I am a Fedora newbie who needs help preparing for a Kickstart
installation. I hope to be able to create several different Kickstart
configuration files to test several different Fedora configurations.
My test environment is an Ethernet network with one Windows 2000 Pro
box, one Mac G4 OS X box, and the Fedora installation target, a Dell
Dimension 4100. Only the Mac has a CD writer. The Dell box already has
appropriate partitions from a previous Red Hat 9 installation.
I would like to use the following scenario for my tests:
1. The Fedora installation CD-ROMs will have their contents transferred
to an appropriate directory structure on the Win2000 box. The files
will be served via HTTP (the Apache web server is running on that host).
2. If needed, Win2000 box can run a DHCP server to assign a static IP
address to the Dell box during Fedora installation.
3. The Dell box will boot from Fedora installation CD 1.
4. I would like to have all the various Kickstart configuration files
on the Win2000 box and have the installer access them via HTTP/Apache.
5. I would eventually like the option of adding additional RPMs to the
Fedora/RPMS directory on the Win2000 server, with the goal of being
able to test software not included in the Fedora core distribution.
I need help with the following items:
1. Is my scenario feasible?
2. So far, I've had no luck getting a Kickstart installation to run.
The Apache server log shows that the ks.cfg file is being requested and
sent, but the installer seems to ignore it and proceed with a
completely interactive installation. I'm using the boot option "linux
ks=http://192.168.0.1/Linux/ks.cfg";. Do I need additional boot options?
3. If I add RPMs to the Fedora/RPMS directory, how does that affect
files in Fedora/base? I understand "comps.xml" and have a tool on the
Mac OS X box that can generate it and a Kickstart configuration file
after "interviewing" the user to determine the packages that the user
is likely to need. I do not understand the "hdlist", "hdlist2",
"hdstg2.img", "netstg2.img", or "stage2.img" files, their roles in
installation, and how to create them.
4. The RH9 documentation for an HTTP installation of Linux makes
reference to the "installation tree". The only definition of that term
I could find says it means the entire contents of all the installation
CD-ROMs. That seems extreme (does the installer really need the DOS
utilities or the boot diskette image file?). What does "installation
tree" really mean?
5. Is it okay to boot the Dell host from Fedora CD 1, or is there a
better choice?
Thanks for any help you can provide. I'd especially appreciate specific
references to existing, beginner-oriented documentation.
Gary Ford
Plaid Flannel Software
