How to Download Red Hat Linux

This document provides instructions on how to download Red Hat Linux 7.3 for x86-compatible PCs. In most cases, these instructions can be modified and used to download the necessary files for installation on different architectures or different versions of Red Hat Linux.

Please read through this entire document before you begin downloading Red Hat Linux. Additional resources worth noting include The Official Red Hat Linux 7.3 Installation Guide, The Official Red Hat Linux 7.3 Getting Started Guide, the Red Hat Linux Hardware Compatibility Lists page, and the Red Hat Linux General FAQ.

Listed below are seven steps to follow both before and after downloading and installing Red Hat Linux.

1. Understand what you are doing.
2. Make room for Red Hat Linux on your system.
3. Download the files you need.
4. Write files to media, if necessary.
5. Boot from the CD-ROM or boot diskette you created and run the installation program.
6. Use the Red Hat Network to update your system or check for errata on the Red Hat website.
7. Get help, if you need it.

You are downloading an entire operating system, and in most cases, you are then going to install the operating system on your PC.

Before you begin downloading Red Hat Linux from the Red Hat FTP site, you should understand two things:

• Any version of Red Hat Linux that is downloaded from this FTP site is completely unsupported by Red Hat, Inc. unless you purchase a support package.
  
• If you are connected to the Internet via a slow connection, like a modem, then downloading Red Hat Linux will be an extremely time-consuming process.

On this second point, the time it takes to download the installation files for Red Hat Linux depends greatly upon your connection speed to the Internet. For example, if you are downloading the installation disk images (called ISOs), then each image file will weigh in at just under 650 MB. This means that with a 56K modem connection it will take approximately 27 hours to complete the download of just one of the three disks necessary for installation.

Also, since the Red Hat FTP site can experience extremely high-volume, you may have better success using a mirror site, located at http://www.redhat.com/download/mirror.html.

You can save yourself the time and trouble of downloading the necessary files by visiting the Red Hat Store. Boxed sets of the Red Hat Linux operating system are available with documentation and other goodies. A boxed set ordered from Red Hat may arrive at your house in less time than it will take to download Red Hat Linux from our FTP site.

If you intend for Red Hat Linux to become the sole operating system on your PC, you may skip this step and begin to download the various files you need.

If you intend to transform your existing single-boot system into a dual-boot system, you will need to make room for Red Hat Linux.You can do this by adding a new hard drive or by modifying the existing partitions on the hard drive already in the system.

If you need more background information on partitions see The Official Red Hat Linux x86 Installation Guide.

To install Red Hat Linux 7.3, you will need to download the three ISO images of the installation CD-ROMs, even if you are planning to install only using your hard drive. Using a CD-ROM burner, you can also transfer each of these ISO images to a blank CD-R.

If your machine can not boot from a CD-ROM drive then you will need to create a boot floppy after downloading and burning the ISO images onto CD-Rs. You can find the appropriate boot floppy image in the images directory on the first installation CD-ROM. You may also download the appropriate disk image separately from the ISO files on the FTP site. Follow these instructions to choose the correct boot image for your situation.

Note: The paths to the correct files are included in this document as HTML links, which may seem to suggest that you can use your Web browser to download these files via FTP. However, we do not recommend that you attempt to use your browser for this purpose. Rather, you should use a more advanced FTP client to obtain these files.

To access ftp.redhat.com, log in as 'anonymous' and use your email address for the password.

Downloading the ISO Images

You will need to download the ISO images for Intel-compatible machines: valhalla-i386-disc1.iso, valhalla-i386-disc2.iso, and valhalla-i386-disc3.iso, in the directory ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/7.3/en/iso/i386/.

ISO images containing the source RPMs are located in this directory as well, however, they are not required to install Red Hat Linux and you do not have to download them at the same time you download the three installation ISO images.

If you need the ISO image for the documentation CD-ROM, it is available in the directory ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/7.3/en/iso/doc/.

After downloading the ISO images, you can look at Red Hat's MD5 checksums for the ISO images to ensure that your download was successful. Do this by running the md5sum program from a shell prompt against your ISO images and comparing the values returned against the ones published by Red Hat. The file from Red Hat containing the official md5sum values is called MD5SUM and is located in the same directory as the ISO images on the FTP site.

