Oracle Linux 9

Installing Oracle Linux

F51031-12
March 2024
Oracle Linux 9 Installing Oracle Linux,

F51031-12

Copyright © 2022, 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Contents
Preface
Documentation License v
Conventions v
Documentation Accessibility v
Access to Oracle Support for Accessibility v
Diversity and Inclusion v

1 Preparing to Install
System Requirements 1-1
System Configuration 1-2
Obtaining Installation Images 1-2
Preparing Installation Media 1-3

2 Customizing Boot Loader Actions

Configuring the Boot Loader 2-1
Installation Boot Options 2-1

3 Installing Oracle Linux Manually

Installing in Graphics Mode 3-1
Localization Options 3-3
Software Options 3-5
System Options 3-7
User Settings 3-9
Completing the Installation 3-10
Installing in Text Mode 3-10
Postinstallation Configuration 3-11

4 Automating the Installation by Using Kickstart

Customizing the Kickstart Configuration File 4-1

iii
 Installation Options 4-2
Packages to Install 4-3
Preinstallation Options 4-5
Postinstallation Options 4-5
Starting the Kickstart Installation 4-6

5 Installing Using the Driver Update Disk

6 Installing a System With a Btrfs root File System

Using the GUI Installer 6-1
Using the Text Installer 6-3
Verifying the Btrfs Installation 6-3

7 Troubleshooting Oracle Linux Installations

Troubleshooting Menu Options 7-1
Debug and Log Information 7-1

A Creating a Network Installation Setup

Setting Up the Network Server A-1
How to Configure NFS A-1
How to Configure dnsmasq A-3
Configuring PXE Boot Loading A-5
How to Configure for BIOS-based PXE Clients A-5
How to Configure for UEFI-based PXE Clients A-7
Supporting Different Kinds of Clients A-9

iv
Preface
Oracle Linux 9: Installing Oracle Linux provides information about how to install the Oracle
Linux 9 release.

Documentation License
The content in this document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–Share
Alike 4.0 (CC-BY-SA) license. In accordance with CC-BY-SA, if you distribute this content or
an adaptation of it, you must provide attribution to Oracle and retain the original copyright
notices.

Conventions
The following text conventions are used in this document:

Convention Meaning
boldface Boldface type indicates graphical user
interface elements associated with an action,
or terms defined in text or the glossary.
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Documentation Accessibility
For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility
Program website at https://www.oracle.com/corporate/accessibility/.

Access to Oracle Support for Accessibility

Oracle customers that have purchased support have access to electronic support through My
Oracle Support. For information, visit https://www.oracle.com/corporate/accessibility/learning-
support.html#support-tab.

Diversity and Inclusion

Oracle is fully committed to diversity and inclusion. Oracle respects and values having a
diverse workforce that increases thought leadership and innovation. As part of our initiative to

v
 Preface

build a more inclusive culture that positively impacts our employees, customers, and
partners, we are working to remove insensitive terms from our products and
documentation. We are also mindful of the necessity to maintain compatibility with our
customers' existing technologies and the need to ensure continuity of service as
Oracle's offerings and industry standards evolve. Because of these technical
constraints, our effort to remove insensitive terms is ongoing and will take time and
external cooperation.

vi
1
Preparing to Install
Whether you are installing on a single system or on multiple systems, you should plan ahead
to ensure a successful installation.
• System Requirements
• System Configuration
• Obtaining Installation Images
• Preparing Installation Media

Note:
To upgrade from the latest version of the previous major Oracle Linux release to the
current major release version, use the Leapp utility. See Oracle Linux 9: Upgrading
Systems With Leapp.

System Requirements
Verify that your system fulfills the following minimum requirements. In general, having more
resources in the system improves a system's performance.
• Minimum of 2 logical CPUs up to 2048 logical CPUs
• Minimum x86-64-v2 micro-architecture level for CPUs when installing on x86_64
hardware

Tip:
If you are unsure whether your hardware can support x86-64-v2 or higher,
consider installing Oracle Linux 8 or Oracle Linux 7 and run the following
command:

sudo /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 --help | grep x86-64-v

If the output includes (supported, searched), next to the micro-architecture

level, then that level is supported on your CPU. For example, the following
shows that micro-architecture levels 2 and 3 are supported but not 4:

sudo /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 --help | grep x86-64-v

x86-64-v4
x86-64-v3 (supported, searched)
x86-64-v2 (supported, searched)

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System Configuration

• 1.5 GB of memory per logical CPU, up to a maximum of 64 TB

• At least 10 GB of disk space (20 GB is the recommended minimum)
• On UEFI systems, ensure that the target disk uses GPT (GUID Partition Table), as
some UEFI firmwares do not support UEFI/MBR boot
Refer to the following additional resources for information related to installation issues
and system requirements:
• https://linux.oracle.com/hardware-certifications
• The Release Notes of the Oracle Linux version you are installing at General
Oracle Linux documentation
• Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel documentation

System Configuration
The configuration of the system itself also has an impact on the installation. Consider
the following:

Storage
• Storage device and partition on which the operating system is installed. The
installation program displays a warning if disk space is insufficient.
• Storage space for each file system (/, /boot, /home, /var/tmp, and so on), the file
system type, and whether the block device underlying each file system should be
encrypted.
• Layout and configuration of the storage devices such as use of logical volume
management RAID configuration, encryption, and others.
• For iSCSI or FCoE connections, the WWID or the port, target, and LUN to be
used.

Network
• Required network setup using DHCP or static addresses, FQDN or host name,
and so on.
• Other specialized network interfaces to be configured during installation, such as
VLANs and network bonding.

Software
• URLs of any additional repositories and proxy settings to be installed.
• Software packages to be installed based on system's intended purpose, such as
a web server.

Obtaining Installation Images

To install Oracle Linux, download the installation images from the following locations:
• Oracle Software Delivery Cloud at https://edelivery.oracle.com.
• Oracle Linux yum server at https://yum.oracle.com/oracle-linux-isos.html.
Note, however, that the Oracle Linux yum server does not provide equivalent
repositories for some channels that are available on Unbreakable Linux Network

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Preparing Installation Media

(ULN). These channels provide non-open source packages. For more information about
ULN, see Oracle Linux: Managing Software on Oracle Linux.
The following installation images are available for both the x86_64 platform and the aarch64
platform, unless indicated otherwise:
• Full ISO of Oracle Linux for typical installations on systems that are located locally or
remotely.
• Boot ISO of Oracle Linux for network installations or if the installation media lacks space
to store the full ISO.
• Boot ISO of the supported UEK release for installations in which you want to use the Btrfs
file system or for installing on hardware that is supported only on UEK.
For instructions to install Oracle Linux with the Btrfs files system, see Installing a System
With a Btrfs root File System.
• Source DVDs that contain the source code for the software packages in the release.
Aside from installation ISOs, you can also use Oracle Linux images to create compute
instances on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). For information about these images, see the
release notes for the specific image that you are using on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Documentation page at https://docs.oracle.com/iaas/images/. For information about using
Oracle Linux instances, https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/oracle-linux/home.htm.
For information about the available ISOs for the three most recent updates to the Oracle
Linux releases, refer to https://yum.oracle.com/oracle-linux-isos.html.

Preparing Installation Media

Before you can use an ISO image to install Oracle Linux, you must first store it in a bootable
installation media, such as the following:
• USB Flash Drive
• DVD or CD
• Network Drive
• Driver Update Disk

USB Flash Drive

You can install Oracle Linux by using a boot image on portable devices such as a USB flash
drive or an SD card, provided that the system's firmware supports booting from those
devices.
To create a bootable drive, use the dd command. Or, use a separate third-party utility to write
the ISO image to a drive. See, for example, Create USB Installation Media for Oracle Linux
with Fedora Media Writer.

Caution:
This procedure destroys any existing data on the drive. Ensure that you specify the
correct device name for the USB drive on your system.

