July 2003 - openSUSE Autoinstall - openSUSE Mailing Lists

RH's Kickstart vs. SuSE's AutoYast2 NFS installs
by Marc Christensen 18 Jul '03

18 Jul '03

Hello everyone, In our company, we have several developers who are porting services to both RH AS and SLES 8. We have set up NFS installs for them to install these OSes for development and testing. There is a variety of hardware to install on so our installs must let the user setup hardware (video, partitioning, etc.) themselves. The RH install uses Kickstart and sets defaults in the install (timezone, additional packages, etc). We can set kickstart to be interactive so that the user can control most of the install (this is nice and perfect for our environment). Our SLES NFS install is currently working perfectly however, I don't see a way to change default install options and be interactive like a kickstart install. After reading about and testing some AutoYast2 installs, it seems to be completely automated and require things such as partitioning and other hardware specific choices to be predetermined. Is this true? Am I missing something? Can I set AutoYast2 to be interactive and just take defaults from it's config? Is there a better way? Maybe AutoYast is not the answer to my questions. Is there a way using AutoYast or other other method to change the install defaults, to do an NFS install but change some of the default options and do some extra things and remain interactive? I need to: * autodetect NIC and use DHCP for initial configuration during install * let the user set up hardware (partitioning, video, etc) * Let the user select or remove software packages if they choose * install some custom developed RPMs on the user's system regardless of their choice of profile or individual package selection. (I have added these packages to the installation according AUtoYast2 instructions). * preset the timezone * install a custom ntp.conf * add entries to their /etc/fstab for some nfs entries -- Marc Christensen http://www.mecworks.com

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Re: [suse-autoinstall] User intervention with AutoYast2?
by Marc Christensen 18 Jul '03

18 Jul '03

See below for embedded comments... Thomas Mack wrote: [snip] >>I only want to: >> >> * install some custom developed RPMs on their >> system regardless of their choice of profile or >> individual package selection. (I have added these packages >> to the installation according Anas' instructions). >> >> * preset the timezone >> >> * install a custom ntp.conf >> >> * add entries to their /etc/fstab for some nfs entries >> >>That's basicaly it. Because of the diverse needs of the installers and > > > Interesting - why then you do not put SuSE on some NFS-Server, leave > the installation to the user and give them a small script to append > some entries to /etc/fstab, copy the ntp.conf, set the timezone, start > some rpm statements and reboot the machine? > > Autoyast seems to be massive overkill to do this...? > There are many reasons for this: 1) we need to control the environment that our testers and developers are working on. Already, we have had people installing what ever version of Linux they had lying around. This is very problamatic. 2) reduce cost and time. It is cheaper and faster for 700+ developers and testers to download 4 installations diskettes or a CD image made only for a network install than to download all the ISO images and burn them. 3) Allows easy update of the custom build software we are having installed 4) opens the door for future modification and additions to the install process (modifying or adding to the autoinstall). >>the various machines they will be installing, it is only feasible to >>have one control file and let then to most of the configuration >>themsleves as opposed to writting a custom control file for each type of >>hardware with different harddrives and videocards, etc. >> > > You will need different sections for different monitors, but not for > different videocards, as they will be configured automatically depending > on the monitor and the requested screen resolution etc.. On harddisks, you > can say something like "auto" for some partially automatic partitioning, > or you can say "max" to use the still available space etc. - so there is > some flexibility possible. Indeed, we have some working XF86Config files > for different machines, and we just copy them at the end of installation > to /etc/X11, so we don't even bother too much about automatic X11 > installation. Well, what I am saying is "can the user do all the video and such configuration themselves and leave all issues of hardware out of the autoyast2 process?". We have such a diversity of machines that it is impractical to even consider doing a custom configuration for different types of machines. The user needs to be able to partition drives, set up video, make other selections of software beyond the minimum that I'll setup, etc. In comparison, we are also developing for another Linux platform (who shall remain nameless but who's initials are RH 8^(). They provide a very easily configured network install which does all the above. The configuration of the install system is not hardware dependant (although it could be) and allows the user to take control of many aspects of the install if needed yet provides a way for us to do several customizations to the machines. Apart from the specific needs listed above, we also need to provide a similar experience for the users and testers so that they don't need to know two processes to set up their machines. Basicaly, I don't want total control, I want to be able to set defaults and add the above mentioned configuration changes and additions. -- Marc Christensen http://www.mecworks.com

