-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 dan wrote: > Hello, all - > > While I've been reading the list over the past few weeks, I've noticed > that most everyone pretty much knows Anaconda like the back of their hand. > > Is there some sort of clearinghouse that details the inner-workings of > Anaconda? If I wanted to dive into it and try to figure some stuff out, > is there a specific version I should look for? I just really don't know > where to get started on this, please pardon my ignorance. Clearinghouse http://rau.homedns.org/twiki/bin/view/Anaconda/AnacondaDocumentationProject Conversion of Clearinghouse to fedora wiki http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Anaconda http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/GregMorgan = conversion status page I see I made one mistake on the organization of the pages. I was thinking media wiki when moin wiki uses pagename/pagename organization. I _hope_ to fix those problems this weekend. Honey dos from wife may rule the day. ;-) Let's not forget the official sites http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/custom-guide/part-install-info.html The official sites focus more on kickstart info. The rau wiki shows other parts of anaconda that are used to build the release CDs. LOL you can put your very own _spin_ on your Red Hat/Fedora CDs. > > Is it safe to say that the Kickstart process is the same throught RedHat > 9.0+, Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, and all other RedHat-based distributions? Yes. Different versions same concepts. There's an anaconda rpm that can be installed or you can get the most recent version from CVS as described on this page http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/. Let's not forget to add that Ubuntu linux is considering adding the snake to humanity http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/GraphicalInstaller. Progeny is _rattling_ it's saber err... tail at Ubuntu because they already have the snake installer http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/26797/. LOL I am just full of bad puns today. > It's been my experience that this is true, however, I don't want to > start working on something someday that looks like it might work, and > have it totally blow up in my face. I borrowed the format from the Stateless linux page. I jotted down some ideas of what I see people doing on the list http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/AnacondaVision. The same thing works for each version/product. It's getting better with time. There are many ways Anaconda can be extended. Note that any good program has that same potential of blowing up in your face under the right circumstances. I believe you need some more information to make you comfortable when it does happen. > > I hope these questions aren't too dull for you all to answer. Nope. > I've had > varying success with Kickstart-based installs until recently, and I hope > that I can even improve on that, with a bit of your help. I am fascinated by Anaconda. I think what it is missing some more howto documentation. The key is to know what you want on your target system when using ks files. If you are going to start a service, then you'll want to use chkconfig or know how to make the link files by hand in the /etc/rc.d/ System V styled directories. Typical of computer documentation some of Anaconda/KS documentation is just a listing of options with a few brief code examples. What is needed in my opinion is a good sample ks howto using a well developed target installation guide. These examples would a help a new person see how to glue all the options together. One, idea is a remaster and kickstart howto but show how to add files from say, mythtv, to the mix. There are several well defined procedures here http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO.html and fedora specific notes here http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php. Another example may be a straight ks howto without the remaster. For example, I am also working on this wiki http://phpwebsite-comm.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?title=Generic_Install_Introduction. I have seen all the problems in the user forums. So I took my forum posts along with other's and created the guide. Most of the forum problems could be solved with a ks file that sets php.ini parms, and starts both an apache service plus a database. These kinds of examples that are talked and walked through would be great for someone like you that's just trying to get your arms around kickstart files and other features that Anaconda has. The last tip I'd give you is remember that Linux is running. You have a bash shell environment with a few limitations because it is running all in memory. Your ks file is just a bash script that you could develop in a terminal window before running it as a kickstart file. The only difference is that it runs in an installer and is defined in a %post section of the kick start file. That's it. Greg -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFCcj64xyxe5L6mr7IRApVXAJ0VpH151S32BqJHNRUiFMQsSrRBawCgiDZ1 yCGTmdfFoJJnrVSxyx+OIIk= =keJX -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
