How to Create A Kickstart File For CentOS/Fedora/RedHat (RHEL)

If you have passion for Information Technology (IT), then you might be interested in knowing about the procedure to create a Kickstart File for CentOS / Fedora/ RedHat (RHEL) on servers and desktop computers. These are basically wide-ranging collection of software, including an operating system based on the Linux kernel. You can now automate these uniquely designed set of software in order to save your time and resources.

Instructions

  • 1

    First of all you need to install a flavor of Redhat Linux on a system. In the /root dir, there is a file known as “anaconda-ks.cfg”. When you open that file, there are parameters that you typed during your install in the kickstart file.

  • 2

    Now, simply use the given below kickstart on your Fedora Installation:

    text

    install

    cdrom

    lang en_US.UTF-8

    keyboard uk

    timezone --utc Europe/London

    rootpw  --iscrypted $$nndedddewfooofcerd3r434

    selinux --disabled

    # Custom user added

    user --name=kevinmitnick --groups=users --password=HackThePlanet

    authconfig --enableshadow --passalgo=sha512 --enablefingerprint

    firewall --service=ssh

    # The following is the partition information you requested

    # Note that any partitions you deleted are not expressed

    # here so unless you clear all partitions first, this is

    # not guaranteed to work

    clearpart --all --drives=sda

    ignoredisk --only-use=sda

    part /boot --fstype=ext2 --asprimary --size=500

    part /OtherOS --fstype=ext4 --asprimary --size=10240

    part swap --asprimary --size=2048

    part pv.fedora1000 --grow --asprimary --size=500

    volgroup fedora --pesize=32768 pv.fedora1000

    logvol /centosVM --fstype=ext4 --name=centosVM --vgname=fedora --size=30720

    logvol /home --fstype=ext4 --name=home --vgname=fedora --size=81920

    logvol / --fstype=ext4 --name=root --vgname=fedora --size=25600

    logvol /windowsVM --fstype=ext4 --name=windowsVM --vgname=fedora --size=40960

    bootloader --location=mbr --driveorder=sda --append="nomodeset rhgb quiet"

