Re: couple questions about ks.cfg entries

[Tammy Fox <tfox redhat com>]

On Sun, Nov 11, 2001 at 05:42:10AM -0500, rpjday wrote:
> On Sun, 11 Nov 2001, Tammy Fox wrote:
> 
> > On Sat, Nov 10, 2001 at 09:57:53PM -0500, rpjday wrote:
> > > 
> > >   first, what is an "interactive" install?  i'm guessing that it
> > > means, if i skip specifying some option (such as mouse type), i'll
> > > be prompted for it.  is this correct?
> > > 
> > 
> > No. interactive means that it will prepopulate the screens with
> > the values from your kickstart file, but you will have to confirm
> > your choices by clicking Next at each screen. It is really for
> > debugging.
> 
> (rather than post several smaller messages, i'm going to try to summarize
> a number of issues i have with kickstart.)
> 
> 1) first, is this the right place to discuss "ksconfig" since, even though
> it's related to kickstart, it may be an independent utility?  i'll
> bring up a few issues with it anyway, but i'm prepared to be told
> this is not the right forum.
> 

The best way is to file a bug in Bugzilla so we can keep track
of what you think are bugs and what enhancements you would like
to see in the next version.

> 2) i like the idea of the interactive install, but it brings to mind
> something i ran into in a version of kickstart in a previous version
> of red hat.  i was trying to do a kickstart install on a machine
> that i did *not* want any networking config on, so i just left out the
> "network" directive.  to my surprise, the kickstart install stopped
> at the network config screen and insisted i enter something.  it was
> happy if i stated that i didn't want any networking and continued.
> 
> only after trial and error did i figure out that, to bypass networking
> configuration, i had to put in the single line "network" with no
> arguments.  that wasn't documented anywhere, and i'm wondering if
> this is still true.
> 

I'll add this to the docs.

> more to the point, this leads to a larger, philosophical issue ...
> 
> 3) if i simply want to skip a particular feature of configuration,
> should i expect to simply leave out that directive from the kickstart
> file?  this appears to be the case, *except* when it comes to configuring
> X, where you explicitly have to say "skipx".  why the difference?
> why must i *explicitly* say i don't want to configure X, when for
> almost everything else, i just don't put in the appropriate directive?
> this is an inconsistent design.
> 

some directives are optional. Others are not.

> on the other hand, what if i want to set up a kickstart file in 
> which i deliberately *want* to be prompted for mouse info, for
> instance?  or any other option.  is this supported?
> 

Did you try leaving out the mouse directive?

> i guess what i'm thinking is that, for most ks.cfg directives, there
> should be three choices:
> 
>  a) don't configure *at* *all*
>  b) configure with given values
>  c) prompt me for this directive
> 
> perhaps every directive should have a "--prompt" option that will
> explicitly require user intervention.  in that case, the rather
> odd "skipx" directive would no longer be necessary.
> 
> 4) regarding LDAP selection, i did finally notice in the docs that
> --enableldap and --enableldapauth mean different things, but in that
> case, why does ksconfig not distinguish between them?  if you can 
> specify one without the other, then ksconfig should give you that
> freedom.  currently, ksconfig enters either both or neither, and
> does not distinguish.
> 

Yes. I will fix this for the next release.

> in a more general sense, if ksconfig is to be useful, shouldn't it
> support as much flexibility as the underlying config file it is
> building?
> 

We are trying our best given the short development cycle and since
kickstart seems to change every release.

> 5) regarding ksconfig again, there is nothing in the package selection
> dialog that allows one to add individual rpms.  this is inconsistent,
> since the firewall dialog allows you to add individual ports at the
> bottom.

> 6) once again, in ksconfig, the langsupport does not support selecting
> more than one language, even though that option certainly allows it.
> "langsupport" should be supported by a checklist, not a drop-down menu.
> 

These are on the list of enhancements for the next release.

> 7) finally, the way option values are specified in ks.cfg are not
> done consistently.  consider just two of them, both under "auth":
> 
>   --nisserver
>   --ldapserver=
> 
> why does one use a blank as a delimiter, while the other uses "="?
> clearly, both need an accompanying value, so why the differing
> aesthetics?  this is a source of potential confusion for people
> new to designing a ks.cfg file.
> 
>   anyway, i'm pretty sure i have more issues lying around here
> somewhere if you want to hear them.
> 
> rday
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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