Installation Notes
If you encounter a problem or have a question during installation that is not covered in these release notes, refer to http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/FAQ and http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Bugs/Common.
Anaconda is the name of the Fedora installer. This section outlines issues related to Anaconda and installing Fedora 11.
Installation in text mode
The text-mode installation option in Fedora 11 is significantly more streamlined than it was in earlier versions. Text-mode installation now omits the more complicated steps that were previously part of the process, and provides users with an uncluttered and straightforward experience.
These steps are now automated in text mode:
- Package selection: Anaconda now automatically selects packages only from the base and core groups. These packages are sufficient to ensure that the system is operational at the end of the installation process, ready to install updates and new packages.
- Advanced partitioning: Anaconda still presents you with the initial screen from previous versions that allows them to specify where Anaconda should install Fedora on your system. You can choose to use a whole drive, to remove existing Linux partitions, or to use the free space on the drive. However, Anaconda now automatically sets the layout of the partitions and does not ask you to add or delete partitions or file systems from this basic layout. If you require customised layouts at installation time, you should perform a graphical installation over a VNC connection or a kickstart installation. More advanced options yet, such as LVM, encrypted filesystems, and resizable filesystems continue to be available only in graphical mode and kickstart.
- Bootloader configuration: Anaconda now performs bootloader configuration automatically.
Kickstart installations in text mode
Text-mode installations using kickstart are carried out in the same way that they were in previous versions. However, because package selection, advanced partitioning, and bootloader configuration are now automated in text mode, Anaconda cannot prompt users for information that it requires during these steps. Users must ensure that the kickstart file includes the packaging, partitioning, and bootloader configurations. If any of this information is missing, Anaconda will exit with an error message.
Upgrade Notes
Upgrading from Fedora 9 directly to Fedora 11 using yum is not possible, you must upgrade to Fedora 10 first, then upgrade to Fedora 11. See http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/YumUpgradeFaq for more information. You can also use preupgrade to upgrade directly to Fedora 11 using Anaconda, minimizing the system downtime by downloading the packages in advance.
Some modified configuration files will be replaced by their original versions during the upgrade. Your modified versions of these configuration files will be saved as *.rpmsave files in that case.
The boot menu for the Fedora Distro DVD includes a new option: Install system with basic video driver. This option boots the system with the generic vesa driver (using the xdriver=vesa kernel option) and allows you to use Fedora's graphical installation mode even when anaconda cannot load the correct driver for your video card.
boot.iso Now Works on Systems With UEFI
The fedora installation CDs and DVD provide you with an image file, boot.iso that you can burn to a CD and use to boot a system and start the installation process. Typically, you would do this prior to installing Fedora from a local hard drive or from a location on a network. You can now use the CD produced from the boot.iso image to start installation on a system that uses Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). CDs produced from older versions of boot.iso only worked with systems that used Basic Input Output System (BIOS).