19.1 Unattended system

Chapter 1 of this book explains how to install a Linux system using optical mirroring, which, frankly, applies to installing only a small number of Linux systems. T his is anachronistic if hundreds of servers in a production environment need to install systems. A t this point, we need to build an unattended installation system using the PXE, TFTP, FTP, DHCP, and Kickstart services. This unattended installation system automatically installs systems for dozens of servers, saving operations personnel from repetitive work and greatly improving the efficiency of system installation.

The workflow for installing the system unattended is shown in Figure 19-1.

Figure 19-1 The workflow for installing the system is unattended

PXE (Preboot eXecute Environment, pre-boot execution environment) is a technology developed by Intel that allows computers to start the operating system over a network (provided that the network card installed on the computer supports PXE technology), primarily to boot client hosts to install the Linux operating system in an unattended installation system. K ickstart is an unattended installation that works by saving parameters that would otherwise need to be manually filled out by operations personnel into a ks.cfg file, which automatically matches the Kickstart-generated file when parameters need to be filled in during installation. S o as long as the Kickstart file contains all the parameters that need to be manually filled in during installation, the installation can be done automatically without the intervention of the operations personnel at all. The configuration and deployment of TFTP, FTP, and DHCP service programs are described in detail in Chapters 11 and 14, which are not covered here.

Since the current client host does not have a complete operating system and cannot complete the validation of the FTP protocol, the TFTP protocol needs to be used to help clients obtain boot and drive files. T he vsftpd service program is used to transmit a complete system installation image over the network to the client. Of course, as long as the system installation image can be successfully transmitted to the client, so you can also use httpd instead of the vsftpd service program.

Have a problem? Ask bold questions!

Because readers have different hardware or operation errors may lead to experimental configuration errors, please be patient and take a closer look at the operation steps, do not be discouraged

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