Creating a Fedora Linux install CD

Fedora Core 5 is the free, open-source version of Linux used by the Tech Computer Center. You can create an install CD on any TCC machine with a CD burner; these machines are located near the Help Desk in Speare 5.

Here are the steps to creating a set of Fedora install CD in Linux on a TCC machine. In all of the examples, replace you with your username.

1. Create a directory, in the /tmp directory of the workstation, that will hold the CD images while you burn CDs from them. Use this command:

   mkdir /tmp/you
   

2. Bring up a Web browser and send it to this URL:

   ftp://ftp.nmt.edu/pub/linux/fedora/core/5/
   

   You will see a set of file names ending in .iso. You will burn each of these files onto a CD-ROM.
3. Right-click on the first file name and select “Save Link As...”. This will bring up the usual pop-up “Save As” menu. Navigate to the directory you created above (/tmp/you/), and save the file in that directory.
4. Repeat the previous step until you have saved all of the ISO files.
5. To burn the CD-ROMs, bring up the K3b application. This is located in the “Start” menu under “Sound & Video”.
6. In K3b, edit the directory path field (just below and to the right of “Help” in the menu bar) to read “/tmp/you”, and press Enter. Your copies of the ISO files will appear just below that field.
7. In the large window in the bottom half of K3b, click on “New data CD project”.
8. Use the mouse to drag the first ISO file and drop it in the area labeled “Use drag'n'drop to add files...”.
9. Click the “Burn” button. This will pop up the “Data Project” window.
10. If you want the CD's internal label to read something besides the generic “K3b data project”, click on the “Volume Desc” tab and replace the text in the “Volume name” field with something more descriptive, like “Fedora Core 5 disc #1”.
11. Insert a blank CD-ROM and click the “Burn” button. Writing the CD will take a few minutes; the “Overall progress” bar will show you how far there is to go.
12. When the first CD is finished, dismiss the “Data Project” window by clicking on “Close” to close the pop-up window.
13. Back in the main K3b window, select “Project -> Clear Project”
14. Repeat the instructions above for the remaining ISO files until you have burned all the ISO images successfully onto CDs.
15. Remember to delete the ISO files from /tmp/you/ when you are done.
16. For installation instructions, see the online Fedora Core 5 Installation Guide at http://docs.fedoraproject.org/fedora-install-guide-en/fc5/.

Last updated: 2007/06/07 23:11:13 UT
URL: http://www.nmt.edu/tcc/help/unix/fc5.html