1. Lesson objectives
Teach students to understand the meaning of the installation steps of CentOS operating system.
Students have the ability to deploy the installation on virtual and physical machines.
2. Introduction to CentOS
CentOS is a free operating system, built and developed based on the open source Linux operating system. CentOS stands for “Community Enterprise Operating System”.
This OS was released in May 2004 and is based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution.
CentOS was created with the main purpose of building a free server system platform for businesses. In addition, CentOS provides a perfect environment to program.
The version of CentOS 7 has a large user community, so it was selected to guide the installation.
3. Preparing to install
– Download installation file of CentOS 7.
– Create DVD or USB containing CentOS.
– Custom boot device from optical disc or USB.
– Minimum machine configuration requirements: (using for CentOS 7-1810 version)
- CPU: 1.0 GHz or higher
- RAM: 512 MB or more (using for LiveGNOME or LiveKDE version).
- Hard disk drive capacity: at least 10 GB of free space (20 GB).
4. Steps to install CentOS
We must prepare a virtual machine that meets the requirements as above (refer to article Create virtual machines with VMware Workstation). Note: Select the correct operating system to install. Then, insert the CentOS 7 disc into the optical disc.
How to set up OS installation from optical disc or USB (refer to article Setup Windows 10 installation from optical disc or USB).
Restart the virtual machine, you will see the screen below. Use the up or down arrow keys to select the line Install CentOS 7. Then press the Enter key to start the installation process.
Note: Once the key is pressed successfully, the installation process begins. If during the installation process, the device is restarted to this step, do not press the key, because pressing the key will repeat the process and reinstall from the beginning.
Next, the language selection screen will appear (default is English and English (United Satates)).
Next is to install system settings.
Install language (KEYBOARD, LANGUAGE SUPPORT), default is English.
Install time (DATE & TIME), select Region : Asia ; City : Ho Chi Minh City. And set date and time as below, click Done to finish.
Install the version of CentOS 7 (SOFTWARE SELECTION) depends on the intended use of the operating system.
- Minimal Install: This configuration consumes the least resources, suitable for server.
- Gnome Desktop: This configuration has a graphical interface, suitable for new users.
Configure the network connection (NETWORK & HOST NAME), just turn ON. It can be set up after installation using the nmtui utility.
Next, choose INSTALLATION DESTIONATION. We choose drive and check I will configure Partitioning and then click Done.
Partition drive in CentOS include 3 steps: (1) set the boot partition size -> (2) set the swap partition size -> (3) set the root partition size.
Proceed to partition hard drive, select LVM in Partitioning Scheme
Step 1 – Create /boot partition: choose + button, enter capacity and then select Add Mount Point. Capacity of /boot partition about 500MB is enough.
Step 2 – Create swap partition with capacity about 1.5 to 2 times the capacity of RAM. For example, your computer has 1GB of RAM, it is recommended to create 1.5GB of swap partition.
Step 3 – Create root partition, you can take all the remaining hard drive space currently on your machine. Click Add mount point, select ‘ext4’ in the File Sytem, and click “Update Settings”.
Finally click Done -> Accept Changes, to format and create the partition.
Then, return to the INSTALLATION SUMARY and click “Begin Installation” to begin the installation process.
The next step is to create a password and an account. Click User Creation to create a new account and set a password for the user account. Click Root password to set a password for the root account (top level account), enter a strong enough password (containing uppercase, lowercase letters, numeric characters, special characters like: [email protected]#1508) .
Waiting for the installation about 5-10 minutes. When the installation is finished, the server will restart.
The login screen appears, enter Username then click Next and enter the password.
The GNOME graphical interface appears. The CentOS 7 operating system has been installed.
5. Requirement of practice
Students create a virtual machine with the name formatted as Student ID with the following configuration parameters:
- Operating system: CentOS 7 x64
- RAM capacity: 1024 MB
- HDD capacity: 50 GB
- Processor: 1 CPU – 2 cores
- BIOS timeout: 10 seconds
- Choose boot device: CD-ROM
Using .iso file of CentOS 7 x64 to partition and install CentOS:
- /boot partition: 500MB
- Swap partition: 1.5 GB
- / partition: 20 GB
- /home partition: 20 GB
- /root partition: 8 GB
Username of account is Student ID, password is [email protected]