On Tue, Nov 30, 2004 at 11:08:30PM -0500, Jeremy Katz wrote: > at the moment... but this functionality is already at least sort of > there. Look at running anaconda with --rootpath /path to install > packages under /path. I've just tried to use anaconda with the --rootpath option. It's not bad, but I think it's still not usable as a regular application to create these virtual roots. Here are a few of my observations: 1. it still does hardware detection: [root@dimi ~]# anaconda --graphical --rootpath=/home/dimi/dev/kogaion/virtualroot.anaconda --method=http://dimi/FC3/ * Display mode = g * Method = http://dimi/FC3/ Probing for video card: ATI Radeon 9600 Probing for monitor type: Dell 1901FP (Digital) Probing for mouse type: Skipped mouse probe. 2. it still asks for langauge, keyboard settings instead of just using the current ones, like any regular X app 3. I can not close the window. I have to literaly kill the app with kill(3) or xkill. 4. It still tries to mess with my disks: * moving (1) to step partitionobjinit * pv is /dev/hda2 in vg VolGroup00, size is 80866181120 * vg VolGroup00, size is 80866181120 * lv is VolGroup00/LogVol00, size of 79255568384 * lv is VolGroup00/LogVol01, size of 1577058304 * running vgchange failed: 1280. disabling lvm 5. I don't think asking about timezones is appropriate in this context, it should use the current one. 6. It still messes with my filesystems, once the installation starts: * moving (1) to step confirminstall * moving (1) to step install * moving (1) to step enablefilesystems * moving (1) to step migratefilesystems * moving (1) to step setuptime * moving (1) to step preinstallconfig * No pcic controller detected * Needed lvm2 for None * Needed lvm2 for None * moving (1) to step installpackages * setting file_context_path to /etc/selinux/targeted/contexts/files/file_contexts 7. These are all very scary. Is it messing up my host system? * failed to unlink /var/lib/rpm/__db.001: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/dimi/dev/kogaion/virtualroot.anaconda/var/lib/rpm/__db.001' * failed to unlink /var/lib/rpm/__db.002: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/dimi/dev/kogaion/virtualroot.anaconda/var/lib/rpm/__db.002' * failed to unlink /var/lib/rpm/__db.003: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/dimi/dev/kogaion/virtualroot.anaconda/var/lib/rpm/__db.003' * failed to unlink /var/lib/rpm: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/var/lib/rpm' * moving (1) to step postinstallconfig * No pcic controller detected * self.hostname = localhost.localdomain * rhgb installed, adding to boot loader config 8. It fails after installing all the .rpms: * moving (1) to step firstboot * moving (1) to step instbootloader Traceback (most recent call last): File "/usr/src/build/475969-i386/install//usr/lib/anaconda/gui.py", line 1074, in handleRenderCallback self.currentWindow.renderCallback() File "/usr/src/build/475969-i386/install//usr/lib/anaconda/iw/progress_gui.py", line 242, in renderCallback self.intf.icw.nextClicked() File "/usr/src/build/475969-i386/install//usr/lib/anaconda/gui.py", line 789, in nextClicked self.dispatch.gotoNext() File "/usr/src/build/475969-i386/install//usr/lib/anaconda/dispatch.py", line 171, in gotoNext self.moveStep() File "/usr/src/build/475969-i386/install//usr/lib/anaconda/dispatch.py", line 239, in moveStep rc = apply(func, self.bindArgs(args)) File "/usr/src/build/475969-i386/install//usr/lib/anaconda/bootloader.py", line 114, in writeBootloader rootDev = fsset.getEntryByMountPoint('/').device.getDevice() AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'device' > I got a few patches from jrb when he was working > on the Stateless stuff to get it working better, so he might have a > better idea of where it currently stands (cc'd). Cool, it would be nice if we can get anaconda to have a "regular app" mode so we can use it out of the box to create images for diskless clients. After playing around with the --rootpath option, I am now convinced that I had the right intuition about anaconda being the solution to the image creation problem. From afar, it seems that a bit of hacking can turn it into the perfect utility. Now, I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is, and pitch in to help get anaconda there. I just want to: A. Make sure that we're all on the same page, and we agree that this is the way to go. B. I'm not duplicating work that you guys are doing as part of the Stateless Linux effort. -- Dimi.
