3.8. Choose a Boot Method

You can use several methods to boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Installing from a DVD requires that you have purchased a Red Hat Enterprise Linux product, you have a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 DVD, and you have a DVD drive on a system that supports booting from it. Refer to Chapter 2, Making Media for instructions to make an installation DVD.

Your BIOS may need to be changed to allow booting from your DVD/CD-ROM drive. For more information about changing your BIOS, refer to Section 7.1.1, “Booting the Installation Program on x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 Systems”.

Other than booting from an installation DVD, you can also boot the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program from minimal boot media in the form of a bootable CD or USB flash drive. After you boot the system with a piece of minimal boot media, you complete the installation from a different installation source, such as a local hard drive or a location on a network. Refer to Section 2.2, “Making Minimal Boot Media” for instructions on making boot CDs and USB flash drives.

Finally, you can boot the installer over the network from a preboot execution environment (PXE) server. Refer to Chapter 30, Setting Up an Installation Server. Again, after you boot the system, you complete the installation from a different installation source, such as a local hard drive or a location on a network.