Short version: DASD='777,888(ro)' is valid and useful CMSCONFFILE, but we don't see that syntax in either the documentation or the script's own output.
Long version: Picture the scene; there's a minidisk holding kickstart files and the full RHEL install file set. Other users LINK this minidisk in order to read the data locally. We configure the target and repo dasd with DASD=777,888. What happens next? - The R/O LINK is not detected by the Linux dasd module. /sys/bus/ccw/devices/0.0.0888/readonly is 0. - For reasons unclear to me, anaconda wants to write to all the partition tables it can see, despite having no clearpart, initlabel or partitions defined for that disk. - The kernel logs spews out the usual "EXAMINE 24" error and sense hex data seen when you try to write to a read-only disk. - anaconda stalls and prompts to Ignore the error on dasdb, unless we're using non-interactive kickstart, in which case it stalls for good. How to fix this? The CMSCONFFILE read by linuxrc.s390 (the /sbin/init of RHEL's initrd installer image) supports a DASD= parameter, which is sanity-checked and passed to the kernel. Tell linux which minidisks are readonly like this: DASD=777,888(ro) If we follow the RHEL install documentation, or rely on linuxrc.s390's own interactive option "p" to print out the CONF file, we have a problem. CMSCONFFILE is a shell script, sourced by bash. It must be written in syntax-compliant bash, which DASD=777,888(ro) is not. DASD='777,888(ro)' # quoted to protect the parentheses is correct syntax, and will successfully protect the disk from anaconda's attempts to write to it. I'll probably file this in RHEL Bugzilla, and send a note to IBM's Linux team in Germany, but wanted to post here first for feedback and to see if anyone else has run into similar problems. Cheers, Phil ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on Linux on System z, visit http://wiki.linuxvm.org/