path: root/docs/kickstart-docs.txt

                                   Kickstart

   Copyright (c) 2003-2006 by Red Hat, Inc.

   This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and 
   conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, V1.0 or later 
   (the latest version is presently available at 
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   Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                            Chapter 1. Introduction

What are Kickstart Installations?

   Many system administrators would prefer to use an automated installation
   method to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on their machines. To answer
   this need, Red Hat created the kickstart installation method. Using
   kickstart, a system administrator can create a single file containing the
   answers to all the questions that would normally be asked during a typical
   installation.

   Kickstart files can be kept on single server system and read by individual
   computers during the installation. This installation method can support
   the use of a single kickstart file to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on
   multiple machines, making it ideal for network and system administrators.

   Kickstart provides a way for users to automate a Red Hat Enterprise Linux
   installation.

How Do You Perform a Kickstart Installation?

   Kickstart installations can be performed using a local CD-ROM, a local
   hard drive, or via NFS, FTP, or HTTP.

   To use kickstart, you must:

    1. Create a kickstart file.

    2. Create a boot diskette with the kickstart file or make the kickstart
       file available on the network.

    3. Make the installation tree available.

    4. Start the kickstart installation.

   This chapter explains these steps in detail.

Creating the Kickstart File

   The kickstart file is a simple text file, containing a list of items, each
   identified by a keyword. You can create it by editing a copy of the
   sample.ks file found in the RH-DOCS directory of the Red Hat Enterprise
   Linux Documentation CD, using the Kickstart Configurator application, or
   writing it from scratch. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program
   also creates a sample kickstart file based on the options that you
   selected during installation. It is written to the file
   /root/anaconda-ks.cfg. You should be able to edit it with any text editor
   or word processor that can save files as ASCII text.

   First, be aware of the following issues when you are creating your
   kickstart file:

     * Sections must be specified in order. Items within the sections do not
       have to be in a specific order unless otherwise specified. The section
       order is:

          * Command section -- Refer to Chapter 2 for a list of kickstart
            options. You must include the required options.

          * The %packages section -- Refer to Chapter 3 for details.

          * The %pre and %post sections -- These two sections can be in any
            order and are not required. Refer to Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 for
            details.

     * Items that are not required can be omitted.

     * Omitting any required item will result in the installation program
       prompting the user for an answer to the related item, just as the user
       would be prompted during a typical installation. Once the answer is
       given, the installation will continue unattended (unless it finds
       another missing item).

     * Lines starting with a pound sign (#) are treated as comments and are
       ignored.

     * For kickstart upgrades, the following items are required:

          * Language

          * Language support

          * Installation method

          * Device specification (if device is needed to perform
            installation)

          * Keyboard setup

          * The upgrade keyword

          * Boot loader configuration

       If any other items are specified for an upgrade, those items will be
       ignored (note that this includes package selection).

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Chapter 2. Kickstart Options

   The following options can be placed in a kickstart file. If you prefer to
   use a graphical interface for creating your kickstart file, you can use
   the Kickstart Configurator application.

     Note                                                                     
     If the option is followed by an equals mark (=), a value must be         
     specified after it. In the example commands, options in brackets ([])    
     are optional arguments for the command.                                  

   autopart (optional)

       Automatically create partitions -- 1 GB or more root (/) partition,
       a swap partition, and an appropriate boot partition for the
       architecture. One or more of the default partition sizes can be
       redefined with the part directive.

   autostep (optional)

       Similar to interactive except it goes to the next screen for you.
       It is used mostly for debugging.

   auth or authconfig (required)

       Sets up the authentication options for the system.  This is just a
       wrapper around the authconfig program, so all options recognized
       by that program are valid for this command.  See the manual page for
       authconfig for a complete list.

       By default, passwords are normally encrypted and are not shadowed.

   bootloader (required)

       Specifies how the boot loader should be installed. This option is
       required for both installations and upgrades.

       --append=

            Specifies kernel parameters. To specify multiple parameters,
            separate them with spaces. For example:

            bootloader --location=mbr --append="hdd=ide-scsi ide=nodma" 

       --driveorder

            Specify which drive is first in the BIOS boot order.  For
            example:

            bootloader --driveorder=sda,hda                 

       --location=

            Specifies where the boot record is written. Valid values are
            the following: mbr (the default), partition (installs the boot
            loader on the first sector of the partition containing the
            kernel), or none (do not install the boot loader).

       --password=

            If using GRUB, sets the GRUB boot loader password the one
            specified with this option. This should be used to restrict
            access to the GRUB shell, where arbitrary kernel options can
            be passed.

       --md5pass=

            If using GRUB, similar to --password= except the password
            should already be encrypted.

       --lba32

            Force use of lba32 mode instead of auto-detecting.

       --upgrade

            Upgrade the existing boot loader configuration, preserving the
            old entries. This option is only available for upgrades.

   clearpart (optional)

       Removes partitions from the system, prior to creation of new
       partitions. By default, no partitions are removed.

       Note                                                      
       If the clearpart command is used, then the --onpart command cannot
       be used on a logical partition.

       --all

            Erases all partitions from the system.

