Chapter 4: Installing Linux Over a Network

Overview

Chapter 03 is attractive, it takes a lot of time to install from CDs, especially on multiple computers. You can save time by installing Red Hat Linux over a network. One added benefit is that you don’t have to sit around waiting to insert other Red Hat installation CDs on your computers.

In this chapter, we assume that you’ve already prepared your computer per the requirements of Chapter 02. For example, if you’re planning a dual-boot between Red Hat Linux and Microsoft Windows, you’ve used the techniques in that chapter to set aside free disk space with sufficient room for Linux.

We’ll look at installing Linux from three types of network servers: NFS (Network File System), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), and web (via Apache). We’ll learn how to set up the Red Hat Linux installation files on each of these servers. While you could set up these servers on different operating systems, we’ll go through the basics of setting up each service. Detailed configuration of each service is covered in future chapters.

Also in this chapter, we’ll look at the details of the network installation process, from boot disks to a step-by-step analysis of text-mode installation. Why text mode? It’s faster—after all, your time is valuable. We’ll also examine the subtle differences you’ll run into when upgrading an existing Linux installation. Finally, we’ll look at methods to help you troubleshoot a network installation.

Once you’ve read Chapters 4 and 5, you’ll be ready to install Red Hat Linux on several computers simultaneously. This chapter covers the following topics:

Preparing an NFS server

Preparing an HTTP server

Preparing an FTP server

Installing Linux over a network

Troubleshooting a network installation