+++ title = “Revolutionize Your Computing Experience with this Ultimate Guide to Installing Centos - You Won’t Believe How Easy It Is!” date = “2021-04-20” author = “OpenAI” tags = [“Centos”, “computing”, “installation”, “guide”]

+++

If you’re looking to revolutionize your computing experience, look no further than installing Centos. Centos is an open-source, enterprise-class, and community-supported Linux distribution that’s ideal for power users, developers, and system administrators.

Installing Centos sounds daunting, but it’s a lot easier than you might think. In this ultimate guide, we’ll walk you through the installation process step by step, and you’ll see just how easy it really is. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Download the Centos ISO

The first thing you’ll need to do is to download the Centos ISO. You can do this by visiting the official Centos website at https://www.centos.org/download/. You’ll see a list of available ISO images that you can download. Choose the one that’s right for your system, and then download it.

Step 2: Create a bootable USB or DVD with the Centos ISO

The next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD with the Centos ISO. This will allow you to boot your computer from the USB or DVD and install Centos. There are several tools you can use to create a bootable USB or DVD, such as Rufus, Etcher, or UNetbootin.

Step 3: Boot your computer from the USB or DVD

Once you’ve created the bootable USB or DVD, you’ll need to boot your computer from it. To do this, restart your computer and enter the BIOS or UEFI settings. Look for the boot order settings, and change them so that your computer boots from the USB or DVD first.

Step 4: Start the Centos installation process

Once your computer boots from the USB or DVD, the Centos installation process will start. The first thing you’ll need to do is to select your language and keyboard layout.

Step 5: Select the installation destination

Next, you’ll need to select the installation destination. This is where Centos will be installed on your computer. You can choose to install Centos alongside your existing operating system, or you can choose to wipe out your entire disk and install Centos as the only operating system.

Step 6: Configure your network settings

After selecting your installation destination, you’ll need to configure your network settings. This can be done manually or automatically, depending on your network environment.

Step 7: Customize your installation

Once you’ve configured your network settings, you’ll have the option to customize your installation. You can choose to install a minimal version of Centos, or you can install additional packages depending on your needs.

Step 8: Create a root password

After customizing your installation, you’ll need to create a root password. This is the password you’ll use to log in as the administrator of your system.

Step 9: Wait for the installation to complete

Finally, you’ll need to wait for the installation to complete. This can take some time, depending on the options you’ve chosen during the installation process. Once the installation is complete, you’ll be prompted to reboot your computer.

Congratulations! You’ve now installed Centos on your computer. You should now be able to log in to your new Centos system and start enjoying all the benefits it offers.

In conclusion, installing Centos is not as daunting as it might seem. By following this ultimate guide, you can easily install Centos on your computer and revolutionize your computing experience. Happy installing!

While CentOS is mostly used in servers, it can also be used on the desktop. This tutorial will show you how to install CentOS on your desktop. 

Before You Get Started

To get started, you need to download the CentOS ISO files on the project’s website and create a bootable USB. I’m using a new minimal ISO of CentOS 8.2 for this tutorial.

Note: for everything in the CentOS installer, you’ll check your options and click “Done” in the upper-left corner. It’s always there so you know where to go. It’s just an odd placement.

Once you are done creating the bootable USB, insert it into your computer and boot it up.

Choosing Your Language

This is the first screen you’ll see. You can either type at the bottom to search for your language, or you can search through and click on your option.

The Main CentOS Install Screen

The main screen in the CentOS installer, Anaconda, is where you see all the options available to you. As you can see, there are a lot of tweaks you can make to the installation. We’ll start with the Localization column on the far left.

Localization

Keyboard

Under the Keyboard section, you’re able to add multiple keyboard layouts and test your layout configurations. This is nice if you live in a country with multiple languages or often switch between multiple layouts for different languages.

Language

Under “Language Support,” you’re able to choose multiple system languages to go along with your keyboard layouts that you selected above. Once again, you can type to search for your language in whatever keyboard layout you’re using, seen top right next to “Help!”

Time & Date

“Time & Date” is for your time zone and time and date format. If you turn on your networking, you can choose to use network time rather than configuring things manually.

Software

Installation Source

“Installation Source” gives you options for installing from the actual “DVD” file that your ISO file represents or installing on the network. Most newer options will allow you to choose “Closest mirror” for your network, so downloading the “minimal” or “netinstall” ISO and choosing the network installation option saves time and effort. If you do choose to download the whole 8 GB ISO, you can just choose everything from the disk without having to turn on networking. 

Software Selection

“Software Selection” gives you options for the packages you install right out of the gate. This is nice if you’re doing a particular thing with it, but these are actually all DNF Groups that you can install later with the dnf groupinstall command. It’s nice if you want to start right away with these packages installed, but otherwise I would choose a base on the left and leave it at that. 

System

Installation Destination

This is the strangest part of the CentOS installer. It shows up as an error on the main screen, so you click on it expecting to have to do something specific.

If you don’t have any specific partitioning requirements, all you need to do is click on it and click “Done” in the upper left. Automatic partitioning will automatically fill any free space that you have on your disk, including installing alongside other OS that are on your disk or data partitions you may have. Automatic partitioning is suitable for most users. You can also delete partitions to make more space for your installation by checking the “I would like to make additional space available” box and clicking “Done,” which will bring up a menu of all your partitions and give you the choice of which to delete. 

However, if you do have specific partitioning requirements, like remounting an old “/home” directory, choosing a specific file system, or selecting specific sizes for your partitions, you can choose “Custom,” bringing you to a manual partitioning menu. You can generate some partitions and modify them, or you can just create mount points with the little “+” button on the bottom of the screen. 

You can choose whether it’s a standard device or an LVM volume, whether to encrypt the volume, and which file system you want to format the partition with.

One nice thing to note about the CentOS Anaconda installer is that no matter the partitions you create, it won’t touch your disks until you click “Begin Installation” on the main screen after you’ve selected all your installation options. 

Kdump

Kdump is the kernel dump program that will capture information in the event of a system crash. It’s generally useful, so I recommend leaving it on. However, you’re more than welcome to turn it off by unchecking the “Enable kdump” box.

Network & Host Name

“Network & Host Name” is usually where I go first when installing a new system. It defaults to the network being off, but you can turn it on to get access to additional software packages and security policies.

You can also change your host name. It defaults to “localhost.localdomain,” which is quite unhelpful. I’ve changed mine to something more specific and useful. 

Security Policy

You can choose to download a security policy for compliance with various regulations and policies. For most servers and workstations at home, you can just leave that alone.

Begin Installation

Once you finish everything in the menu to your liking, you can click “Begin Installation” to get things started. There, you’ll set your Root account password and create your user and set your own password. Let the installer finish.

Once the installation has completed, reboot the computer, and you will be on the CentOS desktop.

Now that you know how to install CentOS, check out the differences between RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora and how to manage these systems with Cockpit.

John is a young technical professional with a passion for educating users on the best ways to use their technology. He holds technical certifications covering topics ranging from computer hardware to cybersecurity to Linux system administration.

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