Kickstart Installations
Kickstart is used to automatically answer some or all the installation questions. It is done using a ks.cfg file. This file can be passed to the install process at boot time. See: Network Install.
Creating a ks.cfg is a "Chicken and Egg" problem. If you have a system already installed the way you want it you can copy the /root/anaconda-ks.cfg to a file named ks.cfg. You can create a ks.cfg by hand but I don't recommend it.
The most common way to use a kickstart file is on a floppy. You and format a floppy (FAT32 or ext2) on any computer and copy your ks.cfg file to it. On a Linux system this works like this:
mount /dev/fdO /mnt/floppy cp /root/anaconda-ks.cfg /mnt/floppy/ks.cfg
To use this floppy, Boot from CD 1 and answer the first Boot: prompt with:
linux ks=floppy
You can also create a ks.cfg from scratch or modify one with system-config-kickstart program. This should be done on a system with the same distribution of Linux you are going to use the ks.cfg wile with.
system-config-kickstart ks.cfg
You can also put your ks.cfg fine in the root of your NFS share installation tree. This eliminates the floppy. At the Boot: prompt you give the kickstart your NFS path.
linux ks=nfs:192.168.1.16:/isos/ks.cfg
You will need to have a DHCP server running on your network. The install will connect with a DHCP address to get the ks.cfg file.
Examples of ks.cfg files
After several installs here are some examples of some ks.cfg files I have created.
Creating an Installation Tree
An installation tree is needed for network (NFS, FTP, or HTTP) installs. An installation tree is a copy of the CD-ROMs (ISOs) in one directory.
PIXE Boot Installation
My experience says unless you are installing lots (30 or more) systems or you need to do a totaly remote install, its not worth the hassle to setup a PIXE boot / DHCP configuration for the network install.
More more information see the RedHat Linux KickStart HOWTO.
