Learn How To Setup And Install Redhat Enterprise Linux 8 On A Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1 Virtual Machine.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a modern open source operating system that is built to be robust, open and reliable. You can deploy REDHAT 8 on almost any IT platform such as physical hardware, virtual machines, and in cloud environments such as AWS. If you need a platform that is easy to administer and control, and supports all major hardware platforms and thousands of apps, you’ve found it! To be able to use REDHAT 8, you first have to purchase a support subscription. At the time of writing of this article a workstation support subscription costs $179 USD, a server support subscription costs $349 USD, a support subscription for virtual datacenters costs $ 2499 USD and there are even more support subscriptions for various use cases. However REDHAT also offers a developer edition that you can download and use without having to purchase a support subscription and in this tutorial you will learn how to install this version on a VirtualBox 6.1 virtual machine. If you would like to watch a free video tutorial, click on the button below to watch it now on YOUTUBE
REQUIREMENTS
In order to complete this tutorial successfully the following is a list of items that may be needed. Please ensure to have these items available before taking implementation action on this tutorial:
1) A desktop or laptop with a dual core processor, 4GB of RAM and 50GB of free disk space
2) The REDHAT Enterprise linux 8 disk image file
3) VirtualBox 6.1 or newer
4) A user account on redhat.com
5) An internet connection to download REDHAT updates.
OVERVIEW
1) REDHAT Enterprise linux 8 system requirements
2) Go to the REDHAT website, sign up for a free account and download RHEL 8
3) Open virtualbox and create a new virtual machine using the advanced mode
4) Start the virtual machine and install RHEL 8.
5) Register the VM with Red Hat Subscription Management.
6) Install updates, enable the COCKPIT web console and install virtualbox guest additions.
Redhat Enterprise Linux 8 System Requirements.
1) The following is a list of minimum system requirements needed to install REDHAT ENTERPRISE LINUX 8:
1) AMD, Intel, and ARM 64-bit architecture
2) Atleast 4GB of installed system memory (RAM)
3) 20GB of unallocated disk space
4) 800 x 600 graphics display
5) 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC.
Step 1: Download The RHEL8 Disk Image File.
1) Click HERE to go to the REDHAT developers download page and click on the LINUX tab. Click on the DOWNLOAD RHEL button and click on DOWNLOAD.
2) Your web browser will redirect to the REDHAT log in page, click on the REGISTER FOR A REDHAT ACCOUNT link, enter your details on the spaces provided and click on CREATE MY ACCOUNT.
3) An account verification email will be sent to the email address that you specified in the previous step.
Open your mail box and click on the link in the REDHAT email to verify your account.
Once you’re signed into your REDHAT account you should be able to download the disk image file. Please note that the disk image file is about 7GB in size.
Step 2: Open Virtualbox And Create A New Virtual Machine Using The Advanced Mode
4) Open the VIRTUALBOX application and click on the NEW button to open the virtual machine creation wizard.
5) Switch to EXPERT MODE by click on the GUIDED MODE button that is at the bottom of the WIZARD.
6) Enter a name to identify the virtual machine on the NAME text box, select a folder to save virtual machine files on the MACHINE FOLDER file selection box and set the TYPE to LINUX. On the VERSION drop down menu select REDHAT (64 BIT) and click on CONTINUE
7) On the MEMORY SIZE window, use the memory slider to set the amount of memory to allocate to the virtual machine to 2048 MB and click on CONTINUE.
8) On the HARD DISK window, select the CREATE A VIRTUAL HARD DISK NOW option and click on CREATE.
9) Next, you have to choose the type of file that you would like to use for the virtual hard disk. Virtualbox supports the VDI, VHD and VMDK file types. Click on the VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) option and click on CONTINUE
10) Next, select whether the new virtual hard disk should grow as it is used or if it shoud be created at its maximum size. Please note that a dynamic disk has the benefit of saving storage space on the host computer however a fixed size hard disk takes time to create but is faster to use.
To save storage space of the host computer, click on the DYNAMICALLY ALLOCATED option and click on CONTINUE.
11) Next, use the slider on this window to select the size of the virtual hard disk in megabytes. We recommend that you set it to 30GB or more. Click on the CREATE button to complete the virtual machine creation process.
Step 3: Start The Virtual Machine And Install RHEL 8.
12) On the VIRTUALBOX virtual machine library, right click on the newly created virtual machine and click on START > NORMAL START.
13) When the virtual machine starts up and popup window will be displayed prompting you to select a virtual optical disk file. Click on the file selection button as indicated by the red arrow in the image on the right.
