Red Hat Server 5.5 Iso

Download for Development Use

1. Ubuntu Server
2. Red Hat Iso File
3. Red Hat Server 5.5 Iso File
4. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Release 5.5 (tikanga) Iso Download
5. Red Hat 5 Download

These instructions are for installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL5) on an IA-32 system (i.e., a 32-bit Intel- or AMD-based system) and Opteron 64-bit systems (x86_64). You will need to burn an ISO 9660 image file onto CD-R (or CD-RW) media. The NFS server name is lnxinstall and the Red Hat directories are: For Opteron.

Other Developer Subscription Options:

1. Supported versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Subscriptions are also available. See this complete list to choose from.

2. If you're a Red Hat technology partner (e.g. an ISV), no-cost (Not for Resale - NFR) subscriptions are available by joining Red Hat Connect for Technology Partners. Once there, register your company and join the 'Zone' for Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Containers.

Other versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Currently, only the most recent release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is available from developers.redhat.com. You can find all releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the Red Hat Customer Portal, access.redhat.com. When you join Red Hat Developer Program, a Red Hat account will be created for you with a no-cost Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Suite subscription. You will have access to all of the currently supported releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, including 5 and 6.

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SLAC Computing UNIX at SLAC Linux at SLAC

Updated: 09 Nov 2011

There are several steps to setting up a fully-integrated Red Hat EnterpriseLinux 6 (RHEL6) system at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory:

1. Before you Begin
2. Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
3. Post Install
4. SLAC Configuration

Please note: These are not complete Red Hat EnterpriseLinux install instructions; go to the Red Hat Web site for more complete information.

Before you Begin

System Requirements

Architecture

These instructions are for installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (RHEL6) on an IA-32 system (i.e., a 32-bit Intel- or AMD-based system) and Opteron 64-bit systems (x86_64).

Minimum Memory

Red Hat recommends for 32 bit a minimum of 1GB memory/logical CPU, and for 64 bit a minimum of 1GB of memory, 1GB/logical CPU. At SLAC, RHEL6 has been successfully installed on systems with 512 MB, but such systems have a tendency to bog down badly due to excessive swapping when too many applications are open at once.

Minimum Disk Space

OCIO recommends a minimum disk size of above 12 GB, and a minimum root partition ('/') size of about 9 GB.

CDROM Drive

Red Hat does not include a floppy version of the boot images for RHEL6. Your system will need a boot-capable CDROM drive, or a BIOS which knows how to PXE boot (ask unix-admin about that if you have questions).

Preparing to Install

1. Consider submitting a request to have OCIO do the installation for you.
2. Have previous experience installing Red Hat Linux, or else read the Red Hat Install document.
3. Have an IP address and node name for your system. If necessary, request an IP Address and Node Name from your Desktop admin.
4. Have available the network and host information required by a Red Hat Linux install, which includes (but may not be limited to): IP address, gateway, netmask and DNS server (provided by your Desktop admin when you obtain your IP address); video card/monitor specs (including size of video RAM); disk drive size; etc.
5. If you are an experienced Linux user and intend to retain some responsibility for administering your system, you may want to familiarize yourself with Taylor before beginning. This is the tool OCIO uses to adapt systems to the SLAC environment and we strongly encourage you to use it.
6. If you are installing on a machine that was previously taylored, you should print a copy of the file /etc/taylor.opts before beginning.

This procedure does a 'clean install', not an upgrade. If youfollow OCIO recommendations against storing permanent data on aworkstation's system disk, this should not be a problem. If you dohave some data you want to preserve on this disk, but it is all storedin a non-system partition, e.g., /u1, you might be OK, providing yoursystem partitions are large enough to accommodate RHEL6 withsufficient room for future updates (seeDisk Partitions, below). Otherwise, it isyour responsibility to backup your data before beginning theinstallation. If you must restore it to a local filesystem after theinstallation, we strongly urge you to buy a second disk and keeppermanent data off the system disk.

Ubuntu Server

You may want to work next to a machine with a web browser and access theRed Hat installation manual from the documentation area of the Red Hat web site.

Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

The installation program is mostly self-explanatory if you have installedUNIX or Linux before. We will only mention either complex or SLAC-specificissues below.

Create an Installation CDROM

To make a bootable CDROM for installing RHEL6, you will need to burnan ISO 9660 image file onto CD-R (or CD-RW) media.On Linux, you can use an application likeXcdroast (requires X Windows)orcdrecord(a command-line tool). On a RHEL5 desktop system, double clicking on a fileending in '.iso' will bring up a 'Write to Disk' dialog box which can be usedto burn a copy of the file to a CD-R disk.Mac OSX can successfully create bootable CDROMs using the CDROM burning utility.

To create an installation boot CDROM under Linux, using the cdrecord utility:

1. Find the ISO 9660 disc image for an installation boot CDROM for your architecture and the current RHEL6 Update level:

   for 64-bit

   for 32-bit

2. Put a blank CD-R (or CD-RW) disc into the CDROM drive.
3. To get information about your CDROM drive, run the command: You'll get a line that includes some text identifying your specific CDROM device, along with the device address; for example: The first field in this example, '1,0,0', is your CDROM device address. This is the information you'll need.
4. Run a command like the following: On some systems you may need to prefix the device address with a transport layer indicator, such as 'ATA:' or 'ATAPI:', or you may need additional options on the cdrecord command line. See the man page for cdrecord for details.

   If you haven't burned any CDROMs before, it's a good idea to run some tests first by adding the '-dummy' option to the cdrecord command line.

The ISO image for RHEL6.1 includes a 'Rescue' option.

Boot the Installation Program

Stick the CDROM in the drive and reboot your machine.

Red Hat Iso File

If your machine ignores the CDROM at boot time, and simply rebootsthe existing system on the hard disk, there is most likely aproblem with the boot order in the BIOS. You can usually getinto the BIOS by pressing a function key (usually F2) early inthe boot process. The various BIOS screens vary quite a bit,even within a single vendor's products. However, there isusually a place where you can specify the order in which the BIOSshould look for a bootable device. You should make sure it looksat the CDROM drive before the hard disk.

At the introductory, 'Welcome to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1!' menu, choose 'Install or upgradean existing system'. Other possible choices include 'Install system with basicvideo driver', 'Rescue installed system', 'Boot from local drive' , or a'Memory test.'

N.B. If your initial installation attempt fails with a wonky video display,retry with the 'basic video driver'.

N.B. There may be some variations in the order of thescreens in the installation program depending on your exact hardwareconfiguration and/or the choices you make, so it's probably a good idea toread through the rest of this section before proceeding.

It will take a minute or two to load. Choose 'Skip' to skip the media test.

Next, after questions regarding 'Language' and 'Keyboard' choice, the installationproceeds to 'Installation Method.'

NFS Install Method

In the 'Installation Method' screen, choose NFS directory to insure thatthe latest SLAC-recommended kernel and RPMs are installed. If you installfrom a CDROM, you may need to upgrade the kernel after installation inorder to comply with SLAC security requirements.

Next, you will be asked to configure TCP/IP.

Under Enable IPv4 support Uncheck Use dynamic IP configurationby checking the Manual Configuration. Uncheck Enable IPv6support. (Movement and select directions are at the bottom of the screen).

On the next screen 'Manual TCP/IP Configuration' enter the IP Address, Netmask,Default gateway and Primary nameserver information given toyou by your Desktop admin when you requested your node name and IP address.The primary nameserver is 134.79.110.8.

WARNING:

Please be careful to enter this information accurately, because errors candisrupt the network.

Next you will enter NFS setup information. The NFS servername is lnxinstall.slac.stanford.edu and the Red Hat directoriesare:

• For Opteron and EMT64 systems:/gpfs/slac/staas/fs1/r/g.scs.redhat/RedHat/RHEL6/6u4/x86_64.
• For all other systems(Pentium, Athlon, etc.): /gpfs/slac/staas/fs1/r/vol/vol1/g.scs.redhat/RedHat/RHEL6/6u4/i386.

If the directory can't be mounted, try using the fully qualified hostname (including .slac.stanford.edu) like this: lnxinstall.slac.stanford.edu. You could also try using the IP address by doing a 'nslookup' or 'host' command to find the current IP address of lnxinstall.

