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Chapter 1. Automating Installation with Kickstart

SectionDefining the Anaconda Kickstart System
Practice: Kickstart File Syntax and Modification
Deploying a New Virtual System with Kickstart
Practice: Installing a System Using Kickstart
Chapter Test: Automating Installation with Kickstart

Abstract

Overview
Goal	To automate the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems with Kickstart.
Objectives	Explain Kickstart concepts and architecture. Create a Kickstart configuration file.
Sections	Defining the Anaconda Kickstart System (and Practice) Deploying a New Virtual System with Kickstart (and Practice)
Chapter Test	Automating Installation with Kickstart

Defining the Anaconda Kickstart System

Kickstart automates Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation using a text file.
Kickstart configuration files start with commands, followed by the %packages section.
Optional %post and %pre sections can contain scripting that customizes installations.

Objectives

After completing this section, students should be able to identify key configuration elements found inside a Kickstart configuration file.

Introduction to Kickstart installations

A system administrator can automate the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux using a feature called Kickstart. Anaconda, the Red Hat installer, needs to be told how to install a system: partition disks, configure network interfaces, select which packages to install, etc. This is an interactive process by default. A Kickstart installation uses a text file to provide all of the answers to these questions, so no interaction is required.

Note

Kickstart in Red Hat Enterprise Linux is similar to Jumpstart for Oracle Solaris, or to an unattended installation for Microsoft Windows.

Kickstart configuration files begin with a list of commands that define how the target machine is to be installed. Lines that start with # characters are comments that are ignored by the installer. Additional sections begin with a line that starts with a % character and end with a line with the %end directive.

The %packages section specifies the software to be installed on the target system. Individual packages are specified by name (without versions). Package groups can be specified by name or ID, and start with an @ character. Environment groups (groups of package groups) can be specified with the @^ followed immediately by the name or ID of the environment group. Groups have mandatory, default, and optional components. Normally, mandatory and default components will be installed by Kickstart. Package or group names that are preceded with a - character are excluded from installation unless they are mandatory or installed due to RPM dependencies from other packages.

Two additional sections are the %pre and %post scripts. %post scripts are more common. They configure the system after all of the software has been installed. The %pre script is executed before any disk partitioning is done.

The configuration commands must be specified first. The %pre, %post, and %packages can occur in any order after the configuration commands.

Kickstart configuration file commands

Installation commands

url: Specifies the location for the installation media.
Example:
```
url --url="ftp://installserver.example.com/pub/RHEL7/dvd"
```
repo: This option tells Anaconda where to find the packages for installation. This option must point to a valid yum repository.
Example:
```
repo --name="Custom Packages" --baseurl="ftp://repo.example.com/custom"
```
text: Forces text mode install.
vnc: Allows the graphical installation to be viewed remotely via VNC.
Example:
```
vnc --password=redhat
```
askmethod: Do not automatically use the CD-ROM as the source of packages when installation media is detected in the CD-ROM drive.

Partitioning commands

clearpart: Clears the specified partitions before installation.
Example:
```
clearpart --all --drives=sda,sdb --initlabel
```

part: Specifies the size, format, and name of a partition.

Example:

part /home --fstype=ext4 --label=homes --size=4096 --maxsize=8192 --grow

ignoredisk: Ignores the specified disks when installing.
Example:
```
ignoredisk --drives=sdc
```
bootloader: Defines where to install the bootloader.
Example:
```
bootloader --location=mbr --boot-drive=sda
```

volgroup, logvol: Creates LVM volume groups and logical volumes.

Example:

part pv.01 --size=8192
volgroup myvg pv.01
logvol / --vgname=myvg --fstype=xfs --size=2048 --name=rootvol --grow
logvol /var --vgname=myvg --fstype=xfs --size=4096 --name=varvol

zerombr: Disks whose formatting is unrecognized are initialized.

Network commands

network: Configures network information for target system and activates network devices in installer environment.
Example:
```
network --device=eth0 --bootproto=dhcp
```
firewall: This option defines how the firewall will be configured on the target system.
Example:
```
firewall --enabled --service=ssh,cups
```

Configuration commands

lang: This required command sets the language to use during installation and the default language of the installed system.
Example:
```
lang en_US.UTF-8
```
keyboard: This required command sets the system keyboard type.
Example:
```
keyboard --vckeymap=us --xlayouts='us','us'
```
timezone: Defines timezone, NTP servers, and whether the hardware clock uses UTC.
Example:
```
timezone --utc --ntpservers=time.example.com Europe/Amsterdam
```
auth: This required command sets up the authentication options for the system.
Example:
```
auth --useshadow --enablemd5 --passalgo=sha512
```

rootpw: Defines the initial root password.

Example:

rootpw --plaintext redhat

rootpw --iscrypted $6$KUnFfrTzO8jv.PiH$YlBbOtXBkWzoMuRfb0.SpbQ....XDR1UuchoMG1

selinux: Sets the state of SELinux on the installed system.
Example:
```
selinux --enforcing
```
services: Modifies the default set of services that will run under the default systemd target.
Example:
```
services --disabled=network,iptables,ip6tables --enabled=NetworkManager,firewalld
```

group, user: Create a local group or user on the system.

Example:

group --name=admins --gid=10001
user --name=jdoe --gecos="John Doe" --groups=admins --password=changeme --plaintext

Miscellaneous commands

logging: This command defines how Anaconda will log during the installation.
Example:
```
logging --host=loghost.example.com --level=info
```
firstboot: Determines whether firstboot starts the first time the system is booted.
Example:
```
firstboot --disabled
```
reboot, poweroff, halt: Specify what should happen after the installation finishes.

