Anaconda/Kickstart

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   Table of Contents

   [1]Chapter 1. Introduction

                [2]What are Kickstart Installations?

                [3]How Do You Perform a Kickstart Installation?

                [4]Creating the Kickstart File

   [5]Chapter 2. Kickstart Options

   [6]Chapter 3. Package Selection

   [7]Chapter 4. Pre-installation Script

                [8]Example

   [9]Chapter 5. Post-installation Script

                [10]Examples

   [11]Chapter 6. Making the Kickstart File Available

                [12]Creating a Kickstart Boot Diskette

                [13]Creating a Kickstart Boot CD-ROM

                [14]Making the Kickstart File Available on the Network

   [15]Chapter 7. Making the Installation Tree Available

   [16]Chapter 8. Starting a Kickstart Installation

                [17]Boot Diskette

                [18]CD-ROM #1 and Diskette

                [19]With Driver Disk

                [20]Boot CD-ROM

                [21]Other kickstart options:

Chapter 1. Introduction

  What are Kickstart Installations?

   Many system administrators would prefer to use an automated installation
   method to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on their machines. To answer
   this need, Red Hat created the kickstart installation method. Using
   kickstart, a system administrator can create a single file containing the
   answers to all the questions that would normally be asked during a typical
   installation.

   Kickstart files can be kept on single server system and read by individual
   computers during the installation. This installation method can support
   the use of a single kickstart file to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on
   multiple machines, making it ideal for network and system administrators.

   Kickstart provides a way for users to automate a Red Hat Enterprise Linux
   installation.

  How Do You Perform a Kickstart Installation?

   Kickstart installations can be performed using a local CD-ROM, a local
   hard drive, or via NFS, FTP, or HTTP.

   To use kickstart, you must:

    1. Create a kickstart file.
    2. Create a boot diskette with the kickstart file or make the kickstart
       file available on the network.
    3. Make the installation tree available.
    4. Start the kickstart installation.

   This chapter explains these steps in detail.

  Creating the Kickstart File

   The kickstart file is a simple text file, containing a list of items, each
   identified by a keyword. You can create it by editing a copy of the
   sample.ks file found in the RH-DOCS directory of the Red Hat Enterprise
   Linux Documentation CD, using the Kickstart Configurator application, or
   writing it from scratch. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program
   also creates a sample kickstart file based on the options that you
   selected during installation. It is written to the file
   /root/anaconda-ks.cfg. You should be able to edit it with any text editor
   or word processor that can save files as ASCII text.

   First, be aware of the following issues when you are creating your
   kickstart file:

     o While not strictly required, there is a natural order for sections
       that should be followed. Items within the sections do not have to be
       in a specific order unless otherwise noted. Old-style kickstart syntax
       does not specify for any end token after the %packages section or
       scripts. In this case, the following section order is required.
       New-style kickstart syntax requires using %end following these
       sections, which means that ordering is not required. The section order
       is:

          o Command section -- Refer to Chapter 2 for a list of kickstart
            options. You must include the required options.
          o The %packages section -- Refer to Chapter 3 for details.
          o The %pre, %post, and %traceback sections -- These sections can be
            in any order and are not required. Refer to Chapter 4 and Chapter
            5 for details.

     o Items that are not required can be omitted.
     o Omitting any required item will result in the installation program
       prompting the user for an answer to the related item, just as the user
       would be prompted during a typical installation. Once the answer is
       given, the installation will continue unattended (unless it finds
       another missing item).
     o Lines starting with a pound sign (#) are treated as comments and are
       ignored.
     o If deprecated commands, options, or syntax are used while doing a
       kickstart installation, a warning message will be logged to the
       anaconda log. Since deprecated items are usually removed within a
       release or two, it makes sense to check the installation log to make
       sure you haven't used any of them. When using ksvalidator, deprecated
       items will cause an error.
     o For kickstart upgrades, the following items are required:

          o Language
          o Installation method
          o Device specification (if device is needed to perform
            installation)
          o Keyboard setup
          o The upgrade keyword
          o Boot loader configuration

   If any other items are specified for an upgrade, those items will be
   ignored (note that this includes package selection).

Chapter 2. Kickstart Options

   The following options can be placed in a kickstart file. If you prefer to
   use a graphical interface for creating your kickstart file, you can use
   the Kickstart Configurator application.

   [22]/!\ If the option is followed by an equals mark (=), a value must be
   specified after it. In the example commands, options in brackets ([]) are
   optional arguments for the command.

   auth or authconfig (required)

   Sets up the authentication options for the system. This is just a wrapper
   around the authconfig program, so all options recognized by that program
   are valid for this command. See the manual page for authconfig for a
   complete list.

   By default, passwords are normally encrypted and are not shadowed.

   autopart (optional)

     o Automatically create partitions -- 1 GB or more root (/) partition, a
       swap partition, and an appropriate boot partition for the
       architecture. One or more of the default partition sizes can be
       redefined with the part directive.

   autostep (optional)

     o Similar to interactive except it goes to the next screen for you. It
       is used mostly for debugging.

       --autoscreenshot

          o Take a screenshot at every step during installation and copy the
            images over to /root/anaconda-screenshots after installation is
            complete. This is most useful for documentation.

   bootloader (required)

     o Specifies how the boot loader should be installed. This option is
       required for both installations and upgrades.

       --append=

          o Specifies kernel parameters. To specify multiple parameters,
            separate them with spaces. For example:

            bootloader --location=mbr --append="hdd=ide-scsi ide=nodma"

       --driveorder

          o Specify which drive is first in the BIOS boot order. For example:

            bootloader --driveorder=sda,hda

       --location=

          o Specifies where the boot record is written. Valid values are the
            following: mbr (the default), partition (installs the boot loader
            on the first sector of the partition containing the kernel), or
            none (do not install the boot loader).

       --password=

          o If using GRUB, sets the GRUB boot loader password the one
            specified with this option. This should be used to restrict
            access to the GRUB shell, where arbitrary kernel options can be
            passed.

