Chapter 3: Installing Linux Locally

Overview

Chapter 04, network sources. If you’re installing from CD, Anaconda includes a mediacheck option that inspects the integrity of your installation CDs. If it recognizes a previous installation of Red Hat Linux, it supports upgrades.

This chapter focuses on the graphical Anaconda installation process from a CD, which per spec requires 128MB of RAM on your computer. If you want to install Red Hat Linux over a network or use the Anaconda text-mode installation process, read Chapter 04.

Once the installation is complete, we will look at how you can diagnose typical installation problems. We’ll then proceed with the first graphical and text login screens.

If you set Red Hat Linux to log in graphically by default, you’ll see the firstboot process the first time you restart your computer. It lets you synchronize your date and time with a network time server, search for a sound card, register your computer with the Red Hat Network, and install additional software.

Due to space constraints, certain components available in Red Hat Linux are not available in the Publisher’s Edition (two CDs) of Red Hat Linux included with this book. The complete version is available for free download (see the introduction to this book for instructions) or for purchase from Red Hat or a third-party retailer. While the Publisher’s Edition should work for most installations, in this chapter we demonstrate the installation of Red Hat Linux using the standard three-CD set.