Installation Guide

Three roads: a USB stick, a VM, or a cloud image. Pick the one that matches where the server is going to live.

USB — Linux / macOS host

dd if=CentOS-Stream-10-x86_64-20250301-rc2.2.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync

copy

Read this firstof= targets the whole device, not a partition. Confirm the device with lsblk first — writing to your root disk is not a tip, it is a tragedy.

USB — Windows host

Use Rufus in DD mode, or Ventoy: format the stick once, then simply copy ISOs onto it and boot whatever you like from its menu.

Virtual machine — KVM

virt-install \
  --name centos10 --memory 4096 --vcpus 2 \
  --disk size=40 \
  --cdrom CentOS-Stream-10-x86_64-20250301-rc2.2.iso \
  --network model=virtio --boot hd \
  --osinfo centos-stream10-x86_64 --graphics vnc

copy

Reboot into your boot device — F12 / F11 / F8 / Del, depending on the box — select the USB or CD entry, and wait for the GRUB menu.

The GNOME Installer for CentOS Stream is a checklist with a big button. Work top to bottom:

1. Language & locale — pick what your ops team actually types in.
2. Keyboard layout — set it now; changing it later is a rite of passage nobody wants.
3. Date & time — enable NTP (chrony) so log timestamps mean something.
4. System role — Server, Server with GUI, or Workstation.
5. Network & hostname — enable the interface, give the host a real name.
6. Installation source — the default (DVD/ISO) is fine; point at a mirror URL for the full Stream repos.
7. Installation destination — auto-configure gives XFS on /dev/vda with LVM; or go manual.

After the final reboot you land in the First Boot wizard: timezone, network, SELinux (leave it Enforcing — seriously), users, and subscription registration (skip it unless you hold a Red Hat account). Then: Reboot.

stream@localhost:~$ uname -r
6.12.0-120.el10.x86_64
stream@localhost:~$ sudo dnf repolist
repo id             repo name
c10s                CentOS Stream 10
c10s-updates        CentOS Stream 10 - Updates

You are in. The machine is yours — now make it behave.

Ten minutes now saves a 3 a.m. page later. Run the whole block, top to bottom:

sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install -y epel-release htop vim rsync
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash -G wheel deploy
sudo passwd deploy
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N "" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub deploy@
sudo sed -i 's/^#\?PasswordAuthentication.*/PasswordAuthentication no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
sudo sed -i 's/^#\?PermitRootLogin.*/PermitRootLogin no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
sudo systemctl restart sshd

# confirm everything is standing
sudo systemctl --failed
sudo getenforce
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all
sudo dnf check-update
uptime