       --drives=

            Specifies which drives to clear partitions from. For example,
            the following clears the partitions on the first two drives on
            the primary IDE controller:

            clearpart --drives hda,hdb                      

       --initlabel

            Initializes the disk label to the default for your
            architecture (for example msdos for x86 and gpt for Itanium).
            It is useful so that the installation program does not ask if
            it should initialize the disk label if installing to a brand
            new hard drive.

       --linux

            Erases all Linux partitions.

       --none (default)

            Do not remove any partitions.

   cmdline (optional)

       Perform the installation in a completely non-interactive command
       line mode. Any prompts for interaction will halt the install. This
       mode is useful on S/390 systems with the x3270 console.

   device (optional)

       On most PCI systems, the installation program will autoprobe for
       Ethernet and SCSI cards properly. On older systems and some PCI
       systems, however, kickstart needs a hint to find the proper
       devices. The device command, which tells the installation program
       to install extra modules, is in this format:

       device <type> <moduleName> --opts=<options>                 

       <type>

            Replace with either scsi or eth

       <moduleName>

            Replace with the name of the kernel module which should be
            installed.

       --opts=

            Options to pass to the kernel module. Note that multiple
            options may be passed if they are put in quotes. For example:

            --opts="aic152x=0x340 io=11"                    

   driverdisk (optional)

       Driver diskettes can be used during kickstart installations. You
       need to copy the driver diskettes's contents to the root directory
       of a partition on the system's hard drive. Then you need to use the
       driverdisk command to tell the installation program where to look
       for the driver disk.

       driverdisk <partition> [--type=<fstype>]                    

       Alternatively, a network location can be specified for the driver
       diskette:

       driverdisk --source=ftp://path/to/dd.img                    
       driverdisk --source=http://path/to/dd.img                   
       driverdisk --source=nfs:host:/path/to/img                   

       <partition>

            Partition containing the driver disk.

       --type=

            File system type (for example, vfat or ext2).

   firewall (optional)

       This option corresponds to the Firewall Configuration screen in
       the installation program:

       firewall --enabled|--disabled [--trust=] <device> [--port=] 

       --enabled or --enable

            Reject incoming connections that are not in response to
            outbound requests, such as DNS replies or DHCP requests. If
            access to services running on this machine is needed, you can
            choose to allow specific services through the firewall.

       --disabled or --disable

            Do not configure any iptables rules.

       --trust=

            Listing a device here, such as eth0, allows all traffic coming
            from that device to go through the firewall. To list more than
            one device, use --trust eth0 --trust eth1. Do NOT use a
            comma-separated format such as --trust eth0, eth1.

       <incoming>

            Replace with none or more of the following to allow the
            specified services through the firewall.

            * --ssh

            * --telnet

            * --smtp

            * --http

            * --ftp

       --port=

            You can specify that ports be allowed through the firewall
            using the port:protocol format. For example, to allow IMAP
            access through your firewall, specify imap:tcp. Numeric ports
            can also be specified explicitly; for example, to allow UDP
            packets on port 1234 through, specify 1234:udp. To specify
            multiple ports, separate them by commas.

   firstboot (optional)

       Determine whether the Setup Agent starts the first time the system
       is booted. If enabled, the firstboot package must be installed. If
       not specified, this option is disabled by default.

       --enable or --enabled

            The Setup Agent is started the first time the system boots.

       --disable or --disabled

            The Setup Agent is not started the first time the system
            boots.

       --reconfig

            Enable the Setup Agent to start at boot time in
            reconfiguration mode. This mode enables the language, mouse,
            keyboard, root password, security level, time zone, and
            networking configuration options in addition to the default
            ones.

   install (optional)

       Tells the system to install a fresh system rather than upgrade an
       existing system. This is the default mode. For installation, you
       must specify the type of installation from one of cdrom, harddrive,
       nfs, or url (for ftp or http installations). The install command
       and the installation method command must be on separate lines.

       cdrom

            Install from the first CD-ROM drive on the system.

       harddrive

            Install from a Red Hat installation tree on a local drive,
            which must be either vfat or ext2.

            * --partition=

              Partition to install from (such as, sdb2).

            * --dir=

              Directory containing the RedHat directory of the
              installation tree.

            For example:

            harddrive --partition=hdb2 --dir=/tmp/install-tree 

       nfs

            Install from the NFS server specified.

            * --server=

              Server from which to install (hostname or IP).

            * --dir=

              Directory containing the RedHat directory of the installation
              tree.

	    * --opts=

              Mount options to use for mounting the NFS export. (optional)

            For example:

            nfs --server=nfsserver.example.com --dir=/tmp/install-tree 

       url

            Install from an installation tree on a remote server via FTP
            or HTTP.