1. Insert a USB flash drive into an Oracle Linux system.

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Preparing Installation Media

2. Check the file systems that are on the drive.

sudo df /media/usb

Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on

/dev/sdb1 35346 35346 0 100% /media/USB

3. Unmount the file system.

sudo umount /dev/sdb1

4. Write the contents of the ISO image file to the USB device, for example:
sudo dd if=./full_image.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=512k

The USB flash drive is now ready to be used to boot a system and start the
installation.

DVD or CD
Due to storage limits, CDs or DVDs might no longer be sufficient to accommodate ISO
images. Or, they can store only the boot ISO image.
To write the downloaded ISO image file to a CD or DVD, use a command such as
cdrecord, for example:
sudo cdrecord -v -eject speed=16 dev=ATA:0,2,0 file_name.iso

To display the SCSI subsystem and device that corresponds to the CD or DVD writer,
use the cdrecord -scanbus command.

Network Drive
For the network drive, the image that you download can either be the full ISO image or
just the boot image, while the network server can be of any type, such as NFS or a
web server.
To copy the ISO image to a network drive, first mount the image and then use the
following command syntax:
sudo cp -a -T path-to-mounted-ISO-image network_dir

For example, if you are using a web server to host the network drive, and have
mounted the ISO image on the server’s /mnt location, you could run the following
command:
sudo cp -a -T /mnt /var/www/html/OSimage/OL9

When the command completes, you can boot the system from the network drive.

Note:
Using a network drive is part of network installation, which requires you to
build a network configuration that provides network installation functionality.
For details, see Creating a Network Installation Setup.

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Preparing Installation Media

Driver Update Disk

A Driver Update Disk (DUD) provides a mechanism for delivering updated device drivers
during system installation. On some systems, hardware might not be fully supported for an
Oracle Linux release. In these cases, a DUD may be released at a later date to facilitate
installation on newer hardware.
DUDs are released as modules and become available for previously unsupported hardware.
The DUD is usually in the form of an ISO and is available in the Oracle Software Delivery
Cloud or through MyOracle Support.
Like the other ISOs, the DUD must be stored in an appropriate media or an alternative
storage device before it can be used to for installation.

NOT_SUPPORTED:
Writing the DUD ISO to the wrong device may result in data loss. Check that you
reference the correct device node when you copy the image. Use the lsblk utility
to help you to identify the different disks block devices on your system.

To use the driver update disk, issue the dd command line utility to transfer the DUD image to
a separate storage device:
sudo dd if=/path/to/DUD.iso of=/dev/sdX

• /path/to/DUD.iso refers to the full path to the location of the DUD ISO file.
• /dev/sdX refers to the device node of the storage media that you intend to use for the
DUD.
As an alternative, you can transfer the DUD image to a location that is accessible over the
network such as a web server or an NFS server.

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2
Customizing Boot Loader Actions
Boot options determine how the installation proceeds. In addition to default settings, you can
add more options before you start the installation.
• Configuring the Boot Loader
• Installation Boot Options

Configuring the Boot Loader

Boot options are specified at the boot command line of the boot menu.
1. Boot the system.
2. When the boot menu is displayed, select any installation option, then press either E on
UEFI-based systems or Tab on BIOS-based systems.
The boot options line is displayed with some default options already defined.
3. Add options at the end of the line.
Separate multiple boot options with a space. Options that require parameters must be in
the option=parameter format.
For a list of common boot options, see Installation Boot Options.
4. Save the changes by pressing either Ctrl+X on UEFI-based systems or Return on BIOS-
based systems.
To discard your changes and return to the boot menu, press Esc.
This example shows settings for the inst.repo and inst.ks options:
inst.repo=nfs:nfs.example.com:/ISOs/OL9/full_image.iso \
inst.ks=nfs:nfs.example.com:/kickstart/OL9/server-ks.cfg ip=dhcp

With these directives, the installation program is instructed to do the following:

• Use the full installation image stored on an NFS share directory.
• Start the installation automatically by using a file also stored on an NFS share directory.

Installation Boot Options

This list contains some of the most commonly used boot options that further determine how
the installation proceeds. You specify these options at the installation menu before you initiate
the installation process.
You can refer to these additional information sources for more boot options:
• https://anaconda-installer.readthedocs.io/en/latest/boot-options.html
• The dracut.cmdline(7) manual page provides Dracut kernel command line options.

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Installation Boot Options

Installation Type

inst.graphical
Specifies a graphical-based installation.

inst.gpt
Applies only to BIOS-based systems with less than 2 TiB sized disk. Specifies to use
the GUID partition table when boot loader is installed instead of the default MBR.

Installation Source

inst.repo=cdrom[:device]
Specifies a CD or DVD drive as the location that contains everything needed to install
the software.
The installation program searches all the system's CD or DVD drives, unless a device
is specified.
If access to a network is required and no network boot options are specified, the
installation program enables DHCP on all available network devices.

inst.repo=ftp://user : password@FTP_server/path
Specifies an FTP server as the location that contains everything needed to install the
software.
If access to a network is required and no network boot options are specified, the
installation program enables DHCP on all available network devices.

inst.repo=hd:device:path
Specifies a local disk as the location that contains everything needed to install the
software.
You can specify the device by its device name (sdb2), label (LABEL=label ), or UUID
(UUID=uuid ).

inst.repo=[http:|https:]//HTTP_server/path
Specifies a web server as the location that contains everything needed to install the
software. If your system has access to the Internet, you can use the BaseOS
repository on the Oracle Linux yum server for the Oracle Linux release that you are
installing. For example, you could set this value to https://yum.oracle.com/repo/
OracleLinux/OL9/baseos/latest/x86_64

inst.repo=nfs:[options:]NFS_server:path
Specifies an NFS share as the location that contains everything needed to install the
software.
Use options to specify a comma-separated list of NFS mount options.
The NFS share can be the path to an ISO image or a directory.

inst.stage2=[installation_source]
Specifies the location to fetch the installer runtime image; packages are ignored. If
this option is not specified, inst.repo is used instead. The path specified for
installation_source can match any of the protocol and path options used for
inst.repo.
The directory path specified for the installation_source should contain a
valid .treeinfo file that specifies the location of the runtime image. If a .treeinfo file
is not present at the source, the installer uses LiveOS/squashfs.img as the default
location at the specified source.

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Installation Boot Options

Important:
When specifying a runtime image in UEK network installations, use the UEK ISO
for the installation repository as well. Do not combine using the standard Oracle
Linux ISO image as the installation repository while specifying the Oracle Linux
UEK Boot ISO for the runtime image.

Network Configuration

ip=[interface:]dhcp|dhcp6|auto6|ibft
Specifies a network automatic configuration method. If interface is not specified, all
interfaces are configured. Use ibft to use the MAC address of the interface specified by the
iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT) in the system BIOS or firmware.

ip=ip::gateway:netmask:hostname:interface:none
Specifies a static IP configuration for interface. Enclose IPv6 addresses in square
brackets, for example [2509:f0d0:1001::0004].

nameserver=IP
Specifies the IP address of a DNS server to use during installation. Multiple nameserver
options can be used.

bootdev=interface
Specifies the primary network interface. Required if you use more than one ip option.

inst.dhcpclass
Specifies a vendor class identifier to DHCP.

Kickstart Installations

inst.ks=cdrom[:device]/path
Specifies a kickstart file on a CD or DVD drive.

inst.ks=ftp://user : password@FTP_server/path
Specifies a kickstart file on an FTP server.

inst.ks=hd:device:path
Specifies a kickstart file a local disk.
You can specify the device by its device name (sdb2), label (LABEL=label ) or UUID
(UUID=uuid ).

inst.ks=[http:|https:]//HTTP_server/path
Specifies a kickstart file on a web server.

inst.ks=nfs:[options:]NFS_server:path
Specifies a kickstart file on an NFS share.
Use options to specify a comma-separated list of NFS mount options.

