Hello all.

I would like some pointers for understanding how to build a custom CentOS DVD which will have some interaction with the user during installation or during the first run.

My requirements are the following:
CentOS (preferably 6.2 which is the latest at the time of writing the post) without GUI
MySQL
Apache
OpenLDAP
JBoss 5.1.0 (no option for different version)
Ant 1.8+ (no option for different version)
(Possibly other software, eg for backup)

I want to build the DVD for using it in an appliance. So, after the intallation and/or first run, users will have access only through web applications.

The flow of installation or first run goes like this:
1) Gather data from user (like password for MySQL)
2) Create configuration files from user provided data
3) Run ant to build an application using the configuration files
4) Start jboss to perform some other required steps
5) Shut down jboss and run ant to build final application for deployment
6) Start jboss and erase any installation left overs

If anything goes wrong, an option for restoring initial state (i.e. system without performing any of the above steps) would be nice.

I am not a total newbie on linux and of course I am not an expert.
I am comfortable on creating unix scripts given proper documentation though I have limited knowledge on which commands and/or tools will help me build the DVD.

I am not sure where to start looking for creating the required DVD, so any help is much appreciated.

Regards,
Charis

For building a custom installation DVD of Red Hat based OSes the first thing to look at is Kickstart.
Some links:
http://www.centos.org/docs/5/html/In...ickstart2.html
http://linuxmoz.com/centos-kickstart-guide/
http://www.centos.org/docs/2/rhl-cg-...2-options.html
http://www.centos.org/docs/2/rhl-cg-...-ksconfig.html

1 members found this post helpful.

Thank you for the links.

Something that it's not very clear to me is how to install software that is not in a package.
For example, to my knowledge, CentOS provides RPM for Ant 1.7.x
Do I have to make an RPM for Ant 1.8.x on my own and make it available on the installation DVD using the packages section in Kickstart or can I use a Post-installation script to copy the software I need to install from a pre-defined location on DVD to a directory on the installed system?

Both ways would work, but making a RPM is a much cleaner solution. In that case the package management would know that you have Ant installed, so that it does not try to install the Ant version from the repositories when you install a software that is dependent on Ant.

1 members found this post helpful.

Understandable, thank you.

A couple more questions I came across.

1) Am I right to assume that using a Post-installation script I can control which services should start on boot and which should not or there is another way to do it?

2) Is there a 'standard' way of creating python programs like the Setup Agent that runs in first boot or my best bet is to read the source code of Setup Agent?