       --md5pass=

          o If using GRUB, similar to --password= except the password should
            already be encrypted.

       --lba32

          o Force use of lba32 mode instead of auto-detecting.

       --upgrade

          o Upgrade the existing boot loader configuration, preserving the
            old entries. This option is only available for upgrades.

       --timeout=<secs>

          o Specify the number of seconds before the bootloader times out and
            boots the default option.

   clearpart (optional)

     o Removes partitions from the system, prior to creation of new
       partitions. By default, no partitions are removed.

       [23]/!\ If the clearpart command is used, then the --onpart command
       cannot be used on a logical partition.

       --all

          o Erases all partitions from the system.

       --drives=

          o Specifies which drives to clear partitions from. For example, the
            following clears the partitions on the first two drives on the
            primary IDE controller:

            clearpart --drives hda,hdb

       --initlabel

          o Initializes the disk label to the default for your architecture
            (for example msdos for x86 and gpt for Itanium). It is useful so
            that the installation program does not ask if it should
            initialize the disk label if installing to a brand new hard
            drive.

       --linux

          o Erases all Linux partitions.

       --none (default)

          o Do not remove any partitions.

   cmdline (optional)

     o Perform the installation in a completely non-interactive command line
       mode. Any prompts for interaction will halt the install. This mode is
       useful on S/390 systems with the x3270 console.

   device (optional)

     o On most PCI systems, the installation program will autoprobe for
       Ethernet and SCSI cards properly. On older systems and some PCI
       systems, however, kickstart needs a hint to find the proper devices.
       The device command, which tells the installation program to install
       extra modules, is in this format:

       device <moduleName> --opts=<options>

       <moduleName>

          o Replace with the name of the kernel module which should be
            installed.

       --opts=

          o Options to pass to the kernel module. Note that multiple options
            may be passed if they are put in quotes. For example:

            --opts="aic152x=0x340 io=11"

   dmraid (optional)

     o dmraid --name= --dev=

   driverdisk (optional)

     o Driver diskettes can be used during kickstart installations. You need
       to copy the driver diskettes's contents to the root directory of a
       partition on the system's hard drive. Then you need to use the
       driverdisk command to tell the installation program where to look for
       the driver disk.

       driverdisk <partition>|--source=<url> [--type=<fstype>]

       <partition>

          o Partition containing the driver disk.

       --source=<url>

          o Specify a URL for the driver disk. NFS locations can be given

            with nfs:host:/path/to/img.

       --type=

          o File system type (for example, vfat or ext2).

   firewall (optional)

     o This option corresponds to the Firewall Configuration screen in the
       installation program:

       firewall --enabled|--disabled [--trust=] <device> [--port=]

       --enabled or --enable

          o Reject incoming connections that are not in response to outbound
            requests, such as DNS replies or DHCP requests. If access to
            services running on this machine is needed, you can choose to
            allow specific services through the firewall.

       --disabled or --disable

          o Do not configure any iptables rules.

       --trust=

          o Listing a device here, such as eth0, allows all traffic coming
            from that device to go through the firewall. To list more than
            one device, use --trust eth0 --trust eth1. Do NOT use a
            comma-separated format such as --trust eth0, eth1.

       <incoming>

          o Replace with none or more of the following to allow the specified
            services through the firewall.
          o --ssh

          o --telnet

          o --smtp

          o --http

          o --ftp

       --port=

          o You can specify that ports be allowed through the firewall using
            the port:protocol format. For example, to allow IMAP access
            through your firewall, specify imap:tcp. Numeric ports can also
            be specified explicitly; for example, to allow UDP packets on
            port 1234 through, specify 1234:udp. To specify multiple ports,
            separate them by commas.

   firstboot (optional)

     o Determine whether the Setup Agent starts the first time the system is
       booted. If enabled, the firstboot package must be installed. If not
       specified, this option is disabled by default.

       --enable or --enabled

          o The Setup Agent is started the first time the system boots.

       --disable or --disabled

          o The Setup Agent is not started the first time the system boots.

       --reconfig

          o Enable the Setup Agent to start at boot time in reconfiguration
            mode. This mode enables the language, mouse, keyboard, root
            password, security level, time zone, and networking configuration
            options in addition to the default ones.

   graphical (optional)

     o Perform the kickstart installation in graphical mode. This is the
       default.

   install (optional)

     o Tells the system to install a fresh system rather than upgrade an
       existing system. This is the default mode. For installation, you must
       specify the type of installation from one of cdrom, harddrive, nfs, or
       url (for ftp or http installations). The install command and the
       installation method command must be on separate lines.

       cdrom

          o Install from the first CD-ROM drive on the system.

       harddrive

          o Install from a Red Hat installation tree on a local drive, which
            must be either vfat or ext2.
          o --biospart=

               + BIOS partition to install from (such as 82).

          o --partition=

               + Partition to install from (such as, sdb2).

          o --dir=

               + Directory containing the [24]RedHat directory of the
                 installation tree.

            For example:

            harddrive --partition=hdb2 --dir=/tmp/install-tree

       nfs

          o Install from the NFS server specified.
          o --server=

               + Server from which to install (hostname or IP).

          o --dir=

               + Directory containing the [25]RedHat directory of the
                 installation tree.

          o --opts=

               + Mount options to use for mounting the NFS export. Any
                 options that can be specified in /etc/fstab for an NFS mount
                 are allowed. The options are listed in the nfs(5) man page.
                 Multiple options are separated with a comma.

