Step by step guide to on how to install CentOS 6
Linux (in this case 64 bit) from scratch on a new machine, the install type is minimal which is PERFECT for servers, no GUI will be installed and the installation will be as lean as possible. This is how I install all my Linux servers, this guide can also be used to install CentOS on desktop or laptops, you simply select a different option at step 18.
How to install CentOS 6 for Servers & Desktops
- Set your computers BIOS to boot form CD / DVD
- Insert the CentOS 6 CD or DVD
- When presented with the following screen press enter on Install or upgrade an existing system.
- You will now be presented with a CD Check, I always skip this step… I
- live life on the edge when it comes to media checking on Linux
- installs. However you might want to check the media.
- You will now see some black and white text on your screen as your
- computer loads the X11 environment for the CentOS install, after 30
- seconds or so you will be presented with the CentOS GUI installer, click
- next.
- Select your Language, I am British (please no jokes about drinking tea on Twitter…) so I would select English (English).
- Select your keyboard type
- Storage type, as I am installing on my local hard drive I selected
- “Basic storage type” if you are using iSCSI or similar technology now
- would be the time to set it up.
- As this is a clean install and the drive has never been formatted
- before I got the following Initialize drive warning, you might get the
- same if your drive (or virtual hard disk) is brand new.
- Set the hostname for your Server
- Set your timezone / location
- Set your root password, something sensible please… Don’t set weak
- dictionary passwords or you will get hacked by a 13yr old russian super
- hackz0r… You might want to check out my guide on how to secure SSH.
- You will now be set with a bunch of options for your disk
- partitioning, as this is a new fresh install I selected the top option
- “Use All Space” chose the relevant option for your setup and tick the
- review and modify partition layout.
- You will now see your partition table laid out, now is the time to
- modify it if required. If this is a server I would suggest you create
- some different partitions for /home and /var. These are the two
- partitions that crash Linux servers, /home because users fill their home
- drives and causes the system to crash and /var because the log or ftp
- directories fill up and crash the server.
- Format warning, click on Format (this will delete your data.
- You will now see a warning about writing the changes to disk, click on Write changes to disk.
- Boot loader options, I left this as default you might want to set a boot loader password.
- The next part is important, for servers I ALWAYS select minimal,
- this installs a minimal setup which is ideal for servers, if you are
- installing for a desktop you might want to chose one of the other
- options. I would avoid the chose everything option as this will create a
- bloated system that will be more susceptible to hackers.
- CentOS 6 will install
- CentOS 6 has installed, congrats
- Reboot and login as root
- Update the system using “yum update”
That’s it your done! Go forth and setup your server for what ever services you require, Asterisk, LAMP etc.
