10.3.3. What About...
10.3.3.1. ...installing from a public HTTP or FTP server?
It is possible to install directly from a public Fedora Core HTTP or FTP mirror; simply enter the mirror URL as the server for the HTTP or FTP installation methods. However, doing so generates a lot of Internet traffic, resulting in a long installation time, and the likelihood of a network error aborting the entire installation partway through is higher than it would be on a local LAN. If you are going to install more than once, it's a better idea to download the files onto a local machine for speed.
10.3.3.2. ...booting the installer from a mini-CD?
The normal Fedora Core CD 1 is too large to fit on a mini-CD, but the boot image in /images/boot.iso on that CD (or the Fedora Core mirror servers) is under 8 MB in size and will easily fit on an 8 cm mini-CD or a "business card" CD.
10.3.3.3. ...booting the installer from floppy disk?
Unfortunately, the Fedora Core installation boot files are now too large to fit on a 1.44 MB floppy disk. However, you may be able to use the 8 MB USB disk image file ( diskboot.img ) with a larger removable disk, such as a Zip or LS-120 disk.
10.3.3.4. ...configuring a PXE installation from the command line?
Although system-config-netboot is recommended for PXE configuration, you can also use the pxeos and pxeboot commands to configure PXE from the command line.
To configure a version of Fedora Core for PXE booting:
# pxeos -a -i " Fedora Core 6 " -p HTTP -D 0 -s 192.168.1.2 -L /fedora fc6
These are the arguments used:
-a
Add to the existing configuration
-i " Fedora Core 6 "
The descriptive identification for this entry
-p HTTP
Installation protocol (can be HTTP , FTP , or NFS )
-D 0
Sets this up as an installation instead of a diskless boot
-s 192.168.1.2
The HTTP, FTP, or NFS server address
-L /fedora
The pathname on the server; in this example, the -p , -s , and -L options combine to be equivalent to http://192.168.1.2/fedora
fc6
The operating system identifier
To configure specific hosts to use the fc6 boot image:
# pxeboot -a -O fc6 192.168.1
This will configure all hosts that have an IP address beginning with 192.168.1 to use the fc6 configuration. To configure the use of a Kickstart file (see the next lab), add the option -K followed by the Kickstart URL.
10.3.4. Where Can I Learn More?
The manpages for dd , httpd , mkdosfs , rsync , wget , system-config-netboot , dhcpd , dhcpd.conf , tftpd , pxeos , and pxeboot
The HTML documentation for system-config-netboot : file:///usr/share/doc/system-config-netboot-0.1.38/index.html
The syslinux home page (which includes the isolinux and pxelinux bootloaders): http://syslinux.zytor.com/
The Intel PXE specification: http://download.intel.com/design/archives/wfm/downloads/pxespec.pdf
10.4. Installing with Kickstart
In a normal Fedora Core installation, Anaconda asks a number of questions before beginning the actual installation procedure, which then runs without any user intervention (except for changing CDs, if that is the chosen installation method).
Kickstart is a Fedora installation option that uses a text file to supply basic configuration information so that Anaconda can skip all of the questions normally asked during installation.
10.4.1. How Do I Do That?
To use Kickstart, you must create a Kickstart file using any regular text editor. A Kickstart file contains a number of options, one per line, with arguments.
These options are required:
auth or authconfig
Configures the authentication system. For normal password authentication, use the arguments --enableshadow --enablemd5 .
bootloader
The GRUB installation location and password. For an upgrade, use --upgrade ; for a new installation, use --location=mbr --md5pass= encryptedpassword (I cover how to generate encrypted passwords shortly).
lang
Selects the language to be used during installation. Possible values are listed in /usr/share/system-config-language/locale-list ; for U.S. English, use the argument en_US .
keyboard
The keyboard type to be used. Specify us for a standard North American English keyboard, or use one of the codes found in /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/rhpl/keyboard_models.py (such as cf for Canadian French).
rootpw
The root password. Use the arguments --iscrypted encryptedpassword .
timezone
The time zone for the system. The third column of /usr/share/zoneinfo/zone.tab lists possible values, such as America/Toronto or Asia/Shanghai . Add the argument --utc if the system clock is in UTC (recommended except when the system is dual-boot and you are in a time zone that has daylight savings time).
To encrypt a password for the bootloader and root access, use the openssl command:
$ openssl passwd -1 -salt " RaNDoMjuNk " " MySecretPassword "
$1$RaNDoMju$OS0p7cTCbvCJ2ITUfcovM1
Replace RaNDoMjuNK with any garbage characters you want to use, and MySecretPassword with the desired password. Cut and paste the result into the Kickstart file as the encrypted password.