Running Red Hat 5.2 (1998) with QEMU

This is an extension to Marcos David's blog post from 2014 which can be found here.
All steps to create a functional Red Hat 5.2 machine with network support are listed below.

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Setup

1. Create a directory to store everything mkdir qemu-redhat52
2. Enter the directory cd qemu-redhat52
3. Download the redhat-5.2.iso from archive.org
4. Install QEMU
5. Create a disk image: qemu-img create -f qcow2 redhat52.img 1G
6. Use this command qemu-system-i386 -hda redhat52.img -cdrom redhat-5.2-i386.iso -m 256 -vga cirrus -net nic,model=ne2k_pci -net user to start the virtual machine. "The -vga cirrus parameter is essential to get a desktop later on" [1]. The -net nic,model=ne2k_pci -net user is needed for the network setup.
7. Free your mouse with CTRL + ALT + g
8. Follow the (textual or visual) installation instructions

Installation (textual)

The installation prompts you several times. Format: WINDOW HEADLINE (OPTION) - CHOICE.

1. Welcome to Red Hat Linux! - ENTER
2. Red Hat Linux - Ok
3. Choose a language (English) - Ok
4. Keyboard Type (us) - Ok
5. Installation Method (Local CDROM) - Ok
6. Insert your Red Hat CD - Ok
7. Installation Path - Install
8. Installation Class - Workstation
9. Bad Partition Table - Initialize
10. Warning partitions - Ok
11. Warning data loss - Yes
12. Probing Result PS/2 mouse - Ok
13. Configure Mouse (Generic Mouse) - Ok
14. PCI Probe - Ok
15. Monitor Setup (Custom) - OK
16. Custom Monitor Setup - OK
17. Custom Monitor Setup Continued 1 (Super VGA 1024x768) - Ok
18. Custom Monitor Setup Continued 2 (50-70) - Ok
19. Screen Configuration - Probe
20. Probing to begin - Ok
21. Probing finished: - Let Me Choose
22. Select Video Modes (24 bit "800x600") - Ok
23. Network Configuration: - Yes
24. Load module (NE2000 PCI) - Ok
25. Module Options (Autoprobe) - Ok
26. Boot Protocol (DHCP) - Ok
27. Configure Timezones (US/Eastern) - Ok
28. Configure Printer - No
29. Root Password (password, password) - Ok
30. Bootdisk - No
31. Done - Ok
32. localhost login: root, password

Installation (visual)

Click on the image to watch the video on Marcos David's YouTube channel. For network setup please refer to the textual installation step 23-26.

Transfer data with Netcat

Since ftp is already installed we use it to get nc.

1. Connect to ftp.pbone.net via ftp 93.179.225.212
2. Name anonymous, Password ""
3. Enable passive mode pass
4. Navigate to package cd mirror/archive.download.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/5.2/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS
5. Download the package with get nc-1.10-1.i386.rpm
6. Exit the ftp server with exit
7. Install nc with rpm -i nc-1.10-1.i386.rpm

From now on you can transfer files from and to your host machine via Netcat as described here.

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References

[1] Marcos David (28 July 2014).
Remembering Red Hat Linux 5.2 (from 1998) - Part I (Installation)
https://marcosgildavid.blogspot.com/2014/07/remembering-red-hat-linux-52-from-1998.html [Online, accessed 8th-June-2021]