install redhat from ISO on HD

[Cliff Meece]

I have a RH 7.2 system without floppy drive and without CD-ROM Drive.
I have downloaded the RH 9 ISO's onto a secondary hard drive and would
like to upgrade. Is it possible to do this? Also, I do not have
another linux box on the network to do a network install, so NFS is
not an option.

Thanks,

[Ian Pilcher]

Post by Cliff Meece
I have a RH 7.2 system without floppy drive and without CD-ROM Drive.
I have downloaded the RH 9 ISO's onto a secondary hard drive and would
like to upgrade. Is it possible to do this? Also, I do not have
another linux box on the network to do a network install, so NFS is
not an option.

Loopback mount the first ISO, then loopback mount the boot floppy image
that's in the ISO and look at syslinux.cfg.

It should be possible to extract the kernel and initrd and set up an
appropriate LILO or GRUB entry, although I've never heard of anyone
doing it.

Good luck!

[Cliff Meece]

Post by Ian Pilcher

Post by Cliff Meece
I have a RH 7.2 system without floppy drive and without CD-ROM Drive.
I have downloaded the RH 9 ISO's onto a secondary hard drive and would
like to upgrade. Is it possible to do this? Also, I do not have
another linux box on the network to do a network install, so NFS is
not an option.

Loopback mount the first ISO, then loopback mount the boot floppy image
that's in the ISO and look at syslinux.cfg.
It should be possible to extract the kernel and initrd and set up an
appropriate LILO or GRUB entry, although I've never heard of anyone
doing it.
Good luck!

yeah that seems to work. The basic steps are:
mkdir /rh9

mount redhat iso's

mount bootdisk.img from iso

cd into bootdisk.img mount

# cp -rf * to /rh9

This gives a directory /rh9 with all the bootdisk image files. No
special extraction is necessary.

mess with grub:
add the following grub entry ( I'm sure lilo would be similar )

title Red Hat 9
root (hd0,0)
kernel /rh9/vmlinuz ro root=/dev/hda1
initrd /rh9/initrd.img

Now reboot. Choose the 'HD' install method and specify the device and
location of the ISO's. The system is installing right now. I'm
assuming it's going to work, as the packages are installing right now.

Thanks for the suggestion. It just goes to show what is possible when
people keep open minds and want to actually find solutions. Contrast
that with some of the other responses in this thread that suffer from
narrow-minded thinking, defeatism, and condescension.

Where would linux be if it had been up to people like that?

[Timothy Murphy]

Post by Cliff Meece
mkdir /rh9
mount redhat iso's
mount bootdisk.img from iso
cd into bootdisk.img mount
# cp -rf * to /rh9
This gives a directory /rh9 with all the bootdisk image files. No
special extraction is necessary.
add the following grub entry ( I'm sure lilo would be similar )
title Red Hat 9
root (hd0,0)
kernel /rh9/vmlinuz ro root=/dev/hda1
initrd /rh9/initrd.img
Now reboot. Choose the 'HD' install method and specify the device and
location of the ISO's. The system is installing right now. I'm
assuming it's going to work, as the packages are installing right now.

I don't understand what you did.
Why not just list the commands you gave,
rather than a description of them?
Eg what does "cd into bootdisk.img mount" mean?

Post by Cliff Meece
Thanks for the suggestion. It just goes to show what is possible when
people keep open minds and want to actually find solutions. Contrast
that with some of the other responses in this thread that suffer from
narrow-minded thinking, defeatism, and condescension.

I didn't see the earlier postings in this thread,
but your own posting could do with an injection of clarity, IMHO.

[James Knott]

Post by Cliff Meece
I have a RH 7.2 system without floppy drive and without CD-ROM Drive.
I have downloaded the RH 9 ISO's onto a secondary hard drive and would
like to upgrade. Is it possible to do this? Also, I do not have
another linux box on the network to do a network install, so NFS is
not an option.

You'll need either a floppy or bootable CD. Even with the NFS install,
you'd still need a floppy.