Introductory screens

Note: If you want to capture a particular screen display in theinstallation, to refer to later, you can press 'Print'+'Shift'. The screencopy will be stored in /root/anaconda-screenshots/ for you.

Red Hat Server 5.5 Iso File

After the splash RHEL6 screen, the next questions are:

• What type of devices will your installation involve. Choose 'Basic Storage Devices'
• If an existing installation is discovered on the system, you'll be asked if you want a 'Fresh Installation' or 'Upgrade an Existing Installation'. Either way, assuming you have backed up any importantfiles, choose 'Fresh Installation'
• The 'Please name this computer' should be auto-filled in. You should not need to 'Configure Network'
Please select the nearest City in your time zone The root password screen. Choose a good root password and DON'T FORGET IT! SLAC's post-installation tool taylor will override this password.
• 'Which type of installation would you like?' Choose 'Create Custom Layout'

  The default partitioning scheme used by the the other options is not suitable for use in the SLAC environment.

Disk Partitions

The table below shows suggested partitioning schemes for two different sizedisks, representing typical sizes of disks available on older hardware stillin service here at SLAC. Newer systems usually have substantially largersystem disks.

Make sure to give Linux at least a 9 GB root partition. If your root partition is less than about 9 GB, you should omit installingsome of the software package groups recommended below, in order to allowroom for future upgrades and security patches. Similarly, if you installmore package groups than suggested below, you will probably need a largerroot partition -- perhaps 10-12 GB if you install nearly everything. Smallroot partitions can make it difficult or impossible to install requiredsecurity patches later on. Systems that cannot apply required securitypatches in a timely fashion may be denied access to the SLACnetwork. If possible the root partion should be at least 20 GBfor modern machines with 100 GB and larger disks.

You should also create a swap partition at least as large as the memory(twice the main memory is a good rule of thumb for the size of the swappartition).

If there is sufficient space, we recommend that you allocate an/scswork partition of 1 GB, to be reserved for the exclusiveuse of OCIO. Use the rest for scratch space; for example, you might want tocreate a larger /tmp or add a separate /scratchdirectory. Note that older files in /tmp are periodicallyremoved but files in /scratch will remain until removed by youunless the system is re-installed.

Always choose to format your Linux partitions. Use the new, ext4 filesystemtype on all partitions except swap and /usr/vice/cache/cache.. (In earlierversions of AFS, /usr/vice/cache needed the ext2 filesystem, but ext4 isnow compatible with the AFS cache). ext4 is a journaling filesystem andwill permit much faster recovery following crashes.

WARNING! You should not allocateany partitions on the system disk for permanent data. Because of the largesizes of currently available disks, you may be strongly tempted to ignorethis warning. However, it is very risky to do so, because:

• we do not backup the data on local disks attached to workstations;
• the disks installed in workstation-class machines are much less reliable than those we buy for our fileservers; and,
• our support model assumes that it's OK to repartition and re-install the system disk on short notice.

The best way to make use of extra space on your system disk is to allocate alarge /tmp or /scratch partition. If you need additional permanent space,please contact unix-admin@slac.stanford.edu; we will do our best to help youacquire reliable, backed-up storage at a reasonable cost.If you ignore this warning, it will be your responsibility to saveand restore your data the next time your system needs to bere-installed.

Note that partition names and numbers, and the order of the partitions, areassigned automatically. Also, the actual sizes ofallocated partitions may vary a little bit from what you request in theGUI interface. This may make it difficult to allocate every last blockon the disk. The OCIO recommendation is to use LVMs and to leave extra roomwhich can be used later.

Suggested partition schemes for typical hard disks:

Partition Mount Point	Partition Type	Partition Size
12 GB disk	+18 GB or larger disk
/	ext4	9 GB	12 GB
swap	swap	1 x memory or at least 512 MB	2 x memory or at least 1 GB
/var	ext4	512 MB	4 GB
/usr/vice/cache	ext4	512 MB	2 GB
/tmp	ext4	512 MB	4 GB
/scswork	ext4	omit	1 GB
/scratch (or extra /tmp space)	ext4	omit	remainder

When you begin, you'll have a screen that appears this way:

When you are done, You'll have a configuration something like this:

There will be two dialog boxes confirming you want to reformat the disk.