Remote Installations

inst.vnc
Enables remote graphical-based installation by starting a VNC server.

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Installation Boot Options

A VNC client can connect by using a command such as vncviewer server:port ,

where server is the IP address of the system being installed.
After installation, the system starts in text mode even if a graphical desktop
environment is selected as the base environment.

inst.vncconnect=client[:port]
Specifies the VNC client and optional port that is listening for connections from a VNC
server (vncviewer -listen). The default port is 5900.

inst.vncpassword=password
Specifies the password for client connections using VNC.

Miscellaneous Boot Options

inst.keymap=layout
Specifies the keyboard layout for installation.

inst.lang=language
Specifies the language for installation.

inst.loglevel=level
Specifies the logging level for installation: critical, debug, error, info, or warning.
The default level is info.

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Installing Oracle Linux Manually
Installation begins when you boot the system from the installation media. The installation
menu displays 3 options:
• Install Oracle Linux
• Test the media and then install Oracle Linux (default)
• Troubleshooting
Two modes are available to manually install Oracle Linux:
• Graphics mode where a graphical user interface guides you through the installation
process. Selecting either the first or the second option in the menu starts the installation
in graphic mode by default.
• Text mode which has limited options for installing the operating system.
To use this mode, you must first configure the boot process further by following these
steps:
1. From the boot menu, press Tab to access the boot line options.
2. At the end of this line, add inst.text.
3. Continue booting.
At the end of the boot process, the text-based installation menu is displayed.

Installing in Graphics Mode

The graphics mode consists of installation directives in a series of graphical screens where
you click representative icons and buttons to set the directives.
• Welcome Screen
• Installation Summary
• Localization Options
• Software Options
• System Options
• User Settings

Welcome Screen
The Welcome Screen is the first screen to appear after the system completes the boot
process.

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Figure 3-1 Welcome Screen

On this screen, select the preferred language to be used during the installation
process. You can further select a specific locale, if any, for your selected language.
Then click Continue to proceed.

Installation Summary
The Installation Summary screen appears after you have selected the installation
language. It functions as the home or main screen.

Figure 3-2 Installation Summary

The screen provides four categories of options: Localization, Software, System, and
User Settings. Clicking an option under any of these categories opens additional
screens to configure the selected option.

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These options have default values. If you consider the values sufficient, you can skip opening
those options' screens. However, as a minimum, you must visit the options flagged with a
warning icon.
After defining directives in a specific screen, click Done to return to the Installation Summary
screen. Then you can configure other options. As you visit each configuration screen, pay
attention to any warning messages that are displayed at the bottom of the screen.
You can change the installation configuration options as much as you like. The installation
does not begin until you click Begin Installation at the bottom of the screen. In turn, the
Begin Installation button remains disabled until all the configuration warning flags have
been cleared.

Note:
At the top right of the screen is the Keyboard switch. This switch appears in all of
the option screens to enable you to change to a different available keyboard layout
at any time during configuration. See Keyboard Layout for more details about
keyboard layouts.

Localization Options
Under Localization, you configure the keyboard layouts, languages that would be supported,
and the date, time, and time zone of the system. After configuring any of these options, click
Done to return to the Installation Summary screen.

Keyboard Layout

Figure 3-3 Keyboard Layout

On the left pane, you can add other keyboard layouts to the preselected default layout.
Additionally, you can revise the order of the listed layouts. The layout at the top of the list
becomes the default layout.

Language Support
Configuring language support consists of specifying additional locales of the selected
language that you want the system to support. This option is similar to the configuration of the
keyboard layout at the beginning of the installation.

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Figure 3-4 Language Support

From the list of languages on the left pane, select additional languages for the system.
Then, on the right pane, select from the available locales for that language.

Date and Time

The Date & Time screen enables you to set the following options:
• Time zone for your system
• Actual time and the format for displaying time
• Current date

Figure 3-5 Date & Time

To select the system's time zone, click an area on the map that approximates the site
that you want the system to be located. Alternatively, you can select from the Region
and City drop down lists to specify that location.

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To specify time, time format, and date, click the appropriate buttons at the bottom of the
screen.
To enable NTP, toggle the Network Time switch at the upper right corner of the screen to ON.
Click Settings to display a dialog box, where you can configure the NTP servers that the
system would use. As an alternative, you can skip configuring NTP until later by using the
Chrony suite. See Oracle Linux 9: Setting Up Networking. See also Configure Chrony on
Oracle Linux.

Software Options
Software screens enable you to specify the installation source and the profile to be installed.
After configuring any of these options, click Done to return to the Installation Summary
screen.

Figure 3-6 Installation Source

The Installation Source window identifies the source image that you use to install Oracle
Linux.
If you use the full ISO image as the source, the install program detects that image. By default,
the Auto-detected installation media button is selected and Appstream is listed as an
additional installation repository, as shown in the following figure:

The configuration in the image is sufficient to proceed with the installation.

To install additional packages from other sources, use the Additional repositories box to add
those sources, and then provide the necessary information about those sources in the text
fields next to the box.
If you use the boot ISO image as the source, the install program detects that image and
selects the On the network button as the installation mode. Further, Closest mirror is selected
as the repository source, as shown in the following figure:

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The configuration in the image is sufficient to proceed with the installation. Optionally,
you can specify a local mirror as a repository source, in which case you would need to
provide the mirror's path.
In a boot installation, the installer automatically uses the required repositories from the
indicated source to install the OS. However, these repositories are not listed in the
window.
To install additional packages from other sources, use the Additional repositories box
to add those sources, and then provide the necessary information about those sources
in the text fields next to the box.

Figure 3-7 Software Selection

Software selection refers to the profile or base environment to be used during the
installation.

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Each profile represents a set of functionalities and the required packages and software to
fulfill those functionalities. By default, the Server with GUI profile is used. Choose the profile
or base environment that best fits the purpose of the system on which you are installing
Oracle Linux. From the upper-right pane, you can add profiles to the base profile you
selected on the left pane.

System Options
The set of options under System enables you to specify where the operation system is
installed, configure Kdump, the network, and the security profile. After configuring any of
these options, click Done to return to the Installation Summary screen.

Figure 3-8 Installation Destination

Even if you accept the default settings, you must still open the Installation Destination screen
to clear the option's warning icon. Other disk configurations for the installation can be
completed in this screen, such as enabling disk encryption, configuring storage, creating
partitions, adding disks, and so on.

Figure 3-9 Kdump

In the event of a system crash, Kdump captures information that assists in determining the
cause. By default, Kdump is enabled and the amount of memory reserved for Kdump is
calculated automatically. Select the Manual option if you want to set the amount of reserved
memory yourself.

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Figure 3-10 Network & Host Name

Beginning with Oracle Linux 9, network connections are automatically enabled. By

default, network configuration uses DHCP for IPv4 addresses. IPv6 addresses are
configured automatically. The default settings are generally sufficient for the system to
provide basic network functionality. However, you can customize the network
configuration, for example, by providing a custom host name, including a fully qualified
domain name (FQDN). You can further opt to use static addresses instead of using
DHCP, configure proxy settings, network bonds, and so on. To do these advanced
types of configuration, click Configure and go through additional configuration
screens.

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Figure 3-11 Security Policy

Because security policy is not required on all systems, use the Security Policy screen only if
you need to enforce a specific security policy as defined by your organization or by
government regulations.
Available policies are listed in the profile window. These security policies follow the
recommendations and guidelines that are defined by the Security Content Automation
Protocol (SCAP) standard. Select the security profile you want to enforce and ensure that the
Apply security policy is switched to On.
If you prefer not apply any security policy, toggle the switch to Off.

For more information on SCAP policies and profiles, see Oracle Linux 9: Using OpenSCAP
for Security Compliance.