14) Click on the ADD button, browse to the folder where the REDHAT 8 disk image file is located and click on OPEN. Click on the CHOOSE button then click on START
15) Use the keyboard UP or DOWN keys to select the INSTALL RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX 8 option and press ENTER.
16) On the WELCOME TO RHEL 8 installation window, select ENGLISH as the language you would like to use during the installation process and click on CONTINUE.
17) Click on INSTALLATION DESTINATION, select the 30GB virtual hard disk and click on DONE.
18) Click on NETWORK & HOSTNAME and set the ETHERNET adapter to ON. You should see its status update to CONNECTED and also the IP ADDRESS that has been assigned to it. Enter a hostname on the HOST NAME text box then click on APPLY and click on DONE.
19) Click on SOFTWARE SELECTION and click on the SERVER WITH GUI radio button. There are also ADD-ONS that you can select such as WINDOWS FILE SERVER, FILE AND STORAGE SERVER, FTP SERVER, MAIL SERVER and more and the choice of which ADD-ONS to select is entirely up to you.
20) Click on SYSTEM PURPOSE and ensure that the RED HAT ENTERPRISE LINUX SERVER option is selected. On RED HAT SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT select NOT SPECIFIED and on USAGE click on the NOT SPECIFIED option and click on DONE.
21) Click on the BEGIN INSTALLATION button to initiate the installation process then click on the ROOT PASSWORD button and set a password for the system root user account.
Click on the USER ACCOUNT button then set a username and password that you will use for logging into the RHEL 8 virtual machine.
22) Once the installation process is COMPLETE! click on the REBOOT button to restart the virtual machine.
23) If the virtual machine starts up using the REDHAT installation media you may need to shutdown the virtual machine and detach the disk image file from the IDE controller.
Click on the detach button to remove the disk image file from the IDE controller and click on OK.
Start the virtual machine to complete the post installation setup.
Step 4: Accept The RHEL 8 License Agreement And Register The VM With Red Hat Subscription Management.
24) The next step is to accept the RED HAT 8 END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT. To do this click on the LICENSE INFORMATION button
25) Then click on the I ACCEPT THE LICENSE AGREEMENT check box and click on DONE.
26) To be able to get system and package updates, REDHAT 8 needs to be registered to the REDHAT subscription service. Click on the SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER button to start the registration process.
27) The REDHAT VM will be registered to subscription.rhsm.redhat.com, this URL may be different if you are located in a different region or if you are installing a different version of REDHAT. Click on NEXT to proceed with the registration.
28) Enter your REDHAT account username and password on the LOGIN and PASSWORD fields. Enter the name of the virtual machine on the SYSTEM NAME field and click on REGISTER.
29) If you chose to skip the registration process during first time boot, you can register at any time using the command line interface. To do this click on ACTIVITIES on the upper left corner and click on the TERMINAL icon.
run the following commands to register:
sudo bash
subscription-manager register –auto-attach
Enter your REDHAT username and password and when the registration is complete you will see the following information:
Installed Product Current Status:
Product Name: Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64
Status: Subscribed
30) Check that you now have the BaseOS and AppStream repos enabled by running the following command:
yum repolist
Step 5: Install Updates, Enable The COCKPIT Web Console And Install Virtualbox Guest Additions.
31) It is recommended to install updates on your REDHAT system on a regular basis. To do this run the following command as root user:
yum update
Once th update process is complete, run the following command to reboot REDHAT:
reboot
32) COCKPIT is a web based management utility that simplifies administration tasks especially for new users. With cockpit you can do things like inspecting and changing network settings, managing storage, downloading and running containers, inspecting system hardware, installing updates and more!
To enable COCKPIT, open the REDHAT terminal and run the following commands:
sudo systemctl enable –now cockpit.socket
By default, the system firewall will prevent access to Cockpit from the network. To allow access from the network run the following commands as root user:
sudo firewall-cmd –add-port=9090/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-port=9090/tcp
33) To install virtualbox guest additions, the first thing to do is to install REDHAT DEVELOPMENT TOOLS. To do this run the following commands:
sudo yum groupinstall “Development Tools”
sudo yum install kernel-devel elfutils-libelf-devel
34) Next, from the menu bar click on DEVICES > INSERT GUEST ADDITIONS CD IMAGE. A pop-up will ask you if you want to run the software on the CD image. Click Run.
35) A terminal window will pop-up showing the installation progress. When complete, press enter to close the window. Some of the improvements, such as the mouse pointer integration will be immediately available. Others improvements won’t be available until after the VM is rebooted.
