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Fedora 12

Installation Guide

Installing Fedora 12 on x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 architectures

Edition 1.0

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Fedora Documentation Project


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Abstract
Provides documentation for the installation process.

Preface
1. Document Conventions
1.1. Typographic Conventions
1.2. Pull-quote Conventions
1.3. Notes and Warnings
2. We Need Feedback!
Introduction
1. Background
1.1. About Fedora
1.2. Getting Additional Help
2. About This Document
2.1. Goals
2.2. Audience
1. Quick Start for Experts
1.1. Overview
1.2. Download Files
1.3. Prepare for Installation
1.4. Install Fedora
1.5. Perform Post-installation Steps
2. Obtaining Fedora
2.1. Downloading Fedora
2.1.1. How Do I Download Installation Files?
2.1.2. Which Architecture Is My Computer?
2.1.3. Which Files Do I Download?
2.1.4. How Do I Make Fedora Media?
2.2. Obtaining Fedora on CD or DVD
I. Before you begin
3. Steps to Get You Started
3.1. Upgrade or Install?
3.2. Is Your Hardware Compatible?
3.3. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
3.4. Can You Install Using the CD-ROM or DVD?
3.4.1. Alternative Boot Methods
3.4.2. Making an Installation Boot CD-ROM
3.5. Preparing for a Network Installation
3.5.1. Preparing for FTP and HTTP installation
3.5.2. Preparing for an NFS install
3.6. Preparing for a Hard Drive Installation
4. System Specifications List
II. The installation process
5. Beginning the Installation
5.1. The Boot Menu
5.2. Installing from a Different Source
5.3. Verifying Media
5.3.1. Verifying the Live CD
5.3.2. Verifying the DVD
5.4. Booting from the Network using PXE
5.5. Graphical and Text Interfaces
6. Installing on Intel® and AMD Systems
6.1. The Graphical Installation Program User Interface
6.1.1. Screenshots during installation
6.1.2. A Note about Virtual Consoles
6.2. The Text Mode Installation Program User Interface
6.2.1. Using the Keyboard to Navigate
6.3. Starting the Installation Program
6.3.1. Booting the Installation Program on x86, AMD64, and Intel® 64 Systems
6.3.2. Additional Boot Options
6.4. Selecting an Installation Method
6.5. Installing from DVD/CD-ROM
6.6. Installing from a Hard Drive
6.7. Performing a Network Installation
6.8. Installing via NFS
6.9. Installing via FTP or HTTP
6.10. Welcome to Fedora
6.11. Language Selection
6.12. Keyboard Configuration
6.13. Initializing the Hard Disk
6.14. Upgrading an Existing System
6.14.1. Upgrade Examine
6.14.2. Upgrading Using the Installer
6.14.3. Upgrading Boot Loader Configuration
6.15. Network Configuration
6.15.1. Manual configuration
6.16. Time Zone Configuration
6.17. Set the Root Password
6.18. Disk Partitioning Setup
6.18.1. RAID and Other Disk Devices
6.19. Advanced Storage Options
6.19.1. Configure iSCSI Parameters
6.19.2. Configure FCoE Parameters
6.20. Create Default Layout
6.21. Partitioning Your System
6.21.1. Graphical Display of Hard Drive(s)
6.21.2. The partitioning screen
6.21.3. Partition Fields
6.21.4. Recommended Partitioning Scheme
6.21.5. Adding Partitions
6.21.6. Editing Partitions
6.21.7. Deleting a Partition
6.22. Write changes to disk
6.23. x86, AMD64, and Intel® 64 Boot Loader Configuration
6.23.1. Advanced Boot Loader Configuration
6.23.2. Rescue Mode
6.23.3. Alternative Boot Loaders
6.24. Package Group Selection
6.24.1. Installing from Additional Repositories
6.24.2. Customizing the Software Selection
6.25. Installing Packages
6.26. Installation Complete
7. Troubleshooting Installation on an Intel® or AMD System
7.1. You are unable to boot Fedora
7.1.1. Are You Unable to Boot With Your RAID Card?
7.1.2. Is Your System Displaying Signal 11 Errors?
