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Chapter 3. Installing Red Hat Linux

A

/boot

partition (75 MB)   the partition mounted on

/boot

contains the operating system

kernel (which allows your system to boot Red Hat Linux), along with files used during the bootstrap

process. Due to the limitations of most PC BIOSes, creating a small partition to hold these files is a

good idea. For most users, a 75 MB boot partition is sufficient.

Warning

Do not create your /boot partition as an LVM partition type. The boot loaders included with Red

Hat Linux cannot read LVM partitions and you will not be able to boot your Red Hat Linux system.

Caution

If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinders (and your system was manufactured more than two

years ago), you may need to create a /boot partition if you want the / (root) partition to use all of

the remaining space on your hard drive.

A

root

partition (1.5 4.5 GB)   this is where "

/

" (the root directory) will be located. In this setup,

all files (except those stored in

/boot

) are on the root partition. A 1.5 GB root partition will permit

the equivalent of a personal desktop or workstation installation (with very little free space), while a

4.5 GB root partition will let you install every package.

3.18.5. Adding Partitions

To add a new partition, select the New button. A dialog box appears (see Figure 3 14).

Note

You must dedicate at least one partition for this installation, and optionally more. For more information,

see Appendix E.

Figure 3 14. Creating a New Partition

Mount Point: Enter the partition's mount point. For example, if this partition should be the root

partition, enter /; enter /boot for the /boot partition, and so on. You can also use the pull down

menu to choose the correct mount point for your partition.