1114 lines
23 KiB
HTML
1114 lines
23 KiB
HTML
<title> Mark's Kickstart Examples</title>
|
|
<!--startcut ==========================================================-->
|
|
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
|
|
<HTML>
|
|
<HEAD>
|
|
<title>Mark's Kickstart Examples LG #43</title>
|
|
</HEAD>
|
|
<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#0000AF"
|
|
ALINK="#FF0000">
|
|
<!--endcut ============================================================-->
|
|
|
|
<H4>
|
|
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
|
|
</H4>
|
|
|
|
<P> <HR> <P>
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
|
|
<center>
|
|
<H1><font color="maroon">Mark's Kickstart Examples</font></H1>
|
|
<H4>By <a href="mailto:mark@gtltd.com">Mark Nielsen</A></H4>
|
|
</CENTER>
|
|
<P> <HR>
|
|
|
|
<EM>If this document changes, it will be available at
|
|
<a href="http://www.tcu-inc.com">The Computer Underground</a>:
|
|
<a href="http://www.tcu-inc.com/mark/articles/Kickstart.html">
|
|
http://www.tcu-inc.com/mark/articles/Kickstart.html</a>.</EM>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li><a href="#Resources"> Resources.</a>
|
|
<li><a href="#What"> What is kickstart?</a>
|
|
<li><a href="#Gripes">Gripes and Complaints</a>
|
|
<li><a href="#Example"> Cdrom upgrade example.</a>
|
|
<li><a href="#ftp"> Advanced -- Ftp example</a>
|
|
<li><a href="#conclusion">Conclusion -- it is good</a>
|
|
<li><a href="#script"> My perl script</a>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<a name="Resources"></a>
|
|
<h1> Resources.</h1>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The Kickstart HOWTO is very very good.
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li> On the Redhat 6.0 cdrom, look at /doc/README.ks</li>
|
|
<li> man mkkickstart</li>
|
|
<li>
|
|
http://www.redhat.com/corp/support/manuals/RHL-6.0-Manual/install-guide/manual/doc129.html [31-Jul-2001: document has been removed. -Ed.]</li>
|
|
<li> <a href="http://www.redhat.com/mirrors/LDP/HOWTO/KickStart-HOWTO-6.html">
|
|
http://www.redhat.com/mirrors/LDP/HOWTO/KickStart-HOWTO-6.html
|
|
</a></li>
|
|
<li> <a href="http://redhat.google.com/redhat?q=kickstart&search=redhat">
|
|
http://redhat.google.com/redhat?q=kickstart&search=redhat</a></li>
|
|
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<a name="What"></a>
|
|
<h1> What is Kickstart?</h1>
|
|
<p>
|
|
One note,
|
|
I think it would be a good
|
|
if someone made a follow-up article for other Linux distributions. I would
|
|
be more than happy to help.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
KickStart for RedHat makes it so you can do a quick installation of RedHat 6.0
|
|
without having to go through all the installation menus. It automates it
|
|
for you from start to finish (assuming nothing goofs up in between). This
|
|
is handy for multiple installations.
|
|
All
|
|
you have to do is create a "ks.cfg" file on the RedHat 6.0 boot disk. Then
|
|
boot off of the disk, type in the command "linux ks=floppy" on the first screen,
|
|
and if you are lucky, when it starts the installation process, it should
|
|
be able to grab that file and do the whole installation for you.
|
|
<p>
|
|
Here are the key points you need to be aware of,
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li> If you don't have a bootdisk for RedHat 6.0, you need to make one.
|
|
Either use "rawrite" that comes on a RedHat 6.0 cd while in DOS, or mount the
|
|
cd in Linux and assuming you mounted the cd at /mnt/cdrom and you have
|
|
a floppy disk in (that doesn't have anything important on it),
|
|
<br> cd /mnt/cdrom/images
|
|
<br> dd if=boot.img of=/dev/fd0
|
|
<br> ## OR if you are installing off the net
|
|
<br> dd if=bootnet.img of=/dev/fd0
|
|
<li> The RedHat 6.0 boot disk is formatted as an msdos disk, thus you can
|
|
copy the "ks.cfg" file to it in Windoze or in Linux. If you need to
|
|
mount the floppy disk in Linux, try,
|
|
<br> mkdir -p /mnt/floppy
|
|
<br> mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy
|
|
<li> Kickstart can be installed using a cdrom, over the net through
|
|
ftp or nfs, and for multiple computers you can use DHCP. It has other features
|
|
as well. For this example, we will use a static ip addresses.
|
|
<li> It is assumed we are using standard IDE hard drives and cdroms. If you
|
|
have SCSI devices, or other weird devices, you will have to modify the
|
|
kickstart file so that it will work.
|
|
<li> Something weird happened on one of my installs. After installing
|
|
RedHat 60, I tried to do an upgrade and somehow it found over 100 megs
|
|
of programs to install as an upgrade even though I didn't do anything to
|
|
the system. Weird. I did it again, and it installed 115 packages which
|
|
had a total of 112 megs. I don't think it had to install those rpms again,
|
|
but that it was an automatic thing with the upgrade option , whether or
|
|
not you have those
|
|
rpms installed.
