On Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 4:14 PM, Jack Allen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hello:
>
>         I have installed sl6 and have the anaconda-ks.cfg file which has all
> the packages that were installed originally. I had to add a few more via yum
> later to get things setup the way I wanted it. Now I would like to copy the
> anaconda-ks.cfg file and add the additional packages so it can be used to
> setup another system just like this one during the install.
>
>         So the question is how can I determine what is currently installed
> based on package names and/or groups with plus and/or minus certain packages
> to be able to update the kickstart file?
>
> Thanks:
>
>         Jack Allen

This is actually one of the more problematic configuration issues for
our favorite upstream vendor. The only working GUI for this is
"system-config-kickstart", which tends to re-arrange source
configuration files and replace their comments, and which does not
understand the concept of multiple '%post' scripts even though this
works quite well if manually added to ks.cfg files. This is coupled
with the confusing and difficult to read "comps.xml" files which
provide a highly organized set of dependencies and packages so that
selecting a group will provide mandatory packages and recommended and
optional ones, but which cannot therefore be reverse engineered
because the package may be mandatory for multiple "groups", optional
for multiple "groups", or brought in by dependencies in entirely
distinct "groups". And the "groups" of the RPM labeling may have
nothing to do with the "groups" of configuration categories in the
relevant comps.xml.

So don't use it. Go through a test install once, of whichever
approximate configuration you consider reasonable, to get a rough list
of packages. Install any relevant add-ons, being cautions to enable
third-praty repositories as needed,, and tack on any packages you feel
you need. Then get a package list with:

       rpm -qa --qf '%{name}.%{arch}\n' | sort

Use *that* that as the list of packages to install in your kiclstart
files, and run a second test run to assure that you get what you asked
for. Provide any necessary exclusions, to help avoid

So the simple answer is "don't bother trying to figore out the
groupings". Just use the actual list of installed components from a
similar host. This especailly helps avoid NetworkManager, which is
useful for laptops and perhaps some VPN setups, but has no use and is
actively destabilizing to servers.