linuxrc_yast_interface.txt

linuxrc - yast interface
========================

linuxrc communicates with yast via two files:

(1) /etc/install.inf
  This file is written before linuxrc starts yast and contains a number of
  variable settings in a 'key: value' (one per line) format.
  yast is quite picky when parsing this file and makes e.g. a difference
  between a missing key and a key set to 0.

(2) /etc/yast.inf
  This file is written by yast when it exits and tells linuxrc what it should
  do or whether there was some error.
  Entries are also in a 'key: value' format.


*** Note ***

  This document describes the settings in both file from a developer's
  perspective. At some places, I've added some additional remarks between
  dashes ('-') when something needs further clarification.

  This covers the current situation (master branch in git). In the past
  linuxrc used to put also a number of network config settings into
  install.inf, but this is no longer the case.


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yast.inf
--------

# char* config.new_root
# int config.restart_method
# action, linuxrc should take
# if device, it's put into config.new_root and we chroot there and start
# else, set config.restart_method: reboot = 1, halt = 2, kexec = 3
# - I think yast never puts a device here -
Root: reboot|halt|kexec|<device to start from>

# char* config.keymap
# load keymap
# if set, takes the keyboard setting from yast
# - unused by yast? -
Keytable: %s

# config.language = set_langidbyname(char*)
# set language
# if set, takes the lang setting from yast
# - unused by yast? -
Language: %s

# int config.rebootmsg
# - obsolete -
# that's really an obscue feature showing a popup asking the user to
# remove CD or floppy when the machine is about to reboot
RebootMsg: %d

# int config.aborted
# != 0 indicates to linuxrc that yast bas been (deliberately) aborted
# linuxrc then shows no error message
Aborted: %d


*** Note ***

  (1) at least 'Root' || 'Aborted' should be set

  (2) linuxrc also checks the yast exit code

  (3) Keytable and Language _can_ be set (don't know if they still are) to
  tell linuxrc the current settings. linuxrc in turn will pass them on via
  install.inf in case the user runs yast again. linuxrc itself does not care
  about the Language setting (no translations any longer).


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install.inf
-----------

# if != 0, linuxrc was in manual mode
# (yes, it can be > 1)
# - only s390x people seem to use manual mode regularly (because they
# strictly do what's documented); I would question that yast2 working specially
# when manual mode was active [showing extra dialogs] is still justified) -
Manual: %d

# the current locale (default to en_US)
Locale: %s

# console keyboard mapping, if linuxrc did change it (e.g. de-latin1-nodeadkeys)
# else the entry is missing
Keytable: %s

# console device name if it's a serial line (e.g. /dev/ttyS0)
# else the entry is missing
Console: %s

# 0 or 1, indicating that linuxrc left the install repo mounted at /var/adm/mount
# - does it really matter? yast unmounts the repo anyway at startup, or not? -
Sourcemounted: %s

# the install repo location in URI form
# - that was used sometime in the past, I think it's obsolete -
# the relevant entry is ZyppRepoURL
RepoURL: %s

# the install repo location in URI form for libzypp
ZyppRepoURL: %s

# whether to verify ssl certificates
# Use boot option ssl.certs=0 to get this.
# In some (test) setups it's useful to disable the checks.
# The entry is missing (there's no 'ssl_verify: yes' or so) if cert checks
# are active (the default).
ssl_verify: no

# the repo device/partition for a local install, without leading '/dev/'
# e.g. disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD10EARS-00Y4B2_WD-WCAV587297-part2
# missing for a network install
# - obsolete, go for ZyppRepoURL - 
Device: %s

# proxy setting, if any was specified
# else the entry is missing
ProxyURL: %s

# the hostname as set by 'hostname=foo' boot option
# entry is missing if unset
Hostname: %s

# URL for registration server, use 'regurl' boot option to set
# fate#303335
# entry is missing if unset
# - code for this is at a strange place in linuxrc, should be moved -
regurl: %s

# certificates for registration server, use 'regcert' boot option to set
# fate#303335
# entry is missing if unset
# - code for this is at a strange place in linuxrc, should be moved -
regcert: %s

# URL for uploadeing supportconfig data, use 'supporturl' boot option to set
# fate#305180
# entry is missing if unset
# - code for this is at a strange place in linuxrc, should be moved -
supporturl: %s

