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Description of problem: This is an enhancement request to support installing from a hard drive fully-exploded tree in addition to hard drive ISOs. Benefits to me: 1. Reduced customer confusion 2. Common install methods (ISO/tree) across every install source (HD/CD/DVD/FTP/HTTP) 3. Common DVD/HD factory recovery install image 4. HD Kickstart without making ISOs Drawbacks: 1. Additional complexity in /sbin/loader
This isn't going to be added back. It used to exist and was a massive support problem due to people creating trees improperly. Similarly, NFS tree installs are likely to be deprecated as of RHEL5 due to the same problems. And your reasoning about common install methods isn't really true. eg, ISOs can't be used for HTTP/FTP. ISOs are the preferred form for all other install paths. Additionally, "HD Kickstart without making ISOs" isn't really true... you are receiving the OS on ISOs, so you hardly need to make them. You have to make the tree, which is much more difficult.
The thing is that we want to deliver the OS in its own partition on the hard drive, ready to install or reinstall. It is a lot easier for us to do that from a tree than from ISOs due to arcanities of our factory processes that I can't really disclose in a public bug. I know it's an odd reason, but Ialso know I'm not the only one who needs this feature. See https://www.redhat.com/archives/kickstart-list/2004-December/msg00007.html. My other alternative involves starting an http server before /sbin/loader and doing the install from tree that way.