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Peter
Asked: 2013-11-14 11:58:52 +0800 CST

Kickstart based installation of RHEL 6.4 from USB

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I want to setup some brand new servers with RHEL 6.4. Servers do not have DVD, so, I have to use USB for the installation. I already have a custom ISO with a kickstart file that I use on servers with DVD flawlessly. I used iso2usb to move the ISO το my USB.

When I boot from the USB, the ks file is found, anaconda starts, but then stops with the following error:

"The installation source given by device ['sda1'] could not be found. Please check your parameters and try again"

Notes:

  • The USB IS the sda.
  • My custom ISO file is renamed to linux.iso from iso2usb and it is present in the root directory of the USB.
    • Kickstart file has the following entry:
    • harddrive --partition=sda1 --dir=/

Please help me to automate the installation with kickstart.

Edit 1: This the anaconda.log file:

09:01:57,029 INFO    : no /etc/zfcp.conf; not configuring zfcp  
09:01:57,259 INFO    : created new libuser.conf at /tmp/libuser.4rAbps with  instPath="/mnt/sysimage"
09:01:57,259 INFO    : anaconda called with cmdline = ['/usr/bin/anaconda', '--stage2',  'hd:sda1:///images/install.img', '--dlabel', '--kickstart', '/tmp/ks.cfg', '--graphical', '--selinux', '--lang', 'en_US.UTF-8', '--keymap', 'us', '--repo', 'hd:sda1:/']  
09:01:57,260 INFO    : Display mode = g  
09:01:57,260 INFO    : Default encoding = utf-8  
09:01:59,444 DEBUG   : X server has signalled a successful start.  
09:01:59,446 INFO    : Starting window manager, pid 1345.  
09:01:59,537 INFO    : Starting graphical installation.  
09:01:59,741 INFO    : Detected 7968M of memory  
09:01:59,741 INFO    : Swap attempt of 7968M  
09:02:00,840 INFO    : ISCSID is /usr/sbin/iscsid  
09:02:00,840 INFO    : no initiator set

Edit 2: This is the part of anaconda log that indicates that it found the USB etc:

09:01:47,918 INFO    : starting STEP_STAGE2
09:01:47,918 INFO    : partition is sda1, dir is //images/install.img
09:01:47,918 INFO    : mounting device sda1 for hard drive install
09:01:48,005 INFO    : Path to stage2 image is /mnt/isodir///images/install.img
09:01:54,214 INFO    : mounted loopback device /mnt/runtime on /dev/loop0 as /tmp/install.img
09:01:54,214 INFO    : Looking for updates for HD in /mnt/isodir///images/updates.img
09:01:54,214 INFO    : Looking for product for HD in /mnt/isodir///images/product.img
09:01:54,227 INFO    : got stage2 at url hd:sda1:///images/install.img
09:01:54,254 INFO    : Loading SELinux policy
09:01:54,700 INFO    : getting ready to spawn shell now
09:01:54,975 INFO    : Running anaconda script /usr/bin/anaconda
09:01:56,882 INFO    : _Fedora is the highest priority installclass, using it
09:01:56,921 INFO    : Running kickstart %%pre script(s)
09:01:56,922 WARNING : '/bin/sh' specified as full path
09:01:56,926 INFO    : All kickstart %%pre script(s) have been run
centos

2 Answers

  1. Check your ISO file content whether it has .discinfo and .treeinfo at the root path.

    I used to face this problem on RHEL 6.3 as I customize the ISO and forgot to copy these file to the root path before burning the ISO.

    • 1

  2. Can you switch to tty2 and type

    list-harddrives

    ? I am just wondering how you know the USB drive is sda since sometimes device names change depending on what kernel, drivers, etc are loaded.

    • -2