Saturday, April 12, 2008

Kickstart installation of Linux

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 Red Hat Linux installation.

Steps

1. Creating the Kickstart File :The kickstart file is a simple text file, containing a list of items.

(a) Command Section:

  • autostep(optional)
  • auth or authconfig (required)
  • bootloader (required)
  • clearpart (optional)
  • device (optional)
  • deviceprobe (optional)
  • driverdisk (optional)
  • firewall (optional)
  • install (optional)
  • interactive (optional)
  • keyboard (required)
  • lang (required)
  • langsupport (required)
  • lilo (replaced by bootloader)
  • lilocheck (optional)
  • logvol (optional)
  • mouse (required)
  • network (optional)
  • part or partition (required for installs, ignored for upgrades)
  • raid (optional)
  • reboot (optional)
  • rootpw (required)
  • skipx (optional)
  • text (optional)
  • timezone (required)
  • upgrade (optional)
  • xconfig (optional)
  • volgroup (optional)
  • zerombr (optional)
  • %include

(b) Package Selection

(c) 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.

(d) Post-installation Script :This section must be at the end of the kickstart file and must start with the %post command.

2. Making the Kickstart File Available

A kickstart file must be placed in one of the following locations:
On a boot diskette
On a boot CD-ROM
On a network

3. Make the installation tree available. An installation tree is a copy of the binary Red Hat Linux CD-ROMs with the same directory structure. If you are performing a CD-based installation, insert the Red Hat 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 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.

4. Starting a Kickstart Installation: To begin a kickstart installation, you must boot the system from a Red Hat Linux from following

(a) Boot diskette

(b) CD-ROM #1 and Diskette

(c) With Driver Disk

Kickstart Configurator

Kickstart Configurator allows you to create a kickstart file using a graphical user interface, so that you do not have to remember the correct syntax of the file.
To use Kickstart Configurator, you must be running the X Window System. To start Kickstart Configurator, select the Main Menu Button (on the Panel) => System Tools => Kickstart, or type the command /usr/sbin/redhat-config-kickstart.

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