# list of modules, separated by spaces (e.g.: scsi_dh st sg) that
# were needed to activate the hardware so far
InitrdModules: %s

# for each module in InitrdModules that was loaded using special parameters,
# list module followed by parameter string
# e.g.: foo xxx=1 bar=5
# there's a separate 'Options' line for each such module
Options: %s

# if(config.restart_method)
# - obsolete - (technically impossible to actually see this entry)
Reboot: Reboot|Halt|kexec

# set via 'loghost' boot option
# entry is missing if unset
# - this is unused by linuxrc and just passed on -
LogHost: %s

# this entry is always there
# - makes no sense, can we get rid of it? -
Keyboard: 1

# base dir where we look for driver updates
# e.g. /linux/suse/x86_64-13.2
# entry is always defined
UpdateDir: %s

# a driver update has been used
# - obsolete? -
YaST2update: 0|1

# 1: yast should run in text mode (ncurses)
Textmode: 0|1

# autoyast URL
# entry is missing if unset
AutoYaST: %s

# free memory in kiB
MemFree: %d

# 1: do a VNC install
VNC: 0|1

# VNC password
# entry is missing if unset
VNCPassword: %s

# IP or DISPLAY var to use for X11 connection
# e.g. 10.0.0.1 or 10.10.0.1:2
# (at least I _think_ the ':port' notation is allowed in recent yast versions)
# this is basically used only on s390x
# entry is missing if unset
Display_IP: %s

# 1: yast is accessed via SSH
# see also 'SSHD' below
UseSSH: 0|1

# 1: an SSH server should be started
# see also 'UseSSH' above
# note: up to SLE12/oS13.2 there was only 'UseSSH' implicitly starting sshd;
#   now both have been logically separated and you can get sshd running without
#   forcing yast into ssh mode (useful for debugging)
SSHD: 0|1

# 1: don't start any shells on some consoles during installation (security considerations)
# entry is missing if unset (0)
NoShell: 1

# build ID of initrd
# I can't think of any use for this
# - obsolete? -
# entry is missing if unset
InitrdID: %s

# build Id of inst-sys
# I can't think of any use for this
# - obsolete? -
# entry is missing if unset
InstsysID: %s

# 1: activate iscsi config dialogs
# the value is auto-detected and can be overridden with 'withiscsi' boot option
WithiSCSI: 0|1

# 1: activate fcoe config dialogs
# the value is auto-detected and can be overridden with 'withfcoe' boot option
WithFCoE: 0|1

# 1: start shell before and after running yast (for debugging)
StartShell: %d

# value of the 'y2gdb' boot option, just passed on to yast
# no idea if that is still used by yast
# - obsolete? -
Y2GDB: 0|1

# value of 'kexecreboot' boot option, just passed on to yast
# (boot installed system using kexec, default = 1)
kexec_reboot: 0|1

# 1: configure as an EFI system
# the value is auto-detected and can be overridden with 'efi' boot option
EFI: %d

# 1: yast should do an upgrade
# entry is missing if unset (0)
Upgrade: 1

# set via 'rootpassword' boot option
# if set to 'ask', linuxrc will show a dialog asking for a password
# this should be used a temporary root password for the target system
# - ??? is this really used ??? -
# entry is missing if unset
RootPassword: %s

# set via 'brokenmodules' boot option
# comma(,)-separated list of modules that must not be loaded
# - is this actually used by yast? -
# entry is missing if unset
BrokenModules: %s

# braille device tyde (e.g. ht30)
# - still used? -
# entry is missing if 'Brailledevice' is unset
Braille: %s

# device braille line is connected to
# - still used? -
# entry is missing if unset
Brailledevice: %s

# any options mentioned in the 'ptoptions' boot option that were set
# please check https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Linuxrc#p_ptoptions for some explanation
# e.g.:
FOO: %s

# any boot options linuxrc didn't handle and that should probably
# be kept for the target system boot config
# entry is missing if unset
Cmdline: %s

# 1: enable self-update feature
# 0: disable self-update feature
# if a URL is given, it will be used to search for
# updates.
SelfUpdate: 0|1|%s

# 1: secure mode disabled
# 0: secure mode enabled
Insecure: 0|1

*** Note ***

 There may be some more entries in install.inf but they are put there by
 some inst-sys scripts and not linuxrc.