Setup Fedora/RHEL

These instruction configure RHEL9 or Fedora with my preferred settings.

My default install of RHEL9 had ipv6 disabled. Here’s how to enable it.

sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=0
sudo sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6=0

If needed setup fusion free and non-free

Attention

Optional, these repo’s may not be needed.

#Fedora
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

#RHEL
sudo dnf install --nogpgcheck https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install --nogpgcheck https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install --nogpgcheck https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/el/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm

sudo dnf install obs-studio v4l2loopback

Install base packages

sudo dnf install zsh git rsync NetworkManager-tui firewall-config \
cockpit cockpit-machines cockpit-composer util-linux-user \
cronie cronie-anacron

Enable/start and open firewall for “cockpit” service

Tip

To see the ports for any firewall service, “cat” the <service_name>.xml

cat /usr/lib/firewalld/services/vnc-server.xml

sudo systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=cockpit --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
sudo firewall-cmd --get-default-zone
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

Install dev packages

sudo dnf group install "Development Tools"

Install virtualization
```
#Fedora
sudo dnf group install --with-optional "virtualization"

#RHEL
sudo dnf install virt-install virt-viewer virt-manager virt-top libguestfs-tools libvirt qemu-kvm

sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd
```
Tip

Verify the system is ready to be a virtualization host:
```
sudo virt-host-validate
```
Attention

Depending on your network configuration you may need to configure firewalld to allow external traffic to connect to the virtual network via the host. The following firewall-cmd’s allow the virtual network to access port 53 and any external host access to the virtual network. I made the necessary changes to my network router and no longer need these changes.
```
sudo firewall-cmd --add-source=192.168.122.0/24 --zone=home --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=dns --zone=home --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
```

Enable IOMMU

sudo grubby --update-kernel=ALL --args="intel_iommu=on iommu=pt"

sudo dmesg | grep "iommu: Default"

Tip

How to remove argument

sudo grubby --update-kernel ALL --remove-args="intel_iommu=on iommu=pt"

sudo grubby --update-kernel ALL --remove-args="rhgb quiet"

Install various packages (Optional)

sudo dnf install bat btop neofetch neovim terminator slack

Install packages via Sofware store.
- Yubico Authenticator
- Visual Studio Code
Install extensions https://extensions.gnome.org/
- Caffeine
- Dash to Dock
- Tactile
- User Themes
Install themes & icons https://www.gnome-look.org/browse/
- Nordic-v40 (https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1267246)
- Bluish-Dark-Icons (https://www.gnome-look.org/p/2055336)
```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "Nordic-v40"
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme "Nordic-v40"
```
Tip

Install MS core fonts for clean font rendering.
```
sudo dnf install mscore-fonts
```

Install and update PIP. Install misc packages

sudo dnf install python3-pip

pip install pip -U

# add misc packages
pip install ansible awscli pygments wheel

Add Sphinx build environment

pip install sphinx==7.4.7 docutils==0.20.1 sphinx_rtd_theme==2.0.0 sphinx-copybutton==0.5.2 pre-commit==3.8.0

# F5 Theme
pip install f5_sphinx_theme recommonmark sphinxcontrib.addmetahtml sphinxcontrib.nwdiag sphinxcontrib.blockdiag sphinxcontrib-websupport
sudo dnf install graphviz

VNC (Server)

Install vnc-server

sudo dnf install tigervnc-server

Open Firewall

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service vnc-server --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

Map users to display and port numbers

sudo vim /etc/tigervnc/vncserver.users

# ADD Newline with following for user vince
:1=vince

If Nvidia Disable Wayland

sudo vim /etc/gdm/custom.conf

# Set and add following
[daemon]
WaylandEnable=False
DefaultSession=gnome-xorg.desktop

Enable vnc service

sudo systemctl enable --now vncserver@:1
sudo systemctl status vncserver@:1

Set the passwd for the vncpasswd

vncpasswd

VNC (Client - vncviewer/cli and remmina/gui)

sudo dnf install tigervnc remmina

vncviewer --shared bfg.lab.local:1

Remote Desktop Protocol (Server)

sudo dnf install xrdp

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=rdp --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

sudo systemctl enable --now xrdp
sudo systemctl status xrdp

Modify sshd

Attention

This assumes you’ve set up pki.

