[PLUG] RH8 Installation (anaconda?) question

Paul Heinlein heinlein at attbi.com
Fri Feb 7 07:15:02 UTC 2003


On Fri, 7 Feb 2003, Daniel Petcher wrote:

> I then proceded to screw around with settings and install programs
> that I don't really want to have around in the long run. I have
> copied my install.log and anaconda-ks.cfg files to a floppy disk. Is
> there some way to use these as a script to reinstall the OS and my
> selected tools without walking through twenty minutes worth of
> check-boxes?

I see from your follow-up message that you've got this straightened 
out, but since PLUG can never let a simple "it's working" statement go 
without comment...

Take a peek at the base/comps.xml file in your installation tree (on 
the CD or wherever). It's a big file, but you'll get the hang of it 
pretty quickly.

It'll tell you exactly what individual RPMs are associated with each
package group and whether those RPMs must be installed, are usually 
installed, or are optional (not usually installed). Here, for 
instance, is the package list for the 'Web Server' group:

  <packagelist>
    <packagereq type="mandatory">httpd</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="mandatory">httpd-manual</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">hwcrypto</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">mod_python</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">mod_perl</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">mod_ssl</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">php</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">php-imap</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">php-ldap</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="optional">php-pgsql</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="optional">mod_auth_pgsql</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">squid</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">tux</packagereq>
    <packagereq type="default">webalizer</packagereq>
  </packagelist>

The only packages you need to install are httpd (Apache) and its 
documentation. The ones marked 'default' are typically installed 
unless you say otherwise. The ones marked 'optional' are typically 
*not* installed unless you specify them.

If you're doing network installation of Red Hat, you can easily 
customize any existing group. If you don't think the Apache manual is 
all that necessary, then edit its entry:

  <packagereq type="optional">httpd-manual</packagereq>

Or you can create your own groups that contain non-default packages 
you want installed on all your systems. Here's a group I created for 
use at work:

  <group>
    <id>cfst-required</id>
    <uservisible>true</uservisible>
    <name>CFST Required</name>
    <description>
      A grouping of CFST-built packages and some Red Hat packages we 
      install by default on all Linux hosts.
    </description>
    <packagelist>
      <!-- required locally built rpms -->
      <packagereq type="default">cfengine</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">qr</packagereq>
      <!-- required red hat packages -->
      <packagereq type="default">chkconfig</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">mysql</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">ntp</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">perl-CGI</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">perl-DBD-MySQL</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">perl-DBI</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">perl-RPM2</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">perl-TermReadKey</packagereq>
      <packagereq type="default">rcs</packagereq>
    </packagelist>
  </group>

The 'CFST Required' package group shows up during the install process 
(if you're doing a manual installation) and can also be invoked during 
a kickstart installation. It installs some Red Hat packages that might 
not get installed otherwise, plus some locally built packages on 
which we rely[1].

I'm sure this is more than you wanted to know... :-)

--Paul Heinlein <heinlein at attbi.com>

[1] Actually, some more trickery is involved before a locally built 
    package can be grafted into the Red Hat installer, but it's not 
    that difficult.





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