Installing Fedora Linux and Understanding GRUB
Introduction
Fedora is a cutting-edge, community-driven Linux distribution sponsored by Red Hat. It is known for shipping the latest software and technologies quickly, making it a favourite among developers and enthusiasts. Unlike Ubuntu and Mint which use the APT package manager, Fedora uses DNF and the RPM package format. It uses GRUB2 as its bootloader and follows the same principles but with some Fedora-specific tooling.
What You Will Need
Before starting, gather the following.
- A USB drive with at least 8GB of storage
- A computer with at least 20GB of free disk space (40GB or more recommended)
- At least 2GB of RAM (4GB or more recommended)
- A stable internet connection
Step 1 — Download the Fedora ISO
Go to https://fedoraproject.org/workstation/download and download the latest Fedora Workstation release. Fedora Workstation uses the GNOME desktop environment and is the most popular edition.
Fedora also offers Spins, which are official versions with alternative desktop environments.
Fedora KDE Plasma Spin is for users who prefer the KDE desktop. Fedora Xfce Spin is lightweight and good for older hardware. Fedora i3 Spin is for tiling window manager enthusiasts.
Step 2 — Create a Bootable USB Drive
The Fedora project provides its own USB writing tool called Fedora Media Writer, available at https://fedoraproject.org/en/workstation/download. It is the recommended tool as it handles verification automatically.
Download and open Fedora Media Writer. Select the Fedora version you want. Select your USB drive. Click Write and wait for the process to complete.
You can also use Balena Etcher from https://etcher.balena.io as an alternative.
Step 3 — Disable Secure Boot (If Needed)
Fedora supports Secure Boot, so you generally do not need to disable it. However, if you encounter boot issues, try disabling Secure Boot in your UEFI firmware settings. Access your firmware by pressing Del, F2, or F10 as the computer starts, depending on your manufacturer.
Step 4 — Boot from the USB Drive
Insert the USB and restart your computer. Access the boot menu.
F12 works on most Dell and Lenovo machines. F9 works on HP machines. ESC may work on some systems.
Select the USB drive and press Enter.
Step 5 — The Fedora GRUB Boot Menu
When booting from the USB you will see Fedora's GRUB menu with the following options.
Start Fedora Workstation Live boots into a live GNOME environment. Test this media and start Fedora Workstation checks the USB for errors before booting. Troubleshooting provides additional boot options for problem hardware.
Select Start Fedora Workstation Live and press Enter.
Step 6 — Try Fedora Live
Fedora boots into a live GNOME session. You can explore the desktop before committing to installation. When ready, click Install to Hard Drive from the welcome screen or from the Activities menu.
Step 7 — The Anaconda Installer
Fedora uses its own installer called Anaconda. It presents a summary screen where you configure all options before beginning installation.
Language and Keyboard
Select your language at the welcome screen. On the summary page you can add additional keyboard layouts under Keyboard.
Time and Date
Click Time and Date to set your timezone. You can type your city name to search for it. Enable Network Time to keep your clock synchronized automatically.
Installation Destination
This is the most important step. Click Installation Destination to configure partitioning.
Option A — Automatic Partitioning
Select your disk and leave Storage Configuration set to Automatic. Click Done. Fedora will create appropriate partitions automatically including an EFI System Partition, a /boot partition, and a root partition using Btrfs by default.
Fedora uses Btrfs as its default filesystem. Btrfs supports snapshots, which means you can roll back your system to a previous state if something goes wrong.
Option B — Custom Partitioning
Select Custom under Storage Configuration for full control. Click Done to open the manual partitioning screen.
A typical Fedora setup on a UEFI system includes the following partitions.
An EFI System Partition of 600MB mounted at /boot/efi formatted as EFI System Partition. A boot partition of 1GB mounted at /boot formatted as ext4. A root partition using the remaining space mounted at / formatted as Btrfs or ext4.
A swap partition is optional on modern systems with enough RAM as Fedora uses a swap file by default.
