Installation of RHEL on Oracle Virtual Box

As in previous post, we discussed how we can Run any OS on any OS!

Today we will check the installation of RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) Server in Oracle Virtual Box.

Its fairly simple but you have to be careful while installing Linux because I heard many people saying that they lost their whole data while installing Linux. But its not the fault of Linux but their not understanding what they are doing.

So, here we will see the step by step installation guide of RHEL server along with screenshots and also a video to help you.

Step 1

First head over here: Run any OS on any OS to see  about how to create Virtual Machine with Oracle Virtual Box.

If you know this already, we can move to next step

Step 2

Now if you have RHEL disk image file locate it on the storage tab of Virtual Machine’s settings and if you have RHEL disk you can host the DVD/CD drive to the Virtual Machine.

After doing so, start the Virtual Machine. It will look like this. Here you have many options to work on, but in the brief, you want to install Linux so you have to press Enter it will start loading to start the installation process and after some time it will ask for media check.

You can choose to perform this check if you are doubtful about the integrity of installation media and you can also skip this check.

After pressing skip Anaconda will load. Anaconda is the Red Hat Linux installer.

Step 3

As the Anaconda get loaded it shows the Welcome screen of installation.

On clicking Next on Welcome screen you will get a screen to select the language during installation process.

Select proper language and press Next.

After which you will get a screen to select appropriate Keyboard layout. Select proper layout and press Next.

Then you will obtain a dialog box to provide Installation Number. If you have the No., enter it and press OK or skip the Installation Number. If you choose to skip it will ask a confirmation. Press OK to confirm the skipping of Installation Number.

Step 4

Then if you have installed a new HDD (Hard-disk Drive) the it will show a dialog box to initialize the HDD.

Click on Yes to initialize and then the Partitioning layout of HDD is shown. Choose custom layout and press Next. Then you will be shown a window to create partitions.

Create partitions in following order and following minimal sizes to set up a server install. First field is Mount Point, second field is partition type and third field is partition size.

1. /boot: ext3 : 100MB
2. /home: ext3 : 500MB
3. –: swap : (double of ram)
4. / : ext3 : 500MB
5. /var: ext3 : 1024MB
6. /tmp: ext3 : 1024MB
7. /usr: ext3 : (fill to maximum allowed space)

After doing so press Next. and it will show you the screen for boot-loader. For simplicity do not change any option here and press next. If you want more info about customization please request so by commenting here.

Step 5

Now you will find the Network Devices screen. Don’t change any setting and press next as this setting plays important role while installing from network. Right now we are installing with a disk image, this option doesn't need any configuration.

After that you will see a screen to select time zone region, select it and press Next.

Then, you will see a screen to set the root password and it is mandatory. So choose best suitable strong password as it is the key to the security of Linux server. After typing password press Next.

Step 6

Then after you will see a package selection window, where you can choose to customize later but as we are creating a server setup we will select customize now and press next.

Then after we will select the only required packages in server like we will choose all server packages and we will reject packages like media, office, graphics, games etc.

After selecting required packages press Next.

Then,  you will see a window to start the installation.

Press next and wait until it shows the Congratulation Screen.

Step 7

On that screen press Reboot and wait for it to start. After reboot it will start and shows Screen for some minor but necessary configurations.

Here is a small list of the necessary ones, others you can leave for now

1. Welcome Screen: Press Forward.
2. License Agreement: Accept and press Forward.
3. Firewall: Enable it by selecting modules or Disable it and press Forward.
4. SELinux: Security Enhanced Linux, leave it as it is and press Forward.
5. Kdump: Kdump is a kexec based crash dumping mechanism for Linux, leave it as it is and press Forward.
6. Date and Time: Set you date and time to appropriate value and press Forward.
7. Set up Software Updates: Here it will ask to connect to RHN (Red Hat Network). You can register or skip it. Select appropriate option and press Forward.
8. Create User: Create a normal user and its password and press Forward.
9. Sound Card: Here you will find the setup for your sound card configure and test and when you are done press Forward.
10. Additional CDs: You can install additional CDs here and when done press Finish.

Here is the video on the installation of RHEL server on Oracle Virtual Box:

If you still find yourself in problems, please comment your problem