CentOS is a Linux distribution based on RHEL OS but created using software released under the free GNU license of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Community Enterprise Enterprise System (CentOS) was created to offer the world a free enterprise distribution that wants to keep a 100% code compatibility with the original binary code.
Each new version of CentOS that is released is then maintained for seven years in regards to software updates and security issues.
The timeframe between the release of each version is roughly two years, with every security update every six months, which also includes support for new hardware. The resulting software is a secure and reliable Linux environment that requires little maintenance effort, with stable and scalable capabilities.
CentOS is the most popular OS when it comes to Web Servers, with a staggering 30 percent market share of the entire web hosting ecosystem.
The developers that take care of CentOS use the Red Hat Source Code to create a closely related product.
Because of copyright and IP laws, Red Hat trademarks and logos are removed, as they do not allow them to be redistributed.
One of the factors that contributed to the rising popularity of CentOS is cPanel, which created a CentOS version with cPanel preinstalled for use in data centers for faster deployment.
Another reason would be the long term support making it a favorite with legacy systems that need stability over many years.
When a servers’ lifetime design is planned to have as little interventions as possible, and to ensure that it can run years in a row without downtime, CentOS can be a suitable candidate for such a role, for example, to be installed on routers or load balancers.
How to install CentOS 7
Before we start the procedure, we need to download the latest ISO version from the official website which is http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/7/isos/x86_64/
1. The first step is to set up the language we wish to use in the OS but also in the installation procedure.
2. A more general setup menu appears, where we will set the next steps.
3. The first button allows us to set the time and date settings, but also the timezone and our geographical region.
4. In the next panel, we will set the network settings, hostname, along with the on/off status but also we can choose between a static IP configuration and a dynamic one (DHCP).
5. The final panel allows us to set the partition table, along with other disk related options.
6. We will start the installation and set the root password in the final panel.
7. After the installation is complete, the system auto restarts and we can log in via SSH or directly in the terminal if we have a monitor plugged in.
The enthusiast user community primarily provides tech support as this is an open-source project, without financial backing or affiliated with the Red Hat company. They rely mostly on donations and international sponsors.