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Keeping partitions (again)
by Bjorn Tore Sund 18 Jul '03

18 Jul '03

I've carefully read the autoyast partitioning documentation,I've gone through the last four months of archives, I've done the y2update thing from http://www.suse.de/~nashif/autoinstall/y2update/ and have verified that this is mounted and read - and still I can't get my partitions the way I want them. "Not enough free space on /dev/hda", alternatively "No free space" when creating the partition plan. Current partitions: /dev/hda1 /boot ext2 /dev/hda2 / reiserfs /dev/hda3 swap swap /dev/hda4 /scratch reiserfs I want to keep /scratch without formatting and smash the other three into two partitions, / and swap: <partitioning config:type="list"> <drive> <device>/dev/hda</device> <partitions config:type="list"> <partition> <create config:type="boolean">true</create> <format config:type="boolean">true</format> <mount>/</mount> <partition_id config:type="integer">131</partition_id> <partition_type>primary</partition_type> <partition_nr config:type="integer">1</partition_nr> <size>max</size> </partition> <partition> <create config:type="boolean">true</create> <filesystem config:type="symbol">swap</filesystem> <format config:type="boolean">true</format> <mount>swap</mount> <partition_id config:type="integer">130</partition_id> <partition_type>primary</partition_type> <size>2gb</size> <partition_nr config:type="integer">2</partition_nr> </partition> <partition> <create config:type="boolean">false</create> <format config:type="boolean">false</format> <mount>/scratch</mount> <partition_nr config:type="integer">4</partition_nr> </partition> </partitions> <use>1,2,3</use> </drive> </partitioning> I've tried several variations, including fixed size for /, changing the /scratch partition number, but the error message remains the same. Setting "initialize" on the drive made it kill /scratch as well. Any suggestions to what I'm missing? Bjørn -- Bjørn Tore Sund Phone: (+47) 555-84894 Stupidity is like a System administrator Fax: (+47) 555-89672 fractal; universal and Math. Department Mobile: (+47) 918 68075 infinitely repetitive. University of Bergen VIP: 81724 teknisk(a)mi.uib.no Email: bjornts(a)mi.uib.no http://www.mi.uib.no/

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User intervention with AutoYast2?
by Marc Christensen 17 Jul '03

17 Jul '03

Hello, In reading the AutoYast2 documentation for SLES 8, I see two seemingly conflicting descriptions of the level of user intervention. In the first sentance of the first paragraph of chapter one, it states "AutoYast2 is the system for installing one of more SuSE Linux systems automatically and without user intervention". Later on, in second to last paragraph of secion 1.2, it states "Using a control file, Yast2 prepares the system for a custom installation and avoids any interaction with the user, unless specified in the control file". So, my question is, how well (or minimaly) can I control what the user can enter? In my situation, I am setting up an NFS install for several hundred testers and developers. They are working on various machines from a number of vendors and I want them to basicaly do everything in the installation themselves (apart from a few presets): I only want to: * install some custom developed RPMs on their system regardless of their choice of profile or individual package selection. (I have added these packages to the installation according Anas' instructions). * preset the timezone * install a custom ntp.conf * add entries to their /etc/fstab for some nfs entries That's basicaly it. Because of the diverse needs of the installers and the various machines they will be installing, it is only feasible to have one control file and let then to most of the configuration themsleves as opposed to writting a custom control file for each type of hardware with different harddrives and videocards, etc. Is this goal within the scope of AutoYast2? Thanks. -- Marc Christensen http://www.mecworks.com

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autoyast ask me "install now"
by Martin Schmiderer 17 Jul '03

