3.7. Preparing for a Network Installation

If you are performing a network installation, the Configure TCP/IP dialog appears. This dialog asks for your IP and other network addresses. You can choose to configure the IP address and Netmask of the device via DHCP or manually. If manually, enter the IP address you are using during installation and press [Enter]. The installation program attempts to guess your Netmask based on your IP address; you may change the netmask if it is incorrect. Press [Enter]. The installation program guesses the Default gateway and Primary nameserver addresses from your IP address and netmask; you may change them if they are incorrect.

3.7.1. Setting Up the Server

Because the Red Hat Linux 9 installation program is capable of installing Red Hat Linux from multiple CD-ROMs, if you intend to support NFS, FTP, or HTTP installations you must copy the RedHat directory from each CD-ROM comprising Red Hat Linux 9 onto a disk drive (in other words, you must create an installation tree):

Tip

An installation tree is the location for all files needed to run and install the Red Hat Linux operating system.

An ISO image is a file containing an exact copy of a CD-ROM disk image. Because Red Hat Linux has so many packages included with its distribution, there are several ISO images available.

An installation tree differs from an ISO image in that ISO images are broken down into smaller subsets of files which the installation program then calls for per ISO image, while an installation tree contains all the necessary files in one complete file structure. Individual ISO images can be combined to create an installation tree.

For each binary CD-ROM, execute the following commands:
- mount /mnt/cdrom
- cp -var /mnt/cdrom/RedHat /location/of/disk/space
  Where /location/of/disk/space is a directory you create such as /export/9/.
- umount /mnt/cdrom
Note that the Release Notes are not included in the RedHat directory. Unless they are specifically copied over, the Release Notes will not be available during your installation of Red Hat Linux.
The Release Notes are also available online from http://www.redhat.com/docs.
Next, make /location/of/disk/space accessible to the installation program (for example, exporting it for NFS installations) by editing the /etc/exports file and adding the line:
/location/of/disk/space *(ro)
Finally, run the following command to make /location/of/disk/space available as read-only to each system to mount:
/sbin/service nfs reload

Additionally, if a file called updates.img exists in the directory from which you install, then it will be used for installation program updates. Refer to the file install-methods.txt in the anaconda RPM package for detailed information on the various ways to install Red Hat Linux, as well as how to apply the installation program updates.

If you are not sure how to do this, refer to the Red Hat Linux Customization Guide and the Red Hat Linux Reference Guide for more information.

3.7.1.1. Using ISO Images for NFS Installs

NFS installations can use ISO (or CD-ROM) images rather than copying an entire installation tree. After placing the required ISO images (the binary Red Hat Linux CD-ROMs) in a directory, choose to install via NFS. You will then point the installation program at that directory to perform the installation.

Verifying that the ISO images are intact before you attempt an installation will help to avoid problems that are often encountered during an NFS installation. To verify the ISO images are intact prior to performing an installation, use an md5sum program (many md5sum programs are available for various operating systems). An md5sum program should be available on the same server as the ISO images.

Note

ISO images have an md5sum embedded in them. To test the checksum integrity of an ISO image, at the installation boot prompt, type:

boot: linux mediacheck

	Note
	You can only have the ISO images for one release of Red Hat Linux in the directory.