CentOS 6.3 experiences segmentation faults and crashes during install

You may see this error during a custom CentOS 6.3 install:

Anaconda died after receiving signal 6

Additionally, random segmentation faults on an already installed system may appear if you happen to get past this.

The solution is to add the following kernel parameter

transparent_hugepage=never

to the installer.

To do this, on the initial installer bootup screen, highlight the installation method you want, for example, "Install system with basic video driver", and then press [TAB]. From there, you can add the kernel parameter.

After the system is installed, you will also need to add this parameter to /boot/grub/grub.conf

The following is an example grub.conf kernel entry:

title CentOS (2.6.32-279.5.2.el6.x86_64)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-279.5.2.el6.x86_64 ro root=UUID=<UUID> nomodeset rd_NO_LUKS  KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd_NO_MD SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 crashkernel=auto rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_DM rhgb quiet transparent_hugepage=never
        initrd /boot/initramfs-2.6.32-279.5.2.el6.x86_64.img

Notice the transparent_hugepage=never parameter tacked onto the end of the long kernel line.