2) At the RULE installer boot: prompt type
linux updates mem=12M
You need to specify the mem=xM parameter only if you want to restrict the
RULE installer
to less RAM than the computer really has. According to our testing so far
12 MB is the
lowest number the installation process will work with properly.
If you need a drivers disk (i. e. booting from pcmcia.img you need pcmciadd
as a drivers
disk) you have to provide the dd option, too:
linux dd updates mem=12M
3) If you need a drivers disk, remove the boot disk and insert the drivers
disk into your
floppy drive when prompted for the drivers disk and confirm [OK].
4) When you are asked for the update disk, insert it and the original Red Hat
Linux 7.2
installation CD 1 of 2.
If you want to use the early swap hack, continue with 5), otherwise
continue with 11).
5) The early swap hack: Warning! This really is only a hack and might not
work! Be careful!
This is not for the faint of heart!
That said, if you still want to use the early swap hack, go to the virtual
terminal 2
(VT2) by pressing [Alt][F2] simultanously. There type
mknod /dev/hda b 3 0
to create the special device file for the first IDE disk. If you want to
use another
disk, look into the file /usr/src/linux[version]/Documentation/devices.txt
on a Linux
machine with installed kernel source RPM. If you don't have such a machine
you probably
should not use this hack at all. ;-)
But Red Hat's install floppy is quite smart:
mknod /dev/hda
will just work fine.
6) Now run fdisk to determine if there already is a swap partition or to
create a new one:
fdisk /dev/hda
In fdisk type the letter [p] to get the partition table. Look for an entry
whose
filesystem flag is set to 82 (Linux swap). Jot the device name (i. e.
/dev/hda3) to a
piece of paper and quit fdisk with the letter [q].
If there is not Linux swap partition present, you need to repartition the
disk. This is for experts only, so no explanation here, sorry.
7) Now create the special device file for the Linux swap partition you found
or created:
mknod /dev/hda3 b 3 3
mknod /dev/hda3
(both commands will work properly)
Replace /dev/hda3 and the major/minor numbers according to the partition
you want to use.
Interesting side note: You can even use an empty floppy as swap partition,
but this will
cause damage to both your floppy drive and your ears. ;-)
8) Now format the Linux swap partition:
mkswap /dev/hda3
Replace /dev/hda3 with the partition you want to use for swap.
9) Finally, turn the created swap partition on:
swapon /dev/hda3
Replace /dev/hda3 with the partition you want to use for swap as before.
10) Return to the installation process on VT1 by pressing [Alt][F1]
simulnanously.
End of the early swap hack.
11) After inserting both the updates floppy and the first Red Hat Linux 7.2
installation CD
confirm [OK].
12) Select you install language (English is selected by default and will be
used in the
future examples in these installation instructions)
13) Select your keyboard type (default selection depends on the language you
have chosen
before)
14) Select your install type (Low Memory is selected by default). To test the
RULE installer
you want to choose "Low Memory" or, if you are using a laptop, "Laptop".
The "Laptop"
install type is the same as "Low Memory" but with a few laptop-specific
packages added.
15) Confirm the information about the Red Hat website with [OK].
16) Select the style of partitioning (Autopartition is selected by default)
17) Remove all partition on this system or change the partition table to your
needs.
WARNING!! Partitions which you delete or change or mark to be formatted
will loose all
their data! YOU CAN NOT RECOVER THIS DATA!!! Be careful and do a full
backup of your
system prior to using the RULE installer!
18) Confirm [Yes].
19) Confirm [OK].
20) Select the boot loader you want to use (Grub is the default). Both boot
loaders can boot
other operating systems like Microsoft Windows.
21) Confirm [OK], the boot loader should have added all OS present on your
computer to the
boot menu.
22) Select where to put the boot loader (Master Boot Record is selected by
default).
23) Confirm [OK].
24) Confirm [OK].
If you have a network card, go to 25), otherwise go to 31)
25) Deselect DHCP/BOOTP unless you are using DHCP in your local network.
26) Type 192.168.0.250 or the IP addess of this machine in your local network.
27) Type 255.255.255.0 or the netmask of your local network.
28) Type 192.168.0.1 or the IP addess of the default gateway in your local
network.
29) Confirm [OK].
30) Type rule.company.com or the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of this
compuer in your
local network.
31) Confirm [OK].
32) Select your Language (the language you have chosen in step 12) is selected
by default).
33) Confirm [OK].
34) Select your time zone (the default selection depends on the language you
have chosen in
the steps 12) and 32)).
35) Confirm [OK].
36) Type your root password and REMEMBER it.
37) Retype the root password for confirmation.
38) Confirm [OK].
39) Create a normal user. The username is limited to 8 characters.
40) Confirm [OK].
41) Confirm [No].
42) Your install is now done. Remove the Red Hat installation CD from the CD
drive (it is
ejected automatically)
NOTE: The system installed consists completely of original Red Hat Linux 7.2
packages, so
Red Hat, Inc. will provide support for it if you bought a support contract.
However, the
install process the RULE installer uses was NOT made by Red Hat, so you cannot
get
installation support from Red Hat for a RULE install even if you paid for
installation support
(i. e. bought a boxed set). If you have problems with a RULE install or have
any questions,
please subscribe to the RULE mailing list at
http://mail.freesoftware.fsf.org/mailman/listinfo/rule-list . Afer you
successfully subscribed
please provide as much information as possible in you mail so we actually can
help you. If
you want to unsubscribe from RULE-list again, go to the same URL above, type in
your email
address and password (you can get a password reminder there) and unsubscribe
yourself.
Have fun!
The RULE installer team
- [Rule-list] Installation instructions, second draft,
Martin Stricker <=