Site-Licensed Software: Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is available for no fee to students and staff for production and personal use. Software updates, ISO images and other services are provided through ACCC's Red Hat Network satellite server. There is no cost, but you must register to receive updates. ISOs should not be redistributed outside of the university.

• Activate your RHN Satellite account
• Download the Image
• Installation
• Register Your System

The Red Hat Network (RHN) Satellite Server provides software updates and a web based interface to check on the update status of your systems. Everyone that has a UIC account can activate an RHN Satellite account by visiting:

https://www.uic.edu/apps/corvus/cgi/rhn

Advanced features are also available from the RHN Satellite Server such as configuration profiles, custom RPM channels and automated kickstarts. Contact us if you're interested.

You can obtain the CD ISO images at:

http://rhnsat.cc.uic.edu/pub/isos/

(Please note: this URL is only accessible frow within UIC networks or with a UIC proxy. ISOs images should not be redistributed).

In that directory, you will find subdirectories for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) versions 4 and 5 for 32 bit and 64 bit systems (including AMD64 and Itanium). If you need a version that is not currently available, please let us know.

• The `i386' varieties are for Intel and AMD 32-bit systems.
• The `x86_64' variants are for AMD and Intel 64-bit systems with the exception of Intel's Itanium.
• The `ia64' is for Intel's Itanium 64-bit systems.
• For RHEL4 ISOs: AS, ES, and WS variants are all available. There is no practical distinction between AS and ES; the software is the same as is the support level (provided through ACCC). WS, though officially for work stations, is identical to ES minus a few packages such as DHCP and TFTP server software.
• For RHEL5 ISOs: the client and server differentiation are what they seem. Client is for desktop/workstation usage and the server variant is for servers, though most of the software is the same in either case.

Burning the CD Images

Assuming you have downloaded the ISOs and you are using a Linux system to burn your CD images. You can use the command:

   cdrecord -v /path/to/cd/image.iso

After you've burned your CDs, the beginning of your installation procedure should prompt you to check the CDs. Be sure to check all your CDs before beginning your insallation. If you have trouble, check the MD5 checksum of your download against the md5sums.txt file in the isos direcory. If the checksum of your image is okay, but the pre-install check still fails, try using a different system to burn your images or a different brand of CDR.

Network Installation

As an alternative to burning a stack of CDs, you may also perform a network based installation, using expanded installation media images on our satellite server. Network installation trees are available under http://rhnsat.cc.uic.edu/pub/os/. Not all Red Hat versions available as CDs are provided for network installation, be sure to check first. Let us know if you need a version not currently provided. Your boot.iso must match the version of the OS you wish to install.

In order to perform a network installation, you will still need installation media to get started. There are several ways to do this, including network PXE boot options, but the simplest is to download and burn the boot.iso CD image from the appropriate ISOs directory.

Begin your installation by booting the system (or virtual system) off the boot CD image. This image will automatically prompt you for your installation media. When prompted, select the HTTP option. For your http server, enter "rhnsat.cc.uic.edu". For the path, enter the path below /pub/os, for example, if I was installing "RHEL5-i386-server" the path I would use would be /pub/os/RHEL5-i386-server.

RHEL5 Installation Numbers

When you install these Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL5), you will be asked for an installation number. The installation number is not necessary to complete the installation. The core list of packages for RHEL5 is in the "base channel"; the base channel provides most of the software in the distribution including internet services, administration tools and development toolkits. An installation number can provide access to software that is not in the "base channel" but typically this is software that requires special support contracts from Red Hat that are not included in our site subscription.

For RHEL5 Server, our site subscription provides access to virtualization tools. Virtualization is the only additional software channel the installation number provides and you only will need an installation number if you intend to run your own virtual servers. The installation number for RHEL5 Server is "d5abb7dfd5acbdb7". For RHEL5 Desktop, our site subscription includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop with Workstation and Multi-OS options. The installation number for RHEL5 Desktop is "a2afcb63a2bb9dca".

Once you've got your system installed, register it with our satellite server. There is a registration script available on the Web at: http://rhnsat.cc.uic.edu/pub/register.sh
To register, you may run as root:

wget http://rhnsat.cc.uic.edu/pub/register.sh
sh regsiter.sh

(We've noticed a trend where on the last screen of registration, it will say that it was unsuccessful even when it succeeds!)

During this process you will be asked for your username and password. This will be your UIC netid and ACCC common password. If you have not already done so, you must must activate your ACCC account.

Once you've run the register.sh script, log in to the RedHat Satellite Web interface at https://rhnsat.cc.uic.edu/ and you should see your system listed.

If you plan to use extra software channels such as cluster utilities or virtualization, be sure to edit your System profile -> Software -> Software Channels and add whichever channels you need.

Our site license currently covers 500 university systems and 500 personal systems. At present we do not expect those limits to be a concern, however if you are installing a number of systems, please drop us a line to let us know first.