Rocky Linux is a community-driven enterprise Linux distribution that serves as a drop-in replacement for CentOS. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the installation process, system configuration, and post-installation setup for development work.

What is Rocky Linux?

Rocky Linux is a community version of Enterprise Linux that:

  • Tracks slightly ahead of the stable release
  • Is enterprise-ready and production-grade
  • Maintains 1:1 binary compatibility with RHEL
  • Is supported by a large, active community

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

  • A computer meeting minimum system requirements
  • A USB drive (8GB minimum) or blank CD/DVD
  • Internet connection for updates
  • Basic understanding of Linux concepts

Installation Steps

1. Download and Prepare Installation Media

  1. Download the Rocky Linux ISO image
  2. Choose between:
    • Minimal ISO (recommended for servers)
    • DVD ISO (includes additional packages)
  3. Create bootable media:
    • USB drive using tools like Rufus or Etcher
    • CD/DVD using burning software

2. Basic Installation

  1. Boot from installation media
  2. Select installation language
  3. Configure installation destination
  4. Set up network connection
  5. Configure system timezone
  6. Create root password
  7. Create user account
  8. Begin installation

3. Disk Partitioning

Here’s a recommended partition layout:

[jeff@localhost ~]$ df -h
Filesystem           Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs             7.8G     0  7.8G   0% /dev
tmpfs                7.8G     0  7.8G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs                7.8G  8.9M  7.8G   1% /run
tmpfs                7.8G     0  7.8G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mapper/rl-root   70G  3.1G   67G   5% /
/dev/md126p1        1014M  236M  779M  24% /boot
/dev/mapper/rl-home  1.8T   13G  1.8T   1% /home
tmpfs                1.6G     0  1.6G   0% /run/user/1000

Post-Installation Configuration

1. System Updates

# Update system packages
sudo dnf update -y

# Reboot if required
sudo reboot

2. Install Essential Tools

Ansible Installation

Ansible is recommended for system automation:

# Install EPEL repository
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install Ansible
sudo dnf install ansible -y

# Verify installation
ansible --version

Development Tools

# Install Git
sudo dnf install git

# Install Node.js and NVM
sudo dnf install nodejs
sudo dnf install nvm
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/master/install.sh | bash

3. System Configuration

Set Hostname

# Edit hosts file
vi /etc/hosts

# Add or modify the line:
127.0.0.1   myhostname.domain.com

# Restart hostname service
systemctl restart systemd-hostnamed

# Reboot to apply changes
sudo reboot

Security Considerations

  1. Firewall Configuration

    # Check firewall status
sudo firewall-cmd --state

# Configure firewall rules as needed
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

  2. SELinux

    • Enabled by default
    • Configure based on security requirements
    • Monitor audit logs

  3. System Updates

    • Enable automatic updates
    • Regular security patches
    • Monitor update notifications

Performance Optimization

  1. System Tuning

    # Install tuned
sudo dnf install tuned

# Enable and start tuned service
sudo systemctl enable tuned
sudo systemctl start tuned

  2. Swap Configuration

    • Monitor swap usage
    • Adjust if needed
    • Consider SSD for swap

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. Boot Problems

    • Check BIOS settings
    • Verify boot media
    • Review system logs

  2. Network Issues

    • Check network configuration
    • Verify firewall rules
    • Test connectivity

  3. Package Management

    • Clear DNF cache
    • Check repository status
    • Verify package signatures

Further Reading