Rocky Linux 9.4 Installation

Document Scope

This article will provide a basic step-by-step on how to install Rocky Linux 9 on a single disk. While this guide will not cover all optional software scenarios, it should provide you with a working Rocky Linux system.

Prerequisites

1. Rocky Linux 9 ISO - As of the publication date for this article (Aug 13, 2024), the current version of Rocky Linux is 9.4 and it can be obtained here. This guide uses the DVD ISO but if you are more comfortable with your ability you may use the Boot or Minimal ISOs instead.
2. USB flash drive with minimum 16GB storage capacity - This USB drive will be wiped entirely to repurpose for the Rocky 9 ISO installer. Any files on the USB drive that are still needed should be backed up before proceeding. For more info on how to prepare a flash drive for OS installs please see the KB article titled Creating a Bootable USB.

Step 1: Boot Off USB and Select Install

You will need to set your system to boot off an attached USB device. This guide will not provide specifics for your system however this is typically done within the BIOS. If you have an Exxact system and need help with this step, please open a new ticket. Assuming you have a correctly formatted USB drive, you should boot to this screen (or one similar). Select Install Rocky Linux 9.4 to load the installer.

Step 2: Choose Installation Language

For this guide we will be using English but if you have a preferred language, select it here. 

Once you select your language you will be at the main installation screen. Please note a number of these items have red text and must be completed before the installation can actually be initiated.

Step 3: Partition Your Drive

Choose Installation Destination from the main screen.

Select your drive and choose "Custom" under Storage Configuration. When you click "Done" you will be taken to the Manual Partitioning setup.

On this screen, change the dropdown from "LVM" to "Standard Partition"

Click the "+" in the lower left corner to add your first partition/mount point

How you partition your drive will be up to you and how you wish to ditribute your partitions/data. For this guide, we will have three partitions with the following layout/sizes:

• /boot - 1G
• [swap] - 10G
• / - Remainder of disk (To use the rest of the available space, just click Add mount point without entering a specific size)

For the /boot and / partitions, change the filesystem to ext4 by selecting the partition and changing the dropdown as pictured here

Once all three partitions have been added, click Done in the upper left and you should get a confirmation box detailing all of the changes that will be written to disk.

Once you click Accept Changes you will be taken back to the main installation screen.

Step 4: Configure Software To Be Installed

From the main installation screen, now choose Software Selection. This will allow you to customize specific packages that get installed along with the Base OS.

While the specific packages you select are up to you, you should consider installing the Container Management and Development Tools from the "Additional Software" column to ensure that any addition Exxact software you may be reinstalling  will function as expected. Click Done to return to the main installation screen.

Step 5: Configure Network

There are three pieces to the network you should configure so that you have working Internet right from the start.

1. Hostname - This is the hostname for the system. You should check with your network administrator to see if this needs to be something specific.
2. Network Configuration.- This is where you will specify IP address settings (static, DHCP, etc) and other network settings. Again, check with your network administrator for any specific settings.
3. Enable - This will enable and connect the network so that the install process can download any updates as needed prior to installation.

Once these are set, click Done to return to the main installation screen.

Step 6: Set Root Password and Create User

From the main install screen, choose "Root Password" under user settings and set a password for the root user.

Once this is set, choose "Create User" from the main install screen to create a primary user. Be sure to select "Make this user administrator" to allow this user to use sudo commands.

Step 7: Begin Installation

Once all items have been completed, the "Begin Installation" item in the lower right will become available.

Click Begin and you will see a progress window appear.

Upon completion you will be prompted to Reboot your system.

Step 8: Login!

As long as everything works as expected you will reboot to a login screen like the one below.

The system is now yours to login and use as you see fit! If you want to login as root directly, you can select "Not listed?" and enter the root user credentials.