Language:
Format:

Red Hat Training

A Red Hat training course is available for RHEL 8

Chapter 9. Advanced configuration options

9.1. Configuring System Purpose

You use System Purpose to record the intended use of a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 system. Setting System Purpose enables the entitlement server to auto-attach the most appropriate subscription. This section describes how to configure System Purpose using Kickstart.

Benefits include:

In-depth system-level information for system administrators and business operations.
Reduced overhead when determining why a system was procured and its intended purpose.
Improved customer experience of Subscription Manager auto-attach as well as automated discovery and reconciliation of system usage.

9.1.1. Overview

You can enter System Purpose data in one of the following ways:

During image creation
During a GUI installation when using the Connect to Red Hat screen to register your system and attach your Red Hat subscription
During a Kickstart installation when using the syspurpose Kickstart command
After installation using the syspurpose command-line (CLI) tool

To record the intended purpose of your system, you can configure the following components of System Purpose. The selected values are used by the entitlement server upon registration to attach the most suitable subscription for your system.

Role

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node

Service Level Agreement

Premium
Standard
Self-Support

Usage

Production
Development/Test
Disaster Recovery

Additional resources

9.1.2. Configuring System Purpose in a Kickstart file

Follow the steps in this procedure to configure System Purpose during the installation. To do so, use the syspurpose Kickstart command in the Kickstart configuration file.

Even though System Purpose is an optional feature of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program, we strongly recommend that you configure System Purpose to auto-attach the most appropriate subscription.

Note

You can also enable System Purpose after the installation is complete. To do so use the syspurpose command-line tool. The syspurpose tool commands are different from the syspurpose Kickstart commands.

The following actions are available for the syspurpose Kickstart command:

role

Set the intended role of the system. This action uses the following format:

syspurpose --role=

The assigned role can be:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node

SLA

Set the intended SLA of the system. This action uses the following format:

syspurpose --sla=

The assigned sla can be:

Premium
Standard
Self-Support

usage

Set the intended usage of the system. This action uses the following format:

syspurpose --usage=

The assigned usage can be:

Production
Development/Test
Disaster Recovery

addon

Any additional layered products or features. To add multiple items specify --addon multiple times, once per layered product/feature. This action uses the following format:

syspurpose --addon=

9.1.3. Additional resources

Configuring System Purpose using the subscription-manager command-line tool

9.2. Updating drivers during installation

This section describes how to complete a driver update during the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation process.

Note

This is an optional step of the installation process. Red Hat recommends that you do not perform a driver update unless it is necessary.

Prerequisites

You have been notified by Red Hat, your hardware vendor, or a trusted third-party vendor that a driver update is required during Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation.

9.2.1. Overview

Red Hat Enterprise Linux supports drivers for many hardware devices but some newly-released drivers may not be supported. A driver update should only be performed if an unsupported driver prevents the installation from completing. Updating drivers during installation is typically only required to support a particular configuration. For example, installing drivers for a storage adapter card that provides access to your system’s storage devices.

Warning

Driver update disks may disable conflicting kernel drivers. In rare cases, unloading a kernel module may cause installation errors.

9.2.2. Types of driver update

Red Hat, your hardware vendor, or a trusted third party provides the driver update as an ISO image file. Once you receive the ISO image file, choose the type of driver update.

Types of driver update

Automatic: The recommended driver update method; a storage device (including a CD, DVD, or USB flash drive) labeled OEMDRV is physically connected to the system. If the OEMDRV storage device is present when the installation starts, it is treated as a driver update disk, and the installation program automatically loads its drivers.
Assisted: The installation program prompts you to locate a driver update. You can use any local storage device with a label other than OEMDRV. The inst.dd boot option is specified when starting the installation. If you use this option without any parameters, the installation program displays all of the storage devices connected to the system, and prompts you to select a device that contains a driver update.
Manual: Manually specify a path to a driver update image or an RPM package. You can use any local storage device with a label other than OEMDRV, or a network location accessible from the installation system. The inst.dd=location boot option is specified when starting the installation, where location is the path to a driver update disk or ISO image. When you specify this option, the installation program attempts to load any driver updates found at the specified location. With manual driver updates, you can specify local storage devices, or a network location (HTTP, HTTPS or FTP server).

Note

You can use both inst.dd=location and inst.dd simultaneously, where location is the path to a driver update disk or ISO image. In this scenario, the installation program attempts to load any available driver updates from the location and also prompts you to select a device that contains the driver update.
Initialize the network using the ip= option when loading a driver update from a network location.

Limitations

On UEFI systems with the Secure Boot technology enabled, all drivers must be signed with a valid certificate. Red Hat drivers are signed by one of Red Hat’s private keys and authenticated by its corresponding public key in the kernel. If you load additional, separate drivers, verify that they are signed.

9.2.3. Preparing a driver update

This procedure describes how to prepare a driver update on a CD and DVD.

Prerequisites

You have received the driver update ISO image from Red Hat, your hardware vendor, or a trusted third-party vendor.
You have burned the driver update ISO image to a CD or DVD.

Warning

If only a single ISO image file ending in .iso is available on the CD or DVD, the burn process has not been successful. See your system’s burning software documentation for instructions on how to burn ISO images to a CD or DVD.

Procedure

Insert the driver update CD or DVD into your system’s CD/DVD drive, and browse it using the system’s file manager tool.
Verify that a single file rhdd3 is available. rhdd3 is a signature file that contains the driver description and a directory named rpms, which contains the RPM packages with the actual drivers for various architectures.

9.2.4. Performing an automatic driver update

This procedure describes how to perform an automatic driver update during installation.

Prerequisites

You have placed the driver update image on a standard disk partition with an OEMDRV label or burnt the OEMDRV driver update image to a CD or DVD. Advanced storage, such as RAID or LVM volumes, may not be accessible during the driver update process.
You have connected a block device with an OEMDRV volume label to your system, or inserted the prepared CD or DVD into your system’s CD/DVD drive before starting the installation process.

Procedure

When you complete the prerequisite steps, the drivers load automatically when the installation program starts and installs during the system’s installation process.

9.2.5. Performing an assisted driver update

This procedure describes how to perform an assisted driver update during installation.

Prerequisites

You have connected a block device without an OEMDRV volume label to your system and copied the driver disk image to this device, or you have prepared a driver update CD or DVD and inserted it into your system’s CD or DVD drive before starting the installation process.

Note

If you burned an ISO image file to a CD or DVD but it does not have the OEMDRV volume label, you can use the inst.dd option with no arguments. The installation program provides an option to scan and select drivers from the CD or DVD. In this scenario, the installation program does not prompt you to select a driver update ISO image. Another scenario is to use the CD or DVD with the inst.dd=location boot option; this allows the installation program to automatically scan the CD or DVD for driver updates. For more information, see Performing a manual driver update.

