Creating spins with Revisor, Creating customized SL images

[AndrewSerk]

QUOTE

Edit - I started doing some more reading and they acted like I needed to copy my ks.cfg file to $LIVE_ROOT and then during the boot menu do something like ks=cd:/ks.cfg to make the install unattended. Because apparently now it doesn't now about the kickstart script.

Well that is what you would do with a installation type .ks and a install DVD. The $LIVE_ROOT/ is outside the compressed file system of the livecd and any file you put there can be accessed without running the livecd but by just mounting the disk.

I just can't figure out how that would work?? The repo lines in the .ks would have to point to the livecd but the livecd doesn't contain rpm packages or a repo but a already installed file system that has been compressed. It may be possible to do that with a livecd but I just can't think of how that could work.

But if you do not really need a livecd and are just concerned with the install, then making a installation type kickstart and building a install DVD would be way easier. You could use the system-config-kickstart package to help build the .ks and just check/uncheck boxes and add the %post and %post --nocheckroot lines you need.

This post has been edited by AndrewSerk: Apr 18 2012, 01:47 AM

[ericl42]

I don't care at all about the user being able to log into the live CD. As you can see in my example, I already have all of the boot to live CD options removed. I am only allowing them to go directly to the install screen. So what I want to happen is:

1. They put int he CD to the server.
2. It install the entire OS the way I have it configured. Maybe allowing them a few screens to modify the partitioning, but no root passwords, time zones, etc.
3. After it installs, it boots to the hard drive and has all of the custom settings I told them.

I just need to keep the file under 700 megs. So I don't care about the "live cd" aspect of it. I just need toe lower space.

[AndrewSerk]

I thought that might be the case, on the 27th of last month. I posted:

QUOTE

EDIT: Kickstart files for livecd/dvds are a lot more difficult and involved than a ks for the install dvd. For a simple way to make a install ks for a install media check out "system-config-kickstart" package

But got no response, so I figured you needed to boot the server and run something in the background before install or something similar that caused you to need a livecd.

Anyway, you will find that building a install DVD and including a ks will allow for "asknetwork" to work along with many other ks commands that will not work for a livecd ks.

Here is a like for a how to based on RHEL/CentOS but should give you a pretty good idea of what is involved with making a install DVD/cd that includes your custom kickstart.: http://markliggett.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/custom-installation-centosrhel-dvd/

Hope this helps,

[ericl42]

Ok... back from a week vacation and time to try to remember what I was working on! I tried the following command from the link you provided.

CODE

mkisofs -o /root/pleasework5.iso -r -J -N -d -hide-rr-moved -sysid 'hostname' -V 'Appliance' -no-emul-boot -boot-info-table -boot-load-size 4 -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat /root/customdvd/

This works if I keep all of the packages in the /root/customdvd/Packages/ directory. However if I keep everything in there, it is 3.4 gigs big, which I obviously don't want or need. Ideally it would be under 700 for a CD. So i tried to delete some stuff that I wasn't going to have installed on the CD such as openoffice, eclipse, etc. but the installation process is not happy at all about that. It hangs on "Starting installation process". I deleted ~30 packages so I guess I'll try to scale it back and only delete a few at a time and see if it works.

I love how the DVD install works as it goes right through everything without prompting for any information. If only I could get the livecd image to do that I'd be $$$!!!!

[AndrewSerk]

Hi ericl42,
Hope you had a peaceful relaxing vacation

If you remove a package from the install DVD you have to remove the package's lines in the comps.xml for the DVD to still function properly.

I knew you would like the way a install .ks functions better than the livecd install. I too also wish there was a way to get a livecd install to function in that manor without a complete rewrite of anaconda or if revisor actually worked ( I tried to have revisor build a DVD based on a .ks but it failed) that sure would make building a install DVD easier.

Hope this helps,

EDIT: If I can find some time I will build "pungi" the old tool to create anaconda based installation trees/isos of a set of rpms and report if that works.

This post has been edited by AndrewSerk: May 1 2012, 05:01 PM

[ericl42]

Yeah, after I posted my last message I found my stupid error about not redoing the xml files. I have the DVD down to around 1 gig right now which is a lot better. Some of my kickstart script stuff isn't working the way it previously was so I have to make sure all of my paths are correct. We shall see.

[AndrewSerk]

QUOTE (ericl42 @ May 2 2012, 10:40 AM)

Some of my kickstart script stuff isn't working the way it previously was so I have to make sure all of my paths are correct. We shall see.