7.2. Trouble Beginning the Installation
7.2.1. Problems with Booting into the Graphical Installation
7.3. Trouble During the Installation
7.3.1. No devices found to install Fedora Error Message
7.3.2. Saving traceback messages without removeable media
7.3.3. Trouble with Partition Tables
7.3.4. Using Remaining Space
7.3.5. Other Partitioning Problems
7.3.6. Are You Seeing Python Errors?
7.4. Problems After Installation
7.4.1. Trouble With the Graphical GRUB Screen on an x86-based System?
7.4.2. Booting into a Graphical Environment
7.4.3. Problems with the X Window System (GUI)
7.4.4. Problems with the X Server Crashing and Non-Root Users
7.4.5. Problems When You Try to Log In
7.4.6. Is Your RAM Not Being Recognized?
7.4.7. Your Printer Does Not Work
7.4.8. Apache-based httpd service/Sendmail Hangs During Startup
III. Advanced installation options
8. Boot Options
8.1. Configuring the Installation System at the Boot Menu
8.1.1. Specifying the Language
8.1.2. Configuring the Interface
8.1.3. Updating anaconda
8.1.4. Specifying the Installation Method
8.1.5. Manually Configuring the Network Settings
8.2. Enabling Remote Access to the Installation System
8.2.1. Enabling Remote Access with VNC
8.2.2. Connecting the Installation System to a VNC Listener
8.2.3. Enabling Remote Access with Telnet
8.3. Logging to a Remote System During the Installation
8.3.1. Configuring a Log Server
8.4. Automating the Installation with Kickstart
8.5. Enhancing Hardware Support
8.5.1. Overriding Automatic Hardware Detection
8.6. Using the Maintenance Boot Modes
8.6.1. Loading the Memory (RAM) Testing Mode
8.6.2. Verifying boot media
8.6.3. Booting Your Computer with the Rescue Mode
8.6.4. Upgrading your computer
9. Installing Without Media
9.1. Retrieving Boot Files
9.2. Editing the GRUB Configuration
9.3. Booting to Installation
10. Setting Up an Installation Server
10.1. Setting Up cobbler
10.2. Setting Up the Distribution
10.3. Mirroring a Network Location
10.4. Importing the Distribution
10.5. Manually configure a PXE server
10.5.1. Setting up the Network Server
10.5.2. PXE Boot Configuration
10.5.3. Adding PXE Hosts
10.5.4. TFTPD
10.5.5. Configuring the DHCP Server
10.5.6. Adding a Custom Boot Message
10.5.7. Performing the PXE Installation
11. Installing Through VNC
11.1. VNC Viewer
11.2. VNC Modes in Anaconda
11.2.1. Direct Mode
11.2.2. Connect Mode
11.3. Installation Using VNC
11.3.1. Installation Example
11.3.2. Kickstart Considerations
11.3.3. Firewall Considerations
11.4. References
12. Kickstart Installations
12.1. What are Kickstart Installations?
12.2. How Do You Perform a Kickstart Installation?
12.3. Creating the Kickstart File
12.4. Kickstart Options
12.4.1. Advanced Partitioning Example
12.5. Package Selection
12.6. Pre-installation Script
12.6.1. Example
12.7. Post-installation Script
12.7.1. Examples
12.8. Making the Kickstart File Available
12.8.1. Creating Kickstart Boot Media
12.8.2. Making the Kickstart File Available on the Network
12.9. Making the Installation Tree Available
12.10. Starting a Kickstart Installation
13. Kickstart Configurator
13.1. Basic Configuration
13.2. Installation Method
13.3. Boot Loader Options
13.4. Partition Information
13.4.1. Creating Partitions
13.5. Network Configuration
13.6. Authentication
13.7. Firewall Configuration
13.7.1. SELinux Configuration
13.8. Display Configuration
13.9. Package Selection
13.10. Pre-Installation Script
13.11. Post-Installation Script
13.11.1. Chroot Environment
13.11.2. Use an Interpreter
13.12. Saving the File
IV. After installation
14. Firstboot
14.1. License Agreement
14.2. System User
14.3. Date and Time
14.3.1. Advanced options
14.4. Hardware Profile
15. Your Next Steps
15.1. Updating Your System
