Differences between version 14 and predecessor to the previous major change of AutomatedInstallation.
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| Newer page: | version 14 | Last edited on Thursday, August 24, 2006 9:47:28 am | by CraigBox | Revert |
| Older page: | version 12 | Last edited on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 5:19:25 pm | by CraigBox | Revert |
@@ -1,34 +1,44 @@
+!! Automatic installation
+
If you have a lab full of machines, or you have a number of machines that need to be set up with the same configuration (eg: you are building firewalls), you might be interested in a method of automatically installing machines.
------
-
+!!
RedHat Linux & derivatives (RedHatEnterpriseLinux, FedoraCore, CentOs)
Automatic installs on Red Hat are made very easy by the fact that [RPM]s do not ask you question when they are installed. Red Hat policy is to shoot first and ask questions later; if a file is going to be overwritten, a new file (file.rpmnew) is written in its place.
-The 'standard' way to do a Red Hat automatic install is with KickStart. This is a feature built into anaconda (the Red Hat installer)
that allows you to run ksconfig(1
) and generate a configuration file that you can put on a floppy,
then boot a system, have it automatically pick up an IP address by DHCP, mount a share for files and start installing based on the configuration file you build
with ksconfig(1)
.
+The 'standard' way to do a Red Hat automatic install is with KickStart. This is a feature that allows you to run ksconfig(8
) and generate a configuration file that you can put on a floppy or the network. You
then boot a system into anaconda (the Red Hat installer)
, have it automatically pick up an IP address by DHCP, mount a share for files and start installing based on the configuration file you built
with ksconfig.
------
-
+!!
[Debian] and derivatives (ie.
[Ubuntu])
-* Preseed
an installation, in the same fashion as a Kickstart file.
-**
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Preseed - Note
changes at the bottom of the file between sarge/hoary
and etch/dapper.
-**
[Debian manual|http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/en.i386/ch04s07.html#automatic-install], [sample preseed|http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/example-preseed.txt]
-* http://instalinux.com/ can build you an automatically installing CD image, which fetches packages off your network. This is cool.
-* UbuntuRemastering and https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallCDCustomizationHowTo
+Since Debian replaced bootfloppies with debian-installer in Sarge, you have been able to pre-seed questions in
an installation, in the same fashion as a Kickstart file. The best source of information is the [Debian Installer manual|
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Preseed]
- note the
changes at the bottom of the file between sarge/warty-breezy
and etch/dapper-onwards
. There is also a section on
[automatic installation in the
Debian manual|http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/en.i386/ch04s07.html#automatic-install], and a
[sample preseed file
|http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/example-preseed.txt]
-Other options:
+You can use the preseed file manually, specified on the CD boot command line, via floppy/network, or you can burn it to the CD for a totally automated installation. See UbuntuRemastering for information on this.
-* AutoInstall - This is a kickstart-alike config on a floppy system, but designed to be generated by a pre installed Debian system generating you a config rather than a bunch of questions in a configuration program. Developed by [Progeny]. See http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/users-guide/ap-ami.en.html for some configuration options.
-*
[FAI (Fully Automated Installation)|http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/] - This does an install
off an NFS server.
+[FAI (Fully Automated Installation)|http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/fai/] is another system for doing lots of similar installs
off an NFS server.
-Quick 'n' Dirty note: If you are quite happy to do a base install
of debian manually (which is pretty quick), and just want to restore
a system to the state it was in, in terms of the packages you had installed, a very cool tool is dpkg --get-selections>installed-packages.
+! Manual "automated installation"
of a Debian
system
-On your freshly installed system, use dpkg --set-selections<installed-packages
, and then apt-get -u dselect-upgrade.
+If you are quite happy to do a base install of Debian manually (which is pretty quick)
, and just want to restore a system to the state it was in:
-If you wish to
get really tricksy, you can copy the
debconf database as well, so your config choices will be pre
-selected for you.
-- GreigMcGill
+<pre>
+apt-
get install
debconf-utils
+dpkg
--get-selections | gzip -9 > $BACKUP_DIR/dpkg-selections
+debconf-get-selections | gzip -9 > $BACKUP_DIR/debconf-selections
+</pre>
-(AutoInstall has a really good set of scripts for the debconf database.) -- CraigBox
+Then, on your freshly installed system, you can do:
------
+<pre>
+debconf
-set
-selections < debconf
-selections
+dpkg
--set-selections < dpkg-selections
+apt-get -u dselect-upgrade
+</pre>
-Part
of LinuxInstallationNotes
+This will install all the packages you had installed on the previous system, and preseeds the answers to al
of the debconf questions you would otherwise have been asked.
+
+!! Cross distro ([Debian], [SUSE], [Fedora], [Ubuntu])
+
+[InstaLinux|http://instalinux.com/] asks you some questions about your network and then builds you a small downloadable automatically-installing CD boot image.
+
+-----
+This page is part of our
LinuxInstallationNotes.