I am sure you will get it figured out since you have already demonstrated the necessary skills
If for some reason you get stuck, don't hesitate to post back and I or someone will try to help.

Andrew

[ericl42]

Hello,

As much as I like the DVD walk through process, it just isn't going to work for me. I like the small size of the livecd and everything I've done is working good with it right now. Below is my latest and greatest ks script. It's working pretty good. I force it to go into the install, it creates accounts, modifies files, and does a bunch of other stuff. I have a few minor issues now that are bugging me that I'm trying to working through.

1. I've given up on the livecd using the ks file to autostep through all of the options. This is fine, however I would still like the install to skip the section where it prompts for a root password. Because I don't want the users to have the root password. If I can't find a section where I can skip this within the live cd or a command line option, I may just have to overwrite the root password when the server boots up for the first time.
2. I wish it prompted me for network configuration during the initial install. I know if I turn firstboot on it will ask me but then it will also ask for additional users and what not. Which I don't want.
3. I've modified a lot of the application menu to take away users being able to access them easily. However I can't figure out how to get rid of those stupid quicklaunch icons!!! Obviously you can right click and remove them but I gotta find a config file within the schemes or a command line tool where I can auto remove those!

Thanks again for all of your help and I hope the kickstart script below may help someone else in the future. The overall image is around 1.4 gig installed and 608 MB in the ISO.