Procedure

From the boot menu window, press the Tab key on your keyboard to display the boot command line.
Append the inst.dd boot option to the command line and press Enter to execute the boot process.
From the menu, select a local disk partition or a CD or DVD device. The installation program scans for ISO files, or driver update RPM packages.
Optional: Select the driver update ISO file.
Note
This step is not required if the selected device or partition contains driver update RPM packages rather than an ISO image file, for example, an optical drive containing a driver update CD or DVD.
Select the required drivers.
1. Use the number keys on your keyboard to toggle the driver selection.
2. Press c to install the selected driver. The selected driver is loaded and the installation process starts.

9.2.6. Performing a manual driver update

This procedure describes how to perform a manual driver update during installation.

Prerequisites

You have placed the driver update ISO image file on a USB flash drive or a web server and connected it to your computer.

Procedure

From the boot menu window, press the Tab key on your keyboard to display the boot command line.
Append the inst.dd=location boot option to the command line, where location is a path to the driver update. Typically, the image file is located on a web server, for example, http://server.example.com/dd.iso, or on a USB flash drive, for example, /dev/sdb1. It is also possible to specify an RPM package containing the driver update, for example http://server.example.com/dd.rpm.
Press Enter to execute the boot process. The drivers available at the specified location are automatically loaded and the installation process starts.

Additional resources

The inst.dd boot option

9.2.7. Disabling a driver

This procedure describes how to disable a malfunctioning driver.

Prerequisites

You have booted the installation program boot menu.

Procedure

From the boot menu, press the Tab key on your keyboard to display the boot command line.
Append the modprobe.blacklist=driver_name boot option to the command line.
Replace driver_name with the name of the driver or drivers you want to disable, for example:
```
modprobe.blacklist=ahci
```
Drivers disabled using the modprobe.blacklist= boot option remain disabled on the installed system and appear in the /etc/modprobe.d/anaconda-blacklist.conf file.
Press Enter to execute the boot process.

9.3. Preparing to install from the network using PXE

This section describes how to configure TFTP and DHCP on a PXE server to enable PXE boot and network installation.

9.3.1. Network install overview

A network installation allows you to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux to a system that has access to an installation server. At a minimum, two systems are required for a network installation:

PXE Server: A system running a DHCP server, a TFTP server, and an HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, or NFS server. While each server can run on a different physical system, the procedures in this section assume a single system is running all servers.
Client: The system to which you are installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Once installation starts, the client queries the DHCP server, receives the boot files from the TFTP server, and downloads the installation image from the HTTP, HTTPS, FTP or NFS server. Unlike other installation methods, the client does not require any physical boot media for the installation to start.

Note

To boot a client from the network, configure it in BIOS/UEFI or a quick boot menu. On some hardware, the option to boot from a network might be disabled, or not available.

The workflow steps to prepare to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux from a network using PXE are as follows:

Steps

Export the installation ISO image or the installation tree to an NFS, HTTPS, HTTP, or FTP server.
Configure the TFTP server and DHCP server, and start the TFTP service on the PXE server.
Boot the client and start the installation.

Important

The GRUB2 boot loader supports a network boot from HTTP in addition to a TFTP server. Sending the boot files, which are the kernel and initial RAM disk vmlinuz and initrd, over this protocol might be slow and result in timeout failures. An HTTP server does not carry this risk, but it is recommended that you use a TFTP server when sending the boot files.

Additional resources

9.3.2. Configuring a TFTP server for BIOS-based clients

Use this procedure to configure a TFTP server and DHCP server and start the TFTP service on the PXE server for BIOS-based AMD and Intel 64-bit systems.

Important

All configuration files in this section are examples. Configuration details vary and are dependent on the architecture and specific requirements.

Procedure

As root, install the following packages. If you already have a DHCP server configured in your network, exclude the dhcp-server packages:
```
# yum install tftp-server dhcp-server
```
Allow incoming connections to the tftp service in the firewall:
```
# firewall-cmd --add-service=tftp
```
Note
- This command enables temporary access until the next server reboot. To enable permanent access, add the --permanent option to the command.
- Depending on the location of the installation ISO file, you might have to allow incoming connections for HTTP or other services.

Configure your DHCP server to use the boot images packaged with SYSLINUX as shown in the following example /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf file. Note that if you already have a DHCP server configured, then perform this step on the DHCP server.

option space pxelinux;
option pxelinux.magic code 208 = string;
option pxelinux.configfile code 209 = text;
option pxelinux.pathprefix code 210 = text;
option pxelinux.reboottime code 211 = unsigned integer 32;
option architecture-type code 93 = unsigned integer 16;

subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
	option routers 10.0.0.254;
	range 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.253;

	class "pxeclients" {
	  match if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
	  next-server 10.0.0.1;

	  if option architecture-type = 00:07 {
	    filename "BOOTX64.EFI";
	    } else {
	    filename "pxelinux/pxelinux.0";
	  }
	}
}

Access the pxelinux.0 file from the SYSLINUX package in the DVD ISO image file, where my_local_directory is the name of the directory that you create:

# mount -t iso9660 /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /mount_point -o loop,ro

# cp -pr /mount_point/BaseOS/Packages/syslinux-tftpboot-version-architecture.rpm /my_local_directory

# umount /mount_point

Extract the package:

# rpm2cpio syslinux-tftpboot-version-architecture.rpm | cpio -dimv

Create a pxelinux/ directory in tftpboot/ and copy all the files from the directory into the pxelinux/ directory:
```
# mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux
```
```
# cp my_local_directory/tftpboot/* /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux
```
Create the directory pxelinux.cfg/ in the pxelinux/ directory:
```
# mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/pxelinux.cfg
```

Create a configuration file named default and add it to the pxelinux.cfg/ directory as shown in the following example:

default vesamenu.c32
prompt 1
timeout 600

display boot.msg

label linux
  menu label ^Install system
  menu default
  kernel images/RHEL-8/vmlinuz
  append initrd=images/RHEL-8/initrd.img ip=dhcp inst.repo=http://10.32.5.1/RHEL-8/x86_64/iso-contents-root/
label vesa
  menu label Install system with ^basic video driver
  kernel images/RHEL-8/vmlinuz
  append initrd=images/RHEL-8/initrd.img ip=dhcp inst.xdriver=vesa nomodeset inst.repo=http://10.32.5.1/RHEL-8/x86_64/iso-contents-root/
label rescue
  menu label ^Rescue installed system
  kernel images/RHEL-8/vmlinuz
  append initrd=images/RHEL-8/initrd.img rescue
label local
  menu label Boot from ^local drive
  localboot 0xffff

Note

The installation program cannot boot without its runtime image. Use the inst.stage2 boot option to specify location of the image. Alternatively, you can use the inst.repo= option to specify the image as well as the installation source.
The installation source location used with inst.repo must contain a valid .treeinfo file.
When you select the RHEL8 installation DVD as the installation source, the .treeinfo file points to the BaseOS and the AppStream repositories. You can use a single inst.repo option to load both repositories.