            For example:

            nfs --server=nfsserver.example.com --dir=/tmp/install-tree

       url

          o Install from an installation tree on a remote server via FTP or
            HTTP. For example:

            url --url http://<server>/<dir>

            or:

            url --url ftp://<username>:<password>@<server>/<dir>

   ignoredisk (optional)

     o Used to specify disks that anaconda should not touch when
       partitioning, formatting, and clearing. This command has a single
       required argument, which takes a comma-separated list of drive names
       to ignore.

       ignoredisk --drives=[disk1,disk2,...]

   interactive (optional)

     o Uses the information provided in the kickstart file during the
       installation, but allow for inspection and modification of the values
       given. You will be presented with each screen of the installation
       program with the values from the kickstart file. Either accept the
       values by clicking Next or change the values and click Next to
       continue. See also autostep.

   iscsi (optional)

     o iscsi --ipaddr= [options]

       --target=

       --port=

       --user=

       --password=

   iscsiname (optional)

   key (optional)

     o Specify a registration key, which is needed to aid in package
       selection and identify your system for support purposes. This command
       is RHEL-specific; it has no meaning for Fedora and will be ignored.

       --skip

          o Skip entering a key. Usually if the key command is not given,
            anaconda will pause at this step to prompt for a key. This option
            allows automated installation to continue if you do not have a
            key or do not want to provide one.

   keyboard (required)

     o Sets system keyboard type. Here is the list of available keyboards on
       i386, Itanium, and Alpha machines:

     be-latin1, bg, br-abnt2, cf, cz-lat2, cz-us-qwertz, de, de-latin1,
     de-latin1-nodeadkeys, dk, dk-latin1, dvorak, es, et, fi, fi-latin1,
     fr, fr-latin0, fr-latin1, fr-pc, fr_CH, fr_CH-latin1, gr, hu,
     hu101, is-latin1, it, it-ibm, it2, jp106, la-latin1, mk-utf, no,
     no-latin1, pl, pt-latin1, ro_win, ru, ru-cp1251, ru-ms, ru1, ru2,
     ru_win, se-latin1, sg, sg-latin1, sk-qwerty, slovene, speakup,
     speakup-lt, sv-latin1, sg, sg-latin1, sk-querty, slovene, trq, ua,
     uk, us, us-acentos

     o The file /usr/lib/python?.?/site-packages/rhpl/keyboard_models.py also
       contains this list and is part of the rhpl package.

   lang (required)

     o lang <id>

       Sets the language to use during installation and the default

       language to use on the installed system to <id>. This can be the same
       as any recognized setting for the $LANG environment variable, though
       not all languages are supported during installation.

       Certain languages (mainly Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indic
       languages) are not supported during text mode installation. If one of
       these languages is specified using the lang command, installation will
       continue in English though the running system will have the specified
       langauge by default. The file
       /usr/share/system-config-language/locale-list provides a list the
       valid language codes in the first column of each line and is part of
       the system-config-languages package.

   logvol (optional)

     o Create a logical volume for Logical Volume Management (LVM).

       logvol <mntpoint> --vgname=<name> --size=<size> --name=<name>
       <options>

       --noformat

          o Use an existing logical volume and do not format it.

       --useexisting

          o Use an existing logical volume and reformat it.

       --fstype=

          o Sets the file system type for the logical volume. Valid values
            are ext2, ext3, swap, and vfat.

       --fsoptions=

          o Specifies a free form string of options to be used when mounting
            the filesystem. This string will be copied into the /etc/fstab
            file of the installed system and should be enclosed in quotes.

       --grow

          o Tells the logical volume to grow to fill available space (if
            any), or up to the maximum size setting.

       --maxsize=

          o The maximum size in megabytes when the logical volume is set to
            grow. Specify an integer value here, and do not append the number
            with MB.

       --recommended

          o Determine the size of the logical volume automatically.

       --percent

          o Specify the size of the logical volume as a percentage of
            available space in the volume group.

       Create the partition first, create the logical volume group, and then
       create the logical volume. For example:

     part pv.01 --size 3000
     volgroup myvg pv.01
     logvol / --vgname=myvg --size=2000 --name=rootvol

   logging (optional)

     o This command controls the error logging of anaconda during
       installation. It has no effect on the installed system.

       --host=

          o Send logging information to the given remote host, which must be
            running a syslogd process configured to accept remote logging.

       --port=

          o If the remote syslogd process uses a port other than the default,
            it may be specified with this option.

       --level=

          o One of debug, info, warning, error, or critical. Specify the
            minimum level of messages that appear on tty3. All messages will
            still be sent to the log file regardless of this level, however.

   mediacheck (optional)

     o If given, this will force anaconda to run mediacheck on the
       installation media. This command requires that installs be attended,
       so it is disabled by default.

   monitor (optional)

     o If the monitor command is not given, anaconda will use X to
       automatically detect your monitor settings. Please try this before
       manually configuring your monitor.

       --hsync=

          o Specifies the horizontal sync frequency of the monitor.

       --monitor=

          o Use specified monitor; monitor name should be from the list of
            monitors in /usr/share/hwdata/MonitorsDB from the hwdata package.
            The list of monitors can also be found on the X Configuration
            screen of the Kickstart Configurator. This is ignored if --hsync
            or --vsync is provided. If no monitor information is provided,
            the installation program tries to probe for it automatically.

       --noprobe

          o Do not probe the monitor.

       --vsync=

          o Specifies the vertical sync frequency of the monitor.

   multipath (optional)

     o multipath --name= --device= --rule=

   network (optional)

     o Configures network information for the system. If the kickstart
       installation does not require networking (in other words, it is not
       installed over NFS, HTTP, or FTP), networking is not configured for
       the system. If the installation does require networking and network
       information is not provided in the kickstart file, the installation
       program assumes that the installation should be done over eth0 via a
       dynamic IP address (BOOTP/DHCP), and configures the final, installed
       system to determine its IP address dynamically. The network option
       configures networking information for kickstart installations via a
       network as well as for the installed system.

