Download CentOS 5.8 Disk 1Index
You can start this download process and wait for it to finish
while you move on to the next step to Create an Empty Virtual
Machine.
In this section, you will download CentOS 5.8 to your machine.
It must be CentOS 5.8 DVD 1, no other version is acceptable for this
course. (If you want to play with a desktop version of Linux, don’t
use this version. Get something graphical and desktop-friendly such
as Ubuntu or Mint to play with. This course is configuring a non-GUI
server version of Linux.)
You can get the CentOS 5.8 DVD 1 image from one of the following places.
We recommend that you choose the first one; it’s the fastest one.
Download Method 1: From a Local T114 File Share (fastest)Index
You can get a copy of the DVD from the C:\CST folder on any of the
workstations in Algonquin Lab T114. You can do this in any of these
three Share Method ways, but you must be wired into the T114 room
to do it (no wireless):
Share Method 1: Enable Passworded Share
(This information is provided by Richard Donnelly.)
This share requires a username and password to access:
- On the machine containing the
C:\CST share, run CMD as Administrator:
Right Click and select Run As Administrator
- Enter the following commands and replace the italic sections as required:
net user username password /ADD
- you can make up any username and password you like
net share cst=C:\CSTnetsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="File and Printer Sharing" new enable=Yes
- To access this share from your Windows machine on the same wired network,
start a
CMD prompt and type:
net use x: \\ipaddress\CST /USER:username password
- there are no blanks in the network share name
\\ipaddress\CST, e.g.
\\10.50.23.45\CST.
- ipaddress is the IP address of the machine sharing
C:\CST
- username and password match the ones you chose, above.
- NOTE: You cannot access T114 or T126 machines from Algonquin
Wireless! Use a wired connection in the room.
- The share will be visible as drive
X: on your machine, and also
using the network path \\name\CST
where name is either
the machine name or the IP address, e.g. a path similar to
\\t114-06\CST or \\10.50.23.45\CST
- Choose DVD disk 1:
CentOS-5.8-i386-bin-DVD-1of2.iso
Make sure you use a wired connection to download any files.
Share Method 2: Enable Public Password-Free Share
(This information is provided by Michael Porteous.)
Anyone can access this share without a password:
- On the machine containing the
C:\CST share, follow this link to turn on
Windows Sharing on the C:\CST folder
- To access this share from your Windows machine on the same wired network,
use the network path
\\name\CST where
name is either
the machine name or the IP address, e.g. a path similar to
\\t114-06\CST or \\10.50.23.45\CST
- Choose DVD disk 1:
CentOS-5.8-i386-bin-DVD-1of2.iso
Make sure you use a wired connection to download any files.
Share Method 3: Sneaker Net: Use a USB Drive
You can copy the DVD image from C:\CST on any T114 machine onto a USB
drive and then attach the USB drive to your own computer and copy it to
your local computer.
- Choose DVD disk 1:
CentOS-5.8-i386-bin-DVD-1of2.iso
Download Method 2: From the CSTECH Downloads Folder (slower)Index
This is slower than the above Windows Share method. It only works on
campus, but it works anywhere on campus, not just in T114:
- On your laptop use a browser to go to the Web site http://cstech on
campus.
- Choose any room from the left side-bar (e.g. T114). Go to Drivers and
Downloads, Linux, CentOS 5.8 i386
- Choose DVD disk 1:
CentOS-5.8-i386-bin-DVD-1of2.iso
- You don’t need the second DVD.
Make sure you use a wired connection to download any files.
Download Method 3: From the Internet (slowest)Index
This is slower than all the above methods. Use it only if you have to:
- On your laptop use a browser to go to the Web site http://www.centos.org/.
- Go to Downloads, Mirrors, Mirror List.
- Pick an HTTP mirror and find the same DVD disk 1 ISO to download:
- Choose DVD disk 1:
CentOS-5.8-i386-bin-DVD-1of2.iso
- You don’t need the second DVD.
Verify the Downloaded ISOIndex
You will need some form of checksum program that runs on your
local computer. It has to be something that can calculate md5
or sha hashes. Unix/Linux/OSX machines already have the md5sum
command available. One suggestion (thanks Richard!) for Windows users is
HashTab:
- Download and install HashTab
for Windows. (Unix/Linux/OSX users don’t need this program.)
- Copy the desired hash to the clipboard (e.g. from the
md5sum.txt file).
- Right click in the file you wish to verify, i.e. select your DVD disk 1
CentOS-5.8-i386-bin-DVD-1of2.iso
- Click Properties and then file hashes.
- It will compare the hashes to the one(s) in your clipboard.
- MD5 and SHA-1 are the defaults, but it can be customized to include
others.
You can get a copy of the checksum files (e.g. md5sum.txt) from the
Linux CentOS 5.8 i386 folder on the http://cstech/ web site.
Verify that you have DVD disk 1 (of 2) named
CentOS-5.8-i386-bin-DVD-1of2.iso
Verify the checksum of the image you download against the checksum
recorded in any of the checksum files located in the same folder.
(For example, open md5sum.txt and locate the checksum for the DVD 1
disk and compare it with the checksum of the image you downloaded.)
On a machine that has the C:\CST folder, you can run an md5sum
program on Windows by opening C:\CST\cygwin\bash and typing
/usr/bin/md5sum.exe filename at the BASH shell prompt. (You can
install the free Cygwin package on your own
Windows laptop to get BASH and all the Unix tools for Windows, including
md5sum, find, etc.)