User Settings
The User Settings section has the following options, with each option having its own
configuration window.
• Root Password
In the Root Password window, aside from creating the root password, you also have the
following additional options:
– Lock or unlock the root account. By default, the root account is locked as a security
feature implementation.
– Allow root SSH login with password.
Keeping the root account locked is good security practice.

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After creating the password and completing the optional settings as desired, click
Done.

Note:
The locked setting of the root account might affect automated
installations by using kickstart. To enable SSH root login in the kickstart's
configuration file, see Postinstallation Options.

• User Creation
This option enables you to configure a user's credentials to enable access to the
system. You can optionally configure the user to have administrative privileges.
– Create a user with the required information.
– Optionally, grant the user administrator privileges.
The privileges enable the user to issue administrator commands by using
sudo.
– To set additional user configurations, such as the user's home directory, click
Advanced.
After completing root and user configuration, click Done to return to the Installation
Summary screen.

Completing the Installation

From the Installation Summary screen, click Begin Installation. This button becomes
available only when warning flags on option icons have been cleared.
The installation takes a while. After it finishes, reboot the system as prompted. Then
log in to the system by using the credentials you previously set in User Settings.
For additional configurations you can set on the system, see Postinstallation
Configuration.

Installing in Text Mode

The Oracle Linux installation program can also run in text mode. Text mode is used
automatically under certain circumstances, for example, if the system has insufficient
memory or the video card is not supported. You can manually switch to the text mode
by specifying inst.text as a boot option on the boot command line or by adding that
option in a kickstart file.

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Postinstallation Configuration

Figure 3-12 Text-Based Installation Menu

The numbered options on the menu are the equivalent of the screen options in graphic based
installations. Each option is preceded by a flag surrounded by brackets:
• [ ] - Option is not configured.
• [x] - Option is configured with the default setting.
The setting is displayed between parentheses under the option.
• [!] - Option is configured but needs examination in case you want to specify your own
setting.
To configure an option, type the option's number. The screen displays numbered values that
are available for that option. Choose the value by typing the value's number. Then type c to
continue. Continuing either returns you to the main menu screen, or displays additional
related but non-obligatory options for you to configure. Type c also to skip screens.

After configuring all the necessary menu options, type b to begin installing. At the end of the
installation, the system reboots.

Note:
Not all configuration options in graphical installations might be available in text-
based installations.

Follow all the remaining prompts. At the end of the process, log in to the system and review
the license agreement at /usr/share/oraclelinux-release/EULA.

For additional configurations you can set on the system, see Postinstallation Configuration.

Postinstallation Configuration
Configuring Login
If you selected System with GUI as the OS profile to install and configured root passwords
without creating users, then at the initial login as root, you are prompted to create an initial
user. Setting up the first user can be completed in two ways:

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Postinstallation Configuration

• Create a regular user account, which is the default user setup screen. Enter the
required user information as prompted, then click Next to complete the process.
• Create a domain account. For this option, click Enterprise Login on the default
screen. A new window opens that prompts for the domain credentials. Use this
option if your environment is configured with Active Directory or Identity
Management domains for storing all user information. In this manner, the user can
use domain credentials to log in to the system's GNOME desktop.

Registering the System

After you install Oracle Linux on a system, you have the option to register the system
with the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN), provided that you have an account.
Registering enables the system to obtain additional packages, updates, and fixes. To
register the system, choose one of the following methods:
• Visit https://linux.oracle.com. To obtain Oracle Linux updates from ULN, you must
have an Oracle Linux support subscription.
• Use the uln_register shell command, which opens an interactive process.
• Use the Oracle Linux GNOME desktop menu. From the menu, select Activities
and then search for ULN Registration. Click the ULN Registration shortcut icon
to start the graphical registration wizard.
For more information about installing packages and managing software on your
system, see Oracle Linux: Managing Software on Oracle Linux.
If you have an Oracle Linux Premier Support account, you can opt to use Ksplice,
which enables you to keep your systems secure and highly available by automatically
updating them with the latest kernel security errata and other critical updates. For
more information, see Oracle Linux: Ksplice User's Guide.

Next Steps
After a basic Oracle Linux installation, you might want to further configure the system
for optimization and customization purposes, such as setting system date and time,
scheduling tasks, obtaining updates, and so on. For reference, go to the Oracle Linux
tutorial page at https://docs.oracle.com/en/operating-systems/oracle-linux/8/
tutorials.html which lists tutorials for different administrative tasks. Tutorials are
available for tasks that you run at the command line or through the Cockpit web
console.
For additional and more detailed information about different features of Oracle Linux,
go to the Oracle Linux library at General Oracle Linux documentation.

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4
Automating the Installation by Using Kickstart
The kickstart feature enables you to automate the OS installation. A kickstart installation uses
a configuration file that instructs the installer how it should implement a specific installation.
The feature offers the following benefits:
• No user intervention is required during the installation process.
• Greater facility in installing on multiple systems.
• The configuration file is useful for troubleshooting a boot-time problem with an installed
system.
You can use kickstart to install Oracle Linux locally. However, the best use of this feature is in
the installation of the OS on multiple systems over the network. In network installations, a
kickstart operation would include the following components:
• Kickstart configuration file
• Configured network that supports network installs such as providing connectivity so that
different client systems can access the necessary installation and configuration files
specific to those clients.
For an example of the configuration of a network installation, see Creating a Network
Installation Setup.

Customizing the Kickstart Configuration File

The kickstart configuration file consists of installation instructions in the form of options and
parameter definitions.
To create a kickstart configuration file, choose one of the following methods:
• Use the /root/anaconda-ks.cfg file of an existing Oracle Linux system.
Every Oracle Linux installation creates a file called /root/anaconda-ks.cfg. The file
contains configuration definitions based on the system on which Oracle Linux is installed
and which can be read by kickstart. Thus, the file is ready to be used either as is for other
installations, or as a template for automating various types of installations for specific
target systems.
As a template, the file's contents need to be revised to be applicable to other Oracle
Linux installations, such as which OS versions to install on specific clients.
If the system contains the pykickstart package, the following useful tools can help
you with revising the file's contents:
– ksverdiff identifies removed or deprecated options.
– ksvalidator checks that the syntax in the file is correct.
• Install an Oracle Linux release manually, which generates the /root/anaconda-
ks.cfg file. Use the file to automatically install the same Oracle Linux release on other
clients. You might need to adjust some of the file's configurations depending on the
specifications you want to apply to those clients.

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Customizing the Kickstart Configuration File

For more information, see https://pykickstart.readthedocs.io/en/latest/.

The configuration file is divided into parts. Each part contains a group of options as
follows:
• Installation Options
• Packages to Install
• Preinstallation Options
• Postinstallation Options

Installation Options
Installation options define parameters for system storage, keyboard definitions,
language setting, network information, and so on. In the following example, the option
definition in bold enables PXE to bring up the network interface and is important in
network installations.

Note:
To use the Btrfs file system that's supported in UEK, ensure that you're using
the UEK installation media as described in Btrfs installation chapter. Then
you can use the autopart kickstart option to automatically partition disks
using Btrfs, as shown in the following example under # Partition
Information.

If you're using local mirror repositories, ensure that these are current and
that the kickstart configuration includes the UEK repository required for Btfrs
to function. Either use the Oracle Linux yum server to mirror the required
repositories; or if you're unable to access the Oracle Linux yum server, you
can mirror the repositories included on the full installation ISO, but you must
use the UEK installation ISO to boot the installer. In the following example,
the system is assumed to have access to the Internet and the publicly
available Oracle Linux yum server repositories are used directly.
Alternatively, you also manually partition the disks to use Btrfs as described
in the upstream documentation.

