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Chapter 31.
Kickstart Installations
31.1. What are Kickstart Installations?
Many system administrators would prefer to use an automated installation method to install Red Hat
Enterprise Linux on their machines. To answer this need, Red Hat created the kickstart installation
method. Using kickstart, a system administrator can create a single file containing the answers to all
the questions that would normally be asked during a typical installation.
Kickstart files can be kept on a single server system and read by individual computers during the
installation. This installation method can support the use of a single kickstart file to install Red Hat
Enterprise Linux on multiple machines, making it ideal for network and system administrators.
Kickstart provides a way for users to automate a Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation.
31.2. How Do You Perform a Kickstart Installation?
Kickstart installations can be performed using a local CD-ROM, a local hard drive, or via NFS, FTP, or
HTTP.
To use kickstart, you must:
1. Create a kickstart file.
2. Create a boot media with the kickstart file or make the kickstart file available on the network.
3. Make the installation tree available.
4. Start the kickstart installation.
This chapter explains these steps in detail.
31.3. Creating the Kickstart File
The kickstart file is a simple text file, containing a list of items, each identified by a keyword. You can
create it by using the Kickstart Configurator application, or writing it from scratch. The Red Hat
Enterprise Linux installation program also creates a sample kickstart file based on the options that you
selected during installation. It is written to the file /root/anaconda-ks.cfg. You should be able to
edit it with any text editor or word processor that can save files as ASCII text.
First, be aware of the following issues when you are creating your kickstart file:
• Sections must be specified in order. Items within the sections do not have to be in a specific order
unless otherwise specified. The section order is:
• Command section — Refer to
must include the required options.
• The %packages section — Refer to
• The %pre and %post sections — These two sections can be in any order and are not required.
Section 31.6, "Pre-installation Script"
Refer to
details.
Section 31.4, "Kickstart Options"
Section 31.5, "Package Selection"
Section 31.7, "Post-installation Script"
and
for a list of kickstart options. You
for details.
for
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Troubleshooting
