Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 140958
anaconda neglected to install email client, browser
Last modified: 2014-03-16 22:50:55 EDT
From Bugzilla Helper: User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7.2) Gecko/20040809 Epiphany/1.3.8 Description of problem: When I installed RHEL AS, I had icons for a browser and an email client, but neither was isntalled. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): How reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Boot install CD 2. Install from CD - see ks file RSN 3. Actual Results: See above Expected Results: I assumed the RH-preferred GUI email client and browser would be standard components. Additional info:
Created attachment 107495 [details] Anaconda-generate ks file The primary purpose of providing this is to show the package selections I made. Many of them I expected to be in a server install. Perhaps you could consider "basic server" to which one is expected to add components and "server" which has most stuff by default. This is AS, I can imagine it being put to single-purpose and all-purpose uses.
Both evolution and firefox (the default mail client and browser, respectively) are included in the "Graphical Internet" group, which gets pulled into the "Workstation Common" meta-group. Your kickstart files indicates that you didn't install this group, which is why the icons don't map to anything (the icons actually call helper applications, not the evolution and firefox applications directly.)
I didn't deselect them either. This is a _server_ configuration. Why would I choose _Internet applications?_ The default server configuraton ought be a working server, and this isn't really. It lacks the tools for the sysadmin to use to communicate with colleagues. Whatever is installed on a server, if RH believes it should have a GUI desktop then the basic desktop should include a usable email client. Importantly, there should be no configured press-buttons for starting stuff that is not installed. If I click on the "email" button then I expect an email client to start. I am unhappy that this bug was closed without proper consideration.
Well, in a sense you did deselect them by not specifying that group to be included in your kickstart configuration file. You specified a particular configuration and anaconda fulfilled that request without second guessing what you were trying to do. If you had gone through the normal installer, you would have probably ended up with an entirely different installed package set. As for a usuable email client, there are probably several installed (can't tell for sure without seeing your install.log) but I suspect that /bin/mail exists, which has been a perfectly good email client for about 20 years. A standard server install (from the RH prospective) doesn't actually include X at all, as most folks that are setting up true servers want as few packages installed, thus resulting in the least amount of space devoted to the OS. As for the press-buttons, as I said before, they are actually helper applications which can launch a number of applications, they are part of the normal desktop install, and when going through a normal install there would indeed be graphical applications to back them up. Since you did a customized kickstart install, RH isn't going to second guess your package selection and start installing stuff you didn't ask for. For all we know, you're installing epiphany post-install and want the helper buttons to launch that (which it will.) So, I closed the bug because it's not valid. You're complaint is that when doing a custom install in which you didn't ask for a graphical email client or browser, none got installed. That's as designed and intended.
Bullshit. I did _not_ do a kickstart install. Where did I say I did a kickstart install? Are you listening? I am getting very annoyed about this. I DID NOT DO A KICKSTART INSTALL. I certainly DID NOT DESELECT GUI components because I wanted to see what RH proposes to offer by of server configuration aids. The _only_ sens in which I did a custom isntall is I added non-default servers, You've twice closed this problem without taking the trouble to understand it. I don't see any information in the Anaconda logs that is helpful, but if you want them you can have them. I suggest Jeremy add info to the log that shows what menu choices are made at each stage, especially at the package-selecton stage but also at partitioning.
You included a kickstart config file, so thought that was the kickstart config file you used. I see now you posted the anaconda generated kickstart file. Anyway, by default a "server" install doesn't include any X applications, as I pointed out in comment 4. You would see an entirely different default package selection if you were installing from the WS or Desktop discs. I'll verify the default package selection for AS shortly.
I beleive that's not a bug; server doesn't include X apps.