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Fedora 20

Installation Guide

Installing Fedora 20 on 32 and 64-bit Intel-compatible computers

Edition 1

Fedora Documentation Team

Fedora Documentation Project

Legal Notice

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Abstract

Provides documentation for the installation process.
Preface
1. Document Conventions
1.1. Typographic Conventions
1.2. Pull-quote Conventions
1.3. Notes and Warnings
2. We want feedback
3. Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Background
1.1. About Fedora
1.2. Getting Additional Help
2. About This Document
2.1. Goals
2.2. Audience
1. Quick Start for Experts
1.1. Overview
1.2. Download Files
1.3. Prepare for Installation
1.4. Install Fedora
2. Obtaining Fedora
2.1. Downloading Fedora
2.1.1. How Do I Download Installation Files?
2.1.2. Which Architecture Is My Computer?
2.1.3. Which Files Do I Download?
2.2. Obtaining Fedora on CD or DVD
3. Making Media
3.1. Making an installation DVD
3.2. Preparing a USB flash drive as an installation source
3.2.1. Making Fedora USB Media on a Windows Operating System
3.2.2. Making Fedora USB Media in UNIX, Linux, and Similar Operating Systems
3.3. Making Minimal Boot Media
I. Installation and Booting
4. Planning for Installation on the x86 Architecture
4.1. Upgrade or Install?
4.2. Is Your Hardware Compatible?
4.3. RAID and Other Disk Devices
4.3.1. Hardware RAID
4.3.2. Software RAID
4.3.3. FireWire and USB Disks
4.4. Do You Have Enough Disk Space?
4.5. Selecting an Installation Method
4.6. Choose a boot method
5. Preparing for Installation
5.1. Preparing for a Network Installation
5.1.1. Preparing for FTP and HTTP installation
5.1.2. Preparing for an NFS installation
5.2. Preparing for a Hard Drive Installation
6. System Specifications List
7. Booting the Installer
7.1. Starting the Installation Program
7.1.1. Booting the Installation Program on x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 Systems
7.1.2. The Boot Menu
7.1.3. Additional Boot Options
7.2. Booting from the Network using PXE
8. Configuring Installation Source
8.1. Installation Method
8.1.1. Installing from DVD
8.1.2. Installing from a Hard Drive
8.1.3. Installing via NFS
8.1.4. Installing via FTP or HTTP
9. Using the Fedora installer
9.1. The Text Mode Installation Program User Interface
9.1.1. Using the Keyboard to Navigate
9.2. The Graphical Installation Program User Interface
9.2.1. Screenshots during installation
9.2.2. A Note about Virtual Consoles
9.3. Language Selection
9.4. The Installation Summary Menu
9.5. Date and time
9.6. Keyboard Configuration
9.7. Language Support
9.8. Installation Source
9.8.1. Installing from Additional Repositories
9.9. Network Configuration
9.9.1. Edit Network Connections
9.10. Software Selection
9.10.1. Core Network Services
9.11. Storage and partitioning
9.11.1. Specialized and Networked Disks
9.11.2. x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 Boot Loader Installation
9.12. Encrypt Partitions
9.13. Reclaim disk space
9.14. Creating a Custom Partition Layout
9.14.1. Adding and Configuring Partitions
9.14.2. Create Software RAID
9.14.3. Create LVM Logical Volume
9.14.4. Create a Btrfs subvolume
9.14.5. Recommended Partitioning Scheme
9.14.6. Review and Confirm Custom Partition Layout
9.15. Begin installation
9.16. The Configuration Menu and Progress Screen
9.16.1. Set the Root Password
9.16.2. User Creation
9.17. Installation Complete
9.17.1. GNOME Initial Setup
9.17.2. Initial Setup in Other Desktop Environments
10. Troubleshooting Installation on an Intel or AMD System
10.1. You are unable to boot Fedora
10.1.1. Are You Unable to Boot With Your RAID Card?
10.1.2. Is Your System Displaying Signal 11 Errors?
10.2. Trouble Beginning the Installation
10.2.1. Problems with Booting into the Graphical Installation
10.3. Trouble During the Installation
10.3.1. No devices found to install Fedora Error Message
10.3.2. Reporting traceback messages
10.3.3. Trouble with Partition Tables
10.3.4. Using Remaining Space
10.3.5. Other Partitioning Problems
10.4. Problems After Installation
10.4.1. Trouble With the Graphical GRUB Screen on an x86-based System?
10.4.2. Blocked by a GRUB command line after upgrading?
10.4.3. Booting into a Graphical Environment
10.4.4. Problems with the X Window System (GUI)
10.4.5. Problems with the X Server Crashing and Non-Root Users
10.4.6. Problems When You Try to Log In
10.4.7. Is Your RAM Not Being Recognized?
10.4.8. Your Printer Does Not Work
10.4.9. Apache HTTP Server or Sendmail stops responding during startup
II. Advanced installation options
11. Boot Options
11.1. Configuring the Installation System at the Boot Menu
11.2. Enhancing Hardware Support
11.2.1. Overriding Automatic Hardware Detection
11.3. Using the Maintenance Boot Modes
11.3.1. Loading the Memory (RAM) Testing Mode
