Minimal install + wireless = Catch 22

Rocky Linux Help & Support
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I would suggest that you replace rpm -ivh with dnf install
Both can install local package file. The latter can be later found in dnf history. That is occasionally convenient, on “When did I? What did I?” moments.

The following output is from AlmaLinux 9, so Rocky might differ:

# dnf -q rq --groupmember NetworkManager-wifi
NetworkManager-wifi-1:1.46.0-13.el9_4.x86_64
NetworkManager-wifi-1:1.46.0-18.el9_4.x86_64
NetworkManager-wifi-1:1.46.0-19.el9_4.x86_64
NetworkManager-wifi-1:1.46.0-4.el9_4.x86_64
NetworkManager-wifi-1:1.46.0-8.el9_4.x86_64
  @networkmanager-submodules

# dnf -q group info networkmanager-submodules
Group: Common NetworkManager submodules
 Description: This group contains NetworkManager submodules that are commonly used, but may not be wanted in some streamlined configurations.
 Default Packages:
   NetworkManager-bluetooth
   NetworkManager-wifi
   NetworkManager-wwan
   dnsmasq
   iptables-nft

The gist is that the NetworkManager-wifi is in group Common NetworkManager submodules.

IIRC, the interactive installer has software selection part, where one selects main selection, like Minimal, Workstation, Virtual Host, etc. I think there is second panel for some additional “groups”, like Development Tools, Network Servers, Office Suite, etc. That list may depend on the main selection, and overall the options on the “Minimal ISO” may be more restricted.

I wrote “IIRC”, as I never pay attention to that part. I either just pick “Minimal”, or have kickstart file to set that. (If I had kickstart file, then I could list additional packages there.)

The point is that there is a slim chance that one could choose the Common NetworkManager submodules already in the installer. I might be wrong though.

Another thing is that there is probably ‘repodata’ directory in the Mimimal ISO, near the packages. In the mounted /mnt/minimal directory? If so, one could:

# dnf config-manager --add-repo file:///mnt/minimal

and then:

# dnf install NetworkManager-wifi

Before umounting the stick, one should:

# dnf repolist
# dnf config-manager --set-disabled <repoid_of_the_miminal_repo>

or else dnf keeps looking for repo from the non-existent /mnt/minimal

Rather than mount -v /dev/sdb1 /mnt/, I prefer:

# mkdir /mnt/iso
# mount -v /dev/sdb1 /mnt/iso

On the logic that I might have to mount more than one thing simultaneously, and if /mnt is already taken … it is more intuitive (for me) to have /mnt/iso and /mnt/iso2 rather than /mnt and /something_else.

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