32.9. Making the Kickstart File Available

Procedure 32.1. Including a Kickstart File on Boot Media

1. Mount the ISO image you have downloaded:

   # mount /path/to/image.iso /mnt/iso

2. Extract the ISO image into a working directory somewhere in your system:

   # cp -pRf /mnt/iso /tmp/workdir

3. Unmount the mounted image:

   # umount /mnt/iso

4. The contents of the image is now placed in the iso/ directory in your working directory. Add your Kickstart file (ks.cfg) into the iso/ directory:

   # cp /path/to/ks.cfg /tmp/workdir/iso

5. Open the isolinux/isolinux.cfg configuration file inside the iso/ directory. This file determines all the menu options which appear in the boot menu. A single menu entry is defined as the following:

   label linux
     menu label ^Install or upgrade an existing system
     menu default
     kernel vmlinuz
     append initrd=initrd.img
   

   Add the ks= boot option to the line beginning with append. The exact syntax depends on how you plan to boot the ISO image; for example, if you plan on booting from a CD or DVD, use ks=cdrom:/ks.cfg. A list of possible sources and the syntax used to configure them is available in Section 28.4, “Automating the Installation with Kickstart”.
6. Use genisoimage in the iso/ directory to create a new bootable ISO image with your changes included:

   # genisoimage -U -r -v -T -J -joliet-long -V "RHEL-6.9" -volset "RHEL-6.9" -A "RHEL-6.9" -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -eltorito-alt-boot -e images/efiboot.img -no-emul-boot -o ../NEWISO.iso .

   This comand will create a file named NEWISO.iso in your working directory (one directory above the iso/ directory).

   Important

   If you use a disk label to refer to any device in your isolinux.cfg (e.g. ks=hd:LABEL=RHEL-6.9/ks.cfg, make sure that the label matches the label of the new ISO you are creating. Also note that in boot loader configuration, spaces in labels must be replaced with \x20.
7. Implant a md5 checksum into the new ISO image:

   # implantisomd5 ../NEWISO.iso