path: root/docs/kickstart-docs.txt

Kickstart

Copyright � 2002 by Red Hat, Inc.

   kickstart(EN)-anaconda-HTML-RHI (2002-08-06T17:28-0500)

   Copyright � 2002 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
   http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/).

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   Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
     _________________________________________________________

   Table of Contents
   Introduction

        What are Kickstart Installations?
        How Do You Perform a Kickstart Installation?
        Creating the Kickstart File

   Kickstart Options
   Package Selection
   Pre-installation Script
   Post-installation Script

        Examples

   Making the Kickstart File Available

        Creating a Kickstart Boot Diskette
        Making the Kickstart File Available on the Network

   Making the Installation Tree Available
   Starting a Kickstart Installation
     _________________________________________________________

Introduction

What are Kickstart Installations?

Many system administrators would prefer to use an automated
installation method to install Red Hat 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 Red Hat Linux 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 Linux on multiple machines, making it ideal for network and
system administrators.

Kickstart lets you automate a Red Hat 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 Linux Documentation CD, using the Kickstart Configurator
application, or writing it from scratch. The Red Hat 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 the chapter called
            Kickstart Options for a list of kickstart options.
            You must include the required options.
          + The %packages section -- Refer to the chapter called
            Package Selection for details.
          + The %pre and %post sections -- These two sections can
            be in any order and are not required. Refer to the
            chapter called Pre-installation Script and the
            chapter called Post-installation Script 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).
     _________________________________________________________

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 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.

   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. It's
          similar  to  the  authconfig  command, which can be run
          after  the  install. By default, passwords are normally
          encrypted and are not shadowed.

        --enablemd5
                Use md5 encryption for user passwords.

        --enablenis
                Turns  on  NIS  support.  By default, --enablenis
                uses  whatever  domain it finds on the network. A
                domain  should  almost always be set by hand with
                the --nisdomain= option.

        --nisdomain=
                NIS domain name to use for NIS services.

        --nisserver=
                Server  to  use  for  NIS services (broadcasts by
                default).

        --useshadow or --enableshadow
                Use shadow passwords.

        --enableldap
                Turns  on  LDAP  support  in  /etc/nsswitch.conf,
                allowing  your  system  to  retrieve  information
                about  users  (UIDs,  home  directories,  shells,
                etc.) from an LDAP directory. To use this option,
                you  must  install the nss_ldap package. You must
                also   specify  a  server  and  a  base  DN  with
                --ldapserver= and --ldapbasedn=.

        --enableldapauth
                Use   LDAP  as  an  authentication  method.  This
                enables  the  pam_ldap  module for authentication
                and  changing passwords, using an LDAP directory.
                To  use  this  option, you must have the nss_ldap
                package installed. You must also specify a server
                and    a   base   DN   with   --ldapserver=   and
                --ldapbasedn=.

        --ldapserver=
                If   you   specified   either   --enableldap   or
                --enableldapauth,  the name of the LDAP server to
                use.  This  option  is  set in the /etc/ldap.conf
                file.

        --ldapbasedn=
                If   you   specified   either   --enableldap   or
                --enableldapauth,  the DN (distinguished name) in
                your   LDAP   directory  tree  under  which  user
                information  is stored. This option is set in the
                /etc/ldap.conf file.

        --enableldaptls
                Use  TLS (Transport Layer Security) lookups. This
                option  allows  LDAP  to send encrypted usernames
                and   passwords   to   an   LDAP   server  before
                authentication.

        --enablekrb5
                Use Kerberos 5 for authenticating users. Kerberos
                itself  does  not  know  about  home directories,
                UIDs,  or  shells.  So if you enable Kerberos you
                will  need  to make users' accounts known to this
                workstation  by  enabling LDAP, NIS, or Hesiod or
                by  using  the  /usr/sbin/useradd command to make
                their  accounts known to this workstation. If you
                use  this  option,  you  must  have  the pam_krb5
                package installed.

        --krb5realm=
                The  Kerberos  5  realm to which your workstation
                belongs.

        --krb5kdc=
                The  KDC  (or  KDCs)  that serve requests for the
                realm.  If  you have multiple KDCs in your realm,
                separate their names with commas (,).

        --krb5adminserver=
                The  KDC  in  your  realm  that  is  also running
                kadmind.  This  server  handles password changing
                and  other  administrative  requests. This server
                must  be  run  on the master KDC if you have more
                than one KDC.

        --enablehesiod
                Enable  Hesiod  support  for looking up user home
                directories,  UIDs,  and shells. More information
                on setting up and using Hesiod on your network is
                in      /usr/share/doc/glibc-2.x.x/README.hesiod,
                which is included in the glibc package. Hesiod is
                an  extension  of  DNS  that  uses DNS records to
                store   information   about  users,  groups,  and
                various other items.

