Created attachment 1976498 [details] ZIP file containing my MWE for reproducing the bug, including the offending Kickstart file (ks.cnf). Description of problem: I am unable to install RHEL 9.2 using a Kickstart file with the `cdrom` command specified. * In RHEL 8.8, installation works with or without cdrom specified * In RHEL 9.2, installation works without cdrom specified * In RHEL 9.2, installation does not work with cdrom specified Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Boot ISO (Network install image) How reproducible: I have created a MWE for reliably reproducing the bug using Packer in a VMware vSphere environment, please see attached files. It is particularly ks.cfg that is of interest – I believe that the only important part of my example is the `cdrom` line in that file. The Kickstart file looks like this: ``` autopart cdrom clearpart --none --initlabel cmdline network --bootproto=dhcp rhsm --organization=${subscription_org} --activation-key=${subscription_key} rootpw --lock %packages @^minimal-environment %end ``` Here is a TL;DR of my attached example for reproducing the bug: 1. Start a new machine and have both an ISO with RHEL 9.2 mounted as well as a CD with my ks.cfg on it for Kickstart installation. 2. Wait for the installer to crash. Actual results: ``` ================================================================================ ================================================================================ Installation 1) [x] Language settings 2) [x] Time settings (English (United States)) (Europe/Stockholm timezone) 3) [!] Installation source 4) [!] Software selection (Error setting up software (Error checking software source) selection) 5) [x] Installation Destination 6) [x] Kdump (Automatic partitioning (Kdump is enabled) selected) 7) [x] Network configuration (Connected: ens192) The installation was stopped due to an error which occurred while running in non-interactive cmdline mode. Since there cannot be any questions in cmdline mode, edit your kickstart file and retry insta llation. The exact error message is: The following mandatory spokes are not completed: Installation source Software selection. The installer will now terminate. ``` Expected results: I expect the installer to automatically select Red Hat CDN as installation source and progress successfully. Additional info: What option should I set to select Red Hat CDN as the installation source?
Andreas, if you want to install from Red Hat CDN, do not include "cdrom" in the kickstart file. It has a higher priority than the "rhsm" command for selecting the installation source. See the "Important" section of the rhsm kickstart command: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/9/html/performing_an_advanced_rhel_9_installation/kickstart-commands-and-options-reference_installing-rhel-as-an-experienced-user#rhsm_kickstart-commands-for-installation-program-configuration-and-flow-control Since you used "cdrom" in the kickstart file and your installation ISO is just boot.iso without any packages, the error you are seeing is expected.
Hi Jan! Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. 1. Oh, I see. That's a bit confusing to me, thanks a lot for pointing it out! I had glanced over that but thought that I had to perform some additional step (like adding `cdrom`), because it says in the requirements that "you must meet the following conditions: On the kernel command line, you have used inst.stage2=<URL> to fetch the installation image but have not specified an installation source using inst.repo=.". And I have not used inst.stage2 since I didn't know what URL to put there. What URL should I use to use the default Red Hat CDN? Also, I was confused because when I read about `cdrom` it says "To actually run the installation, one of cdrom, harddrive, hmc, nfs, liveimg, or url must be specified." and since I didn't know what to write for the other commands I assumed that `cdrom` was good. Especially since it worked in 8.8. See docs for `cdrom` here: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/9/html/performing_an_advanced_rhel_9_installation/kickstart-commands-and-options-reference_installing-rhel-as-an-experienced-user#cdrom_kickstart-commands-for-installation-program-configuration-and-flow-control 2. Is it a bug that it works in RHEL 8.8 then? I see no comments about breaking changes in the `cdrom` command between 8.8 and 9.2.
Another thing that confused me was that I originally generated the Kickstart file using the online tool: https://access.redhat.com/labs/kickstartconfig/ And that lists a number of options for installation source (DVD, NFS, FTP, HTTP, Hard Drive, OS-Tree), but not CDN. So I just left it on its default setting, DVD, which I guess gave me the `cdrom` option. Is it possible to use the online tool to generate a Kickstart file that uses the CDN as installation source?
(In reply to Andreas Lindhé from comment #2) > I had glanced over that but thought that I had to perform some additional > step (like adding `cdrom`), because it says in the requirements that "you > must meet the following conditions: On the kernel command line, you have > used inst.stage2=<URL> to fetch the installation image but have not > specified an installation source using inst.repo=.". And I have not used > inst.stage2 since I didn't know what URL to put there. What URL should I use > to use the default Red Hat CDN? inst.stage2 is set on the kernel cmdline of both boot.iso and dvd.iso by default, so you do not have to set/change it. Both ISOs contain stage2, to the installer get it from there. Getting stage2 from CDN is not possible. > Also, I was confused because when I read about `cdrom` it says "To actually > run the installation, one of cdrom, harddrive, hmc, nfs, liveimg, or url > must be specified." and since I didn't know what to write for the other > commands I assumed that `cdrom` was good. Especially since it worked in 8.8. > See docs for `cdrom` here: > https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/9/ > html/performing_an_advanced_rhel_9_installation/kickstart-commands-and- > options-reference_installing-rhel-as-an-experienced-user#cdrom_kickstart- > commands-for-installation-program-configuration-and-flow-control I see, this really might be confusing. The text should be extended a bit like this: "To actually run the installation, one of cdrom, harddrive, hmc, nfs, liveimg, rhsm, or url must be specified unless the inst.repo option is specified on the kernel command line." The text is mentioned several times in the documentation, so all occurrences should be updated. > > 2. Is it a bug that it works in RHEL 8.8 then? I see no comments about > breaking changes in the `cdrom` command between 8.8 and 9.2. The behavior should be the same. Can you please double check you did not used the full "dvd.iso" when testing RHEL-8?