            For example:

            url --url http://<server>/<dir>                 

            or:

            url --url ftp://<username>:<password>@<server>/<dir> 

   interactive (optional)

       Uses the information provided in the kickstart file during the
       installation, but allow for inspection and modification of the
       values given. You will be presented with each screen of the
       installation program with the values from the kickstart file.
       Either accept the values by clicking Next or change the values and
       click Next to continue. See also autostep.

   keyboard (required)

       Sets system keyboard type. Here is the list of available keyboards
       on i386, Itanium, and Alpha machines:

       be-latin1, bg, br-abnt2, cf, cz-lat2, cz-us-qwertz, de, de-latin1,
       de-latin1-nodeadkeys, dk, dk-latin1, dvorak, es, et, fi, fi-latin1,
       fr, fr-latin0, fr-latin1, fr-pc, fr_CH, fr_CH-latin1, gr, hu,
       hu101, is-latin1, it, it-ibm, it2, jp106, la-latin1, mk-utf, no,
       no-latin1, pl, pt-latin1, ro_win, ru, ru-cp1251, ru-ms, ru1, ru2,
       ru_win, se-latin1, sg, sg-latin1, sk-qwerty, slovene, speakup,
       speakup-lt, sv-latin1, sg, sg-latin1, sk-querty, slovene, trq, ua,
       uk, us, us-acentos

       The file /usr/lib/python2.2/site-packages/rhpl/keyboard_models.py
       also contains this list and is part of the rhpl package.

   lang (required)

       Sets the language to use during installation and the default
       language to use on the installed system. For example, to set
       the language to English, the kickstart file should contain the
       following line:

       lang en_US                                                  

       The file /usr/share/system-config-language/locale-list provides a
       list the valid language codes in the first column of each line and
       is part of the system-config-languages package.

   langsupport

       The langsupport keyword is deprecated and its use will cause an
       error message to be printed to the screen and installation to halt.
       Instead of using the langsupport keyword, you should now list the
       support package groups for all languages you want supported in the
       %packages section of your kickstart file.  For instance, adding
       support for French means you should add the following to %packages:

           @french-support

   logvol (optional)

       Create a logical volume for Logical Volume Management (LVM) with
       the syntax:

       logvol <mntpoint> --vgname=<name> --size=<size> --name=<name> <options> 

       The options are as follows:

       --noformat

           Use an existing logical volume and do not format it.

       --useexisting

           Use an existing logical volume and reformat it.

       --fstype=

           Sets the file system type for the logical volume. Valid values
           are ext2, ext3, swap, and vfat.

       --fsoptions=

           Specifies a free form string of options to be used when
           mounting the filesystem. This string will be copied into the
           /etc/fstab file of the installed system and should be enclosed
           in quotes.

       --bytes-per-inode=

           Specifies the size of inodes on the filesystem to be made on
           the logical volume.  Not all filesystems support this option,
           so it is silently ignored for those cases.

       --grow

           Tells the logical volume to grow to fill available space (if
           any), or up to the maximum size setting.

       --maxsize=

           The maximum size in megabytes when the logical volume is set to
           grow. Specify an integer value here, and do not append the
           number with MB.

       --recommended

           Determine the size of the logical volume automatically.

       --percent

           Specify the size of the logical volume as a percentage of
           available space in the volume group.

       Create the partition first, create the logical volume group, and
       then create the logical volume. For example:

       part pv.01 --size 3000                                      
       volgroup myvg pv.01                                         
       logvol / --vgname=myvg --size=2000 --name=rootvol           

   monitor

       --hsync=

           Specifies the horizontal sync frequency of the monitor.

       --monitor=

           Use specified monitor; monitor name should be from the list of
           monitors in /usr/share/hwdata/MonitorsDB from the hwdata
           package. The list of monitors can also be found on the X
           Configuration screen of the Kickstart Configurator. This is
           ignored if --hsync or --vsync is provided. If no monitor
           information is provided, the installation program tries to
           probe for it automatically.

       --noprobe

           Do not probe the monitor.

       --vsync=

           Specifies the vertical sync frequency of the monitor.

   mouse

       The mouse keywork is deprecated and its use will cause an error
       message to be printed to the screen and installation to halt.  This
       keyword has been deprecated for some time now but has been silently
       ignored.

   network (optional)

       Configures network information for the system. If the kickstart
       installation does not require networking (in other words, it is not
       installed over NFS, HTTP, or FTP), networking is not configured for
       the system. If the installation does require networking and network
       information is not provided in the kickstart file, the installation
       program assumes that the installation should be done over eth0 via
       a dynamic IP address (BOOTP/DHCP), and configures the final,
       installed system to determine its IP address dynamically. The
       network option configures networking information for kickstart
       installations via a network as well as for the installed system.

       --bootproto=

           One of dhcp, bootp, or static.

           It default to dhcp. bootp and dhcp are treated the same.

           The DHCP method uses a DHCP server system to obtain its
           networking configuration. As you might guess, the BOOTP method
           is similar, requiring a BOOTP server to supply the networking
           configuration. To direct a system to use DHCP:

           network --bootproto=dhcp                        

           To direct a machine to use BOOTP to obtain its networking
           configuration, use the following line in the kickstart file:

           network --bootproto=bootp                       

           The static method requires that you enter all the required
           networking information in the kickstart file.  As the name
           implies, this information is static and will be used during and
           after the installation.  The line for static networking is more
           complex, as you must include all network configuration
           information on one line. You must specify the IP address,
           netmask, gateway, and nameserver. For example: (the \ indicates
           that it is all one line):

           network --bootproto=static --ip=10.0.2.15 \
                   --netmask=255.255.255.0 --gateway=10.0.2.254 \
                   --nameserver=10.0.2.1                          

           If you use the static method, be aware of the following two
           restrictions:

              * All static networking configuration information
                must be specified on one line; you cannot wrap lines using
                a backslash, for example.