CODE

###################################################### ## Custom Kickstart Script ###################################################### ###################################################### ## Include another kickstart script ###################################################### %include sl62-livecd-gnome.ks ###################################################### ## Basic Settings ###################################################### cdrom install autopart autostep xconfig --startxonboot lang en_US.UTF-8 keyboard us timezone --utc America/New_York auth --useshadow --enablemd5 selinux --disabled services --enabled=iptables,rsyslog,sshd,ntpd,NetworkManager,network --disabled=sendmail,cups,firstboot,ip6tables clearpart --all ###################################################### ## Repos ###################################################### repo --name=base          --baseurl=http://ftp.scientificlinux.org/linux/scientific/6.2/$basearch/os/ repo --name=security   --baseurl=http://ftp.scientificlinux.org/linux/scientific/6.2/$basearch/updates/security/ ###################################################### ## Packages ###################################################### %packages # Additional firmware support aic94xx-firmware netxen-firmware atmel-firmware bfa-firmware ql2100-firmware ql2200-firmware ql23xx-firmware ql2400-firmware ql2500-firmware rt61pci-firmware rt73usb-firmware xorg-x11-drv-ati-firmware # Remove these packages -tigervnc-server -tigervnc -postfix -pidgin -cups -pulseaudio-module-bluetooth -gnome-bluetooth-libs -gnome-bluetooth -cheese -evolution-data-server -libgweather -tsclient /usr/sbin/lokkit %end ###################################################### ## Post Script --nochroot (nochroot environment allows you to copy from the build host environment to the livecd build enviroment) ###################################################### %post --nochroot # Modify desktop background cp -f my_wallpaper.jpg $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/share/backgrounds/1280x1024_default.png cp -f my_wallpaper.jpg $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/share/backgrounds/1920x1200_default.png cp -f my_wallpaper.jpg $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/share/backgrounds/2048x1536_default.png # Copy new splash screen for boot menu cp -f splash.jpg $LIVE_ROOT/isolinux/ # Copy icons for the new applications cp -f logo-16x16.png $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/share/icons/gnome/16x16/apps/logo.png cp -f logo-22x22.png $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/share/icons/gnome/22x22/apps/logo.png cp -f logo-24x24.png $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/share/icons/gnome/24x24/apps/logo.png cp -f logo-32x32.png $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/share/icons/gnome/32x32/apps/logo.png cp -f logo-32x32.png $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/apps/logo.png # Copy some files to the hard drive, will put them in the desktop later in the post script cp -f system_stats $INSTALL_ROOT/usr/local/bin/ # Modify the boot menu cat > $LIVE_ROOT/isolinux/isolinux.cfg << EOF_boot_menu default vesamenu.c32 timeout 100 menu background splash.jpg menu title Welcome to MyISO! menu color border 0 #ffffffff #00000000 menu color sel 7 #ffffffff #ff000000 menu color title 0 #ffffffff #00000000 menu color tabmsg 0 #ffffffff #00000000 menu color unsel 0 #ffffffff #00000000 menu color hotsel 0 #ff000000 #ffffffff menu color hotkey 7 #ffffffff #ff000000 menu color timeout_msg 0 #ffffffff #00000000 menu color timeout 0 #ffffffff #00000000 menu color cmdline 0 #ffffffff #00000000 menu hidden menu hiddenrow 5 label install0  menu label Install  kernel vmlinuz0  append initrd=initrd0.img root=live:CDLABEL=MyISO rootfstype=auto ro liveimg liveinst noswap   rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM   menu default EOF_boot_menu %end ##################################################### ## Post Script (chroot environment isolates the livecd build environment form the host that is building the livecd) ##################################################### %post # Add a new user and modify permissions /usr/sbin/useradd support -G wheel -c "Support" -d /home/support -s /bin/bash; echo password | passwd --stdin support # Create the .ssh directory for root to have passwordless logins to the syslog server mkdir /root/.ssh # Create the keys cat > /root/.ssh/id_rsa << EOF_id_rsa PAST PRIVTE KEY HERE EOF_id_rsa cat > /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub << EOF_id_rsa_pub PAST PUBLIC KEY HERE EOF_id_rsa_pub # Modify the permissions for the ssh key chown root:root -R /root/.ssh/ chmod 700 -R /root/.ssh/ # Allow wheel group sudo access cat >> /etc/sudoers << EOF_sudoers ### Allow wheel group sudo access ### %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL' EOF_sudoers # Modify ssh_config cat >> /etc/ssh/ssh_config << EOF_ssh_config ### Specific settings for timeouts TCPKeepAlive yes ServerAliveInterval 120 ServerAliveCountMax 3 ### Don't prompt for host verification StrictHostKeyChecking no EOF_ssh_config # Modify sshd_config /bin/sed -i 's/#PermitRootLogin yes/PermitRootLogin no/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config /sbin/service sshd restart # Create a directory for rsyslog queuing mkdir /var/spool/rsyslog # Modify rsyslog configuration cat >> /etc/rsyslog.conf << EOF_rsyslog ### Queuing Config ### \$WorkDirectory /var/spool/rsyslog \$ActionQueueType LinkedList \$ActionQueueFileName remotequeue \$ActionResumeRetryCount -1 \$ActionQueueSaveOnShutdown on \$ActionQueueMaxFileSize 100m \$ActionQueueMaxDiskSpace 5g ### Forwarding Rule ### *.*     @@127.0.0.1:1514 EOF_rsyslog # Start the SSH tunnel and ensure if it goes down, it will be restarted cat >> /etc/rc.local << EOF_inittab ssh -fnNTx -L 1514:127.0.0.1:514 syslog_user@192.168.56.110 > /dev/null 2>&1 EOF_inittab cat >> /usr/local/bin/ssh_syslog << EOF_ssh_syslog #!