How to install RHEL 8 from USB

The RHEL 8 ISO can be transferred to the USB flash drive using the ddrescue command hence creating a bootable RHEL 8 USB flashdrive.

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to create bootable RHEL 8 USB flash drive.
• How to access boot menu.
• How to access BIOS/UEFI.

Software Requirements and Conventions Used

How to install RHEL 8 from USB step by step instructions

1. Obtain the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 ISO image. Login to your Redhat customer portal and download the latest RHEL 8 iso image. Example:

   $ ls
   rhel-server-8.0-x86_64-dvd.iso
   

2. Install the ddrescue command line tool which will be used in the next step to create the bootable RHEL 8 USB flash drive:

   REDHAT/CENTOS
   # yum install ddrescue
   DEBIAN/UBUNTU
   # aptitude install gddrescue 
   

3. Use the fdisk -l command to locate the block device name of your USB flash drive. Sample output:

   # fdisk -l
   Disk /dev/sdb: 14.4 GiB, 15500673024 bytes, 30274752 sectors
   Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
   

   WARNING
   The block device name of your USB flash drive may be different. Make sure that you have a correct block device to avoid accidents like overwriting your existing system or data.
4. Create a bootable RHEL 8 flash drive. Use the ddrescue command to transfer rhel-server-8.0-x86_64-dvd.iso onto USB flash drive /dev/sdX. Amend the bellow command with the correct ISO image path, name and block device. No prior USB flash drive formatting is required:

   # ddrescue rhel-server-8.0-x86_64-dvd.iso /dev/sdX --force -D
   

5. Insert the RHEL 8 bootable USB flash drive into your computer and access the boot menu.

   To start the USB boot, switch off your PC and insert the USB bootable flash drive into your computer. It is recommended that all other USB devices are removed (e.g. memory cards, printers). After that, switch ON your computer. If you set your BIOS/UEFI correctly your PC will start the booting sequence from the USB external media in order to install RHEL 8 from USB.

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   Access Boot Menu

   To access Boot Menu on your computer you will need to hit different keys (or combination of keys) depending on your computer type. Here is the list of possible keys you may have to press depending on your PC:

   Key combinations for accessing Boot Menu

   Device	Key Combination	Comment
   Acer	Esc, F12 or F9	F12 key most likely
   Asus	F8 or Esc
   Compaq	Esc or F9
   Dell	F12
   eMachines	F12
   Fujitsu	F12
   HP	Esc or F9
   Lenovo	F8, F10 or F12	Other possibilities: Novo button or Fn + F11
   Samsung	Esc or F2 or F12	For ultrabooks from Samsung disable the fast boot option in BIOS/UEFI. See next section.
   VAIO	Esc, F10 or F11	Other possibilities: Assist button
   Toshiba	F12

   Access BIOS/UEFI

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   To access BIOS/UEFI on your computer you will also need to hit different keys (or combination of keys) depending on your computer type. Here is the list of possible keys you may have to press depending on your PC:

   Key combinations for accessing BIOS/UEFI

   Device	Key Combination	Comment
   Acer	Del or F2	F2 key most likely
   Asus	Delete or Del
   Compaq	F10
   Dell	F2
   eMachines	Tab or Del
   Fujitsu	F2
   HP	Esc, F10, F11	Other possibilities: on Pavilion – F1
   Lenovo	F1 or F2	Other possibilities: small button next to the Power button (if laptop)
   Samsung	F2	For ultrabooks from Samsung it might be F10
   VAIO	F1, F2, F3	Other possibilities: Assist button
   Toshiba	F1, F2, F12 or Esc

6. Select Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 from the boot menu and continue with the RHEL 8 installation as per usual.
   

   Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 boot menu.