Note

The ksverdiff utility from the pykickstart package is useful for identifying changes in Kickstart file syntax between two versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Fedora.

For example, ksverdiff -f RHEL6 -t RHEL7 will identify changes in syntax from RHEL 6 to RHEL 7. Available versions are listed in the top of the file /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pykickstart/version.py.

Example Kickstart file:

The first part of the file consists of the installation commands, like disk partitioning and installation source.

#version=RHEL7
# System authorization information
auth --useshadow --enablemd5
# Use network installation
url --url="http://classroom.example.com/content/rhel7.0/x86_64/dvd/"
# Firewall configuration
firewall --enabled --service=ssh
firstboot --disable
ignoredisk --only-use=vda
# Keyboard layouts
keyboard --vckeymap=us --xlayouts='us','us'
# System language
lang en_US.UTF-8
# Installation logging level
logging --level=info
# Network information
network  --bootproto=dhcp
# Root password
rootpw --iscrypted $6$/h/Mumvarr2dKrv1$Krv7h9.QoV0s....foMXsGXP1KllaiJ/w7EWiL1
# SELinux configuration
selinux --enforcing
# System services
services --disabled="kdump,rhsmcertd" --enabled="network,sshd,rsyslog,chronyd"
# System timezone
timezone --utc America/Los_Angeles
# System bootloader configuration
bootloader --location=mbr --boot-drive=vda
# Clear the Master Boot Record
zerombr
# Partition clearing information
clearpart --all --initlabel 
# Disk partitioning information
part / --fstype="xfs" --ondisk=vda --size=10000

The second part contains the %packages section, detailing which packages and package groups should be installed, and which packages shouldn't be installed.

%packages
@core
chrony
cloud-init
dracut-config-generic
dracut-norescue
firewalld
grub2
kernel
rsync
tar
-NetworkManager
-plymouth
 
%end

The last part contains any %pre and %post installation scripts.

%post --erroronfail
 
# For cloud images, 'eth0' _is_ the predictable device name, since
# we don't want to be tied to specific virtual (!) hardware
rm -f /etc/udev/rules.d/70*
ln -s /dev/null /etc/udev/rules.d/80-net-name-slot.rules
 
# simple eth0 config, again not hard-coded to the build hardware
cat > /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 << EOF
DEVICE="eth0"
BOOTPROTO="dhcp"
ONBOOT="yes"
TYPE="Ethernet"
USERCTL="yes"
PEERDNS="yes"
IPV6INIT="no"
EOF
 
%end

Note

In a Kickstart file, missing required values cause the installer to interactively prompt for an answer or to abort the installation entirely.

References

ksverdiff(1) man page

The file /usr/share/doc/pykickstart-*/kickstart-docs.txt provided by the pykickstart package contains useful and detailed information on the syntax of Kickstart files.

Additional information may be available in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for RHEL 7 located at: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/

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Is It possible to reset root password when the system is on multi-user.target?

jennifer1987

27 lip 2023

Hi thereWell, i have a question, Is It possible to reset root password when the system is on multi-user.target? I was not be able to found a foro o some information related with this and another question that I have, If the grub menu dont show up, is it posible to reset the root password?

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Red Hat System Administration II (RH134)

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21 lip 2023

Build the skills to perform the key tasks needed to become a full-time Linux administratorRed Hat System Administration II (RH134) is the second part of the RHCSA training track for IT professionals who have already attended Red Hat System Administration I. The course goes deeper into core Linux system administration skills in storage configuration and management, installation and deployment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, management of security features such as SELinux, control of recurring system tasks, management of the boot process and troubleshooting, basic system tuning, and command-line automation and productivity. This course assumes that students have attended Red Hat System Administration I (RH124).Experienced Linux administrators who seek rapid preparation for the RHCSA certification should instead start with RHCSA Rapid Track (RH199).This course is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0.Course summaryInstall Red Hat Enterprise Linux using scalable methodsAccess security files, file systems, and networksExecute shell scripting and automation techniquesManage storage devices, logical volumes, and file systemsManage security and system accessControl the boot process and system servicesRun containersAudience for this courseThis course is geared toward Windows system administrators, network administrators, and other system administrators who are interested in supplementing current skills or backstopping other team members, in addition to Linux system administrators who are responsible for these tasks:Configuring, installing, upgrading, and maintaining Linux systems using established standards and proceduresProviding operational supportManaging systems for monitoring system performance and availabilityWriting and deploying scripts for task automation and system administrationRecommended trainingSuccessful completion of Red Hat System Administration I (RH124) is recommended.Experienced Linux administrators seeking to accelerate their path toward becoming a Red Hat Certified System Administrator should start with the RHCSA Rapid Track course (RH199).Take our free assessment to gauge whether this offering is the best fit for your skills.Technology considerationsThere are no special technology requirements.This course is not designed for bring your own device (BYOD).Internet access is not required, but is recommended to allow students to research and access Red Hat online resources.

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We are excited to launch a space dedicated to the Red Hat Training course Red Hat System Administration II! To gain the most value from this group - click the "Join Group" button in the upper right hand corner.We encourage group members to collaborate in this group to discuss topics, ask questions, share best practices and tips, provide course feedback, and share their accomplishments as it relates to RH134.Read more about Red Hat System Administration II here.

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