dialog boxes, there is a cursor or highlight that can be moved using the arrow keys. In addition to the arrow keys, you can use the Tab key to go to the next section and the Alt+Tab key combination to back up to the previous section. The bottom of each dialog box indicates which movement keys are valid for that particular box.

In addition to moving the cursor, you will need to make selections. There are two things that are selected: a button, such as an OK button, and an item from a list. If a button is being selected, the space bar is used to "push" the button. Of course, a second push of the button resets it to its original setting. When selecting a single item, you can press the Enter key to select that item. To select one or more items from a list of items, use the space bar. Again, a second push of the space bar deselects a selected item.

Pressing the F12 button accepts the current values and proceeds to the next dialog box. In most cases, this is the same as pressing the OK button.

Step-by-Step Installation

This section takes a step-by-step look at the installation process.

Booting

If you do not choose to use the autoboot program and start the installation directly off the CD-ROM, you have to boot with the boot disk.

Insert the boot disk you created into the A drive. Reboot the computer. At the boot: prompt, press Enter to continue booting. Watch the boot information to ensure that the kernel detects your hardware. If it doesn't properly detect your hardware, you might need to reboot and add some options at the boot: prompt. The following is an example:

boot: linux hdc=cdrom

If you need to enter any extra parameters here, write them down—you will need them later in the installation.

The Installation Program

After the installation program starts, it asks whether you have a color monitor (see Figure 2.1). If you do not have a color monitor, the cursor will not be visible, so you have to press Tab once and then press Enter.

The next dialog box asks which keyboard configuration you have (see Figure 2.2). Use the Tab key to select the correct one and then press Enter.

The installation program then asks whether you need PCMCIA support. If you are using a CD-ROM connected through your PCMCIA port or an Ethernet card, choose Yes. If you choose Yes, you are prompted to insert the supplemental disk you made earlier.

The next dialog box asks which type of installation you want to use, as shown in Figure 2.3.

Most likely you will choose CD-ROM because that is what is included with this book. Before you look at the installation process for a CD-ROM, let's look at the other ways of installing Red Hat.

Selecting an Installation Method

There are four basic methods of installing Red Hat Linux. The following is a summary of the methods:

• CD-ROM—If you have a supported CD-ROM drive and a Red Hat Linux CD and a boot disk, you can install Red Hat Linux with your CD-ROM drive.
• FTP—For an FTP install, you must have a boot disk and supplemental disk. You need to have a valid nameserver configured or the IP address of the FTP server you will be using. You also need the path to the root of the Red Hat Linux directory on the FTP site.
• Hard drive—To install Red Hat Linux from a hard drive, you need the same boot and supplemental disks used by the FTP install. You must first create a Red Hat directory called RedHat at the top level of your directory tree. Everything you install should be placed in that directory. First, copy the base subdirectory; then copy the packages you want to install to another subdirectory called RPMS. You can use available space on an existing DOS partition or a Linux partition that is not required in the install procedure (for example, a partition that would be used for data storage on the installed system).

  If you are using a DOS filesystem, you might not be able to use the full Linux filenames for the RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) packages. The installation process does not care what the filesystem looks like, but it is a good idea to keep track of them so you will know what you are installing.

• NFS—If you want to install over a network, you need to mount the Red Hat Linux CD-ROM on a machine that supports ISO-9660 filesystems with Rock Ridge extensions. The machine must also support NFS. Export the CD-ROM filesystem via NFS. You should either have nameservices configured or know the NFS server's IP address and the path to the exported CD-ROM.

The rest of the installation procedures presented here are for CD-ROM installation. As you can tell from the previous descriptions, using other methods is not that different. As a matter of fact, the installation is the same; it is just a matter of the origin of the installation. For example, if you are installing from a shared volume on a Windows 95 or a Windows NT Server, you will have to supply the name of the server, the name of the shared volume, and the account name and password for the volume.

CD-ROM Installation

The installation program asks what type of CD-ROM you have. Most CD-ROM drives
for home PCs are IDE/ATAPI drives. If you have a SCSI CD-ROM drive, the installation