\documentclass{ictlab}

% Copyright (c) 2003 by Nick Urbanik <nicku(at)nicku.org>.
% This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and
% conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later
% (the latest version is presently available at
% http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/).

\RCS $Revision: 1.1 $

\usepackage{alltt,key}
\ifx\pdftexversion\undefined \else
  \usepackage[pdfpagemode=None,pdfauthor={Nick Urbanik}]{hyperref}
\fi

\newcommand*{\labTitle}{Installing Linux Using the Kickstart Disks}

\begin{document}

\section{Background}
\label{sec:background}
This procedure assumes that your hard disk is installed with the
Windows images from Alex's class, and that you have a large \emph{empty} \FAT
partition at the end of your hard disk.  If this is not the case, then
please let me know.

To demonstrate your second assignment in class, and to be able to work on
your assignment in the College, you will need to have installed Linux
on your removable hard disk.

For this purpose, I have prepared a \emph{Kickstart} installation boot
disk.  Installation using this disk is quite straightforward, and only
requires your involvement at one point in the process.

\sloppypar{}Kickstart is a very useful technology.  You can read all
about it in the \emph{Red hat Customisation Guide}, at
\url{http://nicku.org/doc/rhl-cg-en-8.0/part-install-info.html}.


\subsection{Minor complication}
\label{sec:complication}

There is one minor complication in the process: you will need to
delete one partition from your hard disk before performing the
installation.

This is because we were unable to persuade Ghost to copy a partition
with the partition label 83\hex; instead, Ghost converted the label to
that for a \FAT partition.  A bug.  So you will have to delete the
last \FAT partition yourself first.


\section{Procedure}
\label{sec:procedure}


\subsection{Deleting the last FAT partition}
\label{sec:deleting-FAT-partition}

To delete the extra empty \FAT partition that resulted from
\texttt{Ghost}ing Alex's disk to your removeable disk, you will need
to boot your machine into \emph{rescue} mode.  You can do this from
the kickstart installation disk.  From what I remember, the rescue
disk will boot automatically into \emph{rescue mode} after
step~\ref{ste:boot}, but in case it requires you to manually enter the
choices, I have given them here.

Here are the steps:
\begin{enumerate}
\item Obtain a kickstart disk from any of the laboratory technical
  staff.

\item insert your hard disk into the machine

\item insert the kickstart disk and boot the machine
  
\item \label{ste:boot}at the \texttt{boot:} prompt, type:
  \begin{alltt}
boot: \textbf{linux rescue}
  \end{alltt}

\item accept defaults for language and keyboard

\item use \DHCP to get network parameters

\item choose \NFS rather than \FTP or \HTTP

\item if offered a choice whether to mount existing Linux partitions,
  select \textsf{Skip}
  
\item At the command prompt that should now appear, start
  \texttt{fdisk} on \emph{your own hard disk} (not the internal one
  carefully installed by Henry Leung!)
  \begin{alltt}
# \textbf{fdisk /dev/hda}
  \end{alltt}%$

  \begin{itemize}
  \item Now you will need to use these \texttt{fdisk} commands:

    \noindent%
    \begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}[t]{@{}clY@{}}
      \toprule%
      \textbf{command} & \textbf{name} & \textbf{action}\\
      \midrule%
      \texttt{m} & \textbf{m}enu & show a list of all the commands\\
      \texttt{p} & \textbf{p}rint & display the partition table\\
      \texttt{d} & \textbf{d}elete & delete a partition (useful if you
      make a mistake!)\\
      \texttt{q} & \textbf{q}uit & exit \emph{without saving} the
      table.  Great if you really mess it up!\\
      \texttt{w} & \textbf{w}rite & Write changes to the disk.  After
      that, it's very hard to undo your changes, so
      think three times before pressing \texttt{w}.\\
      \bottomrule
    \end{tabularx}
    
  \item Your partition table should look something like
    figure~\vref{fig:snm-partition-table}.
    \begin{figure}[htb]
      \centering%
      \includegraphics[width=0.3\linewidth]{snm-partition-table}
      \caption{The partition table before deleting the unused \FAT
        labelled partition, \texttt{/dev/hda7}.}
      \label{fig:snm-partition-table}
    \end{figure}
  \end{itemize}
  
\item Display your partition table, to make sure it looks something
  like figure~\vref{fig:snm-partition-table} using the \textbf{p}rint
  command.

\item delete partition \texttt{/dev/hda7}:
  \begin{alltt}
Command (m for help): \textbf{d}
Partition number (1-7): \textbf{7}
  \end{alltt}

\item save your change to the parition table, and exit \texttt{fdisk}:
\begin{alltt}
Command (m for help): \textbf{w}
  \end{alltt}
  
\item reboot your computer, leaving the floppy disk in the drive, and
  start the kickstart network installation process:
  \begin{alltt}
# \textbf{exit}
  \end{alltt}
\end{enumerate}

\subsection{The Kickstart Network Installation}
\label{sec:kickstart-installation}

The Kickstart network installation process is automatic, and needs no
intervention from you, except at one point, as mentioned below.  
\begin{enumerate}
\item The installation process will halt at the point of partitioning
  the hard disk with a warning, saying the hard disk partition table
  is inconsistent.  Click on the \key{Ignore} button.  You will see
  this two times, once for your hard disk \texttt{/dev/hda}, a second
  time for the internal hard disk \emph{/dev/hdc}.

\item The installation will eventually finish with a message telling
  you that it is complete.

\item Return the Kickstart boot disk to one of the technical staff in A204d.
\end{enumerate}
\end{document}