#platform=x86, AMD64, or Intel EM64T

#version=OL9
# Firewall configuration
firewall --enabled --service=ssh

# Use Oracle Linux yum server repositories as installation source

repo --name="ol9_AppStream" --baseurl="https://yum.oracle.com/repo/
OracleLinux/OL9/appstream/x86_64/"
repo --name="ol9_UEKR7" --baseurl="https://yum.oracle.com/repo/
OracleLinux/OL9/UEKR7/x86_64/"
url --url="https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL9/baseos/latest/
x86_64"

# Root password

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Customizing the Kickstart Configuration File

rootpw --iscrypted SHA512_password_hash

# Use graphical install

graphical
firstboot --disable

# Keyboard layouts
keyboard --vckeymap=us --xlayouts='us'

# System language
lang en_US.UTF-8

# SELinux configuration
selinux --enforcing

# Installation logging level

logging --level=info

# System timezone
timezone America/Los_Angeles

# Network information
network --bootproto=dhcp --device=em1 --onboot=yes
--hostname=hostname

# System bootloader configuration

bootloader --location=mbr --boot-drive=sda

# Non-administrative user
user --name=user --homedir=/home/user --password=SHA512_password_hash --
iscrypted

# Partition information

clearpart --all --initlabel --drives=sda

autopart --type=btrfs

Packages to Install
Packages to be installed are listed under the group heading %packages. The list is terminated
by the %end line.

%packages
@base
@core
@desktop-debugging
@dial-up
@fonts
@gnome-desktop
@guest-agents
@guest-desktop-agents
@input-methods
@internet-browser
@multimedia

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Customizing the Kickstart Configuration File

@print-client
@print-server
@x11
mtools
pax
python-dmidecode
oddjob
wodim
sgpio
genisoimage
device-mapper-persistent-data
abrt-gui
samba-winbind
certmonger
openldap-clients
pam_krb5
krb5-workstation
ldapjdk
slapi-nis
libXmu
perl-DBD-SQLite
perl-Mozilla-LDAP
%end

The list includes package groups as well as individual packages. Names of package
groups use the @ prefix, such as @base, to distinguish them from individual packages.

To help determine which packages to include in the file, use the dnf group list
command on an existing Oracle Linux server. The command displays both the
installed package groups and the package groups that are available to install.
To specify multiple packages, you can use the wildcard character (*). To exclude a
package from the installation, insert the - character as a prefix to the package name.

The %packages keyword can take options, such as the following useful ones.

--ignoremissing
Installs the available packages without prompting about missing packages. Without
this option, kickstart would interrupt the installation and prompt you to continue or
cancel the installation.

--multilib
Sets the multilib policy in dnf configuration to all so that 32-bit packages can be
installed on the system.

Instead of listing packages directly into the configuration file, you can compile these
names into a file and store it in an accessible location, such as locally in a kickstart's
ramdisk file system, or on an HTTP server or an NFS share. Then on the configuration
file, specify the full path to the list in an %include statement, for example:

%packages --ignoremissing
%include /tmp/package-list
%end

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Customizing the Kickstart Configuration File

Preinstallation Options
Preinstallation options define the actions that the installer must perform before beginning the
installation process. Configuring this group of options is optional. The options are under the
%pre heading and terminated by the %end line.

In the following example, the installer is instructed to run the script config-partitions that is
stored on an HTTP server. Further, the installer should also download a list of packages from
the web server for use with a %include /tmp/package-list statement in the %packages
section.

%pre
%include http://192.168.1.100/scripts/config-partitions
wget -q -O- http://192.168.1.100/scripts/package-list > /tmp/package-list
%end

In this example, the wget command saves the package list in kickstart's file system, which
exists as a ramdisk in memory.
An included script or file must be accessible at the specified path or URL. If no name service
is available to identify hosts, then use IP addresses.

Postinstallation Options
Postinstallation options define any actions to be completed by the installer at the end of the
installation. Configuring this group of options is optional.
The options are under the %post heading and terminated by the %end line.

Beginning with Oracle Linux 9, the root account is locked by default. If you want to enable
SSH root logins to the system, add the following line to the kickstart file.

%post
echo "PermitRootLogin yes" > /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/01-permitrootlogin.conf
%end

By default, kickstart runs postinstallation tasks in a chroot environment that is based on the
root file system of the newly installed system. If you need to access any files that are outside
the chroot environment, specify the --nochroot option to %post line. You can then access
files in the kickstart file system with the newly installed system's root file system being
mounted at /mnt/sysimage.

In the following example, the script /tmp/post-config is run at the end of the installation.

%post --nochroot
%include /tmp/post-config
%end

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Starting the Kickstart Installation

If you configure the installed system's network interface to obtain its settings using
DHCP, you must either use IP addresses instead of domain names or set up a
temporary resolv.conf file, for example:

%post
wget -q -O- http://192.168.1.100/scripts/resolv.conf > /etc/resolv.conf
%include http://instsvr.mydom.com/scripts/post-config
.
.
.
%end

Starting the Kickstart Installation

To start the kickstart installation, ensure that you have prepared the following:
• Access to the full installation media, which can be on a local CD-ROM drive or
USB drive. See the instructions on media preparation.
• Access to the kickstart configuration file.

Installing Over the Network

1. Boot the system.
2. During the boot sequence, access the system's BIOS.
3. On the BIOS screen, change the system settings to boot from the network.
4. Save the changes and continue with the boot process.
5. When the boot menu appears, select an installation option then press either E
(UEFI-based systems) or Tab (BIOS-based systems) to access the boot prompt.
6. Add the the location of the kickstart file in the network. The location must specify
the network server's protocol and FQDN or IP address. For example, if you are
using an NFS server, then you might enter the following line:

nfs:options:fqdn/path-to-file

For additional examples for identifying the network location of the configuration
file, see Installation Source.

Note:
Another way of installing from the network is by using a boot server. In
this scenario, the installation automatically begins when you turn on the
system. See Creating a Network Installation Setup.

7. Save the boot configuration revisions and continue the boot process.
At the end of the boot process, the installation proceeds immediately.

Installing Locally
1. Boot the system from the local boot media.

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Starting the Kickstart Installation

2. When the boot menu appears, select an installation option then press either E (UEFI-
based systems) or Tab (BIOS-based systems) to access the boot prompt.
3. Add the appropriate option that identifies the location of the kickstart file, for example:

inst.ks=cdrom:/dev/sbd1/tmp/ks.cfg

For more information about boot options, see Customizing Boot Loader Actions.
4. Save the boot configuration revisions and continue the boot process.
At the end of the boot process, the installation proceeds immediately.

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5
Installing Using the Driver Update Disk
To use the DUD during an installation, choose from one of the following methods depending
on where the DUD image is stored.
• DUD image is in an attachable media (USB)
1. Boot the system from the standard Oracle Linux installation media.
2. While the system is booting, but before the installer starts, attach the media that
contains the DUD image.
As an example, attach the media when the system displays the GRUB boot prompt.
The installer recognizes the DUD and would use it. The installer might also prompt you to
select the drivers to install.

Note:
The kernel used by the installer might not include support for USB 3.0. When
using the DUD on USB media, ensure that you use a USB 2.0 compatible port
when connecting the USB media to the system.

• DUD image is on the network

1. While the system is booting, press the key that enables you to edit the boot options.
On BIOS-based systems, press Tab. On UEFI-based systems, press E.
2. Add the following line to the boot options:

inst.dd=network-location

The network location can be a URL, such as http://www.example.com/dd.iso, or

the full path of the NFS share directory.
If you are using DUD in a kickstart installation, indicate the DUD location in the kickstart file.
The specific entry to add depends on the location of the DUD image.
• DUD image is in an attached block device:

driverdisk /dev/sdb1

• DUD image is on the network location:

driverdisk --source=network-location

The network location can be a URL, such as http://www.example.com/dd.iso, or the full

path of the NFS share directory.