(In reply to Andreas Lindhé from comment #3) > Another thing that confused me was that I originally generated the Kickstart > file using the online tool: > https://access.redhat.com/labs/kickstartconfig/ > > And that lists a number of options for installation source (DVD, NFS, FTP, > HTTP, Hard Drive, OS-Tree), but not CDN. So I just left it on its default > setting, DVD, which I guess gave me the `cdrom` option. > > Is it possible to use the online tool to generate a Kickstart file that uses > the CDN as installation source? I've requested adding "rhsm" as another installation source into the Kickstart Generator tool: https://access.redhat.com/labsinfo/kickstartconfig#comment-2359765
> The behavior should be the same. Can you please double check you did not used the full "dvd.iso" when testing RHEL-8? I'm pretty sure it's not the full dvd.iso. The one I tried has a size of 926,720 KB and checksum sha256:1419ea8ae06722f858734bcc8060285314c335522e2086f0963941cd00432f8c > I've requested adding "rhsm" as another installation source into the Kickstart Generator tool: > https://access.redhat.com/labsinfo/kickstartconfig#comment-2359765 That's great! Thank you so much!
(In reply to Andreas Lindhé from comment #6) > > The behavior should be the same. Can you please double check you did not used the full "dvd.iso" when testing RHEL-8? > > I'm pretty sure it's not the full dvd.iso. The one I tried has a size of > 926,720 KB and checksum > sha256:1419ea8ae06722f858734bcc8060285314c335522e2086f0963941cd00432f8c You are right, when both "rhsm" and "cdrom" kickstart commands are present in a RHEL-8 kickstart file, the installer behaves like this (depending on the ISO file used): boot.iso: no failure, CDN installation source is used dvd.iso: no failure, cdrom installation source is used
I'm re-assigning the bug to Documentation to improve the installation guide for the following kickstart commands: cdrom, harddrive, liveimg, nfs, url Proposing to change the following sentence: "To actually run the installation, one of cdrom, harddrive, hmc, nfs, liveimg, or url must be specified." to: "To actually run the installation, one of cdrom, harddrive, hmc, nfs, liveimg, ostreesetup, rhsm, or url must be specified unless the inst.repo option is specified on the kernel command line." The change should be done for both rhel-8 and rhel-9 installation docs: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html/performing_an_advanced_rhel_8_installation/kickstart-commands-and-options-reference_installing-rhel-as-an-experienced-user#doc-wrapper https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/9/html/performing_an_advanced_rhel_9_installation/kickstart-commands-and-options-reference_installing-rhel-as-an-experienced-user#doc-wrapper
(In reply to Jan Stodola from comment #8) > I'm re-assigning the bug to Documentation to improve the installation guide > for the following kickstart commands: cdrom, harddrive, liveimg, nfs, url > > Proposing to change the following sentence: > "To actually run the installation, one of cdrom, harddrive, hmc, nfs, > liveimg, or url must be specified." > > to: > "To actually run the installation, one of cdrom, harddrive, hmc, nfs, > liveimg, ostreesetup, rhsm, or url must be specified unless the inst.repo > option is specified on the kernel command line." > > The change should be done for both rhel-8 and rhel-9 installation docs: > https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/ > html/performing_an_advanced_rhel_8_installation/kickstart-commands-and- > options-reference_installing-rhel-as-an-experienced-user#doc-wrapper > https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/9/ > html/performing_an_advanced_rhel_9_installation/kickstart-commands-and- > options-reference_installing-rhel-as-an-experienced-user#doc-wrapper The proposed changes have been made to the document and no more updates are pending on this issue, hence closing it for now. In case any more updates are required, feel free to reopen this issue or create a new one. Here is the link to the updated documentation for reference: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/9/html-single/performing_an_advanced_rhel_9_installation/index#cdrom_kickstart-commands-for-installation-program-configuration-and-flow-control https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html-single/performing_an_advanced_rhel_8_installation/index#cdrom_kickstart-commands-for-installation-program-configuration-and-flow-control I am closing this now but in case anyone's action is pending on it, feel free to reopen this issue. thanks again.