11.3.2. Verifying Boot Media
11.3.3. Booting Your Computer in Rescue Mode
12. Installing Without Media
12.1. Retrieving Boot Files
12.2. Editing the GRUB Configuration
12.3. Booting to Installation
13. Setting Up an Installation Server
13.1. Setting Up cobbler
13.2. Setting Up the Distribution
13.3. Mirroring a Network Location
13.4. Importing the Distribution
13.5. Manually configure a PXE server
13.5.1. Setting up the Network Server
13.5.2. PXE Boot Configuration
13.5.3. Starting the tftp Server
13.5.4. Adding a Custom Boot Message
13.5.5. Performing the PXE Installation
14. Installing Through VNC
14.1. VNC Viewer
14.2. VNC Modes in Anaconda
14.2.1. Direct Mode
14.2.2. Connect Mode
14.3. Installation Using VNC
14.3.1. Installation Example
14.3.2. Kickstart Considerations
14.3.3. Firewall Considerations
14.4. References
15. Kickstart Installations
15.1. What are Kickstart Installations?
15.2. How Do You Perform a Kickstart Installation?
15.3. Creating the Kickstart File
15.4. Kickstart Options
15.4.1. Advanced Partitioning Example
15.5. Package Selection
15.6. Pre-installation Script
15.6.1. Example
15.7. Post-installation Script
15.7.1. Example
15.8. Making the Kickstart File Available
15.8.1. Creating Kickstart Boot Media
15.8.2. Making the Kickstart File Available on the Network
15.9. Making the Installation Tree Available
15.10. Starting a Kickstart Installation
16. Kickstart Configurator
16.1. Basic Configuration
16.2. Installation Method
16.3. Boot Loader Options
16.4. Partition Information
16.4.1. Creating Partitions
16.5. Network Configuration
16.6. Authentication
16.7. Firewall Configuration
16.7.1. SELinux Configuration
16.8. Display Configuration
16.9. Package Selection
16.10. Pre-Installation Script
16.11. Post-Installation Script
16.11.1. Chroot Environment
16.11.2. Use an Interpreter
16.12. Saving the File
III. After installation
17. Your Next Steps
17.1. Updating Your System
17.2. Switching to a Graphical Login
17.2.1. Using a Fedora Installation DVD as a Software Repository
17.3. Subscribing to Fedora Announcements and News
17.4. Finding Documentation and Support
17.5. Joining the Fedora Community
18. Upgrading Your Current System
18.1. Determining Whether to Upgrade or Re-Install
18.2. Upgrading Your System
18.3. Troubleshooting and Cleanup
19. Removing Fedora
19.1. Fedora is the only operating system on the computer
19.2. Your computer dual-boots Fedora and another operating system
19.2.1. Your computer dual-boots Fedora and a Microsoft Windows operating system
19.2.2. Your computer dual-boots Fedora and Mac OS X
19.2.3. Your computer dual-boots Fedora and a different Linux distribution
19.3. Replacing Fedora with MS-DOS or legacy versions of Microsoft Windows
IV. Technical appendixes
A. An Introduction to Disk Partitions
A.1. Hard Disk Basic Concepts
A.1.1. It is Not What You Write, it is How You Write It
A.1.2. Partitions: Turning One Drive Into Many
A.1.3. Partitions within Partitions — An Overview of Extended Partitions
A.1.4. Making Room For Fedora
A.1.5. Partition Naming Scheme
A.1.6. Disk Partitions and Other Operating Systems
A.1.7. Disk Partitions and Mount Points
A.1.8. How Many Partitions?
B. ISCSI disks
B.1. iSCSI disks in anaconda
B.2. iSCSI disks during start up
C. Disk Encryption
C.1. What is block device encryption?
C.2. Encrypting block devices using dm-crypt/LUKS
C.2.1. Overview of LUKS
C.2.2. How will I access the encrypted devices after installation? (System Startup)
C.2.3. Choosing a Good Passphrase
C.3. Creating Encrypted Block Devices in Anaconda
C.3.1. What Kinds of Block Devices Can Be Encrypted?
C.3.2. Saving Passphrases
C.3.3. Creating and Saving Backup Passphrases
C.4. Creating Encrypted Block Devices on the Installed System After Installation
C.4.1. Create the block devices
C.4.2. Optional: Fill the device with random data
C.4.3. Format the device as a dm-crypt/LUKS encrypted device
C.4.4. Create a mapping to allow access to the device's decrypted contents
C.4.5. Create filesystems on the mapped device, or continue to build complex storage structures using the mapped device
C.4.6. Add the mapping information to /etc/crypttab
C.4.7. Add an entry to /etc/fstab
C.5. Common Post-Installation Tasks
C.5.1. Set a randomly generated key as an additional way to access an encrypted block device
C.5.2. Add a new passphrase to an existing device
C.5.3. Remove a passphrase or key from a device
D. Understanding LVM
E. Logging the Installation
E.1. Log files and formats
E.1.1. Logging on the installed system
E.2. Remote logging via virtio
E.2.1. virtio logging with virt-install
E.2.2. Adding a virtio log channel with virsh edit
E.2.3. Listening for virtio logs
F. Other Technical Documentation
G. Contributors and production methods
G.1. Contributors
G.2. Production methods
H. Revision History
Index