Create an Empty Virtual MachineIndex
In this section, you will create an empty Linux 32bit
CentOS-compatible Virtual Machine. You can do this while you are
waiting for your CentOS DVD disk 1 to download.
- Start VMware on your machine. Any version of VMware since Version 7
should work.
- Use a Typical install (fewer questions than Custom install)
- Select: Install O/S later
- Select Guest O/S: Linux, Version CentOS (do not choose 64 bit)
- Virtual Machine Name: CentOS (or your choice)
- Disk Size: 1.8G (actually type the number 1.8 into the box)
- if asked: stored as a single file (Monolithic)
- Customize Hardware: Memory: 256MB
- Customize Hardware: Networking: Bridged
- Select connect at power on
- If you later have problems with Bridged, try setting this to NAT
- Attach nothing to the virtual DVD drive - leave it empty.
- Finish.
To confirm your settings: Select menu VM | Settings to open Virtual
Machine Settings and look under the Hardware tab to confirm:
Memory: 256MB
Processors: 1
Hard Disk: 1.8GB
Network Adapter: Bridged
Under the Options tab confirm:
General: CentOS
Start over if you don’t see the above settings.
Switching ConsolesIndex
Most Linux machines running in console mode (run level 3) allow you to
have multiple consoles active by typing ALT+F2 (hold down ALT and
simultaneously push Function Key 2) to switch to the second console,
ALT+F3 to the next one, etc. The default, first, console is of course
ALT+F1.
Multiple consoles allow you to multi-task even without all the overhead
of a graphical user interface.
Another way to kill a hung yum session is to switch to a second console,
log in as root, find the process ID of the hung yum process, use
kill to send that process ID a SIGTERM termination signal, then
switch back to the first console again.
When you log out of a server console, make sure you check all the
alternate consoles and log them out, too! Don’t leave an open
root login session active when you walk away from the machine!
Network ProblemsIndex
Know as a system technician what kinds of network problems cause what
kinds of errors. Some basic points:
- Algonquin College wireless often causes problems. Don’t use it. Wire
your machine into the campus network and disable wireless when you are
using your Virtual Machine at Algonquin College.
- Make sure your network cable is plugged in and the Link light (if
you have one) is on. Disable your wireless network.
- When you resume your Virtual Machine, you may need to refresh the
network settings for your new location by running (as
root):
service network restart
- If you are unable to make networking work using VMware Bridged
Networking, try using VMware NAT (Network Address Translation)
networking instead:
- Go to the VMware menu VM and Settings and Hardware
and Network Adapter.
- Change your VMware networking from Bridged to NAT.
- Save the VMware settings.
- In Linux, run as
root: service network restart
Check IP addressIndex
Start by making sure your Virtual Machine has been given an IP address
by running ifconfig and looking at the eth0 network device. You are
looking for a valid IP address beside inet addr:, e.g.
# ifconfig eth0
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:04:75:8d:6e:52
inet addr:192.168.9.250 Bcast:192.168.9.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
...
Does the IP address given to your machine seem reasonable for the
network you are on? If not, try restarting the network by running
(as root): service network restart
If that doesn’t work, you might try switching your VMware machine from
Bridged Networking to NAT (Network Address Translation) and
then restarting your networking again.
You should be able to ping your own IP address successfully:
# ping -c 4 192.168.9.250
PING 192.168.9.250 (192.168.9.250) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.9.250: icmp_req=1 ttl=64 time=0.036 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.9.250: icmp_req=2 ttl=64 time=0.067 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.9.250: icmp_req=3 ttl=64 time=0.057 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.9.250: icmp_req=4 ttl=64 time=0.053 ms
--- 192.168.9.250 ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 2997ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.036/0.053/0.067/0.012 ms
If you don’t have a working IP address, nothing else will work. You must
have an IP address.
Check default gatewayIndex
Once you have a valid IP address for the network you are on (please,
not wireless!), check your default gateway. Run the command ip route
and look at the gateway address in the default line, e.g.
# ip route
...
default via 192.168.9.254 dev eth0
Try pinging that gateway:
# ping -c4 192.168.9.254
PING 192.168.9.254 (192.168.9.254) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.9.254: icmp_req=1 ttl=64 time=0.882 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.9.254: icmp_req=2 ttl=64 time=0.760 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.9.254: icmp_req=3 ttl=64 time=0.615 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.9.254: icmp_req=4 ttl=64 time=0.663 ms
--- 192.168.9.254 ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3001ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.615/0.730/0.882/0.102 ms
(Note that Algonquin College, ping may be blocked.)
If you don’t have a working default gateway, nothing else will work.
You must have a working gateway.
Check DNS resolutionIndex
If you have an IP address and a working gateway, but see failure in name resolution, then your system is not able to use a DNS to turn
host names into IP addresses.
Look for the IP addresses of the DNS servers in file
/etc/resolv.conf:
# cat /etc/resolv.conf
...
nameserver 10.254.21.22
nameserver 10.254.21.21
Use ping on each of the addresses listed in that file.
(Note that Algonquin College, ping may be blocked.)
If you can’t ping the DNS servers, your DNS won’t work and you
can’t use host names. Try restarting your networking or switching from
Bridged to NAT networking. Don’t use wireless!
Plain Text - plain text version of this page in
Pandoc Markdown format