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<a name="Gripes"></a>
|
|
<h1> Gripes and Complaints</h1>
|
|
Well, I have some gripes and complaints. Overall, the kickstart disk is pretty
|
|
cool and has improved since 5.2, but still, it seems a little braindead
|
|
or it doesn't give you the absolute power you need sometimes.
|
|
I want the ability to shoot myself in the foot if I want to. It might sound
|
|
weird, but here are my points:
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li> I couldn't find a "select all rpms" option. This makes it annoying
|
|
since I have to list all the rpms. Perhaps I was blind, but I
|
|
didn't find that option.
|
|
<li> I can't tell it to force a graphics card and monitor settings with
|
|
a certain resolution. This is annoying. Xconfigurator doesn't work
|
|
for me half the time, and I need to configure Xwindows after an
|
|
installation. An easy way to do this, in a manual installation,
|
|
is to set the computer to
|
|
VGA 16 and to install the drivers for the true card later. If you
|
|
set it to VGA 16 and it thinks it is something else, kickstart will
|
|
error and stop the installation process and ask you for more info.
|
|
<li> I wish I could force the name of the computer so that it doesn't
|
|
stop and ask you what the name of the computer should be if it doesn't
|
|
find it in the DNS server. I would like the ability to shoot myself
|
|
in the foot and put in incorrect settings just because I want to.
|
|
<li> It is pretty stupid about making Linux partitions. It only wants
|
|
to see one primary partition and to put everything else into
|
|
logical partitions. This is silly especially in multi-boot systems.
|
|
It just grabs the rest of the hard drive space after the primary
|
|
partition and puts it all into one extended partition. I would like
|
|
the ability to specify primary or logical partitions.
|
|
It would be
|
|
nice if someone were to help make it so you can create a script
|
|
which would automate the commands for fdisk. Perhaps there is
|
|
and I just don't know about it.
|
|
|
|
<li> Is there a way to tell it to use a partition that is already defined?
|
|
It seems as though it only can use the partitions that it creates. It
|
|
would be nice if I could define the partitions ahead of time,
|
|
and in the kickstart disk tell it which partitions go to which
|
|
directories.
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
Don't get me wrong, kickstart is a cool way of doing things, I just would
|
|
like to see it brought to a different level where it is "very" cool. Cool =
|
|
give me all the power to shoot myself in the foot just so I can see what
|
|
happens. A little bit of pain never hurts anyone. Also, I am not a real
|
|
expert at Kickstart, so perhaps I just didn't catch some of the options I
|
|
am griping about. I have only been using it for about 2 months at the time
|
|
of this document.
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<a name="Example"></a>
|
|
<h1> Cdrom upgrade example</h1>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Copy what is between the lines to a file called "ks.cfg" to your boot disk.
|
|
Then, when you get to the
|
|
first screen of the Linux installation, type "linux ks=floppy". Also,
|
|
before you do this, make sure the BIOS in your computer is set to boot
|
|
off of the floppy drive.
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
<pre>
|
|
# Copy this file as "ks.cfg" to the boot disk that comes with
|
|
# RedHat 6.0. Or make your own boot disk. Anyways, the
|
|
# bootdisk is formatted msdos, so you can use a Windows
|
|
# computer to copy this file to it. Also, when the prompt
|
|
# comes up after you boot off of the floppy disk, type
|
|
# linux ks=floppy
|
|
# and press enter.
|
|
|
|
# This is just the configuration you need to do an upgrade using a cdrom.
|
|
#
|
|
#
|
|
|
|
### Choose the most popular language in the world.
|
|
### This always upsets the French.
|
|
lang en
|
|
|
|
### Tell it to use the cdrom to get the rpms
|
|
cdrom
|
|
|
|
### Tell it to use a us keyboard
|
|
keyboard us
|
|
|
|
### Tell it this is an upgrade and not a regular install
|
|
upgrade
|
|
|
|
### Tell it to install Lilo at the master boot record
|
|
lilo --location mbr
|
|
|
|
%post
|
|
|
|
echo "Hey dude, this is an example of a post install command using echo."