       --bootproto=[dhcp|bootp|static]

          o The default setting is dhcp. bootp and dhcp are treated the same.
            The DHCP method uses a DHCP server system to obtain its
            networking configuration. As you might guess, the BOOTP method is
            similar, requiring a BOOTP server to supply the networking
            configuration. The static method requires that you enter all the
            required networking information in the kickstart file. As the
            name implies, this information is static and will be used during
            and after the installation. The line for static networking is
            more complex, as you must include all network configuration
            information on one line. You must specify the IP address,
            netmask, gateway, and nameserver. For example: (the \ indicates
            that it is all one line):

         network --bootproto=static --ip=10.0.2.15 \
                 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --gateway=10.0.2.254 \
                 --nameserver=10.0.2.1

     o If you use the static method, be aware of the following two
       restrictions:

          o All static networking configuration information must be specified
            on one line; you cannot wrap lines using a backslash, for
            example.
          o You can only specify one nameserver here. However, you can use
            the kickstart file's %post section (described in Chapter 5) to
            add more name servers, if needed.

     o --device=

          o Used to select a specific Ethernet device for installation.

            Note that using --device= will not be effective unless the
            kickstart file is a local file (such as ks=floppy), since the
            installation program will configure the network to find the
            kickstart file. For example:

            network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eth0

       --ip=

          o IP address for the interface.

       --ipv6=

          o IPv6 address for the interface. This can be the static address,
            "auto" for address assignment based on automatic neighbor
            discovery, or "dhcp" to use the DHCPv6 protocol.

       --gateway=

          o Default gateway as an IP address.

       --nameserver=

          o Primary nameserver, as an IP address.

       --nodns

          o Do not configure any DNS server.

       --netmask=

          o Netmask for the installed system.

       --hostname=

          o Hostname for the installed system.

       --ethtool=

          o Specifies additional low-level settings for the network device
            which will be passed to the ethtool program.

       --essid=

          o The network ID for wireless networks.

       --wepkey=

          o The encryption key for wireless networks.

       --onboot=

          o Whether or not to enable the device a boot time.

       --dhcpclass=

          o The DHCP class.

       --mtu=

          o The MTU of the device.

       --noipv4

          o Disable IPv4 on this device.

       --noipv6

          o Disable IPv6 on this device.

   part or partition (required for installs, ignored for upgrades)

     o Creates a partition on the system. If more than one Red Hat Enterprise
       Linux installation exists on the system on different partitions, the
       installation program prompts the user and asks which installation to
       upgrade.

       [26]/!\ All partitions created will be formatted as part of the
       installation process unless --noformat and --onpart are used.

       part <mntpoint>

          o The <mntpoint> is where the partition will be mounted and must be
            of one of the following forms:

          o /<path>

               + For example, /, /usr, /home

          o swap

               + The partition will be used as swap space. To determine the
                 size of the swap partition automatically,

                 use the --recommended option.

                 The minimum size of the automatically-generated swap
                 partition will be no smaller than the amount of RAM in the
                 system and no bigger than twice the amount of RAM in the
                 system.

          o raid.<id>

               + The partition will be used for software RAID (refer to
                 raid).

          o pv.<id>

               + The partition will be used for LVM (refer to logvol).

       --size=

          o The minimum partition size in megabytes. Specify an integer value
            here such as 500. Do not append the number with MB.

       --grow

          o Tells the partition to grow to fill available space (if any), or
            up to the maximum size setting.

       --maxsize=

          o The maximum partition size in megabytes when the partition is set
            to grow. Specify an integer value here, and do not append the
            number with MB.

       --noformat

          o Tells the installation program not to format the partition, for

            use with the --onpart command.

       --onpart= or --usepart=

          o Put the partition on an already existing device. Do not prefix
            the partition name with /dev.

       --ondisk= or --ondrive=

          o Forces the partition to be created on a particular disk. Do not
            prefix the disk name with /dev.

       --asprimary

          o Forces automatic allocation of the partition as a primary
            partition or the partitioning will fail.

       --fstype=

          o Sets the file system type for the partition. Valid values are
            ext2, ext3, swap, and vfat.

       --fsoptions=

          o Specifies a free form string of options to be used when mounting
            the filesystem. This string will be copied into the /etc/fstab
            file of the installed system and should be enclosed in quotes.

       --label=

          o Specify the label to give to the filesystem to be made on the
            partition. If the given label is already in use by another
            filesystem, a new label will be created for this partition.

       --start=

          o Specifies the starting cylinder for the partition. It requires

            that a drive be specified with --ondisk= or ondrive=. It also
            requires that the ending cylinder be specified with --end= or the
            partition size be specified with --size=.

       --end=

          o Specifies the ending cylinder for the partition. It requires

            that the starting cylinder be specified with --start=.

       --recommended

          o Determine the size of the partition automatically.

       --onbiosdisk=

          o Forces the partition to be created on a particular disk as
            discovered by the BIOS.

       [27]/!\ If partitioning fails for any reason, diagnostic messages will
       appear on virtual console 3.

   raid (optional)

     o Assembles a software RAID device. This command is of the form:

       raid <mntpoint> --level=<level> --device=<mddevice> <partitions*>

       <mntpoint>

          o Location where the RAID file system is mounted. If it is /, the
            RAID level must be 1 unless a boot partition (/boot) is present.
            If a boot partition is present, the /boot partition must be level
            1 and the root (/) partition can be any of the

            available types. The <partitions*> (which denotes that multiple
            partitions can be listed) lists the RAID identifiers to add to
            the RAID array.

       --level=

          o RAID level to use (0, 1, or 5).

       --device=

          o Name of the RAID device to use (such as md0 or md1). RAID devices
            range from md0 to md7, and each may only be used once.

       --spares=

          o Specifies the number of spare drives allocated for the RAID
            array. Spare drives are used to rebuild the array in case of
            drive failure.

       --fstype=

          o Sets the file system type for the RAID array. Valid values are
            ext2, ext3, swap, and vfat.

       --fsoptions=

          o Specifies a free form string of options to be used when mounting
            the filesystem. This string will be copied into the /etc/fstab
            file of the installed system and should be enclosed in quotes.

       --noformat

          o Use an existing RAID device and do not format the RAID array.

       --useexisting

          o Use an existing RAID device and reformat it.

