BASH Cures Cancer

How to install CentOS 4.4 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) from an NFS server in TEXT mode. This is knowledge which is needed for the RHCE Exam. The only prerequisite is that you have a server with nfs already running or the ability to start the nfs server.

1. If you are not currently running nfs on your server, you will need to setup the service. Here is the steps for a CentOS 4.4 server with no firewall configured and SELinux disabled:
   
[root@localhost ~]# chkconfig --level 35 nfs on
[root@localhost ~]# /etc/init.d/nfs start
Starting NFS services: [ OK ]
Starting NFS quotas: [ OK ]
Starting NFS daemon: [ OK ]
Starting NFS mountd: [ OK ]
2. Create a directory on your nfs server. Mine is /tools/centos4.4. I will call this directory $CENTOS_NFS_ROOT.
   
[root@localhost ~]# mkdir -p /tools/centos4.4
[root@localhost ~]# cd /tools/centos4.4
3. Export the $CENTOS_NFS_ROOT directory. The steps for CentOS 4.4:
   
[root@localhost centos4.4]# nano -w /etc/exports
[root@localhost centos4.4]# cat /etc/exports
/tools/centos4.4 *(ro,insecure,all_squash)
[root@localhost centos4.4]# exportfs -a
[root@localhost centos4.4]# showmount -e localhost
Export list for localhost:
/tools/centos4.4 *
4. Download the CentOS ISO files. You can download the DVD image or regular ISOs.
5. Extract all the ISOs or DVD into the $CENTOS_NFS_ROOT directory. You can do this by mounting the ISO directly and then copying the contents to $CENTOS_NFS_ROOT. This link is a good description on how to mount an iso.
   
[root@localhost centos4.4]# pwd
/tools/centos4.4
[root@localhost centos4.4]# ls -al
total 744
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Feb 5 22:32 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Feb 5 22:13 ..
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Feb 5 22:25 CentOS
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8859 Mar 18 2005 centosdocs-man.css
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 78 Aug 23 15:29 .discinfo
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 18009 Feb 28 2005 GPL
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 90112 Feb 5 22:25 headers
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Feb 5 22:25 images
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 5 22:25 isolinux
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 5 22:25 NOTES
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5781 Aug 23 14:37 RELEASE-NOTES-en
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7014 Aug 23 14:49 RELEASE-NOTES-en.html
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 5 22:25 repodata
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1795 Feb 28 2005 RPM-GPG-KEY
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1795 Feb 28 2005 RPM-GPG-KEY-centos4
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 569869 Aug 12 10:38 yumgroups.xml
6. Create an CD from the boot.iso in $CENTOS_NFS_ROOT/images/. Or download it here
7. Boot the CD.
8. Press enter at the prompt:
9. Select your language:
10. Select your keyboard type:
11. Choose NFS image as your install method:
12. Configure your network, I use DHCP:
13. Put in the ip address or hostname of your nfs server on which you created $CENTOS_NFS_ROOT. Then put the path on the webserver to $CENTOS_NFS_ROOT. Mine is /tools/centos4.4.
14. Select OK:
15. Select which type of system you would like to install:
16. I am selecting auto partition:
17. Crap, its going to delete all my data! Select Yes:
18. Select OK:
19. Select YES:
20. Select OK:
21. Select OK:
22. Select OK:
23. Select OK:
24. Select OK:
25. Select OK:
26. Configure the network as you wish:
27. Set your hostname:
28. Enable a firewall or not, I did:
29. Enable SELinux or not, I did:
30. Select your language:
31. Choose your timezone:
32. Set your root password:
33. Change the package configuration if you wish:
34. Select OK:
35. Screenshot of the install:
36. Screenshot of post install configuration:
37. Press Reboot:
38. Congratulations! Your OS has started: