Fedora Core 5

home > operating systems > fedora core 5

Table of Contents

Introduction

Use these instructions to install the Fedora Core 5 version of GNU/Linux and the software required for supporting a LAMP (Linux—Apache httpd—MySQL—PHP/Perl) server. These instructions tell you how to install and configure:

Note: This document is under construction as I install Fedora Core 5. Watch for new material as I make progress. Text in red is flagged for later revision.

Fedora is an open source GNU/Linux project sponsored by Red Hat. Fedora Core 5 was released on March 15, 2006.

These instructions assume you are installing Fedora Core 5 onto a PC with a 32-bit Intel or AMD processor. I have created these instructions by installing Fedora Core 5 on a Toshiba Satellite Pro laptop.

Sources of Information about Fedora Core 5

Stanton Finley provides a thorough set of Fedora Core 5 Linux installation notes.

Caitlyn Martin wrote a brief review of Fedora Core 5 that I found useful.

falko provides instructions for The Perfect Setup—Fedora Core 5 for installing the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of FC5 at www.howtoforge.com.

There are at least three books about to be published about Fedora Core 5. These are:

I haven’t read any of these books or their earlier editions, so I can’t make any recommendations. However, since these installation notes are narrowly focused on setting up a LAMP server, you’ll want to turn to one of the above books to learn how to install and support other capabilities of Fedora Core 5.

Install and Configure Fedora Core 5

Obtain the Fedora Core 5 Installation CDs

The ISO images for the installation CDs for Fedora Core 5 can be downloaded from the Fedora Core Download Server or from mirror sites accessible from the Fedora Project site. You need to download the following files:

Since the downloads are large, you need a high-speed Internet connection to obtain them. Even then, it will take three to four hours to download all six images.

One you have downloaded the files, you need to burn each file to a CD. Windows XP does not come with a utility for burning ISO images to a CD. Linux has the cdrecord utility, and Carla Schroder has provided a set of detailed instructions for using it.

I burned the CDs on my PowerBook using Apple’s Disk Utility. The steps are simple:

The install disks are also available in the books listed above.

Install Fedora Core 5

Boot from Fedora Core Disk 1

Configure the BIOS of your computer so it will boot first from the CD drive. On my Toshiba laptop, I entered the BIOS configuration by pressing the Esc key immediately after turning on the computer. The BIOS configuration screen allowed me to direct the computer to attempt to boot first from the internal CD drive. I saved this setting and exited the configuration screen.

On my Toshiba laptop, I could also select the boot device by pressing F12 immediately after startup. The Toshiba BIOS presented a set of icons depicting the possible boot devices (diskette drive, hard drive, CD-ROM, and network). I used the arrow key to select the desired boot device, and then I pressed the Enter key.

Place Fedora Core 5 Disk 1 into the CD drive, and reboot the computer from the CD.

Choose Install or upgrade in graphical mode by pressing the enter key

Test the CD Media

You should test the CDs before you use them for the first time. Use the tab key to highlight the OK button, then press the space bar to initiate testing.

Skip testing the media by using the tab key to highlight the Skip button, then press the space bar.

Release Notes

When the fedora screen appears, click on the Release Notes button to read the Fedora Core 5 release notes. (Note: the links in the Release Notes window are not functional.)

Highlights of the release notes are:

When finished reading the release notes, click on the Close button of the Release Notes window. Click the Next button.

Language Selection

Select the language you want to use during the installation process, then click the Next button.

Keyboard Configuration

Select the appropriate keyboard for the system, then click the Next button.

Install or Upgrade

The installer searches for an existing installation of Fedora Core. If the installer detects that a version of Fedora Core is already installed on the computer, it provides two installation options: Install Fedora Core or Upgrade an existing installation.

To create a completely fresh Fedora Core installation, select Install Fedora Core.

If you want to preserve data files from a previous installation, select the Upgrade an existing installation option.

Select the appropriate option, then click the Next button.

Disk Partitioning

For disk partitioning, you have different options based on what operating systems are already installed on the computer.

For a dedicated web server, you normally want to select the option Remove all partitions on selected drives and create default layout. This choice wipes out everything previously installed on the computer.

In my case, I wanted to preserve the ability to boot into either Fedora Core 5 or Windows XP. I selected Remove linux partitions on selected drives and create default layout. This completely erased my earlier Fedora Core installation without preserving data files, but it preserved the Windows XP installation.

If Windows is installed and GNU/Linux is not already installed, you must have free disk space reserved for the Fedora Core 5 installation. In this case, select Use free space on selected drives and create default layout.

Select the option that is appropriate for your computer, then click the Next button.

Network Configuration

On the Network Configuration screen, you can set up your computer to run initially using DHCP, then later modify the network settings to assign a static IP address and host name. These directions assume you set the hostname automatically via DHCP, the default setting. Click the Next button.

Time Zone Selection

Using the scrolling list to select your time zone. Click the Next button.

Set Root Password

On the Set Root Password screen, enter a high-quality root password and confirm it. A high-quality root password is about 15 characters long with a relatively random assortment of upper case and lower case letters, numerals, and punctuation characters. Click the Next button.

Software Selection

For this installation, which is focused on setting up a LAMP server, leave Office and Productivity unchecked but check Software Development and Web server.

In the lower left of the window, select Customize now.

After the installation is complete, you can use the Add Programs utility to install additional packages from the CDs. And these instructions will show you how to use the yum utility to update existing packages and to install new packages.

Click the Next button.

Customization

These are my recommendations for the software to install:

Desktop Environments
Package Group Selected Notes
GNOME Desktop Environment Yes Accept the default options.
KDE (K Desktop Environment) No
Applications
Package Group Selected Notes
Authoring and Publishing No
Editors No The GNOME gedit text editor, which performs syntax highlighting, meets my needs. You probably have a different preference.
Engineering and Scientific Yes Click on the Optional packages button and select gnuplot.
Games and Entertainment No
Graphical Internet Yes Click on the Optional packages button and select FireFox as the only optional package to be installed.
Graphics No You will install the graphics software later.
Office/Productivity No
Sound and Video No
Text-based Internet No

Copyright © 2006 by Conrad Halling. Some rights reserved.
Direct your comments to conrad.halling@sphaerula.com.
Updated 25-Apr-2006.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License.