Install RHEL or CentOS 6: Archived Manual Installation Guide
This guide preserves the archived OEM procedure and its example values. Original English screens are retained; translated bitmap labels are English instructional illustrations, not captures from an official English installer. Official English replacement figures can show different example settings, noted beside each image. No operating-system installation or disk operation was performed while preparing this article.
Redhat/CentOS 6.x System Installation Steps
1. Boot from Optical Disc, Load RAID Controller Driver
Select the intended installation medium and the firmware mode supported by this OS, architecture and server. The source demonstrates Legacy/DVD boot and says to avoid a UEFI-prefixed entry; that is its example, not a universal instruction to switch an existing UEFI installation. Its BIOS screenshot actually lists ASR5805 RAID first and DVD second, so it does not show the prose’s claimed final DVD-first setting. Save only the intended boot change.
The following optical-disc menu starts the installer. If an expected disk is missing, first inspect the controller presentation, configured logical drives and hardware compatibility; a missing driver is one possible cause. Use a trusted driver-update disk matching the exact OS/kernel/architecture and controller when required. The source mixes RHEL 6.0 boot screens with an aacraid RHEL 6.2 driver filename; that filename is not a compatibility guarantee.
At the installer boot: prompt, the official RHEL 6 command is linux dd. If editing an existing kernel command line with Tab, add the applicable dd boot option to that line; do not append a second linux command blindly. The source picture includes linux dd after an existing vmlinuz/initrd line and is not a reliable literal command-line recipe.
A prompt to load the RAID controller driver will appear next; select Yes.
The source example detects sda and sr0, with sda identified there as the driver USB and sr0 as the optical drive. Device names vary: verify the actual medium and controller before selecting a driver-disk location. This enumeration alone does not diagnose every missing-disk cause.
sda1 appears, indicating the USB flash drive partition; continue pressing Enter.
You can now see the files inside the USB flash drive. Locate the pre-placed RAID controller driver file (usually in .img or .iso format) and select OK.
After loading the driver, a prompt asking whether to load additional drivers will appear; select NO.
A prompt asking whether to verify the optical media will appear; select Skip to bypass.
Next, the graphical installation interface will launch.
2. Basic Settings
Select the language and click Next.
Language Configuration. Official RHEL 6 example selects English; the OEM source selected Simplified Chinese. Language autonyms remain as interface data.
Select the keyboard layout; keep the default settings.
For Disk Type, select Basic Storage Devices.
Read the Storage Device Warning before proceeding. Yes, discard all data is destructive; No, keep all data preserves the current contents at this step. The pictured Apply choice to all devices checkbox is checked, so verify every affected device. Continue with discard only for verified disposable targets after protecting required data.
Set the hostname and click Next.
Hostname. The official form uses hostname rather than the OEM RHEL6 example. Configure the actual name and network settings.
Set the time zone; select Asia/Shanghai.
Set the root password and click Next.
Root Password. Official English example retains masked input; it does not supply a reusable password.
3. Disk Partitioning Setup
Select Create Custom Layout (Custom Partitioning) to partition according to your needs.
Installation type. Official example highlights Replace Existing Linux System(s); for the custom layout described here select Create Custom Layout instead. Both replacement and later formatting can destroy existing data.
Plan partitions for the actual firmware/bootloader, applications and storage requirements. A root filesystem and swap alone are not a universal complete boot layout. The OEM example also contains /boot, /home and /tmp; the substituted official overview uses an alternative LVM layout.
Create Storage. The official English dialog offers Standard Partition, software RAID and LVM; Standard Partition is selected, matching this source step.
For a swap partition, leave Mount Point not applicable and select swap as File System Type. The OEM illustration shows /dev/sda2, fixed 4000 MB and Force primary checked. Size swap for the actual workload, RAM, suspend/crash requirements and OS guidance. The source’s 1.5–2 times RAM rule and 32/64 GB examples are not universal sizing requirements.
Create the root partition (/) as shown below. Select / as the Mount Point, choose ext4 as the File System Type, and set the size according to actual needs or use all available space.
