Shabazian, Chip wrote:
Howdy,
As I mentioned a while back, I'm doing a "Kickstart Tips and Tricks"
seminar at Linuxworld this summer, and I need to finish (ok, START and
finish) my presentation this weekend. I've gotten a few good tips from
you all, so this is my final call for help:
I will of course make the training materials I develop available to all
when it's done.
Here is what I'm looking for:
* If you were attending this training, what would you like to see
covered
* Although you may be well versed in kickstart, what should I cover for
those not so experienced
Provoke the imagination. Here's a stanza from one of my PXE boot entries:
label centos4k
kernel /linux-install/CentOS/4.3/vmlinuz
append initrd=/linux-install/CentOS/4.3/initrd.img vga=794
ramdisk_size=8192 ks=http://rhel.demo.lan/
ks/ks?OS=CentOS&REL=4&PACK=server ksdevice=link
We're running a CGI script to create a ks file. Parameters such as OS,
REL, PACK are interpreted by the CGI script to modify the package
selection. A bit like install classes embedded in comps.
* What other technologies do you use in your provisioning of systems
* What "best practices" have you learned
* What else should I be asking for and presenting
* And of course, all those wonderful tips and tricks that we have all
learned over the years
Anything you send may be printed in the workbook that accompanies the
tutorial, so I need your approval to print it. If you would like to be
credited, please provide me with how you want it to appear.
That's cool. My actual CGI script is a motley assortment of small shell
scripts with not much checking - a bit of an embarrassment really, but
the main thing is the idea.
Here is a brief outline that I have so far, both content AND topics are
appreciated:
What is kickstart
Why use kickstart
Kickstart sections
boot: options
Command Section
%include is your friend
Yummy builds
%Pre
I have been known to fdisk <<Z
<stuff>
Z
here.
%Pre Magic
%Post
To chroot or not to chroot
I regularly do both. It's a good place to run sed over a few config
files where the vendor hasn't a clue.
[ /etc/configfile~ ] || cp /etc/configfile /etc/configfile~
sed -r \
-e .... \
-e .... # etc
The initial cp aids in testing. Reruns always have the original input.
And it documents what's changed.
%Post magic
Life after %post
Ah yes. I was doing the "first boot" trick at RHL 7.3,
Troubleshooting
Common problems
Tools to make life easier
Cobbler
Revisor
Novi
mRepo
Kickweb
On the fly ks.cfg
Point Clark Networks (CLarkConnect) modifies Anaconda to create a ks
file and then go. Tedious, I think, but that's their solution. I'd
rather hack Anaconda and run it beforehand, then pick up the ks file
from network, floppy or USB. For ClarkConnect, they could hardcode the
floppy and USB locations and test them.
--
Cheers
John
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