|
|
echo "You probably won't be able to see it though if perl isn't executed."
|
|
|
|
PATH=$PATH;/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/root/bin
|
|
export PATH
|
|
|
|
ldconfig
|
|
|
|
perl -e '$A = 50; print "\nSleeping for 20 seconds. Test variable = $A\n"'
|
|
perl -e 'sleep 20'
|
|
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<a name="ftp"></a>
|
|
<h1> An installation over ftp</h1>
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Well, this configuration uses ftp, and if you wanted to use nfs,
|
|
you could comment
|
|
the ftp option and uncomment the nfs option. All you need is a floppy
|
|
drive and a network card. Makes things a little easier if you can cut
|
|
out a cdrom drive in each of your computers. Also, use a 100 mbit network.
|
|
My installations using ftp were actually faster than installing off of
|
|
the cdrom when I had a 100 mbit network. A 40 speed cdrom still isn't as
|
|
good as a fast network with a few computers. A 100 mbit hub is really
|
|
cheap these days.
|
|
<p>
|
|
#----------
|
|
<pre>
|
|
|
|
# Copy this file as "ks.cfg" to the boot disk that comes with
|
|
# RedHat 6.0. Or make your own boot disk. Anyways, the
|
|
# bootdisk is formatted msdos, so you can use a Windows
|
|
# computer to copy this file to it. Also, when the prompt
|
|
# comes up after you boot off of the floppy disk, type
|
|
# linux ks=floppy
|
|
# and press enter.
|
|
|
|
### Choose the most popular language in the world.
|
|
### This always upsets the French.
|
|
lang en
|
|
|
|
### Tell it what the ethernet cards settings should be
|
|
### If your nameserver 10.0.1.15 doesn't exist or doesn't
|
|
### have 10.0.1.21 listed in it, it will ask you for a name.
|
|
network --bootproto static --ip 10.0.1.10 --netmask 255.255.255.0 --gateway 10.0.1.15 --nameserver 10.0.1.15