       The following example shows how to create a RAID level 1 partition for
       /, and a RAID level 5 for /usr, assuming there are three SCSI disks on
       the system. It also creates three swap partitions, one on each drive.

     part raid.01 --size=60 --ondisk=sda
     part raid.02 --size=60 --ondisk=sdb
     part raid.03 --size=60 --ondisk=sdc

     part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sda
     part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sdb
     part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sdc

     part raid.11 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sda
     part raid.12 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sdb
     part raid.13 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sdc

     raid / --level=1 --device=md0 raid.01 raid.02 raid.03
     raid /usr --level=5 --device=md1 raid.11 raid.12 raid.13

   reboot (optional)

     o Reboot after the installation is complete (no arguments). Normally,
       kickstart displays a message and waits for the user to press a key
       before rebooting.

       --eject

          o Attempt to eject and CD or DVD media before rebooting.

   repo (optional)

     o Configures additional yum repositories that may be used as sources for
       package installation. Multiple repo lines may be specified.

       repo --name=<name> [--baseurl=<url>|--mirrorlist=<url>] [options]

       --name=

          o The repo id. This option is required.

       --baseurl=

          o The URL for the repository. The variables that may be used in yum
            repo config files are not supported here. You may use one

            of either this option or --mirrorlist, not both.

       --mirrorlist=

          o The URL pointing at a list of mirrors for the repository. The
            variables that may be used in yum repo config files are not
            supported here. You may use one of either this option

            or --baseurl, not both.

       --priority=

          o An integer value to assign a priority level to this repository.
            If multiple repositories provide the same packages, this number
            will be used to prioritize which repository will be used before
            another.

       --excludepkgs=

          o A comma-separated list of package names and globs that must not
            be pulled from this repository. This is useful if multiple
            repositories provide the same package and you want to make sure
            it comes from a particular repository.

       --includepkgs=

          o A comma-separated list of package names and globs that must be
            pulled from this repository. This is useful if multiple
            repositories provide the same package and you want to make sure
            it comes from this repository.

     o rootpw (required)

          o Sets the system's root password to the <password> argument.

            rootpw [--iscrypted] <password>

            --iscrypted

               + If this is present, the password argument is assumed to
                 already be encrypted.

   selinux (optional)

     o Sets the state of SELinux on the installed system. SELinux defaults to
       enforcing in anaconda.

       selinux [--disabled|--enforcing|--permissive]

       --disabled

          o If this is present, SELinux is disabled.

       --enforcing

          o If this is present, SELinux is set to enforcing mode.

       --permissive

          o If this is present, SELinux is enabled, but only logs things that
            would be denied in enforcing mode.

   services (optional)

     o Modifies the default set of services that will run under the default
       runlevel. The services listed in the disabled list will be disabled
       before the services listed in the enabled list are enabled.

       services [--disabled=<list>] [--enabled=<list>]

       --disabled=

          o Disable the services given in the comma separated list.

       --enabled=

          o Enable the services given in the comma separated list.

   skipx (optional)

     o If present, X is not configured on the installed system.

   text (optional)

     o Perform the kickstart installation in text mode. Kickstart
       installations are performed in graphical mode by default.

   timezone (required)

     o Sets the system time zone to <timezone> which may be any of the time
       zones listed by timeconfig.

       timezone [--utc] <timezone>

       --utc

          o If present, the system assumes the hardware clock is set to UTC
            (Greenwich Mean) time.

   updates (optional)

     o Specify the location of an updates.img for use in installation. See
       anaconda-release-notes.txt for a description of how to make an
       updates.img.

       updates [url]

       url

          o If present, the URL for an updates image. If not present,
            anaconda will attempt to load from a floppy disk.

   upgrade (optional)

     o Tells the system to upgrade an existing system rather than install a
       fresh system. You must specify one of cdrom, harddrive, nfs, or url
       (for ftp and http) as the location of the installation tree. Refer to
       install for details.

   user (optional)

     o Creates a new user on the system.

 user --name=<username> [--groups=<list>] [--homedir=<homedir>]
          [--password=<password>] [--iscrypted] [--shell=<shell>]
          [--uid=<uid>]

       --name=

          o Provides the name of the user. This option is required.

       --groups=

          o In addition to the default group, a comma separated list of group
            names the user should belong to.

       --homedir=

          o The home directory for the user. If not provided, this defaults

            to /home/<username>.

       --password=

          o The new user's password. If not provided, the account will be
            locked by default.

       --iscrypted

          o Is the password provided by --password already encrypted or not?

       --shell=

          o The user's login shell. If not provided, this defaults to the
            system default.

       --uid=

          o The user's UID. If not provided, this defaults to the next
            available non-system UID.

   vnc (optional)

     o Allows the graphical installation to be viewed remotely via VNC. This
       method is usually preferred over text mode, as there are some size and
       language limitations in text installs. With no options, this command
       will start a VNC server on the machine with no password and will print
       out the command that needs to be run to connect a remote machine.

       vnc [--host=<hostname>] [--port=<port>] [--password=<password>]

       --host=

          o Instead of starting a VNC server on the install machine, connect
            to the VNC viewer process listening on the given hostname.

       --port=

          o Provide a port that the remote VNC viewer process is listening
            on. If not provided, anaconda will use the VNC default.

       --password=

          o Set a password which must be provided to connect to the VNC
            session. This is optional, but recommended.

   volgroup (optional)

     o Use to create a Logical Volume Management (LVM) group.

       volgroup <name> <partition> <options>

       --noformat

          o Use an existing volume group and do not format it.

       --useexisting

          o Use an existing volume group and reformat it.

       --pesize=

          o Set the size of the physical extents.

       Create the partition first, create the logical volume group, and then
       create the logical volume. For example:

     part pv.01 --size 3000
     volgroup myvg pv.01
     logvol / --vgname=myvg --size=2000 --name=rootvol

   xconfig (optional)

     o Configures the X Window System. If this option is not given, anaconda
       will use X to attempt to automatically configure. Please try this
       before manually configuring your system.