15.2. Finishing an Upgrade
15.3. Switching to a Graphical Login
15.4. Subscribing to Fedora Announcements and News
15.5. Finding Documentation and Support
15.6. Joining the Fedora Community
16. Basic System Recovery
16.1. Common Problems
16.1.1. Unable to Boot into Fedora
16.1.2. Hardware/Software Problems
16.1.3. Root Password
16.2. Booting into Rescue Mode
16.2.1. Reinstalling the Boot Loader
16.3. Booting into Single-User Mode
16.4. Booting into Emergency Mode
17. Upgrading Your Current System
17.1. Determining Whether to Upgrade or Re-Install
17.2. Upgrading Your System
18. Removing Fedora
18.1. Fedora is the only operating system on the computer
18.2. Your computer dual-boots Fedora and another operating system
18.2.1. Your computer dual-boots Fedora and a Microsoft Windows operating system
18.2.2. Your computer dual-boots Fedora and Mac OS X
18.2.3. Your computer dual-boots Fedora and a different Linux distribution
18.3. Replacing Fedora with MS-DOS or legacy versions of Microsoft Windows
V. Technical appendixes
A. An Introduction to Disk Partitions
A.1. Hard Disk Basic Concepts
A.1.1. It is Not What You Write, it is How You Write It
A.1.2. Partitions: Turning One Drive Into Many
A.1.3. Partitions within Partitions — An Overview of Extended Partitions
A.1.4. Making Room For Fedora
A.1.5. Partition Naming Scheme
A.1.6. Disk Partitions and Other Operating Systems
A.1.7. Disk Partitions and Mount Points
A.1.8. How Many Partitions?
B. ISCSI disks
B.1. iSCSI disks in anaconda
B.2. iSCSI disks during start up
C. Disk Encryption Guide
C.1. What is block device encryption?
C.2. Encrypting block devices using dm-crypt/LUKS
C.2.1. Overview of LUKS
C.2.2. How will I access the encrypted devices after installation? (System Startup)
C.2.3. Choosing a Good Passphrase
C.3. Creating Encrypted Block Devices in Anaconda
C.3.1. What Kinds of Block Devices Can Be Encrypted?
C.3.2. Limitations of Anaconda's Block Device Encryption Support
C.4. Creating Encrypted Block Devices on the Installed System After Installation
C.4.1. Create the block devices
C.4.2. Optional: Fill the device with random data
C.4.3. Format the device as a dm-crypt/LUKS encrypted device
C.4.4. Create a mapping to allow access to the device's decrypted contents
C.4.5. Create filesystems on the mapped device, or continue to build complex storage structures using the mapped device
C.4.6. Add the mapping information to /etc/crypttab
C.4.7. Add an entry to /etc/fstab
C.5. Common Post-Installation Tasks
C.5.1. Set a randomly generated key as an additional way to access an encrypted block device
C.5.2. Add a new passphrase to an existing device
C.5.3. Remove a passphrase or key from a device
D. Understanding LVM
E. The GRUB Boot Loader
E.1. GRUB
E.1.1. GRUB and the x86 Boot Process
E.1.2. Features of GRUB
E.2. Installing GRUB
E.3. GRUB Terminology
E.3.1. Device Names
E.3.2. File Names and Blocklists
E.3.3. The Root File System and GRUB
E.4. GRUB Interfaces
E.4.1. Interfaces Load Order
E.5. GRUB Commands
E.6. GRUB Menu Configuration File
E.6.1. Configuration File Structure
E.6.2. Configuration File Directives
E.7. Changing Runlevels at Boot Time
E.8. Additional Resources
E.8.1. Installed Documentation
E.8.2. Useful Websites
E.8.3. Related Books
F. Boot Process, Init, and Shutdown
F.1. The Boot Process
F.2. A Detailed Look at the Boot Process
F.2.1. The BIOS
F.2.2. The Boot Loader
F.2.3. The Kernel
F.2.4. The /sbin/init Program
F.2.5. Job definitions
F.3. Running Additional Programs at Boot Time
F.4. SysV Init Runlevels
F.4.1. Runlevels
F.4.2. Runlevel Utilities
F.5. Shutting Down
G. Other Technical Documentation
H. Contributors and production methods
H.1. Contributors
H.2. Production methods
I. Revision History
Index