Create a subdirectory to store the boot image files in the /var/lib/tftpboot/ directory, and copy the boot image files to the directory. In this example, the directory is /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/images/RHEL-8/:
```
# mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/images/RHEL-8/
# cp /path_to_x86_64_images/pxeboot/{vmlinuz,initrd.img} /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux/images/RHEL-8/
```
On the DHCP server, start and enable the dhcpd service. If you have configured a DHCP server on the localhost, then start and enable the dhcpd service on the localhost.
```
# systemctl start dhcpd
# systemctl enable dhcpd
```
Start and enable the tftp.socket service:
```
# systemctl start tftp.socket
# systemctl enable tftp.socket
```
The PXE boot server is now ready to serve PXE clients. You can start the client, which is the system to which you are installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux, select PXE Boot when prompted to specify a boot source, and start the network installation.

9.3.3. Configuring a TFTP server for UEFI-based clients

Use this procedure to configure a TFTP server and DHCP server and start the TFTP service on the PXE server for UEFI-based AMD64, Intel 64, and 64-bit ARM systems.

Important

All configuration files in this section are examples. Configuration details vary and are dependent on the architecture and specific requirements.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 UEFI PXE boot supports a lowercase file format for a MAC-based grub menu file. For example, the MAC address file format for grub2 is grub.cfg-01-aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff

Procedure

As root, install the following packages. If you already have a DHCP server configured in your network, exclude the dhcp-server packages.
```
# yum install tftp-server dhcp-server
```
Allow incoming connections to the tftp service in the firewall:
```
# firewall-cmd --add-service=tftp
```
Note
- This command enables temporary access until the next server reboot. To enable permanent access, add the --permanent option to the command.
- Depending on the location of the installation ISO file, you might have to allow incoming connections for HTTP or other services.

Configure your DHCP server to use the boot images packaged with shim as shown in the following example /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf file. Note that if you already have a DHCP server configured, then perform this step on the DHCP server.

option space pxelinux;
option pxelinux.magic code 208 = string;
option pxelinux.configfile code 209 = text;
option pxelinux.pathprefix code 210 = text;
option pxelinux.reboottime code 211 = unsigned integer 32;
option architecture-type code 93 = unsigned integer 16;

subnet 10.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
	option routers 10.0.0.254;
	range 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.253;

	class "pxeclients" {
	  match if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
	  next-server 10.0.0.1;

	  if option architecture-type = 00:07 {
	    filename "BOOTX64.EFI";
	  } else {
	    filename "pxelinux/pxelinux.0";
		}
  }
}

Access the BOOTX64.EFI file from the shim package, and the grubx64.efi file from the grub2-efi package in the DVD ISO image file where my_local_directory is the name of the directory that you create:

# mount -t iso9660 /path_to_image/name_of_image.iso /mount_point -o loop,ro

# cp -pr /mount_point/BaseOS/Packages/shim-version-architecture.rpm /my_local_directory

# cp -pr /mount_point/BaseOS/Packages/grub2-efi-version-architecture.rpm /my_local_directory

# umount /mount_point

Extract the packages:

# rpm2cpio shim-version-architecture.rpm | cpio -dimv

# rpm2cpio grub2-efi-version-architecture.rpm | cpio -dimv

Copy the EFI boot images from your boot directory. Replace ARCH with shim or grub followed by the architecture, for example, grubx64.
```
# mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/uefi
# cp my_local_directory/boot/efi/EFI/redhat/ARCH.efi /var/lib/tftpboot/uefi/
```
Add a configuration file named grub.cfg to the tftpboot/ directory as shown in the following example:
```
set timeout=60
menuentry 'RHEL 8' {
  linuxefi images/RHEL-8.x/vmlinuz ip=dhcp inst.repo=http://10.32.5.1/RHEL-8.x/x86_64/iso-contents-root/
  initrdefi images/RHEL-8.x/initrd.img
}
```
Note
- The installation program cannot boot without its runtime image. Use the inst.stage2 boot option to specify location of the image. Alternatively, you can use the inst.repo= option to specify the image as well as the installation source.
- The installation source location used with inst.repo must contain a valid .treeinfo file.
- When you select the RHEL8 installation DVD as the installation source, the .treeinfo file points to the BaseOS and the AppStream repositories. You can use a single inst.repo option to load both repositories.
Create a subdirectory to store the boot image files in the /var/lib/tftpboot/ directory, and copy the boot image files to the directory. In this example, the directory is /var/lib/tftpboot/images/RHEL-8.x/:
```
# mkdir -p /var/lib/tftpboot/images/RHEL-8/
# cp /path_to_x86_64_images/pxeboot/{vmlinuz,initrd.img} /var/lib/tftpboot/images/RHEL-8/
```
On the DHCP server, start and enable the dhcpd service. If you have configured a DHCP server on the localhost, then start and enable the dhcpd service on the localhost.
```
# systemctl start dhcpd
# systemctl enable dhcpd
```
Start and enable the tftp.socket service:
```
# systemctl start tftp.socket
# systemctl enable tftp.socket
```
The PXE boot server is now ready to serve PXE clients. You can start the client, which is the system to which you are installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux, select PXE Boot when prompted to specify a boot source, and start the network installation.

Additional resources

Using the Shim Program

9.3.4. Configuring a network server for IBM Power systems

Use this procedure to configure a network boot server for IBM Power systems using GRUB2.

Important

All configuration files in this section are examples. Configuration details vary and are dependent on the architecture and specific requirements.

Procedure

As root, install the following packages. If you already have a DHCP server configured in your network, exclude the dhcp-server packages.
```
# yum install tftp-server dhcp-server
```
Allow incoming connections to the tftp service in the firewall:
```
# firewall-cmd --add-service=tftp
```
Note
- This command enables temporary access until the next server reboot. To enable permanent access, add the --permanent option to the command.
- Depending on the location of the installation ISO file, you might have to allow incoming connections for HTTP or other services.
Create a GRUB2 network boot directory inside the tftp root:
```
# grub2-mknetdir --net-directory=/var/lib/tftpboot
Netboot directory for powerpc-ieee1275 created. Configure your DHCP server to point to /boot/grub2/powerpc-ieee1275/core.elf
```
Note
The command output informs you of the file name that needs to be configured in your DHCP configuration, described in this procedure.
1. If the PXE server runs on an x86 machine, the grub2-ppc64-modules must be installed before creating a GRUB2 network boot directory inside the tftp root:
```
# yum install grub2-ppc64-modules
```
Create a GRUB2 configuration file: /var/lib/tftpboot/boot/grub2/grub.cfg as shown in the following example:
```
set default=0
set timeout=5

echo -e "\nWelcome to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 installer!\n\n"

menuentry 'Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8' {
  linux grub2-ppc64/vmlinuz ro ip=dhcp inst.repo=http://10.32.5.1/RHEL-8/x86_64/iso-contents-root/
  initrd grub2-ppc64/initrd.img
}
```
Note
- The installation program cannot boot without its runtime image. Use the inst.stage2 boot option to specify location of the image. Alternatively, you can use the inst.repo= option to specify the image as well as the installation source.
- The installation source location used with inst.repo must contain a valid .treeinfo file.
- When you select the RHEL8 installation DVD as the installation source, the .treeinfo file points to the BaseOS and the AppStream repositories. You can use a single inst.repo option to load both repositories.