       --driver=

          o Specify the X driver to use for the video hardware.

       --videoram=

          o Specify the amount of video RAM the video card has.

       --defaultdesktop=

          o Specify either GNOME or KDE to set the default desktop (assumes
            that GNOME Desktop Environment and/or KDE Desktop Environment has
            been installed through %packages).

       --startxonboot

          o Use a graphical login on the installed system.

       --resolution=

          o Specify the default resolution for the X Window System on the
            installed system. Valid values are 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768,
            1152x864, 1280x1024, 1400x1050, 1600x1200. Be sure to specify a
            resolution that is compatible with the video card and monitor.

       --depth=

          o Specify the default color depth for the X Window System on the
            installed system. Valid values are 8, 16, 24, and 32. Be sure to
            specify a color depth that is compatible with the video card and
            monitor.

   zerombr (optional)

     o If zerombr is specified, any invalid partition tables found on disks
       are initialized. This will destroy all of the contents of disks with
       invalid partition tables.

   zfcp (optional)

     o --devnum=

       --fcplun=

       --scsiid=

       --scsilun=

       --wwpn=

   %include

     o Use the %include /path/to/file command to include the contents of
       another file in the kickstart file as though the contents were at the
       location of the %include command in the kickstart file.

   %ksappend

Chapter 3. Package Selection

   Use the %packages command to begin a kickstart file section that lists the
   packages you would like to install (this is for installations only, as
   package selection during upgrades is not supported).

   Packages can be specified by group or by individual package name. The
   installation program defines several groups that contain related packages.
   Refer to the repodata/comps.xml file on the first CD-ROM for a list of
   groups. Each group has an id, user visibility value, name, description,
   and package list. In the package list, the packages marked as mandatory
   are always installed if the group is selected, the packages marked default
   are selected by default if the group is selected, and the packages marked
   optional must be specifically selected even if the group is selected to be
   installed.

   In most cases, it is only necessary to list the desired groups and not
   individual packages. Note that the Core and Base groups are always
   selected by default, so it is not necessary to specify them in the
   %packages section.

   The %packages section should be closed with %end, though this is not yet
   required. It will be required in the future, however. Also, multiple
   %packages sections may be given. This may be handy if the kickstart file
   is used as a template and pulls in various other files with the %include
   mechanism.

   Here is an example %packages selection:

     %packages
     @X Window System
     @GNOME Desktop Environment
     @Graphical Internet
     @Sound and Video
     dhcp
     %end

   As you can see, groups are specified, one to a line, starting with an @
   symbol, a space, and then the full group name as given in the comps.xml
   file. Groups can also be specified using the id for the group, such as
   gnome-desktop. Specify individual packages with no additional characters
   (the dhcp line in the example above is an individual package).

   Additionally, individual packages may be specified using globs. For
   instance:

     %packages
     vim*
     kde-i18n-*
     %end

   This would install all packages whose names start with vim or kde-i18n.

   You can also specify which packages not to install from the default
   package list:

     %packages
     -autofs
     %end

   The following options are available for the %packages option:

   --default

     o Install the default package set. This corresponds to the package set
       that would be installed if no other selections were made on the
       package customization screen during an interactive install.

   --excludedocs

     o Do not install any of the documentation from any packages. For the
       most part, this means files in /usr/share/doc* will not get installed
       though it could mean other files as well, depending on how the package
       was built.

   --ignoremissing

     o Ignore any packages or groups specified in the packages section that
       are not found in any configured repository. The default behavior is to
       halt the installation and ask the user if the installation should be
       aborted or continued. This option allows fully automated installation
       even in the error case. It is used as follows:

       %packages --ignoremissing

   --nobase

     o Don't select the Base group by default. This is useful if you are
       putting together an extremely minimal system. However with this
       option, it is very easy to end up with a system that does not fully
       boot to a login prompt as you will need to list all the packages
       required to get that much functionality.

   In addition, group lines in the %packages section can take options as
   well:

   --nodefaults

     o Only install the group's mandatory packages, not the default
       selections.

   --optional

     o In addition to the mandatory and default packages, also install the
       optional packages. This means all packages in the group will be
       installed.

Chapter 4. Pre-installation Script

   You can add commands to run on the system immediately after the ks.cfg has
   been parsed. This section must be at the end of the kickstart file (after
   the commands) and must start with the %pre command. You can access the
   network in the %pre section; however, name service has not been configured
   at this point, so only IP addresses will work.

   Preinstallation scripts should be closed with %end, though this is not yet
   required. It will be required in the future, however.

   [28]/!\ Note that the pre-install script is not run in the change root
   environment.

   --interpreter /usr/bin/python

     o Allows you to specify a different scripting language, such as Python.
       Replace /usr/bin/python with the scripting language of your choice.

   --erroronfail

     o If the pre-installation script fails, this option will cause an error
       dialog to be displayed and will halt installation. The error message
       will direct you to where the cause of the failure is logged.

   --log=

     o Log all messages from the script to the given log file.

  Example

   Here is an example %pre section:

 %pre
 #!/bin/sh
 hds=""
 mymedia=""

 for file in /proc/ide/h*
 do
   mymedia=`cat $file/media`
   if [ $mymedia == "disk" ] ; then
       hds="$hds `basename $file`"
   fi
 done

 set $hds
 numhd=`echo $#`

 drive1=`echo $hds | cut -d' ' -f1`
 drive2=`echo $hds | cut -d' ' -f2`

 #Write out partition scheme based on whether there are 1 or 2 hard drives

 if [ $numhd == "2" ] ; then
   #2 drives
   echo "#partitioning scheme generated in %pre for 2 drives" > /tmp/part-include
   echo "clearpart --all" >> /tmp/part-include
   echo "part /boot --fstype ext3 --size 75 --ondisk hda" >> /tmp/part-include
   echo "part / --fstype ext3 --size 1 --grow --ondisk hda" >> /tmp/part-include
   echo "part swap --recommended --ondisk $drive1" >> /tmp/part-include
   echo "part /home --fstype ext3 --size 1 --grow --ondisk hdb" >> /tmp/part-include
 else
   #1 drive
   echo "#partitioning scheme generated in %pre for 1 drive" > /tmp/part-include
   echo "clearpart --all" >> /tmp/part-include
   echo "part /boot --fstype ext3 --size 75" >> /tmp/part-include
   echo "part swap --recommended" >> /tmp/part-include
   echo "part / --fstype ext3 --size 2048" >> /tmp/part-include
   echo "part /home --fstype ext3 --size 2048 --grow" >> /tmp/part-include
 fi
 %end