|
|
|
|
### Uncomment this if you have nfs setup on the server
|
|
### If so, comment the "url" line.
|
|
### If you decide to use an nfs server, make sure you
|
|
### put "/home/ftp/RedHat60" in your /etc/exports file.
|
|
# nfs --server 10.0.1.15 --dir /home/ftp/RedHat60
|
|
|
|
### Make sure /home/ftp/RedHat60 exists on the server
|
|
### Also, have the cdrom mounted to /home/ftp/RedHat60 on the server.
|
|
### You can do this with
|
|
### mkdir -p /home/ftp/RedHat60
|
|
### mount /dev/cdrom /home/ftp/RedHat60
|
|
### In case you don't have a nameserver, use numbers for the url
|
|
url --url ftp://10.0.1.15/RedHat60
|
|
|
|
### Tell it to use the cdrom to get the rpms
|
|
# cdrom
|
|
|
|
### Tell it to use an Intel 10/100 EtherExpress ethernet Card
|
|
device ethernet eepro100
|
|
### Tell it to use a us keyboard
|
|
keyboard us
|
|
### Tell it to blow away the master boot record on the hard drive
|
|
zerombr yes
|
|
### Tell it to do a dumb move and blow away all partitions
|
|
clearpart --all
|
|
### Make a swap partition, and unfortunately, this will go on a
|
|
### logical partition.
|
|
part swap --size 100
|
|
### It will make a primary partition for root, 2 gigs
|
|
### I couldn't find a command to check for bad sectors. Is there one?
|
|
### I don't think "grow" will work here, unfortunately
|
|
part / --size 2000
|
|
### Make a directory /OtherDir which is at least 1 gig and grows
|
|
### to fill out the rest of the hard drive
|
|
### Since "Kickstart" is literally an unintelligent program,
|
|
### it will put this partition on a logical partition
|
|
### even though there are plenty of primary partitions to use.
|
|
part /Backups --size 1000 --grow
|
|
|
|
### Tell it to use a MicroSoft compatible mouse
|
|
mouse --kickstart microsoft --device ttyS1
|
|
### Let it know we are doing an install and not an upgrade
|
|
install
|
|
### Tell the timezone we are in
|
|
timezone --utc US/Eastern
|
|
### Tell it to use standard VGA 16, but sometimes it croaks
|
|
### at this point and asks you anyways to select a card
|
|
### I really wish you could force to install for a particular
|
|
### card so that you can "configure" Xwindows after installation
|
|
### Xconfigurator gets it wrong %50 of the time for my cards
|
|
xconfig --server XF86_VGA16
|
|
#### Give it a dumb root password
|
|
rootpw MyPassword
|
|
#### Tell it to use shadow passwording
|
|
auth --useshadow
|
|
### Tell it to install Lilo at the master boot record
|
|
lilo --location mbr
|
|
|
|
### Now let us install packages, is there a simple command for all?
|
|
%packages
|
|
|
|
### Select the packages to install, I think this is all of them
|
|
### Unlike the installation program which only installs one X Server,
|
|
### my options installs all of them in case you switch video cards,
|
|
### which I do a lot.
|
|
@ Base
|
|
@ Printer Support
|
|
@ X Window System
|
|
@ GNOME
|
|
@ KDE
|
|
@ Mail/WWW/News Tools
|
|
@ DOS/Windows Connectivity
|
|
@ File Managers
|
|
@ Graphics Manipulation
|
|
@ Console Games
|
|
@ X Games
|
|
@ Console Multimedia
|
|
@ X multimedia support
|
|
@ Networked Workstation
|
|
@ Dialup Workstation
|
|
@ News Server
|
|
@ NFS Server
|
|
@ SMB (Samba) Connectivity
|
|
@ IPX/Netware(tm) Connectivity
|
|
@ Anonymous FTP Server
|
|
@ Web Server
|
|
@ DNS Name Server
|
|
