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Revision as of 10:15, 20 December 2012 by Kparal (talk | contribs) (add virt-manager screenshot)

Description

This is to verify that it is possible to boot Anaconda and install the system by direct kernel+initrd boot. That can be achieved either by using PXE boot or by booting the kernel directly in a virtual machine.

Setup

  1. You will need vmlinuz and initrd.img files. Those are located in the (arch)/os/images/pxeboot directory of the tree for the Fedora compose you wish to test.
  2. You will need a remote location containing Anaconda's LiveOS/ directory (containing the installer) and optionally also a package repository. Development composes are usually available at dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/stage/ (doesn't contain package repository). If you have a local mirror, you can make it accessible over any protocol supported by inst.repo boot option.
  3. Option 1: Set up a PXE server.
    • This is not an easy task and requires some administrator knowledge. You can read the appropriate section in the Installation guide for Fedora 17.
    • The custom pxelinux config file can look like this: 
      DEFAULT vesamenu.c32

LABEL Fedora 42-Alpha-RC1 x86_64
    KERNEL vmlinuz
    INITRD initrd.img
    APPEND inst.repo=http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/stage/42-Alpha-RC1/Fedora/x86_64/os/
  4. Option 2: Boot kernel directly in a virtual machine.
    • Prepare a virtual machine that can boot kernel+initrd pair directly, e.g. using virt-manager (virt-manager has a Direct kernel boot field where you can specify the kernel, initrd and any boot options).

How to test

  1. Boot the system via PXE, or using a virtual machine with appropriate inst.repo boot argument (it has to point to the same compose you used for retrieving vmlinuz and initrd.img).
  2. Proceed with installation.

Expected Results

  1. The system boots (using PXE or direct kernel boot in a virtual machine) and it downloads anaconda installer from the specified remote location.
  2. The installer starts correctly.
  3. If the remote location contains a yum repository, the said repository is used for installation. This can be checked by examining the /tmp/packaging.log file. Example output: 
    09:34:37,295 DEBUG packaging: adding yum repo anaconda with baseurl http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/42/x86_64/os/ and mirrorlist None
09:34:37,313 DEBUG packaging: disabling repo fedora
09:34:37,313 DEBUG packaging: disabling repo updates-testing
09:34:37,314 DEBUG packaging: disabling repo updates
  4. The installation completes and the new system initiates boot properly
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