Automated installations

[George Allan]

On Wed, Oct 18, 2006 at 01:15:58AM +0000, valentin_nils at be-known-online.com wrote:

                Be considerate of others.  Please don't top post.

> Quoting George Allan:
>> valentin_nils at be-known-online.com wrote:
>>> I am in search of an tool for automated installations. SOmething like
>>> Kickstart or Autoyast for Linux - just the BSD-able version ;-)
>>>
>>> Is anybody aware of such a tool that I perhaps overlooked or anybody
>>> perhaps currently developing one ?
>>
>> sysinstall(8) is your friend.
>> pxeboot(8) will buy the drinks.
>>
>> Be sure to read through Section 2 of the fine Handbook.
> 
> That basically means that I have to compile/burn my own CD with the  
> config file install.cfg in it right ?

Not at all.  I'd advise against trying to compile/burn your own CD.  I'd
even advise against using CDs altogether, except perhaps in the case of
emergencies.  Once you're past the 1 system count, setting up a network
infrastructure to handle your installations (along with just about
everything else) is often more than just a good idea.  The small
investment in time will give you the opportunity to learn something, and
will save you time and grief in the future.
 
> is there a version f.e. to start from the CD (with some parameters  
> where the config file is located) and do that from a boot floppy -  
> basically without PXEboot  or can I point PXEboot to the CD image AND  
> the install.cfg somehow ?

Again, drop the CD idea.  You want to be booting off the network, and
installing from the network.  The following link provides a
newbie-friendly description of how you can use PXE to perform a simple
network-based installation:

http://gja.space4me.com/things/Using_pxeboot_Install53.html

Once you're comfortable with the concepts, you can proceed to automating
the installation (and customising install.cfg):

http://www.tnpi.biz/computing/freebsd/pxe-netboot.shtml

Regards.