@ Postgres (SQL) Server
|
|
@ Network Management Workstation
|
|
@ TeX Document Formatting
|
|
@ Emacs
|
|
@ Emacs with X windows
|
|
@ C Development
|
|
@ Development Libraries
|
|
@ C++ Development
|
|
@ X Development
|
|
@ GNOME Development
|
|
@ Kernel Development
|
|
@ Extra Documentation
|
|
AfterStep
|
|
AfterStep-APPS
|
|
AnotherLevel
|
|
ElectricFence
|
|
GXedit
|
|
ImageMagick
|
|
ImageMagick-devel
|
|
MAKEDEV
|
|
ORBit
|
|
ORBit-devel
|
|
SVGATextMode
|
|
SysVinit
|
|
WindowMaker
|
|
X11R6-contrib
|
|
XFree86-100dpi-fonts
|
|
XFree86
|
|
XFree86-3DLabs
|
|
XFree86-75dpi-fonts
|
|
XFree86-8514
|
|
XFree86-AGX
|
|
XFree86-FBDev
|
|
XFree86-I128
|
|
XFree86-ISO8859-2
|
|
XFree86-ISO8859-2-100dpi-fonts
|
|
XFree86-ISO8859-2-75dpi-fonts
|
|
XFree86-ISO8859-2-Type1-fonts
|
|
XFree86-ISO8859-9-100dpi-fonts
|
|
XFree86-ISO8859-9
|
|
XFree86-ISO8859-9-75dpi-fonts
|
|
XFree86-Mach32
|
|
XFree86-Mach64
|
|
XFree86-Mach8
|
|
XFree86-Mono
|
|
XFree86-P9000
|
|
XFree86-S3
|
|
XFree86-S3V
|
|
XFree86-SVGA
|
|
XFree86-VGA16
|
|
XFree86-W32
|
|
XFree86-XF86Setup
|
|
XFree86-Xnest
|
|
XFree86-Xvfb
|
|
XFree86-cyrillic-fonts
|
|
XFree86-devel
|
|
XFree86-doc
|
|
XFree86-libs
|
|
XFree86-xfs
|
|
Xaw3d
|
|
Xaw3d-devel
|
|
Xconfigurator
|
|
adjtimex
|
|
aktion
|
|
am-utils
|
|
anonftp
|
|
apache
|
|
apache-devel
|
|
apmd
|
|
arpwatch
|
|
ash
|
|
at
|
|
audiofile
|
|
audiofile-devel
|
|
aumix
|
|
authconfig
|
|
autoconf
|
|
autofs
|
|
automake
|
|
awesfx
|
|
basesystem
|
|
bash
|
|
bash2
|
|
bash2-doc
|
|
bc
|
|
bdflush
|
|
bin86
|
|
bind
|
|
bind-devel
|
|
bind-utils
|
|
binutils
|
|
bison
|
|
blt
|
|
bootparamd
|
|
byacc
|
|
bzip2
|
|
caching-nameserver
|
|
cdecl
|
|
cdp
|
|
chkconfig
|
|
chkfontpath
|
|
cleanfeed
|
|
comanche
|
|
compat-binutils
|
|
compat-egcs
|
|
compat-egcs-c++
|
|
compat-egcs-g77
|
|
compat-egcs-objc
|
|
compat-glibc
|
|
compat-libs
|
|
comsat
|
|
console-tools
|
|
control-center
|
|
control-center-devel
|
|
control-panel
|
|
cpio
|
|
cpp
|
|
cproto
|
|
cracklib
|
|
cracklib-dicts
|
|
crontabs
|
|
ctags
|
|
cvs
|
|
cxhextris
|
|
desktop-backgrounds
|
|
dev
|
|
dhcp
|
|
dhcpcd
|
|
dialog
|
|
diffstat
|
|
diffutils
|
|
dip
|
|
dosemu
|
|
dosemu-freedos
|
|
dump
|
|
e2fsprogs
|
|
e2fsprogs-devel
|
|
ed
|
|
ee
|
|
efax
|
|
egcs
|
|
egcs-c++
|
|
egcs-g77
|
|
egcs-objc
|
|
eject
|
|
elm
|
|
emacs
|
|
emacs-X11
|
|
emacs-el
|
|
emacs-leim
|
|
emacs-nox
|
|
enlightenment
|
|
enlightenment-conf
|
|
enscript
|
|
esound
|
|
esound-devel
|
|
etcskel
|
|
exmh
|
|
expect
|
|
ext2ed
|
|
faces
|
|
faces-devel
|
|
faces-xface
|
|
faq
|
|
fbset
|
|
fetchmail
|
|
fetchmailconf
|
|
file
|
|
filesystem
|
|
fileutils
|
|
findutils
|
|
finger
|
|
flex
|
|
fnlib
|
|
fnlib-devel
|
|
fortune-mod
|
|
freetype
|
|
freetype-devel
|
|
ftp
|
|
fvwm
|
|
fvwm2
|
|
fvwm2-icons
|
|
fwhois
|
|
gated
|
|
gawk
|
|
gd
|
|
gd-devel
|
|
gdb
|
|
gdbm
|
|
gdbm-devel
|
|
gdm
|
|
gedit
|
|
gedit-devel
|
|
genromfs
|
|
gettext
|
|
getty_ps
|
|
gftp
|
|
ghostscript
|
|
ghostscript-fonts
|
|
giftrans
|
|
gimp
|
|
gimp-data-extras
|
|
gimp-devel
|
|
gimp-libgimp
|
|
gimp-manual
|
|
git
|
|
glib
|
|
glib-devel
|
|
glib10
|
|
glibc
|
|
glibc-devel
|
|
glibc-profile
|
|
gmc
|
|
gmp
|
|
gmp-devel
|
|
gnome-audio
|
|
gnome-audio-extra
|
|
gnome-core
|
|
gnome-core-devel
|
|
gnome-games
|
|
gnome-games-devel
