On Wed, 20 Nov 2002, Tony Nugent wrote: > One of the reasons many people build new installer images is to > allow them to have as many of the bugfix and security updates there > in a newly built system right from first boot (current as per when > the cdroms were burned, or when network images were prepared). > > So if you are trying to keep up with things, you would be creating a > lot of different versions of installation cdroms as you went along. > Another week goes by, and your "latest version" is out of date. > > Or worse... at some point along the way, the updates themselves > manage to break the installer or the ability to rebuild it. > > So I'm thinking... why update the installer itself all the time? > > Why not just put all the updates in one place and let the installer The installer won't pick them up. genhdlist builds a list of what's what and where's where and that's what gets installed. What I do is create this structure on my nfs/http server: /var/ftp/pub/linux/RedHat/8.0 /var/ftp/pub/linux/RedHat/8.0/dist /var/ftp/pub/linux/RedHat/8.0/updates /var/ftp/pub/linux/RedHat/8.0/Extras /var/ftp/pub/linux/RedHat/8.0/ks /var/ftp/pub/linux/RedHat/8.0/ISO When I install, the ks file gets pulled from the ks directory. I have several, and the one to use is specified in my boot floppy. I've been changing around the way my %post scripts get to the client, at present it's an rpm. Most of my %post processing actually happens on first boot. Anything in Extras gets installed unconditionally. One of my %post scripts is my rawhide-installer. It rpm --installs the latest suitable kernel if there's an upgrade, and rpm --freshens everything in the updates directory. It examines the errors and rpm --installs missing dependencies. It's a mess, but it works, It also takes longer than the unstall on base RHL 7.3 so I created 7.3u. The same install floppy can install the 7.3u tree, I just have to point it a ks file that selects it. I refresh my updates overnight everynight, so that if I install RHL 7.3 today it will have all relevant fixes applied. Installation goes thus: Check/create a boot floppy & KS file. Note the KS file's on the server, not the floppy because it's easier to change there. Boot the floppy. Some time after Anaconda's started, pull the floppy. Wait. That's it. Depending on the ks file, when complete the machines' ready for integration to my network, or for client use
