Kickstart Lab Not Working, Still Booting Off Of DVD Install

I have two RHEL v6 machines that live as VMs in VirtualBox. One is a VSFTP Server (192.168.122.50) and serving up under /var/ftp/pub a kf.cfg file.
The ks.cfg has the following permissions
From another new RHEL v6 VM, I boot off of the DVD install disc and from the Welcome to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5, I select Install or Upgrade an existing system
Press Tab
Enter the following:
I press enter, and it still boots off of the DVD install disc.
I've disabled IPTables on 192.168.122.50 and still no go.
For networking, I'm using Internal Networking and the name of the Network is rhel6, where all of the RHEL6 test vms live.
I don't have ksvalidator installed either, because I wanted to run a check against the ks.cfg file. I'm not sure where the package lives? Because I don't know if it is an issue with the ks.cfg file or a network issue?
The ks.cfg has the following permissions
rw--r--r
From another new RHEL v6 VM, I boot off of the DVD install disc and from the Welcome to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5, I select Install or Upgrade an existing system
Press Tab
Enter the following:
linux ks=ftp://192.168.122.50/pub/ks.cfg
I press enter, and it still boots off of the DVD install disc.
I've disabled IPTables on 192.168.122.50 and still no go.
For networking, I'm using Internal Networking and the name of the Network is rhel6, where all of the RHEL6 test vms live.
I don't have ksvalidator installed either, because I wanted to run a check against the ks.cfg file. I'm not sure where the package lives? Because I don't know if it is an issue with the ks.cfg file or a network issue?
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"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
Comments
Again it goes to boot off of the RHEL ISO, I don't understand why. I really think it is something with the way the networking is setup in VirtualBox. I even tried to setup two NICs, one on the internal network and the other nic on NAT, so it would try to get some sort of IP Address.
Still no go.
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
Additionally you can check the following stuff:
1. Network connectivity (ping, telnet and so on)
2. Web server configuration (service parameters, status - start/stop, httpd.conf, directory - not file - permissions for apache user)
3. SELinux configuration (SELinux booleans, permissions for apache user) - you can use "Permissive mode" if you don't have experience with SELinux.
If you want a FULL booot from network look for a PXE configuration examples - the system will boot from network and there will be no need to use DVD/ISO.
At least now I'm getting a "Error Downloading kickstart file" which is progress.
Probably either SELinux or some sort of Apache permissions error from here.
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
Open Virtual Box > Right Click VM >Settings > Network > Adapter 2 > Enable Network Adapter > Adapter 2 Bridged Adapter > Advanced > Promiscuous Mode: Allow VMs
Once you have the NICs set to allow communication between the two VMs:
1. Ensure FTP is added as allow to the firewall or turn off the firewall like you already did.
2. Ensure SELinux boolean has been set to allow FTP or turn off SELinux.
3. Run with 755 on the KS file.
4. Test you can navigate to the kickstart file by entering the following the path to it in your internet browser.
5. Start up your VM with the installer ISO, once the initial install screen pops up, hit tab, then type ks=ftp://locationofkickstartfile
Kickstart is simply a config file that manages the entire setup/installation of the OS. You have to define the installation source, which is what Brombulec was trying to get at. Right now the installation source would be your ISO.
Yes, I seen the command.
I would prefer to work from the CLI at all times. I'm not sure what package covers that GUI, so I will have to look.
I am more interested in all of the options for the ks.cfg file. Looking around online, I've seen quite a few and at work, we really don't use Kickstart. However say in a bigger company, say cloud service, I really could see the advantage of using Kickstart.
thanks
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
Maybe fixing the vsftp config file where you listed vmlinuz might help, the "append" directive: and it's a given that you put the vmlinuz and its accompanying initrd image into the publicly available directory of the vsftpd.
Error message about not being able to download the ks.cfg file may be an indicator for connectivity problems with the http server where you ks file resides or it may be that ks.cfg is not located at the document root of the server, hence it can't be downloaded.
Also: you seems to offer the ks.cfg from an ftp server, yet are telling the target machine that ks file is to be downloaded via HTTP?
Word on the street is that for anything LVM, stick to the CLI.
I've tried both http and ftp in the troubleshooting process.