# modify following settings
vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config
   PermitRootLogin no
   PasswordAuthentication no

# reload service
sudo systemctl restart sshd

# Allow port 22
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=ssh --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Add user to wheel group (If Needed)
```
usermod -a -G wheel <user>
```
Use vi with visudo, permanently change editor
```
sudo EDITOR=vim visudo
```
Add Following to visudo file, save and exit
```
Defaults editor=/usr/bin/vim
```

Modify sudo with NOPASSWD option

# Modify sudo with "visudo" and uncomment or modify the follow line
%wheel  ALL=(ALL)       ALL
# to
%wheel  ALL=(ALL)       NOPASSWD: ALL

Set hostname

sudo hostnamectl set-hostname <new_host_name>

Use z shell (For corporate account go to next step).
```
chsh -s /bin/zsh
```

Modify LDAP shell attribute to change default shell (IF Needed. Corp laptop required this.)

getent passwd <user-name>
sudo sss_override user-add <user-name> -s <new-shell>
sudo systemctl restart sssd
getent passwd <user-name>
sudo sss_override user-show <user-name>

Setup .dotfiles

Note

This assumes my “dotfiles” github repo exists.

git clone -b rhel --separate-git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles git@github.com:vtog/.dotfiles.git tmpdotfiles
rsync --recursive --verbose --exclude '.git' tmpdotfiles/ $HOME/
rm -rf ~/tmpdotfiles
git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME config --local status.showUntrackedFiles no

Setup Spaceship-prompt

git clone https://github.com/spaceship-prompt/spaceship-prompt.git --depth=1 ~/git/spaceship-prompt
sudo ln -sf ~/git/spaceship-prompt/spaceship.zsh /usr/share/zsh/site-functions/prompt_spaceship_setup
source ~/.zshrc

Install vim-plug (neovim)

curl -fLo ~/.local/share/nvim/site/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

# Update vim!
vim
: PlugInstall
: q
: q

Configure OpenShift client tab complete

for zsh

oc completion zsh | sudo tee /usr/share/zsh/site-functions/_oc

# Add the following to ~/.zshrc
source /usr/share/zsh/site-functions/_oc 2>/dev/null

for bash

oc completion bash | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/oc_completion

Prefer IPv4. By default IPv6 addresses are preferred. Create /etc/gai.conf and change default priorities.

sudo bash -c 'cat << EOF > /etc/gai.conf

label  ::1/128       0
label  ::/0          1
label  2002::/16     2
label ::/96          3
label ::ffff:0:0/96  4
precedence  ::1/128       50
precedence  ::/0          40
precedence  2002::/16     30
precedence ::/96          20
precedence ::ffff:0:0/96  60      # <=== Change this from 10 to 60 or higher
EOF'

Install brave (I prefer this to the “Software” store)

sudo dnf install dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/x86_64/
sudo rpm --import https://brave-browser-rpm-release.s3.brave.com/brave-core.asc
sudo dnf install brave-browser

# Add chromium corp policy to brave

sudo mkdir -p /etc/brave/policies/managed
sudo ln -s ../../../../usr/share/chromium/policies/recommended/00_gssapi.json 00_gssapi.json

Install NeoVIM from Source (If Needed)

sudo dnf install libtool autoconf automake cmake gcc gcc-c++ make pkgconfig unzip patch gettext curl
git clone git@github.com:neovim/neovim.git ~/git/neovim
cd ~/git/neovim
make distclean
make CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
sudo make install

