Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed

Performing the Installation 23NOTEAs noted on the last screen of the installation program, a log of the installation issaved in the /root/install.log file and a basic kickstart file is created based onthe installation in the /root/anaconda-ks.cfg file. Both of these files are in plaintext format and can be read by the root user after the system is rebooted.1Deciding on a Partitioning Method and TypeAs shown in Figure 1.4, use the pull-down menu to choose one of the following partitioningschemes so the filesystem can be partitioned and formatted:. Remove Linux partitions on selected drives and create default layout (default). Remove all partitions on selected drives and create default layout. Use free space on selected drives and create default layout. Create custom layoutIf the option you selected creates a default layout, you can select the option to Reviewand modify partitioning layout. Figure 1.11 shows the review and modify partitioningscreen. This is the same interface used when creating a custom layout. If the option youselected requires partitions to be deleted, you will be asked to confirm their deletionbefore continuing.A root partition (/) is required at a minimum. For x86 and x86_64 systems, it is alsorecommended that a swap partition and /boot partition be created. For x86 and x86_64systems, the default partitioning layout creates a root partition (/), swap partition, and/boot partition. LVM is used by default except for the /boot partition, which cannot bepart of a logical volume group. The default partitions required and created for other architecturesmight be different. For example, on Itanium systems, a /boot/efi partition isrecommended instead of a /boot partition. If a /boot/efi partition is created, it must bethe first primary partition.Most administrators will need to either create a custom layout or create the default layoutand then modify it to fit the needs of the system. For example, creating a separate /tmppartition prevents a program from creating temporary files that fill up the entire filesystem.Unless the users’ home directories are going to be mounted from a different server,creating a separate /home directory is beneficial and is even more flexible if the separatepartition is on a separate hard drive. It allows the administrator to limit the total amountof disk space used for home directories and gives the administrator the flexibility toreplace the hard drive with the /home partition with a larger drive or a network drive withminimal reconfiguration. Should the system fail while users still need access to their data,the hard drive containing the /home partition can be quickly moved to a backup systemalready installed with the OS (assuming the failure is not with the physical hardware associatedwith the /home partition).