Interpreting Anaconda, distributions

[Greg Morgan]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

dan wrote:
> Hello, all -
> 
> While I've been reading the list over the past few weeks, I've noticed 
> that most everyone pretty much knows Anaconda like the back of their hand.
> 
> Is there some sort of clearinghouse that details the inner-workings of 
> Anaconda?  If I wanted to dive into it and try to figure some stuff out, 
> is there a specific version I should look for?  I just really don't know 
> where to get started on this, please pardon my ignorance.

Clearinghouse
http://rau.homedns.org/twiki/bin/view/Anaconda/AnacondaDocumentationProject

Conversion of Clearinghouse to fedora wiki
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Anaconda
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/GregMorgan   = conversion status page
I see I made one mistake on the organization of the pages.  I was
thinking media wiki when moin wiki uses pagename/pagename organization.
 I _hope_ to fix those problems this weekend.  Honey dos from wife may
rule the day. ;-)   Let's not forget the official sites
http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/custom-guide/part-install-info.html
The official sites focus more on kickstart info.  The rau wiki shows
other parts of anaconda that are used to build the release CDs.  LOL you
can put your very own _spin_ on your Red Hat/Fedora CDs.

> 
> Is it safe to say that the Kickstart process is the same throught RedHat 
> 9.0+, Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, and all other RedHat-based distributions? 

Yes.  Different versions same concepts. There's an anaconda rpm that can
be installed or you can get the most recent version from CVS as
described on this page
http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/anaconda-installer/.

Let's not forget to add that Ubuntu linux is considering adding the
snake to humanity http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/GraphicalInstaller.
Progeny is _rattling_ it's saber err... tail at Ubuntu because they
already have the snake installer
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/26797/.  LOL I am just full of bad
puns today.

> It's been my experience that this is true, however, I don't want to 
> start working on something someday that looks like it might work, and 
> have it totally blow up in my face.

I borrowed the format from the Stateless linux page.  I jotted down some
ideas of what I see people doing on the list
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/AnacondaVision.  The same thing works for
each version/product.  It's getting better with time.  There are many
ways Anaconda can be extended.  Note that any good program has that same
potential of blowing up in your face under the right circumstances.  I
believe you need some more information to make you comfortable when it
does happen.

> 
> I hope these questions aren't too dull for you all to answer.

Nope.

>  I've had 
> varying success with Kickstart-based installs until recently, and I hope 
> that I can even improve on that, with a bit of your help.

I am fascinated by Anaconda.  I think what it is missing some more howto
documentation.  The key is to know what you want on your target system
when using ks files.  If you are going to start a service, then you'll
want to use chkconfig or know how to make the link files by hand in the
/etc/rc.d/ System V styled directories.  Typical of computer
documentation some of Anaconda/KS documentation is just a listing of
options with a few brief code examples.  What is needed in my opinion is
a good sample ks howto using a well developed target installation guide.
 These examples would a help a new person see how to glue all the
options together.  One, idea is a remaster and kickstart howto but show
how to add files from say, mythtv, to the mix. There are several well
defined procedures here http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO.html and
fedora specific notes here http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php.
Another example may be a straight ks howto without the remaster.  For
example, I am also working on this wiki
http://phpwebsite-comm.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?title=Generic_Install_Introduction.

 I have seen all the problems in the user forums.  So I took my forum
posts along with other's and created the guide.  Most of the forum
problems could be solved with a ks file that sets php.ini parms, and
starts both an apache service plus a database.  These kinds of examples
that are talked and walked through would be great for someone like you
that's just trying to get your arms around kickstart files and other
features that Anaconda has.

The last tip I'd give you is remember that Linux is running.  You have a
bash shell environment with a few limitations because it is running all
in memory.  Your ks file is just a bash script that you could develop in
a terminal window before running it as a kickstart file.  The only
difference is that it runs in an installer and is defined in a %post
section of the kick start file.  That's it.

Greg



-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFCcj64xyxe5L6mr7IRApVXAJ0VpH151S32BqJHNRUiFMQsSrRBawCgiDZ1
yCGTmdfFoJJnrVSxyx+OIIk=
=keJX
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----