I recently was tasked with creating a Redhat kickstart server so we could install lab machines automatically across the network instead of installing each one manually with a DVD. The following are the steps I took to create an install server and the kickstart configuration file. I'm using RHEL6.1 x86_64 and Intel based servers.
Software
Requirements
This applies to RHEL6.1:
TFTP-Server
DHCP Server
Xinetd
NFS
Syslinux
System-config-kickstart (GUI tool to configure kickstart)
Make sure these services are installed and running.
-either allow these services through the firewall or turn it
off.
Installation
Red
Hat Kickstart Server Setup
1) Copy RHEL6.1 install media to a directory on your server-
>Mount
/mnt/cdrom
>cp –var
/mnt/cdrom/RedHat /rhel6.1
>cp
/mnt/cdrom/RELEASE-NOTES*.html /rhel6.1
2) Create NFS share that points to your install directory-
Edit /etc/exports file to look like the following:
/rhel6.1 x.x.x.x/24(rw,insecure,sync,no_root_squash) #Replace
with your subnet
Run the following
to export the directory:
>
/usr/sbin/exports –a
3) Configure DHCP for PXE/TFTP-
Edit /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf to look like the
following:
# DHCP Server Configuration file.
# see
/usr/share/doc/dhcp*/dhcpd.conf.sample
# see 'man 5
dhcpd.conf'
#
allow booting;
allow bootp;
subnet x.x.x.x netmask 255.255.255.0 { # Replace with your lab’s subnet
option
routers x.x.x.x; # Replace with router/gateway IP
option
subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
option
domain-name "domain_name.com";
option
domain-name-servers x.x.x.x;
range x.x.x.100 x.x.x.120; # Replace with range of DHCP addresses
default-lease-time 600;
}
# Redhat Kickstart
class "pxeclients" {
match if substring
(option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient";
next-server x.x.x.x; # Replace with the TFTP Server IP
filename
"linux-install/pxelinux.0";
}
Run the following to restart the dhcp server
>service dhcpd restart
Enable xinetd and tftp-server to run at runlevels 3-5:
>Chkconfig
–level 345 xinetd on # tftp is xinet based
>Service
xinetd restart
4) Edit /etc/xinetd.d/tftp to look like the following:
# default: off
# description: The tftp server serves files using the
trivial file transfer \
# protocol. The tftp protocol is often used to boot
diskless \
# workstations,
download configuration files to network-aware printers, \
# and to start
the installation process for some operating systems.
service tftp
{
disable = no
socket_type = dgram
protocol = udp
wait = yes
user = root
server = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
server_args = -s /var/lib/tftpboot
per_source = 11
cps = 100 2
flags = IPv4
bind = x.x.x.x # Add your server’s IP address
}
5) Make directories for tftpboot-
>mkdir –p
/var/lib/tftpboot/linux-install
>mkdir –p
/var/lib/tftpboot/linux-install/pxelinux.cfg
>cp
/usr/share/syslinux/pxelinux.0
/var/lib/tftpboot/linux-install/
>cp
/usr/share/syslinux/menu.c32 /var/lib/tftpboot/linux-install/
>cp
/rhel6.1/images/pxeboot/*
/var/lib/tftpboot/linux-install/
>touch
/var/lib/tftpboot/linux-install/pxelinux.cfg/default
Edit
/var/lib/tfptboot/linux-install/pxelinux.cfg/default to look like:
default menu.c32
timeout 100
MENU TITLE PXE
Redhat Network Install
Label 1
MENU LABEL
xSeries Redhat Install
kernel vmlinuz
append
initrd=initrd.img ksdevice=eth2 ramdisk_size=10000 #eth
number you use
ks=nfs:x.x.x.x:/rhel6.1/xseriesks.cfg # Location of the kickstart .cfg file we create next
Restart services:
>service xinetd
restart
>service dhcpd
restart
Red
Hat Kickstart Configuration
Detailed kickstart configurator usage can be found at
Redhat:
http://docs.redhat.com/docs/enUS/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Installation_Guide/ch-redhat-config-kickstart.html
System-config-kickstart is a GUI based kickstart
configuration tool to simplify creating a kickstart file that is used to
automatically install remote servers.
1) To launch Kickstart Configurator, boot your
system into a graphical environment, then
run system-config-kickstart, or
click Applications → System Tools → Kickstart on the GNOME
desktop or Kickoff
Application Launcher+Applications → System → Kickstart on the KDE desktop.
-Make the selections based on how you want to install your
servers.
-The Installation Method screen allows you to choose how to
install. Select NFS install and enter
your server’s IP address and the directory that contains the installation
source.
-Enter the partition information and network information now
or, if you prefer, leave them blank and you will be prompted during the
install.
-Add the packages you want installed.
-To save the kickstart file, click the Save to File
button in the preview window. To save the file without previewing it, select File => Save File or press Ctrl+S .
-Shown from step 5 above we saved the file as xseriesks.cfg
in the /rhel6.1 directory.
That’s it. Now you’re
ready to test your installation, boot a server from the network to make sure it
grabs an IP and starts to install.
