How to select packages for minimal install

dataspy · #1 5th April 2010, 02:19 PM

Hello, I'm new to Fedora (not linux) and I was wondering how I would go about doing a minimal install of fedora 12. I downloaded the live disc but it doesn't give me installation options (I'm new to minimal installs so I don't know that much). I also searched all over looking for a fedora minimal install iso, something similar to the ubuntu minimal install iso that is only 12mb.

Any help greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

stoat · #2 5th April 2010, 02:40 PM

The LiveCD installs a rather minimal system (obviously, since it fits on a CD). But if you mean you want an absolutely positively truly minimal system, then download and create the first CD of the CD set. Boot with it and start the installation. When you get to the package selection part of the installation, uncheck everything but the "Installation Repo". Check "Customize now". Continue on and uncheck every possible package in each package group. Everything. Continue on. For Fedora 12, Anaconda then will install 205 packages. When it's done, reboot as instructed. You will arrive at a login prompt. Login with your root password, and you'll have a runlevel 3 command prompt. That's it. No X. No desktop. But that minimal install has enough stuff installed to connect to the Internet with a wired NIC and download anything else you want. From there, do what you want.

Theodor009 · #3 5th April 2010, 02:44 PM

download the networkinstall CD
http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora-all
uncheck everything in the software selection and install

dataspy · #4 5th April 2010, 02:47 PM

Thanks you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

smr54 · #5 5th April 2010, 04:45 PM

F13 should (don't know if they'll keep the option), actually have a minimal install option, so that rather than unchecking everything, you just have to check minimal install. (Or maybe it's only in F14, I've kind of lost track of what I have on my testing netbook.)

Well, one of them.

RahulSundaram · #6 6th April 2010, 08:55 AM

Hi,

Fedora 13 provides a minimal installation option.

ryb37 · #7 9th April 2010, 01:01 AM

you can also use liveusb-creator in windows or Linux to create a fedora boot disk using boot.iso image on the first CD or DVD this is what i have been using on fc9 and am very sure it should work for fc12 too it gives the exact menus that are available when you boot from CD 1 then you can specify a hard disk or network install.

manjil76 · #8 5th May 2010, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theodor009

download the networkinstall CD
http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora-all
uncheck everything in the software selection and install

I want to install almost all fedora 12 in USB 8GB (without OpenOffice and GIMP) but how it need 10 GB for complete installation. Please help!!!!!!!!!

stoat · #9 5th May 2010, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manjil76

I want to install almost all fedora 12 in USB 8GB (without OpenOffice and GIMP) but how it need 10 GB for complete installation. Please help!!!!!!!!!

Hello manjil76,

This thread has been about doing the opposite of what you just said. It's been about how to do a minimal installation, but you said you want to install "almost all" of Fedora 12. According to the release notes, installing all of Fedora 12's packages does require more than 9 GB. However, the default installation including OpenOffice and GIMP should fit into 8 GB. Anyway, whatever you want to install will either fit into the available space, or it will not. What else can you do but unselect packages that you can do without?

DanMachado · #10 4th July 2010, 06:21 PM

Hi stoat,

I installed fedora 12 using the Iso disk and I tried to do a minimal installation, as you suggested, I unchecked everything and anaconda just install about 204 applications, as you said. Everything goes well, however when I rebooted and the system stops loading freeze and the last line is: "Warning: unable to open an initial console"

Any advice?

Regards.

Dan

itachi · #11 4th July 2010, 09:38 PM

Hi, I did a minimum install yesterday with F13, although I didn't trust the minimal option (don't ask me why). The F13 minimal install deselects ALL packages, if you don't change that. My approach was the following.
1) Desktop Installation
2) Deselect all Graphical Desktop Environments
3) Disable all Development Stuff
4) ..Well, I disabled almost everything, except Base.

If, you need a Desktop Envrionment (I bet you will), there is still enough to install left anyway.
After the Installation is finished and you rebooted, you will probably be dropped to a shell (if everything works fine) - for me it didn't, because of the nouveau driver and my nvidia card, but that is a different story ( took me 10min to fix it).

Here, I'm working pretty much on my memory, because the following steps were kinda try & error.
*) Install all X-Window related stuff (xorg-x11-server-Xorg, xorg-x11-drv-<whateverstuff>).
*) install "GNOME Desktop Environment" via yum groupinstall "GNOME Desktop Environment".
*) .. Some arbitrary steps I cant remember perfectly ..changing default runlevel in inittab, adding
x:5:respawn:/usr/<something> for gdm to start on boot. ..etc etc.

