Rocky Linux is a Community-based Enterprise Operating System, officially released by Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation (RESF) which is a free support platform with a complete binary-compatible release using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system source code. The advantage of Rocky Linux is that it is completely free to install on any 64-bit x86 and ARM64 (aarch64) system.
The birth of Rocky Linux: On December 8, 2020, RedHat announced that they would like to stop the development of CentOS completely and focus on CentOS Stream. The news completely enraged the open-source community tremendously. Following the announcement, Gregory Kurtzer, the original founder of CentOS, announced that he would launch a project similar to CentOS that would fully replace CentOS, benefiting all existing CentOS users and the community. He announced the name of the project as Rocky Linux.
The first version of the Rocky Linux OS was released in April 2021, and the General Availability (GA) version was released on June 21, 2021. Up to May 20, 2029, the version will be supported.
In this article, we will see the step-by-step (using screenshot) installation on Rocky Linux 8.4, which will help you to understand very easily. It's easier to install Rocky Linux since it is similar to CentOS 8, so the installation process won't be complicated.
Prerequisites :
HDD minimum : 20 GB RAM minimum : 2 GB (Recommended 4 GB) System Type : 64-bit x86 System Installation kit : Bootable DVD/USB/.iso
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For the demonstration, I will be using a virtual environment (VMware Workstation 15.5.2). This guide assumes that you have your own virtual or standard machine that is ready to install the Rocky Linux 8.4.
The standard procedure for installing the OS on servers is to use a bootable DVD or USB drive, but if you plan to install it on a VM, you should use the ISO image instead. As for our environment, we are going with a virtualized one. In case you encounter any difficulties creating a bootable USB, we have provided a step-by-step guide on how to create a bootable USB.
Step-3: Let's start the Rocky Linux 8.4 Installation
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You will see the following screen when you first boot Rocky Linux 8.4 using any ".ISO or bootable media" kit. You can either choose "Install Rocky Linux 8" or "Test this media & Install Rocky Linux 8" and hit the enter key to proceed. You should choose the second option if this is your first time downloading the Rocky Linux 8 media kit.
Step-4: Language selection screen
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You can select your preferred language on this screen. Moving forward, we will use the English United States from the list and click the "Continue" button.
Step-5: Configure Installation summary
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On the following screen, you can customize the installation according to your preferences.
System (Installation Destination)
Activate Root Password
Create a local user
Date & Time
Software Selection
Kdump
Network & Host Name
Security Policy
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In the screen above, you can see that some options are already selected or filled by default. We will manually configure the rest of the options above according to our requirements. In this section, I am going to start customizing the partition (Installation Destination).
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In the above window, you can see that we have a virtual disk available of 20GB to install Rocky Linux 8.4. We have two options available to determine how the disk partition will be created (Automatic and Custom). If you choose the Automatic option, the system will configure all partitions automatically. Choosing the "Custom option" will enable you to configure partitions manually. I am opting for a custom partition based on my requirements. Click Done to continue.
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You have the option to select between three different mounting partition schemes on the screen above, which includes Standard, LVM, and LVM Thin Provisioning. By default, the LVM partition is active. If you wish to change the scheme, select the desired option from the drop-down list. Here, I used standard partitioning.
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Disk partitioning is one of the most crucial tasks for every Linux administrator. To properly use the server, we must be very calculative about the partition we should create. In general, most newbies and experienced Windows users who migrate to Linux make the wrong choice when choosing a partition scheme. They usually set up boot, swap, and root (/)partitions. Perhaps this combination is suitable for a home or a desktop system. It is not advisable for production servers due to performance and other issues that may arise. Instead, use the following partitioning scheme:
/boot – 1 GB with xfs filesystem
/ – 8 GB with xfs filesystem
/home - 7 GB with xfs filesystem
/var - 2 GB with xfs filesystem
Swap – 4 GB with swap filesystem
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I have made a 1GB (boot) partition. You can specify the desired size for the boot partition. Typically 1 or 2 GB is fair enough in most cases. Finally, click "Add mount point" to continue.
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As the next step, create the "/" (parent) partition, also known as the "root" partition. In this lab exercise, I'll use an 8GB partition. To continue, click "Add mount point".
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In the same way, we can create other partitions (/home, /var, and swap).
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Once you've finished partitioning the disk, click "Done" to proceed as shown below:
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The next step is to click "Accept Changes" to fulfill the summary changes that were made in the disk, which will write all the partitions as shown below:
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Next, click the "Root Password" option on the Installation Summary screen. The root account can be enabled by simply clicking on this option, entering the root password, and clicking "Done." moving forward to the next step.
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Click "Done" after you enter your root password.
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To create a new user on your system, click "User Creation" on the Installation Summary screen.
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After you enter your local username and password, you will see two checkboxes where you can mark what is important to you and click "Done".
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You can adjust the Date and Time settings for your zone by clicking on the respective icon and selecting the region and city displayed as shown below:
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Next, we need to review the server software packages. Rocky Linux is automatically selected as a "Server with GUI" package, but you can change this by clicking the "Software Selection" option on the Installation Summary screen. There you can see a list of six choices for the server software that you can choose from. Depending on your requirements, you can choose accordingly. For now, I'll go with the default. Click "Done" after selecting the method.
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The next option is the Kdump, by default, Kdump is enabled, and it is recommended to leave it enabled, as it will assist in debugging crashes at the kernel level. If you choose to disable it, click the option and remove the tick mark. To learn more about the kdump, click here.
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In order to configure "Network & Host Name" during the installation process, you can simply choose the relevant option and enable the Ethernet connection "On". The IP address is assigned automatically (DHCP), and you can add the hostname as well. Next, click "Done" as shown below:
Step-6: Click "Begin Installation"
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Once we have customized all the relevant options to fit our needs, we can then hit the “Begin Installation” tab to start the installation process as below:
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The below screen shows that the installation has begun, and also it displays the installation progress levels.
Step-7: System Reboot
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Upon completion of the installation, the system will prompt you to reboot. Click on the Reboot option.
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Once the computer has rebooted, remove the installation media kit and set the boot option from the disk.
Step-8: Fresh Rocky Linux 8.4 box and Accept License
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As shown below, boot Rocky Linux 8.4 by selecting the first option from the grub menu.
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You must click "License information" on the highlighted box below the screen in order to activate the License for Rocky Linux 8.4.
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A tick mark appears on the below screen confirming that the license agreement has been accepted. Once that is done, click "Done" to continue.
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To wrap up the initial phases of the installation of Rocky Linux 8.4, click "Finish Configuration".
Step-9: Login Screen
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As soon as you have completed the initial setup, it will redirect you to the following Login Screen: Type in the password that you assigned to the particular user you see on your screen.
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The Welcome Screen allows you to choose your operating system's language. To continue, I elected English in the United States.
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The following screen allows you to choose a keyboard layout. Here, I go with the default option, then click Next.
Finally, click on:
Start Using Rocky Linux
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Finally, here is the desktop screen for Rocky Linux 8.4. You can access the menu bar by clicking on the "Activities" button located in the upper left corner of your screen.
Conclusion
We have successfully installed Rocky Linux 8.4! Thank you for taking the time to read! We hope this article has helped you understand the installation process. Drop me your feedback/comments. Feel free to share this article with others if you like it.
Thank you for your support and for being a part of my journey, I would be very grateful if you could consider buying me a coffee. The contributions you make will help me to continue to produce quality content and enhance my readers' experience.
John Britto Founder & Cheif-Editor @LinuxTeck. A Computer Geek and Linux Intellectual having more than 10+ years of experience in Linux and Open Source technologies.