Step 8 — Begin Installation
Once all items on the summary screen have a checkmark, click Begin Installation. Fedora will partition your disk and install the system. This typically takes 10 to 20 minutes.
Step 9 — Restart Into Fedora
When installation completes click Finish Installation and then restart your computer. Remove the USB drive when prompted.
Your computer will reboot into GRUB.
Understanding GRUB on Fedora
Fedora uses GRUB2, which works similarly to GRUB on Debian-based systems but with some differences in configuration and tooling.
The GRUB Menu
The Fedora GRUB menu shows your Fedora installation as the default entry. Each kernel update adds a new entry so you can boot older kernels if needed. If you dual booted, other operating systems will also appear.
GRUB Configuration on Fedora
On Fedora you should not edit /boot/grub2/grub.cfg directly. Instead edit the GRUB defaults file.
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
Common settings to adjust are the following.
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5 sets how long GRUB waits before auto-booting. GRUB_DEFAULT=saved remembers the last selected entry. GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu forces the menu to always show.
After editing, regenerate the configuration. On UEFI systems use the following command.
sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg
On BIOS systems use the following command instead.
sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
Step 10 — Complete Initial Setup
On first boot Fedora launches an initial setup wizard. Follow the prompts to configure privacy settings, connect online accounts, and create your user account if you have not already done so.
Step 11 — Update the System
Open a terminal and update all packages immediately.
sudo dnf update -y
Fedora releases updates frequently. Reboot after updating if the kernel was updated.
sudo reboot
Step 12 — Install RPM Fusion Repositories
Fedora does not include non-free software by default for legal reasons. RPM Fusion provides additional packages including media codecs, GPU drivers, and more. Enable both the free and non-free repositories.
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm -y
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm -y
Step 13 — Install Multimedia Codecs
After enabling RPM Fusion, install multimedia support.
sudo dnf groupupdate multimedia --setop="install_weak_deps=False" --exclude=PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin -y
sudo dnf groupupdate sound-and-video -y
Step 14 — Install Common Software
Use DNF to install applications from the terminal.
sudo dnf install vlc git curl vim -y
You can also use GNOME Software for a graphical app store experience. Fedora supports Flatpak out of the box, giving you access to the Flathub repository for a wide range of applications.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Step 15 — Install GPU Drivers
For Nvidia GPUs, install the proprietary driver from RPM Fusion.
sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia -y
For AMD GPUs the open source driver is included by default and works well without additional installation.
Dual Boot Tips
When dual booting Fedora with Windows, keep the following in mind.
Disable fast startup in Windows before installing Fedora. Go to Control Panel, Power Options, and turn off Turn on fast startup.
If Windows updates overwrite your bootloader, boot from the Fedora USB and reinstall GRUB. Open a terminal in the live environment and run the following commands, replacing the device names with your actual disk and EFI partition.
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/efi
sudo dnf install grub2-efi grub2-efi-modules shim -y --installroot=/mnt
sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /mnt/boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg
Troubleshooting
Black Screen After Boot
In the GRUB menu press E to edit the boot entry. Find the line starting with linux and remove rhgb quiet to see verbose boot output and identify the error. Adding nomodeset can help with GPU issues.
WiFi Not Working
Some wireless cards need non-free firmware. After enabling RPM Fusion, run the following.
sudo dnf install broadcom-wl -y
For Intel wireless cards the firmware is usually already included. Try reloading it with the following command.
sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi && sudo modprobe iwlwifi
DNF Is Slow
Fedora's DNF package manager can feel slow by default. Speed it up by enabling parallel downloads. Add the following line to /etc/dnf/dnf.conf.
max_parallel_downloads=10
fastestmirror=True
Conclusion
Fedora offers a modern, developer-friendly Linux experience with access to the latest software and technologies. Its use of Btrfs snapshots, Flatpak, and cutting-edge kernel versions makes it an excellent platform for both desktop use and development work. With GRUB2 handling your boot process you have full control over your system from the moment it powers on. Learn more at https://docs.fedoraproject.org.