|
|
gnome-libs
|
|
gnome-libs-devel
|
|
gnome-linuxconf
|
|
gnome-media
|
|
gnome-objc
|
|
gnome-objc-devel
|
|
gnome-pim
|
|
gnome-pim-devel
|
|
gnome-users-guide
|
|
gnome-utils
|
|
gnorpm
|
|
gnotepad+
|
|
gnuchess
|
|
gnumeric
|
|
gnuplot
|
|
gperf
|
|
gpm
|
|
gpm-devel
|
|
gqview
|
|
grep
|
|
groff
|
|
groff-gxditview
|
|
gsl
|
|
gtk+
|
|
gtk+-devel
|
|
gtk+10
|
|
gtk-engines
|
|
gtop
|
|
guavac
|
|
guile
|
|
guile-devel
|
|
gv
|
|
gzip
|
|
gzip
|
|
hdparm
|
|
helptool
|
|
howto
|
|
howto-chinese
|
|
howto-croatian
|
|
howto-french
|
|
howto-german
|
|
howto-greek
|
|
howto-html
|
|
howto-indonesian
|
|
howto-italian
|
|
howto-japanese
|
|
howto-korean
|
|
howto-polish
|
|
howto-serbian
|
|
howto-sgml
|
|
howto-slovenian
|
|
howto-spanish
|
|
howto-swedish
|
|
howto-turkish
|
|
ical
|
|
imap
|
|
imlib
|
|
imlib-cfgeditor
|
|
imlib-devel
|
|
indent
|
|
indexhtml
|
|
inews
|
|
info
|
|
initscripts
|
|
inn
|
|
inn-devel
|
|
install-guide
|
|
intimed
|
|
ipchains
|
|
ipxutils
|
|
ircii
|
|
isapnptools
|
|
isicom
|
|
ispell
|
|
itcl
|
|
jed
|
|
jed-common
|
|
jed-xjed
|
|
joe
|
|
kaffe
|
|
kbdconfig
|
|
kdeadmin
|
|
kdebase
|
|
kdegames
|
|
kdegraphics
|
|
kdelibs
|
|
kdemultimedia
|
|
kdenetwork
|
|
kdesupport
|
|
kdeutils
|
|
kernel
|
|
kernel
|
|
kernel
|
|
kernel-BOOT
|
|
kernel-doc
|
|
kernel-headers
|
|
kernel-ibcs
|
|
kernel-pcmcia-cs
|
|
kernel-smp
|
|
kernel-smp
|
|
kernel-smp
|
|
kernel-source
|
|
kernelcfg
|
|
knfsd
|
|
knfsd-clients
|
|
korganizer
|
|
kpilot
|
|
kpppload
|
|
kterm
|
|
ld.so
|
|
ldconfig
|
|
less
|
|
lha
|
|
libPropList
|
|
libc
|
|
libelf
|
|
libghttp
|
|
libghttp-devel
|
|
libgr
|
|
libgr-devel
|
|
libgr-progs
|
|
libgtop
|
|
libgtop-devel
|
|
libgtop-examples
|
|
libjpeg
|
|
libjpeg-devel
|
|
libjpeg6a
|
|
libpcap
|
|
libpng
|
|
libpng-devel
|
|
libstdc++
|
|
libtermcap
|
|
libtermcap-devel
|
|
libtiff
|
|
libtiff-devel
|
|
libtool
|
|
libungif
|
|
libungif-devel
|
|
libungif-progs
|
|
libxml
|
|
libxml-devel
|
|
lilo
|
|
linuxconf
|
|
linuxconf-devel
|
|
logrotate
|
|
losetup
|
|
lout
|
|
lout-doc
|
|
lpg
|
|
lpr
|
|
lrzsz
|
|
lslk
|
|
lsof
|
|
ltrace
|
|
lynx
|
|
m4
|
|
macutils
|
|
mailcap
|
|
mailx
|
|
make
|
|
man
|
|
man-pages
|
|
mars-nwe
|
|
mawk
|
|
mc
|
|
mcserv
|
|
metamail
|
|
mgetty
|
|
mgetty-sendfax
|
|
mgetty-viewfax
|
|
mgetty-voice
|
|
mikmod
|
|
mingetty
|
|
minicom
|
|
mkbootdisk
|
|
mkdosfs-ygg
|
|
mkinitrd
|
|
mkisofs
|
|
mkkickstart
|
|
mktemp
|
|
mkxauth
|
|
mod_perl
|
|
mod_php
|
|
mod_php3
|
|
modemtool
|
|
modutils
|
|
mount
|
|
mouseconfig
|
|
mpage
|
|
mpg123
|
|
mt-st
|
|
mtools
|
|
multimedia
|
|
mutt
|
|
mxp
|
|
nag
|
|
nc
|
|
ncftp
|
|
ncompress
|
|
ncpfs
|
|
ncurses
|
|
ncurses-devel
|
|
ncurses3
|
|
net-tools
|
|
netcfg
|
|
netkit-base
|
|
netscape-common
|
|
netscape-communicator
|
|
netscape-navigator
|
|
newt
|
|
newt-devel
|
|
nmh
|
|
nscd
|
|
ntsysv
|
|
open
|
|
p2c
|
|
p2c-devel
|
|
pam
|
|
passwd
|
|
patch
|
|
pciutils
|
|
pdksh
|
|
perl
|
|
perl-MD5
|
|
pidentd
|
|
pilot-link
|
|
pilot-link-devel
|
|
pine
|
|
playmidi
|
|
playmidi-X11
|
|
pmake
|
|
pmake-customs
|
|
popt
|
|
portmap
|
|
postgresql
|
|
postgresql-clients
|
|
postgresql-devel
|
|
ppp
|
|
printtool
|
|
procinfo
|
|
procmail
|
|
procps
|
|
procps-X11
|
|
psacct
|
|
psmisc
|
|
pump
|
|
pwdb
|
|
pygnome
|
|
pygtk
|
|
python
|
|