Install Terminator from Source (If Needed)

sudo dnf install python3-gobject python3-configobj python3-psutil vte291 keybinder3 intltool gettext

git clone git@github.com:gnome-terminator/terminator.git ~/git/terminator
cd ~/git/terminator
python3 setup.py build
sudo python3 setup.py install --single-version-externally-managed --record=install-files.txt

Install Alacritty from Source (If Needed)

git clone git@github.com:alacritty/alacritty.git ~/git/alacritty
cd ~/git/alacritty
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/alacritty /usr/local/bin # or anywhere else in $PATH
sudo tic -xe alacritty,alacritty-direct extra/alacritty.info

# Create Desktop Entry
sudo cp extra/logo/alacritty-term.svg /usr/share/pixmaps/Alacritty.svg
sudo desktop-file-install extra/linux/Alacritty.desktop
sudo update-desktop-databas

# Create Man Page
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/share/man/man1
gzip -c extra/alacritty.man | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man1/alacritty.1.gz > /dev/null
gzip -c extra/alacritty-msg.man | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man1/alacritty-msg.1.gz > /dev/null

# Create Zsh Shell Completion
sudo cp extra/completions/_alacritty /usr/share/zsh/site-functions

Tip

I ran into an issue where the default /tmp size caused an issue with oc mirror, needing more space. Removing this default puts /tmp back in root.

Disable automatic mounting of tmpfs to /tmp by systemd.

systemctl mask tmp.mount

Upgrade Fedora

Update/Upgrade current running verion.
```
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh -y
```
Install the DNF-plugin-system-upgrade Package on Fedora.
```
sudo dnf install dnf-plugin-system-upgrade -y
```
Download desired Fedora release. In my example release 41.
```
sudo dnf system-upgrade download --releasever=41
```
Tip

If you encounter conflicts during the upgrade, try adding --allowerasing option.
Upgrade and Reboot.
```
sudo dnf system-upgrade reboot
```
Confirm upgrade.
```
cat /etc/redhat-release
```

Upgrade RHEL

Update/Upgrade current running verion.
```
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh -y
```

Install LEAPP

sudo dnf install leapp leapp-upgrade -y

Run LEAPP
```
sudo leapp upgrade
```
Reboot and confirm update
```
sudo reboot
```
```
cat /etc/redhat-release
```

Cleanup environment

sudo dnf autoremove
sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf update --refresh -y

Logical Volume Management

Create the logical volume

Create the physical volume.

sudo pvcreate /dev/nvme1n1 /dev/nvme2n1

Show newly created pv’s

sudo pvs

Create the volume group.

Tip

Use -s to set physicalextentsize Size[m|UNIT]
```
sudo vgcreate <VG_NAME> /dev/nvme1n1 /dev/nvme2n1
```
Show newly created vg’s
```
sudo vgs
```
Create the logical volume.

Tip

Use -L to set Size[m|UNIT] or -l 100%FREE for percentage
```
sudo lvcreate -l 100%FREE --name <LV_NAME> <VG_NAME>
```
Show newly created lv’s
```
sudo lvs
```

Create the filesystem.

Tip

Add mount to /etc/fstab

mkfs.xfs /dev/<VG_NAME>/<LV_NAME>

mount /dev/<VG_NAME>/<LV_NAME> <MOUNT_POINT>

Extend the logical volume

Create the physical volume.
```
sudo pvcreate /dev/nvme3n1
```
Extend the volume group.
```
sudo vgextend <VG_NAME> /dev/nvme3n1
```
Extend the logical volume.

Tip

Use -L to set Size[m|UNIT] or -l 100%FREE for percentage

If filesystem in place use -r to resizefs
```
sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/<VG_NAME>/<LV_NAME>
```

Remove the logical volume

Remove the logical volume.
```
sudo lvremove /dev/<VG_NAME>/<LV_NAME>
```
Remove the volume group.
```
sudo vgremove <VG_NAME>
```

Remove the physical volume.

sudo pvremove /dev/nvme1n1 /dev/nvme2n1