Chapter 4. Branding and chroming the graphical user interface

You can write the Anaconda configuration files in the .ini file format. The Anaconda configuration file consists of sections, options and comments. Each section is defined by a [section] header, the comments starting with a # character and the keys to define the options. The resulting configuration file is processed with the configparser configuration file parser.

The default configuration file, located at /etc/anaconda/anaconda.conf, contains the documented sections and options that are supported. The file provides a full default configuration of the installer. You can modify the configuration of the product configuration files from /etc/anaconda/product.d/ and the custom configuration files from /etc/anaconda/conf.d/.

The following configuration file describes the default configuration of RHEL 9:

[Anaconda]
# Run Anaconda in the debugging mode.
debug = False

# Enable Anaconda addons.
# This option is deprecated and will be removed in the future.
# addons_enabled = True

# List of enabled Anaconda DBus modules.
# This option is deprecated and will be removed in the future.
# kickstart_modules =

# List of Anaconda DBus modules that can be activated.
# Supported patterns: MODULE.PREFIX., MODULE.NAME activatable_modules = org.fedoraproject.Anaconda.Modules.
    org.fedoraproject.Anaconda.Addons.*

# List of Anaconda DBus modules that are not allowed to run.
# Supported patterns: MODULE.PREFIX., MODULE.NAME forbidden_modules = # List of Anaconda DBus modules that can fail to run. # The installation won't be aborted because of them. # Supported patterns: MODULE.PREFIX., MODULE.NAME
optional_modules =
    org.fedoraproject.Anaconda.Modules.Subscription
    org.fedoraproject.Anaconda.Addons.*


[Installation System]

# Should the installer show a warning about enabled SMT?
can_detect_enabled_smt = False


[Installation Target]
# Type of the installation target.
type = HARDWARE

# A path to the physical root of the target.
physical_root = /mnt/sysimage

# A path to the system root of the target.
system_root = /mnt/sysroot

# Should we install the network configuration?
can_configure_network = True


[Network]
# Network device to be activated on boot if none was configured so.
# Valid values:
#
#   NONE                   No device
#   DEFAULT_ROUTE_DEVICE   A default route device
#   FIRST_WIRED_WITH_LINK  The first wired device with link
#
default_on_boot = NONE


[Payload]
# Default package environment.
default_environment =

# List of ignored packages.
ignored_packages =

# Names of repositories that provide latest updates.
updates_repositories =

# List of .treeinfo variant types to enable.
# Valid items:
#
#   addon
#   optional
#   variant
#
enabled_repositories_from_treeinfo = addon optional variant

# Enable installation from the closest mirror.
enable_closest_mirror = True

# Default installation source.
# Valid values:
#
#    CLOSEST_MIRROR  Use closest public repository mirror.
#    CDN             Use Content Delivery Network (CDN).
#
default_source = CLOSEST_MIRROR

# Enable ssl verification for all HTTP connection
verify_ssl = True

# GPG keys to import to RPM database by default.
# Specify paths on the installed system, each on a line.
# Substitutions for $releasever and $basearch happen automatically.
default_rpm_gpg_keys =

[Security]
# Enable SELinux usage in the installed system.
# Valid values:
#
#  -1  The value is not set.
#   0  SELinux is disabled.
#   1  SELinux is enabled.
#
selinux = -1


[Boot loader]
# Type of the boot loader.
# Supported values:
#
#   DEFAULT   Choose the type by platform.
#   EXTLINUX  Use extlinux as the boot loader.
#
type = DEFAULT

# Name of the EFI directory.
efi_dir = default

# Hide the GRUB menu.
menu_auto_hide = False

# Are non-iBFT iSCSI disks allowed?
nonibft_iscsi_boot = False

# Arguments preserved from the installation system.
preserved_arguments =
    cio_ignore rd.znet rd_ZNET zfcp.allow_lun_scan
    speakup_synth apic noapic apm ide noht acpi video
    pci nodmraid nompath nomodeset noiswmd fips selinux
    biosdevname ipv6.disable net.ifnames net.ifnames.prefix
    nosmt


[Storage]
# Enable dmraid usage during the installation.
dmraid = True

# Enable iBFT usage during the installation.
ibft = True

# Do you prefer creation of GPT disk labels?
gpt = False

# Tell multipathd to use user friendly names when naming devices during the installation.
multipath_friendly_names = True

# Do you want to allow imperfect devices (for example, degraded mdraid array devices)?
allow_imperfect_devices = False

# Default file system type. Use whatever Blivet uses by default.
file_system_type =

# Default partitioning.
# Specify a mount point and its attributes on each line.
#
# Valid attributes:
#
#   size <SIZE>    The size of the mount point.
#   min <MIN_SIZE> The size will grow from MIN_SIZE to MAX_SIZE.
#   max <MAX_SIZE> The max size is unlimited by default.
#   free <SIZE>    The required available space.
#
default_partitioning =
    /     (min 1 GiB, max 70 GiB)
    /home (min 500 MiB, free 50 GiB)

# Default partitioning scheme.
# Valid values:
#
#   PLAIN      Create standard partitions.
#   BTRFS      Use the Btrfs scheme.
#   LVM        Use the LVM scheme.
#   LVM_THINP  Use LVM Thin Provisioning.
#
default_scheme = LVM

# Default version of LUKS.
# Valid values:
#
#   luks1  Use version 1 by default.
#   luks2  Use version 2 by default.
#
luks_version = luks2


[Storage Constraints]