17 Jul '03

Hello *, my autoyast works now very fine! The only problem is, autoyast ask me after parsing the controlfile in a little green popup-window "install now" or "abort installation". I want to do that automaticly. The next problem is the passwords for the users dosn't match after installation, that means i can't loggin :-( Thanks for any help, regards Martin -- ________________________________creating IT solutions Martin Schmiderer science + computing ag System Administration Hagellocher Weg 71-75 phone +49 7071 9457 225 72070 Tuebingen, Germany fax +49 7071 9457 211 www.science-computing.de

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Re: [suse-autoinstall] Xserver configuration
by Martin Schmiderer 17 Jul '03

17 Jul '03

Am Donnerstag, 17. Juli 2003 15:52 schrieb Thomas Mack: > Am Donnerstag 17 Juli 2003 14:44 schrieb Martin Schmiderer: > > Hello *, > > > > i am trying to use autoyast to install a lot of clients automaticly. That > > works fine without configure X11, but i will configure the xserver by > > autoyast and the default runlevel must be 5! > > How can i do this ??? > > Ein Beispiel aus einer 8.2 Konfiguration (yast2->Sonstiges->Automatische > Installation und dann konfigurieren): > > > <?xml version="1.0"?> > <!DOCTYPE profile SYSTEM "/usr/share/autoinstall/profile.dtd"> > <profile xmlns="http://www.suse.com/1.0/yast2ns" > xmlns:config="http://www.suse.com/1.0/configns"> > <configure> > <x11> > <color_depth config:type="integer">16</color_depth> > <configure_x11 config:type="boolean">true</configure_x11> > <display_manager>kdm</display_manager> > <enable_3d config:type="boolean">true</enable_3d> > <monitor> > <display> > <frequency config:type="integer">75</frequency> > <height config:type="integer">1200</height> > <max_hsync config:type="integer">95</max_hsync> > <max_vsync config:type="integer">82</max_vsync> > <min_hsync config:type="integer">30</min_hsync> > <min_vsync config:type="integer">58</min_vsync> > <width config:type="integer">1600</width> > </display> > <monitor_device>1600X1200@75HZ</monitor_device> > <monitor_vendor> LCD</monitor_vendor> > </monitor> > <resolution>1152x864</resolution> > <start_x11 config:type="boolean">true</start_x11> > <window_manager>kde</window_manager> > </x11> > </configure> > </profile> > > > Im Grunde spezifiziert man nur den Monitor und die Auflösung, sagt noch, ob > man > 3D etc. haben möchte, und das war es dann auch schon. Der Rest wird > automatisch > gemacht. > > Wir haben bei uns XF86Config Dateien vorkonfiguriert, die wir dann in einem > post-script nach /etc/X11 kopieren. Das kann sich auch empfehlen, wenn das > autoyast alleine keine vernünftige X-Konfiguration hinbekommt. > > Im Grunde dürfte die Konfiguration mit Yast2 unter einem lauffähigen 8.2 > die einfachste und schnellste Lösung zu sein. Die individuellen Anpassungen > kann man dann anschließend auf einfache Weise hinzustricken. > > > Thomas Mack > TU Braunschweig, Abt. Informationssysteme Hi Thomas, vielen Dank fuer die Hilfe! Das funktioniert prima. regards Martin -- ________________________________creating IT solutions Martin Schmiderer science + computing ag System Administration Hagellocher Weg 71-75 phone +49 7071 9457 225 72070 Tuebingen, Germany fax +49 7071 9457 211 www.science-computing.de

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Xserver configuration
by Martin Schmiderer 17 Jul '03

17 Jul '03

Hello *, i am trying to use autoyast to install a lot of clients automaticly. That works fine without configure X11, but i will configure the xserver by autoyast and the default runlevel must be 5! How can i do this ??? regards Martin -- ________________________________creating IT solutions Martin Schmiderer science + computing ag System Administration Hagellocher Weg 71-75 phone +49 7071 9457 225 72070 Tuebingen, Germany fax +49 7071 9457 211 www.science-computing.de

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Re: [suse-autoinstall] rpm update errors
by Ricardo Kleemann 16 Jul '03