   This script determines the number of hard drives in the system and writes
   a text file with a different partitioning scheme depending on whether it
   has one or two drives. Instead of having a set of partitioning commands in
   the kickstart file, include the line:

   %include /tmp/part-include

   The partitioning commands selected in the script will be used.

Chapter 5. Post-installation Script

   You have the option of adding commands to run on the system once the
   installation is complete. This section must be at the end of the kickstart
   file and must start with the %post command. This section is useful for
   functions such as installing additional software and configuring an
   additional nameserver.

   Postinstallation scripts should be closed with %end, though this is not
   yet required. It will be required in the future, however.

   [29]/!\ If you configured the network with static IP information,
   including a nameserver, you can access the network and resolve IP
   addresses in the %post section. If you configured the network for DHCP,
   the /etc/resolv.conf file has not been completed when the installation
   executes the %post section. You can access the network, but you can not
   resolve IP addresses. Thus, if you are using DHCP, you must specify IP
   addresses in the %post section.

   [30]/!\ The post-install script is run in a chroot environment; therefore,
   performing tasks such as copying scripts or RPMs from the installation
   media will not work.

   --nochroot

     o Allows you to specify commands that you would like to run outside of
       the chroot environment.

   --interpreter /usr/bin/python

     o Allows you to specify a different scripting language, such as Python.
       Replace /usr/bin/python with the scripting language of your choice.

   --erroronfail

     o If the post-installation script fails, this option will cause an error
       dialog to be displayed and will halt installation. The error message
       will direct you to where the cause of the failure is logged.

   --log=

     o Log all messages from the script to the given log file.

  Examples

   Run a script named runme from an NFS share:

 %post
 mkdir /mnt/temp
 mount 10.10.0.2:/usr/new-machines /mnt/temp
 open -s -w -- /mnt/temp/runme
 umount /mnt/temp
 %end

   Copy the file /etc/resolv.conf to the file system that was just installed:

 %post --nochroot
 cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/sysimage/etc/resolv.conf
 %end

Chapter 6. Making the Kickstart File Available

   A kickstart file must be placed in one of the following locations:

     o On a boot diskette
     o On a boot CD-ROM
     o On a network

   Normally a kickstart file is copied to the boot diskette, or made
   available on the network. The network-based approach is most commonly
   used, as most kickstart installations tend to be performed on networked
   computers.

   Let us take a more in-depth look at where the kickstart file may be
   placed.

  Creating a Kickstart Boot Diskette

   To perform a diskette-based kickstart installation, the kickstart file
   must be named ks.cfg and must be located in the boot diskette's top-level
   directory. Refer to the section Making an Installation Boot Diskette in
   the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for instruction on
   creating a boot diskette. Because the boot diskettes are in MS-DOS format,
   it is easy to copy the kickstart file under Linux using the mcopy command:

   mcopy ks.cfg a:

   Alternatively, you can use Windows to copy the file. You can also mount
   the MS-DOS boot diskette in Red Hat Enterprise Linux with the file system
   type vfat and use the cp command to copy the file on the diskette.

  Creating a Kickstart Boot CD-ROM

   To perform a CD-ROM-based kickstart installation, the kickstart file must
   be named ks.cfg and must be located in the boot CD-ROM's top-level
   directory. Since a CD-ROM is read-only, the file must be added to the
   directory used to create the image that is written to the CD-ROM. Refer to
   the Making an Installation Boot CD-ROM section in the Red Hat Enterprise
   Linux Installation Guide for instruction on creating a boot CD-ROM;
   however, before making the file.iso image file, copy the ks.cfg kickstart
   file to the isolinux/ directory.

  Making the Kickstart File Available on the Network

   Network installations using kickstart are quite common, because system
   administrators can easily automate the installation on many networked
   computers quickly and painlessly. In general, the approach most commonly
   used is for the administrator to have both a BOOTP/DHCP server and an NFS
   server on the local network. The BOOTP/DHCP server is used to give the
   client system its networking information, while the actual files used
   during the installation are served by the NFS server. Often, these two
   servers run on the same physical machine, but they are not required to.

   To perform a network-based kickstart installation, you must have a
   BOOTP/DHCP server on your network, and it must include configuration
   information for the machine on which you are attempting to install Red Hat
   Enterprise Linux. The BOOTP/DHCP server will provide the client with its
   networking information as well as the location of the kickstart file.

   If a kickstart file is specified by the BOOTP/DHCP server, the client
   system will attempt an NFS mount of the file's path, and will copy the
   specified file to the client, using it as the kickstart file. The exact
   settings required vary depending on the BOOTP/DHCP server you use.

   Here is an example of a line from the dhcpd.conf file for the DHCP server:

 filename "/usr/new-machine/kickstart/";
 next-server blarg.redhat.com;

   Note that you should replace the value after filename with the name of the
   kickstart file (or the directory in which the kickstart file resides) and
   the value after next-server with the NFS server name.

   If the filename returned by the BOOTP/DHCP server ends with a slash ("/"),
   then it is interpreted as a path only. In this case, the client system
   mounts that path using NFS, and searches for a particular file. The
   filename the client searches for is:

   <ip-addr>-kickstart

   The <ip-addr> section of the filename should be replaced with the client's
   IP address in dotted decimal notation. For example, the filename for a
   computer with an IP address of 10.10.0.1 would be 10.10.0.1-kickstart.