/bin/bash if ps aux | grep "ssh -fnNTx" | grep -v "grep" then echo "Already Running" else echo "Starting now" ssh -fnNTx -L 1514:127.0.0.1:514 syslog_user@192.168.56.110 fi EOF_ssh_syslog chmod 777 /usr/local/bin/ssh_syslog cat >> /etc/crontab << EOF_ssh_cron */1 * * * * root /usr/local/bin/ssh_syslog EOF_ssh_cron # Allow forwarding (first line is for initial allowance, second line is to maintain during a reboot) echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward /bin/sed -i 's/net.ipv4.ip_forward = 0/net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1/' /etc/sysctl.conf cat > /etc/sysconfig/iptables.script << EOF_iptables_script #!/bin/bash # Iptables configuration script # Flush all current rules from iptables /sbin/iptables -F # Loopback address /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT # Established inbound rule /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT # Define new chain with all management IPs /sbin/iptables -N MGT_IPS /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -s 192.168.56.0/24 -j MGT_IPS # Allow SSH , HTTP, ,HTTPS, and ping access to management IPs /sbin/iptables -A MGT_IPS -p tcp -m state --state NEW -m multiport --dports 22,80,443 -j ACCEPT /sbin/iptables -A MGT_IPS -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type any -j ACCEPT # Allow ICMP from internal IPs /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -s 10.0.0.0/8 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type any -j ACCEPT /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -s 172.16.0.0/12 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type any -j ACCEPT /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -s 192.168.0.0/16 -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type any -j ACCEPT # Drop rules to prevent them from entering the logs /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m multiport --dports 135,137,138 -j DROP /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m multiport --dports 135,137,138 -j DROP /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -p all -d 255.255.255.255 -j DROP # Log dropped traffic /sbin/iptables -A INPUT -j LOG -m limit --limit 10/m --log-level 4 --log-prefix "Dropped Traffic: " # Set default policies for INPUT, FORWARD and OUTPUT chains /sbin/iptables -P INPUT DROP /sbin/iptables -P FORWARD DROP /sbin/iptables -P OUTPUT ACCEPT # Save settings /sbin/service iptables save # List rules /sbin/iptables -L -v EOF_iptables_script # Modify iptables.script permissions so it can run chmod 700 /etc/sysconfig/iptables.script # Add files to rc.local cat >> /etc/rc.local << EOF_rclocal # Run firewall script /etc/sysconfig/iptables.script EOF_rclocal # Remove some files that are not needed (cups,tigervnc-server, libgweather won't allow me to remove them) rpm -e --nodeps tigervnc rpm -e --nodeps tigervnc-server rpm -e --nodeps libgweather rpm -e --nodeps pulseaudio rpm -e --nodeps cups rpm -e --nodeps sendmail # Modify the applications menu rm -f /usr/share/applications/gthumb*.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/brasero*.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-screens*.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/about-this-computer.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-about*.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-dictionary.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-gcalctool.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-keybinding.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/bluetooth-properties.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/totem.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-file-roller.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-gucharmap.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gedit.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-baobab.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-system-monitor.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/palimpsest.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-nautilus-browser.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/TUV.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/sl-release-notes.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/system-config-users.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/authconfig.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/system-config-firewall.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/system-config-services.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-network-properties.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-volume-control.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-default-application.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-at-properties.desktop rm -f /usr/share/applications/gnome-session-properties.desktop /bin/sed -i 's/Categories=System;Settings;X-Red-Hat-Base;/Categories=Settings;/' /usr/share/applications/system-config-date.desktop /bin/sed -i 's/NoDisplay=true/NoDisplay=false/' /home/customer_login/.local/share/applications/preferred-mail-reader.desktop # Create a various scripts for customers to use cat > /usr/local/bin/remote_support << EOF_remote_support #!/bin/bash # This script will open a reverse SSH tunnel for support. ssh -fnNTx -R 2222:127.0.0.1:22 X.X.X.X EOF_remote_support chmod 777 /usr/local/bin/remote_support chmod 777 /usr/local/bin/system_stats # Add the scripts to the applications menu cat > /usr/share/applications/remote-support.desktop << EOF_remote_sup_menu [Desktop Entry] Name=Remote Support Comment=Support Exec=remote_support StartupNotify=true Terminal=true Type=Application Categories=System Icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/16x16/apps/logo.png EOF_remote_sup_menu cat > /usr/share/applications/system-stats.desktop << EOF_sys_stats_menu [Desktop Entry] Name=System Statistics Comment=Basic system information Exec=system_stats StartupNotify=true Terminal=true Type=Application Categories=System Icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/16x16/apps/logo.png EOF_sys_stats_menu chmod 644 /usr/share/applications/remote-support.desktop chmod 644 /usr/share/applications/system-stats.desktop %end # Reboot after installation reboot --eject