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6
Installing a System With a Btrfs root File
System
Oracle Linux uses XFS as the default file system, but it also supports other file systems such
as ext2, ext4, and so on.
The Btrfs file system is supported in Oracle Linux, but only on UEK. Thus, to install Oracle
Linux with Btrfs, you must use the UEK ISO image.
For more information about file systems in Oracle Linux, see Oracle Linux 9: Managing Local
File Systems.
Like any installation of a standard Oracle Linux release, installing the OS with a Btrfs file
system can also be completed in two modes:
• Using the GUI Installer
• Using the Text Installer
You can also install a system with a Btrfs root file system using kickstart automation as
described in Automating the Installation by Using Kickstart. If you choose to perform an
automated installation and you create your own network installation setup, as described in
Creating a Network Installation Setup, make sure that you configure your network boot to use
the installation kernel and ram-disk image provided on the UEK ISO image and that you have
mirrored all of the required repositories, or you may get an error stating that Btrfs is not
supported for your partitioning type.

Using the GUI Installer

The following steps are limited to what is relevant to a Btrfs installation. For the complete
procedure, refer to Installing in Graphics Mode.
1. Boot the system from the installation media using the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel
boot ISO file.
2. On the Installation Summary screen, select Installation Destination, then select the
local disks and add any Specialized & Network disks that you want to use for the
installation.
3. Under Storage Configuration, select Custom and then click Done.
The Manual Partitioning screen is displayed. Custom partitioning can be either automatic,
where mount points are automatically created, or manual, where you individually create
and configure mount points.
Automatic Partitioning
a. From the drop-down list of partitioning schemes, select Btrfs.
b. Click Click here to create them automatically.
The following mount points are created:
• /home

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Using the GUI Installer

• /boot
• / (root)
• swap
c. Optionally, select each mount point and verify in the corresponding information
that the mount point's device type is Btrfs.

Note:
The swap partition cannot be configured as a Btrfs file system.

The mount point information should resemble the following example:

Figure 6-1 Mount Points

d. Optionally for each mount point, configure the respective volumes.

e. Click Done, then on the partition summary that is displayed, click Accept
Changes.
Manual Partitioning
a. From the drop-down list of partitioning schemes, select Btrfs.
b. Click + to create the mount point.
The Add A New Mount Point window opens.
c. Select the mount point and enter its size as prompted, then click Add mount
point.
As a minimum, create mount points for /, /boot, /home, and swap.
d. Select each mount point you created and verify that their corresponding
information is correct.

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Using the Text Installer

Note:
The swap partition cannot be configured as a Btrfs file system.

e. Optionally, modify the volume of each mount point, as needed.

f. Click Done and on the partition summary that is displayed, click Accept Changes.
4. Complete the configuration of any additional sections in the Installation Summary screen.
5. Click Begin Installation.

Using the Text Installer

The following steps are limited to what is relevant to a Btrfs installation. For the complete
procedure, refer to Installing in Text Mode.
1. From the text based installation menu, type 5 to configure Installation Destination.
a. Installation Destination: If your preferred disk is already selected, type c to
continue. Otherwise, type the number corresponding to the disk you want to use,
press Enter, then type c to continue.
b. Partitioning Options: If your preferred option is already selected, type c to continue.
Otherwise, type the number corresponding to your preferred option, press Enter, then
type c to continue.
c. Partition Scheme Options: Type 2 to use Btrfs, press Enter, then type c to return to
the main menu.
2. Configure all the remaining settings that are flagged with the warning symbol (!).
3. After you have completed configuring all the installation options, type b to begin the
installation.

Verifying the Btrfs Installation

When the entire installation process has completed and you can log in to the system, you can
use different tools to verify the file system configuration. The following example shows the
output of the sudo df -Thk command:
sudo df -Thk

Filesystem Type 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on

...
/dev/sda2 btrfs 15097856 4803120 10052400 33% /
/dev/sda2 btrfs 15097856 4803120 10052400 33$ /home
/dev/sda2 btrfs 15097856 4803120 10052400 33$ /boot
...

Optionally, you can complete other tasks as described in Postinstallation Configuration.

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Troubleshooting Oracle Linux Installations
This chapter describes some options for troubleshooting Oracle Linux installations. Also
check the Oracle Linux release notes of the specific Oracle Linux release you are installing in
Oracle Linux for any known issues.
For known hardware issues, see the release notes for your UEK release in the Unbreakable
Enterprise Kernel documentation.

Troubleshooting Menu Options

The boot menu on the Oracle Linux installation media contains a Troubleshooting option with
the following options:

Install the Oracle Linux release in basic graphics mode

Use this option if the screen goes blank or appears distorted when you try to install Oracle
Linux in graphics mode.

Rescue a Oracle Linux system

Use this option to boot an installed system in a mode that enables you to edit partitions or
configuration files to fix a variety of boot problems.

Run a memory test

Use this option to run the memtest86 utility, which verifies the integrity of the system's RAM.

Boot from local drive

Use this option to boot an installed system from the hard disk.

Debug and Log Information

During an installation, you can press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the virtual console for the
installation program. This console contains messages and debugging information output for
the installation program. Additional virtual consoles are available to display log information
from different sources, as described in the following section. Press Ctrl+b, and then press
either n (for next) or b (for back) to switch between the virtual consoles. To return to the
graphical installation program, press Ctrl+Alt+F6.
During an installation, several log files are generated, which capture messages from the
following sources:

Anaconda program
The /tmp/anaconda.log file contains Anaconda logs relating to the installation.
During the installation you can access the messages stored in this log by pressing
Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the virtual console, then press Ctrl+b, and then press 3.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to /var/log/anaconda/anaconda.log.

Hardware detection and configuration

The /tmp/syslog file contains messages relating to the system hardware.

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Debug and Log Information

If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to /var/log/anaconda/syslog.

Kickstart
The /tmp/ks-name.log file contains logs from kickstart installations.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to /var/log/anaconda/ks-script-
name.log.

Network detection and configuration

The /tmp/ifcfg.log file contains logs relating to network configuration.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to /var/log/anaconda/ifcfg.log.

Other programs
The /tmp/program.log file contains logs from all other programs used during the
installation.
During the installation you can view the messages stored in this log by pressing
Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the virtual console, then press Ctrl+b, and then press 5.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to /var/log/anaconda/program.log.

Package installation
The /tmp/packaging.log file contains package installation messages output by the
dnf and rpm commands.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to /var/log/anaconda/
packaging.log.

Storage detection and configuration

The /tmp/storage.log file contains logs from the storage modules.
During the installation you can view the messages stored in this log by pressing
Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the virtual console, then press Ctrl+b, and then press 4.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to /var/log/anaconda/storage.log.

If the installation fails, the messages from these log files are combined into a single log
file at /tmp/anaconda-tb-name .

To access a shell prompt as the root user during the installation, press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to
display the virtual console. Then, press Ctrl+b, followed by pressing the number 2. You
can use the shell prompt to access the log files and to copy them to a local storage
device such as a USB device. Or, you can copy the log files to a network location by
using the scp command.

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A
Creating a Network Installation Setup
Network installations are useful and advantageous especially in scenarios where you have to
install the OS on multiple systems.
If you use a boot ISO or the Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) to install the OS on
systems, you can set up a network installation configuration that consists of the following
components:
• A network installation server that provides the IP and network configuration, the PXE
configuration files, kernel and boot images, and kernel boot directives. In this example,
dnsmasq is used to provide these services.
• A network accessible file system server over a protocol such as NFS or HTTP, where
packages, the kickstart file, and other required configuration files might be stored. In this
document, NFS is used as the file system. Note that if your systems have direct access
to the Internet, you can configure your kickstart installation to use the BaseOS and
AppStream repositories directly available on the Oracle Linux yum server for the package
installation. You can also create a yum mirror of these repositories as described in Oracle
Linux: Managing Software on Oracle Linux so that systems that do not have direct
access to the Internet have access to a complete set of packages. However, you would
still need to provide a mechanism to serve the kickstart file up to the system when it
boots.
The two components can be on separate systems. Also, they are not required to run the
latest Oracle Linux version. A previous release would suffice. For convenience, the scenario
in this example assumes that the two components are hosted in one system. It also assumes
that kickstart installation is used.

