- Authors
Anaconda Developers <anaconda-devel-list@redhat.com> Will Woods <wwoods@redhat.com> Anne Mulhern <amulhern@redhat.com>
These are the boot options that are useful when starting Anaconda. For more information refer to the appropriate Installation Guide for your release and to the Anaconda wiki_.
Anaconda bootup is handled by dracut, so most of the kernel arguments handled by dracut are also valid. See dracut.kernel(7)_ for details on those options.
Throughout this guide, installer-specific options are prefixed with inst
(e.g. inst.ks
).
Note
An installable tree is a directory structure containing installer images, packages, and repodata.1
Usually this is either a copy of the DVD media (or loopback-mounted DVD image), or the <arch>/os/
directory on the Fedora mirrors.
This gives the location of the Install Source - that is, the place where the installer can find its images and packages. It can be specified in a few different ways:
inst.repo=cdrom
Search the system's CDROM drives for installer media. This is the default.
inst.repo=cdrom:<device>
Look for installer media in the specified disk device.
inst.repo=hd:<device>:<path>
Mount the given disk partition and install from ISO file on the given path. This installation method requires ISO file, which contains an installable tree.
inst.repo=[http,https,ftp]://<host>/<path>
Look for an installable tree at the given URL.
inst.repo=nfs:[<options>:]<server>:/<path>
Mount the given NFS server and path. Uses NFS version 3 by default.
You can specify what version of the NFS protocol to use by adding
nfsvers=X
to the options.This accepts not just an installable tree directory in the
<path>
element, but you can also specify an.iso
file. That ISO file is then mounted and used as the installation tree. This is often used for simulating a standard DVD installation using a remoteDVD.iso
image.
Note
Disk devices may be specified with any of the following forms:
- Kernel Device Name
/dev/sda1
,sdb2
- Filesystem Label
LABEL=FLASH
,LABEL=Fedora
,CDLABEL=Fedora\x2023\x20x86_64
- Filesystem UUID
UUID=8176c7bf-04ff-403a-a832-9557f94e61db
Non-alphanumeric characters should be escaped with \xNN
, where 'NN' is the hexidecimal representation of the character (e.g. \x20
for the space character (' ').
Add additional repository which can be used as another Installation Source next to the main repository (see inst.repo). This option can be used multiple times during one boot. This can be specified in a few different ways:
inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,[http,https,ftp]://<host>/<path>
Look for the installable tree at the given URL.
inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,nfs://<server>:/<path>
Look for the installable tree at the given nfs path. Note that there is a colon after the host. Anaconda passes everything after “nfs:// ” directly to the mount command instead of parsing URLs according to RFC 2224.
inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,file://<path>
Look for the installable tree at the given location in the installation environment. Beware, to be able to use this variant the repo needs to be mounted before Anaconda tries to use it (load available software groups). The main usage for this command is having multiple repositories on one bootable ISO and install both the main repo and additional repositories from this ISO. The path to the additional repositories will be then /run/install/source/REPO_ISO_PATH. Another solution can be to mount this repo directory in the %pre section in the kickstart file. NOTE: The path must be absolute and start with / so the final url starts with file:///....
inst.addrepo=REPO_NAME,hd:<device>:<path>
Mount the given <device> partition and install from ISO specified by the <path>. If the <path> is not specified Anaconda will look for the valid installation ISO on the <device>. This installation method requires ISO with a valid installable tree. For more detail how to specify <device> argument part please see diskdev.
The REPO_NAME is name of the repository and it is a required part. The name will be used in the installation process. These repositories will be used only during the installation but they will not be installed to the installed system.
Prevents Anaconda from verifying the ssl certificate for all HTTPS connections with an exception of the additional repositories added by kickstart (where --noverifyssl can be set per repo). Newly created additional repositories will honor this option.
inst.proxy=PROXY_URL
Use the given proxy settings when performing an installation from a HTTP/HTTPS/FTP source. The PROXY_URL
can be specified like this: [PROTOCOL://][USERNAME[:PASSWORD]@]HOST[:PORT]
.
This specifies the location to fetch only the installer runtime image; packages will be ignored. Otherwise the same as inst.repo.
All locations of type http, https or ftp specified with inst.stage2 will be used sequentially one by one until the image is fetched. Other locations will be ignored.
