Kickstart installation guide for CentOS 5.5

This guide explain how to install and configure kickstart server for network based deployments of CentOS, from an NFS share.

The instructions should work the same on RedHat and Fedora.

Requirement:

* CentOS 5.5 DVD
* Static IP address for the Kickstart/DHCP server
* /data partition or any other

Installation Steps:

1. Login to the CentOS server using Root account.

2. Mount the CentOS DVD. Command would be : mount /dev/cdrom /media

3. Move to the CentOS RPM folder inside the DVD: cd /media/CentOS

4. Run the command bellow to install the TFTP-Server:
rpm -ivh xinetd-2.3.14-10.el5.i386.rpm
rpm -ivh tftp-server-0.49-2.el5.centos.i386.rpm

(If you get dependency error, download all necessary packages using "yum")

5. Run the command bellow to install the DHCP server:
rpm -ivh dhcp-3.0.5-23.el5.i386.rpm

6. Create new folder for the Kickstart server:
mkdir -p /data/kickstart

7. Edit using "vi", the file /etc/xinetd.d/tftp and change the following settings:
From:
disable = yes To: disable = no
From:
server_args = -s /tftpboot To: server_args = -s /data/kickstart

8. Run the command bellow to start the TFTP server:
/sbin/service xinetd start

9. Run the command bellow to start the TFTP server run at startup:
chkconfig xinetd on

10. Edit using "vi", the file /etc/dhcpd.conf and add the following lines:
ddns-update-style none;
allow bootp;
allow booting;
subnet 10.1.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
option routers 10.1.1.254;
option domain-name-servers 10.1.1.2;
next-server 10.1.1.1;
filename "pxelinux.0";
range dynamic-bootp 10.1.1.200 10.1.1.210;
}Note 1: Replace 10.1.1.0 with the correct network ID.
Note 2: Replace 255.255.255.0 with the correct subnet mask.
Note 3: Replace 10.1.1.254 with the correct default gateway.
Note 4: Replace 10.1.1.1 with the Kickstart server IP address.
Note 5: Replace 10.1.1.200 with the first IP of the DHCP pool.
Note 6: Replace 10.1.1.210 with the last IP of the DHCP pool.
Note 7: Replace 10.1.1.2 with the correct DNS server.

11. Start the DHCP server
service dhcpd start or /etc/init.d/dhcpd start

12. Run the command bellow to start the DHCP server run at startup:
chkconfig dhcpd on

13. Copy Boot Files
cp /usr/lib/syslinux/{pxelinux.0,menu.c32,memdisk,mboot.c32,chain.c32} /data/kickstart

14. Create a folder for the PXE menu files:
mkdir -p /data/kickstart/pxelinux.cfg

15. Move to the CentOS DVD root folder:
cd /media

16. Copy vmlinuz and initrd.img from the DVD to the images directory:
cp /media/images/pxeboot/{vmlinuz,initrd.img} /data/kickstart/images

17. Create the CentOS DVD structure:
cp -r CentOS /data/kickstart/
cp -r isolinux /data/kickstart/
cp -r repodata /data/kickstart/
cp -r images /data/kickstart/

18. Create using "vi", the file /data/kickstart/pxelinux.cfg/default with the following content:
default menu.c32
prompt 0
MENU TITLE PXE Menu
LABEL CentOS
MENU LABEL CentOS
KERNEL images/vmlinuz
append initrd=images/initrd.img vga=normal network ks=nfs:10.1.1.1:/data/kickstart/ks.cfg textNote: Replace 10.1.1.1 with the Kickstart server IP address.
19. Create an unattended installation script /data/kickstart/ks.cfg

Note: Make sure the file starts with the following lines:
install
nfs --server=10.1.1.1 --dir=/data/kickstartNote 1: Replace 10.1.1.1 with the Kickstart server IP address.

Note: Make sure the lines beginning with “cdrom” and “url” does not exist on the file.

Note: To review ks.cfg file options, see the link:
http://www.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.4/html/Installation_Guide/s1-kickstart2-options.html

20. Edit using "vi", the file /etc/exports and add the following line:
/data/kickstart *(ro,no_root_squash)

21. Start the NFS service:
service portmap start
service nfs start
chkconfig nfs on

That' it.