AutoYaST notes for auto-installation

[Richard Newbould]

Primarily for Adam

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Adam, I promised to get you some background on AutoYaST, as we were jointly in favour of it for automated installation of the main Switched On server.

The centre for all other resources is at:

http://www.suse.de/~ug/

Health warning

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Like CSS, and certain women, AutoYaST and the DVD creation process are picky picky picky.  You have to have the syntax just right and you don't necessarily get hints as to what is expected.  If you don't follow the conventions AutoYaST will not cooperate, but otherwise it works beautifully.  So, (often tedious) experimentation and a careful reading of the pithy (but useful) FAQ and other guides is the order of the day.  Oh, and once you've figured out how to write the installation file, configure the Switched On RPM repository etc, script it based on your input parameters, so you'll never have to bang your head on the wall again.  BUT - it will be worth it in the end!  And if you pay fine attention to syntax, and can make good use of time drinking coffee whilst you try yet another installation, it may not be too painful!  ;-)  Then we will be truly and automatically "Switched On!"

Some lessons learned:

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You can test out an autoyast XML file on an existing standard distro DVD by entering a boot parameter at the first menu screen.  The autoyast file can be on the network (http or ft), a floppy (remember those?) or USB Pen:

• floppy boot parameter: install=cdrom:// autoyast=floppy:///???.xml
• USB pen boot parameter:  autoyast=device://sdb1/???.xml       (replace sdb1 with the appropriate device name, which will probably be sdb1 of you have a single HD accessible to the (virtual) machine, sdc1 if you have 2 internal disks, sdd1 if three, sdb2 if it's on the second partition of the USB pen and there's a single internal HD etc etc,
• ftp:  from memory I think it's:  autoyast=ftp://IP Address/path/file.xml    (I think you need an IP address unless your VM gets the DNS server by DHCP)

To save having to burn endless DVDs to test the autoyast process and find, yet again, that you had overlooked a picky detail, I suggest you may want to:

• put the Switched On special package repository on the network (ftp or http)
• use a standard version of OpenSUSE for the standard RPMs
• use a USB pen / network drive for the autoyast file (as above).  This could be a virtual USB pen if you're building a VM.  There are guides on the net on how create loopback devices and the like to create a virtual USB pen.  I seem to recall that scripting the creation of a loopback device containing a autoyast file to try out will save you much time.

I created a Switched On repository on the installation DVD, which meant burning a bootable ISO.  The above site (http://www.suse.de/~ug/) has the command for this, but I had to change certain parameters as the DVD was not bootable on certain hardware.  I could probably dig out those parameters again if you have problems.

I did successfully create an autoyast DVD back in the early days (2006).  I can a copy posted to you so you can see an example of a working DVD and investigate the file structure (and how it differs from a standard installation DVD). Or, I could copy its contents, delete all the RPMs, Zip and put it in Subversion.  Would that be useful?  It's helpful to see an example rather than try piece it all together for yourself from the different guides.

Autoyast will work really nicely in combination with Switched On RPMs, though you can fire off scripts at different stages of the installation too, if needed for custom work.

Bless you,

Richard