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
@JockVSJock: Am I getting this right: you are starting network installation from DVD but would like to use a kickstart file to provide answers? For network install to work, you'll need to provide install files to the client, a boot image and the Kickstart file. So far, you have install files provided via the install DVD and the Kickstart file via your VSFTP. I think you are missing the boot image. Also, isn't VSFTP asking login and password? If so, that's a no go for network install. TFTP doesn't ask for login, so you might try that instead of VSFTP. And if you go down the TFTP path, both NICs need to be on the host-only network for the setup to work. TFTP is for local-only network. Basic network connectivity needs to be tested as well. It fails to download the ks file, so maybe network connectivity gets in the way.
Check also the --baseurl= parameter in the ks.cfg file to see if it correctly points to the location of installation files.
I dusted off my own VMs that I once used for network install and played a bit with them today. File anaconda-ks.cfg may help with syntax, although I'd love to have a man page with a list of Kickstart parameters...
Just to back up and list out all of the details on what I have my settings set to:
- RHEL 6 server that hosts the ks.cfg file under /var/www/html/ks/ks.cfg
- iptables is off (want to make sure we can get a basic transfer going)
- selinux is set to permissive (want to observe logging)
- httpd is running
- for http install, the ks.cfg is hosted under /var/www/html/ks and the ks directory has permissions of 0755
- for the ks.cfg file, I have the following permissions: 0755
As advised by brombulec, I'm watching from other ttys and here is what I'm seeing:
Ctl+Alt+F3
From ctl+alt+F4, this is what I'm seeing as well
With seeing the DHCP time out, I've installed xinetd and also tftp and tried to install the ks.cfg (I've modified the install line of the ks to reflect this)
From clt+alt+F3
clt+alt+F4
Haven't check what that means yet...yet still not getting this to go.
I've also tried the nic settings in VirtualBox as recommended by Verities
- Adapter 2
- Enable Network Adapter
- Attached To Bridged Adapter
- Promiscuous Mode is set to Allow VMs
The Adpater 1 is set to Internal Network which is what the server and client are on
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
Correct. I don't have a pxe environment. And I think this is another way to install Kickstart files, correct? Again Jang doesn't go into too many details here.
So Jang's book really isn't detailed about the install. So I'm going on what I'm finding online and my interaction here at techexams.net. For the client, all I'm doing is booting off of the RHEL install disc, press Tab and then enter the following:
No. Never once.
I'm using the latest and greatest VirtualBox. I have nics on the Server and client under Attached To set to Internal Network. Is this not correct? Or does it need to be adapter-only?
This I don't know how to do, or wasn't aware that it could be done, so I will have to research it. If this is possible, it would be a great way to troubleshoot.
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
That's not true - you can have all the packages form official repo on exam. Including RedHat docs. On all of my RH exams I had documentation on my machine - even on last - EX236.
You have a problem with your DHCP server and client's IP address - there is no DHCP traffic between the virtual machine and DHCP server. Please look at the VirtualBox configuration :
File/Preferences/Network/Host-only Networks/DHCP Server and set the required values.
or if you have NATed network look for the option "Supports DHCP" so the client will as for DHCP from external server.
I prefer host-only networks for installation and after installation I'm configuring networking on virtual machines.
Or you can set the ip manually - look for the "ip section" on this link: https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/nfsroot.txt
And another link: http://serverfault.com/questions/445296/is-there-a-linux-kernel-boot-parameter-to-configure-an-ipv6-address
@JockVSJock: so many error messages about failed downloads would point to basic connectivity issues. Can you ping each of the servers you are using?
In my setup, both client and server are in a host-only network. Server has two NICs, one used to be on NAT but that was getting in the way so I got it also onto host-only. It then served as a pretend- gateway (to nowhere) for the network. As soon as I got it off of NAT, it all started connecting.
Client has to boot off of SOME image, for network install to work client needs the full networking stack up and ready so PXE is I think the way to go. I don't know what is Jang saying in the book, but client definitely needs full networking stack ready for it to download necessary installation files.
Kickstart file is just another text file and --baseurl part is where you give it the location of installation files, in my setup it is the address to my HTTP server and its document root's directory where I copied the entire CentOS7 DVD. Most of the Kickstart file I created via the GUI utility but can't see why it wouldn't be possible to simply edit anaconda-ks.cfg that is in root's home and adjust it to your needs/requirements.
So for your setup to start working, you'd need to confirm connectivity to your servers and to serve the client the initial boot image off of which networking stack will be readied for transfer and execution of installation files.
If it's not available you can install it - just ask your proctor/trainer. It's available, because it's official pdf from RH.
