Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.2 Reference Manual page 114

Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Website
Figure 6.7. Kickstart Overview
This overview page displays the status of kickstart on your client systems: the types and number of
profiles you have created and the progress of systems that are scheduled to be kickstarted. In the
upper right is the Kickstart Actions section, which contains a series of links to management actions
for your kickstart profiles. Before explaining the various kickstart options that are available from this
page, the next section provides some introduction to the subject of kickstart.
6.4.9.1. Introduction to Kickstart
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.
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide contains an in-depth discussion of
kickstart and is available here: http://1www.redhat.com/1docs/1manuals/1enterprise/.
6.4.9.1.1. Kickstart Explained
When a machine is to receive a network-based kickstart, the following events must occur in this order:
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