Mount the DVD ISO image using the command:

# mount -t iso9660 /path_to_image/name_of_iso/ /mount_point -o loop,ro

Create a directory and copy the initrd.img and vmlinuz files from DVD ISO image into it, for example:
```
# cp /mount_point/ppc/ppc64/{initrd.img,vmlinuz} /var/lib/tftpboot/grub2-ppc64/
```

Configure your DHCP server to use the boot images packaged with GRUB2 as shown in the following example. Note that if you already have a DHCP server configured, then perform this step on the DHCP server.

subnet 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
  allow bootp;
  option routers 192.168.0.5;
  group { #BOOTP POWER clients
    filename "boot/grub2/powerpc-ieee1275/core.elf";
    host client1 {
    hardware ethernet 01:23:45:67:89:ab;
    fixed-address 192.168.0.112;
    }
  }
}

Adjust the sample parameters subnet, netmask, routers, fixed-address and hardware ethernet to fit your network configuration. Note the file name parameter; this is the file name that was outputted by the grub2-mknetdir command earlier in this procedure.
On the DHCP server, start and enable the dhcpd service. If you have configured a DHCP server on the localhost, then start and enable the dhcpd service on the localhost.
```
# systemctl start dhcpd
# systemctl enable dhcpd
```
Start and enable the tftp.socket service:
```
# systemctl start tftp.socket
# systemctl enable tftp.socket
```
The PXE boot server is now ready to serve PXE clients. You can start the client, which is the system to which you are installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux, select PXE Boot when prompted to specify a boot source, and start the network installation.

9.4. Boot options

This section describes contains the boot options that you can use to modify the default behavior of the installation program. For a full list of boot options, see the upstream boot option content.

9.4.1. Types of boot options

The two types of boot options are those with an equals "=" sign, and those without an equals "=" sign. Boot options are appended to the boot command line and you can append multiple options separated by space. Boot options that are specific to the installation program always start with inst.

Options with an equals "=" sign: You must specify a value for boot options that use the = symbol. For example, the inst.vncpassword= option must contain a value, in this example, a password. The correct syntax for this example is inst.vncpassword=password.
Options without an equals "=" sign: This boot option does not accept any values or parameters. For example, the rd.live.check option forces the installation program to verify the installation media before starting the installation. If this boot option is present, the installation program performs the verification and if the boot option is not present, the verification is skipped.

9.4.2. Editing boot options

This section contains information about the different ways that you can edit boot options from the boot menu. The boot menu opens after you boot the installation media.

9.4.2.1. Editing the boot: prompt in BIOS

When using the boot: prompt, the first option must always specify the installation program image file that you want to load. In most cases, you can specify the image using the keyword. You can specify additional options according to your requirements.

Prerequisites

You have created bootable installation media (USB, CD or DVD).
You have booted the installation from the media, and the installation boot menu is open.

Procedure

With the boot menu open, press the Esc key on your keyboard.
The boot: prompt is now accessible.
Press the Tab key on your keyboard to display the help commands.
Press the Enter key on your keyboard to start the installation with your options. To return from the boot: prompt to the boot menu, restart the system and boot from the installation media again.

Note

The boot: prompt also accepts dracut kernel options. A list of options is available in the dracut.cmdline(7) man page.

9.4.2.2. Editing predefined boot options using the > prompt

In BIOS-based AMD64 and Intel 64 systems, you can use the > prompt to edit predefined boot options. To display a full set of options, select Test this media and install RHEL 8 from the boot menu.

Prerequisites

You have created bootable installation media (USB, CD or DVD).
You have booted the installation from the media, and the installation boot menu is open.

Procedure

From the boot menu, select an option and press the Tab key on your keyboard. The > prompt is accessible and displays the available options.
Append the options that you require to the > prompt.
Press Enter to start the installation.
Press Esc to cancel editing and return to the boot menu.

9.4.2.3. Editing the GRUB2 menu for the UEFI-based systems

The GRUB2 menu is available on UEFI-based AMD64, Intel 64, and 64-bit ARM systems.

Prerequisites

You have created bootable installation media (USB, CD or DVD).
You have booted the installation from the media, and the installation boot menu is open.

Procedure

From the boot menu window, select the required option and press e.
On UEFI systems, the kernel command line starts with linuxefi. Move the cursor to the end of the linuxefi kernel command line.
Edit the parameters as required. For example, to configure one or more network interfaces, add the ip= parameter at the end of the linuxefi kernel command line, followed by the required value.
When you finish editing, press Ctrl+X to start the installation using the specified options.

9.4.3. Installation source boot options

This section describes various installation source boot options.

inst.repo=

The inst.repo= boot option specifies the installation source, that is, the location providing the package repositories and a valid .treeinfo file that describes them. For example: inst.repo=cdrom. The target of the inst.repo= option must be one of the following installation media:

an installable tree, which is a directory structure containing the installation program images, packages, and repository data as well as a valid .treeinfo file
a DVD (a physical disk present in the system DVD drive)

an ISO image of the full Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation DVD, placed on a hard drive or a network location accessible to the system.

Use the inst.repo= boot option to configure different installation methods using different formats. The following table contains details of the inst.repo= boot option syntax:

Table 9.1. Types and format for the inst.repo= boot option and installation source

Source type	Boot option format	Source format
CD/DVD drive	`inst.repo=cdrom:<device>`	Installation DVD as a physical disk. ^[a]
Mountable device (HDD and USB stick)	`inst.repo=hd:<device>:/<path>`	Image file of the installation DVD.
NFS Server	`inst.repo=nfs:[options:]<server>:/<path>`	Image file of the installation DVD, or an installation tree, which is a complete copy of the directories and files on the installation DVD. ^[b]
HTTP Server	`inst.repo=http://<host>/<path>`	Installation tree that is a complete copy of the directories and files on the installation DVD.
HTTPS Server	`inst.repo=https://<host>/<path>`
FTP Server	`inst.repo=ftp://<username>:<password>@<host>/<path>`
HMC	`inst.repo=hmc`
^[a] If device is left out, installation program automatically searches for a drive containing the installation DVD. ^[b] The NFS Server option uses NFS protocol version 3 by default. To use a different version, add `nfsvers=X` to options, replacing X with the version number that you want to use.