16 Jul '03

Thank you. But if yast can take care of the dependency problems, how should I go about installing the updates? Should I use a command other than "online_update" to perform the installs? Because that command is encountering errors when I try to install (with -i) Ricardo ----- Original Message Follows ----- > Op woensdag 16 juli 2003 16:58, schreef Ricardo Kleemann: > > Hello, > > > > I use the online_update script via cron to download > > packages, and then I use it manually to install > packages. > > > Recently, updates to apache2 were downloaded, but > > running online_update -i returns an error when trying to > > update apache. > > > > So then I decided to try updating apache manually via > > rpm, here are the errors: > > > > # rpm -Uvh apache2-2.0.46-3.i586.rpm > > error: failed dependencies: > > libapr0 = 2.0.46 is needed by apache2-2.0.46-3 > > apache2 = 2.0.44 is needed by > > apache2-devel-2.0.44-38 > > apache_mmn_20020903_0 is needed by > > apache2-prefork-2.0.44-38 > > apache_mmn_20020903_0 is needed by > > apache2-mod_perl-1.99_08-29 > > > > # rpm -Uvh apache2-devel-2.0.46-3.i586.rpm > > error: failed dependencies: > > apache2 = 2.0.46 is needed by > apache2-devel-2.0.46-3 > > It looks like you downloaded and are installing a patch > rpm that misses some patch rpms that have been released > before the ones mentioned above. This can be solved by > obtaining the full rpm and install that one instead. The > dependency you see above is of another nature that yast > can take care off. > > -- > Richard Bos > Without a home the journey is endless > > > -- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: > suse-autoinstall-unsubscribe(a)suse.com For additional > commands, e-mail: suse-autoinstall-help(a)suse.com >

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rpm update errors
by Ricardo Kleemann 16 Jul '03

16 Jul '03

Hello, I use the online_update script via cron to download packages, and then I use it manually to install packages. Recently, updates to apache2 were downloaded, but running online_update -i returns an error when trying to update apache. So then I decided to try updating apache manually via rpm, here are the errors: # rpm -Uvh apache2-2.0.46-3.i586.rpm error: failed dependencies: libapr0 = 2.0.46 is needed by apache2-2.0.46-3 apache2 = 2.0.44 is needed by apache2-devel-2.0.44-38 apache_mmn_20020903_0 is needed by apache2-prefork-2.0.44-38 apache_mmn_20020903_0 is needed by apache2-mod_perl-1.99_08-29 # rpm -Uvh apache2-devel-2.0.46-3.i586.rpm error: failed dependencies: apache2 = 2.0.46 is needed by apache2-devel-2.0.46-3 I know how to manually go, one by one, and install the necessary packages in order to get around the dependency problems. But doesn't YasT2 provide a way to automatically take care of that? That's one of the purposes of using an auto-install program, so I don't have to worry about the dependency issues... Another question, I see a kernel update was downloaded recently. What is the recommended procedure for upgrading the kernel? Will the online_update script take care of that automatically, including any grub changes or do I need to do something myself? Thanks for your help. Ricardo

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Problems with the first console (tty0)
by BLassen＠haitec.de 16 Jul '03

16 Jul '03

Hello list ... I´ve come across somthing weired, and I´m not to shure where the problem comes from. When I install a minimal Setup direcctly from the CD it works perfect. But when i use the autoyast tool i get trouble with the first console (tty0) It shows two login prompts It looks like this : - Welcome to SuSE Linux bla bla (tty1) - -server login: - Welcome to SuSE Linux bla bla (tty0) - -server login:(flashing cursor) When i enter anything for a user name to log in on the first console it echos back some of the characters of the username. After that i´m propted to enter the password, but everything i´m entering is considered as false. If i switch to the second console there is no problem at all with logging on ... Has anybody come across something like that ? Bengt Lassen HAITEC AG Lyonerstraße 11a 60528 Frankfurt Tel.: +49-(0)69 - 6 65 61-0 Mobil.: +49-(0)179 - 39 14 656 Fax.: +49-(0)69 - 6 65 61-400 mailto: blassen(a)haitec.de http://www.haitec.de

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