Table of Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................................................... vii

1. Document Conventions....................................................................................................... vii

2. How to Use This Manual ..................................................................................................... ix

2.1. We Need Feedback! ............................................................................................... x

1. Steps to Get You Started............................................................................................................... 11

1.1. Do You Have the Right Components? ............................................................................. 11

1.1.1. Where to Find Other Manuals........................................................................... 11

1.1.2. Registering Your Product .................................................................................. 11

1.1.3. No Boxed Set? No Problem!............................................................................. 12

1.2. Is Your Hardware Compatible?........................................................................................ 12

1.3. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?.................................................................................. 12

1.3.1. Installation Disk Space Requirements .............................................................. 13

1.4. Can You Install Using the CD ROM?.............................................................................. 13

1.4.1. Alternative Boot Methods................................................................................. 14

1.4.2. Making Installation Diskettes ........................................................................... 15

1.5. Which Installation Class is Best For You?....................................................................... 16

1.5.1. Personal Desktop Installations.......................................................................... 17

1.5.2. Workstation Installations .................................................................................. 17

1.5.3. Server Installations............................................................................................ 18

1.5.4. Custom Installations ......................................................................................... 18

1.5.5. Upgrading Your System.................................................................................... 19

2. Hardware Information and System Requirements Tables........................................................ 21

2.1. Learning About Your Hardware with Windows .............................................................. 21

2.2. Recording Your System's Hardware................................................................................ 24

3. Installing Red Hat Linux.............................................................................................................. 27

3.1. The Graphical Installation Program User Interface ......................................................... 27

3.1.1. A Note about Virtual Consoles ......................................................................... 27

3.2. The Text Mode Installation Program User Interface ....................................................... 28

3.2.1. Using the Keyboard to Navigate ....................................................................... 29

3.2.2. Displaying Online Help .................................................................................... 30

3.3. Starting the Installation Program ..................................................................................... 30

3.3.1. Booting the Installation Program ...................................................................... 30

3.4. Selecting an Installation Method ..................................................................................... 33

3.5. Installing from CD ROM................................................................................................. 33

3.5.1. What If the IDE CD ROM Was Not Found? .................................................... 34

3.6. Installing from a Hard Drive ............................................................................................ 34

3.7. Preparing for a Network Installation................................................................................ 36

3.7.1. Setting Up the Server ........................................................................................ 36

3.8. Installing via NFS ............................................................................................................ 37

3.9. Installing via FTP............................................................................................................. 38

3.10. Installing via HTTP........................................................................................................ 39

3.11. Welcome to Red Hat Linux............................................................................................ 39

3.12. Language Selection........................................................................................................ 40

3.13. Keyboard Configuration................................................................................................. 40

3.14. Mouse Configuration ..................................................................................................... 41

3.15. Installation Type............................................................................................................. 42

3.16. Disk Partitioning Setup .................................................................................................. 43

3.17. Automatic Partitioning................................................................................................... 44

3.18. Partitioning Your System ............................................................................................... 45

3.18.1. Graphical Display of Hard Drive(s)................................................................ 46

3.18.2. Disk Druid's Buttons ..................................................................................... 46

3.18.3. Partition Fields ................................................................................................ 47