CentLinux | Learn How to Install CentOS/Rocky Linux Servers

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Minimal Installation of Rocky Linux 8 with Screenshots

minimal-installation-rocky-linux-screenshots

Rocky Linux is a new variant of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. In this article, you will learn how to minimal install it with screenshots.

 

Table of Contents:

 

What is Rocky Linux?:

Rocky Linux is a new downstream variant of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. Since after the demise of CentOS 8, there are many alternatives has been launched by many software development companies.

Rocky Linux may be the best alternative of CentOS 8, as it is led by Gregory Kurtzer, founder of the CentOS project. It is a community enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with America's top enterprise Linux distribution i.e Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

minimal-installation-rocky-linux-screenshots

What is Minimal Installation?:

Minimal Installation includes only the basic components of the Linux operating system. It reduces the attack service of improve security and performance.

It is the most suitable installation option while configuring Linux based servers, because only the minimal packages has been installed at the time of operating system installation and the required packages will be installed later on-demand.

 

Recommended Book for Linux System Admins:

 

Environment Specification:

We are using a KVM based virtual machine with following specifications.

  • CPU - 3.4 Ghz (2 cores)
  • Memory - 2 GB
  • Storage - 20 GB

 

Download Rocky Linux 8:

Just like CentOS, Rocky Linux is also freely available over the Internet. You can download it from their official website.

01-download-rocky-linux-iso

Download the Minimal ISO Rocky-8.4-x86_64-minimal.iso for your preferred architecture.

 

Installing Rocky Linux 8:

Attach the downloaded ISO file in the CDROM of your virtual machine and start it.

02-setup-boot-menu

Select the 'Install Rocky Linux' option and press <ENTER>.

03-setup-language-selection

Select the language to be used during installation process and press <Continue>.

04-rocky-linux-install-summary

You are now at the 'Installation Summary' screen. You can configure installation of the operating system from here.

Click on 'Installation Destination' under 'System' section.

05-installation-destination

You can configure from simple to advance storage options here. You can create partitions, LVMs and software RAIDS.

But for a minimal installation, you need to click on <Done>, and the setup will configure the default storage option i.e. LVMs for your enterprise operating system.

06-rocky-linux-install-summary

Click on 'Software Selection' under 'Software' section.

07-software-selection

Choose the 'Minimal Install' under 'Base Environment' and click on <Done>.

08-rocky-linux-install-summary

Click on 'Time & Date' to set the relevant settings for your server machine.

09-set-time-zone

Choose your timezone and adjust time and date settings as per your requirement.

Press <Done> to save settings and go back to installation summary.

10-rocky-linux-install-summary

Click on 'Network & Host Name' to go to network configuration screen.

11-configure-network

Turn on the Ethernet (ens33) connection. Connection name may vary on operating system.

Also set the preferred 'Host Name' for your Rocky Linux server.

12-set-hostname

Press <Done> to go back to main screen.

13-rocky-linux-install-summary

Click on 'Root Password' and set a strong password for the Linux superuser.

14-set-root-password

Click on 'Create User' to create your required operating system users.

16-create-os-users

Press <Done> button to save changes and go back to main screen.

17-rocky-linux-install-summary

After configuring all installation settings, click on <Begin Installation> to start minimal installation.

The installation process started, take sometime and completed eventually.

18-rocky-linux-installation-progress

19-rocky-linux-installation-progress

Click on <Reboot System> to restart the machine.

After reboot, the system will show the GRUB boot menu.

20-grub-boot-menu

Choose the highlighted option or wait for 5 seconds to start Rocky Linux with the same.

21-rocky-linux-cli-login-prompt

After operating system startup, you will reach at the CommandLine (CLI) based Linux login prompt.

Login as root user.

22-linux-kernel-version

Execute the uname command to verify the Linux Kernel version.

 

Conclusion:

You have successfully installed Rocky Linux with minimal packages. Now, you can experiment with this operating system to find out is it a good alternative to CentOS Linux 8?

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