Chapter 3. Making Media
This chapter describes how to use ISO image files obtained by following the steps in Chapter 2,
Downloading Red Hat Enterprise Linux to create bootable physical media, such as a DVD or a USB
flash drive. You can then use these media to boot the installation program and start the installation.
These steps only apply if you plan to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on an AMD64 or Intel 64 system
or an IBM Power Systems server using physical boot media. For information about installing Red Hat
Enterprise Linux on an IBM System z server, see Chapter 16, Booting the Installation on IBM System z.
For instructions on how to set up a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) server to perform a PXE-
based installation over a network, see Chapter 23, Preparing for a Network Installation.
Note
By default, the i nst. stag e2= boot option is used on the installation media and set to a
specific label (for example, i nst. stag e2= hd : LABEL= RHEL7\x20 Server. x86 _6 4 ). If you
modify the default label of the file system containing the runtime image, or if using a
customized procedure to boot the installation system, you must ensure this option is set to the
correct value. See Specifying the Installation Source for details.
3.1. Making an Inst allat ion CD or DVD
You can make an installation CD or DVD using burning software on your computer and a CD/DVD
burner. The exact series of steps that produces an optical disc from an ISO image file varies greatly
from computer to computer, depending on the operating system and disc burning software installed.
Consult your burning software's documentation for the exact steps needed to burn a CD or DVD from
an ISO image file.
Note
It is possible to use optical discs (CDs and DVDs) to create both minimal boot media and full
installation media. However, it is important to note that due to the large size of the full
installation ISO image (between 4 and 4.5 GB), only a DVD can be used to create a full
installation disc. Minimal boot ISO is roughly 300 MB, allowing it to be burned to either a CD
or a DVD.
Make sure that your disc burning software is capable of burning discs from image files. Although this
is true of most disc burning software, exceptions exist. In particular, note that the disc burning feature
built into Windows XP and Windows Vista cannot burn DVDs; and that earlier Windows operating
systems did not have any disc burning capability installed by default at all. Therefore, if your
computer has a Windows operating system prior to Windows 7 installed on it, you need a separate
piece of software for this task. Examples of popular disc burning software for Windows that you might
already have on your computer include Nero Burn in g RO M and Ro xio Creat o r. Most widely used
disc burning software for Linux, such as Brasero and K3b , also has the built-in ability to burn discs
from ISO image files.
On some computers, the option to burn a disc from an ISO file is integrated into a context menu in the
file browser. For example, when you right-click an ISO file on a computer with a Linux or UNIX
operating system which runs the G NO ME desktop, the Nau t ilu s file browser presents you with the
option to Writ e to disk.