Thanks again for the attention, ***Is there any reason it can't install a Linux filesytem containing Linux? ***I don't care whether it's in addition to, or instead of the Windows. I am installing Linux file systems...for clarification I will include my ks.cfg below. Please note that the 'part' section is just an example until I finialize partition size requirements... (Clearpart will keep the existing Fat32 partition and add 2 Linux partitions.) My ks.cfg configuration: ####################### lang en_US langsupport en_US keyboard us mouse --emulthree generic3ps/2 timezone --utc America/New_York rootpw --iscrypted $1$ra7.bZÝM$k8tTmuc1dG6clRGie0NFM0 reboot text bootloader --location=mbr install #The following line is the line in question... harddrive --dir syswork/rhew21 --partition /dev/hda1 clearpart --linux #Below partitioning is an example part / --fstype ext3 --size 8000 part swap --size 512 network --bootproto dhcp auth --useshadow --enablemd5 firewall --medium skipx %packages @Everything ####################### ***Actually, you haven't said what's in the FAT32 partition. I did..let me clarify. The Fat32 partition contains the loadlin Linux loader, and initrd and kernel from RedHat CD and a copy of the RedHat directory off the CD's + RPMS to allow the machines to boot from CD. This will always be the first partition of a Scsi or IDE drive. (sda1 or hda1) ***You can partition in the %pre section instead of using Anaconda's ***partitioning. I'm not sure how to detect whether you're using SCSI or ***ATA. If you never have both installed, then it's fairly easy. One way is ***to grep the kernel messages. ***However, if possible, I want something better than the basic toolset in ***the installer. The line in question is: harddrive --dir syswork/rhew21 --partition /dev/hda1 Does the installer go through the above line (which tells where the installation files are to be located) AFTER going through the %pre section? If so, I'm wondering if it would be possible to modify if the machine has a scsi drive instead of a ide drive attached. I already have partitioning taken care of..I just need to make sure it can find the installation files (sda1 vs. hda1) I hope this clarifies, thanks again for the assistance. > We are using PowerQuest DriveImage(Imaging software) to load the software > via the network(via non *nix servers) onto the configured machines. The > image is simply an active Fat32 partition with an autoexec.bat file to kick > off loadlin and point to the RedHat directory which is also part of this > image. > > After the image is loaded, it reboots and continues to install Linux. > > Again we can't modify the servers (ie installing via NFS or http) and the > solution must be able to detect what kind of hard drive is attached to it. > > Thanks again, > Dave > > > >***How are you getting the Linux images to these machines? > > > > Greetings, > > > > In my environment, we have been tasked to have kickstart be used to > automate > > the setup of our Linux boxes. The interesting twist is that nobody will be > > at the consoles to insert disk media (cd-roms nor floppy) and the entire > > installation has to kick off from the first partition (Fat32) of the hard > > drive. > > > > > > The hard drives arcitecture varies (Some machines may have 1 IDE, Some > have > > 1 SCSI) so we need to make sure the process can detect which type of hard > > drive it is loading from. > > > > In addition, the kickstart file needs to be called from the hard drive via > > loadlin.exe (Fat32 partition...sda1 or hda1...) and not initially > enclosed > > in an initrd until loadlin boots the kernel. > > > > > > My current batch file runs the following: > > loadlin vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img ramdisk_size=7192 ks=hd:hda1/ks.cfg > > > > which, of corse works great on IDE machines since I'm specifying that it's > > IDE. > > > > Is is possible to, say, package a dummy ks.cfg file in the initrd, use > > ks=file:ks.cfg as the parameter and before the installer reads the ks > file, > > get the initrd to detect whither the hd is scsi or ide (maybe by issuing a > > mount /dev/hda1 attempting to copy/mnt/hda1/ks.cfg, umount hda1, mount > sda1 > > attempt to copy /mnt/sda1/ks.cfg.. and append it's findings to ks.cfg? > > > > > > Again, we have a Fat32 bootable partition which boots linux via loadlin > and > > must detect the hard drive just like it can when linux is installed via > > CD...(If it sees a scsi drive, it defaults to sda...etc). > > > > Many thanks for your sugesstions and assistance, > > > > Dave > >