python-devel
|
|
python-docs
|
|
pythonlib
|
|
qt
|
|
qt-devel
|
|
quota
|
|
raidtools
|
|
rcs
|
|
rdate
|
|
rdist
|
|
readline
|
|
readline-devel
|
|
redhat-logos
|
|
redhat-release
|
|
rgrep
|
|
rhl-alpha-install-addend-en
|
|
rhl-getting-started-guide-en
|
|
rhl-install-guide-en
|
|
rhmask
|
|
rhs-hwdiag
|
|
rhs-printfilters
|
|
rhsound
|
|
rmt
|
|
rootfiles
|
|
routed
|
|
rpm
|
|
rpm-devel
|
|
rsh
|
|
rsync
|
|
rusers
|
|
rwall
|
|
rwho
|
|
rxvt
|
|
sag
|
|
samba
|
|
sash
|
|
screen
|
|
sed
|
|
sendmail
|
|
sendmail-cf
|
|
sendmail-doc
|
|
setconsole
|
|
setserial
|
|
setup
|
|
setuptool
|
|
sgml-tools
|
|
sh-utils
|
|
shadow-utils
|
|
shapecfg
|
|
sharutils
|
|
slang
|
|
slang-devel
|
|
sliplogin
|
|
slocate
|
|
slrn
|
|
slrn-pull
|
|
sndconfig
|
|
sox
|
|
sox-devel
|
|
specspo
|
|
squid
|
|
stat
|
|
statserial
|
|
strace
|
|
svgalib
|
|
svgalib-devel
|
|
swatch
|
|
switchdesk
|
|
switchdesk-gnome
|
|
switchdesk-kde
|
|
symlinks
|
|
sysklogd
|
|
talk
|
|
taper
|
|
tar
|
|
tcl
|
|
tclx
|
|
tcp_wrappers
|
|
tcpdump
|
|
tcsh
|
|
telnet
|
|
termcap
|
|
tetex
|
|
tetex-afm
|
|
tetex-doc
|
|
tetex-dvilj
|
|
tetex-dvips
|
|
tetex-latex
|
|
tetex-xdvi
|
|
texinfo
|
|
textutils
|
|
tftp
|
|
time
|
|
timeconfig
|
|
timed
|
|
timetool
|
|
tin
|
|
tix
|
|
tk
|
|
tkinter
|
|
tksysv
|
|
tmpwatch
|
|
traceroute
|
|
transfig
|
|
tree
|
|
trn
|
|
trojka
|
|
tunelp
|
|
ucd-snmp
|
|
ucd-snmp-devel
|
|
ucd-snmp-utils
|
|
umb-scheme
|
|
unarj
|
|
units
|
|
unzip
|
|
urlview
|
|
urw-fonts
|
|
usermode
|
|
usernet
|
|
utempter
|
|
util-linux
|
|
uucp
|
|
vim-X11
|
|
vim-common
|
|
vim-enhanced
|
|
vim-minimal
|
|
vixie-cron
|
|
vlock
|
|
w3c-libwww
|
|
w3c-libwww-apps
|
|
w3c-libwww-devel
|
|
wget
|
|
which
|
|
wmakerconf
|
|
wmconfig
|
|
words
|
|
wu-ftpd
|
|
x11amp
|
|
x11amp-devel
|
|
x3270
|
|
xanim
|
|
xbanner
|
|
xbill
|
|
xboard
|
|
xboing
|
|
xchat
|
|
xcpustate
|
|
xdaliclock
|
|
xdosemu
|
|
xearth
|
|
xfig
|
|
xfishtank
|
|
xfm
|
|
xgammon
|
|
xinitrc
|
|
xjewel
|
|
xlispstat
|
|
xloadimage
|
|
xlockmore
|
|
xmailbox
|
|
xmorph
|
|
xntp3
|
|
xosview
|
|
xpaint
|
|
xpat2
|
|
xpdf
|
|
xpilot
|
|
xpm
|
|
xpm-devel
|
|
xpuzzles
|
|
xrn
|
|
xscreensaver
|
|
xsysinfo
|
|
xtoolwait
|
|
xtrojka
|
|
xwpick
|
|
xxgdb
|
|
yp-tools
|
|
ypbind
|
|
ypserv
|
|
ytalk
|
|
zgv
|
|
zip
|
|
zlib
|
|
zlib-devel
|
|
zsh
|
|
### Anything after %post gets interpreted as a post install command
|
|
### and will be chrooted to the mount point of "/" for the
|
|
### new installation
|
|
%post
|
|
|
|
# add another nameserver
|
|
echo "nameserver 10.0.1.10" >> /etc/resolv.conf
|
|
echo "10.0.1.10 server.local server" >> /etc/resolv.conf
|
|
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<a name="conclusion"></a>
|
|
<h1> Conclusion -- it is good</h1>
|
|
I think the RedHat Kickstart stuff is good. I never did find out if the
|
|
other distributions have it, didn't have enough time. Oh well. It still needs
|
|
a lot of work to make it a really cool way of doing installations. The
|
|
problem is, instead of just bitching about it, if it needs work, and you like
|
|
it, contribute to the cause and help develop kickstart for RedHat or for
|
|
any other Linux distribution. I wrote this article, now, you
|
|
help out and contact the RedHat folks or other people to make the process
|
|
even more cool!