Dunno, if this is just the manual version of F13's minimal install, but my approach worked for me, lol.
Hope this helps a bit.

DanMachado · #12 5th July 2010, 07:04 PM

Hi itachi,

I could solved my problem by typing in a terminal:

cd /dev
mknod -m 660 console c 5 1
mknod -m 660 null c 1 3

Now I can boot and login, however when I try

yum update

I get the message:

Error: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: fedora

I have been trying most of the advices from :

http://fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=223472

without any success. I suspect that such error is a internet issue because the directory: /etc/sysconf/networking/devices is empty. Any advice how to enable my internet connection?

Regards.

Dan

stoat · #13 5th July 2010, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanMachado

I installed fedora 12 using the Iso disk and I tried to do a minimal installation, as you suggested, I unchecked everything and anaconda just install about 204 applications, as you said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanMachado

Now I can boot and login, however when I try

yum update

I get the message:

Error: Cannot retrieve repository metadata (repomd.xml) for repository: fedora

Hello DanMachado,

If you did a minimal installation (sounds like it), then you are in runlevel 3 and may need to do things to establish the Internet connection in that situation. It's probably not just sitting there waiting for you to run a yum command. If you have a wired NIC connected to something that is connected to the Internet, then the chances are good that a driver is installed for the NIC card. For example, if you are connected to a cable modem or a DSL modem or a router that is connected to one of those, then this might be all you need to do (anyway, it's what I do in runlevel 3)...

Code:

dhclient eth0

After that, if you can ping an Internet URL, then you probably can use yum to install and group install what you need to build up the system.

If you have only a wireless connection, the above is still possible (because I've done that too). But it can be considerably more complex because of the issues of a wireless driver and encryption. I'm fortunate enough to have a Broadcom wireless card that uses b43 which connects after merely copying the firmware files into the new system. And I temporarily revert to WEP encryption to simplify connecting via console commands.

DanMachado · #14 6th July 2010, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoat

Hello DanMachado,

If you did a minimal installation (sounds like it), then you are in runlevel 3 and may need to do things to establish the Internet connection in that situation. It's probably not just sitting there waiting for you to run a yum command. If you have a wired NIC connected to something that is connected to the Internet, then the chances are good that a driver is installed for the NIC card. For example, if you are connected to a cable modem or a DSL modem or a router that is connected to one of those, then this might be all you need to do (anyway, it's what I do in runlevel 3)...

Code:

dhclient eth0

After that, if you can ping an Internet URL, then you probably can use yum to install and group install what you need to build up the system.

If you have only a wireless connection, the above is still possible (because I've done that too). But it can be considerably more complex because of the issues of a wireless driver and encryption. I'm fortunate enough to have a Broadcom wireless card that uses b43 which connects after merely copying the firmware files into the new system. And I temporarily revert to WEP encryption to simplify connecting via console commands.

Hi stoat,

Thanks for replying.

Well I expected that the minimal installation of fedora could be like the minimal installation of xubuntu
(http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?is...090504#feature) which I did, and since the beginning I had wired internet connection and the apt-get installer working. Anyway, on fedora things are different.

The command line

Code:

dhclient eth0

works fine but I have to run it every time when I start a new session. How can I sett it to run at boot time?

I could install xfce, Xorg and gdm, however when I do: startx, the desktop background appears and just that, nothing else. And since there is nothing else I have to do Ctrl-Alt-Del-BkSp then the logout menu appears but rather that letters is has little squares. What can I do.

Cheers.

Dan

stoat · #15 6th July 2010, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanMachado

works fine but I have to run it every time when I start a new session. How can I sett it to run at boot time?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanMachado

I could install xfce, Xorg and gdm, however when I do: startx, the desktop background appears and just that, nothing else.

Well, I may have misunderstood what you want to accomplish. When I do these minmal installations, the first thing that I do is install the X Window System group and a desktop package group and change the default runlevel to 5 in /etc/inittab. After that, rebooting leads to the normal and familiar graphic Firstboot stuff to create a user account. Next is NetworkManager and configuring the NIC or wireless card. From there on, it boots into a normal desktop environment with Internet, and I install whatever else I need. So I never deal with dhclient after that first time. Do you want something different to happen?