Here is the correct syntax for the md5sum command:

md5sum <isofilename>

You will need to replace <isofilename> with the correct file name.

Mounting ISO Images

If you are already running Linux, you can save an ISO image to a directory on your machine or your network. You may then mount the ISO to look at or copy the files from it. If you want to try mounting an ISO, the mount command is:

mount -o loop -t iso9660 <isofilename> <mountpoint>

You will need to replace <isofilename> and <mountpoint> with the correct file name and mount point.

Choosing a Boot Disk Image File

The purpose of the boot image file is to provide a way for your computer to boot into the Red Hat Linux installation program via a floppy disk, if CD-ROM booting is not possible on your system.

If you downloaded the ISO images and you are going to burn them to CD-ROMs, you may not need to download a boot image. If your machine is able to boot from a CD-ROM, just boot from the first CD-ROM--valhalla-i386-disc1.iso. If your machine is not capable of booting from a CD-ROM, but you can mount the CD-ROM drive, then you can get the boot image from a directory on the CD-ROM.

The boot images are located in /mnt/cdrom/images. You will need the boot.img file, unless your CD drive is connected to your machine via a PCMCIA card. In that case, you will need to use the pcmcia.img file. Or you are performing a network install, in which case you will need the bootnet.img file.

Alternatively, you can download the boot image files from the following FTP site:

ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/7.3/en/os/i386/images/

Once you have chosen and obtained the boot image file required for your system, you will need to transfer it to a diskette.

If you downloaded the ISO images and want to install from your CD-ROM drive, you will need to write them to CD-ROMs. For instructions on how to do this, consult the manual provided with your CD-ROM writing software and hardware or, if you are already running Red Hat Linux, see Chapter 4 in the The Official Red Hat Linux 7.3 Getting Started Guide. Note: ISO images are not saved to CD-ROMs in the same way as regular data files.

After you burn the CD-ROMs, label them CD 1, CD 2, and CD 3 based on the ISO image filename.

If you are attempting a hard drive installation, ISO images are now required. This means you no longer have to copy and install the entire filesystem tree from the installation CD-ROMs. Instead, simply put the required ISO images in a directory, boot the installation program from a floppy diskette, and point the Red Hat Linux installation program at the directory containing the ISOs.

If you need a boot image file, use either rawrite on DOS-based systems or dd on Linux systems to write the boot image file to a diskette. See the Official Red Hat Linux 7.3 Installation Guide for instructions on how to use rawrite or dd.

If you need to a copy of the rawrite program, it is located in the dosutils directory on the first installation CD-ROM. It can also be downloaded from ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/7.3/en/os/i386/dosutils/.

5. Boot from the first installation CD-ROM or boot diskette you created, verify any installation CD-ROM media, and run the installation program.

All Red Hat ISO images now have an md5sum embedded in them. It is strongly recommended you verify the md5sum on any Red Hat Linux CD-ROMs you create using downloaded ISO images. This will ensure that the disk was burned correctly and prevent installation failures related to bad media.

To test the checksum integrity of the installation CD-ROMs, type the following at the installation boot prompt.:

The installation program will prompt you to insert a CD-ROM and select OK to perform the checksum operation.

This checksum operation can be performed on any Red Hat Linux 7.3 CD-ROM in any order.

After verifying your installation media, follow the instructions in the Official Red Hat Linux 7.3 Installation Guide to boot and run the installation program.

6. Use the Red Hat Network to update your system or check for errata on the Red Hat website.

Once you have successfully installed Red Hat Linux on your machine, you should be certain you have the latest versions of the various software packages contained in the operating system.

The best way to do this is to use the Red Hat Network (RHN). RHN allows you to easily update your packages and receive security notices customized for your system. Go to http://rhn.redhat.com/ for details.

You can also check for errata at http://www.redhat.com/apps/support/errata and manually update your system.

7. Get help, if you need it.

If you would like to purchase a support plan from Red Hat, please see the Red Hat Support website.

Other places to look for help include the following websites:

• Red Hat's Documentation Site
• Red Hat's Support Site
• Red Hat's Support Forums
• Red Hat's Mailing Lists
• Linux Documentation Project

You can also search the Web and Usenet newsgroups like Google and Google Groups. There is a wealth of information on the Internet and plenty of helpful people who are willing to provide their expertise.