              * You can only specify one nameserver here.
                However, you can use the kickstart file's %post section
                (described in Chapter 5) to add more name servers, if
                needed.

       --device=

           Used to select a specific Ethernet device for installation.
           Note that using --device= will not be effective unless the
           kickstart file is a local file (such as ks=floppy), since the
           installation program will configure the network to find the
           kickstart file.  For example:

           network --bootproto=dhcp --device=eth0          

       --ip=

           IP address for the machine to be installed.

       --gateway=

           Default gateway as an IP address.

       --nameserver=

           Primary nameserver, as an IP address.

       --nodns

           Do not configure any DNS server.

       --netmask=

           Netmask for the installed system.

       --hostname=

           Hostname for the installed system.

       --ethtool=

           Specifies additional low-level settings for the network device
           which will be passed to the ethtool program.

       --essid=

           The network ID for wireless networks.

       --wepkey=

           The encryption key for wireless networks.

       --onboot=

           Whether or not to enable the device a boot time.

       --class=

           The DHCP class.

   part or partition (required for installs, ignored for upgrades)

       Creates a partition on the system.

       If more than one Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation exists on
       the system on different partitions, the installation program
       prompts the user and asks which installation to upgrade.

       Warning                                                   
       All partitions created will be formatted as part of the
       installation process unless --noformat and --onpart are used.

       <mntpoint>

           The <mntpoint> is where the partition will be mounted and must
           be of one of the following forms:

           * /<path>

             For example, /, /usr, /home

           * swap

             The partition will be used as swap space.

             To determine the size of the swap partition automatically,
             use the --recommended option:

             swap --recommended                          

             The minimum size of the automatically-generated swap
             partition will be no smaller than the amount of RAM in the
             system and no bigger than twice the amount of RAM in the
             system.

           * raid.<id>

             The partition will be used for software RAID (refer to raid).

           * pv.<id>

             The partition will be used for LVM (refer to logvol).

       --size=

           The minimum partition size in megabytes. Specify an integer
           value here such as 500. Do not append the number with MB.

       --grow

           Tells the partition to grow to fill available space (if any),
           or up to the maximum size setting.

       --maxsize=

           The maximum partition size in megabytes when the partition is
           set to grow. Specify an integer value here, and do not append
           the number with MB.

       --noformat

           Tells the installation program not to format the partition, for
           use with the --onpart command.

       --onpart= or --usepart=

           Put the partition on the already existing device. For example:

           partition /home --onpart=hda1                   

           will put /home on /dev/hda1, which must already exist.

       --ondisk= or --ondrive=

           Forces the partition to be created on a particular disk. For
           example, --ondisk=sdb will put the partition on the second SCSI
           disk on the system.

       --asprimary

           Forces automatic allocation of the partition as a primary
           partition or the partitioning will fail.

       --type= (replaced by fstype)

           This option is no longer available. Use fstype.

       --fstype=

           Sets the file system type for the partition. Valid values are
           ext2, ext3, swap, and vfat.

       --fsoptions=

           Specifies a free form string of options to be used when
           mounting the filesystem. This string will be copied into the
           /etc/fstab file of the installed system and should be enclosed
           in quotes.

       --label=

           Specify the label to give to the filesystem to be made on the
           partition.  If the given label is already in use by another
           filesystem, a new label will be created for this partition.

       --start=

           Specifies the starting cylinder for the partition. It requires
           that a drive be specified with --ondisk= or ondrive=. It also
           requires that the ending cylinder be specified with --end= or
           the partition size be specified with --size=.

       --end=

           Specifies the ending cylinder for the partition. It requires
           that the starting cylinder be specified with --start=.

       --bytes-per-inode=

           Specifies the size of inodes on the filesystem to be made on
           the partition. Not all filesystems support this option, so it
           is silently ignored for those cases.

       --recommended

           Determine the size of the partition automatically.

       --onbiosdisk

           Forces the partition to be created on a particular disk as
           discovered by the BIOS.

       Note                                                      
       If partitioning fails for any reason, diagnostic messages will
       appear on virtual console 3.

   raid (optional)

       Assembles a software RAID device. This command is of the form:

       raid <mntpoint> --level=<level> --device=<mddevice> <partitions*> 

       <mntpoint>

           Location where the RAID file system is mounted. If it is /, the
           RAID level must be 1 unless a boot partition (/boot) is
           present. If a boot partition is present, the /boot partition
           must be level 1 and the root (/) partition can be any of the
           available types.  The <partitions*> (which denotes that
           multiple partitions can be listed) lists the RAID identifiers
           to add to the RAID array.

       --level=

           RAID level to use (0, 1, or 5).

