RHEL5 Installation Guide - 4.3. Starting the Installation Program

4.3. Starting the Installation Program

To start, first make sure that you have all necessary resources for the installation. If you have already read through Chapter 2, Steps to Get You Started , and followed the instructions, you should be ready to start the installation process. When you have verified that you are ready to begin, boot the installation program using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD or CD-ROM #1 or any boot media that you have created.

Note

Occasionally, some hardware components require a driver diskette during the installation. A driver diskette adds support for hardware that is not otherwise supported by the installation program. Refer to Chapter 7, Driver Media for Intel® and AMD Systems for more information.

4.3.1. Booting the Installation Program on x86, AMD64, and Intel® 64 Systems

You can boot the installation program using any one of the following media (depending upon what your system can support):

Red Hat Enterprise Linux DVD/CD-ROM — Your machine supports a bootable DVD/CD-ROM drive and you have the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROM set or DVD.

Boot CD-ROM — Your machine supports a bootable CD-ROM drive and you want to perform network or hard drive installation.

USB pen drive — Your machine supports booting from a USB device.

PXE boot via network — Your machine supports booting from the network. This is an advanced installation path. Refer to Chapter 33, PXE Network Installations for additional information on this method.

To create a boot CD-ROM or to prepare your USB pen drive for installation, refer to Section 2.4.2, “Making an Installation Boot CD-ROM”.

Insert the boot media and reboot the system. Your BIOS settings may need to be changed to allow you to boot from the CD-ROM or USB device.

Note

To change your BIOS settings on an x86, AMD64, or Intel® 64 system, watch the instructions provided on your display when your computer first boots. A line of text appears, telling you which key to press to enter the BIOS settings.

Once you have entered your BIOS setup program, find the section where you can alter your boot sequence. The default is often C, A or A, C (depending on whether you boot from your hard drive [C] or a diskette drive [A]). Change this sequence so that the CD-ROM is first in your boot order and that C or A (whichever is your typical boot default) is second. This instructs the computer to first look at the CD-ROM drive for bootable media; if it does not find bootable media on the CD-ROM drive, it then checks your hard drive or diskette drive.

Save your changes before exiting the BIOS. For more information, refer to the documentation that came with your system.

After a short delay, a screen containing the boot: prompt should appear. The screen contains information on a variety of boot options. Each boot option also has one or more help screens associated with it. To access a help screen, press the appropriate function key as listed in the line at the bottom of the screen.

As you boot the installation program, be aware of two issues:

Once the boot: prompt appears, the installation program automatically begins if you take no action within the first minute. To disable this feature, press one of the help screen function keys.
If you press a help screen function key, there is a slight delay while the help screen is read from the boot media.

Normally, you only need to press Enter to boot. Be sure to watch the boot messages to review if the Linux kernel detects your hardware. If your hardware is properly detected, continue to the next section. If it does not properly detect your hardware, you may need to restart the installation and use one of the boot options provided in Chapter 8, Additional Boot Options for Intel® and AMD Systems .