HI all,
I am trying to create a usb bootable RHEL 5 image. I tried with dd command dd if=diskboot.img of=/dev/sdb its working. Its booting from usb thats fine.While installing from usb its asking for iso image (OS image) install from like
network
cdrom
ftp
and other options. I want it to take from usb only not other media installations. I tried with dd if=Redhat5.iso of=/dev/sdb. Its not working? Kindly suggest me on this.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: ignore it's just another netinstall image.

I fear the USB images for RHEL are net-installers so you can't really get around it, I don't think you can install RHEL just off of USB Disc I am afraid, however if you got another machine in the same network, just use an FTP service and refer to an iso of RHEL... it would probably be alot easier.

Potentially it maybe possible to to place the ISO on a USB if the installer is capable of getting the ISO from USB.

Hi

make 2 patition of 4gb usb drive, fist 500mb and another more then 3gb
1.In fist partition install bootable image dd=diskboot.img of=/dev/sdb1
2.In second partition (sdb2) copy iso image of RHEL 5
3.first step will take you up to install from
cdrom harddrive nfs ftp http sceen. and select harddisk, sdb2 and follow the steps to comlete you installation

for partition usb drive type "fdisk /dev/sdb"

I have tried to create a stick with the above method (2 partitions, one with diskboot.img and one with the .ISO), but the stick fails to boot.

I tried writing a MBR whith 'dd if=diskboot.img of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1', but my computer still thinks it is not bootable.

How do I get a working MBR on there?
What partition type should I set in fdisk?
I already set the first partition as bootable (active).

I selected the USB stick in the BIOS boot menu.

OK, getting a little closer, but not quite there yet.

With DD, the entire boot image needs to be written to a (100MB) partition.
(it also contains an initial root device and such)

According to Red Hat, it should be able to read the filesystem in /dev/sdb2 (USB stick) and mount the .ISO image.

BUT:
- the DL380 refuses to boot from the USB stick (wrong partition type? bootable flag?)
- what filesystem should I put on sdb2, seeing as the image is >2GB ?

The following solution worked to me:

- Create a bootable flash with Unetbootin application (specify a RHEL .iso)
- Copy the same RHEL .iso to the root of the flash drive
- Boot from flash, the setup program starts
- In setup, specify the flash drive (/dev/sdb1 for ex.) as a location of the distribution image

After that, the setup goes well.

Good luck to everyone!

That worked like a charm!
The "Linux" option is the same one you get on the regular RHEL CD ('linux rescue', anyone?)


At the moment, I can only use CD images because the (3GB) DVD is incompatible with VFAT.
Is there any partition type supported by this method?


In the meantime, I an storing a 'snapshot' of my RPM repo, so I can rebuild the server if needed.

I used Fedora Live USB creator and I can boot up to the installation method and just can't figure how to get any further, according to the previous post I need to have the bootable image and than a copy of the image in the usb as well does that mean I need like a 8 gb usb to do this, please let me know cause my computer is not recognizing any cd or dvds...

Unetbootin will put a (self-made) image on the USB stick, which provives the boot part.
You also need to put the original .ISO on there, so the installer can continue.

If you use A CD image, a 2GB stick will suffice.

Thanks for the information but I actually ended up buying some dvd+r disk and I was able to run the installation that way.

For those that still care, this is how you can do it:
(stolen from http://richmegginson.livejournal.com/19848.html )

1) format an 8GB USB drive
2) From RHN, go to the channel you want to use - in my case RHEL6 Workstation, and choose your arch
3) Download both the minimal/network install ISO, and the full package DVD ISO - you will need both
4) Using the Fedora Live USB Creator, make the USB drive bootable using the minimal/network install ISO - be sure to leave plenty of space for the full package DVD ISO
5) once the USB drive is complete, copy the DVD ISO to the USB thumb drive - then eject the thumb drive
6) Plug the USB drive into your computer and reboot
7) You may have to hit F-12 or some other function key to get to the BIOS boot menu - select the USB device
8) You should then see the RHEL install screen - select your install option
9) Go through the install screens - you will eventually get to a screen that says something like
Install from:
CD
Hard Drive
Network
HTTP/FTP
Choose "Hard Drive" - if it prompts you for the path, just hit Enter or "/" if you must enter something - this is the location of the DVD ISO

You can boot from a Redhat ISO and install using Easy2Boot