Setting Up the Network Server

Preparing a server for a network installation consists of the following general tasks:
• How to Configure NFS
• How to Configure dnsmasq

How to Configure NFS

If you have an existing NFS server, you can use this service to host the extracted contents of
an ISO and your kickstart configuration files. Ensure that the exported share directories are
accessible to the IP ranges specified for your PXE boot hosts.
If you do not have an available NFS server, use the following procedure to install and
configure the service to enable network installation.

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 Appendix A
Setting Up the Network Server

Note:
These NFS configuration steps are limited only to what is relevant to a
network installation. For more information in configuring NFS, refer to the
appropriate Oracle Linux System Administration guide.

1. Install the nfs-utils package:

sudo dnf install nfs-utils -y

2. If you are running a firewall service, enter the following firewall command.

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service nfs --permanent

If you are using an alternate firewall service or you have an external firewall
device, ensure that you configure rules that grant PXE boot hosts access to the
NFS service on this system.
3. Create a directory to store the ISO image, for example.

sudo mkdir /var/nfs-exports/ISOs

4. Export the NFS share directory.

sudo exportfs -i -o ro [subnet]:/var/nfs-exports/ISOs

This syntax grants world access to the NFS share with read only permissions.
Adding subnet, for example 192.0.2.0/24:/var/nsf-exports/ISOs, limits
access only to the subnet's clients.
Alternatively, you can add an entry for exporting the share directory in the /etc/
exports file, for example:

/var/nsf-exports/ISOs 192.0.2.0/24(ro)

Then, reload the /etc/exports to implement the entry:

sudo exportfs -ra

For more information, see the exportfs(8), exports(5), and showmount(8)

manual pages.
5. Start the nfs-server service and configure it to automatically start after every
system reboot:

sudo systemctl start nfs-server

sudo systemctl enable nfs-server

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 Appendix A
Setting Up the Network Server

6. Extract the downloaded ISO image to a subdirectory of the NFS share directory:

sudo cp -a T path-to-download-image /var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ol9

7. If using kickstart, put the kickstart files in a subdirectory of the NFS share directory also,
such as /var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ksfiles.
8. (Optional) From a different system, verify that the NFS share directory is accessible, for
example:

sudo mount -t nfs NFS-server-ip:/var/nfs-exports/ISOs /mnt

How to Configure dnsmasq

The dnsmasq router advertisement server is designed to act as a DNS forwarder, DHCP
server, and TFTP server. Dnsmasq is applicable in most network installation scenarios and is
therefore a convenient alternative to configuring separate DHCP and TFTP services.
For more information about dnsmasq, see the dnsmasq(8) manual page, the /usr/
share/doc/dnsmasq-version file, and https://thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/doc.html.

1. Install the dnsmasq package.

sudo dnf install dnsmasq -y

2. Configure parameters in the /etc/dnsmasq.conf file.

• At a minimum, you must have the enable-tftp entry and a defined TFTP server
directory for tftp-root. See the entries in bold in the following example:

interface=em1
dhcp-range=10.0.0.101,10.0.0.200,6h
dhcp-host=80:00:27:c6:a1:16,10.0.0.253,svr1,infinite
dhcp-boot=pxelinux/pxelinux.0
dhcp-match=set:efi-x86_64,option:client-arch,8
dhcp-boot=tag:efi-x86_64,shim.efi
enable-tftp
tftp-root=/var/lib/tftpboot

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 Appendix A
Setting Up the Network Server

Note:
If SELinux is enabled in enforcing mode on your system and you
configured a TFTP server directory other than /var/lib/tftpboot,
you must also install the policycoreutils-python and
policycoreutils packages to enable you to run the following
commands:

sudo /usr/sbin/semanage fcontext -a -t tftpdir_t "/var/

tftpboot(/.*)?"
sudo /sbin/restorecon -R -v /var/tftpboot

These commands define the default file type of the TFTP server
directory hierarchy as tftpdir_t and apply the file type to the entire
directory hierarchy.

The following list describes the other parameters in the /etc/dnsmasq.conf

file:

interface
Specifies the interface to be monitored for incoming client requests.

dhcp-range
Identifies a range of available IP addresses. The 6h setting in the example
above specifies a six-hour lease of the addresses.
To configure static addresses with infinite leases, instead of a pool, specify a
static network address and use the static and infinite keywords, for
example:

dhcp-range=10.0.0.253,static,infinite

dhcp-host
Specifies a reserved IP address for a client system. The system is identified
by its name and MAC address.

dhcp-boot
Specifies the location of the boot loader file for clients, such as pxelinux/
pxelinux.0 for BIOS-based clients. For UEFI-based clients, include the
tag:efi-x86_64 keyword in the setting before specifying the boot loader, for
example:

dhcp-boot=tag:efi-x86_64,shim.efi

You must create separate entries for BIOS-based and UEFI-based clients.
• Uncomment the tftp-no-blocksize line in the file as shown:
# This option stops dnsmasq from negotiating a larger blocksize for TFTP
# transfers. It will slow things down, but may rescue some broken TFTP
# clients.
tftp-no-blocksize

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 Appendix A
Configuring PXE Boot Loading

3. (Optional) To use dnsmasq as a caching-only name server, do the following:

a. In the /etc/resolv.conf file, configure a name server entry for 127.0.0.1 that
precedes other name server entries, for example:

nameserver 127.0.0.1
nameserver 10.0.0.8
nameserver 10.0.0.4

The dnsmasq server ignores the 127.0.0.1 entry and forwards DNS queries to the
other listed name servers.
b. Configure the firewall to accept DNS requests:

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=dns --permanent

4. Start the dnsmasq service and configure it to automatically start after every system reboot.

sudo systemctl start dnsmasq

sudo systemctl enable dnsmasq

Configuring PXE Boot Loading

The steps to configure a PXE boot loader depends on the type of system that is used for the
boot server.
• How to Configure for BIOS-based PXE Clients
• How to Configure for UEFI-based PXE Clients

Important:
You must use the correct kernel and ram-disk image for the installation that you
intend to support. For example, if you intend to install a system with a Btrfs root
partition, you must use the UEK boot ISO to obtain the correct kernel and image for
the system to be able to install with Btrfs support.

How to Configure for BIOS-based PXE Clients

1. Install the syslinux package that contains the pxelinux.0 boot loader.

sudo dnf install syslinux -y

2. Create the pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg directory under the TFTP server directory.

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg

3. Copy the boot loader file to the pxelinux subdirectory.

sudo cp /usr/share/syslinux/pxelinux.0 /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux

A-5
 Appendix A
Configuring PXE Boot Loading

4. From the NFS share directory, copy the installation kernel (vmlinuz), and the ram-
disk image file (initrd.img) to the pxelinux subdirectory.

sudo cp /var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ol9/vmlinuz /var/lib/tftpboot/

pxelinux/vmlinuz
sudo cp /var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ol9/initrd.img /var/lib/tftpboot/
pxelinux/initrd.img

5. Copy the modules for displaying the boot loader as a menu to the boot loader
directory.

sudo cp /usr/share/syslinux/*.c32 /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux

6. In the pxelinux.cfg subdirectory, create and then add entries to a boot

configuration file.
You can assign any name to the file, such as pxe.conf. The following example
shows typical entries in the file:

DEFAULT menu.c32
TIMEOUT 400
ONTIMEOUT BootLocal
PROMPT 0
MENU INCLUDE pxelinux.cfg/pxe.conf
NOESCAPE 1
LABEL BootLocal
localboot 0
TEXT HELP
Boot to local hard disk
ENDTEXT

LABEL OL9
MENU LABEL OL9
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img inst.repo=/var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ol9/ \
inst.ks.sendmac inst.ks=/var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ksfiles/kstart-
file
TEXT HELP
Install Oracle Linux 9
ENDTEXT

Based on these entries, the boot loader would automatically attempt to boot from
the local drive if no user intervention occurs during the TIMEOUT period. If no OS
is installed, then the boot loader would boot from the network and initiate the
installation process.
This list explains some of the directives used in the configuration file:
• DEFAULT identifies the module you want to use for displaying the boot loader
menu.
For a basic text display, the menu.c32 module suffices. However, if you add
directives for a graphical display, such as images and colors, then specify the
vesamenu.c32 module instead.

