On 2011-10-17 14:45, ~Stack~ wrote:
> On 10/14/2011 08:00 PM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote:
>> On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 7:51 PM, ~Stack~<[log in to unmask]>  wrote:
>>> I am attempting to build a group of systems that boot off of PXE and
>>> auto-install with a kickstart file. I previously used a bundled package
>>> that for certain reasons is no longer applicable to the new system. So I
>>> am learning a lot about what happened behind the scenes of the bundled
>>> package.
>>>
>>> This particular stumbling block is: I have a mixed environment of 32bit
>>> and 64bit machines. I would like for the kickstart menu to auto-pick
>>> 32bit or 64bit. Is this possible?
>>
>> Yes, but it's really *sneaky*. You have to build an OS image, usually
>> a tarball. %pre scripting sets up your fileysstems, you don't actually
>> install *anything* with the normal install procedures, and you can run
>> %post or %post --nochroot scripts to implant details of the hardware
>> and especially network configuration.
>>
>> I did this on over 10,000 Linux servers in one month, along with tools
>> that played 3-card monty to bundle thee relevant configuration files
>> from old systems to new system. It  was the *fastest* OS installer
>> I've ever seen, in industry or personal use.
>>
>
> Would it be possible for you to give a few more details on how you did
> this? I think I understand what you are saying but I am a ways off from
> doing it. If I understand, the %pre setups up the environment, detects
> the hardware, and then modifies the installer for the proper ARCH. Right?
>
> I am having numerous PXE issues crop up and while I am solving most of
> them just by searching the net, a few still elude me.
>
> I do appreciate all the help I am getting.

It sounds more like what my current workplace does when setting up 
systems for QA:  create an image of a minimal system, then PXE-boot a 
minimal OS that fetches the appropriate image and writes it to the disk 
instead of installing the system package-by-package as usual.

I would like to learn about how to do this with anaconda, so please 
respond to me or the list as well, Nico.

-- 
Garrett Holmstrom