       --device=

           Name of the RAID device to use (such as md0 or md1).  RAID
           devices range from md0 to md7, and each may only be used once.

       --bytes-per-inode=

           Specifies the size of inodes on the filesystem to be made on
           the RAID device. Not all filesystems support this option, so it
           is silently ignored for those cases.

       --spares=

           Specifies the number of spare drives allocated for the RAID
           array. Spare drives are used to rebuild the array in case of
           drive failure.

       --fstype=

           Sets the file system type for the RAID array. Valid values are
           ext2, ext3, swap, and vfat.

       --fsoptions=

           Specifies a free form string of options to be used when
           mounting the filesystem. This string will be copied into the
           /etc/fstab file of the installed system and should be enclosed
           in quotes.

       --noformat

           Use an existing RAID device and do not format the RAID array.

       --useexisting

           Use an existing RAID device and reformat it.

       The following example shows how to create a RAID level 1 partition
       for /, and a RAID level 5 for /usr, assuming there are three SCSI
       disks on the system. It also creates three swap partitions, one on
       each drive.

       part raid.01 --size=60 --ondisk=sda                         
       part raid.02 --size=60 --ondisk=sdb                         
       part raid.03 --size=60 --ondisk=sdc                         

       part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sda                           
       part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sdb                           
       part swap --size=128 --ondisk=sdc                           

       part raid.11 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sda                   
       part raid.12 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sdb                   
       part raid.13 --size=1 --grow --ondisk=sdc                   

       raid / --level=1 --device=md0 raid.01 raid.02 raid.03       
       raid /usr --level=5 --device=md1 raid.11 raid.12 raid.13    

   reboot (optional)

       Reboot after the installation is complete (no arguments).
       Normally, kickstart displays a message and waits for the user to
       press a key before rebooting.

   rootpw (required)

       Sets the system's root password to the <password> argument.

       rootpw [--iscrypted] <password>                             

       --iscrypted

           If this is present, the password argument is assumed to already
           be encrypted.

   selinux (optional)

       Sets the state of SELinux on the installed system.  SELinux defaults
       to enforcing in anaconda.

       selinux [--disabled|--enforcing|--permissive]

       --disabled

           If this is present, SELinux is disabled.

       --enforcing

           If this is present, SELinux is set to enforcing mode.

       --permissive

           If this is present, SELinux is enabled, but only logs things that
           would be denied in enforcing mode.

   skipx (optional)

       If present, X is not configured on the installed system.

   text (optional)

       Perform the kickstart installation in text mode. Kickstart
       installations are performed in graphical mode by default.

   timezone (required)

       Sets the system time zone to <timezone> which may be any of the
       time zones listed by timeconfig.

       timezone [--utc] <timezone>                                 

       --utc

           If present, the system assumes the hardware clock is set to UTC
           (Greenwich Mean) time.

   upgrade (optional)

       Tells the system to upgrade an existing system rather than install
       a fresh system. You must specify one of cdrom, harddrive, nfs, or
       url (for ftp and http) as the location of the installation tree.
       Refer to install for details.

   vnc (optional)

       Allows the graphical installation to be viewed remotely via VNC.  This
       method is usually preferred over text mode, as there are some size
       and language limitations in text installs.  With no options, this
       command will start a VNC server on the machine with no password and
       will print out the command that needs to be run to connect a remote
       machine.

       vnc [--host=<hostname>] [--port=<port>] [--password=<password>]

       --host=

           Instead of starting a VNC server on the install machine, connect
           to the VNC viewer process listening on the given hostname.

       --port=

           Provide a port that the remote VNC viewer process is listening on.
           If not provided, anaconda will use the VNC default.

       --password=

           Set a password which must be provided to connect to the VNC
           session.  This is optional, but recommended.

   xconfig (optional)

       Configures the X Window System. If this option is not given, the
       user will need to configure X manually during the installation, if
       X was installed; this option should not be used if X is not
       installed on the final system.

       --driver=

           Specify the X driver to use for the video hardware.

       --videoram=

           Specify the amount of video RAM the video card has.

       --defaultdesktop=

           Specify either GNOME or KDE to set the default desktop (assumes
           that GNOME Desktop Environment and/or KDE Desktop Environment
           has been installed through
           %packages).

       --startxonboot

           Use a graphical login on the installed system.

       --resolution=

           Specify the default resolution for the X Window System on the
           installed system. Valid values are 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768,
           1152x864, 1280x1024, 1400x1050, 1600x1200. Be sure to specify a
           resolution that is compatible with the video card and monitor.

       --depth=

           Specify the default color depth for the X Window System on the
           installed system. Valid values are 8, 16, 24, and 32. Be sure
           to specify a color depth that is compatible with the video card
           and monitor.

   volgroup (optional)

       Use to create a Logical Volume Management (LVM) group with the
       syntax:

       volgroup <name> <partition> <options>                       

       The options are as follows:

       --noformat

           Use an existing volume group and do not format it.

       --useexisting

           Use an existing volume group and reformat it.

       --pesize=

           Set the size of the physical extents.