|
|
<p>
|
|
Overall, I give Kickstart method a "B" for 6.0, and a "C" for the 5.2
|
|
version. It is cool compared to the corrupted commercial alternative which
|
|
forces you to reboot 10 times before it is done installing. The potential
|
|
for Linux is amazing compared to commercial closed sourced alternatives.
|
|
When software is written not because of profit but because it is cool
|
|
and/or because people want it done right,
|
|
the long term potential far outweighs the short-term
|
|
profit-minded mentality of people who cannot write good software
|
|
or who just
|
|
want things done "just to get it to work". Kickstart has the potential to
|
|
reduce the overall cost of consulting and the time it takes to install Linux
|
|
systems on a mass scale (which benefits the novice and expert
|
|
computer consultant). It is funny to watch commercial companies who are
|
|
trying to emulate what Linux and other UNIX systems can do. I see commercial
|
|
products out there which attempt to do mass installations for closed
|
|
sourced corrupted operating systems and I laugh at all the hard work they
|
|
have to do. I want to stress something, this method I have shown today
|
|
is not the easiest method to install Linux. I will explain this in
|
|
another article someday. It will make any commercial or closed sourced
|
|
operating system look like garbage compared to Linux.
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<a name="script"></a>
|
|
<h1> My perl script</h1>
|
|
|
|
I used this perl script to extract a list of rpms from the /RedHat/RPMS
|
|
directory on the cdrom. I only had about 6 corrections to make and figured
|
|
it would take me longer to fix the perl script that it would be to fix
|
|
the list. There has to be a simpler way of getting the list with exact
|
|
results, but often
|
|
it is just a decision between what you know works, and taking the time
|
|
to figure out a better way. It only took me 5 minutes to write this
|
|
script. Most of the time wasted was booting off of the kickstart disk
|
|
to see how many errors I got.
|
|
|
|
<pre>
|
|
#!/usr/bin/perl
|
|
|
|
my @RPMS = </home/ftp/RedHat60/RedHat/RPMS/*.rpm>;
|
|
my $Dest = "/tmp/List_2.txt";
|
|
|
|
open(FILE,">$Dest");
|
|
|
|
foreach $Rpm (@RPMS)
|
|
{
|
|
## Would be easier if I had used ? instead of /
|
|
$Rpm =~ s/\/home\/ftp\/RedHat60\/RedHat\/RPMS\///;
|
|
|
|
if ($Rpm =~ /\-[0-9]+\-[0-9]+\./)
|
|
{($Rpm,$Junk) = split(/\-[0-9]+\-[0-9]\./, $Rpm,2);}
|
|
elsif ($Rpm =~ /\-[0-9]+\./)
|
|
{($Rpm,$Junk) = split(/\-[0-9]+\./, $Rpm,2);}
|
|
else {($Rpm,$Junk) = split(/\-[0-9]/, $Rpm,2);}
|
|
|
|
print FILE "$Rpm\n";
|
|
}
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<i>
|
|
<a href="mailto:mark@tcu-inc.com">Mark</a>
|
|
works as JALG hardware assistant (shorts and tee-shirt)
|
|
under <a href="mailto:mike@tcu-inc.com"> Mike Hunter</a> at
|
|
<a href="http://www.tcu-inc.com"> The Computer Underground</a>
|
|
and as a professional (suit and tie) consultant at
|
|
<a href="http://www.800linux.com">
|
|
800linux.com</a>. In his spare time, he does volunteer stuff, like writing
|
|
these documents.
|
|
</i>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<center><H5>Copyright © 1999, Mark Nielsen<BR>
|
|
Published in Issue 43 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, July 1999</H5></center>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<!--startcut ==========================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<A HREF="index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="../index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/homenew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ FRONT PAGE ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="jacobowitz.xfce.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/back2.gif"
|
|
ALT=" Back "></A>
|
|
<A HREF="nielsen.xdm.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/fwd.gif" ALT=" Next "></A>
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
</BODY>
|
|
</HTML>
|
|
<!--endcut ============================================================-->
|