[AndrewSerk]

Hi ericl42,

When you say "quicklaunch icons" do you mean the the icons on the desktop? If so, you can try to remove the lines in live-base.ks that creates the desktop icons.

If anyone might be able to provide the answers to the first two issues I would expect it to be Dr. Urs Beyerle. Dr. Urs Beyerle seems to be the maintainer of http://www.livecd.ethz.ch/ . I have never tried to contact him but he does ask for feed back via e-mail or Scientific-Linux-Users mailing list..
Here is a public page with his contact info: http://www.iac.ethz.ch/people/beyerleu/
I don't think it would hurt to ask him if he knows of a way to achieve what you want.

Hope this helps,

Andrew

EDIT: Since SL uses the Fedora livecd-tools these people may be able to provide some insight. People (developers of livecd-tools) that may be able to provide some insight :
Contributors
DavidZeuthen - Primary developer and maintainer of HAL and OLPC contributor
JeremyKatz - Fedora Ninja. Adds backend for installing from a live image into Anaconda
DouglasMcClendon - LiveOS device mapper trickster

Fedora Live image users and developers can participate and contribute in the discussions happening in the Fedora Live CD list.


This post has been edited by AndrewSerk: May 8 2012, 06:22 PM

[ericl42]

Thanks for those contacts. By quick launch icons I mean the icons at the gnome-panel at the top of the screen.

It normally has applications and a few other drop down boxes to get to various things. Then on the far right is the clock. The icons in between those are the ones I want gone. By default is has Firefox, Evolution, and Terminal. Even if you uninstall evolution or Firefox, the icon stays there.

[AndrewSerk]

QUOTE (ericl42 @ May 8 2012, 01:32 PM)

Thanks for those contacts. By quick launch icons I mean the icons at the gnome-panel at the top of the screen. It normally has applications and a few other drop down boxes to get to various things. Then on the far right is the clock. The icons in between those are the ones I want gone. By default is has Firefox, Evolution, and Terminal. Even if you uninstall evolution or Firefox, the icon stays there.

Doh, I knew that .
I believe the quick launch icons can be removed with "gconftool-2" from the command line (%post). I will look into what the commands would be to remove those icons and post back my findings.

[Nathan]

Ho-hum. Nevermind, nothing to see here.

This post has been edited by Nathan: May 8 2012, 11:08 PM

[AndrewSerk]

Hi ericl42,
Here is the gconftool-2 lines I came up with to remove the three quick launch icons (firefox,terminal and evolution). Not exactly sure if I used the "correct" string or if there is another string that might be better, but the strings I used worked fine here.

CODE

gconftool-2 --direct --config-source=xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults -s -t string /apps/panel/objects/web_launcher/toplevel_id "" gconftool-2 --direct --config-source=xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults -s -t string /apps/panel/objects/object_0/toplevel_id "" gconftool-2 --direct --config-source=xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults -s -t string /apps/panel/objects/email_launcher/toplevel_id ""

Hope this helps,

This post has been edited by AndrewSerk: May 9 2012, 12:32 AM

[ericl42]

Ahh you are awesome. I looked at that tool but was being stupid about what string I should use. I also spoke with Urs and this is what he told me about the "skipping various sections during the install". So I'll start digging through that now.

------------------------------------------------------

This is more an anaconda question than a LiveCD one. Because the installation inside the LiveCD is done with anaconda.

The command executed is (see sl6XX-live-base.ks)

/usr/sbin/liveinst noswap

rpm -qf /usr/sbin/liveinst
anaconda-13.21.149-1.sl6.i686

Just have a look inside /usr/sbin/liveinst. I think it's basically running

/usr/sbin/anaconda --liveinst --method=livecd://$LIVE_BLOCK $INSTLANG

I would suggest to search into the direction of how to customize anaconda install procedure. For example see

/usr/sbin/anaconda -h

[AndrewSerk]

I am glad Dr. Beyerle is approachable and seems like he has pointed you in the right direction. It would be very nice if a rewrite of anaconda is not necessary.
What I think would be really cool is if you could just edit /usr/sbin/liveinst and change the anaconda run line to:

CODE

/usr/sbin/anaconda --liveinst --autostep --method=livecd://$LIVE_BLOCK $INSTLANG

That sure would make it simple if that works.

Curiously awaiting your solution/findings,

Andrew

EDIT:
I edited /usr/bin/liveinst and changed the line to match the above from a running live session but still got the prompts.

This post has been edited by AndrewSerk: May 10 2012, 04:38 PM

[ericl42]

Yeah I did the same. I also modified that line to add the KS=/root/mykickstart.ks to see what would happen. What this did was make the live cd boot directly into live mode with all of the options. Then from there, you had the "install to hard drive" option on the desktop and unfortunately that prompted you for all of the information as well.

[AndrewSerk]

I hope to be able to look into this further today and will post back any findings.
It might be a good idea to ask "JeremyKatz - Fedora Ninja. Adds backend for installing from a live image into Anaconda" for some anaconda "hack" ideas.

[AndrewSerk]

Just thought I would give you a heads up on pungi. I was able to rebuild pungi with "rpmbuild" from http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=200528 . The only dep I was missing was repoview that I got from http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=274430.

I used system-config-kickstart to create a kickstart and used that kickstart as a config file for building the install media with pungi. The iso build went well and the package list only contained the the packages from the kickstart.

Pungi works well here and might be a good option for you.

Hope this helps,

[ericl42]

Got tied up with a few other things and haven't had much time to look at this lately, but I will definitely give Pungi a try. Thanks!