This step by step guide explains how to download latest AlmaLinux 8.4 version, and then how to install AlmaLinux 8 with screenshots.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Linux and Open source community was not happy when Red Hat announced that it is going to end the support for CentOS 8 and is shifting its focus to CentOS stream.
While the community is in the debate about the decision of Red hat, some of them decided to act swiftly to fill the gap of centos. There are two strong alternatives developed to replace CentOS 8. One is Rocky Linux, and the other one is AlmaLinux.
Rocky Linux development is led by Gregory Kurtzer, the original founder of CentOS. And the AlmaLinux is being developed by CloudLinux team.
The initial version of Alma Linux is 8.3 and the current stable version is 8.4. In this article, we will focus on AlmaLinux 8.4 Installation.
If you are already running CentOS 8, you can easily to migrate to AlmaLinux 8 from CentOS 8 as described in the following guide:
If you don't want to upgrade but do a fresh AlmaLinux installation, read on. In this article, I will walk you through step-by-step instructions on installing AlmaLinux 8.4 with screenshots.
Download AlmaLinux 8.4
Currently, AlmaLinux is available for aarch64 and x86_64 architectures.
Go to the following link and download the latest iso image of AlmaLinux 8.4.
Depending upon your requirement, you can either download a minimal version or full DVD iso image. There is also an option to download the iso image via torrent.
Create AlmaLinux bootable medium
Once the AlmaLinux 8 ISO file is downloaded, you need to create bootable USB medium. There are many bootable USB creation tools available to create a bootable USB medium
You can choose any one of the following tools to create Alma Linux bootable USB.
Command line bootable USB creation tools:
- How To Create Multiboot USB Drives With Ventoy In Linux
- How To Create Bootable USB Drive Using dd Command
- Bootiso Lets You Safely Create Bootable USB Drive In Linux
Graphical bootable USB creation tools:
- Create Bootable USB Drive With Ventoy WebUI In Linux
- Create Bootable USB Drives And SD Cards With Etcher In Linux
- Popsicle – Create Multiple Bootable USB Drives At Once
- Create Bootable USB Drive With USBImager In Linux
- Kindd – A Graphical Frontend To dd Command
If you wish to install and test Alma Linux in any hypervisor (Virtualbox, KVM, Vmware), just skip the media creation and boot up the iso image.
For the demonstration purpose, I am using Oracle VirtualBox for installing AlmaLinux 8.4.
Install AlmaLinux 8.4 step by step
If you already have installed CentOS 8 or RHEL 8 or Rocky Linux 8, you won't find any difficulties while installing AlmaLinux 8. AlmaLinux uses the same Anaconda Installer which CentOS used.
STEP 1 - Boot the ISO Image
Once you boot up the iso image, the installer will prompt with a few options as shown in the below image. Choose "Install AlmaLinux 8.4" to proceed with the installation.
Wait for a few minutes and let the installer for preparing installation.
STEP 2 - Installation language
In this step, you have to choose the installation language. The language you choose will be used throughout the installation process.
Once the language is selected, press "continue".
STEP 3 - Installation summary
This is the core step of your installation process. All the options on how your os will be set up have to be configured in this step.
Take a look at the below image. There are three mandatory parameters to be configured which were highlighted. All other options are not mandatory and you can configure those steps once the installation is completed and os is booted up.
STEP 3.1 - Choose keyboard layout
Under "Localization" section, select “Keyboard”. You can add multiple layouts by pressing the (+) symbol. When you have multiple layouts, you can map a keystroke by pressing "options". Press "Done" to save the changes.
STEP 3.2 - Configure language support
Under "Localization", select "language support". Choose preferred languages and press "Done" to save the changes.
STEP 3.3 - Configure Date & Time
Under "Localization", select "Time & Date". Depending upon your locality, select the region from the map. You can set up network time by toggling ON/OFF "network time". You have to configure the networking first to enable network time. Press "Done" to save the changes.
