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A.4. Automating the Installation with Kickstart

A Kickstart file specifies settings for an installation. Once the installation system boots, it can read a Kickstart file and carry out the installation process without any further input from a user.

[Tip] Every Installation Produces a Kickstart File

The Fedora installation process automatically writes a Kickstart file that contains the settings for the installed system. This file is always saved as /root/anaconda-ks.cfg. You may use this file to repeat the installation with identical settings, or modify copies to specify settings for other systems.

Fedora includes a graphical application to create and modify Kickstart files by selecting the options that you require. Use the package system-config-kickstart to install this utility. To load the Fedora Kickstart editor, choose Applications System Tools Kickstart .

Kickstart files list installation settings in plain text, with one option per line. This format lets you modify your Kickstart files with any text editor, and write scripts or applications that generate custom Kickstart files for your systems.

To automate the installation process with a Kickstart file, use the ks option to specify the name and location of the file:

 
linux ks=
location/kickstart-file.cfg



You may use Kickstart files that are held on either removable storage, a hard drive, or a network server. Refer to Table A.2, “Kickstart Sources” for the supported Kickstart sources.

Kickstart Source Option Format

CD or DVD drive

ks= cdrom:/directory/ks.cfg

Hard Drive

ks= hd:/device/directory/ks.cfg

Other Device

ks= file:/device/directory/ks.cfg

HTTP Server

ks= https://server.mydomain.com/directory/ks.cfg

FTP Server

ks= ftp://server.mydomain.com/directory/ks.cfg

NFS Server

ks= nfs:server.mydomain.com:/directory/ks.cfg

Table A.2. Kickstart Sources


To obtain a Kickstart file from a script or application on a Web server, specify the URL of the application with the ks= option. If you add the option kssendmac, the request also sends HTTP headers to the Web application. Your application can use these headers to identify the computer. This line sends a request with headers to the application https://server.mydomain.com/kickstart.cgi:


linux ks=https://server.mydomain.com/kickstart.cgi kssendmac

 
 

 
 
  Published under the terms of the GNU General Public License Design by Interspire