I guess I could put it this way ... (this will be my last post)
Given the EL5 Installation Manual for USB: - http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html-single/Installation_Guide/index.html#sect-New_Users-Alternative_Boot_Methods Are you willing to try the explicit instructions from EL5, and not newer instructions for newer version of Anaconda in Fedora, EL6, etc...? And if you're not booting from the USB, there's no reason you can't use the "hard drive" method, with the USB acting like a storage device with the ISO images. Per the EL5 Installation Manual for hard drives: - http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html-single/Installation_Guide/index.html#id4348608 I think if you go outside of these documented, supported options, the Anaconda installer (be it stage 1 or stage 2) is going to get confused. I've been through quite a bit of the EL5 Anaconda code compared to Fedora 10-12, and I can tell you there are just not the same facilities in EL5. Heck, the support that comes up immediately with boot in Dracut is far, far more capable than nash. As such, Anaconda is going to be able to leverage some of that in newer releases, versus older EL5. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bryan J Smith <b.j.sm...@ieee.org> Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 3:42 PM I should also add to that short answer, even if you make it to Stage 2, the EL5 Anaconda may not know how to read the device. Now I'm actually interested in testing this. Then again, I usually network boot/install everything (even if I use a USB key for the initial boot because I don't have DHCP/TFTP), so it will take me a bit to try such. So even if I test, it may not match your setup. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bryan J Smith <b.j.sm...@ieee.org> Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 2:52 PM Short answer: Until you get to Stage 2 of Anaconda, it is quite _minimal_ of a system. Long Answer: It's more than just isolinux. The Anaconda build may not have the features/scripting to support such an image. I've only seen this supported in Anaconda in F12+ (2010+). EL5 is really, really dated, based on FC6 (circa 2006). More simply put, I've had to extensively modify Anaconda, Stateless, etc... in the past for EL5, for things that have been in stock, newer Fedora releases. I think you're doing something that is wholly unsupported in the EL5 Anaconda installer. That's why I adamant about your posting such information upfront. Just because it works for newer Fedora releases, possibly even EL6, doesn't mean it works for EL5. I do not believe Anaconda (especailly not Stage 1) in EL5 will be able to figure out the format of the USB device formatted in this manner. I'd probably have to see the storage-system myself to debug the issue, and discretely prove this to you in-person with the actual messages and Anaconda code. ;) ----- Original Message ----- From: Nuno Fernandes <npf-mli...@eurotux.com> Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 1:43 PM Hello, Thanks for the information but the problem isn't booting. I've updated syslinux to the required version to support booting isos from usb. The process is somewhat like: mkisofs creates install disk (.ISO file) isohybrid transforms the iso file so that it can be DD'ed to an usb disk dd if=ISOFILE of=/dev/usbdevice boot machine with usb device. Boot occurs normaly as i'm presented with splashimage. Select install option (subset from isolinux.cfg): ... label etva-smb-kvm-usb menu label ^Install ETVA-SMB-KVM from USBSTICK (This will erase all disks) kernel vmlinuz MENU HIDE append initrd=initrd.img ks=hd:sdc1:/ks.smb.kvm.usb.cfg ... Instalation starts... because the KS file has "askmethod" directive anaconda askes for media where it can find the iso files. I select /dev/sdc1 (usb drive). In this point it fails because anaconda finds the exploded tree of install in /dev/sdc1 and not the iso files. Booting the ISO file from CDROM and using a kickstart with "cdrom" method it works fine. Thanks for any help, Nuno Fernandes _______________________________________________ rhelv5-list mailing list rhelv5-list@redhat.com https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/rhelv5-list
