Although the CD with the whole Linux distribution is really cheap (~ $30), and that you can even get a bunch of different distributions for $9.95 from Linux Systems Labs, it is sometimes necessary to do a network install. This is the case when you are trying to do an install in a very old machine with no CD-ROM. The FTP install is probably the easiest, and I describe how I did it when I needed here.

1) Using Netscape under Windows95 or 98, go to the DOSUTILS subdirectory at the RedHat distribution site (or any other of the mirror sites), and get the RAWRITE.EXE executable.

2) Then pick the appropriate Linux image from the IMAGES directory. For an NFS, HTTP, or FTP install, the file is named BOOTNET.IMG.

3) Both RAWRITE.EXE and BOOTNET.IMG should be somewere easy to find (i.e., avoid downloading them to the default 'TEMP' directory from Netscape, which may be buried down in the disk tree).

3) The safest thing now is to restart the computer in MS-DOS mode. At the C:\> prompt, change directory to wereever you downloaded the files (lets say it is called 'C:\LINUX_FILES'), and fire up RAWRITE.EXE

C:\> cd linux_files <return>
C:\LINUX_FILES> RAWRITE.EXE <return>

Now RAWRITE.EXE will ask were to find the image file (BOOTNET.IMG), and you should answer just 'BOOTNET.IMG', because you are in the appropriate directory. Have an empty disk in in the floppy drive, and when prompted, for a disk, answer 'A:'. Press return, and the image should start to copy to the floppy.

4) After RAWRITE.EXE is done, restart you machine - Remember to leave the floppy in the direve so that lilo can start up instead of Windows95 or 98. Also, if you have the BIOS set so that it defaults to drive C for booting, get into the PROM settings (usually by depressing 'ESC' or 'F1' during boot), and change the boot order from 'C, then A' to 'A, then C'. At the lilo prompt, press enter:

lilo: <return>

5) Now the Linux kernel and the installer should be loading up.  At this point, you should try to pick one of the FTP mirror sites wich have RedHat distributions. Try not to pick the RedHat site itself, because it is always packed. You should write down the FTP address (i.e., ftp.the_site_you_chose.com) and the directory were the distribution files are located (i.e., /pub/linux/redhat/redhat-6.0/i386/).

6) The rest of the network installation protocol is pretty well described in the appropriate RedHat manual pages, follow this link.