Set disk device names with the following formats:

Kernel device name, for example /dev/sda1 or sdb2
File system label, for example LABEL=Flash or LABEL=RHEL8
File system UUID, for example UUID=8176c7bf-04ff-403a-a832-9557f94e61db

Non-alphanumeric characters must be represented as \xNN, where NN is the hexadecimal representation of the character. For example, \x20 is a white space (" ").

inst.addrepo=: Use the inst.addrepo= boot option to add an additional repository that you can use as another installation source along with the main repository (inst.repo=). You can use the inst.addrepo= boot option multiple times during one boot. The following table contains details of the inst.addrepo= boot option syntax.
Note
The REPO_NAME is the name of the repository and is required in the installation process. These repositories are only used during the installation process; they are not installed on the installed system.

For more information about unified ISO, see Unified ISO.

Table 9.2. Installation sources and boot option format

Installation source	Boot option format	Additional information
Installable tree at a URL	`inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,[http,https,ftp]://<host>/<path>`	Looks for the installable tree at a given URL.
Installable tree at an NFS path	`inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,nfs://<server>:/<path>`	Looks for the installable tree at a given NFS path. A colon is required after the host. The installation program passes everything after `nfs://` directly to the mount command instead of parsing URLs according to RFC 2224.
Installable tree in the installation environment	`inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,file://<path>`	Looks for the installable tree at the given location in the installation environment. To use this option, the repository must be mounted before the installation program attempts to load the available software groups. The benefit of this option is that you can have multiple repositories on one bootable ISO, and you can install both the main repository and additional repositories from the ISO. The path to the additional repositories is `/run/install/source/REPO_ISO_PATH`. Additionally, you can mount the repository directory in the `%pre` section in the Kickstart file. The path must be absolute and start with `/`, for example `inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,file:///<path>`
Hard Drive	`inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,hd:<device>:<path>`	Mounts the given <device> partition and installs from the ISO that is specified by the <path>. If the <path> is not specified, the installation program looks for a valid installation ISO on the <device>. This installation method requires an ISO with a valid installable tree.

inst.stage2=

The inst.stage2= boot option specifies the location of the installation program’s runtime image. This option expects the path to a directory that contains a valid .treeinfo file and reads the runtime image location from the .treeinfo file. If the .treeinfo file is not available, the installation program attempts to load the image from images/install.img.

When you do not specify the inst.stage2 option, the installation program attempts to use the location specified with the inst.repo option.

Use this option when you want to manually specify the installation source in the installation program at a later time. For example, when you want to select the Content Delivery Network (CDN) as an installation source. The installation DVD and Boot ISO already contain a suitable inst.stage2 option to boot the installation program from the respective ISO.

If you want to specify an installation source, use the inst.repo= option instead.

Note

By default, the inst.stage2= boot option is used on the installation media and is set to a specific label; for example, inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=RHEL-x-0-0-BaseOS-x86_64. If you modify the default label of the file system that contains the runtime image, or if you use a customized procedure to boot the installation system, verify that the inst.stage2= boot option is set to the correct value.

inst.noverifyssl

Use the inst.noverifyssl boot option to prevent the installer from verifying SSL certificates for all HTTPS connections with the exception of additional Kickstart repositories, where --noverifyssl can be set per repository.

For example, if your remote installation source is using self-signed SSL certificates, the inst.noverifyssl boot option enables the installer to complete the installation without verifying the SSL certificates.

Example when specifying the source using inst.stage2=

inst.stage2=https://hostname/path_to_install_image/ inst.noverifyssl

Example when specifying the source using inst.repo=

inst.repo=https://hostname/path_to_install_repository/ inst.noverifyssl

inst.stage2.all

Use the inst.stage2.all boot option to specify several HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP sources. You can use the inst.stage2= boot option multiple times with the inst.stage2.all option to fetch the image from the sources sequentially until one succeeds. For example:

inst.stage2.all
inst.stage2=http://hostname1/path_to_install_tree/
inst.stage2=http://hostname2/path_to_install_tree/
inst.stage2=http://hostname3/path_to_install_tree/

inst.dd=

The inst.dd= boot option is used to perform a driver update during the installation. For more information on how to update drivers during installation, see the Performing an advanced RHEL 8 installation document.

inst.repo=hmc

This option eliminates the requirement of an external network setup and expands the installation options. When booting from a Binary DVD, the installation program prompts you to enter additional kernel parameters. To set the DVD as an installation source, append the inst.repo=hmc option to the kernel parameters. The installation program then enables support element (SE) and hardware management console (HMC) file access, fetches the images for stage2 from the DVD, and provides access to the packages on the DVD for software selection.

inst.proxy=

The inst.proxy= boot option is used when performing an installation from a HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP protocol. For example:

[PROTOCOL://][USERNAME[:PASSWORD]@]HOST[:PORT]

inst.nosave=

Use the inst.nosave= boot option to control the installation logs and related files that are not saved to the installed system, for example input_ks, output_ks, all_ks, logs and all. You can combine multiple values separated by a comma. For example,

inst.nosave=Input_ks,logs

Note

The inst.nosave boot option is used for excluding files from the installed system that can’t be removed by a Kickstart %post script, such as logs and input/output Kickstart results.

input_ks

Disables the ability to save the input Kickstart results.

output_ks

Disables the ability to save the output Kickstart results generated by the installation program.

all_ks

Disables the ability to save the input and output Kickstart results.

logs

Disables the ability to save all installation logs.

all

Disables the ability to save all Kickstart results, and all logs.

inst.multilib

Use the inst.multilib boot option to set DNF’s multilib_policy to all, instead of best.

inst.memcheck

The inst.memcheck boot option performs a check to verify that the system has enough RAM to complete the installation. If there isn’t enough RAM, the installation process is stopped. The system check is approximate and memory usage during installation depends on the package selection, user interface, for example graphical or text, and other parameters.

inst.nomemcheck

The inst.nomemcheck boot option does not perform a check to verify if the system has enough RAM to complete the installation. Any attempt to perform the installation with less than the recommended minimum amount of memory is unsupported, and might result in the installation process failing.

9.4.4. Network boot options

If your scenario requires booting from an image over the network instead of booting from a local image, you can use the following options to customize network booting.

Note

Initialize the network with the dracut tool. For complete list of dracut options, see the dracut.cmdline(7) man page.

ip=

Use the ip= boot option to configure one or more network interfaces. To configure multiple interfaces, use one of the following methods;

use the ip option multiple times, once for each interface; to do so, use the rd.neednet=1 option, and specify a primary boot interface using the bootdev option.
use the ip option once, and then use Kickstart to set up further interfaces. This option accepts several different formats. The following tables contain information about the most common options.

In the following tables:

The ip parameter specifies the client IP address and IPv6 requires square brackets, for example 192.0.2.1 or [2001:db8::99].
The gateway parameter is the default gateway. IPv6 requires square brackets.
The netmask parameter is the netmask to be used. This can be either a full netmask (for example, 255.255.255.0) or a prefix (for example, 64).