A-6
 Appendix A
Configuring PXE Boot Loading

• TIMEOUT specifies the period in timeout/10 seconds before the boot loader boots the
client according to the subsequent directives. The next directive (ontimeout)
specifies the action when the wait period expires.
• PROMPT determines whether or not the boot: prompt is displayed by default. If PROMPT
is set to 1, the boot: prompt is displayed. If PROMPT is set to 0, the boot: prompt is
not displayed unless the user presses the Shift or Alt key at the console.
• MENU INCLUDE identifies the boot configuration file you created.
• kernel defines the name of the kernel executable.
• append defines any parameters that should be appended when loading the kernel,
such as the name of the ram-disk image and the location of a file. Note that the
inst.repo variable can be set to point to the BaseOS repository on the Oracle Linux
yum server if the system has access to the Internet. For example, inst.repo can be
set to https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL9/baseos/latest/x86_64 for
an x86_64 platform system.

Important:
The kernel and ram-disk image file paths are assumed to be relative to the
subdirectory that contains the boot loader, such as pxelinux. If you place
the vmlinuz and initrd.img files in a subdirectory such as pxelinux/OL9,
ensure you have the correct relative paths.

How to Configure for UEFI-based PXE Clients

1. Install the following packages:
• grub2-efi that contains the grubx64.efi boot loader
• shim that contains the first-stage boot loader shim.efi
This package is required to support Secure Boot on UEFI clients, but should be used
for all UEFI clients as a passthrough boot loader.
2. Go to the package location and extract their contents.
Run the following commands:

sudo cd /tempdir
sudo rpm2cpio grub2-efi-version.rpm | cpio -idmv
sudo rpm2cpio shim-version.rpm | cpio -idmv

3. Create a subdirectory, for example, efi, under the TFTP server directory..

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/efi

4. Copy the boot loader and other related files to the efi subdirectory.

A-7
 Appendix A
Configuring PXE Boot Loading

Run the following commands:

sudo cp /tempdir/boot/efi/EFI/redhat/grubx64.efi /var/lib/

tftpboot/efi
sudo cp /tempdir/boot/efi/EFI/redhat/shim.efi /var/lib/tftpboot/efi
sudo cp /tempdir/boot/efi/EFI/redhat/MokManager.efi /var/lib/
tftpboot/efi

Note:
The shim.efi and MokManager.efi files are needed if you want to
support Secure Boot on clients. The MokManager.efi provides utilities for
managing the keys used to sign EFI binaries. As a passthrough boot
loader, you would then specify shim.efi when setting dhcp-boot for
UEFI-based clients in the /etc/dnsmasq.conf file. See How to
Configure dnsmasq.

5. From the NFS share directory, copy the installation kernel (vmlinuz) and the ram-
disk image file (initrd.img) to the efi subdirectory.

sudo cp /var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ol9/vmlinuz -O /var/lib/tftpboot/efi/

vmlinuz
sudo cp /var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ol9/initrd.img /var/lib/tftpboot/efi/
initrd.img

6. In the efi subdirectory, create and then add entries to the grub.cfg boot loader
configuration file.
The configuration file should have the options for booting from the network as well
as for booting locally. The client boots from the network to begin the installation
process. Then once the client reboots at the end of the installation, the system
boots from the local drive.
The following example shows typical entries in the file:

set default 0
set timeout=10

menuentry 'ol9 localboot' {

echo "Booting from local disk"
set root=(hd0,gpt1)
chainloader efi/shim.efi
boot
}

menuentry 'ol9' {
echo "Loading vmlinuz"
linuxefi vmlinuz inst.repo=/var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ol9/
inst.ks.sendmac \
inst.ks=/var/nfs-exports/ISOs/ksfiles/kstart-file
echo "Loading /initrd.img"
initrdefi initrd.img

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 Appendix A
Supporting Different Kinds of Clients

echo "Booting installation kernel"

}

Caution:
Boot loader configuration is not uniform across UEFI-based systems. Because
of variables such as differing disk layout, a specific boot loader setup will not
universally apply to all systems. The previous example illustrates only one way
of configuring the boot loader. You must create boot loader configurations
appropriate to your own systems.

• linuxefi defines the name of the kernel executable and any parameter that should
be appended when loading the kernel, such as the location of the installation
packages and the location of a file.
• initrdefi defines the name of the ram-disk image.

Important:
The kernel and ram-disk image file paths are assumed to be relative to the
subdirectory that contains the boot loader, such as efi. If you place the
vmlinuz and initrd.img files in a subdirectory, such as efi/OL9, ensure you
have the correct relative paths.

Supporting Different Kinds of Clients

To support different types of clients, you can create a configuration file with the name based
one the following:
• Client's UUID, for example, a8943708-c6f6-51b9-611e-74e6ac80b93d

Note:
A UUID-based file name is valid only for BIOS-based clients. Do not apply it for
UEFI-based clients.

• Client's MAC address prefixed by 01-, which represents the ARP hardware type for
Ethernet, and using dashes to separate each byte value instead of colons, for example,
01-80-00-27-c6-a1-16.
Use lowercase characters when typing the MAC address.
• Client's IP address expressed in hexadecimal without any leading 0x, for example,
0A0000FD represents the IP address 10.0.0.253.
To reduce the number of configuration files, you can group clients by IP address range,
for example, 0A0000E represents the IP address range 10.0.0.224 through 10.0.0.239.

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 Appendix A
Supporting Different Kinds of Clients

If you are serving both types of clients, ensure that the file names are distinct from
each other. Where the configuration file for BIOS-based clients is A000FC, for
example, the equivalent file for UEFI-based clients can be grub.cfg-A000FC, and
so on.
Place the configuration files in their respective boot loader subdirectories such as
pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg for BIOS-based clients or efi subdirectory for UEFI-based
clients.
The boot loader searches for a configuration file in the following order, until a matching
file name is found:
• UUID (for example, a8943708-c6f6-51b9-611e-74e6ac80b93d)
• 01-MAC_address (for example, [grub2-cfg-]01-80-00-27-c6-a1-16)
• Full 32 bits of the IP address (for example, [grub.cfg-]0A0000FD)
• Most significant 28 bits of the IP address (for example, [grub.cfg-]0A0000F)
• Most significant 24 bits of the IP address (for example, [grub.cfg-]0A0000)
• Most significant 20 bits of the IP address (for example, [grub.cfg-]0A000)
• Most significant 16 bits of the IP address (for example, [grub.cfg-]0A00)
• Most significant 12 bits of the IP address (for example, [grub.cfg-]0A0)
• Most significant 8 bits of the IP address (for example, [grub.cfg-]0A)
• Most significant 4 bits of the IP address (for example, [grub.cfg-]0)
• Default configuration file (either default for BIOS-based clients or grub.cfg for
UEFI-based clients.
If several configuration files for a client type have identical content, you can use the ln
command to link the files to a primary copy, for example:

sudo ln primary-ol-verson [grub.cfg-]0A0000FC

sudo ln primary-ol-verson [grub.cfg-]0A0000FD

sudo ln primary-ol-verson [grub.cfg-]0A0000FE

For more information about pxelinux, see https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?

title=PXELINUX.
For more information about GRUB 2, run the info grub command to access the
GRUB 2 manual.

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