CentOS - Jun 2005 - Attempting custom CentOS4 network install

Hi

I am installing CentOS4 over ether network using http and kickstart. I boot from
the first CentOS CD and at "boot:" prompt I input
"ks=http://localserver/install/custom.cfg". Except for minor glitches
like
"Kernel-Development group not found" warning, the process is smooth
and is
almost completely automated.

Now, I want to add additional RPMS to the CentOS/RPMS directory to install
additional packages in the default install. In preparation, I was regenerating
the hdlist using "genhdlist" even before adding the extra RPMS, just
to
checkout.

A new hdlist and hdlist2 is sucessfully regenerated in CentOS/base dir with a
small reduction in file size of hdlist, but the network install fails at the
end of "Preparing RPM transaction" screen with the message
"install exited
abnormally" and shuts down.

Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance

Ajay

On Wed, 2005-06-01 at 11:59 -0400, Ajay wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I am installing CentOS4 over ether network using http and kickstart. I boot
from
> the first CentOS CD and at "boot:" prompt I input
> "ks=http://localserver/install/custom.cfg". Except for minor
glitches like
> "Kernel-Development group not found" warning, the process is
smooth and is
> almost completely automated.
> 
> Now, I want to add additional RPMS to the CentOS/RPMS directory to install
> additional packages in the default install. In preparation, I was
regenerating
> the hdlist using "genhdlist" even before adding the extra RPMS,
just to
> checkout.
> 
> A new hdlist and hdlist2 is sucessfully regenerated in CentOS/base dir with
a
> small reduction in file size of hdlist, but the network install fails at
the
> end of "Preparing RPM transaction" screen with the message
"install exited
> abnormally" and shuts down.
> 
> Am I missing something?
Ajay-

It would be far simpler to setup a yum repository for the additional
packages, create a custom yum.conf (or repo file for the repo), and then
install that yum.conf or repo file in %post and then follow that up with
a 

yum -t -y install foo bar baz

Sean
-- 
Sean O'Connell
Office of Engineering Computing         oconnell at soe.ucsd.edu
Jacobs School of Engineering, UCSD      858.534.9716 (49716)

From: Ajay <ajay at unisoftindia.net>
> A new hdlist and hdlist2 is sucessfully regenerated in CentOS/base dir
> with a small reduction in file size of hdlist, but the network install
fails
> at the end of "Preparing RPM transaction" screen with the message
> "install exited abnormally" and shuts down.
> Am I missing something?
I've had this happen when there is a conflict between some core packages.
It's a PITA to resolve because, as you found out first-hand, you don't
know
it until you're half-way through an install.

My approach has been to only add packages I know are safe and won't
conflict with core FC/RHEL packages, and then install any additional from
either an internal APT-RPM or YUM-RPM repository.

I typically do the latter to fetch system updates anyway, including
creation of RPMs for key configuration files (and updates).  E.g.,
"CONFIG_BS-2.1.noarch.rpm" (the package name conviniently matching
my initials if anyone hasn't noticed that yet ;-).

From: Sean O'Connell <oconnell at
soe.ucsd.edu>
> Ajay-
> It would be far simpler to setup a yum repository for the additional
> packages, create a custom yum.conf (or repo file for the repo), and then
> install that yum.conf or repo file in %post and then follow that up with
> a 
> yum -t -y install foo bar baz
I remember Seth talking awhile back on a Fedora list about the next
generation installer (Anaconda-based?) being able to pull from YUM-RPM
repositories at install-time for network installs.

Has anyone been tracking that development?



--
Bryan J. Smith   mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org