I have a bootable CentOS Live USB stick. I'm curious what process is used when an installation is started? I want to do something similar, where I'll have a mini bootstrap OS that the user will interact with, set some parameters, and then launch a kickstart controlled install to install the target OS onto the main box. How does the Live OS initiate the install process?

Ah, I see that in fact the install phase of the Live environment basically clones itself onto the selected hard drive, it does not go through the same kind of install process that would be done when installing from a full OS iso instead of a Live installer. It does not for example provide the option of selecting which packages to install. That's the kind of thing I want to be able to do, and then drive the install through a kickstart script that the bootstrap OS would prepare.

I need to do more research here to see how best to tackle this problem. If anyone has tried something like this before and have some suggestions, let me know. Thanks.