The hostname parameter is the host name of the client system. This parameter is optional.

Table 9.3. Boot option formats to configure the network interface

Boot option format	Configuration method
`ip=method`	Automatic configuration of any interface
`ip=interface:method`	Automatic configuration of a specific interface
`ip=ip::gateway:netmask:hostname:interface:none`	Static configuration, for example, IPv4: `ip=192.0.2.1::192.0.2.254:255.255.255.0:server.example.com:enp1s0:none` IPv6: `ip=[2001:db8::1]::[2001:db8::fffe]:64:server.example.com:enp1s0:none`
`ip=ip::gateway:netmask:hostname:interface:method:mtu`	Automatic configuration of a specific interface with an override

Configuration methods for the automatic interface

The method automatic configuration of a specific interface with an override opens the interface using the specified method of automatic configuration, such as dhcp, but overrides the automatically obtained IP address, gateway, netmask, host name or other specified parameters. All parameters are optional, so specify only the parameters that you want to override.

The method parameter can be any of the following:

DHCP: dhcp
IPv6 DHCP: dhcp6
IPv6 automatic configuration: auto6
iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT): ibft

Note

If you use a boot option that requires network access, such as inst.ks=http://host/path, without specifying the ip option, the default value of the ip option is ip=dhcp..
To connect to an iSCSI target automatically, activate a network device for accessing the target by using the ip=ibft boot option.

nameserver=

The nameserver= option specifies the address of the name server. You can use this option multiple times.

Note

The ip= parameter requires square brackets. However, an IPv6 address does not work with square brackets. An example of the correct syntax to use for an IPv6 address is nameserver=2001:db8::1.

bootdev=

The bootdev= option specifies the boot interface. This option is mandatory if you use more than one ip option.

ifname=

The ifname= options assigns an interface name to a network device with a given MAC address. You can use this option multiple times. The syntax is ifname=interface:MAC. For example:

ifname=eth0:01:23:45:67:89:ab

Note

The ifname= option is the only supported way to set custom network interface names during installation.

inst.dhcpclass=

The inst.dhcpclass= option specifies the DHCP vendor class identifier. The dhcpd service sees this value as vendor-class-identifier. The default value is anaconda-$(uname -srm).

inst.waitfornet=

Using the inst.waitfornet=SECONDS boot option causes the installation system to wait for network connectivity before installation. The value given in the SECONDS argument specifies the maximum amount of time to wait for network connectivity before timing out and continuing the installation process even if network connectivity is not present.

vlan=

Use the vlan= option to configure a Virtual LAN (VLAN) device on a specified interface with a given name. The syntax is vlan=name:interface. For example:

vlan=vlan5:enp0s1

This configures a VLAN device named vlan5 on the enp0s1 interface. The name can take the following forms:

VLAN_PLUS_VID: vlan0005
VLAN_PLUS_VID_NO_PAD: vlan5
DEV_PLUS_VID: enp0s1.0005
DEV_PLUS_VID_NO_PAD: enp0s1.5
bond=
Use the bond= option to configure a bonding device with the following syntax: bond=name[:interfaces][:options]. Replace name with the bonding device name, interfaces with a comma-separated list of physical (Ethernet) interfaces, and options with a comma-separated list of bonding options. For example:
```
bond=bond0:enp0s1,enp0s2:mode=active-backup,tx_queues=32,downdelay=5000
```
For a list of available options, execute the modinfo bonding command.
team=
Use the team= option to configure a team device with the following syntax: team=name:interfaces. Replace name with the desired name of the team device and interfaces with a comma-separated list of physical (Ethernet) devices to be used as underlying interfaces in the team device. For example:
```
team=team0:enp0s1,enp0s2
```
bridge=
Use the bridge= option to configure a bridge device with the following syntax: bridge=name:interfaces. Replace name with the desired name of the bridge device and interfaces with a comma-separated list of physical (Ethernet) devices to be used as underlying interfaces in the bridge device. For example:
```
bridge=bridge0:enp0s1,enp0s2
```

Additional resources

Configuring and managing networking

9.4.5. Console boot options

This section describes how to configure boot options for your console, monitor display, and keyboard.

console=

Use the console= option to specify a device that you want to use as the primary console. For example, to use a console on the first serial port, use console=ttyS0. When using the console= argument, the installation starts with a text UI. If you must use the console= option multiple times, the boot message is displayed on all specified console. However, the installation program uses only the last specified console. For example, if you specify console=ttyS0 console=ttyS1, the installation program uses ttyS1.

inst.lang=

Use the inst.lang= option to set the language that you want to use during the installation. To view the list of locales, enter the command locale -a | grep _ or the localectl list-locales | grep _ command.

inst.singlelang

Use the inst.singlelang option to install in single language mode, which results in no available interactive options for the installation language and language support configuration. If a language is specified using the inst.lang boot option or the lang Kickstart command, then it is used. If no language is specified, the installation program defaults to en_US.UTF-8.

inst.geoloc=

Use the inst.geoloc= option to configure geolocation usage in the installation program. Geolocation is used to preset the language and time zone, and uses the following syntax: inst.geoloc=value. The value can be any of the following parameters:

Disable geolocation: inst.geoloc=0
Use the Fedora GeoIP API: inst.geoloc=provider_fedora_geoip
Use the Hostip.info GeoIP API: inst.geoloc=provider_hostip

If you do not specify the inst.geoloc= option, the default option is provider_fedora_geoip.

inst.keymap=

Use the inst.keymap= option to specify the keyboard layout to use for the installation.

inst.cmdline

Use the inst.cmdline option to force the installation program to run in command-line mode. This mode does not allow any interaction, and you must specify all options in a Kickstart file or on the command line.

inst.graphical

Use the inst.graphical option to force the installation program to run in graphical mode. The graphical mode is the default.

inst.text

Use the inst.text option to force the installation program to run in text mode instead of graphical mode.

inst.noninteractive

Use the inst.noninteractive boot option to run the installation program in a non-interactive mode. User interaction is not permitted in the non-interactive mode, and inst.noninteractive you can use the inst.nointeractive option with a graphical or text installation. When you use the inst.noninteractive option in text mode, it behaves the same as the inst.cmdline option.

inst.resolution=

Use the inst.resolution= option to specify the screen resolution in graphical mode. The format is NxM, where N is the screen width and M is the screen height (in pixels). The lowest supported resolution is 1024x768.

inst.vnc

Use the inst.vnc option to run the graphical installation using Virtual Network Computing (VNC). You must use a VNC client application to interact with the installation program. When VNC sharing is enabled, multiple clients can connect. A system installed using VNC starts in text mode.

inst.vncpassword=

Use the inst.vncpassword= option to set a password on the VNC server that is used by the installation program.