   Note that if you do not specify a server name, then the client system will
   attempt to use the server that answered the BOOTP/DHCP request as its NFS
   server. If you do not specify a path or filename, the client system will
   try to mount /kickstart from the BOOTP/DHCP server and will try to find
   the kickstart file using the same <ip-addr>-kickstart filename as
   described above.

Chapter 7. Making the Installation Tree Available

   The kickstart installation needs to access an installation tree. An
   installation tree is a copy of the binary Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROMs
   with the same directory structure.

   If you are performing a CD-based installation, insert the Red Hat
   Enterprise Linux CD-ROM #1 into the computer before starting the kickstart
   installation.

   If you are performing a hard-drive installation, make sure the ISO images
   of the binary Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROMs are on a hard drive in the
   computer.

   If you are performing a network-based (NFS, FTP, or HTTP) installation,
   you must make the installation tree available over the network. Refer to
   the Preparing for a Network Installation section of the Red Hat Enterprise
   Linux Installation Guide for details.

Chapter 8. Starting a Kickstart Installation

   To begin a kickstart installation, you must boot the system from a Red Hat
   Enterprise Linux boot diskette, Red Hat Enterprise Linux boot CD-ROM, or
   the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROM #1 and enter a special boot command at
   the boot prompt. The installation program looks for a kickstart file if
   the ks command line argument is passed to the kernel.

  Boot Diskette

   If the kickstart file is located on a boot diskette as described in the
   Section called Creating a Kickstart Boot Diskette in Chapter 6, boot the
   system with the diskette in the drive, and enter the following command at
   the boot: prompt:

   linux ks=floppy

  CD-ROM #1 and Diskette

   The linux ks=floppy command also works if the ks.cfg file is located on a
   vfat or ext2 file system on a diskette and you boot from the Red Hat
   Enterprise Linux CD-ROM #1.

   An alternate boot command is to boot off the Red Hat Enterprise Linux
   CD-ROM #1 and have the kickstart file on a vfat or ext2 file system on a
   diskette. To do so, enter the following command at the boot: prompt:

   linux ks=hd:fd0:/ks.cfg

  With Driver Disk

   If you need to use a driver disk with kickstart, specify the dd option as
   well. For example, to boot off a boot diskette and use a driver disk,
   enter the following command at the boot: prompt:

   linux ks=floppy dd

  Boot CD-ROM

   If the kickstart file is on a boot CD-ROM as described in the Section
   called Creating a Kickstart Boot CD-ROM in Chapter 6, insert the CD-ROM
   into the system, boot the system, and enter the following command at the
   boot: prompt (where ks.cfg is the name of the kickstart file):

   linux ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg

  Other kickstart options:

   ks=nfs:<server>:/<path>

   The installation program will look for the kickstart file on the NFS
   server <server>, as file <path>. The installation program will use DHCP to
   configure the Ethernet card. For example, if your NFS server is
   server.example.com and the kickstart file is in the NFS share
   /mydir/ks.cfg, the correct boot command would be
   ks=nfs:server.example.com:/mydir/ks.cfg.

   ks=http://<server>/<path>

   The installation program will look for the kickstart file on the HTTP
   server <server>, as file <path>. The installation program will use DHCP to
   configure the Ethernet card. For example, if your HTTP server is
   server.example.com and the kickstart file is in the HTTP directory
   /mydir/ks.cfg, the correct boot command would be
   ks=[31]http://server.example.com/mydir/ks.cfg.

   ks=floppy

   The installation program looks for the file ks.cfg on a vfat or ext2 file
   system on the diskette in /dev/fd0.

   ks=floppy:/<path>

   The installation program will look for the kickstart file on the diskette
   in /dev/fd0, as file <path>.

   ks=hd:<device>:/<file>

   The installation program will mount the file system on <device> (which
   must be vfat or ext2), and look for the kickstart configuration file as
   <file> in that file system (for example, ks=hd:sda3:/mydir/ks.cfg).

   ks=file:/<file>

   The installation program will try to read the file <file> from the file
   system; no mounts will be done. This is normally used if the kickstart
   file is already on the initrd image.

   ks=cdrom:/<path>

   The installation program will look for the kickstart file on CD-ROM, as
   file <path>.

   ks

   If ks is used alone, the installation program will configure the Ethernet
   card to use DHCP. The kickstart file is read from the "bootServer" from
   the DHCP response as if it is an NFS server sharing the kickstart file. By
   default, the bootServer is the same as the DHCP server. The name of the
   kickstart file is one of the following:

     o If DHCP is specified and the bootfile begins with a /, the bootfile
       provided by DHCP is looked for on the NFS server.
     o If DHCP is specified and the bootfile begins with something other then
       a /, the bootfile provided by DHCP is looked for in the /kickstart
       directory on the NFS server.
     o If DHCP did not specify a bootfile, then the installation program
       tries to read the file /kickstart/1.2.3.4-kickstart, where 1.2.3.4 is
       the numeric IP address of the machine being installed.

   ksdevice=<device>

   The installation program will use this network device to connect to the
   network. For example, to start a kickstart installation with the kickstart
   file on an NFS server that is connected to the system through the eth1
   device, use the command ks=nfs:<server>:/<path> ksdevice=eth1 at the boot:
   prompt.

   [32]CategoryAnaconda

References

   Visible links
   1. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id232708
   2. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id232587
   3. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id233206
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   5. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id283276
   6. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285260
   7. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285382
   8. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285436
   9. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285468
  10. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285549
  11. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285569
  12. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285590
  13. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285608
  14. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285619
  15. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id283234
  16. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id283255
  17. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285774
  18. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285786
  19. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285803
  20. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285815
  21. file:///tmp/xmlto.I30076/kickstart-docs.proc#id285828
  24. file:///wiki/RedHat
  25. file:///wiki/RedHat
  31. http://server.example.com/mydir/ks.cfg
  32. file:///wiki/CategoryAnaconda
