CIT 171 Lab: CentOS Installation

In this lab, you will use your virtual machine to install the CentOS operating system. For instructions on
how to access your virtual machine, see the tutorials on Canvas.

CentOS Installation
1. Power on your CentOS VM.
2. Make sure “Install CentOS Stream 8-stream” is selected. You will have to click into the screen to
make and confirm your selection (note that your mouse will disappear during this step). If it isn’t
selected, use your arrow keys to highlight this option. Hit Enter.
3. At the next screen, the installation will go through numerous steps automatically. No action is
required on your part.
4. You should now see the “WELCOME TO CENTOS STREAM 8-stream” screen. On this screen, you
will select the language. It should be defaulted to English/English (United States). Click
Continue.
5. The next screen provides an installation summary. We will explore these options in the
following steps.
6. Under SYSTEM, click on NETWORK & HOST NAME
a. Next to Ethernet (near the upper right corner, under Help), click the button to toggle
from OFF to ON
b. Leave the default value for host name
c. Click Done
7. Under SOFTWARE, select INSTALLATION SOURCE*
a. If you are unable to click on this, click into INSTALLATION DESTINATION and click Done
in the upper left-hand corner
b. When you go back to the prior screen, you should now be able to click on INSTALLATION
SOURCE (it may say Closest Mirror or have a red error – you can ignore this)
8. Once inside of INSTALLATION SOURCE, make sure On the network: is selected as the installation
source and change the value closest mirror to https://
9. Keep URL type’s default value (repository URL)
10. Very carefully, type the following URL into the text field:
[Link]/8-stream/BaseOS/x86_64/os/
11. This is what your screen should look like:

12. Click Done to be taken back to the previous page.

13. Under SOFTWARE, click on SOFTWARE SELECTION. Under Base Environment, select
Workstation.

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 a. Under Add-Ons for Selected Environment, select GNOME Applications, Graphical
Administration Tools, and System Tools.
b. Click Done. *It may take a few minutes for software dependencies to be checked. You
can proceed to the next step in the meantime.
14. Under SYSTEM, click INSTALLATION DESTINATION.
a. Under Storage Configuration, select Custom
b. Click Done.
15. You should now see the following screen:

16. Under the dropdown menu, change the default selection of LVM to Standard Partition.
17. Click on the + button to add a new mount point
a. Under Mount Point, select /
b. For Desired Capacity, enter 10G
c. Click Add mount point
d. Under File System, select ext4
18. Click on the + button
a. Under Mount Point, select /boot/efi
b. For Desired Capacity, enter 500M
c. Click Add mount point
d. Under File System, select EFI System Partition
19. Click on the + button

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 a. Under Mount Point, select /home
b. For Desired Capacity, enter 2G
c. Click Add mount point
d. Under File System, select ext4
20. Click on the + button
a. Under Mount Point, select /var
b. For Desired Capacity, enter 4G
c. Click Add mount point
d. Under File System, select ext4
21. Click on the + button
a. Under Mount Point, select swap
b. For Desired Capacity, enter 4G
c. Leave all additional options at their default values
22. After adding the swap partition, your summary pane should look like the following (It’s ok if the
ordering of the partitions is different, so as long as the sizes and their options are correct.
Likewise, the numbers after sda may vary, which is also fine. Your remaining space may also
vary from the screenshot - this is also ok.):

23. After double-checking your partitions, click Done. A pop-up will appear. Click Accept Changes.
24. Click ROOT PASSWORD
a. For the root password, use cit171
b. Confirm the password and click Done
*Note: This is a weak password, but this will allow me to log into your VMs for

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 troubleshooting. If you forget your root password, you will have to reinstall CentOS
Stream.
25. You can skip any other section not explicitly mentioned.
26. Click CREATE USER
a. Type in your full name
b. Accept the default user name that was created
c. Leave Make this user administrator unchecked
d. Check Require a password to use this account
e. Use cit171 as the password. Confirm and click Done.
27. Your Installation Summary page should now look like the following screenshot (but with your
username and Installation Source will say Closest mirror):

28. Click Begin Installation

29. Wait for the install process to finish. This will take at least several minutes. When completing
this lab during an in-class section, this could consume a large amount of time since the virtual
machine server is being taxed.
30. You should see an update confirming that the install is complete. Click Reboot System.

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 31. Let the system reboot. Do not hit/click anything – the system will automatically proceed. In a
moment, you will be taken to an INITIAL SETUP page. Under LICENSING, click LICENSE
INFORMATION.
a. Check I accept the license agreement and click Done
32. Click FINISH CONFIGURATION
33. Login with your user credentials
34. Step through the GNOME initial setup settings
a. Accept the default values
b. Skip connecting any accounts
35. Once done, click Start Using CentOS Linux and begin exploring the OS! Be sure to take a
screenshot of your desktop to include as part of your lab submission.

Canvas “Quiz” Questions

1. Upload a screenshot of your CentOS installation. The screenshot must be legible. If you are
unsure of how to capture a screenshot, take a moment to Google this. Your screenshot should
include your username. To include this, click on the down arrow by the power icon. This is in
the upper-right corner of your screen. See the below screenshot as an example of what to
submit:

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