In the following example, Anaconda will try to fetch the image at first from http://a
, then from http://b
and finally from http://c
.
inst.stage2=http://a inst.stage2=http://b inst.stage2=http://c inst.stage2.all
Without the boot option inst.stage2.all
, Anaconda will try to fetch the image only from http://c
, as usual.
inst.stage2=http://a inst.stage2=http://b inst.stage2=http://c
This specifies the location for driver rpms. May be specified multiple times. Locations may be specified using any of the formats allowed for inst.repo.
This sets dnf's multilib_policy to "all" (as opposed to "best").
Give the location of a kickstart file to be used to automate the install. Locations may be specified using any of the formats allowed for inst.repo.
For any format the <path>
component defaults to /ks.cfg
if it is omitted.
For NFS kickstarts, if the <path>
ends in /
, <ip>-kickstart
is added.
If inst.ks
is used without a value, the installer will look for nfs:<next_server>:/<filename>
<next_server>
is the DHCP "next-server" option, or the IP of the DHCP server itself<filename>
is the DHCP "filename" option, or/kickstart/
, and if the filename given ends in/
,<ip>-kickstart
is added (as above)
For example:
- DHCP server:
192.168.122.1
- client address:
192.168.122.100
- kickstart file:
nfs:192.168.122.1:/kickstart/192.168.122.100-kickstart
All locations of type http, https or ftp specified with inst.ks will be used sequentially one by one until the kickstart file is fetched. Other locations will be ignored.
In the following example, Anaconda will try to fetch the kickstart file at first from http://a/a.ks
, then from http://b/b.ks
and finally from http://c/c.ks
.
inst.ks=http://a/a.ks inst.ks=http://b/b.ks inst.ks=http://c/c.ks inst.ks.all
Without the boot option inst.ks.all
, Anaconda will try to fetch the kickstart file only from http://c/c.ks
, as usual.
inst.ks=http://a/a.ks inst.ks=http://b/b.ks inst.ks=http://c/c.ks
Add headers to outgoing HTTP requests which include the MAC addresses of all network interfaces. The header is of the form:
X-RHN-Provisioning-MAC-0: eth0 01:23:45:67:89:ab
This is helpful when using inst.ks=http...
to provision systems.
Add a header to outgoing HTTP requests which includes the system's serial number.2
The header is of the form:
X-System-Serial-Number: <serial>
With this option, all warnings from reading the kickstart file will be treated as errors. They will be printed on the output and the installation will terminate immediately.
By default, the warnings are printed to logs and the installation continues.
Initial network setup is handled by dracut. For detailed information consult the "Network" section of dracut.kernel(7)_.
The most common dracut network options are covered here, along with some installer-specific options.
Configure one (or more) network interfaces. You can use multiple ip
arguments to configure multiple interfaces, but if you do you must specify an interface for every ip=
argument, and you must specify which interface is the primary boot interface with bootdev.
Accepts a few different forms; the most common are:
ip=<dhcp|dhcp6|auto6|ibft>
Try to bring up every interface using the given autoconf method. Defaults to
ip=dhcp
if network is required byinst.repo
,inst.ks
,inst.updates
, etc.ip=<interface>:<autoconf>
Bring up only one interface using the given autoconf method, e.g.
ip=eth0:dhcp
.ip=<ip>::<gateway>:<netmask>:<hostname>:<interface>:none
Bring up the given interface with a static network config, where:
<ip>
The client IP address. IPv6 addresses may be specified by putting them in square brackets, like so:
[2001:DB8::1]
.<gateway>
The default gateway. IPv6 addresses are accepted here too.
<netmask>
The netmask (e.g.
255.255.255.0
) or prefix (e.g.64
).<hostname>
Hostname for the client machine. This component is optional.
ip=<ip>::<gateway>:<netmask>:<hostname>:<interface>:<autoconf>:<mtu>
Bring up the given interface with the given autoconf method, but override the automatically obtained IP/gateway/etc. with the provided values.
Technically all of the items are optional, so if you want to use dhcp but also set a hostname you can use
ip=::::<hostname>::dhcp
.
Specify the address of a nameserver to use. May be used multiple times.
Specify which interface is the boot device. Required if multiple ip=
options are used.
ifname=<interface>:<MAC>
Assign the given interface name to the network device with the given MAC. May be used multiple times.
Note
Dracut applies ifname option (which might involve renaming the device with given MAC) in initramfs only if the device is activated in initramfs stage (based on ip= option). If it is not the case, installer still binds the current device name to the MAC by adding HWADDR setting to the ifcfg file of the device.
