There is a new version of this tutorial available for CentOS 8.

How to Install a CentOS 7.3 Minimal Server - Page 2

Next, we will proceed to SOFTWARE SELECTION, by default it comes with Minimal Install.

Software selection menu.

We can add more software packages if required (when you use the install DVD and not minimal installer). In my case, I need only a Minimal Install(Basic Functionality) setup to install software later with yum, so I will save the settings by pressing Done.

Add additional software packages here.

We move towards SYSTEM and select INSTALLATION DESTINATION.

Installation Destination.

When you need a manual partitioning scheme then you can select I will configure partitioning, in my case I will prefer Automatically configure partitioning after that press Done.

Select the installation destination for CentOS.

Next, we will customize our NETWORK & HOSTNAME by selecting that.

Configure the network in CentOS.

I will use the hostname server1.example.com and customize the ethernet setup by pressing Configure.

Set the hostname.

The next screen will look like this, now we add the IPv4 Settings by selecting the same. If you have IPv6 then you add it in IPv6 Settings.

Network card details.

Next, you can setup the network to match your local network setup. In my case, I use a static IP so I will select Manual

Set IPv4 mode to manual.

Add the entries for Address, Netmask and Gateway as per your static IP environment. In my case I am using Address as 192.168.1.100, Netmask as 255.255.255.0, Gateway as 192.168.1.1 and DNS servers as 8.8.8.8  8.8.4.4 These values may vary according to your network environment. After that press Save.

IPv4 details

IMPORTANT: If youdo not have an IPv6 internet connection, then set IPv6 from auto to ignore on the IPv6 tab, otherwise you won't be able to reach the internet from this server on IPv4 as CentOS seems to ignore the correct IPv4 setup then and uses IPv6 instead which fails.

Set IPv6 to ignore

Next, we have to turn the connection ON as shown in the screenshot below. Further press Done.

Turn the network on.

Now we are ready to start the installation process, you might want to crosscheck all the settings and then press Begin Installation.

Start the installation.

The installation process will start now and you get a small blue progress bar in the next windows. Now we have to set the ROOT PASSWORD and add a new non-root user in the USER CREATION option. I will first go for the root password.

Installation progress.

Enter a secure password of your choice and press Done

Installation progress.

Next, we will go for USER CREATION.

Add a user

Next, I will create a non-root user, as in my case I used the Full name  "Howtoforge" and Username "howtoforge", check the option Require the password to use this account and then press Done. Off-course you should use a username and password of your choice.

Setup user name and password.

Press Done.Have patience and wait for the completion of the setup.

After completion of the installation, it will ask to reboot the server, just press Finish configuration.

Reboot

The server reboots and will request your username and password afterwards.

The system is booting.

Now we are ready to login with the user that we just created above or we can use the root credentials.

First Login on CentOS

Login as root user to the server so we can do some final installation steps.

CentOS First Login

The first one is to install all available updates with yum.

yum update

confirm with "y" to proceed with the installation of the updates.

I will install two command line editors to be able to edit configuration files on the shell:

yum install nano vim

Network Configuration

CentOS 7.3 minimal don't come pre-installed with the ifconfig command we will install it as follows:

yum install net-tools

If you want to change or see the network configuration file, just edit the file

nano /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ens33

It will be like this when you configured a static IP address:

TYPE="Ethernet"
BOOTPROTO="none"
DEFROUTE="yes"
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL="no"
IPV6INIT="no"
IPV6_AUTOCONF="yes"
IPV6_DEFROUTE="yes"
IPV6_PEERDNS="yes"
IPV6_PEERROUTES="yes"
IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL="no"
IPV6_ADDR_GEN_MODE="stable-privacy"
NAME="ens33"
UUID="233f2c1b-877c-4b28-b17d-1eb091ded288"
DEVICE="ens33"
ONBOOT="yes"
IPADDR="192.168.1.100"
PREFIX="24"
GATEWAY="192.168.1.1"
DNS1="8.8.8.8"

Or like this when you use DHCP:

TYPE="Ethernet"
BOOTPROTO="dhcp"
DEFROUTE="yes"
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL="no"
IPV6INIT="yes"
IPV6_AUTOCONF="yes"
IPV6_DEFROUTE="yes"
IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL="no"
NAME="ens33"
UUID="233f2c1b-877c-4b28-b17d-1eb091ded288"
DEVICE="ens33"
ONBOOT="yes"
HWADDR="00:50:56:15:23:79"
PEERDNS="yes"
PEERROUTES="yes"
IPV6_PEERDNS="yes"
IPV6_PEERROUTES="yes"
IPV6_PRIVACY="no"

Change the values if required.

Note: The above DEVICE name may vary so please check the equivalent file in the directory /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts.

Adjust /etc/hosts

Adjust the file /etc/hosts as follows:

nano /etc/hosts

Make the values like this:

127.0.0.1   localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4
192.168.1.100   server1.example.com     server1

::1         localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6

Congratulations! Now we have basic minimal CentOS 7.3 server setup which provides a solid basis for our other tutorials.

Download CentOS 7.3 server as virtual machine

This setup is available as virtual machine download in ova/ovf format (compatible with VMWare and Virtualbox) for howtoforge subscribers.

Login details for the VM

  • The root password is: howtoforge
  • The password of the "howtoforge" user is: howtoforge

Please change both passwords on the first login.

  • The IP address of the VM is 192.168.1.100

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