I get an error when I install minimal.iso from 512mb ram
(tested on virtualbox)
Hi @riseup and welcome to the RockyLinux forum.
Well, “minimal” firstly refers to the amount of stuff (software, media, etc.) contained in the install package, say, your ISO file. It doesn’t automatically mean that it’s a special edition for lightweight machines. Even if so, stripped off of desktop environments and applications and only leaving the bare operating system, the installation process itself might require more than 512mb due to RAM disk usage et cetera.
I suppose you tried RL 8.5 or 8.6 minimal ISO. I couldn’t find an explicit mentioning of minimum hardware requirements for RockyLinux 8.x, but CentOS 8 (which more or less shares the same basis as RL8) says:
Local media installation (USB, DVD) : 768 MiB
But then, it also says:
(on System requirements reference :: CentOS Docs Site)
It is possible to complete the installation with less memory than the recommended minimum requirements. The exact requirements depend on your environment and installation path. It is recommended that you test various configurations to determine the minimum required RAM for your environment. Installing CentOS using a Kickstart file has the same recommended minimum RAM requirements as a standard installation. However, additional RAM may be required if your Kickstart file includes commands that require additional memory, or write data to the RAM disk. See the Performing an advanced installation document for more information.
I haven’t tried it myself and, to be honest, I doubt you will be successful with that approach, given that it will require quite some detailed fiddling. Unless someone else turns up here with a neat trick (such as restoring from a backup image of an otherwise completed install), you might have to opt for a different “lightweight” distro.
I’m not a professional when it comes to that, so don’t take my words for granted, just an educated guess I’m making here
Cheers, Thomas
I am pretty sure minimal requirements are 1gb ram. So will be difficult.
Minimums according to Red Hat:
RHEL 8 install: 1.5GB: Appendix A. System requirements reference Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Red Hat Customer Portal
RHEL 8 use: 1.5GB Red Hat Enterprise Linux Technology Capabilities and Limits - Red Hat Customer Portal
Could Rocky’s installer be less fat than RHEL?
Thanks for your replies 
I installed Centos 8 (now upgraded to Rocky using the conversion script that was posted a while ago) on an Acer Netbook with 512mb of ram. I just installed it from the standard installation iso in the usual manner from a flash drive.
It’s no speed demon but it works fine.
Doubt it: RL is a “Bug-for-Bug” copy of RHEL
I installed Linux from 1024 MB of RAM and lowered it to 512 MB, and it worked fine. When I asked the VPS hosting company, they answered that Rocky Linux installation is possible even with 512 RAM. I don’t know this is a VirtualBox problem or not. Thanks again for commenting
Nope, I just tried it under KVM. 512mb gives kernel panic, 1024mb allows installer to run.
seams no kernel panic with RAM >= 700Mib under KVM