Set the DHCP vendor class identifier3. Defaults to anaconda-$(uname -srm)
.
inst.waitfornet=<TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS>
Wait for network connectivity at the beginning of the second stage of installation (after switchroot from early initramfs stage when the installer process is run).
This is a kernel option that specifies what device to use as the primary console. For example, if your console should be on the first serial port, use console=ttyS0
.
You can use multiple console=
options; boot messages will be displayed on all consoles, but anaconda will put its display on the last console listed.
Implies inst.text.
Set the language to be used during installation. The language specified must be valid for the lang
kickstart command.
Configure geolocation usage in Anaconda. Geolocation is used to pre-set language and time zone.
inst.geoloc=0
Disables geolocation.
Enable geolocation even during a kickstart installation (both partial and fully automatic). Otherwise geolocation is only enabled during a fully interactive installation.
Set the keyboard layout to use. The layout specified must be valid for use with the keyboard
kickstart command.
Run the installer in command-line mode. This mode does not allow any interaction; all options must be specified in a kickstart file or on the command line.
Run the installer in graphical mode. This is the default.
Run the installer using a limited text-based UI. Unless you're using a kickstart file this probably isn't a good idea; you should use VNC instead.
Run the installer in a non-interactive mode. This mode does not allow any user interaction and can be used with graphical or text mode. With text mode it behaves the same as the inst.cmdline
mode.
Specify screen size for the installer. Use format nxm, where n is the number of horizontal pixels, m the number of vertical pixels. The lowest supported resolution is 800x600.
Run the installer GUI in a VNC session. You will need a VNC client application to interact with the installer. VNC sharing is enabled, so multiple clients may connect.
A system installed with VNC will start in text mode (runlevel 3).
Set a password on the VNC server used by the installer.
inst.vncconnect=<host>[:<port>]
Once the install starts, connect to a listening VNC client at the given host. Default port is 5900.
Use with
vncviewer -listen
.
Specify the X driver that should be used during installation and on the installed system.
Use the framebuffer X driver (fbdev
) rather than a hardware-specific driver.
Equivalent to inst.xdriver=fbdev
.
Specify the timeout in seconds for starting X server.
Start up sshd
during system installation. You can then ssh in while the installation progresses to debug or monitor its progress.
Caution
The root
account has no password by default. You can set one using the sshpw
kickstart command.
Run the installer in the debugging mode.
Run the rescue environment. This is useful for trying to diagnose and fix broken systems.
Give the location of an updates.img
to be applied to the installer runtime. Locations may be specified using any of the formats allowed for inst.repo
.
For any format the <path>
component defaults to /updates.img
if it is omitted.
A debugging option that prevents anaconda from and rebooting when a fatal error occurs or at the end of the installation process.
Do not put a shell on tty2 during install.
Do not use tmux during install. This allows for output to get generated without terminal control characters and is really meant for non-interactive uses.
inst.syslog=<host>[:<port>]
Once installation is running, send log messages to the syslog process on the given host. The default port is 514 (UDP).
Requires the remote syslog process to accept incoming connections.
Forward logs through the named virtio port (a character device at /dev/virtio-ports/<name>
).
If not provided, a port named org.fedoraproject.anaconda.log.0
will be used by default, if found.
See the Anaconda wiki logging page_ for more info on setting up logging via virtio.
Because disks can take some time to appear, an additional delay of 5 seconds has been added. This can be overridden by boot argument inst.wait_for_disks=<value> to let dracut wait up to <value> additional seconds (0 turns the feature off, causing dracut to only wait up to 500ms). Alternatively, if the OEMDRV device is known to be present but too slow to be autodetected, the user can boot with an argument like inst.dd=hd:LABEL=OEMDRV to indicate that dracut should expect an OEMDRV device and not start the installer until it appears.
This functionality could be used to load kickstart and driverdisks.
Use extlinux as the bootloader. Note that there's no attempt to validate that this will work for your platform or anything; it assumes that if you ask for it, you want to try.
Boot the drives in their existing order, to override the default of booting into the newly installed drive on Power Systems servers and EFI systems. This is useful for systems that, for example, should network boot first before falling back to a local boot.
Disable support for dmraid.
Warning
This option is never a good idea! If you have a disk that is erroneously identified as part of a firmware RAID array, that means it has some stale RAID metadata on it which must be removed using an appropriate tool (dmraid and/or wipefs).
Disable support for multipath devices. This is for systems on which a false-positive is encountered which erroneously identifies a normal block device as a multipath device. There is no other reason to use this option.