       Create the partition first, create the logical volume group, and
       then create the logical volume. For example:

       part pv.01 --size 3000                                      
       volgroup myvg pv.01                                         
       logvol / --vgname=myvg --size=2000 --name=rootvol           

   zerombr (optional)

       If zerombr is specified, and yes is its sole argument, any invalid
       partition tables found on disks are initialized. This will destroy
       all of the contents of disks with invalid partition tables. This
       command should be in the following format:

       zerombr yes                                                 

       No other format is effective.

   %include

       Use the %include /path/to/file command to include the contents of
       another file in the kickstart file as though the contents were at
       the location of the %include command in the kickstart file.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Chapter 3. Package Selection

   Use the %packages command to begin a kickstart file section that lists the
   packages you would like to install (this is for installations only, as
   package selection during upgrades is not supported).

   Packages can be specified by group or by individual package name. The
   installation program defines several groups that contain related packages.
   Refer to the RedHat/base/comps.xml file on the first Red Hat Enterprise
   Linux CD-ROM for a list of groups. Each group has an id, user visibility
   value, name, description, and package list. In the package list, the
   packages marked as mandatory are always installed if the group is
   selected, the packages marked default are selected by default if the group
   is selected, and the packages marked optional must be specifically
   selected even if the group is selected to be installed.

   In most cases, it is only necessary to list the desired groups and not
   individual packages. Note that the Core and Base groups are always
   selected by default, so it is not necessary to specify them in the
   %packages section.

   Here is an example %packages selection:

   %packages                                                                  
   @ X Window System                                                          
   @ GNOME Desktop Environment                                                
   @ Graphical Internet                                                       
   @ Sound and Video                                                          
   dhcp                                                                       

   As you can see, groups are specified, one to a line, starting with an @
   symbol, a space, and then the full group name as given in the comps.xml
   file. Groups can also be specified using the id for the group, such as
   gnome-desktop. Specify individual packages with no additional characters
   (the dhcp line in the example above is an individual package).

   You can also specify which packages not to install from the default
   package list:

   -autofs                                                                    

   The following options are available for the %packages option:

   --ignoremissing

       Ignore the missing packages and groups instead of halting the
       installation to ask if the installation should be aborted or
       continued. For example:

       %packages --ignoremissing                                   

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                       Chapter 4. Pre-installation Script

   You can add commands to run on the system immediately after the ks.cfg has
   been parsed. This section must be at the end of the kickstart file (after
   the commands) and must start with the %pre command. You can access the
   network in the %pre section; however, name service has not been configured
   at this point, so only IP addresses will work.

   Note                                                                     
   Note that the pre-install script is not run in the change root
   environment.                                                             

   --interpreter /usr/bin/python

       Allows you to specify a different scripting language, such as
       Python. Replace /usr/bin/python with the scripting language of your
       choice.

   --erroronfail

       If the pre-installation script fails, this option will cause an
       error dialog to be displayed and will halt installation. The error
       message will direct you to where the cause of the failure is
       logged.

Example

   Here is an example %pre section:

%pre
#!/bin/sh
hds=""
mymedia=""

for file in /proc/ide/h*
do
  mymedia=`cat $file/media`
  if [ $mymedia == "disk" ] ; then
      hds="$hds `basename $file`"
  fi
done

set $hds
numhd=`echo $#`

drive1=`echo $hds | cut -d' ' -f1`
drive2=`echo $hds | cut -d' ' -f2`

#Write out partition scheme based on whether there are 1 or 2 hard drives

if [ $numhd == "2" ] ; then
  #2 drives
  echo "#partitioning scheme generated in %pre for 2 drives" > /tmp/part-include
  echo "clearpart --all" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part /boot --fstype ext3 --size 75 --ondisk hda" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part / --fstype ext3 --size 1 --grow --ondisk hda" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part swap --recommended --ondisk $drive1" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part /home --fstype ext3 --size 1 --grow --ondisk hdb" >> /tmp/part-include
else
  #1 drive
  echo "#partitioning scheme generated in %pre for 1 drive" > /tmp/part-include
  echo "clearpart --all" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part /boot --fstype ext3 --size 75" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part swap --recommended" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part / --fstype ext3 --size 2048" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part /home --fstype ext3 --size 2048 --grow" >> /tmp/part-include
fi

   This script determines the number of hard drives in the system and writes
   a text file with a different partitioning scheme depending on whether it
   has one or two drives. Instead of having a set of partitioning commands in
   the kickstart file, include the line:

   %include /tmp/part-include                                                 

   The partitioning commands selected in the script will be used.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                      Chapter 5. Post-installation Script

   You have the option of adding commands to run on the system once the
   installation is complete. This section must be at the end of the kickstart
   file and must start with the %post command. This section is useful for
   functions such as installing additional software and configuring an
   additional nameserver.

   Note                                                                     
   If you configured the network with static IP information, including a
   nameserver, you can access the network and resolve IP addresses in the   
   %post section. If you configured the network for DHCP, the               
   /etc/resolv.conf file has not been completed when the installation
   executes the %post section. You can access the network, but you can not
   resolve IP addresses. Thus, if you are using DHCP, you must specify IP
   addresses in the %post section.                                          

   Note                                                                     
   The post-install script is run in a chroot environment; therefore,
   performing tasks such as copying scripts or RPMs from the installation
   media will not work.                                                     

   --nochroot

       Allows you to specify commands that you would like to run outside
       of the chroot environment.

