How to Make a Kickstart Installation in RedHat Enterprise

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux operating system designed for corporate users and others who use Linux in a professional context, instead of just on their home computers. Unlike free versions of Linux, Red Hat provides support for Red Hat Enterprise.





Red Hat Enterprise normally asks a variety of questions about the desired system configuration when being installed, but this process can be automated for system administrators rolling out Red Hat Enterprise Linux with a standard configuration on a large number of machines. Red Hat includes a graphical application for creating and customizing Kickstart installation files, which contain a list of predefined settings for the installer.

Instructions

1. Install the graphical Kickstart configuration program by clicking "Applications," then "Add/Remove Software." Click the "Search" tab, then type "kickstart" into the search box. Click the check box to the left of "system-config-kickstart" and click "Apply."

2. Open the Kickstart configuration program by clicking "Applications," "System Tools" and "Kickstart."

3. Change the default language, keyboard and time zone settings by clicking the "Default Language," "Keyboard" and "Time Zone" boxes.

4. Set the default root, or administrator, password by typing it into the "Root Password" and "Confirm Password" boxes.

5. Edit installation method settings by clicking "Installation Method" at the left side of the window. Select whether the Kickstart file performs a new installation or an upgrade, as well as whether it installs from CD or a network location, by clicking the appropriate buttons.

6. Add custom network settings by clicking "Network Configuration" at the left side of the window, clicking "Add Network" and configuring your network's settings. This is only required for networks not using DHCP for automatic configuration.

7. Configure authentication settings to use a network name server by clicking "Authentication," clicking the tab that corresponds to your network's authentication settings, clicking "Enable" and filling in the appropriate information.

8. Edit the default firewall settings by clicking "Firewall Configuration" at the left side of the window. Disable the firewall by default, if desired, by clicking the "Security Level" box and clicking "Disable Firewall."

9. Customize installed software package groups by clicking "Package Selection" on the left side of the window, clicking a category and clicking the check-box to the left of a package group. For example, install OpenOffice by default by clicking "Applications" and clicking the check box to the left of "Office/Productivity."

10. Save the Kickstart installation file by clicking "File," "Save File," then typing a name for the file and pressing "Enter."

References

• Red Hat: Chapter 31. Kickstart Installations
• Red Hat: Chapter 23. Updating Your System
• Red Hat: Chapter 29. Kickstart Configurator