(Apologies for the potential duplicate post. My initial post had a
smashed subject line. This post only adds the subject and this note.)
I would like permission to edit this page. The changes I have in mind are:
1) It is not necessary to burn a CD/DVD to do a "headless" install in
cases where the installed system has a monitor, but for some reason
cannot support a graphical install directly. This can be caused by: a
server that has too little memory to run a graphical install, or running
the install in a virtual machine where the install does not work
properly in the virtual machine console because the display is too small
and controls are not shown.
One situation where I ran into this situation was doing an install of
6.5 on very old server hardware. The text mode install did not allow me
to preserve partitions, and it was critical to preserve the /home mount
to avoid data loss. I had to run the graphical install, but the only
way to do it on this hardware was to do a headless install. I was
thankful for the page because it helped me figure out how to do the
headless install even though I didn't need to go to the trouble of
making bootable media. It seems potentially beneficial to make notes
that help others also learn how to do it without burning media if this
could solve their issue.
Also, just last week I tried to perform a graphical install CentOS 7.1
in a VM under ESXi 6. The install started out okay, but soon reached a
point where installer windows/panels and controls did not fit in the
console display. While one might try to use TAB to select hidden
controls, it was unsafe to do so because one could not even see the
controls that needed to be manipulated. As I didn't know how to cure
the console size issue during install, it seemed logical to use a
"headless" install method to get a higher resolution install console via
a VNC viewer. This might have worked except that:
2) The instructions given do not work for CentOS 7. Something has
changed. At this point I am still trying to figure out if the problem
is simply a matter of changed kernel options, but after trying many
things for a couple of days, it is clear that at least 7.1 does not
work. At the very least, the page could be improved by documenting this
difficulty with 7. I did find a lead tonight that might allow me to
proceed with 7, but I haven't tested it yet. If it works, then the
edits would document changes key to making the process work for 7.
The proposed edits would show how to invoke a "headless" install by
editing kernel parameters at the initial install menu on the console.
Obviously this is not a true "headless install", but since it can be
used to advantage, and as it is A LOT simpler than burning a CD/DVD, I
feel the changes would help others that find themselves in the situation
I was in.
I am proposing to do the in
http://wiki.centos.org/TipsAndTricks/VncHeadlessInstall though if it is
felt that it is better to have the content be on a sub-page (due to the
fact my edits involve using the console), I am amenable to doing that also.
My wikiuser is: KevinBulgrien
I have not created my user page at this time, but would plan to follow
the editing guidelines and set it up if I am approved to make these
changes.
Thanks for your consideration of this matter.
Kevin Bulgrien
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