    # setup the network with DHCP

    network --device=eth0 --bootproto=dhcp

    # packages that will be installed, anything starting with an @ sign is a yum package group.

    %packages

    @admin-tools

    @authoring-and-publishing

    @base

    @core

    @development-libs

    @development-tools

    @dial-up

    @editors

    @education

    @electronic-lab

    @engineering-and-scientific

    @eclipse

    @fedora-packager

    @fonts

    @gnome-desktop

    @gnome-software-development

    @graphical-internet

    @graphics

    @hardware-support

    @input-methods

    @java

    @java-development

    @kde-desktop

    @kde-software-development

    @legacy-fonts

    @office

    @online-docs

    @printing

    @sound-and-video

    @system-tools

    @text-internet

    @x-software-development

    @base-x

    kpackagekit

    system-config-network

    scribus

    xfsprogs

    mtools

    gpgme

    gpm

    rpmdevtools

    koji

    mercurial

    lua

    pylint

    rpmlint

    plague-client

    cmake

    mock

    bzr

    pptp

    kdeedu-marble

    minicom

    opencv

    yum-priorities

    plotutils

    openoffice.org-opensymbol-fonts

    qtcurve-gtk2

    gvfs-obexftp

    glibmm24-devel

    gnome-vfs2-devel

    libsigc++20-devel

    libart_lgpl-devel

    kdepim

    konversation

    ImageMagick

    digikam

    kipi-plugins

    kdegraphics

    gypsy

    gpsd

    hdparm

    m17n-db-tamil

    m17n-db-gujarati

    m17n-db-kannada

    m17n-db-hindi

    gok

    m17n-db-oriya

    m17n-db-bengali

    m17n-contrib-sinhala

    m17n-db-assamese

    m17n-db-punjabi

    iok

    m17n-db-telugu

    m17n-db-malayalam

    xorg-x11-fonts-ISO8859-1-100dpi

    urw-fonts

    ghostscript-fonts

    kdepim

    vorbis-tools

    amarok

    jack-audio-connection-kit

    kaffeine

    kdemultimedia

    vbetool

    gssdp

    geoclue

    createrepo

    radeontool

    PackageKit-command-not-found

    obexftp

    enca

    festival

    ntpdate

    xsel

    gupnp

    rdesktop

    fuse

    ncftp

    mesa-libGLU-devel

    xorg-x11-apps

    xscreensaver-gl-extras

    gdm

    xscreensaver-extras

    xscreensaver-base

    xterm

    xorg-x11-resutils

    gitk

    git-gui

    dia

    tftp

    python-crypto

    boost-devel

    valgrind

    subversion

    cvs

    thunderbird-lightning

    python-sqlite2

    asciidoc

    glibc-static

    tcllib

    python-psycopg*

    ssh*

    perl-ExtUtils-MakeMaker

    perl-Net-Telnet

    perl-HTML-FromText

    libICE.so.6

    libSM.so.6

    libXmu.so.6

    libXp.so.6

    libXpm.so.4

    libXt.so.6

    help2man

    cscope

    ctags

    git

    kernel-devel

    tftp-server

    texlive-latex

    texi2html

    cmake

    transfig

    alsa-lib

    libXScrnSaver

    qt

    qt-x11

    libasound.so.2

    libXss.so.1

    libQtDBus.so.4

    libQtGui.so.4

    pulseaudio

    alsa-plugins-pulseaudio

    pulseaudio-esound-compat

    pulseaudio-libs

    pulseaudio-libs-glib2

    pulseaudio-module-zeroconf

    pulseaudio-libs-zeroconf

    xmms-pulse

    pulseaudio-module-gconf

    wine-pulseaudio

    xine-lib-pulseaudio

    pulseaudio-utils

    pulseaudio-module-bluetooth

    padevchooser

    paman

    paprefs

    pavucontrol

    pavumeter

    ncurses-devel.i686

    %end

    %post --log=/root/my-post-log

    exec < /dev/tty3 > /dev/tty3

    chvt 3

    echo

    echo "################################"

    echo "# Running Post Configuration   #"

    echo "################################"

    # prevent future yum updates pulling down & install new kernels (and breaking VMware & video drivers).

    echo "exclude=kernel*" >> /etc/yum.conf

    # update the system

    yum update -y

    # install rpm fusion repo

    rpm -Uvh \

    http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm \

    http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm

    # disable rpmfusion repo, to prevent a yum update contaminating the system with rpmfusion rpms.

    sed -i 's/enabled=1/enabled=0/g' /etc/yum.repos.d/rpmfusion-*

    # install video drivers - enabling rpmfusion repos on the command line.

    yum -y --enablerepo=rpmfusion-nonfree --enablerepo=rpmfusion-free  --enablerepo=rpmfusion-free-updates --enablerepo=rpmfusion-nonfree-updates install kmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.i686 xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-libs.x86_64 akmod-nvidia

    # start akmods on boot

    chkconfig akmods on

    # add pcadmin to sudoers

    echo "kevinmitnick ALL=(ALL)       ALL" >> /etc/sudoers

    # set perms on vmware partitions so users in the users group can create vm's

    chown :users /windowsVM && chmod 775 /windowsVM

    chown :users /centosVM && chmod 775 /centosVM

    # Make sure the system boots X by setting the system to run level 5

    sed -i 's/id:3:initdefault:/id:5:initdefault:/g' /etc/inittab

    # install openvpn & configure

    wget ftp://$host/pub/VPN/OpenVPN/Linux/openvpnclient-custom-settings-1.6-3.i386.rpm

    rpm -ivh openvpnclient-custom-settings-1.6-3.i386.rpm

    cd /etc/openvpn/

    rm client.conf-*

    wget ftp://$host/pub/VPN/OpenVPN/Linux/64bit/client.conf-1

    mv client.conf-1 client.conf-0

    rm -f /openvpnclient-custom-settings-1.6-3.i386.rpm

    # add Kevin Mitnick to group users

    usermod -a -G users kevinmitnick

    # pull down vmware images

    cd /windowsVM/

    wget --user=magicinstaller --password=hacktheplanet ftp://magicinstaller:fubar@ftp.$host.com/images/windowsVM.tar.gz

    tar -xvzf windowsVM.tar.gz

    cd /centosVM/

    wget --user=magicinstaller --password=hacktheplanet ftp://magicinstaller:fubar@ftp.$host.com/images/centosVM.tar.gz

    tar -xvzf centosVM.tar.gz

    # create symlink as instructed

    cd /usr/lib; ln -s libtinfo.so libtermcap.so.2

    # confirm perms are set correctly

    chown -R :users /windowsVM && chmod -R 775 /windowsVM

    chown -R :users /centosVM && chmod -R 775 /centosVM

    # swap to console 1

    chvt 1

    Note: A kickstart file is basically a very simple text file, consisting of a list of items, each identified by a specific keyword.

  • 3

    The above mentioned kickstart file contains various options that need to be adjusted according to your requirement. Therefore, you can remove and add the options, keeping your need in mind.

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