RHEL 6 Installation Guide - 32.3. Creating the Kickstart File

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32.3. Creating the Kickstart File

The kickstart file is a simple text file, containing a list of items, each identified by a keyword. You can create it by using the Kickstart Configurator application, or writing it from scratch. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation program also creates a sample kickstart file based on the options that you selected during installation. It is written to the file /root/anaconda-ks.cfg. You should be able to edit it with any text editor or word processor that can save files as ASCII text.

First, be aware of the following issues when you are creating your kickstart file:

Sections must be specified in order. Items within the sections do not have to be in a specific order unless otherwise specified. The section order is:
- Command section — Refer to Section 32.4, “Kickstart Options” for a list of kickstart options. You must include the required options.
- The %packages section — Refer to Section 32.5, “Package Selection” for details.
- The %pre and %post sections — These two sections can be in any order and are not required. Refer to Section 32.6, “Pre-installation Script” and Section 32.7, “Post-installation Script” for details.
Items that are not required can be omitted.
Omitting any required item results in the installation program prompting the user for an answer to the related item, just as the user would be prompted during a typical installation. Once the answer is given, the installation continues unattended (unless it finds another missing item).
Lines starting with a pound (also known as hash) sign (#) are treated as comments and are ignored.
For kickstart upgrades, the following items are required:
- Language
- Installation method
- Device specification (if device is needed to perform the installation)
- Keyboard setup
- The upgrade keyword
- Boot loader configuration
If any other items are specified for an upgrade, those items are ignored (note that this includes package selection).