        --hesiodlhs
                The  Hesiod LHS ("left-hand side") option, set in
                /etc/hesiod.conf.  This  option  is  used  by the
                Hesiod  library  to  determine the name to search
                DNS  for  when looking up information, similar to
                LDAP's use of a base DN.

        --hesiodrhs
                The Hesiod RHS ("right-hand side") option, set in
                /etc/hesiod.conf.  This  option  is  used  by the
                Hesiod  library  to  determine the name to search
                DNS  for  when looking up information, similar to
                LDAP's use of a base DN.

                Tip Tip


   To look up user information for "jim", the Hesiod library
   looks up jim.passwd<LHS><RHS>, which should resolve to a TXT
   record that looks like what his passwd entry would look like
   (jim:*:501:501:Jungle Jim:/home/jim:/bin/bash). For groups,
   the situation is identical, except jim.group<LHS><RHS> would
   be used.
   Looking up users and groups by number is handled by making
   "501.uid" a CNAME for "jim.passwd", and "501.gid" a CNAME for
   "jim.group". Note that the LHS and RHS do not have periods .
   put in front of them when the library determines the name for
   which to search, so the LHS and RHS usually begin with
   periods.

        --enablesmbauth
                Enables  authentication  of  users against an SMB
                server (typically a Samba or Windows server). SMB
                authentication  support  does not know about home
                directories, UIDs, or shells. So if you enable it
                you  will  need  to make users' accounts known to
                the  workstation by enabling LDAP, NIS, or Hesiod
                or by using the /usr/sbin/useradd command to make
                their  accounts  known to the workstation. To use
                this  option,  you  must have the pam_smb package
                installed.

        --smbservers=
                The   name  of  the  server(s)  to  use  for  SMB
                authentication.  To specify more than one server,
                separate the names with commas (,).

        --smbworkgroup=
                The name of the workgroup for the SMB servers.

        --enablecache
                Enables the nscd service. The nscd service caches
                information  about  users,  groups,  and  various
                other types of information. Caching is especially
                helpful  if  you choose to distribute information
                about  users  and  groups over your network using
                NIS, LDAP, or hesiod.

   bootloader (required)
          Specifies  how  the boot loader should be installed and
          whether  the  boot  loader should be LILO or GRUB. This
          option is required for both installations and upgrades.
          For upgrades, if --useLilo is not specified and LILO is
          the  current bootloader, the bootloader will be changed
          to  GRUB.  To preserve LILO on upgrades, use bootloader
          --upgrade.

        --append=
                Specifies kernel parameters.

        --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.

        --useLilo
                Use LILO instead of GRUB as the boot loader.

        --linear
                If  using  LILO, use the linear LILO option; this
                is  only  for backwards compatibility (and linear
                is now used by default).

        --nolinear
                If  using  LILO,  use  the  nolinear LILO option;
                linear is the default.

        --lba32
                If using LILO, force use of lba32 mode instead of
                autodetecting.

        --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 Note


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

        --linux
                Erases all Linux partitions.

        --all
                Erases all partitions from the system.

        --drives
                Specifies which drives to clear partitions from.

        --initlabel
                Initializes  the  disk  label  to the default for
                your  architecture  (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.

   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"

   deviceprobe (optional)
          Forces a probe of the PCI bus and loads modules for all
          the devices found if a module is available.

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

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

        <partition>
                Partition containing the driver disk.

        --type=
                Filesystem  type  (for  example,  vfat,  ext2, or
                ext3).

   firewall (optional)
          This  option  corresponds to the Firewall Configuration
          screen in the installation program:

firewall <securitylevel> [--trust=] <incoming> [--port=]

        <securitylevel>
                Replace  with  one  of  the  following  levels of
                security:

               o --high
               o --medium
               o --disabled

        --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.

               o --dhcp
               o --ssh
               o --telnet
               o --smtp
               o --http
               o --ftp

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

   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).

        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.

               o --partition=
                 Partition to install from (such as, sdb2).
               o --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.

               o --server=
                 Server from which to install (hostname or IP).
               o --dir=
                 Directory containing the RedHat directory of the
                 installation tree.

