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2.1 Installing from CD

I have only ever installed CentOS from CD for machines on my local network. I usually pay for dedicated hosting, so generally when I order a server, it comes with whatever the going package is at the hosting company. A lot of the time they will perform a base install, which loads the server with all sorts of things that I will never use (such as entire X-windows packages). If this is the case with you, skip down to Clean Up Packages section. If you're installing from CD, read on.

1. Boot the machine with your CentOS Server CD.
2. At the CentOS boot screen with the 'boot:' prompt, go in to text mode by typing 'linux text' and hitting Enter.
3. If you want to test your CD to see if it's good, select 'OK', then 'Test' at the next prompts, otherwise select 'Skip'. I like to test new CDs and/or old machines, as I've found both bad CDs and bad CD drives here. Once it's passed the test, select OK and hit Enter. The CD will eject. Re-insert it and select 'Continue'.
4. Anaconda will load and your hardware will be probed. Eventually you get a "Welcome to CentOS_ServerCD" notice. Select 'OK'.
5. Choose your language (English)
6. Choose your keyboard (us)
7. A Disk Partitioning Setup prompt comes next. Choose 'Autopartition', unless you have something in mind for Disk Druid.
8. Select 'Remove all partitions on this system', and confirm this choice at the next prompt. I'm assuming you only have a single hard drive in the machine, which will be /dev/hda. This procedure will wipe all the data off that hard drive, so be careful.
9. The Partitioning layout comes up next. I just choose OK here, but if you have a specific partitioning scheme in mind, now's the time to specify it.
10. Select 'Use GRUB Boot Loader' and hit 'OK'
11. Leave the next prompt (passing boot options to the kernel) blank and just hit 'OK'
12. Leave the next prompt (use boot loader password) blank as well. hit 'OK'
13. If you care about your boot label, use 'Edit' in the next prompt to change it, otherwise hit 'OK'.
14. Select 'Master Boot Record' and hit 'OK'.
15. You can configure your IP at the next prompt if you want. Most people probably just want to have 'Configure using DHCP' and 'Activate on boot' selected, which is the default. If you want a static IP on your box, you can enter it now. Hit 'OK' when you're done.
16. Hostname Configuration: Select 'manually' and enter a name for your new box.
17. Firewall: Select 'enable firewall'
18. Security Enhanced Linux: Select 'active'
19. Language Support: Select any additional languages you want
20. Time Zone Selection: Choose your timezone
21. Finally, enter the root password and confirm it. Make sure you keep track of it.