Description of problem: Installer asks user for information for timezone and rootpw. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): fc6 ks=ftp:// How reproducible: See included kickstart.cfg, accessed from network boot with ks=ftp:// Steps to Reproduce: 1. place timezone and rootpw info in a ks=cfg file 2. set the type to interactive {so can choose partitioning} 3. linux ks=ftp://... 4. insert partitioning information|next Actual results: 1. timezone screen is shown with ks selected zone is already selected.|next 2. root password screen is shown. need to type and re-type pw|next Expected results: since information for the timezone and rootpw screen has already been given in the ks.cfg, the next screen should be the package resolution screen. Also after the numerous minutes of resolution, if resolution is successful, the installer should begin by itself *without* requiring another next. Additional info: It seems that the parameter for timezone is read from the ks file, but just not acted upon. The rootpw seems to be totally ignored {just clicking next does not succeed}.
Created attachment 140989 [details] kickstart.cfg file that is being used.
You have "interactive" specified in your kickstart file, which means to read the data from your ks file, apply it, and stop at every screen. If you want a fully automated install you need to remove that line from the file.
Thanks Chris, I misunderstood the docs to mean use interactive if any user input is needed at all during kickstart. It would be common to always need user input in the partitioning/raid/lvm section, and hence my reason to include it. You are correct in that removing interactive solves the problem; and since I have no partitioning information set, the only screen then shown is partitioning step. Looking at it another way: With interactive set, steps keyboard, language, {is there another screen before partitioning ?} are *not* shown, but partitioning {since I included no partitioning info} and {some/all of} the post partitioning steps are shown, even though there a values set for all screens {except partitioning}. This seems to contradict the interactive dsecription supplied. For the rootpw screen, my kickstart definitely has the pw hash, but * are not shown in the dual pw fields, and clicking next on this screen pops ~"you must enter a root pw" message. So I imagine there is something security special about the pw box that it isn't possible to use the rootpw from kickstart.cfg when interactive is set ?
The keyboard and language screens are special. The text mode ones very early on are not shown even in an interactive install because they're provided by an entirely different code base. The graphical ones are not shown unless you boot with the nopass option, even in an interactive install. So yes, they do contradict that description. The root password screen is also special in that I don't really know what to do there if user interaction is required. See bug 181740. Basically if you hit the root password screen in any sort of interactive install, we end up throwing away the password you provided in kickstart. Which docs did you use? Perhaps the interactive description there needs clarification.