       The following example copies the file /etc/resolv.conf to the file
       system that was just installed.

       %post --nochroot                                            
       cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/sysimage/etc/resolv.conf           

   --interpreter /usr/bin/python

       Allows you to specify a different scripting language, such as
       Python. Replace /usr/bin/python with the scripting language of your
       choice.

   --erroronfail

       If the post-installation script fails, this option will cause an
       error dialog to be displayed and will halt installation. The error
       message will direct you to where the cause of the failure is
       logged.

Examples

   Turn services on and off:

   /sbin/chkconfig --level 345 telnet off                                     
   /sbin/chkconfig --level 345 finger off                                     
   /sbin/chkconfig --level 345 lpd off                                        
   /sbin/chkconfig --level 345 httpd on                                       

   Run a script named runme from an NFS share:

   mkdir /mnt/temp                                                            
   mount 10.10.0.2:/usr/new-machines /mnt/temp                                
   open -s -w -- /mnt/temp/runme                                              
   umount /mnt/temp                                                           

   Add a user to the system:

   /usr/sbin/useradd bob                                                      
   /usr/bin/chfn -f "Bob Smith" bob                                           
   /usr/sbin/usermod -p 'kjdf$04930FTH/ ' bob                                 

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                 Chapter 6. Making the Kickstart File Available

   A kickstart file must be placed in one of the following locations:

     * On a boot diskette

     * On a boot CD-ROM

     * On a network

   Normally a kickstart file is copied to the boot diskette, or made
   available on the network. The network-based approach is most commonly
   used, as most kickstart installations tend to be performed on networked
   computers.

   Let us take a more in-depth look at where the kickstart file may be
   placed.

Creating a Kickstart Boot Diskette

   To perform a diskette-based kickstart installation, the kickstart file
   must be named ks.cfg and must be located in the boot diskette's top-level
   directory. Refer to the section Making an Installation Boot Diskette in
   the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for instruction on
   creating a boot diskette. Because the boot diskettes are in MS-DOS format,
   it is easy to copy the kickstart file under Linux using the mcopy command:

   mcopy ks.cfg a:                                                            

   Alternatively, you can use Windows to copy the file. You can also mount
   the MS-DOS boot diskette in Red Hat Enterprise Linux with the file system
   type vfat and use the cp command to copy the file on the diskette.

Creating a Kickstart Boot CD-ROM

   To perform a CD-ROM-based kickstart installation, the kickstart file must
   be named ks.cfg and must be located in the boot CD-ROM's top-level
   directory. Since a CD-ROM is read-only, the file must be added to the
   directory used to create the image that is written to the CD-ROM. Refer to
   the Making an Installation Boot CD-ROM section in the Red Hat Enterprise
   Linux Installation Guide for instruction on creating a boot CD-ROM;
   however, before making the file.iso image file, copy the ks.cfg kickstart
   file to the isolinux/ directory.

Making the Kickstart File Available on the Network

   Network installations using kickstart are quite common, because system
   administrators can easily automate the installation on many networked
   computers quickly and painlessly. In general, the approach most commonly
   used is for the administrator to have both a BOOTP/DHCP server and an NFS
   server on the local network. The BOOTP/DHCP server is used to give the
   client system its networking information, while the actual files used
   during the installation are served by the NFS server. Often, these two
   servers run on the same physical machine, but they are not required to.

   To perform a network-based kickstart installation, you must have a
   BOOTP/DHCP server on your network, and it must include configuration
   information for the machine on which you are attempting to install Red Hat
   Enterprise Linux. The BOOTP/DHCP server will provide the client with its
   networking information as well as the location of the kickstart file.

   If a kickstart file is specified by the BOOTP/DHCP server, the client
   system will attempt an NFS mount of the file's path, and will copy the
   specified file to the client, using it as the kickstart file. The exact
   settings required vary depending on the BOOTP/DHCP server you use.

   Here is an example of a line from the dhcpd.conf file for the DHCP server:

   filename "/usr/new-machine/kickstart/";                                    
   next-server blarg.redhat.com;                                              

   Note that you should replace the value after filename with the name of the
   kickstart file (or the directory in which the kickstart file resides) and
   the value after next-server with the NFS server name.

   If the filename returned by the BOOTP/DHCP server ends with a slash ("/"),
   then it is interpreted as a path only. In this case, the client system
   mounts that path using NFS, and searches for a particular file. The
   filename the client searches for is:

   <ip-addr>-kickstart                                                        

   The <ip-addr> section of the filename should be replaced with the client's
   IP address in dotted decimal notation. For example, the filename for a
   computer with an IP address of 10.10.0.1 would be 10.10.0.1-kickstart.