inst.vncconnect=

Use the inst.vncconnect= option to connect to a listening VNC client at the given host location, for example, inst.vncconnect=<host>[:<port>] The default port is 5900. You can use this option by entering the command vncviewer -listen.

inst.xdriver=

Use the inst.xdriver= option to specify the name of the X driver to use both during installation and on the installed system.

inst.usefbx

Use the inst.usefbx option to prompt the installation program to use the frame buffer X driver instead of a hardware-specific driver. This option is equivalent to the inst.xdriver=fbdev option.

modprobe.blacklist=

Use the modprobe.blacklist= option to blocklist or completely disable one or more drivers. Drivers (mods) that you disable using this option cannot load when the installation starts. After the installation finishes, the installed system retains these settings. You can find a list of the blocklisted drivers in the /etc/modprobe.d/ directory. Use a comma-separated list to disable multiple drivers. For example:

modprobe.blacklist=ahci,firewire_ohci

inst.xtimeout=

Use the inst.xtimeout= option to specify the timeout in seconds for starting X server.

inst.sshd

Use the inst.sshd option to start the sshd service during installation, so that you can connect to the system during the installation using SSH, and monitor the installation progress. For more information about SSH, see the ssh(1) man page. By default, the sshd option is automatically started only on the 64-bit IBM Z architecture. On other architectures, sshd is not started unless you use the inst.sshd option.

Note

During installation, the root account has no password by default. You can set a root password during installation with the sshpw Kickstart command.

inst.kdump_addon=

Use the inst.kdump_addon= option to enable or disable the Kdump configuration screen (add-on) in the installation program. This screen is enabled by default; use inst.kdump_addon=off to disable it. Disabling the add-on disables the Kdump screens in both the graphical and text-based interface as well as the %addon com_redhat_kdump Kickstart command.

9.4.6. Debug boot options

This section describes the options you can use when debugging issues.

inst.rescue

Use the inst.rescue option to run the rescue environment for diagnosing and fixing systems. For example, you can repair a filesystem in rescue mode.

inst.updates=

Use the inst.updates= option to specify the location of the updates.img file that you want to apply during installation. The updates.img file can be derived from one of several sources.

Table 9.4. updates.img file sources

Source	Description	Example
Updates from a network	Specify the network location of `updates.img`. This does not require any modification to the installation tree. To use this method, edit the kernel command line to include `inst.updates`.	`inst.updates=http://website.com/path/to/updates.img`.
Updates from a disk image	Save an `updates.img` on a floppy drive or a USB key. This can be done only with an `ext2` filesystem type of `updates.img`. To save the contents of the image on your floppy drive, insert the floppy disc and run the command.	`dd if=updates.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=72k count=20`. To use a USB key or flash media, replace `/dev/fd0` with the device name of your USB flash drive.
Updates from an installation tree	If you are using a CD, hard drive, HTTP, or FTP install, save the `updates.img` in the installation tree so that all installations can detect the `.img` file. The file name must be `updates.img`.	For NFS installs, save the file in the `images/` directory, or in the `RHupdates/` directory.

inst.loglevel=

Use the inst.loglevel= option to specify the minimum level of messages logged on a terminal. This option applies only to terminal logging; log files always contain messages of all levels. Possible values for this option from the lowest to highest level are:

debug
info
warning
error
critical

The default value is info, which means that by default, the logging terminal displays messages ranging from info to critical.

inst.syslog=

Sends log messages to the syslog process on the specified host when the installation starts. You can use inst.syslog= only if the remote syslog process is configured to accept incoming connections.

inst.virtiolog=

Use the inst.virtiolog= option to specify which virtio port (a character device at /dev/virtio-ports/name) to use for forwarding logs. The default value is org.fedoraproject.anaconda.log.0.

inst.zram=

Controls the usage of zRAM swap during installation. The option creates a compressed block device inside the system RAM and uses it for swap space instead of using the hard drive. This setup allows the installation program to run with less available memory and improve installation speed. You can configure the inst.zram= option using the following values:

inst.zram=1 to enable zRAM swap, regardless of system memory size. By default, swap on zRAM is enabled on systems with 2 GiB or less RAM.
inst.zram=0 to disable zRAM swap, regardless of system memory size. By default, swap on zRAM is disabled on systems with more than 2 GiB of memory.

rd.live.ram

Copies the stage 2 image in images/install.img into RAM. Note that this increases the memory required for installation by the size of the image which is usually between 400 and 800MB.

inst.nokill

Prevent the installation program from rebooting when a fatal error occurs, or at the end of the installation process. Use it capture installation logs which would be lost upon reboot.

inst.noshell

Prevent a shell on terminal session 2 (tty2) during installation.

inst.notmux

Prevent the use of tmux during installation. The output is generated without terminal control characters and is meant for non-interactive uses.

inst.remotelog=

Sends all the logs to a remote host:port using a TCP connection. The connection is retired if there is no listener and the installation proceeds as normal.

9.4.7. Storage boot options

This section describes the options you can specify to customize booting from a storage device.

inst.nodmraid: Disables dmraid support.

Warning

Use this option with caution. If you have a disk that is incorrectly identified as part of a firmware RAID array, it might have some stale RAID metadata on it that must be removed using the appropriate tool such as, dmraid or wipefs.

inst.nompath: Disables support for multipath devices. Use this option only if your system has a false-positive that incorrectly identifies a normal block device as a multipath device.

Warning

Use this option with caution. Do not use this option with multipath hardware. Using this option to install to a single path of a multipath device is not supported.

inst.gpt: Forces the installation program to install partition information to a GUID Partition Table (GPT) instead of a Master Boot Record (MBR). This option is not valid on UEFI-based systems, unless they are in BIOS compatibility mode. Normally, BIOS-based systems and UEFI-based systems in BIOS compatibility mode attempt to use the MBR schema for storing partitioning information, unless the disk is 2^32 sectors in size or larger. Disk sectors are typically 512 bytes in size, meaning that this is usually equivalent to 2 TiB. The inst.gpt boot option allows a GPT to be written to smaller disks.

9.4.8. Kickstart boot options

This section describes the boot options you can add in the Kickstart file to automate an installation.

inst.ks=: Defines the location of a Kickstart file to use to automate the installation. You can specify locations using any of the inst.repo formats. If you specify a device and not a path, the installation program looks for the Kickstart file in /ks.cfg on the specified device.

If you use this option without specifying a device, the installation program uses the following value for the option:

inst.ks=nfs:next-server:/filename

In the previous example, next-server is the DHCP next-server option or the IP address of the DHCP server itself, and filename is the DHCP filename option, or /kickstart/. If the given file name ends with the / character, ip-kickstart is appended. The following table contains an example.

