and system data. You must decide ahead of time how much storage to allocate to users. For a single workstation, you should reserve several gigabytes of storage.
> /opt — As the home directory for additional software packages, this directory can have its own partition or remote file system. Fedora does not populate this directory, but it might be used by other software packages you install later. Just 1GB of storage should be adequate, depending on applications to be installed.
> /tmp — This directory can be used as temporary storage by users, especially if disk quotas are enforced; as such, it could be placed on its own partition. This directory can be as small as 100MB.
> /usr — This directory holds nearly all the software on a Fedora system and can become quite large if additional software is added, especially on a workstation configuration. Using a separate partition can make sense. A full install requires at least 6GB for this directory or more if additional software is added.
> /var — Placing this directory (or perhaps some of its subdirectories) on a separate partition can be a good idea, especially because security logs, mail, and print spooling take place under this tree. You should reserve at least 1GB of storage for /var, especially if using Fedora as a print server (as spooled documents reside under /var/spool).
As a general rule, it is a good idea to segregate user and system data. Although a Linux system can be restored quickly, user data has a much greater value and can be much more difficult to replace. Segregating data can make the job of backing up and restoring much easier. If you ever have a problem accessing your partition, we recommend that you get the excellent Knoppix distribution that boots and runs entirely from CD. This will enable you to access your partitions and make any necessary repairs.
Using Fedora's kickstart Installation Method
Automating the installation process can save system administrators a lot of time and effort during an initial deployment, upgrade, or maintenance cycle by managing multiple computers at one time. Fedora offers a highly automated installation technique called kickstart, developed by Red Hat, which can be used for unattended installation of Linux.
Fedora's kickstart installation uses a single configuration file with a special, extensive syntax on a server, boot floppy, or other medium to install Fedora via CD/DVD, a hard drive partition, or a network connection. Using kickstart is easy and involves passing a kernel argument to the Fedora Linux boot kernel. The various arguments tell the boot kernel to look for a configuration file on floppy, a designated server, via a network, specific file, or CD/DVD.
You can use kickstart to install Fedora on one or more computers at the same time. First, set up a web or FTP server with Fedora's installation files. Next, create a network boot floppy, using the techniques described in the next section. Follow the directions given here (choosing an FTP install), and then copy the custom kickstart file to the network boot floppy. You can then use this floppy (and copies) to boot one or more PCs to a network install, using your FTP server.
Fedora does not automatically install system-config-kickstart, the utility used to create and customize system-config-kickstart files. Be sure that you install it, using either yum or the Add/Remove Programs tool.
To begin the automated installation process, you create the configuration file that will be used by kickstart as an installation profile. You can configure the complex configuration file with Fedora's Kickstart Configurator. To start the configuration, click the Kickstart item from System, Administration menu, or enter the system-config-kickstart command, like so:
# system-config-kickstart
After you press Enter, you see the Kickstart Configurator dialog box, as shown in Figure B.2.
FIGURE B.2 Fedora's kickstart configuration tool, system-config-kickstart, can be used to quickly and easily create installation profiles for use in automated installations.
Click to select various options, and then enter the specifics desired for the target system. Start by selecting the default system language, type of keyboard, mouse, and so on. Of course, automated installations work best when they are done on similar equipment. When finished, press Ctrl+S, or use the Save File item from the File menu. The configuration will be saved with the name ks.cfg. When you use the kickstart installation method, the kickstart file will be read by computers booting to the install. The kickstart language covers nearly every aspect of an install with the exception of sound card, printer, or modem setup.
For example, a portion of a kickstart file generated for an install might look like this:
#Generated by Kickstart Configurator
#System language
lang en_US
#Language modules to install
langsupport en_US
#System keyboard
keyboard us
#System mouse mouse
genericps/2
#System timezone
timezone --utc Europe/London
#Root password
rootpw --iscrypted $1$/n3yjyDV$AWoBZgRQq/lAxyRhX1JSM1
...
Note that not all the output of a sample ks.cfg is shown. However, you can see that this file feeds kickstart directions for an install, including an encrypted root password to be installed on the target system.
The next step is to copy your new ks.cfg to a boot disk created with one of the boot floppy images (found at http://www.thisiscool.com/fcfloppy.htm). You can do this with Linux by using the mount and cp commands. For example, insert your boot disk into your PC, and then use the mount command (as root) like so:
# mount /mnt floppy
If Fedora has mounted your floppy automatically, you'll receive an error message such as /dev/fd0 already mounted. You can then simply copy the ks.cfg file to your floppy, as follows:
# cp ks.cfg /mnt/floppy