   Note that if you do not specify a server name, then the client system will
   attempt to use the server that answered the BOOTP/DHCP request as its NFS
   server. If you do not specify a path or filename, the client system will
   try to mount /kickstart from the BOOTP/DHCP server and will try to find
   the kickstart file using the same <ip-addr>-kickstart filename as
   described above.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

               Chapter 7. Making the Installation Tree Available

   The kickstart installation needs to access an installation tree. An
   installation tree is a copy of the binary Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROMs
   with the same directory structure.

   If you are performing a CD-based installation, insert the Red Hat
   Enterprise Linux CD-ROM #1 into the computer before starting the kickstart
   installation.

   If you are performing a hard-drive installation, make sure the ISO images
   of the binary Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROMs are on a hard drive in the
   computer.

   If you are performing a network-based (NFS, FTP, or HTTP) installation,
   you must make the installation tree available over the network. Refer to
   the Preparing for a Network Installation section of the Red Hat Enterprise
   Linux Installation Guide for details.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                  Chapter 8. Starting a Kickstart Installation

   To begin a kickstart installation, you must boot the system from a Red Hat
   Enterprise Linux boot diskette, Red Hat Enterprise Linux boot CD-ROM, or
   the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROM #1 and enter a special boot command at
   the boot prompt. The installation program looks for a kickstart file if
   the ks command line argument is passed to the kernel.

   Boot Diskette

       If the kickstart file is located on a boot diskette as described in
       the Section called Creating a Kickstart Boot Diskette in Chapter 6,
       boot the system with the diskette in the drive, and enter the
       following command at the boot: prompt:

       linux ks=floppy                                             

   CD-ROM #1 and Diskette

       The linux ks=floppy command also works if the ks.cfg file is
       located on a vfat or ext2 file system on a diskette and you boot
       from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROM #1.

       An alternate boot command is to boot off the Red Hat Enterprise
       Linux CD-ROM #1 and have the kickstart file on a vfat or ext2 file
       system on a diskette. To do so, enter the following command at the
       boot: prompt:

       linux ks=hd:fd0:/ks.cfg                                     

   With Driver Disk

       If you need to use a driver disk with kickstart, specify the dd
       option as well. For example, to boot off a boot diskette and use a
       driver disk, enter the following command at the boot: prompt:

       linux ks=floppy dd                                          

   Boot CD-ROM

       If the kickstart file is on a boot CD-ROM as described in the
       Section called Creating a Kickstart Boot CD-ROM in Chapter 6,
       insert the CD-ROM into the system, boot the system, and enter the
       following command at the boot: prompt (where ks.cfg is the name of
       the kickstart file):

       linux ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg                                      

   Other options to start a kickstart installation are as follows:

   ks=nfs:<server>:/<path>

       The installation program will look for the kickstart file on the
       NFS server <server>, as file <path>. The installation program will
       use DHCP to configure the Ethernet card. For example, if your NFS
       server is server.example.com and the kickstart file is in the NFS
       share /mydir/ks.cfg, the correct boot command would be
       ks=nfs:server.example.com:/mydir/ks.cfg.

   ks=http://<server>/<path>

       The installation program will look for the kickstart file on the
       HTTP server <server>, as file <path>. The installation program will
       use DHCP to configure the Ethernet card. For example, if your HTTP
       server is server.example.com and the kickstart file is in the HTTP
       directory /mydir/ks.cfg, the correct boot command would be
       ks=http://server.example.com/mydir/ks.cfg.

   ks=floppy

       The installation program looks for the file ks.cfg on a vfat or
       ext2 file system on the diskette in /dev/fd0.

   ks=floppy:/<path>

       The installation program will look for the kickstart file on the
       diskette in /dev/fd0, as file <path>.

   ks=hd:<device>:/<file>

       The installation program will mount the file system on <device>
       (which must be vfat or ext2), and look for the kickstart
       configuration file as <file> in that file system (for example,
       ks=hd:sda3:/mydir/ks.cfg).

   ks=file:/<file>

       The installation program will try to read the file <file> from the
       file system; no mounts will be done. This is normally used if the
       kickstart file is already on the initrd image.

   ks=cdrom:/<path>

       The installation program will look for the kickstart file on
       CD-ROM, as file <path>.

   ks

       If ks is used alone, the installation program will configure the
       Ethernet card to use DHCP. The kickstart file is read from the
       "bootServer" from the DHCP response as if it is an NFS server
       sharing the kickstart file. By default, the bootServer is the same
       as the DHCP server. The name of the kickstart file is one of the
       following:

          * If DHCP is specified and the bootfile begins with a /, the
            bootfile provided by DHCP is looked for on the NFS server.

          * If DHCP is specified and the bootfile begins with something
            other then a /, the bootfile provided by DHCP is looked
            for in the /kickstart directory on the NFS server.

          * If DHCP did not specify a bootfile, then the installation
            program tries to read the file /kickstart/1.2.3.4-kickstart,
            where 1.2.3.4 is the numeric IP address of the machine being
            installed.

   ksdevice=<device>

       The installation program will use this network device to connect to
       the network. For example, to start a kickstart installation with
       the kickstart file on an NFS server that is connected to the system
       through the eth1 device, use the command ks=nfs:<server>:/<path>
       ksdevice=eth1 at the boot: prompt.