Installing Linux for LAMP
From T5C
Contents |
[edit] Download CentOS
You can find the ISO images for CentOS at http://www.centos.org following the Download link. For the purpose of this procedure, you only need the first install CD. If your machine has an Intel EM64T or AMD 64 processor (Athlon 64 or Opteron), you can download the x86_64 or i386 ISO image. You must download the i386 ISO image for all other processor types. After downloading, you can burn the ISO image on a normal CD-R or CD-RW disc.
[edit] Boot from the CD
Insert the Disc 1 CD into your machine's primary CD drive and reboot. Make sure the BIOS is configured to boot off the CD drive prior to checking the fixed disks. After the boot sequence you should see this screen:
CentOS Boot Screen |
At this prompt you can enter various commands to customize the installation process. You could enter
linux text
to proceed in text only mode with no graphics. We will assume normal installation and thus no entry is required here. You can wait for the timer to expire or press Enter.
[edit] Installer Environment Config
In the next few screens you select the language and keyboard options for the installation program. We will assume English (U.S. or International) for this HowTo.
CentOS Welcome Screen |
Installer Language Screen |
Installer keyboard layout Screen |
[edit] Installation type
We will select a Custom installation type to have maximum flexibility and control of the components of our Linux installation.
Installation type Screen |
[edit] Disk Partitioning Mechanism
Once again, we want maximum control over the final installation, so we will select the Manual Partitioning option here.
Partitioning type Screen |
As the following screen shot displays, we are not preserving any data in this process. The following steps will indeed destroy all existing data on your drives!
Data Destruction Warning |
This will take us to the Disk Druid, the interface for partitioning our disk drive(s). At the bottom of the screen we can see a summary of the drives and partitions at any given point during the process.
Disk Druid |
A recommended partitioning scheme is as follows:
| Partition | Size | Filesystem | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| /boot | 128 MB | ext3 | Holds the kernel. |
| swap | >= RAM | swap | Should be greater than or equal to installed RAM. |
| /home | 4 GB | ext3 | User home dirs can be used as download area. |
| /tmp | 512 MB | ext3 | Volatile data. |
| / | 4 GB | ext3 | Root filesystem. |
| /var | Space left | ext3 | Variable data such as web roots and mail folders. |
Creating a new Partition |
Partition summary |
[edit] Boot Loader Setup
GRUB is the current popular boot loader for many Linux distros. Be sure to accept the defaults and set a GRUB password for enhanced security.
GRUB settings |
GRUB password |
[edit] Network Setup
A server needs a static IP address and DNS server configuration. Disable DHCP, enter the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS server addresses. Be sure the primary network interface is set to be activated on machine startup.
Network settings |
[edit] Firewall / SELinux Setup
Enable the firewall and select Web (HTTP 80) and SSH (22) traffic to be allowed through. Set SELinux to disabled since there are still many applications that are incompatible with it.
Firewall / SELinux settings |
[edit] OS Language
In this screen, you specify the desired language for the operating system that will be installed to disk.
OS Language |
[edit] Timezone
Specify the timezone for the OS installation and be sure to check the UTC setting.
Timezone |
[edit] Root Password
In this screen, you must assign a password to the special root account. The root account is also known as the superuser in UNIX systems. It has full administrative privileges on the entire operating system and its applications. For this reason, this should be a very complex password consisting of at least 8 alphanumeric characters including special punctuation characters such as asterisks and underscores. Do not write this password down. It should be memorized or stored in a sealed envelope in a secure location.
Root password |
[edit] Package Selection
Since this is a server installation and we are seeking maximum performance and efficiency, we will clear all check boxes in the package selection list. Note that you should clear all check boxes versus simply clicking on the Minimal option. The Minimal option is best suited for firewalls and other special-purpose configurations but lacks many features we need for our LAMP server.
Package Selection |
[edit] Ready to Install
This screen normally summarizes the required CDs you would need to complete the installation of CentOS. Since we unchecked the check boxes for all packages, you will only need CD 1.
CD Summary |
[edit] All Done
After copying the files to disk, your new CentOS server for LAMP stack applications is ready to go. Reboot and you can login with the root account. Be sure to check out the other workshop materials that will be uploaded to this T5C Wiki in the near future.
Copying Files |
Ready to Reboot! |
