Red Hat Enterprise Linux Download ISO Free

Today downloaded the ISO for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I have been meaning to install this so I can get to grips with what is the leading enterprise Linux distribution (the other one is SUSE Linux Enterprise by Novell).

It was very confusing. Apparently it is a 30 day trial. And yet I read elsewhere that it is nothing like traditional Microsoft/other corporate licensing in that actually anything derived from Linux, being GNU, must therefore be free to all. So apparently Red Hat Linux is actually free, it's just that you pay to get the updates. Given that many Linux distros are so stable they don't even need updating necessarily, it's almost effectively free if you look at it that way.

You must first register at Red Hat's web site (click here to register, link opens in a new window). After that, you get the ability to download ISOs. I registered as a personal account.

I downloaded the RHEL server (as opposed to desktop), 32-bit ISO of version 6 (I think it is actually 6.5 but I'm unsure till I install it). It took me a while to find this version, there are many other strange and different versions (including betas, minimal boot discs and add-ons) that I just wasn't interested in!

Here is the download I got:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6 for 32-bit x86)
https://rhn.redhat.com/rhn/software/channel/downloads/Download.do?cid=10358
Filename: rhel-server-6.5-i386-dvd.iso
MD5: 04a1fa06a6b7e70cd586535eea83c0ef


Other versions you may be interested in:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6 for 64-bit x86_64)
https://rhn.redhat.com/rhn/software/channel/downloads/Download.do?cid=10486

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6 for 32-bit x86)
https://rhn.redhat.com/rhn/software/channel/downloads/Download.do?cid=10401

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6 for x86_64)
https://rhn.redhat.com/rhn/software/channel/downloads/Download.do?cid=10550


I intend to get my Red Hat Linux certification. Hopefully all I need to do to prepare is get a good book and practise with this installation! As you can see, there is also a workstation version but it's much more important to get experience of the server platform.