Troy Dawson wrote:
> Mark Stodola wrote:
>> Ken Teh wrote:
>>> I would like to install a minimal SL system plus/minus certain 
>>> packages. Since it's minimal, I figure the easiest way is to install 
>>> core (maybe base) and manually add and subtract packages in the ks 
>>> file.  Another possibility is to modify the comps.xml file to turn 
>>> type='default' to type='optional' for those packages I don't want.  
>>> Of course, that means I have to host the installation tree on a 
>>> server inside of fetching them via http from a mirror.  Both methods 
>>> are about equivalent. What I don't want to do is sit in front the 
>>> machine and manually check and uncheck packages.
>>>
>>> The above approaches work only because it's a minimal install.  
>>> Anything more would get pretty tedious.  Are there cleverer ways of 
>>> doing this?
>>>
>> Manually checking/unchecking is probably about the fastest way of 
>> doing it, certainly much faster than hand typing each package name or 
>> editing a bunch of 8+ character strings in an xml file.  I'd either do 
>> the clicking at install time or use the system-config-kickstart tool 
>> on an existing setup to generate a kickstart before you get going.  If 
>> you're not the mouse type, once you get in to the package lists in the 
>> installer, you can use the up/down keys and spacebar to toggle 
>> packages extremely fast.
>>
> What I've done is sorta a combination of what you both are saying.
> I did an install with only core, and then added the packages I wanted 
> using yum.  I then took the kickstart file made during install 
> (/root/anaconda-ks.cfg) and added the packages that are listed in the 
> yum log (/var/log/yum.log)
> I've edited the comps.xml file, and I've edited kickstart files, and I 
> believe editing the kickstart file is easier.
> 
> Troy

ok, thanks!  I thought perhaps there were other ways I was not aware of.

I'm a kickstart file person myself.  Manual is maybe good for a onesie but 
gets old and unreliable for N > 2 systems.  Also, I like kickstarts because 
it's both a record of what you did.  And it can be customized per machine.