                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, be-latin2, bg, br-abnt2, cf, cz-lat2, cz-us-qwertz, de,
de-latin1, de-latin1-nodeadkeys, dk, dk-latin1, dvorak, es, et,
fi, i-latin1, fr, fr-latin0, fr-latin1, fr-pc, fr_CH, fr_CH-latin1,
gr, hu, hu101, is-latin1, it, it-ibm, it2, jp106, no, no-latin1,
pl, pt-latin1, ro, ru, ru-cp1251, ru-ms, ru1, ru2, ru_win,
se-latin1, sg, sg-latin1, sk-qwerty, slovene, speakup, speakup-lt,
trq, ua, uk, us

   lang (required)
          Sets  the  language  to  use  during  installation. For
          example,  to set the language to English, the kickstart
          file should contain the following line:

lang en_US

          Valid  language  codes  are  the following (please note
          that these are subject to change at any time):

cs_CZ, da_DK, en_US, fr_FR, de_DE, is_IS, it_IT, ja_JP.eucJP,
ko_KR.eucKR, no_NO, pt_PT, ru_RU.koi8r, sl_SI, es_ES, sv_SE, uk_UA,
zh_CN.GB18030, zh_TW.Big5

   langsupport (required)
          Sets the language(s) to install on the system. The same
          language   codes  used  with  lang  can  be  used  with
          langsupport.

          If  you  just want to install one language, specify it.
          For  example,  to  install  and use the French language
          fr_FR:

langsupport fr_FR

        --default=
                If  you want to install language support for more
                than one language, you must specify a default.

          For  example,  to  install  English  and French and use
          English as the default language:

langsupport --default=en_US fr_FR

          If  you  use  --default  with  only  one  language, all
          languages will be installed with the specified language
          set to the default.

   lilo (replaced by bootloader)

          Warning Warning


   This option has been replaced by bootloader and is only
   available for backwards compatibility. Refer to bootloader.

          Specifies  how  the  boot loader should be installed on
          the system. By default, LILO installs on the MBR of the
          first  disk,  and  installs a dual-boot system if a DOS
          partition is found (the DOS/Windows system will boot if
          the user types dos at the LILO: prompt).

        --append <params>
                Specifies kernel parameters.

        --linear
                Use  the  linear  LILO  option;  this is only for
                backwards  compatibility  (and linear is now used
                by default).

        --nolinear
                Use  the nolinear LILO option; linear is now used
                by default.

        --location=
                Specifies  where the LILO boot record is written.
                Valid values are the following: mbr (the default)
                or  partition  (installs  the  boot loader on the
                first  sector  of  the  partition  containing the
                kernel). If no location is specified, LILO is not
                installed.

        --lba32
                Forces   the   use   of  lba32  mode  instead  of
                autodetecting.

   lilocheck (optional)
          If  lilocheck  is  present,  the  installation  program
          checks for LILO on the MBR of the first hard drive, and
          reboots  the  system if it is found -- in this case, no
          installation  is  performed. This can prevent kickstart
          from reinstalling an already installed system.

   logvol (optional) [1]
          Create  a  logical volume for Logical Volume Management
          (LVM) with the syntax:

logvol mountpoint --vgname=name --size=size --name=name

          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

   mouse (required)
          Configures  the  mouse  for the system, both in GUI and
          text modes. Options are:

        --device=
                Device the mouse is on (such as --device=ttyS0).

        --emulthree
                If  present,  simultaneous clicks on the left and
                right  mouse  buttons  will  be recognized as the
                middle  mouse button by the X Window System. This
                option  should  be  used if you have a two button
                mouse.

          After  options,  the mouse type may be specified as one
          of the following:

alpsps/2, ascii, asciips/2, atibm, generic, generic3,
genericps/2, generic3ps/2, genericusb, generic3usb,
geniusnm, geniusnmps/2,geniusprops/2, geniusscrollps/2,
geniusscrollps/2+, thinking, thinkingps/2, logitech,
logitechcc, logibm, logimman, logimmanps/2, logimman+,
logimman+ps/2, logimmusb, microsoft, msnew, msintelli,
msintellips/2, msintelliusb, msbm, mousesystems, mmseries,
mmhittab, sun, none

          If the mouse command is given without any arguments, or
          it is omitted, the installation program will attempt to
          autodetect  the  mouse.  This  procedure works for most
          modern mice.

   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
          Red  Hat  Linux  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:

               o All  static networking configuration information
                 must  be  specified on one line; you cannot wrap
                 lines using a backslash, for example.
               o You   can  only  specify  one  nameserver  here.
                 However,  you can use the kickstart file's %post
                 section   (described   in   the  chapter  called
                 Post-installation   Script)  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.

   part or partition (required for installs, ignored for
          upgrades)
          Creates a partition on the system.

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

          Warning 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:

               o /<path>
                 For example, /, /usr, /home
               o 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.
               o raid.<id>
                 The  partition  will  be  used for software RAID
                 (refer to raid).
               o 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.

        --bytes-per-inode=
                Number  specified  represents the number of bytes
                per  inode  on the filesystem when it is created.
                It  must  be given in decimal format. This option
                is  useful  for  applications  where  you want to
                increase the number of inodes on the filesystem.

        --type= (replaced by fstype)
                This option is no longer available. Use fstype.

        --fstype=
                Sets the filesystem type for the partition. Valid
                values are ext2, ext3, swap, and vfat.

