Downloading CentOS 8 ISO Image:
First, you have to download the CentOS 8 ISO installation image from the official website of CentOS.
Now, click on CentOS Linux DVD ISO.
Now, click on the mirror link that is closer to you geographically (for faster download speed).
Your browser should start downloading the ISO image. The ISO image is about 6.6 GB in size. It may take a while to complete depending on your internet connection.
Making CentOS 8 Bootable USB Thumb Drive:
Now, you have to make a bootable USB thumb drive in order to install CentOS 8 on your computer.
If you’re using Windows, you can use Rufus to make a bootable USB thumb drive very easily. You can also use Etcher. In this article, I will use Rufus.
First, visit the official website of Rufus. Now, click on the Rufus portable link.
Rufus should be downloaded.
Now, insert a USB thumb drive and run Rufus. Then, click on SELECT.
Now, select your CentOS 8 ISO image and click on Open.
Now, click on START.
Click on Yes.
Click on OK.
Click on OK.
NOTE: If you have any important data on your USB thumb drive, copy them somewhere safe before you press OK.
Rufus is copying the required data to the USB thumb drive.
Once your USB thumb drive is ready, click on CLOSE.
Installing CentOS 8 Server:
Now, insert the USB thumb drive on your computer and boot from it.
You should see the following GRUB menu. Select Install CentOS Linux 8.0.1905 and press <Enter>.
Now, select your language and click on Continue.
Now, you have to select the installation destination. So, click on Installation Destination.
Now, select your hard drive or SSD.
Now, you can either let CentOS 8 automatically partition the hard drive or SSD. Or, you can manually partition it yourself.
For, automatic partitioning, select Automatic and click on Done. For manual partitioning, select Custom and click on Done.
In this article, I am going to show you how to manually partition your hard drive or SSD. So, I will be selecting Custom.
You can also create partitions automatically from here if you click on Click here to create them automatically.
On CentOS 8, 3 different partitioning schemes (Standard Partition, LVM, LVM Thin Provisioning) are available. The default is LVM. You can change to a different partitioning scheme from the dropdown menu if you want.
On UEFI based motherboards, you have to create at least 2 partitions, an EFI System partition (/boot/efi) and a root partition (/).
On old BIOS based motherboards, a root partition (/) is enough.
The EFI System partition must be a Standard Partition. To create the EFI System partition, select Standard Partition and click on the + button.
Now, you have type in the mount point and capacity of the partition.
For EFI System Partition, set the Mount Point to /boot/efi and Desired Capacity to 512 MB. Once you’re done, click on Add mount point.
The partition should be created.
Now, create a new partition the same way. This will be the root partition. So, set the Mount Point to / and set the Desired Capacity depending on your need. If you want to use up all the available free space, then leave the Desired Capacity field empty. Once you’re done, click on Add mount point.
The partition should be added.
You can select any partition that you’ve created and change many attributes (i.e. file system type, capacity) from here if you need. Once you’re done, click on Done.
You may need to click on Done again.
Now, click on Accept Changes to confirm your changes.
By default, CentOS 8 server with graphical user interface will be installed. If you want to install CentOS 8 headless server, or CentOS 8 workstation, click on Software Selection.
Here, Server with GUI is the default environment.
For, CentOS 8 headless server setup, select Server or Minimal Install environment.
Once you’ve selected your environment, click on Done.
To set up a hostname, click on Network & Host Name.
Now, type in your hostname and click on Apply.
You can also turn on your network using the toggle button as marked in the screenshot below.
Once everything is setup correctly, click on Begin Installation.
The installation should start.
Now, you have to create a new user. So, click on User Creation.
Type in your details. Make sure to check make this user administrator. Once you’re done, click on Done. If you’re using short/simple passwords, you may need to click on Done twice to confirm your action.
Once the installation is complete, click on Reboot.
Once your CentOS 8 server boots, you will be asked to accept the license. Click on License Information.
Check I accept the license agreement checkbox and click on Done.
Then, click on FINISH CONFIGURATION.
You should see the login window. You can now login using your username and password.
NOTE: I went with the Server with GUI environment in this article, which installed GNOME 3 desktop environment as well. So, I see the GDM login window.
Once you’re logged in, you can check the CentOS version and kernel version with the following commands:
$ uname -r
As you can see, I am running CentOS 8.0.1905 and the it’s using Linux kernel 4.18.0.
So, that’s how you install CentOS 8 server on your computer. Thanks for reading this article.
