How to install Fedora from a DVD ISO on Hard Disk

[mwesten]

Sometimes it may be necessary, or just convenient, to install Fedora from the DVD ISO file located on a local hard drive.

The method I describe here does that, with two requirements. It uses GRUB4DOS, and the necessary files must be located on a FAT32 or EXT2/3/4 partition.

1. Create the new partition and name it "FEDORA". It does not need to be a primary partition, and can be deleted later.
   An existing partition can also be used, but you will either need to change it's name as shown or put the correct name in the kernel line of the menu.lst file when that is created in step 5.
2. Use your favorite ISO program to open or mount the the DVD ISO image file and extract the /images directory to the root of the partition..
3. Copy the DVD ISO image file to the root directory of the partition.
4. Prepare a method to boot GRUB4DOS. See the following GRUB4DOS tutorial page for details about that task.
   
   
   http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki...l#Installation
5. Create a menu.lst file for GRUB4DOS with the following lines and place it in the appropriate location for your installation of GRUB4DOS.

title F13 DVD Install
find --set-root /Fedora-13-i386-DVD.iso
map /Fedora-13-i386-DVD.iso (hd32)
map --hook
root (hd32)
kernel /isolinux/vmlinuz repo=hd:LABEL="FEDORA":/
initrd /isolinux/initrd.img

Now just boot GRUB4DOS, select "F13 DVD Install" from the menu, and install away!

P.S. For the GRUB4DOS direct-mapping to work, the ISO file cannot be fragmented. If the partition is fresh (newly created), that shouldn't be a problem. However, using an existing partition will likely fragment the file, and you'll need to defragment it with a Windows utility (FAT32) first. I've actually only done this on FAT32, but EXT should work too, theoretically... Translation - use FAT32 on a new partition.

[zuoduling]

is the FAT32 or EXT2/3/4 partition necessary?

[lsatenstein]

When you install Fedora (18 version or later), and there is sufficient space on the disk, you will have the option to allow it to go forward using that free space.

If there is insufficient space, you will need to delete some partitions to create space.
The installation program will help you with that.

During installation setup you will also be able to choose between Standard, LVM and Btfrs as file layouts.

Standard would be best option to use. Standard creates separate folders /partitions for /
/boot and /home formatted as EXT4. For home or desktop use, this is probably the best choice.

And then there is manual installation. If you are doing a manual installation, you need to focus on the options provided and take careful decisions -- not for amateurs.