I passed over 10 exams and on each and every exam I had an access to documentation.
But on the other hand, there was only one exam, for which I used documentation available on exam
I've also found the DHCP setup under: File > Preferences > Network > Host-only Networks. All of my guests are in the 192.168.122 range. I'm guessing I could setup DHCP so it could server addresses in this range?
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
If there is no DHCP server the client will not get IP address and there will be no possibility to connect to apache server and download the kickstart.
But IMHO you should setup DHCP for the installation. And after the installation (or even on kickstart file) you can set static IP address.
I've recently done a kickstart in rhel7 though at my workplace and we really don't need to feed these settings in for networking to get up and running correctly in the kickstart environment. I've always chalked it up to either weirdness in the virtualbox environment or weirdness between what centos and redhat do in the kickstart environment by default. I figure you might just try feeding in manual settings to see if it's an issue with how kickstart networking starts and if so go from there.
The very first thing client does when you choose to have network boot at the top of the list of bootable devices is contact the DHCP on the network to get an IP from it. The dhcpd.conf file on the server is a convenient place to put further configuration details like the IP of the server that holds the pxe image and the location of that file on that PXE server.
So, not all guests will have static addresses, just the guest that is going to be your DHCP and PXE server. And no NATed NICs.
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
You should use the 'NAT Network' mode rather than 'NAT' since that's not a network we can customize in VirtualBox. I am using the latest VirtualBox 5.0. Take a look at the link below:
https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch06.html#networkingmodes
I’ve decided to try a minimal setup of what you were doing using VirtualBox to see if this can be easily done, and I was able to set up Kickstart. Here’s what I did below. I hope this helps you and others visiting the site. It’s ideal to keep it simple, then build on top of that.
For the FTP server -
VirtualBox configuration:
-NatNetwork (10.0.0.0/24) (default)
-One Ethernet adapter (default)
-1 hard drive (20 GB) (default)
-512MB RAM (no GUI)
-1 CD drive (containing CentOS 6.6 full image iso)
-No guest addition required
CentOS configuration:
Modify the network config setting - set to static:
Lines to modify in ifcfg-eth0 script file: (first two lines are not required)
Lines to append:
Set up nameserver, so you can perform yum update:
Restart network:
Update yum and install vsftpd server:
Start ftp server and run persistently:
Copy the image to the FTP directory:
Copy the original kickstart file and rename it:
Modify the kickstart:
See below for my kickstart configuration file example. (I intentionally left out the hashed password. We'll create that in later step):
Create root hashed password and store it to variable. Store absolute path of file to variable for ease:
Append the hashed password to the ‘rootpw’ directive line in kickstart file:
SELinux setting for FTP directory. You must run this each time a file or directory is added there or else you can’t access it while SELinux is in enforcing mode:
Your FTP server is now all set. By default, you should not have an iptables config file, so the firewall is pretty much already disabled. Now we’ll create a second machine which we’ll kickstart. The actual disk size in the guest will be 8GB, and I've already thin-provisioned a 20 GB disk in VirtualBox for this set up.
For the client VM -
VirtualBox configuration:
-NatNetwork (10.0.0.0/24) (default)
-One Ethernet adapter (default)
-1 hard drive (20 GB) (default)
-512MB RAM (no GUI)
-1 CD drive (containing CentOS 6.6 netinstall image. You can use the full image too.)
-No guest addition required
CentOS configuration:
-None
When booting up the machine, be sure to press tab at the GRUB screen. You should be editing the line at ‘Install or upgrade an existing system’. Append the following text at the end of ‘vmlinuz initrd=initrd.img ’ line:
And you’re all set. This is all you needed. Don’t forget to eject the disk from the VM afterward. For some reasons, if there is an error in my guide above, please let me know as I may have created a typo or left out a step.
Also having issues with KVM, however that is probably a separate thread...
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown
Right now, I'm thinking its a combination of not having the networking piece setup correctly in VirtualBox. I still don't understand what Bridged, Hosted and NAT mean, so alot of times it guess work on my part. I've read thru their documentation, however I would have to lab some sort of examples to really understand what it all means. I am running the latest and greatest, FYI.
I agree with what your saying on Jang's book. It basically sounds like you run the following:
And away you go...
Not really that simple. There is some prep work that has to take place to make it happen and unfortunately he doesn't have it all detailed out.
"Its easier to deceive the masses then to convince the masses that they have been deceived."
-unknown