how do I invoke a kickstart file on RHEL7

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Hello
I am testing PXE installation for RHEL7, in RHEL6 to invoke a kickstart file I usually pass this paratemer to the initrd ks=http:///ks_file now on RHEL7 seems not to be working, it gets stuck.

Thanks

gd
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james.radtke@siriusxm.com's picture Guru 6863 points
8 August 2014 9:25 PM

I am still struggling to get the entire way through a kickstart (unattended) but I was able to get that portion working.
This is what I am currently using

label RHEL7A
  kernel RHEL-7.0-x86_64/vmlinuz
  append initrd=RHEL-7.0-x86_64/initrd.img inst.ksdevice=link inst.ks=http://192.168.0.11/RHEL7A.ks inst.gpt ip=dhcp

Check out Procedure 23.2
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/html/Installation_Guide/sect-kickstart-howto.html

Good luck!!!

R. Hinton's picture Guru 6827 points
12 August 2014 1:01 PM

Thanks James,

I see this is PXE now...

James, what did you do to constrain your PXE server? Do you pre-arrange systems by MAC so other servers are not reloaded?

james.radtke@siriusxm.com's picture Guru 6863 points
12 August 2014 1:20 PM

I'm trying to figure out which parameters need the "inst" precluding them, or if it simply optimizes the effect/scope of the parameter. Unfortunately you cannot simply add "inst" in front of all of your parameters ;-)

kssendmac -> inst.ks.sendmac
ks=  -> inst.ks=
ip= -> ip=

If I had time, I'd put together a matrix of RHEL 6 syntax vs RHEL 7
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Installation_Guide/s1-kickstart2-startinginstall.html
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/html/Installation_Guide/chap-anaconda-boot-options.html

Your kickstart is likely fine - I am struggling by using off-the-shelf PCs for my test equipment with differing amounts of UEFI support, etc... and my limited experience with GPT on the boot device (for example, I did not know what a biossetup size=1 partition was for ;-)

R. Hinton's picture Guru 6827 points
12 August 2014 3:29 PM

James, do not mean to hassle you, or make you repeat yourself. Just curious because you posted something relevant and interesting to what we're looking into and we like to learn from your posts. I'll read your comments more carefully.

james.radtke@siriusxm.com's picture Guru 6863 points
12 August 2014 3:54 PM

Sorry Remmele - that was my horrible attempt at joking around about the portal printing one of my replies like 4 times. I guess my sarcasm gets lost in the text ;-) Sorry man!!!

R. Hinton's picture Guru 6827 points
12 August 2014 8:47 PM

No worries James, I'm jarring my sarcasm circuits back online... I've learned to appreciate sarcasm more and it should not be lessened at all! Take care my friend...

james.radtke@siriusxm.com's picture Guru 6863 points
12 August 2014 1:43 PM

My PXE setup is most-definitely NOT enterprise worthy (but it's awesome for my home use). I essentially build my PXE from scratch (as opposed to Satellite/cobbler or a Vendor supplied PXE environment).

Currently I use /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default (with a matching ../menu/boot.msg) with simple labels (RHEL7A - for example). I have a timeout which defaults to LOCAL disk - that way it won't rebuild the host if I happen to boot to network first, but I am not at the keyboard.

If... I am testing some of the PXE/kickstart functionality, and I don't feel like typing the boot menu choice - I do what you had suggested and I move a file in to pxelinux.cfg based on the boot MAC and then change the default to whatever kickstart I am testing.

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