Boot Loader Configuration

Accept the defaults for the other options on this screen.

Selecting Installation

As stated by the installer, 'The default installation of Red Hat EnterpriseLinux is a desktop install.' Other choices include, 'Minimal Desktop','WebDevlopment Workstation', 'Software Devlopment Workstation', and'Minimal'Please do not install the 'Web Development Workstation' unless you really know what you are doing andokay it with OCIO first.

Don't worry too much about getting every package you might ever want -- youcan always add additional packages later.

After this, the installationwill begin. It may take 15 minutes to over an hour to install the packagesdepending on the speed of your machine and network.

Once complete, you'll be presentedwith a 'Congratulations' screen. NOTE you'll want to eject yourboot CDROM prior to rebooting so you don't boot back to the boot iso image.

The final installation screen has a 'reboot' bottom on the right corner.Again, makesure to remove any CDROM left in the drive from the initial boot of theinstallation program.

Post Install

Red Hat Welcome

The first time you boot your newly-installed system in the graphicalrun level (run level 5) the Red Hat Welcome screens mayautomatically run.

If you are planning to taylor your system you can skip most or all ofthese steps -- they are either unneeded or will be handled by taylor.

The welcome screens are intended for stand-alone systems andguides you through a number of first time system administration taskssuch as:

• License Information

You'll need to agree to the License agreement.

• Set Up Software Updates

If running Taylor, then choose 'no'. (You'll need to confirm 'No Thanks'.)

• Create User, (a non-admin local account)

In particular, avoid creating a local account with the same username as your SLAC UNIX account or registering personally with RHN. If you plan to taylor the system, you do not need to create a local account. Please do not. For the Create User screen 'Forward' button with no additions or adjustments. You'll need to confirm you want to continue without a user account.

• Date and Time

Accept the defaults.

• Kdump

Accept the defaults. Do not choose to reboot to enable kdumps.

On the next screen, you'll click on 'Other..' enter 'root' as the user andpassword you picked earlier. You'll see messages related to being logged inas root, and how it's not ideal, but this okay for this one time. You'll alsosee missing entitlements messages.

SLAC Configuration

WARNING: This is not (yet) for laptop users.

Taylor is the tool used by OCIO for administering the very large number ofUNIX (including Linux) systems for which we are responsible. It can be runafter the Red Hat installation program to automatically configure your newsystem to be integrated into the SLAC environment. It normally installs acronjob which will maintain your system automatically.

Some of the things Taylor does include:

• Configure the network interfaces for the correct subnet at SLAC.
• Set up network services such as NIS, DNS, NTP, and syslog correctly.
• Install or update recommended software, including AFS, AMD, SSH, and LPRng.
• Update the passwd and groups files to include OCIO-required system accounts and to permit login by users via their regular SLAC UNIX accounts (this can be restricted after Taylor runs the first time).
• Configure sendmail for SLAC's email environment.
• Install LPRng to centralize printing.
• Install some TrueType fonts.
• Remove or reconfigure some insecure services.
• Install sudo with a centrally-managed sudoers file (sudo is a UNIX tool to allow users to issue privileged commands).
• Install and run yum to get updates.
• Optionally, setup /usr/local to point to SLAC AFS /usr/local for Linux.
• Install an hourly Emergency cronjob that can be used, for example, to apply urgent security fixes.
• Install a nightly Taylor cronjob to apply routine maintenance to your system automatically (this cronjob can be removed, and Taylor re-run by hand from time to time, on mission-critical servers).

For additional information,see the Taylor Web page.

Running Taylor

Taylor uses a configuration file, /etc/taylor.opts, to controlits actions. If you don't have this file the first time you run Taylor, itwill install one with a reasonable set of defaults. However, you may wantto set some of these options before you run Taylor the first time, since theroot password you set during installation will otherwise beoverridden at this point.

