5.1. Preparing for a Network Installation
Make sure no installation DVD (or any other type of DVD or CD) is in your system's CD or DVD drive if you are performing a network-based installation. Having a DVD or CD in the drive might cause unexpected errors.
Ensure that you have boot media available on CD, DVD, or a USB storage device such as a flash drive.
The Fedora installation medium must be available for either a network installation (via NFS, FTP, or HTTP) or installation via local storage. Use the following steps if you are performing an NFS, FTP, or HTTP installation.
The NFS, FTP, or HTTP server to be used for installation over the network must be a separate, network-accessible server. It must provide the complete contents of the installation DVD-ROM.
The Fedora installation program has the ability to test the integrity of the installation media. It works with the CD, DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO installation methods. We recommend that you test all installation media before starting the installation process, and before reporting any installation-related bugs (many of the bugs reported are actually due to improperly-burned discs). To use this test, type the following command at the boot: prompt:
linux rd.live.check
The public directory used to access the installation files over FTP, NFS, or HTTP is mapped to local storage on the network server. For example, the local directory /var/www/inst/Fedora20 on the network server can be accessed as http://network.server.com/inst/Fedora20.
In the following examples, the directory on the installation staging server that will contain the installation files will be specified as /location/of/disk/space. The directory that will be made publicly available via FTP, NFS, or HTTP will be specified as /publicly_available_directory. For example, /location/of/disk/space may be a directory you create called /var/isos. /publicly_available_directory might be /var/www/html/Fedora20, for an HTTP install.
In the following, you will require an ISO image. An ISO image is a file containing an exact copy of the content of a DVD. To create an ISO image from a DVD use the following command:
dd if=/dev/dvd of=/path_to_image/name_of_image.iso
where dvd is your DVD drive device, name_of_image is the name you give to the give to the resulting ISO image file, and path_to_image is the path to the location on your system where the resulting ISO image will be stored.
5.1.1. Preparing for FTP and HTTP installation
Extract the files from the ISO image of the installation DVD and place them in a directory that is shared over FTP or HTTP.
Next, make sure that the directory is shared via FTP or HTTP, and verify client access. Test to see whether the directory is accessible from the server itself, and then from another machine on the same subnet to which you will be installing.
5.1.2. Preparing for an NFS installation
For NFS installation it is not necessary to extract all the files from the ISO image. It is sufficient to make the ISO image available on the network server via NFS.
Transfer the ISO image to the NFS exported directory. On a Linux system, run:
mv /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /publicly_available_directory/
where path_to_image is the path to the ISO image file, name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file, and publicly_available_directory is a directory that is available over NFS or that you intend to make available over NFS.
Use a SHA256 checksum program to verify that the ISO image that you copied is intact. Many SHA256 checksum programs are available for various operating systems. On a Linux system, run:
$ sha256sum name_of_image.iso
where
name_of_image is the name of the ISO image file. The SHA256 checksum program displays a string of 64 characters called a
hash. Compare this hash to the hash displayed for this particular image on the
GPG Keys page on the Fedora Project site at
http://fedoraproject.org/en/keys. The two hashes should be identical.
Ensure that an entry for the publicly available directory exists in the /etc/exports file on the network server so that the directory is available via NFS.
To export a directory read-only to a specific system, use:
/publicly_available_directory client.ip.address (ro)
To export a directory read-only to all systems, use:
/publicly_available_directory * (ro)
On the network server, start the NFS daemon (use systemctl start nfs). If NFS is already running, reload the configuration file (use systemctl reload nfs).
Be sure to test the NFS share following the directions in the Fedora System Administrators Guide. Refer to your NFS documentation for details on starting and stopping the NFS server.
The Fedora installation program has the ability to test the integrity of the installation media. It works with the CD, DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO installation methods. We recommend that you test all installation media before starting the installation process, and before reporting any installation-related bugs (many of the bugs reported are actually due to improperly-burned discs). To use this test, type the following command at the boot: prompt:
linux rd.live.check