Root partition creation. Official English form shows ext4, mount /, target sdb and fill to maximum 20480 MB. The OEM form instead uses sda with 81920 MB total. Verify actual target and planned capacity; the values are different examples.
You may also create partitions such as /home as needed, or skip them. Below is an example of already created disk partitions; simply click Next.
Partition overview. Official example has /boot 500 MB and an LVM volume group with / and swap. The OEM source instead uses standard/extended partitions with /, /home and /tmp. These are alternative layouts; review the chosen actual device, filesystems and format flags.
The Write changes to disk confirmation applies the intended partition operations. Recheck disk identity, all deletion/format flags and protected data before confirming; this step can destroy existing data.
Write changes to disk. Deleted or reformatted partitions lose their data. Confirm only an intended installation on verified targets after protecting required data.
Select the installation location for the GRUB bootloader. The default is /dev/sda.
Special Attention! If installing the system via USB, /dev/sda might not be the local disk but your USB drive, while the local disk could be /dev/sdb. In this case, click 'Change Device' to move the local disk to the first position; then this option will change to 'Install boot loader on /dev/sdb.' Otherwise, accidentally installing GRUB to the USB drive will prevent the system from booting.
Boot Loader Configuration. Official example installs on /dev/sda and lists the OS on /dev/sda2; the OEM list uses /dev/sda3. Identify the actual local boot disk, especially when a USB installer can be enumerated as sda.
4. Package Selection
Select the packages to install. By default, Base Server is selected; ensure you check the 'Customize Now' option to customize the installed packages.
Package Group Selection. Official English example uses Basic Server and Customize later; select Customize now for the package-selection steps below. Groups and optional repositories vary by medium.
Please check the packages according to your actual needs.
Install only needed package groups. The source selects Development Tools and all its optional packages, but a full development toolchain is not mandatory for every system or precompiled driver. A source-built driver requires its own documented compiler, matching kernel development files and other prerequisites.
If a graphical interface is required, select the appropriate desktop and dependencies. The source figure shows X Window System and several desktop-related groups checked, while the highlighted KDE Desktop box is unchecked (21 of 23 optional packages shown). Selecting every desktop component is not a universal requirement.
Start Installation
Installation starting. This official English dialog shows the process starting and does not claim completion.
Package installation in progress. Official example reports 52/508 with a different package/architecture from the OEM texlive-latex 956/1684 example. It illustrates progress only, not successful completion on the OEM server.
After installation is complete, remove the optical disc and click the "Reboot" button to restart the server and boot from the hard disk.
5. Post-Installation Configuration
Boot into the welcome screen. Next, perform some basic configurations by clicking the "Forward" button.
Firstboot Welcome. Official English RHEL 6 Setup Agent example.
Read the applicable license and accept only if the responsible user agrees to its terms.
License Information. Read the actual applicable agreement; the image is an interface example, not consent on behalf of the reader.
Configure software updates and select "No, I will register later."
Software Updates. Official example selects registration now, while the OEM example selects registration later. Choose according to the actual entitlement and update plan; these archived screens do not establish current service availability.
Create an appropriate non-root user for ordinary work. Although the archived Setup Agent permits skipping this step, that does not make routine root login the recommended practice.
Create User. Official form is empty rather than the OEM ceshi example with masked password. Create a suitable non-root account locally.
Set Date and Time
Date and Time. Official example shows 2010-02-18; OEM screenshot shows 2012-08-06. Neither is a current time setting to copy.
Configure kdump only with suitable reserved memory, dump destination and a verified crash-collection plan for the actual host. Both source and official pictures show Enable kdump unchecked, with different memory totals. The figures do not demonstrate enabled or tested crash capture. Finish the Setup Agent after reviewing the actual settings.
Kdump. Official example has Enable kdump unchecked, 1758 MB total/128 MB reserved field/1630 MB usable; the OEM unchecked example shows 996/128/868 MB. Configure reservation and dump storage for the actual host; the pictured unchecked state is not proof of working crash collection.
English reference and source scope
No corresponding complete English edition of this OEM QA was verified. The official references supply release-specific terminology and suitable English illustrations; they do not certify the pictured OEM hardware/driver combinations. All original sections and working image references are retained, with material source differences explained.