How to install openfiler in CentOS 6.2 Linux

Before starting installation steps I would like to give a brief intro on

What is Openfiler?

Openfiler is an operating system that provides file-based network-attached storage and block-based storage area network.

Hardware Requirements

Minimal
Openfiler needs at least a 500 MHz CPU, 256 MB of RAM, 10 GB hard disk space (8 GB for OS installation and 2 GB for swap space), an optical drive (for local installation) and an Ethernet like network interface.

Optimal
A 64 bit processor with 1.6 GHz or more, 2 GB of RAM, 10 GB of hard disk space (8 GB for OS installation plus 2 GB for swap space) and a hardware RAID disk array controller is recommended for optimal performance.

You can get more update on feature of openfile on the wiki page

Let me show you step by step instructions to set up a new machine with openfiler. Now this machine can be a physical machine as well as a virtual machine. Generally in my case I use openfiler for test purposes on my virtual machines.

You can download the iso file for openfiler free of cost from their official website
https://www.openfiler.com/community/download

Follow the below screenshots (Click on the image in case you find it hard to read the texts on the image)

Insert the iso file and boot your machine from the iso and follow the instructions

Click Next to start the installation

Select your preferred Language which for me is US English

Select Yes to format the selected Hard Disk

Select "Create custom layout" from the drop down menu as shown below and click on Next

Create a custom layout of your partition system.

NOTE: Make sure that you leave free space which will be used for storage purpose(iSCSI, Fiber, etc..) using openfiler

Select the default primary partition. I most cases it will automatically detect the root partition

Configure your network and provide a proper hostname in the below section.

Select your continent and region for the date and time settings as in my case it is Asia/Kolkatta

Provide a root password for your machine

Click on Next to start the installation process

Once the installation is completed click on Reboot

So once the machine is rebooted you can see the ip address of the machine and the format which you have to use to access openfiler using client machine browser.