STEP 3.4 - Configure Root password
This is one of the mandatory steps in the installation process where you have to set up a password for the root user. The root user is the superuser for all Linux distributions. Make sure a very strong password is set for the root user.
Under "User Settings" section, select "Root Password" and enter the strong password. Press "Done" to save the changes.
STEP 3.5 - Create new user
This is a mandatory step where you will be creating a new user. Under "User Settings", select "User Creation". Fill in the details like username, password, and permission. Press "Done" to save the changes.
STEP 3.6 - Installation source
Under "Software" section, select "Installation Source". You can either boot the iso or choose network install. In this case, I have booted the iso in the hypervisor (Virtualbox). The installer automatically detects the installation media. You can verify the iso image integrity by pressing "Verify".
By default "AppStream" repository is added. You can also add an additional repository by pressing the (+) symbol. Press "Done" to save the changes.
STEP 3.7 - Software environment
Under "Software", select "Software Selection". This is an important step that will decide how your operating system will be set up. Decide and choose the base environment and any additional packages if required.
In my case, I have chosen "Server with GUI".
STEP 3.8 - Configure disk
This is one of the important steps in your installation process. In this step, you will decide how your underlying disk attached to the OS is to be partitioned.
The installer will choose an automatic partition scheme by default. In the production system, it is you (the admin) who decide how to create partitions of different sizes. If you are simply testing AlmaLinux, then an automatic partition scheme would be sufficient.
Here I choose to create custom partitions. I have allocated 35 GB of disk space to my VM. Based upon the available size, I am going to partition my disk.
Choose "Custom" under Storage Configuration and press "Done". You will be now taken to the partition wizard.
You can create a standard partition or lvm based partitions. Here I choose the standard partition. Press the (+) symbol to add new partitions.
From the mount point drop down, you can choose predefined mount points like(/, home, var, swap). You can also enter a custom mount point name too. Allocate whatever capacity is required for this partition and press "Add mount point".
Now, repeat the same steps and create partition schemes as you wish.
Once the partition is created, you can change the parameters like mount points, file system types, etc.
Press "Done" and it will prompt with a summary of changes. Press "Apply Changes" to write the modified partition scheme.
STEP 3.9 - Configure network & hostname
Under "System" section, select "Network and Hostname". Your interface name will be visible and you can enable it by toggling the switch ON.
By default "localhost" is the default hostname. Under the new hostname section, you can enter a new hostname and press "Apply".
You can also assign the IP address to the interface. Select "Configure" and go to IPV4 settings and press "Add". Choose the method as "Manual" and enter the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway. Press "Save" to save the changes.
STEP 3.9 - Disable Kdump
Kdump captures kernel dumps and in production environments, kdump will only be enabled if there is a need to capture kernel dump.
Under "System", select "kdump". By default, kdump is enabled, remove the tick mark to disable kdump. Press "Done" to save the changes.
STEP 3.10 - Choose security policy
Under "System", select "Security Policy". There are some pre-configured profiles that you can choose from. Click on the profile from the list and press "Select Profile". The list of changes will be displayed at the bottom.
In this case, I have selected "ANSSI-BP-028(Minimal)" for demonstration purposes. In real-time, you should have a good understanding of what each profile does and which one suits your environment.
STEP 4 - Start AlmaLinux 8.4 installation
Choose "Begin Installation" to start the installation. If you have not configured the three mandatory parameters, the "begin installation" option will be greyed out and you will not be able to proceed to the next step.
Once the installation is completed, press "reboot" to complete the installation.
STEP 5 - Accept license
Once the machine is rebooted, you will be prompted to accept the license agreement. Once you accept the license, click "Finish Configuration".
Now the login screen will appear. Login with the newly created user.
Congratulations! AlmaLinux 8.4 has been installed successfully!
Start using AlmaLinux 8.4!!
Conclusion
In this comprehensive article, we have given the detailed step-by-step instructions on how to install AlmaLinux 8.4 with screenshots. If you have any feedback, let us know via the comment section below.
