CIS 203 Kickstart Lab

Goal: Install RedHat Linux using an unattended install method called kickstart

When your system was installed it created the file /root/anaconda-ks.cfg. This file reflects your current installation including partition sizes, packages, mouse configuration, graphics configuration, etc. Any software you installed after the initial install will not be reflected in the cfg file.

1.    Edit /root/anaconda-ks.cfg and insert the following line at the top of the file:

url --url ftp://10.2.128.30/pub/rh8.0

2.    Notice that the partition information is commented out.  Uncomment the following line by deleting the preceding '#'.

clearpart --linux

The clearpart directive will only delete previous Linux partitions. Windows partitions will not be removed.

Use the following partition directives:

part / --fstype ext2 --size 3700--grow
part /var --fstype ext2 --size 200
part /home --fstype ext2 --size 200 --grow
part  swap --size 256

Are they different then those found in anaconda-ks.cfg?____________________

It is imperative that you modify this line:

bootloader --location=mbr

To read:

bootloader --location=partition

What does the bootloader directive do? What would happen if the bootloader was set to point at the MBR?

___________________________________________

3.    Add the following line below %post:

echo "Install generated by CIS 203 kickstart" >> /etc/motd

4.    Use the bootnet floppy your instructor has given you and create a new one as follows:

ncftpget ftp://10.2.128.30/pub/rh8.0/images/bootnet.img
cat bootnet.img > /dev/fd0

Note: the floppy drive should not mounted at this time. You can also use the dd command to write data to the floppy device.

dd if=bootnet.img of=/dev/fd0 bs=1440k

5.    Now, mount the floppy drive with the freshly copied image.

mount /dev/fd0

Take a look at the files located in this directory:

ls -l /mnt/floppy

Remove the two message file: rescue.msg and boot.msg, to conserve space. Note the use of the curly braces to capture both files in one command line.

rm /mnt/floppy/{rescue,boot}.msg

Copy your new kickstart file to the floppy and rename it to ks.cfg (this is required).

cp anaconda-ks.cfg /mnt/floppy/ks.cfg

6.    Edit /mnt/floppy/syslinux.cfg using vi with the special option -n to disable the creation of a swap file. The swap file is used to restore a crashed vi session. Disabling it will improve editing performance on very slow medium such as the floppy device.

vi -n /mnt/floppy/syslinux.cfg

Change the top line from
default linux
to
default linux ks=floppy

Delete the prompt and timeout lines.

What affect do you think the above changes will have?_____________________________________________________________________________
What purpose do you think the syslinux.cfg serves?____________________________________________________________________________

To view a different boot message, change the display boot.msg line to read display snake.msg.You can edit the snake.msg file to personalize it. Use the -n option with vi.

7.    With the floppy in the floppy drive. Reboot your system. Your machine will begin installing from the install server 10.2.128.30.