        --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=.

        --badblocks
                Specifies  that  the  partition should be checked
                for bad sectors.

          Note 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 filesystem 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.

        --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  filesystem  type  for  the RAID array.
                Valid values are ext2, ext3, swap, and vfat.

        --noformat
                Do not format the RAID array.

          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.

   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.

   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.

        --noprobe
                Do not probe the monitor.

        --card=
                Use specified card; this card name should be from
                the list of cards in /usr/share/hwdata/Cards from
                the  hwdata  package.  If  this  argument  is not
                provided, the installation program will probe the
                PCI  bus  for  the card. Since AGP is part of the
                PCI bus, AGP cards will be detected if supported.
                The  probe  order  is  determined by the PCI scan
                order of the motherboard.

        --videoram=
                Specify  the  amount  of video RAM the video card
                has.

        --monitor=
                Use  specified  monitor;  monitor  name should be
                from the list of monitors in
                /usr/share/hwdata/MonitorsDB   from   the  hwdata
                package. This is ignored if --hsync or --vsync is
                provided.  If no monitor information is provided,
                the  installation  program  tries to probe for it
                automatically.

        --hsync=
                Specifies  the  horizontal  sync frequency of the
                monitor.

        --vsync=
                Specifies  the  vertical  sync  frequency  of the
                monitor.

        --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) [1]
          Use  to  create a Logical Volume Management (LVM) group
          with the syntax:

volgroup name partition

          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.
     _________________________________________________________

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).

   --resolvedeps
          Install the listed packages and automatically resolve
          package dependencies.

   --ignoredeps
          Ignore the unresolved dependencies and install the
          listed packages without the dependencies.

   Packages  can  be  specified by group or by individual package
   name.  The  installation  program  defines several groups that
   contain  related  packages. See the RedHat/base/comps.xml file
   on  any  Red Hat Linux CD-ROM for a list of groups. Each group
   as  an id, uservisiblity 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 it in the %packages section.

   Here is an example %packages selection:
%packages
@ X Window System
@ GNOME Desktop Environment
@ Graphical Internet
@ Sound and Video
galeon

   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 file. Specify individual packages with no
   additional characters (the galeon line in the example above is
   an individual package).

   To   specify   an   everything  installation  to  install  all
   packages), add the one to the %packages section:
   @ Everything

   You  can  also  specify which packages not to install from the
   default package list:
@ Games and Entertainment
-kdegames
     _________________________________________________________

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. 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 driv
es

if [ $numhd == "2" ] ; then
  #2 drives
  echo "#partitioning scheme generated in %pre for 2 drives" > /tmp/par
t-include
  echo "clearpart --all" >> /tmp/part-include
  echo "part /boot --fstype ext3 --size 75 --ondisk hda" >> /tmp/part-i
nclude
  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-includ
  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-inclu
de
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.

   Note 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.
     _________________________________________________________

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 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 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 filesystem 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.
     _________________________________________________________

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
     _________________________________________________________

Making the Kickstart File Available

A kickstart file must be placed in one of two locations:

     * On a boot diskette
     * 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. Note that the Red Hat Linux boot diskettes are
in MS-DOS format, so 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 and cp the file over.
     _________________________________________________________

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 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 shipped with Red Hat Linux:

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.
     _________________________________________________________

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 Linux CD-ROMs with
the same directory structure.

If you are performing a CD-based installation, insert the Red Hat
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 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 Official Red Hat Linux Installation Guide for details.
     _________________________________________________________

Starting a Kickstart Installation

To begin a kickstart installation, you must boot the system from a
Red Hat Linux boot diskette or the CD-ROM and enter a special boot
command at the boot prompt. If the kickstart file is located on a
boot diskette that was created from the boot.img or bootnet.img
image file, the correct boot command would be:

boot: linux ks=floppy

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

   An  alternate  boot  command for booting off the Red Hat Linux
   CD-ROM  and  having  the  kickstart  file  on  a  vfat or ext2
   filesystem on a floppy diskette is:
   boot: linux ks=hd:fd0/ks.cfg

   If you need to use a driver disk with kickstart, you can still
   have the kickstart file on a floppy disk:
   boot: linux ks=floppy dd

   The  Red  Hat Linux installation program looks for a kickstart
   file  if the ks command line argument is passed to the kernel.
   The command line argument can take a number of forms:

   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  filesystem  on  the  floppy  in  drive
          /dev/fd0.

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

   ks=file:/<file>
          The  installation  program  will  try  to read the file
          <file>  from  the  filesystem;  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 in the system using DHCP.
          The  system  will  use  the  "bootServer" from the DHCP
          response  as  an  NFS server to read the kickstart file
          from (by default, this 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.

  Notes

   [1] New option