Warning
Not for use with actual multipath hardware! Using this to attempt to install to a single path of a multipath is ill-advised, and not supported.
Prefer creation of GPT disklabels.
Enable SELinux usage in the installed system (default). Note that when used as a boot option, "selinux" and "inst.selinux" are not the same. The "selinux" option is picked up by both the kernel and Anaconda, but "inst.selinux" is processed only by Anaconda. So when "selinux=0" is used, SELinux will be disabled both in the installation environment and in the installed system, but when "inst.selinux=0" is used SELinux will only be disabled in the installed system. Also note that while SELinux is running in the installation environment by default, it is running in permissive mode so disabling it there does not make much sense.
Controls what installation results should not be saved to the installed system, valid values are: "input_ks", "output_ks", "all_ks", "logs" and "all".
input_ks
Disables saving of the input kickstart (if any).
output_ks
Disables saving of the output kickstart generated by Anaconda.
all_ks
Disables saving of both input and output kickstarts.
logs
Disables saving of all installation logs.
all
Disables saving of all kickstarts and all logs.
Multiple values can be combined as a comma separated list, for example: input_ks,logs
Note
The nosave option is meant for excluding files from the installed system that can't be removed by a kickstart %post script, such as logs and input/output kickstarts.
Allows to place boot loader on iSCSI devices which were not configured in iBFT.
Use the options inst.product
and inst.variant
to specify a product. The installer will be customized based on configuration files from /etc/anaconda/product.d
that are specific for this product.
Set the name of a product.
For example: inst.product=Fedora
Set the name of a variant. It is not allowed to specify a variant name without a product name, so use inst.product
to specify the product as well.
For example: inst.product=Fedora inst.variant=Workstation
Since Fedora 19 the Anaconda installer supports third-party extensions called addons. The addons can support their own set of boot options which should be documented in their documentation or submitted here.
inst.kdump_addon=on/off
Enable kdump anaconda addon to setup the kdump service.
These options should still be accepted by the installer, but they are deprecated and may be removed soon.
This is an alias for inst.repo.
Use nameserver instead. Note that nameserver
does not accept comma-separated lists; use multiple nameserver
options instead.
These can be provided as part of the ip option.
A PXE-supplied BOOTIF option will be used automatically, so there's no need
- Not present
The first device with a usable link is used
ksdevice=link
Ignored (this is the same as the default behavior)
ksdevice=bootif
Ignored (this is the default if
BOOTIF=
is present)ksdevice=ibft
Replaced with
ip=ibft
. See ipksdevice=<MAC>
Replaced with
BOOTIF=${MAC/:/-}
ksdevice=<DEV>
Replaced with bootdev
These options are obsolete and have been removed.
Anaconda's initramfs is now is completely non-interactive, so these have been removed.
Instead, use inst.repo or specify appropriate Network Options.
modprobe
handles blacklisting kernel modules on its own; try modprobe.blacklist=<mod1>,<mod2>...
You can blacklist the firewire module with modprobe.blacklist=firewire_ohci
.
This option was never intended for public use; it was supposed to be used to force anaconda to use /dev/ttyS0
as its console when testing it on a live machine.
Use console=ttyS0
or similar instead. See console for details.
Use inst.updates instead.
Dracut doesn't support wireless networking, so these don't do anything.
Who needs to force half-duplex 10-base-T anymore?
To set geolocation provider, use the geolocation_provider
option in configuration file instead.
This was used to debug loader
, so it has been removed. There are plenty of options for debugging dracut-based initramfs - see the dracut "Troubleshooting" guide.
The log level is always set to debug
.
Use the dracut option rd.live.check instead.
We no longer support floppy drives. Try inst.ks=hd:<device>
instead.
For remote display of the UI, use inst.vnc.
All this option actually did was set TERM=vt100
. The default TERM
setting works fine these days, so this was no longer necessary.
ipv6 is built into the kernel and can't be removed by anaconda.
You can disable ipv6 with ipv6.disable=1
. This setting will be carried onto the installed system.
Anaconda doesn't handle upgrades anymore.
Anaconda can't use this option with installable tree but only with an ISO file.
Anaconda doesn't run zram.service
anymore. See zram-generator
for more information.
Anaconda does not support single language mode anymore.
Anaconda no longer needs explicit specification that a NFS location is an ISO image. The difference between an installable tree and a dir with an .iso
file is now automatically detected, so this is the same as inst.repo=nfs:
...