Installation media is not auto detected during installation of RHEL 8.3

Solution Unverified - Updated

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3
  • Rufus image maker

Issue

  • During RHEL 8.3 installation via USB, I can only see an Installation Source option "Red Hat CDN" instead of "Local Media".

Resolution

Disclaimer: The following information has been provided by Red Hat, but is outside the scope of the posted Service Level Agreements and support procedures. The information is provided as-is and any configuration settings or installed applications made from the information in this article could make the Operating System unsupported by Red Hat Global Support Services. The intent of this article is to provide information to accomplish the system's needs. Use of the information in this article at the user's own risk.

The following three options are workarounds for media written with 3rd party applications such as rufus for Windows. Only one option is needed.

  1. When booting from 8.3 media you can hit tab to edit the kernel command line. Change the value inst.stage2= to inst.repo=. Installation should proceed as normal. Useful if only installing a single system.

  2. Red Hat recommends using Fedora Media Writer on Windows systems. A useful option for many systems.

    This content is not included.This content is not included.https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html-single/performing_a_standard_rhel_installation/index#creating-a-bootable-usb-windows_preparing-for-your-installation

  3. The issue can be worked around by the following on another linux system. This is the most involved process and likely better solved using a different imaging tool.

    • Download the 8.3 install media from the Customer Portal

    • As the root user:

    • Allow the hidden files to be copied:

    shopt -s dotglob

    • Create our working directories

    # mkdir /mnt/iso-mounted;mkdir /mnt/iso-new

    • Mount the downloaded iso on your linux system:

    # mount rhel-8.3-x86_64-dvd.iso /mnt/iso-mounted/

    • Copy the existing iso media to the newly created iso-new directory:

    # cp -avRf /mnt/iso-mounted/* /mnt/iso-new/

    • Change the kernel command line arguments in the new install media:

    # sed -i 's#inst.stage2=#inst.repo=#g' /mnt/iso-new/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
    # sed -i 's#inst.stage2=#inst.repo=#g' /mnt/iso-new/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg

    • You can then regenerate the iso

    mkisofs -o /tmp/rhel8.3.iso -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -J -R -l -c isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -eltorito-alt-boot -e images/efiboot.img -no-emul-boot -graft-points -V "RHEL-8-3-0-BaseOS-x86_64" /mnt/iso-new/

    Please note that the -V "RHEL-8-3-0-BaseOS-x86_64" will be dependent on release and need to be updated for other releases

    • Then

    isohybrid --uefi /tmp/rhel8.3.iso

    • Lastly

    implantisomd5 /tmp/rhel8.3.iso

    • You can then reimage the iso with rufus.

Root Cause

SBR
Product(s)
Components
Category
Tags

This solution is part of Red Hat’s fast-track publication program, providing a huge library of solutions that Red Hat engineers have created while supporting our customers. To give you the knowledge you need the instant it becomes available, these articles may be presented in a raw and unedited form.