Installing in Graphics Mode

The graphics installation mode consists of a series of graphical screens which you interact with to configure the installation.

Welcome Screen

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

Figure 3-1 Welcome Screen


The partial image shows the Welcome Screen with options for languages and locales. The left pane lists languages while the right pane lists locales. At the bottom of the left pane is a language search box.

On this screen, select the preferred language to be used during the installation process. You can further select a specific locale, if any, for the selected language. Then select 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 image shows the Installation Summary screen and available options. The options are arranged as a menu and are represented by icons with text descriptions. The menu is divided into three columns with headings: Localization on the left column, with options for Keyboard, Language Support, and Date & Time; Software in the center column, with options for Installation Source and Software Selection; and System on the right column, with options for Installation Destination, Kdump, and Network & Host Name.

The screen provides four categories of options: LOCALIZATION, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, and USER SETTINGS. Select an option under any of these categories to open a new screen where you can configure the selected option.

Most options under each category have default values and can be ignored to keep the default values. However, you must visit the options flagged with a warning icon.

After defining directives in a specific screen, select 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 continue to change installation configuration options until the installation begins. The installation doesn't begin until you select Begin Installation at the bottom of the screen. The Begin Installation button remains disabled until all the configuration warning flags have been cleared.

Note:

At the top upper right of the screen is the Keyboard switch. This switch appears in all the option screens to enable you to change to a different keyboard layout at any time during configuration. You must add the required layout to the list of available layouts first, as described in Keyboard Layout.

Localization

Under Localization, you configure the following options:

After configuring any of these options, select Done to return to the Installation Summary screen.

Keyboard Layout

Figure 3-3 Keyboard Layout


The partial image shows the options on the Keyboard Layout screen. The leftmost pane is an area that contains the default keyboard layout, English (US). Control buttons at the bottom of the pane enable you to add and remove keyboard layouts and rearrange their order on the list. On the right side of the pane is a text box for testing the keyboard layouts. Underneath this text box is a warning that keyboard layout switching by using keyboard shortcuts isn't possible, and underneath is an Options button for configuring layout switching.

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

Languages

Configuring languages consists of specifying other locales of the selected language that you want the system to use. This option is similar to the configuration of the keyboard layout at the beginning of the installation.

Figure 3-4 Installing Extra Languages


The partial image shows the available options on the Language Support screen, which contains a list of available languages on the left side, and on the right side, a list of the locales for the selected language.

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

Date and Time

The Time & Date screen lets you set the following:

  • Time zone for the system

  • Actual time and the format for displaying time

  • Current date

Figure 3-5 Time & Date


The image shows the Time & Date screen, which at the top contains two dropdown lists for selecting a region and city, radio buttons for setting date and time either automatically using NTP or manually. There is a button to configure the NTP server if automatic date and time is selected. Underneath these items are time and date editors for setting time, the time format, and date manually.

To select the system's time zone, select the appropriate location from the Region and City dropdown lists.

To enable automatic date and time, select the Configure NTP button and specify the NTP server.

You can skip configuring NTP until later by using the Chrony suite. See Oracle Linux 10: Setting Up Networking With NetworkManager. See also Configure Chrony on Oracle Linux.

Software

Under Software, you configure the following options:

After configuring any of these options, select Done to return to the Installation Summary screen.

Installation Source

The Installation Source window identifies the source image that you use to install Oracle Linux.

Figure 3-6 Installation Source


The image shows the Installation Source screen, which contains options for selecting the installation source: Auto detected Installation Media, Device with an ISO file and On the Network. Beside the auto detected installation media option is a a button that lets you choose an alternative ISO file and a Verify button. The On the Network option includes a drop-down list of network protocols, a text box to specify network location, a button to configure a proxy, and a drop-down list of URL types.

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 extra installation repository. Because the image contains all the packages required for a system installation, you can use the default configuration to proceed with the installation.

If you use the boot ISO image as the source, the On the network button is selected as the installation mode and the Closest mirror option is selected as the repository source. Optionally, you can specify a local mirror as a repository source, in which case you would need to provide the mirror's path. If no path is specified, the Oracle Linux yum server is used by default. The installer automatically uses the required repositories from the network mirror to install the OS. However, the repositories aren't listed in the window. Because the installation image is configured to automatically use the Oracle Linux yum server if no mirror path is specified, you can use the default configuration to proceed with the installation.

Software Selection

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

Figure 3-7 Software Selection


The image shows the options on the Software Selection screen. A pane on the left side contains a list of base environments, while a pane on the right side contains a list of add-ons for the selected base environment. Each base environment has a corresponding radio button, while each add-on has its own checkbox.

Each Base Environment represents a typical type of usage for the system and installs the required packages and software. The Server with GUI environment is selected by default. Select the base environment that best fits the purpose of the system on which you're installing Oracle Linux.

From the right side, you can add extra software profiles to the selected base environment. These profiles consists of groups of related packages that enable the required functionality.

System

Under System, you configure the following options:

After configuring any of these options, select Done to return to the Installation Summary screen.

Installation Destination

The installation destination is used to configure the disks where Oracle Linux is installed. Even if you accept the default settings, you must still open the Installation Destination screen to clear the option's warning icon.

Figure 3-8 Installation Destination


The image shows the options on the Installation Destination screen that specify where to install Oracle Linux. The top part lists local hard disks as a first option. Underneath is an Add a Disk button to add specialized and network disks. The bottom part of the screen lists options for customizing disk configurations, freeing up disk space, and using data encryption.

You can configure the installer to use local storage devices in the Local Standard Disks section of the window. A check mark icon on the disk device is displayed for any selected devices.

If you need to add network based or specialized storage such as ISCSI or NVDIMM devices, you can select the Add a disk... button in the Specialized & Network Disks section of the window.

You can configure other options for the target destination in the Storage Configuration section of the window:

  • Selecting the Automatic radio button performs automatic partitioning, using the default partitioning schema. See Default Disk Partition Layout.

    • I would like to make additional space available: Set this checkbox to reclaim space from an existing partitioning layout.

    • Encrypt my data: Set this checkbox to encrypt partitions using Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS). You're prompted to set a LUKS encryption passphrase when you select the Done button.

  • Selecting the Custom radio button lets you use custom partitioning. If you set this option, the Manual Partitioning configuration page is displayed after you select the Done button.

Manual Partitioning

Detected mount points are listed in the left side of the window. Mount points are grouped by any detected OS installations. Options for each mount point are displayed on the right side when you select a mount point on the left side.

If the system contains existing file systems, ensure that enough space is available for the installation. To remove any partitions, select them in the list and select the - button.

If no partitions exist on the disk and you want to create a set of partitions as a starting point, select a partitioning scheme from the left side, and select Click here to create them automatically. The installer automatically creates standard partitions and mount points that you can customize and adjust.

The following options are available when configuring a mount point:

  • Mount point: If a file system is the root file system, enter /, enter /boot for the /boot file system, and so on. No mount point is required for a swap file system.

  • Desired Capacity: Set the value to the size of the file system that you want to create. You can use common size units such as KiB or GiB. The default size unit is MiB.

  • Device Type: Set the device type to one of Standard Partition, LVM, or LVM Thin Provisioning. You can configure RAID options if two or more disks are configured for manual partitioning and you select an LVM device type. You can also configure the LVM Volume Group, if an LVM device type is selected.

  • File System: Select the file system type that you want to use for the partition. Note that Oracle Linux also includes the Btrfs file system type, but to configure a Btrfs file system you must use the UEK boot image to load the installer. See Installing a System With a Btrfs root File System for more information.

  • Reformat: Set this checkbox format the partition. If the partition isn't a newly created one, you can unset the checkbox to retain existing data.

  • Label: Optionally label the partition to easily recognize individual partitions in other tooling.

  • Name: You can name a partition, but standard partitions are named automatically when they're created.

KDUMP

In the event of a system crash, Kdump captures information that helps diagnose the cause.

Figure 3-9 Kdump


The image shows the options on the Kdump screen. At the top is a checkbox that you can select to enable Kdump, followed the option to configure the amount of memory either automatically or manually.

Kdump is enabled by default and the amount of memory reserved for Kdump is calculated automatically. Select the Manual option to set the amount of reserved memory yourself.

Network and Host Name

Figure 3-10 Network & Host Name


The image shows the options on the Network & Host Name screen. The left side of the screen contains a list of network devices, with options for adding and removing devices, and a field to provide the host name. The right side of the screen shows the current configuration for the selected network devices, along with a toggle switch for enabling and disabling the device. On the lower right side of the screen is a Configure button.

By default, network configuration uses DHCP for IPv4 addresses. IPv6 addresses are configured automatically. The default settings are enough for the system to provide basic network functionality. However, you can customize the network configuration, for example, by providing a custom host name, or 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 perform custom configuration, select Configure and follow the prompts on the other configuration screens.

User Settings

Under User Settings, you configure the following options:

After completing root and user configuration, select Done to return to the Installation Summary screen.

Root Password

The Root Account window lets you enable or disable the root account.

Figure 3-11 Setting the root account

This figure shows the options available to enable or disable the root account. When the enable option is set, options are displayed to let you set the root password and to enable or disable access to the root account over SSH.

By default, the root account is disabled for security reasons. If you enable the root account, you must also set and confirm the root password.

Password strength is monitored and the following rules are applied:

  • Password must be eight characters or longer

  • Password contains numbers, letters (uppercase and lowercase) and symbols

  • Password is case-sensitive

If you have entered a weak password, you must confirm it by pressing the Done button twice.

A checkbox lets you configure whether to enable access to the root account over SSH. This option is disabled by default.

User Creation

This option lets you configure a user's credentials to enable access to the system. You can optionally configure the user to have administrative privileges. If the root account is disabled, you must configure the user as an administrator.

Figure 3-12 Create User

The figure shows the create user window, which includes a field for Full Name, username, a checkbox option to make the user an administrator which is selected by default, a checkbox option to require a password for the account also selected by default, and fields to set and confirm the password.

The following options are available:

  • Full name: Enter the full name of the user account. This field is used to show the user account in the graphical login manager.

  • User name: Enter the username that the user uses to sign in to the system on the command line or by using SSH.

  • Add administrative privileges to this user account: Set the checkbox if the user requires administrative privileges. The user is added to the wheel group, which is in the sudoers configuration by default.

    An administrator user can use the sudo command to perform tasks that are only available to root by using the user password, instead of the root password.

  • Require a password to use this account: Set this checkbox to require a password to sign in to the system. Always set this checkbox, especially if you configure the user account with administrative privileges.

  • Password: Enter the user password into this field.

  • Confirm password: Enter a matching user password into this field.

Password strength is monitored and the following rules are applied:

  • Password must be eight characters or longer

  • Password contains numbers, letters (uppercase and lowercase) and symbols

  • Password is case-sensitive

Weak passwords are allowed, but require that you press the Done button twice.

After the options are configured, the Advanced button becomes available to let you configure other user account options, such as the home directory location for the user, different values for user ID or group ID, and a list of groups that the account belongs to.

Completing the Installation

From the Installation Summary screen, select 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 sign in to the system by using the credentials you set in User Settings.

For details of other configuration options, see Postinstallation Configuration.