# Minimal size of the total memory.
min_ram = 320 MiB

# Minimal size of the available memory for LUKS2.
luks2_min_ram = 128 MiB

# Should we recommend to specify a swap partition?
swap_is_recommended = False

# Recommended minimal sizes of partitions.
# Specify a mount point and a size on each line.
min_partition_sizes =
    /      250 MiB
    /usr   250 MiB
    /tmp   50  MiB
    /var   384 MiB
    /home  100 MiB
    /boot  200 MiB

# Required minimal sizes of partitions.
# Specify a mount point and a size on each line.
req_partition_sizes =

# Allowed device types of the / partition if any.
# Valid values:
#
#   LVM        Allow LVM.
#   MD         Allow RAID.
#   PARTITION  Allow standard partitions.
#   BTRFS      Allow Btrfs.
#   DISK       Allow disks.
#   LVM_THINP  Allow LVM Thin Provisioning.
#
root_device_types =

# Mount points that must be on a linux file system.
# Specify a list of mount points.
must_be_on_linuxfs = / /var /tmp /usr /home /usr/share /usr/lib

# Paths that must be directories on the / file system.
# Specify a list of paths.
must_be_on_root = /bin /dev /sbin /etc /lib /root /mnt lost+found /proc

# Paths that must NOT be directories on the / file system.
# Specify a list of paths.
must_not_be_on_root =

# Mount points that are recommended to be reformatted.
#
# It will be recommended to create a new file system on a mount point
# that has an allowed prefix, but does not have a blocked one.
# Specify lists of mount points.
reformat_allowlist = /boot /var /tmp /usr
reformat_blocklist = /home /usr/local /opt /var/www


[User Interface]
# The path to a custom stylesheet.
custom_stylesheet =

# The path to a directory with help files.
help_directory = /usr/share/anaconda/help

# A list of spokes to hide in UI.
# FIXME: Use other identification then names of the spokes.
hidden_spokes =

# Should the UI allow to change the configured root account?
can_change_root = False

# Should the UI allow to change the configured user accounts?
can_change_users = False

# Define the default password policies.
# Specify a policy name and its attributes on each line.
#
# Valid attributes:
#
#   quality <NUMBER>  The minimum quality score (see libpwquality).
#   length <NUMBER>   The minimum length of the password.
#   empty             Allow an empty password.
#   strict            Require the minimum quality.
#
password_policies =
    root (quality 1, length 6)
    user (quality 1, length 6, empty)
    luks (quality 1, length 6)


[License]
# A path to EULA (if any)
#
# If the given distribution has an EULA & feels the need to
# tell the user about it fill in this variable by a path
# pointing to a file with the EULA on the installed system.
#
# This is currently used just to show the path to the file to
# the user at the end of the installation.
eula =

The product configuration files have one or two extra sections that identify the product. The [Product] section specifies the product name of a product. The [Base Product] section specifies the product name of a base product if any. For example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a base product of Red Hat Virtualization.

The installer loads configuration files of the base products before it loads the configuration file of the specified product. For example, it will first load the configuration for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and then the configuration for Red Hat Virtualization.

See an example of the product configuration file for Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

# Anaconda configuration file for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

[Product]
product_name = Red Hat Enterprise Linux

[Installation System]

# Show a warning if SMT is enabled.
can_detect_enabled_smt = True

[Network]
default_on_boot = DEFAULT_ROUTE_DEVICE

[Payload]
ignored_packages =
    ntfsprogs
    btrfs-progs
    dmraid

enable_closest_mirror = False
default_source = CDN

[Boot loader]
efi_dir = redhat

[Storage]
file_system_type = xfs
default_partitioning =
    /     (min 1 GiB, max 70 GiB)
    /home (min 500 MiB, free 50 GiB)
    swap

[Storage Constraints]
swap_is_recommended = True

[User Interface]

help_directory = /usr/share/anaconda/help/rhel

[License]
eula = /usr/share/redhat-release/EULA

See an example of the product configuration file for Red Hat Virtualization:

# Anaconda configuration file for Red Hat Virtualization.

[Product]
product_name = Red Hat Virtualization (RHVH)

[Base Product]
product_name = Red Hat Enterprise Linux

[Storage]
default_scheme = LVM_THINP
default_partitioning =
    /              (min 6 GiB)
    /home          (size 1 GiB)
    /tmp           (size 1 GiB)
    /var           (size 15 GiB)
    /var/crash     (size 10 GiB)
    /var/log       (size 8 GiB)
    /var/log/audit (size 2 GiB)
    swap

[Storage Constraints]
root_device_types = LVM_THINP
must_not_be_on_root = /var
req_partition_sizes =
	/var   10 GiB
	/boot  1  GiB

To customize the installer configuration for your product, you must create a product configuration file. Create a new file named my-distribution.conf, with content similar to the example above. Change product_name in the [Product] section to the name of your product, for example My Distribution. The product name should be the same as the name used in the .buildstamp file.

After you create the custom configuration file, follow the steps in Creating a product.img file section to create a new product.img file containing your customizations, and the Creating custom boot images to create a new bootable ISO file with your changes included.

To customize the installer configuration independently of the product name, you must create a custom configuration file. To do so, create a new file named 100-my-configuration.conf with the content similar to the example in Configuring the default configuration files and omit the [Product] and [Base Product] sections.

After you create the custom configuration file, follow the steps in Creating a product.img file section to create a new product.img file containing your customizations, and the Creating custom boot images to create a new bootable ISO file with your changes included.