If your machine was previously taylored, you will most likely want torestore most or all of the options from your old taylor.optsfile (you did print a copy beforebeginning, right?).If your machine is connected to anon-autonegotiating (fixed speed) 100 MB/s port, it isparticularly important to include the option,ethernet=100mb.If you are not sure, omit this option or check with net-admin or your DesktopAdmin.

If your machine has not been previously taylored, look in /afs/slac/package/taylor/taylor.opts for a sampletaylor.opts file. In particular, this file includes commentedout examples examples showing how to:

• Control the root password
• Select a graphical or text-mode login
• Request a private /usr/local directory

For a more complete list of options, do man taylor.opts.

After running Taylor the first time, if you subsequently need an optionchanged and can no longer modify /etc/taylor.opts yourself,contact one of your Linux Desktop Support people or send mail to unix-admin.

First get to a terminal prompt from the GUI by selecting from the top leftof the menu bar 'Applications',then 'Systems Tools' and lastly 'Terminal'.

To install and run Taylor, execute the following command:

You will be asked whether to use the version of /usr/localmaintained by OCIO or set up a private /usr/local. We highlyrecommend that you use the central one.

After you are done, on the next reboot you'll be asked if you want to updatestandard folders to current language.

Taylor will probably take several minutes to complete its work. If there isan error and you can see how to fix the problem, it is safe to reruntaylor afterward. If you have an error you cannot understandor fix, send email to unix-admin to request help. If possible, paste the errormessages from Taylor into the email.

Access to SLAC's MAIL Spool and other NFS servers

If you receive your email via the UNIX mail spool rather than SLAC'sExchange server, you'll need access to/nfs/mailspool/mail/. Some users may also wantto access other central NFS file servers from their Linux workstations.Access to NFS is not automatic; for security reasons you must submit arequest to OCIO for permission to mount our central servers. There is asimple NFS Accessform for this purpose if you do not need any superuser privileges on themachine. If you also need privileges, see the next section.

Superuser Privileges

If you need superuser privileges (i.e., the root passwordand/or sudo ALL) on your machine, you will need to carefullyread the Superuser/NFSPrivileges page, then fill out and submit the form you'll findthere. If you also need NFS access, you must request it via this same form.

SLAC's RPM Repository

SLAC maintains a mirror of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 6 distribution ona RedHat Linux Satellite Server.

yum

The yum command is a program that can look at a directory or at an ftp orhttp site and determine if there are updates to any of your packages there.If it finds them, it can also install them. Taylor installs yum and uses itto apply required security updates. In addition, Taylor configures yum sothat you or your system admin can use it to install any necessary bug fixRPMs to bring your system up to the latest OCIO-recommended Red Hat updatelevel. The command to do this is simply,To find out what yum would do without actually doing it, use thecommand, sudo yum check-update.

Extras

Use the GUI program: to find additional RPMSthat you might want to install (the program is from the gnome-packagekit RPM).You can also find this program in Gnome under the System menu, then underthe Adminstration menu, then 'Add/Remove Software'.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Release 5.5 (tikanga) Iso Download

Rescue from your CD iso image

1. Boot as you do above in the installation section
2. Select Rescue from Menu of choices
3. Choose a Language
4. Choose Keyboard Type
5. For Rescue Method - Choose NFS directory
6. Configure TCP/IP - Manual configuration
7. Give it the path as defined in the install section
8. Choose continue step
9. This will mount your system under /mnt/sysimage

Known Issues

There are some known issues with RHEL6. Please see the RHEL6 Releasenotes for other information:
Release Notes

Red Hat 5 Download

If one installs with the ancient 6u1 images, one must run this command to fix the /etc/redhat-release text on the node:

/u/sf/ksa/bin/redhat-release

Failure to do that will cause your system to be flagged as a system that needs patching, even if it is getting all the required patches it needs to be cyber secure.

More Information

IMPORTANT

Join the SLAC Linux mailing list to exchange information and advicewith other users. There is a convenient Web page for subscribing orreviewing the archives or you can send mail tomajordomo@slac.stanford.edu with the first line of the body being'subscribe linux-l'.

If you need more information, please have a look at ourLinux Resources page.

unix-admin