Table 9.5. Default Kickstart file location

DHCP server address	Client address	Kickstart file location
192.168.122.1	192.168.122.100	192.168.122.1:/kickstart/192.168.122.100-kickstart

If a volume with a label of OEMDRV is present, the installation program attempts to load a Kickstart file named ks.cfg. If your Kickstart file is in this location, you do not need to use the inst.ks= boot option.

inst.ks.all

Specify the inst.ks.all option to sequentially try multiple Kickstart file locations provided by multiple inst.ks options. The first successful location is used. This applies only to locations of type http, https or ftp, other locations are ignored.

inst.ks.sendmac

Use the inst.ks.sendmac option to add headers to outgoing HTTP requests that contain the MAC addresses of all network interfaces. For example:

X-RHN-Provisioning-MAC-0: eth0 01:23:45:67:89:ab

This can be useful when using inst.ks=http to provision systems.

inst.ks.sendsn

Use the inst.ks.sendsn option to add a header to outgoing HTTP requests. This header contains the system serial number, read from /sys/class/dmi/id/product_serial. The header has the following syntax:

X-System-Serial-Number: R8VA23D

Additional resources

Full list of boot options

9.4.9. Advanced installation boot options

This section contains information about advanced installation boot options.

inst.kexec

Runs the kexec system call at the end of the installation, instead of performing a reboot. The inst.kexec option loads the new system immediately, and bypasses the hardware initialization normally performed by the BIOS or firmware.

Important

This option is deprecated and available as a Technology Preview only. For information on Red Hat scope of support for Technology Preview features, see the Technology Preview Features Support Scope document.

When kexec is used, device registers, which would normally be cleared during a full system reboot, might stay filled with data. This can potentially create issues for certain device drivers.

inst.multilib

Configures the system for multilib packages to allow installing 32-bit packages on a 64-bit AMD64 or Intel 64 system. Normally, on an AMD64 or Intel 64 system, only packages for this architecture, marked as x86_64, and packages for all architectures, marked as noarch, are installed. When you use the inst.multilib boot option, packages for 32-bit AMD or Intel systems, marked as i686, are automatically installed.

This applies only to packages directly specified in the %packages section. If a package is installed as a dependency, only the exact specified dependency is installed. For example, if you are installing the bash package that depends on the glibc package, the bash package is installed in multiple variants, while the glibc package is installed only in variants that the bash package requires.

selinux=0

Disables the use of SELinux in the installation program and the installed system. By default, SELinux operates in permissive mode in the installation program, and in enforcing mode in the installed system.

Note

The inst.selinux=0 and selinux=0 options are not the same: * inst.selinux=0: disable SELinux only in the installation program. * selinux=0: disable the use of SELinux in the installation program and the installed system. Disabling SELinux causes events not to be logged.

inst.nonibftiscsiboot

Places the boot loader on iSCSI devices that were not configured in the iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT).

9.4.10. Deprecated boot options

This section contains information about deprecated boot options. These options are still accepted by the installation program but they are deprecated and are scheduled to be removed in a future release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

method

The method option is an alias for inst.repo.

dns

Use nameserver instead of dns. Note that nameserver does not accept comma-separated lists; use multiple nameserver options instead.

netmask, gateway, hostname

The netmask, gateway, and hostname options are provided as part of the ip option.

ip=bootif

A PXE-supplied BOOTIF option is used automatically, so there is no requirement to use ip=bootif.

ksdevice

Table 9.6. Values for the ksdevice boot option

Value	Information
Not present	N/A
`ksdevice=link`	Ignored as this option is the same as the default behavior
`ksdevice=bootif`	Ignored as this option is the default if `BOOTIF=` is present
`ksdevice=ibft`	Replaced with `ip=ibft`. See `ip` for details
`ksdevice=<MAC>`	Replaced with `BOOTIF=${MAC/:/-}`
`ksdevice=<DEV>`	Replaced with `bootdev`

9.4.11. Removed boot options

This section contains the boot options that have been removed from Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Note

dracut provides advanced boot options. For more information about dracut, see the dracut.cmdline(7) man page.

askmethod, asknetwork: initramfs is completely non-interactive, so the askmethod and asknetwork options have been removed. Use inst.repo or specify the appropriate network options.
blacklist, nofirewire: The modprobe option now handles blocklisting kernel modules. Use modprobe.blacklist=<mod1>,<mod2>. You can blocklist the firewire module by using modprobe.blacklist=firewire_ohci.
inst.headless=: The headless= option specified that the system that is being installed to does not have any display hardware, and that the installation program is not required to look for any display hardware.
inst.decorated: The inst.decorated option was used to specify the graphical installation in a decorated window. By default, the window is not decorated, so it doesn’t have a title bar, resize controls, and so on. This option was no longer required.
repo=nfsiso: Use the inst.repo=nfs: option.
serial: Use the console=ttyS0 option.
updates: Use the inst.updates option.
essid, wepkey, wpakey: Dracut does not support wireless networking.
ethtool: This option was no longer required.
gdb: This option was removed because many options are available for debugging dracut-based initramfs.
inst.mediacheck: Use the dracut option rd.live.check option.
ks=floppy: Use the inst.ks=hd:<device> option.
display: For a remote display of the UI, use the inst.vnc option.
utf8: This option was no longer required because the default TERM setting behaves as expected.
noipv6: ipv6 is built into the kernel and cannot be removed by the installation program. You can disable ipv6 by using ipv6.disable=1. This setting is used by the installed system.
upgradeany: This option was no longer required because the installation program no longer handles upgrades.

Language and Page Formatting Options

Red Hat Training

Chapter 9. Advanced configuration options

9.1. Configuring System Purpose

9.1.1. Overview

9.1.2. Configuring System Purpose in a Kickstart file

9.1.3. Additional resources

9.2. Updating drivers during installation

9.2.1. Overview

9.2.2. Types of driver update

9.2.3. Preparing a driver update

9.2.4. Performing an automatic driver update

9.2.5. Performing an assisted driver update

9.2.6. Performing a manual driver update

9.2.7. Disabling a driver

9.3. Preparing to install from the network using PXE

9.3.1. Network install overview

9.3.2. Configuring a TFTP server for BIOS-based clients

9.3.3. Configuring a TFTP server for UEFI-based clients

9.3.4. Configuring a network server for IBM Power systems

9.4. Boot options

9.4.1. Types of boot options

9.4.2. Editing boot options

9.4.2.1. Editing the boot: prompt in BIOS

9.4.2.2. Editing predefined boot options using the > prompt

9.4.2.3. Editing the GRUB2 menu for the UEFI-based systems

9.4.3. Installation source boot options

9.4.4. Network boot options

Configuration methods for the automatic interface

9.4.5. Console boot options

9.4.6. Debug boot options

9.4.7. Storage boot options

9.4.8. Kickstart boot options

9.4.9. Advanced installation boot options

9.4.10. Deprecated boot options

9.4.11. Removed boot options

Quick Links

Help

Site Info

Related Sites

Systems Status

About

Red Hat legal and privacy links

Red Hat legal and privacy links